Condemned: Fluttering hope

by Amadeus cancer

Butterflies or beer?

Ah shit, where do I even begin?

Let's see here, I could start with that sick bastard SKX, but I'm pretty sure half of you already know that particular story. There's also me leaving the force, but come on, who gives a crap about that right? Hmm. Heh, you can probably tell I'm not the best at script reading.

Uh.......OH! I know, how's about we don't start with me. Nah, you already know about me.

Let's start with something fresh.

Let's start with her.

---

"Hold still you insolent fool!"

A roar thundered through the sky as a beam of pure, green concentrated energy sliced through the air. It's target, a rainbow blur zipping through the sky faster than the eye could blink, easily dodged the attack by picking up more speed.

"HAH! Missed, Queen Chrysalis!"

The flying rainbow blur slowed its trajectory midair, making its appearance morph from a colored streak to a smirking blue rainbow-maned Pegasus.

Flapping her wings to keep her high in the sky, the blue Pegasus threw a mocking hoof towards the tyrant queen's direction.

"Come on, is that seriously all you got? A mouse with an Alicorn horn would have better aim than you!"

Her response was another blast of magic fired straight for her head, which missed once again.

Ceasing her attack, Queen Chrysalis gnashed her teeth together before her eyes caught something in the corner of her eye.

Green energy sparking across her twisted horn, the Queen formed a large green shielded wall as a different teal blue beam of energy blasted into it. Once the attack dispersed, Chrysalis rid herself of the shield and turned towards the direction the attack came from with narrowed eyes. However, it seemed the surrounding area around her was vacant

Scanning the area, she raised an eyebrow at the lack of enemies. All she could see was the lush meadow around her, with the tall trees of the Everfree forest on the horizon.

Suddenly, a unicorn coated in a teal aura floated into her view, causing Chrysalis' eyes to flash in pure hatred. The unicorn, with purple-pink coated fur and a violet/pink stripped mane, glared at the tyrant before her, speaking in a harsh tone.

"What are you doing here Chrysalis?"

The bug/Alicorn queen glared at her enemy as she snarled in a low voice.

"You know very well what my business is here, Starlight Glimmer."

The unicorn in question processed the given information, before her scornful glare morphed into an more empathetic look.

"Revenge won't make you happy, trust me, I know. I'm sorry about what happened to you, but what you were doing was wrong. Please, there is anoth-"

"SPARE ME YOUR SENTIMENTS!" Chrysalis screamed as her horn began to glow with energy, seemingly resembling her increasingly building rage.

"CHRYSALIS!"

The Queen blinked in surprise as a blur of purple slammed onto the dirt in front of her. Closing her eyes as dust particles stung her vision, the Alicorn coughed as she waved a hoof in front of her muzzle, trying to clear the air.

As the dirt cleared, she saw a darker colored violet pony rise up from the ground and stand tall in front of Chrysalis. The Queen narrowed her eyes at the newcomer, a different look of hatred etching across her features. Unlike the other ponies, this purple one in particular was special.

Like Chrysalis, the small pony was an Alicorn, but that was where their similarities ended. While the smaller Alicorn before her was smart, beautiful and powerful, Chrysalis was a mossy black, insect-like Alicorn with holes marring her skin and wings. Her species being a Changling, a creature from Equestria that thrived on the love of other creatures, feeding her hunger.

"Twilight Sparkle." She spat. "To what do I owe the esteemed pleasure."

The violet Alicorn, Twilight Sparkle, spoke in a calm yet firm voice.

"Stop this Chrysalis, you're going to hurt somepony!"

"Yeah, Give up!" Another voice shouted from above. Zipping into view, Rainbow Dash stared down at the Changling. "Unless you want to do it the hard way." to emphasize her point, she brought her two front hooves up and clopped them together, hoping the Changling understood the challenge.

Growling, Chrysalis looked up at Dash with venom in her voice.

"Laugh while you can fool, soon you won't be speaking a word at all!"

Suddenly, a blast from a confetti canon exploded in her right ear, the force of it sending her sailing to the ground, massaging her ringing ear in pain.

"Don't be such a mean, meanie pants Chrysi!"

