Rainbow Of Fate

by Lord Drayvon22

War And Absolute Chaos

Around half an hour ago, Canterlot

Cadance blinks as she suddenly finds herself in the Canterlonian dungeons opposite her still unconscious husband. Unknowingly like her aunts before-hoof, she knows she was sent to Chaosville at around 10AM but the Sun’s position suggests it’s now almost 2PM. Before she can do much else, Shining Armour steadily wakes up and rubs his head. “Ugh, I feel like I was hit by a train.” He looks around to see his surroundings and then a rather uneasy looking Cadance. “Uh, hi honey?”

Even after everything, the same slightly lopsided nervous smile still manages to melt her heart. “What happened?”

Shining Armour sighs. “Not much. After I saved you, I just remember a weird freezing cold wind-like sensation wash through me and I suddenly look like this. I demoted Light Brigade until we can get to the bottom of this and was rallying the rest when I was consumed by another dark cloud. Next thing I know, I’m in the throne room in front of you three.” His eyes widen. “What about Twily and the others? Are they okay?”

Cadance feels some relief in that. “Rainbow Dash has been banished to the Sun for what she did and Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna are probably seeing to the others now.” He looks at her weirdly. “Discord.”

He nods in understanding but, before anything else can be said, Solar Strike walks in with a bow. “Your highness, the Princesses have returned and want to speak in the throne room.” Cadance nods and follows him out though not before she and her husband hug through the bars. Nothing happens until after they’ve reached the throne room and Solar Strike has heralded her. Once she passes the threshold and the doors have shut behind her though, she looks around the throne room in horror.

From wall to wall, there appears to be a mix of the rooms natural decor and a strange leather looking substance which glows faintly green even in broad daylight. More alarming though is the sight of green cocoons hanging from the walls containing an assortment of ponies wearing Royal Guard armour of both divisions and even some wearing noble outfits. More immediately problematic though is the sixty or so Changelings splayed out across the throne room and a familiar giant sitting atop Princess Celestia’s throne. Most sickening is that Chrysalis is just sitting there happy as Larry with the largest manure eating grin that Cadance has ever seen. “Good afternoon, I hope you had a nice journey. How’d you like the place?”

The Canterlonian Plains

With a sickening crack, another Changeling hits the floor like an metricton of bricks but another fifteen immediately take it's place. Even whilst they are blown away by a shock-wave, another torpedoes into Princess Celestia who is knocked back at least thirty feet. "This is worthless!" Indeed, an Alicorn’s power is mighty but even it has a limit and the hordes of Changelings never seem to end; wave after wave arriving from the direction of Canterlot.

Right next to her, a writhing pile of Changelings go flying to reveal Princess Luna. "We’d bet our throne and crown that she planned this. She'd have known we'd have to go to Ponyvile and struck whilst the Castle was almost undefended."

Celestia narrowly avoids a nasty stab wound from a Changeling who she then backhoofs into several others. "Agreed.” Hissing from a lucky shot to her side, she blasts a path straight through the army through which they charge just to get some momentary breathing room. “If we’re not careful, we’ll be overwhelmed.”

As the Changelings close in, menacingly slowly because they know they have an incredible advantage, Luna gives a slightly lopsided smile. “Like old times then?”

Celestia returns the smirk before the two Princesses stand flank to flank, unable to do much else but fight.

Back in Canterlot

Cadance gets thrown across the room once again as Chrysalis yawns. “Come on, Cadanza. Are you holding back or you really just that helpless without your husband? Maybe I just had to wait a few decades to take over the Crystal Empire once he died.”

Cadance doesn’t respond, instead firing off a blinding light that lasts for several seconds and allows her to magically slam down Chrysalis. “Ooh, looks like you do have some spunk after-all. Congratulations.” Even so, Cadance gets the feeling thst she’s just toying with her. She then blasts Chrysalis against the wall but she just seems to smile before throwing the beam back into her.

