Chapter fifty five

Meanwhile…

Chrysalis is having a heck of a time with two angered princesses as they try cleave the mare in half. Having to play more on the defense than anything. She finds herself bringing up what wards she can in order to hold her own against the two. Twilight’s decorated blade slides just in front of her muzzle as she cranes her neck back, missing it by a breath as she almost tastes the metal on the tip of her tongue. Doubling back with her own blade, the queen meets Luna’s pair as she holds the lunar mare at bay, only to see Twilight galloping for her. After breaking the lock with Luna, Chrysalis charges up her horn, shooting out a simple frost spell that freezes the ground beneath Twi.

Thankfully for the queen, hooves have little to no traction on ice, only making the princess stumble and fall as she slides down to her face. As amusing as this would be, the wicked mare has other things to attend to, namely a torqued alicorn behind her. Hearing the tell tail Clop of hooves, Chrysalis ducks under the blade that was meant for her head, as she rears up a hind leg. Spartan kicking the lunar princess in the gut and across the floor, and knocking her head against the wall.

Taking whatever chance she can to try and even the fight. Chrysalis now focuses on Twilight, going after the more experienced of the pair, having never seen Luna in combat first hoof.

The mare uses her stature to her advantage, bringing the blade down on Twi’s as she pushes her weight more and more in to the princess. Hooves scratch against the bricks below them, as Twi can feel her grip failing and watches as she is pushed back further. The pair lock eyes with one another, lavender meeting emerald, while the latter continues to bore in to the princess. Knowing full well that Chrysalis has the advantage in size over her. Twilight holds her grip against queen, while she brings out one of her wings to the side and whips her in the eye with the edge of a feather. The resulting sting is enough to get the mare off of her, as she follows up with a haymaker to the face, which to the queen’s astonishment, has enough force to even get blood flowing from her jaw as the fangs bite down on her lips.

“You’ve gotten more used to fighting, I see…” Chrysalis wipes the green fluids from her mouth with a hoof.

“You have a way of pushing a pony to do such things!” Twilight grinds her teeth, launching out a Ray spell from her now free horn as the queen meets it in the middle with her own.

The violet and green mix with one another in the center as sparks fly with them now landing about the ground, neither side winning or losing. Twilight may not be as powerful when it comes to magic, but with the queen also have to focus on the elements, for the most part it’s an even match. Breaking out of the stalemate, they exchange small blasts between one another back and forth with them going at it. Anything to injure the other at the time.

Chrysalis looks around her at the many bricks, broken off over time, laying about. Summoning several up to her side, the queen charges them with magic from her horn until the stones themselves start to glow a deep envious green. All the while, targeting the mare across from her, as Chrysalis launches the salvo of munitions at Twi.

Watching as the glowing green masonry nears, Twilight brings up a shield in front of her as she braces for the hit. Although they weigh no more than a few pounds, and after centuries, have become very brittle. After being charged up by the queen, each one that impacts the princess’s shield detonates with the force of a bomb going off. Soon being too much for Twilight to hold as her shield breaks down and shatters. Though not before the last projectile goes off in her face. Landing flat on her back, the mare shakes her head to try and get the light from her eyes, and the ringing in her ears out. Looking up as a crooked blade comes in to view, with her reflection in the shine. Twilight watches it, and the user, get cast out to the side by a cyan bolt of energy.

Chrysalis feels the burn in her side from where the magic hit her, thankfully it was only a quick spell to get her away from Twi. Any more powerful and she’d be staring at a hole in her hide. Watching Luna help up Tia’s student as the pain still surges from the wound. Fighting now to maintain control of the corruption spell that she commands, the queen stumbles to her feet as she shakes off the attack. “Well I would have thought your sister being the better one in combat…” Chrysie remarks to Luna, “but it would seem that you have proved me wrong, Princess Luna.”

The night mare takes the complement rather well, even if it is at her sister’s expense, “Magic is her strong suit… though swords, not so much… that’s my gig.”

“Clearly… though I don’t see her wielding one any time-” the queen doesn’t get to finish her insult, as a pair of swords are thrown at her by the younger sister.

