Chrysalis pinned her back to the wall. Celestia bent under the changelings' assault. She let it happen.

"Tread lightly, beast. You speak of a kinship with the star," Celestia warned in an equally quiet voice.

"The star?" Chrysalis sneered defiantly. "All the stars are far in the sky, and they seem to have conspired to bring us together. In another place and time, we would've never met like this."

"The stars might seem far, but they still watch over all." Celestia clasped Chrysalis' nape.

"It must be so lonely to be the most powerful being in existence," Chrysalis tempted.

"In this world—" The touch of her enemy made Celestia sharply inhale and fill her lungs with an acrid smell, mixed with the sweet odor of ozone. In a futile attempt to restrain herself, she pushed her knees together.

They were going down the lust-filled river of darkness that was stirring inside of them both. Chrysalis' forehooves moved on the alicorn's coat, virtuously directing the rafting.

"You're a monster..." Celestia groaned and rasped into Chrysalis' ear. "You deserve to die. Your crimes are unforgivable."

...And there was a constant struggle against jealousy, avarice, pride, and addiction. A fight against emotions that run amok.

And there are no steps over the lines and no imaginary boundaries, only an arrival at what was perceived before as a limit and a following game of compromises with your conscience. There was a revelation: you can accomplish things that can grant you more pleasure than pain, and you might get away without consequences.

Isn't it natural to try to diminish your pain, and if you care about someone, to diminish the pain of another too?

"I want to learn all your curves," murmured Chrysalis. "Maybe what you want is to be worshipped?"

"Trespasser-r..." Celestia hissed, her voice almost ecstatic. "You think you can take and break anything you want!?"

"I want only your heart. Give it to me. I'll rip it out." Chrysalis' eyes gleamed with virile green. "I want all your resolve, your every emotion. Pour it all out."

Behind her thinly veiled prideful arrogance was boundless confidence, based on something more than any juvenile sense of entitlement. Chrysalis knew she was good because she was good. It was her craft, her lifeblood. Celestia knew that the nature of the Queen's powers demanded complacency from her prey.

The inevitable conclusion felt so distant... Celestia gave into the meticulous caresses of the changeling's aura at the base of her wings. With a smile full of pained bliss, she arched her back and extended those wings, overtaking the room with a bright glow. Chrysalis was hitting all the right spots.

Celestia wanted her body to be used like the delicate instrument that it was. After all, it wasn't truly built for fighting.

"My sopping wet Sun," Chrysalis replied in the most haunting and beautiful of voices.

Her skin was like suede—smooth and tempting. Celestia moved her forehooves lower, and the Queen eagerly leaned into the soft embrace.

"I admire your bold spirit," confessed Celestia, "your ability to defy me on every turn but still be willing to play with me… You are a beast that is full of courage and hubris."

"My playmate," Chrysalis snarled. "Aren't you afraid that I will play too rough and break you?"

"No..." the ancient shapeshifter bit back a growing smile. "No, I want to tear you apart."

I was such a pure thought without any pretense. Pleasant shivers ran down Celestia's coat. Her lips parted.

"I want to mix your flesh with mine so there be no me, nor you..." Chrysalis sang with vicious, raw lust. "I want to peel your bones bare clean... I want to break those bones and suck on your marrow... I want to. I want to..."

These voracious words enticed her… The Queen slipped past all defenses and inhibitors; her touch managed to pull from the alicorn an immodestly loud moan. "Madness," flashed her fading thought.

Chrysalis buried her muzzle in Celestia's neck, breathing in her scent. Her warm whisper filled her world, "I want to show you what the true admiration is. There's nothing more intimate than to become one with the other."

"You got it all wrong, you foolish changeling..." Slick with sweat, panting, Celestia covered her enemy with her wings. "That is such a one-sided point of view..."

"And yet you are aware that there's truth in it," replied Chrysalis with flirtatious malice.

"But don't you hear the call?" Chrysalis whispered, inching closer to her lips. "Does it not distract you from your stale, toothless dogmas? Does it not burn right through you? Don't you want to sing to it—to this melody, to feel its frenzy and reap the reward?… My sweet girl, it is all about power. Everything—"

Celestia exhaled steam intense enough to burn her. Forced to evade it, Chrysalis dove down and then lunged for the throat. For a moment, Celestia's heart sank, but razor-sharp teeth did not penetrate her skin, instead making a surprisingly restrained love bite. She laughed, offering her neck and wordlessly asking for more.

A dreadful desire washed through her, evoking something from the deep reaches of her soul. The pleasure was sending her teetering on the edge of the sensual abyss, making her rake with unbearable carnal heat. "How strange, but in the end I do not want to be hurt," a thought slipped into her mind, as if coming from someone else. "I want this, and for this to last forever."

Driven mad by tense anticipation of pain, she groaned on top of her lungs, giving into sensations, aware of her impending demise. As they both rapidly grew more passionate, Chrysalis' greedy forehooves pulled Celestia's hips closer, and the alicorn moved her knees upwards the changeling's thighs.

Celestia abruptly gasped, and the flames of her life flickered under a strong wind.

In a silent demand, she tried to lock the changeling down, but the ever-defiant monster wriggled away with startling force. Dislodged from each other, they panted, staring at the red that was quickly oozing from Celestia's wound.

The hot sting of pain withered into numbness. The sight of the blood seeping into the silvery ceremonial garments and then going over the breastplate was mesmerizing. Celestia raised her forehoof, touched it, and watched it trickle over a golden royal horseshoe.

Her body had long forgotten how to bleed… for so many years, her heart might've as well not beat at all… but now… this creature…

Chrysalis moved back down, and her tongue went over the wound. With a sensuous kiss, she planted a bloody mark on Celestia's cheek, and rasped in a small voice, "What do you feel when you see your immortal blood ebb away?"

Celestia pushed the back of her head into the wall in an attempt to slow down the spinning world. Absolutely thoughtless, she stared at the monster that bared its soaked fangs in a proud grin. Her eyes were glued to the sharp smile.

Something must've changed in her expression, and Chrysalis latched onto it. "Do you hate me yet?" she murmured.

