The Celestia Code

by iisaw

22 A Matter of Perspective

Chapter Twenty Two
A Matter of Perspective

Simply defending us from the dark magic was an untenable position. In a very short time, it would have made our environment too hostile to survive, even if I could cover every possible angle of attack while the flood of dark magic mutated the very ground I was standing on. I had to deal with the source of the problem. I told Jigsaw and Sesseressia to get into the lee of the stalagmite and stay there, then I dropped my shield.

I planned to deal with each part of the problem in descending order of how appallingly dangerous it was—and got stuck on the very first one. I found that the increasingly erratic wobble of the broken crystal would shortly cause it to completely shatter, releasing all the rest of the energy within in a single blast. Nothing in the city could possibly survive an event like that. I tried using my dark magic to stabilize it, but found that the fallen top fragment was still exerting a strong magical pull on the rest of the crystal. The contagion effect was making it want to reconnect with the main body of the crystal with a force that I didn't have the strength to directly resist. I needed some way of nullifying it before I could do anything else. I remembered the wire and grounding rods I had brought with me. If I could make a connecting circuit from the fallen fragment, through me—

The problem was that I had to fend off the blasts from the lower part of the crystal and occasional creeping horrors at the same time. I needed help.

"Jigsaw!" I screamed, while simultaneously stomping an obstinate tentacle that used to be a changeling's foreleg.

I gave that mare full credit for bravery, because she was at my side in an instant, despite having to expose herself to the howling chaos of the disintegrating crystal.

"The wire!" I shouted at her. "Wrap one end around my rear hoof, and the other around a spike. Then send the spike over to the fallen piece of the crystal and—whoa!" I had to pause to blast the multi-legged, fanged thing that reared up in front of us. "Try to get the spike in contact with the crystal, even if you can't embed it."

Sesseressia joined us and stood by Jigsaw, using her own magic to blast away at the smaller nasties that were crawling and slithering towards us. When Jigsaw had attached both ends of the wire, she took the rod in her mouth and started to make for the fragment.

"Jigsaw, stop!" I yelled. "Use your magic!"

She shook her head. "It's too far... out of range of my horn for something this heavy! I'll have to carry it closer."

"You're not going out there!" Sesseressia hissed at her, and moved to block her path.

"Just what do you expect me to do? Throw the stupid th.... oh... right." Jigsaw dropped the spike and caught it in her magic. "Sessi, spread out the coil of wire so it won't tangle when it gets pulled out fast. Yeah, like that."

Jigsaw hefted the spike, muttering, "Heavy... not quite the same length as a javelin... sucky balance... oh well, here goes nothing!"

She set her self in a solid stance and lifted the copper bar over her head, letting it drift back until it was above her shoulders. The magical connection from her horn to the long spike became a series of many light, elastic threads, and then there was another pulse of her magic, anchoring the rear of the spike to the ground behind her with a solid, inflexible bond. I had no idea what she was up to, but she certainly seemed to know what she was doing.

"Stand clear of the wire!" She yelled before leaping forward with all of her strength. Her magic tether to the ground prevented the spike from moving. It was the stretchy part between her and the copper rod that lengthened until it couldn't elongate any more. When that happened, it brought her up short, making her rear up and arch her back. Just as I thought she might topple over backwards, the muscles of her neck, chest, belly, and haunches all tightened in sequence, snapping into hard definition beneath her blue coat, as she let go of the anchoring part of her magic. I understood, then: She had constructed the magical equivalent of a slingshot. Who knew that sports could be so scientific? All the potential energy stored in the connection between her horn and the copper rod was suddenly translated into motion, and the spike flashed up and across the cavern, pulling the wire behind it with a hissing sound.

We all watched it fly. Even some of the monstrous things squelching among the stalagmites turned their heads to follow it. The spike arched down, right on target, and buried itself into the crystal fragment.

"Woo-hoo!" screamed Jigsaw, dancing in joy. "Score one for the gal with the athletic scholarship!"

