Less that ten seconds after the earth-shattering roar ripped through the factory every changeling in the area began frantically running or flying about in circles. Chrysalis was trying to decide what to do, knowing full well what was about to happen. Despite having changed greatly since the last incident with Equestria, Chrysalis had been keeping an eye on anyone dangerous.
Spike, adopted son of Celestia was one of the top slots. He had little history of violence outside his job as a knight, but was shown as fiercely loyal and powerful. If the hive was perceived as a threat, Chrysalis was quite doubtful they could take Spike alone in his rage, let alone whoever he had likely brought with him.
Chrysalis looked to the children anxiously, hoping that she could resolve the situation as fast as possible. If she could get the children back to Spike or whoever else was with him, things may very well end without needless struggle. A quick surrender, and hopefully none of her babies would get hurt.
"Okay everyone, get behind me. We're going to go upstairs to the ground floor to surrender. Nobody do anything stupid, and just keep quiet, please. Pearl, Cinnamint, Screwball, and myself will do all the talking." Chrysalis ordered in a loud, authoritative tone.
All the changelings in the area scrambled into the game room, eager to be under the protection of their mother. They stayed a few feet back, while the kids stayed directly behind Chrysalis with Steve there to watch over them just in case. Steve seemed a little unnerved, but was keeping his cool.
Once everyone was calmed down enough, Chrysalis lead them out of the game room and to the secret door up to the factory. Chrysalis listened to the noise upstairs and she let out a concerned sigh. She looked back at Steve and gave him a quick nod. Steve nodded in return and pressed a big red button nearby.
With a loud click, the door opened and the changelings and the children began flying up slowly. Steve was kind enough to give Cinnamint a lift, though neither of them said a word.
Within a few short moments, Chrysalis and the children breached the top floor. All around the trap door was a circle of thestral guards who had no weapons, but eyed the changelings with seemingly infinite contempt. Standing a ways back from the thestrals was their commander and chief, standing atop a distinctly familiar purple dragon. It was clear that Spike was at his largest, meaning he meant business.
Neither Luna or Spike seemed happy to see Chrysalis, but with the children present they withheld the urge to strike at the changelings.
"Chrysalis, Queen of the changeling hive, wanted all throughout Equestria, the Crystal Empire, and several allied nations. You are asked to hand the children over to us and surrender. If you come quietly we will see to it that you are treated fairly and merely banished from our lands for the remainder of time." Luna belted loudly.
Chrysalis looked around the factory, seeing all the changelings had been returned to their natural chitinous forms and rendered immobile by pink and magenta magic-cuffs. Twilight and Trixie could be seen in the middle of the captives, maintaining the restraints. Out the window was a teleport blocking shield bubble with cotton candy clouds and chocolate milk rain within it's boundaries, courtesy of Discord.
Celestia herself was at the front door, covered on either side by Bon Bon and Lyra. Chrysalis had no doubt that there were plenty of others outside, meaning they had likely brought down the full force of Equestria's might. Though Chrysalis was somewhat relieved she couldn't see the royal couple of the Crystal Empire for a number of reasons.
It was extremely obvious that even if Chrysalis had hostile intent, there was no way she could win in this situation.
"I submit to the full punishment of the Equestrian law system for previous actions and the crime of stealing dreams. I only wish that it be known we did not foalnap the children. They came here of their own accord, hoping to stop our plot before you, the adults." Chrysalis explained.
Chrysalis landed on the factory floor, and surprised Luna by bowing her head to the moon princess. At the same time, Pearl, Cinnamint, and Screwball landed on the ground and casually walked over to Luna and Spike with guilty looks on their faces. Everyone that could see the display was taken completely by surprise.
As soon as Pearl reached her father, Macintosh emerged from behind his husband, looking extremely disappointed in her. Still, within seconds Spike swept them up into a very large hug that was just barely tolerable to his much smaller loved ones.
"Don't you ever do that again Pearl, or no gems until you're a hundred." Spike only half-joked.
