36: All Her Worst Fears
THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE, FOURTH EQUESTRIA
"It was you the whole time!" Rapunzel repeated angrily, glaring at Chrysalis. "You…you made everyone in this Empire think Eugene and I took the Amulet on purpose! YOU EVEN TOOK ON EUGENE'S SHAPE TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE HE WAS TRYING TO STEAL THE CRYSTAL HEART!"
"Very clever of you to figure it out," Chrysalis laughed. "All it took was a simple hint from the beloved leader of Equestria, and the populace was ready to turn on you. Transforming into Eugene was hardly necessary at that point…but the more hatred I could muster for Sombra's windigos, the better. If only the fool had the sense to repay the gesture!"
"How did you get in past the Crystal Heart, anyway?" Shining Armor asked.
"Sombra's new powers allowed him to put a protective spell on me," Chrysalis laughed. "We struck a bargain. He would allow me that way to gather all the love I needed to become fully powerful…after all, who in this world gathers more love than Princess Celestia? Then I would cultivate hatred toward somepony among the citizens of the Empire, enough to feed the Windigos. It was only a stroke of pure luck that the somepony in question could be my new enemies from Corona! However, that imbecile decided to launch his attack a day early! I didn't gather NEARLY enough power!"
"Why are you telling us all this?" Cadance asked.
"No, no…" Eugene interrupted her. "Don't stop her. If she doesn't talk, the rest of us have NO idea what's going on."
"Where's the real Celestia?" Rapunzel asked worriedly. "What have you done to her?"
"She is still in Canterlot, deciding how best to take action in response to the missing Amulet," Chrysalis laughed. "I suppose it's no secret by now who REALLY stole it."
"Sombra," Cadance replied.
Chrysalis laughed louder, longer. "Oh, so close! I suppose you shall just have to find out the truth another day. Let's just say that Sombra was only able to return from the dead because of an act of pure…CHAOS. But now, I wish to dispense with pointless chatter. It is time for me to finish what I began!"
Her horn charged up with a green beam. Cadance and Shining Armor, seeing what was about to happen, rushed in front of Rapunzel and Eugene, shielding them, charging up their own horns. Three beams emerged; Chrysalis' energy met up against the double beam from Shining Armor and Cadance. The latter two found it difficult to keep up the strength of the beams; despite her claims that Sombra had not let her gather enough power, Chrysalis was powerful indeed.
Rapunzel turned and ran. Confused, Eugene followed her.
Cadance and Shining Armor strained; the beams remained locked. Chrysalis became ever more determined to push her beam over the edge. After so long, Cadance and Shining Armor both felt their powers begin to falter; they sweated as they attempted to keep up the beam, but Chrysalis' power was beginning to overtake theirs. They believed, for a moment, that they would falter and she would win.
Then the frying pan struck Chrysalis across the temple.
Shining Armor and Cadance's twin beams hit Chrysalis square in the chest, and she flew backward, hitting the wall. The royal couple looked around to see their savior.
Rapunzel picked up the skillet. "That was a close one," she remarked.
"You weren't kidding about the frying pan!" Shining Armor laughed.
"Urgh…" Chrysalis peeled herself from the wall. "It doesn't matter. It's too late. Any moment now…the wall will come down."
Sombra had reached the Crystal Heart. He wasn't at all delicate about interrupting its spin; he knocked it from its pedestal. It hit the ground; after five seconds, its glow ceased.
Sensing the change in atmosphere, the windigos charged directly for the Crystal Empire. They found themselves able to cross the aura that the Crystal Heart had previously generated, and en masse, they swooped down into the streets, flying over ponies whose collective hate for Eugene and Rapunzel stood out like a flag.
After the windigos proved that the barrier was down, the Changelings burst from the snow. Hundreds of them had waited there, buried. They too burst into the Empire, seeking the ponies that were not covered in ice or frost by the windigos. They cornered these ponies, attracted to their capacity for love…the food that would calm their hunger.
"In fact, it already has," Chrysalis laughed, feeling the change in atmosphere. "Now, I must make sure that fool doesn't mess this up!" She disapparated.
Cadance, Shining Armor, Rapunzel, and Eugene rushed to the balcony to behold the horror below. Windigos swept through the streets; Changelings rushed from above. The civilians were in panic.
