The colt watched the transformation open-mouthed and dumbstruck. "Wow! That must be like the most powerful magic ever!" he exclaimed in admiration. Across the street a mare called a name, and the colt looked over, before looking back at Chrysalis, crestfallen. "I have to go, but it was really cool meeting you, Mrs Changeling!" He ran back across to his mother, who gave Chrysalis and Discord a slightly nervous wave before ushering the young colt inside.
Chrysalis shifted back to normal. She normally would be annoyed by such ponies but for some reason she didn't feel that way this time. Something about it was different. He seemed to show affection without force... which was odd for her. She is so used to the ponies of Canterlot and Ponyville hating her. Yet a young one who doesn't exactly hate or fear her presence, but seems to be almost fanboying over her... This was a change. She took a sigh and looked to Discord. "I'm ready to get moving, we have more ponies to save from this magic."
Discord grinned. "Are you sure you want to leave your adoring fan behind?" He chuckled before looking at the map once more. "Manehatten then? It's bigger; we'll have to be more sneaky..."
Chrysalis sighs and she nods. "I'm certain. Besides, we cannot waste anymore time. We will need to be extra careful in Manehatten." She says, readying for the next port. She was feeling different since her and Discord have been on this big adventure of theirs. She has gotten to see ponies in their everyday lives. She is starting to see that maybe her kind and pony kind maybe not so different.
Discord placed his paw on her shoulder slightly awkwardly and teleported them to a small wood just outside Manehatten. "Right," he said, removing his paw and peering out of the woods at the road to Manehatten. "If we just disguise ourselves as generic ponies, they'll see right through us; Celestia has to know what's going on by now. We'll have to accost a couple of ponies on this road, tie them up, then take their places, instead, ok?"
"As much as it makes me sick to kidnap ponies unless I plan to convert them, I agree. It's our only way in safely. I have to admit, that's rather clever and devious, even for you~" Chrysalis says with a bit of sadistic glee. She was having fun with Discord. She was unsure at first how this would all work out, but her worries seem to be moot thus this far.
"Oh, I've left ponies tied up all over Equestia over the years, they're always fine!" Discord said, dismissing her worries with a wave of his paw. "It's like there's some benevolent force watching over them... Oh, and, um thank you?" He was so unused to being complimented, he hadn't registered it at first. "Ah, here comes a likely looking pair; hide in that bush over there, and be ready to jump them!" He urged, noticing a covered cart moving down the road towards them...
Chrysalis nods and they hide in a near by bush. They wait for the covered carrage to get close before jumping. She just hopes this works. They cannot afford to screw up.
"Who's stupid idea was this!?" Complained the custard-coloured earth pony stallion pulling the cart. Discord couldn't fathom why a pony would pull another pony in a cart, but that's what his image-donor had been doing before they tied him to a tree, and both Chrysalis and he had agreed that they should mimic their behaviour perfectly. he could almost sense the mirth emanating from the Changeling Queen, sitting on the carriage's seat disguised as a pale blue Unicorn mare.
Chrysalis takes the form of the custard colored pony and hitches herself to the carriage. She readies herself to pull Discord into the city. This way they could do what they needed to undetected. Discord seems to always have a plan that help in some way. It almost funny how much he has been helping Chrysalis with this.
(Opps, I meant Discord had taken the form of the custard pony! Guess I didn't write it as clearly as I though I did No Matter! We shall carry on regardless!) "Giddy up!" Discord Mocked, a wide grin on his equine features; he may have been in the form of a mare, but at least he didn't have to pull the cart. From what the gathered from the ponies they had captured, the cart was one of many delivering vegetables to the city. Celestia had obviously realised much of the surrounding countryside was no longer under her control, and was stockpiling food before she was cut off. This was good news for them, as it meant many carriages would be arriving, hopefully making them less noticeable. Discord had suggested they simply disguise themselves as potatoes and be carried in, but Chrysalis wasn't keen on that plan for some reason.
Chrysalis focused on getting into town and the high traffic of carriages definitely helped get them into the city without anypony being suspicious. Chrysalis felt the energy and how heavy it was. The magic will need to be dissipated if they hope to get anymore control over Equestria.
