Thread 82: Stories 61-71

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~~~~~~

It had not been over quick.

It had not been easy.

It certainly hadn't been pleasant and it certainly hadn't been fun.

But she had done it, with a care even she wasn't fully aware she was capable of. What, exactly, had caused her to take that extra effort, that one extra moment to spare or that second look to double check, she didn't know, and she didn't care. She had done it with a meticulousness that a surgeon would be envious of, and she had done it well.

Sunset Shimmer had screamed the whole time.

It was to be expected, of course. She was literally pulling out memories from her mind like burs lodged into a cotton ball, so twisted and wound up it was near impossible to tell where the threads of her mind began or ended. It was bound to be painful as she slowly unraveled all of them, every one, and lifted the memories from the torn bundles.

When at last, she pulled the final one free, and when at last she had finished her sweep so thorough and deep, she felt... at ease.

The faux-world of the mind fell away as she gathered the last of the scraps of her mind, and forged them, containing them in an orb of reddish green. The sharp scent and cool air of reality flooded her senses as she pulled herself free from the used mind she left behind. As if pulling something from a dream into reality, she found that where her hoof had been empty, that same orb now rested in upon it.

"Oh dear lord!"

The horrified gasp of her companion did little to dissuade her levity, but the sight she looked upon afterwards was certainly enough to do the trick.

Sunset Shimmer's body, if it could be called that, remained dangling in the air, eyes now wide open when they had previously been closed. It had been necessary to break the spells woven to keep her in a coma in order to fully invade the mind, but no matter now.

Chrysalis had taken what she wanted, and left behind... something.

The body in front of her seemed strange, unnaturally pale. An odd sheen to the visible skin beneath her coat. She looked, for lack of better terms, like a corpse.

"Chrysalis! You... you... you promised you would save her! Oh no, no no no, what are we going to tell everyone!? How can we... no... no they're going to be destroyed! How could you!?"

A chitinous hoof reached out to the straw like hair on her chest, and placed itself directly over her heart, and waited... and waited...

"She's still alive."

"Do not lie to me like some child, Chrysalis! She doesn't have a heartbeat!"

"She doesn't have a heart either."

"...WHAT!?"

"There's something... here..."

It was a mixture of both joy and fear when Sunset's eyes flickered just a bit, but a mixture welcomed in thanks for the despair it chased away.

"She... she is alive. How?"

"I suppose we'll leave that to Twilight to find out, won't we? In the meantime...

With that matter settled, her attention returned to the orb that was magically held in the air, not touching anything like some unholy specter. Cadence, at last, seemed to take notice of it, and looked upon it with fear.

"What is that thing?"

"This is the memories and mind of the dearly departed Variolus, entrenched so utterly and perfectly into the consciousness of Sunset Shimmer that it was near impossible to separate the two."

"But... did you manage?"

"Oh, Caddy... of course I did. This should be every single solitary scrap of the mind that invaded her."

"Should be?"

The Queen ignored her, continuing to admire the orb instead.

"Oh, Varry, Varry Varry Varry... now I see why my mother made you her bitch. Did you really think you, of all Queens, were capable of outperforming me?"

She lavished in her victory as she rolled the orb around in front of herself, a pinnacle of pride to cap off a trying endeavor.

"You poor, deluded thing... you were never going to rule over the Changelings. You never had the raw, bursting talent I hold. You were never going to be even close to me, regardless of your victory. You had ever advantage, the Heart, the Element of surprise, a willingness to kill... and yet, you just couldn't pull it off, could you? And now, I've even taken away your little puppet, and there's nothing you can-"

"You stupid bitch."

The cold, rasping voice chilled her in a way she could honestly say she had never expected.

"You... bitch... give it back.."

All of her attention tore away from the orb and to the gasping, groaning, twisted in anger gaze that locked in with her own.

"You... I won't let you take it away... I won't let you use it..."

Cadence rushed to her side immediately, gentle as a mother as she lowered her down from the suspension. The pony shook, unable to support herself or hold back the chill of the room. She was as weak as a newborn, and all could see it.

"Sunset?... Sunset, listen to me, it's not... whatever that thing was that took you over. It's Chrysalis, dear, she got it all out... right?"

The Queen scoffed, insulted she would even question that Chrysalis would leave a single thing behind.

"I won't... let you..."

"...What happened to her?"

"Not sure yet."

The princess shot up like a startled rabbit, utterly confused.

"But you said you had Variolus's memories! Didn't you just... look? Just look and see what it was that caused all of this insanity?"

"I said I pulled them out, and I did. But did you really think I would have time to look and examine all of them and still get out of there before the century ends?"

"So... how do you know it's hers?"

The cackle would have give even Mane-Iac pause.

