Chapter 7. A Most Joyous Reunion
In the main Canterlot gardens, the reception was in full swing. Music was pounding out of the speakers, ponies were dancing and laughing, overall everyone was having a good time.
Spike sighed as he stared into his punch.
Almost everyone.
The juvenile dragon was standing near the concessions table, idly swirling his drink as he mulled over the day’s events.
“He’s at least thirteen years old! He should be at least twice as long as me! Yet another wonderful aspect of your ever so glorious perfect world, Celestia!”
Spike bit his lip. He’d been trying to forget those terrifying fifteen minutes as much as he could, but...
“BUT NOT FOR CONCORDIA! YOUR DUTY WAS NOT SOLELY TO THEM, BUT TO US ALL! WE SHARED THE RESPONSIBILITY, WE PROTECTED EVERYONE! UNTIL YOU BETRAYED US!”
He shuddered and squeezed his eyes shut. It was so confusing. It felt like he had a few small pieces in a really big puzzle. All he wanted was to figure it out.
“Spike?”
The dragon’s eyes snapped open and he jerked his head up, staring into the worried eyes of one of the first familial figures in his life.
“Spike, is everything alright?” Twilight asked again.
Spike swallowed lightly and plastered a smile on his face. “Y-yeah! Of course, Twilight! Everything’s great!”
The lavender unicorn’s worried look became tinged with annoyance. “Spike, I know when you’re lying to me. Be honest, what’s wrong?”
The dragon chewed on his lip for another second before sighing in defeat. “...I was thinking about what happened earlier. During the invasion...I was alone with Chrysalis and the Princesses.”
Twilight’s eyes widened in shock. “I- Spike, I’m so sorry, I-I can’t believe I forgot about that! Everything was happening so fast and-!”
Spike held his hands up, staving off his sister-figure’s panic. “Twilight, Twilight! It’s fine! Don’t worry, I wasn’t hurt, I’m fine, it’s all over anyways, it’s just...” He trailed off before sighing and staring into his drink again. “Chrysalis...she said a few things that got me thinking.”
Twilight frowned sadly. “Spike, Chrysalis was a changeling. Celestia told me about them after the invasion. By nature they’re tricksters, deceivers, you can’t take anything she says at face value.”
Spike’s eye twitched imperceptibly at the mention of Celestia. “Maybe...” He was silent for a second before looking at Twilight again. “Twilight, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”
Twilight bit her lip in hesitation. “Spike...”
“Twilight...” His eyes filled with pleading. “Please...”
Twilight was silent for a second before sighing heavily. “Go ahead, Spike. I’ll try and answer to the best of my ability.”
Spike smiled lightly and nodded. “Thanks, Twilight.”
Twilight returned the smile. “So what do you want to know?”
Spike’s smile dropped. There was another moment of silence, then...
“Twilight,” He asked quietly. “Am I small?”
Twilight blinked in confusion. “Um, Spike-?”
“Not!” He interrupted. “Overall, that much is obvious. I meant...for a dragon.”
Twilight frowned and tilted her head. “Spike, didn’t we already go through all this with Garble during the migration?”
Spike scowled at the memory. “That actually supports my question. Garble and his friends might have been jerks, but they were sixteen! They were only a few years older than me and they were at least three times my size! Some of them were even four! Plus they had wings and could fly and their flames were a lot larger and hotter ...” Spike cut his mounting rant off with a sigh. “They might not have been very mature, but when you get right down to it, they were a lot more grown up than me, while I’ve barely grown at all since I’ve hatched. That can’t be normal.”
Twilight shrugged. “I..don’t know what to say, Spike. You know that ponies don’t know a lot about dragons. But...if you want my opinion, it could be natural.”
Spike silently raised an eyebrow in question.
“Well,” She continued. “Remember how all of those dragons were of different shapes and sizes, and how Garble’s gang didn’t raise too much of a fuss about you not having any wings?”
He nodded hesitantly, wondering where she was going.
“Well...maybe dragons are like ponies, with different subspecies. While ponies have unicorns and pegasi and earth ponies, maybe dragons have ones that have hair or stubby tails or fins. Or in your case, ones that are smaller and don’t have wings! Actually...” She tapped her hoof to her chin. “Now that I think about it, that’s actually really likely. During the Greed Growth incident, you grew really really big,”
Spike shuddered. “Don’t remind me.”
Twilight continued unimpeded. “But you didn’t get any wings!”
He blinked. “Wait...really?”
She nodded. “Yup! If you’re different from Garble in that way, maybe you grow up at different rates too.”
Spike nodded slowly. “Yeah, that would make sense...” It might make sense, but Spike felt like something just wasn’t right.
Twilight must have sensed that something was amiss because she put a reassuring hoof on his shoulder. “Listen, Spike, I might not have all the answers, but I can tell you this: you’re definitely a healthy dragon and you have nothing to worry about or be ashamed of. Look at it this way, if you really want to get bigger, then there’s only one thing to do.”
Spike smiled at the old memory. “When little dragons want to get big and strong, they eat jewels and gems all day long.”
Twilight smiled and rubbed his head scales. “There you go.”
Spike chuckled as he fended her hoof off in embarrassment. He gave her a grateful grin. “Thanks Twilight.”
The lavender prodigy smiled indulgently. “Not a problem. Is there anything else?”
Spike scrunched his small snout in thought for a moment before biting his lip and looked down. “Yeah...” He looked up and nervously met her eyes. “Does the name ‘Concordia’ mean anything to you?”
Twilight blinked in surprise before looking up in thought. “Concordia. Concordia Concordia Concordia, I’ve heard that name, where have I heard that name?” She tapped her hoof for a second before her eyes snapped wide and she clapped her hooves together. “Oh! I remember now! Concordia, the old empire!”
Spike’s jaw dropped in surprise. “Seriously!? What do you know?”
