Dear Princess Mi Amore' Cadenza,
Rarity and I have just recently discovered a changeling plot to abduct Spike. We are already on a train to the Crystal Empire and should reach you by the end of the day. Spike is safe, though from what we were able to gather, you should be on guard.
Stay safe,
Princess Twilight Sparkle
Princess Cadence, also known as Mi Amore' Cadenza, was reading this letter by Twilight from her balcony that overlooked the Crystal Empire. The sun was lowering in the distance, and she had re-read the wording of this letter a hundred times already with worry. What did Twilight mean by a changeling plot? Why was Spike involved, and why did it involve the Crystal Empire? It was in times like these that Cadence really wished Twilight was more forthcoming with her information, but she was anything if not obsessively punctual. Cadence frowned in thought, looking down and absentmindedly waving to the crystal ponies heading to their homes and closing down their shops for the night.
"Is everything alright?" A familiar chittering voice asked from the doorway, the door creaking open. "You've been out here all day."
Cadance turned to see the newly dubbed 'King' Thorax standing nearby, concern etched across his lime green face. Purple eyes searched for any sign of bother, and he immediately rushed to her side. "It's bad, isn't it?"
Princess Cadance nodded. "A letter from Twilight." She explained, floating the parchment to Thorax and sidestepping so they could both appear regal and relaxed to the ponies below. "She said there was an attempted kidnapping of Spike and that they're on their way to the Crystal Empire right now."
"A kidnapping?!" Thorax blurted in alarm. "Is he aright?"
Cadance smiled for a small filly below that was frantically waving her hoof at the princess before answering. "Twilight said that Spike was fine, and I'm sure she'll tell us all about it as soon as she gets here."
"Has Shining Armor heard about this yet?" Thorax asked, waving to the same small filly that Cadence had been, earning an odd look mixed with confusion from the pony. He was still a novelty around the Empire, along with his 'Hive' of drones from Queen Chrysalis' hive that had been transformed alongside him. Crystal ponies hadn't been sure how to react to any of them, but they were allowed to stay within the Empire for the time being and were treated with the cautious welcoming that any would expect from ponies.
"He's waiting for Twilight at the train station right now, just over there." Cadence replied with a smile at Shining Armor's name, pointing to the train station and small group of guards that could be seen accompanying him. "He wanted to go alone, but I insisted he bring along a few of the guard just in case."
Thorax followed the hoof of Cadence to spot the Prince and his guard down below on the outskirts of the city, his eyes were able to spot Shining Armor pacing back and forth with nervous energy. "I hope it's not something too big, but considering what happened to Chrysalis when we last saw her and the fact that it's a changeling plot makes it seem like it has to be big." He grumbled. "Why go after Spike?"
Cadence breathed deeply and sighed. "I don't know, but I'm sure Twilight has it all figured out by now."
A few moments of silence passed between the two as they observed the railway leading to the train station before puffs of black smoke made themselves known on the horizon, just as the sun was setting and the moon began to rise.
****
"Do we have everything?" Twilight asked, adjusting saddlebags filled with scrolls and paper of all kinds. "I really need to know that we have everything, because this is huge!"
Spike's grumpled face looked up from one of the many checklists piled around the traincar that Rarity, Twilight and he himself had occupied for the entire trip. "Twilight, we've checked over a dozen times. We've got everything."
"Are you sure?" Twilight asked once more, looking through one of her saddlebags. "I'm pretty sure I don't have that note where we wrote down everything about the different hives relationships with each other and-"
"Twilight, darling." Rarity pointed, placing a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "We've got this."
"But!-" Twilight insisted, before Rarity shoved her hoof in Twilight's mouth.
"We've fought Nightmare Moon, Discord, dragons, A soul eating centaur, Sombra, and a half dozen other terrors of Equestria and come out just fine. I'm sure we can handle this too." Rarity reminded her, removing her hoof and wiping it with a tablecloth that was laying nearby. "Honestly, we've even fought armies of changelings before and we're going to have Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor's love... bomb... thing. We'll be perfectly alright." She added, waving her other hoof to punctuate her words.
"We can handle a talk with Cadence and your brother, Twilight." Spike added reassuringly. "Even if it has to deal with this crazy plan from all these other hives and everything."