"HAH! Oh, Caddy... a Queen's mind is nothing like a ponies. There is a magic to our minds, a magical hue that is not found anywhere else in this massive, expansive universe. Why, even the difference between a Queen and a Drone is night and day. To find her remains in the mind of one so... lesser was as easy as finding glowsticks in a haystack. No, the hard part was removal without setting that haystack on fire. But, because it required such... delicacy, I couldn't exactly take a moment to admire the scenery, could I? No, that comes later."

"Chrysalis no!"

She shot to her hooves, pleadingly reaching out to her.

"Don't touch it! It might take you over like it did Sunset-"

"HAH!"

"I know you're confident, but there's always a risk with-"

"HAH!"

"Will you stop that!"

"..."

"...don't."

"HAH!"

"Can you please take this seriously!?"

"Oh, Caddy, come on... I put a one way barrier on this thing for a reason. No worries, this thing is laced with the same magic I used to extract it. Touch the thing, you get the memories, let it go, and everything comes right out and leaves you without a scratch. You could live Variolus's whole life with this thing, but the moment you let it go, poof! It's gone from your mind, just like it's all gone from Sunset's. Did you really think I was that stupid to let her leave something behind? What goes in, it takes out. The end."

Cadence found herself quite put off, and quite insulted.

That said, she couldn't exactly deny that last part...

"She's just going to use it for herself..."

The groan brought her away from that, and back to the pony beneath her.

"She's... she's just going to hide it, to horde it, and use it for herself."

"Oh... oh dear. You're sure her mind is... all there?"

"It's exactly how it should be, but... I only took out the parts when she was connected with Variolus, not the memories of what happened with her. Anything Variolus gave to her, I took away... but that's all."

"Sunset..."

There had been long, long discussions about what to do if Sunset were to be saved, what sort of punishments to deal out. There had been shouting matches, a few times she needed to 'go to the spa', and even a couple times when she just couldn't take it anymore, and had to swap out with Eighteen. She honestly wondered if Shining had noticed.

"So then... does she know what she did?"

"Oh, of course. I couldn't rip out what she spoke of to Variolus, that would take forever to find. The words still remain, I can only take out the magic, and the knowledge of that magic to make sure she doesn't... bring her back a second time. Would be rather pointless if I just let her do it all over again, no? Any magic she learned from Variolus, well... let's just say I made sure there's not hidden surprises in there left over."

But all through it, those arguments and screaming, she had pushed for Sunset to be given a chance to explain. And now... she wasn't sure if she would even get that.

"She's gonna use it... she's gonna use it against you, all of you. She's just playing nice for now, but she'll turn on you, she'll wait until she has something she needs more than you, and then everything you want is just something in her way. She'll spare YOU, but nobody else... you have to stop her."

"Sunset, we did stop her, she's gone, she's gone and you're free. We won't let her take you over again."

"N-no, you stupid bitch! I meant-"

Cadence honestly didn't know what shocked her more, that Sunset was speaking to her like that...

Or the stunned, awe-stricken gasp that escaped the changeling Queen.

"T-t... t-t..."

She had never, ever, ever seen Chrysalis so happy she literally stuttered before.

She wished she never had.

"T-t-t-..."

"C-Chrysalis? You're... what's the matter? Why are you..."

"You stupid, stupid, stupid bitch... you put it right in her hooves."

"I don't... I don't understand, what did I-"

"TITAN MAGIC!"

She squealed like a filly who had been given a puppy, a kitten, sixteen pounds of candy and her long lost mother on her birthday, a joyous, happy song unrivaled in all the world.

"TITAN MAGIC! That stupid bitch left the knowledge for Titan Magic in here!..."

She let out a childish "EEEEEE!", rolling the orb in her hooves with unrestrained excitement.

"I can... wait... wait, there's more? There's... THE HIVEMIND!?.... HOLY FUCK THE HIVEMIND IS REAL!? That's a real thing?! No fucking way! I thought that was just some... seriously!? Oh, wow, my religion is totally right... HAH! IN YOUR FACE, PONIES!.... Sorry, Caddy. But HOLY SHIT THERE'S SO MUCH IN HERE!... I can do anything with this. Titan Magic... and the Hivemind? If... if I can backtrack this, I might be able to tap into... all of their powers, all of the greatest powers from the dawn of the changelings, back to the start! I can have everything... I can find out how to sustain my charged mode without a burnout. I can... I can become so much more..."

The longer she talked, the less childlike and wondrous she became. Instead, every word became more... unsettling and restrained.

"Chrysalis, you're scaring me..."

"So many powers, so many... many things I can know. I can be the greatest fighter, the greatest magic wielder... I can even find out how to use pony magic...."

"Chrysalis! Chrysalis, I think there's something wrong with that thing!"

"N-no you stupid bitch... it's her..."

"I can be greater than the Greatest Queen who ever lived... I can be... I can be a...."

"CHRYSALIS! Chrysalis put that down right now or else-"

Her words were so abruptly ended, so quickly, that even Chrysalis, as entrenched and enraptured as she was, had to look away from the orb that exploded her minds with possibilities.

"Or what, Cad.... C-Cadence?"