An insatiable urge to live overcame Celestia. It surged from within, bringing her panic-inducing fear, and with it, determination.

Her horn flashed with bright gold, and the Queen was tossed to the far wall. She crashed into one of the cupboards and fell under it, showered by the falling trinkets and books.

Celestia basked in the afterglow of pleasure. She witnessed the world with vivid clarity, and all along it was a contradiction immersed in perpetual self-destruction, and at the center of it all was this changeling.

Life mingled with death, inexorably drawn. Sweat, heat, and illusion—all were rushing and fusing into a finality that was abrogating all logic and obliterating it with fiery prejudice. With the horn blazing, she got to her hooves, her body surrounded by the projections of stars. The Queen crawled out to the center of the room. A ripple of cleansing green flame was going over her freshly scorched muzzle.

"Play along with me," Chrysalis hissed. "That's right… There would be no easy escape for either of us. Let our flames devour one another! There is no better way to settle it, nothing better than this. Let us burn!"

Another ray pierced the Queen, sending her closer to the balcony. She groaned, stood again, and Celestia plummeted her with yet another strike, pushing back to the railing.

Chrysalis' horn glowed blinding green, meeting Celestia's next ray with a fierce rebuke.

The explosion hit her eardrums. They almost took out the entire tower. Chrysalis went over the edge, disappearing down below. Cascading like a living flame, Celestia leapt over the destroyed balcony into the cold fury of the raging storm.

The Queen could be barely seen, but she was there, struggling with the trajectory of her fall. She turned to meet Celestia head on, but another pointed ray went through her erected shield like it was nothing. It sent her spinning in a freefall with a faint flare of green to compensate for the inevitable impact.

Celestia unfurled her wings to hover. Chrysalis came crashing down, immediately recovered, tried to take aim and hit the exposed target, only to be caught by Celestia's feint as she wrapped herself in a golden aura and made a flourish to the side, then responded with an overwhelming, near-invisible kinetic energy blast that blindsided the Queen. With a cry of pain, the changeling was sent tumbling and tossing across the ground; one of her legs, severed, swung in the other direction.

Celestia dove down at her, and as they clashed, arches of gold and black lightning enveloped them briefly, splintering the trees and burning down the grass.

Celestia stood amidst billowing smoke and cleared it with a single flap of her wings.

The Queen remained on the molten hot ground. Being cooked alive, she crawled away hastily and limply, resembling an oversized centipede.

The alicorn's figure burst with intense radiance. She stepped after the changeling, exhaling a steady stream of flame and forcing the Queen to crawl faster. It all came to a halt when they reached the Palace's outer wall, and with nowhere to run, Chrysalis turned and tried to brave Celesta's light. Her squinting eyes were reddened from immense strain.

"You boorish thug," Celestria accused. "Where's all your strength? Have you got me heated up for this?"

"Shove it where the Sun doesn't shine!" Chrysalis fiercely snapped, but then made a complete one-eighty and carelessly giggled. "Oh, now that's—"

Despite Celestia not tending to her arsenal for centuries, most of the summoning sigils still worked. Her horn shone ever brighter, and from a cloud-draped sky, an unwieldy, heavy lance struck the changeling.

It went in with a vengeful force—way more brutal than expected. Chrysalis snapped to the wall in an instant; her limbs flailed wildly and then hanged still. Her chin fell on her chest.

Her forelegs slowly tore from her body, revealing a drippy, tar-like substance. Her bleak eyes stared coldly. As dark magic was evaporating from her, more of the rotten odor reached Celestia's nostrils.

Chrysalis' decomposing body bared its teeth in a satisfied grin. All at once, her borrowed flesh popped like a ripe fruit, emanating foul energies. "I am above you," she croaked a death rattle, falling apart.

With rising anticipation, anger, and disgust, Celestia turned to the Royal Palace. Countless blinking green eyes stared at her from the surface of its windows, and like a trail they led her to the top of the building, where on the edge lay the puppeteer—the shadow presence of an insectile pegacorn that was concealed by dark, warmthless flames.

The outworld was beckoning. Her horn flared gold; she slinked onto another plane of existence and reappeared behind the real Chrysalis. The Queen was already standing up to repel the blast.

Reeling and attempting to maintain balance, Celestia leapt backward and flapped her wings to catch the rising hot air and gain distance, but the enemy cut through the fire and closed in, striking with purple-black magic. At the last moment, Celestia exerted herself, taking the brunt of the powerful blow and deflecting it. Their twisting energy was devoured by the low hanging clouds.

The two landed far apart on an intact part of the melted roof. Echoes of memories of their past clashes rang in Celestia's mind. "It is too risky to maintain a direct approach. I have no choice. No more excuses.
"So be it."

"You sinner, how dare you use the dead bodies of my subjects to demean me so!?" Celestia growled, advancing.

The being of the Darkness did not utter a sound. It went into a slow gait, prepared to charge.

"If you want this so badly, then listen." The Princess' power surged around her, and her light redoubled with a pure white.

"You speak, and I hear the ripples on the water that try to describe what water is," Chrysalis answered with an echoing low hum.

"I hear the snow that deludes itself as falling leaves," hissed the shadow, determined to interrupt the cadence of her chant.

This place was like a slice of heaven. Royal purple-golden tapestries embellished the walls, and evening light was drowning the spacious hall in a hazy, sun-dappled ambiance. The air was filled with the scents of jasmine and sandalwood.

"This is getting nowhere," he complained, dissatisfied. "Are you even paying attention? I am winning in three turns."

"Alas." Celestia politely yawned, much to the chagrin of her opponent. "Mayhap I am simply too rusty. Shall we begin another one?"

"No, you'll keep throwing it," King Vorak grumbled. "Speak plainly. Why did you agree to it if you are bored?"

"This is a waste of time," Vorak declared, and then wiped all chess pieces from the board.

"What is life if not a waste of time?" Celestia droned melodiously and then chuckled, covering her lips. "That sounded so inappropriate… Don't mind little old me, dearest Cousin."

In the presence of the hulking Warlock King, Celestia could be compared to an oversized toy or even a pet. Lazily splaying her body amid cushions, she was hugging with a foreleg a royal scepter, fashioned from her bone and soul in time immemorial. A slender, beautiful thing it was, wreathed in a perpetual liquid flame.