A shrill voice called out as she heard hoof steps gallop towards her direction. Lifting her head up, she saw a pink pony with cotton candy styled hair, a pearl white unicorn with an elegant purple mane and a cowpony with a Stetson hat, all standing in a defensive position, ready for her. Chrysalis resisted the urge to groan. Oh great, Twilight's little lapdogs had finally arrived. Before she could stop herself, her mind began to wander, creating images about how the growing group would try and defeat her.

Tag team her at a completely unfair level?

Have Twilight trap her in a bubble, rendering her completely helpless?

Or worse, blast her with the Elements of Harmony?

By themselves, the ponies were a formidable force, but still doable to defeat. But when all seven of them were together, they were practically unstoppable. With the Elements of Harmony at their disposal, even her almighty power could do nothing against it.

The power they possessed was astronomical and wildly unpredictable; every villain, they faced, no matter how great and powerful, were almost immediately knocked to their knees the minute they were hit with that cursed rainbow beam. They had an unbreakable bond which made their powers stronger. And they just had to wear it like a flanking badge.

The Magic of Friendship.

Ugh. She nearly gagged at the bile forming in her throat. What an absolutely disgusting power. Friendship? Ha, try Fear! Now that was a powerful weapon; Fear made ponies bow to you, fear meant unlimited power, fear made ponies too afraid to challenge you. Unfortunately it was aparently underrated and overshadowed by friendship.

But oh, she'd make them remember it, one way or another.

Speaking of seven.

She narrowed her eyes as she look at the other ponies, immediately noticing something was missing. Where was that weak yellow Pegasus?

Honk!

Her pupils dilated as she felt a heavy weight place itself on top of her head. Shuddering at the unwelcome contact, she slowly opened her mouth to say something when a small, fuzzy head accompanied with long ears hung in front of her muzzle.

And it seemed to be relentlessly trying to hit her with a half eaten carrot.

She pursed her lips. There was a Rabbit on her head. Why was there a Rabbit on her head?

*Gasp* "Angel!"

In seconds, the foul creature was yanked off her head, making her silently before whipping around in fury, finally coming face-to-face with the yellow coated and pink maned Pegasus, Fluttershy.

The Pegasus herself was too preoccupied in scolding the goose in her hooves to notice Chrysalis.

"Bad Angel! What have we discussed about ..."

She lifted her head to send an apologetic look towards Angel's victim, only to freeze solid when her eyes met the tyrant Queen. In a snap, her face became paper sheet pale, her body shaking like a leaf.

"Following...me...on...missions."

With each word she spit out, the fur on her skin became paler as she gulped in terror. Smiling wickedly, Chrysalis charged up her horn, an evil flash in her eyes.

Fluttershy stood frozen as her eyes trailed upwards towards Chrysalis' horn, watching the magic spark like a firecracker. Once it seemingly reached its limit, Chrysalis heaved her power induced horn high in the sky and thrust it down with all her might, sending a tidlewave of deathly magic barreling into Fluttershy's face.

Before it could reach the Pegasus however, a purple aura suddenly engulfed Fluttershy and teleported her out of harms way. The stream of magic Chrysalis had sent flew off into the distance, exploding into a couple trees and setting them aflame.

With a burst of magic, Fluttershy popped back into existence with Angel still snug in her grasp, just yards away from Twilight, whose horn was light up in the same purple aura. With her friend brought to safety, Twilight turned towards her enemy, her horn charging up with power.

"Last chance Chrysalis, stand down."

Hearing this, instead of speaking in protest, a chuckle rose from the Changling, followed by full blown laughter.

"Mhmhmwaahahahahahahahahahah!"

Staring in confusion, the ponies watched as the villain nearly toppled herself over from laughing. Bringing a hoof up to wipe her eyes, she giggled.

"Silly little ponies, don't you know a Queen never backs down!"

Within a blink of an eye, she shot out a burst of magic towards the three other ponies ahead of her, who gasped in surprise before dodging to the side, the attack missing them by their mane hair.

Flapping her wings, she flew up into the air and lunged after Starlight, who used her own magic to cast a full sphered shield to save herself.

Ramming into the shield, Chrysalis pushed Starlight forcefully to the ground, her sphere making her pounce like a ball on the dirt. As the Changling was distracted, a blast of magic slammed into her side, causing her to scream in pain and spin out of control in the air.

Flapping her wings to steady herself, she spun circles much like a drunken state, before she was eventually able to stop midair.

