Chapter 10: Canter Creek
It was difficult for me to sleep after my revelation, but an irritated Spike had quickly pointed out the numerous obstacles in my path. My friends were all asleep, Celestia was resting, the hospital was closed, and I desperately needed my energy for the plan I'd outlined.
However, there was one aspect I could take care of immediately, and it only took me a minute and a half to find Pinkie Pie and fill her in.
“I need all of the information you can possibly find on Sugar Belle.”
“You got it!” she said with an eager bounce. “But don't you already know a bunch from Celly and Chryssy?”
I shook my head. “No, Pinkie, I need to know everything. Friends, teachers, favorite foods, favorite colors, old residences, and the style she kept her mane in. Every single small detail could be important, so don't leave anything out. If she had a pet, I want to know its name and birthday.”
“You got it!” said Pinkie excitedly, giving me a salute before bouncing away.
Part of me wondered where Pinkie planned on getting this information, especially at this hour, but I knew better than to ask. Chrysalis may have been proud of her information network, but Pinkie's party network was downright scary.
Eventually, I managed to nod off after a midnight snack and some warm milk. When the sun rose, I was up with it, finalizing my checklist and looking over a large map of Equestria. When Chrysalis teleported in beside me, I barely even looked up.
“You're radiating nervous energy again,” she said in way of greeting. “My hive can feel it.”
“Sorry,” I replied hurriedly. “I just hate standing around and waiting for things to happen.”
“You obviously hate the concept of sleep, too,” grumbled Chrysalis. “Particularly my sleep.”
“If this doesn't work, you have my permission to snark at me,” I replied. “But just in case, I need as many soldiers as you can spare ready to go. Would you like some coffee?”
Chrysalis gave me a half-lidded stare before reaching out with a hoof. Before I even realized where it was heading, one of the holes in her leg had slipped around my horn, gently pulling it and my head upwards. In the next moment, her lips locked with mine; her long, flexible tongue slipped into my mouth and practically coiled around my tongue. There was a faint taste of her aphrodisiacs, but only enough to make my heart race. When she pulled back and released my horn, I could feel that my body heat had risen.
“No need, that was a sufficient pick-me-up.”
Her sly smile and mischievous eyes were difficult to look at directly. Fortunately, a knock at the door diverted my attention.
“Mornin', Twi, got a delivery for ya,” announced Applejack, expertly balancing upon her back a heavy box with the initials ‘S.B.’ written on the side. Eagerly, I lifted the package from her and placed it on the table.
“Thanks, Applejack. How is Pinkie doing?”
“Completely passed out. What they hay did you have her doin’ all night?”
“Research,” I said simply, pulling out several documents detailing work history and education, spreading them out over the map I'd unrolled earlier.
Chrysalis looked over my shoulder. “Information on Sugar Belle? I thought my changelings had given you all the information you needed.”
Wordlessly, I levitated one of the papers in front of her face. Chrysalis regarded it with a pensive frown. “Favorite color, preferred baking technique, favorite candy store as a foal...how did she find out all of this?”
Applejack let out a tired sigh. “It's usually best just not to ask with Pinkie Pie.”
Chrysalis seemed unamused by the non-answer, but I cut in before she could respond. “There's really no big secret about it. She just works really hard to maintain a network of contacts and friends. That way if anypony wants her to throw a party, she'll be able to assess their interests and put something together, even if it's on short notice.”
Chrysalis still looked skeptical. “And she manages this in-between her job at Sugarcube Corner and her occasional world-saving activities?”
I couldn't help but chuckle at that. “Now that is the true mystery of Pinkie Pie. She's got time management skills that even I envy.”
“And she gets by on two hours of sleep a day,” added Applejack. “So...not that I doubt ya, but what exactly is the point of all this?”
I paused in my reading, calculating internally whether or not there was an easy way to explain the complicated mental magic technique I had worked out yesterday. After thirty seconds, I determined there wasn’t one.
