Chapter Eleven: The Board Is Set
To the immediate east of Equestria lay a mountain range separating the fertile lands of ponykind from a vast, barren desert known as the Badlands. It was here that a peculiar race had taken up residence in a secluded cave hidden by the craggy peaks and sparse shrubbery. They were a grotesque combination between pony and insect, with black, chitinous carapaces, holes in their legs, and large green bug eyes. To all the civilizations of Equestria, they were the Changelings, hostile and dangerous feeders of love.
The caverns were now home to the Changeling hive of Queen Chrysalis. The walls and ceiling were covered in glowing green bio-matter, with numerous egg sacs containing Changeling fetuses lining the walls. Those of the hive that had survived the wave of love that had driven them clean out of Equestria had gathered here to rebuild the colony. As it was, Chrysalis knew it would be a while before her colony reached a productive size again.
The Changeling Queen brooded on her throne in the largest chamber, considering the latest developments of the surrounding world. Her scouts had discovered the presence of the Crystal Empire shortly after the Equestrians had. Naturally, Chrysalis had been curious and had sent a scout to see if the place had a good supply of love that could feed her people. Her mental link had allowed her to see and hear what the scout had.
The place had, at first, been utterly dull, the civilians apathetic and emotionally empty. Then those blasted ponies who had attempted to thwart her takeover of Canterlot showed up, and she learned about a most tantalizing target.
The Crystal Heart.
It was the essence of love itself. Such an object could feed her subjects indefinitely, and Chrysalis had ordered the drone to steal it and bring it back to the hive.
All her plans went up in smoke when King Sombra retook the throne of the Empire. Though she was more than happy that the mad tyrant had eliminated Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, he had made slaves of his people, robbing them of sweet, delicious love. To make matters worse, Sombra had corrupted the Heart into representing hate instead of love. Chrysalis couldn't stand being thwarted before she could even form a coherent plan. Luckily, though, it seemed that Sombra was still unaware that the Changelings had infiltrated his city. But she knew that the hate aura would sap her drones' strength quickly, weakening their magic and robbing them of their ability to shapeshift. But she was not ready to admit defeat quite yet.
There would be no point in bringing the Heart to the hive in the state it was currently in. However, perhaps there was a way to fix that. If they could steal the Heart and leave it somewhere the Equestrians would easily find it, they would likely find a way to restore the Heart to its former glory. When that was done, then she and her soldiers would swoop in, seize the Heart, and retreat back to the hive. By the time the Equestrians found the hive, Chrysalis and her children would be strong enough to fend them off.
Yes, this plan had its share of risks. Chrysalis was not stupid enough to pretend otherwise. But she would be damned if she were to let such a golden opportunity pass her by. Mentally, she commanded a trio of larger drones to her chamber. The three Changeling soldiers soon arrived in the Queen's chamber, their wings buzzing as they flew up to their mother and awaited her orders.
Chrysalis looked down at them. Go to the Crystal Empire, she spoke telepathically. Seize the Crystal Heart, and make sure the Equestrians find it. However, do not let it out of your sight. Once it is restored, we shall claim it for our own.
The Changelings chittered in response. Understood, Mother, they all telepathically replied.
Chrysalis watched as they left the chamber to fulfill their quest, leaving her to contemplate her situation. It was precarious, at best. If Sombra discovered the Changelings attempting to steal the Heart, he would likely hunt down the hive to exact retribution. If the Equestrians caught on to the Changelings' plan, the Princesses would make good on their threat to eradicate every Changeling they found. Despite the unflattering opinions of virtually everypony out there, Chrysalis was very dedicated to her children and feared for them just as any other mother would. If everything went wrong, though, Chrysalis had no idea what she would do.
And that scared her more than an angry sun goddess ever could.
XXXXXX
Two days later...
After Nurse Redheart had given Twilight a clean bill of health, the lavender unicorn returned to the base with renewed vigor. She knew what had to be done, and she was prepared to do it. By this time, Falling Skies had also returned to duty, and was just as strict and foul-tempered as before. This morning, she and the other unicorns had all perfected basic offensive spells such as fireballs, thunderbolts, and low-level healing magic.
