Chapter 38
The air felt thin and for the first time in what felt like centuries, the Everfree Forest felt silent, emotionless, still, and many more things. Celestia could only stare at the hypnotized Shining Armor as he walked out Zecora's hut, he was completely expressionless, as if his whole face was just a mask of his former self. Shining looked like he was mumbling something to himself, just what did Sunset do to him?
Celestia was filled with guilt, even though she wasn't the one who put the spell on him. It was her fault Sunset did this, she should've taught her better and maybe she wouldn't have left. Was this even a spell? Did Sunset use chaos magic for this? Could this be reversed? All these thoughts threatened to bring the alicorn to tears, which resulted in Shining eyeing her up and down like he was a robot.
"I- I'm sorry" was the only thing Celestia could get herself to say as she stood up. Shining responded by lowing his head down but keeping his eyes on Celestia, was he trying to intimidate her? Shining's horn began to glow, he was obviously preparing for an attack, but Celestia found herself immobilized as he took aim.
For a second Celestia could've sworn she saw Shining make a confused expression right before he shot a beam at her. She could only stumble back at the attack that should've been easy for her to dodge, but instead she let it hit her neck. She felt the sting of the attack but ignored it as she continued staring at Shining's blank eyes. This time Shining tilted his head slightly, it was barely noticeable, and Celestia noticed.
"Shining Armor, come to your senses!" Celestia tried, the response she got was him straightening his head and taking aim once again. He shot yet another beam at her, this time aiming for one of her hooves, and she almost fell over. This time the pain was too hard to ignore and she felt herself kneel slightly and clench her teeth before looking back up at Shining.
Before she could even process what was going on, another beam was sent to her other hoof and forced her to fall down. The pain in both her hooves was agonizing, but she still couldn't fight back. She wouldn't dare fight back, she'd never hurt one of her loyal subjects like this. Shining didn't show any confusion this time, she wondered if she just imagined his reactions earlier in hopes of seeing he was still in there somewhere.
"I'm sorry" Celestia repeated, like it was the only phrase she knew. Shining's horn began glowing and Celestia closed her eyes and prepared for more pain. Whatever Shining Armor was going to do was halted by the sound of a blast from inside Zecora's hut, making Celestia open her eyes. There was a huge hole and smoke coming out of it, it darkened the view of whatever was going on inside. Shining didn't turn around to the explosion, he didn't turn around when Luna came stumbling out of the hole, and he didn't turn around when Luna fell down.
"Luna!" Celestia exclaimed as she tried standing up, but only resulted in her falling down again. Soon enough Sunset Shimmer stepped out looking a little scratched but otherwise unharmed. She had a wicked smile on her face.
"I was saving that attack for Celestia" Sunset said. Celestia now noticed that Luna's mane was now light blue instead of its usual dark blue tone, like when the elements of harmony first freed her from Nightmare Moon. Sunset then looked up to Shining when his horn started to glow.
"Don't finish her off, we need her alive" Sunset said sternly, Shining's horn died down in response. Sunset smirked when she saw Celestia on the floor. She assumed she'd put up a bigger fight than that, maybe it was better if Luna fought her first.
Sunset looked over at the two alicorn sisters, she was admiring her work. She had done what many villians, including Discord and Havoc, have tried to do for centuries. Sunset has beaten both of them, with questionable methods but it was a victory none the less. Sure Celestia could maybe pull off another spell or two, but she was rendered immobile by Shining Armor. Sunset had won. Wait until Havoc sees this.
"Now what do we have here?" A familiar and chilling voice asked, making Sunset snap out of her thoughts. She found herself staring at Havoc, or rather Havoc in Discord's body. She immediately perked up at this and her victorious smile vanished into a sheepish smile.
"Havoc" Celestia growled. Luna managed to lift her head lightly to see Havoc, Sunset was sure she knocked her unconscious. Perhaps the mention of Havoc's name triggered her to wake up.
"Celestia" Havoc retorted with a smile, not a playful one but not exactly a threatening one either.
"Well I successfully beaten both the Princesses like we planned" Sunset said with a knowing tone in her voice, she would've gloated but Havoc wasn't the one to take gloating very well. In fact he'd usually be the one gloating.
"Good, I'll handle them now" Havoc said.
"What?" Sunset and Celestia asked, making Havoc raise an eyebrow.
