Chrysalis, queen of Card Combatants, stood at her spot on the arena, a wide grin on her face. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she held two cards in her hand still. Not that she needed them. At this point, the battle was as good as won. Admittedly, Twilight had put up much more of a fight than Chrysalis had expected, but the result was -- and will always be -- the same.
No one and nothing could stand up to her Royal Assassin deck. Especially not some brat that no one had heard of and was just starting to play in official tournaments.
Still, it would be better not to take the risk. A little psychological warfare was permitted, and may make things easier for both of them.
"You may as well give up," Chrysalis called out. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the empty creature section of her opponent's side, then let her gaze drift to her own, completely full one. "You have nothing left." Her smirk grew wider, and more wicked. "And even if you do draw something you can use, my Infiltrator Queen will destroy it without even breaking a sweat."
On her side of the arena stood a holographic projection of the very character, as large as life. Much like Chrysalis, the creature had dark skin and dark green hair. However, where Chrysalis was dressed in a dark suit and green blouse, Infiltrator Queen was dressed in glistening black armor, a hint of green to its sheen. One hand held a crooked dagger, while the other glowed with magic.
"Or maybe your own Shining Knight should be the one to cause your downfall," Chrysalis added. It was always fun when Infiltrator Queen stole one of her opponent's most powerful creatures, and made them work for her. Especially when she snagged the most powerful on the other side. The look on their opponent's face when they lost their favorite, and then had it destroy them, was just priceless.
"Don't listen to that meany!" one of the girls that made up Twilight's peanuts gallery shouted out (Chrysalis did not know nor care which one it was). "You can do this, Twilight!"
"Yeah!" another shouted. "Kick that bully's butt!"
"It ain't over 'til there ain't no life points left!" added a third.
"Indeed. You've dealt with far more skilled and stylish opponents in the past."
"Don't give up."
Chrysalis let out a huff, rolling her eyes. The whole thing was ridiculous, and made her want to puke. People did not win through the magic of cheerleaders or whatever. They won by having good cards, a keen strategy, and fudging things in a way that were not technically against the rules. There was no teamwork in a one on one battle.
However, it did seem that Twilight was still dumb enough to believe such things. The young woman on the other side of the arena straightened up, staring directly at Chrysalis. There was a new fire in her eyes, and a look of determination on her face.
Then she started talking.
And talking...
And talking...
The girl went on and on, talking about friendship, encouragement, blah-blah-blah, harp of the chords or whatever. Chrysalis had not cared in the slightest when it started, and had basically stopped listening all together at some point pretty early on. She was instead planning what she was going to do that evening, when the tournament was finished for the day.
It was only when she saw Twilight finally draw a card -- in an overly dramatic manner at that -- that she brought her full attention back to the present.
"Yes, yes," Chrysalis sighed. "All very nice and lovely. Now hurry up and play so we can get this all over with."
Twilight lowered her hand, bringing the card to her face. As she looked at the newly drawn card, her eyes lit up with excitement, and a smile spread across her face.
"And now," Twilight announced, "let me show you the power of the cards." She held out the card she had just drawn.
"I summon Dungeon Delver!"
In a flash of bright light, a woman dressed in khaki adventure clothes and wearing a pith helmet appeared in the opponent's creature section of the board. The figure pushed up the edge of her helmet, the well tanned woman narrowing her eyes at the other side.
It was not a card that Chrysalis was familiar with, not that she would admit it. The data screen in front of her showed her Dungeon Delver's attack and defense, but they were not that impressive.
Chrysalis let out a laugh before calling out, "How pathetic. What can one little dungeon crawler possibly do against my Queen?"
"You're right," Twilight called back. "Dungeon Delver couldn't beat Infiltrator Queen in a head to head fight." The girl let out a smile. "Fortunately, that's not what I need her for. First, because I played her, I'm allowed to search through my deck for one item card of my choice."
She grabs her deck and quickly flicks through it.
"I choose: Crystal Heart of Purity."
She then started shuffling the rest of the deck.
"That's... cute," Chrysalis said. She gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "Hardly think it will do you any good, though."
"In itself, no," Twilight acknowledged. "However, I can now use Dungeon Delver's second ability. By sacrificing her and one magic item on my field, I'm able to bring back one of my monsters from the graveyard. I sacrifice Crown of Magic and Dungeon Delver, and bring back... Princess Guardian of Love!"
In the magic section of the field, the crown appeared and shattered into shards of light. Simultaneously, Dungeon Delver also turned into light and shattered. In its place appeared a woman dressed in a pink and gold, flowing toga, with feathery wings splaying out from her shoulder blades, and holding a bow in one hand. Little red hearts fluttered in the air around her as she appeared, slowly floating to the ground before disappearing.
A groan of annoyance escaped Chrysalis as she rolled her eyes. She thought she had gotten rid of all the stupid Princess Guardians. Now, not only was one being brought back, but had to be the annoying pink one that was all about "love." Why even bother? Why not bring back one of the others? They were more powerful. The only advantage with Guardian of Love was...
