Chapter 10: Escalation
The dull sound of my quill scratching across paper filled the throne room and my horn gave off a soft glow as I carefully filled in the map with the information I had gained, trying hard to avoid Celestia's concerned look. Even Chrysalis seemed to have found some pity to spare for me, though she was better at hiding it.
It made me want to scream in frustration. Not ten meters away was the changeling, dead in every reasonable sense of the word, and these two monarchs were concerned for my sake?
Even an hour later the event was still replaying vividly in my mind. How small his mind and his magic had seemed compared to mine, how scared he had felt as his final sanctuary was being violated...how fragile he'd turned out to be...
My magic jerked slightly as my quill met resistance. Blinking a bit of moisture from my eyes, I found that the tip of my quill had pierced straight through the map. Taking a deep breath, I tried to focus solely on the menial task in front of me.
“The Azure Queen had her hive in the Badlands all along,” I said finally, finishing my sketch. “She was the elder in charge of keeping an eye on Canterlot and Ponyville. She was also there to make sure none of the ‘lesser’ queens got too ambitious or too greedy.”
Concentrate on the problem in front of me. Deal with this and think about everything else later. Celestia needed me and the information I'd obtained. “She was most likely behind the Red Queen's rise, and she was probably the one who tipped off Princess Celestia about your invasion.”
Chrysalis said nothing and her expression gave away nothing as well, though I could make an educated guess as to what she was feeling right now. It wasn’t as though she needed even more reason to dislike the elders.
“It's a wonder they allowed you to operate for so long,” mused Celestia.
“I was gambling on their fear of you,” said Chrysalis, shifting with a bit of discomfort. “They were gambling on you defeating me. In a sense, I suppose they won.”
My quill continued to add more details to the map. None of them were strictly necessary, but it kept my thoughts occupied. “From...from what I learned, this hive is a permanent residence...or at least as permanent as they get.”
“Which means patrols a mile or two out and more escape tunnels than actual entrances,” sighed Chrysalis. “There's a good chance they've already seen the pegasi scouts in the area.”
My mind was racing ahead of the conversation, but my mouth wasn't far behind. “Six hours by pegasus flight. Four if winds are good. Seven if they're carting unicorns or other soldiers. Teleportation over that distance would leave the average unicorn unconscious for an entire day, and even trained mages wouldn't be ready to fight immediately afterward.”
The queen and the princess fell silent as I continued thinking aloud, my voice almost a flat monotone. “Average size of a hive is around two hundred. An elder would probably have twice that. Even if we could bring a sizable force there and have them ready to fight, they'd likely use an escape tunnel to steal away the hostages and put us back at square one.”
There was a snap as my quill suddenly broke under the pressure of my magical grasp. Fragile...just like him.
A frown passed over Celestia's face and the princess shared a glance with the queen. Still staring at the map in front of me, I didn't notice the silent nod that passed between them.
“I shall go and direct my kin in wrapping up today's mining operations. I imagine they'll be needed for other things shortly,” said the queen, excusing herself from the throne room and leaving me alone with my teacher.
Celestia...I'd always looked up to her...I still did, even today. She always had good advice, an attentive ear, and a calm grace that I envied. Part of me was still hopeful that she'd have some counsel, something she could say to make things better, but the rational side of me knew there was nothing that even she could say to fix this.
“It was all for nothing,” I said finally as Celestia approached. “I...I killed him, and all I learned was how hopeless it is.”
To my surprise, Celestia didn't reply. Instead, she extended her wing and wrapped it around me, a comforting gesture I hadn't felt since I was a filly. Part of me was embarrassed, but a much larger part cherished the warmth as I instinctively pressed closer to her.
A minute passed in silence. “How much do you know about the history of my rule?”
The question briefly caught me off guard. “Um...quite a bit,” I admitted. Even before I'd been her student, I'd taken time to learn about her.
Celestia chuckled, the tips of her feathers gently brushing my coat. “What do you recall...say, five hundred years after Luna's banishment?”
I frowned slightly as I tried to remember the contents of a few large and dusty tomes I'd read many years ago. “That was...the last time the Gryphon Empire tried to invade,” I said finally. Actually, to be more accurate, that was the last time any foreign power had tried to invade Equestria.
“You are correct. Do you know why that invasion was the last?”
“No. All I remember is something about an overwhelming show of force, followed by immediate capitulation.”
She closed her eyes and nodded. “Yes, I suppose you could call it that. It was the first...and thankfully only time that I ever used the sun as a weapon.”
My jaw dropped as I looked up at her. “Y-you...when? I never-”
“The knowledge isn't hidden or censored in any way,” added Celestia quickly. “Just difficult to find. Five hundred years of peace and prosperity make my little ponies eager to look beyond the price of that peace.”
Celestia looked at one of the crystals in front of her, seemingly lost in thought. “Near the border of the griffon empire is a place called the Windswept Wasteland, do you know of it?”
“Barren land,” I replied automatically. “Stretches for miles in every direction.”
