Chrysalis impatiently paced near the balcony of her chambers. She heard a knock on the door, only to have her castle maids speaking through it, “The general is here for you, my queen.”
About time, Chrysalis mentally sighed in frustration.“Send him in.”
The general entered her chambers before they’d closed the door.
“Have you found Gypsum yet?” the queen asked through her gritted teeth.
“No, we haven’t,” The General replied, “Unfortunately; we have lost sight of Nabis too.”
The queen looked surprise at first before she shouted out in sarcasm, “Oh, brilliant--- Another disappointment that I needed today.”
Suddenly, she yelled in pain and almost fell to the ground, had she not been gripping on her vanity table.
The general rushed to her aid as he saw in pain, “My queen! Are you alright?”
“NO, I AM NOT ALRIGHT!” Chrysalis screamed at the general. She groaned through the throbbing in her chest, “Each moment that little brat is running free and alive; I feel her element’s power growing stronger! And still even though that, you and your incompetent army hasn’t been able to annihilate her!”
“My queen, you must calm down,” The general peered over the queen’s hunched figure, “You need to rest for—“
“I DON’T NEED REST, GENERAL!” she snapped, turning her head sharply to face him, “CAN’T YOU SEE THAT THE MORE SHE’S OUT THERE, THE MORE SHE WILL RETURN TO HER ELEMENT AND WE’RE ALL DONE FOR?!”
Then both of them heard the buzz of a changeling’s wing. They froze and turned their attention to see Nabis carrying gypsum around the arm and landing on the balcony.
“General!” Nabis panted and gasped for breath as both changelings ran to their leader and their queen, “We—we did it!”
“There you two are,” the general shouted sternly, “I hope you realize what I’ve been through today, trying to find--!”
“We found Nameless!” Both Nabis and Gypsum shouted, putting the two figures to stop and gaped in shock.
“WHAT?!” Chrysalis remarked in surprise, “Where is she?”
Both changelings talked over each other, explaining that had happened earlier back there while unfortunately confusing their superiors.
Chrysalis screamed through the chatter to make them stop, “ONE AT THE TIME?”
They both stopped but Nabis quickly explained again, “I followed Gypsum back to Ponyville where the orchard was. But she got caught in the middle of a vine evasion that has been going on and I tried to get her back to the hive. And we found her! We saw Nameless with our own eyes! She was even glowing, but it has never been that bright before!”
Chrysalis lightly gasped in disbelief. Nabis continued his story, “Gypsum then tried to kill her like you ordered us to do—but she wasn’t alone! Some monster poofed in and saved her!”
Chrysalis’ eyes widen as he heard the description of Nameless’s protector, “What? This monster—what did he look like?”’
Gypsum decided in step in and replied, though she was nearly speechless, “We’ve never seen anything like him. Nothing is normal about them. His face was like a pony but his body looked like a different part of animals attached to his body, his eyes were glowing gold and red and—“
“Discord,” Chrysalis whispered in a quiet realization. The changeling had heard his name gasped in shock, “The creature that attacked you was Discord.”
“Discord?” Nabis cried in shock, “As in Discord, The Lord of Chaos?! The only living draconequus in all of Equestria?!”
“But that’s impossible!” the General declared, “He hates and tortures ponies; why would he reveal himself to the whole world when they are looking for him?!”
“And you say that he saved her?” The queen asked.
“Yes—and he attacked me and threaten to kill me! Nabis had to blast him with his magic before we got away!”
The news grew into a discussion among the three changelings while Chrysalis stared into space, deep within her own thoughts.
She couldn’t believe all of this. Nameless was there. She was at Ponyville all this time. And so was Discord—that creature she saw that was negotiating with her mother all those thousand years ago. He must’ve been hiding near there ever since his escape from Canterlot. And… he was protecting her?
Then everything that was in her mind made sense. So Discord was responsible for the sudden attack against her changeling at the orchard. He was trying to protect her prisoner from her. And Ponyville’s the one place she would never let her changeling hunt because of their outlook for any suspicious threat outside of their little safe haven; Nameless must’ve offered her sanctuary there thinking that the whole town will save her. She must’ve persuaded the lord of chaos to do the same so that she wouldn’t worry about her delayed death. But it still doesn’t make sense of why he even bothered to oblige at all. Back at the war, he refused to make an alliance with her mother and grandmother. Something must’ve happened to him….