Sticking a mere inch from her throat, Chrysalis looks behind herself from where they impacted against a wall, leaving a space just big enough for her slender neck to slide through as she starts to look back at the sibling, “HA! You-”

She looks forward, receiving a hoof to her teeth that cuts her off yet again. The hit from Luna even knocks out a fang of the queen’s as it skips across the ground. A barrage of pummeling blows from the angered alicorn at the offence to her sibling quickly follows suit. Leaving the queen to not only regret the insult, but also having to back on old hoof fighting skills that she learned long ago to hold back Luna. Slapping off a few of the hits to redirect them away from her own form. Chrysalis manages to duck under a long swing from the princess, giving her the perfect opening to tackle Lulu to the ground. Having whiplashed her head against stone for a second time today, Luna lays there in a daze for a few seconds as the queen quickly recovers. Socking the mare before her a couple times in the ribs, the changeling uses her remaining fang and teeth to bite down on the vulnerable cobalt neck.

“You twat!” the princess yells out, as she rips the queen’s head off of her. Smashing it in to the ground, before getting back to her own feet. Twilight takes the opening, and calling out her teleportation spell, lands right on the queen’s back. Quickly wrapping her hooves around her neck as Chrysalis starts to buck back.

‘Really now, A rodeo?’ Chrysalis ponders as she feels the light weight of the mare bouncing up and down on her.

Spreading her wings out wide, the insect like appendages carry both the queen and Twilight up in to the air as she reaches behind her head. Luna on the ground, tries get a better shot as her horn starts to glow, while the monarch grabs hold on either side of the lavender mare’s head and hurtles her up and over. Down towards the ground, the lunar princess has only the time to have her eyes widen, as she sees Twi grow bigger, until she crashes right in to her. Leaving the two mares tumbling over on themselves in a pile.

Chrysalis lands and brushes herself off, watching as the two alicorns stumble to get up. Though as the queen is about to strike back at them. Chrysalis’s attuned ears catch the Thud from Sombra hitting the ground after pulling himself off of the spikes. Noting the blood trickling out of his wounds from the spell used by Shining. Her emerald eyes fill with worry for the colt, as she sucks in a gulp of breath.

“Sombra!…” she gaps, watching the war hammer make contact with her king, and she takes off to his relief now to give him a fighting chance against his attackers.

Discord brings the hammer right back from the attack. Holding it close as he slowly steps up to the king who now lies on the ground in bemusement. Shaking his head to get the stars out of his eyes, only to see the prince standing above him with the weapon ready to take another, final, blow.

“Nice knowing you, Sombra…” he snickers, now lifting the hammer above his head.

The next thing he feels is something trip up under him, as the queen balls herself up the best she can. Tumbling in to the prince’s legs with her weight and speed being more than enough to cause Discord to lose his balance with his top heavy weapon and fall. Though in that one move, Chrysalis lifts up her king in to her hooves, holding him close to her chest as she flutters away from the group for a second while Shining helps the prince up. Giving the evil pair a moment to talk.

“Are you alright?” the maternal instinct, of one who has never even had real kids of her own, comes out as she tends to and cradles the king.

“Apart from my chest pains…” Sombra looks down to see the crystals that remain in his armor, glowing brighter as they feed his power. Looking across his body, he can see the spots where the spikes did as they were made to do, leaving gaping holes that still seep blood out of them, “…and my pride…” Focusing on the energy he is getting from his suit, Sombra starts to cringe as he powers up his healing spell. Already feeling the blood flowing across his coat come to a stop, the wounds slowly starts to close before the queens very eyes. Though right now, it isn’t enough, “…I need just a little-”

Chrysalis hushes him up at the moment with a peck on his forehead. Leaving Sombra to view a strange, unknown, though at the same time, warming, sight. The gentle jade eyes of the queen above him, bears down in to his own with all the tender loving care that he would have expected out of a mother for her foal. Though without any words at first, the king can feel some of his pain fade away, though he isn’t sure it’s all from his own healing.

“Don’t worry about it… Stay here. I’ll take care of them…” Chrysalis mutters to Sombra as she turns her attention back to those they are fighting.

Discord cracks his neck as he heaves his hammer up on to his shoulder, while he and Shining head towards the couple. Along with Flash, Twilight, and Luna. The latter two having recovered from their bout. ‘Well this isn’t what I could have hoped…’ she knows that five vs. one is the last thing that she wanted to have happen. Considering that all but one of her opponents can use magic, and even then, her own is wearing thin from the sucking of the spell to the Elements.

‘One… last… chance,’ her horn glows an amber tone, getting brighter and brighter, powering up a spell that Chrysalis hasn’t used for quite some time, ‘Don’t let your love fail me now…’ she passes a glance off to her colt, silently urging him to fuel her on. So she can both keep the Corruption spell going, and keep them alive.

