Dissonance: A Hidden World

by Braininthejar

Chapter 49: The Gift

“So, this is it?”

Twilight looked at the hole at the end of the narrow tunnel. It was a ring of crystal barely wide enough for a pony to squeeze through. And right now it was pulsing between black and red.

“It would get filled by the barrier if it were any bigger,” explained Chrysalis. “We had to be very careful excavating it.”

She climbed forward and entered the hole, transforming into a monstrous centipede to get through smoothly.

Twilight followed her, but rather than move through physically, she teleported herself, Applejack and Rainbow Dash through the hole, coming up in an empty space in the tunnel on the other side.

As Rarity approached the passage next, visibly unsure what to do, Pinkie Pie flashed with blue light, and with a mischievous grin she pounced at her from behind, the two squeezing into the hole together, and then shooting out on the other side with a loud ‘pop’. The girls looked behind them as the changeling reinforcements following them in a long, chittering line, then at Chrysalis.

“So, what do we do now?” asked Rarity.

“Now we take the tunnels back to the stadium,” explained the queen. “The main strike force is already topside, and-”

The light of the wall crystals intensified suddenly, and there was a slight vibration going through the tunnel. Pinkie Pie looked wide-eyed towards the ceiling, mouth agape.

“We’re too late,” she said, to nopony in particular. “It has begun.”

Everypony followed her gaze. The changelings rushed forward, their lithe forms pushing through the hole with ease. Dash spread her wings, but before she could rush up the tunnel, Twilight caught her with her magic.

“No time for that!” she shouted. “Everypony around me! Pinkie, you aim us!”

Her friends wasted no time forming around her, and Queen Chrysalis quickly followed suit. Pinkie closed her eyes in concentration, and after a second everypony vanished.

***

The spell landed them in the main plaza, right in front of the palace balcony. As they looked around their surroundings, cast in the red light of the barrier surrounding the city, the night air was shaken by a deafening roar. Above them, two huge black clouds clashed: one a shifting monster of black and purple flame, the other a swirling mass of black shadow shot with red lightning.

“It’s Hate,” gasped Twilight. “And… is that thing North Star?”

“They both kind of look like Sombra,” said Rainbow Dash. She looked away from the struggling monsters and towards the tower, where a large, irregular hole gaped in the wall above the balcony. “Fluttershy!” she called in sudden fright, leaping into the air to fly there, her magic forming a glowing armor of red light.

Twilight wanted to stop her, but right then the two clouds clashed violently, and Hate was sent flying towards the ground.

“Look out!” called Pinkie Pie, an umbrella of blue light popping over the group, pushing away a black fireball that would have landed on Applejack. Hate himself fell over the city, outside the square. Buildings exploded into burning crystal shards as the giant flame beast churned back into a four-legged shape. Everypony froze, staring at the devastation.

Then Rarity pointed her hoof between the buildings and screamed: “There are ponies there!”

“They keep everypony close to keep an eye on them,” explained Chrysalis. “The plan was to get them out, but-”

The cloud of shadows pulsed, and a rain of black lightning fell upon Hate. The beast responded with a roar so loud it hit his enemy as a visible shockwave, blowing past him, and slamming against the tower, shattering the palace balcony and sending it to the plaza below. Twilight formed a bubble to shield her friends as it came crashing down, pieces of crystal flying everywhere.

“Why are they fighting each other!?” shouted Applejack over the noise.

“Doesn’t matter!” replied Twilight. “We need to stop them before they destroy everything! Chrysalis? We need to act now!”

“Agreed,” nodded Chrysalis, spreading her wings and taking to the air.

“Halt right there!” came a shout. Three Equestrian soldiers were charging at them through the plaza, oblivious to the surrounding chaos, red lights glowing in their eyes.

Chrysalis sighted, cast a spell that surrounded her muzzle with green light, and then threw up in her mouth and spat three times. Three nets of stretchy resin flew at her assailants, sending them rolling back hopelessly tangled in sticky strands. Chrysalis rose higher, wings vibrating, and called in a loud, reverberating voice.

“CHANGELINGS! THE SITUATION HAS COMPLICATED, BUT YOUR ORDERS STAND! WE PROCEED AS PLANNED!”

Instantly there was a loud buzz, and dozens of changelings appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Wherever Equestrian soldiers were out in the open, they were tackled by black, chitinous shapes.

“We need to get everypony out of here!” shouted Pinkie Pie, looking up.

“That’s our job!” shouted back Chrysalis. “You focus on Fluttershy first!”

Above, the monsters clashed again. It was North Star’s turn to take a blow, but he didn’t crash to the ground, instead flattening and stretching over the buildings like an angry storm cloud. A moment later, the houses underneath exploded - over a dozen of them turning into a cloud of crystal blades that went flying back at Hate.

“We need to get rid of them NOW!” shouted Applejack, her desperation infusing her words with the power of Honesty.

Chrysalis looked down at her to answer, but before she could, there was an explosion of red light above her.

Rainbow Dash emerged from the hole in the tower wall, pulling along Fluttershy wrapped in a cocoon of Loyalty’s magic.