As Cadance narrowly avoids slamming into the base of the throne by beating her wings, Chrysalis approaches with a wide smile. “Tell me, Cadance. How did you expect a duel between the Princess of Love and the creatures that feed on love for power to end? If Celestia couldn’t defeat me after our long history together, how did you expect to stand a chance? You got lucky last time but I don’t intend to make the same mistake twice.” Cadance rolls to avoid Chrysalis stamping on her horn and attempts to spear the Changeling only to be forced into rolling when the Queen deflects it and bucks.

Rapidly running out of options, and horrendously outnumbered, Cadance teleports away. “Get down to the dungeons and secure Shining Armour. Take as much help as you need. I won’t be foiled by the same ponies twice.

---

One moment, all Shining Armour can hear is loud bangs so defaming that it’s heard this deep underground and the next his rather dishevelled and bruised looking wife is standing before him. “What’s happening up there?”

“Changelings.”

To his mild surprise, the door swings open and his inhibitor shatters but he has more immediate concerns. “Again? I thought they’d vanished.”

Before Cadance can respond, the cell door explodes inwards and twenty five Changelings burst in. “Seize them.” And just like that, for the third time in thier lives, the two find themselves fighting for both thier own lives and the lives of everypony in Equestria.

Ponyvile

Even as a second army of Changelings looks over the town, it looks almost completely abandoned; any outdoors stalls or equipment left sitting where they just seemingly moments ago. Admittedly, the Changelings had hardly been subtle when arriving but they were expecting ponies running around like beheaded cockatrices instead of just an eerie silence. One of the two Commanders eyes the town from atop a nearby hill curiously. “I don’t like it.”

The Changeling next to him scoffs loudly. “You never like anything, Thorax. Let’s be honest, what’re the ponies gonna do? They can’t use the Elements, Cadenza is doomed and thier royal pain in the flanks will only last so long. We’ve got the easy job.”

Pharynx then turns to the three hundred strong strike force behind them. “We split into groups of between five and twenty and search everywhere. Remember, the Queen wants the Bearers alive and as unharmed as possible but the rest?” A horrible, predatory, fang-filled smile emerges. “We feast.” With a roar of mutual agreement and excitement, the army descends upon the small town.

---

The first group to reach thier target is a group of ten that reach the Crusader treehouse because it never hurts to have valuable hostages if you run into significant resistance. Sneaking a peek through the window, the leader finds a white and purple filly sitting there sketching something on a sheet of paper and gestures to his comrade to break the door in. And in it does go but the Changeling finds himself magically picked up and thrown a full three leagues. “What the?!!”

Five more rush in but then get sent comically flying when the first gets bucked and then falls into the others. "Fine then, let's do it the hard way." Diving in through the windows, he casts a powerful sleep spell just to have it dodged and get blown back. How’s a foal even doing this?! They’re no better than nymphs! Sick of this, and then having to watch another Changeling get comically bowled out the door like a hoofball, he channels most of his absorbed love into a single powerful attack. Aiming directly at the floor, he fires a powerful laser to bring down the entire treehouse only for it to rebound and knock him away.

A shield?! How’re they powerful enough to generate a shield that big and strong?! What are these ponies?! He looks around to see his remaining two Changelings lying splayed out on the floor. “What happened to-“

“Ahem.” The Commander turns but the last thing he swears he sees is a purple maned but dark coated pony before he’s struck over the head and knows nothing more.

High above, Apple Bloom drops down from a spot atop the treehouse. “Tha’ was awesome! Ah wanna do it again!”

She and Sweetie Belle then have the same thoughts but thier flanks are still blank. “Aw, I so thought we had them.”

---

Not very far away, a swarm of thirty Changelings descend on Sweet Apple Acres itself. Thirty may seem like overkill but the Apples are also notoriously stubborn and strong so they waste no time in breaking down the front door. Spreading out through the house, it doesn’t take long to find Granny Smith rocking in her chair but the weird colouring of her fur gives a moment’s pause. “Are ponies supposed to look like that?”

“Who cares? Get her!”

“NNNNOPE!” Before any of them can turn, the pantry door flies open and the last thing many of them see is an enormous pony jump out before his hooves connect with one of them. Said Changeling then takes out a fairly sizeable chunk of its friends as it goes flying and leaves a very large crack down the sidewall.