"What do we do?" Shining Armor asked.
"The only thing we can do," Cadance resolved. "We have to try and protect our Empire. Let's go."
"Uh, hello?" Eugene attempted as Cadance turned to gallop out of the palace; he followed, along with Rapunzel and Shining Armor. "Don't you remember that whole 'this guy killed the last Crystal Princess' thing?"
"I still have to try!" Cadance insisted.
"I'm with you!" Rapunzel insisted.
"Then count me in," Eugene added.
"And me!" Shining Armor finished.
Sombra licked his lips as he looked at the Crystal Heart. It was time to get rid of that bane of his existence for good. He opened his jaws, leaned down to take a bite—
"WHAT are you doing?"
Chrysalis marched up toward him angrily, kicking the Crystal Heart away from him. "Did you not hear what I told you? With that Heart, I can farm so much love and increase my own powers!"
"Don't care," Sombra growled.
"IMBECILE!" Chrysalis roared.
Sombra just gave a low, guttural sound in reply.
The next thing Chrysalis knew, she'd been blasted halfway down Main Street by Sombra's power. When she skidded to a halt, she flagged down two of the Changeling warriors, giving them an order.
Sombra resumed his attack on the Crystal Heart, kneeling once more to dine. He was interrupted again when Cadance, Rapunzel, Shining Armor, and Eugene barreled into the courtyard.
"Stand down, Sombra!" Cadance ordered.
Sombra just grinned. Then he laughed.
"Don't touch that Heart!" Shining Armor begged.
Sombra's saliva dripped down onto the Heart. He levitated it, grinning madly. Cadance, Rapunzel, Shining Armor, and Eugene all thought of rushing him to protect it.
Then the pair of Changelings swooped under the palace, snatching the Crystal Heart away and flying off with it, up into the sky.
"NO!" Sombra cried.
"The Heart!" Eugene cried. He looked to Cadance. Each recognized the sentiment in the other's eyes.
"AFTER IT!" they cried at once before turning and taking off after the Changelings, barreling down the chaos of Main Street.
Sombra turned his attention to Shining Armor and Rapunzel, snarling at them. In response, Rapunzel and Shining Armor stood firm, ready to take him on.
The Crystal Heart was visible as a blue twinkle in the crimson sky, bordered by the black Changelings that carried it. Eugene and Cadance rushed to catch up with the thieves, gaining on them.
"On your left!" Cadance called out, and Eugene leapt over a stream of icy breath from a windigo.
"On your right!" Eugene called out in response, and Cadance ducked the rush of a Changeling warrior in pursuit of another quarry.
"They're too high up," Cadance panted, looking again at the Heart. "I'm going to have to fly. Can you flank me on the ground?"
"I'm on it!" Eugene insisted.
Cadance paused briefly to bend her knees, then she sprang up into the air, spreading her wings. Airborne, she raced after the Heart; it grew closer and closer in her vision.
"Look out!" cried one of the Changelings—Cadance had no way of knowing this one was called "Doomie."
"AAAAH!" screeched the other—Cadance had no way of knowing this one was called "Misery."
Doomie and Misery, in a panic, dropped the Heart just as Cadance reached it. Cadance put out her wings to come to a halt; Doomie and Misery fled.
"You think the queen's gonna be mad at us?" Misery asked.
Doomie looked back and down onto the street. Then she smirked. "Nope."
The Heart hit the street and bounced. "GOTCHA!" Eugene bellowed, jumping so he stood over it with all fours. To his horror, a green aura encircled it, and it slid out from under him and into the air.
Chrysalis stepped forward to meet the Heart she levitated. "With this," she laughed, "I will be able to generate all the power I will ever need…"
"I am NOT letting you get away with that thing," Eugene growled.
"Oh?" Chrysalis raised a brow. "And what are you planning to do—"
Eugene turned and kicked at Chrysalis with his hind legs. She stepped backward just in time. Eugene spun around, got closer to her, and attempted the kick again; she ducked below his hooves.
Cadance dove toward where Chrysalis and Eugene sparred, making a beeline for the Changeling Queen. She thrust out her own hind hooves; Chrysalis felt her approaching presence and managed to sidestep. Eugene and Cadance, luckily, were able to divert their blows at the last minute so they did not land on each other.
