adventure Elements of Equestria 2: Spirit Trials

[DivineMist1000 71,098]

Elements of Equestria 2: Spirit Trials

Chapter 1: A New Threat

Night had fallen on a small seaside town known as Skyros and many ponies were still walking the streets and conversing with one another. One pony draped in a grey cloak  walked past the statue in the middle of town, but she stopped when she saw her own reflection in the statue.

The pony was a black furred unicorn with a green and blue mane and tail and her eyes were dark green with her pupils slit down the middle. The black pony straightened her mane out and smiled when she looked over herself.

"Hmm, hopefully nopony suspects me... I must be careful."

Across from the statue was a building decorated with a loaf of bread and a sign that read "Bread N' Butter". A group of ponies exited the building and they talked with each other as one of them locked the door.

The black pony hid herself at the corner of the building and waited for the two ponies to walk away. Once the two ponies were gone, the black pony poked her head out for any sign of anypony else and slowly jumped up on top the building.

"So far so good. Where's the window?"

After searching the roof for an opening, the black pony found a circular window before her and she looked through it to see a storage room full of loaves of bread. The pony's stomach growled as she looked at the bread, but focused as tried to open the window.

The black pony looked around once more before using her magic to unlock the window. The pony quietly rushed inside and landed on the floor as quietly as possible, but she soon saw the piles of bread before her.

"Perfect. This will do nicely..."

As soon as the pony removed her satchel from her back, she started loading it with as much bread as she could carry. After taking about eight loaves of bread, the pony closed up her satchel and made her way back to the window she came in from. The pony jumped up through the window and locked the window back with her magic before jumping off the roof and looked at her bag full of bread.

"I hate doing this... but this is the only way I can get some food."

The black pony looked back at the building she came from for a second before she put her hood up and ran off towards the nearby forest, unaware that somepony else was watching her and they slowly started to follow her.
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After walking for quite a bit, the black pony reached a large gathering of rocks and she pressed her hoof against one of the stones. A large slab nearby lowered down and revealed the entrance to a dark cave and the pony lit up her horn as she went inside. After closing the door behind her, the pony lit up the torches with her magic and a green flame came to life in each torch.

The light revealed a few areas of interest around the cave: a small waterfall that filled up into a little pond in the middle, a large group of green crystals lining the walls of the cave and the ceiling that had shards of the same crystals shining down.

Once she had traveled further into the cave, the pony came to an alcove that housed a small bed, a desk with a mirror attached to it and a few chairs surrounded by green candles.

"Well, cave sweet cave I guess..."

The pony sighed as she laid down her bag on the desk and sat down on the bed. She sat still for a few minutes before she got up again and examined her reflection as she looked over herself throughly. 

"Well, I should probably drop the disguise now."

An aura of green magic surrounded the pony as she focused her magic on herself. Within the green flame that surrounded her, the pony slowly revealed her true form: 

Her horn started to both fall apart and grow little larger, her mane and tail became longer with holes started appearing on both, her green eyes became bigger and glowed in the dark, fangs appeared in her mouth, a pair of holey wings sprouted from her back and her entire figure grew three times bigger as even more holes surrounded her hooves.

The pony revealed in the mirror now was none other than the Queen of the Changelings, Queen Chrysalis.

"Much better. The true look of beauty right here..."

Chrysalis looked over at the bag of bread on the desk for a second and remembered how she had gotten it.

Queen Chrysalis had been on her own for months now, ever since her countless attempts to regain the trust of her changelings had come up empty. While she was indeed happy for hive's survival, she couldn't bear with the fact that she couldn't be there to watch over them.

At the end of it all, Chrysalis decided to give up her conquests of ruling Equestria and went out on her own. Ever since then, she had been moving between different caves so that she could stay on the move without ponies noticing her.

"I don't want to do things like this, honestly I don't. Thievery is so low for me and I know that it hurts other ponies, but I have no choice or else I will starve."

Before she decided to grab a piece of bread, Chrysalis put the bag to the side as she sighed again and laid down on her bed.

"Hmm, maybe some sleep will help clear my mind..."