The sole Changeling left standing turns to flee only to meet a knockout spell from the hall. “Barbarians.” From upstairs, a significant struggle can be heard to the point that it sounds like the house is about to come down around their ears.

Before Rarity can go and help though, a visibly exhausted Applejack emerges; looking like a complete mess and even a blackened eye. “Oh Nelly, there was a lotta them. Even got sum lucky hits in the varmints but Ah showed ‘em.”

As Rarity follows her friend back towards Ponyvile, chatting all the way about different treatments for a black eye, a smile appears on Granny Smith’s face.

---

Another group of ten descend on Sugarcube Corner because what harm can a bunch of bakers and thier infants be? The group split up, half going upstairs to the bedrooms and the others going to the cellar as they can hear work going on in the lower reaches of the building. Once they arrive though, the lead immediately feels an intense gnawing on his hoof. "An alligator?! How’d an alligator get down here?!" He flings off the gator who slides down the wall but doesn't seem harmed and just blinks at them blankly.

"Must be that party pony's pet that Pelt mentioned. Whatever, we'll finish up here and skin it for the H-" He ends up getting decked by a baking tray to the face. “Ok, I don’t care what the Queen says. When i get my hooves on her, I’ll-“

What he was going to do to Pinkie Pie shall never be known as he suddenly flops to the floor; a large, ugly purple bruise on the back of his head. Looking up, the Changelings stare at the pink party prepper using her punch permeated tail like a propeller. “Hi!” One of the Changelings tries to tackle her but she bounces out the way. “Oooh, are we playing tag? You’re it!” She nudges one in the side and bounces away, causing his friend to accidentally blast him unconscious. “No play fighting! Play nice!”

Pinkie tut tuts at them as one dives at her only to be restrained and tied down in the blink of an eye. “What?!”

“Quick knot! You have no idea how many presents I have to tie up!” Now down to two, the Changelings try to blast her unconscious but she bounces around like she’s made of springs. In the meantime, Carrot Cake sneaks up on the distracted Changelings and bucks one unconscious.

These ponies are mad! Completely plucking mad! The final Changeling manages to escape into a cupboard just to find it filled with butcher’s knives, a meat carving table, an oven, some cupcakes laid out caringly to one side and finally what appears to be blood smeared on the walls. NOPE! I'm getting the others and we're burning this place down! He turns to bolt only to slam into the door-frame so hard that he gets a concussion and knocks himself out.

Carrot Cake looks at his apprentice with slight wariness, noting the copious amounts of red icing and borrowed equipment from Red Meat. “Where’d you even get the idea for that? This is just... twisted.”

Pinkie just grins from ear to ear. “Because the author is kinda a foal himself.”

As usual, Carrot Cake just shakes his head in disbelief at the fourth wall break whilst they head upstairs. “Is everything alright, honey?”

They reach the master bedroom to find a most bizarre sight awaiting them. Four Changelings lie unconscious and tied up on the floor, what appears to be confetti from Pinkie’s party cannon strewn around the room. The fifth is being thrown around in a weird game of Catch between Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake. Like godmother, like godchildren apparently.

---

Fifteen Changelings descend on the cozy cottage outside the Everfree. They’d planned to only take three because Fluttershy is a… less than formidable fighter but then remembered who her new friend happens to be. Before they can even reach the cottage, three get carried away by an assortment of animals including a bear and two reindeer before any of the others even noticed. Upon entering, they find themselves observing the absurd sight of Discord the almighty God of Chaos enjoying a cuppa with Fluttershy. “Do any of you mind?! We’re trying to enjoy our tea. Come back again in ten minutes.”

The Changelings find themselves abruptly teleported out so they break down the door instead and go in firing. “Oh please, don’t they teach you manners? Please, take a load on. We insist.” Six immediately find themselves forced to the ground by invisible but utterly unmovable weights and three more find thier horns clogged with stone and hooves merged into the ground. “You Changelings are hardly even worth the effort and yet old Swiss Cheese still somehow defeated Sunbutt.” Two more launch at Discord who now looks like a jail warden just to be immediately plucked out of midair like specks of dust and throw in a cage which he immediately teleports… somewhere. “So uncivilised.”