At one point of the changelings’ heated conversation, she overheard Nabis crying out in the group, “But that wasn’t all that was weird! When I saw him protecting her, I felt an aura coming from him, something similar from when we hunt for ponies…. I felt his love for her.”
This has certainly had caught the queen further in surprise. That can’t be possible! His heart was supposed to be as empty as a shell; he has no care for the ponies whatsoever! It seems to her that being with this pesky little element bearer for so long has made him gone soft.
Then suddenly it struck her. Discord must’ve hiding from the elements and the Princesses since his escape. And he must’ve known about the fact about Nameless’s birthright if he was affected by the element’s magic the same way she is. And if he was smart enough and knows about it, he would’ve hidden the truth from her.
Her mouth slowly crooked into a small, wicked smile and the others looked at her with uncertainty.
“My queen?” The General asked concerned.
“General, Nabis, Gypsum,” Chrysalis turned to them, “Back then when we decided to have Nameless executed, I had put you three to be a part of this. And I must say you have been very faithful to me from the start.I must ask again that you must assist me once more. But this time, you must swear the place I’m about to show you in secrecy.”
“But why--?” Nabis uttered before he was interrupted by the queen.
“Don’t ask any questions, Nabis! I expect you and the others to do the same when accepting your queen’s commands. Now can we say that we’re all agreed?”
The three looked to each other before they nodded anxiously.
Gypsum then asked, “So what did you want to show us in secret?”
“Follow me.” Chrysalis stated as she turned her heels and walked out of her chamber door and down the stairs with the others following her.
They went deep down to a basement which shows a part of the castle that none of the queen’s complicates ever knew. The place was dark and eerie, with the exception of the glow from the small cocoons on the walls and floors. The three changelings looked around the place feeling uneasy, but they still follow the queen who looked forward with determination.
At the end of the flight of stairs that they took, there, in front of them, lies a door. Chrysalis clenched the lock using her magic and unlocks it. The door creaked opened for the others to gasp at what was hidden inside.
The walls were covered by books; all filled in shelves after shelves. But they weren’t ordinary books. At closer exception, the changeling drone came to realize that these books all contain readings that they can’t understand, and it looked to be centuries old. Among the books, tables, cabinets and a set of scientific glassware, there were bottles of ingredients and unusual concoctions that made the room mysterious.
The changelings were left gawking at this unknown place while Chrysalis looks around her surroundings, swiping the dust off the books she placed her hooves on.
Nabis uttered from his awe, “What is this place?”
“This room, my drones, has been entrusted to Queens from past generations,” Chrysalis explained while going to each shelve peering at the books before she turned to the trio, “Tell me, what do you see in here that are in common?”
All three of them observed the room with confusion. Nabis was the only one who responded, “Uh….. It’s spooky?”
The general and Gypsum gave him a weird look to which he didn’t saw.
“Something else?” Chrysalis peered at Nabis with a raised eyebrow.
He became nervous under the pressure of his queen, “They have something to do with… magic?”
“You are almost correct, but not just any kind of magic” Chrysalis replied before gesturing the three confused changelings to the room, “Everything in this room—books and all-- contains centuries of dark magic.”
The three changelings’ eyes widen to the size of pans. They peered upon the queen with shock and disbelief.
“Dark magic?” The general uttered, “But…. it’s impossible. Dark magic is forbidden to use in all of Equestria—such information of it has been lost!”
“To Equestria, it is so,” Chrysalis replied, “But the past queens of the changelings have been entrusted to hold its secrets long since the discovery of magic itself. The princesses and Star Swirl the Bearded only forbid it ever since that incident with that unicorn who overthrown the Crystal Empire.”
“Wait.” Gypsum uttered, “Those rumors about some form of magic hidden somewhere in the castle—this is all true!”
Nabis gasped in realization, “Oh, yeah; I remember those! A-and I remember that one time when we were questioning how Nameless got outside of the castle and get that cutie mark when we were little!”
The General raise his eye at Nabis, “You remembered that?”
“Yeah, I was one of the guys that pushed her in that closet. I don’t get why anybody forgets that fact,” he paused, allowing the weird stares from the changelings to set in.