Luna smiled, but quickly returned her attention to the matter at hoof. The lunar alicorn used her wings to command her thestral guard to separate into two lines on either side of the changelings as she walked forward to meet Chrysalis. Though Chrysalis was still taller, Luna's armor made her the more intimidating of the two.
She is quite an interesting mare. It's quite a shame she's on the wrong side of the law. Luna thought to herself sadly.
After a moment Luna shook her head to put herself back into the task at hand.
"I find you much different than I was led to believe. If you wish to appeal your case, I will listen only because you cared for the children when you could have used them for your own gains. I have been given full control of this operation and sentencing since dreams are my responsibility." Luna proclaimed.
Chrysalis stood, and proceeded with another short bow of thanks.
"Thank you, Princess Luna. I humbly request that I alone be punished for the transgressions weighed against Equestria. During the invasion of Canterlot my children were mindless drones. Until the love wave hit them, they had no way to think for themselves and obeyed me because of a genetic imperative.
"Admittedly, they are capable of individual thought and feelings now, but their development at such a late stage has rendered most of them child-like even though they were adults at the time. All my babies since have also been gifted with intelligence. The dream formula was my doing, and I instructed my loyal sons and daughters on what to do. They shouldn't be punished for following my instructions.
"I feared Equestria would reject us after our first meeting, so I attempted to find a non-violent way to feed my babies. The dream-emotions could be refined into love, and I thought that it wasn't harming anyone until recently. I fully intended to stop once we had a stockpile of food. I only ask you spare my children and find somewhere they can be loved." Chrysalis explained, stating her case.
Luna's eyes couldn't have been wider.
The alicorn of the night looked all around the factory, attempting to count the changelings. A number of emotions was welling up inside her chest. Jealousy, regret, longing, and even pity. Almost all of the apprehension Luna had felt just moments ago was draining out of her.
Chrysalis found the unorthodox cocktail of emotions confusing, but ignored them. She couldn't be certain whether or not they came from Luna or one of the guards, making it moot.
Despite being awash in emotions, Luna's outer expression remained largely indifferent after her cursory scan of the factory. She internally cursed herself for still being unable to mask her cares as well as Celestia, but pushed her self-berating to the side while she tried to formulate a plan of action.
If she took too long, Celestia would most assuredly try to step in. It was important to Luna that she handle the crisis herself, it would the first major event she handled herself since her return.
After a few minutes, an almost evil grin appeared on Luna's face. With a quick glow of her horn, Luna's armor disappeared and her guard instinctively took three steps back from the changelings.
"Queen Chrysalis, as I'm certain you are aware, the charges against you include assaulting my beloved sister, yes?"
Chrysalis's ears drooped, fearing the new direction the conversation was going.
"I do remember us locking horns and exchanging energy volleys, yes." Chrysalis replied.
Luna's smile didn't fall in the least, further worrying Chrysalis.
"According to Equestrian law, the highest crime is assaulting a princess, and the charges are to be handled by the princess that was attacked. However, since I have been slighted more recently the law gives me the right to pass sentence on all of your crimes that are still to be answered for.
"I am willing to drop all charges against you if you consent to a duel with me. If you win, you and all your changelings go free and are to be considered for citizenship, so long as you go through proper channels. If I win, your fate is completely up to my whims.
"Do you find these terms agreeable?"
Chrysalis blinked in disbelief, having been caught totally off guard. She quickly looked from Luna to her many children all around the factory, including the ones in energy cuffs. Only after she steeled her nerves did she turn her attention back to Luna.
Chrysalis found that she knew very little about Luna, at least compared to Celestia. Even while posing as Cadence, Luna had been asleep anytime Chrysalis was around. In those days she was still reclusive, leaving nothing but rumors and tidbits of things Celestia would tell her.
In the last two decades since her return, Luna had become the most social princess, appearing in public far more often than Celestia. All Chrysalis really learned was that she was a night owl (which was obvious), she preferred the old ways of doing almost everything, she loved foals, and she could drink an entire platoon of royal guards under the table by herself.
She's smaller than Celestia, and she lost in their fight a thousand years ago. She must be weaker, and since I have full love reserves I should be able to defeat her. The last time I was this full I beat Celestia, so I should go through with this and win freedom for my babies! Chrysalis convinced herself.
