Sorry it took me a month to finish this chapter, guys, but here it is.
The seriously wounded (including the unconscious Big McIntosh, who had been retrieved from the wrecked supply ship along with the bodies of Blueblood, Doctor Stable and Luna) were rushed to the Ponyville Hospital. Their injuries had been treated (in McIntosh's case this had required a blood transfusion from his sister, who had afterwards insisted on remaining by his side), but they were still unconscious. However, their wounds were minor in comparison to those of Princess Celestia. When Twilight, Cadance, Spike, Rarity, Granny and Rainbow Dash arrived, they found Doctor Hooves standing next to the princess's bed, examining her carefully.
When he looked up they could tell from his grim expression exactly what he was going to say. "There's nothing I can do. I fear the wounds are... fatal." He paused, looking intensely frustrated at his inability to help his patient. "Several of her internal organs were punctured. If only Princess Luna were here, perhaps her magic could heal her sister, but..."
"Princess, you can't die!" cried Spike, firmly gripping Celestia's leg as if he thought that would keep her in the living world.
"Do not grieve," Celestia told her subjects weakly. "Soon my sister and I will be together again."
"Princess..." Twilight whispered.
"Princess Cadance," said Celestia. Cadance came closer to her aunt.
"It is to you, beloved niece, that I entrust the Elements of Harmony, for you are now Princess of Equestria."
Cadance's eyes widened. "But Aunt Celestia, I'm not even a real alicorn!" She shook her head. "I'm not worthy."
"Nor was I," Celestia replied. "But one day a pony shall rise from our ranks and use the power of the Elements to light our darkest hour. Until that day... 'till all are one."
Using the last of her magic, Celestia levitated the crown from her head and towards Cadance. Her magic faded and the crown fell. Twilight quickly caught it, and light poured from it as she passed it to Cadance. Cadance removed her tiara and set it aside, then took the crown from Twilight. The crown ceased glowing as Cadance placed it on her own head.
Then the princess flatlined. Tears streamed down Rarity's face. The princess's eyes slowly closed for the last time, and she drew her final breath. Doctor Whooves pulled the cover up over her head. Spike buried his head in Celestia's chest and wept bitterly.
On the way back to Canterlot, Crysalis was deeply uneasy. Trixie seemed quite calm and relaxed; hardly the attitude of someone who had just attempted to betray her leader and feared punishment. Clearly she was up to something.
When the train was halfway across the portion of the track that crossed over a river, it stopped. The driver came into the coach and announced, "We need to jettison some weight or we'll never make it back to the City!"
Trixie stood up, cleared her throat and stated "Fellow Changelings! Our driver has requested that we lighten our burden!"
"In that case," responded Behemoth, "I say it's survival of the fittest!"
"Do I have a second on that?"
"Aye!" shouted the able-bodied Changelings.
"And against!"
"Nay!" groaned the wounded Changelings.
Trixie's eyes twinkled triumphantly. "The 'ayes' have it!"
Trixie opened the door. Against their protests, the wounded Changelings were pushed out. They fell into the river and were swept away by the current.
Chrysalis began to panick again as Trixie picked her up and carried her to the exit. She hesitated for a moment, savoring her moment of triumph.
"Oh, how it pains me to do this!" she commented, her words dripping with sarcasm.
"Wait!" Chrysalis begged. "I'm still alive!"
"Want to bet?" replied Trixie with a wink. She let go of Chrysalis.
"TRIXIEEEEE!" the queen screamed as she plummeted into the water below and was also swept away by the current.
Trixie wiped her hooves and walked back to the front of the coach, chucking.
"Well, now that Chrysalis has, shall we say "departed", I nominate myself as the new queen!"
"Wait!" protested Behemoth. "I am the strongest Changeling! I should lead!"
The Armored Changeling stood up. "No! Chrysalis still rules! We must rescue her!"
"Chrysalis was defeated in battle!" Behemoth pointed out. "She is no longer fit to lead!"
The Armored Changeling's lieutenants stepped between him and Behemoth, shouting "If you're so strong, let's see you fight us!"
"As you wish!" Behemoth replied, enlarging himself as much as the coach would permit and charging at the lieutenants.
Trixie walked back to her seat and lay back in it to watch the fight. Whoever emerged victorious would be exhausted, and then she would defeat him. She had already waited a month to take command; she could wait a while longer.
"Chrysalis. It's time to wake up now."
Chrysalis opened her eyes. She could not tell where she was, but leaning over her was a tan unicorn with a grayish-brown mane, tail, beard and mustache and light-gray eyes. He wore a dark gray suit, white shirt and green bow tie.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
"You may call me Jack."
"What is this place?"
"This is my home, at least for the time being, and I've summoned you here for a purpose."
