//------------------------------//
// Chapter 149: Pawn Takes Queen 
// Story: My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Stallion Edition 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

Queen Chrysalis soon laughed, looking back at her captor. "What's the matter, gone all quiet have we?" She taunted. "I guess you've finally realized just how hopeless the situation is. Even with your pathetic 'rescue', and the efforts of your friends back in Ponyville, everything is proceeding according to plan. It won't be long before I make my demands to the princesses in Canterlot, and they'll surrender too when they find out who I've got."

"What are you talking about? What plan?! Why would you do all of this?!" Starlight demanded.

"Why, to feed on love of course!" Chrysalis boasted. "My changelings will replace the most powerful and beloved ponies in Equestria, and feed off of the love that the subjects feel for their divine rulers. All their love will keep the hive and I sustained for generations!"

Starlight rolled her eyes. "So that's it? This is all just to satisfy your ego?"

Chrysalis smirked. "I see what you're trying to do, Starlight, and won't work. You think this is the part where you're gonna get me to slip up and reveal my true intentions, turning my subjects against me," She then hissed. "It's like I told you, this isn't some fantasy adventure, this is real life! And there will be no 'happy ending' for you or anypony else! Soon, all of Equestria will be under my command, and my hive will be sustained for generations to come! We'll be unstoppable!"

Starlight gulped. There had to be some way out of this predicament, some way of perhaps reasoning with her captor. Or at the very least some way of distracting Chrysalis long enough to free Thorax. He would know what to do.

It was then that Starlight looked at Thorax's shiny new wings, and she recalled her earlier conversation with him about feeding. "Could it be? Could Chrysalis be starving her subjects on purpose?" She thought, as an idea suddenly came to her. "What if you didn't have to feed?" She asked the queen.

"Ridiculous!" Chrysalis snapped, as she pulled Starlight close with her magic. "You ignorant fool! The hunger of changelings can NEVER be satisfied!"

"Exactly! That's what I was about to point out!" Starlight protested, as she tried to hide from the wrathful queen. "Thorax left the hive and made friends with ponies. Now he gives love freely instead of feeding off of it, and he's not hungry anymore. He told me so himself. Surely, you could all do the same."

A few of the changelings seemed to consider the idea, but Chrysalis would hear none of it. She merely hissed! "You know nothing of the changelings or what it takes to be their queen!" She proceeded to pick Starlight up and throw her against a wall, before approaching the unicorn. "I alone decide what is best for my subjects, not some mewling grub!"

Starlight gulped. It was not too long ago that she herself still lived by such a mentality, that no one but her had the right to decide what others deserved. And that power and ruling by force were acceptable positions, all for the sake of her personal crusade. Somehow, however, she found the courage to look Chrysalis in the eyes and tell her. "I know what it's like to lead by fear and intimidation! I've been where you've been. And I know what it's like to want everypony to do what you say! But I was wrong. A real leader doesn't force her subjects to deny who they are! She celebrates what makes them unique and listens when one of them finds a better way! It's not too late for you to do the same, Thorax is living proof of what the changelings can be if you stop trying to take love from others."

Starlight hoped her words would have an effect on Chrysalis. They did but not the effect she wanted. "You're a fool!" Chrysalis bellowed, throwing Starlight up against another wall! "The only thing Thorax has found is what happens to those who turn their back on the hive! If he was smart, he'd have never come crawling back here!"

"No! Stop! Don't do this, Chrysalis! You're making a mistake!" Starlight pleaded, as she was held back by several changelings! And could only watch in horror as Chrysalis approached Thorax.

"Just as soon as I drain every last ounce of love from him and show my subjects what a real leader is!" Chrysalis continued, as she picked up Thorax and began to drain away his love!

Thorax strained as hard as he could in the vain hope of fighting back! "I can feel the love inside me slipping away...! I can't hold onto it much longer...!" He protested, much to Chrysalis' delight.

It was then that Starlight got another idea. "Then don't! Sharing love is what made you different to begin with! If Chrysalis wants your love, she can have it! Share it with her, Thorax! All of it! Let her see what it means to give instead of take."

"WHAT?!" Chrysalis exclaimed, before she was suddenly pushed back into her throne by a powerful magic blast!





There was a blinding flash of light, and when it had faded, there stood Thorax. But now he looked different, his entire body consisted of bright colors of green and orange, he now boasted a pair of antlers, and he even had a beautiful set of purple colored wings. To say nothing of the fact that he was now much taller.

