//------------------------------// // Chains // Story: Object XP-84c // by Scourge the yellow cat //------------------------------// Five minutes later... Ponyville, Kingdom of Equestria "Princesses, The corrupted ponies and unchanged Changelings that appeared in the barn are ready for interrogation, as they are under captivity by the Royal Guard at the makeshift camp; along with that stallion that assaulted many ponies, including three of the elements!" Said the bowing guardspony to the sun and moon princesses. Princess Luna shook her head in disappointment. Today was the Summer Sun Celebration, a time where she and Celestia could check up on the girls and just enjoy the day off from politics. But instead of surprising the Mane 6, all they got was terrible news. "Princesses, there was a stallion who mare-napped two ponies and attacked the Magic, Loyalty, and Kindness Element Bearers. He has been captured!" That alone was terrible enough, but then popped in good ol' Queen Chrysalis as she teleported in Applejack's barn with several ponies under her control, with rumors of another Applejack and another her. She nodded her head to the guard and responded. "Thank you, take us to them immediately." The guard nodded back as he stood back up and proceeded to head to the prisoners, with the princesses following closely behind. As they followed him, Princess Luna looked at her sister to ask her something. "Tia, did thou expect this coming?" Celestia was lost in thought for a second as she turned to face her, before replying, "I did Lulu, but not this quick and unexpected." Luna understood what she said before a fear struck her. "Does thou think that it has anything to do with this?" She asked her sister, them both knowing full well what it was referring to. "No Luna, Even if she did survive the Beam of Harmony that freed you, she would have lost nearly all her magic for centuries to come." Luna nodded in agreement and relief. The guard said, "We are here, your highnesses." He then came to a stop. The princesses observed their surroundings. They realized that they were now in the part of the town where the Castle of Friendship was within view. The guard had led them to a house that had boxes in front of it, as well as a pair of guards stationed at the entrance. "Here it is, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna." He said as he pointed a hoof to the building. Celestia and Luna asked a single word in unison as they observed the building. "What?" The guard understood the response and explained it. "Very well, my princesses. This building was loaned to the Royal Guards by the generous pony that owned it. The building itself is just like any other house in Ponyville, a medium two-story house, except it had one unusual quirk: It had a somewhat big basement. When asked why the owner just simply said ‘Because I wanted one.’ The Royal Guard took it due to the fact that it had all their needs: A big area devoid of style, strong walls, and a secluded area. "After that, they emptied the basement of all objects and put the prisoners in. With that out of the way, shall I continue to the captives, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?" He finished. The sisters agreed and followed him in. |¦|¦|¦| Crystalline, for the fourth time in her life, was frightened like a filly on the Equestrian holiday of Fright Night, as she sat on the cold basement floor with her back pressed against the equally cold basement wall. The very first time was when the plan to take control of Equestria via wedding was just about to start, when...she...transformed into Daybreaker. It was the first time she felt empathy for the Crystal Ponies, as the just-about-to-be-married couple was burned to a crisp alive. I can still remember the details... Chrystaline thought as painful tears were collecting near her eyes from the memory. Then there was when she was walking with her personal army when they were en route to reinforce Neigh York City. As they were halfway to Neigh York City, they noticed a plume of smoke coming from a city: Balemare. As there were no signs of any imperial troops by either sight, magic, or flight, they entered the city. As they marched down the streets in the abandoned city to the source of the smoke, they smelled the unholy scent of burning flesh. Then they saw the sick, twisted source, which was made up of bodies. The blackened bodies consisted of small, newborn, elderly, and those who couldn't fight back. And at the top was, or at least was, the very bell that Balemare had been so famous for. It was split in two, as the imperial forces of Daybreaker were fond of pure looting of captured or unloyal cities. And it was covered in the very same color as the bodies below. As the army rushed to leave the place, the bell played one last note for the army to hear before it fell into the pile, where it would soon be reunited with its deceased populace. That one note. That one damn note had colossal psychological devastation on the entire army. It was impossible to erase from one's mind once they heard it, the attempts were as fruitless as convincing Rainbow Slash to betray either her friends or that blasted Factory. But