“Thank you for coming, Queen Chrysalis,” Cadance said, looking up to the changeling monarch beside her with a kind, if not relieved smile. “I promise these talks will benefit both of us in the long run.”
Chrysalis raised a skeptical eyebrow across the table at the various crystal ponies. Each had some degree of trepidation of being in her presence, and with good reason. What good were advisors anyway?
“I should hope so,” she muttered.
Cadance cleared her throat. “Now, as I was discussing with my architectural advisor, Mica Glaze, we were thinking of having your changelings aid in the reconstruction of the Empire.” She gestured to the crystal pony, who shrunk away as Chrysalis’s eyes fell upon him like a ton of bricks.
“Y-yes, quite right,” he stuttered, adjusting his glasses. “You and your changelings have a knack for construction, and the Princess and I were thinking it would be beneficial to both our kinds if you aided us.”
“And what brought you to that conclusion?” Chrysalis asked, distaste in her tone.
“Well, Chrysalis,” Cadance interjected politely. “We were thinking your changelings could build their own homes alongside the Empire’s citizens. You don’t have to build a hive underground, you’re very welcome here.”
She sighed. “I will have to discuss it with my hive. Especially since we’ve already put so much effort into our new hive beneath the palace,” she said.
“Great.” Cadance beamed. “We’ll bench the issue until a decision has been reached on your changelings’ part. Now, onto the commerce. We were wondering if some of your changelings would be interested in aiding with trade? Disguised, of course.”
Chrysalis raised an eyebrow down at her. Shortly after arriving with her hive, Chrysalis had insisted on keeping her changelings disguised towards outsiders. It seemed the Princess had actually been listening to her.
“Again, this is an issue I must take up with my changelings. It has been a while since we’ve interacted with ponies, and—”
Her ear twitched and she frowned as she turned towards the closed double doors at the entrance to the meeting hall. It wasn’t anything audible she heard. Rather, she could sense her changelings requesting her help, as well as the help of the princess.
“My changelings request my presence,” Chrysalis said standing up. She looked to Cadance, “they also request yours.”
Cadance blinked. “But… the meeting isn’t done yet. I need to make sure everything is squared away so that the empire—”
Chrysalis buzzed her wings and flew through the double doors without waiting further. Cadance sighed and smiled apologetically at her advisors.
“I’m so sorry about this. We’ll have to postpone the meeting for another time. Until then, keep going as you were,” she said.
She flared her wings before taking flight after Chrysalis, leaving her advisors mumbling and grumbling in her wake.
******
The spiral staircase that had led down to Sombra’s chambers now led to a gaping hole in the earth. Dirt and stone was packed unevenly but sturdily, ensuring the tunnels’ stability. Changelings buzzed here and there, some carrying tools and others carrying debris.
They parted for their queen as she navigated through the tunnels with a practiced ease. She didn’t slow down when a panting Cadance landed next to her, following alongside. She flashed a tired smile at the changelings she passed before addressing Chrysalis.
“Chrysalis, meetings like that are important to ensure that the Empire functions properly,” Cadance admonished.
“You lead through advisors instead of knowing what your ponies want,” Chrysalis scoffed, lighting her horn as the tunnels grew darker. It took a second to realize she didn’t need to, with her natural sense of direction, but her traveling companion could’ve used the light.
“With all due respect, we ponies don’t have… whatever sense you changelings do. How’d you even know they needed our help down here?” Cadance asked.
Chrysalis glanced at her, before focusing her gaze forward. “The changelings and I are interconnected in a hive mind if any are in distress, we can mobilize on their position by sensation and feeling alone. It’s also efficient in transferring information,” she explained.
“Wow. That’s… really handy. I guess that’s how you knew where the old hive was, right?” Cadance looked to her to see if she was right, and with a huff, Chrysalis nodded. “That’s fascinating. Do you know why they need us down here?”
“They wouldn’t have disturbed me if it was trivial,” Chrysalis replied haughtily.
They finally rounded a bend in the tunnels, and found Chrysalis’s changelings before a large, stone door. From the amount of dirt and dust on it, it had recently been unearthed. Digging tools were propped up against the walls.
As they approached, the changelings parted away from a lone changeling next to the door, who bowed to his queen.
“What is it, Elytra?” Chrysalis asked, looking to the door with little interest.
“We found this door during the excavation, your majesty,” Elytra said. “All attempts to get into it or around it have been futile.”
