Double Dragon: Shadow over Equestria

by Scarlett Haze

Mission 7 - The Changeling Nest

***Into the fray!***

At the gates, the group looked up at the intimidating dark tower that stood before them. Each one getting serious before rushing through the door and being greeted by the low hum of buzzing wings and angry changelings. The room they had entered led to separate entrances with an etched picture of a single member of the group.

Billy and Jimmy refused to acknowledge the etchings and motioned for them to just enter one. Their hopes of maintaining unity was dashed as they all ran into a magic purple barrier that only allowed Leash to past through. Turning back, she felt uncertain of herself and tried to return, only to hit the same magical barrier.

"She's up to something," Jimmy grunted before hitting a fist to the barrier and moving back. "We'll have to play by her rules in order to pass."

Honor Bound expressed no fear as he nodded in approval and moved to his entryway, not passing through and instead peering into the looming darkness ahead of him.

"It's going to be a trap," Shining Armor argued, moving to his own entryway and readying himself for the dangers ahead.

"And we're going to walk through it," Billy proclaimed, hoping to inspire his teammates. "Even if we're apart, we can still do incredible things."

"I really hope your right," Leash moaned from behind the magical wall.

Jimmy only grinned at Leash. "Of course he is, a Lee is rarely wrong about what he believes in."

Billy laughed, "Ain't that a fact, Spike?"

"It is a fact, Hammer." Jimmy snipped.

"Are we naming ourselves as random objects?" Honor Bound asked genuinely. "I call Battleship."

Jimmy shook his head and walked down his path. "Bringing back the gang names; I'm going to smack Billy so hard when I see him again."

Jimmy moved into a hallway blocked by a changeling in a gaudy robe. Moving forward, Jimmy went to wind back into a punch only to see the changeling float up and then phase through him. Feeling the chill in his soul, Jimmy attempted to turn around to find the changeling before a sudden bolt of lightning hit him, knocking him to the ground for a moment.

Shaking his head and picking himself up, Jimmy tried to find the changeling again and felt uncertainty creep into him. This changeling was being crafty in its tactics and he wasn't liking it a single bit.

***

Leash snapped her whip again and watched it go through the ghostly changeling again, making her whimper. She didn't know how to hurt this opponent and the more she dodged, the more she felt her body draw closer and closer to the bolts of magic that were thrown at her.

What did she need to do to beat this road block that kept her from the goal?

***

Honor Bound kept pounding the changeling in front of him, again and again and again. He pulled away, sure that he had finally won the fight. His back leaned against a pillar and tried to catch his breath before seeing that same cloaked changeling rise up again, making him shake his head in disbelief. Was he not hitting this thing hard enough? He had to be, because his arms were getting tired from hitting such a puny creature over and over.

***

Shining Armor just could not hit this changeling! It dodged, countered, and weaved around every attempt to even get a glancing shot on its black armor. It should have been impossible to not miss at least once! However, there he was, failing every attempt his training had taught him in beating his opponents. Whatever this changeling was doing, it was severely messing with his head. He needed to figure out how to get an attack in soon, or he was going to tire out quickly!

***

"Look at them, Avatar," Chrysalis chuckled. "Each and every one of your heroes are slowly getting beaten and outwitted by my own creations."

Marian could only watch on, her body having grown weak as the spirit was stripped away by Chrysalis' magic. Her expression shown contempt and fury at the monster that had chosen to let her see Billy, Jimmy, and some friends that had joined them get systematically beaten down by the shadows that were placed in front of them.

"Soon, they will all fall," Chrysalis spoke, her eyes squinting to focus on her dream of dominating the world. "You will be consumed entirely, and I will be the new Avatar of Love. The world will fall in love with ME, and feed me the power to finally become a GOD!"

Chrysalis began to cackle as Marian turned back to the sight of Billy throwing a kick against his changeling enemy, seeing the determination in his eyes. Moving to the next screen, she saw the same look in Jimmy's eyes, then the unicorn, then the minotaur, then the dog. Her hope began to rise and she found her voice again.

"They won't fall," Marian flatly spoke, stopping Chrysalis from her maniacal laughter.

***

Billy kept connecting with his shots, making the changeling slowly shift back. He had to get to Marian. He fought enough to get himself here, and he had more than enough to push through.

***

Chrysalis looked over to Marian, a sneer on her face as she looked at the chained pony that continued to speak against her.

"They won't ever love you."

