//------------------------------// // Chapter 27: Raising the Sun // Story: Princess Celestia: The Changeling Queen // by vren55 //------------------------------// Canterlot Infirmary…         Luna stared at Twilight, whose previously somber features had taken on a jubilant smile, but once Luna managed to process what Alternia’s protege had said, she sighed bitterly.         “Twilight, there is no way to find my sister. She is in hiding and will not wake.”         Everypony jumped as Twilight’s defiant hoof slammed into the ground. The unicorn’s teeth was clenched and hot tears of indignation cascaded down her face. “You’re wrong! Celestia said that we can find her! There has to be a way!”         Her eyes wide, Luna recalled the day so long ago when Alternia had told her of her sister’s last words. “‘If all hope is lost, and only if all hope is lost, then thou can find us,’” whispered Luna. Twilight nodded, a desperate grin stretching across her features. “Exactly! Celestia must have left a clue or knew that there was a way to track her location! A spell, an object, there’s got to be something!” Biting her lip, Luna turned away from Twilight to look at her sister’s sun, with only one question in her mind. “What would Celestia have done?” She knew her sister had almost no time to prepare Alternia as her proxy, but it would have been a simple matter to hide her location among the memories she transplanted into Alternia’s mind. But with Alternia in her current state, another memory dive might prove fatal to the changeling. However, Luna also knew that Celestia always had a backup plan. She would have prepared something before her battle with Nightmare Moon, some clue that could lead a pony to her resting place if the need arose. The question was, what was it? Groaning, Luna raised her hoof to scratch her ear and grimaced as the shoe clinked against her crown. Wait. Her crown. Luna took her crown off, her eyes wide in realization, and immediately scanned the bedroom. Her eyes finally settled on Celestia’s crown resting on Alternia’s bedside table. The venerable old circlet had been lost during the battle with Nightmare Moon, but ponies had retrieved it and given it back to Alternia not long afterward. Her horn flaring, Luna seized the crown in her magic, and brought it close to her eyes to examine it closely. After a short moment, she exhaled in sheer joy and grinned. “Huzzah! We were correct!” Turning to the others, Luna raised Celestia’s crown. “My sister and I lost our crowns frequently when we were fillies, so as we grew up, we made a habit of casting a spell that would link them to our magic! I can reverse the spell on the crown and use it to find Celestia!” “Then what are you waiting for? Cast the spell!” exclaimed Chrysalis. Luna pointed her horn at Celestia’s crown and it glowed with her midnight blue magic. A second later, a thin blue line sprouted from the gem set into the crown’s apex, pointing southwards out of Canterlot. Turning to Chrysalis, Luna flew the circlet over to her, passing it into the grip of the changeling’s magic. “I must maintain the stasis spell on Alternia for as long as I can. Chrysalis, you and your sisters must take the crown and find Celestia’s resting place. Go! Do not tarry!” Chrysalis nodded, and with a glance to her sisters, galloped out of the door.         The flight of the three changeling queens was silent as they soared into the sky, clearing Canterlot in a matter of minutes. Maintaining their breakneck pace, the changeling queens flew as fast as they could, their wings making the very air around them thrum. All the while, Chrysalis kept her eye solely on the light emitted by the crown, not even looking up to see where she was going. To compensate, Belladonna and Simulacris, who were flanking Chrysalis, informed and sometimes nudged Chrysalis out of the path of any clouds or any shock-frozen ponies in the sky.         And yet, as the thirtieth minute passed since they had departed Canterlot, the crystal showed no sign that they were any closer to their destination.         “Any change, Chrysalis?” asked Simulacris.         Chrysalis, her teeth clenched, shook her head. “None! Damnit! We’re nearly at Ponyville. Where could Celestia have hidden herself?”         “Less talking, more flying!” panted Belladonna. Changeling wings were good for hovering, but speed flying was not their forte.         As the trio passed over Ponyville, the crown’s light dipped suddenly, pointing right into…         “The Everfree Forest? How is it we always end up back here?” asked Simulacris with a frown. Belladonna and Chrysalis groaned, thinking the same thing as their sister as they dived in.         Somehow though, no monsters or beasts of any kind obstructed the path of the queens as they dove into the forest. Weaving their way through the leafy canopy, the queens hovered past tree trunks and over fauna, until they reached a familiar sight.         