Chrysalis scanned the walls, ceiling, and floor. Her expert eye noted odd lumps in the earth that were the telltale signs of sealed off tunnels. That much was pertinent at least.
“And why am I to be concerned with an old door this far underground?” Chrysalis asked. Cadance frowned at her, but held her tongue.
“Well… we sensed love down here. That’s why we were digging towards it. Which is odd, because… it seems to be just a door,” Elytra explained, gesturing to the obstacle.
Chrysalis’s eyes widened and she stepped closer to the door. Carefully, she sniffed at the seam of the door and exhaled loudly. It was love, strange as it seemed. It didn’t feel organic, coming from a living being. It was residual, which only added to the mystery this far down.
Cadance cleared her throat. She glanced at Chrysalis before turning to Elytra. “If I might ask, Elytra, why did you need my help down here?” she asked politely.
“You may answer her,” Chrysalis said, returning to Cadance’s side.
“Well, there’s an inscription on the door,” Elytra said. He trotted over and pointed at a barely legible script near the seam.
Cadance lit up her horn and walked over to the script, squinting as she leaned in close. “’This door… may only be opened… by alicorn magic,’” she read slowly. “Alicorn magic?” She looked back at Chrysalis.
“Well, open it then,” Chrysalis said. “I’m no alicorn.”
Cadance frowned but stepped back. The pink glow of her horn grew brighter, encompassing the stone slab. She felt gears and mechanisms with in the door, all fabricated with the light magic of an alicorn. They moved and relented to her prying, and soon there was a loud thunk.
The tunnel shuddered as the door slide open horizontally, the halves splitting apart. The tunnel’s occupants coughed as a cloud of dust and dirt billowed out. The changelings shied away, while Chrysalis stepped forward.
She inhaled again and her pupils dilated. Chrysalis wheezed and her entire frame shuddered. “All of you! Get back!” she rasped. She bowed forward, as if she were choking or about to vomit, but made no gagging sounds.
The tunnel filled with the sound of buzzing wings as the changelings retreated. Cadance, however, cautiously stepped forward and touched Chrysalis on the shoulder. Her hoof was quickly swatted away as Chrysalis glared at her, before her gaze softened.
“There’s love in there,” Chrysalis explained, looking to the tunnel as she began to regain her composure. “Old love. Potent love.”
“I wonder where it could be coming from, under the Crystal Empire,” Cadance said. She lit her horn back up and angled it past the opened doors.
The tunnel beyond was paved with dark, smooth bricks caked in dust. They lined the entirety of the tunnel, forming a roughly square pathway into the dark. Rusty metal sconces hung at angles along the walls in pairs, empty of torches.
“We should investigate,” Chrysalis said, marching forward.
Cadance hurried after her, her magic turning the tunnel a dark shade of pink around them. “Be careful – we don’t know what’s down here,” she admonished.
“I can feel that love coursing through my veins,” Chrysalis said with a dark smirk. “Nothing would dare challenge me in here.”
Cadance huffed and shook her head. They continued in silence, but Cadance’s gaze kept angling towards Chrysalis’s legs. She frowned.
“Hey, Chrysalis,” she said. “I’ve been meaning to ask… are those holes in your legs… natural?”
Chrysalis raised an irritated eyebrow down at the alicorn over her shoulder. She let out a snort and returned her gaze forward.
“They’re… old wounds,” she replied, keeping her gaze away from the alicorn. “I used to be whole, like you. Even my horn used to be fuller and curved.”
Cadance’s eyes widened. “What… caused them?”
“I do not wish to talk about it. Let’s focus on the task at hoof: seeing whatever is down here that is producing such potent love. My changelings can’t work under these conditions,” Chrysalis replied sharply.
Cadance glanced away, biting her lower lip. “…I could… see if there’s some sort of healing spell back at the castle. Maybe we can fix your—”
“I do not need fixing!” Chrysalis snarled, practically snapping her fangs at her. Cadance recoiled against the tunnels wall as Chrysalis’s roar rumbled through the quiet space. Then, silence fell.
Chrysalis and Cadance stood there, breathing heavy and eyes locked. One towering at full eyes, slant pupils dilated and fangs bared. The other curled against the wall, the light coming from her horn flickering.
After a moment, the changeling stepped back and huffed. She looked to the cowering princess before looking away. “I’ve made peace with what’s happened to me a long time ago,” she mumbled, before turning and continuing on her way.