Twilight hummed as she rubbed her chin. “Well, not a lot. Concordia is more myth than anything else. It’s said that long ago, Concordia was a monolithic empire, one that spanned the world, dwarfing any other kingdom to date, even Equestria!”
Spike listened intently, enraptured by what she was saying. “Wow...what happened to it?”
Twilight sighed and shook her head sadly. “It disappeared. Nobody knows how or why, but researchers suspect it wasn’t natural, seeing how it seemed to drop off the face of Equus after Discord’s reign. And even then, anything from before that time is really vague and unclear.” She frowned as a thought hit her. “Which is why outside of researchers who actively search for it, it’s virtually unknown. Spike, where did you hear that name?” She rapidly needled him.
Spike’s eyes darted left and right as he searched for an excuse. “Uhm, ah...”
Today was apparently the dragon’s lucky day, because before Twilight could press him, the music’s volume lowered and Pinkie’s voice came over the speakers.
“ALRIGHT, EVERYPONY! IT’S TIME FOR CADANCE AND SHINING ARMOR TO OPEN THEIR WEDDING PRESENTS! THEY’RE ON THE TABLE RIGHT NEXT TO THE CONCESSIONS STAND, PROVIDED BY SUGARCUBE CORNER! REMEMBER, IF IT AIN’T SUGARCUBE-!”
“PINKIE, NO ADVERTISING AT MY BROTHER’S WEDDING!” Twilight yelled.
“AWWWW!”
Twilight growled under her breath. “I swear, if she weren’t my friend...” She muttered as she trotted past Spike.
Spike sighed in relief. ‘Phew! Dodged an arrow, there!’
He turned around and jogged to catch up to Twilight, weaving through the crowd.
The rest of Twilight’s friends, Celestia, Luna, and the bride and groom were already at the table.
Cadance squealed lightly as she looked over the virtual mountain of presents. “This...this is incredible! It’s just too kind! I don’t even know where to start!”
“Oh! Oh! Oh!” Pinkie popped out of the pile and presented a package to her. “How about this one? No, wait!” She zipped back into the pile and exited about halfway up almost immediately, another present in her hooves. “This one!” Pop! “Or this one!” Pop “Or this o-woah!”
Pinkie squealed in surprise as a gold aura levitated her out of the pile. Celestia chuckled as she held the Element of Laughter in her magic. “Thank you for your opinion, Pinkie Pie, but I believe it would be best to leave the choice up to Cadance and Shining Armor.”
Pinkie giggled. “Oh, alright!”
Shining Armor hummed in thought before finally raising his hoof. “How about-”
“Mine!”
Later, people would testify to say that when they heard that voice, ice water filled the veins of every pony present.
Slowly, haltingly, heads turned to watch with horror as Queen Chrysalis strode confidently through the crowd, a large package covered in a black-and-green wrapping paper floating behind her, engulfed in a green aura.
“So sorry I’m late, everyone,” She said confidently, not a care in the world. “I just got a bit lost is all.”
All of a sudden, there were twin flashes of light as the celestial sisters teleported in front of the changeling queen, eyes and horns blazing with raw energy.
“Thou art not welcome here, insect.” Luna stated darkly.
Chrysalis pouted sadly. “Oh, that’s unfortunate. But I brought a gift!” She floated the package in front of her.
Suddenly, the present was ensnared in a large sphere of magneta energy. Well, it was large, until the sphere shrank to about the size of a tennis ball, destroying the package in seconds.
Shining Armor didn’t even flinch as he stared at the queen emotionlessly, placing himself between Chrysalis and his wife, who was shaking in fear.
Chrysalis’s expression became deadpan. “That was an antique changeling vase made by Kathy Butterfly. It was worth close to ten thousand bits.”
Shining Armor’s expression remained unchanged. “I couldn’t care less,” He said coldly. “The Guard is already on their way. Leave now or you’ll face the same fate.”
Chrysalis sighed and shook her head sadly. “Honestly now, all this pointless hostility! All I wanted to do was peacefully attend an old friend’s wedding reception! Is that too much to ask?”
Shining’s eyes narrowed in anger. “You don’t have any friends here.”
The queen’s expression changed to a sadistic smile. “Obviously. Hence the prefix ‘old’. But still, we were once friends!” Her horn suddenly ignited and she disappeared in a flash of green.
“Remember, Cadance?” The princess shrieked and fear and whipped around, staring up at Chrysalis’s still smiling face. “Oh so very very very long ago. Back in the old days...the days of Concordia!”
-o-
A murmur began to spread through the crowd at these words. Twilight’s coat paled slightly. “Chrysalis and Cadance know about Concordia?” She whispered incredulously.
“Pst! Twilight!”
The lavender mare nearly jumped out of her fur. She whipped around, horn alight only to come face-to-face with-
“Applejack!?” She hissed.
The cowpony held her hoof to her mouth, shushing her friend. “Quiet! Rainbow’s gatherin’ the others at the weddin’ cake, c’mon!”
Twilight swallowed heavily before nodding. “R-right.” She turned around to face Spike. “Spike, go find somewhere to hide. Don’t worry, this will all be over soon.”
Spike nodded hesitantly. “Got it.”
“Twilight!”
Twilight glanced over her shoulder. “Coming!” She looked back. “Good luck.” And with that, she galloped quietly after her friend.
Spike swallowed nervously before turning his gaze back on the conflict. Whatever was going on, he might have been afraid, but he sure as Tartarus wasn’t going to miss it.
At the same time, halfway across the crowd, Fluttershy was shaking in her coat. “Oh d-dear, oh my...”
Suddenly, a hoof tapping her on the wing made her nearly yelp before a hoof clamped over her mouth.
“Shh shh shh, Fluttershy, it’s me!”
The mare’s eyes widened in recognition. As soon as the hoof released her mouth, she spoke in surprise.
“Twilight!?”
-o-
Celestia snarled in anger. “Enough, Chrysalis!”
The queen’s sole response was to cock an eyebrow. “Hm?”