Chrysalis cursed as they approached the ruined towers and keep of the old Equestrian Capital. “The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters! Oh why didn’t we think of that? We could have just teleported there.”         “What’s done is done, Chrysalis! Prepare yourself! There might be traps!” warned Belladonna as they shot through the open double doors. Headfirst, the queens passed the pedestals of the Elements of Harmony and past several more doors and into a veritable labyrinth of corridors. “What now?” Belladonna groaned as they came to a fork in a hallway. Chrysalis was about to stop, but the light from the crown changed direction, pointing to the right corridor, which seemed to lead downward. “We keep going! The crown knows the way!” declared Chrysalis as she tore down the indicated passageway. On and on the sisters went, sometimes going left, sometimes going right as the crown’s light changed direction to guide them down the right corridors. They broke through rotted wooden doors and flew through dusty old cobwebs. Along the way, the sisters passed old suits of armor, strange portraits, odd holes in the wall, and weird sculptures that seemed to make no sense. The one thing that remained constant about their route was that they kept going down.         “We must be getting closer!” said Simulacris. The sisters lit their horns as they finally left all natural light behind them as they flew deeper. “What makes you say that?” asked Belladonna. “The ambient magic in the air! Can’t you feel it fading as we go on? Celestia must have been drawing on it to heal herself,” explained Simulacris. Just then, Chrysalis stopped so quickly that her sisters nearly ran into her rear. Her eyes wide, and breath coming in short gasps, Chrysalis dropped herself down onto the floor. As Belladonna and Simulacris caught up to their sister, they felt their hearts drop as they saw why Chrysalis had halted. “Just our luck, a dead end,” groaned Belladonna, sitting down onto the floor next to Chrysalis. The corridor had abruptly ended with a massive cobblestone wall, completely solid. There was no way forward. Simulacris frowned, not sharing in her sisters conclusions. The queen narrowed her eyes and tapped the wall with a hoof, her eyes widening with a sudden realization. “Chrysalis, the crown’s light still points at the dead end, right?” asked Simulacris. Chrysalis raised her head to glare at her sister. “Yes, but how are we supposed to tunnel through solid rock?” Simulacris smirked. “We don’t. This is not a dead end.”   Eyes wide, Belladonna shook her head. “Simulacris, didn’t you feel it? How could it not be that?” “Don’t be so quick to believe your eyes, Belladonna. The is some sort of magic construct. Note that the wall is in remarkably good condition for something that has been standing for a thousand years. Also, look, there are cracks in the adjoining walls, and the ceiling” —Simulacris pointed to the crumbling stone on the walls of the corridor— “but they stop abruptly at the corners of the dead end. Hence, this dead end is not real.” The changeling queen then gestured to Celestia’s crown. “Besides, the crown wouldn’t point right at the wall if there wasn’t a way to get through it, Belladonna, and it has been guiding us rather intelligently thus far.” “What do you suggest then, Simulacris?” asked Chrysalis. Simulacris placed a hoof on Chrysalis’s back. “We grab onto you and walk through the wall together. I think the crown is the key to getting through this.” Belladonna frowned, but copied her sister. “Well, it’s worth a try.” Nodding, Chrysalis took a deep breath and started forward. The wall drew closer and closer, expanding to fill Chrysalis’s vision, but she kept walking forward. Wincing, Chrysalis instinctively pulled back as she came up to the wall. Except she phased right through it. Eyes wide, Chrysalis and her sisters found themselves beyond the wall. Laughing quietly, Chrysalis was about to thank Simulacris, when something caught her eye. “Oh no,” moaned Chrysalis as she looked forward.         For the crown’s light now shone toward two massive golden doors that stood in front of the three changeling queens. Chrysalis, Belladonna, and Simulacris could see so many defensive runes inscribed over the barriers that they knew that if they even tried to touch the gold, or try to aim their magic at it, they would be thrown back.         Which was a rather big problem, because the two doors had no doorknobs. Canterlot…         “Princess Luna? Why don’t you take a seat?” asked Twilight, gesturing to one of the more comfortable chairs in the room.         