“Let me put it this way: if you're serious about coming along to stop Queen Violet, you'll want to clear your schedule.”
---
Two hours later, I was still debating the details with Chrysalis as we entered the hospital. Rainbow, who had joined us en route, was looking completely lost.
“I still believe you're vastly underestimating the sheer complexity of the mind.”
“I'm not talking about making a personality cut from whole cloth, Chrysalis, I want to build something clever enough to make her think there's a connection,” I replied, slightly exasperated.
“This still seems incredibly risky with a psyche as fragile as hers,” countered Chrysalis. “You could cause a number of long-term afflictions, even if she recovers.”
“Not as long as you're helping me,” I insisted. “I'll provide the power and a base neural network. You’ll fill in the details and attune the personality to Sugar Belle's memories.”
Rainbow Dash groaned. I couldn't really blame her. Chrysalis and I had been talking in circles for the past ten minutes now. “You are gonna do something, right?”
“We're going to try, at least,” I replied. And if it didn’t work, she wasn’t going to be any worse off.
“I don't quite share your certainty,” grumbled Chrysalis.
“I think you should go for it.”
Chrysalis glanced upward at Rainbow. “Why are you so confident? Do you even know what we're trying?”
“Barely. But it sounds like a lot of magical egghead stuff, and when it comes to being an egghead, Twilight has my complete confidence.”
“How sweet of you,” I giggled before addressing Chrysalis again. “I know this is going to be difficult, but I can't do it without you. You're better at crafting personas than I am, and you're better at improvising and adapting to an unstable mind.”
Chrysalis hesitated before replying under her breath, “I never said I wouldn't do it...”
Rainbow let out a 'hmm' while rubbing her chin with a forehoof. Suddenly, she smirked. “Oh, I get it now.”
“Get what?” I asked, puzzled.
“It's not that she doesn't want to do it, she's just worried about failing and disappointing you.”
Surprised, I looked back at Chrysalis. Her expression was completely neutral. “Really?”
“Hmph. Hardly. I am a Changeling Queen and a mistress of deception. I find this task a trivial use of my talents.” With a flick of her mane and a swish of her tail, Chrysalis went on ahead into Sugar Belle's hospital room while pointedly ignoring Rainbow's sly grin.
---
Half an hour later, Sugar Belle's room was starting to feel cramped. Her doctor was present, along with the guards who had been stationed outside her door. Add Nurse Redheart to the mix and the single patient room now had eight occupants.
Oh well, too late to switch rooms now. “Alright everypony, we're ready. If anything goes wrong with her vitals, Rainbow knows how to pull us out. If she starts thrashing, just make sure she doesn't hurt herself.”
Receiving silent nods from the doctor and the guards, I turned towards Chrysalis, my horn glowing softly. “Ready.”
With ease, Chrysalis and I slipped into our shared link. I could tell she was nervous, but considering my own unease, I had little hope of comforting her.
Slowly, with my power and Chrysalis' technique, a consciousness began to form and take shape inside our link. At first, it was nothing more than a few scattered personality traits. Then, Chrysalis began to add details, judiciously picking and choosing each facet of the persona. Some interests were shared with Sugar Belle, others contrasted sharply; it wasn't enough to just have all of 'her' interests completely match up with those of her 'friend'.
Memories came next. Past conversations, tense moments where the two of them had gotten into trouble, meals enjoyed together, playful debates over the best types of sweets, and a heart-wrenching argument right before she'd run off and encountered Starlight Glimmer.
Peaks, valleys, good times and bad. All of the things that made a true friendship what it was, all compressed into a single constructed consciousness that was reaching out to the comatose unicorn like an old, forgotten friend.
Almost immediately, there was resistance. Starlight's curse mark was working to suppress Sugar Belle's sense of self, and Violet's twisted mind magic was reinforcing that curse. Determined, I fought back against them while Chrysalis maintained the construct, tirelessly trying to rekindle a connection.
