A flash of light and a quickly silenced scream hit the air. He couldn't turn around fast enough; Luna was flash frozen, an expression of fear locked in time.
"Sneaking around a dream cloak to lull anypony that gets near you into a daydream. All for naught... How cute of you both."
It was Gosthette.
"Still, I must thank you Pennaprose. The hive has been trying for a few days to locate and detain her. And now you've flushed her out for us."
"Shut it, Gosthette!" snarled Pennaprose. "What are you even doing...?"
"Those six friends of yours are safe. Safe enough, or safe for now. Take your pick, but only one's right," said Gosthette lazily. "Oh, cheer up, you lousy bag of quills. Soon... we will be able to return to the human world. Away from this pit."
"...Lyra. Where is she?"
"Calm. All the questions you need to ask of me can be answered by another... the Queen. Shall I introduce you to her Graciousness?"
She wandered over, slow and confident, until she was right in front of him.
"No," he replied.
"That's a good little fool. Keep resisting, it's all you can do now..." sighed Gosthette. "In the meantime, I'm sure Miss Luna will not mind being left out of the fun. ...Mm, what a nice pose she made before she lost track of everything. Perhaps the Queen can use her as the world's most graceful doorstop."
The door behind him swung open, letting a massive burst of arctic wind and a flood of blinding light fill the corridor. By now, he thought he'd be used to it... but there was more than just cold air blowing here. He could sense an ancient magic, howling with the wind...
"I've been waiting for this..."
She shoved him bodily into the room, the light still blinding him. He scrambled to his feet as fast as he could, but the ground was icy in some places; he almost fell more than once.
"Hnn...? Gosthette dearling, you've been quite a while. Out shopping for a gift? Or... perhaps... this is the unicorn you've been weaving me tales about?"
The voice that pierced the light caused his eyes to snap open. It was sickening, a chorus of locusts and grating stone on a chalkboard, laced with a chill and darkness so absolute that he could have sworn that the ringing of it in the air alone sent the floodlights hiding and even the ice around him to shiver and recede in fear.
"Yes, Miss Chrysalis. Though I encountered a fair few setbacks, he has eventually come to me. Princess Luna in tow as well."
He chanced a glance towards the source of the horrid voice. He found himself to be in the center of a ring, stone walls raised on all sides. It was an arena... At the other end of it was two changelings, both larger than Gosthette. One stood to the side, enigmatic. His presence seemed to make the place seem cramped. The other...
"Luna? ...I see. Excellent job. Containing her makes up for testing my patience for your own little agenda."
She was massive, but also sending out a sultry air. Clad in light armor, she loomed over the scene form an ornate throne carved from the rock and decorated with various gems.
"I am terribly sorry for having to have taken your time, Miss Chrysalis..." apologized Gosthette, stepping forward and bowing slightly. "But the bearers of the Elements of Harmony obstructed me well. I would have returned yesterday with him, but..."
"Ah, ah, ah. That is enough, Gosthette. Even if you took more time than I granted you, you also removed two key obstacles from my path to conquering Equestria by force. Luna... and those pesky six."
"Miss?"
She shifted restlessly in her throne. "I know, I know... you want access to the portal back to your world. You do, at any rate. ...Hm... he seems weak."
He scowled at her the best he could muster, but inside he was panicking. He felt as hopeless as a rock in the ocean.
"Aw... how cute. The little squishling thinks he's a big, tough stallion. ...Bah." Chrysalis whipped her seaweed mane around in derision. "Please, I've seen more threatening things in my morning cereal. At least there I could choke on a marshmallow."
"I have fulfilled my contact, Chrysalis. Per agreement, you must show both of us to the portal that leads to the human world," insisted Gosthette. "Now."
"Calm... I know the tenants of that contract. But I said I would let you go when you fulfilled you role for me... not when you found this little foal."
"State."
The air seemed to tense. Gosthette and Chrysalis locked glares.
"You see, dearling Gosthette... you have proven entirely useful to me. Too useful. I can't just let my star actor close the curtain before the final act, now can I?"
"State."
"My, you're thick," teased Chrysalis. "That impatient streak is such an endearing flaw of yours..."
"State, Chrysalis. What are you talking about?"
She leaned off her throne, over the railing. "That you need two to tango out the door. And I can sense... that your little squishling isn't nearly as willing to leave right now. Am I wrong... Pennaprose?"
His scowl subsided slightly as he glared at Gosthette. She returned it tenfold, her glare filled with icy daggers.
"...Doesn't matter," she growled. "When we cross, we will return to the same body. All his memories of this place will recede into the void. His opinion doesn't matter here."
"Aw... And I thought I was the ice queen," purred Chrysalis, tone thawing. "But you are forgetting something. His isn't the only opinion that matters. There are certainly a few... others... that would be crushed if he left without so much as a heartfelt goodbye."
"Impertinent. It would be risky to proceed with such fuzzy things–"
"Silence."