Wheezing out a breath as her side began to burn, she looked down to see Twilight fire another blast in her direction. Growling, Chrysalis brought down her own magic to compete against the other Alicorn. Both beams of energy slammed into each other, wrestling for the upper hand. Soon, Chrysalis' green magic began to push back Twilight's purple, tipping the odds in the Queen's favor. Sweat formed on Twilight's brow as her magic began to weaken, allowing the opposing green to close in on her.

Before it could reach her however, a bright blue magic wrapped around Chrysalis's back hoof and pulled her down, tripping her as well as ceasing the magic battle. Blinking, Twilight looked to see the white unicorn from earlier, her friend Rarity, had noticed her magical struggle and had thankfully come to the rescue.

Furious with this new exchange, Chrysalis roared as she desperately tried to squirm out off Rarity's grasp. Locking eyes with the fashionista, the hive Queen lit up her horn and shot forth a blast, causing Rarity to shriek and duck for cover. Pulling her leg free Chrysalis hoisted up in the air, only to be punched in the face by a speeding Rainbow Dash. "Ugh!" she growled, before shaking her head to clear the pain. She quickly scanned the sky for the blue Pegasus. Nothing. where-

BAM!

Suddenly, something smashed into her back as both her and RD crashed to the ground. As soon as they both made contact on the grass, the taller Alicorn flipped over, grabbed Rainbow by the neck and pushed her down, pinning her to the floor.

"Hey! Get offa me!"

Smirking, Chrysalis waited patiently for her enemy's eyes to meet hers, and when they did, Rainbow gulped. Once she was satisfied the Pegasus knew what was coming, Chrysalis opened her mouth and began to inhale.

As stated before, these seven ponies just loved each other. "Loved'' being the key word. This would be a deeply satisfying and worthy meal. Struggling even harder, Rainbow Dash grunted and growled as Chrysalis continued to inhale. Before she knew it, Dash suddenly felt her jaw move by itself and open up for the love inside her to experience for the Changling to feed.

"NO!"

Hooves wrapped around Chrysalis's neck, causing her to jerk to the side, ruining her feeding process.

Fluttershy had seen her friend in danger, and without hesitation had jumped onto her foe. Snarling in anger, Chrysalis charged up her magic, which gripped onto the yellow Pegasus and pulled her from her back, bringing her to eye level with the Queen. Yelping at the magic grabbing a hold of her, Fluttershy felt her heart drop once her face met Chrysalis's, her energy helpless as the green magic held her body tight, keeping her stiff and helpless.

The both of them said nothing to each other, with Fluttershy shaking in fear and Chrysalis in anger. Pouring her hatred in the Pegasus' eyes, Chrysalis watched in glee as the younger shrunk lower and lower from her gaze, whimpering pathetically at her sheer power.

Once she was satisfied with the amount of terror bestowed on the younger female, Chrysalis scoffed as she tossed the small Pegasus roughly to the side, who let out an "oof!" when she landed.

The Changling Queen was about to make a move when a teal blast shot her square in the cheek, attracting her attention to a now fully ready Starlight Glimmer.

Grinding her teeth, Chrysalis shot forth towards Starlight, who used her own magic to carry her further back, blasting at the
insect Alicorn along the way. Meanwhile, Fluttershy rose herself from the ground, coughing at the grass and mud in her lungs. With her body half up, she began brushing her fur, while her brain scrambled in different thoughts.

What an absolute mess she was. Not five minutes in and she hadn't been able to hold back Chrysalis in the slightest. She might as well have not done anything to begin with. She wasn't like Rainbow or Twilight or any of the other girls, she was far from a fighter, this just proved it. Tears fell from her cheeks as she hiccupped a quiet sob.

"Hey Flutters, you okay?"

Wiping her eyes, Fluttershy looked up to see a concerned Rainbow Dash above. Smiling weakly at her Fillyhood, the timid Pegasus gave a short nod, which Dash took as a sign to once again focus of Chrysalis.

Back at the battlefield, Starlight had switched her tactics, and was now teleporting here and there, distracting Chrysalis while Twilight ran to the side.

"Hold still you insufferable little wretch!" Chrysalis called out the Starlight, who simply rolled her eyes at the harsh statement.

"Ouch, what a hurtful insult, I'm reeling with upset." She spoke in a dry tone.

