Chapter 17
Chrysalis stood silently, admiring her collection before placing the newly created globe containing Flim on a shelf next to the two princesses. She closed the glass case then turned back towards Big Macintosh, blowing on the end of the wand to extinguish its magic. Such a useful tool. It had made adding to her collection so much easier. Too bad it only had two settings. She carefully slid it into a specially made sheath on her left foreleg.
“I can see it in your eyes,” she purred. “You’re thinking the queen’s power must be limited. She uses devices and not natural magic to imprison her enemies.” She chuckled wickedly. “Maybe you haven’t heard the old saying. ‘It’s better to use a trowel than dig with your own hooves. Didn’t anyone ever teach you about the conservation of magic? No?” She chuckled again. “You think you’ve put all the pieces together... Well, maybe ‘almost’ all of them. But you still do not know who I really am, or should I say... am not.”
The alicorn simply rolled his eyes silently in response.
“Oh don’t give me that. I’m just as aware of your secrets as you are mine. For example, I know for an absolute that you aren’t from around here. You can’t be... The ‘you’ who should have existed here doesn’t. Why there is no you in this reality, I don’t care, but it did leave a hole through which you could slip and physically manifest yourself. The rules of both chaos and order prevent two nearly identical beings from existing in the same place at the same time.” The queen circled Big Mac as she spoke, studying him closely. “The only thing I’m not sure of is why you are here in the first place.”
The stallion arched one eyebrow as if he didn’t believe her, causing the queen to frown.
“Stubborn... Just like your faux sister.”
A flash of concern traced its way across Big Mac’s eyes.
Chrysalis noticed this and smiled again. “Oh, we had a bit of a hard time, getting her to talk, at least once she learned she could not cut a deal with us for a reward. Rather naïve of her, but then I’m certain the sister you left back in your own world wouldn’t have fared much better. Eventually she saw things our way, so I rewarded her by making her one of my trophies.”
The queen pulled a small globe out of one of the cabinets and held it up for Mac to see. Within was the small figure of Applejack, bound, gagged and tied spread eagle between two upright poles. “One of by better efforts,” she grinned wickedly. If you look closely, you can see where she was bleeding.” She placed it back on a shelf.
The stallion closed his eyes, trying to focus his anger away from the Changeling Queen. Now was not the time. Maybe this Applejack wasn’t anything like his ‘real’ sister, but he still couldn’t help but feel he should be protecting her. Drawing deeply upon his calm, stoic self he hid his anger from Chrysalis. “Wait,” he whispered to himself... “Wait.”
“If I were to guess, I would almost swear that HE sent you. It would be so like him, sending an emissary where he couldn’t go himself. And just what would he want to accomplish here? This isn’t his world.” She looked over at the alicorn stallion, then batted her eyes mischievously. “I bet you know... and that I’d be able to make you tell me,” Chrysalis cooed. Even playing the vamp, there was something decidedly evil about her. Mac would have shuddered if he could have.
The stallion wondered exactly what the queen had meant about knowing who she wasn’t. There were oddities in her behavior, things he hadn’t seen before, but that wasn’t very surprising. After all, this wasn’t his world, nor was she the Chrysalis he knew. Still, some of the behavior just didn’t match what he expected. He pondered this. Why wasn’t she afraid of Discord, even to the point of making not so subtle hints that she intended to take over the world? What was her motive? Why was she so fascinated in collecting trophies of her enemies? Even the craziest of ponies had a motive for doing things, no matter how irrational they appeared. Case in point, Pinkie Pie and her joyfully insane ability to defy the very laws of physics. Her motive was making others happy. Applejack... His Applejack, would do anything to protect her loved ones. Twilight... the key to her passion was learning and improving herself. What was the key here?
His thoughts were interrupted by three changelings who came buzzing into the chamber. They landed in front of the queen and prostrated themselves to her.
“Poniess.... they have escaped... escaped the library, we know not how.”