“You are dredging up things that should remain dead and buried. Leave now, or I swear to you-”
“You’ll what?” Chrysalis asked mockingly. “You’ll blast me? Destroy me? Smite me down?” She gained a snide, nigh evil grin as she glanced at Luna. “Banish me to the moon?”
Celestia snorted in fury. “Why you-!” Her horn lit up like a beacon.
Chrysalis’s expression turned deadly serious, her horn lighting up in turn, just as bright. “Go ahead and try. I’m not the same decrepit bug I was a few hours ago. Your precious harmony isn’t affecting me any more. I’m back at full strength, just as strong as you. Frankly, I believe I might even be stronger, considering how you haven’t had anyone up to your level in centuries. You haven’t even been using your mental shields, what chance do you have in combat?”
Luna bared her teeth angrily. “How hath thou accomplished this, villain?”
Chrysalis shrugged. “Oh, a bit of cardio, some magical reps, a well-balanced diet...”
“N-no!” Cadance interrupted. She was shaking, but she still had enough will to glare at Chrysalis. “The harmony...how did you get around the harmony? It was keeping you weakened, asleep...”
Shining glanced at his wife questioningly. “Cadance...”
“How!?” Cadance screamed, tears trailing down her cheeks. “How are you awake!? Why won’t you just go away and leave us alone!?”
“Ah, well see now, I believe that might be my fault.”
Cadance, Celestia and Luna all froze simultaneously at the voice, their magic extinguishing itself.
“My bad, really, I’m a terrible influence, I know. It’s just that, well, you know how I am.”
‘No.’ Celestia thought numbly.
“I’ve never been happy with the status quo, always sided with Discord and enjoyed some anarchy now and then.”
‘Impossible.’ Luna protested weakly.
“But! Why worry about business, hm? This is a party! I just wanted to come along and celebrate the happiness of one of my oldest and dearest friends!”i
‘Please, not him, anyone but him, anyone at all!’ Cadance pleaded, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Gradually, the Alicorns turned around, dreading the sight that they knew in their hearts to be inevitable.
Scholar stood at the entrance to the gardens, hands behind his back as he grinned kindly. “Is that so much to ask?”
Celestia stared at him in pure panic. “How.”
Scholar cocked an eyebrow. “Hm? Do be specific my dear. What happened to the eloquent mare I once knew?”
“How the hell did you escape!?” She hissed, in absolutely no mood for games.
“They seem to be rather fond of that question.” Chrysalis commented idly.
Shining flashed his horn. “You, shut your mouth!” He glanced at the Princesses. “Princess, the Guard will be here any moment, what should we do?”
“Yes, what should they do, hm Celestia?” Scholar inquired. “Engage us? Fight us? Because if they do...” Scholar’s glasses glinted with hellfire. “We will take as many down with us as we can. Guards...” He swept his gaze to the side, out over the crowd, causing many to flinch back. “And civilians alike.”
Luna took a step forwards, her eyes blazing. “Lay a hand on our little ponies and thou shalt suffer a fate far worse than eternal imprisonment, knave!”
Scholar chuckled sardonically. “Maybe, maybe. But in the end, you’d still have corpses on your hands. As it is, it appears that we are at a stalemate.”
“You can’t attack us because we’d go down in a veritable blaze of glory.” Chrysalis said casually.
“And we can’t attack you because frankly we don’t have enough firepower to take the two of you on.”
Shining Armor wheeled around and took a menacing step towards the alien figure. “Make that four, creature.”
The light in Scholar’s glasses mimicked a raised eyebrow before he chuckled lightly. “Cute, but no. It’s two. Celestia and Luna are forces to be reckoned with, but you? You’ll put on a pretty little lightshow, sure, but in the end I’ll just scrape what’s left of you off my shoes.”
“And Cadance?” Chrysalis suddenly lowered her head to stare the shaking princess in the eyes, causing her to jump back in fear. A satisfactory grin played across her face. “Let’s be blunt here: You’ve lost your edge. You’re nowhere near close to the ice-cold tactician we once knew. She could calmly sip her tea while someone was writhing in agony from the poison she’d just served them and not even bat an eyelash. You?” Chrysalis sneered in disgust. “You’re despicable.”
“Chrysalis, enough!” Scholar said casually. “Please, this is a reception, let’s at least try to be civil, hm?”
The changeling snorted lightly and stepped back.
Scholar began to slowly walk forwards, the crowd parting before him.
Celestia swallowed heavily, staring at him. “What do you want, Scholar?”
The Rune Keeper hummed idly, cocking his head back and forth. “Let’s see... Concordia restored to it’s former glory, this pathetic nation burning in the flames of my unholy wrath, you, your sister and your niece’s heads on a pike...” He spoke easily, as though discussing the weather. He then snapped his fingers, pretending to remember something. “Ah, but for now, I’ll gladly settle for something far more low-brow.”
He held his hand out to his side and gestured. In a flurry of runes, a chair and a table flew out of the crowd, bowling over several ponies in the process, before settling directly in front of Scholar. In a single deft move, he swept the chair out and sat down in it. He then reached into his robes and drew out a black case and placed it on the table. He clicked two latches on the case open.
“I want...”
He flipped the case open, revealing...
An eight-by-eight grid of black and white squares.
“To play a game.”
For the longest time, there was silence.
Finally, Celestia got her jaw working again. “What!?”
“You heard me. A game,” Scholar said simply. “Come on, Celestia. It’s been over two thousand years since we’ve played anything! Don’t tell me you think you’ll lose even after all this time?”
Celestia was silent, staring at him in disbelief. Then, she slowly began to walk forwards.
Luna’s jaw dropped open in shock. “Sister!?”
The elder alicorn shot her a look. “It’s alright Luna, after all,” She looked at where Scholar was sitting worriedly. He smiled devilishly at her. “He just wants to play a game.”
Luna bit her lip before nodding hesitantly.
