14 - Ursa
By the time Starlight found Tone Shift, he was already past Ponyville’s town borders and sprinting directly for the Everfree forest. A couple of ponies that had tried to stop him along the way could be seen picking themselves up off of the ground, stunned at how little restraint he showed in shoving them aside to get through.
“Tone Shift! Stop! There’s an Ursa out there!” Starlight shouted, grabbing Tone’s tail in her magic.
“I. Dont. Care!” Tone screamed back at her, turning to face her with a gaze that gave her immediate pause. There were tears in his eyes and his lips were trembling as he struggled to hold himself together. “I can’t let her leave! Not like this!”
“We can send out a search party. We’ll bring her back, but I can’t let you leave!” Starlight said uneasily before pulling Tone back towards her. Tone’s forehooves dug small trenches in the dirt as he tried to pull away from her to no avail.
“Let me GO!” Tone shouted as he came within a foot or two of her before lashing out with a foreleg, striking Starlight in the face, hard. Starlight yelped in pain and stumbled back, falling on her rump and covering her now bleeding nose with a hoof.
“Ack! T-That’s enough!” She snapped, readying a sedating spell to calm him down.
“I don’t care what you have to say! Somepony I cherish - no, somepony I love is out there and I am NOT waiting around or sitting on my plot for you lot! Every second wasted here is another second between me and her! If there is an Ursa out there, I’ll happily do whatever I have to in order to get past it and find her! I will not lose her! Not again!”
Starlight’s magic flickered out from his onslaught, her eyes looking at him widely in shock. He was hyperventilating, tearing up and shaking horribly. Tone shook his own head to get a hold of himself before he continued. “I will not stop. I’ll face any consequences later, but making sure that she is safe and sound is my only priority.” he stepped forward and glared down at Starlight. “Anypony that gets in the way of that is gonna lose.”
Despite knowing how hollow a threat it was, Starlight gave a silent nod anyway. “...Fine. Just don’t get yourself killed out there… I’m sure Twilight will want to talk with you when you get back.”
Tone gave a thankful nod of his own. “Alright.. Thank you.” Without another word, he turned and galloped away into the everfree forest. For several moments, Starlight sat in silence before standing and looking up at one of the pegasi in the air.
“Would it be possible for you to tail him? Make sure he doesn’t do anything too stupid?”
The stallion shook his head. “Not me, I’m not allowed out of town, but I bet Rainbow isn’t so hindered.
“Okay, go do that, then. Once I’m done passing out instructions I’ll go let Twilight know what’s going on.”
* * * * * * *
When the great roar of an angry, adolescent Ursa reached his ears, Tone Shift realized that this was probably an absolutely terrible idea. The ground gave a horrific shake that knocked him from his hooves and sprawling to the ground. Looking up, he saw a faint green flash in the same direction the Ursa was, it’s own blue luminescence clearly visible from even this far away.
It spotted her… she’s fighting the Ursa! Tone picked himself up and kept going. What do I do? What can I do? Tone asked himself as another tremor rattled the earth, a pained scream sounding from the Ursa that threatened to make Tone’s ears bleed. He slowed down slightly so as to not draw too much attention when he arrived at the scene.
And what a scene it was. Chrysalis had shed her disguise in favor of her true self and was currently struggling to keep the Ursa’s long, aetherial claws from breaking through a magic shield. It had her against the ground, cracks beginning to rapidly form in her barrier. Chrysalis let out a strained shout before dropping the shield spell in favor of ducking and rolling to the side. The massive boulder she had been standing on was smashed into a pile of rubble by the force of the impact. Chrysalis let out a cry of pain as a particularly large chunk of rock slammed into her and knocked her to the ground below.
She hit another, smaller rock jutting from the ground with a crack, her side taking most of the impact before more stones from the above boulder fell and seemed to bury her in rubble. Tone’s eyes widened, his blood went cold and his heart froze. “CHRYSALIS!!!” He screamed out, galloping towards the stone pile Chrysalis had been buried under.