Her gaze drifted back to her side of the field, at the knight she had stolen.
"I activate Princess Guardian of Love's special ability, Arrow of Love, to reclaim my Shining Knight!" Twilight announced.
The angelic woman held up a bow and grasped the string. As she pulled it back, an arrow of rainbow light with a heart-shaped tip appeared. She released and the arrow flew across the arena, striking the knight in his armored chest. As soon as it hit, Shining Knight disappeared from Chrysalis's side, and reappeared on Twilight's.
"Clever," Chrysalis said, "but ultimately useless." She let her gaze drift back toward her side. "You may be able to take out my infiltrator drones, but my Infiltrator Queen is still stronger than either of them." She let out a sigh, shaking her head. "You're only delaying the inevitable."
"You're wrong," Twilight announced, her tone brimming with confidence. "It may be true that neither of them can defeat your Queen straight on, but I don't need them to." She then smiled. "And I have everything I need to win this round!"
"...What?"
"Now that I have both Princess Guardian of Love and Shining Knight on the field, I can now use Crystal Heart of Purity to send all the creatures on your side to the field back to your hand." A large crystal heart appeared behind the two. It began to hum and glow before unleashing a burst of glowing blue light. As the energy hit Chrysalis's side, the creatures turned back into light and vanished.
Before Chrysalis could even process what happened, Twilight continued.
"Now, with nothing left to stop them, Guardian Princess of Love and Shining Knight from attacking your life points directly!"
Chrysalis stood there, staring with wide eyes. Unmoving as she tried to process what just happened. She had it won. In the bag. Just one more round, and victory would be hers. Now, it was all collapsing. Everything had backfired. And all she could do was watch as Twilight's creatures attacked.
The Princess was first, raising her bow and pulling back the string before letting it go. The heart tipped arrow flew straight at Chrysalis, striking her in the chest before vanishing.
It felt like it had actually sunk in, hitting her in her actual heart.
The Knight was next. With a single jump, he leapt into the air, launching himself at her. With one arm, he raised his sword high above his head, the blade glowing bright white with magical energy, and swung down. The sword came down on her head, passing right through her skull.
The light faded as her life point score hit zero.
"BAH! This is a stupid game anyways!"
Isekairony (Or a near paragraph long sentence about how I ended up in another world)
It was an unusually quiet day in Ponyville. School was out for the season, including the school of friendship, which meant most of the students were nowhere near campus. The Bearers of Harmony were all out of town for some sort of adventure, Starlight was off with Trixie, and even Spike was off with Gabby at some convention.
Leaving Friendship Castle and The School of Friendship completely empty.
Flying through the clear blue sky was a familiar gray pegasus dressed in an equally familiar brown uniform. Her flight pattern was erratic, moving up and down, left and right, and twisting and turning. Had it been any other pony, or in any other town, the mare would have gotten some stares and caused worry about her state of sobriety. However, as this was Ponyville, all she received was a cursory glance to make sure they were not at risk of being crashed into. Although a few did move at a quicker pace just to be sure.
For the most part, the pegasus made her way to The Friendship Castle, flying to one of the upper balconies. Just as she was reaching it, her front hooves hit the edge of banister, causing her to go flipping end over end as she hit the floor. The mare then rolled across the floor before hitting the door, knocking them open and coming to a stop.
"I'm okay," she shouted as she got up, wobbling slightly. "I just don't know what went wrong." She stumbled her way into the castle, shaking her head as she did.
After making her way inside the castle, and being certain that no creature could see her, a green flame engulfed the mare. The uniform burned away, as did the fur, revealing smooth black chitin. Feathers vanished in a flash, giving way to gossamer wings. In a literal blink, bright yellow eyes were replaced by toxic green ones with vertical-slitted pupils. Similar green colors replaced bright blond hairs from the mane and tail. Razor sharp fangs poked out from the upper lip, while a jagged black horn formed on the forehead.
Back in her normal form, Queen Chrysalis let out a laugh, which quickly got caught off by a groan. Reaching back, she rubbed at her aching rump. The tumble had been necessary for the character, and it was better to land on her back side than her head, but the impact against the floor had still hurt.
Still, it had to be done. As queen of the true changelings, she knew the importance of doing things the proper way.
...Even if it seemed as though she were the only one at times...
After stopping in the bathroom to get some over the counter pain reliever, and at the kitchen to get something to drink, Chrysalis began looking for the library which held the magic mirror.
Which as it turned out was not simply "the library." It seemed that Sparkle needed to have multiple libraries, each with its own theme. One was filled with books all on Equestria's history. Another was filled with books on magical theory. Right next to it was one filled with magic journals that Twilight had submitted to and been published in. One that was fairly empty was dedicated to the histories and stories of neighboring civilization.
Finally, she reached the library that was dedicated to human history and culture. And there it was. What Chrysalis had been looking for: the magical mirror to another world. Supposedly, it was easy enough to operate, all she had to do was place the magic journal on the pedestal above the mirror, and it would activate.