Twice. That's twice she stuttered in Cadence's presence.

What a pity... that the body that hit the floor was too unconscious to have heard it.

"CADENCE!?"

But while the princess went down... another rose up.

Another who had struck like a viper, and used the power Chrysalis had so foolishly ignored in favor of her own victory. Perhaps, had she not been so wrapped up in it, she would have understood what that stone in her chest did.

But, alas, it was too late. For the Princess had fallen...

And the Unicorn had gained the full, obscene magical power of the very princess of love.

"You... are not... going to use that."

Very, very few had ever seen Chrysalis in the throes of an obscene, unstoppable rage.

Even fewer had seen her eyes go as cold as the stillness of the dead, her head tilt to the side to give off an unsettling crack, and her voice speak with an easiness that was indescribably laced with venom so potent it could kill a dragon.

"...Come and get it you second rate Twilight knockoff..."

Power untold raced through Sunset Shimmer as quickly as she herself raced towards the glaring, growling changeling Queen.

And never once, not even slightly, did her grip on the orb lessen.

The entire castle shook when they clashed.

And it was only the beginning.

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>SA
"Pinkie"
'Dash'
~~~~

>...

"..."

'...Sooo-"

>No!

"Come ooooonnnnn!"

>No! I am not telling you what my sex life it like!

'It's cause it's too freaky, right? I can't even handle it? Come on! I've heard some WEIRD shit from Gilda's friends, you don't even KNOW.'

>Way, way too much information.

"Come oooooonnnn!"

>NO! Why do you want to know so much!?

'...No reason.'

>...betting pool?

"Betting pool."

'Way to fuck it up, Pinkie!'

>I'm not divulging the information of what I do with my wife in bed!

"Besides nothing, according to Spike?"

>I refuse to answer that.

'Pfft... Just tell us if you've really not been that 'active' or not, it'll solve at least one betting pool.'

>Will you promise to leave me alone if I do?

"Tell uussss!"

>That's not a yes.

"Pinkie Promise I won't badger you about your sex life with Cadence after this if you're honest!"

>...it's been a while.

"OHHHHH!"

'WHAT!? Seriously!? I thought you guys would be just, nonstop humping! Just UGN UGN UGN!'

>Well, we're not.

"But she's the alicorn of love!"

>LOVE! L O V E! That is not how you spell SEX! You know what we do most days? Spend time together, enjoy each others company, do our work with the knowledge that no matter what happens there will always be someone waiting at the ready to make you feel like you're the most important thing in the world, know that somewhere someone thinks that you're their whole world, and they're happy to show it. We spend time together, we enjoy each other's company, we kiss, we hug, sometimes we have sex but it's always about showing the other we LOVE them! LOVE is what she, and I, are all about, THANK YOU!

"..."

'...'

>WHAT!?

"...t-that's the sweetest thing I've ever heeeeeard!"

'Dawww.'

>Stop hugging me.

"It's so sweeeeet!"

>this is not okay.

'AWWW!'

>...

"...But seriously, you need to get some, pent up stallion mojo is a health problem."

'SERIOUS issues, including prostate cancer.'

"Do you at least rub one out every now and again?"

>When, the HELL, would I ever have time for that!? They break in and bug me in the shower most days!

"...Eeeesh."

'Looking at some serious blowback if you don't let it out, buddy.'

"We're talking popping like a water balloon."

'Seriously? Don't try oral if it's been that long, they will drown.'

"Seek help. Booty help."

'It ain't a booty call if you're married. But, if she's not up for it, seriously. Make a booty call, you got connections.'

"Someone will pick up, trust me."

'If not, Pinke will so take one for the team.'

"HEY! Why me!? You take one for the team! You need some!"

'You're pink, Cadence is pink, easier transitional period.'

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense."

>...You broke a pinkie promise.

"Nope, haven't said anything about your sex life with CADENCE."

'Just in general.'

"Gotta be specific."

>...Sigh.

'...I MIGHT be willing to-'

>NO!

'Yeah, I probably wouldn't, you're pretty boring.'

>I AM NOT!

"He's not! He's really interesting when you get to know him!"

>Thank you!

"And he's hung like a firehose!"

>........

'.........How do you know that?'

"I saw it once!"

'............................Go oooon-'

>NO!

'Spoilsport.'

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~~~~~~~

"So, how do ya' think it's goin' in there?"

This was not the first time she had asked this, they all doubted it would be the last unless something happened.

But it was kind of getting annoying.

"Applejack? Chill. Chrysalis is a bit... uneven most days, but when the chips are down she's always pulled through."

"Yeah! She's not THAT scary! And her plans... uh..."

"...let's get off the subject of her plans."

"Great, cause Ah' wasn't worried enough."

"Don't worry, if things go south... I brought Charity."

"And what, precisely, is that going to do? Are you going to shoot her brain?"

"...Couldn't even let me have this, could you Forty Two?"

"Sorry my sanity is bothering you."

"No you're not."

"Oh dear, um, can we please-"

"""""""""GAH!"""""""""""

"..."

"PLEASE do not do that again, Fluttershy! We do not want to get turned into rabbits... again."

"You all looked adorable though."

"You see this? This is why we should be in there, like, doing stuff. With harmony."

"We don't have our Elements, Dash, and unless that box decides to just randomly open up and give us superpowers, we're without them."

"Pfft, like that would happen. It's probably, like, a seed to some super castle."

"Why would you think that?"

"Cause it came out of a tree!"

"...The logic is hard to argue with."

"Look, point is, Chrysalis has this, Cadence has this if Chrysalis doesn't have this, and everything is going to be just fi-"

THOOOOM!

".........................."

"Ya'll were sayin'?"

"...Shut up."

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~~~~

The room that had been a one-month prison was filled with power, the very air crackling as Changeling Queen faced Pony Prodigy. Changeling magic and Unicorn magic slammed into one-another, neither claiming supremacy over the other. There was no natural superiority to be had.

Chrysalis had just recently recovered, her reserves fueled by what Princess Cadance had willingly given but partly emptied by the difficult task of overpowering and splitting the mind of her current opponent. Sunset Shimmer was staggered from her stasis, her body bearing the full brunt lost heart, yet she was fueled with everything Princess Cadance, the very Princess of Love, had left in her.

Their first clash was merely an expenditure of raw power, an aura of sickly green slamming into brilliant amber, causing the very dust to rain down from the ceiling. The shockwave caused Cadance's multi-colored mane to whip back and forth, but neither had eyes for her. Both could only see their other.

If they had taken a moment of introspection, they would have wondered why that bubbling, screaming rage within them was so mind-consumingly focused on the other. Yet, their expression of it was as far apart as day and night. Chrysalis was the epitome of calm, sneering smugness, her expression close to sadistic glee. Sunset Shimmer, in turn, was pure, unrestrained fury, rage condensed into perfect concentration.

“Even at her fullest potential, grown into a Titan, knowing what Queens are capable of and aware of my coming, Variolus couldn't stop me. What hopes do you have, having to cling onto her support to archive anything?”

A taunt, only answered by violence, and a beam of focused, raw energy was deflected, the Changeling Queen daftly rocking her head sideways to let it slam into and melt the pillar of Crystal behind her into a hissing puddle. She would have to be mindful not to step into that.

“Seriously, she likely took your mind over without even trying. What are you trying to prove here?”

A screaming, wide blade of focused energy swept across the room courtesy of the unicorn, but the Queen did a minutely-planned fire-flight to the top of the room, evading it. The far wall wasn't as lucky, a door weighing tons and supposed to hold dragons shaking as it received a cut several hoof-lengths deep that compromised its integrity.