Fed up, Chrysalis charged up a blast of green, sending it toward Cadance. Eugene noticed it, and shoved Cadance out of the way: "LOOK OUT—"
"EUGENE!" Cadance howled; Eugene, caught by the blast, was encased in a slimy green cocoon.
"Why will you not simply hold still and accept your fate?" Chrysalis snarled. "I will NOT let you get away this time!"
"Give it back," Cadance said simply.
The aura around the Heart changed to gold; Cadance tried to drag it out of Chrysalis' magical grip and back toward herself.
"NO!" Chrysalis cried, afraid of losing what she was sure would become her next power source. She clutched it tightly with her magic, pulling it back. But as hard as she pulled, Cadance wouldn't let go.
"You're going to lose," Chrysalis reminded her; Cadance backed off, toward the captured Eugene. "I still have all the power I gained from your Empire! You can feel it! The Heart is slipping from your grasp!"
Cadance knew that. That was why she kicked out backward, shattering the green casing around Eugene. "GET IT!" she yelled.
Eugene sensed his chance, diving in between the two mares to grab the Heart with his mouth. He took off running back for the palace.
Chrysalis was torn between chasing the Heart and finishing her business with Cadance. Recalling Maleficent's words, she decided that she would rather risk losing the Heart than Cadance. After all, even if Eugene got it back to the pillar, he couldn't replace it. Sombra would stop that.
Chrysalis blasted Cadance with green, but it wasn't as easy to encase her as it had been to trap Eugene. Cadance fought the cocoon, tearing it down at the edges as it built up.
"You WILL lose," Chrysalis reiterated.
Even though Cadance could feel herself weakening, she was still absolutely confident when she replied, "No. I won't."
At first, Sombra thought it was a joke. The mare and stallion before him were so small, so seemingly weak, that for them to actually take a stand before him—especially when they had run before!—was a shock. However, he reminded himself not to take such opportunities for granted. They needed to be destroyed…immediately.
Rapunzel glimpsed Shining Armor's horn charging up with power out of her peripheral vision. She remembered thinking that she wished she'd remembered to bring her frying pan outside with her as Sombra's horn also charged, with black energy that crackled like lightning. She wondered if she could do anything against it, but as far as she knew, her only magic power was healing.
The only thing she knew was that it would have been wrong to run.
The blast of black lightning struck her, and everything faded.
With a start, Rapunzel woke up in her bed. She took a moment to gather her bearings. She appeared to be in her bedroom in the castle of Corona. Everything there was as she'd left it.
She sat up to get a better look. That was when she realized she had a human body. Her head spun with questions. Had it all been a strange dream? How much of it was the dream?
If anyone would know, it would be Eugene. She stood up, leaving the bed, vowing to seek him. Her nightgown was conservative enough that she did not feel bad about wandering the halls of the castle in it.
She opened the door to come face-to-face with one of the guards. "Princess!" he said gruffly. "What do you think you are doing?"
"I'm going to find Eugene," she answered.
"To pay last respects? I did not think that common criminal deserved it."
Rapunzel was taken aback. "What?"
"Of course we had to execute him for his crimes. If you had forgotten, he was to be hanged at noon today."
"But…you can't do that," Rapunzel forced out. "I told you to rescind the death penalty…unless…unless that was part of the dream…"
"What dream?"
"Nothing. What did Eugene do that you want to hang him, anyway?"
"You know full well what he did. I'm not going to go over the details again."
Rapunzel's heart rate quickened. "No…" she whispered softly to herself. "No, this isn't happening…"
"Are you all right, Princess?"
"No! No, I am not all right! Eugene is about to die! He doesn't deserve it!"
"Are you suggesting you still love him?"
"YES! I still love him! And I always will!"
"That will make it difficult when your parents find a suitable match for you," the guard replied.
"A suitable match…" Rapunzel repeated. "If you'll please stand aside, I have to go find Eugene. Now."
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Princess. Not since the new decree."
"WHAT new decree?"