A grin spread across Queen Chrysalis's face as she watched the mirror surface shimmer and glisten. Light glowed and swirled across the surface. Reaching out, she gently placed her hoof against it. The tip sank in, passing through with ripples like on water.
With a deep breath, she stepped through.
The world became blinding light as she was pulled through the dimensional pathway. She could feel herself being pulled and twisted by the magic, reshaped. It was kind of strange. Yes, she was a shapeshifter, and changed form quite a lot in her life, but this was different. When she changed normally, there was fire, and that was kind of how it felt. Not painful, but definitely a warm, burning sensation. Like muscles that had been overworked. In this case, it felt like something between a massage, and playing with clay. Although cooler.
Also due to her being a shapeshifter, Queen Chrysalis was used to having to adapt to sudden changes in her build and form. As such, she was able to catch herself as the portal spat her out, managing to keep upright.
On two limbs.
So, she had been turned into some sort of bipedal creature. Her forelimbs were arms and ended in hands, similar to Lord Tirek, but nowhere near as bulky, and in a shade of smokey black instead of red. On each finger was a nail, painted dark green, and looking sharp enough to cut skin. She could not tell what her lower limbs ended in, they were covered in some sort of fabric. There was also a skirt of some kind, with the edge just bellow her crotch, and a blouse, the top of which was unbuttoned to expose large amounts of flesh on her chest.
She was going to have to figure out what they were, and what they were for. However, that would have to wait. Right now, there were more immediate matters she needed to figure out.
Readying herself, Chrysalis took a step forward. When she did not fall over, she took another. Then another. Soon, she was walking just fine.
Stopping to look behind, she made a note of where she had wound up, in case she needed to return.
Then she continued, leaving the portal and Equestria behind. There was a whole new world for her to learn about, to understand, to conquer. There was plenty to figure out, and how the world worked.
Unfortunately, one of the things she did not know about the human world was the existence of cars. As such, she was unaware of the dangers the presented, or how to avoid them.
Such as looking both ways before crossing the street.
A loud screech drew Queen Chrysalis's attention just in time to see a strange, large, blue, shiny thing coming right at her. There was an explosion of pain as it hit her. She could feel something break inside her.
Everything went black.
Queen Chrysalis let out a groan as she came to. The first thing she noticed was that her entire body hurt, like she had been trampled by a yak stampede. Reaching up, she rubbed at her head.
The second thing she noticed was that it was not a hand.
Eyes snapping open, she looked at the forelimb. It was not an arm ending in a hand, but a foreleg ending in a hoof, complete with black chitin and holes.
Quick as she could, Queen Chrysalis got up. Her mind raced, wrestling with the obvious answer, and refusing to accept it as it was impossible. She found herself surrounded by trees, inside a forest of some kind.
One she swore she recognized.
"No," she cried out, taking flight. "No. No. No." Lifting herself up above the canopy, she looked out.
Episode 5397: Chrysalis Chronicles Part 413. "Twilight Sparkle! Unleash Your True Power!"
With a spin in mid-air, Chrysalis kicked out, slamming the heel of her boot into her opponent's chest. Said opponent flew out of the ring and slammed into the ground beyond. There was an audible impact as dirt and dust kicked up, hiding the form.
"APPLEJACK!" several others cried out, running toward the landing zone. As the dust clears, a crater remained. At its bottom was a figure, curled up on its side, unmoving, but with no blood.
With a flicker of her insectile wings, Chrysalis landed in the center of the arena. A grin spread across her face as she crossed her arms.
The girl had been strong, stronger than the rainbow-haired girl, and tough, like punching a brick wall. However, she had two big problems. First, was that she was slow. Every move she made was telegraphed well before she actually started, and was not exactly a quick punch. The other was that the girl was not a strategist. From the first attack, it was clear that she had not bothered to watch study Chrysalis while watching her fight the rainbow girl, and around the fifth, it was easy to see she did not change attack patterns much. Made it easier and easier to block.
Chrysalis's gaze drifted across the others. She momentarily paused on Trixie, supposedly the world's greatest and most powerful fighter, who was curled up on the ground, unable to fight due to her stomach hurting.
How convenient.
She then continued on, until stopping on her. The hero. The supposed true champion of the world
Twilight Sparkle.
"This has been a fun warm-up and all," Chrysalis stated. "But," she pointed a finger at Twilight, "I think it's time we got to the main event!"
Twilight took a step back, swallowing nervously.
"We don't have to fight," she said. "I'm sure we can come to some sort of peaceful understanding."
Chrysalis rolled her eyes, then turned her attention to the others. She focused on one in particular: a pale skinned girl with long, purple hair.
A sneer spread across her face as her eyes narrowed.
"Perhaps you just need more incentive."
Raising a hand, a ball of green flame appeared in her palm.
"CHANGELING FLAME BLAST!" Chrysalis shouted, thrusting her hand forward. The green fireball shot out, flying through the air toward the pale girl.
The girl did not move, eyes going wide as the flame approached.
Just before it struck, a small figure jumped in the way. Chrysalis had enough time to see a young boy's face and flash of green hair before the flame struck and exploded, consuming the form.
