"You tried to let one of them go, but that's nothing new. Every now and then, a little victim's spared because she smiled, because he's got freckles, because they begged. And that's how you live with yourself. That's how you slaughter millions. Because once in a while, on a whim, if the wind's in the right direction, you happen to be kind." - The Doctor
"W-What?!" Pinkie shrieked, as Chrysalis continued to read on. "There's no way... Dashie isn't evil! She's just a little..." She paused in thought. "...insensitive sometimes..."
"Maybe she's actually considered an anti-hero or something..." Sarius pointed out, raising a hoof.
"She isn't even a loose-leaf Element who doesn't plays by the rules!" Pinkie argued. "She's the coolest, most loyal, most awesome pony in Ponyville! In Equestria!"
"Mmmmm... maybe, her profile doesn't seem that malicious," Chrysalis said, finally finishing reading the description. "Though it is... interesting."
Pinkie threw her a look of utter bafflement. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"Tell me, does the Rainbow Dash you know happen to work at something called the 'Cloudsdale Rainbow Factory?'" Chrysalis questioned.
"Well... no... unless she's moonlighting on top of her weather patrol job... but I don't think she could have time for that!"
Chrysalis narrowed an eyebrow. "Here, let me read off the entire thing:
Name: Rainbow Dash
Current Whereabouts: Cloudsdale, Planet Trinity, Equestria, Dimension 134-32.
Homeland: Same place, same planet, same dimension.
Species: Pegasus
Description: Manager of the Cloudsdale Rainbow Factory. Efficient task master."
Chrysalis then turned her gaze upon Pinkie. "There's no way she could be the manager of a factory if she is just moonlighting."
"I don't understand, though! How is it possible?" Pinkie said.
"Maybe it was just put on the list to mess with us?" Sarius suggested. "Voldemort is kind of a huge dick; if he's the one who wrote this list, that is."
"Or maybe..." Chrysalis mused, beginning to pace.
"What?" Sarius and Pinkie said in unison.
Chrysalis took a deep breath. "What if it's possible that there's another version of Equestria out there; in an alternate universe. Perhaps this one is a bit less..." A hint of spite slithered into her voice. "... idealistic than the one we know, despite Blueblood's current campaign."
"A rainbow factory, though?" Sarius said. "You're right, that doesn't sound that evil. Are they making rainbows made out of toxic waste or something?"
"I don't care what they're made out of!" Pinkie argued. "Rainbow Dash wouldn't be evil or mean in any dimension!"
Chrysalis raised a hoof. "It's possible that this pony just shares the same name as Rainbow Dash; she may be a completely different pony. If that's the case, she might actually be from this dimension. How many ponies are there named Rainbow Dash in Equestria, anyway?"
However, Chrysalis quickly began to doubt that, for there was yet another note scribbled below the bottom of the description by her apparent benefactor: 'This one may be one of the least of your worries at the event, her not being so powerful; however, she could present... unforeseen consequences to a certain innocent psyche. Be wary of letting them draw near to each other.'"
With that, she gazed upon Pinkie again. "Actually, I may have been wrong. She could be closer to the 'real' thing than I thought, but I don't believe she is the Rainbow Dash you know and..." She winced slightly. "...love. I think it'd be best if you two kept separated."
Pinkie shook her head in defiance, narrowing her eyes in resolve. "If this Rainbow Dash isn't such a good mare, it's up to her friend to change her ways!"
"She's not your friend," Chrysalis said coldly. "She may have the name 'Rainbow Dash', or even the same looks, but fate's hand has made her a different mare in that dimension." With that, she took a step closer to Pinkie. "I really think it'd be in your best interest to keep back."
"Why do you say that?!" Pinkie growled.
"Because..." She took a deep breath. "The same person who's been writing the other notes says that you won't like what you'd find if you talked to her. Don't go looking into the abyss if you don't need to, kid; you may not like what looks back." She threw her a quick, forced smile. "You should cherish your innocence; because if you're lucky, you'll hang onto it until the end."
The pink mare glanced away from her. "I can't make you any promises."