“I kind of find that very hard to believe,” Gypsum stated with the skeptic look still on her face.
“Well, if it makes you feel better, I was kind of forced into it. I always have a weaker will than others…” He then stopped when it occurred to him, “Say, your highness, that closet upstairs; why were there potions up there?”
“That closet was a storage room for all the ingredients I needed for the spells,” Chrysalis replied, “They’re not completely conducted potions, but Nameless was lucky enough to break some of them to make a basic teleportation spell.”
“Your highness,” Gypsum asked, “Why do you and the past rulers keep all this? Did we need them?”
“Of course we need them, my dear. It is how we became what we are today.”
“W-what?” Gypsum uttered in shock, sharing the same expression as her comrades.
Chrysalis then explained, “Queen Regalis once explained to me how changelings had first started using dark magic when we evolved. She wouldn’t tell me of how the first clan was like back then, but all she said was how we transformed ever since our discovery of dark magic. They abused the power, using such tricks to torture and lure the ponies into giving us love. They enjoyed their taste of it and ponies had begun to fear us because of it. And they tried to keep it out, erase its existence. But it is the essential part of the changeling. Dark magic is a part of us and to reject dark magic like those princesses did is blasphemy to our race.”
“Excuse me but—you said that we were transformed? What do you mean by that?” Gypsum asked.
Chrysalis slowly gave Gypsum a glare that almost had her shrunk down in fear “It’s not encouraged to talk about that part of the past; It is best that we rather forget.”
There was a silence that was hung on fear and intimidation until Nabis brought back into reality by clearing his throat, “So dark magic is a part of us, that’s good to know. But…. Why does this have to do with Nameless?”
“Ah, yes, thank you for setting us back on track,” Chrysalis said as she trots toward a book shelf, “The spells that the dark magic possessed is unimaginable beyond compare, but some instinct are used as a means of torture and death. If we need to plan a way to attack Equestria, we must first find a formula that will take care of Nameless for good.”
Using her magic, Chrysalis levitated one book off a shelf and flipped through the pages, skimming the words. She then stops on one page and a devious grin grew on her face.
“General, Drones!” Chrysalis yelled as she turned to her minions and put the book on a podium near a cauldron, “Read and find the ingredients! But don’t put them in the cauldron!”
“Yes, my queen!” the changelings said in unison. They were unsure of what it was for, but they obeyed nonetheless.
“But you; Gypsum!” Chrysalis stopped her before she could process, “Go to Nameless’s cell and bring back that box she’d hid in the floor.”
“Yes, my queen,” Gypsum saluted before flying out the door.
Nabis and the general scattered from all over the dungeon room, reading back the ingredients on one page and racing whatever shelves that had the one component they needed. Once each vial was found, they were placed right by Chrysalis, who was using her magic to launch fire under the cauldron.
Finally, the ingredients were all found, and the changelings stood in salute to their queen.
Then Gypsum came back to the room, carrying a wooden box in her horn’s aura. She gave it to Chrysalis who smirked at her soldier with satisfaction.
Chrysalis opened and search within the box until she pulled out what she needed—a bare comb with few strands of pink hair tangled onto it. She placed among the collection of the ingredients that has been gathered.
“Now to get into work,” Chrysalis mumbled to herself as she turns her attention into the cauldron. With the magic from her horn, it engulfed around the cauldron and then started pouring the ingredients into it.
The ingredients had varied in many forms; some may be in potion, some natural substances of bark and plants, and those that are unusual and disturbing that the general and his companion never dared to ask about it. Soon as all but one ingredients were poured in, the cauldron was already boiling and bubbling with the conjunction that brings about an ominous glow. Chrysalis used her magic on a long, thick wooden spoon to stir the brew.
At one corner of her eye, she saw that her changeling drones were peering over the cauldron, “You might not want to get close to it, General.” With that note, the general obeyed and pushed the other two back away from the cauldron.
Then slowing, she brings to her the last ingredient, the comb that once belonged to Nameless. She pulled out one long strand of hair before she let it gently fall into the cauldron.
As soon as the hair touches the brew, it dramatically changed its color from its original yellow to green and boiled so hard that smoke started to fill the entire room. The changelings coughed at the sudden smoke as they didn’t notice Chrysalis taking the book from the podium and the magic from her horn started to flare violently.