At this moment, that flame had already singed or burned at least half of the cushions.

Celestia followed a pair of children that were playing near a small waterfall in the garden. Engaged in a mock fight, they were far too immersed in the swordplay to notice the foreign alicorn Princess looking at them. Celestia didn't mind—she preferred to remain discreet during her rare visits to other realms.

"Cupbearer!" Vorak bellowed, and a small, round gargoyle rolled from the room's corner, armed with a jewel-encrusted decanter. Vorak shoved him a freshly emptied cup. "Fill." As soon as it was done, the King took a hefty swig, smacked his lips, and growled, "Some good shit."

The Warlock King propped his chin on his clenched fist and made a pass with a cup-holding hand. "Spit it out."

"Don't 'I'm sorry' me," Vorak grumbled. "I can tell that something's wrong. Usually you put up more of a fight."

"Your skill of observation exceeds even the boldest of assumptions of mine, esteemed King," Celestia replied with a small, almost coquettish smile.

"Hardy har." Vorak rolled his eyes. "So? What's this all about? Is it that ages-old melancholy, eh, Cousin? It wasn't new before, and it sure isn't new now."

"Oh, Cousin…" Celestia uttered a sigh and tried to carefully choose her next words. "What I feel about it is unproductive, and in my experience, there's little value to unproductive feelings." She returned her attention to the children. "We cannot allow ourselves even more distractions than we already have, don't we?"

Vorak cleared his throat and cracked his fingers, preparing for a speech. "Just south of my Gray City there's a winery near the grove. Did you see it during a fly over? Every ten moons or so I make an appearance there to oversee the production and taste-test the latest batch. It's my, so you say, vice."

"As they say, the earth bears many sweet fruits, yes?" Vorak smiled. "Who am I to deny my realm if she wants to share with her King?"

"Anyhow, the most precious part of my visits comes when I participate in the creation of the wine. The new-age technology would've given up the process to a machine, but I prefer to add my sweat and essence to it, and when I do it, there's a connection with the soil, with the wind and rain, and with the hands of gatherers through which the grapes had passed. Do you get what I mean?"

"Did my gift lost on you?" Vorak furrowed his brows. "What did you call it, the power of an earth pony?" He flexed his muscle. "The strength of the earth!"

"Oh. Yes, the power of your realm is still alive in Equestria. It was a great boon." Celestia nodded.

"Then you must know what's it all about: the feeling that the whole world is with you, living, breathing, one… And so, after all is done and the wine is prepped for fermentation, I kick back right there and take a good smoke while in a pleasant company. Everything is right in the world on nights like these. I plant myself in the soil, and I let myself loose.
"Do you let yourself loose? Ever had a desire to sprout your roots, eh, Cousin?" Vorak winked. "Ah-h-h…. It is such a feast for the soul. Some things no sorcery can ever substitute."

"You might be onto something. I grew fond of floristry lately," admitted Celestia. "It is a bit silly, but I even fancied having a garden in my personal chambers."

"But that exactly it: merely an indulgment. At face value, those are mere fantasies, curious prospects for which I do not have the time."

"I doubt my ponies would agree," demurred Celestia. "Nonetheless, I understand what you are trying to say, but…" Celestia made a pause, trying to find the right words, but then decided not to sugarcoat it. "It all feels too distant… too small to me. Don't get me wrong, this whole world sometimes feels too small. I can understand the value of things, and of course I am aware that all the countless lives, both mortal and immortal, are bound together by the threads of our shared existence, but still, in the every given moment, everything seems so… little. Even right now, we may appear big ourselves, but it's a perception trick. We are infinitely small, too. Your desire to feel the earth is small as well. I admit, my body might have the impetus to do the same, but my soul is numb to it." She glanced at his hulking figure, worrying. "I must've miscommunicated… Let me rephrase it. What I want to say is that I doubt that Princess Celestia would be interested in anything like that."

"That's new." Vorak hemmed. "Some kind of disassociation, eh? Since when are you talking about yourself in the third person?"

"I want to share with you something…" Celestia steadied her breath. "I'd like to think of myself as an idea that I am making real."

"I am Fata Morgana of Canterlot. An idea of Celestia. Of Equestria. Of an alicorn Princess. This is who I am, and I am meant to represent the ideals." Celestia leaned forward with glistening eyes and a tiny but eager smile. "Inspiration. Forgiveness. The magic of Friendship. Embracing one's true nature through confrontation. Willingness to act despite your weaknesses, flaws, and failings, despite the oldest tale in the book: you wanted to change the world, but the world changed you."
She giggled abruptly.
"The greatest struggle of all is a struggle against oneself, but I had an epiphany: you can step aside, reinvent yourself like a mortal into something that is more akin to a symbol that is so deeply intertwined with other symbols that it is interchangeable. Everything leads to a never-ending battle, as we all have our natures, and sometimes we need to confront them, but as time proves again and again, our natures are what win out in the end… It is virtually impossible to suppress those natures, and yet we are locked in a desperate struggle, having no choice but to look deep within ourselves, to go through this unending strife, and to confront the truth again, and again, and again—to return to the same puzzles, to retrace your steps through the same maze-like cave full of echo, to come to the same solution of the same equation as always…"

Vorak was unimpressed. "That's some gibberish… Huh-h," he huffed. "Are you all in there? Are all of you sun-folk that light in the head?"

"Oh, that's right…" Celestia slightly frowned, and her voice grew soft, almost condescending. "You practice an inherently different kind of magic."

"…Does your sorcery demands you to load out on others such inane ramblings?" the King asked, puzzled.

"Our desires and impulses do not always align with our true selves, but right now I am at peace with myself. I am in a balance that I can't allow to be disrupted," Celestia tried to explain. "I embraced the fact that I am an idea because it correlates with my role. It's strange to me that you are not able to grasp it, but I must be mindful that you have your own path, Cousin, as do I."

