Hello, everybody, and welcome back to another chapter of The Trials of Destiny! Not much to say, so let's just get right to it!

EDIT: For those of you who haven't noticed, the title and description of the story have been redone. No longer does this story use a rehashed New - title, and it also shows this is now finally a totally separate story from the piece of shit-squared I tried writing three and a half years ago.

Chapter 14: Battle for Canterlot

Thursday, April 16, CCY 3381, Dawn

The heart monitor beeped at its normal pace, and the light and substance slowly separated into proper vision, as Celestia opened her eyes for the first time in three weeks. Blinking to clear her vision, she found herself virtually unable to move. That poison must have done more damage than I thought. I did not know nightshade was so powerful. I will have to get off the floor... Celestia's slow-moving brain finally registered the monotone, sporadic beeps indicative of an attached EKG. I'm in the hospital? Was the nightshade truly so devastating? How long has it been? Hours... days... even weeks? She tried to speak to grab someone's attention, but all that came out was a raspy cough, a result of her voice not having been used in nearly a month.

She gingerly, slowly moved her head from side to side. On her left, a closed curtain indicated another patient. That is... unique. One would think to separate my room from others so I am not bothered in any attempts to recover. On her right was a view of the peak of Mount Canter through the open hospital window.

A minute later, she heard footsteps, then the door unlocking, before two of the medical staff walked into the room, one holding a clipboard to check vitals with. The doctor who did not have a clipboard looked at Celestia, and his eyes widened. "Princess, you're finally awake! The entire country feared you'd never wake up again!"

The other doctor, recovering from dropping her clipboard in shock, clamped her hands around the other doctor's mouth. "You buffoon, you're going to wake up Princess Luna!" she hissed dangerously in his ear, just softly enough that the Princess did not overhear the exchange. The doctor bowed before her. "I apologize for that, Princess. How long have you been awake?"

"A few minutes, at best. Why does it feel like I'm unable to move?"

The doctor pulled out a sheet and read it off to Celestia. "Hagoromo and Naruto used one of their abilities to temporarily paralyze you while your body recovers from the nightshade poisoning. It's for your own safety. Once the nightshade is completely out of your system and your body has repaired and replaced the damaged and destroyed cells, they will remove the effect."

Celestia slowly nodded. I can appreciate their looking out for me in that manner. I do not like the feeling of being confined, but anyone worth their salt knows unwarranted movement only propagates the poison. Uncomfortable as it is, this is best. Something else clicked in her mind. "Doctor, what day is it?"

"April 16th, Princess."

"In that case, what could have caused me to be in the hospital for such extended time? Nightshade does not normally affect alicorns, as their natural magic dispels the effects before they can take hold."

"I'll have to let the person who figured that out tell you themselves. Trust me when I say you wouldn't believe me at all."

Celestia sighed. Of course things like this couldn't be easy, not like anything ever was. "Very well. In that case, could you have them come down?"

"Unfortunately, the two of us and the two patients in this room can't leave. We're in an underground shelter carved into Mount Canter. An unknown threat calling themselves the changeling race have tried to siege Canterlot, and they're here to kill you."

Naruto batted aside another changeling who'd tried to do a less-than-ideal impersonation of him. "Gggrrrhhh, when will these things stop coming? Where did they even come from?!"

Twilight stopped another changeling from lunging at Naruto with a flick of her new wand and a muttered spell, though Naruto would have dealt with them anyway. "No idea, but we can't let them get to the castle! If we do, the Princess will be in danger!"

On a nearby rooftop, Nightmare Moon and Žiara threw aside a group of changelings who'd tried to attack them head on. "Gah, I hated the Princess, but sending an army of this size to simply capture her is ridiculous in every sense of the word!"

"We've been tossing them aside like flies, yet still they refuse to give up. I admire their determination, but if so many of them can't even get past Naruto and Twilight, what hope would they have of even touching Celestia?" Žiara commented as she flared her power, sending a changeling crashing through the roof into one of the floors of the building below.

The two suddenly saw a green-and-black blur shoot past them toward the castle. Žiara went to lunge after the figure, but was stopped when she stepped in a pile of the changelings' mucous saliva. "When did this appear?"

Nightmare chuckled as she swatted away the changelings responsible. "Told you to look out. Too bad you weren't paying attention."

The figure lunged toward the doors of the castle, but was stopped by a translucent blue barrier springing up and rebounding her to the ground in the castle courtyard. As she quickly righted herself, Hagoromo and Hamura appeared in front of the door, having been alerted by the flare of chakra the barrier made.