"Your parents have decided that you are too precious to risk losing," the guard informed her. "You have been lucky so far, but at any minute, something horrible could happen. The city is crawling with murderers. Ruffians. Thugs. You could even catch the plague! As the heir to the throne of this kingdom, we cannot risk you being harmed. That is why we are taking extra measures for your protection. As of today, you may no longer leave."
"I can't leave the castle?"
"You cannot leave your room."
"WHAT?" Rapunzel nearly stumbled; her knees went weak.
"We will bring you meals and other things you desire as you need them," the guard went on. "Trips to the restroom will require an escort from the guard. Your parents will visit daily."
"Let me talk to them now! I need to tell them this is ridiculous!"
"The king and queen are currently busy with legal matters regarding Eugene's execution, and will return after he is dead. Not before. Now, I suggest you make yourself at home in your quarters." The guard slammed the door.
Rapunzel immediately grasped the handle, trying her hardest to wrench the door open, but it was locked. Tears began to creep up into her eyes; the water blurred her vision. She crossed the room to sit down on the bed.
It was bad enough that Eugene was to die. But all the beauty of the outside world had been taken from her as well, all in one fell swoop. Never again would she draw in the streets. Never again would she dance with the crowds of civilians. Then again…perhaps the guard was right. Maybe things were more horrible than she'd known. Maybe she'd just been lucky.
To top it all off, she wasn't even sure of her own sanity. She couldn't pinpoint the exact moment where the reality of Corona ended and the dream beginning with the six Equestrians began. She had no memory of this mysterious crime Eugene had committed.
Eugene. Gone for eternity. She clasped her hands over her heart. Even if this crime had somehow been a great betrayal against her, she would have given anything she had—a hand, an eye—for his safe return. Or even for him to be let go, exiled, so long as he was alive and well and free. She would trade ever seeing him again for the chance to let him live. Then she would worry about whether or not the world outside was safe enough for her to fight for. After all, the streets were lined with ruffians, thugs, poison ivy, quicksand, cannibals, snakes, the plague—no!—yes…
Then it struck her. The guard had said those things in almost the exact way that Gothel used to say them to her. That was why she was able to recall that list so vividly in her head. It was the list of fears Gothel had always given to her. The things that had been her worst fears. Then she'd found the outside world, and while part of her remained nervous that such things could still overtake her, for the most part, her worst fears diluted to two: losing her newfound freedom…and losing Eugene.
Perhaps that was the point. This was all her fears coming true at once. Such a strange coincidence, especially when things didn't make sense. Her parents would never pass such a restrictive law. She knew them better than that. Eugene was not only clean of a life of crime, but the laws were such that he couldn't be punished unless she said.
Perhaps THIS was the dream…
"This is the dream, isn't it?" she said out loud. "This is my worst fear. You're trying to make me live out my worst fear!" If she was wrong, the worst that could happen was that she was insane; otherwise, she'd hit rock bottom. In captivity, she didn't care about sanity. There was nothing at stake in believing that this would work. "Well, I know this isn't how the world really is! That's not how my parents are! That's not what would happen to Eugene! I'm on to your trick, Sombra, and I'M NOT GOING TO FALL FOR IT!"
Rapunzel opened her eyes for real. She was once again a unicorn mare standing in the lower courtyard of the Crystal Palace—but then again, she'd never left that state. She'd simply been caught up in an illusion of Sombra's.
Sombra himself was fixated on watching Shining Armor. Shining Armor appeared to be under some sort of spell, and judging from Sombra's grin, he was just enjoying watching Shining Armor suffer. Shining Armor's eyes were glossed over in green, and he spoke in tones of utmost horror: "My parents…my sister…my wife…where are they? WHERE ARE THEY? WHERE IS MY FAMILY?"
Rapunzel realized that he too was living out his worst fear. "Shining Armor!" she called out, rushing to him, bumping into him to jolt him. "It isn't real! It's a trick!"
Sombra was taken aback that Rapunzel had broken his illusion. It took him a few seconds to register what was going on as Shining Armor stumbled, shook his head, blinked, and stared through eyes half covered by green film, seeing a little bit of each scene—the lower courtyard, and wherever he was in his fear—and not sure which to believe.