“And the unmarked grave of nearly a thousand griffons,” finished Celestia. “There used to be an expansive forest there, one which the griffons would often use in order to conceal raiding parties that would strike at the towns and villages along the border.”
I blinked in surprise. “They attacked us? I never read about any battles.”
Celestia chuckled, but it was slightly forced. “It's only ever called a war when flags are flying and both sides have agreed to it. It was never officially sanctioned by the emperor. There was a long list of intermediary measures I had tried first, but it only emboldened them and the situation steadily declined. In the end...I used the sun. The forest was reduced to ashes, the bodies were incinerated, the land was scorched black, and even five hundred years later, nothing will grow there.”
I felt sick to my stomach. Somewhere in my mind, I'd always known Celestia would have secrets like these, but it was another thing entirely to have her outright admit one. “W-what happened after that?” I asked shakily.
“The raids along the border ceased, and the griffons pulled so far back that they were practically in the heart of their kingdom. It was only later that I learned of the coincidental timing of my attack. I'd thought the casualties would be no more than one or two hundred, but on that very day, a proper army had moved into those woods and was preparing for an invasion.”
And thus the casualties had gone from a few hundred to a thousand.
“After that, it was decades of distrust, fear, conspiracies, and assassination attempts,” she continued, “The griffons closed their borders to us for a decade, even though we had been their primary supplier of food. I can only imagine how many suffered because of shortages.”
“Was it worth it in the end?” I asked once Celestia paused.
“For both nations, yes. In the long run, it saved more lives than it cost, and today we enjoy a somewhat stable peace with them. For myself? All I can do is remember the weight of my decisions, and make sure that none of them are made lightly.”
My eyes turned toward the last two changelings, asleep in their makeshift prisons. “I just...I don't know what to do. I keep looking at the problem, but I can't see a solution...” And the thought that I'd done it for nothing continued to loom over my thoughts.
There was a shuffling sound that made me look up from the ground. In front of me now was a quill and a blank sheet of paper. “Begin with a list. Spike has often told me how much better you think when you have one.”
I began to write. Admittedly, it did do quite a bit to calm my nerves. We needed two things: a way to prevent the changelings from fleeing, and a way to transport enough ponies to make that happen. My quill wrote out the word 'shield' on the paper, recalling that Shining Armor had easily kept Chrysalis' army at bay with one, even under the influence of Chrysalis' poisons. Could we get his help? No, the Crystal Empire was too far to teleport. Could Celestia get him and bring him back?
Hopeful, I looked towards her, but she closed her eyes and shook her head. Frowning, I made a line through that. Could I teleport and make the shield myself? Possibly, but it wouldn't hold for long if it was attacked by the changelings inside.
Things would be simpler if Celestia could teleport more than a few others with her, or if there was some way to tap into her power. I'd only ever heard rumors about magic transference, but I put it on the list anyway, with a question mark by it.
“Far too dangerous, especially with alicorn magic,” said Celestia with another shake of her head. Frowning, I crossed that one off as well, but the idea stuck with me. Celestia was the single most powerful piece we had on the board. With her power, she could easily teleport there and make the shield herself...but could she hold it against a counterattack for six hours while waiting for reinforcements? There were too many variables in that particular scenario.
Wait...what about the changelings? Couldn't they draw power from Celestia? Hadn't Chrysalis done that very thing with my brother and Cadance?
My eyes lit up and I began to write furiously. Reading over my shoulder, Celestia's eyes widened slightly, but her look wasn't disapproving. This was really risky, and based on an untested hypothesis...but it could work.
“My dear student, I believe you're onto something.”
I felt a bit of warmth from the praise and my mood lifted slightly as I began to flesh out the list with more details. Peace with the griffons had come at the cost of a thousand lives. Maybe it was a necessary sacrifice, or perhaps there had been another way, but peace had eventually come because Celestia had turned the results of that terrible act to her advantage.
Nothing could change what I'd done, but maybe...just maybe, peace with the changeling race would only cost this one life.
---
There was a nervous tension in the air as I stood next to Chrysalis in the midst of her hive. Whether or not it originated from Chrysalis and spread to the hive or vice versa was anyone's guess.
“This plan is insane,” muttered the Changeling Queen as she watched the Sun Princess step onto a plateau at the center of attention, her white fur glowing faintly as if with sunlight. “It makes my own convoluted plan to invade Canterlot seem simple by comparison.”
“But I'm better at planning than you, so you still have pretty good odds,” I countered. “We already tested this with Dusk; what more do you want?”
“Some assurance that I won't end up in a mountain somewhere.” Before I could retort, Celestia began to speak.
“It has been over fifteen hundred years since I became the sovereign of Equestria,” she started, her voice echoing through the caves. “In that time, I have seen kingdoms rise and fall, cultures evolve and change, and helped shape Equestria into the prosperous land that it is today...but that prosperity did not come from myself alone.”
Beside me, Chrysalis huffed lightly. “Is she about to give a friendship speech to my hive?”
I didn't say anything, but the corner of my mouth twitched upwards.