"Huh... I guess Nightmare Moon was right. Set the trap before danger appears and it will always be stopped. Going to have to give her something as thanks." Hamura chuckled.

"Be serious, Hamura. This... changeling must have a reason to attempt attacking Celestia in broad daylight in the capital of this country, and I shall find it out." Hagoromo cleared his throat to grab the attention of the changeling in front of them. "I am Hagoromo Otsutsuki. State your name and purpose for conducting this crime against existence."

"Heh heh heh… I don't think I'm going to be doing that." The changeling, whose voice identified her as female, moved to attack the two and force them away from the doors.

Celestia heard a light cough and looked over to the curtain separating her bed from the other patient's. "Ah, so you're finally awake. Admittedly, being in a bunker several kilometers underground is not the best environment to find oneself in."

"Thy words ring true in mine ears." The person, who sounded like a younger woman, said in response. A few moments passed in silence, before the curtain was ripped open with such force that part of the curtain detached from the track. "Sister?! Do mine eyes deceive me?"

Celestia's eyes widened. Staring back at her from the other bed was a distinctly younger Princess Luna. Weakened as her body was, Celestia was not prepared for such a shocking development, and she started hyperventilating as her body went into shock. She lost consciousness as the EKG went haywire and the two doctors standing guard outside rushed in.

Luna's eyes watered as she watched the doctors try to stabilize Celestia. "Oh, sister, I'm so sorry!"

The female doctor turned and glared at Luna. "I don't care if you're her younger sister, we already told you not to open the curtain! Celestia wasn't physically or mentally ready to meet you after nearly being killed!"

"I... is... is there anything I can do?"

"How much of your magic can you access?"

Luna took a moment to observe her mana well. "Actually, mine magic is nearly unrestricted."

The doctor nodded, not taking her eyes off the EKG next to Celestia's bed as it started stabilizing. "In that case, you can put your magic to good use. Canterlot is under attack by a race known as the changelings. We don't know what their purpose is, but they're after Princess Celestia."

Luna nodded and went out the door, a serious expression on her face, only to find herself standing in a black void-like area, with a very small pinprick of light far ahead of her. She shrugged, narrowed her eyes, and began sprinting to the end of what she assumed was a tunnel leading to the bunker she'd awoken in.

"Okay, that's it. Where's the pest of a coward that brought an army of insects to a fistfight?" Naruto made a snide offhand comment as he threw a changeling into the wall of Donut Joe's breakfast joint, on the central street of Canterlot.

Several of the surrounding changelings hissed at him for the threat against whoever their leader was. "Oh? Should I make an example out of you too, then? I would say that I have all day, but then I'd be lying through my teeth."

"You're getting really antsy, aren't you, Naruto?" Twilight commented as she finished outmatching a changeling in a test of magical ability, knocking it unconscious with a blast of Mind magic.

Next to him, Žiara finished off another set of changelings, leaving their heads firmly planted into the street, the carapace protecting their inner bodies cracked at the skull, down the middle. She and Naruto simultaneously sensed a flare of chakra belonging to Hamura, and Naruto's head shot in the direction of the castle. "Go! I'll finish up things here and start sweeping the floors!"

Naruto chuckled, before nodding. "Thanks, Žiara. I owe you one later." He phased out of existence in a burst of speed and into the site of a badly upturned castle courtyard, just in time for his precognitive reflexes to snap his hand up independent of his own input and block a harsh punch from what looked to be another changeling. He instantly revised that assessment, based on the look of clear surprise in the changeling's eyes. He momentarily turned his head to behind him, where Hamura laid, barely conscious, in a crater in the castle wall. "Hmm... good thing I got here when I did. You okay over there, Hamura-sensei?"

Hamura registered Naruto's appearance, and weakly raised his hand in a thumbs-up. "Yeah, I'm good... Just be careful... dunno how she did it, but this... changeling seems to be able to seal our chakra somehow. Just took me by surprise is all. Hagoromo had to leave to deal with the matter of Celestia and Luna."

Naruto nodded in thanks, and was about to verbally thank his sensei, before the changeling cut in. "I'm still standing here, you know! Don't ignore the Queen of the changelings?"

The changeling experienced a brief instant of fear that was quickly quashed by her desire for dominance after seeing an almost evil glint suddenly enter Naruto's eyes. "Oh, so you're the pain in my ass I had to wake up at five o' clock in the morning to deal with. This is going to be fun."

"How dare-"

"For me, not you. Just to make sure we'e clear." Naruto lashed out with a lightning-fast, Senjutsu-enhanced strike to the face that sent the changeling careening into the wall at the other end of the courtyard. "Boop snoot. Naruto one, Queen zero. Your move."

