In the upper-class district of Canterlot, a blue-haired white-skinned man pulled into a house’s driveway. Turning off his car, one Officer Shining Armor rested his head against the steering wheel with a sigh.
“This marks the fourth attack, and it hasn’t even been half a week yet,” the beleaguered cop said to himself. “It’s like last winter all over again.”
Shining stepped out of his vehicle with a grunt and made his way to the front door, stepping through it while calling, “Babe, I’m home!”
“Welcome back!” Came the distant, oddly accented feminine reply from elsewhere.
The now-on-duty househusband didn’t reply, instead opting to begin placing his work gear on a table near the door.
“How was work!?” The voice asked.
“Chrys, a monster attack happened, you know how it was!” Shining called back as he finally placed his badge down and made his way to the master bedroom.
“I know,” the voice groaned from the connected bathroom, “I don’t know why I keep hoping that pig-headed bastard is going to admit that Ultraman is not the bad guy here.”
“You don’t need to tell me, babe,” Shining replied as rummaged through a dresser for his relaxation attire. “He still acts like it’s somehow Ultraman’s fault that those people at the Equestrialand attack got blinded. Did you know that those people are still recovering from the lights that monster made? Friggen scary.”
Finally digging his eveningwear out of the drawer Shining was distracted by a trail of small black dots across the top of the dresser. “Aw. Chrys, your ants got out again!”
The bathroom door swung open, revealing a ravishingly beautiful black-skinned woman with green-teal hair that was dyed deep maroon at the tips, and wearing a fetching deep midnight blue robe. This is the wife of Shining Armor, Chrysanthemum Chitin. The human Queen Chrysalis.
“Goddamn it, I thought for sure they were secured this time!” She hissed.
“I keep telling you that you should let me get you a shed to keep them in,” Shining replied.
“And I keep reminding you that you knew what you were getting into marrying an entomologist but you did it anyway.”
“And you love me for it,” Shining said with a goofy grin.
Chitin paused for a moment, then returned his smile, “Yeah. Well, anyway, we’re in luck, these aren’t my ants. They’re the wrong species. I’ll get some bait traps when I’m out.”
Rather than continue the conversation, Shining embraced his wife and gently began kissing her neck.
“Woah, slow down there kid. You need dinner before you get that kind of fun,” Chitin chided.
“Fine,” Shining sighed exaggeratedly earning a giggle from his wife as he began changing out of his uniform.
“So, I had a chat with Cadance today,” the woman said.
Shining paused with a wince. Sure, he understood his ex-girlfriend’s reasoning for the breakup, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.
“Oh, really? What did she say?” He asked.
“Apparently, Twilight’s athletics scores have seen a major improvement. Heck, she apparently wiped the floor with the other team at dodgeball,” Chitin continued.
“Really?” Shining asked, wide-eyed. Twilight was a girl of many talents, but sports were definitely not in her wheelhouse, “I can’t imagine Indigo Zap was very happy about that.”
“Oh, she wasn’t, but apparently Twilight did something to scare her off. I’m so proud of her,” Chitin replied. “Of course, she wouldn’t be needing to do that if you just got her out of that school.”
“Chrys, I am not getting into another argument with you about what I should or should not be doing in regards to my sister,” Shining said, sternly.
“And I’ll keep picking the fight until you suck it up and tell your dad to shove it. He doesn’t have Twilight’s best interests in mind.”
“A Crystal Prep education is Sparkle tradition-.”
“Oh, there you go bringing “tradition” into it again like some everything-proof shield. Shining, it was once “tradition” to marry off and expect children from eleven-year-old girls, but that didn’t make it good. You went through the exact same shit Twilight is, just as much as I did. Crystal Prep has always been rotten. It was rotten before Cinch, and it will continue to be long after her.”
“Come on hon, you know what happened to her family.”
“What happened to Cinch’s family was a tragedy, but that isn’t an excuse to drag everyone else down with her. Did you know that she’s been involved in multiple coverup scandals regarding how she runs that school? The only reason she got away with them was because she threw money at her problems until they went away. That place is a school shooting waiting to happen.”
Shining recoiled in shock, but then dropped to a dangerous tone of voice, “I know that didn’t just imply that.”
“If you mean that Twilight would be the one to do it, no,” Chitin placated. “But she does have access to a gun. Seriously, why do you not put that thing in a safe?”
“I’d rather not have to remember a combination to get to a critical part of my job.”
“Laziness. Got it. But let’s assume for a moment that Twilight does snap and steal your gun to shoot up Crystal Prep. What would you do? Would you have the nerve to stop her?”