Luna nodded and sunk into the cushions. Sweat was running down her brow, even as Rarity used her hoofkerchief to wipe it off. The stasis spell was becoming more and more difficult to maintain. At this point, Luna’s horn was constantly lit as she concentrated on powering it. Twilight had offered to help, as did Cyndra and Lamia, but Luna had refused. Several of the pony doctors and mages on standby in the room had also tried to give Luna a hoof, but the alicorn refused them as well. As much magic as Twilight, the other unicorns, and Chrysalis’s daughters had, at this point the spell would drain an average unicorn in a minute, and that measure was growing shorter and shorter as time passed. “Water, please,” rasped Luna. Pinkie ran to refill the cup that Luna had just downed a few seconds ago. “Princess Luna please, let us help,” said Twilight. “Nay! I will last a while a longer. Some more food, please,” said Luna, wincing as the empty feeling in her stomach grew. Applejack handed Luna the apple fritter she had brought for lunch, which the princess devoured with one bite. But as Luna chewed, she knew that she could not last for much longer. Even as she finished her snack, the magic requirements of the spell jumped again. It would now take only one second to drain ten unicorns. And soon, it would take a mere second to drain a fully grown alicorn, and much less for one who had already had much of her might siphoned from her. The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters…         “No! I won’t end it like this!” screamed Chrysalis. Lowering her head, the changeling queen focused all her might into the point of her horn and charged.         Simulacris tried to grab Chrysalis, but it was too late. “Chrysalis no!”         Like a fiery green battering ram, Chrysalis slammed into the doors, sending a massive clang reverberating through the air. Magics colored green and gold fought each other for dominance, the backlash sending a gale of force that flung Simulacris and Belladonna back by several yards. For a second, the doors seemed to shudder, and Chrysalis managed to take another step forward, but it was to no avail. The doors flared with new power, and Chrysalis found herself flying in the air, hitting the ground headfirst and rolling backwards until she was lying beside her sisters. Shaking her head, Chrysalis scrambled up onto her feet, her eyes moistening. “No! No! Let me in you stupid Discorded wackjob! Let me in!” she screamed at the indomitable doors, but they remained motionless. Her anger flaring, Chrysalis seized on the nearest object, the crown. “You stupid piece of metal! Damn you for giving me false hope!” Chrysalis flung the circlet at the doors. But instead of blasting the crown to oblivion, the circlet bounced off the doors with a clink, and to the changelings’ astonishment, the doors slowly swung open. “Stupid lack of instructions!” spat Chrysalis as she waited for the crack between the doors to become wide enough “Well, no… The light was shining at them. It must have meant for us to touch them to the doors,” said Simulacris her brow furrowed thoughtfully. Belladonna snorted and was about to call Simulacris an egghead, until she saw what was past the now open doors.         The  chamber behind the door was about the size of a large bedroom. Carved out of stone, the singular feature of this place was a white altar in its centre. Atop this altar lay Celestia. She had immaculate white fur, though tinged green by the light coming from the changeling queens’ horns. Her forelegs were placed over her chest, which her mane, a softly shimmering tricolour of pink, green and blue, was draped over. Her tail flowed slightly off the altar, while the rest of her lower body was covered with a white shroud. Chrysalis trotted into the chamber, her sisters not far behind her. She was not sure what to do, but the purple light of the crown was pointing directly at Celestia’s forehead. So Chrysalis, advancing to the altar, lifted the crown high and placed it on Celestia’s forehead. But to Chrysalis’s shock, the sleeping alicorn did not wake, and now that she was closer, it was as if Celestia was barely alive. Only the slight rise and fall of her chest showed that the alicorn princess was indeed living. “Belladonna? What’s wrong? Why isn’t she waking?” Her green magic covering Celestia, Belladonna narrowed her eyes as she scanned the alicorn. “I don’t know! I’m not an expert in alicorn physiology, but she seems physically recovered, and yet,  she’s still deep in her trance. There must be some greater magical wound that I can’t pick up.” Simulacris shook her head. “But it’s been one thousand years! Surely she should have recovered by now!” Belladonna grimaced. “I don’t know why she hasn’t, Simulacris. I think it might be something to do with how the trance heals. Likely, the trance was designed for a thorough and complete recovery. It must take time.” Chrysalis turned to Belladonna, a desperate look in her eyes. “Can you heal the rest? Or can you bring her out of the trance?” “I can’t! I don’t know what I’m supposed to be healing!” Her teeth clenched, Belladonna lowered her muzzle to better scrutinize the frozen alicorn. “She seems completely fine, but I dare not bring her out of her trance. I could kill her if I tried!” Snarling in frustration, Chrysalis paced around Celestia’s altar, her brow furrowed and fangs grinding together. After a moment, she spun around and faced her sisters. “We have to bring her back to Canterlot. Princess Luna or the Equestrians might have a solution, and at least we will have better medical support.” Belladonna nodded but could not bring herself to meet Chrysalis’s eyes. “What if it doesn’t, Chrysalis?” Chrysalis held a neutral expression for less than a second, before she had to turn away and close her eyes. “It has to.”         