Gradually, I could feel Sugar Belle react, her own consciousness starting to awaken as she accepted the memory of her 'friend', giving us the opening we needed. It was tempting to push straight in, but this process demanded precision and deliberate action, and Chrysalis opted to slowly exert her power until she could gently slide into her subconscious and draw me in with her.
Memories began to flood the link. A difficult foster home, some nasty fights, the discovery of her talent and cutie mark, running away from home, and her first meeting with Starlight. Chrysalis quickly wrapped herself in those thoughts, tenderly exerting her influence as Sugar Belle's friend, reminding her of who she was and what she was passionate about. At the same time, I began to target the strands of changeling magic that had wrapped around her mind. I made sure to move slowly and precisely. Her mind and sense of self were too fragile to use anything more than a delicate touch.
“She's getting some color back.”
I sent Rainbow an acknowledgement and began using more power, burning away the changeling magic while Chrysalis continued to encourage her to fight back against the curse mark.
“She's starting to move.”
“Get ready to restrain her,” I replied quickly.
Mentally, I steeled myself. This was the moment I would find out if my theory was correct. After communicating the next step to Chrysalis, the two of us counted down together, and then our power surged. Relentlessly, I suppressed the changeling influence while Chrysalis encouraged Sugar Belle to remember who she was; a two-pronged assault to handle the combined magics of Starlight and Violet.
We were gaining ground. Violet's spellwork fought back, resisting and striking out, trying to damage the mind of its host, but now Sugar Belle was fighting back as well, rejecting her influence. Finally, I could feel the moment I’d been waiting for.
Pulling out of the mental link, I was met with the sight of the guards holding the thrashing patient in place. “Move!”
The two earth ponies jumped away at my command, and my bright violet beam struck her flank a moment later. Slowly, the equals mark on her flank began to fade and color returned to her features. Her thrashing slowed and eventually stopped. Beside me, Chrysalis let out a breath and opened her eyes.
“It's done,” stated Chrysalis with a sigh of relief.
“May I?” asked the doctor, gesturing toward the patient.
“All yours,” I panted, feeling mentally exhausted. The procedure had barely taken an hour, but it had felt like far longer.
“When she wakes up, she'll be wondering where her friend is,” murmured Chrysalis, sitting beside me while the doctor and the nurse checked their patient over.
All I could do was nod. I had hoped Chrysalis would have been able to remove the memory once Violet's control had been broken, but apparently Sugar Belle had latched onto it far too strongly. Removing that source of strength now would do more harm than good.
The ramifications of leaving a false memory ingrained in her consciousness were definitely discomforting. All I could hope for was that the end result would be worth it.
---
I closed my eyes just in time to avoid being blinded by the dual flashes of the princess’ teleports, the two of them appearing perfectly in the space I'd cleared for them in the middle of all my work spread throughout the library.
Celestia offered me a warm smile, but went straight to business. “How certain of this are you?” she asked, holding up the scroll I'd sent just minutes earlier.
“One hundred percent,” I replied confidently. “But only insofar as I know where Sugar Belle's cutie mark is. Everything else fits perfectly, though.”
Gesturing to the map unrolled on the table, I placed my hoof on the mark I'd made earlier. “Canter Creek. Isolated town on the frontier near the Badlands, and relatively close to the Barracks Town where Starlight was operating.”
“Are you certain this is not a decoy? Perhaps Sugar Belle's cutie mark has simply been left behind as bait,” countered Luna.
“It's certainly possible,” I conceded. “But I know for sure that her cutie mark is there. I've tested this extensively. It’s not possible to block the connection a pony has with their mark with shields or distance, and it can’t be faked, either. Once I broke the curse mark, it was easy to link with her mind, sense the direction, and triangulate its position.”
Celestia turned to Luna, a grim look on her face. There seemed to be a silent debate going on between them as they weighed the potential risks. “We could always send a small scouting party ahead first to be sure,” I suggested hesitantly.