Soon enough, when the spell comes to its climax, the amber aura encompasses the queen. Spitting her off, on either side of her. Soon enough the group that stands to destroy her, halts their own advance as they witness the mare replicating herself over and over again. The queen now going from five on one, to five on three, and finally, to five on five. When in the final copy, the original stands there for the Equestrians to see, with four ‘sisters’ next to her. Each one sharing the same look to themselves as the original in terms of physique, other than a change in the shading of their coats and the color of their eyes.

“A Reduplication spell?” Twilight gasps, having only seen it performed in some of the texts she would read. But never having even heard it performed by any unicorn alive. Perhaps Havoc on a number of occasions, but then again, the foal did have both the princess of the sun and the master of chaos as parents. Needless to say, he had magic to spare, “That’s… almost unheard of, other than by the most magically adept ponies?”

“And you’re speaking to a Queen mind you,” One with a grey coat and blue eyes remarks the obvious, while one of her ‘sisters’ picks up the plate.

“We’ve been doing this for quite a while now,” another with a white coat and red eyes answers.

“How else would we go about commanding a hive…” a reproduction, sporting the same look, but instead a golden hue to her eyes, starts off.

“…While at the same time, taking over other smaller nations,” the final one responds, having a pure green coat with orange eyes to her.

“You should have read up on more spell casting, Twilight…” the original Chrysalis starts off while the others pick up and respond in unison.

“Considering you could have learned a thing or two, when it came to the darker side of magic!” each one answers, as it picks its own target and advances.

Drawing as much attention from the king as they can, while dealing with their respective opponents, it leaves the Equestrians to have to contend with the new batch of changelings that Chrysalis has cooked up. Having one queen to deal with is enough of an issue, even when the odds are stacked in your favor. Though contending with now an additional four more, that’s a new ball game. Each one has the same skill all in all, and with only having ones attention being drawn away from enchantments to cast a constant Corruption spell.

The other four are free to use their magic to the fullest.

The golden eyed one brings out a magical hammer to match Discord’s own, as she swings it in to his side. Forcing the prince to feel the pain that he made every changeling feel when he used the weapon against them. Likely now sporting a few broken ribs of his own. The prince fights onwards, bringing his armored fist up in to the mare’s jaw and cracking out a few more teeth. Spitting out the remains of her molar, a pair of golden eyes rest on the prince as ‘Chrysalis’ brings up the hammer back to her chest.

“What are you going to do now, my dear?” Discord taunts her, “beat me with my own weapon?”

A sinister smile, missing a few teeth, graces her face as the false queen continues to back up. Eventually reaching a marble support column, “Well… not exactly,” she whips around. Charging up the head with a jolt of energy, the mare beats it in to the base of the support, blowing out the bottom and causing it to teeter towards the prince.

“Oh…poo…” Discord mumbles while it tumbles atop him. The dust settling around, as Luna witnesses his demise, watching as the Warhammer falls from his eagle talon sticking out from underneath.

“Discord!” she yells out. Distracted long enough to have the white and ruby red eyed queen ram her head long in the chest and pile drive with a scarlet iced over frozen hoof boxing glove, which now shatters from the hit against the lunar princess. Parrying the next blow, the ‘queen’ over steps her mark and is caught off balance as she falls down and trips, falling to her face. Giving enough time for Luna to get her footing, “you’re going to pay for hurting my brother!”

“You mean brother in law?” the mare corrects as she rises back up.

“Whatever, he’s still family!” Luna clacks the hoof bracers that she wears together, while bringing out her own duel blades upon the imposter.

While at the same time the ‘queen’ pounds her own hooves in to the ground, coating them in a stone shell with a little help from her enchantments as she forces the masonry to build up around her limbs. Using the stone gloves and the weight to her advantage. It’s beginning to show more and more against the princess as her plate armor receives dent after dent from the hooves of her adversary. Soon enough, each punch that the imposer lands, Luna can feel the pain shooting up in to her skull while her armor slowly starts to fail her.

Bringing her blade up and over the top of her head. Luna is blocked by nothing more than the simple stone gloves, holding her weapon there mere inches from her opponents skull, “Awe, so close weren’t you?” ‘Chrysalis’ taunts her.

“Don’t get so cocky,” Luna tries to push back in to her, “after all, you’re focusing on your Bracer spell, my horn though isn’t being used,” with that realization. Luna, doesn’t shoot a spell like her enemy was expecting, but stabs the end of her horn in to the soft tissue of a crimson eye.

