• Published 30th May 2017
  • 2,208 Views, 106 Comments

Insurgence - Rose Quill



A Changeling Queen can certainly hold a grudge. Especially when swearing vengeance.

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Insanity

The castle was shaping up nicely, Chrysalis thought. It was still a bit too bright in spots, but she had only been working on it an hour or two. She was powerful, yes, but she could transform that much crystal that quickly.

She could sense the various emotions flowing from the captive ponies behind her, still encased in their cocoons, but now on the ground as the building she had adhered them to originally had collapsed from the tremors.

The one containing one of the strange tasting ponies was thrashing about as the pony within struggled. Strange, they should be in hibernation within the pods. She went over and nudged it with a hoof, seeing a glowing shape inside the translucent shell. A stylized sun, somewhat similar to the high and mighty princess. Oh, how delicious she'll be. It would be a delicate flavor, aged like a fine wine. Twice she tried to get her, and twice she had failed.

"Third time pays for all," she whispered to herself as she watched the cocoon rock, the frustration seeping through like a light snack.

She watched with amusement, humming to herself.

She didn't notice the light beginning to glow in the other cocoons.


"Stop," Sorla said.

"What is it?" I asked, turning to look at her.

"I can almost see again," she said. "Not like before, but with my eyes."

I looked at her irises. "They are starting to show color again," I said. "Maybe that healing spell she put on you finally repaired the flash burns?"

She shook her head. "Whatever it is, I'll take it."

"Ready?" I asked, placing a hoof on her again.

"No," she said, bracing herself.

I teleported us again, and this close to the mirror I could almost feel the imbalance of the mana in the region. I turned to Sorla and motioned for us to duck down a little behind the brush.

"When she fires, make sure that brand takes the brunt of it," I said. "We'll have at most five to ten seconds to reseal the brand and activate the spell. Once I do, your job is to try and rescue the Elements and the Shadowbolts. Get them to safety. I'm not sure how well this will work, and it may blow up in my face."

"That's the part that worries me," Sorla deadpanned. "This is all in hopes you can remember a spell that you needed a scroll to enact that caught you and Princess Twilight in an endless loop of alternate timelines."

I smiled sheepishly. "It kind of worked, if you look at it from a certain point of view," I chuckled.

She facehooved and suddenly was illuminated by a light. "What in the Northern Lights?" she whispered.

I was confused too until I realized that the light was coming from me and there was now a solid weight around my neck. I looked down to see my cutie mark rendered in clear quartz set in a silver collar.

"Luna's Moon," I whispered.

"Is that an Element?" Sorla asked, squinting. "I didn't get a good look before I got blasted in the face with them."

"It looks like one, but it can't be," I said. "The original Elements were returned to the tree years ago, and the ones of this world shouldn't have bound to me."

"Then I suppose you have an alternate idea of what it is, then?" she asked sardonically.

"Not really," I sighed. "Nothing makes sense right now. We shouldn't be ponies on this side of the mirror, but we are. The Elements shouldn't be fused with their counterparts, but they are. Twilight's castle shouldn't be here, but...what in Celestia's name has happened to it?"

Where there had once been shining crystal, there were now giant expanses of dark rock and mud, holes gouged out of spots and where I knew there were windows solid walls. As I watched, one of the holes shifted down a few yards, and I realized I recognized it.

"She's making it into a hive," I whispered.

"Then we'd best get a move on," Sorla said. "Shouldn't we?"

"Right," I said, gathering mana and casting the illusion spell.

"Harmony help us," I said, trotting forward slowly towards the creature that wanted to kill me.


"Hey! Bug brain!" I shouted as I hopped up on a bit of rubble.

Chrysalis spun at the sound of my voice, an angry snarl sounding. "You dare?" she hissed.

"Oh, kiss my flank, you overgrown tick," I said. "I'm through running. You couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with your magic."

She growled, her horn shimmering with barely contained magic. "I wanted a hunt, but I suppose giving up was your only option at this point. I've found you everywhere you've tried to hide."

"You trying to bore me to death?" I said, affecting a bored expression. "Please, Trixie is a larger threat than you are."

She roared and the magic shot out, striking the edge of my illusion.

Sorla cried out as she fell, the brand that connected her to Chrysalis now marred.

"What?!" Chrysalis screamed as the additional mana being fed to her went out. The circling runes around her horn dimmed and then went out, as did the ones that orbited Sorla's.

"This better work," the wounded mare gritted.

"Hold still," I said, and flared as much magic as I could as I remarked a blank space on her side with the brand again, swapping out Chrysalis's mark with my cutie mark. The other Unicorn screamed in pain...

And I felt a rush of power into me, and I could feel the pain Sorla was in. Agony flowed through every inch of her, but she dampened it with determination.

I was about to race to the castle and to the map when I felt a sudden throb in my body, and five lights lanced up into the sky, the Shadowbolts floating up, each with a gem inset in silver around their necks.

And I understood.

"You've lost, Chrysalis," I said, my voice loud in the sudden silence. "You said earlier that if they could break from your hold they would have. Those you've afflicted with your spell may not be able to on their own, but they're not alone." I felt myself rising into the air and I caught a glimpse of my mane in the corner of my eye. I was briefly surprised to see it shimmering with internal light, but I felt a compulsion to continue to speak, and I felt a voice in my head.

Keep her busy, bruise her ego, the voice said, sounding like Twilight's.

The Shadowbolts drifted over to me, their medallions glowing.

"The magic of friendship has beaten you before," I said. "It can do so again."

"You can't do it with those pale imitations," the Changeling sneered. "I know the smell of the Element's magic, and those are not them.

"No," I agreed. "They're not. But they are just as important."

"Truth," I said, and Sugarcoat's gem linked to a cocoon.

"Faith," I continued, Indigo Zap linking up as well.

"Joy, Compassion," I said, Sour Sweet and Lemon Zest linking.

"Inspiration," I said, Sunny Flare's gem flaring and linking.

"Compromise," I said, feeling my gem start to thump like a heartbeat.

"And Sacrifice," I said, seeing Sorla's body start to float as well.

"These are all parts of the Magic of Friendship as well," I said. "And you can't fight us all at once."

"I see five ponies that barely know how to use magic, and a broken shell of a Unicorn that can't tap her own mana," the Queen sniffed. "I don't see how it's more than just you and me."

Seven cocoons burst open behind me, two Alicorns and five ponies lifting into the air, manes flowing as gems appeared around their necks. Three more cocoons split and three angry Sirens faced off against the mad queen.

"When you hit Sorla, you ended your spell," I said. "It's still in effect, but it's no longer progressing. First, we have to deal with you, then repair the damage."

Chrysalis snarled as she looked at the combined forces and took a step back. I took that moment to teleport into the castle, the combined mana from Sorla and the resonance from the Elements giving me more power that I had ever felt before, even using the spell amplifier we had found in Star Swirls last book when dealing with Acerak and the Gates. I leaped onto the table and looked down at the flickering map, and took a deep breath.

"Here goes everything," I whispered, and shot the spell into the table.