“She needs help!” she shouted, swooping down, landing her burden in the middle of the group.

Twilight looked down on Fluttershy, then closed her eyes in focus. From her tiara, a beam of white light shot, solidifying the cocoon spell. Inside, Fluttershy’s breathing calmed.

“What did they do to her?” asked Twilight, casting an angry glare towards North Star, just in time to get a glimpse of him - a blackened shape of a pony floating in the center of the dark cloud, which just sprouted a bunch of shadow tendrils, forming it into a blade, and chopping off one of Hate’s giant claws, sending the flaming appendage falling towards a thankfully empty street. Hate roared loudly in response, but did not seemed weakened otherwise, his aura replacing the limb with clump of giant snakes of living black flame. One of them instantly lashed out to swallow whole an unlucky changeling that found itself too close to the fight.

“Can you seal them!?” called Chrysalis from above.

“Three of us got Arrogance,” replied Twilight, “But she was nothing like this. We might manage to beat one… perhaps… but not both! We need the Heart!”

A changeling flew towards the group, stopping in the air above them and bowing to the queen. “Your Majesty!” it called. “We need help. The ponies are panicked and resisting. We haven’t planned for… this!” it finished, waving its leg frantically towards the titanic clash that had just passed to the other side of the tower.

"I understand,” said Chrysalis. She looked around at the battle, and then down at the Elements. “The Heart team is in position! We can begin now, but my warriors need your help saving the ponies! The guards are under strong mind control, but perhaps you can at least get throigh to the prisoners!”

“That we can do,” said Pinkie Pie with a smirk, looking Rarity in the eye. She then whipped out a giant megaphone. Rarity nodded and focused her power, channeling it into Applejack.

Applejack took a deep breath. “LISTEN EVERYPONY!” she said into the megaphone. “WE’RE HERE TO SAVE YA! FOLLOW THE CHANGELINGS, THEY’RE HERE TO LEAD YOU TO SAFETY!”

“I hope this helps,” she said as Pinkie Pie packed the megaphone away.

“Girls…” said Pinkie Pie, looking up, her ears drooping. “I think he heard us too!”

A shadow fell over the plaza. The dark cloud that was North Star wrapped itself around the top of the tower, a pair of giant, burning red eyes glaring down on the Elements.

Twilight had just enough time to to pull up a barrier, her friends adding to her power as Chrysalis and her changeling soldier ducked for cover inside. Then the attack came: a pulse of red light that washed over their shield like a tidal wave, assaulting all the senses, painfully bright even through closed eyelids, a command turned pure energy.

“SERVE.”

Twilight felt her legs buckle. It was more than a royal order, or one of a beloved mother, or even that of a strict teacher. All of those could inspire instinctive obedience, making one act without thinking, but this power grabbed all of those instincts and wrenched them; there could be only obedience, for to defy such an order was a thing of pure terror.

Twilight fell herself sink to her knees slowly, and then something else exploded outside her shield. It was unbearably loud, first like a deafening roar, then growing in pitch, resembling the sound of a giant fog horn. The crushing presence disappeared, and Twilight looked up, only to see something that made her reinforce her shield frantically.

Above her, North Star was falling down, wreathed in a corona of fire, surrounded by pieces of crystal the size of houses. A blast of magic from Hate's mouth had hit the tower, a stream of purple fire that focused and brightened into blazing crimson, now cutting the night sky in two. As Twilight’s shield turned from a dome to a spike, turning aside a huge crystal chunk falling right at her, the bright fire disappeared, and with her eyes recovering from the dazzle, she could get a glimpse of the devastation.

The entire top one third of the tower was simply gone. The part that was the current top was glowing white hot, and thin streams of lava were trickling down the walls. After a moment, she also realised that she could now see the stars - the barrier surrounding the city had fallen as well.

“We can’t let them destroy the tower!” shouted Chrysalis frantically, bringing everypony to their senses. “Quickly, to the Heart!” she continued, pointing her hoof at the spot underneath the building, marking the very center of the city.

“Serve…”

Without turning, Chrysalis bucked. The changeling pouncing at her back was flung away and rolled among the rubble, red lights going out in its eyes as it came to a stop. Chrysalis wasted no more time, casting a spell that teleported her and the Elements straight to their destination.

The moment they appeared, a dozen changelings emerged from their hiding spots to join them. Three crawled out of an underground passage hauling the Crystal Heart with them. The leading officer, a female changeling wearing an elaborate helmet, bowed to their ruler. “We’re ready, your Majesty, but there’s trouble incoming.”

“Yes, Maska?” asked Chrysalis.

“Report from Obsidian,” replied the officer. “He just called. Luna is on her way here. Teleport, unattended.”

Chrysalis furrowed her brow. “Even with a series of jumps, she’ll be here in moments. We can’t fight her too. We have to-”

She was interrupted by a powerful explosion. The two giant monsters rolled over the edge of the plaza, exchanging blows. This time Twilight could see little pony figures running away from the conflagration.

“Finish this now!” shouted Chrysalis. “Maska, take Fluttershy underground. Protect her with your life. I will help Rarity use the Heart to take over the Empire. You…” She looked at the four remaining Elements. “...Keep these two off our backs. The tower can’t fall.”