The last turns to grab Fluttershy just to find himself paralysed. “How dare you try and hurt innocent ponies! You should be ashamed of yourself. You will sit down and be quiet if you know what’s good for you.” Much to the Changeling’s shock, he sits his flank down and does nothing as Discord chains him up.

---

“Nothing! We’ve been at this for ten minutes and nothing!” Thorax throws over a sewing table inside the Boutique. “Where could she be hiding?!”

“Probably getting her hair done at the spa or something equally intelligent.”

The four Changelings get a nice chuckle out of that until they hear someone enter through the barely standing front door. “What have you done?! My work! My home!” As Rarity stares in horror at what she sees, the Changelings smirk in anticipation; waiting her to have one of her infamous fainting spells. Instead, her face contorts into one of uncontrollable rage. “I’ll make sure that you regret that.” She seals the exits shut and magically picks up a sewing machine before the next several minutes are filled with loud crashes and yells of pain.

---

The single largest contingent of Changelings, a good fifty strong force led by Pharynx, break down a familiar door and wake up a rather cross looking owl. “Now where’s Twilight Sparkle?”

“Hoo?”

Owlowiscious has to fly out the window as Pharynx fires at him. “Spread out and find her but be careful.” Before anything can happen though, a tail lashes out from the nearby cupboard and knocks ten away but whatever the creature is is already gone by the time they fire into it. “is everyling alright?” Eight of the ten nod but the others are out cold. “Good, we find that thing and we crush it. It’s too dangerous to even feed on.”

Frustration practically seeping from every pore, Pharynx leads his army to Twilight’s room upstairs where they find the unicorn reading A Thesis On Alicorn Biology. He sends two of his strongest Praetorians to tackle her but they end up walking into a shield. “Figures.” The entire swarm moves in to strike but many end up getting swatted away by a tail; now revealed to belong to a long black and green snake-like creature. Is that the dragon she’s supposed to keep as a pet? These ponies are so plucking weird.

As the most competent Changeling in his group, Pharynx manages to get around the shield and pounce on the pony. “Gotcha!” As he leans down to bite her with a paralysing venom though, Twilight shimmers and vanishes. Constructs? He turns just in time to stop a laser beam from conking him out only to be slightly surprised by what he sees. Was she always black?

Determined to put her down, he channels every ounce of energy he has into the beam but it doesn’t budge an inch. But the only thing able to stand up against our magic when it’s at its strongest is… His eyes widen as he realises why she looks like it only for his magic to be overwhelmed and he only feels himself slam into the bed before going unconscious.

---

Lieutenant Razorwing can hardly believe what’s happening to her. Taking Ponyvile Hospital was incredibly easy which should surprise no-pony; it’s a building full of injured or sick ponies and doctors and nurses that have never been trained to fight after-all. It’d be an achievement if they had failed quite frankly. Sure, a few of her soldiers had been knocked out by an assortment of drugs but they’d taken it with relative ease. Now though? How many would expect a foal of possessing the power to knock down a full grown Praetorian with one kick? To sum up, things shortly thereafter went to Tartarus in a hoofbasket with even the most pathetic looking nurse managing to decimate the Changeling guards, far too quickly for it to even properly register.

As the last Changeling standing, Razorwing hates to admit it but she flees instinctively although whether it’s a need for reinforcements or for self preservation she is unable to say. She’s so focused on fleeing that she doesn’t notice another Changeling being thrown at her from a barn far below.

---

---

These tales of small victories are but a select few of the dozens of scenes that play out across Ponyvile. What was supposed to be a complete curbstomp victory and glorious feast for the Changelings is rapidly turning into a stalemate but more gradually, it’s turning into a complete route. In certain other parts of Equestria however, things aren’t going anywhere near as smoothly.

The Canterlonian Plains

For the fifth time in as many minutes, Celestia has to throw off a mound of Changelings as Luna does the same. “We need an edge, Luna. This is getting ridiculous.”

