It Takes a Village to Reform a Changeling
Chapter 24:
The Elements of Harmony, ten Changelings, three Princesses and an ex-King huddled around the large table in Twilight's Library.
Coxa eagerly blurt out, "I say we hit them where they're weakest: the Nursery! If we can get to the eggs, they'll fall into submission, and the throne will be ours for the taking!"
Everybody else cringed at the idea.
Coxa looked around the table. "What, too much?"
Pharynx nodded. "Even by my standards, that's messed up."
Mothra then stated, "Look, we're not here to come up with a strategy; I've already done that."
"You did?" Mandy asked questioningly.
Mothra shrugged. "I had twenty years to think it through."
The bug slapped his forehead. "Oh, right."
Rainbow Dash snickered, but Mothra ignored it. "The plan is this: we lure Chrysalis's Army into the Gem Mines, where Shining Armor will use his barrier spell to trap them. Chrysalis isn't one to miss out on the fighting, so she won't be far behind. When she comes, we'll incapacitate her guards and force a surrender. If we do this right, nobody will get hurt, and we could potentially even talk some sense into Chrysalis."
Mandy and the other Changelings gaped at the King.
"What?" Mothra asked. "She's not completely irredeemable!"
Rainbow Dash jabbed, "Yeah, she's just really really really really re–"
Applejack elbowed the Element of Loyalty in the ribs. "Rainbow Dash!"
She grunted in pain. "Sorry..."
Mothra continued, "I know she's done bad things in the past, but she has positive traits! She's confident, and self-reassured... and kinda sexy," he admitted with a blush.
Half of the ponies at the table gagged; most of the others stared bewilderedly at Mothra; and Pinkie Pie looked like she was seriously considering it.
Eager to change the subject, Rarity addressed Mothra, "So, what exactly are we each to do?"
He smirked. "What you do best."
Everypony nodded, breaking up the huddle and going about the room to do their own things.
Mothra was about to grab a book for some light reading, but his attention was caught when Celestia tapped his shoulder.
"Are you absolutely sure about all this?" she asked, the slightest bit of nerve edging into her voice.
He nodded, "Of course. I've had twenty years to –"
"Not that," she corrected, "I mean about Chrysalis. Are you absolutely sure that she can be safely reasoned with?"
Mothra's face grew dark. "I hate to admit it, but I'm not sure. But we have to give her that chance, don't we?"
Celestia nodded slowly, still unassured.
Meanwhile, Chrysalis was having her own meeting.
"My Queen," a commander reported, "the drones are ready to be mobilized."
"Excellent," the monarch replied, getting up from her Throne. "We shall move at dawn. Strike them when they least expect it."
The commander saluted, then turned and flew off.
After a moment, Chrysalis made sure nobody was eavesdropping. She opened a secret compartment in the back of her throne, retrieving a picture from inside.
The picture showed her, Mothra, and the eggs that composed their brood.
She looked at it, so many memories running through her head. The way she'd felt when she found the perfect genetic mate; when he returned from his first trip to Equestria; how they started fighting about their philosophies shortly thereafter; they way she'd forced him into hiding...
…and how empty she'd felt afterwards...
She shook her head, repressing those thoughts once more. 'Show no weakness,' she repeated her mother's advice to herself.
Her eyes drifted down to the eggs in the photo, and she smiled in remembrance. She could remember exactly which egg was which: Thorax's was in row 17, column 12; Mandibles' was row 9, column 7...
And an already-hatched Pharynx was cradled in her arms.
She'd taken special interest in the first of her brood, spending more energy raising him than the others. He was becoming such a good soldier, and seeing him succeeding had started to make her feel something she couldn't describe.
Then he'd betrayed her... And it had been all their fault...
Chrysalis gritted her teeth, using all her willpower to keep herself from breaking the picture frame in anger.
"You'll pay for taking them away..." she mumbled to herself as she roughly tossed the picture back into the compartment, resealed it, and left the room.