“FOOLS!” Chrysalis screamed. “IMBECILS! MUST I OVERSEE EVERYTHING MYSELF AROUND HERE?” There was a sudden flash of green magic and one of the changelings crumbled to dust. The surviving drones shivered in fear, not even daring to look up. “I swear you are as useless as my brother...” She caught herself, pulling in the rage and focusing at the task at hoof. “You two stay here and guard my knickknacks. I’ll go sort this out myself.” Angrily the queen flung herself into the air and went in search of King Sombra. The drones climbed slowly to their hooves, looked at each other, then dutifully went over to the door Chrysalis had exited through and posted themselves, their attention focused on the hallway beyond, their backs to the trophy cases.
Big Mac realized that for the first time since his capture no one was watching him. Carefully he reached within himself and drew upon his core of magic. His horn begin glowing softly, its aura creeping outward until it had enveloped the trophy cabinets. He was more than a little delighted to find that each figure still resonated with life, even though dimmed down considerably. Just like castle in Canterlot, when he had defeated Chrysalis and Sombra in his own world, the ponies were alive and trapped within chrystal shells, abet, much smaller than before. Reaching out with his mind, he was able to identify many of the figures. Flam, Celestia, Nightmare Moon, Trouble Shoes, Time Turner, at least a third of the Wonder Bolts. Even...
The alicorn prince paused in surprise. No wonder she didn’t appear to be afraid of Discord. He was here, trapped in a chrystal globe, much as he had been trapped in stone. Big Mac mentally shook himself. If the draconequus was here, then who or what was ‘He Who Could Not be Named,’ the one Applejack had referred to as Discord? The alicorn focused his attention on the changelings.
He saw that the two guards were still shivering in fear, their chitins clicking loudly. The stallion felt a touch of sympathy for them, despite their nature. It made no sense. In all his dealings with Chrysalis in his own world, she had never so blindly lashed out at her minions as she had just now. Certainly, she could grow angry with them, but to simply vaporize one in a moment of irrational anger... Where was the hive queen in that? Where was the nurturing, abet totalitarian, mother’s instinct? They were her children after all. Her attacks on Canterlot had been based upon the need to find sustenance for her drones. Why would she hurt them?
A memory suddenly flashed in his mind. A whisper of a voice forced its way into his consciousness. ”Questions are good. The trick is to ask the right ones.”
“Not why,” the stallion thought. “WHO!”
Wheels within wheels. She’d said it herself. Whoever she was, she wasn’t Chrysalis, nor was she Discord. She was, however, a trickster, a schemer who loved convolutions as a way of preserving her sense of superiority. One who was not above using others as her agents. Mac wondered briefly what had happened to the ‘real’ Queen of the Changelings. There was no figurine of her in the cabinets, and somehow, he was certain she couldn’t be dead. If she were, then this ‘Other’ would have no control of the Changelings themselves. They would have rebelled at the murder of their queen, or her overt usurpation. That left one logical possibility... possession. Chrysalis was indeed there, but she was under the control of this ‘Other.’
It all made sense. This ‘Other,’ this being, had used the chaos of this world to somehow enter it, overthrow Discord and seize control of one of his Lieutenants as a means of disguising itself. Big Mac would have scratched his brow had he been able to move. No... not it. HER. From the mannerisms Chrysalis had displayed this ‘Other’ was entirely comfortable with the female form. He doubted a male entity would have been able to come on to him as effortlessly as the queen had.
Memories of his own combined with knowledge he had learned from Arual. Like rows of dominos dropping into place to form a pattern, it suddenly occurred to the alicorn prince who exactly this being had to be. No two nearly identical beings could exist on a single world. Such were the rules of Chaos and Order both. That was, of course, unless there was a loophole. A loophole just like him.
**********
Guided by the yells of her minions, it did not take Chrysalis long to locate the library. She landed before them. Those who saw her immediately dropped to one knee, giving the spiders they were battling ample opportunity to web their hooves to the floor. King Sombra was using his magic to slice thick chunks through the webbing that blocked their way into the library. As quickly as he cut, however, the star spiders were quicker to fill them in. There were thousands of them for each and every drone.
Chrysalis simply rolled her eyes at the scene before her. Such simpletons. She really had to find a way to improve their cognitive abilities, otherwise they’d never really be good for much more than cannon fodder.
“STAND BACK!” she commanded.