He didn’t reach the pile before it exploded in a rapid expansion of green magic. Chrysalis took a shuddering breath as she got to her hooves, blood trickling down the side of her head and covering one of her eyes, the eye that would otherwise see Tone Shift. She looked up at the Ursa, the massive, celestial bear surging down at her with the intention of crushing her beneath it’s massive paw
She managed to teleport off to one side, coming out of it in a slide that put her right next to Tone Shift. Now she saw him. Her eye widened as she looked back to him, mouth agape. “Wh-what?! How-”
“Look out!” Tone blurted, tackling Chrysalis to shove them both to the side as the Ursa continued its relentless assault. The two of them let out pained grunts upon their impact with the ground a few feet away, the Ursa’s angry roar causing Tone’s ears to mute all other sounds in favor of merely ringing.
Chrysalis quickly grabbed him in her forelegs and pulled him away, her wings buzzing furiously to get them far enough away to deposit him behind cover. When she found a suitable safe place in what would otherwise be a small animal hideout beneath a tree, she sped for it and unceremoniously dumped Tone Shift there. “Stay. Here!” Chrysalis shouted at him to make sure he heard her over the ringing in his ears. He nodded before Chrysalis took back to the air.
The Ursa turned to glare at her furiously, it’s massive teeth bared threateningly, saliva dripping from them as the walking constellation drooled in hopes of a decent meal. Chrysalis snorted before taking a moment to calm herself and focus. She barely even noticed the pink haze that was rapidly filling the area, or that she was actively eating it all up without losing focus on the Ursa.
With an angry yell, Chrysalis lit up her horn and shot like a rocket at the Ursa, green fire surrounding her. Such a basic spell for Changelings, affectionately called ‘comet’ or ‘meteor.’ The drones in the invasion of Canterlot so long ago had used this same spell, if a weaker version of it, to cause structural damage and enter the city quickly. The fire-like magic doubled as a personal shield, dampening the impact with the ground.
The Ursa was not expecting Chrysalis to shoot for it’s chin. It tried to bite down on her, but missed as she slipped under its jaw and slammed into it’s throat with enough force to reduce stone to dust. The Ursa let out an agonized roar before toppling backwards from the impact and falling to the ground, shaking the earth and kicking up quite an impressive cloud of dust.
Chrysalis finally set herself down on the ground, panting heavily from exertion. She winced in pain as the wound above her eye gave a sharp sting to remind her of it’s presence. She absently gave a quick healing spell to stop the bleeding, then turned to Tone Shift, who was now poking his head out of it’s hiding place.
Chrysalis gulped, then approached him with a harsh glare that began to turn sad the closer she got to him. “...Tone Shift, how are you awake?” she asked quietly when she stopped face to face with him.
“Somepony woke me up…” Tone replied, lowering his gaze to stare at the ground. For several seconds he was silent. Then, he shuddered as a sob tore it’s way from his mouth. “Why?”
“Tone…?”
“Why did you do it?!” Tone asked loudly, his voice cracking and uneven as he looked back up at her. The look on his face caused her own heart to go cold. “How could you do that?! You knocked me out and then went to leave me all alone!” he shoved her harshly with his hooves. “You came out here and got attacked by an Ursa! You could have died!”
Chrysalis didn’t say anything, simply looking away and hiding behind her mane. Tone took a moment to breathe before reaching out and pulling Chrysalis into a tight hug, a stunned yelp being squeezed out of her from the abruptness of it.
“Please, don’t do that again! It hurt enough when the thought of losing you reminded me of my mother… Don’t go away now that I...“ he couldn’t finish the sentence, simply crying openly now into Chrysalis’ chest, given the height difference.
Chrysalis sighed softly. “Tone, I… I have to go. If I stay-”
“I don’t care what happens to me if you stay! What good is a home if the resident just leaves?!” Tone snapped, pulling back and glaring at her intensely. “And besides… I don’t think much would happen if you were found out under the right circumstances…”
Chrysalis blinked and looked at him questioningly. “Tone Shift?”
“Somepony already kn-”
Tone didn’t get to finish the thought as the world around them began to shake again. His eyes widened as he looked behind Chrysalis. His jaw fell open and Chrysalis could guess what was happening. She broke away from the hug and turned around to look at the Ursa as it stood back up, a large discoloration forming on it’s throat and some faint trails of magical energy that served as its blood trailed from its mouth.