Cadance stood there, blinking. When her light started flickering out, she struggled to pour more magic into it. “Chrysalis! Wait,” she called after her.
But the changeling was far down the hall, almost blending in with the dark brickwork. Her eyes only found her when the queen ignited her own horn’s green, fluttering magic. She ran after her, but her eye caught something passing by them.
It was a wave of glyphs, each one glowing pink briefly. It was like a wave that flowed across the walls, floor, and ceiling in an even line back towards the entrance. After a moment, there came a distant rumble and the floor under their hooves shook.
Sounds of bricks clapping and crashing together began to rise in a cacophony, and any light from the entrance was snuffed out. Chrysalis and Cadance barely shared a glance before they took off down the tunnel, resorting to flight over running.
The sound of colliding stone grew closer and closer, the brief gusts of collapsing air threatening to clamp their tails. Then it stopped, and both Cadance and Chrysalis crashed to the ground, panting from exertion.
They perked up at the sounds of whooshing flame. Torches along the wall of the room they found themselves in ignited on their own with brilliant pink fire. The room slowly came into focus as the pair got to their hooves.
Shelves were set into the walls around them, which were made of the same dark brick as the entryway. They were full of books and bottles, alternating between the two down their height. The air was full of a faint mist, tainted pink by the wall sconces.
“What is this place?” Chrysalis asked, eyes falling to the now-sealed way they had come in. “And what was that all about?”
“I think… you triggered a booby trap,” Cadance replied. She reignited her horn and walked over to the dark bricks now filling the tunnel. She reached up and set a hoof on them. “I saw some glyphs on them, like an ancient spell.”
Chrysalis snorted. “How do you know it was my fault?” she asked, looking around the room.
“Well, I saw them right after you ignited your… horn.” Cadance tapped her chin. “And the way in needed an alicorn to open it. Maybe… maybe this place is protected from dark magic.”
“What?” Chrysalis frowned. “Are you saying my magic is dark?”
“Well, maybe not. It could be that this place is protected from anything that’s not an alicorn.” Cadance walked over to one of the shelves. “It must’ve been enchanted to keep Sombra out, and to be secure, it was only enchanted to allow alicorns in.”
“Not very effective,” Chrysalis commented dryly. “We got in.”
Cadance nodded. “Just to be safe though, you probably shouldn’t use your magic in here,” she said, leaning in to examine the books on one of the lower shelves. She squinted at the illegible writing.
“So, what exactly is this place?” Chrysalis walked over and poked some of the bottles and vials on another shelf. “Some sort of… laboratory?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Cadance pulled one of the books off the shelf with her magic and opened it. Her eyes quickly widened as they skimmed the pages. She checked another book and then another, each with the same growing awe. Chrysalis watched her confused.
“What is it?” Chrysalis asked, walking over to look over her shoulder.
“Chrysalis… these are love spells. And I bet these potions are various love enchantments and brews!” Cadance grinned as she turned to Chrysalis, the changeling taking a step back. “This is a vault of all the love magic the Crystal Empire probably had!”
“Love magic?” Chrysalis looked to the shelves. “That’d explain the potent love in here.” She smacked her lips. “Most of it leaked out, but I can still taste it.”
“Right. Speaking of out.” Cadance set the books back on the shelf and looked to the entryway with a frown. “How are we going to get out?”
“Well, I’m not allowed to use my magic,” Chrysalis said with a shrug. “So, do you have any suggestions?”
Cadance nibbled her lower lip, pacing back in forth. Chrysalis sat on her haunches and watched.
“We could… I could try to teleport us out of here,” Cadance said. “But… I don’t know how far down we are, and for all we know, we could be beneath the Frozen Wastes.”
“Is there some sort of mechanism in here like the door?” Chrysalis asked, looking around.
Cadance stopped in one place and her horn grew brighter. A faint wave of pink magic drifted across the walls and ceiling. With a gasp, her magic snuffed out and she panted. “I don’t think so,” she said. “Everything seems solid.”
Chrysalis frowned, getting to her hooves. “Well, whoever made this place had to have some sort of escape route,” she said, walking over to the walls. She tapped each brick she came across, listening closely to the sound.
“Well, they were probably crystal ponies,” Cadance speculated. “Crystal ponies don’t have magic, so there can’t be a way to magically get out of here…”
“Which means there’s a physical way,” Chrysalis concluded, looking to the bookshelves. “Look for something out of place.”