"But just to even get those changelings in the same room with another! From what they told us, it would've never happened in thousands of years if they still had their Queens!" Twilight continued in a vein of worry. "What is Queen Chrysalis even thinking; vanishing all those other Queens?"
As Twilight's concerned rant continued, an almost unnoticeable buzzing sound began to build around the train, masked by the loud engine and the wheels gliding along metal rails.
"It can't be anything good if they're working together, we know that for a fact." Rarity agreed. "However, there isn't much we can do until we speak with Princess Cadance, is there?"
Twilight performed a small dance of anxiety and agitation for being forced to wait so long. "Ooh, I wish this train would hurry up!"
"Why didn't we just teleport here?" Spike asked aloud, fastening down Twilight's saddlebags. "We would've been here in a few moments instead of an all day train ride."
"Do you know how difficult and risky it is to teleport a group of ponies and a dragon, and all of their things, blind, hundreds of kilotrots?" Twilight asked incredulously. "The amount of luck we would need just to not collide with somepony else where-ever we landed would be incalculable! Do you know how many ponies are in the Crystal Empire?"
"Uh, no?" Spike replied, but was drowned out by Twilight's continued ranting.
"Tons! That's like, lots and lots of them! One mistake would turn them into a very grumpy crystal pancake, and I really don't want to risk something like that because we were too lazy to take a train." Twilight continued, and the growing buzzing sound began to become noticeable.
"Twilight, is something wrong with the train?" Rarity asked, concern and curiosity blatant on her face. "I'm fairly certain I've never heard a train make that noise before."
Twilight paused in her ranting to listen carefully, "Actually, yes. I don't think I've heard a train make that noise either."
Twilight, Spike and Rarity soon peeked from their traincar's room, joined by other nearby rooms filled with travelers from all over Equestria wondering what the strange noise was. "Do you think we should check it out?" Spike asked, fiddling with his claws. "Because I don't think any pony else is gonna take a look."
Sharing a look of curiosity, Rarity and Twilight stepped from the safety of their train car's room. "Looks that way, Spike." Twilight agreed. She then turned to Rarity, "Want to wear anything for the occasion?"
Rarity politely shook her head. "I'm fine, darling. Besides, if it's anything messy then I wouldn't want to get my clothing dirty for it anyway. It's very difficult to wash some of my dresses without tearing or shrinking them!"
"Alright then! Lets-" Twilight was about to declare, before a loud belch from Spike produced a scroll that nearly smacked her in the face.
"Whoa, sorry about that." Spike apologized, opening the newly conjured letter with practiced ease. He then read aloud the following:
Dear Princess Twilight,
If you are arriving by train, for the love of Celestia, do not go outside. There is a changeling swarm following directly above you. If you're not on a train headed for the Crystal Empire right now, then please find a train and get on one!
Your Brother,
Prince Shining ArmorP.S. Seriously, don't go outside.
The three of them blinked in disbelief for a moment before rushing to a nearby window, fighting between themselves for a better look for a short moment before Spike simply pushed the window upwards, allowing their heads to stick out. Sure enough, if the sun had still been out, it would've been blotted out by the sheer volume of changelings present. Changelings of all colors, sizes, designs and temperaments buzzing and chittering angrily in a great swarm above them, far larger than what they had witnessed and fought in Canterlot.
Pulling their heads back into the train car and slamming the window shut with urgency, the moment of silent realization was broken only by the sound of wheels rolling over segmented track and the frantic billowing of the engine being made to go faster to their destination. The three were soon joined by the nervous looks of train-goers exiting their rooms to murmur and gossip in the hallway amongst themselves.
"Well, we should be there any minute now." A pony that looked the part of a train staff member announced with professional calm. "Everypony just remain in your seats, and I'm sure everything will work out just fine. For all we know, this is a surprise visit to King Thorax and they just forgot to tell us."
"They forgot?" A noisy Griffon asked incredulously. "How do you forget to mention that a gargantuan swarm of changelings is visiting the Crystal Empire?"