It’s eyes bore a hatred and rage that put immense unease into Chrysalis. She looked over at Tone Shift. If the ursa got it’s claws on him, then…
“Tone Shift.” Chrysalis said sharply, earning Tone’s attention.
“Wha?”
“Stay back…” Chrysalis gave him a smile; a confident one. “I’ll keep you safe.”
Before Tone could question her, Chrysalis’ eyes began to change. They lost the reptilian slit, her pupil rounding out and looking more like what a normal pony would have. Further, pink trails of magic energy began to drift from their outer edges. Chrysalis turned fully to face the Ursa, her horn lighting up with green magic. A gust ripped at the air around her as more magic began to pour out of anything it could, just itching to be put to use.
Tone stepped back, letting out a startled gasp as Chrysalis suddenly shot into the air faster than he could track. The Ursa roared in fury and lunged for her, it’s claws reaching out to tear her apart. A bubble shield formed around her just before impact, catching the claws and holding them in place. With a grunt of effort, Chrysalis expanded the shield in the Ursa’s direction, turning the protective force into an offensive force, shoving it backwards and knocking it off balance.
Tone ducked as sticks and small stones blasted by him, thrown around like ragdolls by the force of the winds Chrysalis was emitting. He watched with wide-eyed wonder as she pursued the Ursa, never letting up in her assault.
With another enraged roar, the Ursa lunged at Chrysalis. She scoffed at it’s effort and shot up into the air, letting the bear sprint past her uselessly and into a cluster of Everfree trees. The sound of the trees snapping in their trunks and falling was a testament to the power at play. In her current state, Chrysalis was unimpressed. For a moment, she wondered where this power increase had come from. Then she remembered Tone Shift and smiled. I’m defending more than myself…
She was gaining power from her own affections for him. Her desire to protect him and keep him safe because, even if she wouldn’t admit it out loud, she cared about him, was giving her power. Her smile widened, she readied the comet spell again, shooting after the Ursa and ramming into it’s back fast enough to break the sound barrier.
The Ursa roared, turned, but didn’t get off another attack. Chrysalis didn’t let it. She shifted away and shot a massive beam of magic at it, tuning the energy in just such a way that it attained a sharpened ‘edge. ’ Constellation creatures like Ursa’s don’t bleed or bruise in the same way as purely organic creatures. Blunt force would only stun it or make it angry. If she truly wanted to scare it off, she needed to cut it.
The focused beam of magic sliced a sizable gash across the Ursa’s cheek, drawing a pained growl from it before she fired off several more in rapid succession. Long slices, cuts and gashes began to appear across it’s entire body, trails of magic leaking from the wounds in large amounts.
Knowing that it was beaten, the Ursa turned and broke into a retreat away from the triumphant changeling. Chrysalis sent it a few parting beams to make sure it got the message and did not return. When she was satisfied that it was gone for good, Chrysalis let herself touch back down to the ground, almost falling down when she landed. She laughed slightly as she realized just how out of energy she was.
“Tone Shift! It’s safe!” She called, stumble-walking towards where he had been hiding. She shook her head slightly and then wiped at her eyes with a foreleg to get rid of the blood and sweat that was pouring into her vision. “Tone, where are-”
She froze as soon as she lowered her foreleg and saw what was in front of her. When the Ursa had knocked over the trees…
“Oh no…”
Chrysalis felt stiff, rigid. She blinked several times, hoping with all of her heart that it was just a hallucination, that he was fine. But the image persisted. Slowly, she trotted towards the scene in front of her, one thing in particular grabbing her attention.
Tone Shift lay with his hind legs buried beneath one of the fallen trees, much of his upper body covered in dirt, stone and splintered wood. Even from here, Chrysalis could see one of his hind legs was broken and bent at a horrific angle. “No… please… don’t die on me…” Chrysalis whispered, almost silent as her horn lit up and pulled the tree of of him. Tone didn’t respond. He was perfectly still.
Chrysalis, dreading what she would learn, leaned down and put an ear against his mouth to see if he was breathing. She was relieved to find he was, but put into panic when she realized how faint the breaths were.