“More than any other race, all of you understand what great things can be accomplished when every individual is working towards a single goal. One month ago, your queen came to me seeking peace, and now we stand together, side by side, even as those outside seek to tear us apart.”
“She could have just told me to pass along the message,” grumbled Chrysalis.
“Not much of a public speaker?” I teased with some amusement.
“What's the point when you can just mentally broadcast anything you need to say?”
“Try to contain your jealousy, Chrysalis,” I said, somewhat smugly.
“Your culture has been led astray and fragmented by those who wish to cling to survival rather than grow, but we have the power to change that now. Queen Chrysalis has shown herself to be a worthy ruler in my eyes, one who can lead all of changeling-kind into a new era alongside Equestria.”
Chrysalis was actually starting to look uncomfortable. “Laying it on rather thick...”
My only response was a quick jab of my hoof to silence her.
“It will not be easy. Even now we face a difficult obstacle, the first and certainly not the last of many trying tests, but I believe that we can overcome them by working together. And so, I wish to extend my hoof to all of you...in friendship.”
The radiant aura that had been steadily emanating from Celestia during her speech now filled the cavern. Feelings of compassion, love, and friendship spread outwards, and the surprised changelings almost leapt at the feast in front of them, absorbing the Sun Princess' freely offered emotions until all of them were brimming with her magic.
Even though the princess had assured me she could pull this off, seeing it happen in front of me was a sight I'd never forget. Golden light danced among the changelings, reflecting off of the crystals while the alicorn stood in the center of the light like a miniature sun.
“Cadance still tasted better,” grumbled Chrysalis, completely ruining the moment. Fighting the urge to roll my eyes, I turned towards the Changeling Queen to begin the next stage of the plan, my horn glowing. However, as I saw Chrysalis' jagged green horn approaching mine, ready to draw me into the link, I froze, my magic suddenly faltering and winking out.
“Twilight?” came Chrysalis' voice, but It was barely audible over the ringing in my ears. I had been too much for him. His mind had shattered like glass. It was my fault. I hadn't known enough to do it properly. My inexperience had killed him.
“Twilight!” Chrysalis sharp voice cut through my panic, snapping me out of the downward spiral my thoughts had been taking. Judging from her look, she knew the source of my hesitance. “Would you like another dose of my poison?”
I was sorely tempted. The thought of that peaceful, lethargic feeling carrying me away from my fears...but no. I needed my mind clear for this. Summoning the strength to push away my doubt, I lit my horn and touched it to the Changeling Queen's own, letting her draw me once more into her link.
Conscious of my power, I tried to make myself small, but it felt like every member of the hive was watching me here, as though Chrysalis and I were at the center of a sphere of eyes. Before I could get lost in the feeling, though, Chrysalis reached out to me, bringing with her a soothing feeling of tranquility.
As precisely as I could, I formed the Teleportation spell in my mind, feeding it and the location of the Azure Queen to her while she in turn distributed the information to the hive, dictating where each individual changeling would go.
Then, with a series of pops, changelings began to vanish in groups, following the pattern of magic I had given them to teleport several dozen miles in the space of seconds. The popping sounds grew closer and closer together as more of the changelings teleported until the cave was silent.
A white flash signaled Celestia's departure and a green one sent Chrysalis off to the Badlands to join her. I felt briefly disoriented as the connection weakened, but I quickly focused my magic and teleported as well, leaving the caves in complete darkness.
---
After so long in the gloom, the mercilessly bright sunlight shining down onto the Badlands was painful and dizzying, but I was quickly steadied on both sides by the princess and the queen.
“You start the spell, princess,” I said, blinking rapidly and rubbing a hoof across my eyes. “I'll follow your lead and draw Chrysalis in behind me.”
I had a moment to see the ring of changelings stretched out in a circle around the Azure Queen's hive before Chrysalis drew me back into the link. Feeling the magic of Celestia's spell, I copied it with my own magic and passed along the pattern to the hive. In the air in front of me, a shimmering gold shield flickered to life.
Half a mile in diameter and reinforced on every side by Chrysalis’ changelings, the shield encompassed the Azure Queen’s hive and blocked off the tunnels below. Then, at a mental signal, the changelings began to move inwards.
Moving perfectly in step with one another and rigidly following the magical outline I'd given them, the shield slowly compressed inwards, shrinking toward the hive in the center. Perhaps the most coordinated unicorn mages could have pulled off such a feat half this size with years of practice and training, but with the finely-coordinated and mentally linked changelings, we accomplished it with ease.
Screeching sounds reached my ears as the changelings continued their steady march forward. Small animals were not being spared the shield's push, and to my surprise, a few even twisted and shifted quite suddenly, dropping their disguises and turning into blue-streaked changelings that quickly flew away. I could only imagine a similar thing happening below ground among the numerous escape tunnels that normally would have taken ages to find.
To my grim satisfaction, it wasn't long before changelings began to spill out from the central crag we were heading toward, focusing attacks on the shield in several areas and hissing loudly as the golden wall not only absorbed their attacks but gave them a nasty shock as well.