Silence fell as the ponies processed the gravity of the demand. Then there was another explosion. As one, the girls nodded their heads, their armor auras intensifying in brightness.
“You can count on us,” said Twilight Sparkle.

***

Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Applejack were galloping across the plaza, Rainbow Dash flying above them.

“It will be hard without Rarity,” said Applejack.

“No helping it,” replied Twilight. “She’s the best choice for using the Heart.”

“Why is the barrier gone?” asked Pinkie Pie. “Did they blow it up?”

“I don’t think so,” said Twilight. “The Shattered couldn’t destroy it for a millennium. I think North Star ended the spell to conserve power. He’s losing.”

“Well, we can’t wait for Hate to beat him!” shouted Rainbow Dash from above. “By then there will be no city left to save!”

“North Star is using the city’s power,” said Twilight. “They’ll both notice when Rarity replaces the Heart. I hate to say it, girls, but we’re gonna have to keep them focused on ourselves.”

Applejack nodded her head with a sad smile. “Let’s try to keep them to the parts of the city they’ve already wrecked.”

***

“So, no going back now,” whispered Rarity, as Chrysalis prepared to put the huge gemstone in its proper place.

“Yes,” replied Chrysalis. Maska’s team had already left with Fluttershy, only two adjutants left.

“Observe the South,” said the changeling queen. “Inform the Elements and us when Luna arrives.”

The two changelings saluted, and took off into the night sky.

“Now we begin,” said Chrysalis. “I’ll support you.”

Rarity swallowed loudly, and nodded. Then she grabbed the Heart with the magic of her horn and put it in the center of the city. Instantly, two stone spikes extended towards it from above and below. Rarity’s Element glowed, and the Heart shifted color to match its magic, glowing soft purple as it started to slowly rotate. Then it stopped, and turned black, and Rarity’s head exploded with piercing pain.

***

The city shook with a primal scream of anger and fear. North Star spun around, facing the tower, shooting a stream of black lightning at the small figures underneath.

A wooden cutout of the tower fell back and caught fire. Pinkie stepped away from it and grinned.

Applejack looked at her sideways. “That’s mighty powerful.”

Pinkie Pie shrugged. “Well, I’m trying my… incoming!” She rolled aside as the next black lightning lashed at her, ripping a long trench through the crystal pavement.

North Star charged towards the tower, pulling his shadow body with strands of lightning, like an enormous, malformed spider on long spindly legs. Before he could get halfway there though, a monstrous horse head made of black flame grabbed him with its teeth. It pulled him back, flames gushing from between the teeth as it bit down, dragging him back towards Hate. The fallen guard captain retaliated by swinging his tendrils back at his foe, the two rolling over one another, levelling what was left of the ruined buildings in their path.

“Everypony DUCK!” screamed Pinkie. An enormous crystal duck sculpture erupted from the ground in front of her, Applejack and Twilight quickly joining Pinkie behind it. Rainbow Dash was too far up, so she just opted to fly upwards instead, getting out of range just as Hate roared and exploded in North Star’s grip.

The blast consumed both Hate and North Star, and everything around them, from the ruined buildings to the last ponies that hadn’t managed to flee the area yet, including some unlucky, webbed guards that the changelings hadn’t yet managed to drag to safety.

As the giant purple fireball dissipated, the two combatants could be seen for a split second, two stallions wreathed in swirling darkness that was already expanding to once again form their monstrous bodies. Then the air rushed back in, and everything disappeared in a mushroom cloud of hot dust.

Twilight peered from behind her improvised cover. The statue was not shattered, though it did get cracked, and some pieces fell off at the edges. “Where are they..?” She stared into the swirling dust, her magic forming a full helmet to protect her eyes and nose.

“Ahead!” called Pinkie.

And there it was, a giant black flame churning to life once again. It didn’t bother with an equine shape, instead turning like a twister, the top leaning forward to aim at the tower. Purple light appeared inside the funnel, growing in intensity.

“Applejack! Hit it now!” screamed Twilight.

Applejack dove behind the statue, and bucked it with all her power. The huge piece of crystal went flying, as if it weren’t attached to the ground, trailing the orange light of Honesty’s magic as if slammed into the giant maw, turning what would have been a destructive straight blast into an explosion that sent a rain of fireballs over the plaza.

Hate twisted in the air, the mouth closing on the statue and obliterating it. It was now looking directly at the Elements, but before it could breath fire at them, North Star emerged from the dust cloud, shooting a barrage of black lightning through the flames.

Is he trying to hit the real body inside? thought Twilight Sparkle. Aloud she shouted: “Don’t stand in the open! Keep them where they are and let them distract each other!”

She teleported out of the way of a lightning bolt randomly deflected towards her. She was close now, well within reach of both North Star and Hate, if they could spare her their attention, but no longer between them and the tower. The two were still fighting, but the tower was safe for the moment, neither monster capable of sparing the power to either reclaim or destroy it.