The changelings, or at least those who could, instantly moved away from the door. There was a flash of green magic, accompanied by the echoing sound of something snapping. Within moments the hallway was filled with thousands upon thousands of wasps. They immediately dove upon their ancient foes, driving the spiders back into the library and the dubious safety of their webs. Using their bodies, they sawed their way through strands of webbing, driving the star spiders deeper and deeper into the library. Behind them, Chrysalis advanced at a saunter, looking around at the thousands of books that were hidden behind the all preserving webs.
The queen looked at one of her minions. “You were in charge. Where did you see them last?” The changeling raised a shaky hoof and pointed.
“There... poniess were there... all together. Then spiders came... attacked us.... captured many... pushed us out of room.”
Chrysalis looked around at the webbing. At least a dozen of her drones were trapped, wrapped up tightly against the book shelves. “They were here... Where are they now? How did they escape?”
The changeling shuddered. “I not know,” he replied, his voice barely a whisper.
A thousand or more wasps broke off their attack on the spiders, flinging themselves on the drone. He opened his mouth to shriek, but it was instantly filled with angry, stinging insects. The others leapt aside as he ran down the hall, pursued by his executioners. He did not get very far.
The queen looked at yet another drone. “Free them,” she ordered, pointing to her trapped minions. “And find me the ponies...NOW!”
**********
Babs slowly opened her eyes and discovered she was tangled up with a pile of ponies. She tried to stand, only to feel a sharp pain in her haunches. “Who’s sittin’ on my tail?”
“Sorry,” muttered Fluttershy. She stretched her wings, intending to untangle herself only to discover her mane was wrapped around Rarity’s left hind hoof.
“My apologies, darling,” the fashionista said, shaking her leg in an effort to loosen the pink locks.
A muffled voice rose from the center of the pile. “Who the heck’s laying on my head? Get Off!”
“Calm down Rainbow. Give Trixie a second and we’ll sort this out.”
“This is fun,” Pinkie observed. “It’s been ages since I played diamond dog pile.”
There followed a series of moans, groans, grunts and snipes as the six ponies dismounted from their make-shift pyramid.
They all looked around in confusion. The clouds they apparently were standing on were soft pastel pink fading to violet. They stretched as far as could be seen in every direction. All of them were cast in a soft, twilight-like glow. Even as they watched, a separate drift of clouds appeared to rise about them, forming a cylindrical passage. At the end, was a white radiance that beckoned them onward.
“Any of Youse have an idea of where this is?”
“I don’t think it’s the castle, if that’s what you mean,” replied Rainbow Dash.
Pinkie pulled a small, stuffed, black-furred scotty dog from her mane and nervously hugged it to herself. “I have a feeling we’re not in Equestria anymore.”
“You aren’t... and yet, you are,” a voice echoed through their minds.
Rarity looked around. “Who..?”
“As you are a part of me, I am also a part of you.” All six ponies looked in the direction of the light. Slowly, the light dimmed as a soft white silhouette formed in front of them.
“Princess Celestia?” they gasped.
“No,” the figure replied... “but I have borrowed her form so that you may see and hear, and by extension, believe. I am Arual.”
“Youse the one who spoke to Prince Macintosh... the one he called the Tree of Harmony.”
“I am. As you have drawn together the elements of my harmony, I have drawn you together. It is through you that balance may be restored to your world. When you call upon these elements as one, they will channel great power, but it must be channeled by all as one. It cannot be used by a single pony. That is what separated your Princess from the elements. No one can stand alone. Only in friendship, only in the harmony it creates can you focus your form and power, one and all.”
“That’s kinda confusing,” muttered Rainbow Dash. “Don’t you have some kind of instruction booklet we could read or something?’
Arual smiled. “You will understand... within your hearts.”
The glow behind the Princess began to expand. Straining, they all thought they could see the outline of a tree before the light encompassed them.
**********
Spike had been pacing back and forth nervously for the last several minutes. By now, he’d remotely tripped at least four dozen traps around the castle, catching any pony who happened to be in close enough proximity to the trap. He could still feel his link to Prince Macintosh, but the alicorn had sent him no messages other than to say he was in the throne room and to tell him to trigger the trap on Princess Luna’s chair. That had been more than fifteen minutes ago and the dragon was becoming anxious. He had no idea where the others were or what was happening above him in the castle. He wasn’t certain as to what he should do, but if worse came to worse, he could always set the castle traps to automatic and escape back to Zecora’s hut. At least there, he could protect her.
