Cadance groaned, struggling with the changeling goop that kept her trapped in place. She glanced over at Shining, concern etched into her face. “S-Shining,” she whispered, “please wake up… Equestria needs you.”
“Please.” Chrysalis stood at the window, her eyes searching the ground as she watched the mayhem her minions were causing. “He’s completely under my control. There’s no way your words can reach him now.”
Cadance looked at the changeling queen, her eyes full of hatred. “Why are you doing this, Chrysalis!? There has to be a better way to get love!"
Chrysalis hissed, glaring at the princess. "What would you know of our harvests?"
"I know that Equestria would give you love freely! Had you communicated with Celestia instead of so foolishly invading, you would have so much more love now."
Chrysalis scoffed. "Please. Celestia would never agree to help the changelings.”
“How do you know since you never asked!?”
“Because she hates our kind and our so called ‘God’.” Cadance tilted her head, some of her anger ebbing away into curiosity. God? Chrysalis hissed, shaking her head. “I’ve said far too much. Why am I telling a mere pony princess the history of the Changelings?”
“Because you can’t help it,” came the voice from the door. “Changelings always have this habit of saying too much.”
Chrysalis spun around to face Twilight and her friends, shocked. “H-How did you get back here? My drones should’ve caught you by now!”
“Let’s just say I had a little warning to your trap,” Twilight said with a thin smile, her horn sparking green for a single instant.
Chrysalis’s eyes widened. “Ardor…”
“It’s over, Chrysalis!” Rainbow landed next to Twilight, glaring at the queen. “Your dumb trap couldn’t stop us!”
“Yeah,” came Pinkie’s bubbling voice from the back of the group. “You and your meanie drones can just go back home!”
Chrysalis growled, her body lowering naturally lower to the ground. “I should’ve known you’d use that trick, Ardor. Tell me, Twilight Sparkle - how much has he manipulated you now? How much has he ruined you?”
Twilight felt a mild panic inside - Chrysalis was going to reveal everything! Stay calm my pet. Listen to my thoughts. Know what I say is true.
She took a soft breath, shaking her head as her friends looked at her, worried. “You can’t fool me with your mind games, Chrysalis. My talent for magic might have connected me to your hive mind, but I know those voices are just that - voices.” Her eyes narrowed into a glare. “You aren’t going to get out of this that easily.”
“Just look at them, Miss Sparkle!” Chrysalis pointed to those gathered. “Look into your friends’ eyes! Look at the doubt that practically DRIPS off of them! They don’t believe in you anymore.”
Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but stopped as Rarity stepped forward. “Now that’s where you’re wrong, you ruffian.”
“Rarity’s right.” Applejack stepped to Twilight’s side as well, looking at her friend with a determined smile. “We might not understand her magic or learn our lessons like we should sometimes, but we sure as sugar believe in her.” She glanced at Chrysalis. “No queen’s gonna pull apart our friendship that easily.”
Twilight felt tears rising in her eyes. Her friends…
Twilight, you’ve got to concentrate. She’s going to get the upper hoof if you keep talking instead of getting rid of her. Now, do the spell, just like I told you to.
She nodded slightly. “Alright, girls. Are you ready?”
“Yes!”
“Yeah!”
“Indeed.”
“Ready!”
“O-Okay…”
Twilight grinned. She shut her eyes and concentrated, her horn lighting with all the colors of magic held within her now; emerald, for the Changelings; red, black, gold, all for Ardor; lavender, for her own magic. It was all in an instant before the aura around her horn turned to a bright and shining white. She opened her eyes, blind to the world.
She rose up on invisible wings, white eyes shining along with her horn. Her friends all shut their eyes as they felt it. Her immense power. Each opened their eyes as well, their eyes as white as their friend’s. They felt her enormous power. Their enormous power.
“No! NO! YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME!” Chrysalis took a step back, her eyes wide in terror. Twilight snarled as this reaction. Why did this foal believe she deserved anything? Why did she think she was right and proper? She deserved a crime worse than death. With her head bowed, her horn pointed directly at Chrysalis, Twilight fired, not of her own accord, but of the entity who was held inside her.
“YOU WILL PAY, ARDOR,” was Chrysalis’s last cry before the final blast. From Twilight, a pulsing, white field surged through Canterlot, sending each Changeling soaring for the skies. The slime they created melted to nothingness; the disguises they wore shed from their bodies like dirt in rain as they were sent, in pain, beyond Equestria’s borders.