"I accept your duel. What are the rules of this challenge?" Chrysalis asked, standing strong with a determined look in her face.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines.
Chrysalis was far too focused to notice that everyone in the factory that wasn't a changeling had moved about as far back as possible. The changelings that had been shackled had been released and they had immediately rushed to their mother's side with the rest.
Even Luna's guard had moved to either side of the factory, leaving Luna and Chrysalis relatively alone. The other ponies and Discord had come back inside to watch the show at Screwball's prompting.
While Cinnamint and Screwball were humoring their over-delighted parents, Pearl was sitting atop Spike's head to get a good view of the action that had yet to happen.
"Between us, do you think Chrysalis has any chance at all right now?" Pearl asked her fathers.
"Eenope." Mac and Spike replied simultaneously.
"That's what I thought." Pearl said with a disappointed look on her face.
She felt genuinely bad for Chrysalis, despite having planned on stopping her plans mere hours before. Pearl was glad she was Luna's niece. Anyone that messed with Luna usually got a silver-shod hoof to the face.
Back at center stage.
Luna's expression didn't falter, as she had expected Chrysalis to accept.
"If you are unaware, I myself am an experienced shape-shifter. We will have a fight until one of us submits to the other, while transforming every few minutes. You may use whatever abilities you possess, whether they be your own, or those of your assumed shape's. My guard, Captain Crunch will time us, and tell us when three minutes have passed.
"Understood?" Luna explained.
Chrysalis nodded, now feeling more confident than before. She was queen of the changelings, and the art of disguise was in her blood. She had never been bested in a contest of this nature before, and similar games were played often among her and her children.
"I understand completely. We transform at the same time, yes?" Chrysalis asked.
Luna only nodded as a lone thestral guard glided down about fifty feet away, holding a stopwatch, looking unamused. Once he touched down, Captain Crunch looked to the watch and prepared himself to hit the button. Luna and Chrysalis both got ready to fight, though Luna seemed much more relaxed than Chrysalis.
The atmosphere in the factory felt heavy, and no one watching dared say anything, lest they miss the start of the battle. The air seemed charged with tension, and for those of the onlookers that could sense emotion; anticipation.
"BEGIN!"
Before anyone had enough time to think, Chrysalis was enveloped in green flames, while Luna exploded into a cloud of blue stardust. When the flames cleared, a perfect imitation of Celestia had replaced the black chitinous form of Chrysalis. Luna however, had reformed herself as an equally perfect representation of Chrysalis.
Luna actually broke into a fit of double-toned laughter upon seeing the visage of her older sister across from her,
"Aw, that's adorable. You think I'll go easy on you if you take the form of my sister. That was a terrible mistake." Luna teased in Chrysalis's own voice.
Before Chrysalis could say anything on the matter, or even react, She found herself bowled over by herself. Luna was standing atop her, pressing her to the factory floor with her own hole-riddled hooves.
Try as she might, Chrysalis-Celestia couldn't overpower Luna-Chrysalis. Luna charged a magical attack, and Chrysalis did the only thing she could think to do. Chrysalis opened her transfigured jaw and bit into the chitinous leg that Luna now possessed.
Luna hissed at Chrysalis and buzzed her wings, flying up into the air. Using her trademarked blue aura, Luna fired the beam at Chrysalis from the air, only to have it dodged.
Chrysalis watched as a chunk of the floor freed itself from the rest of the factory and floated up into the air. The small platform hovered, slowly turning about halfway between the floor and the ceiling. Her voice caught her attention, letting Luna become her focus again.
"Gravity manipulation magic. Very useful on the moon, and when you don't want to ruin a pretty face." Luna taunted, running a foreleg down her own face.
Chrysalis was preparing a retort, but was cut off before she could even open her mouth.
"CHANGE!"
Luna was faster on the draw, becoming stardust once again.
Chrysalis quickly lit her horn and wrapped herself in flames. Luna soon reformed herself, as two separate entities. The first was a jet-black griffon that heavily resembled a crow, and the other was a white snake patterned with dark blue, crescent moons. The snake was easily large enough to constrict the average pony.