"You have your warning; I won't stop you if you go looking for trouble." She then gazed into her eyes. "However, if you won't do it for yourself; do it for Rainbow Dash, for if you find something horrible about this one, I guarantee when you look at the real one again..." Her eyes narrowed. "You won't look at her in the same way."
Pinkie gulped slightly at that.
Sarius raised a hoof. "Maybe we should move on..."
Chrysalis let loose a sigh. "Yeah, you're right. I'll read a few more:
Name: Harley Quinn.
Current Whereabouts: Gotham City, United States, Planet Earth, Dimension 134-32.
Homeland: Same city, same planet, same dimension.
Species: Human.
Description: Loyal sidekick and devoted lover to one 'Jack Napier.' Proficient in melee combat. Often uses seduction techniques as a manipulation tactic. However, her mental stability is questionable, especially considering who she is hanging around; not that many of the guests would mind. Naturally, the relationship between the two is strictly one sided."
Chrysalis let loose a sigh. "Great... a psychopathic stalker is coming it seems, though it's hard to tell much about this one. There isn't even a note."
"Maybe that's a good thing," Sarius noted. "Though who exactly is leaving you those things, anyway?"
"I think it's the Nameless Man," Chrysalis said.
Sarius narrowed an eyebrow. "Why would he be helping you? I thought he was just providing security."
"I think..." Chrysalis said, before shaking her head incredulously. "He said he sympathizes with me for some reason. I don't know why... or how... he seems pretty powerful. He said he 'does what he needs to to survive.'"
"Sounds familiar..." Sarius said.
Chrysalis let loose a grunt at that. "Another human though.... they seem to heavily populate the multiverse."
"Hmmm... well that could be handy," Pinkie said, a smile coming upon her face. Apparently she had moved on from the Ms. Rainbow Factory topic.
"How so?" Chrysalis said.
"I'll tell ya later, read off a few more," Pinkie grinned.
With that, Chrysalis nodded and continued:
"Name: Princess Azula
Current Whereabouts: Earth Nation, Planet Earth, Dimension 24-132
Homeland: Fire Nation, same planet, same dimension.
Species: Human
Description: Tactical and manipulative genius, and currently; a successful assassin. Heavily proficient in a 'magical' art known as fire bending. Despite her age, she would present a formidable foe to many coming. Currently believed to have just disposed of her target, the Avatar, with the help of her brother, Prince Zuko."
Chrysalis then read off another note: "Another one to be wary of. Like many in attendance, she knows how to socialize when she needs to. She can... 'blend into the crowd,' and strike when you least expect it. Assets will be in place to nullify her powers considerably. These assets must be defended at all costs. They were quite... pricey."
"Huh, another human?" Sarius said, raising an eyebrow. "Are there no ponies or changelings in any other dimension? Well aside from..."
He immediately shut his mouth upon a glare from Chrysalis, her quickly changing the topic, "fire magic, huh? Interesting. It's quite the hard thing to master," Chrysalis noted.
"You know, there's a lot of geniuses coming to this party..." Sarius said.
The Queen of the Swarm nodded. "Yeah, we'll have to base a bit of the entertainment off that. I'm sure we'll think of something."
"Classical music," Pinkie suddenly blurted out.
Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"
"Classical music!" Pinkie beamed. "Smart people love classical music! I actually know two mares in Ponyville who are probably the best in Equestria at it! One actually played at..." She winced at something. "Anyway, I think they're actually working on a bunch of duet pieces together."
The swarm queen squinted an eyebrow in curiosity. "You know, why is everypony important in Ponyville?"
Pinkie shrugged at that. "I'm not sure, but I know one of them, Octavia, says she spends most of her time there out of Canterlot because the countryside gives her inspiration!"
"So you want to try to book them for the party?" Sarius said.
"Yes!" Pinkie beamed. "Their music is so... what's the word for being all loopy and crazy but in a really fancy way?"
Chrysalis shrugged. "Intricate?"
"That's it!"
"Why would they help a bunch of changelings, though?" Sarius said.
Chrysalis actually gave a slight smirk. "Everypony has a price...."
Pinkie raised an eyebrow, the swarm queen turning towards her.
"We actually have a pretty large stash of gold mined from the islands, though because we have virtually no trade relations we haven't been able to use it. You're welcome to a portion of it when this is through."