Celestia slowly trotted up to the table and stood before it, looking down on both the board and Scholar.
The human rubbed his hands in anticipation. “Excellent! Let’s begin!”
Celestia wasn’t swayed. “What’s your game, Scholar?”
He shot her an incredulous look. “Really now, I thought that was obvious!” He flourished his hand, materializing a White King. “Chess!”
She merely narrowed her eyes. “Please don’t insult my intelligence. I’ve known you for too long, you’d never waltz in here just to play chess.”
Scholar’s smile grew strained for a second. Slowly, he set the King down in the middle of the board. “Well, if you don’t want to play chess...” His smile turned sadistic as he raised an arm, runes swirling around it. Several ponies in the crowd gave cries of fear as runes suddenly encircled them as well. Scholar’s glasses glinted malefically. “How about ‘pop-the-pony’?”
Luna and Shining Armor scowled and took a step towards Scholar, but were halted by Celesta’s raised wing. Her expression had barely changed. “Chess is fine.”
The Rune Keeper grinned enthusiastically, dismissing the runes. “Perfect!” he exclaimed, picking the piece up again.
“But before we begin, maybe we can talk a bit?”
“Hmm...” Scholar pondered this for a bit, idly twirling the King in his hand. Finally, he shrugged dismissively and engulfed the chess piece in his hand, making it disappear. “So be it.”
Celestia sighed in relief. “Very well then.”
Behind them, Luna’s eyes widened in realization. Acting fast, she discretely gestured at Shining Armor, tilting her head towards the exit to the Gardens. Shining widened his eyes in realization. He turned towards Cadance, intent on getting her to join him, but scowled when he saw that Chrysalis has interposed herself and was keeping his wife terrified and off her game. He looked back at Luna and shook his head, eliciting a scowl.
“So!” Scholar leaned back in his chair, swinging his feet up to rest on the table. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Well, at the risk of repeating myself...” Celestia said. “How did you escape from Tartarus?” This question sent hushed whispers rippling through the crowd.
Scholar stared at her neutrally for a second before grinning. “Luna helped me.”
“WHAT!?” The Alicorn in question screamed.
“Oh yes,” he said cheekily. “Undid every lock and let me walk out right past her, no fuss no muss. It was really quite professional.”
“We-you-!” Luna sputtered in disbelief.
“Meaning that you tricked her and used some form of subterfuge to circumvent her.” Celestia said evenly.
Scholar’s grin grew devilish. “You know me so well, Celestia!”
“Yes, I do.” She said, a tinge of sadness entering her voice. “Which is why these actions confuse me. Why are you doing this, Scholar? Before you would never threaten the lives of innocent ponies.”
Suddenly, Scholar’s smile died, slipping straight off his face. “That’s the keyword, Celestia,” He said solemnly. “‘Before’. Before, you stood beside me, and fought for the greater good. Before, I trusted you. Before,” He scowled deeply. “You wouldn’t have ever betrayed me. Betrayed us.”
Celestia narrowed her eyes at him. “We were presented with no choice.”
Scholar whipped his feet off the table and stood up, leaning over the table and into her face glaring straight into her eyes. “Wrong. I had no choice. I tried to stop Discord, I tried to resolve things peacefully. And for my troubles I was treated as a criminal, and forced to bear witness as you eviscerated Concordia and all it’s people, piece by piece.”
Celestia opened her mouth to protest-
“If you dare say that you had no other option, I will rip your tongue out and slaughter every last one of your ‘precious little ponies’.” He stated, his tone of voice low and deadly.
Her jaws snapped shut.
He continued to stare into her eyes, his entire being radiating hostility. “Two thousand years of unjust imprisonment, Celestia.” Scholar intoned darkly. “My patience has run out. I will see my goals met, and I could give a damn if I have to spill an ocean of innocent blood to do it.”
Scholar fell into his seat, breathing deeply to re-focus his mood. “We’re done talking. Let’s play.”
Celestia nodded tersely. “Very well then. I believe you have the pieces?”
Scholar’s mood flipped, returning to his jovial expression. “Indeed!” He exclaimed, producing the King again. “How about you play white, hm? You’re going to need every advantage you can get!”
The solar Alicorn shrugged noncommittally.
“Now, first off, we have the White King.” He placed the piece on the appropriate square. Suddenly, the playing piece was engulfed in a flash of bright light. When the light died down, it had been replaced with a miniature effigy of Celestia, wings spread and an imperious expression etched on her face.
“Strong, powerful, the most important piece on the board. Perhaps even the whole world? Well, according to her anyways. Personally, I just think she’s full of it.”
The real Celestia felt her eye twitch.
“Next, the White Queen!”
Another flash, and now Luna was present beside Celestia.
“Deadly, fast, feared by all. Notoriously over-estimated and unreliable, however.”
Luna growled viciously.
Another flash, and now there were twin Cadance’s, their heads bowed in sorrow.
“The bishop, once so wily and deceptive. But what changed? Was it when you laid a whole necropolis to rest, Solum Nox struggling against his shackles and screaming in rage? When you entombed the Citadel of Flames, with Pyrae Daemos still in it, roaring in fury?”
Chrysalis’s eyes narrowed in an accusatory manner. “Or maybe it was when you exterminated the trolls.”
Cadance flinched as though struck.
Chrysalis smirked in victory. “As I thought. But at what precise moment, I wonder? Was it when the queen raged at the death of her kind, and their only hope of propagation, and fought so fiercely that when she died, the surrounding landscape had been irrevocably ravaged? Was it when the notorious pirate captain fought you to the last and decided to go down with her ship, her own lover standing by her till the end even as the fleet burned around them? Or maybe...was it him?”
Cadance’s shivering redoubled, the mere memory terrifying her.
The changeling sighed in mock sympathy. “In all honesty, it’s hard to blame you. After all, to have the greatest preacher of peace in the world berate you, insult you, call you a monster with such vigor, such pure, unadulterated rage?” Chrysalis chuckled derisively. “It’s no surprise that you’ve become so pathetic.”