Twilight breathed in, and in she breathed every atom of existence. She could feel every part of magic in the world, every last particle of substance that made up the water and earth and sky and air. She felt like the world was buzzing and she was the powerhouse. She wanted it; needed it. She needed magic. Lived for it. Sacrificed for it. She was magic.
And then she breathed out again.
The light faded from her horn and eyes and she fell to the floor, landing on her hooves. Her friends collapsed in heaps on the floor, panting from exertion. Twilight glanced at them, panting lightly. T-That was… incredible…
“Guh… C-cadance?”
Cadance gasped as Shining shook his head, rubbing it with his hoof. “S-Shiny?!”
He looked at her, eyes spinning lightly. He shook his head again, groaning. “I… Is the wedding over?”
She laughed, tears rolling down her face. “S-Shiny…” She ran to him, nuzzling him and holding him tightly.
Twilight smiled tiredly at them before she heard a soft groan from nearby. She glanced to the right.
Celestia stood weakly, her wings drooping slightly. She looked at Twilight with a glare. Twilight gasped as she saw all of the malice and hatred in those eyes, and all in an instant, she realized who it was meant for.
Do not dwell on her past grudges, my dear. She merely blames me for what could have been calamitous.
Twilight gulped and averted her eyes. Her friends stood and laughed together, however exhausted. She smiled at them all, still wary of the tension now in the air between her and her teacher.
Applejack took a deep breath. “That was mighty powerful magic, Twi… Are y’alright?”
Twilight nodded, smiling a bit brighter. “Yes… Yes, I am. Thank you, all, for standing with me… for believing in me.”
“Of COURSE we believed in you,” Pinkie said, springing to her hooves with energy to spare. “You’re, like, our bestest ever friend in the universe!”
Fluttershy nodded, receiving Rarity’s help to stand. “I-I only regret not believing you sooner…”
“Fluttershy is right,” Rarity said, hanging her head. “My dear, could you see it to forgive us?”
Twilight smiled. “I already have, remember?” All of them smiled and hugged. It was a beautiful scene.
Beautiful to everyone but one, that is. Twilight… I have a favor to ask of you.
Anything for you, Ardor. Anything.
*~*~*~
Twilight yawned as she returned to the section of the palace they were all staying in. Everypony had retired already; she was the last of her friends still awake. She smiled. The evening had gone well. The songs had been sung, the party was all just about cleaned up now… the only thing that really worried her was the fact that Princess Celestia had not spoken to her at all tonight. She frowned. “I suppose it’s because… well…”
Because of me?
She jumped, surprised. “A-Ardor?” She glanced around, her heart racing, but no one stood in the hall with her. She took a deep breath. “Y-Your voice was so loud… It was as though you were standing right next to me…”
I am growing more powerful.
She gulped, glancing around and returning to her regular speech with him. She didn’t want anypony to hear this conversation. More powerful?
It has to do with the magic you used today. That was very strong, very intense magic you used, Miss Sparkle. The stronger your magic, the more powerful I grow. Soon, I will be able to leave you.
Leave? Twilight licked her lips, stopping near a window and looking outside. I… wow. I never considered the possibility that you could… leave.
Is this… sentiment I feel? Will you miss me, Twilight?
She nodded softly, smiling as she looked at the bare moon. We have done so much together, Ardor. It’s… going to be strange without you.
She heard a soft laugh, warmer than anything she’d heard from Ardor before. Do not fret, Twilight. My magic is not so potent yet. You’re still stuck with me, at least for now.
That’s a relief.
Now, this playful little chat, while delightful, is not why I contacted you.
Oh?
You will recall I asked you for a favor? Twilight nodded. Good. Now, you don’t have to do this… but… well…
Please, tell me, Ardor. I want to know.
Ardor smirked, a ball of magic held in his hooves in the inner depths of Twilight’s subconscious, the image of a bleeding queen held in the red orb. Well… It’s going to be a rather far trip, if you want to accept…
*~*~*~
Twilight gasped as she appeared in the middle of nowhere, her heart racing from the long distance teleportation. Her lungs greedily clutched at the air, heaving for oxygen. She’d never teleported that much in one night.
Just take a few deep breaths, Twilight. Don’t hyperventilate.
She bit her lip and began to breathe through her nose, practicing the same breathing techniques her new sister in law had shown her. She quickly settled her heart down with easy breathing, shutting her eyes. She nodded when she had calmed down. Good job, pet. You did very well.
“Thank you, Ardor. Let’s keep going now.”
Alright. Keep going forward; you’ll be able to sense her soon.