"I said I'll handle them" Havoc responded. Celestia was confused because Havoc made a deal with her, did he figure out the loophole? Sunset was confused because that wasn't part of their plan.
"B-But I though…" Sunset began.
"I said I'll handle them! Don't make me repeat myself!" Havoc yelled, making Sunset immediately tense up. Celestia was a bit confused, Havoc wasn't usually this blunt, he was always intimidating in a way where he would suggest things in a threatening way. Had something happened?
"W-Wait… What do I do now?" Sunset asked, looking a bit terrified. Havoc growled.
"I don't know, just wait where you usually do!" Havoc growled, sending a shiver down Sunset's spine. Sunset bowed her head in fear and closed her eyes.
"I… I perfected the spell. I got both Shining Armor and Spike under my control." Sunset began, hoping to get on Havoc's good side.
"Spike?" Both Luna and Celestia exclaimed, well actually just Celestia did, Luna's voice came out barely a whisper.
"I-I was planning on using it on Twilight Sparkle, but she… escaped" Sunset said, cringing a little as she expected Havoc to blame her. If Havoc was upset, he gave no sign of it, she bat an eye open and saw he didn't look upset at all.
"We'll handle Twilight later, now leave us" Havoc said. Sunset sighed, stood up and immediately turned and began walking quickly.
"Wait" Havoc said, instantly freezing her in place.
"Shining Armor, leave him to me" Havoc ordered. Sunset then understood what he was doing, he was probably going to get Shining Armor to finish them off for him. Sunset turned over to Shining Armor, who was silently following her, and cleared her throat.
"New Voice, obey Havoc" Sunset sternly said. Shining responded by idly turning over to Havoc with a blank expression, as if he was expecting something. Havoc arched an eyebrow and Sunset pointed to her throat, trying to signal him to speak.
"Um… Hi?" Havoc awkwardly said. Immediately Shining perked his ears up and bowed down to Havoc, his new master was registered. With that Sunset speed walked away into the distance. Havoc then turned to Celestia and Luna, both of which were watching with confused expressions.
"Well Celestia, on any other day I'd be happy to see you so… pathetic" Havoc harshly said, making Celestia frown.
"Havoc you know you can't hurt us because of the deal we made" Celestia tried. Havoc chuckled a bit, it didn't sound playful nor threatening, which was odd for Havoc.
"You're wrong Celestia, I made no deal with you…" Havoc said. Before either of the royal sisters could ask, they heard the sound of hoofsteps from behind them. Neither of them could turn around to see but they soon saw two figures walk over to Havoc. Changelings!?
"Good work your highness" one of the changelings congratulated.
"Did you make sure she left?" 'Havoc' asked. Both Celestia and Luna were extremely confused at this point.
"Yes, she doesn't look like she's returning. I'll go follow her and report her hideout when I return." The other changeling said and began flying away towards the way Sunset was going.
"…Chrysalis?" Luna asked. 'Havoc' smirked a little before being engulfed in a green fire, which soon disappeared to reveal Chrysalis. She smiled as she once again fooled the enemy, their transformation magic was unrivaled.
"I was wondering when you'd find out" Chrysalis said, her voice returning to normal. Shining tilted his head a little, was he confused? She wasn't the only one though, apparent through Celestia's confused face. Luna had a frown though.
"What are you doing here?" Luna asked, not sounding suspicious but more confused.
"The better question is what are YOU doing here? I thought the 'Princess of the Sun' never left the safety of her castle." Chrysalis responded as she smirked at Celestia, who still had a dumbfounded expression on her face. Chrysalis chuckled a bit.
"Did the power of love not save you this time?" Chrysalis taunted. Luna grunted as she forced herself to stand up again, she still frowned at Chrysalis.
"Have you come seeking battle?" Luna asked, making Chrysalis laugh loudly while her changeling snickered.
"As if you'd be of any challenge right now" Chrysalis harshly said. Celestia finally collected her thoughts and stood up, her hooves were injured but she definitely wasn't low on magic.
"Together, we can overcome anything" Celestia declared as both she and Luna smiled towards one another, before both of their horns glowed. The changeling soldier looked scared with sweat going down its face, but the queen looked unamused.
"We didn't come here to fight you" Chrysalis stated.
"We do not believe that" Luna said, her horn glowing brighter. Celestia's horn on the other hand died down as she held her head up high.