Pinkie stuck out a tongue at that. "I don't care about money, I just want to plan an awesome party I've never done before!"
"I insist; really. So far you've proven to be a big help," Chrysalis complimented, a small portion of her doing so reluctantly.
"Yeah, we seriously couldn't be doing this without you," Sarius added.
Pinkie giggled at that.
"What? Never thought you'd get a compliment from a changeling?" the Guardian-Drone smirked.
"Sort of.... I just never expected the changelings to be so...." She took a pause. "Well... nice."
"There's good and bad apples in every tree, kid," Chrysalis said. "Unfortunately, that doesn't stop many of them from being naive." She let loose a sigh. "How does the Doctor want me to get to people's hearts through their minds when they don't have the latter?"
"Hey! Most ponies aren't stupid!" Pinkie argued.
"Maybe, but they seem to be heavily xenophobic," Chrysalis said. "It isn't just changelings they don't give love to. I remember a lot of racism occurring towards both Zebrican and Gryphon Kingdom ambassadors during my stay in Canterlot. Apparently, all zebras are witch doctors and cannibals, and the gryphons, while not being cannibals, eat ponies as a delicacy." She gave a shrug. "That was four hundred years ago though, perhaps Celestia has upped the Equestrian education system since then..." She actually gave a slight smile. "You know, if that's true...." Upon a thought however, she quickly receded it, shaking her head with a sigh. "No... they still wouldn't educate them on changelings, especially with Blueblood causing trouble..."
"If you ask my opinion, I say we kidnap and replace him.." Sarius muttered.
"We aren't doing that," Chrysalis said firmly. "He may be an idiot, but I have a feeling he's working with some very smart people; businessmen I believe. They probably know to do the occasional detection spell on him, and if they happen to catch one of our agents in disguise of him we might as well drape the Equestrian army banner down in front of the main hive's tunnel entrance."
Pinkie gave a simper at that. "About the last thing though... they really didn't teach us much about zebras in school..."
The swarm queen sighed. "Celestia, why in the world aren't you doing something to educate your populace more?"
"Hey! The princess works very hard!" Pinkie argued. "If you didn't attack Canterlot..."
Chrysalis gave her a glare. "I told you I regret that decision!"
With that, Pinkie backed down, an apologetic look coming across her. "I'm sorry, Chryssy. I know you've done a lot..."
"It's alright," Chrysalis sighed. "You're just being loyal to your princess, and that is something I greatly admire."
"Loyalty?" Pinkie said.
The swarm queen nodded, holding up a hoof. "As long as it isn't misplaced, and in Celestia's case I don't believe it is..."
She spoke the truth for the most part; Celestia was a great leader, with four to eight times as much wisdom as Chrysalis had (nobody really knew how old she was), yet the swarm queen had always detected a hint of... reluctance within her to act, almost as if she didn't know what was right or wrong anymore. It was entirely possible that she was suffering from a lack of self-confidence following her sister's banishment, perhaps blaming herself in part for it, or was simply too depressed to make much of an effort to do things anymore. If that was the case, the swarm queen could sympathize ever-so-slightly, and perhaps with Luna's return she would now put her hoof in things more.
Shrugging off these thoughts, the swarm queen returned to gazing upon the list. "Alright, here's another one... and this one's a bit unique:
Name: Bender Bending RodrÃguez
Current Whereabouts: New New York (redundant much?), Planet Earth, Dimension 24-25
Homeland: Same city, same planet, same dimension.
Species: Machine
Description: Semi-sociopathic, egotistical, criminal, robotic construct. Should be somewhat entertaining to have around. Though he may be friends with a duo of 'heroic' figures, he is still responsible for brutally working an enslaved group of aliens for five months straight in order to construct a monument of himself. Definite anti-hero."
Another note: "Make sure there is an adequate supply of alcoholic beverages."
"Yay! At least this one should be easy to keep happy!" Pinkie beamed.
"Oh boy, an alcoholic egomaniac," Chrysalis groaned.
"A machine, though?" Sarius said. "What does that mean? How can something like a steam engine be alive and drink alcohol?"