His thought were interrupted by a glowing white sphere that began to form in the middle of the room. It slowly grew brighter until he was forced to turn his head away and close his eyes. There was a flash, and the light vanished. When it faded, he found himself staring at the six mares he had traveled with to the castle. They were sitting on the cold, stone floor facing each other in a circle. All wore a golden amulet around their necks with their cutie mark formed in crystal as the center piece. There were other changes, but the dragon wasn’t exactly sure he was seeing things right.
“You guys okay?”
“Ah think so,” replied Babs, rubbing her hoof across the back of her head. She looked at the others. “How about youse guys?”
“I’ve been better, but considering the circumstances this isn’t bad.” Trixie stood and flexed her braced leg. For some reason, it had stopped hurting. It was the first time in ages and she almost missed the ache that had always accompanied it. She looked down at her hooves and was surprised to see that her legs seemed to glow with a sort of translucence that made them appear thicker and stronger, like an earth pony’s. “Uh... does any pony else feel like something’s a bit... off.”
“Oh my,” exclaimed Fluttershy, “...look at Pinkie.”
They all turned, eyes widening in amazement. The party pony was sporting a realistic pair of translucent wings on her back and a spiral horn from her forehead. She looked back at her friends. “What... what are you all starring at... WHOA!... You all look like alicorns!
It was true, every pony had somehow obtained hooves, horns or wings that were clearly visible, yet at the same time insubstantial.
“Are those things real?” asked Spike.
Babs turned to look at her ‘wings’ and discovered that they moved exactly like those of a pegasus. Giving an experimental flap, she lifted herself a foot or two off the ground. “Ah don’t know if they are, but they sure act like their real.”
“Why is there a soft, warm buzzing in my head?” asked Rainbow.
“It’s your horn, dear. What you’re feeling is ambient magic, the same way all unicorns do,” Rarity explained. “It means you are tapped into the magical energies that surround us all.”
“Cool... if a bit, annoying,” replied the pegasus.
“Not to worry. Once you’re used to it you should be able to tune it down so it’s not really noticeable.”
Trixie bounced up and down on her hooves several times, relishing the lack of pain in her rear hoof. “I feel as if I could kick down a small building if I wanted to.”
Babs turned to the blue-furred unicorn. “Youse think this might be permanent?”
The magician shook her head. “Judging from the translucent nature of the appendages, I’d say they’re tied into the magic of the amulets. Kind of like a manifestation of the power we now wield.”
Rarity nodded in agreement. “I can feel a sort of energy flow coming from the amulets. I wonder how you turn off the effect?”
“You could try taking off the amulets,” Spike observed.
The all looked at the dragon, wondering why none of them had thought of that. Fluttershy reached behind her neck and undid the clasp holding the amulet in place, letting it drop into her hoof. The translucent effects immediately faded for one and all. Pinkie, who was several feet into the air, abruptly face planted with the floor as her wings disappeared.
“OH MY!” the yellow pegasus said, folding into herself. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to fall. Are you all right? You aren’t hurt?”
Pinkie bounded to her hooves smiling. “That was incredible. I’m going to have to add that to my act!”
“Try putting it back on,” Trixie suggested, suppressing a slight hiss of pain as her back leg began throbbing once more.
Fluttershy did. There were a few moments where nothing happened, then the magical appendages reappeared.
“Looks like you can only use those things together,” Spike commented.
“Just like Arual said,” repeated Rarity. “A power that must be channeled by all, as one.”
“So what do we do now?” asked Rainbow. “I mean it’s cool that we’re all alicorns, but does that mean we attack Chrysalis and Sombra or what? And if we do, how does our power work?”
Trixie scratched her chin for a moment. “The elements are raw, natural magic, but their source is the tree of Harmony, which is some kind of living being. I remember reading somewhere that this kind of natural magic often displays a kind of sentience of its own. It forms spells that accomplish the intended task without any kind of active spell casting on the part of those who bear it.”
“Sort of like flying by instinct,” said Rainbow.
“So how can you know it works that way?” asked Spike.
Rarity looks over at Pinkie Pie. “Darling, would you do us a favor and fly around the room three times, then land next to Babs?”