After feeling the alicorn’s appendage burst her eye open. The changeling instantly releases her grip on the blade and cups her lost orb, while Luna brings blade through the queen’s translucent wings. The appendage having little to no nerves though makes little difference to the queen as she can still fight, just not fly.

“Awe… well I guess I’m grounded…” she recovers, clearly not caring of the loss at all, but still wincing from the twitch over the open gap in her skull, “My eye though… that I’m pissed about!”

Using her good wing to power a back hoof of rock, it collides with the princess’s soft face and Luna is sent back to the ground. Shaking off the hit though rather fast, she is met with the angered bloodshot eye bearing down on her as the changeling pins Luna beneath her hooves. With a single flicker of the ‘queen’s’ horn, in a few seconds, the ends of the blunt boxing gloves forms up in to spike of stone. Drawing closer and closer to the princess’s exposed neck.

Though as the mare tries to keep herself from being done in so soon, Luna hears the creaking of stone as she looks and sees the column that fell upon her brother. Being lifted up and thrown right at her. Kicking a knee up in to the pale coat of the creature, the moon mare knocks the wind out of her and narrowly dodges out of the way. Her own adversary though is not so lucky, and instead gets crushed against its weight as it pancakes her against the wall. The copies only remains, being a green mash that spills over from the sides.

“Didn’t know you cared that much, Lulu…” she hears the familiar voice of Discord rising out from his stone bed. Now leaving only a clear indent from his body where it lied.

“You…you’re…alright?!” Luna is almost too shocked for words to even get that out.

“Don’t sound too disappointed now…”

“Well I was, starting, to worry a bit,” her expression changes to sarcasm the instant she realizes he’ll be fine, “after all who else would be this interesting to go in to battle with?”

“I don’t know… you have the list,” without even looking Discord grabs the hammer that is being swung by the very queen copy that did that to him. Ripping it from her grasp, he tosses it off to the side away from her as the master of chaos slowly walks towards her, “now that doesn’t work twice you know…”

“Well than I’ll just have to try something…” the mare basks her horn in a golden aura as it conjures up a massive scythe that glows with a similar hue, “…different,” she swings, now having both Discord and the princess to contend with, seeing that her ‘sister’ has been crushed.

Luna picks up both her swords and holds them in the oncoming path of the Reaper’s tool, though the size and speed of the blade is more than she can take, as she digs her hooves in to the ground in an attempt to hold her own. Though the hole riddled mare would have happy kept pushing until the princess gave up, the prince coming at her with hammer drawn, draws her own attention as she sees Discord holding his weapon up high.

With a flick of her horn, she breaks the lock with Luna and hurtles the scythe in to the handle of Discord’s own weapon. The sharpened edge doing its job, as the prince is left holding a handle, before he looks up to see the head of his weapon falling in to his paw like a giant mallet. “What’s the matter, prince?” the ‘sister’ coos, “were you compensating for something?” she laughs, calling her weapon back to her with her magic.

“…Nope,” Discord starts to chuckle. Holding the hammer up high in the air, as seemingly out of nowhere bolts of lightning hit it. Leaving the copy, and the alicorn watching, in awe, “by the power of Mjölnir!,” he leaps across the gap between himself and the ‘queen’, “I am-”

Luna holds her tongue, until she sees her brother ram the side of the hammer in to the mare, already hearing the audible crack in her ears from the rib cage collapsing, “…Yep, I’m related to that nut.”

Flash grabs hold of the grey coat of his own copy to deal with and brings her up in to his hooves, over his head, and down on the ground. The impact absorbing in to his own armor, but her unprotected form not doing as well as he twists himself around and quite literally kicks her while she’s down. The fraud scraps her face against the ground, running over it like low grit sandpaper. Going back over to her side though, Flash grabs her mane and pulls back to reveal, Twilight, in his grasp.

“Why Flash? Why would you do this?” she sobs, much to his dismay and confusion.

“Wait, Twilight?” he stumbles.

The momentary lapse in judgment is enough to give her time to bring a Fire ball from her horn in to his chest plate. The fire doing far more to the colt than just forcefully knocking him off of the mare, as he sits up and realizes that the flame is still burning, and starting to go through the breast piece as he feels his sternum heating up steadily. Being now forced to pull off his prized protection, and drop it to the ground, with now only his bracers and helmet to protect him. Flash looks with prying eyes at the form of his princess, when in a flash of green she goes back in to her true form.

“Really now, I’m a changeling…” the blue orbed copy giggles to herself, “you should have seen that coming.”