***

Jimmy struck the changeling with a roundhouse. He finally found his opening and was ready to push on to Marian.

***

"They are going to beat your soldiers, because they've done it against every single one you've thrown at them."

***

Leash threw a fist into the changeling, surprising it with her sudden attack. Whip or not, she had to win this fight for the dragons and for the Avatar she had betrayed.

***

"Then, they're going to come here and face you."

***

Honor Bound opened his arms and waited for a shot by the changeling as he turned around and kept looking at the unmoving opponent. "If you don't want to throw a punch, then I'll be on my way back to the bunch." A smirk crossed his face as the changeling vanished before turning around and continuing to his destiny.

***

"You'll try to beat them. I don't doubt that at all."

***

Shining Armor let his opponent throw his attack before countering it and knocking him to the floor. He wasn't going to let Cadence down and he wasn't going to let the Double Dragons down.

***

"But, you'll learn just like your puppets, that they'll kick your ass!"

Chrysalis went to raise a hoof to strike Marian but held back, knowing her time was ending. By the time they would reach her, they would be too late to save the Avatar. She instead sidled back and looked toward the entrance that the group would all run in from and began to pull the last piece of love from the Avatar.

***Hurry, Double Dragons!***

The group continued to run as they all met up, no time to joke as they rushed to the final area. Tensions continued to build as the dark halls seemed to go for eternity until they saw the door.

Each of them leapt forward and plowed through, only to see Marian's soul being torn from her body. They all moved in slow-motion as Marian's soul began to drain into Chrysalis' body, the visage of Marian trying to reach out for a hand to save her. Billy and Jimmy jumped to reach their hands to grasp Marian's, only to fall short and land on their faces.

Chrysalis began to laugh, her body now being enveloped in a dark, purple aura. "You are too late to save your Avatar, Dragons!" She cackled out, now floating in the air. "Now, I am your god! I am your master!"

Billy and Jimmy could only look over to Marian's body, now limp on the floor, her eyes clouded and empty.

"Not again!" Billy yelled out, tears already forming in his eyes. "I don't want her to die, again!"

Jimmy grasped at Marian's body and held it tight, soon feeling his own brother's arms around him. They felt their spirits crush as Chrysalis changed her form into something more fitting an evil goddess. The holes in her hooves filled in as her body began to take the same shape as Marian's human form. Her buzzing wings became useless to her as they fell and the magic in her horn now traveled to her newly shaped hands.

"Come now," Chrysalis spoke, her voice now sounding innocent and pure. "The Avatar still requires the two dragons as her guardians, right?" She reached out to touch the mourning duo when Leash grabbed her arm.

"Keep away from them!" Leash barked out before a backhanded slap by Chrysalis sent her twirling in the air and collapsing to the ground.

Chrysalis attempted again to touch the dragons until her arm was weighed down by magic from Shining Armor.

"Don't you dare ruin their moment!" Shining Armor threatened. With a wave of her open hand, Shining Armor's horn exploded and sent him to the floor.

A final time, Chrysalis went to claim the dragons as her own and instead found her finger pointing into the barreled chest of Honor Bound.

"You want to get to them," Honor Bound grunted. "Then you'll have to go through this gem."

Chrysalis roared in disapproval and sent Honor Bound away with her magic to the opposite wall. She finally got in range to touch and claim the dragons when her finger hit a pink bubble that sent a shock of pain through her body. Gripping her wrist, she looked at her finger and then the bubble that had formed around the grieving dragons.

***Goodbye... Marian...***

The brothers kept holding Marian close, letting their tears continue to fall to the ground. They failed to save her. Memories of her with them began to float through their minds. Some fights, some moments of unity, others pure in their emotion.

"Billy," Marian said, a smile on her face as she sat at the brother's table. "Jimmy. I don't want to be a problem for either one of you."

"Nah!" The brothers responded together.

"I'd probably fight 10 Skullmageddons in a row and it wouldn't be a prob," Billy boasted.

"You couldn't handle him once!" Jimmy argued.

Marian could only laugh as the brothers got into an argument again. They were more than friends. In that moment, even if it was just for that one moment... they were family.

"I'm so sorry, Marian," Billy choked out, his vision blurring from the tears. "I couldn't save you, again!"

Jimmy felt himself step back in time, seeing Billy as he approached him, a sense of failure and pain in his eyes.

"I should have been there, for her!" Billy screamed at his brother.