Things began to happen in rapid sequence after that. I stabilized the crystal's wobble by feeding back its own energy through the wire to the fallen fragment. Once the danger of imminent vaporization was gone, I worked on sealing the open face of the crystal that was pouring out dark energy.

As soon as the black tendrils and green whips of wild magic began to die away, the next squad of changelings began to emerge from the hole in the ceiling. We were caught between stopping the dark magic and fighting the army of Queen Chrysalis.

I had to let just enough magic leak out to keep the changelings out of the cavern, while trying to redirect most of the flow down the sides of the crystal to my system of energy drains. A controlled flow wasn't enough to deter the enemy troops, and a full flood was going to fill the cavern with deadly energy and—things. So I alternated letting the crystal erupt and taming its magic in a pattern that was, hopefully, random enough that the changelings wouldn't risk a sudden rush.

If I hadn't had Jigsaw and Sesseressia with me to battle the newly-spawned monsters I couldn't spare attention for, it would have ended right there. Anyone who thinks we equines are placid, gentle creatures would have been stunned by the ferocity and determination of those two magnificent mares that day. When their magic guttered low, they used their horns, hooves, and teeth. Celestia bless them, they kept me safe.

It was a good tactic and it might have even worked. What we would have done when the crystal and all of us were exhausted, and the changelings swarmed in, I'm not certain. But I'm sure I would have thought of something.

As it happened, we never got the chance to find out. There was still a perilous amount of dark magic in the remains of the crystal when it shattered into millions of pieces. The alternating stresses caused by my manipulation of its energy flow had fatigued its very structure to the point where it simply disintegrated. One second, a web of tiny cracks appeared all over its surface, and the next—

That tiny moment between fracturing and disintegrating gave me barely enough time to react. I was channeling a large amount of the dark magic through myself to keep the crystal stable and it was a simple matter to shut off the conduit that bled it away. That meant that I could pull in the sudden explosion of energy and contain it—possibly. I'd once absorbed the power of three other alicorns, hadn't I? Could a flood of dark magic be much worse? Given any time to think, I would have concluded that it was ludicrously dangerous, but time was a luxury I didn't have as I instinctively absorbed all the remaining dark magic the crystal had left.

It felt—nice.

I smiled and kicked off the grounding wire.

What had I been worried about?

Oh, there were some pathetic little creatures assaulting my friends and I, but it was a trivial task to remove them all. So I did.

I looked up to the hole in the ceiling where the changelings had begun to pour in, so earnest in the service of their queen—adorable, really. I rose to meet them, and when they saw me, they turned and fled.

I emerged into the ruined and roofless cornucopia building where there was considerable confusion and turmoil among the changeling ranks. They obviously needed to be organized.

"BE SILENT," I told them. The outer wall of the building fell away and threw a great cloud of dust into the air. I removed the dust. It wouldn't do for my new subjects to be distracted by trivialities. They all cast long shadows that spread out in a big fan shape behind them. It was pretty.

I swept a hoof out, indicating a line in front of me, and said, "APPROACH." They all cringed for some reason, but several moved to obey. Others milled about. Still others fled. I thought perhaps I should start with basic protocol and then ease them into more strict formations later.

"YOU MUST BOW BEFORE ME," I instructed them.

That was better! A large number flattened themselves to the ground. But there was one group in particular that didn't seem to understand. One of them shouted, "We obey none but our queen, you monster!"

Oh dear. Split authority? That hardly ever worked out well. "YOUR QUEEN?" There she was, surrounded by a knot of larger, armored troops, glaring defiance at me. Well, no schoolroom could operate efficiently with two teachers intent on using different materials. She would have to go.

"I AM YOUR QUEEN, NOW," I explained.

One of the armored officers charged at me. I removed her.

I turned my attention to Chrysalis. She set her stance and looked me directly in the eyes, her head held high and proud. That was nice. She was strong and brave. I respected that, and I thought that perhaps I would miss her when she was gone.