Luna nods so she shoots high into the air which allows the Changeling army to launch at Celestia once more. In moments however, Luna rockets back down from what must be the Gildran Line and dives just above the heads of everyling with a loud noise like a crack of thunder. Doing so creates an enormous tidal-wave like effect where all are violently thrown into hoops and Celestia barely has time to magically secure herself to the ground. When the dust settles and Luna lands, both set about trying to bring down the enormous energy shield but once again fail. "What 'tis that foul shield made of?"

Registering her sister's slip back into Old Equestrian as a sign of clear frustration, Celestia shakes her head. "Pure love, the only force stronger than magic. An entire Hive’s worth." Indeed, the sheer amount of love magic in the forcefield is so potent that it's almost enough to give a Unicorn or Alicorn a headache from sheer magical overload. Magic itself is derived from strong emotions and pure love is the strongest emotion there is so trying to penetrate it is kinda like trying to knock over a sturdy house with a very light shove. Usually, the only way to make such a shield disappear is to defeat the caster but that’s obviously not an option here.

Most crushing, it makes them realise something; Chrysalis is putting everything into this attack so it’s all or nothing for her. She’s desperate and that only makes her more dangerous than last year. Of course, they try to just teleport through it instead but just end up teleporting randomly on this side. They attempt to fly around but end up hitting never ending barrier and digging gets the same result. Without much recourse left, and the Changeling army around them starting to recover, they head back to Ponyvile and see what they can do.

Canterlot Castle, Throne Room

Even in her moment of triumph, Chrysalis looks out in frustration towards Ponyvile. They’re much more trouble than I expected but who cares? Even Celestia can’t handle thousands of us so we’ll brute force it. They’re divided and the Elements are useless so we’ve already won. We just have to make them realise it. Knowing Cadance and her husband, they’ll be here any- There's a loud crash as the throne doors slam open with enough force to rock the Throne Room. Right on cue.

Turning to them, she grits her teeth at the small pile of Changelings left behind them. Nymphs, it always falls to me to solve thier problems. As the royal couple stop before her, both clearly expecting an ambush, Chrysalis wears a forced smile. “In some demented way, getting here’s an achievement I suppose. It’s almost romantic in a way. I’ll make sure to bear that in mind as Celestia watches what I do to you.”

Shining Armour stares down his tormentor. “Give up and we’ll consider a lighter punishment.”

Chrysalis can’t help but almost cry with laughter. “GIVE UP?!!! Why would I surrender?! A victor doesn’t surrender as they’re on the cusp of victory! Canterlot is mine, Celestia and Luna will fall, your beloved sister as well and you both will regret what you did.”

“No matter what you throw at us, we’ll always bounce back. You can’t just force a surrender using violence.”

Another foul grin. “The Elements are unusable, I’m stronger than any pony in existence, Celestia and the Bearers couldn’t stop me and the Crystal Heart will only make me stronger. How do you have any chance of stopping me?”

Cadance fires off an energy beam which Chrysalis deflects with a wave of the hoof. “The same way we did before. If not us, somepony or creature would bring you down.”

Chrysalis shakes her head dismissively, as if they just suggested something extremely stupid, before descending from the throne and walking over to look over the pair. “Since you’ve been so kind, I’ll extend the same offer to you. Give up and it’ll be much less painful. You might even be allowed to stay in adjoining cells if you grovel enough.”

Once thier expressions express the obvious sentiment, Chrysalis flashes a foul grin. “Then I'll just crush both of you under-hoof and force thier surrender. They’d never endanger thier beloved niece and brother and, once I’ve got the Empire, nothing WILL EVER be able to stop us. But first, let’s make things more interesting, shall we?” Chrysalis suddenly teleports all three of them into Canterlot. The instant she does, she body slams both before the teleportation flash can even dissipate. “Now, you either fight or I level Canterlot. And you know I can, don't you Cadance? You must’ve heard the story about what Red Tape did. Want to see if I can do it by myself?"

Her answer is a magic blast to the face but Chrysalis shrugs it off and spreads her wings dramatically. “Cmon then, Cadance. Let’s see if you can put your bits where your mouth is.”

