At last the train slows to a stop. Orion places the sleeping foals on his back, and trots off with Raven and Steno, headed toward the castle, watching again for any changeling drones.
Steno trots along quietly, his face stoic in nature, betraying nothing. The palace guards allow the group entrance without so much as a word of challenge. Steno leads the group through the castle, and past the heavily-guarded hallway. Familiar voices can be heard, although faintly, from the vast expanse. The guards in the hallway seem to be on higher alert, watching the group pass as much as they are watching the heavy doors at the end of the hall.
Steno leads the group to a well-furnished room. "We weren't expecting you to bring company. I will make arrangements for the rest to have places to sleep. The queen will more than likely want to see you early in the morning. I suggest you get some good sleep." Steno then exits the room and closes the door, locking it from the outside.
Luna's moon shone brightly over the darkened city, and the stars twinkled in the sky. Something seemed off, however. Many of the constellations seemed to be out of place, their stars arranged in different patterns. Even the moon seemed to be slightly different. Not so much that the average pony (or changeling) would notice, but one that observes the stars would be able to detect.
Orion frowns suddenly, staring up at the moon and stars. "Raven, come look... Something's going on in the sky. The stars are in the wrong spots, the moon isn't where it should be... Either Chrysalis is learning how the night sky works, or Princess Luna is sending us a message."
"Chrysalis moving the sun and moon? Impossible, she doesn't have the power to do that..." Raven joins Orion at the window and studies the stars. "Yes... it's a message of some sort. Looks like... Old Equestrian? Definitely Luna, then." She studies carefully. "She's letting us know that she and Celestia are alive!"
"That seems to be the case..." He smiles. "Excellent. They must be the ones behind the locked door in the guarded hallway." He gets an idea. "How do you feel about a little bit of espionage?"
A grin spreads across her face, as she looks about conspiratorially. "Whatever you ask, my husband." She steps away from the window and seats herself on the couch. She pats the cushion next to her and nods to Orion.
Orion goes over and sits beside her, smiling. "This is my idea: we go the guarded rom, get past the guards, open the door, and if I'm right, we'll rescue the Princesses and let them deal with Chrysalis and her changelings. Thoughts?"
Raven thinks for a moment. "Our biggest challenge is getting past the guards. You've seen how many there are, and they don't appear to be the type to stand for idle chit-chat. We're also locked in our room. A simple lockpicking spell would work, I suppose, and we should be able to move about. I'd love to hear your ideas on the guards. And how we propose to get by them."
"A fireball spell, perhaps... But that would prove dangerous. I'd burn the rest of the castle too, possibly. Unless..." He gets an idea. "Invisibility! And a distraction!"
Raven listens with rapt attention. "Yes... invisibility! While one distracts, the other slips past unseen and opens the door! Perhaps I can do some simple tricks to distract the guards. Nothing fancy, of course, but I might be able to cobble something together." She smiles, and hugs Orion.
Orion smiles and hugs back. "That's my magical mystery mare! Let's get to work!" His horn glows as he begins to cast the invisibility spell on himself. He would begin to fade from sight.
Raven searches the room and finds a deck of cards, and some poker chips. Pocketing a few of them, she moves to the door, awaiting Orion to unlock it. She takes a deep breath and whispers, "Ready..."
"Me too." The invisible pony trots out into the dark hall, his hooves making little sound.
Raven follows along, glancing about occasionally to make sure they aren't being followed or watched. Before long, they are close to the long, heavily-guarded hallway. Taking another deep breath, Raven collects herself and starts walking right down the middle of the hall.
"HALT!" comes the command, and instantly Raven is surrounded by fierce-looking guards, spears at the ready. "No one enters this hallway, pony! Explain yourself!" commands the higher-ranking of the group.
Raven smiles sweetly. "My apologies, dear sir. I was thinking about a magic trick and got completely lost. I didn't mean any harm." She flashes an innocent look to the assembled guards. "Would you like to see it?" she asks, retrieving the deck of cards from her jacket pocket.
While the guards are busy, Orion slips down the hall to the door, using a lock-picking spell on the door. For once, his horn does not visibly glow or make any noise. It's like he isn't even there!
Raven turns and faces the door, positioning herself so that the guards cannot see when, or if, the door opens. She selects the beefiest-looking guard. "You there, good sir. Please pick a card, and study it carefully. Memorize it, and place it back in the deck." She slip-forced the three of clubs on the unsuspecting guard, distracting him with her bright smile and constant patter.
Watching as the guard put the card back in the deck, she said, "Now watch and be amazed as I shuffle the deck" - she shuffles, keeping the selected card in a steady position - "and cut the deck, once, twice, thrice!" On the final cut, she shows the three of clubs on the bottom of the cut half of the deck. "Good sir, is this your card?" she asks. A wave of amazed 'ooh's and applause echoes through the hallway. She bows and glances toward the door quickly before straightening up.
