//------------------------------// // Intermission B // Story: The Infestation of Canterlot High School // by Bonster //------------------------------// Intermission B “I’m sure you know how it tastes, Celestia, the sugar of victory, after how many you’ve bested. In fact, I’d say your addicted to it, if you’re influence on little miss Friendship is anything to go by. “It must be nice, Celestia. It must be nice to have everything work out for you all the time. It must be nice not to have your subjects starving for months on end. It must be nice to be the ‘good guys’ all the time. You know, us real rulers have to face ups and downs, wins and losses. And that makes victory a luxury, something you have to work for instead of having it served to you on a silver platter. Thanks to you and your ponies”—the word was spat—“it’s been far too long since my last helping, and oh, how sweet this first bite tastes! “Do you know how long I planned for this? How much time and effort went into my every move? It has been all I think about these days, and all I dream of at night. And now that it’s within hooves’ reach, now that I’ve sampled my inevitable victory, I know it was all worth it! I… I, uh…” Chrysalis sighed and stopped her pacing in front of Celestia, who was wrapped in silk and hanging from the ceiling, incapable of hearing, much less responding to, Chrysalis’s monologue. It simply didn’t have the same effect this way; it was so much more fun to watch them squirm and plead and make empty threats as they cling desperately to fading hopes. Maybe, when a great speech next came to mind, she’d just stick her victim to the wall instead of using a full chrysalis. Yeah, that sounded good. A trail of sparkling smoke caught her eye, flowing purposefully into the castle window. Before she had time to react to the mysterious cloud of glitter, a scroll of paper materialized in the air next to the restrained Celestia, falling to the overly polished floors of the royal castle and rolling a few inches before coming to a rest at Chrysalis’s feet. And then she noticed the insignia on the seal—a six pointed star—and half of her mouth rose in a none too benign smirk. Unraveling the roll of paper with her magic, Chrysalis read the short, quickly scrawled message. Celestia! Changelings are attacking our castle! Send help! —Twilight Not a single ‘Princess’; she really was in a hurry. Assuming Celestia’s visage, Chrysalis pushed her thoughts through the permeable barrier of the hivemind. Traxx, get dressed. The Castle of Friendship? Precisely. Come; let up ‘help’ little miss Sparkle. One of Chrysalis’s teleports later, and the two were at the outskirts of ponyville. Powerful flaps of their false wings brought them to the edge of a shimmering purple dome; Changelings beat against it, trying to reach the castle inside. The whole scene was far too familiar for Chrysalis’s tastes. Traxx made a show of battling the changelings, his powerful attacks only narrowly missing, and sometimes barely clipping, his own subordinates. Chrysalis reached out with her magic, feeling the barrier spell. Disabling it wouldn’t blow their cover, after all; it could’ve been any changeling. It was a simple matter of tuning into the magical frequency and— Chrysalis’s brow furrowed. What was up with the frequency? It was jumping all over the place, making it nearly impossible to latch on to. But the spell was stable—very stable. Didn’t that go strictly against magical theory? It had to be intentional. She doubted anybody could break this spell with magical hacking; except, of course, the little purple kiss-ass who made it. But it turned out that disabling the shield wouldn’t be necessary—a small portion of it opened up briefly, prompting Traxx and her to fly through it. The aperture closed cleanly behind them like a film of water, and a stray changeling smashed his face into where the hole had been. Chrysalis rolled her eyes (not all of her children were winners) and flew through a castle window, her “sister” close behind. They eventually found their way through the castle’s many ornate halls to the throne room, where seven ponies and a dragon were arguing, anxious and panicky. As soon as she noticed their arrival, Twilight ran up to their side. “Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!” “A pleasure to see you, Twilight, though I would prefer we could meet under less dire circumstances.” Damn, if Chrysalis wasn’t a known fugitive, she could probably land a spot in the acting business. And not just because of the whole ‘changeling’ thing, either. Twilight sighed. “Tell me about it. We don’t even know what instigated this; they just started storming the castle, no subtlety about it!” As Twilight blabbered on, Chrysalis examined their opposition. The princess, of course, was their biggest threat, but aside from her, it was hard to judge. The dragon wouldn’t be a issue, not as miniscule as he was, but she had a hard time reading the others’ auras. No doubt their connections to the elements of harmony, as well as their close proximity to an alicorn, changeling Queen, and each other, were blurring her arcane senses. But still, two earth ponies, two pegasi, and two unicorns shouldn't prove too much of an issue. Twilight continued. “I mean, I’d guess that Chrysalis is probably behind it, but this seems unnecessarily stupid, even for her.” Chrysalis grit her teeth at that. Okay, maybe it wasn’t the best plan, but throwing a big-ass shield around yourself to keep your problems out