//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1: Plots and Plans 
// Story: Equestria Fallen 
// by ElectromagNick 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 1: Plots and Plans


Changelings skittered about the stone halls, brightly lit with daylight from the windows, or from orange crystal sconces.  The rolling hills, lush and green, held a serenity to accompany the small waves of the lake nearby, or the gentle rushing of the rivers that fed into it or away from it.  The fortress stood tall, surrounded by unclaimed plains and forests, bordering the Griffon Kingdom.
One Changeling seemed in a peculiar rush, dashing through the halls with a single destination in mind: Grand Façade's office chamber.  After one last corner, he saw the double doors of his destination, green banners on either side with the emblem of three concentric circles with a single, diagonal line bisecting all three.  His heart was beating like a war drum and his breathing was uneasy, yet his hurried rush was not the cause.  After a moment, he entered the room, not a thought to bother with knocking.
“Grand Façade, I bring news from our agents in the Hive,” he announced in the strange Changeling language.
“Ah, Quick Wit,” Grand Façade responded, standing on the balcony.  He was abnormal for a Changeling, standing taller than most with larger, green wings and a matching tail, longer than average.  He turned to face the messenger with strangely green eyes.  “Speak.”
“The Tyrant Queen is mobilizing her forces.  She is preparing for war.”
“She is always prepared for war,” he refuted, approaching his desk.
“You know her forces move discretely, in the shadows.  This mobilization is massive and blatant.  Cross Examination believes that it is an invasion force.”
Grand Façade gave an incredulous look.  “What evidence does she offer?”
Quick Wit drew several parcels from the bags strapped across his back and to his sides.  He placed several packages on the ground and unscrolled several maps across Façade's desk.  One depicted the Changeling Hive, the rest depicted individual regions of the nation.  Arrows were drawn across all of them in varying colors with a simple legend roughly scrawled on another piece of papyrus: red for air forces; black for ground forces; and purple for agents of the Shadow's Wings, Chyraslis's elite special task forces.  There were dozens of arrows across each regional map, with nearly seventy across the national map.
“Her agents have also intercepted many messages.  She provided a transcript.”  Quick removed another scroll and Façade's jade-hued magic enveloped the message.
Several minutes passed while the rebel commander looked through the recorded letters.  Finally, he lifted his gaze, returning it the courier.  “This is troubling.  I want to see Perfect Guise.”
“Of course, sir,” he bowed his head and rushed from the chambers.

After some time, the door opened again.  “You sent for me?” Perfect Guise announced, Quick Wit following immediately after.  Perfect Guise was taller than the courier, though still shorter than Grand Façade.
“Yes,” Façade answered, sitting behind his desk.  “I received some troubling information.”  He motioned to papers in front of him.
Guise scanned over the maps quickly, putting the pieces together nearly instantly.  “Where has she set her sights?”
“Equestria.”
Guise looked his superior.  “Shall I begin preparations?”
Façade ran a tired, stressed hoof down the surprisingly soft ridge on the back of his neck.  After a moment, he put his forelimbs back on the desk and rose his head, his expression stern and grim.  “Yes.”  Quick Wit and Perfect Guise both bowed their heads and left to set the plan in motion.  Once the door closed, Façade stood and returned to the balcony.  “Forgive me, Celestia,” he muttered in Equine, as if the royal Alicorn could hear him.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