The sun princess shook her head. “No, I believe now is the time to go all in. Chrysalis, are you-”
“My hive has been preparing since this morning,” she replied immediately. “We're ready.”
Celestia nodded and turned to me. “And your friends?”
“I told them to clear their schedules,” I replied. “Pinkie will need to nap on the train, though.”
“Good. I do not intend to take any chances this time.” Her horn glowed and suddenly an illusion that had been placed on the ground shimmered and faded, revealing a small trapdoor.
Rainbow, who had been silent since Celestia's arrival, gasped in surprise as the Elements of Harmony were revealed from a box within. “They were here the whole time?”
“Ever since Chrysalis' invasion,” replied Celestia, amusement in her voice. “It became clear to me that keeping them in a secure, hard-to-reach vault was not ideal in emergency situations.”
I swallowed, somewhat nervous now. The scope and size of this operation was increasing rather quickly, making me all the more worried that it might be a trap. “What about Queen Violet?”
“Her, you should leave to me,” replied Princess Luna, stepping forward. “I will command this operation, and if we engage with Queen Violet, I shall be there to greet her.”
That made me feel a little better. Even though my last encounter with Violet had technically been a stalemate, I wasn't eager to go another round. “How soon do we move out?”
---
Just as fast as last time, it turned out. It took less than an hour to gather Ponyville's guard force and changelings, and by the time the commandeered train had reached Canterlot, the rest of the unit was there to meet us. I recognized several faces from the previous operation, along with Luna's Night Guard that had helped with Queens Azure and Crimson.
Luna herself was in full battle armor; ebony black plates covered her from head to tail. She was going for full intimidation, and a few enchantments on the armor helped with that, from subtly bending the light around her to emphasizing her ethereal mane and glowing moon crest. The fact that she was sitting on a train seat in broad daylight only slightly diminished her intimidating presence.
“That's a really well done illusion,” I complimented, approaching her. “Is it part of the armor's enchantment?”
Luna smiled, showing off a set of fangs. “Well spotted. It has been a long time since I've had the opportunity to use this.”
“Gryphons?” I asked flatly.
“Gryphons.”
My attention wandered to the other side of the train car. While I could feel her presence easily enough, it took me a moment to spot Rainbow Dash amidst the crowd of blue and gold uniforms, mostly because she was wearing a blue and gold uniform of her own.
“...don't want anypony deviating from the plan. We won't know who is curse marked, brainwashed, or a changeling in disguise, so everypony gets restrained, no exceptions. If you encounter a queen, fall back and let Luna deal with it. If you need backup, tell the changeling with your squad and those orders will get relayed. Any questions?”
The squad leaders shook their heads.
“Good, now drill that into everypony's head. I don't want to fill out even a single casualty report this mission.”
The squad leaders left, though Rainbow stayed behind, looking down at her uniform while running a hoof over her chest. “It looks good on you,” I said as I approached.
“Thanks...still feels a bit strange wearing it, though.”
“You'll get an official ceremony later,” assured Spitfire. “But don't think I won't bust your flank back down to cadet if you let it go to your head.”
Rainbow gulped. “Yes ma'am.”
Behind me, I could hear Chrysalis chuckle. “I didn't think there was a pony alive who could put you in line so easily.”
“Shut up,” grumbled Rainbow, trying to hide her blush as Spitfire walked away.
“Oh, don't be so embarrassed. I'm sure you could get Twilight to put on a Wonderbolt uniform and order you around.”
Rainbow made a strangled noise and glared at Chrysalis. I went one step further and cast a Bubble of Silence around her, blushing fiercely and avoiding Rainbow's gaze. From the corner of my eye, I could see her trying to dispel the bubble, but I'd put quite a bit of power into it.
“So, um...did you-”
“No. It was a foal's crush, and right now I'm with somepony way better,” said Rainbow quickly. “Can we talk about anything else?”