Chrysalis looked up at the crystal ceiling and glanced toward the bag of bread one more time.

"It's... It's not right. I shouldn't have stolen that bread... I just know that something bad will happen to me or somepony else."

A yawn came from Chrysalis before she closed her eyes and drifted off into sleep.
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Later that night, Chrysalis stirred in her sleep as she heard the sound of knocking all around her. Chrysalis woke and rubbed her eyes as she listened for the noise that was being made.

"What is that? Where is that coming from?"

Chrysalis got up from the bed and went into the main area of the cave, where the sound of the knocking became louder. Finally, Chrysalis realized that the knocking was coming from the entrance, but this actually confused Chrysalis.

"I... wasn't expecting any visitors."

The sound of footsteps echoed through the cave and Chrysalis decided to ready her magic in case she was to be attacked. Chrysalis slowly opened the cave door and the first thing she saw was a hooded figure standing in front of her. The figure smiled a bit at Chrysalis, but this only made her angry at his presence.

"W-Who are you? How did you find me?"

"Wasn't too hard actually... I just had to watch and wait for you. And here you are, Queen Chrysalis."

Chrysalis was shocked that this stranger knew her name, but she remained on guard for any tricks he might pull.

"Anyway... Your Highness, I was hoping that you would be willing to help me locate somepony..."

"Hmph! Help you? Why would I help a stranger like you? I asked you who you are and you will answer that question first!"

The stranger laughed at Chrysalis' intimidation and stepped a bit closer to her, but Chrysalis told him to step back.

"You can call me... The Spirit and that is all you will ever know about me..."

Chrysalis memorized this name in her head, but couldn't exactly remember where she had heard it before. She then looked back at the hooded pony and saw him smiling menacingly at her.

"Now, I have answered your question and now it is your turn... Have you seen this pony?"

The Spirit showed Chrysalis a picture of a brown Pegasus pony with a red and black mane standing next to a magenta unicorn pony with a broken horn. The picture was from the city of Canterlot and Chrysalis recognized Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in the picture, but not the two ponies standing before them.

"I... do not know of him. Who is he?" Chrysalis asked.

"His name is Lee. Apparently, he has become a so called "Knight of Equestria" and I am seeking him for an important endeavor."

"What? What are you talking about? Some random pony is who you want?"

"You wouldn't understand... This "random pony" is the key to everything in my plan for conquering Equestria and you will help me find him or else..."

Chrysalis laughed at The Spirit for trying to threaten her and suddenly launched a powerful beam of magic at him. The Spirit took the full force of the magic, but he extended his hoof and absorbed all the magic being blasted at him.

The Spirit channeled the energy through his body and then shot it back out at Chrysalis, which blasted her back and slammed her into the rocks behind her. Chrysalis groaned in pain, but she quickly stood back up and faced The Spirit.

"Fool! That was your last mistake!"

"Why would you not want to help me, Chrysalis? Isn't this what you want? To rule over Equestria? I can give you that and we can help one another..."

"T-That's not me... Not anymore! I gave up on these foolish pursuits of conquest and I swore I wouldn't get caught up in such things again. And you cannot talk me into this either..."

The Spirit laughed again and looked around at his surroundings as he mocked Chrysalis.

"Well, look at where your choices have gotten you... Living in caves, stealing food, fighting just to survive... I know that your true intentions are to be ruler, just like me..."

"I'm not like you... and you know nothing about me. I will not help you and nothing you say will change my mind..."

"Hmph... then you are simply in my way."

The Spirit attacked Chrysalis with a strong blast of green energy, but Chrysalis dodged him and kicked him hard in his sides, sending him flying into the trees and crashing through several of them. Chrysalis looked triumphantly at The Spirit as he quickly stood back up and brushed himself off.

"Are you finished now? I won't ask you again to leave me in peace!!"

"Fool! You have no idea of the power that I possess... Allow me to show you!"

An aura of energy surrounded The Spirit and he screamed to the skies as more energy enveloped him. Once the energy was at its peak, The Spirit charged at Chrysalis and quickly turned into a silhouette of green energy before he disappeared into nothingness.