Twilight soon found that Trixie was hellbent on upstaging her at every opportunity. She too was a quick learner, and she did not hesitate to show it. That, in itself, didn't bother Twilight. What did, though, was that she showed absolutely no humility and tried to impress the commander at every turn. And then there was that smug grin Trixie always flashed at her whenever Falling commented on her growing skill.
But the most disconcerting thing was the way Falling looked at Twilight every time he took note of her progress. His was a cautious, but still steely and cold glare that made her heart sink a little as she realized its meaning.
He doesn't trust me, she thought. He thinks I'm still a threat.
The thought made her bitter, because she knew that Trixie would easily gain more footing with him and get promoted. Twilight didn't care about the promotion itself; in fact the very idea of being an officer in the army left an unsettled feeling in the pit of her stomach. But Trixie would waste no time in rubbing it in Twilight's face.
But she couldn't see a way out of this. Now that Falling Skies was wary of her, it was unlikely he would consider her for any kind of promotion. The more she practiced, and the stronger she became, his wariness would only increase, and she would be no closer to getting a hoof up over Trixie. In short, there was no solution. Trixie would win, and there was nothing Twilight could do about it. Resigned to her doom, Twilight just put it all out of her mind and focused on reducing the target dummy in front of her into ash with a well-placed fireball.
XXXXXX
Twilight glumly trotted down the lunch line alongside her friends, paying little attention to Vinyl and Rarity's conversation about fashions. They had not yet taken notice of her unusual silence, which was good, as Twilight wasn't really in a good mood to talk anyway. However, her relief did not last, for as they were approaching their table, Rarity asked, "Is something the matter, Twilight? You've been awfully quiet since practice, darling."
Twilight sighed as she sat down. "It's nothing, girls. I'm fine."
Rarity frowned. "I'm sorry to say this, but you're as bad a liar as Applejack. We're your friends. You can tell us anything."
Twilight looked down at the floor. "It's just...it's just Trixie, that's all."
Everypony frowned a little at the arrogant showmare's name, but let Twilight continue. "She's doing everything in her power to impress Commander Falling Skies so he'll promote her. I don't care about the promotion itself, I just don't like the idea of being ordered around by her."
Twilight lowered her voice to a whisper. "I know it seems...like I'm just paranoid, but...part of me is scared that she'll purposely order me, or possibly all of us, into a dangerous situation hoping we get killed."
The thought of that unsettled all of them, even Vinyl. "Well, why don't ya try to do the same with the commander?" Vinyl suggested.
Twilight sighed sadly. "That's the problem. Ever since the...incident, he's been wary of me. I can see it in his eyes when he looks at me. To him, I could still be a threat. At any moment, King Sombra could possess me again and send me off on another rampage. He'll never trust me to be anything of significance in the army."
She gritted her teeth in anger and squeezed her eyes shut, as if her very thoughts caused her pain. "Trixie was right."
"About what? The fact that I am moving up and you aren't?"
The four of them glared at Trixie, who had a rolled-up scroll floating over her head, enveloped by her magic. Her mouth was curved upward into a smirk of such smug arrogance that even Rarity had to resist the urge to slap it off her face. "What do you want now, Trixie?" Rarity growled.
"To allow you all to witness the Great and Powerful Trixie's latest victory!" Trixie boasted. "Behold!"
The showmare slapped the wrapped piece of parchment on their table and opened it towards Twilight so she could read it. "I, Commander Falling Skies of the Unicorn Guard," Twilight read, her dread growing, "hereby grant the bearer of this scroll, Trixie Lulamoon, the rank of lieutenant."
Rarity, Vinyl, and Lyra's jaws all dropped in unison. Sneering triumphantly, Trixie seized the scroll with her magic and whisked it out of Twilight's view. Twilight was too stunned to do anything but stare up at Trixie, who chuckled cruelly as she turned to leave. "'Til next time, Private Sparkle," she crowed before trotting off.
The four of them watched her go. Vinyl spoke first. "I really hate that mare. What a flankhole."
Twilight slammed her hoof on the table. "UGH! It's not fair!" she groaned. "I was afraid this would happen!"
"Try not to dwell on it, Twilight," Rarity suggested. "It'll only add fuel to the fire."