Warily, I glanced at Chrysalis, who rolled her eyes before nodding. I dispelled the bubble and turned my attention over to the battle map that had been set up in one of the booths. Our numbers were relatively small; a hundred ponies of assorted specialties with a fairly even mix of pegasi, earth ponies, and unicorns, accompanied by about sixty of Chrysalis' changelings.
Rainbow and Chrysalis soon joined me. “Reports say we're likely to be outnumbered at least two-to-one ,” said the changeling queen. “Are you nervous?”
I looked toward Luna and her personal guard. Across from her were my friends (minus Pinkie Pie who was sleeping in one of the private cars), each of them prominently displaying their Element of Harmony. Two booths over, Spitfire and her two lieutenants were deep in conversation, and across from them was the new captain of the Royal Guard that had been hoof-picked by my brother to replace him when he left for the Crystal Empire.
Smiling, I shook my head. “Not even slightly.”
---
“We have confirmed changeling sightings.”
I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It wasn't necessarily 'good' news, but at least there was something here and I hadn't just wasted everypony's time.
“What about ponies?” asked Spitfire calmly.
“Plenty of them. We couldn't get close enough to verify with the amulets, but we saw a number of curse marks,” replied the forward scout.
Nodding, Spitfire turned her attention to Sugar Belle. The unicorn was weak and looked fatigued, but her eyes were staring straight at the city. “What are you feeling right now?”
“My cutie mark...it's in that village, I can feel it,” she replied haltingly. Beside her, Sugar Belle’s ‘friend’, Sweet Mint, put a comforting hoof on her back. The very sight of the changeling disguised as the silver-maned Earth Pony that Chrysalis and I had fabricated turned my stomach, but it was the only thing keeping her sane and coherent.
“Any sign of Starlight?” asked Spitfire, addressing the scout once more.
“No ma'am, but the largest concentration of ponies and changelings seems to be centered around the town hall.”
“I see,” said Luna thoughtfully. “Spitfire, I shall hold back and prepare to meet the queen if she tries to rush the barrier. Otherwise, you may direct the operation as you see fit.”
“Thank you, princess.” Spitfire turned from Luna and addressed my friends. “Showtime, girls. Give ‘em a taste of Harmony.”
Several popping sounds filled the air as changelings and unicorns teleported away. Hooves beat against the ground as the earth pony squads rushed to their positions, and several more groups of pegasi took off into the skies. I began to count in my head. Fifteen seconds later a nearly transparent shield went up.
“That's our cue,” I said aloud, though I needn’t have bothered. I could already feel my friends reaching out to me, joining their minds with mine as the Elements of Harmony began to glow. From the corner of my eye, I could see Luna shift away a bit. Even purified of Nightmare Moon, there was probably some lingering discomfort in seeing the Elements being used again.
Gathering the thoughts and feelings of my friends, I gave all that energy the 'spark' it needed. A multi-colored glow formed around us, and with a deep booming sound, the prismatic stream launched from our position, arcing through the sky and passing straight through the shield, hitting the town dead center and bathing it in rainbow light.
I could feel the morale of our soldiers rise as the Harmony magic washed over them along with the town. Even Chrysalis' changelings felt comforted.
“Alright girls, take a place on the perimeter and help out where you can,” I called out before they scattered to their assigned units. Letting my mental connection with them fade, I tapped into Chrysalis' link and observed.
Fighting had begun almost as soon as the shield was raised. Pockets of changelings were swarming from houses, focusing attacks on the shield in groups, only to be met with earth pony and pegasi squads wielding efficient takedown tactics.
Many of the curse-marked ponies were standing around, dazed and confused, barely resisting as they were tackled and magically restrained. Most looked like they were reeling from the Harmony strike, but a few dozen of them were attacking the barrier and other ponies with seemingly mindless rage.
“No sign of the queen, yet,” murmured Chrysalis.
“Maybe we got lucky and she was at ground zero of the blast,” I provided. We had centered it on the town hall for that very reason.
Chrysalis paused for a moment and then turned to Luna. “Perimeter clear. We can push forward.”