“Normally yes, though considering you are just a copy…I have no problem beating you down.” he takes off towards her.

The lifted weight off of him from his armor, now makes Flash seem as light as a feather as he buries himself in to her chest with his armored head. Hearing the audible dislocation of ribs under the hit as her sternum breaks. The gasp for breath stretches out her jaw, as she wraps it around his shoulder, biting down hard in to it as she tastes the fresh blood running down her throat.

Tearing her off of him, they both stumble to their feet while he recovers quicker and brings out his sword. Meeting a pair of cerulean daggers that she summons up. Blocking him mid-way while they lean in to one another, eyes mere inches from each other in a death glare.

The orange blazing eyes of the fourth copy targets Shining as they banter with magical spells being cast at one another. Her lightning bolt meeting up with his own metal sword as he uses it as a ground to absorb the hit and dissipate it in the floor below him. Only to cast his own in response as she takes the charge to the chest.

Feeling her heart flutter from the shock, the queen freezes at first when she thinks that it completely stops. Though as she feels it normalize, the mare glares over at the stallion, grinning to himself. Charging up her horn, ‘Chrysalis’ pounds her hooves in to the ground as half a dozen orange chains spring up from around her, and shoot towards the captain. Whipping the look off his face.

“Come on, Captain!” the emerald mare calls out to him as he dodges. Striking back against the chains with spell and sword, as they whip around the colt and draw back after every unsuccessful attack, “I know you aren’t the type of stallion to leave a mare disappointed… after all, before your wedding with Cadance I’m sure you remember how… energetic, you were.”

Shining has thought about that subject from time to time, and in all honesty has no clue when his wife was replaced with the queen. Knowing full well they didn’t exactly wait to, consummate, their relationship. “Exactly, how many times did I sleep with you? While you were imposing on my bride?” he asks, not really wanting to know the answer.

“Long enough to play a part in some of your fantasies…” she winks at him, watching the pure white coat on his face turn flush red. Never seeing the incoming chain from behind in the ground, until it wraps around his hooves as he hits the ground. Being dragged back to the orange eyed copy, as she hoists him up in front of her.

“Oh come now, it wasn’t all bad… we had our fun,” she leans in and kisses the surprised unicorn on the lips.

The fowl taste on her tongue flows over his own as it leaches in to his mouth and seemingly down the back of his throat, ‘I hope she isn’t trying to lay eggs or something,’ Shining gags at the though before be manages to break away from her acidic lips, bringing his head back in to hers with force. The breaking of the moment angers the mare, as she bites down on her tongue from the rejection.

“Ugh… I remember you tasting sweeter,” She spits out what saliva she picked up.

“And you still make me want to suck on a-” before he can finish.

‘Chrysalis’ cuts him off by hurtling Armor across the room, after releasing him from the chains. Having no wings to stop himself, and too little time to cast a spell, Shining is prepared to take the full brunt of the impact from the wall. Only to be stopped a few feet away, after being caught by the only Pegisy in the group.

“Nice timing, Flash…” Shining remarks as he is placed down on ground level by the guard and they each go face to face with their attackers.

“Not a problem… though from what I overheard you slept with-”

“Sentry…now is not the time, nor the place,” Shining holds up a hoof.

“Understood,” he answers, while they go right back at it with their opponents.

Twilight meanwhile has been contending with the true queen on her end. The energy from having to use her powers to charge the Elements of Harmony with her own magic is taking its toll on the queen. Rather sluggish when it comes to offence, she manages to bring up shield after shield against Twi. Along with her own blade, as it chips against the princesses. Socking her in the face, Twilight backs off a bit as blood spits from her nose. Doubling and tripling back with magic bolt after magic bolt. The lavender mare leaves smoking holes in the ground while the queen dodges left and right, still maintaining her agility. Casting her own bolts against the shorter mare, their spells lock in the center and break apart upon impact, clearing the ground below it with a shock wave.

“Magic against magic, doesn’t seems to be working out to well. Does it now, Chrysalis?” Twi pants as she catches her breath.

“That, it doesn’t…” the queen in the same state responds.

‘Though I know I’ll out last you,’ the lavender alicorn grins as she goes back in to the fray. Concentrating on a simple Incendiary spell, the blade that she wields bursts in to flames as they dance along the surface of the metal. Only heating it up, and not trying to break it, so as not to be absorbed by the enchantment already on the blade. Twilight breaks out the fire sword, and sends the singeing metal through her enemy’s coat. Clotting the blood spill instantly, as the queen winces from the scorching to her flesh.

