My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

A Changeling’s Lament

Chapter 18

The True Reason

Orochi walked though the fortress that once belonged to Nightmare Moon centuries ago. Now there was nothing but rubble and dust.

“My my my. They really torn this place up.” Terra joked.

“And that’s somehow funny?” Fulmen asked.

“well… yeah.”

Aqua groaned as she rolled her eyes. “un-believable. And I thought Ignis was the volatile one.”

“hey! That’s violent.” Ignis said.

“Quiet!” Glacies exclaimed. “if we want to get our toy back, we have to make sure that Chrysalis has no one to oppose her.” Orochi walked though the decimated forest and to the edge of the mountain top. He reached back into his pockets and pulled out a deck of cards. “and since he worked so well last time…” he reached in and pulled out the one he used last time. “…I think it’s time for the king to make his return.” he looked up and smirked at the distant city of Feather Top.

In the main throne room, Celestia had just finished explaining the full story to Zaltan and his two children Gilda and Silverbolt.

“…and then, after a unexpected bout with a Leviathan, we ended up here and you know the rest.”

“hmm… I never knew Chrysalis would be this desperate.” Zaltan muttered.

“desperate?”

Zaltan got up off his throne and walked down. “you know that we trade with all nations, regardless of standing, and that we have Changelings living here, right?”

“yeah. I saw a few down in un… section 3, was it, on the way here. Why?”

“well, before we made them citizens, we asked them why they left their homeland and came here. What we heard was… disturbing.”

“Disturbing?”

“very disturbing. Not something we like to discuss openly.” Leon said as he walked in. Celestia readied her magic and prepared to attack him. “peace, princess. I come not to fight.”

“Then why are you here?”

Leon looked back to the guards and counted only two. In case Celestia said no, he’d need to make a quick getaway. “to help you defeat Chrysalis.”

Fluttershy sat along on the snow covered hill, absorbing what Friction and Leon had told her. She replayed the scene in her head, still trying to understand.

“Purged?” Fluttershy asked, making sure she heard that correctly.

Friction nodded in confirmation. “Purge is what Chrysalis calls her little toy.”

“but what is it?” Spike asked.

“it’s something Chrysalis does to make her most troublesome and disobedient soldiers loyal and mindless members of the hive. Well, that’s one of it’s functions but nobody knows all of them. She mostly uses it for obedience issues.”

“what did it do to Edge?” Fluttershy insisted.

“from what Chrysalis has told me, it purged Edge’s memory of the past 6 months, leaving him as he was before meeting all of you; a sadistic general in Chrysalis’ army. He lead the attacks that took Ponyville and Maredrid.”

Fluttershy’s soul sank when she heard that. “so… he has no memory of his time with us?” Applebloom asked.

“no, they’re there. They’ve just been violently moved to the most remote recesses of his mind.”

“violently?” Rarity asked.

“well, Purging isn’t exactly the most kind of experiences.” Friction shivered in fear. “I still have nightmares about mine.”

Fluttershy fell to her knees when she heard that. Edge? In such pain? This was all her fault. it had to be.

“Why are you telling us this? What’s your angle?” Spike asked.

Friction turned to leave and unfurled her wings. “Come to the King’s Chambers in 2 hours with your friends; both Elements of Harmony and Human. Everything will be explained there.”

Fluttershy opened her eyes and looked up to the sky. Edge being turned into what he was now, it had to have been her fault. If she hadn’t rejected him, maybe this whole war would’ve been avoided.

A mysterious soft shrieking sound entered her ears. She looked and saw something in the distance, heading straight for her and the city.

“oh no…”

Dinky lead Pipsqueak down a path to a being only she seemed to approach without dying.

“are you sure he’s nice? He did destroy Canterlot.”

“Trust me. He’s nice.” Dinky insisted. “he’s just misunderstood.”

“are you sure? He’s a giant monster.”

“That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have feelings.”

They walked around the corner and neared the giant dragon. Pipsqueak gulped in fear when he came face to face with the giant. He was waiting for them and stared at them when they approached. He noticed the new guy and snarled angrily.

