The interior of the cave soon began to look unlike any other cave we had been inside - almost as if it wasn't entirely a natural cave. I wasn't getting a good feeling about it, so I opted to hold one of my G18s in my hand as we made our way through. I vaguely remembered something about Neighagra Falls that was relating to this cave, but I couldn't think back to exactly what it was and why there seemed like I was reminded of a connection. Eventually though, I spotted something trotting through the cave that gave me enough of a hint to remember why: it was a changeling. Celestia had offered that Queen Chrysalis live here from now on since apparently whatever was here was what the changelings needed to survive. I was there during the discussion - as was the mane 6 and Duston - and at that moment Chrysalis should've been on good terms with us. It didn't seem likely that it would've changed since then, but I prepared myself anyway, aiming the pistol at the changeling once he noticed us.
"Hey, hey!" Pinkie called out. "Oh wait, that's not a pony. That's a changeling!" Shortly after Pinkie's talking, the changeling ran off, and I looked back towards the group.
"Chrysalis is here." I stated. "That changeling wouldn't be here if she isn't."
"Oh. Wait, is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Pinkie asked. "She's not our enemy anymore, right?"
"For the most part, I'd think so." Applejack answered. "Celestia did make that compromise with her, but ah don't suspect someone who tries to take over Equestria as somepony trustworthy. She ain't our enemy, but I wouldn't consider her a friend either."
"Well, in times like these she better be a friend." Pinkie replied. "Maybe she can help us! I bet she'll know where Fluttershy is."
"Maybe." I responded. "Things should get interesting."
We continued our way through the cave, where after several more minutes of walking, we began to notice glowing green sacks of whatever hanging from the ceiling and attached to the walls. It was definitely giving off an alienistic vibe, but we didn't make it very far past seeing them before I spotted a large number of changelings walking towards us in the distance. The rest of us stopped in our tracks, and I stood ready to shoot anything if it was necessary. It was then that in the middle of the cluster, a taller changeling began to walk through, someone who could've been none other than Queen Chrysalis herself. That assumption was confirmed when she trotted close enough to us to be recognizable, where she was the first to start talking.
"I've been expecting you." She proclaimed.
"Wait, really?" Pinkie asked. "How?"
"One of your own came to this place just a few minutes prior to your arrival."
"Oh, so you have seen Fluttershy!" Pinkie seemed relieved. "Is she okay? She got captured by a big meany!"
"She is fine, yes." Chrysalis replied, pausing for a few moments before continuing. "The look on your faces isn't normal. What's going on? You have no reason to be around here in the first place."
"Lots of ponies dying, Tartarus has been opened up, overall hell is broken loose." I bluntly explained. Chrysalis blinked, taking a second to comprehend the gravity of what I said in so few words.
"Tartarus?" She asked. "Just how does that happen? Don't play me for a fool if you expect me to believe such things."
"He's not lying, Chrysalis." Applejack replied. "It would be an understatement to say that these past couple weeks are the stuff of nightmares."
"But that doesn't explain why you're here."
"Well, to start off in the very beginning, Discord's been putting up these magical blocking towers all over Equestria, and we've been going around stopping them!" Pinkie began. "That's how it was, and we actually got them all, but then we find out that he's building one way up on Mount Everhoof, so we all go up there to take it down before it's even activated, but then we got caught in a huge avalanche! And..." Pinkie breathed in deeply and then continued her long rant. "And so we all had to go back down on hoof and we were the only survivors! And apparently all the towers are back up too and he opened up the gates of Tartarus at the same time. Anyway, we've been trying to get back to Canterlot since then, but then a bad guy took Fluttershy, so we chased him down to here - and so that's how we ended up in this cave!"
"Horrible things have happened." Rarity added. "Absolutely terrible things."
"Hey, maybe you could help us get to Canterlot?" Pinkie asked. "The faster, the better!"
"Perhaps." Chrysalis responded. "Although I should say, maybe I overestimated Celestia's abilities if she cannot even prevent a place like Tartarus from opening up. How can you not do that? She isn't doing a very good job of protecting Equestria."
"Celestia is dead." I stated. Chrysalis seemed shocked at that, taking a couple seconds to respond.
"Oh. Well, that's unfortunate then."
"She died protecting us from freezing to death on Mount Everhoof." Rarity spoke. "I still can't believe such a thing has happened.."
"So, can you help us?" Pinkie asked again. Chrysalis remained quiet for several seconds afterwards, leaving us all waiting in anticipation. It took her a long time before she finally replied.
"Only with the guarantee that I become one with your ranks in Canterlot, and that the effect would be immediate."