Shining seemed to think on those words for a moment but just as quickly shook it off, “I won’t have to, because it’s not going to happen. Twilight just needs some friends is all”
“God, you sound like your father,” Chitin scoffed.
“I do not!” Shining hissed.
“Yes, you do! News flash, you don’t go to Crystal Prep to make “friends”, you go there to make “connections”, there’s a difference. One is based on mutual respect, acceptance, and love, and the other is based on selfish self-advancement. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that dating Dean Cadance was originally your father’s idea.”
Shining recoiled as if he had been struck, “That’s a low blow Chrys.”
“But no less true,” Chitin continued. “I’m not saying you two weren’t absolutely adorable together, but I would like to remind you who Night Light blamed for the breakup. It wasn’t Cadance, it wasn’t Cinch, it wasn’t even Twilight (as messed up as that would be). No, for some reason, he decided that you did something wrong. That’s just the kind of guy he is. He’s not someone you want as a role model.”
Shining finally finished changing into a white t-shirt and blue boxers and sat down on the bed with a sigh, “What happened to us Chrys? We’ve had this fight before, but lately, It seems like we have it, like, every week it seems.”
“YOU WANNA KNOW WHY!?” Chitin snapped, “BECAUSE EVERY TIME THOSE LITTLE FUCKING MONSTERS AT CRYSTAL PREP RUIN TWILIGHT’S DAY I’M THE ONE SHE CRIES TO! CADANCE’S HANDS ARE TIED, HER DAD DOESN’T CARE, AND HER BELOVED BIG BROTHER BEST FRIEND FOREVER BLOWS HER OFF DESPITE HAVING ALL THE AUTHORITY HE NEEDS TO ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Shiny, you are a cop, if anyone should care about what’s happening to Twilight, it’s you.”
Shining’s jaw dropped at his wife’s outburst, “Twilight… Doesn’t trust me? But why? Am I truly such a bad… No. I know why. No more hiding, Chrys deserves the truth.”
“Hey, Chrys, come here, sit next to me,” Shining gently said, patting the empty space on his right.
Chitin raised an eyebrow but complied while thinking, “This doesn’t look good. What kind of horror is barring you from protecting your own sister, Shiny?”
There was a moment of silence as Shining collected his thoughts, then began, “You’re wrong about me. I know that from where you’re sitting it looks like I don’t care about Twily, but I do. What kind of big brother would I be if I didn’t? However, there is so much more to the picture that you don’t know about.”
Chitin crossed her arms over her chest and gestured Shining to continue.
“I know that you think I got my job legitimately, but I didn’t. My dad has an in at the CCPD, and he used it to make them fast track me to my current position.”
Chitin’s jaw dropped, “Shiny-”
Shining cut her off with his hand, “It gets worse. When I caught wind of what he had done, I confronted him to try and make him back off. Instead he… threatened Twilight to force me to accept his help.”
Chitin’s eyes widened and her hands shot up over her mouth, “Oh, my god!”
“Let me finish,” Shining continued. “While it sounds easy to just throw my authority as a police officer around to get Twilight into our custody, the reality is that it takes time to get that kind of movement going. Enough time that he can do some real damage to Twilight”
“Jesus,” Chitin whispered.
“Yeah. Now you have the full picture. Dad has effectively got me between a rock and a hard place. I want to get Twilight away from the abuse of her peers, but doing so risks a retaliation that would make their actions look friendly by comparison.”
“But why? What does he possibly stand to gain from this?”
Shining shrugged, “Can’t say. But going by some of the insane crap that he’s said when I was growing up, probably nepotism. We Sparkles seem to have a habit of getting into positions of authority, either through talent or marriage. I assume that was his original intent when he talked me into dating Cadance. Even if I failed to become a cop, he’d still have a son that was married to the Dean of Crystal Prep.”
“But then Cadance found out that Twilight was going to Crystal Prep and thought it would be unprofessional to keep the relationship up. Night Light needed to salvage his plan somehow,” Chitin concluded.
“And he broke the legal system to do it,” Shining finished.
“What the hell Shiny!?” Chitin demanded, “Why did you keep this from me for so long!?”
“Are you kidding?” Shining challenged. “My dad already doesn’t like you, I don’t want you running off and giving him more reasons, or worse an excuse to separate us!”
Chitin reeled back as if struck by Shining’s outburst, prompting the off-duty officer to softly add, “I love you too much to let that happen.”
Chitin’s features softened at that little admission. As much as she loathed to admit, Night Light absolutely hated her, at one point even attempting to bribe her into breaking up with Shining. He was absolutely the type of utter creep to have her arrested to strongarm Shining into separating.