A dark blue Unicorn stallion with a well-kept white and gray mane trotted calmly throughout the Canterlot Library.  His violet eyes looked for the study room he was supposed to be at.  He was on the second floor of the main hall, which connected the several wings of the building.
“Quiet Deceit, where are you?” an echoey “voice” demanded in a language that wasn't, sent through some telepathic means.
“My apologies, Your Ladyship,” he replied through the same tethers of thought.  “I was... delayed by one of my pesky classmates.  These school Unicorns were not the best choice for our disguises.”
“Do not give me excuses.  None of these ponies pay any mind to the University students.  We blend in perfectly.”
“Of course, my queen.”
“Good.  Now, are you nearby?”
“Yes, I see the study room now.”  He rounded the corner and approached the sound-proofed chamber.  Placing a hoof on the door, it was opened for him by one of his colleagues.
“You're late,” a violet Unicorn mare with blue and purple hair and gray eyes whispered.
“I know,” Quiet Deceit replied, closing and locking the door behind him.  The blinds were drawn, but he placed his books down and opened to random pages by habit.
“Now, are there any questions as to why I called this meeting?” asked a tall, black Unicorn mare with a blue and green mane and tail, both flowing and slightly frazzled.  Her green eyes seemed to pierce through the disguises of the Changelings around her.  Her voice was abrasive, though not unpleasant, and she was speaking in the that strange Changeling language.  “No?  Good.  It may be approaching the time for us to change disguises.  A week-long amnesia is nothing unusual at these magical universities.  We should release our guises tomorrow, after finding more.... appropriate positions.”
A white stallion, again a Unicorn, with a unkempt orange mane and a short, equally messy tail to match, leaned forward onto the table.  “With all due respect, My Lady, this process is moving very slowly.”
“Do not be impatient, Transient Doubt.  I understand that you are eager, but impatience leads to mistakes, and we do not have the luxury to absorb a mistake or a failure.”  Chrysalis, in her disguise, sat tall and took a calming breath.  “But you will not have to wait for much longer.  A couple is to be wed within two weeks, and they will prove grand targets.”
“The guard captain?” Duplicity, the violet mare-disguise insect, asked.  “What could be so special about him?”
Chrysalis chuckled.  “Once the first battalion strikes Port Gallop and draws away Celestia, the Guard Captain and Luna will be the only defenders of any consideration, and even Luna needs her sleep.”
“And the captain of the night guard?”
“Miss Dusk will prove easily dispatched.  The guard captains are not my concern.  The reason I chose Sir Shining Armor is his wife-to-be, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.”
All four of the Changelings looked confused.  “I understand that she is an Alicorn, Your Ladyship,” Quiet Deceit began, “but I do not understand why she is of importance.”
Chrysalis chuckled.  “I suppose you wouldn't.  The nature of Alicorns, while no secret, is not so commonly known.  Alicorns are made, not born, when a pony masters some concept of worth.  Celestia and Luna have full comprehension of the Day and Night.  They understand the sun and moon and their relation and the balance that they must maintain, and they are powerful enough to move those objects and keep the cycle themselves.  It historically took five or six strong Unicorn magi to change day to night or night to day.  Mi Amore Cadenza – "Cadance," as she prefers – has mastered one such concept and earned her horn: love.”
“An Alicorn of love?  So she understands emotions as a... tangible force?”
“The same force that sustains us,” Transient Doubt said.
“Precisely,” Chrysalis announced.  “She understands it and how it works and how emotional connections form and function better than most Changelings do.  If I could but touch upon her love, I could gain enough power, enough strength, to defeat either of the Sisters.  We just need them separated, which is why I sent word to Grand Perjury yesterday.  The attack should occur within the week.  That is when I shall supplant Shining Armor and steal Princess Cadenza's emotion.”
Nearly all of the insects were smiling unnervingly, save one that had been quiet near the back: a stallion-disguised Changeling by the name – or rather the translated name – of Clever Substitution.  His disguise was a tall stallion, again a Unicorn, with a solid-gray coat, a black and white mane and tail both cut short and slightly curled, and slate-gray eyes.  “What of the Abandoned?” he asked.
Chrysalis scoffed, a look of anger across her face.  “If Grand Façade believes he can stop us, he is a fool.  Let his couriers track and scan our messages, let his agents watch our movements, let his saboteurs destroy our siege weapons.  He cannot stop us.  This bloody rebellion has gone on long enough."  Her tone shifted dramatically, from authoritative confidence to a solemn resignation.  "Too many have died.  He cannot afford to lose many more, and I cannot stand to watch our casualties rise.  Once Equestria is conquered, we can feed off of all the emotions we want with no end of citizens.  The husks we drain will bolster our forces.  Façade, once he catches wind, and I suspect he already has, will see the coming storm and prepare.  He will be too late.”  Chrysalis shook away her solemn look, but her voice still held the distant sadness of a monarch who has had to watch her kingdom suffer.  “This war will end soon enough.  And then we can truly begin to heal.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The sun was shining in Ponyville and fields surrounding the small town.  Butterflies fluttered about, birds were singing in the distance, and Twilight and her friends were enjoying a picnic in the field just outside of town.
“It is simply gorgeous out,” Rarity stated with her usual inflections.  The white Unicorn mare was in a hoofmade sunhat of her own design.  “I can't imagine a more perfect day for a picnic.  This is was a wonderful suggestion, Fluttershy.”
“It sure was, Sugarcube,” Applejack added before taking a bite of a daisy sandwich.
“I thought it would be nice for all of us to get together, and spring is just such a lovely time of the year,” Fluttershy softly replied.
After a moment, Spike called out in the distance, “Hey, guys!  I'm here!”  Surely enough, the dragon strolled up to the group, an envelope and a scroll in his claws.  “Sorry I'm late.”
“Oh, don't you fret none,” Applejack responded.
“Before I forget, some letters came in the mail for you, Twilight.”
“And this couldn't wait until after the picnic?” Twilight asked.
“I would have left it at home, but they have the royal seal.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow.  “And they came in the mail?”
“Yeah, one of them.”  He held out the letters as Twilight's magical grip surrounded them.
She opened the letters and began to read one of them aloud:
“Dear Twilight,
I'm sorry it's taken so long for me write you in Ponyville, but I've been unusually busy lately.  I know it doesn't excuse my lack of communication with my amazing little sister.
How have you been in Ponyville?  I've heard some good things about the town, but that's not the reason I'm writing this.  I'm not sure how other ponies deliver this news, so I'll just say it.  Or write it.  You were always more clever with words than I was.
Cadance and I are engaged.  The wedding's in a week and a half, on the seventeenth.  I should have told you sooner, but like I said, things have been busy here.  I wanted to let you know beforehoof.  Princess Celestia recommended that I ask you and your friends to help organize the wedding.  She told me and Cadance about your friends' different skills and I would be honored if you and your friends would help.  I'm looking forward to hearing your reply.