Nodding, Luna sent up a blue spark of magic high into the sky. Slowly, the unicorns and changelings began to walk forward, shrinking the shield, stopping only once they met resistance.
One by one the houses were cleared, with Earth Ponies kicking down doors and pegasi going in through the upstairs windows. The overall progress was slow but efficient, ensuring that no pony or changeling slipped through the closing net.
Idly, I explored the link, watching through the eyes of other changelings and checking up on my friends. Applejack was on the front lines, kicking down doors and even walls when the situation called for it. She had several lengths of rope with her, often not waiting for a unicorn before binding her takedowns and moving on. Rarity was hanging back, using her talents to help with restraining pacified ponies and changelings. Fluttershy was using her Stare to great effect. It didn't seem like any amount of brainwashing could diminish the sheer terror of that look, freezing both pony and changeling in place for others to take advantage of. Pinkie Pie, on the other hoof...
“Is that a hand-held party cannon?” asked Chrysalis, who had been following my link.
“Yes,” I said with a slight groan as I saw a changeling fall to the ground, tangled in streamers and covered with confetti. “She calls it ‘The Funderbuss'.”
Slowly, the shield continued to shrink. House after house was cleared, more and more changelings and brainwashed ponies were captured and restrained. Any time a group formed and made concentrated attacks against the perimeter shield, the nimble Wonderbolt units quickly deployed to break them apart.
“Does this seem too easy to you?” I asked after an hour had passed.
Chrysalis considered the question. “Violet's forces seem loosely coordinated, but directionless.”
“Do you think she has fled?” asked Luna.
“It's...possible.” The queen paused and then smiled. “Although if she has, she paid dearly for it. My changelings just found their stash of cutie marks.”
My spirits lifted at the news, though I made an effort to stay calm. “Keep it intact until the operation is over.” I allowed myself to relax a bit. Even if Violet managed to dodge the shield, this trip hadn't been wasted.
Another hour passed and the fighting growing steadily fiercer as the shield continued to compress and the remaining changelings and brainwashed ponies grouped together by necessity. Their tactics were getting desperate now and some were starting to use the ponies as shields, but we had numbers on our side now, and the last changelings remaining outside quickly fell.
“It looks like we are ready to take the town hall,” said Luna as the final outside group was captured. “There seems to be a significant changeling presence within. If Queen Violet is not going to show herself, I believe this would be an excellent time to ‘stretch my wings’ as t’were.”
In a flash of blue, Luna teleported away.
“You know,” I began, “I'm still angry at Violet for what she did to Rainbow, but...”
“I feel sorry for them, too,” finished Chrysalis.
---
Despite their best efforts, fear was running rampant through the link. They had been pushed back time and again, their numbers dwindling at an alarming rate, and their tenuous and shaky hold on the brainwashed ponies was becoming more difficult as the Harmony magic sought to undo their work.
None of the violet-eyed changelings harbored any illusions about winning the fight, but all of them were determined to make one final stand, pushing the brainwashed ponies to the front and into the line of fire. No matter which direction they came in, the ponies were going to pay for it.
It wasn't until the ground was almost completely covered that one of the changelings finally noticed the mist seeping in through the cracks of the floor. Panic erupted through the link. Changelings turned their magic on the mist, but it resisted all of their attempts to stop it. The light that had been coming in through the windows suddenly winked out, and more azure smoke billowed through the gaps, plunging the room into an absolute darkness that not even their magic could pierce.
Some of the brainwashed ponies scrambled for the door, only to find it sealed shut, and as the smoke continued to billow in, even the sound in the room faded, leaving only an empty, crushing silence.
And then, a fanged smile appeared with gleaming white teeth, closely followed by glowing green slitted eyes.
A flurry of magical attacks were thrown her way, but each fizzled and died before they could reach their mark, the shrouded alicorn laughing at their attempts. Her horn began to glow and her dark wings spread, shadows twisting and writhing around her before they surged outward towards pony and changeling alike.