The shield was now a third of its initial diameter, encompassing the Azure Queen's hive, and hopefully the large starting size had allowed us to catch most of her scouts within the net as well. Satisfied, I sent the order to stop.
Now it was Celestia's turn to act, her horn glowing fiercely as she yanked one of the blue changelings trapped inside the shield against the golden screen. “I will speak with your queen and no other,” she said, her voice rumbling dangerously. “You have ten minutes to show yourself or you will face the full fury of the sun.”
The changeling opened its mouth but a golden thread of magic sealed it. “Do not speak to me; tell your queen what I have told you. I will speak with her and her alone.”
Her magic faded and the changeling quickly buzzed away. Presumably, the queen already heard the message, but the drone was probably looking for any excuse to get away.
“How long can your subjects last?” asked Celestia.
Chrysalis paused as she communicated with the others. “Twelve hours, assuming they don't try to coordinate attacks.”
Celestia looked thoughtful. “My fastest pegasi are transporting unicorn backup into the area. They should be here within six hours. Those traveling by hoof will arrive within the day.”
Carefully, I began to extract myself from the hive mind, confident that the changelings could manage on their own at this point, and I breathed a sigh of relief when my thoughts became my own again.
“And what about yourself?” asked Chrysalis.
“I could manage it for a few days, perhaps, but there is a queen of unknown strength involved here, and I must ration my power with that potential conflict in mind. Princess Luna will be here once she's made certain that Canterlot will not panic in my absence, although it will still be better for her power to be available in case the other changeling elders decide to show themselves.”
I hadn't even thought of that possibility, but it certainly made sense. There had been a lot of extenuating circumstances when Chrysalis had defeated Celestia, but she had done so nevertheless, and I knew from personal experience just how powerful a changeling queen could be.
“How long do you think we have before Azure does something with the hostages?” asked Celestia, turning to Chrysalis and seeking her insight.
“Three hours at most,” said the queen. “Changelings do not react well to being trapped. Even less so when their hive is in danger.”
The Sun Princess nodded. “I see. When the queen arrives, I will give her two hours to agree to my demands.”
And in those scant hours, I had to think of another plan. However, I was suddenly and violently thrown from my thoughts as I felt a surge of anger from the Changeling Queen beside me.
Surprised, I followed her gaze towards a black figure with blue streaks highlighting her carapace slowly getting closer. I could tell immediately that this was no fake; there was simply too much power. And she was not alone.
With a fanged grin that sent a few chills down my spine was another queen I'd seen earlier that day. One who, by Chrysalis' account, should have been dead. She was standing at the shield now, red markings around her eyes, looking with amusement at the seething Chrysalis.
The shield wavered slightly. Panicked, I gently nudged Chrysalis, breaking her gaze before I touched my horn to hers, sending feelings of tranquility and calm through the link. Once the shield stabilized again, I let go of the breath I had been holding.
“Queen Azure, Queen Crimson,” greeted Celestia calmly, not taking her eyes off either of them. “It is lovely to see you come out of the shadows at long last to meet properly.”
The Azure Queen gave her a mocking bow. “Charmed as well, Princess Celestia, though it was a bit sooner than expected. Clearly I have overestimated Chrysalis' pride if she has so willingly become your lapdog.” Much like Chrysalis, she spoke with a deep dulcet tone that made it seem like there were two voices in one, but her inflection was more level and far softer in volume.
Mentally, I pleaded with Chrysalis not to react, but I wasn't sure if she was even listening to me. Her thoughts were like a solid wall, and sparing any power to try and get through was out of the question.
“When you've stifled and suffocated your culture to the point of stagnation, it is only natural that someone would rebel,” Celestia countered easily. “I find it sadly amusing that you encourage so much conflict among your kin, and yet react with surprise when one seeks a beneficial alliance. Really, you have no one but yourself and your enigmatic Elders for that.”
The other queens didn't react to the sharp rebuttal and it was anypony's guess as to what they were thinking.
“Our ways have preserved us for centuries,” said the Azure Queen neutrally. “It is easy to hold up your precious ideals when the world does not fear you for your nature, but I doubt you've come here to lecture me about our culture.”
Celestia never lost her calm smile. “Very well, if you wish to dispense with pleasantries then I will make my point.” Her eyes closed and I could feel a subtle trace of her magic in the air. When her eyes opened again, her smile was gone and the air began to grow heavy around her.
“First, you will give me one of the prisoners. You may choose which. If I do not approve of what I hear from them, there will be no more negotiating and the continued existence your hive will be in jeopardy.”
It was with some satisfaction that I saw both queens visibly recoil from her tone and manner. Even Chrysalis looked to be in a bit of shock.
“Second, you will send one of your kin outside of the shield as a prisoner. They will be given the chance to communicate with the rest of your agents in Canterlot, Ponyville, and the scouts remaining outside of your prison before I am forced to hunt them down.”
The Azure Queen's eyes narrowed. “And what makes you believe you could even find them?”
“The same way I found your home here,” said Celestia nonchalantly. “I knew you had agents within Chrysalis' hive all along. It was simply a matter of finding your location within their memories. Did you really think some paltry mind tricks would protect them from the Princess of the Sun?”
