Celestia was the first to crest the hill. She surveyed the landscape below with a sharp eye, then turned to look behind her. “Come on,” she said, “We’ve made it.” Up the hill came Twilight Sparkle, holding a worn sheet of parchment in her magic, followed closely by Rarity, who wore both her mane and tail in a tight bun.
The three of them were leaner, hardier than they had been. The road had not been particularly difficult, at least until they left Equestria, but still: spending two full weeks travelling by hoof, without a cushy reading chair or weekly visit to the spa does something to a pony. And, though Twilight’s notes had, indeed, gotten them here more quickly than Celestia had hoped, they’d still had to walk the whole way.
(Celestia had tried to magic wings onto Rarity and Twilight to try and speed things up a bit, and, though Rarity had caught on fairly quickly, the test flight alone had very nearly made Twilight ill; she had sworn, despite both their pleadings, that she would never fly again, if it was the last thing she did. )
Celestia herself had changed, too; her hooves and wings had sprouted holes and her carapace had grown a sort of hard angularity. All that was left of who she had once been was a single white hoof, topped by a little fur that stopped just short of the ankle. The rest of her body was orange-and-black, hard and sharp (One cold night, she had thought of asking Twilight or Rarity to snuggle with her for warmth—but she knew that, for them, her shell would be literal cold comfort. Besides, they already looked so peaceful in their sleeping bags…).
Rarity glanced up, and saw, for the first time, the valley spreading below them. “Oh, my,” she breathed.
Celestia turned and followed Rarity’s gaze. “Oh my, indeed,” she murmured.
Below them stretched a blasted and desolate valley, with only a muddy stream and a few tufts of thick, coarse grasses to break the monotony. Roughly in the center of the expanse stood a structure that looked like it had not so much been built as hatched—tall, crooked, misshapen, full of gaping holes.
“This is the place, right?” Celestia asked without looking at Twilight. “The Changeling Hive?”
She didn’t need to ask. Even if she hadn’t memorized Compass Rose’s description of the place, there was little else it could be. And yet, it was still comforting to hear Twilight’s voice.
Twilight herself cleared her throat and consulted her notes. She looked up over the top of the parchment, then rolled it up. “Yes, your Highness,” she murmured.
“Well,” Celestia said, trying to fake some chipper enthusiasm, “No time like the present.”
And, without giving either of them a chance to dissuade herself from her course, Celestia set off down the other side of the hill.
For being what it was—the heart of an evil kingdom bent on the domination of the entire civilized world—the valley was surprisingly quiet. Nothing moved, aside from the dust blowing in the breeze and the occasional black speck fluttering around the exterior of the hive.
The three of them walked quietly towards the hive. The mile or so they had to cross gave the three of them plenty of time with their own thoughts. Rarity made a gagging noise as the thin grass eventually gave way to bare dust, but Twilight shot her a dirty look, and she fell silent. Celestia for her part, tried to keep her mind off her fears. She was a big girl; she’d been doing this Princess thing for a long time, and, all told, she was pretty good at it.
Don’t let the thoughts of what might happen distract you from what has to happen, she tried to convince herself; think about what you can control, not what you can’t,
As they drew close to the hive, they noticed a small squad of Changelings, wearing dark armor and hissing at each other in some incomprehensible tongue. They huddled at the base of a blank wall, made of mud, without so much as a window to break the monotony. One of the guards glanced up, spotted the three of them, and said something to his companions; all of them turned to stare. They said nothing as the three of them came to a halt ten or fifteen paces away.
“I am Princess Celestia of Equestria,” she said calmly. “My friends and I would like a word with your Queen.”
The guards each bowed, then wordlessly stepped back. Behind them, the muddy wall puckered, then irised silently open, leaving behind the smell of wet earth and decay. The doorway revealed a narrow hallway running around the interior wall of the structure, crosswise to the door.
“The Queen expectsss you,” hissed one of the guards.