"Then what reason are you here for?" Celestia asked, trying to sound strong in hopes of making Chrysalis abandon any other invasion plan she has right now.
"We both have a common enemy, I thought we'd form a temporary alliance" Chrysalis said, a smile on her face that looked more threatening than playful or happy.
"As if we'd form an alliance with you" Luna harshly said. Chrysalis looked at Luna directly in the eyes.
"Oh I'm sorry I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to Celestia, the REAL Princess, not the traitor of the night" Chrysalis said equally as harsh as Luna. Luna clearly flinched at this, her eyes widened for a few seconds before it returned to a frown and her horn glowed ever brighter than before, now she was gritting her teeth.
"I'll show you a 'real' Princess" Luna said in a low tone. Whatever Luna was going to do was halted by Celestia holding up a hoof in between Luna and Chrysalis, making Luna sigh and her horn dim down.
"Chrysalis, give me a reason to consider making an alliance with you, this very well may be a trap" Celestia said, looking like she wasn't at all affected by what Chrysalis said. Chrysalis returned her attention to Celestia.
"Well, I just saved you from whoever that was, I managed to recapture my ex-fiancé, and I could've easily just killed you both right now, but I didn't." Chrysalis bluntly said. Celestia took a few seconds to realize that by 'ex-fiancé', Chrysalis meant Shining Armor, who at this point was just staring idly at her. It was true that Chrysalis had spared them AND saved them from Sunset Shimmer, but did that mean she could be trusted?
"Also, we've fooled both that unicorn and Havoc with our transformation magic, this could be useful in our war against Havoc" Chrysalis stated.
"War?" Luna asked, feeling calmer.
"Havoc is recruiting allies, he is making sure his reign can't be halted this time" Chrysalis stated without turning to Luna. Celestia wasn't sure if she believed Chrysalis.
"How do you know this?" Celestia asked. Chrysalis frowned and the changeling guard gulped.
"He came to my empire and deemed us 'useless' and 'boring'" Chrysalis said, pausing a bit at the adjectives Havoc used to describe them.
"B-But only because he didn't know of our queen's amazing transformation magic" the soldier quickly added. The changeling queen sighed and regained her composure.
"If he didn't try to make an alliance with me, it is clear he will destroy my empire when the time comes, we need to form a resistance" Chrysalis stated.
"I don't know…" Celestia trailed off.
"In times of great need, even evil can accomplish a good deed" a familiar voice emerged from the rubble and it was Zecora herself.
"Zecora, you're alright" Luna said with a happy look on her face.
"Indeed I am fine, but I can't say the same for this house of mine. You may be able to defeat him if you worked together, for 'friendship' is powerful if I remember." Zecora suggested. Celestia looked over to Zecora, then back to Chrysalis before smiling.
"Alright, for now we shall work together" Celestia said. Chrysalis smiled at her and Luna frowned once more.
"Havoc is a mighty foe, even if we had an army we wouldn't be able to defeat him, perhaps if we had Discord…" Luna trailed off.
"I'm sure he has a weakness, how was he defeated last time?" Chrysalis asked.
"Starswirl somehow made a spell that… absorbed all the magic out of Havoc and into his own body, when he did Havoc disappeared, but so did Starswirl, and in his place came Discord." Celestia explained.
"So Discord was Starswirl, and now he is gone. Is there anypony else who might know what spell he used?" Chrysalis asked.
"I'm afraid not, we didn't know he was working on this spell until he had already used it" Celestia responded. Chrysalis began thinking to herself a bit, without Discord this would be tricky.
"Did Starswirl write the spell down somewhere?" Chrysalis asked. Both Celestia and Luna thought about this, it was unknown if he did write down the spell, but it was definitely likely because he wrote nearly every spell he has made.
"I think you're right, he must've written it somewhere" Celestia said with a smile, to which both Chrysalis and Luna replied with determined looks. For now, they were allies.
"Excellent. But where could he have written it, and where could it be?" Luna asked.
"I can't believe you have it!" Screwball exclaimed as she snatched the book from Trixie and began flipping through the pages. Trixie held her head up with a confident smile.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie is a master at persuasion" Trixie claimed.
