“Luna, forgive me for what I’m about to say, but are you crazy?” Cadenza hissed as the door to Luna’s ‘suite’ shut behind them. It was impressive that the younger alicorn had been able to hold that in throughout the rest of their meeting, which had mostly been small talk compared to the things that had come before. They had even set up a meeting with that changeling that had been in Ponyville.
“We are perfectly sane, Cadenza.” Luna replied calmly. “You will have to trust Us on this, no matter how it seems.” It was a tall ask, especially considering they did not have the same relationship as Cadenza and Celestia. This would have to be trust based on mostly faith, faith that Luna was not sure she had earned. “We know this seems odd, but please.”
“This is…” Cadenza shook her head and scoffed. “You’re bringing in another creature to be part of the royal family! You’re making the changelings an equal! All unilaterally!” Even though the featureless white mask was still on, even Luna could see the scowl on the face of her ‘niece’. “I think we should get Spike and send a letter to Celestia to see what they have to say about this.”
“We do not have another option, Cadenza!” Luna growled out through clenched teeth. “You are not privy to the things that We know! This is not your decision, nor is it your concern! If it involved the Crystal Empire, then We would have consulted you but it does not!” She resorted to the thing she was best at, pushing ponies away. With fangs bared and wings flared, she glared at her subordinate and looked down her nose at the pink princess. In these trying times it was important to have ponies close to you that you could rely on, but Luna could not afford to let Cadenza in.
“Okay, then let me know!” Cadance matched Luna’s stance almost exactly, a mirror awash in pastels. “You’re not alone in this! If I knew what you know, then maybe I can help or we can make this a better deal for Equestria!” She reached a gilded hoof out and poked Luna right in the chest. “Let me in! Let me help!”
“We did not even want you here, Cadenza!” Real emotions mixed in with her facade. “It was supposed to be just Us and nopony else! We were not even aware that you were going to join Us until the train ride!” There was a beat of silence and Cadenza’s eyes went wide behind her mask.
“Did you…did you set this up with him…?”
The accusation struck something very sensitive and very deep inside of Luna’s heart. It caused her breath to catch in her throat and her chest tightened. Cadenza thought this was a power grab, she thought that Luna had orchestrated this to take the throne. It was a horrid thought. It did not sadden the princess of the night, no, it angered her.
“Do you think so little of Us, Cadenza?” Luna growled and advanced on the younger mare until their chests were pressed together. “Do you think We would engage in common deception and politics to claim the throne of Equestria?” Cadenza was the first one to blink and she took a step back, which only caused Luna to push. “You have not seen Our sister, nor her state. If We were so inclined, we could dispatch her with ease. This would be no challenge, nor would it require a grand game.” Her nostrils flared and she snapped her teeth at Cadenza, causing her to flinch. “If We wanted to be the sole ruler of Equestria, then We would be. Nothing would or could stand in Our way right now.”
Cadenza only nodded.
“Now, you are going to trust Us when We say that this is not a plot.” Luna continued, her face still mere inches away from the other mare’s. “This is a circumstance that We cannot control and deal We were forced into accepting. You will have to put all of your faith into believing that, because it is the truth.”
“Okay.” Cadenza whispered and nodded again. “I trust you.”
“Good.”
Luna stepped away and once more adopted her placid persona. Her wings readjusted and flattened against her sides and she silently retreated to the couch. Internally she wanted to scream and rage and destroy this room, but she could not afford to. Temper tantrums were not something she could indulge anymore.
Intimidating Cadenza was an unfortunate necessity of the situation. There was no chance she could trust Cadenza with that blackmail, and letting it get back to Equestria and into the ears of the other alicorns was unthinkable. There was no other option available. Luna could not take the chance, she could not endanger Celestia or Twilight Sparkle.
“Is…it alright if I wait in here with you for the changeling?” Cadenza did not sit on the sofa next to Luna, instead she stayed back near the door.
“Of course.” Luna nodded. “We both need to speak with them.”
There was not much more to say or do until that time came.