The door is held open for her, just enough to allow her entrance. Once Raven is inside, Orion would close the door and teleport in after her, removing the invisibility spell from himself in the process.
Raven stands to the side of the door, looking into the room. There, nearest the window, sat the two regal sisters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Suffice to say, neither seemed too happy about the intrusion into their makeshift "cell." They both turned and glared at Raven.
Orion Shadow steps up from behind, now visible. He bows to the Princesses. "We got your message, Princess Luna… we came to rescue you both."
Upon spotting Orion, their faces soften to reveal relief. Princess Luna is first to speak. "Thou hast done well, Sir Orion. We are most pleased that thou were able to find my sister and I." She bows slightly.
Princess Celestia adds, "Thank you, my little ponies. It is always good to see you, but never more so than now. But, tell me, what of Longhaul Hoofer, our royal courier? Did he not make the trip with you?"
A muffled clamor could be heard outside the door, but so far no attempt has been made to open it.
Orion Shadow lowers his ears and bows his head. "He's dead, your majesties… he poisoned himself, pre-empting Chrysalis' ordered execution. I'm sorry… I am so sorry."
The princesses are stunned, and saddened, but their visages remain stoic. "We will grieve later, and his memory will be honored. We must focus on the task at hoof: getting to the throne room and defeating Chrysalis once and for all!" Luna said, her voice raising with her rage.
"This is true, my sister. But first we need to get through the guards outside this door." Celestia lowers her head in front of Orion. "Before we were imprisoned in here, she had her guards place dampers on our horns, and in this hallway and room. While we can still perform our duties of raising the sun and moon, we cannot perform any other magic. As long as we remain in this room, and near this hallway, we are as magic-less as an earth pony, and the guards outside can..." Her voice trails off as voices grow louder outside the door. The sound of a key turning in the lock attracts everypony's attention. "Quickly! Hide yourselves!" Celestia whispered, as she and Luna seated themselves on the large sofa facing the door.
Orion's horn flares to life as he teleports himself and Raven behind the sofa, then crouches down just for good measure. His ears flick as he waits for the changelings on the other side to enter, at the same time trying to calm down his breathing so they are not spotted.
The door bursts open and several guards rush into the room, spears pointed menacingly at the princesses. While two remain to watch the princesses, the rest begin a quick search of the room. The sergeant of the guards approaches the princesses. "We heard voices in this room, and two of our 'guests' are unaccounted for. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" he sneers, leaning in to inspect the dampers on their horns.
Celestia smiles sweetly. "Why no, my good sergeant. 'Tis just my sister and I engaged in a rather heated debate is all. As you can see, we are quite alone in here. Now, was there anything else?"
The other guards finished their search and shrugged. The sergeant shook his head. "Please pardon the intrusion," he said with a menacing smile. "One can't be too careful these days..." He left, followed by the guards. The door closed and the key turned in the lock.
Celestia and Luna both looked relieved. "Thou may come out now, Sir Orion," Luna said quietly, or as quietly as she could manage.
Orion Shadow pops back into view, trotting to sit near the two alicorns. "With respect... Whatever we do, we should do it quickly. The guards are smart, and sooner or later they're going to connect the dots."
"We concur," says Luna, "And we desire to be rid of this accursed damper!" She hoofs at her horn, trying to dislodge it. Having no luck with that, she slumps down. "We do not wish to fight our way out of here, but we see little option."
Celestia thinks briefly. "Orion, we know we cannot remove the dampers physically, but do you think you could remove them with your magic?" She indicates a small ring at the base of her horn. "It may be our only chance to be able to escape. It wasn't placed by a magic user, so it may not be magically bonded. Obviously," she says wryly, "we could not test that theory ourselves."
Raven nuzzles Orion. "I will listen at the door. Please see if you can help them." She trots to the door and places an ear against it.
"Will do, love," Orion says to Raven, before nodding to the Princesses. His horn glows as he casts a basic levitation spell on each of the dampers, trying to float them away into a far corner of the room.
The dampers strain as they attempt to remain fixed on the princesses' horns, but the magical pull is too great. Both dampers pop off and float away.
Luna tests her magic by levitating a piece of fruit from a nearby table. She is successful. Celestia tests hers by lifting and setting back down a chair. Nodding, they both get ready to retake their throne and their realm.
Using her magic, Luna quietly unlocks the door. She motions Raven and Orion behind her and her sister, before flinging the door open and blasting a stun spell down the length of the hallway. The guards never saw it coming, and all collapsed to the floor.
"Now! We must move quickly!" Celestia calls out, as the sisters charge through the door and toward the throne room.
Orion gallops along beside them, standing protectively in front of Raven as he throws several small lightning bolts at any stray changelings, only enough to stun them.