"No, no, I can decipher the meaning here. Your duty is to act out a certain role, or otherwise there would be consequences." Vorak winced. "That's called having responsibilities. Really, Queen, the way you flap your gums about it is like you are too grand, and everyone else is ant-like compared to you and the battles you have to lead." He waved his hand dismissively. "Guess you're right about one thing: nothing truly changes."

"You are deluded. What happened to your vows? Have you forgotten that the fate of both Harmony and the entire world is at stake?" posited Celestia.

"It is always at stake," scoffed Vorak. "It has been at stake since the beginning of time and will remain at stake no matter what we do. Can't you take your mind off of it? As youngsters say, get a life."

The corner of Celestia's lips twitched. Vorak's hypocrisy was obvious to her. He wasn't the one to advise her, not with his way of living. "While you are concerned with your earthly travails, I always belonged to the sky. It will forever pull me away and make me question everything through its lenses."

"I suppose so... Well, I'd say I am quite attached to Equestrian ponies." Celestia sincerely smiled, easing herself into thoughts and memories about them. "You wouldn't believe how much joy they bring me sometimes. They are the littlest of them all, and they are all fascinating, each in their own unique way. If I could choose to watch something for all eternity, it would be my little ponies."
Her muzzle fell, and she looked at the children again.
"Their future concerns me a lot... Will they be good? Is my course of action right for them? Can they weather what's yet to come? This kind of worrying soothes my soul, I think. This is what brings me close enough to earth, and I wouldn't have it any other way. This is how it was meant to be. This is what Celestia is supposed to be doing, and my subjects must be united behind an idea of her. They require her, or else any kind of dissention would invite hate, and hate will never bring Equestria closer to our goal."

"Bah. Yes. In essence, it's all about maintaining authority. Now I get what you preach," Vorak huffed. "If I could turn back the time, I'd never sired any of my little bastards."

"That is a fool's talk," Celestia replied evenly, glancing from beneath her eyelashes. "You love them."

"Aye, that might be true, however, they are backstabbing, worthless, unruly lot, and before you ask it, yes—Scorpan too is not without a sin."

"Truly, I am concerned that your opinion of your kin is always so low," Celestia said as neutrally as possible. It was supposed to be a diplomatic visit, not an evaluation procedure.

"Spare me your grievances, sorceress!" Vorak waved his hand. He saw right through her. "You too would've known the joys of managing a huge family if you weren't so determined to deal only with serfs. The real family is as much pain as it is a blessing."

Celestia's ear flickered. "I think it's fairly obvious by now that I am not cut out to be a matron material."

In a fleeting vulnerability, she tried to imagine herself being a genuine mother, or even a grandmother to someone... A great-grandmother?... That mental image made her feel queasy. During her long life, she helped several mares deliver their foals, and supposedly there was nothing compared to the warm, proud feeling of looking upon own little one.

She pondered the feeling, but feelings alone weren't enough, as there was always something else to take into consideration, and everything related to child rearing already could've been characterized as an attempt at efficient management. It was about patience, growth, planning, and a number of other specific things that were not that different from being an acting sovereign. "It could be such a selfish decision... How long will it take before somepony I once cherished becomes another face in the crowd?"

"No doubt. It was always clear as day: your oven is simply too hot to bake your own kids," Vorak bleated.

Celestia was never too interested in the topic or overly self-conscious, but Vorak's attitude grated her. Twilight came to her mind. Lately, the destiny of her faithful student was dominating it a lot.

"Adorable colloquialism," she carefully placed her cup on the table. She wasn't supposed to be like that, but... "Dearest Cousin, you've allowed yourself too much. I am the Princess, a mare, and a lady. Have you let go of the last shreds of decency?" Her voice grew mocking.

"Ha!" Vorak brayed. "So it is true! Stars be my witnesses, you are as much a woman as a pig with a horn is a unicorn!" He laughed heartily, reveling in his insensitivity, but Celestia's cold glare brought him back to reality. "Eh, do not take it too personally. We are bloody equals, so can't I speak with you freely?"

Celestia's glare intensified. "Is that why you keep that unsightly stick by your side?"

Their heads turned to the Staff of Sacanas, which Celestia deliberately ignored until this moment.

"Ah, yes. It is only a regalia to show before great Queen Celestia properly." Vorak picked up the stave and ran his hand along its dark surface. "Let me—"

"Simply delightful. You do not even hesitate." Celestia fluidly readjusted her brilliant battle scepter and pointed it at her opponent. "Pay attention, now."

"It is true that as rulers and members of the Council we are alike, and in our heart of hearts we are concerned about legacy." Celestia's voice lowered. "But, your ambition clouds your addled mind, little Vorak. Your thoughts are clear to me, as they are exactly the same as before. Do you still want to find out if this celestial mare will shit herself when she dies just like any other?"

The Warlock King scoffed, but offered no rebuttal. His eyes were glued to the pommel of the Daybreaker.

"𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝓊𝓃," a haunting, familiar whisper at the back of her mind.

"As you said, it is clear as day," Celestia said, stifling a snicker. "So what are you waiting for? Show me what passes for courage in your realm!"

Vorak pulled a strained smile and released the Staff from his grip. It fell to the ground like the pathetic, shriveled sapling that it was. "Pity. We are not fated to be enemies." He raised his cup in a mock toast. "Let's drink to that."

Celestia watched how his jugular worked as he gorged himself on wine. "Prepared speeches for assemblies are always so different from those spoken in lobbies... I must keep myself in check. This, here, is not my fight. In my attempts to preemptively weed out these threats, I will destroy the world many times over."

Gray City of the realm of Soil and Rock was so woefully alien... The smell alone in it was simply impious.

Celestia glanced at the kids who were too busy to notice the atrocity that almost took place, and was suddenly deeply disturbed by herself. "Oh, by the stars... The next thing you'd tell me is that your firstborn just happened to slip past your fingers only to be cast away to rot in Tartatus. You expected it to happen, and we both know that," she accused, not hiding her disgust.

"Haven't we been over this already?" Vorak asked, glaring at her with dismayed embers of eyes.

"Are you accusing me of other attempts, sorceress? Do you have a single piece of evidence to back up this claim?" Vorak challenged.

"You're giving me a headache." Vorak sank back into a chair. "Well, la-di-dah, I guess this is on me."