Chrysalis looked around the area for The Spirit, but she soon suddenly felt a painful feeling in her sides. She clutched her head in pain and fell to her knees as she started hearing whispers in her head.

"W-What is this? What is happening to me?"

A voice appeared in Chrysalis' head and she recognized it as the voice of The Spirit. Chrysalis felt her hooves raise against her will and she started breathing heavily.

"It is so easy for me to enter the minds and hearts of ponies. Fools like you cannot resist this and now... now I will not let you get in my way ever again."

Chrysalis started hitting herself and ramming herself into trees under The Spirit's control, but whatever The Spirit was doing, it was too strong for her to do anything or resist his influence.

"G-Get out!! GET OUT!!"

Through The Spirit's influence, Chrysalis was them forcefully lifted off of her feet and slammed several times into the ground before being thrown high into the sky and then sent crashing back down hard against the rocks again, leaving a huge crater on impact this time.

Chrysalis tumbled down towards the ground and collapsed on the spot, but still kept her weary eyes on The Spirit. The Spirit then emerged next to Chrysalis and knelt down next to her to see that she was barely conscious now.

"What a fool... I will find him myself then. Farewell, Queen Chrysalis."

As The Spirit left the area, Chrysalis looked up as he walked away but still lacked the strength to move at first. Chrysalis groaned as she looked at the ground and saw the picture that The Spirit showed her earlier. 

Chrysalis crawled over to the picture and overlooked it before she placed a hoof next to the brown Pegasus pony.

"Lee... Who is he?"

A/N: It's time for a new story in the adventures of Lee and Tempest! Who is The Spirit? Why is Queen Chrysalis here? All will be answered in the coming story!

Edited May 5, 2021 by DivineEternal1000

[Misty Shadow 7,067]

I loved the debut of Chrysalis, even though she would be called "creature" at the start rather than "pony", since "creature" is the word that encompasses all species in FiM, including Changelings. I also personally don't believe thievery would induce guilt in her after she tried to destroy Twilight and her friends in the show finale. I do believe the side of her that's concerned with her hive though and would love to see how you reform her!

Also, Skyros...was the name for this town inspired by Skyrim by any chance? 

Edited May 5, 2021 by CloudMistDragon
Slight typo.

[DivineMist1000 71,098]

2 hours ago, CloudMistDragon said:

I loved the debut of Chrysalis, even though she would be called "creature" at the start rather than "pony", since "creature" is the word that encompasses all species in FiM, including Changelings. I also personally don't believe thievery would induce guilt in her after she tried to destroy Twilight and her friends in the show finale. I do believe the side of her that's concerned with her hive though and would love to see how you reform her!

Also, Skyros...was the name for this town inspired by Skyrim by any chance? 

I wanted to show what Chrysalis had been doing ever since her defeat and I wanted her to feel like stealing was too low for even her, but she does so she can survive. You'll see how things turn around for Chrysalis soon too.

What do you think of The Spirit?

And no, I just came up with the name actually.

[Misty Shadow 7,067]

37 minutes ago, DivineEternal1000 said:

I wanted to show what Chrysalis had been doing ever since her defeat and I wanted her to feel like stealing was too low for even her, but she does so she can survive. You'll see how things turn around for Chrysalis soon too.

What do you think of The Spirit?

And no, I just came up with the name actually.

The Spirit is cool so far! I'd love to see how Lee and Tempest fare against his MIND POWERS. 

[CypherHoof 26,479]

4 hours ago, CloudMistDragon said:

I loved the debut of Chrysalis, even though she would be called "creature" at the start rather than "pony", since "creature" is the word that encompasses all species in FiM, including Changelings.

I remember a LOT of arguments about that on here a few years ago - one faction would claim that "everypony" was inclusive and was fine to use for groups that weren't even majority ponies - and the other wanted a more general term (this was before even EqG, of course)

[Tom Gallagher 33,521]

She’s finally here... 

[Octavia Heartstrings 28,397]

The sequel is off to a great start! It's really good to see Chrysalis making her entrance into your universe, and The Spirit looks like a very interesting villain.