As the two were busy, Twilight placed herself in the certain position she needed to be in, silently hoping her plan would work. Looking over to Rainbow Dash, the both of them met each others eye, before nodding simultaneously. She also took note that Rarity had taken her place in the right position, ready to act on her part.

For Equestria's sake she hoped this would work.

Back to Chrysalis and Starlight, the purple pony continued to antagonize the hive Alicorn, who's face was practically blood red with rage now.

Chrysalis couldn't think, couldn't talk, heck, she couldn't even breath. This pony, this tiny, weak minded, insignificant pony, took away her home, her subjects, her life, and yet had the gall to insult her like this?

Oh, she'd make her pay, yes she would. Everypony runs out of energy sooner or later, and Chrysalis had plenty to spar considering she had nothing to lose.

And once she caught her...

All of the sudden, Chrysalis's right wing stopped moving, like something had yanked it back with extreme force, causing her to screech to a halt midair. Peering over her shoulder, she found that her wing was caked in a purple aura. Eyes widening, she tried to pull her wing away from the engulfing aura, but her wing muscles had become stiff and numb. The magic held strong, not moving an inch.

Whipping her head frantically to find the culprit, her brain locked in place once she saw Twilight Sparkle and her glowing horn, her face one of intense concentration.

Her other wing suddenly became stiff as well, no doubt from another magic source. She turned her gaze to her other wing, confirming that magic had taken hold it, albeit a darker purple this time. She looked down to see Rarity standing adjacent to Twilight, her own horn glowing as well.

Chrysalis rocked her shoulders from side to side as she fought back for control, seemingly trying to pull her wings from the magic.

As she struggled, a rope flung up and lassoed around her neck before the knot pushed against her throat. Choaking at the tightening noose, she cast her eyes down to see the orange cowpony, otherwise known as Applejack, gripping her lasso tight in her teeth and pulling as hard as she could. With the lasso firm around her neck, it soon became hard for Chrysalis to move.

Screaming in fury, the Changling wiggled and writhed in the ponies' hold, forcing them to concentrate even harder.

Charging up her horn, Chrysalis looked towards Twilight first, intent on aiming straight for the younger Alicorn's forehead while she was distracted.

Feeling her power fully charge up, Chrysalis readied herself for her attack, and just before she could expel her magic, a warm sensation sunk through her horn, an alien feeling she would honestly say she'd never felt before.

She slowly rolled her eyes up, afraid of what she'd find.

Her heart nearly stopped at what she saw.

Teal magic wrapped around her horn, much like her wings, and was somehow halting her ability to produce her own magic!

A smirking, floating Starlight was enough to send her over the edge.

Screaming in unbridled hatred, Chrysalis struggled like never before, shouting out vulgar curses at the ponies. As she attempted to resist them, a high pitched "Wheeee!" Filled her ears before a heavy weight pulled down on her hind leg. She nearly stopped her cursing due to her immense confusion. What in the world?

No sooner than that, she felt her hind leg begin to swing in the air, followed by a spray of giggles.

It was pretty obvious who had a hold of her back hoof curse that stupid pink pony. What she'd do to that childish fool once she got out out of this. A Rainbow blur zipped by her cheek, followed by a harsh pull on her tail. Apparently, Rainbow Dash had decided to take her part amidst all the action and had grabbed Chrysalis's tail in between her teeth, halting her from moving her torso at all.

With her body completely suspended in air, her wings and horn captured in magic, her neck and head trapped by the lasso, Rainbow Dash holding her tail and backside so she couldn't move, and Pinkie Pie grabbing her leg, all she could do was shout out threats and wiggle in their hold.

How pathetic she must've looked. A powerful Changling such as her, bound like a wild animal in these ponies' grasp. She was a queen Faust damn it! She was better than this!

A bead of sweat rolled down Twilight's cheek, her teeth mashing as she tried to concentrate her magic. With all of Chrysalis's struggling, it was getting harder and harder to hold her still. Soon, she was afraid the queen would break free and finally hurt somepony.

Screwing her eyes shut, it took a minute for her to remember her plan through her straining, before she opened her mouth with a yell.

"Fluttershy!" She shouted. "Use the Stare!"

The Pegasus perked her ears up in when hearing her name. Twilight wanted her to use the Stare?