“Hey,” she said, turning Shining to face her, “Have some faith in yourself, Shiny. You are not some spineless, submissive coward. I know you would never let him get away with it. The shit fit you’d throw would be so legendary that Night Light would be tripping over himself to bail me out to try and buy your silence. Try picturing that and not smiling.”
Shining very swiftly failed his wife’s challenge with a laugh before moving to kiss her. Sadly, in this age of monsters and giants, such candid moments were all too swiftly squashed.
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*
A trio of very firm, very insistent knocks echoed throughout the home, announcing that whoever was at the door had no intention of leaving. The sound left Shing and Chitin awkwardly paused with their lips pursed.
“Did you invite someone over?” Shining asked his wife.
“Look at what I’m wearing, of course I didn’t. Did you?” She replied.
“If I did I would’ve called you.”
“Then who the hell is that!?” Chitin asked, making to stand up.
“No,” Shining said, “I’m more decent, I’ll get it.”
Chitin pouted but sat back down as Shining stood up and made his way back though the house to the front door.
“Look asshole, do you realize what time it i-,” Shining irately began as he opened the door, only for a manilla folder that read ‘CLASSIFIED’ being shoved into his chest to cut him off.
“Congratulations Shining Armor. You’ve been drafted.”
Shining looked up from the folder to look at the source of the voice to find two casually dressed, but clearly professional people standing in his doorway.
On his right standing closest to him was an orange-skinned woman with long purple-streaked magenta hair tied in a braid that trailed off her right shoulder. She wore a hooded apricot sweater with snug-fitting jeans, and over her shoulder was a vibrant blue bag marked by a large pink star with two smaller ones above it.
Behind her, on Shining’s left was a light amber-skinned man with aqua hair that Shining could not think of any other way to describe than what a lonely, frustrated, middle-aged woman would think a police officer looked like. He wore a white undershirt with a brown button-up vest and matching pants and boots. Over the vest was a deep blue buttonless jacket with a teal horseshoe inside a golden shield with two teal hearts below it on its rolled-up sleeves. The man’s face, however, was truly what sealed the look for Shining, as he could not think of a more fitting appearance for the internet saying “himbo”.
One small detail that jumped out at Shining from the pair, was the pin on their chests that appeared to show a snaggle-toothed smile that seemed to drip blood from its right side.
Regardless of these observations, Shining was pissed, “DRAFTED!? WHA-!? WHO THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE!?”
“Sunny Starscout,” the woman said then motioned with her head, “He’s Hitch Trailblazer.”
“You say that like I’m supposed to care,” Shining hissed, “Look I only just got home, and I’m looking forward to an evening with my wife, so if you wouldn’t mind, please get off my doorstep.”
“A car will be here at six A.M. Don’t be late,” the woman, Sunny, said authoritatively.
“The fu-!? Who do you people think you are!?” Shining demanded.
“As we’ve said, you’ve been drafted,” the man, Hitch, finally contributed.
“Drafted into what!? We’re not at war!” Shining yelled, completely fed up with these strangers.
“Are we not?” Sunny asked, and a sinking sensation settled into Shining’s gut.
He had a feeling he knew what this was about.
“Everything you need will be in that folder. Six A.M.” Sunny said, finally walking away, followed by Hitch.
Shining closed the door, then had to brace himself against it as the weight of their demands settled on his mind. Was this real? Were they seriously dragging him into war against the monsters that plagued Canterlot?
“Shiny?” His wife softly asked behind him, “I heard you yelling, are you okay?”
Shining could only laugh mirthlessly, “I’ve been drafted.”
He pushed the folder into Chitin’s chest as he skulked into the living room, leaving his confused wife to open the folder to a large acronym spread over an image of a crooked, fanged grin.
S.M.I.L.E.
*////*
Princess Twilight Sparkle was not having a good night.
After their friends returned home, she and Sunset decided to turn in for the night. However, in the silence of Sunset’s apartment, Twilight’s thoughts went back to the battle that happened mere hours ago. “Is this alright? Did we really do everything we could about Chrysalis? There must have been some way to save her. We just… couldn’t think of one in time.”
“You’re troubled,” the masculine voice of Taro cut in.
Before Twilight could cry out, the tiny alien froze her with his psychokinesis, “Sssshhh. I have set up a telepathic link so we can speak without disturbing Sunset. Just think what you wish to say and I will hear it.”
“Really?” Twilight thought.
“Really,” Taro replied, then released her.
“Wow, this is going to be strange.” Twilight mused.