Waiting until they were unwatched, they pulled the cart into a quiet alley, and Discord opened a portal and sent it into the ether, hopefully covering their tracks and buying them some time. "Right," He said, stepping out of the alley, "Do you need to be anywhere in particular to use that crystal? Or do we just need to find somewhere secluded?"
"I need to be high up on the roof tops. And from what I am sensing, if we disperse the magic here, it'll break the spell over a good chunk of the area. We would need to cover Cloudsdale, the Crystal Empire, and Canterlot next after that. Once two of those three big areas are down, Celestia will be all that's left. I know that she'll not let me disperse the magic over Canterlot without a fight, so I'll be bringing the fight to her. I also will like the Crystal Empire job to be in and out. I don't want to be there longer than I have to. Especially since that's the home of the Princess that I took the form of during the wedding incident. Princess Cadence." She says with some regret before regaining focus on the mission at hoof. She looks high up to the roof tops. "We will need a big diversion however to keep the attention away from me while I despell the magic here. The light show from the crystal will bring unwanted attention otherwise."
"A distraction? Whatever makes you think I'll be able to provide that?" Discord asked, reverting to his natural form and chuckling. He clicked his talons, and they appeared on the roof of one of the many tall buildings dotting the city. Thankfully it was unguarded. "This spot will do, I hope? Just give me five minutes; you'll know when it's safe." He grinned and jumped over the side of the building, turning into a feather and floating gently down towards the streets; with so much of the land already restored, he was feeling more like his old self again. He floated away from the building and towards the gathering point for all the vegetable carts.
Chrysalis formed a horn on her pony form and readied to use the crystal. She had to be sure that it was safe before starting. She just hopes Discord doesn't get himself in too much trouble. That would be last thing she would want to worry about. She sighs and gets mentally ready as she waits for the Discord's chaotic signal. She could feel more power flowing into her from after she freed Applaloosa. In fact all the freed locations seem to be making her power stronger. She hasn't felt this powerful in a while. It felt good.
Realising the food was the most important thing to Celestia, and therefore the ponies under her control, Discord decided to focus his efforts there; floating through an open window, he checked the room was clear before reclining on the window sill. From there he had a good view of the carts of produce, and could get to work... He started with something easy; turning the cherries into cherry bombs, throwing into the air to produce an impromptu fireworks display; next a cartful of potatoes started arguing with each other as to whether they were called potahtoes or potaytoes, the tomatoes next do them having a similar debate; sticks of celery turned to actual sticks; a pile of swedes turned into fair-haired ponies with strange accents, and a box of chilli peppers burst into flames. Discord chuckled as the chaos unfolded beneath him, ponies running from all directions and looking around in bemused confusion as they tried to salvage what they could. He cast some of the exploding cherries above the roofs, detonating them in the shape of a draconequus, as a signal to Chrysalis.
Chrysalis smiles seeing Discord's signal in action. She began charging the crystal at that moment and the energy was building up quicker than before. The Crystal was already nearly ready. With it hitting maximum charge after a few moments, she raised the Crystal into the sky and the crystal unleashed on the magic controlling the ponies here. Once the magic was broken over the city, she could feel even more of Equestria in the surrounding area being freed too. The only areas left were Cloudsdale, The Crystal Empire, and the final front, Canterlot. The magic was exceptionally strong in those areas. Chrysalis took a deep breath. They have come rather far but they are still far from done till they stop Celestia.
A party horn and a cloud of confetti announced Discord's return to the roof. "You did it! Well done!" He swept Chrysalis up in an enthusiastic hug and shook her by the shoulders, before releasing her and stroking his chin in thought. "At least, I think you did; those ponies still seemed pretty angry and confused, but then that's their standard reaction when I'm around."
There is no time to stand on celebration. With both you and me getting stronger, Celestia no dought is going to take notice. Especially with only 3 places left. One of them being Sunbut's city domain, Canterlot." Chrysalis says in a serious tone as she shifts back to herself again. "We cannot afford to waste much more time."