Twilight nodded again and continued moving. The ground beneath her hooves felt unnatural. Dead. She shivered and kept moving, trying to keep her thoughts on anything other than the evil ground she trotted on.
She thought about her recent communications with Ardor. She’d been talking to him normally lately. Was it because he was becoming more real? She supposed that had to be the case. But what did his growth mean? Would his mind soon become too much for her mind to house? Would he have to move on? Where would he go?
She swallowed, looking around. She veered slightly to the right, from gut feeling or Ardor’s Changeling abilities, she wasn’t sure. She guessed it didn’t matter. She was still lost in thought; what would he do once he left? Would he inhabit someone else, or would he powerful enough to exist on his own?
Why did that idea… scare her so much?
“W...who goes?”
Twilight stopped in her tracks, looking up at the sound. She heard faint breathing, felt the death in the air. She’d walked into a field of corpses; the Changelings she’d blown away.
Her stomach turned in sickness as she saw it all; smelled it all. The air was thick with blood. She was breathing in the death of all of those she had killed, intentionally or not. And, before her eyes, stood the shaking, trembling shambles of the Queen. The Queen of the dead.
Chrysalis hissed softly, taking a step back from her. “You…” She coughed, her voice weak, her chest bleeding. Twilight was no expert on wounds, but judging from the amount of blood dripping down her front, Chrysalis would not survive long.
“C-Chrysalis, I-I…”
“D-Do not.. speak to me… Twilight Sparkle…” Chrysalis coughed again, her blood staining her lips as she did. “M-My words are only… for the thing… you contain…”
Twilight shivered, looking down. She didn’t want to see anymore. She had done this. A-Ardor, what do I do?
You know what needs to be done. Just cast the spell I taught you, dear. You can do it.
Twilight gulped, focusing her magic. Her horn flickered once or twice, turning a strange, muted green. She shut her eyes tightly, concentrating on all that Ardor had told her.
Chrysalis shuddered, the green surrounding her. “W-what are you…” She froze, her eyes widening. The holes on her body filled, the rips and tears and gashes along her wings and chest healing. Her body was paralyzed, feeling fuller than ever before, yet at the very same time, as though all her life had been sucked away.
Twilight shook her head, groaning as the spell continued. She'd already used up so much of their combined and powerful magic just getting here. A-Ardor, I-I don’t know if I can control this anymore…
Just a little further, pet. Just a little more…
Twilight groaned, her eyes shut tight. She didn’t want to see Chrysalis’s face. Ardor had told her this spell would heal the Queen, but the look of intense pain on Chrysalis’s face was too much to bear.
Her head ached and her brain felt fuzzy. She took a faltering breath; the air tasted like magic, just like in her earlier encounter with the queen. She licked her lips. It tasted good.
She was getting so tired. So... very tired. Weakly, she collapsed; she never knew she did.
Chrysalis cried out as Twilight fell, pain coursing through her now fully formed body. The fallen unicorn laughed, his voice chuckling through his faithful mouthpiece. "Your God," Ardor said, grinning as he looked towards the queen, "has forsaken you."
She screamed only once more before her full body deteriorated, and into ash she was made. Ardor inhaled deeply, the magic left from the dead queen rising to his breath. He smiled, standing, as his eyes flashed green. "Delicious..." He sighed, shutting his eyes. In a burst of magic, they disappeared.
*~*~*~
Twilight groaned softly as she opened her eyes. Everything hurt. She rubbed her head and sat up. She was sitting in her bed at the palace; her friends were all asleep nearby. She yawned and shook her head, confused. Wasn't I just... There was a spell…
Just rest now, Miss Sparkle. It t’was simply a bad dream.
A… dream? Twilight rubbed her head, thinking hard. It had all felt so real… Chrysalis… She had… “No,” she whispered so not to wake the others. “No, too much leans toward it having been a dream.” If she had teleported that far, there’s no way she would’ve gotten back so quickly, not to mention the ache her body would have had she used so much magic in so little time. Other than her confusion, Twilight felt fine - perhaps better than normal, even - and completely unlike a unicorn who had overextended their magic.
Besides, why would she kill Chrysalis, or Ardor, for that matter? It wasn’t like she was much of a threat. And Ardor would never lie to her just like that. It was simply out of his nature. With a soft sigh of relief, Twilight lied back against her pillow, yawning. Very well, Ardor. Goodnight.
Goodnight, Miss Sparkle. Ardor smirked as Twilight began to fall asleep once more, relishing the increase in magic he had gained from Chrysalis’s death. I shall see you in the morning.