"All of this is on me… The realm offers you an apology due to harshness of mine actions and words. They occured in ill state of mind, both in past and in present," Vorak said through his teeth. "Happy now, Queen?… Blast! You and your temper!… By Erebus and all that is cosmic, how can you call yourself being in balance? I am like a milk-sucker again who pissed off the Sun herself. After it happened last time, nothing helped to properly heal my back. Want to take a look at it? Eh? Want a reminder?"

"Esteemed Oak King." Celestia slightly lifted her chin, addressing the moniker of this once-proud centaur. "You are the last of all living creatures who would want to be on my bad side. Your..." corner of her lips twitched, "...urge to compete never can be an excuse."

"Bah. It doesn't matter." Vorak crumbled, not in the mood to endure her disappointed glare. "Cupbearer! Fill."

Both parties took the following minute of silence to calm their nerves. The servant awkwardly shuffled around, trying to make as less noise as possible.

"To our health everlasting, Your Radiancy," Vorak uttered with forced officiality, and downed another cup, glaring all the while.

Celestia was feeling uneasy about her outbursts. This decision hurt her, but from now on the Daybreaker needed to be locked away for a while. She had to maintain a clear head.

"Now, since the small talk is finally dealt with," the Warlock King propped up his chin again, "let's cut to why you've come here, so I can get back to my insignificant earthly existence."

"The thousandth Midsummer Festival is nearly upon us," proceeded Vorak. "All four of us must ride in full to fetch that sister of yours. Each year the stone-folk throws great feasts on this day, but our sun-blessed equine-kin has yet to show up at any... Luna is an eternal troublemaker, she will shake things up, won't she?" he hemmed. "Stars above, do you even remember what she looked like?"

"Her presence is my guiding compass. I remember all her faces very clearly, in all of her ever-changing beauty. I see her every night when I raise the Moon in her name." Celestia solemnly lowered her eyes. Luna was like a mirage. Luna felt like someone unreal. "Our mutual benefactors willed it so even if I wanted, I'd never forget… I had so many lifetimes of preparations before meeting her, and I do not feel prepared at all..."

"Does your so-called niece help you, or do you keep her at a leg's length too?" Vorak slapped the armrest, like an idea had overtaken him only by now. "Cadenza, right? That's what we need to do: we should get her, get one of my kids, and work out a marriage. We are supposed to strive for unity, you've been saying it yourself!"

Celestia didn't even consider such a possibility. To waste an alicorn for a political marriage without love, really?... How mundane. How dull.

Equestria was like a pie, and everyone wanted to have their fingers in it. Still, she decided not to share that Cadenza was already betrothed.

"We both know that it is not my role to decide in this matter," she said firmly. "I can only assume that in time other options will become present, so you are free to discuss it with my successors. What is another decade of waiting for both of us?"

═════════════════════════════ 𒀭𒀭𒀭 ═════════════════════════════

"𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝓁𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓂𝒶𝑔𝒾𝒸 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝓋𝒾𝓁𝑒."

The battle between two powerful magicians was not unlike a conversation. It was a clash of two wills driven by emotion, and nothing else mattered—only this night, only their fight. Columns of fire stroked against the sky firmament, the city was washed in blinding flashes of light, and the clouds were parting for the briefest moments, then colliding and swirling, as if they had a life of their own.

The air crackled with energy. The excess of magic birthed torrents of empyrean lightning. The storm was becoming a hurricane.

Celestia moved amidst it, summoning a searing, destructive solar wind with her wings. Chrysalis was a misty presence that remained almost invisible in Celestia's radiance. The pest was trying to use darkness and clouds, evading the wide and generous strikes of the alicorn, but it was only a matter of time before she would be caught in the fiery clutches of another imprecise fiery column.

The Queen's cowardly tactics were more than annoying. Celestia was refusing to wait. Her resplendent power threatened to come crashing down on Canterlot and completely sweep it from the mountainside. The Daybreaker demanded to incinerate. She wanted it too.

"𝐹𝑜𝒸𝓊𝓈." The Queen only seemed chaotic. She was predictable. She wielded her newfound power like a savage, delivering overextending jabs and cuts at her own expense, and Celestia could take advantage of it. The lack of practice would be the changelings' downfall.

Celestia whipped the Daybreaker, sending flaring multicolored arches of pure plasma in her wake. Its pulsating violet, red, and white tendrils, supercharged with running electricity, ignited the night sky, streaming and wrapping between rain clouds and spreading like the transient web, the bleeding fingers of an angry ethereal god.

The shadow rushed through them, remaining a dark, freezing blemish that devoured warmth. Trying to get away from the fiery sky, it had no choice but to close in, and its forelegs stroked against the stave.

Celestia folded her wings, and for a few moments they both were locked in a freefall, whirling violently in the air. Celestia got a good look at the changelings' distorted form. A bleached skull was instead of Chrysalis' muzzle, with gleaming icy-blue and green mingled with shining purple in the depths of her eyesockets.

"Meus equus!" Chrysalis howled in a thundering voice. "Dignus sum vocari Ummu-Hubur, Mater Monsterum!?"

"Verba tua infirma sunt!!" Chrysalis' jaw fell open, and streaks of dark flames poured from it, licking her deformed head. "Infirmi et estis!!"

They dislodged from one another, and Celestia launched an overpowering, massive ray. Chrysalis locked on it and did the same, turning the fight into a pure test of strength.

Celestia focused. Even a slight mistake could be fatal now. The beam of dark green was quickly devouring her gold, rushing towards her almost unimpeded. Letting it come close enough to feel the cold, the alicorn stilled and then thrust the Daybreaker in the changelings' direction, using the weapon as a conduit of her magic instead of the horn.

The ray went through. Chrysalis yelped, staggered, her concentration failing with a wild resonance of dispersing energy. Celestia pressed the advantage, sending a barrage of shards of hardlight, striking and twisting the figure.

Her blows followed each other in quick succession. The changeling couldn't muster a defense. Sliced up by crystal-like projectiles, melting alive from unbearable heat, with limbs pinned to her lean body, she let out a defying roar, full of stubborn desire to live.