"Whoa! Didn't expect this to happen," Thorax commented. "This is gonna take some getting used to."

All the other changelings began to gather around him, they were shocked and surprised to see such a sight. Starlight was quick to seize on the opportunity. "Do you see now?" She told them. "This is what happens when you give love freely instead of taking it! You can all do the same! Show your so called queen what you could be if she stopped holding you back and starving you!"

"This has gone far enough!" Chrysalis defiantly hissed! "Pay no attention to these traitors, my subjects! Don't forget who it was that hatched you all and raised you to be the fearless warriors you are now! Are you really going to throw all that away for the sake of 'giving love'?!"

But a changeling hissed back! "You may have hatched us, but all along you were hoarding all the love for yourself! This entire scheme was your idea, your attempt to heal your wounded pride! We should have done this sooner, but we were all too afraid to go up against you! Until now, that is. Now that we see a better way, we have no further use for you, ex-queen of ours!"

Then one by one, all the changelings started to give love freely and transformed in brilliant flashes of light! The magic blasts completely overwhelmed Chrysalis, pushing her back and shattering her throne completely! The entire ground shook as a deafening kaboom blew the whole top of the hive off, exposing the interior to the bright sunshine!





At last, all the changelings had transformed. And they helped Starlight and Thorax to free their friends, starting with Discord and Sunburst.

Discord was quite relieved to be free again. And his happiness only increased once he spotted a familiar pegasus mare a short distance away. "Fluttershy?" He asked in a hopeful tone, scooping his friend up and holding her close.

Fluttershy just smiled. "It's um... good to see you too, Discord. That was a very heroic thing you did back there, sacrificing yourself so the others could sneak past undetected."

"Yes... I suppose it was." Discord commented, while in his mind he was thinking. "So this is what it feels like to be a hero... I could get used to this."

The princesses arrived a short time later, along with Spike, Ember, and Trixie. "It wasn't easy, but we managed to drive those changelings away. They won't be bothering us again." Spike told Starlight.

"Seems like the Great and Powerful Trixie missed out on quite a lot though," Trixie commented, eyeing the now partially destroyed hive. "Must've been some rescue."

Starlight and Sunburst both laughed, as Sunburst told Trixie. "Believe me, you've no idea. But I owe you a great deal of thanks, those smoke bombs were more useful than you could've imagined. Pulled our rumps right out of the fire."

"What I don't get is why you two risked so much just to go after Chrysalis?" Ember suggested. "We could've waited, stormed the castle, and effortlessly took out the changelings there before they could call for help. Then we'd all be able to come to the hive and stop Chrysalis together."

"It was too big a risk, I felt we had to chance it using the changelings' strategy against them. Fight fire with fire if you will. It was a long shot to be sure, but the other option seemed like even more of one." Starlight explained to Ember.

"Besides," Sunburst added. "They kidnapped Flurry Heart. As her Crystaller, I very well couldn't live with myself if I didn't risk life and limb to get her back. And there's no way I could've done it alone."

Starlight breathed a sigh of relief. "I can't believe that worked, we were really winging it."

Sunburst just smiled. "Yet look at what we accomplished in spite of that, Starlight. And you thought you didn't deserve to be a leader." He playfully ribbed her.

"Okay, okay, so maybe you did have a point after all," Starlight sighed. "You don't have to rub it in." She then rushed over to check on Shining Armor, her teacher and the first pony who had ever trusted her.

"Ugh," Shining groaned, shaking off the slime as he emerged from his cocoon. "Well, Starlight, I'm most impressed. This was an unexpected test, but you passed with flying colors. You've come such a long way in such a short amount of time."

"Well, I had an excellent teacher to help guide me," Starlight smiled. "And it looks like Equestria's gained a new, very powerful ally."

Shining nodded, standing up. "I can see that clear as day. The changelings seem to be much friendlier now."

"All except for Queen Chrysalis, or Ex-Queen Chrysalis I suppose you could now call her," Thunderlane commented. "I wonder what happened to her anyway?"

"Probably got blasted to smithereens, or at least far, far away from here!" Soarin boasted.

Shining shook his head. "I'd like to believe that, Soarin. But somehow, someway, I doubt that very much. I thought for sure Chrysalis was beaten when Cadence and I expelled her from Canterlot. But she came crawling back from defeat to put this well thought out plan into action. She's a slippery one alright, I doubt a blast like that would be enough to finish her off or make her see sense."

Suddenly, a pile of rubble began to move! Shining mentally groaned. "I hate it when I'm right!"