Apparently, Cadance still had some fight left in her. She grit her teeth and returned Chrysalis’s stare, a spark of rage present in her eyes.
“Don’t you dare,” She whispered harshly. “Call me pathetic.”
Chrysalis laughed mockingly. “Why shouldn’t I? After all, you can’t protect anything,” There was another flash of green light, and suddenly she was leering over Shining Armor. “Not even your precious little husband.”
Shining’s horn rapidly flashed purple as he tried to ensnare her in a barrier, but he cried out in pain as his horn was engulfed in an aura of sickly green energy. Queen Chrysalis smirked at the princess. “Well Cadance?” she taunted. “Aren’t you going to save your precious knight?”
Cadance breathed heavily. Slowly, her eyes and horn lit up in pink light. Her magic charged, growing brighter and brighter and brighter. And when finally, the magic reached it’s peak...
“I am angry...because I forgive you...”
It sputtered out, dying down as Cadance collapsed to her knees, sobbing miserably. “Damn it...I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry...”
The crowd watched in speechless horror as one of their beloved princesses broke down completely and utterly.
Chrysalis smirked victoriously. “As I said,” She released Shining Armor and turned around, trotting back to stand by Scholar. “Pathetic.”
Shining Armor leaned down and nuzzled his wife worriedly, but it couldn’t break through the emotions wrought by the raw memories.
Scholar smiled endearingly at Chrysalis. “Well played!”
She nodded and gave a fang-filled smirk. “It was my pleasure. Especially considering how she was the one who sealed my hive personally.”
Scholar blinked in surprise. “That’s news to me.”
Chrysalis gave a shrug. “Ah well. It doesn’t matter either way. I’ve got catharsis, she’s miserable, it’s a win win.”
They were speaking casually, ignoring the thin veil of magic and rage shrouding Celestia. “That was cruel, Chrysalis.”
Scholar waved his hand casually. “Personally, I’m of the opinion that that was rather fun. But!” He clapped his hands. “That’s neither here nor there. We were playing a game! Where were we again?”
Chrysalis tapped her chin in thought. “Well, seeing how I just made her Bishop useless, I believe that next would be the Knights, correct?”
He snapped his fingers. “That’s it! The White Knights!” Another flash, and this time it was two Wonderbolts on the board. “Famous, well renowned, elite,” He leaned back and smirked up at the clouds as Spitfire, Soarin, Rapidfire and Fleetfoot landed on the floating white puffs and glared down at him. “And right on time! Though,” He leaned in and stage-whispered conspiratorially with Celestia. “I think that this generation is a bit of a down-grade, you know? Comet Chaser would have been spitting feathers if he saw what they were like! I mean, seriously, publicity stunts instead of military maneuvers? For shame, Celestia, for shame!”
A gold aura engulfed his shoulder and shoved him back into his chair.
Scholar blinked in surprise before smirking. “Losing your temper, eh? Good! It will make your defeat that much more satisfying. Moving on, we have...the Rook!”
Now it was Shining Armor’s turn to take to the board.
“Tough and surly, he believes he’s a powerhouse, but in all honesty? He’s just a small piece playing on a board that’s so much bigger than he is.”
Shining Armor cast a glare over his shoulder, but was too pre-occupied with comforting his wife to do much else.
“And finally...” He swept his hand over the board. Left behind were the miniaturized renditions of the Elements of Harmony and (much to an onlooking drake’s annoyance) Spike. “The Pawns. Let’s be frank here...” He smirked at Celestia. “This pretty much speaks for itself.”
“HEY!” Pinkie Pie’s voice came from out of the crowd. “I resemble that remark!”
“I honestly don’t care!” Scholar returned in an amused tone of voice.
Celestia frowned in confusion for a second. Was there an...echo to Pinkie’s voice?
Her attention was drawn back to the board by Scholar speaking again. “Oh, wait! My bad, I forgot a few of your pawns!” Another snap and, to Celestia’s horror, a guard in uniform materialized.
With a large amount of clanking and stomping, a platoon of guards marched through the crowd, brandishing spears and pikes. They swiftly moved to surround the two interlopers. Simultaneously, a squadron of armored pegasi arrived and began circling above.
Scholar whistled as he looked around. “My oh my, so many pawns. How very unimpressive. Days were that I’d actually have legitimate reason to worry about a platoon.”
Celestia swallowed heavily, trying to refocus and calm herself down.
Trying to convince herself that she could win.
“Scholar, I am giving you one chance, and one chance only.” She stated imperiously. “Surrender, now. Maybe we can find some middle ground, room to negotiate-”
“Celestia.” Scholar was deadly again. “An entire species is extinct because of you. You and your sister have committed xenocide. There is not now, nor will there ever be any room for negotiation. Now then...” His smile was back, but now it was filled with pure malice. “I believe that it’s time for me to place my pieces on the board, hm?”
Before Celestia could respond, he flourished his hand and produced an obsidian rendition of himself.
“The Black King!” He exulted. “Powerful, charming, handsome, intelligent, talented-”
“Modest to a fault?” Chrysalis questioned innocently.
Scholar rolled his eyes. “Har har har, hilarious.” He placed his piece on the board, but unlike the white pieces, he placed his own several spaces out of place. He grinned mischievously at Celestia. “Ah yes, you see, Celestia, I took the liberty of playing a few turns without you. I’d extend my apologies, but I could honestly not care less about what you think.”
Celestia swore her heart skipped a beat as her pupils dilated. ‘Played a few-!? Oh no!’
Scholar moved on. He produced a piece of Chrysalis. “The Queen. Beautiful, skilled, influential, and with a good head on her shoulders.”
Chrysalis raised an eyebrow at the description. “Oh, is that all?”
The Rune Keeper twisted around and gave her an incredulous look. “Hypocrite!”