One by one, the linked changeling's minds were snuffed out, their terror feeding into those who remained as the dark alicorn gleefully cut them down, laughing all the while, taking great pleasure in the horror each of them showed before the shadows came to swallow them.
In seconds, half their number was gone and their morale shattered. The sounds of the alicorn's laughs echoed in their ears as the remaining changelings desperately tried to undo their own barricades in the darkness.
---
Standing a ways back from the town hall, I watched in fascination as the doors burst open and changelings poured out of the interior, some trying to break through the wall of ponies outside, but most simply throwing themselves at the hooves of the soldiers. Beside me, Luna smiled and dispelled the illusion.
“I'm starting to think there's a reason why your legend persisted for so long after you were banished,” I murmured, trying to shake off the residual feelings of terror I'd felt from looking in on Violet's changeling's link.
“Hmph. Mere word of my presence once cleared battlefields,” the princess boasted, though I could tell she appreciated the compliment.
“Even the gryphons?” asked Chrysalis curiously.
“Especially the gryphons.”
As the three of us passed the perimeter of soldiers, Chrysalis mentally nudged me.
“Applejack has found her cousin, Braeburn. She wishes to know if she can release his cutie mark from its prison.”
“Of course,” I said quickly, feeling another weight lift from my back as we entered the town hall. Inside, several of the curse marked ponies had fainted from the terror of Luna's illusion along with their changeling captors. Thankfully, aside from a few bruises, none of them looked injured.
“Any casualties?” I asked.
“None on our side,” replied Spitfire, having caught my question as she flew through one of the broken windows and landed next to Luna. “General consensus among the units is these changelings were pretty terrible fighters. The brainwashed ponies were even worse, though most of them were knocked on their flanks from the Harmony strike.”
“We might have put a stop to her before she could effectively refine the technique, and the queen herself is still missing,” I pointed out. “How many changelings did we capture?”
Chrysalis tilted her head slightly, a subtle sign I'd come to associate with rapid simultaneous communications. “Around a hundred, it seems.”
My brow furrowed slightly. That was half as many as we'd been expecting. Had something clued her in to the coming attack and caused her to run, leaving behind half her forces as a distraction?
I swallowed as I looked at the unconscious changelings. As wretched as the words felt, I forced myself to say them. “We could...possibly find out more through a mental link with one of Violet's changelings.”
“That might not be necessary,” said Chrysalis suddenly. “My changelings have just found Starlight Glimmer.”
---
Any doubt I had in my mind about Starlight Glimmer working for the changelings against her will was dashed once I saw the state of her confinement. She had been trapped in one of the changeling pods, barely big enough to stretch out in. She looked malnourished, and it was unlikely she'd been able to wash regularly.
Rainbow, Chrysalis, and I followed slightly behind Luna, passing through a gap in the shield that had been put up around her prison. While I doubted that Starlight had enough energy for a teleport, they clearly weren't taking any chances.
Luna quickly wrapped the cocoon in her magic and unraveled it before disintegrating the goop with a precise blast of magic. Starlight's only response was to wearily tilt her head up. “You came,” she murmured. “The queen said you'd come.”
“Why were you left behind?” asked Luna firmly.
Starlight let out a mirthless chuckle. “She didn't need me anymore. I gave her what she wanted.”
“And what was that?” pressed Luna calmly. “An army of subservient ponies? A source of food?”
Starlight opened her mouth, but no words came out. Her body trembled slightly until finally she laughed. “She wanted me to doom Equestria. You will have a new Queen before the day is done.”
I frowned, gently picking up the unicorn with my magic, tilting her head toward mine. “Show me,” I commanded, my eyes glowing slightly with violet light.
The link came with ridiculous ease. Her mind felt like it had been forced open repeatedly to the point where she couldn't resist a link even if she wanted to. Images quickly spilled into my mind, flashes of her applying the curse mark, her meeting with Queen Violet, and several weeks of imprisonment.