The Stare was something Fluttershy used as a last resort to put her animal friends back in their place when they were being naughty, such as the geese when they'd bite Rachel the snake or Vaggie the vulture when she refused to cooperate with her broken wing. It made the victim freeze under the disappointed look, until they reluctantly gave in. But that was it, the Stare was meant as an obedience technique, not a weapon. Fluttershy herself hated using it. Why scare others into submission when you can just gently and kindly encourage them to listen.

Gulping, she flew wobbly up towards the captured Changling queen, her stomach a swirl of emotions.

Shyly reaching the raging Chrysalis, Fluttershy's body shook with fear as she witnesses her thrashing enemy, waiting nervously for the queen to notice her.

Chrysalis had yet to notice the petrified Pegasus in front of her, instead keeping her attention on getting out of the others grasp. Waving her face from side to side, she snarled and snapped before her eyes landed on the wall of yellow in front of her muzzle.

She stopped moving as she peered at Fluttershy, her irises burning holes into the younger's brain.

Shaking more violently now, Fluttershy pressed her front hooves to her chest as she inched closer.

Blinking hard, Fluttershy brought her chin forward and looked Chrysalis square in the eyes and with every ounce of force she could muster, she took a deep breath and opened her eyes.

The white's of her eyes widening to an almost unnatural level, she gave a glare unlike any other, one that dug into Chrysalis's eyes, making her stop her thrashing all together. The insect Alicorn felt her entire body freeze up under the Stare, her legs going limp and pupils dilating. Nothing she had ever endured could come close to this. The Stare bore into her soul, criticizing it of all her evil misdeeds. She had no words for all the emotions that suddenly flooded in her mind.

She'd been bad, she'd been very bad. She had too-

Wait a minute.

What was she doing? She was Queen Chrysalis of the Changlings. She apologized or answered to nopony!

She'd been bad, yes. And that was just fine, in fact, that was the point!

Chrysalis blinked her eyes rapidly before she threw her head up with a scream. Taken aback by this behavior, Fluttershy moved back in surprise, ceasing the Stare in the process. Heaving her chest in absolute anger, Chrysalis kicked her leg backwards, flinging Pinkie Pie off of her. Horn crackling with energy, she concentrated all her power within her being, body shaking under the immense pressure.

Feeling all the power reach the tip of her crooked horn, Chrysalis let out a roar as she let out a gigantic explosion of magic, eradicating the ponies magic around her wings and horn, flinging Fluttershy back, blasting RD off her tail and burning the lasso around her neck to ashes.

As all the ponies fell away from her, she slammed back onto the ground, her horn glowing green.

Regaining herself faster than her friends, Twilight sprung into action, positioning upright with her own horn at the ready. Picking themselves off the ground, all the ponies glared at Chrysalis, prepared for the next attack.
Twilight stared at her enemy, before speaking in a firm harsh voice.

"Chrysalis stop it! Revenge wont make you happy, it does nothing for you!"

Hissing like a feral animal, Chrysalis shouted.

"Never! You took my subjects away from me! Brainwashed them into following you! I'm here to avenge them."

Amongst the ponies, Starlight took a huff of a breath.

"What you were doing was wrong! We taught your subjects that they didn't need to feed off a pony's love in order to survive, they could share it instead. We didn't steal them from you, we just showed them a better way; A way that didn't involve stealing love!"

As the ponies argued with Chrysalis, Fluttershy sat back and watched, her own mind abuzz with thoughts.

The Stare had failed. She had failed. Her friends had been counting on her to subdue Chrysalis, and she let them all down. How? Was it because she had been afraid?

That's probably what it was. It had too have been, otherwise what else would it be? She scrunched her eyes as more tears began to form. She was always so afraid of everything. Dragons, the Everfree forest, Changlings, even her own shadow. She had always been a shy pony, not at all a fighter. What was wrong with her? She could do better, she knew she could. But why couldn't she make as much of a difference? Didn't she want to save the world?

she was always an isolated kind of girl, only really wanting to hang out her animals, and she was fine with that, but why couldn't she be brave like the girls when Equestria threatening disasters happened?

As tears spilled down her cheeks, Fluttershy began whimpering, which turned into a quiet cry, soon escalating into a sob.

Rainbow Dash, who was glaring daggers at Chrysalis, flicked an ear when what sounded like crying could be heard from behind her.