“You’ll grow into it. Now, what has you thinking so much about Chrysalis?” Taro asked.
Twilight flinched then looked away from the little Ultra. “Nothing, it’s stupid.”
“Nothing that keeps you awake at night could ever be ‘stupid’, Twilight.”
“It’s… an Equestrian thing. You wouldn’t get it.”
“Then help me understand. We are friends aren’t we?” Taro asked.
Twilight winced, “That was a low blow, Taro. Alright.” She sucked in a breath to prepare. “So, you know how we thought that Sunset killed the Storm King, only for Yapool to reveal that it was actually Fall that finished him off?”
“Yes?”
“Well Chrysalis doesn’t have that buffer, yet everyone seems to be taking her death significantly better than his; even me! We killed someone, and we’re just acting like everything is just fine! IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH ME!?”
“Twilight, breathe!” Taro commanded with such authority that the girl couldn’t help but calm down. “Now, you must understand that I come from a position of bias. Any sapient being that willingly sells itself to Yapool has earned my ire, but outside of the creature that she was turned into, I have never once met Chrysalis in person. So my ability to advise you is limited.” Twilight deflated a bit. “However, if one were to teach me about who Chrysalis was in life, then I may be better equipped to help.”
Twilight audibly choked, “Gah! Why are you so good at pushing my buttons!?”
“Just one of the talents that one develops over twelve thousand years of experience,” the cheeky doll replied.
“... Fair enough,” Twilight conceded, then began. “Now, before I get too far in, I have to say that I’ve only ever met Crysalis once before today. Or is it yesterday now?” Twilight shook her head. “The point is I’m not very familiar with her either, but dang it, I’ll tell you everything I know.
“Our first encounter, though I didn’t know it at the time, was during my brother’s wedding to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, though you know her as Cadance. I still have no idea why they used her full name on the invitations, Celestia knows she hates it. Anyway, she was my old foalsitter, or babysitter to humans, and get this the pony she was marrying, is my brother, Shining Armor. I didn’t even know they were dating!”
“How does that happen?”
“Don’t know. He still hasn’t told me why he stopped writing to me before I got the invitation. When my friends and I got to Canterlot, though, Cadence was behaving wildly out of character. She was cruelly criticizing every facet of the wedding, and didn’t even recognize our greeting.”
“Ah. A classic red flag. I remember the first time Ultraman Ace fought an Alien Metron. Its disguise was blown because engagement rings don’t exist on their planet.”
“Ha! I wish it were so easy for me. When I confronted the imposter in front of my friends and family, she burst into crocodile tears and ran from the room, and everypony else went with her.”
“You cannot be serious.”
“Oh if you think that’s bad, Celestia had forewarning that an attack was coming, and she still kept the wedding on.”
“OH FOR KING’S SAKE!”
“RIGHT!? Anyway, when I caught up with ‘Cadance’ to apologize, she suddenly dropped me through a portal into a cavern filled with magic sealing crystals. It was there that I found the real Cadance and finally found out what was actually going on. I should probably say this now so I don’t lose you from here on, but Chrysalis wasn’t a pony. She was the queen of a species of pony-shaped insectoid love-eating shapeshifters called changelings, and they had infiltrated Canterlot. Together with Cadance, we found our way out of the caves which, as it turned out, were just under the city.”
“Because King forbid she have to travel a few thousand kilometers away to the middle of nowhere to throw off your navigation.”
“You know, it never occurred to me how stupid that was until you said that. Anyway, we crashed the wedding in progress and exposed Queen Chrysalis, but she managed to capture everypony except Cadance. Together with Shiny, they created a massive love powered shockwave that expelled all the changelings from, and, until today, was the last I saw of Chrysalis.”
With Twilight’s story completed, she waited as Taro processed what he just learned. Though his arms were stiff she could picture him with his little hand on his chin like some ancient philosopher.
“I feel as though I am still missing some details,” Taro began. “But by this story alone, I can say with absolute certainty, that Chrysalis was an incompetent, impatient, lazy, idiot.”
Twilight’s jaw dropped, “That’s not true! She tricked everypony!”
“Tricking the exceedingly gullible is not hard, Twilight, it’s the lowest bar to clear. The bare minimum. Chrysalis should never have gotten as far as she did if she was as bad an actress as you say she was. The reason she succeeded in fooling anyone was because everyone else lacked the critical thinking skills and nerve to call out her behavior,” Taro countered. “Successful infiltration, espionage, and impersonation takes months, if not years to pull off properly. When the Alien Knackle briefly took over Earth during Ultraman Jack’s time, they took their time building up to it, learning everything they would need to deal with and how to attack them. This extended planning phase worked so well that we teach it in our schools.”