Before I could act, a smaller changeling in armor flew up in front of Chrysalis and held her hooves out toward me as if she could fend me off somehow. That was funny. She was afraid and her hooves were trembling badly. Her hooves. That was odd—all the other changelings had big holes in their hooves, but the one that tried to protect the queen had only small dimples on her legs.

Oh.

I—

Oh.

Suddenly, I didn't want to remove the frightened little changeling. But—I needed to—

I was confused. I didn't like being confused.

It had been simple. Then it wasn't simple any more. That made me angry. They shouldn't thwart me! Who knew better than I, how things should be organized? I had knowledge. I had experience. I had been in this situation many times before, only—only, I had been on the other side. They couldn't win, but they were defying me. That was silly.

"STOP THAT," I told them. I swept out a wing, and the blade of black energy it shed tore away a section of the city. It fell into the canyon with a rumbly noise that should have cheered me up. It didn't.

Chrysalis reached out and pushed Csharreee aside. "There is no need for you to die," she whispered to her. Chrysalis thought I couldn't hear her, but I could. She took several steps toward me and spoke loudiy, "If you are their new queen, you must care for them... better than I have done."

I wished she would stop looking at me.

"Please, Your Highness!" Csharreee cried out. "Don't!"

I unleashed my power.

All those carved unicorns melted into slag. The ground buckled and warped, quartz paving stones exploded like fireworks, and sudden black smoke billowed up into the clear desert sky. It felt good, even though I had turned aside from the target I really wanted to smite. The changelings backed hurriedly away from the part of the city that was slumping into a shapeless mass. I suppose it had gotten a trifle warm.

I glanced back at Chrysalis. She was still looking at me. That made me want to melt other things, so I took to the air and flew down the canyon, re-sculpting it as I went. I knew I wasn't going to be happy until I fixed the changeling situation, but I kept going, farther and farther from the city, burning everything that passed beneath me.

When I started to feel light-headed, I thought it was because I was becoming less upset. But I was wrong. It meant I was about to pass out. The last thing I felt was my wings thrashing wildly in the turbulence as I tumbled from the sky.

= = =

The sand was probably real. It was too boring to be a dream.

The sand tasted real. I tried to spit it out, but my mouth was too dry. I ended up just making pathetic little pthoo noises. I thought about standing up and that's when I started to hurt all over. I attempted to summon up a palliative spell, but my magic was gone. I was completely drained.

The sensible option was to continue to lie where I was and try not to think about hurting so much. Since I didn't have the energy to do much else, that's what I did. To keep from thinking about the pain, I thought about other things. Like what I had just done, for instance.

It takes energy to be terrified, outraged, and ashamed, so I just lay there and thought about it. I was glad I hadn't killed Chrysalis and Csharreee in my madness, but there had been others—no, I decided I'd rather think about the pain.

I thought the buzzing was in my head at first, but then I saw the black shadows rippling over the sand as the changelings came in for a landing in the arroyo. I supposed I wasn't going to be hurting for much longer.

"Is she dead?" Chrysalis asked. It didn't sound like she cared much, one way or the other.

It was Csharreee who bent down and looked into my face. I blinked to show her that I was still alive. She levitated over a gourd filled with water and dribbled some on my lips. I licked it away and she dribbled some more.

Chrysalis walked over and settled down in front of me. "Kick her in the horn if she tries anything," she told a subordinate.

"Hi, Chrissy," I croaked.

She scowled at me. "You just had to destroy my only hope, didn't you?"

"Nuh-uh," I said. It was kind of funny. I guessed I was still a bit loopy. I would have laughed if I hadn't been sure it would be agonizing to do so. "It wasn't the crystal. I told you that. Stupid dark magic can't do anything good..." I broke off and coughed. My following scream of pain was so loud that it echoed off of what was left of the canyon walls for several seconds.

Chrysalis pinned her ears back, looking irritated, and gave a peremptory jerk of her head. I felt a cool sensation wash over me, and the pain subsided. I tried to thank her, but my throat was too dry and I just coughed again. Thankfully, it caused only a moderate amount of pain that time.