An aura of red blasted him. This one was meant to torment physically, not mentally. Shining Armor fell to the ground, unconscious, and skidded a few feet. Rapunzel could see that he was bruised and bleeding. Maybe a few bones were even broken—she couldn't judge how potent Sombra's spell was. She rushed to his side, hurriedly singing: "Flowergleamandglow…letyourpowershine…savewhathasbeenlost…bringbackwhatoncewasmine…" Her horn glowed bright gold, and when she reached Shining Armor, she leaned down, touching her horn to him.
His bruises disappeared, his cuts healed over, and he opened his eyes, now free of the green. He stood. "What…happened…
Rapunzel tried to explain: "Sombra trapped us in—"
She was interrupted by a low growl. Sombra was charging up more magic—bright red. This was to be another physical blow. It might have been deadly. There was no time to speak. There was barely time to think.
Rapunzel threw herself between Sombra and Shining Armor, her horn still glowing gold. Even though logically, she knew that such an act was probably self-sacrifice, somewhere deep down, she felt as though it was true protection, that she could somehow ward off Sombra's attack.
And from somewhere deep down, power came rushing.
The blast of red was met by a bright shine of white light that emanated from Rapunzel's horn. The two powers cancelled each other out.
"WHAT!" Sombra cried.
Rapunzel summoned the new power—some sort of light, driven by pure faith in her friends and in herself—and aimed it at Sombra again. The light poured forth, striking Sombra. He recoiled. Though he had no visible wound, it was clear that the light was hurting him in some way.
"NO!" he cried. "NOOOOOOOO!"
It became too much; he had to run. And so he did.
Rapunzel felt safe letting the light abate once Sombra was gone. Shining Armor gaped in awe. "Rapunzel…what…what was that?"
"I don't know," Rapunzel admitted. "I've never done anything like that before. Has that always been in me?"
"I would think so…"
A galloping noise caught the attention of both. They turned to see a sight that filled them with hope: Eugene carrying back the Crystal Heart at top speed.
When Rapunzel had cast the light at Sombra, it had formed a beacon, one visible from anywhere in the Empire. It caught the attention of Cadance. "What…" Cadance muttered.
"NO!" Chrysalis cried. "It cannot be! The powers Maleficent spoke of in the princesses!"
Cadance raised a brow. "You know something? Eugene was right."
"About what?"
"It is a good thing to let you talk. You always let us know just what's going on."
Cadance had made the connection immediately. Chrysalis was targeting her and Rapunzel. Both of them were princesses. If one of them had that sort of light…more than likely, so did the other. And she found it easily, deep down inside. A desire to protect. A desire to nurture. A desire to keep evil from reaching her friends. Her horn glowed a bright white.
The next thing Chrysalis knew, she was struck by a great beam of white light that sent her tumbling head over heels down Main Street. By the time she regained her bearings, Cadance was long gone.
"AFTER HER!" Chrysalis commanded the nearby Changelings.
Cadance headed down the street as fast as she could, dodging rogue Changelings and windigos. Hearing a buzzing noise behind her, she chanced a glance to see that the Changelings on her tail were not so rogue and had changed to have a definite focus.
She wasn't the only one who noticed. The Changelings had left their victims, all of whom looked up to see Cadance barreling down the street.
"Cadance!" Fields of Gold yelled. "RUN! YOU CAN MAKE IT!"
"RUN, CADANCE!" Magnet Bolt cried. "RUN!"
"She's going to make it!" Artemis realized. "She's going to save us all!"
For a moment, Cadance thought she would slip and fall behind. So she took to the air again, pausing only momentarily to build up the momentum to jump. Once in the sky, she was able to go ever faster…and she was also visible to more of the Empire. They could all see that she had escaped the Changelings and that she was headed somewhere with purpose.
Cadance touched down before the Crystal Palace and entered the lower courtyard just as Eugene, Rapunzel, and Shining Armor finished setting the Crystal Heart in place. The Heart slowly began to spin. Then, picking up on the faith the Empire's denizens had in their princess, it spun faster and faster.
Chrysalis felt the aura around her rumbling. She'd felt this before…at Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding. She realized what was coming, and she felt her stomach drop.
Then she, every attacking Changeling, and every attacking windigo were launched out of the Empire, thrown into the air to land somewhere among the snow of the Frozen North.