“What did they do?” Twilight asked, dreading the answer.
“They murdered his host Goh Hibiki’s girlfriend and her brother to distress him, crippling his and Jack’s synchronicity, used mind control devices to undermine the Monster Attack Team, and after defeating Ultraman Jack, paraded his crucified form across the skies of Earth to demoralize humanity. Their reign only ended because Ultraman and Ultraseven saved Jack, and MAT’s sole female member, Yuriko Oka, evaded her captured teammates long enough to stop them from executing his host,” Taro explained.
“THAT’S AWFUL!”
“And far more effective than what Chrysalis came up with,” Taro countered, but then something occurred to him. “Wait, you said that changelings eat love?”
“W-Yeah?” Twilight said, startled by the sudden topic shift.
“How does that work?” Taro asked.
“They foalnap ponies, then shove them into pods where their love is drained, why?” Twilight answered.
“That… Strikes me as incredibly inefficient.”
“How do you mean?”
“Well, you said it yourself. Changelings are shapeshifters, and since they can outright eat love, it must be a tangible, observable force in Equestria that can be interacted with. Now, I am no ‘love expert’, but I do know that love, true, genuine, love, cannot be stolen, forced, or negotiated for. It must be given freely, and unconditionally. I don’t know what love they were getting from those pods, but it couldn’t be much or of very high quality. It would be far more efficient to just take a form, find someone to settle down with, and feed passively. They would get far more love than shoving ponies into pods, and it would be a significant upgrade in quality,” Taro explained.
“Er, that’s… They can’t, okay?” Twilight deflected.
“Why not? They are clearly capable of independent thought if they willingly went to Equestria for help recovering their queen. Surely you can’t deny that Chrysalis would disapprove of that. Though, I have to ask, why did you immediately jump to an accusation of nonintelligence when the evidence shows otherwise?” Taro asked.
Twilight tried to keep her thoughts under control, yet the images that crossed her mind betrayed her.
“Ah, you still haven’t gotten over your brother’s wedding, and more than that, Equestria has an ignorance fuelled racism problem. Not to worry, I will not judge you, King knows we Ultras have had our run-ins with such prejudice before, but let me ask this question. How many lives has Chrysalis ruined by revealing the changelings to your world?” Taro pressed.
“What do you mean? I already know she ruined her race’s lives, where are you going with this?” Twilight irritably asked.
“I’m not referring to the changelings, Twilight. I’m referring to the poor ponies that were unknowingly dating or married to a changeling, only for Chrysalis to reveal her people to the world, and drive those friendly changelings into hiding. Terrified of an incoming Equestrian witch hunt, and their hateful queen punishing them for fraternizing with the enemy, leaving their friends and loved ones heartbroken,” Taro corrected.
Twilight’s first instinct was to argue, but then something clicked in her head, “Pardon my human, but shit.”
“Hm?”
“Just after the wedding, there was a sudden spike in missing ponies cases across Equestria. We thought they were just foalnapped, and some probably were, but if most of them were changelings… Sweet Celestia, what have we done?” Twilight gasped.
“As I suspected. Now, let’s summarize what we know about Queen Chrysalis. Despite her species feeding on love, she was shockingly hateful, even to the detriment of her own people. She starved her race by using low yield and inefficient harvesting techniques then hoarding it for herself to ensure that no changeling could overthrow her. She possessed great pride in her acting abilities despite her lack of acting talent coupled with delusions of strategic genius. She was also extremely lazy and impatient, skipping over the highly important observation phase of spy work and assuming that no one would notice when Cadance started acting out of character. Lastly, and this is most relevant to me, she agreed to some arrangement with a powerful extradimensional being, then stupidly thought she could get away with ignoring her end of the deal. Now, you tell me Twilight, does that sound like someone who is receptive to talks of friendship and tolerance?” Taro asked.
“I… I,” Twilight started.
“Twilight. Whether it was here, or in Equestria, eventually, a permanent solution would have to be reached about Chrysalis. You cannot hold yourself accountable for her choices,” Taro said.
Twilight hated how Taro was so okay with Chrysalis’ death, but, really, was the fate that awaited her in Equestria much better? If the picture Taro painted was accurate, eventually she and her friends would be forced to wield the Elements of Harmony against her, meaning that she would either be petrified, imprisoned in Tartarus, or banished. She really should ask Discord about that.
“You’re right,” Twilight finally conceded. “I mean, I don’t have to like it, but you’re right.”