when they reached Neigh York City, they arrived too late as the once glorious city was reduced to a debris field, under attack. That is when that one note did something remarkable, uncaging the unmatched fury of Chrystaline’s army. Although they were outnumbered 15:1, her army charged at the enemy that was assembling for an attack on the city with a yell that would even send Tartarus reeling away in terror. The enemy army was caught completely by pure surprise as the hill behind them was swallowed up in a golden, black, shining, and green sea as it surged towards them with the sounds of the Horse of Death supporting it. Before they could move at all, the sea smashed into the group, as the screams of imperial troops being killed in brutal, merciless fashion as they fall to the wave. Throughout the battle, one thing was certain, the FEA would go down fighting. They fought for freedom. They fought for the lives of the innocents, alive or killed. They fought for Equestria and for all of Equus! But alas, they failed even with help. Even the most powerful unicorn will fall to the weakest but ruthless unicorn, given an unlimited amount of weak and ruthless unicorns. And the Imperial Army of the Equestrian Empire (IAEE) were the weak ruthless unicorns as they sent their weakest troops to Neigh York City to clean out their ranks. Crystalline soon felt a hoof touch her left shoulder, snapping her out of the past. She turned to look at the owner of the hoof and saw that the owner was Crescent Night. She was looking at Chrystaline with a concerned, yet sad look. "Yes, Crescent Night?" Asked Crystalline. The alicorn let out a tiny smile. "Crystalline, is this about the past again?" She asked. The former Changeling leader ignored her, looking at the ground. "What makes you ask that?" Crystalline whimpered out. "There are tears on thee face." "What? No! Leaders don't cry!" Crystalline then felt the tears run down the side of her face, realizing that it was useless to argue anymore. "Damn it." "Crystalline, thou know that thee is not alone. We have all lost something to the war," She said as she motioned to the remnants of the FEA, who were looking at Chrystaline with sorrow. "Even me." The two alicorns then noticed that the massive red stallion that was in the corner was looking at them, his face unyielding to emotion. What creeped them both out was the yellow eyes he had, as they seemed to be soul searching. "You lost something?" He said in an emotionless, yet concerned voice. "Why does thee care? 'Twas thou who attacked ponies." Snapped Crescent Night at the stallion. Crystalline flinched at the response. The war had greatly changed the former moon princess as she was there when Daybreaker emerged at the wedding. All that she said was that she failed to stop the tyrant. Any further attempts would be screamed at and wounded from a magic bolt. That solar tyrant was responsible for changing a nice, helpful royal to become a traumatized victim that had since become a shell of her self. The door that leads to the basement had just opened, light flooding in as everypony raised their hooves to shield their eyes. As the light dimmed, everypony beside the stallion gasped in fear. Their true nightmare is here... Daybreaker has found them, alongside her small blue Crescent Night puppet. |¦|¦|¦| "ITS HER! AHHH!" Was what greeted Celestia as she entered the basement alongside Luna. The room was in total chaos as every prisoner seemed to go ballistic. Several were trying to get out of their hoofcuffs, with the astonishing result of all admitting the cuffs were too strong. Some closed their eyes and pressed their chins to their throats, all hope lost. And the rest tried to get away from the group. "YA KILLED MAH FAMILY, YA SICK FREAK!" Shrieked the Applejack look-alike to her. I don't remember killing anypony, and I'm NOT a whorse. Thought Celestia as the air became heavier with hatred. "You killed-no-MASSACRED Balemare just for fun." Cried a crystal pegasus. Celestia at this point was deeply unnerved. "Why are they tar-" Mumbled Celestia to herself, only to be cut off by a new voice. "STOP PLAYING YOUR GAMES, DAYBREAKER." Yelled the 'Luna'. That made her freeze. She remembered when she met that corrupted image of herself when she and Luna were in Starlight Glimmer’s nightmare, how can the black alicorn possibly know about that? Suddenly, the argument quieted down as Celestia heard her sister speak. "ENOUGH!" This time, everypony looked at Luna's location- Only to see a very angry Luna. Everypony froze, and Celestia tried to speak. "L-Lu-" "QUIET SISTER." Luna told Celestia as she looked at her with a knowing look, Celestia nodded and took a step back. "Now then," Said Luna as she looked back at the now-quiet group of ponies. Her face was that of anger, and her eyes shone with a disapproving glare. "My sister over here is NOT this ‘Daybreaker’, and we have committed no murders." She continued. "So, who art thou?" Pointing to the 'Applejack', 'Chrysalis', and 'Luna'. The 'Chrysalis' sighed, before replying. Unknown to everypony however, Celestia managed to sneak in a truth spell on the duplicates. "My name is Crystalline, and I..."