He put up a shield made of his own chakra when barf green-colored magical energy flew at him in the form of a spear. His smile turned to a brief look of shock when the spear went through the shield like it wasn't even there, before he phased out of the way of the spear just in time for it to pass where he'd just been and strike the castle wall behind him with enough force to crack it and dislodge a small portion of the bricks. From his new position on the top of the opposite wall, he sweatdropped. Yeah, that might've actually killed me were I a little slower. Going to have to actually put up my guard with this one.

He hopped down from the wall, causing the changeling to turn around and glare at him. "Congratulations, I'm actually one percent serious now."

The changeling went to dash toward Naruto. "Like that will mean anything when I-"

"That'll be your last mistake." The Queen's eyes widened in shock, hearing Naruto's voice behind her. How had he moved so fast as to be behind her without her notice. The changeling wasn't given a chance to respond as Naruto smacked her in the back of the head with a Frog Kata-supplemented bitch-slap, creating a crater two feet deep in the courtyard, the Queen's stuck head at its epicenter. "Time to finish this." Naruto made three handseals and used his newest jutsu. Sealing Art: Binding Dragon.

"Now, listen, young Naruto. This technique, while powerful and effective in its own right, is nothing to trifle with. This is one of the Otsutsuki Clan's beginning techniques for the Sealing Art, gifted to the pupils of only the strongest members and those blessed in the art as you are." Naruto nodded eagerly. Despite how long he had been subjectively training for, he still had a habit of getting a bit overzealous when learning a new jutsu, a habit he thought he'd have outgrown by this point.

Hagoromo showed him the handseals. "Before I allow you to practice this jutsu, you must remember the major part of this jutsu is your chakra, in that the strength of the seal correlates directly to how much chakra you place in it. If you use too much and drain yourself to an extreme, you will not be able to fight, and if you aren't careful, you will die, former Jinchuuriki or otherwise.

"Of course, Hagoromo-sensei. I vow I'll be careful in using this jutsu." Naruto used the jutsu and pointed the dragon at a nearby asteroid, and was shocked when the entire massive rock disappeared. Shortly after, what was left of the asteroid, a small rock no bigger than his closed fist, floated over and landed in his open palm. The seal's symbol, a coiled dragon, was clearly visible. "Density compression?"

"Yes. That is one of the facets that makes all Otsutsuki sealing jutsu extremely effective. By increasing the density of whatever is sealed, and forcing it to collapse into its own gravitational field, it becomes an almost certainty that whatever you hit with this isn't escaping. Furthermore, you may choose to make the seal itself and this side effect mutually exclusive while casting the jutsu, which means this type of seal is also quite versatile."

The dragon flew out of Naruto's clasped hand, between his fingers, and bum-rushed the downed changeling queen, slamming into her... before abruptly shattering like dropped glass. Naruto's eyes narrowed. Damn... Of course. If this Queen managed to catch Hamura-sensei off guard, of all people, it's no surprise that didn't work. Too bad density and chakra are still exclusive from one another. The chakra goes away but the increased effects of gravity will persist. True to form, right after the Queen pulled her head out of its own crater, she collapsed under her own - massively increased - weight.

"What in... What have you done to me, you foul beast?"

"I've made you immobile until someone else arrives that can... more permanently deal with you. Since whatever innate... thing you have is negating my chakra's effects, I simply hit you with a gravity blast instead. You're currently experiencing two hundred times Earth's gravity. I will admit, I'm impressed you're still able to hold yourself above the ground, let alone fluently speak and be understood. Your vocal cords shouldn't work under such high levels of strain. I won't lie, since you can somehow either steal or completely negate my chakra, as well as that of Hamura-sensei, had you come out the victor in a straight-out taijutsu battle, I would have lost."

"Don't... don't think... this will stop me! I won't... let some... overconfident simpleton... best me in battle!" With an insane amount of effort, the Queen shakily stood up despite the effects of the increased gravity being felt on her body.

Naruto's eyebrows promptly took a hike into his messy hairline in surprise. To not only be able to stay conscious and speak under the effects of such strong gravity, but to be able to resist its effects enough to muster the energy to stand!? What is this changeling's body made of, hyper-dense steel?!

He narrowed his eyes and prepared to fire off another Binding Dragon, but that quickly proved to be unnecessary, as Princess Luna landed harshly on her knee beside him, wings folding as she brandished a magical sword and shield. "So which Queen are you this time?"

The Queen chuckled as she continued managing to stand despite the Binding Dragon's gravitational effects. That was before she looked at the new arrival, and her eyes clouded over with rage. "You..." she hissed. "You're the one who killed my mother!"

