//------------------------------// // It Has Begun // Story: Spike's Kingdom // by Guardian Dragon //------------------------------// Princess Celestia and Luna return to Canterlot after a discussion with Thorax about Queen Chrysalis and the Dragon Egg raiding that happened years ago; the importance of the mysterious Princess overcame their sense of direction since Thorax is the only Changeling stepping into Equestrian borders without discrimination. They succeeded in bringing the missing Dragons and had hoped, with the permission of Dragon Lord Spike, to seek redemption and befriend Thorax under better circumstances. Now, they'll confront Bright Light, understand his findings, and determine or scold him for fleeing without an explanation to Princess Twilight Sparkle. During the flight, Princess Celestia thought about Twilight Sparkle and her ascension to becoming a rightful ruler of Equestria when she retires; Twilight's maturity in handling the situation when everything fell off the grid and Discord's warning about being mindful of those closest to you; neglecting them may ascend them to darkness. She thought about Twilight looming in the darkness because of her emotions about Spike being the Dragon Lord since she knew no other that could end up succumbing there. Princess Celestia and Luna decide to visit Bright Light, knowing he's inputting the information gathered from the relics to determine Thorax's emotional state and status to determine whether he's truthful or deceitful. The Princesses enter the Lunar Guard District Justice Department building, trotting to the upper floors of Canterlot's Magistry Laboratory, where Bright Light's office room is. "You think he found anything useful with Thorax's hesitations, Celestia?" Princess Luna turns to her sister while hoping Thorax's claims about not knowing are more truthful than Bright Light's theory of Thorax being a scapegoat and used as a distraction for Queen Chrysalis to exploit for her advantage. "I'm not sure," Princess Celestia is insecure with the anger from her friends displayed a while ago and wishes the conversation didn't turn into an interrogation; she rued inviting Bright Light for the discussion, which took a wrongful turn. Princess Celestia and Luna sigh, then enter the room and find it smeared and coated in an emerald green goo with burnt markings on many relics, scrolls, and books. They gasped and looked up, noticing something stuck in the ceiling, which made both Princesses freeze in horror upon close examination. Many workers and guards trapped within the semi-transparent emerald-green pods; some are unconscious, and others look like their color and love have gotten depleted. Princess Luna's jaw hangs loosely with the possibility of stumbling into some of her workers' fate; she's mesmerized by the appalling fact that they're already dead. Princess Celestia gets sudden flashbacks of her cocooning several years ago at the wedding with the unfeeling state of being trapped when Queen Chrysalis overwhelmed her. Princess Celestia and Luna fly up and release everypony from their cocoons, lowering them softly and determining who's alive and who's deceased. After a few moments of calculation, Princess Celestia confirms ten Royal Guards are deceased, and seven workers are barely alive. Princess Luna discovered the relics used during the interrogation of Thorax are missing and theorizes that the actual Bright Light was captive since they found his body encased in emerald-green goop. "Changelings..," Princess Celestia couldn't believe Bright Light was a Changeling during the conference and probably used their fear of Queen Chrysalis as motivation to overwhelm Thorax from a peaceful discussion about finding answers into swerving Queen Chrysalis' invasion plans.., or.., was it something else they original had thought? "Ugh..," Princess Celestia groans with a migraine happening instantly. Princess Luna feels a sharp pain in her head, having an eerie similar feeling to her sister's symptoms. "What's happening?" Bright Light wakes up weakly; he sees the creatures behind the Princesses. "Behind -" He passes out after a Changeling absorbs his energy and love. The Princesses turned and got ambushed by a swarm of Changelings imposing as Royal Guards and workers. As mighty as they are, battling wave after wave of many swarms of Changelings that took over the building, Queen Chrysalis reveals herself as an imprisoned worker, absorbing the magic of Princess Celestia and Luna from behind, allowing her Changelings to encase and trap them as their prisoners. Queen Chrysalis laughs triumphantly, licking her lips after devouring the Alicorns' magic, increasing her potency even more than she absorbed Shining Armor's magic. "H-How..?" Princess Celestia and Luna glared at Queen Chrysalis with many thoughts about her invasion coming sooner than they thought. "My secretive field operative made it clearer for us to infiltrate Canterlot, and Thorax is quite resourceful for the Hive, allowing everyone to lower their guards today; it seems everyone in Ponyville is opening up to Thorax, and they made him an official member of their society. Quite amusing, wouldn't you say?" "How did you know that?" Princess Luna asks while watching herself getting enveloped in the emerald-greenish goo. "I've sent one of my Changelings to attend another wedding in Ponyville sometime ago; then he disguised as commoner blue Earth Pony called Noteworthy after taking his place in Ponyville. He alerted me twenty minutes ago about everypony opening up after a Zebra confessed a similar experience about being different." Princess Celestia and Luna remember the wedding between the two Mules and vaguely recall the fillies and colts cowering away from a Changeling in attendance. Panic filters their minds with Queen Chrysalis covering their Alicorn horns in the green goop, negating any usage of their magic power to call for help. "You won't get away with this!" Princess Celestia knows the downfall of Queen Chrysalis' rise will come sooner than she would anticipate; she knows Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends will overcome another obstacle Equestria is enduring. "Got anything original?" Queen Chrysalis grows bored of those using an old cliché from distressed captives. "You will rue the day you messed with Dragons!" Princess Luna has decided to deem Queen Chrysalis the mysterious Princess who stole the Dragon Eggs. "They're next on my agenda with the Pony-Dragon King instilling love and unity in the Dragon Lands, and their love will taste delicious, ripe for the taking! Just as planned!" Queen Chrysalis announces, knowing no one in Equestria would contact Dragon Lord Spike about the Changelings' invasion since Thorax would reside in the Dragon Lands, continuing building their love and unity for his kin to arrive. "Planned?!" Princess Celestia and Luna start to panic with more probabilities of Queen Chrysalis' involvement with the Dragon Egg raidings. "ARE YOU INVOLVED WITH THE DRAGON EGG RAIDINGS, QUEEN CHRYSALIS?!" Princess Luna demands the Bug Queen of her intention. "Hmm, that does ring a bell; however, I'll get back to you when I remember," Queen Chrysalis vaguely remembers her past operations for infiltration since the defeat from the Canterlot Wedding continues to plague her mind persistently, removing the thoughts of the previous goals she'd achieved. "During the night, take them to the Hive!" She commands her Changelings to remove every witness that would alarm Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends of the hostile takeover. "I need to channel more power and love from these Ponies and use the Alicorn Amulet to activate the Staff of Sacanas." The Staff of Sacanas has the power to control the weather, but Queen Chrysalis needs to use the staff to possess the sun and moon, making it seem that Princess Celestia and Luna are not neglecting their duties to raise the sun and moon. She then disguises herself as Princess Celestia, commanding one of her Changelings to impose as Raven Inkwell to follow her routines in the castle, despite knowing how futile, meaningless, and redundant Princess Celestia negotiates her affairs with Royals and Nobles. She would then swarm those foolish ponies and consume their love and power for her Changelings to camouflage themselves as residents of Equestria. "In due time, Equestria will be all mine!" Queen Chrysalis laughs in triumph at the probability of winning and succeeding in her goal to feed her Changelings and dominate everypony.