"Nopony summons me!"
"Is that so? Well, I did."
"State your business!"
"No 'thank you'? By the time I fished you and your companions out of the water they had already drowned. If it wasn't for me you'd be as dead as them. But we can discuss etiquette later. Right now I need you to go to Ponyville and destroy the Elements of Harmony. They are the only things that can threaten me."
"Then you have nothing to fear," boasted Chrysalis. "I've already crushed Celestia with my bare hooves!"
"Don't exaggerate. I saw what happened."
"The point is she's dead! Without her, the ponies will be easy pickings for my Changelings, even with...Trixie...leading them. They'll slaughter the ponies before the Element Bearers can come together!"
"Wrong again, I'm afraid. Before she died Celestia made Princess Cadance the new leader. No, you'll definitely have to destroy the Elements for me."
Chrysalis felt her temper flaring. What right did this unicorn have to tell her what to do?
"Why should I? What's in it for me?"
Jack's eyes widened in surprise, then twinkled with amusement. "Was that a serious question? You're hardly in a position to make a bargain, but very well. I'll give you a new body and new troops to command."
"And?"
"And nothing!" The amusement in Jack's eyes was replaced by irritation. "You're not entitled to anything. You belong to me now!"
"I belong to nopony!"
Jack turned away. "As you wish. Apparently I misjudged you. I hope you enjoy burning alive."
There was a blinding flash of light, and suddenly Chrysalis was suspended in mid-air above a pit of flames. Worse, she was steadily being lowered into it. Her desire for self-preservation temporarily overrode her ego and she cried "Wait! No! Stop! I accept your terms!"
There was another flash of light. The pit was gone, and she was lying on the ground again, with Jack grinning down at her.
"I knew you'd see it my way."
A third flash, and Chrysalis felt the pain fading from her body and being replaced by strength-far more strength than she had previously possessed. She stood up, and for the first time she noticed that the bodies of the other Changelings who had been thrown off the train were lying there.
"You're no longer Chrysalis," Jack observed. "I think we'll call you Metamorphosis now. And these will be your minions: Nightingale and her Shadowbolts!"
A fourth flash, and the dead Changelings were replaced by live pegasi. One was a light-gray mare with a blue mane and tail. The others were dark-gray stallions with purple manes and tails. All of them wore purple-and-black flightsuits with winged pony skull emblems.
"Well, now that I've held up my side of our bargain, it's your turn. Go!"
"I'll rip Cadance and every other pony to pieces until the Elements have been destroyed!" Metamorphosis vowed, noting that her voice sounded different now, "but first I have some unfinished business in Canterlot. Come, Shadowbolts!"
The Queen and her minions disappeared into the sky.
"Just make sure you destroy the Elements!" Jack called after them.
Overall, this was the happiest day of Trixie's life. The throne upon which she now sat was even more comfortable than she had assumed it would be, and gathered before her was the multitude of followers she had craved. On the flipside, she deeply regretted giving Behemoth a trumpet, as he seemed reluctant to finish the overture.
"Get on with the ceremony," she ordered, but Behemoth played on. Finally, Trixie fired a single blast that sliced off the mouth of the trumpet, silencing him and leaving him humiliated. He deserved it, she decided, for trying to take the spotlight away from her. This was her day.
Her new crown was placed upon her head. Adjusting it, she stood up, cleared her throat and began the coronation speech she had prepared the day after she had joined Chrysalis's army.
"Fellow Changelings, as your new queen I-"
Suddenly five pegasi, led by a brown alicorn, burst into the room. All the Changelings turned away from Trixie to survey the new arrivals.
Trixie hated being interrupted, and she hated having attention drawn away from herself even moreso. Purple with rage, she stood up and demanded "WHO DARES DISRUPT THE CORONATION OF THE GREATER AND MORE POWERFUL TRIXIE?!"
"'Coronation', Trixie?" the alicorn sneered. "This is bad comedy!"
At first Trixie was almost flattered that this complete stranger knew her name, but then she looked into the alicorn's green eyes and found them chillingly familiar.
"Chrysalis? Is that you?" she asked, praying desparately that the answer would be no.
"Here's a hint!" The grin that accompanied this statement confirmed Trixie's worst fears. She knew her fate was sealed.
Metamorphasis fired a powerful blast that engulfed Trixie's entire body. As the white-hot flames consumed her, Trixie screamed in agony, a scream that only ceased when her body had been reduced to a smouldering pile of ash. Her crown, bereft of its wearer, fell to the floor and rolled down the steps, stopping at Metamorphasis's feet. Metamorphasis raised one hoof and stomped on the crown, crushing it flat, then turned to face the assembled Changelings.