With the last spell, an inferno unraveled before the shadow-like interloper, reaching her and quickly smearing away from existence.

The haunting, loud scream of anguish sounded to Celestia's ears like the finale of a beautiful symphony. The howling wind spread it far, and it rang across the sky, calling everyone to bear witness to the victory of the alicorn.

"I am the Vanquisher of Terrors!" Celestia bellowed. She raised the Daybreaker, and energizing bolts of lightning stricken through it and through her body, leaving no harm. "I am Sol Invictus! My heart beats with blazing fire, the fire to burn the world and forge a new dawn, to purge all darkness and leave only light behind!"

Her star-like body shone brightly, blinding the land with her presence. Celestia clenched the scepter, baring her soul before heavens. Nothing could stop her. Nothing could ever compare.

In a flash, she turned, meeting the blow of a rampaging, ravenous beast. Chrysalis contorted herself almost beyond all recognition. Her teeth gnawed on the burning stave without any self-preservation.

Celestia grinned, welcoming the challenge. The creature swept her across the sky, flailing transformed, jagged limbs in an attempt to score a direct hit. A blow made contact with Celestia's muzzle, and despite her wards softening the stab, she felt an iron taste on her tongue and a ringing void in her head. Almost on reflex, she bucked.

Chrysalis was launched a good dozen meters away, immediately reoriented herself, and spat a stream of liquid. Celestia caught it with her aura and hurled it back into the changeling's eyes. Chrysalis screamed in pain and clutched her steaming muzzle, being left exposed for a following strike.

Mercilessly, Celestia buried the stave into Chrysalis' chest. Her signed eyes rolled back; her mouth went agape. The Daybreaker hummed with power rushing down its shaft, instantly reducing the changeling to a red mist and a shower of fragmented, burning bones.

Celestia's horn flared, punching through the dimensions and carrying her to the ground level, and without hesitation, she lunged at Chrysalis right where she expected her to see—in the middle of the memorial garden, towering above the freshly exhumed corpses.

The explosion of untamed energies heralded her arrival, and everything around them was already covered in flames. Chrysalis snapped to her with an ignited horn. Celestia caught a glimpse of her green, gaudy cuirass, coupled with a helmet with yellow-tinted reflective glass shielding her eyes.

Surrounded by intense sunlight, Celestia pointed the Daybreaker at her, and another inferno with searing wind rushed across the burial grounds, felling trees and devouring ponies' memorials. It swirled in coils around the raging green witchfire of the changeling, which was inexplicably protecting the unmoving target.

Something was off. Abruptly snuffing out the fire, Celestia trained her horn and hit the figure with concentrated kinetic force. Chrysalis met it with a more pronounced barrier, forcing the magic to dissipate right before her muzzle.

Chrysalis took a step closer, and Celestia sharply turned the battle scepter. The quickly growing shards of hard light arched across the fiery ground, forcing the changeling to take off into the air before the crystals reached her. So Celestia hurled them all at once.

Some of the physical projectiles punctured Chrysalis' side, but it wasn't enough to stop her. The Queen moved her head back, wildly snarling.

In this brief moment, Celestia was completely open. Her instincts kicked in. She erected a barrier, anticipating.

Chrysalis craned her neck and spat a dark object, speeding toward Celestia's chest. Immediately, she tried to grasp it with her aura, but it didn't connect. She reinforced her barrier, and it went through all layers. She tried to teleport, but to no avail. In a bout of panic, she thrust the Daybreaker between herself and the projectile.

A mental scream of agony pierced her psyche. She felt the semi-sentient weapon die. She felt herself die. The thousands of spells embedded into her body over the hundreds of years, all the latent arcane traces—everything suddenly stopped existing. Her strained muscles ached, her knees quivered, and her hindlegs bucked as if under the weight of her body.

Cut off from her fire, she collapsed into the ash, coughing and gasping for precious air. Strands of hair had fallen on her muzzle, and her stomach twisted. Saliva filled her mouth. With a loud, guttural gurgle, she threw up.

Her frightened eyes were focused on a black shard that was lodged deep in the extinguished battle scepter.

She struggled to comprehend. "H-how? Why? How? Did I lose?… Why, why, why—why am I still losing? Am I fated to constantly lose!? Even now!?
"Stop. Be calm. Think. Think… Where did it come from?"

The shard was truly illogical. It hadn't been affecting Chrysalis. Celestia had seen similar rocks in the outworld that acted both as amplifiers and silencers for certain types of magic, but this one made no sense at all. Maybe it was emitting a certain frequency of antimagic that negated all magic but that of a changeling?… Could Chrysalis attune it? Could she attune herself? Could she do that? Is that the right explanation?

Chrysalis was hobbling closer, wincing, using the aura to pull the hardlight from her flesh. The sharp, protruding edges were stuck in it like daggers. She was tossing them away, watching how they melted in the surrounding heat.

"There was a… dark throne, once. It was jagged, and gorgeous, and huge—befitting the Queen such as I." Chrysalis' wings buzzed in elation, but she sounded dissatisfied. "I wanted to use it to capture you all, creatures… to hang you upside down and see you squeal and squirm while I devour you one by one… Your skin would've served as a nice covering for it. The throne looked great, but sitting on it was pure torture."

"Before I committed to it, something happened. I was… forced to change my approach. I think we both had more fun as a result. It was…" Chrysalis made a strange chittering sound while trying to find the correct word, "…enlightening."

Celestia's head pulsed with unexpected pain. Each cautious breath singed her lungs as if she were a newborn foal. She felt soft.

"I am the Queen of Equestria," proclaimed Chrysalis. _{The Queen… The Queen… The Queen…} something echoed on the edge of Celestia's hearing.

"Don't be a sore loser... Come now, my sweet dear. Maybe there is some sort of destiny in all this. You've been besting me, and now I am outplaying you. There is a certain friction to it… right?"

Celestia stared at the red and green cinders beneath. This place was intended for saying farewell to the deceased and nurturing cherished memories of them, but now the legacy of so many generations had been lost, and in the name of what?