Jimmy tried to hold his brother back from hurting himself, feeling the pain and rage in Billy's spirit. "You would have been gunned down too!" Jimmy argued, struggling to keep his brother from lashing out in fury. "You want to feel bad for Marian? She wouldn't want that! She would want you to fight for her! Just like we did before."

Billy sniffled and stopped moving in the hug of his brother. "I... I just feel so alone."

Jimmy readjusted his hug, comforting his brother. "I know. But, look at who's here and now." Their eyes met, and Jimmy struggled to smile through his own pain. "You have me."

The brothers laid the body down and stood up, feeling a renewed sense of duty in their bodies. They had not known it, but their eyes glowed in their respective colors.

Billy's blue eyes looked to Chrysalis and his body went into a ready position.

Jimmy' red eyes looked to Chrysalis as well, and he mirrored his brother.

A yellow aura enveloped the two, before a winding blue and red stream began to circle around them.

Double Dragon, TRANSFORM!

Billy's scales began to fly off of him, his human flesh visible for a short moment before being wrapped into a blue energy that revealed to be a blue martial arts uniform after fully enveloping his body. His blonde hair flew wildly, and finally settled on his head before Billy Lee's eyes opened to reveal a fury built up inside. As the energy continued to build, his wings vanished, revealing his strong back His muscles tightened as a dragon's tattoo circled around his right wrist and worked its way up to his forearm and then froze in place. Billy struck a defensive pose as his aura faded away, revealing himself to Chrysalis and his friends. "I am master of Sou-Setsu-Ken, Billy Lee! I fight in the name of love, honor, and friendship!"

Jimmy's transformation was just the same as his brother's, his human body covered in a red gi, instead of his brother's blue. His red-brown hair blew in the high energy that had swirled around him before settling. A similar dragon's tattoo swirled around his left arm and then froze. Striking an attacking pose, his aura faded away, letting the others witness his change in appearance as well. "I am master of Sou-Setsu-Ken, Jimmy Lee! I fight in the name of friendship, honor, and love!"

The brothers collided their tattooed arms in an 'X' fashion and struck their final pose, intimidating Chrysalis with their synchronization and burning determinism. "Alone, we are strong!" Billy yelled out.

"Alone, we are formidable!" Jimmy responded.

"Together, we are Double Dragons!" The brother cried out in unison.

Chrysalis took a step back, feeling a force that was alien to her. It felt like the love she would consume, but it was stronger, more potent, and most importantly, unable to be taken away.

The group the Dragon's had fought with reacted in shock, seeing these alien forms now standing in place where the dragon's once were. Despite the fear of these changed warriors, they felt a sense of protection had now fallen in the room.

Chrysalis pointed a finger at the Dragon's, "Do you think you can beat me?" she asked with malice. "I don't care if you are dragons, dogs, or monsters! I AM A GOD! I shall not be challenged by ANYONE!"

Billy and Jimmy remained silent, still posed as they waited for Chrysalis to make the first move.

"Very well," Chrysalis angrily shouted, an echo behind her roar. "You have crushed my armies, destroyed my alliances, and spat in the face of my final glory! All I want is to rule the world and be loved by millions!" Her purple aura rose higher into the air. "THIS! ENDS! NOW!"

***Avatar of Love - Goddess Chrysalis***

Constructing a sharp sword from her magic, Chrysalis charged forward and went to slash at the brothers. With sudden quickness, the brothers disappeared from Chrysalis' sight, prompting her to pause for a short moment. A quick look up led her to see Billy Lee descending with his foot extended to strike her. Sidestepping the attack, Chrysalis went to strike Billy's back with her sword, only to feel a hand grip her foot.

Looking down at the offending thing that had captured her, she watched in horror as Jimmy Lee forcibly pulled her down to the ground. Before she could defend herself she felt a thrusting kick to her chest, sending her flying to an opposite wall. Looking down at where she was hit, she noticed a pink outline of the foot on her. Snapping her head up, she growled and unleashed a torrent of purple magic at Jimmy Lee, an unending stream of pain.

Jimmy Lee leapt up to avoid the magic, causing it to instead strike the wall behind him and lead out into the open sky of the Everfree. He gave no reaction to the destruction and instead began to run toward Chrysalis to close the distance between them.

Billy Lee had recovered and ran with his brother toward Chrysalis, still focused on bringing justice to the creature that hurt and killed his girlfriend.