“I’m rather curious… where you… learned that,” she says between periods of clenching her jaw.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Twilight lunges yet again. Each attack that gets interrupted by the queen’s blade, sends a shower of sparks down from the blazing weapon.

Leaving little burns here and there on the ground, and even a few on the queen, as they go back and forth with one another. Seeing the obvious advantage with having a sword that burns even hotter the more you swing it, Chrysalis knows she has to put a damper on this one quickly. Casting what spell she can, she coats her own blade in a layer of ice as she attacks. Each connection they make sends another shower of sparks, and also a puff of steam as the blade is cooled down after every successive hit. Locking together with one another, the searing heat diminishes with every second as steam envelopes them, and the blade finally goes out.

Chrysalis pushes herself through the mist, meeting Twilight mere inches from her own muzzle, “This is really starting to get old you know?” she hisses. As they both break the lock with each other.

“Well than let’s just finish it!” the alicorn stomps on the ground, bringing up dozens upon dozens of tiles around her. Mimicking queen’s spell that she did earlier with the bricks. Though Twilight’s bring far more powerful, as she smashes them all together in one giant ball. And after charging it up, hurtles it towards the queen.

Making any attempt at salvation, Chrysalis sends her own spell hurtling towards the bomb in the form of a rather large hammer. Breaking up the stone, only now to have several dozen smaller ones, still radiating with explosive energy, now reigning down on her. With the inevitable destruction at hoof soon. Chrysalis pauses for a second, knowing that if she were to cast a shield on her own, it would do nothing. Though as she accepts this fate, the queen thankfully feels a dark surge wrap around her.

Sombra envelops his queen, guarding her against Twilight’s onslaught. A dark shield holding it back as the queen looks up to see the crazed red and green eyes above her as she is held, wrapped up in his hooves like a foal with its parents, or in this case, a mare with her love. A dark smile crossing his face as she shares the same expression, burying her face in his chest, she sees the wounds he sustained have healed up quite nicely and already the coat has grown back. While the sounds of the rocks impacting and exploding, make any sort of chatter between them pointless. No words are needed for their exchange as their actions speak louder. Lifting herself up, Chrysalis kisses him on the lips and tunes out everything that is going on around them, Sombra gladly returning the favor. The lip locked pair remains, even as the attack stops and leaves only the lavender mare standing there now facing them.

“Oh now that’s cheating…” Twilight grumbles under her breath, “…when you two are ready…” she taps her hoof at the pair.

“Lighten up, dear, I’m sure you and your coltfriend shared a moment with one another after your release,” the queen interjects.

“Besides… dying is one thing to bounce back from,” Sombra stretches his hooves out after his close encounter, “though a near death experience is another matter.”

“Well than you wouldn’t mind if I joined in, now would you?” Shining takes a stance next to his younger sister who stands there rather confused on what he’s doing.

“Shining? Aren’t you dealing with one of her-?”

“Copies? Your Coltfriend has taken over that one, he knew I would do well protecting my baby sister,” he winks at her, while now again facing those in front of them.

Sombra lifts Chrysalis up above his head and hurtles her at Shining and Twi. Casting a solid block of energy in front of her, the mare uses it as a ram, smashing in to the siblings. Knocking the pair back along the ground, the brother catches Twi in his grasp and rights her up as he lands. Both siblings cast an interlocking spell, playing off one another, which causes the ground in front of them to turn up and push forward in a wave while Sombra sends out several Spike bombs, landing on the ground plate. Breaking it apart, the two siblings leap through the haze. Shining covering Sombra’s sword in a cake of ice to hold in in place, giving him that moment he needed to buck the king right in the jaw. Though the moment of pride that the Captain would feel, is lost when he takes a green bolt of magic to the side of his suit.

The queen blows the smoke off of her horn. Only to be brought down by Twilight, as she brings out her blade meeting the monarch’s, holding her own against the royalty. It becomes too much as Sombra joins in. Forcing the lavender mare to focus on both of them with sword and magic alike. Though after she sees her sibling sitting there with a green burn to his side. Blood runs hot through the mare for her family, as she leaps over top the king, and uses her hind legs to kick him back in to the queen. Twilight flaps over to her brother’s side and helps him up as the greenish tinge on his armored side still smells fowl from the blast.

“Are you okay?” the alicorn asks, looking him over.

“Doing as well as one would hope,” Shining looks up to see that Sombra hasn’t even broken a sweat. The marks where the ice sickles hit earlier completely gone upon closer inspection, “how does he do it? The king is recovering faster than any healing spell I know.”