"Will anyone else attempt to fill her shoes?" she asked.
"What did she say her name was?" asked one lieutenant.
"Metamorphasis," Metamorphasis replied.
Instantly the Changelings broke into an enthusiastic chorus of "All hail Queen Metamorphasis!" as their new ruler seated herself on her throne.
An hour before, the Wonderbolts had brought the bodies of Celestia and Luna back to the castle. Surprise had subsequently volunteered to take the Elements of Harmony to Cadance, giving her the opportunity to visit with Pinkie Pie. Neon Lights and Lucky Clover, posted on the wall outside, had watched her go. Now they were watching as enormous black, thorny vines moved out of the forest and into the clearing.
"Where'd those come from?" wondered Neon.
"Who cares?" Lucky replied. "I'm more worried about where they're going!" The vines were now halfway up the wall, and had sprouted crab-like flowers.
Neon switched on his radio. "Talk to me, Ponyville! We've got a situation here! Roger me, wilco me, anything! Hello, hello Ponyville!"
In Ponyville, the ponies were hard at work hauling away the wreckage of Town Hall in preparation for its reconstruction. Cadance, who now wore the box containing the Elements around her neck, was supervising. Then Vinyl carried her radio into the square and announced "I'm picking up a faint signal!"
"This is Rising Star-weird-looking plants just showed up outside the castle!"
"And they're attacking us!" Lucky's voice added.
There was a hissing sound, a violent fit of coughing, a sound of heavy objects falling, then silence.
"Neon Lights! Lucky Clover!"
Vinyl boosted the signal, and eventually Shining Armor's voice came through.
"This is Shining Armor and Caramel!"
"These things, these monster plants have grown over the wall and are encroaching on the castle!"
"And they're heading this way!"
"We'll try and slow them down!"
"But you'd better get here fast because we're not going to-"
The transmission suddenly dissolved into static.
"Big brother!" Twilight cried.
The vines pulled open the castle doors and slithered inside, only to find their path blocked by the remaining guards.
"Ready!" shouted Shining Armor. "Aim! Fire!"
The guards hurled their spears, and when it was over, the vines had been cut down and lay motionless, leaking green fluid on the floor. But before Shining Armor could congratulate his men on a job well done, more vines poured in through the hole in the ceiling, opening crab-like flowers.
"Oh, horse apples!" Shining Armor cursed. "What're we gonna do now?"
Then spores spilled out of the flower and directly into his face, and everything went black.
Metamorphasis had been watching the events unfold in her crystal ball. When she heard a voice laughing and recognized it as Jack's, she leaped to her feet, enraged.
"How dare Jack! All of Equestria belongs to me!"
Suddenly her head felt as though it were on fire. She clutched at it, moaning.
"But remember-" Nightingale told her, "we belong to him!"
"I belong to nopony!" she insisted. The pain increased, causing to lose her balance, stumble down the stairs and collapse, getting a mouthful of Trixie's ashes in the process. The Armored Changeling rushed to her side, concerned.
"I will obey, Jack!" she groaned, and her pain ceased. She rose to her feet and ordered, "Shadowbolts, to Ponyville!" She then turned to the Armored Changeling and gestured to the ashes, stating "Make sure this mess is cleaned up by the time I get back!"
"My little ponies, prepare to board the transports. This new menace is more dangerous than all the Changelings put together! Somehow we must destroy them before they devour all of Equestria!"
"But what about Shining Armor?" Twilight questioned. "He's still in the castle!"
"Twilight," Cadance assured her, "we'll do everything we can for Shining Armor."
"I don't intend any disrespect, princess," interjected Applejack, "but just what are we gonna do when we get there?"
"Maybe the Elements can stop them," Cadance replied.
"You're right-they can!" Twilight agreed.
"What d'you know about it, young 'un?" asked Granny Smith.
"The Elements defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord," Twilight pointed out. "They can deal with this."
"We'll go to Fillydelphia and get Fluttershy, then go to Canterlot," Cadance instructed.
"Look!" Applejack pointed at the sky. An unfamiliar-looking alicorn was approaching, leading a small army of pegasis who looked disturbingly like the Shadowbolts.
"To the transports!" ordered Cadance.
"I, Metamorphasis, will crush you just as Chrysalis crushed Celestia!" the alicorn bellowed.
"And you'll die trying, just like Chrysalis!" Cadance answered defiantly, firing a blast that knocked Metamorphasis off-balance. The other ponies took advantage of this distraction to make their escape.
"Pony scum!" growled Metamorphasis.
"You want me to gut Cadance?" Nightingale inquired eagerly.
"By no means," Metamorphosis shook her head. "There are plenty of ponies for you-Cadance is mine!"