The swarm queen shook her head. "I once read a book on modern machines that postulated that in the future it might be possible to construct a piece of technology that could... think, reason... and perhaps even hold a conversation. It's possible that this 'Bender' comes from a futuristic society who were able to achieve that vision."
"A sentient, artificial being..." Pinkie said, gaining raised eyebrows from both Sarius and Chrysalis. "What!? My friend Twilight loves to talk about what she reads about a lot! Most of the time I'm not paying attention but I pick up stuff once and a while!" she grinned.
"You're a mystery wrapped in an enigma, Pinkie," Chrysalis sighed, shaking her head slightly.
"Mmmm, are enigmas tasty?!" Pinkie said, rubbing her tummy.
"It's not uh..." She shook her head. "Nevermind."
And so Chrysalis continued to read off names... as time passed on and on...
"Species: Asari."
And on...
"Species: Human."
And on...
"Current Location: Moscow City 17, Planet Earth, Universal Union, Dimension 54-11"
And on...
"Species: Homunculus."
And eventually it became apparent after a while...
"Species: Human."
That the hand of fate had a very large amount of love...
"Species: Human."
For a certain species...
"Species: Human."
"So... many... humans," Sarius droned.
"Well, like I said, that's a good thing!" Pinkie beamed.
Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say that?"
The pink mare stuck a tongue out. "Cus I know someone who knows all about humans!"
One hundred and fifty five miles away, Lyra Heartstrings sat at her kitchen table along with Bon Bon. She sat slump with a hoof against her cheek, gazing at the latter in a bored manner as she ate a sunflower sandwich with a bunch of chips on the side.
"Mmmmm...." Lyra eventually groaned.
Bon Bon raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Ya gonna eat those?" the teal mare said, pointing towards the chips Bon Bon was avoiding.
"They're all yours," she said, gaining a slight smile from her companion. "Shouldn't you be practicing with Octavia on your duet, though?"
"Na, she called it off," Lyra said, frowning slightly. "I think she's feeling a bit depressed still..."
"I can't blame her, I couldn't imagine how I'd feel if I were in that situation," Bon Bon said, frowning as well. "Maybe we should invite her over to dinner; to try to cheer her up?"
"Yeah, that sounds good. Let's just stay try to stay away from... well you know."
Bon Bon nodded as she finished her plate, eventually scooting it over towards Lyra. "Here ya go."
With that, Lyra smiled and began to chow down on the chips.
And nothing more eventful happened to her that day.
The TARDIS sat within the woods near the hive's entrance, the Doctor pacing about its control room as he prattled on idea after idea to Ditzy about the entity known as Him.
"It's probably just another pretender! Someone trying to masquerade as the 'King of Evil'. I know I've seen plenty of them in my lifetime. There's no possible way he could actually exist... he's just a concept! An idea!"
Ditzy let loose a sigh. "Doctor, can't we talk about something else.... maybe go on a forest walk or something? These islands are pretty beautiful."
"Yet that idea manifested before," the Doctor continued, ignoring her. "But I destroyed him! He's currently sitting inside a singularity! Nothing can survive that..."
Ditzy groaned as she made her way to the front door of the TARDIS. "Well, I'm going to go have a walk. It's not often we actually stay in one place for too long. I might as well get to know the area a little, I guess."
With that, she opened the door towards her to reveal a grinning Pinkie; apparently in mid-knock.
"Hiiii Ditzy! Can I talk to the Doctor a bit?"
Ditzy let loose a chuckle. "I'm afraid the only pony doing any talking inside here is him for the moment." She raised an eyebrow. "How did you find the TARDIS, anyway?"
"Oh, one of Chryssy's scout drones pointed me here," Pinkie beamed.
"Oh, hello Pinkie!" the Doctor said, finally noticing her. "Come in! You can help me and Ditzy brainstorm a bit."
"Actually, I'm just here cus I need a little help..." Pinkie said.
"Help? I love helping! Helping is what I'm all about!" the Doctor said.
Pinkie smiled his way. "You said you know about humans, right? Can you... answer a few questions about them for me? Pretty please!"
The Doctor grinned. "Ask all you like! Humans are my specialty!"