“Like I said, it’s the crystals…” Twilight mutters under her breath to him as they take note of the wicked couple getting up from their tumble. Her now pointing to the sparkle on his suit, “the same crystals from the empire… as long as he wears that, he’s unstoppable, for the most part. If it’s removed though, Chrysalis leaching from him will take a much needed toll on his body.”

“So we remove it.”

“Are you going to ask nicely?”

“No…” Armor snickers, drawing in closer to the king as they meet their blades with one another. Now having a different goal at the moment.

As he takes care of the king, Chrysalis finds herself dealing with Twilight now. Both parties have been going at this battle with one another for quite some time now. All of which has drained them both and each would have been ready to give up had it not been the adrenaline running through their systems at the moment. Sucker punching Twilight in the ribs, sends her hitting the floor for a second as the queen charges up her own horn and sends out a bolt.

Only to have it stopped by the princess’s very blade, as the magic soaks in to the weapon and dissipates away. Rather baffled by the fact that it remains unharmed from such an exchange now, she puts it together in her own mind, “Enchanted weapon?” Chrysalis ask the obvious as they pace around one another in a circle.

“So it would seem…” Twilight answers, lunging at her yet again and slicing off part of the queen’s mangled mane.

The lock falls to the ground harmlessly as Twi gets the pommel of the monarch’s blade to the throat causing her to gag for a moment. A swift kick to the head doing the princess in for now as Chrysalis hammers her elbow down in to the alicorn’s ribs. The impact surely must have broken something. Though no matter what, the princess doesn’t have time to pay attention to the sting in her side as she fights through it to stay alive against the mare. Using what magic she can muster. Twilight brings out the illumination spell and temporarily blinds the queen. Stifling about on her feet, the queen doesn’t see at first the faint glow of Twilight’s horn again until it’s too late. Getting a swift blast at point blank range, it scorches her face and even singes some of her eye lashes as she sits back on her own hind now in a daze.

Barely able to look up at the magical star encrusted handle coming ever so close to slicing her throat, Chrysalis manages to bring her own up and strike Twilight’s off to the ground as she bucks the alicorn in the chest. Now lifting herself up and through the air upon the princess, she tries to force her blade down in to the princess’s skull.

“Why… won’t you… just die!” the queen yells out, still feeling the fight left in the mare below her.

“Because I have something worth fighting for!” she looks over to her blade, just past it Flash who is holding quite well against two queens. Summoning it over with a levitation spell, Twilight grips tight and brings the handle up in to the monarch’s temple. Knocking her off of her frame, so the princess can catch a much needed breather.

Flash rolls to avoid the contact of several blue spears being tossed his way by the aqua eyed assailant. Having no armor is working out in his advantage right now as he is faster than he could have ever been with it on. Bringing his own blade to meet a pair of orange rapiers, as the same eye colored queen works against him. Flash head butts the emerald changeling to the ground, and flips over to avoid a similar attack from the ‘sister’ as she barrels towards him. Only to end up tackling her own ‘sibling’, caught in her way.

“Here I thought this was going to be a challenge…” Flash antagonizes them.

“Don’t get to cocky now, Flash…” the blue eyed one starts.

“…you still have the real one to contend with when we’re done,” her counterpart finishes as the jade monarch version rolls toward him, stopping just at the right angle to buck Flash in the jaw and send him flying over on to his back a few yards away.

Though as he sits up on his hind, the colt is met with the image of the orange fiery eyed mare leaping towards him with her rapiers held wide. Twisting about in one motion, Flash brings his blade clear across her midsection, spitting the mare in half. The dull Thud from her now lifeless body hits the ground as it starts to twitch from random muscles contracting, entrails laden across below her as her belly remains cut open along the middle like a C-section.

The sister even pauses a moment to take in the sight as Flash steps between her and the corpse, “now… the faster I get this done,” he draws in a breath, “the faster we can get to the real you.”

“Agh!” she yells out, rather angered to have seen a counterpart fall before her very eyes.

Shining meanwhile has been making any and every attempt to dismantle what the king has to protect himself, from both the ponies, and the queens own powers. Sombra goes back in to his shadow form and covers the small area with the captain in the center. “Not this again…” he groans.

“What? Afraid of the dark?” Sombra hisses.