Celestia nodded. “Thank you kindly,” she said, then stepped forward into the portal. Twilight and Rarity shot nervous glances at each other, then jogged up behind Celestia. She stood just inside the open doorway, waiting as another hole opened slowly in the wall opposite. Twilight yelped as the wall behind them began to close, then edged away from it.
“It’s a trap,” she moaned, clutching her head between her hooves. “I’ve read about things like this—it’s a trap, and we’re all gonna die—”
“It may be a trap,” Celestia said, her voice supernaturally calm. “Though, either way, we almost certainly are not going to die.” The wall ahead was now fully open, and Celestia stepped through the hole into a wide corridor that appeared to cut across several smaller hallways.
“What do you mean?” Rarity demanded. “We’re in the middle of their hive, for Pony’s sake! If they want to kill us, then there’s nothing—”
“Rarity.”
Rarity glanced up, then shrank back. Celestia glared at her, her alien gaze hard and sharp.
Celestia stared at her for a heartbeat or two, then turned her gaze forward again. She was quiet for a moment longer before she spoke.
“The two of you have meant more to me than you know over the past few months,” she said. “And, though your support has gotten me through this—” another pause as another wall opened “—your skills were what really made this whole crazy experiment work. Twilight, your research helped me cope with what was happening—” Twilight blushed a little “—and Rarity, your knowledge about makeup and gossip—” Rarity made an impatient little noise, but didn’t speak “—gave me courage. But now,” she said, “It’s my turn to help.”
Twilight swallowed. “H-how can you help, Princess?” she asked.
Celestia shot her a roguish grin. “Ponies,” she said. “I know ponies. Had more than a thousand years of practice, after all—and, if I don’t miss my guess, Chrysalis isn’t going to hurt us.”
“Why not?” Rarity asked with a gulp.
“She’s too much of a showmare,” Celestia replied. “If all she wanted was to kill me, she would have done it in Canterlot, where everyone could watch. She wants us here alive—though, for the life of me, I can’t guess why…”
Twilight glanced over her shoulder again at the wall closing behind them. “You may be right,” she admitted. “I mean, they’re kinda rolling out the red carpet for us…”
Celestia shot her a questioning look, and Twilight pointed. “All these holes have been opening in a straight line,” she said. “And we’re moving upwards. I think it’s leading us to the throne room—or whatever it is Changeling hives have...”
“Plus, you know,” Rarity added casually, “them.”
Both Celestia and Twilight turned to look—and saw two dozen electric-blue eyes watching them from the gloom of a side-hallway.
“Let’s keep walking,” Celestia said quickly.
“Agreed,” chipped in Twilight.
They walked on, through doorway after doorway opening before them and closing behind, trying to ignore the watching eyes and the buzzing wings. Like Twilight had pointed out, their own personal hallway continued to lead them higher and higher up, and further and further in, always in a straight line.
And finally, after what felt like hours in the damp, dark hole, following a hallway that followed no guidance but its own—another portal opened, and the three of them stepped into open space.
The room they stood in was tall and cone-shaped, with small openings, high up on the walls, letting in shafts of light. In the center of the room, on a twisted throne that looked like broken glass, sat a tall, slim, dark form.
“Chrysalis,” snarled Celestia.
Queen Chrysalis glanced up. For just a moment, her face remained blank—then she broke into a wide, toothy grin. “Ah, Princess Celestia,” she purred, “long time no see.”
Twilight stepped forward. “You—you’re the monster who—”
“Ah ah ah,” Chrysalis chuckled, “Watch your manners, Sparky. After all, you’re in my hive now.”
Twilight shrank back, then looked up at Celestia. Celestia glanced down at her, and something in her eye made Twilight stare.
Chrysalis stretched, then stood. “I must say, Celestia,” she said, “I always thought black-and-red was a little garish, but you—” she grinned “—you make it look good.”
Rarity snarled and took a step forward. “Yeah?” she spat. “I still think she looks better in white! Change her back!”
Chrysalis cocked her head. “Pardon?” she said mildly.