“Okie Dokie Loki!” The party pony launched herself skyward, did three quick circuits, than landed next to Babs as requested.
“You’re almost as good a flier as Dash is,” observed Babs.
The cyan pegasus grumbled. “No she isn’t... and besides, I would have been 20 percent cooler.”
“Hey Rainbow... catch!” Trixie hurled an empty vase across the room. With little or no time to react, the pegasus grabbed it in mid-flight using telekinesis. It stopped and floated in front of everypony, much to their, and Dash’s, surprise.
“Fluttershy... would you kindly go over to that table and give it as hard a buck as you can?” asked the magician.
“Okay... but I’m not really all that strong.” The timid mare trotted over to the table, whirled and gave it a solid, double buck. Despite being made of oak, the table flew across the chamber, struck a wall and shattered into a dozen pieces. “Oh my! Did I just do that?”
“What’s all this about?” asked Pinkie.
“Don’t you see...? The magic of the amulets and the elements is innate. You don’t have to know how to fly, the elements gave you wings and the ability to use them in one package. The same is true with simple magic, or at least telekinetic spells. And as for kicking things in, you now have the strength of an earth pony.”
“All this because of the elements?” asked Babs.
Trixie nodded. “Now that we’ve found them, it’s simply a matter of figuring out how best to use them.”
“YOU CAN DO THAT BY SIMPLY TURNING THEM OVER TO ME!”
Everyone in the room whirled at the sound of the voice. There, standing before them was Queen Chrysalis with about three dozen changelings at her back. “Your game of hide and seek is over, ponies,” she grinned wickedly. “Olly, Olly, Oxen Free!”
To Be Continued
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Sweet chapter. Thanks for the update.
a few typos here and there, but over all still solid. it would appear that Mac is close to discovering the true Big Bad...
7205410 The question is... are you?
7205478 insufficient data at this time...
Huh. I was going to propose that Chrysalis was perhaps being possessed by a Nightmare Twilight or perhaps a Midnight Sparkle from a dimension where Sunset didn't win and MS used her dimensions to travel to another Equestria (though of course Friendship Games wasn't out yet when you first published this story but then, neither was Trouble Shoes!). However, the fact that Chrysalis calls who I believe she means Sombra her 'brother' at one point, this being from the perspective of the Other who's possessing Chrysalis makes me suspect there's actually not one but two Big Bads.
But the Other dun goofed by leaving Big Mac alone.
7206607 Interesting... remember though, Mac himself is from an alternate reality that split off from the main story line when the Elements returned their crystals to the tree of harmony. It's possible he met Trouble Shoes at a rodeo or perhaps hired him (temporarily) as a farm hand.
As to Twilight... Well, we will see.
7208719 No, when I was talking about Trouble Shoes, I meant that he didn't appear until 2015 in Season 5, and this story was originally started in mid-2014, so you couldn't have originally plotted him to make an appearance. However, he's such a minor character that it's not really a deviation from whatever original idea you had. But Midnight Sparkle, on the other hand, would be impossible to appear as a major character unless you actively changed your plot outline depending on Season 5 and Friendship Games.
7208749 Ah... but I didn't say as to Midnight Sparkle. I said Twilight, who in this world died on their first attempt to find the elements and defeat Nightmare Moon. Wheels within wheels, all of which shall be made clear as the plot rolls on.
Thanks for the feedback. It definitely helps with my writing.
Well, it looks like this story was featured in the front box. I don't know how long it was for, though.
Man, I feel sorry for Discord.
Even in a nightmare chaos realm where he reigns supreme, he STILL loses.
7217700 Interesting. Wish I'd seen it. Nice to know my stories are drawing some extra-fanicular interest. (Whatever that means. LOL)
Thanks for the heads up.
7218949
I missed it as well. If I had known you posted a new chapter, I'd have read it the day it came out. Good thing I check for updates every few days.
Really like the chapter. The plot twist keeps you guessing. Looking forward to the next installment.
Dreadnought
Sooo, update any time soon? Genuinely curious.
This is truly a great story. Would love to know how it turns out.
Dreadnought
Hope you haven't abandoned the story. You left it at an interesting point.
Dreadnought