Chrysalis's flames cleared and a pony-sized manticore lioness stood where a perfect simulacrum of Celestia once was. The grin on the chimerical-lioness's face fell as soon as she saw Luna had split into two. Chrysalis was beginning to worry that the duel was just Luna's way of toying with her.
"What ever is the matter Chrysalis?" The griffon began.
"Have you never seen someone split themselves before?" The snake continued.
Chrysalis didn't respond, instead she began charging toward the Luna's griffon incarnation. Instead of separating, like Chrysalis had expected, the two halves of Luna merged. By the time Chrysalis tried to stop herself from rushing headfirst into the Luna(s), She was being stared down by a larger griffon with a snake for a tail.
Manticore-Chrysalis was blind-sighted by a backhanded slap from one of the chimera's powerful arms, sending her back a good foot and a half. Chrysalis recovered quickly, opening her mouth, where a green fireball began forming.
Luna(s) spun around without hesitation, allowing the snake tail to wrap around her jaw and snap it shut, dispersing the attack. Chrysalis was held at enough of a distance that her attempts at swiping at the griffon were for naught.
"You hid your magic source in an amateur way. I gather you are also restricted to sizes around that of your actual form. A manticore lioness was a rather inspired choice though, very few ponies see them and live to tell of it." Luna told her captive with a tone denoting respect.
Chrysalis struggled in the snakes grip to no avail, just as she had when Luna had her pinned. Chrysalis was beginning to become furious with Luna and herself. For being toyed with, and for underestimating Luna's abilities.
Chrysalis tried to catch Luna off guard, stabbing at her with the scorpion tail that came with the manticore body.
The griffon grabbed it before it reached their body, effortlessly thwarting the attack.
The Luna-griffon kept it's grasp on the tail, while the snake let Chrysalis's jaws free. The griffon then yanked Chrysalis back, then threw her across the room, past Captain Crunch who didn't flinch. He just kept looking at the stopwatch.
Chrysalis managed to open her bat-wings to stop herself mid-air and shakily began flying on the undersized wings.
"Out of curiosity, what is the average lifespan of a changeling queen? I've heard tales of changelings for ages, even though nopony knew you really existed back then." Luna yelled over to Chrysalis.
Chrysalis scowled in Luna's direction, but didn't act in haste. She assumed Luna was trying to throw her off, making veiled threats. So instead, Chrysalis decided to go along with the charade.
"We live until we are killed. I've only been around about, five hundred and seventy years. When the queen dies the eldest female daughter slowly becomes the new queen and gains independence. So if you killed me, there would be a new queen in a few weeks. My children live about as long as a pony does." Chrysalis replied with a brow knitted in frustration.
Luna's snake and griffon heads looked at each other, smiled, and nodded to one another.
She certainly seems promising. Both heads thought.
"Change!" Crunch shouted out.
Chrysalis let out a loud groan of frustration and enveloped herself in fire that emitted from her manticore mouth. Once the fire cleared, she was herself again, wearing a suit of armor. It was pretty clear that she was tiring of the one-sided battle.
Luna broke her form apart again, but unlike the previous times her body of stardust became a violent two-story twister of sparkling dust, crackling with magical lightning. Everyone watching on the sidelines needed to brace themselves against the swirling winds.
When the twister dissipated, Luna was revealed to be a dragon. A very familiar white dragoness to be specific, give or take a few centuries. It was clearly what Luna imagined Pearl to be like in the future. She was easily two and a half times the size of Spike.
Luna had a horn as tall as a pony on her nose, and the crest on the back of her head had become sleeker and longer. Her neck was long and lithe, and her body wasn't as muscular in appearance as Spike's while her wings were like the sails of a great ship. All her scales either seemed to be the color of the moon or of the clearest river water.
"Holy horse apples! I'm gonna be hot!" Pearl shouted from the other side of the factory.
Luna chuckled, turning her head to grin at Pearl. Unfortunately, the new form proved to be a little unwieldy and Luna accidentally struck her head against the ceiling of the factory, causing the whole place to shake.