"I want more…" Chrysalis demanded vigorously and subdued a short, aggravating chuckle. Her voice became calm and confident. "I can keep humiliating you… or, I can give you such delightful pain, so acute and pleasurable, so exquisite, that you will not be able to take your mind off me. I will invade your dreams. I can make you addicted.
"Would you like to be addicted to me?" she asked with promising warmth.

Celestia was fast. With a scream, she threw the battle scepter upward, and the splendid, direct blow landed as she intended—right in Chrysalis' temple.

The weighted butt of the weapon had tossed Chrysalis back and broken her helmet to pieces. She pulled herself up with her head barely attached to the neck by a patch of flesh. Her mouth kept silently opening and closing.

With a roar, Celestia stabbed the Daybreaker deep into the ground and took a step away from it. A second. A third. She felt magic again. Tongues of flames ran in harmony with her hoofbeats.

"Buckin' hell," she angrily rasped, performing different motions in a quick succession: conjuring a shimmering rope to tie up her burning ethereal mane into a knot; wiping with the back of her hoof the blood from a split lip; summoning a brightly shining warhammer into her grasp.

Chrysalis kept stumbling backwards, tripping over her hooves. With an eerie, wide grin, she swung her head and socketed it between her shoulders with a wet crunch. Her horn sizzled.

Celestia landed another blow, again tossing the lightweight insectoid far back. Celestia closed in, relentlessly striking. It was met with a barrier, and the alicorn turned with the momentum, bringing the warhammer down. Chrysalis' shield cracked under her barrage.

Moving sluggishly, Chrysalis tried to flee, but Celestia pinned her down with a streaming blast from the horn, still working the weapon to tear down the last of her defenses. In a despairing move, Chrysalis dropped the barrier to launch a repulsing green wave, but the alicorn barely slowed down, clasped the changeling body tight with her aura, and swung the warhammer once more.

Barely able to breathe, Chrysalis erected the shield with all her might. The blow was still terrible. It broke the shield and sent her rolling across the steaming battlefield, raising clouds of cinders and ash. Celestia lunged again and reared her horn, piercing the land beneath the changeling with an instantly growing hardlight.

Chrysalis was forced to constantly move, and as she took off into the air, the alicorn teleported above and struck her down. The weapon brought the changeling onto the sharp crystals, skewering and puncturing her. Howling in pain, Chrysalis snapped her head back, desperately trying to do at least something.

Celestia evaded the green ray with a flourish. Her warhammer was coming onto Chrysalis' skull. In the last bout of defiance, Chrysalis directed her magic into the weapon's head, exploding it before it could cave her in.

Shards sliced Celestia; she immediately reoriented herself and drove the broken shaft into Chrysalis' neck. She heard her gurgle, saw the dark blood, and slowly pushed it deeper, mangling the body.

Celestia stepped back, full of cold rage—it was a calm, collected emotion that was clearing her mind. Her limbs felt numb. Her breath was controlled. She listened to the wind, the sizzle of fire under the rain, and her own fastened heartbeat.

There was a melody in the sounds of things and matter that poured into each other.

Celestia turned, launching a golden lightning, and it met and danced with a black one, colliding on every arc. Chrysalis, who was now standing behind her, remained completely intact.

Chrysalis was staring with a shit-eating grin. She swaggered closer, soaking in the sight of the frustrated alicorn, dark cheeks reddened, eyes open wide. "Celestia, tell me," she called, panting, "is this what you want? Defeating me? Again, and again, and again?"

Celestia barely registered her words, flicking her eyes beyond the fake. The real Chrysalis must've been nearby all this time, full of joy from her successful deceit.

"Do you love it?" the insectoid cooed. "You sure do… So, do you have any more toys? What are you going to show me now?"

Celestia wordlessly drew a sword (in equine, or rather, in human terms, the giant blade of the pony Queen was close to what was known as a zweihänder) from thin air. Searching for the magical sources, she finally espied what she expected—the imprint of colossal multicolored power in the distance, hidden in plain sight.

The wide eyes of the Queen widened even more. "O-o-oh~," she breathed. "That is a… big one."

Chrysalis was still ogling the blade, blissfully unaware. "Once more for the old time's sake. Show me how to w—"

Celestia launched a ray; it connected, and the bright source flinched to the ground. Chrysalis' muzzle showed complicated emotion in between of being stupefied, confused, impressed, and disturbed, then she keeled over, and her illusory body broke into small living shapes, which quickly scattered in different directions.

"Hares? What is this…" Celestia allowed herself to be briefly surprised, then stretched her wings and soared.

With a few beats, she reached her destination in seconds, coming down with a fanning, flaming gust. The pastoral outskirts of Canterlow were covered by a wall of still ongoing rain. She saw the drainage of Canterlot far above, spilling a rush of foamy water. With each fast-paced hoofstep, Celestia was getting closer to the mountain's base, where the flat earth and lush greenery were met with rock and slopes.

Chrysalis' form was something small, immobile on the ground. At first, the alicorn could not discern it, but as she came closer, her light cleared up all suspicions. It was a common rat.

The green transformation magic burst when she hovered over it. It eclipsed Celestia in a column, and as she jerked back with her prepared magic shield, it fell on her with a collapsing wall of living snakes.

The outer layer of the prismatic shield was covered by the reverberation left by the harmless hits. Celestia lunged forward and swept the blade several times, holding it one-hoofed. The Chrysalis' attack was a distraction—the flame of her true consciousness was trembling a few meters away, swirling in the air behind all the venom and hissing.

Green fire enveloped everything around them again, and a swarm of locusts buzzed around the barrier, trying to find a breach. Celestia turned, breathing fire. Her golden aura sprawled, grasping at bodies around her and crushing them; she took a few fleeting steps, and finally scored a direct hit.

The green rushed once more. She saw the Queen in a protective stance with holey forelegs thrown upwards; the edge of Celestia's blade slid smoothly across their chitin-like material, and the alicorn struck again.

Swing followed swing. Chrysalis remained on the defensive, escaping them or deflecting with her limbs. Each successful strike was throwing the changeling off balance, forcing her to fall and slither across the ground in an inequine-like manner, while wreathed in witchfire.