It didn't take me long to find a mental block. In fact, Starlight's mind was drawing me straight to it, the barrier coming down immediately and bringing with it a second flood of thoughts and images that I quickly sifted through.
“That block was put in place by Starlight,” observed Chrysalis.
A minute later, I pulled out with a gasp, my eyes wide. “Luna! We need to get back to Canterlot! Now!”
Despite my panic, the princess remained composed. “Calm yourself, Twilight. What did you see?”
“Queen Aurum! She went to Canterlot hours ago! This was all a diversion!” I shouted.
Luna shook her head. “If she has split her forces, she will find very robust defenses in her path. The Royal Guard-”
“She doesn't have an army,” I snapped. “She took all the energy from the changelings who weren't here. She was never planning an invasion, her target has been Celestia all along!”
Luna's expression immediately darkened. “My quarters.”
“What?”
“I will teleport ahead to my quarters and lift the wards there. Wait thirty seconds after I leave.”
“I'll follow,” offered Chrysalis. “My hive can spare the energy; they don't need it for cleanup duties.”
I turned to Rainbow, but she cut me off before I could speak. “Save your energy, I'll race you there.” With a confident smile, she spread her wings and blasted out of the building. In the same breath, Luna disappeared in a flash of light.
I tried to calm down and count backwards from thirty, processing all the things I'd seen in Starlight's twisted mind.
“Wait...did you mean to say that Queen Violet left for Canterlot hours ago?” asked Chrysalis suddenly.
“No, the real Queen Violet was always at Canterlot.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.027 seconds
Total duration
910 users online
1,494,398 hits today, 2,571,732 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
...well. While I doubt Violet will succeed, this is going to screw everything up.
Should be a good fight!
Considering they've already seen drones pretending to be Queens, it'd be rather silly if they never considered this possibility and came up with a contingency plan.
I really hope we don't go from Badass Celestia last story to Worfed Celestia this story. Crossing fingers, no whammy, no whammy.
Things are just going from bad to worse aren't they? This should be interesting...
8450965
The problem is that she's going to be forced to restrain herself due to not wanting to cause harm to the citizens of Canterlot, unless she can somehow take the fight out of the city, or so I'd imagine anyway. Queen Violet, however, will have no such constraints placed upon the use of whatever power she got from her changelings.
How I imagined Twilight was feeling at the end of the chapter :
So Aurum and Violet traded places.
This is brilliant.
Rest of the story's pretty great too!
Way too easy indeed. The truth came out now, and all I can say..
The race truly beings now.
I support this notion. All in favor say, "Aye."
Either Aurum was never real, is Violet, or they have been in league with each other the whole time. But why would they want to get Celestia? A moral victory by killing her? The Elements are outside the city along with Luna, so if they were just to restrain Celestia it would be a losing battle to begin with.
Yep!
Gotta love gryphons
Gryphons would've obviously put much better of a fight. :V
... The Funderbuss...
I wonder where the real Aurum is.
Please, continue
....I have One Word for this....
"DAAAAAAYYYYUMMMMM"
As a side note: omgcutesqueetrianglefluffyponieloves
Unsurprising plot twist is unsurprising.
Also can they please just kill starlight already.
8450965
Well, I'm fully expecting Celestia not being able to defeat Violet without using drastic sun-powered city-levelling measures and therefore failing, but if she's defeated right off the bat, yeah, it'll be silly.
8450829
They even mentioned 'elder' keeping a tight leash on her aura on point of there being almost no aura. Hint hint.
8499919
You've been reading 2 fics and still don't understand that ponies doesn't just kill?
Figured it was going to happen with the golden magic in rainbow. Seems like a common enough ploy when you play Stratego while others play chess, though.
Separately, did goldie just kill/leave for dead 200 changelings? Big stakes.
Aha! She's wearing a Ring of Sustenance!
Im starting to think u dont like the gryphons for some reason... Hmmmm NOPE cant think of it right now
I like how this fanfic using griphones.