The changeling queen chuckled in embarrassment. “I suppose.”
Scholar was silent for a moment before smiling and sighing sadly. “Oh, very well then,” He placed the piece on the board next to his own. “She’s also very generous! I mean, look!”
To Celestia’s horror, he swept his hand over the board and materialized six pieces shaped like regular changelings.
“She was gracious enough to provide me with all these pawns!”
“Hey, we resent those implications!”
Celestia jumped in surprise and whipped around. She stared in shock. A changeling had popped out of nowhere and was mock-glaring at Scholar.
“Yeah!” Another Changeling had appeared and spoken up in a scratchy voice. “‘Pawn’ is an offensive title! It is completely unfair!”
“We could go on strike!” Another popped up. And another and another, on and on, appearing from out of nowhere within the crowd and speaking up.
“Yeah, let’s go on strike!”
“Union! Union! Union!”
“Give us dental!”
“We want a raise!”
“You don’t get paid, geniuses!” Scholar called out.
There was a moment of silence. Then...
“He’s right.”
“Good point.”
“Damn, we did not think this through.”
Scholar chuckled and shook his head. “For the record, these guys might not be very smart, but what they lack in brains, they make up for in ability. Because when you get down to the brass tacks...”
-o-
Twilight shivered in fear. “I can’t believe this, I can’t believe this, I can’t believe this...” She muttered, trying to process what she was hearing. Celestia, a betrayal, xenocide!? It was...impossible! Insane!
“Pst, Twilight!” the unicorn snapped her attention to her farmer friend. “We’re at the cake!”
Twilight swallowed heavily. She quickly re-focused herself. ‘Deal with this and get to my friends first. Then figure everything else later. I’m going to need a lot of checklists.’ She nodded quietly. “Alright, and stick close! We have to be careful, there are changelings in the crowd. Unless we’re careful, they’re going to try and...”
Suddenly, they emerged from the crowd, directly in front of the wedding cake. Twilight’s mouth ran dry.
The rest of her friends had arrived just as they did.
And they’d brought several long-lost identical twins with them.
The Applejack who’d led her to the cake turned around and leered at her. “Y’all were sayin’?” She mocked before she and five others were engulfed in green fire and reverted to their original forms.
“Why you-GAH!” The real Rainbow Dash tried to take to the air but was tackled from behind by a changeling that uncloaked from thin air. She crashed to the ground as the changeling and a partner held her wings.
“I’d suggest that you calm down!” The changeling growled.
“Grah, buck-ARGH!” Rainbow Dash screamed in pain when the two soldiers yanked on her wings.
“You’ve got pretty wings, Dashie,” The insectoid being mocked.
“Yeah!” his partner concurred. “Be a real shame to break ‘em!”
Rainbow Dash’s struggles ceased instantly as she panted heavily, glaring up at her captors.
“Hey Lacewing, I don’t think she likes us!”
“Awww, that’s too bad, Rotfang, I wanted us to be friends! HAHAHA!”
Twilight took a step backwards, discretely lighting her horn up...
Until a carapace-clad leg swung itself around her neck pulling her close. “Now now now, Twilight! You don’t want to leave just yet!”
She could hear the grin in the changeling’s flanged voice.
“The fun is just getting started.”
-o-
“They are damn good at their jobs.” Scholar finished smugly.
Celestia bit her lip as she watched the changelings corner the party guests and square off with the guards. With their active camouflage and sentience restored, the changelings were at least ten times as effective as they had been during the original invasion.
Scholar shook his head sadly. “Still though, Celestia. Tsk tsk tsk. I don’t even have all my pieces on the board and you’re already at a disadvantage. This game is not shaping up for you, is it?”
Celestia swallowed heavily. “Scholar-”
“Shhhh!” He interrupted. “Quiet! I still have a few pieces to put down. And you’re definitely going to want to see this. First!” Another flourish and he was holding on to a black tower. “My Rook. Faithful, unerringly loyal. Truly reliable, a person to trust. Oh,” He smirked at her deviously. “And I almost forgot.” He slammed the piece onto the board, causing it to shatter into the form of a minotaur. Suddenly, the ground began to shake and rumble.
“Strong.”
BOOM!
Walls of dirt and stone erupted from the earth, encircling the party and cutting it off from the outside world. When the walls stopped rising, a minotaur clad in bronze armor dropped to the earth like a meteor, shattering the earth around him.
The minotaur pulled himself to his full height and smirked triumphantly as he crossed his arms. “Iron Will is honored to inform you that the wedding is secure. There’ll be no more interruptions.”
Celestia paled as she looked his armor over. “Oh no...” She breathed.
“Then!” She whipped around as Scholar produced another piece. “The Bishop! Flamboyant, elusive, devilishly devious, and downright enchanting!” He tossed the piece onto the board where it began to spin madly across the tiles before finally settling into position, having morphed into the form of a caped unicorn.
All of a sudden, there was an explosion of silver light from the middle of the crowd.
“EXCUSE HER! THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE DEMANDS YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!”
Standing on a table was a light blue unicorn in silver armor and a purple cape and hat. The light was streaming from her body and twisting around her, blurring her like a mirage. Suddenly, she shot a huge blast of silver magic into the air that exploded like fireworks. Multiple guards and guests looked up to stare at it.
Celestia followed it up as well, but her eyes widened in panic within seconds. She quickly snapped her eyes down and cried out. “NOPONY LOOK AT HER!”
Luna’s eyes widened in recognition. She tried to step forwards, but before she could she was halted by multiple guards suddenly pointing their weapons at her and gripping her body with several shades of magic . Luna attempted to struggle and order them to release her, but when she caught sight of their eyes, she relinquished. They had stared at the light, and their pupils had been filled with it. Throughout the brawl, ponies were turning traitor and disarming their friends, family and allies.
Celestia raised her eyes and looked at her old friend pleadingly. “Scholar, please!”