Csharreee gave me more water and I swallowed gratefully. "It's friendship, Chrysalis," I said. "The magic of friendship. I know you think that's sentimental foolishness, but it's the only explanation that fits all the facts. So, go make a friend. Be beautiful again."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. She looked away from me for a while and gazed off into the sky. Then she seemed to come to a decision and stood up. She motioned to a couple of drones to lift me up. "You should be on your feet for this," she told me.

I gritted my teeth and set my legs in a good, wide stance before the drones let go of me. I wasn't going to let myself fall again. If Chrysalis could look her own death in the eye, I certainly couldn't do anything less.

= = =

=

Author's Note:

Thanks to Gogito for another superb editing job, particularly in straightening out the kinks in my descriptions of magical goings-on that were very much less than clear.

Comments

[Holyme]

Good, but a tad short... awaiting further chapters

[TheStratovarian]

Welcome to the wide wide world of fallout princess. Enjoy the view, you've a long and lovely history with it never leaving your mind.

[ocbaker]

Too short, need more. Can't survive much longer.

It would have been cool for twilight to be screaming as she let out all that power. Oh well. If only it could have been an animated sequence.
What I'm not 100% on is did she butcher any changelings when she unleashed the power?

[Jirodyne]

Have to agree with 3808973 here. It could have ended with her passing out. But then she wakes up, talks a bit... then it just ends. Just suddenly stops in the middle of the conversation with no cliff hanger. Just... BAM! The End.

[Mantech1]

I had been simple. Then it wasn't simple any more. That made me angry. They shouldn't thwart me! Who knew better than I, how things should be organized? I had knowledge. I had experience. I had been in this situation many times before, only... only, I had been on the other side. They couldn't win, but they were defying me. That was silly.

I think you meant to use the word "it" instead of "I" at the beginning there.

Other then that nice update and I'm looking forward to more. Not just what Chrysallis will do next but also what happened to all those fragments from that dark magic crystal, not to mention whether or not there were any other crystals like that elsewhere as per Sombra's plan to surround Equestria (or how he managed to avoid the unicorns nasty fate).......or if there might be other survivors of that city plotting and scheming against Equestria's Princess's with other similarly nasty dark magic weapons.

Now I have two odd thoughts coursing through my mind.

In the first Chysallis assists Equestria in finding disarming/destroying similar dark magic weapons while very cautiously making friends with those Equestrians sent to help and observe. Maybe that could be useful for an epilogue?

In the second several survivors of that unicorn city manage to infiltrate Equestria in order to construct a weapon designed to if not kill the Princess's then to atleast seriously damage Equestria's eco-system (maybe a weapon meant to create or cause a supervolcano to form?) in revenge for their fallen city. Though they don't live long enough to see their plans succeed (perhaps the weapon needs time to grow or charge for best effect).

[iisaw]

3809337
Yes, when she says "removed" she pretty much means "edited out of existence".

[iisaw]

3809357

Good feedback. I should have made the situation in Twilight's mind more clear. I went back and edited that bit.

[iisaw]

3809520

Good catch! I fixed it. As for further developments... we shall see.

[CV12Hornet]

Evil Overlord list, #22: No matter how tempted I am with the prospect of unlimited power, I will not consume any energy field bigger than my head.

Oh, Twilight...

[Jirodyne]

3809769 Ok, yeah. That last sentence now feels like a cliff hanger. I wasn't sure what she needed to stand up for to see, but it's crystal clear now!

Of course now you MUST go work on the next chapter and release it soon! You must, You Must! YOU MUST!!!
iambrony.dget.cc/mlp/gif/tumblr_lre4jwJCpq1r2cj72o1_500.gif

[iisaw]

3810653
I will! I WILL!

[maneteam6]

Well, damnit. Now I want to see a spinoff of Twilight completely succumbing to the dark/wild magic, and then having an epic battle with Chrysalis for the changeling throne. Then again, Dark Magic!Twilight seems so overpowered (writing her enemies out of reality and calling down orbital meteor strikes spring to mind)
On an entirely unrelated note...
next chapter, please?