This can change any second, she thought. We need to be able to react at any moment. She teleported again, to dodge one more fireball. It seemed Hate had changed his tactic, launching his fire in rapid bursts rather than powerful blasts. These were harder to stop, and many of them found their mark, but those that didn’t flew all over the city, some hitting the still undamaged areas. In the corner of her eye, she could see Rainbow Dash outrun one of the fireballs, dive into a street second before the impact, and come back into the air with some panicked crystal pony in her grip. One the other side, Pinkie Pie jumped high into the air with a huge tennis racket in her teeth, bouncing one of the projectiles back at Hate.

“Will you two stop that!?” shouted Applejack below, her voice amplified by her power. She was the closest to the two monsters, and though they didn’t stop fighting to acknowledge her presence, some red eyes within North Star’s form turned in her direction.

“You’re destroying the city!” continued Applejack. “Hurting ponies!” She took a deeper breath.

“That’s wrong! That’s not how a pony should act!”

The mass of red eyes was now focused on her. A blast of red light came, but Applejack didn’t flinch, burning with her own power. “If you command me to say different, it will still be wrong!” she shouted.

The eyes shrunk, and the light dimmed.

“It’s working!” said Twilight in disbelief.

But the fight did not stop. When North Star hesitated, Hate redoubled his efforts, ramming into him and pushing over him to get a clear shot at the tower. Three heads emerged from his mass on long necks, spitting fire towards the palace.

Rainbow Dash fell from the sky, an explosion of rainbow colors pushing one fireball off course. Pinkie Pie deflected another with her racket.

Twilight Sparkle teleported in the way of the last one, firing a blast of magic that countered the projectile while launching her backwards into the tower wall. At the last moment she teleported again, coming back to where she’d come from and rolling on the ground until she lost the momentum.

Applejack stomped on the ground, launching a chunk of the pavement into the air, then kicked it at Hate. “And you too! Stop doing that! You don’t have to be a monster! Nopony wants you to be!”

The heads reared back to spit again, but before they could, North Star struck back once more, and the shots went into the sky as both monsters rolled to the side. Applejack was about to shout something more, but then the black mass of Hate twisted, and a pair of flaming maws went straight at her, the long necks melting the ground underneath as they lashed forward.

“Applejack!” shouted Twilight. Her spell was instinctive, a teleport effect that grabbed Applejack and yanked her away from where the flaming jaws closed around her. The earth pony returned to existence at Twilight’s side and fell to the ground, screaming in pain - the black flame had eaten through her armor spells and was now consuming the coat on her back.

“Applejack, you’re reeeeeely hot!” shouted Pinkie Pie, landing next to her. Twilight looked at her in shock, but then chuckled involuntarily.

Applejack opened her eyes. “Pinkie… what…” she squeezed her eyes shut from the pain, but then chuckled too, and the flames went out. She sprang back to her hooves and looked at her back, still badly burned, but no longer hurting and quickly getting shielded by new armor. “That was so… crass. But it worked. Thanks.”

“Just don’t get hit again,” said Pinkie with a stern expression. “That joke gets old reeeaaal quick.”

***

“Why does it hurt so much!?” screamed Rarity, holding back tears.

“He’s resisting you,” replied Chrysalis. Her horn glowed green, forming a line of magic that flowed towards Rarity’s head. “Let me handle some of the strain. We need to hurry.”

“I don’t know if I can,” gasped Rarity, looking at the blackened Heart with a pained expression.

“You can, or everypony dies,” said Chrysalis. Her light intensified.

Rarity breathed in deeply, closed her eyes, and pushed. The Heart glowed slightly and started rotating slowly, but Rarity swayed, gritting her teeth against the pain.

“We’re moving…” said Rarity. “It was so much easier last time.” She pushed harder, screamed, and lost concentration, falling to her knees. The Heart stopped moving, and blackened again.

“Last time, there was no master,” said Chrysalis. There was a lot of strain in her voice, and when Rarity looked back at her, she was shocked to see tiny black crystals sprouting here and there across the changeling’s body.

“Now, he’s resisting you, and all the crystal ponies’ fear and pain is his to use as power.”

Rarity turned away from her, and back to the Heart. “You’re right, we need to win this.” Biting her lip, she tried again, ignoring the tears trickling down her face. “Move, you stubborn thing…”

Outside the tower, something exploded repeatedly. Rarity pushed on, but once more her efforts were futile. She fell to the ground, gasping for breath. “There’s so much pain there... too much for both of us. There must be another way.”

Chrysalis shifted shape for a second, hissing as she broke the growing crystals from her flesh. “What do you suggest?”

“I was supposed to be the best for it, because I’m Generosity, aren’t I?” said Rarity. “The tower gathers the feelings from the ponies, and uses them as energy, and my power is all about sharing. But I can’t share… this! We need something good here, something the heart could resonate with. Something I could resonate with.”

“You’re making a good point,” said Chrysalis. “But where do we get anything but pain and fear here? The only ponies here are either enslaved, or running for their lives… and your friends are too busy fighting to help us.”

“What about the changelings?” asked Rarity. “Can they… share love?”