There was only one thought on Sombra's mind: to get away from the light. It made his essence uneasy, and he hated that. So, even though the Crystal Heart didn't affect him, still he ran.
Then he was broadsided by something he didn't expect. A blow sent him tumbling to the street. He looked up to see Magnet Bolt standing over him with a lance.
"Get OUT," she hissed, "of OUR EMPIRE."
Sombra growled at her, snapping at her with his jaws; she backed off. "Slaves!" Sombra insisted angrily. "MINE!"
Then the all too familiar voice: "That is enough, Sombra."
Sombra turned to see, standing in the middle of Main Street, the form of Princess Celestia. "Chrysalis," Sombra growled.
"No," Celestia insisted, and then Luna strode to her side. In horror, Sombra realized that it was not, as he had thought, Chrysalis in her disguise. He was staring down the two mares who had defeated him in the past.
"Shall we, sister?" Luna asked sternly.
"Yes, Luna," Celestia replied. She blinked. When her eyes opened, they were bright green throughout, and her horn crackled with dark energy. Luna did the same.
Sombra had already been afraid to deal with the strong lights that he'd encountered beneath the Crystal Palace. But now, even though the princesses no longer carried the power of the Elements of Harmony, which could strip him of his Amulet…combined, they created a darkness that matched his own, and they were not afraid to use it.
When they struck him, he ran, howling as fears attacked his mind. He didn't stop until he'd left the border, and even then, he kept going until he was no longer visible in the horizon.
"Princess Celestia!" Magnet Bolt sighed, and other ponies gathered around her. "Please tell me it's really you!"
"And Luna!" Fields of Gold added as she joined the group. "Please, say you're not Changelings!"
"Changelings," Luna repeated. "It looketh as though things were worse than we thought, sister."
"Indeed," Celestia agreed. "Don't be afraid. It's really us."
Having seen the Changeling army blasted away, the civilians believed, and it was true. They knew they were saved, between the bravery of Cadance and the power of Celestia and Luna.
The Crystal Heart spun just a little faster, and the sky returned to blue. A blast of pure joy emitted from the spire of the Crystal Palace, and the entire Empire was engulfed in it. Everypony within witnessed the changing of his or her coat from opaque to gleaming, sparkling crystal.
Even Rapunzel and Eugene experienced this. "Okaaaay," Eugene said, "what just happened to me? Why do I look like a crown jewel?"
"This is the most beautiful thing…!" Rapunzel gasped.
"This would be the other perk the Crystal Heart gives us," Cadance explained. "It means things are all right."
When Celestia and Luna reached the lower courtyard, approaching, Rapunzel and Eugene backed off in fear. "Don't worry," Shining Armor reassured them. "It's really them this time."
"We were on our way to make sure you'd received the news that the Alicorn Amulet had gone missing," Celestia said, "but when we got here, it was apparent you already knew." She smiled. "I see you've made some new friends."
"They're not really new to you," Cadance replied. "Celestia, Luna…this is Rapunzel and Eugene of Corona. From the letters."
Celestia and Luna were both taken aback; then they broke into wide smiles. "Welcome to Equestria!" Luna greeted.
"It's wonderful to finally meet you," Celestia added.
"You too," replied Eugene. "The real you, that is."
That confused Celestia. "I think you'd better tell us what happened here."
THE FROZEN NORTH, FOURTH EQUESTRIA
One by one, the heads of the Changeling warriors popped up out of the snow; every Changeling looked around to get his or her bearings. They'd landed some distance away from the Empire, which was seen to glow softly on the horizon.
Chrysalis got to her hooves, standing to full height to glare at the Empire. "So that was the power that Maleficent wished to contain. I see now why she wanted it suppressed." She turned to her army. "Listen to me! We have a new goal. Throughout the multiverse, there are princesses with powers like that! We must learn how to combat them so they do not harm us so again. And then…we will secure them so that they do not stand in the way of the glorious chaos to come."
"Your Highness!" Doomie alerted. "Behind you!"
Chrysalis turned back to see Sombra running toward her as quickly as he could. Her temper flared. "YOU!" she screamed. "You ruined EVERYTHING! Why are you running? You are the only one of us who can still enter the Empire! Go back! GO BACK!"
"NO!" Sombra roared, halting in front of Chrysalis.