In less than a second, nothing remained
"SPIKE!" Twilight and the other conscious girls cried out. Several of them started to tear up.
Chrysalis let out a chuckle.
"Brave," she conceited, "but foolish." One shoulder lifted in a shrug. "Oh, well. It hardly matters."
She turned to face Twilight, and stopped.
Twilight Sparkle had a look of rage on her face, and a large amount of energy was radiating off her.
Starlight Glimmer threw the doors open as she stepped through. Despite being shut down for nearly a century, the theater looked pristine. Brass fixtures shined brightly in the beam of light from behind, looking freshly polished. The seats look as nice as the day they were made. The carpet under her shoes was a brilliant crimson color, untouched by age.
"CHRYSALIS!" Starlight called out as she started down one the walkway. The doors slammed shut behind her, leaving her in darkness.
A spotlight turned on, and dark blue curtains opened.
There on stage stood Chrysalis. She was a tall, thin woman, whose body was formed primarily of straight lines with minimal curves. For the most part, she was dressed in an outfit that looked like it had been painted on, with the exceptions of a jacket with extremely puffy shoulders, and a top hat. Said hat was held up above her head as she posed like a pin-up from a magazine. The light made her dark skin glisten.
"Hello, Glimmer," Chrysalis said while grinning as best she could. "So glad you can make it." She turned forward and spread her arms wide, tossing the hat in the process. "What do you think?" Her grin widened, showing the long, sharp cuspids. "I figured it would be the perfect place for our big finale."
Starlight Glimmer now stood at the base of the stage, glaring at Chrysalis (which looked like every other expression Starlight bore, all of which could be described as "mildly constipated").
"Where's Trixie?!"
"Ah, yes," Chrysalis replied. "The damsel of our little play. She's in distress of course." Taking a step back, she turned and threw a hand upward.
Another spotlight turned on, revealing the young woman in question. High above the stage, Trixie hung upside-down, her body bound in ropes, and a bandana stuffed in her mouth. What portion of her normally well-tanned skin could be seen looked extremely pale in the spotlight, like she had lost a lot of blood, or had the color drained away. Directly beneath her was a magician's water tank, just large enough for one person, with fish of some sort swimming inside.
"TRIXIE!" Starlight called out. She jumped up onto the stage, running toward her bound girlfriend.
"Not so fast!" Chrysalis cried out. An aura of acid green energy engulfed her. "Beat Bugs!" The aura grew brighter as figure formed floating behind her. It took the shape of a lean, feminine form, covered in a glistening black shell. Over-sized green eyes glowed from an otherwise featureless face, with a similar glow emanating from gaps in the armor.
"Silver Mallet!"
The black figure shot forward, raising one arm. The outreached hand shifted, turning into a piece of metal the size and basic shape of a cinder block. The massive hammer head swung down, aiming for Starlight Glimmer's head.
Starlight jumped out of the way just in time, avoiding the attack.
"I put a lot of effort to get you here, Glimmer," Chrysalis stated. She bared her fangs. "Did you really think I was going to just let you take her and go?" One hand came up, pointer finger extended. "Oh, no. If you want to save your sweet and precious Trixie, then you're going to have go through me."
Starlight stood up, her eyes shifting from Chrysalis to Trixie, and back.
"We don't have to do this," she stated.
Chrysalis let out a chuckle as Beat Bugs appeared behind her again.
"That's fine with me," she declared. "I was hoping for at least an amusing fight," her grin widened and became predatory, "but I'll take just crushing you without a struggle.
"SILVER MALLET!"
Again, the massive hammer head appeared and Beat Bugs attacked. Then it attacked again. Then again and again. The Stand did not let up. Starlight Glimmer was able to dodge them, but they were getting closer and closer. Which meant that if she did not do something, she was going to get crushed.
Despite the risk, Starlight turned to look at Trixie.
They were both Stand Users, but it had been a while since Starlight had used hers. Even when Trixie had actually asked, she had refused. Although Trixie had been disappointed, it had not been too big a deal. She simply assumed that it was because her stand was stronger. Besides, Trixie loved to show off, and that included using Abracadabra.
In truth, it was because Starlight was afraid. She had been in a dark place when her stand appeared, and it reflected that. So she was afraid. Afraid that anyone who saw it, who saw that part of her, would be scared away.
Still, if the choice was having Trixie leave her or letting her die, Starlight knew which she preferred.
Closing her eyes, Starlight Glimmer reached down into herself and touched darkness she had buried years ago.
"MONSTER MAN!"
A black aura engulfed Starlight's form.
She opened her eyes just in time to see Beat Bugs coming at her, and instinctively threw up her arms.
Two massive arms covered in black fur appeared in front of Starlight, blocking the attack.
As Beat Bugs retreated and Chrysalis watched, the rest of Starlight Glimmer's Stand appeared. The arms ended in hands, with each digit having a massive, glittering claw. The body was thick with muscles, and covered in a coat of black hair. Its head was a cow skull, with blood stained steel horns. Red light glowed from the eye sockets, glaring at all it could see.