“We can feed each other,” replied Chrysalis, “Not very effectively, but perhaps…”

“But I saw a changeling do that!” shouted Rarity suddenly. “When the Elements were trapped in that tower a thousand years ago! Their Generosity was a changeling, and she used her power to get them more energy!”

Chrysalis looked at her wide-eyed. “So you think we could -”

“We can loop it!” shouted Rarity, looking into her eyes with a wide grin. “If they only sway the tower enough that the Heart can give me any power at all, I can multiply it, and share it back!”

Chrysalis returned her grin. “You’re just the kind of crazy we need right now.” She turned around, and her wings buzzed. Soon, the sound was returned from all around - changeling soldiers answering their queen’s call to gather around her.

The first one dive-bombed underneath the tower, using his green aura to soften his fall, and slide across the crystal until he came to a stop in front of his queen. But when she met his gaze, he was the first to speak, bringing her news she didn’t want to hear.

***

“Envy is here!”

Rainbow Dash turned in the air, facing the changeling who had shouted at her as she flew by. The soldier met her gaze, making sure she had her attention, and then pointed South and up. There was a point of silver light there, high in the sky, one that had only just appeared.

Dash looked down on the battle underneath. She could see her friends down there, all still alive, some miraculously so, as North Star and Hate kept flailing at each other, obliterating everything that came between them. Hate’s advantage was growing with every moment, and right now all that was stopping him from tearing the tower down was the Elements desperately distracting him whenever he was about to get a clear shot. Last time they did, he almost got Pinkie Pie, Dash saving her with a last second dive to push her out of the way - it was so close, if Dash wasn’t wrapped in Loyalty’s magic, her pinions would have caught fire. And now, there was another threat that needed to be handled.

I can’t be in two places at once! We’re spread too thin! she thought, looking up and down, biting her lip in frustration. She looked up once more, and then at the changeling. If Envy gets to the Heart, it’s over.

“Tell my friends, I’ll handle Envy.”

She didn’t say anything more. There was no time to waste, and she couldn’t wait for a moment where shouting towards her friends would not distract them from the fight. I can only trust them, she thought as she flew towards the light in the sky. We all need to give our best to win.

She let her power flare outward, a bright orb of red trailing a rainbow contrail. Luna was still where she had appeared, looking around the battlefield to get the full picture of the situation. Rainbow Dash could see her eyes turn towards her as she approached, just as she wanted.

“Hey, you!” she shouted over the noise of the battle behind her. “Glad you showed up! You’ll pay for what you did!”

Luna raised an eyebrow, her mouth stretching into a condescending smile. “To you, little pony? Seriously?”

She leaned forward, pointing her horn at Rainbow Dash, who projected her defense in front of her, a stream of lightning striking her barriers, and spreading all around as it slid off. Rainbow glared at Luna, her anger clearly visible even despite the protective mask she created over her eyes. “Yes,” she said. “You have a lot to pay for.”

She flapped her wings, and lunged forward, clearing the gap between them in a heartbeat, but Luna teleported up, dodging the attack and falling at Dash from the sky.

“What did you say!?” she jeered, as Dash barely dodged her counter with a desperate barrell roll. “It’s windy, and I can’t hear you!”

“I said, you’ll pay!” shouted Rainbow Dash, using her power to bounce back, rebounding off thin air to swing her wing at Luna, a blade of red light projected from the feathers forcing the princess to block. She responded with an explosion of lightning, forcing Dash back as she prepared for another clash.

“And you think you can take me on?” she said, baring her teeth. “Alone? It took three of you to fight me last time. And now you no longer have Aurora. You left her to die, remember!?”

“You…” Dash charged forward, screaming in anger. Luna raised her head, and shifted her wings, moving slightly aside. A beam of lightning shot from her horn, but not at Dash.

What?

She hadn’t seen it before, but something in her mind stirred, a buried memory of some past Loyalty fighting the same foe. Breaking her angry charge, Dash acted on instinct, swerving away just as Luna swung her horn, the lightning still extending from it like a giant energy blade. Luna went into freefall, and twisted her body to instantly strike at a different angle, but Dash accelerated past her to get out of the attack arc.

That was stupid. She almost got me. I need to focus. Get her attention.

She turned around and lit up again, spreading wide spectral feathers to make herself bigger and brighter. It’s just for show… I hope it does make me more intimidating. “I’ll get you for Aurora!” she shouted. “And for Spike! And the Wonderbolts!” Come on… focus on me. Keep trash-talking back. Pay no attention to the Heart or my friends…

The air resounded with a loud crackle. Dash braced herself as her outer protections dissolved from the lightning strike. Some of the shock got through, but her pegasus resistance was enough to deal with it. She dropped down, leaving behind an empty shell of protective barriers, and propelled herself forward. This time she got to Luna and managed to strike a blow, a double front kick that the Shattered had to block. Sparks flew, as their powers collided.

Luna let herself be flung back, allowing her metal bracers absorb the impact. She decelerated, and fired forward a ball lightning, forcing Dash into a swerve that prevented her from continuing the attack. “That’s a long list!” she said loudly. “For a bearer of Loyalty, you just keep failing ponies, don’t you?”