Twilight irritably rubbed her temples. For a short moment, she wasn't sure whether she hated King Sombra or Trixie more. Then again, Trixie didn't invade her mind and use her body like a puppet. She was just a petty bully; Sombra was a power-mad tyrant. But the showmare still ground Twilight's gears in a way nopony else did. She knew Rarity was right, though. Trixie wanted her to get upset and do something rash so she could publicly humiliate her, and she wasn't about to give Trixie the satisfaction.
Twilight's last thought before the end-of-lunch bell rang was how long she could keep that up.
XXXXXX
Sitting atop a cloud made of cotton candy, Discord silently observed the bases at the foot of the mountain onto which the nearly-barren city of Canterlot clung like a parasite. The spirit of chaos idly sipped on a glass of chocolate milk (actually drinking the milk this time, as he wasn't in the mood for drinking glass and turning the milk into makeshift grenades) and sighed to himself.
All this war business, he thought to himself. They always make it sound like a nonstop thrill ride full of swashbuckling merriment and heroic deeds. They never seemed to mention the boring drills. All those drills, those schedules...all that ORDER...I should really make it a point to reform the military structure.
Discord allowed himself a small chuckle. Assuming Celestia even allows it. Or Luna, under the circumstances...
The thought of Celestia lying in that bed in the hospital wing of the castle immediately removed the smile from his face. He remembered walking into the room not long after his battle with the Sky Emperor. She had looked so weak, so vulnerable, and she had been in an extraordinary amount of pain. He knew that he and Celestia were still not on the best of terms, but he couldn't stand hearing her soft moans as the nurses had set to work on healing her injuries. In a small act of mercy, he had cast a little spell that dulled her pain.
Discord shook his head and downed the last of his drink, letting the glass blink out of existence. Ah, where's the fun in dwelling on all that nonsense?
The draconequus's ears pricked as he heard a light commotion below in the city. Idly glancing downward, he saw a rather elderly, well-dressed stallion arguing vehemently with a younger mare dressed in the attire of the Lunar Guard. Not unusual; the Lunar Guard were mostly off during the daytime, for obvious reasons. But why this one wasn't asleep was a mystery to Discord. From what little he bothered to listen to, the older gentlecolt was spouting a bunch of horseapples about how he had had high hopes for the mare, apparently his daughter, as an influential socialite in the Canterlot hierarchy, and was disgusted that she chose the life of a 'common' soldier in the service of Princess Luna.
Ah, so it seemed some of the Canterlot snobs still hadn't warmed up to the Moon Princess. Not that Discord really cared. However, the spirit of disharmony felt up for a bit of mischief. With his trademark snaggletooth grin, Discord snapped his fingers as a cotton candy cloud appeared right above the bickering father and daughter's heads. They were so engrossed in their argument that they didn't notice its presence until it unleashed a torrential downpour of chocolate milk upon them. Drenched in the chocolatey beverage, the father swore loudly and tried to get out of the way.
But Discord wasn't having any of that. The cloud obstinately followed after the father, endlessly pouring its contents all over his body and clothes. The stallion vehemently cursed Discord's name as he retreated to the safety of his home. The mare looked up at the sound of Discord's hysterical laughter high above the city and shot him a scathing look.
Said look soon morphed into a similar expression of amusement as she chuckled despite herself. The draconequus had definitely made an admittedly unimportant, easily-forgotten enemy, but he just might have made an ally at the same time. He didn't really bother pondering this event, as he was too busy laughing his head off.
"We saw that, you know."
Discord wiped a tear from his eye as his chuckles dimmed. "Oh, Lulu. Don't be a stick in the mud like ol' Celly!"
Luna touched down on the cloud next to the chaotic spirit and looked down at the large puddle of chocolate milk collecting in the streets. The cloud was still floating there, but it had stopped raining. The Lunar Guardspony bowed her head at her princess and trotted off down the street. "I think you may have made a friend today," Luna observed.
"Mm, I think she's more of an admirer," Discord lazily answered.
"Be that as it may, the last thing we need right now is angry nobles pounding on our doors demanding that we corral you."
Discord rolled his eyes. Luna smirked. "However, we will let this slide, as that withered old stallion had it coming."
Discord chuckled. "I should feel so lucky."
"But in the future, you will keep a lid on the pranks, understand?"
"But how will I amuse myself until everypony's ready for this crazy war?" Discord whined.
"Take up knitting or something."
Discord just stared flatly at her, as if she had told him the world's unfunniest joke. "Knitting?"