Chrysalis let her wings buzz and flew down towards Sunset, whose eyes had begun to take on an eerie white glow. But she wasn't really all that concerned otuwardly. Inwardly, though, she was no less enraged than her opponent.

“HRKH!”, was all that came from Sunset when the Queen snagged her up in grip of raw, telekinetic power around the neck, lifting her like a doll to behold with her cold gaze.

“Do yourself a favor and give up already, so I can give you the spanking you so richly deserve And I am sure Sunbutt and Appleass will want their turns afterwards too, so you better-”

Brilliant, white flames suddenly enveloped Sunset's entire body without burning her. But searing pain shot through Chrysalis mind like a knife, the wall above where the unicorn was suspended starting to singe. Chrysalis released her, stumbling back with an angry hiss.

“...fuck this. Guess I will have to return you as broken goods.”

Chrysalis didn't even bother attacking, letting the surprisingly nimble unicorn close when she teleported. Right in time for her trap to be sprung. Sunset's eyes went wide when the snapping sound of a bear trap rang out across the room, her hooves locked to the ground by Chrysali's magical trap hidden in the very ground she had stood upon moments earlier.

The Changeling Queen leisurely strolled up to the tensing and jerking mare, her smirk wide and superior. During the entire scuffle, she hadn't dropped the orb, still holding it up and rolling it from side to side before herself.

“Hold still. This will be over in a second... well, maybe a minute. First, I am going to hurt you for the gall to hurt me and the one I have extended the courtesy of my protection over.”

Chrysalis was of course wary, watching for any signs of a last-minute spell shot at her in desperation. But instead, the smaller mare was squaring her hooves was if preparing to meet her head-on.

The poor, disillusioned fool.

The moment she was within reach, Chrysalis head rocked forwards like a snake snapping her jaws shut around her prey, both their horns touching. Her hidden ace, the one thing Sunset Shimmer would be unable to escape or counter thanks to her superiority, was ready. Ming Magic. Her horn glowed in its full, emerald power, preparing to latch onto the other's mind.

Sunset chose that moment to speak to her for the first time since their fight had begun.

“You are all the same. So cocksure, so damn full of yourself, trampling all over others for your gain. You seize, you rob, you steal, you violate whatever the hell you want.”

But her concentration was broken before she even could seek out the other's mental shield. An unfamiliar numbness began to spread, starting from Chrysali's forehead, causing her to roll her eyes up and gaze where she and Sunset had crossed horns. The mare looked smug now, her eyes boring into hers.

What she saw shook her previous resolve.

“You know what you lack? Empathy. Love. You cannot feel for others, love others, value their lives or their feelings. That's why you have to STEAL love. Because you are unable to feel love on your own.”

Ghastly, thick veins had begun crawling down along her horn, the very chitin that compromised her horn becoming pale and brittle. Confusion was Chryalis' foremost emotion. But then she recalled a single instant in the battle, one-month prior. Something she had seen just before Chitania had fallen.

“But guess what. I can take what you have stolen from you. No more sustaining yourself with the lifeblood and cherished memories of others.”

Chrysalis tore away with a jerk of her head, loss of concentration resulting in the trap that held her opponent in place to fail. A crunching sound, a crinkle of chitin, and blinding pain... then the tip of Chrysalis' horn dropped to the ground. A jagged, brutal edge like a broken sword remained.

It hadn't been much. But it had been too much already. The orb dropped from her grasp slowly rolling away to the end of the room.

“Your turn, you mind-raping asshole.”

Chrysalis took one, hard look at her horn, then the orb and Cadance besides I. When she snatched the orb back up in her magic, unwilling to let it leave her control, her cold, green eyes glared back at Sunset. She only had one thing to say, consumed by what the orb whispered, promised to her.

“I am going to enjoy killing you.”

Sunset took the threat in stride, rolling her shoulders as if shrugging, meeting the rage of the Queen with indifference. The tables had turned.

“I was ready to die and take Variolus with me not too long ago. One Queen or another, there's no difference to me. A leech is a leech, no matter how superior it may think it is to its peers.”

Chrysalis's response was an unarticulate scream of fury, followed by a hailstorm of magical bolts that rained down upon Sunset Shimmer like a vengeful storm.

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~~~~

She was losing.

There was no doubt about it, Sunset was going to lose this fight. No matter how much reserves she had left, Chryalis wasn't going to let her touch her another time, and unless she was willing to cause physical harm to the Princess of Love, taking any more from her was out of the question.

Not that she wanted to. She wasn't a murderer, never would be. There are lines you don't cross, and that was one of them. Harm yourself, burn out like a roaring flame for progress and research, but NEVER take 'volunteers' like that. Or something. She needed to write it down properly some time.

But... she was running out of options. Enraging Chrysalis hadn't been a good idea, in hindsight. Letting her opponent know her greatest strength this early, and without making it a finishing strike, hadn't been the greatest idea either. So blame her, she wasn't a tactical genius! She was studious, knew a hell of spells! That didn't make her omnipotent!

SCREEEE-ZRROOOOM!

Sunset just barely threw up a anti-magic barrier to hold off the giant blast of raw Energy Chrysalis had just directed at her. She could smell the molten stone, feel the heat and sea the air shimmering before her.

Yep, she was totally fucked. Way over her head with this one. Even IF she managed to squash or drain Chrysalis, there was likely her legion of drones waiting outside, ready to beat her into a pulp again.

Worse yet, if Cadance's presence was any indication, the Princesses or the Elements could be waiting outside. She reeeeeeally didn't believe they would be sympathetic to her chosen course of action. You know, violence and rash actions before compassion and understanding? The kind of thing Celestia tried slamming into her head for years before she ran away?

CRACK-A-SLAM

Note to Self: Pissed off Changelign Queens can kick so hard the ground splits and tosses you up like a trampoline.

Thanks, Brain. I will try to-

SMACK-SMACK-SMACK

“OOF!”

Oh, right. Chrysalis knew telekinesis. Being grabbed and slammed into the ceiling like she was a ragdoll in the hand of an angry toddler certainly gave Sunset a new perspective. A woozy, upside-down one. A burst of concentration, and she shook of the hold on her body with her pure will.

She had enough time to comically flailed her legs in the air for a few seconds before smacking into the cold, hard ground.

Raising her head to gaze at Chrysalis stalking towards her, murder in her eyes, the huge door behind her barely scratched, Sunset steeled her resolve. It seemed like the way things were now, only one of them would leave this chamber alive.

“That's all you got? Is grabbing pony brain and humping it like a horny dog really all you have?! Didn't your Mom beat you as a kid or why is it you don't know how to smack someone proper?! THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT!”

SLAP

The telekinetic bitchslap wasn't powerful enough to warrant blocking, and Chrysalis certainly didn't. But the snarling, fang-filled growl that she directed at her when she turned her head back around? Yeah, that was kind of intimidating.

Sunset briefly wondered why she took so much glee from pissing off Chrysalis right now, but had enough time to regret her choice when she started hurling razor-sharp crystal shards at her.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