Pipsqueak squealed as he ducked behind Dinky. “hey!” Dinky exclaimed with gusto. “Be nice! He’s a friend.”

Oscurita snorted steam out of his nose before going back into his familiar sleeping position.

“He listened?” Pipsqueak said in surprise.

“yeah.” she looked down to her chest and the ring hanging off the chain. “I think he’s only listening because I have this ring.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure. But as long as he doesn’t eat me…” Pip nervously chuckled as he walked over with Dinky. Dinky jumped onto his arm, much to Pip’s shock. “he won’t hurt you. Trust me.”

Pip gulped in fear. He wasn’t so sure. He was a giant monster. They’re known for not having feelings. Dinky rolled her eyes and used what magic she could to bring him up. Pip nervously shook when Oscurita looked towards them. “un… hi…” he nervously said as he waved.

Back in the throne room, the heroes of multiple worlds entered the throne room, some caught completely by surprise when they saw Leon and Friction standing on the other side with Celestia and Zaltan.

“What are those things doing here!?” Armor angrily said as he prepared his magic.

“every single pony is going to do that, aren’t that?” Friction asked.

“We didn’t exactly leave a good reputation on them.” Leon joked.

“Calm yourself, Armor.” Celestia ordered. “They are here as friends.”

“Friends?” Fox said in confusion. “un… did you forget what those two did to Canterlot?”

“I am well aware but they have decided to side with us.”

“Why?” Twilight said, not believing it for a moment.

“Because our Queen Chrysalis had grown too corrupt and too vile for her to keep saying she’s doing this for out benefit.” Leon said.

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Ash said, leaning on the wall.

“Exactly.” Leon and Friction looked at each other and nodded. “but before we go any further, you’ll gonna need to know our history.

Begin Song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO1FdPXlsWw

From Shadow Unto Crystal by youtuber CarbonMaestro

Leon and Friction’s horns glowed as they prepared to use their magic. Some of the group took that as a threat and readied their weapons. Req stopped them before they did something stupid.

The shades will closed shut and the windows covered.

Leon and Friction combined their magic and shot a sliver of light into the center of the room. It sparked and expanded out, covering the entire room. Everyone reacted and backed up a bit, even the royalty.

The light turned into a lush green countryside with rolling hills and plenty of plains.

“for countless centuries, we Changelings lived in peace, living in seclusion from the other races…” Leon started. The image flashed, bringing forth plenty of towns inhabited by Changelings. “…we happily fed off the love for each other, keeping us substrate for great a long while. But, we would travel to the other countries on occasion and… ahem… borrow loving families.”

“you mean kidnap.” Riku said.

“if you want to put it that way.”

“anyway…” Friction interrupted. “… we lived happy and peaceful lives, living under the monarchy of the royal family. Until…”

“until what?”

“until HE came.”

The image changed from a peaceful and tranquil place to one of war and death. At the far end was a black unicorn with purple fire coming out of his eyes and a red horn. He had armor on his chest and a red cape which morphed into wings. Dark fire rose around him as he smiled wickedly.

“w-w-w-w-w-who is that?” Applebloom said, scared out of her wits. And she wasn’t the only one. Everyone was pretty frightened by his appearance, even Celestia and Luna.

“We don‘t know.” Leon said.

The Unicorn raised a staff into the air and swung it towards a Changeling city in the distance. A army of shadow ponies rose from shadows and marched towards it, leaving dark crystals in their wake.

“he launched an attack on our country, seeking to turn it into his own chaotic playground. He was quite powerful and nearly overwhelmed us. But, thanks to the sacrifice of the royal family, we were able to rout him away, sealing his powers away.”

The Unicorn snarled and roared, launching a bolt of magic into the sky before a wave of green fire washed over him.

“but before we sealed his powers away, he cursed our land, turning it into a veritable wasteland.”

The image changed, showing a damaged country-side that looked like it was hit by several dozen nukes.

“nothing ever grew there anymore. And anything that did turned into ravenous mutants that devoured anything and everything. At some points we… even had to resort to cannibalism to survive.”

“oh dear.” Amelia somberly said.