"Ma'am, I'm certain that everything is fine. If you'd just remain in your seats then we can get everything sorted out. We'll be serving a free round of snacks and refreshments soon, so just sit tight and we'll be right with you to address your individual concerns in person." The staffer replied to the group, most of which returned promptly to their seats with the promises of free food distracting them from the looming threat above.
Twilight, however, was gathering her friends close. "I think it's time we teleported." She whispered.
"But I thought you said you didn't want to do it blind?" Spike replied, worried.
"I know someplace that nopony will want to go, and we've been there before. You know where I'm talking about." Twilight added cryptically, charging her horn in a powerful lavender glow.
"Ma'am, please!" The train staffer urged, moving towards Twilight. "There's no need to-"
The horn reached the height of its charge, and she warped herself and her friends the vast distance between the edge of the Crystal Empire and the Crystal Castle itself, landing slightly above the floor of what was known as King Sombra's treasury. The place where the Crystal Heart had been hidden for millennia.
"Aaah!" The three yelped, before thumping onto the ground. "Nice teleport." Spike grumbled, picking his face from the smooth stone floor.
Rarity was scratching her head. "Where are we?"
Twilight was the last to get up, nursing her horn that lanced with pain. "Not really important right now; let's just find Princess Cadance."
****
"What do you think they're here for?" Princess Cadance asked, her mouth slightly open in disbelief at the growing swarm headed for the Crystal Empire. Already, the edges of the city had been masked in black and grey chitin, multicolored and florescent in the moon's glow.
Thorax was joined by Prince Shining Armor and a handful of guards on the balcony. "Do you think we should still be outside?" Thorax asked, looking nervously to the coming tide. "I really don't think they're going to be easily convinced that sharing love amongst them is really the best thing for them at the moment."
"Why not?" Shining Armor asked. "It worked for you with Queen Chrysalis."
Thorax shook his head. "That was a special thing. The changelings were from my own hive, and Chrysalis wasn't a very good Queen for them. These other changelings?" He trailed, pointing to the ever growing mass of chittering, "They won't care what I have to say. The fact that they aren't fighting each other right now is... well, it's never happened before."
"Do you think Chrysalis has something to do with this?" Shining Armor asked, bristling under his armor. "Do you think this is the 'revenge' she was talking about before she escaped?"
This gave Thorax pause. "I don't know. For some reason, I think this is a little beyond her planning skills." He then paused a moment to consider. "Well, a lot beyond her skills. Still, I don't think we should be waiting outside."
Suddenly, the door leading to the balcony slammed itself open, causing every pony present to whip around with charged horns to meet whatever had breached through.
"Whoa!" Twilight yelped, "It's me!"
Shining Armor was relieved, but Cadence wasn't so sure. "How do I know it's you?"
Twilight rolled her eyes before performing a hastened version of 'Sunshine Sunshine, Ladybug's awake' in order to ease her fears.
Thorax snickered before covering his mouth with a hoof. "What was that?"
Twilight nodded with a smile to regard Thorax before quickly adding, "Don't worry about it, Thorax. Nice to see you again, though I wish there wasn't a swarm of changelings on my tail... no offense."
"None taken!" Thorax replied with good humor. "Though I can't speak for every-ling present." he added, motioning to the rapidly approaching swarm.
Twilight frowned with abrupt fierceness, "Yikes! We should really get inside before they all show up."
"Do you have Flurry Heart?" Cadance asked Shining Armor in a hushed voice, and he nodded while presenting a small bundle of Alicorn filly that had been cradled next to him.
"She's safe with me, Cady. Don't worry about it." Shining replied in a hush, to which the small filly giggled at the blurry images moving around in front of her vision. It was probably for the better that Flurry Heart didn't fully understand what was happening at the moment.
"Alright everypony! Time to head inside." Twilight insisted, forced to yell in order to be heard over the approaching swarm.
****
Inside of the Crystal Castle and towards the most prized section of it, the Crystal Heart, stood a full company of elite Crystal Guard. On the outside perimeter were additional guards, all arrayed to protect the main entrances of the castle from any ground-based attack, though considering that changelings are capable of flight, there wasn't much the crystal ponies would be able to do in the face of this many changelings.