As she takes flight, Cadance quickly follows whilst Shining can do little more than watch and throw up a barrier. It’s very clear that she’s trying to use the fact Shining Armour can’t fly to her advantage and thus exploit an ancient racial disadvantage they’d had during the ancient days of fighting Pegasus. All the same, they can’t let her just pelt them from above so he can only watch helplessly as Cadance up through the clouds and out of sight.

---

High above in the sky, it’s almost a tornado of black and pink whirling around as both royals try to get a definitive hit against each other. Cadance’s magic fails to penetrate Chrysalis’ thick chitin if it even hits at all but she’s also much too small and nimble for Chrysalis to touch. One thing to remember though , Chrysalis never plays fair as Cadance feels a Changeling rockets down from below and strikes her in the stomach although she returns the favour by bucking it back down to Equus.

However, this small opening gives Chrysalis the chance to blast her clean through a cloud bank and onto a storm cloud that had been scheduled for Canterlot later that evening. “You truly are a one trick pony, Cadance. You defeat us but can’t stop Sombra and now you’re utterly defeated.” As Cadance gets back up, Chrysalis towers over Cadance like a monstrous mountain of malice. “What should I do with you? Cocoon you like Celestia? Torture you like the others? Turn you into a husk? Or maybe I’ll just control you like I did Shining Armour. Ah, the Princess of Love as my slave. Or maybe I should take Twilight Sparkle instead to ensure she’ll never be a problem again? Oh the poss-“

Chrysalis isn’t able to finish as she’s suddenly blasted back by a bolt of lightning. “Huh.” She looks over to see blue lightning surrounding a slightly glowing Cadance which she’d been too busy gloating to notice. “You know, that actually tickled. Such a rarely used Pegasus talent but your ancestors always did love thier thunderstorms. Maybe this could actually be fun after all ." She channels all of her energy, glowing visibly green as her smile turns from insane to almost feral. “Bring it on.”

With a loud crack, Cadance takes off so Chrysalis unleashes a devastating beam that annihilates the thunderstorm but Cadance does a barrel roll right under Chrysalis who avoids a bucking by soaring to the right. For several moments, she and Cadance stare each other down before clashing several dozen more times, both emitting blinding flashes of light as thier magical areas collide like two meteors before breaking apart. Each time, neither can gain an advantage and instead just end up sending painful reverberations through thier bodies so they begin the constant banking and turning dance.

After a few more minutes of nothing being accomplished, and for but a second, Chrysalis let’s her guard down as she bankrolls in an attempt to get behind Cadance. Instead, she pays the price when she’s blasted down and into a wall of trees. Visibly bruised but still smiling, Chrysalis gets up to casually dust herself off. “Impressive, genuinely impressive. But you forget, I’m the one with the army.”

At once, some nearby shrubs abruptly turn into Changelings which Cadance successfully fends off only to be speared through the leg by Chrysalis’ horn. As the younger ruler recoils in pain, Chrysalis takes the moment to back hoof her and blast her into a nearby wall which immediately collapses atop her. “And thus it ends. Goodnight.” She raises a hoof to bring it down on Cadance’s head only to get body slammed back a few paces. “The cavalry. How droll.”

Helping his injured wife to her hooves, Shining Armour glares down the Changeling. “One last chance. Surrender.”

Chrysalis responds by firing off a large green magical beam which Shining reflexively counters with one of his own. In mere seconds though, it is already a very significant mental struggle to just maintain the beam as Chrysalis is clearly probing and toying with him. “Foal, Celestia couldn’t beat me so what chance do you have?!”

Cadance supports her husband with a beam of her own which finally seems to still the energy beam. “And thus the Princess of Food joins in. I’m not letting that happen again.” Two Changelings dive in and repeatedly try to knock either of them down, forcing them into having a wide berth between each other. “Checkmate.”

As she tries to force her beam to take them down though, nothing happens. “What?”

“There’s something about friendship you’ll never understand, Chrysalis. Friendship can come in many forms, in many types and traits but one thing it’ll always posses; purity.”

Chrysalis scowls. “Enough.”