Her sight laid upon Fluttershy, weeping in the grass as she rubbed her wet eyes. In an instant, Chrysalis was pushed to the far corners of her mind, with Fluttershy now gaining all of her focus. Zipping over to her foalhood friend, Dash immediately sat next to her side, patting her back in a reassuring way while talking gently.

"Hey, hey, hey, its okay Flutters, its okay. Take it easy. Its alright."

Fluttershy continued to sob even through her friend's encouraging words, before whimpering to her softly.

"I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

As Rainbow kept trying to help Fluttershy, a couple of their friends noticed the new activity.

"Sorry? Why, whatever are you sorry about darling?" Rarity questioned, her expression gentle yet confused.

Fluttershy said nothing, still crying in her self pity.

Pinkie Pie, also noticing the exchange, perked up a small at her friend.

"Yeah! What're you sorry for, you're always there to help, that's what makes you a great part of the team!" She exclaimed, throwing her hooves up in the air

As Rainbow rubbed her back, Fluttershy breathed heavily, her mind growling at her.

But are you really?

She whispered something her rainbow-maned couldn't hear, as more of her friends now began to cheer her on.

"Why, whatever would you be sorry about sugarcube?"

"Darling, are you okay?"

Instead of thankful of their words, Fluttershy seemed to be more and more agitated by the second, mumbling words that Rainbow had started to pick up on.

"I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it, I'm just an obstacle in your way."

"Fluttershy? Whats wrong?"

"Hey girls, you know Chrysalis is still here right?"

"Your the bestist, bestist, bestististsis!"

Fluttershy continued to mumble and whimper, her tears streaming further down her face.

"im in your way, i'm sorry, i'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"Uh, Fluttershy, are you saying something?" Rainbow Dash asked her friend, now fully noticing the others' mumbles.

Hearing her friend's words, something inside Fluttershy snapped. Bringing her head up, her face contorted into a mixture of half frustrated and half crushed.

She breathed in and screamed into RD's face.

"I SAID I'M JUST IN YOUR WAY!"

Obviously taken aback by the unexpected retort, Rainbow Dash's eyes widened as she and the rest of her friends gaped, all confused with the yellow Pegasus's anger.

Due to the attention now focused solely on Fluttershy, the ponies had momentarily forgotten Chrysalis in the background.

Chrysalis, seeing her enemies too distracted and caught off guard to notice her, focused her concentration as her horn silently began to charge up. Breathing as quiet as a whisper, the Changling locked her eyes on her target, green energy awaiting orders.

The ponies meanwhile, continued to look like fishes at the panting/crying Fluttershy, unsure what to say.

Rainbow Dash, who was the most surprised out of the group, closed her mouth and gulped her dry throat and spoke in a shaky voice.

"Fl-Fluttershy, I...well..."

Heaving puffs of air, Fluttershy looked to her old friend, eyes full of anger and self hatred. As soon as they made contact however, her look immediately turned to one of regret and fear.

"I-I..."

Before she could finish her sentence, a loud roar crackled through the air, followed by a burst of fiery green magic ripping straight through the crowd of ponies, scrapping many of their sides and causing them to fall back.

Fluttershy kept her gaze on a stilled Rainbow Dash, before ponies yelling and the shaking ground caught her attention.

Confused, she looked to the side. And her eyes widened when a stream of green slammed into her.

The pain was immediate, excruciating and heavy with what felt like hot harpoons stabbed into her skin.

"AAAAAAAAAAGGHHHHHHHHH!

Fluttershy screamed in pain as her fur singed and lungs shrieked for air.

Rainbow held a hoof to her eyes as the evil magic engulfed her friend. Suddenly, the magic gave one last insult to injury and exploded like a bomb, the shockwave knocking the blue Pegasus off her legs and flinging her into the ground.

The same went with all the other ponies, who fell back as the shockwave rocketed through the meadow and found it's way to the trees of Everfree as well as the buildings of Ponyville. Glass windows and tree branches shattered/flew as many citizens watching the display ran for cover.

As the shockwave soon dissipated, the world stilled as the rest of the mane six laid on the ground. For a few minutes, nothing happened, until Twilight opened her eyes and blinked rapidly. Raising herself up with a wobbly hoof, she fluffed her wings and rubbed her eyes, trying to get the dirt out of them.

As she stood there, her brain took a moment to recuperate itself before something clicked.

Fluttershy!