The swarm itself, however, had halted its approach rather suddenly. Around the outer ring of the Castle, the changelings behaved as if there were some barrier preventing them from moving forward. The streets themselves acted like walls to the swarm, though no field of magic could be seen to impede their progress. Either they had stopped on their own, or something had told them to wait. Not a single sound came from the previously deafening swarm. It was dead silent, save for the regular breathing of the ponies around them. From the changelings, not even that could be heard.
"I don't like this." Shining Armor grumbled. "Why are they just waiting around?"
He was accompanied by Twilight, Rarity, Spike, Princess Cadance and 'King' Thorax. The bottom layer of the castle held no true defensive fortifications aside from support pillars, so it was a castle more in name than actual function. The Crystal Heart floated in place, locked at the very center of the elite guard's formation.
"Maybe Chrysalis hasn't told them to attack yet?" Spike offered. "Or maybe she wants to gloat about it."
Thorax wasn't so certain. "No, this doesn't seem like Chrysalis. She would just attack and throw every changeling she had at us until she won. Having all of them wait like this, and the fact that there's maybe a dozen or more hives out here? Something else is wrong."
"Princess Cadance!" A chittering double-toned voice called out, very reminiscent of Queen Chrysalis, yet impatient in tone. "I seek parley!"
Cadence's serious mask dropped only for a moment, long enough to blurt out, "Wait, what?"
"Come out here, so we may have words!" The voice called once more.
A voice of protest rang from nearly every pony and dragon gathered, but Cadence held up a hoof. "Who are you? Show yourself!" she called out into the mass.
A few chitters of annoyance came from the mass of black and orange changelings ahead of them as they parted ways, revealing a much larger changeling that had been laying down previously. With the crown atop her head, it was clear that this was a Queen of at least one hive. What set her immediately apart from Chrysalis, however, was the fact that her body was almost armored with glowing spikes and plates of chitin that illuminated the changelings around her as she moved closer to the street that prevented the changelings from coming closer.
"I will come no further, Princess Cadance. You must come to me!" The glowing orange queen demanded. "I promise no ill will toward you, your kin, or your kingdom!"
Spike puffed smoke from his nose in a scoff. "Yeah, right. That's a good one. A changeling queen making promises?"
Thorax regarded Spike for a moment before speaking up himself. "What binds you to your promise, Queen?"
Her previous calm shifted almost immediately to outright hostility. "Do not speak to me, treasonous usurper!" She spat with venom dripping in her voice. She looked ready to leap onto Thorax and tear him to shreds, which gave Thorax himself reason enough to back off for the moment.
"He makes a valid point, Queen. What would you give for us to trust your word?" Shining Armor shouted across the distance to the Queen.
The queen's attention shifted from Thorax to Shining Armor, her temper calming rapidly. Her glowing eyes narrowed to horizontal slits of suspicion, orbs darting from pony to pony as she thought.
"I will not parley without trust between us, Queen." Princess Cadence affirmed, her posture secure and steadfast.
The Queen regarded her words for a moment before hissing loudly, chittering and buzzing to the nearby changelings that surrounded her. Seconds later, the surrounding changelings chittered to the others, and the entirety of the swarm backed away with a great deal of unease to the block behind them. The swarm covered the roofs, the pavement and grass, even street lamps. Anyplace that a town might be visible instead held a changeling, be it wall, roof or ground. Now, only the Queen stood apart from the swarm, exposed to any spell that might be cast in her direction.
"What say you, Princess Cadence? Do we have Parley?" The Queen yelled to them, obviously agitated and uncomfortable.
"What's with the weird speaking?" Spike wondered aloud. "She sounds like she's from a pirate comic."
"Maybe she's an older queen?" Rarity suggested. "We haven't seen another Queen aside from Chrysalis, so I don't think anypony really knows."
"That would probably explain why she looks so different compared to Chrysalis," Twilight agreed. "Do you see those thorns and how she glows? Maybe the eyes are just the first thing that glows, and they get more... glowy as they age?"
"Glowy?" Spike smirked, "Real scientific."
"We have Parley!" Cadence announced, taking steps toward the Queen.
Twilight's ears went back in alarm, but she was held back by Shining Armor. "Don't worry, sis. She's a big Alicorn, and we can take care of ourselves. You remember the wedding, right?" He added with a smile. Twilight wasn't happy about sitting on the sidelines, but she nodded in agreement.