Rarity opened her mouth again, but Celestia put out a warning hoof. Rarity looked up at her and saw, behind the softness in her eyes, something hard and sharp. “I’ll handle this,” Celestia said gravely. Rarity swallowed, shot a nervous glance at Twilight, and stepped back.
Celestia cleared her throat, took two or three steps forward, and straightened to her full height. Twilight’s eyes went wide: for as long as she had known her, she had always been regal; even in her quiet, casual moments, she had still been a Princess.
But now? Now, she was a Queen.
“Your Majesty, Queen Chrysalis,” she called out, her voice deep and loud and echoing, “you have invaded my kingdom. You have terrorized and murdered my subjects. You have made each and every one of us fear for our very lives. And—” she swallowed. “—and you have cursed me beyond all toleration.”
Chrysalis snickered.
A muscle under Celestia’s eye twitched. “We will yet have words to say about your other crimes, but for now: I demand you give me the means to break this curse.”
Chrysalis chuckled, a deep, throaty chuckle, then stood and stepped down from her throne. “That sounds lovely, Princess, it really does,” she purred. “But what’s in it for me? Really?”
Celestia’s eyes widened. “What’s in it for—?!” she spluttered.
“Indeed,” Chrysalis said. “You can’t honestly expect me to roll back one of my longest-running schemes simply because you asked nicely.”
Celestia shook her head, took a deep breath, then set her jaw. She looked up at Chrysalis again, already halfway down the stairway to the floor, and glared at her with fire in her eyes.
“You forget,” Celestia said icily. “Last time we fought, I nearly beat you. You only won because you had stolen the love of Shining Armor…” she grinned a little, then glanced theatrically around the chamber. “...and I can see no one you can leach love from now.”
Chrysalis scoffed. “Empty threats, and you know it,” she said. “True, you almost beat me once—when you were an Alicorn. Now that you’re a Queen—and only half of one, at that—I could crush you like an insect, if I wanted.”
“I don’t need magic to destroy you,” Celestia growled.
“Oh, really?” Chrysalis said. “What are you gonna do—ask your generals to come marching to the middle of nowhere to wage war over a personal grudge? Against enemies that, it’s already been proven, cannot be beaten with sword or spear? Not to mention,” she added, her eyes glittering, “You’re not exactly the Princess you used to be.”
“I’ll get Luna. And Cadance.” Celestia said. “They’ll—”
“Not against a hundred thousand changelings, they won’t,” Chrysalis growled. “You and I both know that Cadance can barely stand to hurt a fly, and Luna is too afraid of her own power to use it. Try and get them out here. Try to make them your attack dogs. See what happens. Besides,” she added, turning away, “they won’t be able to do a thing about the real reason you’re here.”
“What does she need to do, then?” Twilight piped up. “To change her back—what does she need to do to make you do it?”
“She can’t, Twilight, dear,” Chrysalis said. “In the first place, I’ve invested far too much in her to simply undo it all. And, in the second—” she shrugged, then grinned wickedly. “I don’t know how.”
I'm not seeing much point in the direction this story seems to be taking. I mean, the entire trip to see Chrysalis feels completely wasted. Nothing was learned, not even in the "It's the journey, not the destination" sort of way. Just empty threats and Chrysalis gloating.
8389250
Just wait until tomorrow :)
8389250
makes sense turn your enemies against there allies without the knowledge to turn them back
Waiting for the mother of all beatdowns. Or bitch/dogfights. Whichever it will be.
And if all else fails, Twilight will prevail and, if worse comes to worst, just make a cure from scratch.
Welp I guess there's no reason not to wage a war of annihilation on you, Chryssiebug.
8389637
Bah. There is no cure. This can only end in Celestia taking over the Hive right out from under Chrysalis.
this really should have been the first thing that happened, right after the Press Conference the day it was confirmed Celestia was changing.
And Celestia threatening with no leverage? What the heck!
UGH!!!
USE THE DANM ELEMENTS!!!!!!!
other than that, really good chapter
Except, you don't, Celestia.