Entering the throne room, stun-blasting any guards and changelings that dared to get in their way, Celestia and Luna took strategic positions around Chrysalis. Chrysalis appeared stunned that the royal sisters were free and apparently had full use of their magic. Then she spotted Orion, protecting Raven and glaring at her menacingly. "You miserable stupid fool! Are you really that anxious to join your precious Longhaul?" she roared, her horn charging up, her eyes flickering with green flames.
Orion snarls at the changeling queen, his own horn lighting in a dark blue glow. "I have not yet begun to fight, Queen Chrysalis!" A fireball begins to form at the tip of his horn, growing larger. "I will die to protect my country! My family! My love! And I will NOT LET YOU TAKE THEM!" He flings the ball at the queen, his face twisted into an animalistic snarl.
With a mighty flap of her wings, Chrysalis deftly avoids Orion's fireball, and cackles loudly. Her own horn glows bright green, crackling with energy. "You ponies make such a brave noise," she sneered. "Very well then. If you wish to die that bad, so be it!" A highly concentrated blast of energy leaves Chrysalis's horn, aimed straight at Orion and Raven.
Raven screams in terror, moving in as close to Orion as she can, intending to die with him, if that is indeed their fate. She closes her eyes.
Then a shield forms around the two, placed there by Princess Luna. "It is THOU who makes the brave noise, foul changeling!" Luna shoots a blue bolt from her hown as Celestia fires a bright white bolt from hers.
The bolts strike true, Chrysalis barely has time to scream before she collapses in a heap on the throne room floor. Her chitin is scorched, as is her mane and wings. She lays there, unmoving.
Orion goes over and checks for a heartbeat, and finds none. "She's dead..." He says simply.
Celestia instantly throws a shield over the body. "We will take no chances this time. She has grown more powerful since last we fought; this could very well be more of her trickery." Once the shield is in place, she turns to Orion. "My little pony, you have served Equestria well. Every pony is in your debt this day, as are my sister and I." She bows humbly.
Luna joins Celestia and places a hoof on his shoulder. "Well done, most faithful pony. Thou will be rewarded for thy bravery." She smiles sincerely, and all four ponies turn to the shield containing the body of the changeling queen.
Orion feels a blush appear on his cheeks as he is bowed to, then turns back to Chrysalis' body, sighing heavily. "She deserves a burial… it is only proper… and something should be done about the hive. They need a leader now."
Steno Pad, having been alerted to the escape by the absence of Orion and Raven from their room, rushes into the throne room, his pony appearance shed in favor of his normal changeling appearance. Seeing the apparently deceased queen encased in a heavy shield, he approaches slowly, not caring if anypony would dare stop him from seeing his beloved queen. He looks upon her lifeless form, and starts to sob, quietly at first, gaining in volume as he drops to his knees, his shoulder shaking violently.
Princess Celestia approaches Steno and lays a hoof on his shoulder. "Please understand, we did what was necessary to protect our own, as she would have done had we invaded the hive. We will return her body to your people for proper burial." She stands with Steno as he slowly regains composure. "With your indulgence, Highness, I wish to accompany her home." Celestia only nods.
Orion Shadow looks to Steno, laying a hoof on another shoulder. "It was good to meet you, Steno… perhaps someday we might meet again."
"I will not forget your kindness, Orion. Perhaps someday, we might even be able to be friends." He manages a smile.
The royal guards, freed by Luna from their imprisonment, accompany the changeling guards into the throne room. "You are granted free passage to your homelands, and will be escorted past our borders by our guards," Celestia announces before dropping the shield. Wordlessly, the changeling guards use their magic to lift their dead queen's body and solemnly carry her out, followed by Steno Pad.
Celestia and Luna, along with Raven and Orion, watch the cortege proceed out of the room and down the massive hallway.
Orion holds Raven close as he watches the changelings leave, then sighs heavily. "I hope they do okay… Princesses with your permission, may I check on them from time to time, see how they're getting on with things?"
Celestia nods. "Of course. If you accept, I shall appoint you as ambassador to the changeling homeland, that is, under the assumption that they decide to establish diplomatic channels, of course."
Orion Shadow smiles. "I accept, your highness. As long as Raven can join me, that is."
Raven snuggles close to Orion, grinning. "Good luck keeping me away, my love," she says with a giggle. "Where you go, so do we." She pecks his cheek, then turns slowly to see both princesses watching this display. She blushes furiously, her lavender coat unable to hide the redness adding a glow to her cheeks.
Celestia and Luna simply smile. "We would not dream of rending thy family asunder," Luna says. "Of course, she may accompany thee."
At this, Orion beams, and kisses Raven on the cheek, before bowing again. "Thank you both… for now, let's go get some sleep." He takes Raven's hoof, and heads back toward the hall.