"No kidding, I remember Mom and Dad put this in a display case, I thought they'd never part with this after I gave it to them" Screwball agreed. Trixie wouldn't exactly say she persuaded them, more like she begged until they gave it to her.
"Oh, is that the book you never returned?" Discord joked from his gem.
"Yeah it is, now I can see what all the fuss was about" Screwball said as she stopped the book at a page labeled 'advanced teleportation', it looked as if it was explaining more than just flat out telling how to cast it.
"It is a difficult read Trixie must admit, but it greatly improved her magic" Trixie said, this was her original plan to defeat Twilight, but most of the spells in there weren't combat. Screwball began flipping through the pages again.
"Teleportation, transformation, wings, yada yada yada, Oooooooohh what's this? 'Advanced weather manipulation?'" Screwball thought out loud as she stopped on another page, this one had pictures of snow, rain, and even tornadoes. What beautiful chaos can she cause with this? Not that she couldn't do it before, but this might be more useful.
"Interesting" Trixie agreed, being more fascinated by the snow than the tornadoes. Discord didn't see the point in that spell, they could just make chocolate rain if they wanted to.
"I'LL DESTROY HER!" A voice boomed and echoed, making both Screwball and Trixie jump up. They could've sworn the cart shook a little.
"Oh my, the 'Princess of Love' is more interesting then I was told" Discord joked.
"That was Princess Cadence?" Trixie asked, still slightly shaken from the scare. Screwball although back to reading on as if nothing happened.
"I assume so, too bad I can't sense the chaos going on" Discord pouted.
Havoc felt a light shock go through his spine, it wasn't painful more as it was surprising. He just had the feeling somewhere he was missing out on something important. Well, regardless everything was going to plan, there were only a few more lose ends to tie up. One of them being Discord, he either was with him or against him.
Havoc had completed most of the things on his to-do list and was now waiting for Sunset in the basement for her to report if she failed or succeeded. Havoc knew she wouldn't dare fail him, or she would lose more than just his support if she failed him.
"H-Havoc" Havoc heard a voice stammer, he looked over and saw Sunset bowing to him, obviously being really frightened.
"Oh it's you. How did it go?" Havoc asked with no tone of curiosity in his voice. Sunset looked back up with a bit of confusion.
"What do you mean?" Sunset asked.
"The Princesses, did you defeat them?" Havoc asked, sounding like he would be easily ticked off if she failed him, again.
"Um well… yeah…" Sunset went, being unsure why he was asking when he clearly saw them defeated, in fact he should've been the one to defeat them.
"Good, and I just got back from Sombra, I have his full support and he has a full army ready. So does the Griffins, and I have a collection of jewels ready to persuade the dragons." Havoc said, picking up a ruby and twirling it.
"What about the Changelings?" Sunset asked.
"They didn't seem powerful, I just messed with their queen and left" Havoc said, placing down the ruby and picking up a sapphire, he then began inspecting it.
"But… They got powerful transformation magic, they could easily trick anypony, not to mention they have hundreds of soldiers" Sunset said, thinking back to the stories she's heard about them. Havoc dropped the sapphire he was holding and turned to her, clearly upset.
"You didn't tell me that why?" Havoc asked, sounding like he was going to snap. Sunset quickly bowed her head again.
"I-I'm sorry! I should've told you!" Sunset cried out. Havoc sighed.
"Looks like I'll need to go back and thoroughly check, they may be useful after all" Havoc said, flying towards the door.
"Trust me, they will be. No pony has ever seen through one of their disguises before." Sunset reassured as Havoc seemingly ignored her and headed back upstairs. Sunset sighed, she was glad he left. Why didn't he know about the Princesses? Wait, he didn't know about the Princesses AND he rejected the queen of the changelings. Masters of disguise.
"Oh no" Sunset thought to herself when she realized she was tricked. Now what would she do? She can't tell Havoc, he'd have her head if he found out. She needed to fix this, alone. Like always.
"Great, now I need to find the Princesses before Havoc finds out" Sunset sighed to herself. Unaware to her or Havoc, there was a changeling soldier listening in and was now headed back to report what he heard.
Really sorry for the lack of updates, I'm still getting used to school and I've been feeling some writer's block for a while now, but it seems to have left. Anyways, the changelings are going to take up a side, and as of now it is Equestria, but now that Havoc is going to visit them again will she change her mind?
(Btw, 10 points to whoever gets my reference xD)