Chrysalis sent waves of her purple magic to keep the brothers away, and reacted in fear seeing them run through it as if it was nothing. "This... can't be!"

Billy leapt up and brought his leg up, still showing no emotion as he bore down on Chrysalis. Jimmy struck Chrysalis with a sliding kick, causing her to wobble unsteadily as Billy finished the job of striking the top of her head with his foot.

The changeling queen was slowly becoming unsteady in her control of the spirit that resided in her body, seeing the pink energy that was being struck on her with each blow by the brothers. Out of desperation, she channeled her energies into balls of explosive magic and sent them around the room, hoping that it would at least hurt ONE of these dragons.

Jimmy watched the magic draw close to their fallen friends and ran to send them away, not wanting anyone else to die under their care. Knocking a few out of Leash's way, he saw them all begin to blink red. With little time he threw himself on top of the explosives to reduce any damage that would have happened to Leash.

Billy kept fighting, throwing punches and kicks at the weaving goddess to bring the hurt. He felt all of his intensity focus and build as he collided his fist against Chrysalis' face. Continuing to smash his opponent, Billy made Chrysalis unsteadily back away, closer to the open wall of the tower.

Chrysalis finally forced herself to disappear, now teleporting around the room to fire her magic at the brothers. Constructing mystical knives that floated in the air and shot forward at fast speed to cut and impale them.

The brothers jumped, ducked, and shifted from the projectiles and continued to assault Chrysalis, still pushing her closer and closer to the edge. Her body now blinking rapidly in pink as she felt control of the Avatar slip further and further away from her.

"WHY?!" Chrysalis screeched. "WHY CAN'T I TAKE YOUR LOVE?!"

Jimmy brought a hard left haymaker into Chrysalis' face and then threw his right leg into her chest, making her step a little closer to the edge of the tower. "You can't be the Avatar because you only know how to love yourself!"

Billy struck with a right cross punch and spinning leg kick with his left foot, making Chrysalis feel the edge at her feet. "Your greed and self-satisfaction has hurt all that have crossed your path!"

Chrysalis stood uneasily at the edge, unable to bring herself back up or attempt to fly with her power. She watched in fear as the brothers reeled back and their fists gathered balls of energy. One blue, the other red.

"Your terror ends here!" The brothers yelled, bringing their fists together and punching forward.

Chrysalis felt her body tear away from the Avatar of Love, her goddess form now gone as she was sent hurtling across the sky by the power's of the Double Dragon. She watched as her tower moved away from her sight as she flew, her gathered magic of love now falling from the sky.

***Yooouuu beat the gaaame!***

Chrysalis could only feel a sorrowful song enter her heart as she continued to soar across the sky over the towns of Equestria, feeling failure of her latest plan fall on her shoulders.

Never thought they could stop me
Thought I had the girl, and she rocked my world

Tried to keep her away,
In my hiding place, you see: Everfree

Things are fading to black,
There's no turning back,
I'm on a roll!

Maybe tomorrow.. Won't bring me sorrow

Fallin' right into the void
Got me thinkin' that I was destroyed
And I'm hopin' that you have enjoyed
Beating me down

Here's a medal for your victory
To remind you of what you did to me!
Cause you've gotten me down on my knees
Where's the ground?

Chrysalis looked around her to see some random minions also flying in the air with her as well, despite her going slightly faster than her.

Yes! Nice guitar solo!
Play faster, Williams!
That's Abobo on drums!

Please
Remember all the friendship,
I brought into your life!

For Shining, Honor, and Leash,
Together, they helped ya,
Forever your loyal color guard,

And I,
A magical pony,
A-rendered to baloney!
Because I...
I dared to dream..

And in my dream,
I made princess three..
Love me in jubilee

And in my dream,
We lived happily,
They and me...

Ahh.. Back to reality...

Chrysalis continued to soar, a look of sadness crossing her face.

But it was not meant to be
They caught wind and they came after me
I never expected to see..
Billy Lee!
(Jimmy: JIMMY TOO!)

Barely had time to prepare,
They were fast on the way to my lair,
The dragon, the minotaur, the monster,
Caught unaware!

Yeah!

Got to my palace at last
They were on a tear and i had to think fast
But they fought right past

I can't believe!!!

Chrysalis shut her eyes before opening them in false confidence with a smirk.

I'll be back!
Nya-ha-ha-ha! I'll return one day to antagonize YOU, Billy and Jimmy!

Author's Note:

Epilogue to come, fret ye not.