Eyes widening, she whipped her head back, nearly getting whiplash, to check on her friend.

The rest of the ponies opened their eyes soon after, picking themselves up in an equally shaky way, rubbing their sore spots as some coughed up a lungful of dirt.

As they contained themselves, their mindsets quickly followed Twilight's and looked towards the direction of their injured friend, all prepared for the worst. Expecting a burned body, they nearly moved their feet when something truly horrible laid before their eyes.

Right in the spot where Fluttershy had previously been standing, was nothing but a smoking burnt spot of grass.

Nopony said a thing, the air suddenly thick with a deathly silence.

All faces turned pure pale, stomachs dropping miles. Pinkie had tears begin to form as Applejack felt her throat turn to sandpaper.

Twilight's body shook, her brilliant mind struggling desperately for an explanation. But the longer she stared at the burned ashy spot, her brain lost more and more of its grip on thinking.

"F-F-Fluttershy?" Twilight squeaked.

As the ponies continued to stare, a noise broke through the thick atmosphere.

"MMWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!"

In a snap, all heads snapped towards a standing Chrysalis, laughing to the heavens.

Finishing her cackling, she dropped her head down to stare at the ponies.

"FOOLS! Looks like your 'friendship' isn't as powerful as it seems! Now that I have destroyed on of you, the Elements of Harmony are through! Nothing can stop my return now, the Changling empire will make the most glorious return ever, with me ruling at the helm. Hahahahahahahahahah!"

She finished her sentence with a laugh as she threw her head back.

The ponies on the other hand, were still too shocked to say nor do anything, each of their eyes glued to the spot on the ground.

As her laugh once again died down, she looked towards her foes with a seemingly sympathetic look.

"Oh but don't worry, if anything I was doing you all a favor. That yellow Pegasus was probably nothing but a liability to you all, a weak link that needed to be cut out. A job you obviously were too cowardly to commit to."

Chrysalis waved a hoof in the air, rolling her eyes.

"She was too weak, too independent to fend for herself, why, I bet she never even fought a day in her-"

Just before she could finish her sentence, a shrill scream ripped through the air.

"RRRAAAAAUUGHHHH!"

blinking her eyes, Chrysalis looked just in time to see a rainbow blur heading straight towards her.

Smirking, she readied her wings waiting for her foe to get close. As soon as Rainbow was two feet from her, Chrysalis flew herself up, watching Dash fly underneath her before crashing into a tree with a sick thud.

Smiling happily at Rainbow as she massaged her muzzle, Chrysalis barked out a laugh and turned towards the rest of the ponies.

"Oh relax, you'll get over it, I'm sure."

After her words, her face contorted into a look of wickedness.

"Don't worry Twilight, I'll take care of Equestria from now on, you can trust me on that."

With her last words spoken Chrysalis tensed all her muscles and sped off towards the far mountains, leaving her still gaping enemies behind.

As Rainbow rubbed her sore muzzle, spewing out curses, her friends stood like statues. Not a word was spoken, all too terrified to even speak.

It wasn't until Starlight cleared her throat, tears in her eyes.

"W-what... what just happened?"

---

The bar was abuzz with noise, the grating rock music filling the lonely air. On any other normal day, the old, beaten bar would be full of guests. Drinking, shouting to their hearts content, fist fights, horrible rehashed songs spilling out of their mouths. but tonight was no such night.

Inside the bar sat only one guest. A grizzled, dirty, brute of a man holding a tiny glass of alcohol in his bandaged meaty hand. His long, pitch black hair hung from his scalp, as he stared longingly at the iced beverage.

Never taking his eyes off the drink, he reached a hand to his pocket and pulled something out. Bringing the hand to his chest, he opened it up and placed three pills on the counter.

Lifting the glass up, without hesitation he slammed the small cup onto the three pills, crushing them to powder instantly. Letting the glass up, he brought it to the edge of the table, before placing his hand ahead of the crushed powder and sliding it over to the edge. Once the medicine was slid into his cup, he brought the liquor up to his lips and drank.

Gulping down the entire drink, after he was done he placed it roughly on the counter, rubbing his mouth with his hands.

Footsteps could be heard stomping towards him, lifting his head up, he saw the bartender himself walk over to him.

"It's for you." He spoke in an old voice, holding a phone out in his hand, motioning it towards his only customer. "Says his name's Malcom Vanhorn."