“Shhh, Celestia!” he interrupted. “This is going to be really spectacular! Cause now, it’s time for the Knight!” He brandished the piece excitedly. “Brash, bold, and oh so boisterous! She’s loud, she’s aggressive, she can be a bit bone-headed at times...” He smiled with pride. “But that doesn’t stop her from a being a damn good ally. And an even better flyer!”
“SCREEE!” A predatory screech rang out from the sky. The Wonderbolts, who had been dealing with the aerial changelings, froze and wheeled around, trying to locate the source of the noise. Suddenly, Spitfire was blindsided by a streak of yellow and gold, struck down. She fell to the earth, her body lightly smoking. The remaining Bolts tried to scatter, but it was no use.
The streak wheeled around in an instant and caught up to Soarin, subjecting him to the same fate. Fleetfoot and Rapidfire tried to wheel around and fight back, but it was no use. The streak circumvented them, maneuvering above them and tackling them simultaneously, plummeting to the earth where they crashed with a BANG!
For an instant, dust obscured the area. Then, it was blown away as a griffon, clad in radiant golden armor, stood on her hind legs and flourished her wings, dispelling the cloud. She brandished the singed Wonderbolts as trophies, lightning coursing off her body as she screeched her victory to the heavens.
Celestia breathed heavily as she watched the demoralizing sight.
“Impressive, eh?” She slowly turned to stare at Scholar as he placed the playing piece on the board, morphing it to resemble Gilda. “But the finale is yet to come!”
She slowly closed her eyes in resignation. “What could you possibly have left? What’s left that you haven’t already done?”
“Ah, well see, that’s the thing,” He chuckled mirthlessly. “All I have left to play,” He held out two normal black pawns in his hand. “Are two measly little pawns that I didn’t even plan on. But!” he held up a finger. “They are tenacious little buggers. Slippery too. So slippery, in fact,” He placed them on the board behind the white pieces. “That they’ve been right under your nose this entire time. Say, Celestia, I’ve gotta wonder...” His smirk was that of the devil himself. “Isn’t it time to cut the cake?”
Celestia’s eyes snapped wide open in fear. “No...” She whispered.
She whipped her head around and stared at where the cake was. To her horror, Twilight and her friends had been cornered near the cake by a group of changelings.
“TWILIGHT!” She screamed.
The purple unicorn snapped her head around to stare at her mentor.
All of a sudden, a huge crimson blade emerged from within the cake, protruding directly above Twilight.
What occurred next...was a blur.
The blade whipped around in a frenzy, shredding the cake to bits. Then, there was a blast of flames, sending the pastry flying everywhere. Amidst the mayhem, something, two somethings flew out in a blur, grabbed Twilight and flew above the chaos of the crowd.
“ALRIGHT, EVERYONE LISTEN UP!”
The havoc slowly ground to a halt as everyone looked up to stare at the two beings.
They were both...unique, to say the least. For starters, they didn’t have any bodies or were even made of flesh and blood. They appeared to be two bowling-ballesque spheres of stone that had glowing magical eyes looking out of them. Floating by each of them was a pair of disembodied stone hands. The first of them was colored a rusty, bloody red, and was gripping in his hands a disproportionately huge sword. The other one, a leafy green, was holding a clearly terrified Twilight Sparkle by her neck with a single hand.
“Greetings, everyone!” The red one spoke in a high-pitched squeaky male voice. “My name is Null the Crimson Knight!”
“And I’m Nix, the Verdant Witch!” The green one said in an equally high-pitched but female voice.
“As of this moment, all the ponies here are gonna stop fighting!”
“Otherwise,” Nix held her free hand up to Twilight’s throat. Her hand ignited in emerald flames, causing Twilight to squeal in fear. “The pretty purple pony gets it!”
“Do not tempt us people!” Null swung his sword around like it was a baton. “I’m small, short tempered, and I’ve got the compensation to prove it!”
Celestia stared up at them dully. “Nix and Null. The Golem Twins. Your personal assistants.”
Scholar nodded happily. “Yup! Swung by the statues, Discord says hi by the way. All I had to do was give them a jolt and they were good as new. Now then,” He clapped his hands. “All the pieces are in play! It’s time for the game to begin! As always, white moves first. But, for the record...” His smile became pure evil. “I think you and I both know that there’s only one viable move right now. And for her sake,” He tilted his head towards the Golems. “I’d recommend you take it.”
Celestia stared at him silently. Slowly, she looked around.
She saw her little ponies cornered either by changelings or enchanted guards.
She saw the Wonderbolts, unconscious from electrocution.
She saw Cadance, sobbing miserably and Shining holding a barrier up to keep any aggressors away.
She saw Luna, ensnared by their own guards.
Their eyes met. For the longest moment, they stared at each other.
Finally, Luna closed her eyes and nodded.
Celestia nodded back and turned back to the board. She took a calming breath before lighting her horn up. Her own piece was engulfed in a golden aura.
Slowly, decisively, her own piece tilted backwards and fell down.
Scholar smiled and nodded happily. “Checkmate. I win.”
Suddenly, he shot to his feet and brought his fist down on the board, shattering it and sending the pieces flying.
He stared emotionlessly into Celestia’s eyes, his runes whipping around him.
“The time for games is over.” He said solemnly.
“Now is when things get serious.”
To Be Continued...
Stats
Page generated in 0.069 seconds
Total duration
1,042 users online
105,885 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
YES MY THEY BERN FOR ALL OF ENTERITY
epic
Shivers
Now. They shall know pain.
Amazing
i really hope that scholar wins this one... hate it when the supposed "Good Guys" wins all the time. Time for the awesome to win for a change!
3 Stooges anyone?
AHHHHH!!! So goddamn rad. Can't wait to see how this plays out. I haven't been so giddy for a fanfic in forever.
YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES!
You know, considering the building, I was expecting the final battle between Team Concordia and Team Alicorn a bit more... engaging. Scholar and co. played Celly, Lulu and
Dolores UmbridgeCaddy like a fiddle. A bit disappointing.4081149 Final!? HA!