"So, with Chrysalis gone, what shall you do about the changelings? Will you extend a hoof in friendship, to bury all grudges, or mark them all as enemies regardless?"
"I'm the Princess of Friendship and that does not mean for ponies, either. We need to share friendship with all creatures, no matter how different we are. A long time ago, earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns were at each other's throats for just the smallest of differences, even though we were all ponies. We need to make peace and help them. We can't let another species starve and die just because of prejudice."
“Glad to hear it,” Taro said good-naturedly, while privately cursing the stiffness of his face. "This won't be easy, however, Twilight. You will face resistance from both sides, ponies and changelings alike. Both sides of every conflict have propaganda that attempts to smear and degrade the other, and when lies are told often enough, they become the truth. For the longest time, it was taken as truth that the sun revolved around the Earth, and anyone who attempted to defy that belief was severely punished for heresy. That is the power of ignorance, Twilight. That is your mountain to climb."
Twilight’s face faltered at Taro’s speech, “That sounds… Daunting.”
“It is, but don’t let my words dissuade you Twilight,” Taro placated. “While it’s not exactly my or any other Ultra’s place to tell you how to run your country, I will say that exchange programs go a long way to easing the divide.”
“What, like student exchange programs?” Twilight asked with thinly veiled enthusiasm.
“Exactly. In the academy, young Ultras are sent to alien worlds to live among them and understand the culture. By walking in each other's...hooves, you and the changelings may come to an understanding. It also takes power away from the prejudiced by making the targets mundane, removing the sense of otherness they are afraid of. Remember, Twilight. These prejudices will only continue to persist if the changelings are only perceived as monsters. If they are seen as living, breathing, thinking, feeling beings, that may change."
Twilight beamed at the possibilities racing through her head. However, with a yawn, it seemed that the excitement of the day, coupled with the weight of guilt being lifted from her shoulders, finally caught up with her and she slipped quietly to sleep.
“Sweet dreams, your highness,” Taro softly said before drifting off himself.
*////*
Fall hadn’t known what to expect when Lugiel summoned her after Yapool’s defeat, but it certainly wasn’t a beating before getting kicked through a portal into her hideout.
“I thought he was calmer than that,” Fall said to herself through a wince.
Among the abuse Lugiel had hurled at her, were reprimands of her failure to safeguard her geodes, and accusations of being more focused on her personal goal as opposed to his. Fall could concede his point on the second one, but she couldn’t possibly have stopped Yapool from grabbing Chrysalis and the geode because he never told her about them, on to of the power difference between them.
Wait, was her body feeling lighter?
Looking at her body, she was horrified to find pieces of herself breaking off and floating away before disintegrating. Acting quickly, Fall grabbed the spectrometer from her neck, cracked it open slightly, and sucked deeply of the magic within, already feeling her form rebuild.
“It appears your master is displeased,” came the sardonic, masculine tone of King Sombra who was doing pull-ups on a nearby doorframe.
Fall finally pulled her lips free of the amulet and hissed, “Shut up.”
“Now, now. Don’t kill the messenger, especially when he has a plan that benefits everyone here,” Sombra grinned.
Fall scoffed, “Please. I don’t wanna hear anything from a guy who can’t get anything done without hiding behind a shadow.”
Sombra dropped down from the doorframe with a glare but pressed on regardless. “If you had any grasp of what I had to say, you would not be so dismissive.”
Fall ignored Sombra’s offense and slumped down into a recliner to massage her aching head, while her unwelcome annoyance leaned against the armrest of the sofa next to her.
Then Sombra asked, “What if I told you about Shepherdon?”
Fall perked up.
*////*
“We should have just stayed on the moon,” Princess Luna thought to herself as she waited for the Changeling representative in her tower.
It had been late when Twilight’s draconic assistant, Spike, had informed them of the bad news, so her sister Celestia had left the younger dark blue alicorn to pass it on. Though, if one were to ask Luna, her sister just wanted to dodge speaking to the changelings after the fiasco that was their return to Canterlot.
Indeed, the first time an undisguised changeling appeared in Canterlot since the infamous wedding, and the entire city somehow broke into hysterics. How did that even happen!? He revealed himself inside the castle! Several ponies jumped out of windows to escape nonexistent changelings in their homes and businesses. That wouldn’t be so bad, HAD THEY NOT BEEN EARTH PONIES! Needless to say, Luna was not looking forward to this.
At last, the doors opened, allowing one of her Luna Guards to enter.
“Your Highness. Pharynx of the Changelings,” he said.