Cadance nodded, and the two of them descended upon the shelves, using their wings to reach the higher ones. While Chrysalis was more focused on the task at hand, Cadance took the time to check the book spines and bottle labels.
Finally, Chrysalis found a bottle labeled “Witch Hazel Oil.” When she tried to move it with her hoof, the bottle didn’t budge. Rather, it turned in place. Underneath it came the sound of creaking and groaning, and finally a satisfying click.
The room shook as the brick walls of the tunnel reset themselves, opening the way up once more. Chrysalis and Cadance smiled at one another and quickly headed back down the tunnel.
“Incredible,” Cadance said. “There’s so many spells and potions in there, so many ways to help and heal ponies.” She smiled at Chrysalis. “It was very lucky your changelings found it.”
Chrysalis looked away, the chitin around her cheeks burning. “Yes, well… you’re the one that opened the door.” She looked down and sighed. “I wanted to say… I apologize for snapping at you.”
When she turned back to Cadance, she found the alicorn had her own apologetic smile. “And I’m sorry for pressing the issue. I just… I want to know more about you and your changelings. If you know someone, you know how to help them.”
Chrysalis looked down as they walked, and silently nodded in reply.
“I can’t wait to tell the crystal ponies what we found,” Cadance remarked, before letting the conversation end.
******
“My changelings,” Chrysalis announced at the gathered, buzzing black mass. “Work in the tunnels is no longer permissible. The potent love down there, in combination with the increased pony hoof traffic, will make a hive down there unsuitable.”
There were some murmurs around her, both in the room and through the hive mind.
“Where will we stay then, your majesty?” Thorax asked. A few changelings agreed quietly.
Chrysalis smirked. “I believe Princess Cadance has given us an opportunity. Rather than build underground, my hive, we shall build alongside the crystal ponies.”
There was an immediate uproar around the room as changelings babbled externally and internally about living with ponies on the surface. Some of it was cautious, some of it was enthusiastic.
“Rest assured, this is for the best. If we are on the surface, we have a better opportunity to befriend the crystal ponies and learn their ways. It will make harvesting their love all the easier.”
“But where will we store the love?” Elytra asked. “We no longer have a structured hive.”
“The plan is to break the hive into pieces, not destroy it outright. What were once rooms shall be buildings on the surface,” Chrysalis elaborated, sharing her vision to the hive mind. The builders all murmured impressively.
“What of outsiders, your majesty?” Pharynx quickly interjected. “Underground we were tucked away, but there’s regular ponies walking around up here. They’ll spot us.”
Chrysalis exhaled. Annoyingly, he was right. “The architecture will have to mimic that of the crystal ponies if we are to avoid suspicion. If need be, builders may observe crystal pony construction sites for ideas. As for being spotted, simply disguise yourself as a crystal pony.”
The changelings continued to murmur to themselves, and Chrysalis let out an exhale. It wouldn’t be easy, but it had to work.
******
“Dear Princess Celestia,” Cadance wrote in her study. She was lucky she had her magic to write with, for her hoof was shaking from excitement. “A wondrous discovery has been made in the Crystal Empire! A chamber has been unearthed under the castle holding untold amounts of love magic. I would love to spend some time going over our discoveries as they’re cataloged and notated. I feel this find could be a benefit to all of Equestria, and a way to mend what the war has damaged. Your niece, Princess Cadance.”
Cadance sat back in her chair, eyes scanning the text quickly and mouth moving silently to form words. It was a habit she had picked up in her studies, a way to proofread her writing. And for such a momentous occasion, she didn’t want any errors.
Finally satisfied, she nodded and rolled the letter up. She wrapped a reddish-pink ribbon around it and tied it into a bow, affixing a golden seal to it. With a flash of pink magic, it was teleported away to the desk of her aunt.
She got up and walked to the door of her study, but was surprised when a magical snap sounded over her desk. Cadance turned to find a scroll waiting for her, sealed with golden ribbon and a royal crest.
Running over, she quickly opened the letter and read it quickly. A grin spread across her muzzle by the end of it, and she let out a little cheer.
“I can’t wait to show her what I found,” she whispered excitedly, tossing the reply onto her desk. She giddily trotted to the window.
In the twilight, she could see the dark shadows of the changelings, already getting to work on various piles of rubble that had once been homes and businesses. She smiled at their Queen overseeing the work.
“And maybe she’ll be able to help you, too,” she said softly, before leaving the window.
She had to get a good night’s rest – tomorrow was going to be a big day.