—-
Elytra paced back and forth in the antechamber of King Thorax’s office. She had been retrieved by a guard and told to wait here until given further instructions. She had pressed her ear against the door and heard some muttering, but nothing else. It was interminable that she was still just waiting.
Both Princess Luna and Princess Cadance had been through the hive and Elytra had seen both of them. Both sent chills through her chitin and made her freeze in place. They were the ghosts of monsters, both of which had tried to kill her. Luna still looked frightfully like her nightmarish past selves, just smaller. Meanwhile Cadance looked nothing like the thing that had cornered Elytra down in the Central Pool, but the white mask she now wore over her face made Elytra terrified. She knew what was underneath, or at least she could make a highly educated guess, and she knew that the princess of love would want revenge for her ruined beauty. It only made sense.
The negotiations had gone quick. She knew that and so did every bug in the hive. It seemed like they were in the makeshift dining hall for all but two hours before they emerged. That meant things had gone either exceedingly well or astonishingly poor. Elytra would hope for the former, but with so many firebrands in one room she wasn’t sure.
“Elytra!” The voice of Pharynx hollered from King Thorax’s office. “Get in here!”
There was not an ounce of hesitation. Elytra pushed the door open and came face to face with a positively beaming King Thorax and a predictably dour Pharynx. They both looked at her and Thorax motioned her in.
“We got you a meeting with Princess Luna and Princess Cadance.” Thorax said with his bright smile. “It turns out they both wanted to talk with you anyways! Funny how that works, huh?”
Elytra felt her body freeze and her mind grind to a halt. They wanted to talk to her? That couldn’t mean anything good. Did they know she had told Pharynx and Thorax the truth? Were they going to take her away? Was Cadance going to take her revenge? She would end up rotting in some Equestrian jail now, she was sure of it.
“Oh…good.” She managed to force out with a strained smile. “Uh…any idea what they want with me?”
“If Cadance’s mask is anything to go by, I would guess they want to have some choice words with you.” Pharynx replied with a wicked grin and a chuckle. “Who could blame her? She told the King that it was you who did that to her.”
“It was self defense.”
“I’m sure it was. Do you think that matters to her?”
“Pharynx!” Thorax groaned and put his head in his hooves “Stop egging Elytra on, please.” He received a little nod from his brother, who returned to his usually stoic stance. “Elytra-” he looked up and gave a reassuring smile. “-you’ll be fine. Cadance doesn’t want to hurt you, and Luna wants to probably just debrief you on everything that happened.” The monarch stood and walked around his desk and came face to face with his subject. He placed a hoof on her shoulder and smiled. “Just remember: you will not tell them what you told us. As far as I’m concerned, you never said anything about what happened in Equestria. You don’t know what happened. Do I make myself clear?”
“Y-yes, Your Majesty.” Elytra swallowed hard and nodded. “I never told you anything. I don’t…I don’t remember much from that.” It seemed like she was caught between two massive tectonic plates and the slightest shift would squish her. She had to do as she was told to avoid becoming a casualty of the moment. As with her time in Equestria, Elytra would do what she must to survive.
“Good.” His smile became more genuine and less threatening for a moment. “I trust you to do the right thing, Elytra.” He then nodded at Pharynx. “Escort her to the princesses, please. I have some things I need to do up here.”
“Of course.” Pharynx advanced and moved right by Elytra, who quickly fell in line behind him. As soon as they were through the doors, Pharynx closed them and turned to the smaller changeling. “He meant what he said, and I will enforce it.” He growled out. “If I hear that you’ve told them anything about what you said to us, and believe me I’ll know, then I will deal with you personally. Am I clear?”
Pharynx was imposing as a drone before the metamorphosis. He always had a wild and feral energy about him, but this was different. He used to be an angry dog at the end of a very long leash. As long as you stayed far enough away, you would not be in any danger. The bark was scary, but the bite would only hurt someone dumb enough to wander to close. Now, though? Now he held the leash and no one was out of his reach.