Finally reaching a safe distance to the Queen that would no longer require shouting, Princess Cadence was more or less face to face with the Queen that had asked for parley. "What is your name, if you don't mind my asking?" She requested as politely as possible.
The queen's eyes of glowing suspicion returned, but she soon shook her head briefly before answering. "I am known as Queen Sanguine, Princess Cadence." Her tone was cautious, yet soon grew dark. "Do not allow that traitor to speak in my presence again."
"Thorax, is a close friend of mine. He can speak if he wants to." Princess Cadence replied with firm certainty. "Why are you here?"
Queen Sanguine growled in response, but calmed herself once more in order to speak. "I am here because of Queen Chrysalis. Her idiotic quest to avenge herself has placed every hive in peril, and It drives me to do things that no Queen would have ever considered until today."
Princess Cadence raised an eyebrow. "Oh, and what is that?" She asked cautiously.
Queen Sanguine bit her lower lip, her fangs being quite pronounced as she mulled over what she was forced to say. "I..." She began, almost choking on her own words.
"Are you alright?" Cadence asked with worry, and Sanguine just as quickly backed away from her concern.
Sanguine waved a hoof away at Cadence, continuing her words. "I need your... heeelp." She finished, and just as quickly had a fit of chittering and buzzing. "Euugh!" She spat, scraping her tongue with her sharpened teeth and hooves. "Eugh, I hate that word!"
"You want my help?" Cadence asked in surprise, looking to the surrounding swarms of changelings. "Why would you need my help?"
The Queen stopped for a moment, regaining her composure enough to speak. "Promise that I will never have to speak that word again, and I will explain."
"What, help?" Cadence asked, smirking slightly.
"Yes. That." Sanguine chittered in annoyance.
"Alright, deal." Cadence replied with teasing amusement. "Would you prefer to speak inside the castle?" She offered, pointing a hoof towards the Crystal Heart and the group of armed guards.
Sanguine was giving the Crystal Heart a look of contempt. "On one condition, Princess Cadence. No love is to be shared while that thing remains in place."
Cadence, understandably, was confused. "What do you mean; I thought changelings survived off of love?"
"Does King Sombra still live?" Queen Sanguine asked, her eyes scanning the assortment of guards.
"He... was shattered more than a year ago. I don't think he'll be troubling anypony anytime soon." Cadence added with a sad smile. "What does he have to do with anything, though?"
Sanguine's glare returned to Cadence. "This land was cursed by King Sombra during his reign, over a thousand years ago. Before the Sisters of the Sun and Moon made their assault on this castle, we changelings had attempted to infiltrate and steal the Crystal Heart from him many times. A source of amplified love that could feed thousands of changelings with just a hoof-full of ponies? It was a dream come true!" Sanguine added bitterly, looking to the crystalline ground between them. "In order to rid his lands of us, he cursed the Crystal Heart, imbuing it with properties that are detrimental to changelings, but a boon to ponies. It amplifies love, yes, but for a changeling that is struck by the magical wall that turns ponies into crystal, they are infected with a plague that has yet to run its course. The first egg of every hive is 'Defective', a certain doom to any Queen that fails to properly deal with the drone afflicted by the curse."
"So that's why you won't cross the road?" Cadence asked, moving closer to the Queen. "What does the curse do?"
Sanguine remained where she stood, staring down Princess Cadence as the changelings behind her chittered nervously. "It turns the carapace of a changeling pure white, and they are filled with an insatiable hunger for love. They drain the love from their own hive-mates, and eventually their Queen. Nothing can cure the drone of this hunger, short of re-hatching them as a Queen. As any Queen would tell you, that is a complete waste of time and resources to accomplish, so the drone is banished from the hive or secluded until it goes into stasis, where it can be safely 'disposed of'."
Cadence nodded, the gravity of the situation now known to her. "And you don't want to go near the Crystal Heart in case it activates on accident?"
Sanguine nodded, joined by a few similar looking changelings that stuck to the walls of buildings nearby.