~~~~

"You know, maybe if I wasn't in such an utterly foul mood before coming in here, I would probably have gone easier on you."

She felt strangely alive as she watched the pony dodge away from her strikes in a frenzy. She normally was not one to take pleasure in such an act, but this particular time? She felt alive, and she didn't know why.

There was just something magical to just baaarely grazing her.

"But I was already in a bit of a mood before even entering, and now I'm finding myself completely without any sort of pity for you."

On the run like a cat from a mouse, she scampered and ran, dodging this way, dodging that way, never once being hit too hard to slow her down.

"And now, with all your bullshit, I think I'm going to enjoy this, I'm going to draw this out to show you, exactly, in my own way, just how completely and utterly pissed off I am right now. Maybe if you weren't such a mouthy little shit, maybe if you weren't such an ungrateful little bitch, maybe if you hadn't drained Cadence, drained ME, I'd let you walk out of here, but you know what? I am so utterly done right now that I give not a single fuck if they are pissed at me for the rest of their lives."

"Like you cared anyway!"

"Now you're learning!"

A bolt of lightning arced towards her, only to be bent away by the unnatural green magic that surrounded her.

"You know what else I'm going to do?"

"Watch as I kick your ass?'

"...What? No, I'm not going to do that."

"Then why aren't you stopping me?"

The baffling confusion she felt lasted only a second before, indeed, Sunset vanished.

And reappeared right behind her, directly over...

"FUCK YOU!"


The ponies hoof had raised up, just over the princess's head.

She had no time to think no time to question. If she waited another moment then Sunset would drain her completely. She was unconscious, she was weak, if she was drained now...

"RAAAGH!"

With an apocalyptic fury, Chrysalis was over the pony, and unleashed everything she had in a furious backhoof that would have cold-clocked a dragon unconscious.

And it went right through her, Sunset Shimmer.

...Emphasis on the SHIMMER.

"What the fu-uuuuuuuuuuuu....."

Horror gripped her like a vice as she looked down to the pony pressing against her side. The pony who had been in front of her, yet never in front of her at the same time.

"I literally cannot believe you fell for that."

Neither could Chrysalis.

Even when she felt her strength leave her in such strides, she couldn't believe it.

Even when she was telekinetically hurled over the princess and clear across the room, she couldn't believe it.

Even as the orb throbbed in her grip like her head throbbed in pain, she couldn't believe it.

Even as Sunset approached her, and she could barely even stand... she couldn't believe it.

"...I'm never going to live this one down..."

For once, Sunset wore the winning smile.

"Like I said, you're going to watch... as I kick your ass."