Chrysalis slowly floated to the ground with a dull buzzing of her wings. She dispersed the armor disguise and hung her head low to the ground in defeat.
"I submit. This whole duel was a farce. You showed me up completely. Do with me what you will, just don't hurt my children."
Luna looked down on Chrysalis, her enormous eyes looking the changeling queen over.
She knows when she's beat, and what is truly important. Luna thought to herself, quite pleased with the day's events.
With a loud POP the adult Pearl scattered back into blue stardust, which then drew itself inward and down to the floor. It took a bit longer than the last few transformations, but before long Luna was whole and unaltered again. She wobbled a bit for a second, but was back on her hooves and steady within seconds. She had used a tad more magic than she wanted, but Luna thought it well worth it.
"I have no intentions resembling anything close to harming you. But as we agreed, you will have to adhere to any and all demands I ask of you." Luna replied.
Chrysalis perked up a bit at that, and looked over to her children who were looking quite nervous after seeing Luna figuratively wipe the floor with their mother.
"Alright then. Name your terms." Chrysalis agreed, sounding understandably tired.
Luna proceeded to stamp her silver-shod hoof on the factory floor, ushering Captain Crunch to her side. Crunch stowed the stopwatch within his breastplate and pulled out a small pair of bifocals and placed them on his nose. From the bag on his side Crunch pulled a roll of parchment, and a fountain pen which he placed on the floor and sat down beside, prepared to write.
Once the pen was in his mouth Crunch nodded to Luna to go on.
"Firstly, the changeling hive is allowed to apply for citizenship and will stay in the factory until proper lodgings can be secured for them. As a show of good faith from Equestria, all previous charges are to be dropped so long as no further crimes are committed you or your children in the next three years and all changelings in the general populace reveal themselves." Luna began.
Chrysalis's eyes went wide, and her jaw practically fell from her head. She was so surprised that she didn't recover until Steve walked up to her and waved a hoof in front of her face.
"You, uh, you may continue." Chrysalis stuttered.
Luna smiled before continuing.
"Secondly, you must formally apologize to my sister Celestia, as well as Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Prince Shining Armor. Eventually we may have to set up a press conference, a public apology to the nation, but we can cross that bridge when we come to it." Luna continued.
Chrysalis nodded, finding the terms reasonable, even though they were guaranteed to be extremely awkward apologies.
"And lastly, off the record, I'd like to treat you to dinner tomorrow evening. In my chambers." Luna said through a truly impressive blush.
Chrysalis lifted her hoof to her ear and rubbed it, making sure she could hear correctly.
"I'm sorry, but just to clarify... Are you asking me out on a date?"
To her credit, Luna's expression was stoic, even though her face looked something akin to a tomato in terms of color.
"You are funny, intelligent, long-living, fond of children, you're a powerful but compassionate leader, we share certain skills, we both have rather... sordid pasts, and I find you and your children positively adorable. I would hate myself for the rest of time if I didn't at least attempt to court you." Luna admitted.
Chrysalis could sense the emotions coming off Luna. They were positively intoxicating, and definitely sincere. There was affection galore, hope, longing, fear, loneliness, sympathy, and many more. Luna seemed like Chrysalis had suddenly become the most interesting and sought after thing in the universe, despite being ready to end Chrysalis if necessary only about an hour ago.
"I, uh, I accept your terms. All of them." Chrysalis agreed.
"I see. Well, then please don't disguise yourself anymore. Black is my favorite color, and it'd be a shame if I couldn't admire the real you." Luna replied, flattering Chrysalis.
Steve and several other changelings crowded around the pair, practically giddy.
"Whoo! Two moms!" A changeling shouted as it buzzed overhead.
The changeling did a loop, not noticing he was about to hit the displaced chunk of floor. With a thud, the floating floor chunk destabilized, wobbling uncontrollably. Within a few seconds, the chunk plummeted to the ground.
Both Chrysalis and Luna tried to catch it, but were too depleted of mana to catch it.
"Steve!" Chrysalis shouted as the chunk of floor struck the unsuspecting changeling below.