Gosthette halted. Chrysalis's voice had returned to it's icy tone, but this time layered with scripts of ancient magic in it's syllables. The words themselves carried power. As the air echoed with it's remnants, her voice returned to it's nearly honey and vinegar tone.
"...Now Gosthette dear, I am the Queen. You really should address me as such whilst you carry my gift of changeling magic in your blood. My word in the hive is absolute... My whim in the hive is law..."
She got off her throne completely, scaly wings unfolded and ice forming on patches of her ebony coat. "...Know your place and power here."
The changeling beside Chrysalis snickered, his voice low and booming. "You have always loved theatrics, Mademoiselle. Should I have brought popcorn?"
"Krayka... that's not too bad of an idea. Which is why I already told Quitangu to bring some when she's done with our little side project."
"Astute as ever, Mademoiselle. Should I go inform her now? She will not want to miss this."
She curled a hoof in mock thought. "Hn... of course. I intend to put a show on. Tell her we're going to need props."
Like a shadow, he vanished into thin air without a trace. Chrysalis turned back to them.
"Now where were we? ...Ah, yes. Enlightenment about the six. The Elements of Harmony. The <i>crushing obliteration of Equestria. Free popcorn. Right."
"Do bear with me, you two. It's not often I get to monologue, but it's an absolute delight from time to time. There is much of my design that I must explain to you, Gosthette. It relates to why I simply cannot let you go just yet."
"Fat chance, Chrysalis."
Gosthette launched a beam of ice energy directly at Chrysalis, unbidden. She did not blink; instead, she lazily sideswiped the shot, making it collide with the wall. She scowled and shrugged; ethereal, neon green chains erupted from the ground and tied down Gosthette forcibly.
"What is this magic?!" Gosthette exclaimed.
"All magic that I gift to others never truly leaves me. So long as you remain a changeling in my army, the magic that makes it so will bind you to my will. That is why you cannot leave until I say so."
She sat back in her throne, purring. "The bearers of the Elements of Harmony may be together in the same cell a room away from here, but they will eventually discover that they are missing a catalyst. Not the objects themselves... but rather, they're missing a certain somepony. A base they never realized they were missing, but now that the magic that governs the Elements has recognized the missing part, it cannot function unless that catalyst is present."
She glanced down at Pennaprose, who during this whole time was frozen in fear the whole time. "Purity. Like a first snow of Winter, the land only thought it knew beauty until it came for the first time; now, it is forever spoiled for the better things in life.
"You, Pennaprose."
The only sounds were of Gosthette helplessly struggling against the magical bonds on the floor. "...What?"
"Aw, wittle squishy's wost. So many big words flying around."
He snorted in annoyance. "Get to the point, already."
"My... the squishling has a little bite after all. Unity is a force of nature in this world, the second law of the natural world and the catalyst of Harmony. Such is the power behind the saying, divide and conquer..."
She spread out luxuriantly on her throne. "Dear squishling, without you, the Elements of Harmony that the bearers have used time and over again to defeat the likes of I cannot function. Add the figures. You are in here, they are trapped in a cell out there. You're both powerless to stop me like this."
"Look," Pennaprose began. "I don't know a damn thing about what these 'Elements of Harmony' are or why you place so much stock on the fact that you've circumvented them. All I know is that you're vile and even Gosthette doesn't deserve your tyranny."
She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Is that so? Well, regardless of whether or not anypony deserves to be ruled, those subjugated to it have no power to resist. That is the third law of the natural world.
"Let me remind you of your position, squishling. You have no killing intent. There remains nothing between us that can shield you from my fangs, and every freedom you sought to sieve for your friends is in my grasp. What can you do?"
He cringed. As much as he wanted to save everypony, as much as he wanted to see no more shadows, he admitted he was way out of his league. At this, his heart fell. The arena felt that much colder.
"...Exactly, my dear little squishling." she purred. "You cannot. You would not. ...Hm... I hear the next act upon us."
His ears perked up. There was the sound of two sets of hooves, echoing from the hall behind them. "I did say that I wanted to put on a show. ...And a grand third act I will stage, right before I lead the crusade towards Equestria in broad daylight."
There were two beings coming down the corridor, in lockstep with each other. One was clad in incredibly flashy armor, holstered with a pair of short blades in their sheaths. Beside her, the sight would haunt his dreams and wreak nightmares, riding on hell's reigns for the rest of life.
"Quitangu, I see that Project Jump was a success?" Chrysalis asked.
"...Mostly, Chris," said Quitangu. "There was still some resistance, not to mention there's still a few corners to laser off. But I'm satisfied with the results."
The second, unmistakable though cloaked in pitch-black scale and a mane all too familiar...
"Let us officially welcome a new commander-in-training, Chris..." said Quitangu.
Chrysalis leaned into the arena, ecstatic.
"Lyra Blackheart."