"Knitting."
"No."
"Fine."
An uncomfortable silence followed. Something was nagging at the corner of Discord's mind, and he felt the need to ask. "Why the idle conversation, Lulu? The last time we...*ahem*, talked..."
"Celestia and I had threatened you with the Elements of Harmony," Luna pointedly finished. "Yes, we remember. You were out of control, and you wouldn't see reason. We had no choice."
Discord looked away as Luna continued. "We were angry at how you had treated other ponies. Hay, we still are a little bit...but...with everything that has happened, we simply don't see the point in dwelling on past ills."
Luna looked sadly out towards the sun, her alicorn eyes shielding her vision from the ultra-bright light. "With Tia so badly injured, it falls upon us...upon me, to uphold Equestria's spirits. I have to be the one everypony goes to for favors and advice. My judgement alone now guides the actions of our country. The task is utterly daunting, but nopony else can do it. I'm afraid I might make a mistake. One wrong move, and everything we know will crumble to ruin."
Discord rolled his eyes again. "Now you're just being overdramatic, Lulu."
"No, I'm not. You weren't there when it happened."
"When what happened?"
"...Are you aware of my time as Nightmare Moon?" Luna asked plainly.
"Oh, please. How could I not be? I watched the whole fight between you two from my prison."
"Then perhaps you know why I allowed myself to fall to such darkness?"
"You got jealous because of Tia getting all the love and attention, yes, I know," Discord replied, dismissively waving his hand.
"Well, it may come as a surprise to you, but I did not come to this revelation on my own."
Discord raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Eight years after we were forced to seal you away, King Sombra seized total control of the Crystal Empire, murdering its princess in cold blood. He was consumed by an insane lust for power, and he attacked Equestria just as he has now. We were still recovering from your reckless rule..."
Discord scoffed at this.
"...so we were not well-prepared for an all-out war. But we fought, and we managed to drive Sombra's forces all the way to the Imperial city itself. Wielding the Elements, we confronted him atop his tower. Even with them, it was a hard battle. To this day, I still don't know where he drew his unnatural strength. But he managed to incapacitate Celly long enough to get close to me. I was so naive...so inexperienced..."
A tear slid down Luna's cheek. "I was a fool...I listened to him...His twisted words exposed every single one of my insecurities, my fears...some of which I was not even aware of. He offered me the honor of being his queen of darkness. I...I almost accepted. Mother Faust, I almost accepted..."
A small part of Discord was actually sympathetic to Luna's hardship, but he said nothing and let her continue. "That was when Tia came back, ready to protect me. But Sombra had already planted the seeds of my insanity within me. My confusion and anger overwhelmed me...that was the first time I became Nightmare Moon."
Discord's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "He was caught off-guard by my power surge, and that's how we were able to defeat him. I transformed back into my regular self without much incident. But...his words never left me. They festered in my heart, day after day...until I couldn't take it anymore..."
Luna trailed off, and Discord had a good idea of what had happened next. "I take it you're afraid you'll fall into that very same trap should you confront him again?" he asked.
Luna slowly nodded. "Well don't be," Discord said. "You're a lot smarter than before, though just how much is up for debate..."
Luna glared at him. "Besides, Twilight Sparkle and her darling little friends are the ones with the Elements now," Discord continued. "They'll likely be the ones to face him in the end...though I might just join in, just to see if ol' Sombrero's as powerful as you silly fillies make him out to be."
"What is it you fear most, Discord?" Luna suddenly asked, a serious look on her face.
The question was so sudden it momentarily caught Discord off-guard, though his casual, playful demeanor quickly returned. "Eh...what? Me...afraid of something? Why in the world would you feel the need to ask me that?"
"The thing you fear the most...Sombra could show it to you. He could force you to relive your worst memories...your darkest night terrors, holding nothing back as his nightmares reduce you to an empty husk. Sombra is not somepony to be taken lightly, Discord. Not even by you. He will break you."
Discord was quiet for a moment. "Jeez, and I thought Celestia was the serious one."
Luna's wings unfurled as she stood. "I have every reason to be. Heed our words well, Discord. We do not wish to see you fall from grace a second time."
The Night Princess then flew back towards the castle, presumably to care to her sister. Discord watched her go, shaking his head. Far too serious, that one.