Elytra had been one of the dumb bugs that wandered too close in the past. The bite was just as ferocious as the bark. That would not be a mistake she would make again, especially with the power he now held. She was not a young and dumb grub anymore, she had survived and would continue to do so.
“Yes, sir.” Elytra answered quietly. “I understand, sir.”
There was nothing else to say. Elytra was not going to ask any questions or push back against the orders and she knew that Pharynx was not going to repeat himself. So the two changelings went on their way. Once they were in the central chamber of the hive, they opened their wings and flew down to the appropriate level in tense silence.
Princess Luna’s cutie mark was a sigil of death. She still saw it in her nightmares on the flank of a beast as it destroyed Ponyville from above. It was not as bad as the mere thought of Cadance though. The princess of love was a monster twice over for Elytra. The Event had only made the nightmares immeasurably worse. She wasn’t supposed to be here and now her mere presence made Elytra reconsider her entire plan.
Pharynx knocked on the door. There were a few seconds of silence, then the door opened and Elytra’s mind grinded to a screeching halt. Princess Cadance’s face wasn’t staring back at her, but a featureless white mask was. What was beneath it was a known quantity to few living creatures and Elytra was cursed to be one of them. The Ponyville survivor forced down all of her feelings and fought off the urge to light her horn and call forth the acidic magic that had done that to the princess.
“Ah, wonderful!” Princess Cadance chirped and stepped aside.
Elytra did not move until Pharynx gave her a push, then her legs carried her into the faux-Equestrian suite. Princess Cadance and Pharynx talked for a little while, but Elytra’s brain refused to process whatever it was that had been said. Her eyes were now focused on the thing that sat on the sofa and its leathery wings and gleaming fangs.
Of course Elytra had seen Princess Luna from a distance in the hive, but seeing it up close was something else entirely. She was a spitting image of the monster from The Event, just not as big. The dark fur, the fangs, the wings…they conjured dark thoughts. There was one thought above all else, though. One that escaped the confines of her brain and wiggled its way past her lips.
“It didn’t work…”
Elytra didn’t understand. It worked with Twilight Sparkle and Sweetie Belle! They had turned back to normal with no outward signs of their previous derangement. So why did Princess Luna still look like this? Why didn’t fixing the Central Pool work? She must’ve done something wrong when dumping the pure mana in. That had to be it. This was her fault.
That’s why she was here.
“Please, come stand before Us.” Princess Luna motioned towards herself and pointed at a spot in front of the sofa. “We wish to speak to you and We will not crane Our neck the whole time.”
Elytra did as she was told and took up position in front of the couch. She stood there on her three good legs and did her best to keep her eyes focused on the ground rather than on the alicorns. She heard Princess Cadance’s hooves as the pink pony trotted towards the sofa but she dared not look.
“What’s your name, dear?” It was Princess Cadance’s sweet voice to break the stifling silence.
“E-Elytra, Your Highness.”
“Elytra. That’s a wonderful name.” The worst part of all of this was that Elytra knew the sweetness, the care, that tender mercy that pervaded the alicorn’s words were all natural. It was genuine. The changeling could taste the sincerity and it was nauseating. “You can look at us, we promise that we won’t bite you…anymore.” Princess Cadance tried to suppress a chuckle but failed. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist.”
Elytra didn’t laugh, and neither did Princess Luna. The changeling did look up, though. She found both alicorns looking at her, the older one with a deep penetrating gaze and the younger one with smiling eyes behind that porcelain mask. Elytra had been at their mercy before and this time felt a lot more dangerous than when they were bloodthirsty monsters.
“I guess I’ll start.” Princess Cadance clapped her hooves together once. “First, and I say this on behalf of the entire world, thank you for your heroic actions during The Event. We know that what you did took extreme courage and the kind of strength that most can only dream of, so we want to say thank you. I know that’s not something you’ve heard yet and I doubt you’ll ever hear it again regarding The Event. But thank you.”