Snorting, the man shook his head, speaking in a tired voice.

"Not now."

Processing this information, the bartender shrugged his shoulder, a careless tone in his voice.

"Well alright, but if they call again I'm hanging up.Not some fucking answering machine." He grumbled as he stalked away.

Ignoring the snarky remark, the customer peered down at his beverage once more, a tired expression marring his features.

ETHAN.

Suddenly, the music in the room became disoriented. Confused by this, the man twisted his head around the room, searching for the reason behind.

WAKE UP.

"Wh-wha?" whatever words he was about to say were cut off as a skin splitting headache exploded inside his brain. wincing, the man brought his head down and clutched his temple, his hands shaking. But as he looked down, he started to notice something. the yellow alcohol that was once in the small cup was gone, and in it's place was crimson red blood. Eyes widening, he watched the beverage as the blood slowly pooled over the top as the lights dimmed. Breath hitching, the man shook his head from side to side, bringing a hand up to his face and closing his eyes.

As soon as it made contact, the disoriented music switched back to its original state, and once he opened his eyes, the drink was once again filled with ice, like nothing had happened in the first place.

Sighing in annoyance, the man turned his gaze from the drink and glared at the desk. He was used to this, but that sure as hell didn't make it enjoyable or any less painful.

As he sat quietly, he felt a rough bump knock his shoulder. Looking to the right in annoyance, he spaw another patron in a thick hoodie walking towards the exit. Normally, he would just huff at the person and call them a crude name under his breath.

But not this time. No, the man felt something in his gut that compelled him to continue staring at the leaving person. He glared as the person reached for the door, but not before they stopped, seemingly noticing the pair of eyes set on their back.

He saw the person suddenly whip around to face him, an ugly smile on his face.

The world turned cold when the two of them locked eyes, a deep tension cutting through the air. The man grit his teeth as he finally got a good enough look at the other person's face. It that was what you could call it. It was a guy first of all, that much was obvious. Second of all, his face was a sickly pale, with two prods attached to his lower lip. Instantly the man knew who, and what this guy really was.

In a blink of an eye, the man leapt from his seat and tackled the stranger, one of his bandaged hands wrapped tightly around the others throat while the other hand curled into a fist.

With a firm grasp on the other man, he immediately began slamming his fast into the other's jaw, his vision blurring alongside the bone shattering crunches following by each hit.

One.

Two.

Three.

Ceasing his attack, he looked at the stranger, who face was bloodied and broken, as his eyes wandered off to the sky in a daze. Huffing out air, the man let go of his foe and began to sit up, staring at the fallen man with disdain.

"GET OUT!"

Raising an eyebrow at the noise, the man turned around to see the bartender behind the counter, a bat in his hand and a challenging glare on his face.

"Now." the bartender growled, bat raised at the ready.

The man stared at the bartender, his lips morphing into a sneer. The two of them stared each other down, neither daring to make a move. That was, until the man slowly stalked towards the counter, seemingly about to attack. Once he was close enough, with one swift move, the man raised his hand and swatted his still sitting alcohol like a bug, flinging it into the far off wall.

Giving the bartender one last hateful look, the man spat on the ground and stormed out the door, stepping on his grounded foe in the process as one last kick in the teeth.

__________

Shoving the door open, he stormed down the wooden steps leading to the bar and out into the snowy, dark alleyway. Clenching his fists tight, he sat with a thud on the last step, a frown on his hairy chin as the snow seeped into his shirt.

Ethan Thomas snarled and in a fiery spark of rage, slammed it into the wooden beam beside him, nearly breaking the wood with his powerful fist before bringing it back and seeping his exhausted back further into the steps, staring at the towering city buildings all around him.

Why? Why was he the only one who cared enough to stop it... stop the evil hiding in this Godforbidden city?

As he stared up at the buildings, he noticed a bright, beautiful, yellow shooting star rip through the night sky.

Author's Note:

I was beyond ecstatic to write this.

Just got Condemned 2 and I freaking love it! So I just had to write a story on it. Now I've got two stories to worry about...crap.

This story is set in season 8 after the premiere.

Comments

[Creative Delight]

really great story can't wait for more but I will have to wish you luck.

[Amadeus cancer]

10347154
Is that a quote from the game? And Thanks! means a lot to me that you like the story.