I tried hard not to show any emotion as Celestia blatantly lied to the changeling queens without so much as a second of hesitation. Not only was she striking uncertainty into their minds, she was taking the blame upon herself, likely to divert their attention from me.
“You have one hour to comply with my demands. Then, and only then, will I hear your terms.”
The Azure Queen glared at Celestia, clearly not happy. “Do not think you can so easily trample over our hive. There are far more agents than you could possibly-”
“Do you see me as so soft-hearted that I would sacrifice Equestria for the pittance of lives you hold?” Celestia's mane blazed with the fury of the sun and her voice boomed, making the ground tremble. This close to her, I had to fight to keep my legs from shaking. “Crawl back to your hive and do as I've commanded!”
It was the first time I'd ever heard Celestia's Royal Canterlot Voice, and I could only hope it would be the last.
The Azure Queen trembled, her face a mask of rage as she tried to use it to conceal her fear. Just standing in close proximity to the Voice had been taxing. Being its target was probably much worse.
“You play recklessly, Princess of the Sun. You have in your midst a traitor who turned on her kind and will turn against you when the winds change.” She turned, followed closely by the red-marked changeling. Celestia stood motionless until they had retreated into the tunnels below.
Chrysalis was the first to speak. “Was it really her?”
Mutely, I nodded, working to find my voice again. “She probably disguised one of her agents as herself the same way Azure put changelings into your colony. They probably knew that your attack was coming all along and only gave you the illusion of victory,” I murmured.
Chrysalis was silent for a long moment. “If I get the chance, I will end her properly this time.” Turning her back to the shield, she walked away. I wasn't sure where she was going, but I didn't try to stop her.
“I am sorry you had to witness that, Twilight,” came Celestia's soft voice once the queen had disappeared from sight. “Please know that I value the lives of those fillies and colts greatly, and I will do everything in my power to save them.”
“What if the price is too high?” I asked bitterly, immediately regretting it once the words had left my mouth. “No, don't answer, I already know what you're going to say. And...and I agree...I just don't like it.”
She gave me a small, humorless smile. “There is still time. How goes the second phase of your plan?”
Tiredly, I rubbed my muzzle with a hoof. “It's all theory and no data. Have the Wonderbolts found anything yet?”
Celestia looked towards the sky and sent up a golden flare. “We shall know shortly. I'll have a tent set up on the border of the shield where we can discuss our course of action. You should probably find our errant queen.”
---
Finding Chrysalis didn't take long thanks to the numerous rocks she had reduced to rubble, ending in a similarly destroyed clearing. Silently, I stood on the edge of the crater I'd found her in, waiting for her to speak first.
“How did I ever beat her?”
I blinked, somewhat confused. “The Crimson Queen?”
“No, Princess Celestia,” she corrected. “I felt quite proud of myself at the time, emerging victorious over the so-called ‘Sun Tyrant’. Even at the time, I thought it was a bit too easy.”
I couldn't help but chuckle at that. I'd wondered the same thing back then. “Well, my brother could just be that amazing.”
Chrysalis gave me an unamused look.
“It was because of the potential collateral damage,” I said finally. “Maybe she could have defeated you, but Canterlot would have been left a crater. The Elements of Harmony, on the other hoof, would have only harmed you and your hive. Even if we failed, the damage done would have been less than a drawn-out battle between the two of you, and she could have exploited other opportunities once your guard was down.”
Chrysalis nodded, seemingly having reached the same conclusion. “Are you going to tell me that I should let the Crimson Queen live?” Her eyes narrowed, as if ready for a challenge.
“I would appreciate it,” I said cautiously. “Celestia is trying to make inroads to the entire changeling race, and it would be easier with fewer casualties...but I won't try to stop you,” I finished, feeling slightly ill, but with Chrysalis as the cornerstone in this plan, neither Celestia nor I could afford to impose our will on her.
To my surprise, she chuckled. “A carefully thought out and diplomatic answer. Perhaps I'll only kill her a little bit.”
I sighed, knowing that was probably the best I'd get from her. “Celestia's setting up a tent at the edge of the shield,” I said, changing the subject.
“I will meet you there, then,” said Chrysalis, rising up from her prone position, walking past me as I blinked in confusion.
“Er...I'm coming too, you know.”
“Eventually, but first I imagine you'll need to deal with that.” Her leg pointed skywards and my gaze followed, my heart leaping up into my throat as I saw a familiar rainbow streak in the sky, cutting through the air on a course heading straight for me.
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First comment!
Celestia used the Royal Canterlot Voice, awesome, yet at the same time she's hardly a tyrant. Good chapter all around, and next we get a mountain of awkward in the form of Rainbow Dash.
The Red Queen's still alive? Damn it!
That's nonsense. It's implying that Celestia has so little control over her power that she only has two settings: Wrath of the Sun and Kinda-Powerful Unicorn, with absolutely NO inbetween.