"What is it that prevents you from doing so?" Chrysalis asked condescendingly.
"Light," Sombra growled. "Darkness."
"THAT IS ALL?" Chrysalis bellowed. "Surely you have faced a little light! And you are FULL of darkness!"
"CELESTIA!" Sombra replied. "LUNA!"
"YOU MAKE NO SENSE!"
The Changelings felt a sharp chill. Looking up, they saw a horrible sight. Without even bothering to alert their queen, they left the ground and flew, en masse, back toward the Changeling Kingdom as quickly as they could.
Sombra and Chrysalis kept arguing. "IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU, THE EMPIRE WOULD BE OURS, AND RAPUNZEL AND CADANCE IN OUR GRASP!" Chrysalis roared.
"NOT MY FAULT!" Sombra retaliated.
"IDIOT!"
"BLATHERSKITE!"
"OAF!"
The windigos circled above. Having lost the Crystal Empire—and the collective hatred there seemed to have abated—they sought new sources of hatred. The very one who had summoned them was exchanging quite hateful words indeed with his partner in crime. It didn't matter that he had summoned them. They weren't creatures of loyalty.
By the time Chrysalis noticed what was happening, it was too late. Sombra never figured it out at all. The windigos circled them, faster and faster, breathing their icy breath. Chrysalis let out one cry of dismay.
Then, when there was no more to do, the windigos flew back up into the heights of the northern sky. Below, standing in the snow, Chrysalis and Sombra were encased in ice, no more than crystalline statues—one looking slightly panicked and the other still far too focused in bellowing insults.
Chapter 36:
· I intentionally split up the teams so that each had a gender representative and a fandom representative. I didn't want to relegate either the men or the women to a role, nor did I want to just keep it homogenous by fandom and not explore crossover team-ups. So you get Cadance and Eugene vs. Chrysalis and Rapunzel and Shining Armor vs. Sombra.
· I was glad I got the opportunity to plug Doomie and Misery again.
· Sombra's "worst fear" power is something I derived from the door in his lair, where it's determined that if you look through it, you experience your worst fear. I figured he probably knows how to cast that enchantment.
· I figured that because so much of her personal journey involved getting out to see and love the real world, much of Rapunzel's fear would be that she would be cut off from it again. And I couldn't not include the death of Eugene. (Which actually makes Twilight look bad because in the show, her biggest fear was being proven a failure to Celestia and had nothing to do with losing her friends—but given the show's target demographic, I'm sure that the writers didn't want to touch upon creating a vision where the other five were dead.)
· Rapunzel and Cadance's Princess Powers are activating! Hey, if Maleficent wants them contained that badly, they must have some serious light abilities. After all, in the original Kingdom Hearts, the six canon Princesses of Heart mention that they are keeping a portal to pure darkness stable.
· I was ALMOST stalled on this chapter because of not knowing what to do with Sombra. I didn't want to get rid of the Amulet. I wanted to keep that on so when I next found use for Sombra, I could have a super badass version of him. But that would mean the Heart couldn't push him away. So what would run him out of the Empire? I decided that Celestia and Luna are probably more powerful than him. So I godmodded them a little bit. Celestia's "dark powers" are a shout-out to the slight amount of dark power she shows in the Crystal Empire episodes. I'll clear it up: she has enough dark power that she can intimidate other users of darkness like Sombra, but not enough to apparate at the speed of darkness. She really focuses more on light, which is how she got to be a Lumen Herald. And if I ever said that she was a candidate for a PoH, I want to retcon that right now. She isn't "pure" in the least. That doesn't make her any less good. She just has a capacity for dark magic and has also done some things that are less than moral in this story (like keeping secrets from the Mane Six because she's afraid, for example…). Anyway, it turned out that having them step in was far more beneficial to my ultimate plan anyway.
· Luna's Ye Olde English is probably terrible again and I apologize.
· The crystallization thing is canon. It happened at the end of the Crystal Empire episodes when the Heart was first returned. Everypony got bedazzled!
· "Blatherskite" is an old word for a braggart that I looked up specifically to get one good old-timey insult in.
· No, they're not frozen permanently. I have too many plans for one of them, and the other…will just remain in cold storage until I find use for that one.