“I didn’t fail them!” shouted Dash as she charged again. She saw the lightning blade extend once more and managed to turn in the air to dodge it, but it put her just slightly out of range as she flew by - the wedge of magic she extended from the tip of her wing broke harmlessly against Luna’s block. “It’s not over yet!”

“Oh, but it is!” shouted back Luna. “You weren’t able to save them, and now they’re dead! And you... you’re facing me alone!” Her lightning disappeared, but then she teleported. Dash had just a moment to reorient her defences, projecting a spell in the shape of a shield, right before Luna bombarded her with bolts of magic. “I’ve been doing this for millennia, and against better ponies than you! A failed Loyalty will never beat me!”

“I’m not a failure!” Dash shouted, and her Element flared up, launching forward a red beam of magic. Luna shot a beam of her own, and for a moment the two ponies were left suspended in the air, pushing back and forth.

“Of course you are!” replied Luna, the beautiful alicorn’s face twisted into an ugly sneer, the regal veneer of a princess all but gone. “Should I draw you a chart? Or better, should I show you?” She exchanged her beam for a shield, letting the incoming blast push her aside, then flew away, circling over the battlefield, teleporting away in short bursts as Dash tried to pursue her.

“Oh, would you look at this!” she shouted. “There are some ponies running away over there. And.. are these changelings!? Are they your friends too!?” She teleported once more, this time appearing behind Dash, a corona of lightning forming around her body. “Let’s see how many of them you will fail to save tonight!”

Dash turned and charged at her, but she knew she would be too late. She was fast, the fastest flier in all of Equestria. But she wasn’t faster than lightning. She saw a blinding light, once, twice, three times, the strands of electricity splitting above the ground to turn multiple moving shapes into blackened, immobile ones. She screamed, the sound lost in the roar of thunder, and she reached Luna, the two twisting in the air, as the alicorn expertly deflected the blade that extended from Rainbow’s hoof.

Strike after strike was exchanged, with Dash pushing Luna back, but unable to strike a clean blow. Luna said something again, but the insult was lost on Dash, her ears still ringing from the thunder. Finally Luna pushed back and teleported, leaving the Element swinging angrily. By the time Dash located her, another stream of lightning struck the ground. “How about these ones!?” she jeered.

She’s killing them! To get to me! And she keeps teleporting. I need to be faster! thought Dash as she chased after Luna, her rainbow contrail replaced by a streak of red as she picked up more and more speed. “Pick on somepony your own size, monster!” she screamed, as she once again missed Luna by inches.

Inside her head, the inherited fighting instincts connected to her senses, coldly analysing the situation: She hasn’t attacked Twilight, Pinkie or AJ. She must be avoiding Hate’s attention. She keeps switching powers. There’s a delay between teleporting and shooting lightning - she can’t use both at once. But those thoughts didn’t enter her stream of consciousness, the facts slotting themselves into the back of her mind.

“Hey, look at those!” shouted Luna, hovering over the plaza, where changelings were converging from all directions. “Looks like they’re still trying some last moment, desperate plan! Do they really think I’ll let them?”

The sky flashed. Dash sped forward, oblivious to anything else, the world blurring from the speed. There wasn’t even a rainboom this time - just a streak of red through the sky, as if a lightning bolt of her own, and then she was where she was needed. The fury of the thunderstorm struck right at her, flowing through the spell armor around her body, and into the earth, a bolt of white that left a small crater in the ground, but managed to miss every single changeling. Dash found herself flying blind, the magic that protected her eyes and ears momentarily cutting her from her senses. She could still smell though, and the familiar smell of ozone was joined by that of burning fur.

There was a source of energy above her. She swerved upwards to attack it, launching a red bolt of magic from her mouth. Luna deflected the spell, and then folded one wing, falling aside as Dash charged at her.

“Oh, that was loyal, I admit!” she jeered, “You make your own death long and painful, so they can live a minute more. Do you think you can do it again!?”

She teleported once more. Dash felt which direction she went. There were so many targets underneath her.

A swerve, magical acceleration, greater than flesh and bone should allow. The fury of the storm striking her once again.

Luna laughed. a cold, high-pitched laughter full of scorn, an aberration to the benevolent princess persona she had tried to maintain just days prior. “You’re getting better at this! I’d say you’ll become a legend, but the sad fact is, history is written by the victors! When all your friends are dead, I will make them all villains! And your name will be remembered as a curse, a supposed hero who betrayed and failed everypony!”

Keep talking, I need just a moment more…

Dash felt the power buildup before she saw it. There was a streak of red rushing forward. Then a blinding flash, and a deafening roar of thunder. The red aura protecting Rainbow Dash disappeared under the force of the blast, directing it safely to the ground, before flying apart in a shower of sparks.

Luna looked down, and cocked her eyebrow in surprise. The charred corpse she expected was nowhere to be found. The armor spell had been an empty shell.

“I didn’t fail anypony!” screamed Dash, flying straight at her, a new shield of red light already forming around the gemstone on her chest.