The villainous trio of Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis walked through The Everfree Forest. Well, more accurately, Tirek and and Chrysalis were walking, while Cozy Glow rode on Tirek's back, sprawled out and wings hanging limply.
"Are we there yet?" she asked for the third time.
Chrysalis let out a huff, turning away from the scroll in her magic that she had been reading to glare at the (alleged) pegasus filly.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" she hissed, baring her fangs. "Am I keeping you from something important? A tea party with some rocks? A plan to raid the cookie jar?" Her eyes narrowed as her snarl turned into a wicked grin. "Are you cwanky because you missed your nappy time?"
Tiny wings flapped as a blur of pale pink shot toward the changeling queen.
"I'm 'cwanky,'" Cozy snapped back, "because we've been out here for hours looking for this stupid mirror pool." She flew in closer, until their snouts were nearly touching. "We don't even know if it actually exists or not."
A hiss escaped the changeling before she snapped her jaws, trying to bite the little nuisance on the snout. The razor sharp fangs missed, but just barely.
"What kind of fool do you take me for?"
Cozy Glow opened her mouth to respond, but one of Tirek's hand quickly reached out and covered her mouth. He looked down at her, giving a small shake of his head.
"Although it may not be referred to by name," Queen Chrysalis stated, "that stupid journal does include a reference to the pool, and The Ponyville Post archives does include an article about how there had been an invasion of the pink one." The magic around her horn grew brighter as she held up the paper. "The pool is here, and this will tell us how to find it."
"And I believe," interrupted Tirek, "that we have indeed found it." With his free hand, he pointed. Chrysalis and Cozy both shifted, letting their eyes follow his finger until they were looking at a very large, grey rock.
"Doesn't look like it fits with the rest of the area," pointed out the centaur.
"indeed," agreed Chrysalis, rolling up the scroll.
Through a combination of Tirek's strength and Chrysalis's magic, they were able to remove what turned out to be a pretty large boulder. Once it was out the way, Cozy Glow took off, flying up before diving down into the opening.
"Uh, guys?" the filly called out. "You better get down here."
Standing in the recently unearthed cave was a pony none of the group recognized. She was a grey earth pony, wearing a dress that was a blue-ish grey. The mare gave them a bored, half-sleepy look.
"You shouldn't be down here," she stated in an emotionless monotone. "Please leave immediately."
The three villains looked at the mare, looked at each, then burst into laughter. Tirek moved first, approaching her as he cracked his knuckles.
"And what, precisely, are you going to do if we decide not to?"
The mare, known as Maud Pie, said nothing. Instead, she turned around, pulled up her back hooves, and kicked.
A sudden thunderous boom echoed throughout Ponyville, getting the attention of many of its residents. Hundreds of eyes turned toward The Everfree Forest. They watched as a strange streak of black, red, and green appeared in the sky, flying up and up before disappearing.
Maud turned back around, facing the sole member that had managed to remain. A small gulp of fear escaped Cozy Glow as those eyes locked onto her.
"Leave," Maud said, and this time, the filly would swear there was a threatening tone to it.
"Right!" Cozy blurted out. "Leaving!" The filly then took off, flying so fast, she would almost make the likes of Rainbow Dash proud.
Maud watched the filly disappear, then turned her attention to the new opening.
Chrysalis adjusted the brim of her hat against the scorching on hot sun as she looked down rest stop building down the hill. It was a small place, single story, with nearly no windows. Probably meant for someone to grab a drink or two before continuing on. Definitely no place for travelers to sleep. The hot, dry wind blew, making her knee-length jacket rustle around her.
Reaching into a pocket, she pulled out a cigarette. From the holster, she pulled out what looked like a combination of a pistol and water gun. With practiced ease, she ignited the tip of the gun, and used its green flame to light her cigarette. Chrysalis took a deep drag on it.
"You sure she's down there?" she asked the girl standing to her left.
"As I can be," Cozy Glow replied. She turned her head enough to glare up at Chrysalis. "Not like we have an actual picture of her or anything." Her attention returned to the small building. "But she fits the most common descriptions."
Chrysalis returned her gaze to the building as well. She took another drag of her cigarette, blowing the smoke out through her nose.
A well-dressed man stepped forward on her right. He ran one hand through the well trimmed beard on his chin.
"Considering the sheer amount of money on the line," Tirek stated, "it would be foolish of us not to take the risk." His eyes narrowed as he gave a wicked grin. "Besides, if we're mistaken, there's no need to leave any survivors to report it."
Chrysalis mirrored his smirk, then let out a wicked chuckle. Not exactly her normal type of idea, but not one she was actually opposed to either. Even if it was the right target, it may be a good idea, just to eliminate anyone else trying to claim their bounty.
After one last puff, she dropped the cigarette and stomped it out.
Turning around, she faced the rest of The Five.
"Cozy Glow, you stay up here."
"What?" the girl cried out. "Why?" She put her hands on her hips and stamped a foot. "I'm just as capable as any other member."
"Because we need the body to be recognizable to collect the money, and we can't do that if you blow her up," Chrysalis replied. "Besides, if she does somehow manage to get past us, then we need someone to tell us where she went."