That caught Luna off guard, especially when the changeling in question entered her vision. While the changeling that first came to them had a lighter blue-green shell on his back, he was still otherwise a completely normal changeling drone. This one, though, had a red neck fin and tail, a backshell striped with shades of purple, and a gradient of purple hues in his eyes.
“You’re not Thorax,” Luna said, ponderously.
“And you’re not Celestia,” the changeling apparently named Pharynx replied harshly.
Luna flinched, but then frowned, “You are not a diplomatic one, are you?”
“You’re right, I’m not. Where is she?” Pharynx demanded.
“Patience, Luna,” the Night Princess mentally told herself, “If you refer to our-my sister, she has elected to have me hoofdle this meeting. What happened to Thorax?”
“After his disastrous showing, we decided that I should take over for him,” Pharynx replied.
“Oh, shame.”
“Huh.”
“Thorax may have bungled second impressions, but at least he had the humility required to ask for help. Getting aggressive is not going to help your case. On the other hoof, perhaps that bluntness of yours will help this news go over smoother. But first, I must ask has Chrysalis ever mentioned anything unusual? Maybe, some god?” Luna asked, earning a scoff from Pharynx.
“Mention it? How could I forget it? Bringing up how we were “saved” by some “god” from being “trapped under a mountain” was her favorite tactic when she felt we were mouthing off. Which was all the time. Wait, I’m sorry, how is this remotely relevant to our queen?”
“Mmh. We were worried about this,” Luna morosely said. “Young Pharynx. What I am about to share with you is an Equestrian state secret that we will guard jealously. So if you want to know what news we bring of Chrysalis, must be willing to swear yourself to absolute secrecy. If you refuse, we will forbid you from returning to Canterlot until such a time as you agree, or can produce a changeling that will comply. The choice is yours.”
Pharynx wanted so badly to call the younger sister on her threat. Yet, the finality of which she said it told him that she was not bluffing and that Celestia would have given him the same answer.
“Okay,” he confirmed with a roll of his compound eyes.
“A wise choice, just one last matter to finalize it,” Luna replied, lighting up her horn.
A chest opened on her left, and from within, wrapped in a midnight blue aura, rose a large but otherwise unremarkable purple gem.
“We very rarely bring this out,” Luna began, “This is the Stone of Oaths. Within this crystal lie the countless sworn oaths of beings great and small, from breezies to dragons. This Pharynx, is what will confirm your determination to keep this secret. Place your hoof upon its surface, and utter the words: I swear, on pain of death, that the secrets I hear, shall never leave this room.”
Pharynx looked at Luna, then to the Stone, then back to Luna, back to the Stone once more, before turning to Luna and asking, “Are you serious?”
“DO IT!” Luna commanded in a low-grade Royal Canterlot Voice.
Pharynx started and hurriedly placed a hoof on the crystal and said, “I swear on pain of death, the secrets I hear shall never leave this room!”
The Stone of Oaths pulsed once with light while emitting a phantom wind before it returned to its original state.
“Thank you,” Luna said as she returned the Stone to the chest. “Now, this is going to sound mad, but we know exactly who foalnapped your queen.”
“You do! Who and what is she, and where can I find her so I can pummel her!? ” Pharynx demanded.
“Calm down!” Luna urged, “While we- er I, admire your, what’s the word for it? Gusto, getting blindly angry is not going to help in this situation. She has no true name, but we do refer to her as “Fall”. She currently resides in another world from ours, but where exactly she hides there is something we don’t know. Now, the being that was with her is where things get complicated.”
“More complicated than an alien apparently showing up and stealing your leader?”
“Actually, yes. Fall was originally from Equestria before she took up residence in that world.”
“Wha- How!?”
“A portal in a mirror that Starswirl the Bearded developed a thousand years ago that was originally held here in Canterlot before being turned over to the Crystal Empire but is now housed in Twilight Sparkle’s castle in Ponyville. However, that distracts from my tale. The insectoid entity that Thorax described is called an Alien Baltan. Nasty creatures they are, completely killed all their emotions in the pursuit of science.”
“Well, that explains why noling in the hive could get a read on it. Wait, is that the “god” Her Highness kept banging on about?” Pharynx asked.
“No, unfortunately,” Luna answered, “That was an entity far worse. Chrysalis wasn’t lying about your species being aided in their escape from under the mountain, but it came with a price. Their name was Yapool, an extradimensional collective driven entirely by hate, and in exchange for their help, Chrysalis would allow them access to our world.”
“Okay?” Pharynx drawled while scanning the room, “So where are they?”
