//------------------------------// // A Word With Royalty // Story: The Secret of Smarty Pants // by Rough_Draft //------------------------------// Nine – A Word With Royalty Something wasn’t right. It felt like Twilight was back at the library in Ponyville, standing among all her books and listening to Spike dusting upstairs. She trotted over to the front door to see if she was really in Ponyville. When she pushed the door open, she saw her adopted hometown, with the streets full of ponies she knew. Lyra and Bon Bon. Derpy Hooves and Time Turner. The Cutie Mark Crusaders. But when she stretched her hoof out, they all began to disappear. “Please, don’t go!” she pleaded. “You’re real! I know you’re real! Don’t leave me!” But she couldn’t stop them from leaving. They were false! All false ponies! Changelings and liars and— “Peace, Twilight Sparkle!” a deep voice called out. “Do not give into despair now.” Twilight turned around. Standing in the middle of her dream-library was Princess Luna. She certainly looked real. And sounded real. But it took Twilight prodding her with her hoof to know that she was real. “Princess,” Twilight said, bowing her head, “the changelings are about to take over the Crystal Empire. And they’re after the Elements of Harmony!” “I see. It is worse than we feared, then.” Luna pointed her hoof at a swirling vortex near the center of the room. Twilight watched as a terrible scene unfolded inside the vortex. She saw Princess Celestia standing in the middle of a dark Canterlot avenue, fending off multiple changelings with gusts of wind from her wings and golden bolts from her horn. Only a few royal guards could be seen carrying on the fight beside her against identical clones of themselves. “She fights well, but this battle is already lost,” Luna explained. “The changeling queen has slipped away and now she has taken possession of the Elements of Harmony. Nothing stands between her and control of the Crystal Empire.” “But Cadance…” Twilight shook her head. “And Shining Armor! Surely they can stop her! They did it before!” “But never before have the Elements of Harmony been turned against each other. And we do not know what would happen if they did.” “Fortunately,” a suave voice called out from the shadows, “that’s right up my alley.” Twilight noticed Discord making his way down the library stairs. For some reason, he was dressed up like Star-Swirl the Bearded and carrying a large tome in his paws. “Queen Chrysalis has set things up very nicely for herself,” said the draconequus. He flipped through pages of his book, causing green pixie dust to fall from the sides. “But that’s boring, so I’ve decided I’m gonna ruin things as best I can.” “Since we can’t beat the changelings by force,” Luna explained, “we must beat them by a more cunning strategy.” Discord smiled and began to fiddle with his false beard, making it grow longer and longer while he spoke. “Personally, I’ve always found that being taken captive is the best time to do some damage. Think about it. Where does your enemy usually take you when you’ve been caught? Right to her! It’s the perfect ploy!” Twilight listened to them with an open mind. She knew she didn’t have many options in her state. No doubt she was passed out inside some changeling prison cell, just like Cadance had been trapped inside a dark cavern on the eve of her wedding. Still, that gave her a few ideas. It helped to know a princess who could enter a pony’s dreams. “Princess Luna,” Twilight asked, “can you deliver a message in this form to Cadance? Tell her and my brother what’s going on?” “Of course, Twilight.” “And, if you can…” Twilight blushed a little. “Tell my friends what’s going on and not to worry. Especially Fluttershy.” “Oh, I can guess why,” Discord remarked. He snapped his fingers. Two plush dolls appeared in his paws—toy ponies that resembled Twilight and Fluttershy. He bounced their muzzles together and made several kissing sounds with a sadistic grin. Twilight rolled her eyes. “Thanks for that. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to wake up now.” “Your wish, milady, is my command!” The draconequus snapped his fingers again— And then Twilight opened her eyes. It was warm inside the pod. Warm and hideously green. Twilight tried to turn her head, but it hurt too much to do so. It was easier to lie still in the pod’s warm embrace. The front of the pod was transparent. Twilight saw through a green filter a grove of gnarled trees. She surmised that she was somewhere inside the Everfree Forest—or perhaps in some other distant woodland. She might not even be in Equestria anymore. As her vision cleared, Twilight noticed other pods like her own. If she squinted hard enough, she could see her friends trapped inside them. All her friends were there. Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash—all unconscious and contained. Twilight’s heart sank, but she prayed that Luna would visit them in their sleep soon enough. It hurt when she remembered the changeling who’d masqueraded as Fluttershy. How could she have been so blind? And she’d kissed her! The thought made Twilight’s stomach churn. If we get out of this, she swore, I’m going to take a week-long trip with Fluttershy. Just the two of us. And maybe Spike, so he doesn’t worry about me. But that’s all. “Oh, you’re awake at last,” said a sickeningly familiar voice. Twilight watched as a tall and lanky changeling with a jagged horn stepped out of the shadows. She moved straight for Twilight’s pod with a cruel smile written on her face. Queen Chrysalis! Twilight snarled inside her head. She tried to open her mouth, but she didn’t seem to have the strength for it. She couldn’t even feel her tongue. “Yes, it’s been a while, hasn’t it, my little pony?” Chrysalis lowered her head until she was eye-level with Twilight. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this day. My perfect day. You get to sit and watch while I claim this entire land for the Changeling Nation.” If not for the pod that held her, Twilight would gladly have kicked the changeling queen in the face. Instead, all she could was glare in silence. “I could say I’m only doing this because we crave the love that fills Equestria,” Chrysalis added, “but then, that’s not entirely true. My subjects might need that love to survive, but I can live quite well on your misery. Watching you and your friends squirm. Watching every pony princess fall and submit to my rule.” She grinned. “Yes… that would keep me satisfied for a long time, my little pony princess.” From behind one of the other pods, a small changeling stuck its head out and buzzed, “My queen, we have secured six of the eight Elements of Harmony!” “Excellent, Wriggler. I shall be there shortly!” Chrysalis began to trot away from Twilight, but before she left the grove, she took one last look at her prisoner and sighed. “I really couldn’t have done this without you,” said the vile queen. “Remember that.” Twilight Sparkle had never been a pony given to hatred. But in that moment, she despised Chrysalis and everything she stood for. She would not weep for any tragic consequences the changelings would face. It scared Twilight to think how cold her heart felt. She tried to remember Fluttershy’s kindness and how she’d reformed even a mad and heartless deity like Discord. But that thought gave her no comfort. She doubted there was anything left in Chrysalis to redeem. Still, it helped to think of her beloved pegasus, to imagine her beautiful smile and sweet voice. That was something she could fight for. Something she could believe in. Stay strong and sleep well, my love, Twilight promised. Somehow, we’re going to fix this. Wriggler, now glad to be back in his true form, ascended through the treetops with his team close behind him. Every single one of the changelings wore an Element of Harmony. Having taken the form of Applejack before, Wriggler wore the Element of Honesty around his neck. When he breached the open air above the forest, he buzzed in joy at the sight of the full moon. His carapace throbbed with pride as he watched Queen Chrysalis emerge from the woods, her dark beauty silhouetted by moonlight. Tonight would be their final victory. He could feel it. “Transform yourselves, my servants,” Chrysalis hissed. “We will begin.” Wriggler concentrated as his body morphed from changeling carapace to pony hide. He felt a golden mane and tail sprout, followed by a brief spasm as his wings retracted and his limbs readjusted to suit the earth pony’s strong physique. When he opened his eyes, he and his brethren looked just like the six pony heroines. He felt particular pride in seeing his dear Ichor wearing the face and crown of Twilight Sparkle. “Friendship is a nuisance, but sadly it may be necessary for our victory.” Chrysalis raised her hole-ridden hoof and swept it down at her minions. “Recreate the bonds between the ponies and we will be able to claim the Elements of Harmony as our own!” Wriggler concentrated. The Element of Honesty. He tried to think of what it was like to be honest. He was honest with his mate and his queen, if no one else… “Blast it!” Ichor cried out. She dropped to her hooves, panting as her eyes flashed green. “My queen... we… we cannot sustain the spell…” The queen glared daggers at Ichor. “I don’t want excuses, I want results! Try again!” “But I’ve never known how to be kind,” the false Fluttershy buzzed in a deep, masculine voice. “And there is little for us to laugh about,” the false Pinkie Pie screeched. Wriggler immediately saw the crux of the problem. He prostrated himself before his queen and added, “Your Majesty, if I might be so bold, perhaps the Elements of Harmony simply can’t be tricked by false friendship—” A green bolt struck him in the chest. He went skidding over the treetops, crashing into a tangle of leaves and branches. Green light rippled as his disguise failed. Wriggler groaned and looked up at Chrysalis’s seething face. “I don’t want excuses,” she repeated. “You six will keep trying and make them work, or I’ll find servants who can.” Wriggler ducked his head shamefully. Then, while his wings twitched painfully, he remembered his discovery from earlier that night. “Your Majesty,” he risked saying, “there is a doll that I stole from the earth pony. I beg leave to fetch it and show you the love that we can harvest from—” “Silence, insolent whelp!” Chrysalis’s horn glowed as she lifted Wriggler into the air and sent him hurtling back toward his comrades. “I have no time for your foolish notions. Make the ponies’ Elements work or else!” Without another word, she flew off. Ichor crept over to Wriggler’s side. “Are you wounded, dearest?” “Only my pride,” he hissed back.