If you really knew your ponies, you would know how to solve the issue and turn the curse into a boon. First of all, changelings feed on love, which means if you know how to use it correctly, you have an entire nation as a love supply. To get access to that, you have to solve the tricky part first: breaking the news to the masses without turning their allegiances away.
You would need to break the news early, but not super early. Give them a month so they start wondering, and once the gossip reaches its peak, have Twilight give an interview. Do not show yourself just yet, but whatever Twilight said must be as truthful as possible; "Celestia is facing an unexpected complication after Chrysalis kidnapped her. She wishes for the symptoms to not be disclosed yet, but it is frankly, extremely bad, and we fear that it might be permanent." After this, the rumour mill will explode. Everyone will speculate, and I know a lot of them will hit the mark that yes, their dear Celly is turning into a changeling. Wait another month, and this time have Twilight confirm the suspicion that yes, she is turning into a changeling. No public appearance nor photos, though. Let everyone stew a bit more. Still, an official statement that Twilight is currently working on a cure or spell to reverse the process should be a good idea. Maybe accompany that statement with a sudden, uncharacteristic rant about how angry you are to Chrysalis for doing that to her.
Now, ponies will fear the news, and partial anarchy might occur. But the secret is in the fact that you haven't done a single appearance yet for months. No one will want to risk doing something stupid only to have their dear princess suddenly up and at 'em tomorrow morning after. The entire country will wait in bated breath for an actual appearance, and there's a great time to reveal it to them: Summer Sun Celebration. Since using magic accelerates the process, DON'T actually celebrate it. Appear and have everyone gasp in shock, and then explain calmly that while you haven't felt mental changes yet, do explain that the physical changes are starting to really move the slider from "pony" to "changeling". Show a moment of weakness; let everyone know that this is hard, even for their dear princess. Close the speech with how you expect them to not riot just yet, and everything should be running as normal as you and Twilight work on a cure or a way to reverse it. And drop a tiny hint that maybe, just maybe, you're extremely pissed at Chrysalis, and is going to hunt for her head after everything is said and done.
Now, chaos will erupt, but your sheer calmness will radiate forward as the main thing everyone looks at. Maybe their dear princess can reverse it after all; I mean, she's an alicorn, and the leader of Equestria for millenias by now, so surely she can do simple change reversal, right?!?! Well, start updating the masses on the progress now, and have them watch with you as you progress through the changes. Then, slowly stop appearing to the masses once more; if anyone's asking, have Twilight say that you're a bucking mess right now, and is on the cusp of depression or something.
Then, one day, after the changes has progressed too far (like say, eggs), show up once more, this time with fierce determination. For the first time in a millenia, someling will learn why your title of the Alicorn of the Sun is not just for show.
Start actually doing paperwork, and shift to high gear in developing economic bursts. "Even while turning into a changeling, the duties of a princess must continue" is the message you want to spread. Maybe do it from Ponyville, as you're still a bit shy or something like that, dunno. The point is, as you worsen, the country gets better. Show them that the change isn't as significant as one might think, and it certainly doesn't stop Equestria from running. And then, well, return to the castle, act as if nothing is wrong, even after the last white on your last untouched hoof turns black and chitinous. At this point, the fear, paranoia, and societal adrenaline will run dry. Most will be in the process of uneasily settling back to routinity. The main message you'll want to spread is "Keep Calm and Carry On", and your actions must reflect that. Maybe a military mission against Chrysalis, but even then, at this point the image should be "you just wanted to get it over with" instead of "you wanted revenge".
In about a decade or so, everything will be pretty much back to normal, to the status quo. It will go down in history books as the time Celestia the alicorn got attacked and turned into Celestia the changeling queen, but even with several outbursts and near-miss with depression and stuff, the princess once again proved, that even an entire forced species change by a crazed monster proved no match against Celestia's brand of calmness and otherworldly Alicorn stoicism. She proved herself as a goddess among goddesses, one that with unshakable faith in her peers and ponies, managed to triumph over an infernal curse and let level-headedness rule the day once more.
Plan B: changling kingdom-> changeling valley, a province of Equestria
Imperialism yaaay!