5449696 It would explain why she do almost nothing in canon.
5449696 actually it's pausible. Another Story Rites of Accension Celestia can't even go into battle mode without things burning around her. She can be litterally that powerful.
5450022 So after over a thousand years of having her magic, she can't learn to control her own? Color me suspicious.
This chapter is very intresting.
You have many good idea.
5450028 it's just raw power, she can only do so much and the wedding battle was her attempt to try. and in both stories failed. Heck in Rites she is percived weak my many poinies because of that defeat and not knowing was she really has. Luna has some bad rep to get over and i believe the more marital of the two.
Discord can lay waste to the entire world if he wanted but then it be boring
5449696
Well, you know my thoughts on Chrysalis beating Celestia.
But let's look at that collateral damage idea. That tight beam of magic she shot at Chrysalis, we have no idea what it would have done if it struck something. So, we have no idea what an even stronger beam of magic would have done if it had been deflected or dodged instead of met head on. Worry about collateral damage doesn't involve only worrying about what happens if everything goes perfectly. You have to take misses into account. Maybe Celestia's attack was already pushing the boundaries and only Chrysalis' surprising power made it seem underwhelming. Perhaps any stronger and she'd be shooting beams that would bore through stone like nothing and go on to endanger the structural integrity of multiple buildings and risk striking civilians for their entire length.
It's not the explanation I use for Celestia's loss (mine is simply: Enough love is better than godhood, just as enough friendship is, and Celestia was overconfident so she went for a straight-forward attempt at overpowering Chrysalis instead of something more complex) but it's not unworkable. Admittedly, I see Chrysalis as almost certainly the only Changeling Queen (either ever or there's only one at a time) and a unique creature like Discord or Tirek, so I'm more inclined to see her as more powerful. But I think love beating Celestia is perfectly in line with the show's themes without weakening Celestia to anything less than divine.
5449696 In one of my stories I used the idea tht a Celestia doesn't like to use her full power because she doesn't want her subjects to fear her.
Fantastic chapter!
I absolutely love your story and how you developed Chrysi's and Twilight's character.
Using the Rites of Ascension Celly was a great idea.
I'll put your story into my 'Outstandingly Good' list. As it is both in my eyes. Outstanding in idea, depth and narrative and very well written, especially as compared to Changeling Mine that story had a few VERY interesting ideas, certainly a story to put in 'Oustanding' (not 'Outstandingly Good') but the realisation was.. let's just say below average.
Can't wait for more
5449696
That was precisely my head canon for why Chrysalis beat her: battling in the castle at the power levels required would have been catastrophic. I even blogged about it once.
I'm with 5449696 on this. Really, the only thing that makes any sense is "the writers wanted her to lose."
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5450226
Since we're looking at headcanon, you're all looking at this far too narrowly. If Celestia is halfway competent then she should have a multitude of other magical options outside of "beam of death." For example: the current chapter of this story. Celestia could have surrounded Chrysalis with an impermeable shield, which, given how powerful we're assuming Celestia is in this fic, Chrysalis would have been impotent against. In a couple of minutes Chrysalis would simply have suffocated.
Voila! Dead (or capitulated) changeling and NO Canterlot-destroying explosions. Or am I to assume that even Celestia's fully-powered shields are explosive for some reason?
(See, this is why it's so hard to justify cartoon physics with realistic expectations. Celestia cannot be both competent - as she's portrayed - and realistically lose so easily.)
5450347 well we have to deal with the fact the wedding had this result and is among the major issues of that episode. And considering what happened with Luna becoming NMM I say while compentant she has blind spots. Heck How did Twilight who has not seen Cadance in person for years figure out something was of while Celestia, who sees her far more often never did? We have to deal with plot logic
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Look at it this way: The beam duel between Celestia and Chrysalis lasted 10 seconds (I timed it). For about 4.5 to 5 of those seconds, Celestia is clearly winning, when suddenly the tables turn. When the beam reaches Celestia's horn, she is very clearly surprised.
So, her loss was not at all a matter of her magic only having two settings — "low-voltage heat lamp" and "gamma ray burst" — but a matter of her having previously encountered nothing that could reasonably challenge her power and dialing in what she felt was a sufficient amount of power, and being subsequently surprised when it turned out not to be enough.
Or, how about an alternative hypothesis: Celestia being not a tyrant and also not a total bitch, purposefully used a low amount of power because she both wanted Chrysalis alive and didn't want to risk harming her if at all possible, and that's why Chrysalis was able to overpower her. A turnabout which, again, happened very, very quickly.
Did you mean to put the words 'to blame' or something equivalent in this sentence. Sorry for the nitpicking, this sentence just bugged me when I read it.
Awesome chapter!
Is that "IN" meant to be all capitals?
Looks like this sentence grew a little or was combined.
"draw"
Mean "bright"? Should have a comma after it as well.
Rainbow never struck me as a detective type. Though I guess since she was already in Canterlot and close to the Wonderbolts, she could have gotten a look at a map. Beat all the other ponies by a fair margin too.