This is even better than the Joker crashing that high class party in The Dark Knight.
gaaaahhhhh im shaking in eagerness and excitement and everytime he did something i laughed cause im just evil sometimes
Great chapter. How will Twilight and the others deal with the truth? Will anyone change sides?
Well played, Scholar.
epic build up I hope this story is long~!
4080920 some "GOOD" guys we have here, you could group every illness and villion together and unless we're talking intergalactic tia and the other still have a higher body count as well as desicration of national and historical landmarks and other unmentionable attrocities. so at worst we're talking less evil when you look at the alicorns and Scholar and his group
loving the story, wanting more please
think celestia killed or crippled spike mother and took his egg as a warning to the dragons? or a bargaining chip? grooming him for a role? his origin are a mystery celestia happen to have his egg for her school to use say fowl play on her part somehow or other...
Wow, i am so looking foward of more encounters between Scholar and the Three Alicorns, to find out what happen all those years ago, why they betrayed their former friends and what their TRUE feelings were when they did it.
Why didn't Celestia remove Spikes memory of the conversation. He learned a lot of very secret information that could unravel everything she's built. Did she forget about him or just assume that no one would believe him
I think that the last two lines of dialogue were a reference, but I don't remember what.
4080952
It reminded me of a line in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
4081876 Retcon, author stupidity, or she just needed a very stiff drink and forgot about him. Take your pick.
Ooooh yeah. A bunch of determined people fighting for a cause, to right wrongs committed by a slew of hypocrites that hide their own filth under a velvet cloud, and began walking barefoot because of it, so much so that they don't know what a boot to the head is. This. Is. GOOD. And the events leading up to it? Even better!
The time for Equestria has ended. And now that the game is up, it's to my analysis that more ponies than Trixie will be on the right trench.
4081599 Less evil? Scholar's gang is at the very worst a carbon-steel shade of grey.
4082284 I hope celly lose's
Let us not forget that it was their fault Discord went berserk and tried to kill them in the first place.
One thing I'm looking forward to is seeing Shining Armour get his ass handed to him.
On the show he is a perpetual man-child with a really creepy sister complex yet he holds the highest position in the military. I've always found it weird how a guy in his mid twenties who has zero combat experience could hold such a high rank, it's glaringly obvious that the only reason he holds such a position is because he's dating Cadence and the fact that his sister is Celestia's protege (his family are probably nobles too).
I see lots of fics where he is some sort of Rambo super warrior who can take on whole platoons of soldiers by himself (and he sees himself this way). In reality he's one of those guys who thinks because he's got some combat training and does good in drills that he's invincible. Its one thing to train, but actual fighting requires experience to get good at. I can see him starting a fight with Scholar or Chrysalis all smug and sure of himself and getting his flank kicked with no effort on his opponents part.
I justify this by pointing out that the Royal Guard on the show are a bunch of useless incompetent idiots and that the reason they're so useless is because their leader has no idea what he's doing
BTW sorry if I come of all ranty in these comments. There are no other Bronies were I live (that I know of) so I've never been able to express or talk about my opinions on the show before. (And I've never read a story that matched my headcanon so well).
plus I hate Shining Armour (after what he did to poor Chrysalis) I hate him so much
4083040 A normal guard pony, which translated in real life to the troops arriving.
4081094 there is one problem in that comment. It does not say "Yes" enough.
4083045 ah.
I was just wondering if this story is ending soon. It just seems like Scholar has got Celestia in the palm of his hand and that the endgame is approaching. With the amount of world building and lore that has been established I can easily see this story breaking 300,000 words. If this were to end before it even reached 100,000 I would be completely heartbroken.
4083216 Buddy buddy buddy. We're just getting STARTED!
You made a Chess reference.
My stache please.
4083220 huzzah
4082284
Maybe she was still recovering from the assault, plus Spike being a harmless kid under Twilight´ surveillance . It would have been simple to fetch him latter for a "talk".
4082550
Specially those who would want to survive the retailation of the returning races and their leaders.
I swear, if the ponies win in this like most other fics of this type, I will freak the hell out
absolutely amazing
While it is a good story...I went from nearly being persuaded to back Scholar, to hating his guts. Honestly, I'm stuck in the middle here, and if I where in this story, I'd do my best to get as far away from anyone as possible.
Still, this is an awesome story.
One quick question: Is Scholar the only human, or are there others? I've been confused about that.
4083287 and not just lose, Celestia and Luna need to suffer for what they've done. Especially after what they did to poor Chrysalis
fimfiction-static.net/images/story_images/74419.png?1358578779
Bloody F@#$%$@g Murder
4080732 ...I really hope all those misspellings were intentional. Otherwise... well, actually, it would be kind of impressive in a twisted sort of way.
4083588 I wanted to see how many people would realize your the first one
4083637 heh
.
.
.
is the "your" intentional?
I really hope that Twilight will be on Scholars side by the end of this story.
Good History !!
Scholar should - without malice - examine Twilight Sparkle with a heavy magic detection spell...
... and then when Twilight sees the results of said spell, the little pony should flip her shit!
Why?
You think this Celestia wouldn't do something to her most powerful student to ensure she stays a little loyal puppet?
Like, say, a whole slew of magic binding, suppression, and mind altering spells... all linked to some kind of "dead mare" rune-switch centered upon her heart?
Oh, yes she would...
............
So that's why she's so OCPD...
Why she studies so much.
And studies only what Celestia wants her to, of course; can't have Twily getting any ideas in her head that aren't Princess-approved...
And when at last, poor Twilight finds out what's been done to her and has Scholar fix it all...
There must be a Heath Ledger!Joker-style DYNAMIC ENTRY from her wherein she smashes down the door when the Princesses are all attending some important function...
"Good evening, fillies and gentlecolts..."
Dude... I just popped the biggest boner