Cozy huffed and shifted, but did not argue.
"Tirek, you're with me and the front door. Flim, Flam, you two take the back."
"You can count on us," one of them said. Chrysalis neither knew, nor cared, which was which. They were always together anyways. She was pretty sure they each only had half a brain, and could not function if they got too far apart from each other. She could count on them, alright. Count on them to try and do anything for a quick buck, and try to get a larger share of the money than they deserve.
There were times she considered shooting them herself.
"Shall we?" asked Tirek, motioning toward the building.
Leaving Cozy Glow at the top, the other four made their way down the sand dune and toward the target. The brothers split off, sprinting around to the back. As they approached the front, Chrysalis drew her weapon from her side, while Tirek unslung his from his back.
After a quick non-verbal discussion, Tirek went in first. Slamming the door open with his shoulder, he stepped inside and raised his weapon. As he pulled the trigger on what looked like an over-sized rifle, an orange sphere, about an inch and a half in diameter, shot out of the barrel. It hit one bottle of liquor and shattered it before exploding, causing more to do the same. Screams and shouts filled the air as the bar tender and several others threw themselves to the floor. A second shout took out the record player, putting an end to the music.
Chrysalis followed behind, lifting her pistol and launching a fireball into the air.
"SHUT UP!" she shouted.
Everything went silent as everybody -- with one exception -- turned to look at the two new arrivals.
"Now that we have your attention," she continued, "we're here for one reason, and one reason only." Turning toward the person who was not paying attention.
It was a tall woman, with wine red hair. She was dressed in a full-length coat that was a purple so dark, it was almost black, and had been made to show off her lean build. On closer inspection, there was a patch on the shoulder, which showed a six point burst of energy in a dark pink.
Chrysalis came to a stop just inches from the woman.
"So, no one try anything stupid, and no one gets hurt."
Reaching out, she grabbed the woman by the shoulder and spun her around. As expected, there was a scar across the right eye.
"Tempest Shadow, I assume."
"Tempest" picked up her glass, and took a long drink of her... milkshake? She then set the empty glass down and gave Chrysalis a stern look.
"You know what they say about when you assume."
This... was not how Chrysalis was expecting things to go. Tempest Shadow was supposed to be a hardened fighter. Someone who took down criminals and cops all the same, and en mass. A woman who could leave an entire town destroyed in her wake, without breaking a sweat.
It must have been a trick. Some sort of psychological mind game to throw others off.
Chrysalis lifted the gun, pointed it at Tempest.
"You're coming with us."
Tempest looked at the gun, quickly up toward the ceiling, then to Chrysalis.
"Do I get a say in the matter?"
Chrysalis grinned, eyes narrowing.
"Sure." She brought the gun closer. "You can either walk out with us, or we can drag you. So,which will it be?"
With a sigh, Tempest Shadow held up her hands, and stood up. She walked away from the bar and backed up toward the front door, keeping her attention on Chrysalis.
About three feet from the door, she stopped.
"Before we go any further, I would like to say two things. First, I don't think you really want to do this."
Chrysalis let out a snort and rolled her eyes.
"I have about sixty billion reasons I do," she replied. Although that was not entirely true. No matter what the brothers claimed, she got the exact same fifteen percent of any money that they all did. Still, she had no interest in explaining that right. Besides, there was still a lot a girl could do with nine billion double dollars.
Tempest let out a sigh and gave a nod.
"Yeah. I've heard the before. Second..." she looked up toward the ceiling. "You really should watch where you fire that thing."
There was a second of confusion before Chrysalis looked up. Directly above her was a large wagon-wheel chandelier, hanging from a rope...
...which was on fire...
She turned to dive out of the way, but was not quite fast enough. There was a snap as the rope gave way, and the heavy wooden wheel fell. It slammed into her legs, pinning her to the ground and sending an explosion of pain up her back. No permanent damage was done, but it was going to hurt like Hell for the next week or so.
For a moment, she considered forgetting about the money and burning the woman to a crisp. Only two things stopped her. One, if she did, then she would not be able to collect the bounty and get paid. Two, she had dropped her gun, and it had skittered across the floor and out of reach.
Seeing his partner trapped, Tirek turned his rifle toward Tempest and pulled the trigger. Before he even finished, the woman was on the move, diving out of the way and knocking over an empty table. The shot went off. The projectile hit the wall and exploded, sending splinters of orange in every direction.
"Ow!" Tempest cried out. She peeked around the edge of the impromptu shield. "Hey! Watch it with that thing! You could put someone's eye out!"
Instead of saying anything, Tirek aimed at the half-exposed head, and fired again. Tempest pulled back to avoid a direct hit. The shot hit a chair behind the table and exploded into splinters.
"May as well give up," Tirek stated, lowering his gun slightly. "Even if you are capable of constantly avoiding a direct shot, you cannot do the same for the ricochet of shrapnel. It will be much slower, and far more painful, for you if this continues."
He waited for her to respond, reloading as he did.