Luna grinned. The pegasus charging right at her, with her defenses down, was too obvious a target. She didn’t teleport or blast away with lightning this time, merely leaned forward, aiming with her horn, a straight spear of blazing energy erupting from its tip. It slid aside just a bit, off the glowing Element, and through the metal collar around it, piercing through with so little resistance, it didn’t even stop the two mares from colliding with each other. Luna’s grin widened as she parried the blow of Rainbow’s front hooves, the two now flying horizontally with the pegasus’ momentum. “And that’s game.” Her light intensified, sending a powerful electric charge down the energy beam.

It didn’t go anywhere. Luna looked down her horn, only to find her blade dissolve from Loyalty’s aura. There was still a hole burned through Rainbow’s gorget, but the spike of lightning was no longer sticking through it, the power lashing wildly in all directions instead. Dash pushed on, and met Luna’s gaze, a pair of glowing red eyes with no visible pupils.
“They’re here,” growled Rainbow through gritted teeth, a bit of blood leaking from the corner of her mouth. “All with me!”

The red light expanded into a ball, encompassing both ponies. Luna turned off her lightning to try to teleport away, but by the time she did, Loyalty’s magic was too strong to power through. The buildings below zipped past, as the struggling fighters flew like a bullet, away from the city.

“A friend isn’t gone when dead,” continued Dash, straight in her face. “Only when you abandon them!"

Luna struck a couple blows, but for all her skill, her longer limbs had too little space to strike a telling blow in a grapple. Desperate, she bit into Dash, trying to hit the artery in the neck, but Rainbow only twisted in her grip, leaving her with just some hair and blood in her mouth.

“YOU CAN’T KILL A SINGLE PONY!" Screamed Dash. “I CARRY THEIR DREAMS WITH ME!”

Something popped around the two of them, like a giant bubble, a ring of iridescent colors spreading in their wake. Luna turned away from the blinding light, trying to struggle free. The last thing she saw was the approaching glacier wall in their path.

***

“Everypony, get ready!” called Rarity.

The swarm had gathered around the Heart. Or rather, some fifty changelings did. Rarity wasn’t sure how many there had been at the beginning of the night. Some had to have returned underground, leading away as many ponies as they could. Some others were probably busy with subdued soldiers. That, or fallen in battle. How many changelings had Hate and North Star destroyed without even noticing? Rarity tried not to think about it. The battle outside still raged, the night sky roiling with storm clouds as the magical flames roared over the city. Chancing a glance towards where she knew her friends were, she spotted a wall of what looked like marshmallow, holding off the latest attack. Then a powerful bolt of lightning struck the plaza, briefly turning night into day. Rarity turned away and stared into the Heart.

“Focus on the Heart!” proclaimed Queen Chrysalis loudly. “Let it feed from your power! We will send it back to you! Keep going until she tells you to stop!” she finished, indicating her head towards Rarity.

The gathered changelings nodded in understanding, the same gesture eerily repeated by fifty heads. Chrysalis took a deep breath. “I’m ready too. It’s now or never.”

Rarity closed her eyes. She could feel the energies flowing around her. Behind her, Chrysalis, a beacon of power supporting hers, calm and focused. In front of her, the Heart, now a black blot in a pillar of darkness that was the tower. Motes of energy that were the changelings, dim and alien, surrounding her from all sides.

She tried to clear her mind, but there was only so much she could do. She clenched her teeth and focused. Instantly the flow of energy around her shifted. She could feel the tiny streams of power, warm and gentle, flowing towards the Heart from all directions. She tried to touch them as she began a struggle to control the artifact, and the wave of darkness nearly exploded in her face. Just before the pain and horror could overwhelm her, she felt it draining away, Chrysalis pulling at the black tendrils, and dragging them in, only just managing to give Rarity some breathing space. There was good within the Heart, she knew, and now it was a matter of reaching deep enough to grab it. The changeling queen had given her that chance.

It’s like threading a needle… that hurts horribly… I need to focus… just a little… there!

It was not much, but so much more than just minutes before. Rarity smiled through the pain, as the Heart started turning slowly. She tugged at the helpful power she had managed to touch and then sent it downwards into her Element.

“The greatest gifts… are multiplied when shared.”

The purple light spread in all directions, slowly at first, a gentle beacon among the horrors raging in the darkness around. Rarity tried to direct it at the surrounding changelings, but found it too hard to maintain focus; she could only hope they would naturally feed on what she was giving them, and be able to return enough of it.

“It’s working,” she heard Chrysalis behind her. The voice was raspy, and though Rarity could not turn around, she could clearly feel the pain in it. She spared just a bit of focus to feel the magic around her, and was horrified by what she felt - she had not realised it, because her own suffering did not increase, but she was meeting with resistance now, the evil suffusing the tower lashing back at them. Chrysalis was taking as much of it as she could, a black outline in the light dancing around Rarity.

“You’re hurt!” shouted Rarity over her shoulder. The light around her dimmed, and she realised that her focus had slipped a bit; the Heart didn’t stop turning, but the flow of power waned, and it took all of her remaining concentration not to lose it.

“Do your job, and I’ll do mine!” shouted Chrysalis back at her. “Everything depends on us now!”