And she was going to make sure it stayed.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

~~~~

She was losing.

It seemed unthinkable, unquestionable, uncomprehending and beyond all measure of sanity or belief. But for once, just once, she, Queen Chrysalis, was on the edge.

It seemed foolish to her now, comical even, that she would ever be drained. She had shields, she had defenses, the idea that anyone could have gotten through them and sapped her strength made no sense to her, none at all. She was indefensible, she horded her power like a miser, yet something as simple as a touch had broken through?

TWICE!?

It made no sense, and the lack of sense was pissing her off something fierce.

Worse, she wasn't even given the briefest of moments to contemplate it.

The first blow lacked all finesse, nothing more than a simple teleport above her and a wild strike down. She tries to block, of course, but as she had proven herself mere minutes ago, barriers are only useful if they are stronger than that which is being thrust against them.

And right now, she was nowhere near that.

It broke through and slammed against her jaw, electricity of all things cackling upon it to add a burning element to an already painful blow.

From beneath her, the next strike came. More magic, of course she relied on her magic, conjured a slab of stone up from the ground right into her stomach.

With her neck bent down in a gasp of pain, she was in the perfect spot for a yellow, sickly hoof to snake around the appendage and grip her tightly. She was lifted from the ground before she could even catch her breath, and hurled ass over head tumbling clear into the opposite wall with unnatural strength.

"You see? Without them, without what you TAKE, you're nothing."

Bits of wall fell from her frame as she stood up, shaking the dust from her as she did.

"You can only take what makes everyone else strong, what makes us alive. Our love, our Empathy, our minds, you take them because you don't have any of it on your own!"

All the while... the orb remained in her magical grasp.

"Well, you're not going to anymore. This time, you get to see what it's like to be one of us beneath you monsters. This time, you get to be the powerless ones. And guess what?... You're just the first one."

A single drop of water, just a drop of moisture, hit the ground next to Chrysalis.

In the next, it expanded as if it had been a dam that had burst, and a flood of water overtook her. It crushed her, tossed her about like a leaf in a drain, battered her against the walls, the stones broken free, anything in her way.

When the magic finally dwindled, she was gagging, desperate for air.

But Sunset would give her none before she lifted her up with her telekenisis, and hurled her with everything she had at the containment area she had previously been. She fell down with a painful slump, too shook to stand on her own anymore.

"...You know, I used to wonder what you guys were supposed to mean, you know? I wondered... why were you here, what was your purpose, in the grander scheme of things. Your biology was just... weird. And now, now that I got to see first hoof what you are, I think I finally figured it out... and I don't like it."

The pony approached her slowly, her horn sparking with a spell that would put her into blissful unconsciousness, not that Chrysalis could possibly know that. To Sunset, it made all the sense in the world. Put her down, take the orb, regain her memories, and at the very least give them something before she was locked away for the rest of time. It didn't matter if she never saw the light of day again, she had to do this, she had to make sure she was the last, they had to know.

But Chrysalis had just never let go of that orb.

"I don't like what I've been through, what I've seen or what I am. I don't like it, but I don't like what you are even more. I got to see... how nice you guys can pretend to be, how genuine and believable you sound. Is that why you're here? With them? Because you made them believe?... It doesn't matter."

The stones crunched beneath her as she hovered over the downed Queen, and charged her final spell.

"I don't know what purpose you serve, or what keeps you around, but-GODDAMNMOTHERFUCKINGOW!"

She had been saving that.

All of her power, all of her strength, all of the love she still had, and she had used it.

And she had kicked her right in the shin.

"Because we want to live, you stupid asshole."

"REALLY!? YOU'RE REALLY GOING TO-AHHHHH!"

She had lashed out like a wild animal, growling like a caged beast as she bared her fangs wide. They sank into the flesh of Sunset's chest without any trouble, pierced her without any slowing.

And then Chrysalis felt alive again.

"OW OW OW OW! STOP!"

She found herself lifted from her hooves as the Queen rose to her full height, foam and spittle dribbling from her chin as she rocked her head from side to side akin to a wild dog tearing a piece of meat, growling and snarling all the while. Sunset hung on, banged her hooves on Chrysalis's nose, but like a bear that jaw was snapped shut, and she wasn't letting go.

"OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWSTOPITYOUDICKOWOOWOWOWOW!"

All the while, she took it back. She took back the love Sunset had stole, she took it back like drinking from the fountain of youth, and she felt alive again. Just as Sunset had drained her, the table had been turned. And with it, Sunset found her own attempts to drain back... ineffective.

She had learned.

"OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOISAIDSTOOOOOOOP!"

"OW!"

At least until a blow to her eye made her cry out, and dropped Sunset away.

"Cheap ass little-"

"EAT SHIT!"

She had plenty of power left, plenty more love to fire directly into Chrysalis's chest and send her skidding backwards, just far enough for a staredown.

"...You want to know what I have, Sunset Shimmer? You want to know what really makes me, not you, so very powerful? So very... strong?"

The smile grew wicked, and wild.

"You take-"

"Oh no, no no no nooo... you seem mistaken. No, what makes me so utterly stronger than you is not what I have taken, it's what I have been given."

"You haven't been given anything you deserve."

"Perhaps, perhaps not... but regardless, I have been given it."

"And what is that?"

"What is that?... I don't expect you to know."

"Try me!"

"Very well... what I have been given is... THE POWER OF LOVE!"

Complete, deathly silence hung in the air.

"...I said, the POWER OF LOVE!"

It only grew more awkward as the time ticked on.

"...POWER OF LOOOOOVE!"

"Did you seriously just say that?"

"The... hold up..."

She had to double check she wasn't unconscious or under mind control.

The fact she wasn't unnerved her more than if she had been.

"Hold up. You seriously, after all this, want me to just... hold up. Stop. Just stop like none of this happened. Now you do this. NOW."

"No, really, hold up a sec."

"This is happening? This is happening. After I beat you till your mother had bruises, that whole thing, and then I drained Cadence dry, NOW you want me to-"

The BOOM and then CRACK that reverberated through the room was nothing short of magical.

The way Sunset's face slowly contorted, unnatural skin breaking and splitting and twisting as the white hoof rammed into it with a force that any train would have been envious of, it was nothing short of magical.

As was the way her head literally found itself buried in the wall.

"There it is!... What took you so long?"

"YOU LOCKED THE DOOR!"

"No I didn't... why'd you push it in? It's a pull door."

Shining Armor, for all his bravado, suddenly felt very unaccomplished.

"...CADENCE!"

He was at her side in a second, cradling her in that same second, and glaring at the pony lodged into the wall in the next.

"Did she do this!?"

"Yeeeep."

"How are you so calm!?"

"...That's actually a very good question, I was thinking about killing her. No joke! She broke my horntip, and I was about to-"

"DEAR FAUST! Are you... are you okay? That's not... permanent, right?"

"HAH! No, just gotta put the tip back on and you kiss it better. You can lick it too, slowly if you want, we'll see what works better... use all the tongue."

"And thus, I know you're still okay... wait, what were you saying about killing her?"

"Dunno, guess I went crazy for a bit, cause I was, but now I'm not... weird, what was up with-"

"WHAT IN TARNATION IS GOIN' ON!? WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY HAPPENED!? WHY'S SHE IN THE WALL!? WHAT HAPPENED TA' CADENCE... AND WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS THING!?"

Somewhere, in all the commotion, literally everyone else had found their way in, barely on the heels of the unnaturally fast Shining Armor.

Somewhere, in all the commotion, a shocked Applejack had found her way onto the battlefield.

Sometime in this moment, Chrysalis realized she was sans a certain special something she had been holding before.

Somehow, an orb of reddish green found it's way into Applejack's hooves... and a strange red hue into her eyes.

Time froze, yet it didn't freeze at all. For, in a place none could see, none could know, there was a smile.

A devilish little smile.

"...Oh, what wonderful... chaos."

And indeed, chaos was soon to reign.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

OMAKE!
>Chrysalis
"Sunset"
~~

Somewhere, somewhen... Chrysalis and Sunset are nursing their wounds in silence.

"...sorry about breaking your horn."

>Yeeeeah, no, it's fine. Sorry about biting you.

"Eh, I've had worse..."

>Same.

"...heh... you're... actually pretty OK, once you get past the huge ego and sinister way you talk."

>Thanks? I guess? You're pretty tough in a fight. Props for that.

"Mph."

>...

"We cool now?"

>I guess.

"Neat."

>...

"..."

>...

"Shouldn't we like, stop her?

'RRRRAWR! APPLES! KILL! DESTROY!'

>Nah. Give a minute.

~Applejack, stop this at once!~

"I suppose Princess Celestia got zhis one."

>Three, two, one...

KER-BUCK

~AAAAIIIE!~

"Aaaaand there she goes. Right over the horizont. Can't say I never wanted to see that."

>...you're alright, mare.

"So are you."

>Heh.

"For Changeling."

>OH FOR FUCKS-, BITCH, THIS IS IT!

"BRING IT!"

>HISSS!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

>Celestia
"???"
'Twilight'
~~

>OH FOR FUCKS SAKE! WE WEREN'T EVEN DOING ANYTHING AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN IT-

"PSSST!"

>...Yes, Secret Agent Hershey-Trademark?

"Bugbear found, detected, and dealt with."

>I thank you.

POOF!

'Who was that?'

>The anti-monster force.

'...We have an anti-monster force?'

>I am legally supposed to deny any existence of an anti monster force.

'Why? They don't seem to ever do anything, I have to stop it personally most days.'

>...

'...That's why, isn't it?'

>Like with everyone else of the ponies who work for me, they SUCK. So we pretend they don't exist.

'...Bonbon is still here, you know.'

>Is she... WAY TO DROP THE BALL ON THE DAMN URSA MINOR!

*Sobbing noises*

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

OMAKE!
>29
"32"
~~~~~