She recited a strange tongue in a hoarse whisper that made the observers a little bit unsettled. Then her eyes started glowing as her magic flares long enough until she launched her magic into the cauldron, causing a bright explosion in the room.
When the light had faded, Chrysalis stopped using her magic and the cauldron reverted to bubbling normally. The changelings were surprised by the explosion and were curious to see what their queen has accomplish, to which they reacted by peering closer to the cauldron.
Chrysalis smiled at her satisfaction and levitated the wooden spoon from before into the brew. She stirred for a second before she scooped up of what looks like a large lump the size of a small ball. The lump was covered in the green gooey substance which was drooping down and one point made an image of a pony skull. Then the color to changed and the substance harden as the object finally took its form.
A form of a shiny, bright red apple.
Chrysalis levitated the apple off the spoon and into her hoof with satisfaction. The changelings looked over the apple with a mix of disbelief and disappointment.
“An apple?” Gypsum uttered out loud, “I’m sorry, your highness, if I offend you but--- how does one little piece of fruit going to help getting rid of Nameless?”
“You wouldn’t have said that if you knew what spell I used in that cauldron,” Chrysalis stated.
Curious to see what spell the queen has cast, Nabis turned back to the book and used his magic to levitate it from the podium and into his hoof. As he continued to read the title, he let in a small gasp. That caught the attention of the other two changelings and they peered over Nabis as he held the book in front of them.
The general read the page out loud:
“Sleeping Death. Only by those welding with those born or infused with dark magic can create a poisonous essence sinked into an entity thought up from the wielder’s mind and morphed it to be harmless to the naked eye. If the victim has taste the poisoned entity, they will fall unconscious and suffered through a sleep-like death for all eternity.”
The changeling slowing looked up to the book and to the queen, who is still holding the poisoned apple in her hooves. They all stared at her with awe.
“My queen,” The general spoke out, “This…. Is excellent.”
He and Gypsum grew a devilish smile signaling their approval while Nabis continued reading the book.
“I thought so, too,” Chrysalis smirked, “With her friends being the workers in the apple farm the two of you were ambushed in, she will least expect it when this apple will be delivered by the leader’s closest relative. But this is only a speck of the surprise that we will rain down on the ponies. If everything goes according to my plan, we shall take their land by storm and claim ourselves as the dominant race OF EQUESTRIA!”
Chrysalis laughed maniacally while the General and Gypsum snicker evilly in response.
“WAIT!” Nabis shouted, causing Chrysalis and the other to stop laughing and turn their attention to them.
“This spell has an antidote,” Nabis stated.
The two changelings widen their eyes in shock while Chrysalis merely raises an eyebrow with a quiet glare.
Nabis reads the passage out loud: “However, as much as Harmony keeps balance in the land, the darkness can easily be overcome by light. If the victim has fallen in love with another and had been loved in return, the victim can be revived only by their love’s first kiss.” He then looked up to her, “my queen, I did say I felt Discord’s love for Nameless. What if there is a chance that he’ll come back for her and….set her free?”
The long silence weighs over the room, giving the General and Gypsum a feeling of uncertainty for the future now that Nabis brought up a fact that could ruin everything. But then Chrysalis bellowed out, laughing as if it were a joke to her.
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” Chrysalis scoffed, “We will try to do something to drive them apart. Maybe even trying to give Princess Twilight Sparkle exactly why she came to Ponyville for; just to make the separation…. Permanent.”
The changelings grew surprised at the implication, but it wasn’t something that they really disagreed; anything works as long as they get the mission done.
Chrysalis then continued, “Plus if there is anything else that could help Nameless, it wouldn’t work. The ponies will think she’s dead. She’ll be buried alive by the time they realize their mistake!”
Chrysalis laughed once again, and the three changelings snickered as they realize that this plan might finally succeed their mission.
“General,” Chrysalis called out, “Go and prepare your army for the invasion. And you two,” She pointed to Nabis and Gypsum, “go and try to find volunteers for out in the field. We need all we need to make this plan work.”
“Yes, my queen!” they all saluted before they can leave the dungeon.
Chrysalis turned her attention to the poison apple in her hooves. She can see the evil grin growing on her reflection on the shiny red fruit. She then whispered with a chuckle in her throat, “Soon Equestria will be mine.”