“I’m trying!” replied Rarity. “But I don’t want you to-”

“Focus!” screamed Chrysalis. “This isn’t about me or you! The fate of the swarm rests on me, and I will not fail them!”

“All the ponies depend on me,” replied Rarity under her breath. She inhaled deeply and released a wave of magic, feeding the surrounding changelings with energy. Her body protested with splitting headache, but she managed to stay on her hooves and maintain the flow. Heavens, if it hurts me that much, what must she feel? We need to finish this fast.

Something exploded just outside the tower. Rarity could feel the changelings shudder instinctively, and the flow was disrupted once more, almost making the Heart slip out of her grasp. We’re running out of time, she realised, and the Heart is barely moving.

“We need more power!” she gasped over the pain.

“The changelings can’t provide any more,” replied Chrysalis. “We need to give them more power, or it won’t work.”

“I’m giving all I can!” shouted Rarity, desperation in her voice. “I don’t have any more to share!”

“Then we need to make more,” said the Queen. “I’ll show you how.”

There was a flash of green, and something hit Rarity from behind, a stream of energy that seemed to banish the pain from her mind. She was filled with a sense of purpose that wasn't entirely her own; it felt as if somepony was in the back seat of her head, looking through her eyes.

“Now, we will give them the greatest gift of all,” she heard Chrysalis whisper.

She wanted to ask what she meant, but an impulse of will directed all her attention to the link. Now that the pain had disappeared, all seemed obvious; the more she could give, the more she would get in return. Chrysalis expanded on her initial idea, showing her hidden reserves of her own strength she could draw upon, and instantly replenish, holding to just a spark of her own life at the core of her Element, while everything around her circulated through the changelings, the Heart, and back to her.

She gets it better than I do, thought Rarity, teaching me as if she were-

The understanding came in a brief moment, too brief for her brain to even put it into words. The Heart turned faster, shaking off a layer of black crust, and as it matched her energy signature, everything filled with purple light.

“Take good care of them for me.”

There was a loud roar outside, a monster realising that he had been defeated. The Heart spun like a spindle, and the light exploded in all directions, a solid wave of pure magic disintegrating the black crystals as it spread out. It washed over the gathered changelings, then the surrounding plaza, finally reaching the ruined buildings around it.

It slammed against Hate and North Star, blowing away the flames and darkness, and illuminating the two pony shapes within. They both hung in the air for a second, and then the power of the Heart overwhelmed them, their bodies breaking apart and turning into charcoal as the dark magic was forcefully purged through every pore. With a sound like breaking glass, the focus of Ambition shattered and disintegrated, its magic carried away in red wisps at the head of the expanding wave. As it reached the edges of the city, the magic turned solid, a purple barrier protecting all within from intruders.

Rarity felt it all, the power of the Heart now an extension of her own. She could feel the ruined buildings all over the city start to regrow, the magic causing the crystals to regenerate. She could feel the joy and relief of the ponies within, and knew that the magic she unleashed wasn't just hers and the changelings' – as soon as the light of hope shone, everypony instantly contributed to protecting their home. She could feel-

“Cristal.”

She turned around rapidly, stumbling slightly as she did so. Her limbs reacted weirdly, as if her legs had suddenly grown longer. Behind her...

There was a black crystal statue where Chrysalis had stood, looking back at her with a serene smile. It suddenly occurred to her the queen had grown shorter, no longer towering over her like she used to. Then, a breath later, the moment passed, and the statue crumbled to dust, blowing away in the wind and leaving Rarity alone, surrounded by a swarm of changelings.

“She... took everything into herself...” realised Rarity. She looked in panic at the crystalline bug ponies surrounding her. “I didn't mean to...” she said raising her hoof defensively.

It didn't look like her hoof. Her leg was longer and more slender than just moments before, and while it still had her snow white fur, now turned glossy and crystalline by the Heart’s magic, the hoof was dark purple, with slick chitinous shell extending all the way over the pastern, like an ornamental bracer. Rarity looked down on herself, and then whipped her head around, looking for anything she could use as a mirror, finally gazing at the Heart, now slowly rotating in front of her.

She was tall. Not as tall as Chrysalis had been, but slim and graceful like some of her prettiest customers. Looking at her reflection she saw that all of her legs had been similarly transformed. Her horn was dark purple too, longer and sharper, with a slight curve to it. Her eyes were glowing soft light to match the Generosity around her neck, two pools of purple with no visible pupils. And Generosity now had the shape of a heart. She turned around on the spot, to look at her rump. And sure enough, even her cutie mark had transformed.

“What's happened to me?” she asked to nopony in particular. “What has...”

“You have attuned the Heart to your will,” said one of the officers in the front row. She was transformed like all the others, but Rarity recognized her voice as Maska's. “As the Queen had predicted.”

Rarity considered the answer. “She knew it would happen like this? She knew she would...”

“We await your orders, your Majesty!” proclaimed Maska, kneeling down. There was a clink of hooves moving over crystal, and all the gathered changelings bowed.

Comments

[Tailsic]

Rarity gets turns into a changeling, well this just became on of my favorite stories :)