“Love is merely a stronger form of friendship but you’ll never understand. Love and friendship are just food and meaningless to you, aren’t they?”

“SILENCE!” Chrysalis pours all of her energy into her beam which finally manages to force its way towards the couple. For just a moment, it appears that she’s won until she realises something’s very wrong. They should have slammed to the ground by now but they’re just standing there which makes no sense until the tense moment breaks.

In an instant, black energy forces its way out of Shining and pure golden energy out of Cadance. “What?!” Chrysalis terminates her magic beam but is unable to escape in time before the beam slams into her and there’s a loud crack. Chrysalis struggles to stay grounded as the energy pushes against her, parts of her chitin starting to crack under the pressure, “N-no! Not again! I won’t… I won’t… I-“ With a deafening boom, whatever’s in that energy breaks through her defences and the Changeling Queen disappears as she is violently thrown through at least a half dozen houses by the force of the blast.

When she finally recovers, now visibly mangled and tattered, she finds herself looking up at the Crystal Rulers. “WHAT WAS THAT?!!!”

Cadance smiles down at the Queen. “Pure, focused love from the Crystal Heart itself. Even Changelings can’t handle something that raw. Shining used his corrupted magic.”

Chrysalis glares them down but realises something after a moment. “My Hive… Why aren’t they responding?”

“Because they’ve either already fallen or are in full retreat.” Chrysalis immediately turns and tries to blast a hole straight through Celestia but her horn fizzles out; overloaded with magic and charred. “Give up.”

Chrysalis stares at the severely bruised but otherwise fine Solar Princess before teleporting to Canterlot. In the meantime, Cadance and Shining look around; watching the streets sadly as they see how the magic battle ended up devastating the surprising area. As her exhaustion and pain catches up to her though, Cadance wobbles and Shining catches her. “C’mon, let’s free the Guards and get you patched up.”

---

Appearing at the bottom of a hill overlooking Ponyvile, Chrysalis canters to the top. She’s bluffing. I’ll rally my children and I’ll wipe that smug smi- She stops and stares in shock at what she sees. “NO!” She watches in dismay at the sight of Changelings either fleeing into the horizon or being rounded by Guards. “NO!”

She tries to fly into town only to be forced back to the ground by a familiar orange aura. “It’s over.”

Chrysalis stares at the devastation before her. “What’s going on?! I’m supposed to be winning! Your ponies are supposed to be helpless without their Elements!!!”

Celestia steps forward resolutely. “What you’ll never understand. Chrysalis, is what ponies can do when you threaten their livelihoods. They’re capable of incredible acts, with or without special artefacts.”

No! I’m not giving them the satisfaction! We’re too close to fail now! Watching her dream fall apart before her very eyes, and with frankly nothing else to lose, Chrysalis channels so much magic into her horn that it becomes almost as bright as the Sun. The strain is absolute agony but she hears it with a completely demented grin. “Then I’ll take you with me! Even if I can’t win, how will they cope without their great protector? Something else will crush them!”

Before she can unleash the attack though, she receives one final energy blast to the back of her head. Combined with the strain of the channelled energy and fatique from the fight earlier, it makes for a rather anticlimactic end to the fight as Chrysalis crumples and Luna flies down. “Is everything okay, sister? What about Cadance and Shining Armour?”

Celestia takes a moment to respond as she sadly regards her fallen friend. “They’re okay. Cadance got skewered at some point but she’ll get it seen to. How are things here?”

They look out over the small ruined town. “Not much has changed. They’ll repair and make do like our little ponies tend to.” She turns to Chrysalis and winces at the very large crack down Chrysalis’ horn. “What do we do with her?”

“We send her to the dungeon and decide what to do next.” Celestia’s tone turns sorrowful. “We may very well have to deal with her permanently if we can’t make her see reason. She’s too dangerous to be kept free.”

Luna nods and they get to work restraining her as the Sun sets on another day in Equestria. Little does anypony know, today is merely the first of several more days of mayhem yet to come.

Comments

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

Andnthey are not adressing the fact the pinyville.ponies dod what they did while still dark?