Flurry Heart giggled as Cadence played peekaboo with her. Shining Armor stood at the door, smiling at the sight of his wife and daughter. Trying the perfect balance between raising Flurry Heart and ruling the Crystal Empire was not an easy task, but they've managed.
Suddenly Thorax flew in through the window and crashed onto the floor. He looked as if he had flown nonstop for miles.
Cadence and Shining Armor stopped what they were doing and rushed over to help Thorax. "What's going on?" Cadence asked.
Thorax was dizzy from the crash but his head was still clear enough to respond. "Queen Chrysalis is back, and she has an army by her side. They just retook the Hive. I came here as fast as I could to warn you," Thorax explained.
Shining Armor made his way to the door, "don't worry Thorax. I will lead an army and liberate your people-"
"No! They have weapons we've never seen before!" Thorax interrupted.
Shining Armor stopped at the door. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"We had the enemy hopelessly outnumbered but they unleashed some kind of secret weapon against us. It destroyed us before we could get close enough to fight back. I ordered my people to surrender and came here by myself to warn you about this new threat," Thorax explained.
Shining Armor and Cadence remained silent. The only sound in the room was Flurry Heart flying around and giggling. Eventually Cadence broke the silence. "We should get a letter to Canterlot as soon as possible," Cadence said.
"I'll write the letter," said Shining Armor as he rushed out the door.
Meanwhile at the Changeling Hive. Sclerite had successfully defeated the rebel Changelings, and had recently finished setting up four tiny scarabs on a rock outside of the Hive. A large image appeared with each of the Queens.
"My Queen, we have taken back the Hive and are awaiting new orders!" Sclerite said.
"Very good, prepare to head north to the Crystal Empire," Queen Chrysalis ordered.
"It shall be as you say my Queen," Sclerite responded before he cut transmission. He immediately turned around to see one of the rebel Changelings approaching him. The Changeling was stopped by two red Changelings from Queen Formic's Hive.
"Sclerite, why are you still loyal to her?" he asked. Sclerite immediately recognized who it was.
"Carapace, let me ask you one question. Did you really think the Equestrians care about Changelings? Don't you remember the history lessons? They are conquerors, many great civilizations once stood at these lands. All of them were destroyed by Equestria or turned into puppets. I will not let the same thing happen to you nor any other Changeling," Sclerite said. "I'll be leaving pretty soon. What I want to know is, why did you betray us?"
"Thorax had shown that we don't need to steal love. We can instead share it among each other," Carapace answered.
"You know, I really wish that was how it was before I had left to train with the other Hives. I always wished I could have been like you guys. That would've saved me from the insults you all threw at me, but now I'm glad I was singled out. At least I can remain pure," Sclerite said before leaving to check up on his troops. "I want this tank column ready to move! We are heading to the Crystal Empire!" Sclerite yelled.
The tanks roared as they began to move. A total of five hundred Changelings accompanied them as they left half of the anti-air guns in the once secret area.