>You know, I'm getting rather unsettled by all this.

"Whatever do you mean?"

>I just feel you are acting inappropriately considering we are kin.

"We're about as related as a zebra and a griffon, technically, since we both come from a direct line with many MANY variations to separate the two from their original kin. We have as much in common, blood wise, with princess Celestia as we do each other."

>Still this whole... proposition thing, it seems unsettling.

"Whatever do you mean? What makes you think I'm propositioning anything?"

>Well, for starters, you have crept up to my couch at a particular height.

"My back is hurting."

>And you are rather close to me.

"I can't hear so well."

>And you are looking up at me with a very distinct gaze.

"I am tired."

>...Seriously?

"Look, we're friends, right?"

>Well, of course-

"So let me be FRIENDLY with you right now."

>...

"Look, you fed me via handholding this whole time, literally. Once, just once, let me drink from the tap already!"

>...Oh... fine. I suppose I could use some fun.

"Much, much better... did you want them to leave the room?"

>No no, they can watch.

"Your call. Now-"

>Now is when you stop talking....aaah... that'a changeling.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Non-Canon Pinkie Preview
>Pinkie
~~~~~
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMMfep_ZsXs
>Heart's Warming Day is coming. The changlinges are back in the ballroom in Canterlot. Chrysalis and Sunset confront each other violently!
>Rarity spends more that what was agreed on for a gift and sets off a gifting war. The A-team play a version of Secret Santa. Rainbow Dash discovers a rhythm for filling out the paperwork. Applejack learns something new about her friends. Twilight makes a chill pickle to help her manage her anger. Find out what happens next time in thread 83: The Great Gift War...and of course indulgent fanservice!

Ahem
>They did the thing. I don't have to deliver it myself.
Come on. They'd like it if it came from you.
>I'm a gypsy. They've already been gypped.
I hope you can feel my disapproving gaze from here.
>...fine.
Pinkie drags Luna out in her pyjamas.

"What is thou doing? Why is thou in our dream?"

>I just really need you right now!
They board a ship.
>FRIENDSHIPPING!

"...we are not really fr-"

>WE'RE BEST FRIENDS RIGHT NOW DON'T RUIN IT!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________