“that’s not the worst of it.” Friction said. “during the final battle, we lost the last heir to our throne. She sent flying by one of HIS spells. From what she told us, she wound up at the Crystal Empire, where she befriended it’s heir.”

The image changed to filly Cadence and Chrysalis meeting each other for the first time in the forest.

“Cadence?” Armor breathed.

“they became the best of friends until Cadence was ripped away from our princess and taken to Canterlot 16 years ago.”

“16 years.” Celestia muttered. Something about that time felt familiar. It also felt familiar to Twilight. They both arrived at the same conclusion.

“it was because of me, wasn’t it?” Twilight asked, knowing full well the truth. “Cadence came to Canterlot because I became Celestia’s student and she needed a foal-sitter to look after me when she couldn’t.”

“no. It was mine.” Celestia sadly said. “I never knew she could be capable of this, at that young age. And I didn’t believe that was her 6 months ago, either.”

“what are you talking about?” Gilda asked, having trouble following that part of the story.

“she’s saying that the filly Cadence befriended 16 years ago…” Req said as she walked to the center of the image, right near Cadence and Chrysalis. “… is currently the one in control of Canterlot.”

Armor looked at the filly, knowing who it was even before Req said it. “Chrysalis. She launched both invasions as revenge at Celestia for taking Cadence away, and to save her people.”

“that was her original intent…” Leon said as the image changed to the current Chrysalis with the same eyes as the Unicorn from before. “… but she’s grown too power-hungry. She’ll see the world burn before helping out her people.”

“it all leads back to that Unicorn.” Zel said. the image switched back to the evil and epic looking equine with fire around him. “if we find him, we can probably reverse this.”

“we tried but we couldn’t find him. It’s like he disappeared into the shadows he commanded. No, it all comes down to defeating Chrysalis; even if it does leave us without a ruler.”

Celestia couldn’t accept that. She could never take out a kingdom for her own. And each country is connected to their rulers. If they die, the country and it‘s citizens go with them. “no. there has to be another way. Changelings don’t deserve to die. They have a right to live just like us.”

“but if you want your country and friends back, you have to take her out.” Leon insisted.

“Oh!” Pinkie exclaimed out. “didn’t Jax say she invented a spell that could help with these type of scenarios?”

Req hit herself in the head; how could she have been so blind? “of course. Personality Shift!”

“the what?” the newcomers asked.

Req snapped her fingers, switching the picture to their battle with Nightmare Moon. “during our fight with Nightmare Moon, she took advantage of a situation and possessed me and the only way to get her out of me was for Jax to use a spell she had recently invented; Personality Shift!”

The image moved, showing Jax casting the spell. The spell turned into a white blade, which she grabbed and charged at Nightmare Requiem. She hit her in the head, causing a flash of light. When it passed, Req and Nightmare fell to the ground separately.

“well, that’s good and all but Chrysalis isn’t possessed by anyone.” Friction said.

“Ah, but that’s the beauty. The spell has two different ways to work. The first one, you already saw, but the second one…” the image changed the 2 different Chrysalis’. “turns the victim into two separate people; One good. One evil.”

Now they were getting it. “so if we rescue Jax and have her cast the spell on Chrysalis…” Spike started.

“… we then take out the evil one and leave the good one for the Changelings. Everyone wins.” Applejack finished.

Celestia liked it. It was better then no plan at all. “all right. But we still need a plan of attack. Chrysalis still has that barrier surrounding Canterlot as well as that monster Oscurita.”

The doors opened wide, breaking the image. “I’m afraid we have bigger problems right now.” Fluttershy panted.

Vascillia flew over the river and right towards the capital. The Changelings and Shadow Beings prepared for a fight but Edge was here for a different reason.

He was looking for confirmation about a number of things, biggest of which was those images that keep entering his mind.

He reached into his armor and pulled out the necklace. This seemed to be the catalyst for it all. Another flood of images raced though his mind. He bent over and held his head in pain. The answers he needed were here; he’s sure of it.

Orochi raised the card up and let it go. It hovered their as the image glowed.

Tenebrae snickered. “Time for a grand finale…”

Wisps of darkness wrapped around the image then into the sky.