It had barely been four hours since Chrysalis and her sisters had left, but the strain of maintaining the stasis spell was bringing Princess Luna to her limits. With nearly all of her considerable magic drained, the alicorn was now sprawled onto a nearby gurney, her horn still glowing, but its light fluctuating, fading in and out like a dying flame. Doctors and nurses were now fussing over Luna, making her comfortable and monitoring her vital signs through magic scans.         Twilight cringed as Luna’s eyes started to close again.         “Luna! Stay with us!” yelled Twilight.           Luna managed a slight nod, and forced her eyelids to stay open against the overwhelming tiredness that threatened to overtake her. But with every second, the already massive drain from her horn increased, and her body seemed to get heavier and heavier, dragging her deeper into the hospital bed.         Anxiously biting her lip, Twilight shut her eyes and again tried to wonder what she could do to help, but it only led to her gnashing her teeth as she could think of nothing else.         “Twilight, can’t we heal Alternia with the Elements of Harmony?” asked Rarity.         Twilight shook her head. “That was the first thing I thought of, but…” She sighed. “I am almost completely sure that they will not work.”         “But why not? Aren’t the Elements a force of good?”         “The Elements are a force of harmony, which is good, but that means it is also one of balance and order. They banished Princess Luna because she was a disharmonic force, and sealed Discord in stone for similar reasons. Life and death are also part of the natural order, which means that the Elements won’t interfere. And I dare not try in the first place because I’m not sure how the Elements will work on Alternia. The only time we’ve used them it was against beings that were disrupting harmony: Discord, who was wreaking chaos in Equestria, and Nightmare Moon, who was disrupting the balance of night and day.”         Applejack grimaced. “Dang it. I suppose we are relying on the queens to see if they find Celestia.”         Just then, the doors to the infirmary slammed open and Queen Simulacris ran in, gasping: “We found her.”         “Celestia? You found Celestia?” By some impossible feat of strength, Luna managed to sit up in the bed, her eyes wide and alert despite the tiredness in her face.         Only to freeze as Celestia’s prone form was levitated into the room by Chrysalis and Belladonna.         “Is she…” Luna’s voice trailed off, her lips trembling as she gazed upon her sister for the first time in a thousand years.         “She’s alive, but we have no idea how to break her out of her trance. Do you have any clue, Princess Luna?” asked Belladonna.         Luna grunted and gestured to the Equestrian doctors who stepped forward. “I need to maintain the spell. The doctors should be able to diagnose what is wrong with my sister.” Chrysalis and Belladonna obliged, levitating Celestia in front of Luna. Then the ponies and changelings in the infirmary waited. Barely even breathing, they watched as the team of doctors examined Celestia, poking and prodding her with various implements. They even used the soft-headed reaction hammers on Celestia, but there was no reaction from the sleeping alicorn. Finally, the head of the medical team grimaced and turned to the ponies and changelings. “We can’t recognize this trance.” Chrysalis surged forward, only held back by the touch of Simulacris’s hoof on her shoulder. Sucking in her breath, she glared at the doctor. “What do you mean you don’t recognize this?” “For all intents and purposes she seems to be asleep, your majesty, but for some reason, we just can’t wake her!” The doctor sighed, looking at Alternia’s still form. “If we had more time, we might be able to figure out exactly what it is that’s keeping the princess like this, but that might take weeks that we don’t have.” Gritting her teeth Simulacris turned to Luna. “Princess—” Luna opened her mouth, and immediately shut it as she flinched. The alicorn suddenly gasped and she hunched over, her whole body shuddering as if it was being hit by an earthquake. Alarmed, the doctors surrounded Luna, just in time to be blasted in the face by a high-pitched keening noise that forced itself through Luna’s clenched teeth. All the while, the magic aura being produced by her horn grew fainter and fainter. “Princess Luna? Princess