"Wait, you mean like a princess?" Pinkie inquired. "Is that even allowed?"
"And just what do you hope to gain with that?" Rarity asked.
"Celestia, out of the own kindness in her heart, let you go to live here where you and your changelings can survive." Applejack exclaimed. "And then this is how you expect us to repay you for your help?"
"If you think Celestia did this just to be nice, then you're all pathetically naive." Chrysalis replied. "I was a problem, and so she dealt with that problem. It wasn't to be nice, it was to get me out of the way."
"That's not how Celestia works at all!" Pinkie frowned. "We're not gonna do that for you, that's asking way too much."
"Then I suppose you don't need my help." She responded. "Or your friend either."
"What was that now?" Applejack asked, glaring at the queen. "Just what do you plan on doing with Fluttershy if we don't abide?"
"You don't want to do that Chrysalis." I spoke up. I would shoot her right on the spot if I needed to, and she wouldn't have any chance of seeing it coming due to not knowing anything about guns. She was a clear target.
"Tartarus has opened up. We're all in danger." Pinkie advised. "We need to be friends or this can end up badly for all of us!"
"What do you think I'm doing?" Chrysalis retorted. "I'm ensuring the survival of me and my horde. This place was only a temporary refuge, and if what you say about Tartarus is true, then my time here has shortened dramatically. I'm not going to help if I get nothing in return."
"We never said you wouldn't get anything." Applejack responded. "But askin' to be a princess is a bit too much."
"I never asked for that." Chrysalis frowned as if she was getting annoyed. "I want equal say over what happens. I am to be regarded with just as much importance as anyone else."
Pinkie turned her head to look at us. "What do you guys think we should do? I mean, given the choice, I'd rather risk her taking over Equestria than a bunch of bad guys from Tartarus."
"I wish Celestia was here to tell us what to do." Rarity expressed. "We're not exactly the right kind of authority to be making these kind of decisions..."
"Pinkie does have a point though." I noted. "While I don't think any of us have an actual idea of what lies in Tartarus, it probably is safe to assume that Chrysalis pales in comparison to what we may be facing against."
"So are we just gonna give her as much authority as the other princesses, just like that?" Applejack mentioned with a frown. "Ah think we're fully capable of making it back to Canterlot on our own. It shouldn't take more than a couple days."
"Yeah, but anything can happen!" Pinkie replied. "We already fought a bunch of bad guys already. I'm sure there'll be more, and worse things than just getting kidnapped might happen. Besides, what's it say about us if we just leave Chrysalis here to fend for herself? That's not nice!"
"Are you really defending Chrysalis, Pinkie?" Rarity questioned with a frown. "She's already tried to take over Equestria once. There's nothing nice about that mare, so why should we be kind to her?"
"Yeah, but she had to do that. Her and her friends were all in danger of dying!"
I stood there thinking while the others argued back and forth. It was a pretty sticky situation: Chrysalis was essentially forcing us to give her as much power as a princess, otherwise she'd do who knows what to Fluttershy. We couldn't really say no, and even if we could, there was still the chance that she would try to force her way into power anyway. Saying that Celestia was dead probably wasn't a good idea, but it was too late for that now. It seemed as if we didn't have a choice - at least not one I could think of. I did want to remind her of one thing though.
"Chrysalis." I spoke up loudly over the voices of the others. "Do you want to die?"
Chrysalis looked at me with a un-amused expression. "From what? From what I'm seeing here, you need my help more than I need yours." She proceeded to look bewildered. "And if you think you four stand a chance against me and my entire horde, then you're as delusional as you are stupid."
"I wouldn't say that if it wasn't a real threat." I replied. "I'm asking you this now as a fore-warning in-case you ever turn on us. Just know that with us agreeing to give you that kind of authority, that doesn't mean you aren't unstoppable. You will be killed if you ever try to do anything evil, even after Equestria is back to normal."
"Klade, what in Celestia's name are you doing?" I overheard Rarity whisper to me. "We can't battle her here! You weren't here during the changeling invasion, but believe me when I say that there were hundreds of those cursed creatures."
"That's not what I'm getting at." I quietly replied.
"Well, you're certainly more violent than the other one of you that I've met." Chrysalis replied - she must've been referring to Duston back before he died. "If you're going to be like that, then what's stopping me from killing you all right now? I don't need you to grant me power - I can just take it on my own. I've done it before, and I'll do it again."
"Because you'll die if you try killing us." I responded.
"Klade stop it!" Applejack yelled at me in a whisper voice. "You're making this a whole lot worse! Maybe giving her that kind of power ain't so bad - we can sort it out later."