Celestia saw her stubborn, visceral anger. More and more Chrysalis was giving into her impulses, trying and failing to muster a proper offense. Heated, they both constantly moved on a scorched patch of earth, wildly flailing spells left and right.

Until Chrysalis had enough. She stopped, focusing on reinforcing herself, and instantly Celestia revealed her fire, rearing and flapping her wings. A wave of plasma obliterated the mountainside, swirling in brilliant walls upon walls of flames and entwining colors of energy. Slightly hunching amidst it all, Celestia lunged forward to deliver a blow to the charred figure.

She was met with a staggering source of power. Chrysalis was screaming in rage, bracing against the inferno. Her magic, with the horn as its focus, was blowing up like a pillar that was hurting Celestia's eyes.

In a swift flourish, she struck Chrysalis' horn with an upward slash. It broke the changelings' concentration, and she gasped with a look full of disbelief. Celestia brought the sword down Chrysalis' shoulder; the flaming steel moved in it like through butter down to the changelings' waist.

Black-green smoke poured from Chrysalis. Wary of inhaling it, Celestia slammed her with a point-blank energy blast that sent the changeling tumbling on the hard rock.

More witchfire flared, and in a transformation, a small kite rushed upwards and tried to make a desperate break away from Celestia. The alicorn caught it with her aura, crushed it, and violently brought back to the earth.

Reverted Chrysalis remained on the ground, utterly broken. A loud moan of pain was heard, instantly leading into a frustrated growl.

Celestia took a step. The earth trembled. Shards of hardlight pierced the rock, mincing and tearing the changelings' flesh. Wearing an ugly, absolutely deranged scowl, Chrysalis raised her head, and her cracked horn shone with unmitigated brightness.

It was raw energy, streaming with nothing but an intent to slow Celestia down. Chrysalis was giving everything to that goal.

Feverishly, Celestia powered through the compounding force, inching closer to the malevolent eyes, fully determined to run them through with her burning sword and be done with it.

Chrysalis kept sending rocks, fire, spasms of uncontrolled energy—Celestia swung her sword in a fast flurry, cutting down the biggest projectiles. Another sudden movement in the corner of her eye momentarily distracted her. A sizable boulder was thrown into her chest, and at the last possible second, witchfire rippled over it, stripping away a treacherous illusion.

The muzzle of a young mare flashed before her eyes. Her heart hitched, but she couldn't stop the motion—the blow had already connected, and the steel had bitten into the stone of the statue. Something loudly cracked in the compulsion of magic energies; the flaming blade bent, breaking; the statue was cleaved in two, and Twilight's upper half, with her betrayed expression embedded into her features, went spinning in the air.

It went outward from beneath her hooves, waves in layers upon layers of pitch black crystals, completely burying the changeling beneath its jagged edges, smearing her across the rock of the mountain. This rockslide of crystal went upwards, piercing the mountainside, and an ever-present current poured and spilled from it, rushing down the crystal surface down to Celestia. The water was dark, black, bloody-red. It was like a cut open vein.

Celestia wailed, collapsed onto her knees, and clutched her temples in an attempt to subdue the dark insistence and overwhelming cold rage inside.

═════════════════════════════ 𒀭𒀭𒀭 ═════════════════════════════

𒄈 Their vessels, soaring through the vast black sea full of stars, lost wind in their sails. They braced for a collision that never came.

𒄈 An equine-like creature turned to other ones, who respectfully stayed at a distance. Her frail voice was slow and melancholic. "Call everyone. Our sermon has closed."

𒄈 In the dark place, the old wizard snapped open the pocket watch and squinted his eyes under the hornlight.

"Useless!" he cussed, crushing it in his grasp. A faint purplish fog emanated from the mechanism. Someone moved behind him, and he turned, alarmed.

Uncertainty wasn't something he was accustomed to. He took a step away. He galloped.

𒄈 A festivity on the forest glade stopped, and they raised their heads one by one. The ever-living and ever-moving forest was passed over by a gentle touch of utter stillness, broken only by hooting owls.

"O seamstress of woes, you are such a slow thing," said one of the celebrants, "slow, slow, insidious thing."

Her husband was out in the open, trying to help the others. Her daughter, a young librarian, stared at the window. "By Celestia…" she exhaled. "When will it stop?"

Everything could begin anew at any moment, with both the screams and explosions too close for comfort. They could do nothing to prevent it.

Out of their view, the black-hearted, chitinous invaders were roaming between the trees. Circling. Ready to strike.

𒄈 The pink alicorn's coat almost seemed red in the light of dusk. She cast a fearful look at the sky and turned to others.

"What more proof do you need?" she exclaimed in a tired and tearful voice. "Equestria is in danger, we ponies are in danger. Please. I am asking you not as the Crystal Princess, but as one of you!"

The pale and scrawny unicorn turned away, trying to ignore the judgmental and curious looks. "I've seen it already. What am I doing?" he rasped quietly. "Why can't we simply stop? Why can't I simply walk away?"

The cold wind caught them in a flurry of snowflakes, and another quiet voice answered him.

𒄈 "It's the grids, they won't hold!" The artificer, muzzle full of sweat, rushed into the main room. "We have to shut down! Shut down immediately!" his forelegs reached for the big red switch on the wall.

Before he could bring it down, his rowdy boss yanked him away with a headlock. "No, no, look at this, you dullard! Can you see? Can you see? Look!" He tapped on the displayer with the enthusiasm of a stallion who had just won the lottery. "A breakthrough is ahoof!" he crowed. "Crack open the best stuff and tell those down below we'll flood them up with wine; tonight we are alive! We're so back, baby!"

𒄈 Kept awoken by premonitions, the aging bearded gargoyle that still appeared in his prime, carefully peered at the skyline through a spyglass. He was wearing a night cap and a pair of soft slippers.

The red Sun had been dipping for the horizon for quite a while now, and there was no Moon in sight. The stars shone in different colors. Some of them—he could swear it—were disappearing and reappearing when he, explicitly he, didn't watch.

His fast hand was running a pen on the page of a book. He took a glance at his scribbles and swept the sweat from his forehead.

The Queen of the Dark Ch. I

by Forcalor

Leap 16 — "Her jaws" — Princess Celestia — Day 2, late evening