“Nowhere, actually. See, fate is funny like that, while Chrysalis was keen to remind all of you of Yapool’s assistance, she never had any intention to fulfill her end of the deal. Yapool could only speak with her, but as long as she ignored their objective, they couldn’t touch her. In a way, Chrysalis saved Equestria by doing so,” Luna chuckled, but then her expression darkened. “It also brought about her downfall.”
“No,” Pharynx said, “Nonono don’t you dare.”
“Yapool is not an entity that forgives defiance,” Luna continued, undaunted. “The world she found herself in was closer to Yapool’s, allowing them to break through and capture her. They broke her down and twisted her body into a new, far more monstrous form then lobotomized her into complete subservience. I’m sorry Pharynx. Your queen is dead.”
Poor Pharynx sat in shock before making several stammering attempts to reply, but what could he say? What could he possibly say to this news? He was supposed to be one of the Hive’s best defenders, but without their queen, what did he have to show for it?
“Please believe u-me,” Luna pleaded, “None of us wanted this outcome, but Yapool’s interference was unprecedented. There was no possible way for us to even begin preparing for them. If there was any way to save her we would have-”
“Then why didn’t you!?” Pharynx barked, “For all you talk about ‘friendship’ and ‘harmony’ you seem really keen to ignore all us non-ponies. Face it, you never liked Queen Chrysalis, and you can’t be more thrilled that she’s gone, but why should we have to suffer for your xenophobia?”
“There wasn’t a choice,” Luna defended, “Yapool’s monsters are immune to Equestria’s magic. Only a being of equal or greater strength can even stand a chance against them.”
“Being of-!? Wha-!? Who-!? Where in Tartarus are you getting all this crap from!?” Pharynx demanded.
Luna sighed, “That would be my- muh- m-…” She suddenly trailed off.
It was strange the sensation that took hold of the Night Princess just then. Like an itch directly irritating her brain, utterly untouchable through the layers of bone that comprised her skull. Then it started to grow, now resembling a stuffed nose that blocked her thoughts rather than her breath. Suddenly, it rapidly spiked into a full-on Ursa Major attack, ripping apart her mind with a mighty roar and sending her tumbling to the floor in something akin to an epileptic fit. Then, as abruptly as it came, it passed.
As Luna’s vision slowly returned, she saw that whatever had afflicted her, had also struck Pharynx, who was now lying nearby worryingly twitching.
The Lunar Princess crawled over to the prone changeling, weakly shook him, and moaned, “Pharynx? Pharynx, are you okay?”
Fortunately, the light touch seemed to snap the red-finned changeling out of whatever trance had taken hold of him as he slowly looked at her.
“What… The buck… Was that?” Pharynx wheezed.
“I have no idea, but in light of this event, I must call our meeting short. I will have my guards escort you ” Luna replied while shakily standing up.
“Where are you going?” Pharynx asked the retreating princess.
“To consult my sister,” Luna replied as she wobbled towards the doors, but stopped short. “If it is any consolation, Yapool did not get away with their crimes. They were destroyed as soon as they made their presence known.”
With that final reassurance, the Midnight Mistress left her chamber.
*////*
Princess Celestia, regal white-coated diarch of the sun had very few expectations when she went to bed that evening, so it came as a great, though not unwelcome, surprise when she woke up to her sister frantically shaking her.
“Tia, thank the moon you’re okay,” Luna sighed while throwing her arms around her sister.
“Lulu? Weren’t you meeting with Thorax?” Celestia asked.
“What? After what just happened I had to come check on you,” her sister replied.
“What happened? Do you mean that dream I was having?” Asked the confused solar regent.
“Dream? Tia, I was meeting with Pharynx of the Changelings. I can’t watch dreams and meet him at the same time, you know that. Some pox has swept through the castle, possibly even across the whole of Equestria itself, that has incapacitated everycreature here!” Luna said urgently.
“WHAT!” Celestia cried, now fully alert, and rushed out into the hallway outside her chambers.
Indeed, as her sister had said, guards, maids, and servants of every color and shape laid haphazardly in Celestia’s path as she wandered through her tower.
“What magic could do something like this!?” Celestia gasped.
“I thought that you might know. However I’m not entirely convinced that this is magic,” Luna replied.
“What do you mean, Luna?”
“I fear a great yet terrible shift has happened in our world, and this time I’m not sure that the Elements of Harmony can solve this.”
Celestia’s eyes widened, “Luna we can’t possibly ask her for help, she still has her own war to fight.”
“I know Tia, I know. But this has been a long time coming. And whether you want it to happen or not, it is time for Ultras to return to Equestria.”