"Well, I can see that getting close to the Heart is dangerous for you, but why are you here? I'm thankful that this doesn't seem to be another changeling invasion, but you have covered every inch of the Crystal Empire in changelings. It's enough to make a kingdom worry, you know." Cadence replied with added humor.
"Our Queens are disappearing!" a changeling nearby shouted. One of purple and black coloration with butterfly wings of lavender. "The hives must endure!"
Queen Sanguine immediately hissed at the changeling, causing them to back away in fear before she returned her attention to Princess Cadence. "Even though the drone speaks out of turn, he is correct. Queen Chrysalis, the changeling I suspect most responsible for these disappearances, has been ridding all hives of their Queens these past few months since that traitor overthrew her." She explained, glaring daggers at Thorax in the distance.
"Are you the last Queen, then?" Cadence asked worriedly. "She can't have... she didn't kill them all, did she?"
Sanguine shook her head with confidence. "We would know if a Queen had been killed, Princess Cadence. No, she is doing something far worse for a hive. She is transporting them from one reality to another."
Cadence blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"
"She is using an ancient device constructed by Earth Pony kind and modified with magics unknown to me in order to transport our kind to another reality where they can never return." Sanguine attempted to explain. Seeing Cadence's continued lack of understanding, she opted for a different approach. "Is there one among you more versed in magic that I would be able to explain this to?"
Cadence's eyes lit up as she turned to face the group next to the Crystal Heart. "Twilight, get over here!" she shouted, stepping to the side to allow the young alicorn to land next to them.
"You needed me?" Twilight asked Cadence, soon looking to Queen Sanguine and realizing with some discomfort how dis-similar the queen was to Chrysalis. The only thing that was the same was their height; taller than Princess Celestia.
"This is Queen Sanguine, and she says that the other changeling Queens are being... teleported?" Cadence attempted, and Sanguine soon took the lead.
"They are being transported to another reality through ancient rituals and technology from before the age of the Two Sisters. I have no idea how Chrysalis managed to get her hooves on such magic, but I know that I am the last of the Queens remaining in Equestria." Sanguine replied in her own chittering double-speak. Twilight was still having trouble dealing with the fact that this queen, though similar to Chrysalis, was different in just as many ways. The glowing chitin, the strange spikes coming from parts of her body, even the way that her eyes were a strange cross between a drone's pupil-less glow and a Queen's snake-like iris' set her on edge. It was like dealing with an alien in the likeness of a pony. "I do not know where she has sent our Queens, but I know that without them, we will not survive as a species for long." Her gaze turned swiftly to Thorax in the distance, her expression hateful. "That traitor must have driven her to madness for Queen Chrysalis to do something like this."
"This isn't Thorax's fault." Twilight stated firmly, dwarfed by the comparatively tall Queen that looked down on her. "If you could see that sharing the love between all of you is so much better than stealing it, then-"
"Don't you dare speak of things you don't understand, Princess." Sanguine snapped, "That usurper standing obliviously will learn soon enough why changelings must take their love. 'His' hive will die out without a Queen, or at the very best they will exist until they can no longer find a host to give them love."
"But that's where you're wrong, Queen Sanguine! He doesn't need to steal love anymore, hes cured!" Twilight insisted.
Sanguine was visibly angered by this point, having a staring match with Twilight and chittering quite rapidly in anger. Cadence stood between the two of them and placed a reassuring hoof on their shoulders. "Alright, let's save this discussion for another time. We have Queens to save, right?" She reminded them, and Twilight was the first to agree and break the stalemate of wills.
"Keep that filth out of my sight, and I will remain civil. If he so much as speaks a word to me, the Will of the Hives demand that I end him." Sanguine threatened seriously, her teeth barred like a wolf as she looked to Thorax.
"I'll go tell him and meet you both in the Library. I'm sure we can find something that can help you there." Twilight offered, soon flying off before Sanguine could reply.
The Queen was shaking her head, following alongside Princess Cadence closer to the Crystal Heart.
"What's wrong?" Cadence asked, motioning for the guards to stand down and move aside. Prince Shining Armor was waiting with Flurry Heart next to the looming Crystal Heart in the center of the room. The baby alicorn, for her part, was completely oblivious to everything going on and quite intent on making noises to Shining Armor.