Luna's eyebrows raised. "So you are the spawn of Queen Oedipus then... Inform me, changeling, what is thy name?"

"I am Queen Chrysalis, not like you'll remember, considering I'm about to kill you the same way you killed my mother!" The now-named Chrysalis managed to charge at Luna, though the effects of Naruto's gravity field slowed her movements down considerably.

Luna looked at Naruto. "I know not who or what you are, but please refrain from interfering in this encounter."

Naruto held his hands up. "Not a problem. Besides, this Chrysalis has some kind of ability that renders most of my fighting capability ineffective, so other than fisticuffs, I'm not good for much here. I have to help my sensei anyway."

Luna momentarily pondered the meaning of the word 'sensei' before divesting herself of the momentary distraction and dodging Chrysalis's clumsy right hook, smashing her knee into the changeling's stomach. Spittle and a little green blood flew out of her mouth as Luna grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the ground, forming a crater of not inconsiderable size.

Right as she was about to say something to the changeling, she unleashed a blast of green magic that threw Luna back a few feet, her coat slightly singed. "Okay, you will regret that, foul bug!"

"Did you just call me a bug?! You're going to pay for that!" Chrysalis managed to get back on her feet and charge at Luna a second time.

Meanwhile, Naruto had moved over to Hagoromo as he helped Hamura up. "Sensei, are you alright?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me, Naruto. Right now, the greater worry is Celestia. We need to get to her before this Chrysalis does, otherwise she'll more than likely kill her. Celestia is too weak right now to even walk around without tripping over herself, let alone fighting a battle she may not win even at full health."

"Right. Hagoromo-sensei, can you open a portal?"

Hagoromo nodded, a portal already in existence next to him. "Need you even ask?"

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, maybe that question could've gone better unasked. Let's go." The three hopped through the portal, leaving Luna to her one-sided stomp-fest. Several craters had already been made by way of Luna slamming Chrysalis's face and body into the walls of the castle and the dirt of the castle courtyard.

Chrysalis tried to growl in anger, but found herself with a mouthful of dirt that Luna literally picked up with her magic and stuck in the changeling's mouth. Chrysalis wasn't given the chance to rebut as Luna kept shoveling dirt into her mouth, until the changeling couldn't breathe.

As she futilely tried to remove the magically-held dirt, Chrysalis tried to flare her magic, only to find it wouldn't answer her call, having been blocked by a magical seal. Damn... a magic block...?

A few seconds later, Luna shut off the flow of her magic to her horn as the body of the now-lifeless changeling hit the ground like a sack of bricks. "That is how this kingdom deals with outside threats." She turned to walk off, but found a group of citizens that one of Naruto's clones had missed staring in slack-jawed horror at the scene before them. Before Luna could get a word in edgewise, they all ran off, screaming in terror.

Luna cocked her head to the side, unaware of the immense passage of time. "What reason do mine subjects have to be afraid? Occurrences like this are on an almost monthly basis."

Yes, I did just. For one, I very nearly hated Chrysalis as a character. From the way she was designed in the comics - I can forgive a little for the cartoon version, which I do prefer - to how the writing staff handled her introduction - "Oh, let's just introduce someone that hates Celestia's guts so much, she can't be reformed ever!" "And let's make her show up to be the very antithesis of whatever sappy event comes next on the list!" - and even how she's ingested the Kool-Aid to such a degree she doesn't even care about her own subjects, and would much rather sacrifice most or all of them for her own selfish desires... at least later in the series.

So instead of rehashing the wedding episode like a large portion of the other MLP writers here in the fandom usually do, I got rid of her. And what better way to introduce a character so disconnected from the passage of time than to perform what is in the current time a very morally reprehensible act, completely unaware of the irony of the situation? Besides, even had all of that been a non-factor, the future events as I have them mapped out don't fit Chrysalis anywhere in, or any villains with her mindset, for that matter.

Also, for those of you who will inevitably have a gripe for why Luna can't just immediately teleport willy-nilly all over the place, even if you don't end up putting it in a review, consider the fact that not only has she been trapped in the Moon for nigh a thousand years, which in and of itself would cause any degree of mastery to go right down the shitter, but taking said passage of time into mind, Canterlot is also not where it used to be, so if she tried teleporting, she'd just end up in the Everfree Forest anyway.

... Heh, yeah, if you couldn't tell, I'm giving some of the canon occurrences a more realistic feel instead of just bending over backwards to deliver the same old rehashed thing. Sudden, unexpected rant over.

Anyway, that's Chapter 14, so I'll see you guys in a month, after I've updated The Power of Us!