Now to wait for the next chapter. When I first saw this story and read the premise, I did not think I would have been drawn in as much as I have. Comedy, romance, mystery, little bit of adventure, Chrysalis, Twilight, Rainbow, all it is really missing is Luna to grab all of my top favorites. Keep up the great work.
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One thing that never ceases to annoy me is that people, no matter if the're authors, readers, or even Hasbro writers, all seem to forget that this is magic. No, I don't mean "It's magic I aint's gotta explain". I mean that everything that is done is a specific spell. Why does everyone assume that experienced and battle tested spell casters just toss raw energy around?
What was Celestia trying to do to Chrysalis at the wedding? Was she trying to melt a hole through her? Or that a sleep spell? A remote shield projection? If you take away the mindset that ponies simply like to shoot lasers out of their horns, and think about what KIND of magic she would use against an intruder, you might consider that she would use a powerful and carefully constructed spell intended to incapicatate said intruder. But a blunt force needs a lot less power to work than a work of art.
Did Celestia underestimate Chrysalis? Obviously. But even a child can knock out an olympian with the right surprise. And before you say "But a child could never OVERPOWER an olympian"... Picture if they were trying to hold back that child with a finger, and that finger got stomped on?
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You both bring up very good points which I agree with. But I don't know where she might have learned to handle her power if she barely uses it. In this story, the last time she really used a large amount of power was when she glassed the gryphons. And before that was her fight with Nightmare Moon. She hasn't really had the opportunity to work with such a large amount of destructive power. Maybe popping up a shield takes more time than she had, going back to cutie marks and how they determine talents. Or there was some ulterior motive like 5450761 suggests. It is just really hard to get into these colorful little ponies head's, especially that big-ass white one.
5451342 you have a point
5450347
Which is why I did take the time to elaborate overconfidence leading to her taking the simplest, most direct option. And like I said, Celestia's loss is perfectly in keeping with the greater themes of the show and the overall portrayal of the setting's magic, even, where emotion based magic trumps every other kind- even gods like Discord.
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You seem to mistake 'control' and 'nature'. It takes a GREAT deal more stamina and power to /control/ the release of great strength than it does to let go. A kind of concentration you can't afford when facing someone else of similar strength. I may not be magic, but I am a martial artist (Go Juu-ryu, Tang Soo Do, chiefly) and I have some dabbling as a boxer. One can only imagine that channeling alicorn magic and the might of the sun is akin to Celestia being extremely magically-muscular, and the more power there is, the more exhausting it is to ration it and hold back.
No matter how experienced you are. No matter how learned or trained. This is simply the nature of strength in any form. That is why in combat it is considered more intelligent to simply kill an enemy quickly and be done with it than to try and subdue them.
Not to mention you seem to be imagining that Celestia could just easily create pinpoint miniature beams of magic that unerringly strike a moving target who also has powerful magic, yet contain the necessary strength to defeat that foe's own power. That would certainly be interesting, but stretch the limits of what magic would be capable of that we've seen or even theorized upon in the continuity. It'd be like trying to drink a star through a straw.
No battle is orderly. It's stick and move, shoot and duck, strike and block and counter and grapple. Grunting and screaming, sound and fury. All precision in one on one combat becomes questionable, especially if your opponent is similarly skilled or of like power, or even just uses tactics that you are not prepared to foil. And if there was even the slightest chance that defeating Chrysalis meant destroying Canterlot, killing Twilight and the Mane Six and the very heart of her nation? Then she'd rather take the hit than risk annihilating all that was important in the world to her.
THAT is the wisdom of an experienced combatant, and an experienced ruler. If you doubt me on this, ask yourself, "A mugger has a gun to the head of my loved one, and standing behind them. I have a gun in my hand. Do I shoot him to free my loved one? Or do I throw down my gun and give him all my valuables, complying? If I fire, there is the chance that I can miss - there are too many factors that make this is a possibility. I could hit nothing, and then the criminal can shoot me or my loved one. Or worst of all, I could hit my loved one. But the criminal only seems to want me to put my gun down and give them my money so that they can leave with what they came here for." What, do you believe, is the right thing to do here? What would you DO?
In
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Princess of the Sun
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bright
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Oh Dashie's going to have words for Twilight. *rubs hands in eager glee*
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That's my headcanon. How else would you explain why she is so passive?
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This vague desire for Chryssy and little filly crush on Rainbow Dash sounds like the perfect drama to be going on during a national crisis, heh. I only wonder now, will Dashie be ok with a 3-way?
I'm certain Chrysalis will; all that love floating around? Oh yeah, she'd be all over that like white on rice.
Wow. Now this was pretty badass. I liked the Celestia I saw here.
This is going to turn out pretty epic, I know it
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You underestimate Chrysalis my friend.
She'd be on it like white on rice, on a paper plate, in a snowstorm.
But yeah, I've seen lots of fics were Dashie goes for a three way. So I hope that, that happens. If for no better reason, I've never read a TwiDashAlis ship fic before.
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One thing that never ceases to annoy me is when people try to pull "you need specific spells to do things with magic" without actually defining what the hell "spells" are, thus leaving it open to say that - to use your example - those "raw energy beams" are actually spells. They're Beam Of Raw Energy spells, obviously.