[iisaw]

3815497
Next chapter is coming soon!

A Dark Twilight story would be fun to write. She's not likely to find an incredible source of power like the dark crystal, (though she might try to make one) and I'm sure Celestia and Luna could could keep her from messing with the heavens again, so it would be possible to keep her from being too OP. That just leaves the problem of dark magic warping her mind... I kind of like her mind the way it is!

[maneteam6]

3815830
Well, naturally, we want her mind intact. After all....fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/120/b/9/wallpaper_twilight_still_best_pony_by_barrfind-d63klm8.jpg
But then again, what the Dark Magic seemed to do was remove all her inhibitions. She still regarded her friends as friends, and she probably wouldn't plan a revolt against Equestria because she cares about the Princesses, her family, and friends. Anything that was a threat, she got rid of, anything that wasn't, she took no issue with. Which isn't that far off from normal behavior, really. Well, you know, aside from the "Wipe them from existence, take the changeling swarm as my own." thing.

[iisaw]

3817099

...the "Wipe them from existence, take the changeling swarm as my own." thing.

Heh... Still working out the details.

[maneteam6]

3818152 And even that's pretty awesome.

[cheirus]

I really like this fic. This is kinda how I imagined Princess Twilight. I am kinda sad she didn't take at least ONE of her friends with her. There are a few typos scatter here and there but nothing super major. I like how you describe the Luna dream sequences. Quite surreal and mercurial which is how my head cannon thinks of Luna. Overall good job and I can't wait for you to finish!

[Lunar Fire]

BADASS DARK ALICORN TWILIGHT SPARKLE ALERT

[djthomp]

The javelin throwing! And it was awesome!

Given any time to think, I would have concluded that it was impossible, but that was a luxury I didn't have as I instinctively absorbed all the remaining wild magic the crystal had left.
It felt—nice.

Uh oh.

[JustAnotherTimeLord]

Hmm... you know, Twilight probably shouldn't have done what she did. Also, I find it rather amazing how much she truly hates and doesn't give a shit about changelings. I don't even understand it.

[GreyNoise]

Huh. You've already edited this to fit the new canon since the season finale, haven't you?

[PresentPerfect]

And this chapter was thoroughly amazing!

[TorontoFCBrony]

Who knew that sports could be so scientific?

Indeed, Twilight. It's why some nerdy guys like me also spaz over sports.

Oh, there were a some pathetic little creatures assaulting my friends and I, but it was a trivial task to remove them all. I did so.

"A some".
Think that's a missed mistake. Maybe meant to be either "some", or "a few". Lol.

One of the armored officers charged at me. I removed her.

Damn.
...
Damn.

Why ever did I not read this for over a month? Oh yeah, it's because I'm so busy
But thank you, thank you, for finally giving me a good story to read that doesn't have cringe-worthy grammar or descriptions (like my own lol).

[BenRG]

I think that Chrysalis just got a free preview of just what a Nightmare really looks like and behaves like. The lesson? She previously had no clue what Evil really was like.

As for Twilight, I think that she now knows just what it feels like to be a Dark Goddess and I suspect that the lesson will stay with her for the rest of her days and act as a warning against ever believing herself to be incorruptible.

[Nekonyancer]

so I had mostly likely woken up.

most likely

[Razzy]

D: Those poor changelings. I see a lot of Twilight kicking herself for giving in to the darkness and murdering several sapient beings.

Cya
Raziel-chan

[NotanImportantPony]

Wow. That was wonderful.

[Sparkle Cola]

So good. Would also be so fun to see a comic series of this👍🏻

Also:

Who knew that sports could be so scientific?

Well... kinesiologists and physical therapists of course!

[iisaw]

9162354
If I was rich, I would hire Andy Price to do it!

[PsychicKid]

I think Twilight needs a hug.