“No… this is just becoming predictable…” Armor stings at his image while he hears the trot of the armored hoof steps behind him grow. Stomping his hind hoof, the captain brings up a crystal shield from the ground and blocks the kings attempted surprise attack, “Seriously you are rather easy to read.”

“Oh just shut it!” Sombra knees the white pony in the shin, twisting it about before delivering a similar blow to the other with his own blade.

The large gash on the guard’s leg is even more noticeable as the blood stains his pure coat. Only fueling his anger though with even a steady limp, Armor stumbles out and beats the king in the jaw with his own hoof bracer. Sucker punching him in the shoulder and turning the king around. Giving an easy access for his sword to tuck in behind the individual plates of armor. Cutting easily in to the belts and straps that hold it, and in one single slice, goes through them all. The clank of the plating hitting the ground around him resonates in both Sombra’s and Shining’s ears.

While the king ignores it for the most part at first and only responds by turning around and punching the colt, square in the face as he falls back on his rump, “What? Was that your big plan?” Sombra starts to chuckle from the deepest part of his throat, “remove the armor, so I can’t draw my power from it, then strike me down. You do realize it only makes me nearly limitless right? Even without it I can still-” he freezes.

Feeling a cold lump in his chest. Sombra pauses his rant and clenches his sword in his magical grasp while he points it towards the snow colored unicorn. Though as he does, the aura of red starts to falter left and right. Soon enough fading away until the blade drops down in to his hooves, and the king is left grasping it on his own. Though the sudden change hasn’t fallen on deaf ears, or blind eyes in this case. Shining stands up, walking slowly towards the king. At first Sombra’s mind says attack, though as he feels his muscles growing weaker, and any thought of other spells failing him. All the king can do.

Is take a step back.

“Feel that?” Shining presses more and more to him, seeing the once confident and pride filled king now diminished at the sudden loss, “that’s called weakness… defeat… your undoing,” the light glow of his horn lifts the now lighter king off the ground, and tosses him over to the wall. Skull cracking fully in to the brick, Sombra leans back against it, feeling the blood tricking out of the wound without the energy to heal. Shining slowly makes his way over to him at his own pace. Seeing as it’s not like the king is going anywhere.

Chrysalis, being too distracted to notice her king’s demise, sets about going at the young princess. Hitting her with whatever she can at the time. The queen’s best, still gets either dodged by Twilight’s agile form, blocked by a ward, or absorbed by the magical blade she uses. ‘This mare is really, really starting to piss me off…’ the queen grits her teeth, forcing her own blade mere inches from the princess’s muzzle.

Just then, the final ounce of the elements are purged of all the good they have, and Chrysalis feels a new power rise up from her chest.

A small green shock wave fills the space, as it starts to shake the whole room for a moment. All the others present, no matter what they have been doing, even her own clones halt to find out what just happened. Twilight even stops as the grin on the queen’s face grows wider and wider, looking to either side of her to see the most cherished magical relics now wearing a blood red, onyx black, or envious green. After they have been filled with so much hate and despair. Radiating the power in to her for the taking, the queen just rests her eyes on the princess.

“They’re ready…” Chrysalis hisses, grabbing hold of the princess across from her in her hooves, and in a flash of light, disappears from view. At this moment, once everypony else realizes that the pair are gone from the room.

A few things happen at once afterwards.

One, a bright flash from above them, seen through the broken places in the roof, give a glimpse of where they could have gone.

Two, Flash uses his faster form now to dart out of the room, and even breaks through one of the windows that still remains, to head outside.

And three, Sombra takes this opportunity to shoot Shining in the armored chest with what magic he can muster, before galloping at full speed up a stair well with the little strength that remains in him. Armor skids back from the hit and resides between Luna and Discord, now being helped up by the latter.

“Where do you think Sombra went?” Dissy asks.

“Probably the same place that Twilight has found herself,” Luna mutters.

“And the same place where Flash took off to find her,” Shining finishes up, looking at the clear hole that the orange guard made through the glass, “We should follow them…”

Luna’s attention gets snapped back to the last two queen imposters that remain. The pair of blue eyes still beating down on them. While the golden ones do the same, though with much less flair, thanks to what probably amounts to a detached ribcage from the rest of her body. Each one though draws their attention away from the Queen that has taken the princess. While if not to make matters worse, the door to the throne room breaks open as the fight outside spills inwards as a rush of Royal Canterlot Guards and Changelings gather about as well, furthering the confusion.

“We may have more pressing matters to attend to…” the lunar princess remarks, drawing out her blades to her side as she and her fellow fighters take on the pair of copies and those that follow.