The table shifted and started to move. It rolled across the floor, keeping between the two opponents, then stopped.
"Counter-proposal," Tempest called out. "We all pretend none of this ever happened, and go our separate ways. That way, no one gets hurt. Well, hurt more. You may want to help your friend out from under the chandelier there."
"And give you the opportunity to escape?" Tirek retorted, raising an eyebrow. "Did you think I wouldn't notice you moving so that the doorway was directly behind you and your cover?"
"I was kind of hoping, yes."
Before he could reply, Tempest bellowed, "Fire in the hole!" and threw something over the table, toward Tirek. Automatically, he raised his rifle and fired. The shot hit the first pepper shaker, shattering it, then exploded, shattering two more. The spice filled the air and hit Tirek in the face, getting in his eyes, nose, and mouth. The world became a blur as tear filled his eyes, and it hurt to breathe.
He was too busy coughing and wiping at his face to notice Tempest Shadow escape out the door.
Queen Chrysalis let out a groan as she regained consciousness, bringing one hoof to rub at the side of her aching head. Slowly she got up, joints cracking and popping as they moved back into their proper location. Every part of her hurt, like she had been crushed by a giant boulder. Opening her eyes, Chrysalis found herself standing at the end of a long path of upturned ground.
Last thing she remembered, she had been on her way to attack Equestria with Lord Tirek and Cozy Glow, when... something... some... creature? She remembered gray and... pain...
Bah, it hardly mattered. Once she had gotten back to base and recovered, she would come up with a new plan for Equestria. One that would work! And whatever stood in her way would be crushed beneath her hoof into gravel.
First, she had to figure out where in the world she was.
Looking around, Chrysalis found she was in an orchard of some kind. The trees were too equally spaced out to have grown naturally, and there was no underbrush. There were some bushes, but they were growing separately from the trees in little clumps of their own. Otherwise, there was nothing but grass. on almost perfectly flat ground.
"What Colectemon is that?" a voice cried out, getting her attention.
Chrysalis had no idea what a human was, be it male, female, adult, or child. As such, she had no idea that she was looking at a pair of young women in their pre-teens. One with mint green hair and a matching vest held out an arm, pointing some sort of device attached to the wrist at Chrysalis
A square of white light appeared in the air above it, then showed a picture of the queen on it.
"Scanning," an electronic voice stated as a spinning rainbow circle appeared in the center of the screen. Several seconds later, a red X covered the picture as the voice declared, "No match found."
The mint one let out a gasp, eyes going wide.
"Bonnie!" she cried out. "Do you know what this means?"
The other girl, dressed in a cream colored top and having a pink bandana on her head, crossed her arms as she turned toward the first.
"We should probably leave alone, Lyra," said Bon Bon.
"No way!" Lyra replied, nearly bouncing in place. "This is our chance to catch a Colectemon that no one has ever seen before."
"Enough!" Queen Chrysalis declared, turning toward the two and stepping forward. "I do not know what you creatures think I may be, but I am no simple-minded creature. I am Chrysalis, rightful queen of the changelings, and I shall be spoken to with the proper respect I deserve!" She stomped her hoof at the end for emphasis.
The two girls stared at her for a moment before Bon Bon turned to Lyra.
"Did it just talk to us?"
"Yeah," said Lyra. Her grin grew wider, bordering on insane. "Which means it must be a super rare legendary or something. We definitely have to catch it now."
"Lyra," Bon Bon started, but Lyra was already acting. She pressed a button on her wrist device, and a ball appeared in her hand.
"Mascutie!" Lyra shouted as she pulled her arm back. "I select you!" She launched the ball into the air. As it reached the height of its toss, the ball popped open, unleashing a beam of light that struck the ground.
As the light faded, a small animal was now standing. It looked like had taken parts from a cat, a rabbit, and a monkey, and stuck them all together. The thing stood on its back legs at nearly a foot in height, with pointy ears that hung down behind it, nearly as long. It had a small muzzle, with beg green eyes that took up nearly its entire head. The entire body was covered in a thick, fluffy fur that was a pastel yellow in color, except for pink hearts on its cheeks.
"Mas-cutie!" the thing cried out. It lifted one hand-like paw up, making a sideways V up to one eye, while closing the other.
The thing was so adorable that it was making Chrysalis feel sick to her stomach.
"Mascutie, use Cuddly!" ordered Lyra.
The... furry... little... thing... did a hopping run at Chrysalis, then stopped and pressed against a foreleg, rubbing against it.
"Cutie," it purred out, looking up at her. Little pink hearts seemed to appear from nowhere, floating up in the air around the little creature. Even through the chitin, it felt so soft and cuddly that it was easy to imagine snuggling up with a soft plush one.
With a snarl, Chrysalis kicked the thing, sending it flying into the air. It let out a squeak as it flew through the air, but somehow managed to do a backflip and land on its feet, looking completely unharmed.
"Mascutie," Lyra shouted, "use Mass Production!"
"Mas!" Mascutie said, giving a nod of understanding. It darted forward toward Chrysalis again, but this time stopped before getting in striking range. "Mas-Mas-Mas-Mas-Mas," it chanted, and with each repetition of the word, another would appear, until Chrysalis was surrounded by ring of the things.