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Perhaps not a tyrant now, but she might have dabbled a bit. When you're an all powerful possibly-divine monarch, you have to make your own fun.
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Alive, and rather unhappy. Also, I give you a slow clap for getting the most comment replies probably out of anyone in my entire comment section.
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You are correct. If things follow my intended outline, there are two, maybe three chapters left in this story. And besides, I really needed to justify the title of my story somehow considering I share it with about six other stories, one of which also involves changelings.
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Thank you, I appreciate the compliments and I hope I can live up to that expectation as we approach the climax of this story. I should point out though that I have never read Rites of Ascension or Changeling Mine though. I've made a point to avoid most other changeling stories so as not to unintentionally 'lift' ideas from them.
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Thanks once more for keeping on top of my typos. Always appreciated, and also glad that this has turned out well for you. We're a couple chapters away from the end so I hope it lives up to your expectations.
As an aside, Rainbow didn't actually see the map. She was sent along by Celestia in the last chapter with the Wonderbolts to scout the Badlands ahead of everypony else before being summoned by Celestia to the exact location in this story via the flare she sent up. The only real detective work she did was when she found out about Twilight's deception in the first place.
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Thanks for keeping an eye on things. Always helpful to have another set of eyes ferreting out my typos and facepalm-worthy mistakes. And you can bet that words are going to be had next chapter.
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Yes yes, national crisis, changeling invasion, and a tense hostage situation...but what about MY problems?
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Yes! Thank you! Someone finally said it! Been building up Celestia's moment for ages now...
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Well, I'm sorry to hear that the last chapters weren't terribly entertaining for you, but I'm glad you're still reading regardless, and I hope that 'stride' you appreciated is because we're building up to the finale now where things are supposed to be intense, fast paced, and exciting. In any event, I hope you enjoy the coming conclusion.
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Beam of Raw Energy: 8d6 + CHA Radiant Damage, +10 Against Changelings. If you roll a one, this spell backfires and you are stunned until you have taken a short rest.
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"Summoned by Celestia", least Twilight knows who to thank for the future chewing out/make out/beat down session. Probably shouldn't have been so deceptive in the first place though, but it is understandable. We have all probably wished at some point to be able to question a crush without them knowing.
Go back to your room and do as you're told!
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Rites of Ascension is actually an alicorn Twilight fic. It was being used as an example of how Celestia's power being nearly impossible to finely control could be justified.
5450028 not without wearing several layers of binding spells and devices on her person, to diffuse the massive amounts of magic that she would normally release in combat, so when the torc and slippers come off, you don't want to be anywhere near her when she starts fighting.
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You're welcome, and I read on fourpony's comment you made. This is ending in a few chapters? Are we going to be getting a sequel? Since the fic just feels like it started (story wise), seeing it end - end will be sad, especially since there's so much more (past Twilight getting found out by Dashie, and one of the Elder's making her move while the others sit back and watch things for future attacks).
Anywho. I eagerly await the next chapter of this and "No Plan Survives Contact". Great work on constructing a well written fic.
Figures that Dashie'd make it there first... only Pegasus I can see really keeping pace with her is Spitfire... only other fliers would be Discord (he'd cheat), and perhaps Luna
5466479 Celestia's control of her power isn't the problem. It's amount of power Chrysalis had. Celestia was fighting Chrysalis head on with no way to control the splash damage. She could have defeated Chrysalis but by that time the energy coming off where thier magics intersected would have been giving off enough energy to burn all the ponies in the room.
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Wasn't knocking it. I like that kind of depth.
NOOO! I'M TOO ENGROSSED IN THIS STORY FOR IT TO STOP HERE! I NEED MORE!
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It's readable, don't worry
My only hope for this story is that it won't end with a lame Twidash. It would be uninteresting and undeveloped, especially if one were to compare it to the bond Twilight and Chrysalis have formed.
I'm pretty sure it won't end in Twidash though, as there are many (hopefully intentional) hints at Twi x Chryssy
This needs a dark tag
i know the Changelings have to earn their power to be strong enough to be dangerous, but sometimes Celestia seems to be to strong.
I have no reason why she should be weaker, but i think it would be more interessting i she would not be the possible strongest being ever.
5665378 Well Rites of Ascension have an interesting take on that. Celestia is very powerful but little control over it. In that story if she went battle mode during the wedding everything near her would be set on fire without her input.
Damn. Somepony is mad.
Well fuck me! I like that! Probably made it better in my head, but I don't really care.
Poor griffies! D: Though she at least regretted it and she didn't know that there would be so many of them there.
Bah, Chryssie is just that awesome to mop the floor with Sunbutt.
oh by the way you have a pissed off queen, princess and a calm unicorn. so you are fucked
Dang! It's never a good idea to make extremely powerful beings desperate.
"shape"
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m.quickmeme.com/img/04/04ae327de73cd6d8c6985c286ebe01ff0d003a0870702ad731929682db209658.jpg
6509931 she'll shoot her. politely