“But…” Changelings were supposed to be good at controlling their emotions. They were supposed to be masters of that specific task, but here all of Elytra’s training kept failing her. Emotions swirled in her head, all conflicting and contradictory. “But…what I did to you…I…”
“You did what you had to.” Princess Cadance responded quietly. “Do you remember it all?”
“No…” Elytra shook her head and closed her eyes. “I…I remember flashes of it. My wing. Falling. I dumped the mana in and you landed and…I put all of the energy I had into my horn and I shot it at you. Then I don’t remember anything.” That was the truth, too. Elytra remembered charging up a spell and then it all got fuzzy really quick.
“Well, I remember.” Cadance responded with a light sigh. “You shot me with some of your magic and it hit me…” She then motioned to her face, which only made Elytra wince. “I shot back and missed, I grazed your side and that sent you right into the Central Pool. That’s when I turned back and I got you out of the Pool and brought you back up.”
Elytra didn’t remember falling in the Central Pool. Then she realized that she certainly shouldn’t be alive. It should’ve turned her into ash. It should’ve cooked her in her shell. How did she survive?
“No, we do not know how you survived that.” Princess Luna chimed in now. “Twilight Sparkle’s best guess is that because you do not use mana like ponies, it could not react with your body in the same way that it does with regular magic users. We believe it tried and only succeeded in putting you into a coma.”
“Ah…”
“For the longest time, I was angry at you.” Cadance picked up the main point of the conversation again. “I was-I am ashamed of my looks now.” The words were daggers that lodged firmly in Elytra’s heart. That was the last thing she wanted from all of this. “But it’s not because of you anymore. Like many unicorns and alicorns, my scars are badges of the terrible things I did. They’re reminders. Awful reminders, but reminders nonetheless.” Cadance then stood up. Elytra wasn’t sure why but she expected to see tears, but saw none through the eye holes of the mask. “There was no telling what I could’ve done had you not shot at me. I don’t know if I was capable of stopping what you did to the mana pool, but you did what you had to.”
Princess Cadance crossed the distance between them in a few seconds and pulled Elytra into a hug. The pure love that radiated from her was like warm honey and it sent shivers throughout the changeling’s shell. It was so intoxicating and filling and reminded Elytra of the pink ‘heart’ that she had feasted upon from Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Despite that, she could not force her body to react. It was impossible. The shock had gripped her limbs and kept her from reciprocating.
“Thank you for saving Equestria, even if it cost us both.”
“Of course.” Elytra’s brain finally started to work again and she forced the words out. “I would’ve done anything to save everypony there…” That was the truth.
“Which brings us to our next topic.” Luna cut in with a raised voice.
Cadance pulled away and trotted across the room and back to the couch. The alicorn then turned enough so that her mane was blocking her face and Elytra could see the white mask be lifted briefly. She was wiping the tears away.
“We assume you know what caused The Event.” Luna’s stare was more wounding than Cadance’s words, but for more recent reasons. Elytra could not tell Princess Luna the whole truth, that was not an option.
“No, not really.” Elytra lied through her teeth. “When we rescued Twilight Sparkle and cured her, I lost my leg. I was busy bleeding out so if she told them something, I didn’t hear it.” Lying was a much more comfortable existence than being hugged by a pony you viewed as the angel of death and it was one Elytra slipped into easily. What she had said was the truth, just not the whole truth.
“Mmm.” Luna nodded. “Well, We will assume you have theories then. Theories that may or may not be true.” It felt like the princess was calling her bluff without explicitly doing so, and that made Elytra nervous. “We will advise you to keep those theories to yourself. Do this, and We will do what We can to make your life easier during the transition period.”
“Transition period?” Elytra tilted her head to the side. This had something to do with the big political summit, she was sure. However no one had been briefed on whatever this transition would entail. Elytra shook off the question and rolled with the punches. “Well…actually, there is something. One of the survivors I was with in Ponyville, Cheerilee, I promised to meet her again. Is there any way you can help?”
“Yes, there is.” Luna said with a slight smile.