Chrysalis looked at the ring of creatures surrounding her, rolled her eyes, and let out a sigh of annoyance. She took a deep breath, made a wet, hacking noise, and spat out a wad of green goo. The cat-monkey-rabbit thing was too fast to hit directly, but as soon as it stepped into the goo, it was stuck.
With a wicked grin spreading across her face, Chrysalis's horn lit up before unleashing a blast of toxic green flame at the ball of flammable fuzz.
Except when the flame vanished, the creature was not just a pile of ashes. It was not even badly singed. The only sign it was hit at all was a small patch of black on its head. Like someone had takes some ash and rubbed it onto the spot of its coat.
"Uh... that looked like a pretty powerful attack," said Bon Bon. "Maybe we should leave it alone."
"I guess," Lyra huffed. "But we shouldn't leave empty-handed. Mascutie! Use Money Drain!"
The furry abomination gave a noise of acknowledgement. It shifted its stance and puffed out its coat, making the hair stand on end and looking like a giant puffball. A faint humming noise filled the air as electricity began to crackle along the fur. Somehow, despite having not having money, or even pockets, Chrysalis watched as golden coins shot out from her, over to the furry creature, and then went to the human girl.
Chrysalis was so confused about what just happened and trying to figure out how it was possible, that she barely heard Lyra shout, "SUBSTITUTION!"
The stuffed toy bouncing off her head got her attention. Chrysalis looked at it, then up in time to see the two girls running away. The toy did not burn very well, but it was fun to stomp on, as well as biting and shaking it until nothing remained but torn fabric and puffs of stuffing.
Satisfied with its destruction, Chrysalis left, trying to figure out where she was and how to get back home.
Episode 5400: Chrysalis Chronicles Part 416. "Waves of Power! The Surge Felt Across Dimensions!"
A rose aura of energy engulfed Twilight Sparkle, shifting and wavering like a frame. Waves of power surged off her, pulsing out in rings. Pebbles and other bits of debris floated in the air, as if she were somehow breaking gravity.
In another dimension, a red and golden haired young woman stops what she's doing and turned. Her cyan eyes narrowed as she smirked.
"Looks like it's time I go home," she said allowed.
Queen Chrysalis (and she was, is, and always will be Queen, no matter what any other creature said) scowled as she slouched down from her position at the judge's table. How did she get roped into this? She did not know anything about cooking, or baking. Although judging others, and finding their shortcomings sounded right up her alley. She was very judgmental. And critical. She could easily find dozens of flaws in any creature she met (except herself of course; she was perfect).
Still. A cooking contest? Why could she not have been selected to judge something far more interesting? Like a duel to the death. Or some sort of blood sport, where two teams try to kill each other. That sounds like it would be entertaining. Maybe she would introduce some once she reclaimed her throne, and control of the changeling hive. A grin spread across her lips as she imagined forcing Pharynx and Thorax to battle to the death.
"And the brothers' Pie-o-mator DLX has finished," said the announcer. "Let's take it to the judges, and see what they think."
The brothers -- a pair of twins that looked like they should be in a barber shop quartet -- made their way toward the judge's table, where Chrysalis sat, with Celestia on her right, and some unicorn named Zesty Gourmand her left. Each of them was presented with a large slice of apple pie.
The three of them took a bite.
"Oh, that's nice," declared Celestia. "The crust of it has a nice mix of firm flakiness, and tenderness. Similarly, the apples still have a nice bit of firmness to them, while being cooked all the way through. There's also a nice hint of cinnamon to it all."
After finished her own mouthful, Chrysalis scowled.
"It taste pretty much like a standard apple pie to me. Like I could find in any diner across Equestria."
"Agreed," Zesty stated, giving a nod. "We are at a location where a wide variety of apples are available," her eyes narrowed at the brothers, "and you seem to have used only a singular type. The flavor is uniform, without even subtle differences in taste or texture. Fine for a bite or two, but it grows boring rather quickly, and is quite forgettable."
Chrysalis found herself liking the harsh looking woman on her left. Everything she said was mostly indifferent, as if she were merely stating facts. At the same time, there was a hint of disgust. It was as if, simultaneously, she did not care in the slightest about those in front of her, but was absolutely and personally insulted by what they had done.
Perhaps there was some changeling in the woman's past somewhere.
Chrysalis did not finish to bother the slice she had. Not only did she not really care about pie, but Zesty Gourmand had been right: after the third or fourth bite, it had gotten kind of repetitive. She could not tell the difference between a fresh bite, and the aftertaste still in her mouth.
Some minutes later, a new announcement came over the speakers.
"It looks like Sugar Belle has finished and is ready to present."
Chrysalis scowled at the curly haired woman. Supposedly, she was a friend of Starlight Glimmer, and somehow connected closely to one of Princess Twilight's friends. Chrysalis could already hear herself tearing down the pie with every flaw she could imagine.
Grabbing the fork, she cut off a piece and took a bite.