"Stay close to Rarity and I, Spike!" Twilight told her assistant, quickly raising a small shield to block a blast from the Shadowbolts.
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Spike answered.
When Cadance reached the area where Twilight's balloon and a dirigible were docked, she found Derpy Hooves sitting on the dirigible's gangplank and Rainbow Dash attempting to push her up it.
"Come on, Derpy!" she growled.
"I told you I'm not going anywhere! Get your hooves off of me!"
"Raindow Dash, get Ditzy onto the airship!"
"I'm trying to, but she says she won't budge until Pinkie Pie brings her muffins! I told this featherbrain that if she doesn't get onto the airship she won't live to eat any muffins, but she won't listen to me!"
"Featherbrain?" Derpy looked very hurt. "Now you listen to me-"
Before the conversation could continue, Pinkie Pie came bounding on, a box of muffins on her back.
"Here you go, Derpy! Freshly-baked muffins for you to share with your daughters!"
"Thank you, Pinkie!" Derpy smiled, then glared at Rainbow Dash.
Realizing her mistake, Rainbow Dash said "Oh...I didn't know." She laughed nervously. "Uh...sorry about that, Derpy."
Derpy turned to Cadance. "I'd rather go with Pinkie, princess."
"Then get on board and get out of here!" Cadance replied, moving past them and into the gondola.
Derpy and Pinkie boarded Twilight's balloon, where Surprise, Raindrops, Twilight and Granny already were. As the Shadowbolts approached, Twilight untied the balloon and it floated away.
"Looks like we're shipmates, Spike!" Applejack told the dragon as they followed Cadance and Doctor Hooves into the dirigible.
"That's fine with me, Applejack," Spike answered. The door closed behind him.
Doctor Hooves and Cadance took the controls. "Hurry!" Cadance told him.
The propellor started, and the dirigible rose into the air. As Spike looked out the window, he suddenly noticed Rarity galloping after them, calling them to stop.
"Wait, Princess Cadance!" Spike yelled. "Rarity is still out there!"
Applejack quickly opened the door and lassoed Rarity.
"Jump, sugarcube!" she shouted.
Rarity did so, and Applejack pulled her safely inside, closing the door again.
"Thank you, darling," Rarity responded.
"That was close!" Spike commented.
"Believe it or not," answered Applejack, "that was the fun part!"
Cadance switched on the intercom. "Congratulations, my little ponies. We've lost them, so rest while you can."
While Derpy and Raindrops listened in fascination to a story from Granny Smith's childhood and Pinkie Pie and Surprise had a conversation that none of the other ponies could follow, Twilight contented herself with practicing her magic.
Suddenly Metamorphosis and the Shadowbolts were diving on them again.
"They're closing on us!" Twilight warned.
Granny Smith grabbed the rope and changed the balloon's course, dodging the attackers in the nick of time.
"We survived that!" Twilight observed joyfully.
"Yeh," nodded Granny Smith, "but will we survive this?"
The Shadowbolts were circling away from the group.
"Nightshade," ordered Metamorphia, "attack!"
Nightmare broke away from the others and charged straight through the balloon, puncturing it.
"We're going to crash!" Twilight yelled.
Applejack looked on in helpless horror as the basket dropped like a stone. She told Princess Cadance, "Granny Smith and Twilight just bought it!"
Though Cadance was filled with despair at the thought of losing her beloved sister-in-law, she could not deal with her feelings at the moment, and responded "I can't deal with that right now!"
The Shadowbolts were in hot pursuit.
Applejack looked serious. "Face it, princess: the Shadowbolts are gonna dog us until they see us dead!"
Cadance had a flash of inspiration. "Then that's exactly what they're gonna see! Prepare to abandon ship!"
"That would leave us completely unprotected, princess," Doctor Hooves cautioned.
"What choice do we have?" Cadance pointed out.
The dirigible halted in mid-air. Seizing the opportunity, the Shadowbolts went through its envelope, tearing it apart. The gondola crashed to the ground and burst into flames.
"The ponies are dead!" Nightingale declared gleefully.
"Excellent!" smiled Metamorphosis. "And the Elements with them!"
Suddenly her head was once again in burning pain.
"Jack-why?!" she screamed. The pain ceased. She turned to her concerned minions and told them, "Take me to Jack! Take me now!"
The Shadowbolts flew off, supporting their weakened queen between them.
The dirigible's former occupants, engulfed in a force-field generated by Cadance, were lowered gently to the ground. They found themselves on a beach.
"Did we have to let them detonate our ship?" Rarity asked.
"Seein' as how they would've detonated us along with it, ah think it was a good choice!" Applejack answered.
"But now how are we going to get there, darling?"
"We'll rest here for a moment, then go the rest of the way on foot," Cadance replied.