Luna!” cried Twilight. “I can’t…. hold the spell…. any… long—” Luna’s eyes fell shut and she stopped shaking, her body lying limply on the sheets of the gurney. As for the stasis field powered by her magic, it faded away and vanished into thin air. “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear,” said Spike. Panic filling her heart, Twilight watched as doctors fussed over Luna, making her comfortable. “Luna? Wake up! You have to wake up!” Belladonna stopped Twilight as the doctors started casting spells over Luna. “It’s no use, Twilight! She’s completely out of magic!” “But—” Simulacris shut her eyes. “She wouldn’t be able to do anything even if she was awake, Twilight.” “We can’t just stop trying, though!” exclaimed Twilight. Her eyes moistened as she turned, trying to find anybody who hadn’t given up hope, and found Chrysalis. She was shaking her head, her jaw set and eyes narrowed. “We won’t. I suggest we try funneling as much magic into Celestia as possible. If we can boost her healing spell by force-feeding it magic, it might heal her quicker.” Cadance frowned. “I don’t think it will work. We’d need power as dense as a magical relic, like the Alicorn Amulet or one of Meadowbrook’s—” Twilight gasped and spun around to face her old foalsitter. “The Elements of Harmony!” Everypony and changeling in the room blinked at Twilight, whose lips were beginning to twitch upward in a tentative expression of hope. Her eyes switching to her wide-eyed friends, Twilight ran towards them. “The Elements are magical relics of great power used to uphold harmony. They have to want to restore Celestia back to the heavens and bring her out of her trance, as she is the true steward of the sun!” Tentative smiles appeared on the faces of everybody in the room, until Blueblood, his brow still wrinkled with worry, spoke up. “But there’s just as much chance of the Elements’ Magic not being compatible with Celestia’s trance. They might have no effect!” pointed out the prince. There was a sudden, hoarse cough. Eyes turned to fixate on Alternia’s sleeping form as she coughed, hard, causing her body to spasm and writhe. Belladonna was beside the bed in an instant, and surrounded Alternia with a green glow of some healing spell, but Alternia didn’t stop, and as she continued to hack, little drops of blood spewed from her mouth, dotting the white sheets covering her with specks of green.         Belladonna, her teeth clenched, turned back to Twilight and nodded. “We have nothing to lose.” “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go, Twilight!” said Rainbow, taking to the air. Twilight nodded and followed her, with Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy close behind.         “Ready girls?” asked Twilight to her friends, who nodded, the regalia on their necks glinting in the light as they did so. Taking a deep breath, Twilight turned to Celestia, who was now on one of the hospital beds. Closing her eyes and pursing her lips, Twilight tried to recall how she had felt when she had helped purge Nightmare Moon from Luna, how she had felt when Discord was re-sealed. She recalled the joy of friendship, the happiness it gave her, and the confidence it imbued her with.         “Elements of Harmony, please wake Celestia up,” begged Twilight, hoping that somehow, her Element would respond to her wish.         Chrysalis, watching the six mares intently, suddenly stepped back as the Elements of Harmony burst into a soft, comforting glow. Violet, blue, blue, orange, red, and pink lights danced over the infirmary’s white walls, and yet somehow, the colors did not blur or clash with one another. As the bearers opened their eyes, shining with power, the lights from their elements coalesced, and like shimmering waves, swirled into the shape of a familiar rainbow, which arched upward towards the ceiling. Just before it touched, the rainbow dived back downward. The moment the rainbow connected with Celestia, her body was enveloped in a golden light so blinding that everybody lost sight of the alicorn’s form. Then, the rainbow faded, as if Celestia had absorbed the rainbow, as well as the light. And yet, Celestia was still asleep. Twilight blinked and slowly walked forward to the alicorn. Biting her lip, Twilight prodded Celestia’s hoof, but her eyes did not open. “No… no. She has to be awake. The Elements of Harmony always work,” whispered Twilight. Sniffling, Twilight pulled Celestia’s leg again, but there was no reaction. “No. No. No!” Whimpering, Twilight let go of Celestia’s hoof and fell to the ground, tears pouring from her eyes. Cadance, almost to tears herself, knelt down by the foal she used to babysit and held her. “Twilight…” Cadance started, but out of nowhere came the snarling Chrysalis, who brushed past the pair as she barrelled towards Celestia’s bed. Just before she could get to the bed, Simulacris slid in front of her, and despite her smaller size, the younger queen managed to arrest her sister’s charge. Simulacris wasn’t able to stop Chrysalis from screaming, though.  “STUPID ALICORN! WILL YOU WAKE UP ALREADY!” roared Chrysalis in an ear-flattening wail. Continuing to struggle, Chrysalis nearly threw Simulacris out of her way, but Belladonna quickly arrived to help hold her back. Furious, Chrysalis focused her magic, but Belladonna rapped her on the horn, disrupting her spellcasting. “That’s enough, Chrysalis! You aren’t going to help Alternia like this,” said Belladonna, in a choked voice. As Chrysalis stopped struggling, Belladonna and Simulacris let out relieved sighs and they released their grip. Simulacris patted Chrysalis on the back. “It’s not over yet, sister. We can still try to combine our magic—” Simulacris’s voice trailed off as she noticed Chrysalis wasn’t even looking at her. The changeling queen’s eyes were still fixated on Celestia. Frowning, Simulacris as well as Belladonna, followed their sister’s gaze and gasped. The alicorn’s eyes were scrunched, her lips were wrinkled. Yet, slowly, gradually, Celestia straightened up, and opened her mouth to yawn. Only to receive a faceful of ice cold water. Gagging and sputtering, Celestia wiped her eyes clear with her hooves and frowned at the tiny dragon beside her, clutching a bucket in his claws and an expectant look on his face.         “Was there a need for me to be wet?” asked Celestia, her mane sticking to her fur like a wet blanket.         Blueblood was the first to recover, and after glaring briefly at Spike, he stepped forward and bowed quickly. “Forgive us, your highness, but we were trying to wake you up.”         Celestia frowned. “Why—”         Cadance cut in, pointing to Alternia’s bandage-covered body. “Alternia’s dying, Princess Celestia. We need your healing skills.” Celestia regarded Cadance for a split second before following the path of her hoof. When the alicorn’s eyes saw Alternia they widened exponentially and she sprang off her bed. As she moved towards Alternia, though, she passed Luna’s gurney and stopped. Instantly, Celestia’s jaw fell open, and tears sprang to her eyes. For a moment, all the alicorn could do was move her mouth up and down without a sound. Then Celestia finally managed to speak. “Luna?” she whispered. One of the doctors attending to Luna bowed respectfully. “Your sister’s fine, your Highness. She is suffering from magic exhaustion from keeping Queen Alternia alive, but she will recover with a good rest.” A smile bursting onto her lips, Celestia nodded and sprinted towards Alternia. Her horn glowing, the alicorn enwrapped the injured queen in her golden magic. “Can you heal her?” asked Chrysalis, her voice hesitant, her eyes pleading. Celestia said nothing, and the only indication she gave that she heard Chrysalis’s question was a frown. Her eyes narrowed, the alicorn travelled her horn up and down Alternia’s barely moving frame. At times, golden sparks of power fell from Celestia’s horn, slipping under the changeling’s bandages. Taking a deep breath, the alicorn exhaled, and smiled. “Alternia owes her life to ye all. We can save her,” said Celestia. Chrysalis felt faint and she found herself leaning into Belladonna, and Belladonna leaning into her. All around, the occupants of the room let loose a relieved sigh. “But we need help. Queens,” Celestia paused, her eyes narrowing slightly at Belladonna, Chrysalis and Simulacris. “We will not ask why ye are present with our little ponies, but we require your assistance. I will guide the spell, and together we will provide the power.” Belladonna nodded, and along with her sisters, stepped forward, and took positions around Alternia’s bedside.  “We are at your disposal, Celestia.” Celestia nodded and pointed her horn at Alternia, whose breaths had become shallower, more pained and laboured. Closing her eyes, Celestia summoned her magic, and her horn was covered by a bright golden light, like the noonday sun. “Send thy power directly to me, queens,” said Celestia, not opening her eyes. Chrysalis, Belladonna, and Simulacris complied. Closing their eyes, their crooked horns gleamed with emerald magic, which they sent in a beam to Celestia’s horn. Instead of exploding and burning her, the emerald magic pooled at the tip of Celestia’s horn, coalescing into a growing, and increasingly blinding sphere of yellow magic tinged with green. Lowering her head, Celestia guided the magic down to Alternia’s barely moving chest, the place where the curse had done the most damage. As she did so, the brightness from the sphere increased to the point nobody could look directly at it, for at that moment, it was a miniature sun, a gold-green ball of pure life-giving glory. Slowly, the golden sphere sank into Alternia’s body, its light fading as its energy was absorbed by the changeling, until the sphere completely disappeared. Seconds later, Alternia was surrounded by a brilliant golden light that completely blinded everypony in the room.