"That baby." Sanguine hissed quietly. "If she keeps making those noises, somepony is going to emit enough love to trigger the crystal."
"Shining Armor, would you mind taking Flurry Heart somewhere away from the Crystal Heart?" Cadence called politely.
"Um, sure thing, honey." Shining replied with confusion, placing the baby on his back as it made giggling noises.
Sanguine's wings flared upward, her face a model of horror. "No! Stop interacting with the baby!"
"But she's so cute!" A nearby guard pointed out, waving to Flurry Heart and making cooing noises.
"No! Stop that!" Sanguine insisted, hissing at the guard.
"Everyone, don't look at Flurry Heart!" Cadence called, and the guards all immediately covered their eyes with a free hoof.
"Hee hee, Peeka-booh!" Flurry Heart replied, covering her own eyes and continuing with giggly noises.
"No! Stop this at once!" Sanguine insisted, buzzing her wings to catapult herself next to Shining Armor and Flurry Heart. She used her holed hoof to pry the filly's own hooves away from her face. "Stop being cute this instant!" she demanded.
"Peek-boo!" Flurry Heart replied quite happily, completely unafraid of the very upset changeling queen with razor sharp fangs and none to happy demeanor that loomed above her.
Queen Sanguine growled in response, and from the distance, barely heard, came an "Awww." From a nearby guard.
Sanguine whirled around, looking to the heart in fear, and sure enough it was already beginning to glow.
"Everyone stop noticing Flurry Heart!" Cadence yelled.
Sanguine looked to the small filly, whispering closely to her ear. "I swear, you demented spawn of an Alicorn goddess, that if you don't set off that heart this day, I will be a devout follower and loyal to you for all time. I absolutely swear this, now till the end of time, do not set off that heart!"
Flurry Heart seemed to recognize speech for a few fleeting moments, but all was for naught when she thrust a small hoof directly into Sanguine's snout, announcing the victory of basic motor skills with a resounding, "Boop!"
It was too late, at that point, for anypony or changeling to change what happened next. The chorus of "Dawws" that came from the guards and even Shining Armor against all their military discipline was enough to supercharge the heart, and it glowed with a power soothing to behold. All except for those with the knowledge of the true danger, of course. To Queen Sanguine, it looked as if the world might be torn asunder by a small filly, and there was nothing she would be able to do that wouldn't doom her ever further.
Sanguine's fate was sealed, and she turned to Cadence in order to hiss, "This is your fault, Princess Cadence! You just 'had' to go and bring a filly to a parley, didn't you!"
"It's not my fault that my daughter is adorable!" Cadence replied in protest. "It's also not my fault that the Crystal Heart is cursed for changelings!"
Sanguine was having none of that. "If that Crystal Heart goes off, I will not leave this empire until an anti-curse is found! I swear this! I will spend every waking moment of my life haunting you until I am cured!"
"Nopony do anything adorable, and nopony gets hurt!" Shining Armor added, shaking a hoof with serious determination at the nearby guards before leaning in to visit Flurry Heart in her small carrying cradle. "Hear that, sweety? No being cute for now, alright?"
Then, to the doom of all watching, Flurry Heart replied with a bubbly, "Okay, da-dah."
"Oh come on!" Sanguine yelled to the skies in defiance, as the Crystal heart was filled to bursting with Love enough to send out a gargantuan wave of energy that lit the surrounding streets and sent changelings flying in every direction, much like a repeat of the Canterlot Wedding but with more crystalline ponies left behind. Queen Sanguine barely stood her ground as the wave passed through her, but the nearby drones were not so hardy. What changeling that didn't end up through a broken window or a flowerpot was soon found embedded in a crystalline wall or upside down in a pond. A scene of complete changeling based destruction took place, minus any part where somepony or changeling could possibly be injured. This was a love explosion, after all.
Queen Sanguine, however, was not happy of course. Standing up on shaking hooves, she was able to stare directly at Flurry Heart. "We had a deal, you spawn of demons."
Flurry, for all her vast baby intellect could allow, giggled quite happily with her accomplishment. In response, Queen Sanguine soon collapsed on the crystalline floor, cursing Flurry Heart's name until she could no longer remain conscious.