"Um... but why would you kill us?" Pinkie asked. "I mean, you're not actually evil, right? Are you?"
Chrysalis didn't reply at first, almost as if she herself didn't know the answer to that. It took her several seconds before she responded. "The survival of my colony takes priority over everything else. If you consider that evil, then I suppose we were never meant to get along."
"Chrysalis, you've already tried to take over Equestria once before." Rarity spoke up. "We just want to make sure you don't... do it again?"
"This is getting ridiculous." The queen replied. "You're wasting my time."
"Chrysalis, just ignore Klade." Applejack spoke up. "He ain't a pony and he doesn't represent what we stand for. Ah'm sure you're not a bad person if those are really what your moral standpoints are - if anything ah'd say that's mighty noble of ya."
"So you will accept my help?"
"Yes!" Pinkie Pie quickly answered. "We'll even make you a princess!"
"I'm glad to hear that." Chrysalis grinned. "Now, to show what an honorable, non-evil person I am, I will stick to my word and release your friend." With that, the queen turned around and went back further into the cave, leaving us mostly by ourselves aside from all the other changelings still there.
"Klade, just what the heck were you thinkin'?" Applejack asked as she turned to look at me. "Were you out of your mind to threaten her like that? You almost got us all killed!"
"I wanted to make sure she was fully-aware of the consequences if she ever tried to turn on us." I replied. "I would kill her without a second thought otherwise. Besides, I would've shot her if she tried attacking us right here - she wouldn't know what to expect."
"You sure like killing alot of stuff." Pinkie frowned. "I've seen you kill more things than I have hooves already. I mean, I know you're not a pony and all, but that kind of thinking isn't exactly how we do things. There's other ways to solve things - that's what Celestia taught us and that's what Twilight knows too. At least I think she knows that."
"We don't have a choice here." I responded. "You've seen the type of stuff we've gone up against - Discord's tactics have changed. He's killed alot of ponies already, and so if he's going to be like that, then there's nothing wrong with returning that type of treatment."
"Yeah, but this is Chrysalis we're dealing with. She hasn't killed anypony I don't think... right? She seems pretty reasonable to me."
I didn't respond to that, not bothering to comment since she was probably right. Before anyone else could say anything though, Chrysalis returned, and with Fluttershy trotting out in-front of her.
"Fluttershy!" Pinkie called out. "You're okay!"
The pegasus didn't respond as she hastily made her way over to us - the meek pony was probably traumatized over being kidnapped like that.
"We were beginning to fear for the worst when we couldn't find you." Rarity exclaimed as she stepped over to her. "First Celestia, then Rainbow Dash... just what's happening nowadays?"
"So, will you honor our agreement?" Chrysalis spoke up, catching our attention.
"Of course, Chrysalis." Applejack responded. "But there won't be any guarantees until we reach Canterlot."
"I said that the effect would be immediate." Chrysalis retorted with a frown. "As of right now, I am equal with the other princesses."
"But you haven't even helped us yet!" Pinkie replied. "We still need to get to Canterlot."
"Does releasing Fluttershy not count as helping you?" Chrysalis attested. "Or would you have preferred something more... unfortunate."
"That's enough out of you." Applejack growled. "We can save this bickering for later. We both have the same goal of reaching Canterlot, so let's stop with the hostilities and start makin' our way there."
"I like the sound of that." Chrysalis responded. "I will gather up my minions - we leave within an hour."
"Sounds good ta me." Applejack acknowledged. The queen returned back inside the cave, although this time her changelings followed her as well. It was just us now, and I turned as I looked towards our group.
"Seems like we're getting help then." I stated. "I guess that's more of an added bonus since our main problem was getting Fluttershy back."
"Yeah, I'm super relieved that she's okay!" Pinkie exclaimed. "So I guess we're taking a whole changeling army with us to Canterlot? Those bad guys really shouldn't stand a chance now!"
"It'll help." I replied. "Although talking about Canterlot makes me wonder how Twilight and the other princesses are doing. We've seen some effects already and we were in pretty much the middle of no-where - I'm sure it's much worse in a populated, important place like that."
"Ooh, I didn't even think about that." Pinkie exasperated with a frown. "I hope everyone's okay!"
"I hope so too." Rarity chimed in. "Lest we lose any other princesses... just the very act of bringing that up makes me feel sick. Thing should not be like this."
"Well, hopefully we can get this all settled soon enough." Applejack mused. Without much further ado, we opted to wait for Chrysalis by the entrance of the cave, patiently waiting to depart when ready.