“No, no! Come on, Tone Shift… stay with me…” She mumbled in a trembling voice, setting herself down and preparing a healing spell. No healing spell could fix the bones, not properly at least. Those would need to be re-aligned and treated by a medical expert in combination with magic to heal properly. Still, Chrysalis could at least slow down any bleeding and buy him some time.
“Chrysalis!” A voice came from above, sending a spear of despair through her. She looked up to the speaker and saw it was Twilight Sparkle being led by Rainbow Dash, both of which were glaring at her furiously.
Chrysalis tried to ignore them for just a moment longer, focusing every ounce of magic she could into the healing spell. “Get away from that pony right now, Chrysalis!” Rainbow shouted from above as Twilight landed, the latter’s horn lighting up with magic, ready to strike if needed.
“I’m sorry…” was all Chrysalis managed to choke out, more to Tone Shift than anypony else before she stood and galloped away from the battlefield.
“Get back here!” Rainbow shouted, ready to give chase.
“Rainbow, stop!” Twilight shouted, causing her prismatic friend to halt. “This pony needs medical attention and you don’t have magic. Get him back to Ponyville and to the hospital, I’ll look for Chrysalis.”
Rainbow huffed with annoyance at being left out of the fight, but otherwise didn’t object. She swooped down and gingerly scooped Tone Shift’s mangled form onto her back before flying him for the hospital at high speeds.
* * * * * * *
Twilight didn’t find Chrysalis. After searching for some time, she finally gave up the search and returned to Ponyville, the sun having set a while ago and the moon reaching into the air. That night, Chrysalis found a small, secluded cave and hid herself away. Using parts of the environment, she hid herself before laying down to try and sleep.
She didn’t know what she was supposed to do, now. All she knew for sure was that Tone Shift had been hurt because of her own stupidity. The price of cowardice was high, she now knew, and she just prayed she would never be stupid enough to have to pay that price again.
Please, be alive when I wake up…
With that thought repeating in her mind over and over, Chrysalis fell into a light, miserable sleep.
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Two chapters in one day?! Am I insane?!
Yes. Yes I am.
Poor Chryssie.
I really like the way you are portraying Chrysalis. found this.
restraint he showed in shoving the aside to get through. [them ]
Poor Chryssie... And go away, Twilight.
I am feeling bade for Chrysalis and Tone Shift as I think that if Chrysalis can ever admit to her self just how much love she is feeling for Tone Shift her hole world will change.
as to Twilight not feeling much for her.
she preaches friendship way to much but at the same time she is a bigot about it, she needs knocked off that soap box she is on.8053875
8053753
(Recent spoiler warning)
To be fair with Twilight getting all aggro on Chrysalis, imagine how it must have looked to her; She got alerted by RD that there's some crazy shit going down in the Everfree and when they arrive they find Chrysalis next a horribly mangled, near-dead pony. Chrysalis is still publicly seen to be a potential threat, so they misinterpreted what they saw as Chrysalis hurt Tone Shift. Obviously not true if you know the whole story, but they don't know the whole story.
8053941
you are correct sir and I withdraw that part of my comment.
and I will say that I am not a big fan of Twilight but in reality it is a show for kids.
8054596 I kinda misjudged myself on that...
i caught up and i love it so far cant wait for the next chapter
Ohhhhhh it's starting.
Rather hoping Tone Shift sets them straight, and probably Princess Luna too while they're at it.
8053962
I think you misspelled 'Twilight is best pony'.
8057271 This better not become an argument.
8057440 Meh, it won't. I was jesting with him, Twilight is best pony in my opinion. But of course he can have his own.
Even if it's wrong...
8057271
no not really as Luna is best pony.
8057920 8057271 Oh, come on, guys. Flutters is obviously best pone
8057271
8057920
8059774
You people sure do have an odd way of spelling 'Discord'.
8083997
oh, you reminded me of that old story, "rescue from the changeling hive". there's a scene where Discord beats up evil Chrysalis.
And now the roles are flipped.
And when she next wakes up, she looks like a technicolor moose. :D
Rainbitch Douche you horrid horse how dare you
9397126
That's a new one...
9242824
Please no.
Technicolor is fine, technicolor moose is not.
8053038
No your breathtaking!
10 on-time arrivals from 10 XD
Shattered