wasn’t what Chrysalis would consider genius. She had to force her face into composure, though. Celestia wouldn’t express emotion in front of any of her subjects; no, she was all pretense and facades. Target the unicorn once things get started, Chrysalis thought. Which one? Traxx replied. The one that doesn’t look like a prostitute. So the blue one? Of course, weren’t you listening? “Twilight, come here,” Chrysalis decreed. “I have a spell that should allow you to combat the changelings.” “Of course, Princess.” She trotted over to Chrysalis obediently, face solemn. “Hold still.” Chrysalis’s horn lit, and she touched it to Twilight’s. There was a small flash of lazy pink light, and the smaller mare’s eyes rolled backwards in her skull as she slumped to the floor. “Oh my,” commented the prostitute. “Is she alright?” “Are ya sure puttin’ her t’ sleep is gunna help fight th’ changelings?” asked the hick. By this time, Traxx was in position, and Chrysalis allowed her fangs to show, smiling malevolently. “Oh, don’t worry. By the time she wakes up, you all won’t have anything to worry about!” “CHANGELING!” screamed the obnoxious pink one, pointing a hoof at Chrysalis. At the same time, Traxx sealed his target in silk before she had a chance to react. And then, all of Tartarus broke loose. First off, the wimp screamed and jumped into the air, her wings pumping her quickly away from Chrysalis and straight into the castle wall, which Chrysalis could easily pin her to with a well-aimed shot. Off to a good start. “Unhand our friends, you miscreants!” The prostitute fired a bolt of white light at Traxx, who countered with his own, easily pushing the unicorn’s back. He would’ve knocked her out, too, had the obnoxious one not shoved a cake into his face to break his concentration. Meanwhile, the egomaniac flew at Chrysalis with blinding speed, one hoof extending in a planned punch. She shapeshifted a hard carapace shield to block it, the echo of keratin on chitin resounding through the palace. Chrysalis tried to follow up and encase the pegasus in silk, but she quickly banked to the side, dodging the attack. Chrysalis turned just in time to see the hick running towards her with a lasso clutched between her teeth. (Could you get any more stereotypical?) Chrysalis easily yanked it away with her telekinesis and discharged her horn, a crackling beam striking her adversary in the withers. She didn’t have the chance to deliver a second blow, however, grunting as she felt a sharp pain in her leg—that hoof was really taking a beating today. She turned to see the drake sinking his teeth into her fetlock, eyes slanted in misplaced determination. A second later, he couldn’t be seen under the silk that covered him. Chrysalis indulged in a bit of evil cackling (she felt deserved it by now), but it barely lasted a second before she got the air knocked out of her, her hooves leaving the ground. “Ha! Take that!” boasted the egomaniac as Chrysalis flew through the air, straight into the hick’s hind legs. She didn’t have time to put up much of a shield before powerful hooves dug into her hide, making her cough up a bit of blood. Chrysalis returned to her feet with a groan. “Damn, what in Tartarus is she feeding you damn ponies?” The egomaniac responded with a war cry, shooting forward on powerful wings towards Chrysalis. She swung a wild leg with all her might, straight into the changeling’s face. But her hoof cut through Chrysalis like a broadsword through butter, and as the glamour faded from her vision, her excess momentum sent her spiraling forward with another shout (though this one was more of the ‘holy shit I’m gunna die’ kind). In the same moment, Chrysalis appeared behind the hick in a pillar of flame, and delivered a hard blow to the skull with a leg-turned-sledgehammer before shooting a line of silk towards the out of control egomaniac. Both her targets fell to the ground with varying amounts of consciousness, and Chrysalis turned to her assistant with a triumphant grin. Traxx had managed to secure the prostitute in a chrysalis, and was restraining the obnoxious one in his telekinetic grasp. She was struggling against the hold with spasmodic, questionably possible movements, but Traxx was able to maintain his influence for long enough that Chrysalis could step in and wrap her up. As Traxx procured a mana dampener and secured it to the Princess’s horn, Chrysalis could no longer hold back her cackle, and let all her pent-up villainy come out. Phase two was complete, and she had just the perfect monologue ready. Chrysalis was once again pulled from her fond reminiscing by a report over the hivemind. My Queen! Urgent news! The incessant buzzing of changeling wings faded into the background as she connected with the hivemind. How urgent? We’re about to commence Phase 3. Very urgent! The hoomans have discovered us! WHAT?! Oh, I am so demoting you all. The messenger paused, for what Chrysalis assumed was a gulp. W-what are your orders, my Queen? Chrysalis massaged her temples. This was exactly the kind of thing she didn’t want to deal with right now. Just… tell Graxx to keep things under control until the Empire has fallen. I should be able to get over there afterwards. Roger! Chrysalis groaned. Everything had been going so well, too. The only thing that managed to lighten her mood was the shimmering peaks of the crystal palace poking above the horizon; she could literally feel the love emanating from the city, and her salivating mouth turned up in a smile.