Love,


Shining Armor”

Pinkie Pie began bouncing around the group with glee.  “Oooo, a wedding!  I love weddings, there's always romance and cake and dancing and with this one, we get to help out, so it's gonna be even more fun!”
“Princess Celestia... recommended us?” Rarity said, giddy and slightly shocked.  “For assisting with a Canterlot wedding?”
“Oh, this is the same Shining Armor from those pictures in the library, isn't it?” Rainbow Dash began, making the connection.
“Yeah.  We were always pretty close, even for siblings.”
“It's kinda odd that he's only telling you this now.”
Twilight simply shrugged.  “He's the captain of the royal guard, so he's bound to be busy.  Besides, it's not really surprising.  He and Cadance have been dating since I was a filly.”
“So, you know this Cadance well?” Rarity asked, having since recomposed herself.
“She was my old foalsitter, and she's as academically minded as I am.  We got along like the best of friends.”
“That's certainly good.  I feel honored that your brother and his fiancée have asked us to assist with the wedding.”
“I wonder what they'll ask us to help with?” Fluttershy wondered aloud.
Twilight unscrolled the second letter and read again:
“Dear Twilight,
I am sure you are as excited as I am about Shining Armor and Cadance's wedding.  I will be presiding over the ceremony, and as I expect you already aware, I have recommended that you and your friends help with the preparations of this wonderful occasion.  While the details are ultimately up to the couple, I have recommended to Cadance what aspects you and your friends would be best at, and she agreed with the suggestions.  Fluttershy, you and your songbird choir will provide the music.”
“Oh my, what an honor!” Fluttershy remarked.
“Pinkie Pie, I can think of no one more qualified than you to host the reception.”
“Hip hip, hooray!” an ecstatic Pinkie Pie announced.
	“Applejack, you will be in charge of the catering for the reception.”
“Well, color me pleased as punch!”
“Rainbow Dash, I would very much appreciate it if you could perform a sonic rainboom as the bride and groom complete their 'I do''s.”
“Sweet!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“Rarity, you will be responsible for designing the dresses for the bride and her bridesmaids.”
“Design dresses?  For the weddings?  Oh, I, ah, oh I certainly am honored.”
“Good job not fainting,” Rainbow Dash joked, much to Rarity's annoyance.
“And as for you, Twilight, you will be playing the most important role of all: Making sure that everything goes as planned. See you all very soon.

Yours,


Princess Celestia”

Twilight set the letters down with a smile on her face.  “Well, that answers that question.  We have some time to clear our schedules.  Let's try to be ready to leave by the end of the week.”
“Sounds good ta me, Sugarcube.”
“This'll be fun!” Pinkie exclaimed once more.