Chrysalis was leaning against a table on the lower level of the throne room. Her ebony crown rested on the table, and beside it was the object of the young Queens interest: a map of Equestria and its surrounding areas. Currently, she was working through the middle of a long term plan. Since the day that she’d lost her father, the Changeling General had been pretty rough on her. The original plan that day was for her to get a hold of Celestia’s mind and cast a quick spell to decrease the magic levels of the unicorns in Canterlot, that way the others could get in to the city and feed.
“Princess, have you any idea what you’ve done?!” the General yelled, glaring down at Chrysalis. The two of them were in a small room in a tower of the castle, and were joined by the Royal Advisor, Vathek, and a distant cousin of Imago’s, Vizsora.
The royal child glared defiantly back. “Of course I know! It was an accident!”
“We don’t have room for accidents!” the General lectured. “This was supposed to be a pivotal day for our kingdom, for our people! All we needed were a few moments to slip in and consume some love from those stupid ponies, and then bring back some excess for the lower classes! But you lost control, and now look what’s happened! Your father is prisoner, and you only left a ripple in Equestria! Celestia will probably have all of the trouble you caused sorted out by tomorrow morning!”
Chrysalis jumped up from the chair she’d been sitting in. “Don’t you even start with me! Don’t even! You would have lost control too if you’d been there! I had to watch my father lay at the mercy of that stupid alicorn! You can’t even begin to imagine how much that hurt!”
“Calm down now, both of you!” the advisor said softly, placing a hoof gently on each of the tense changelings shoulders. “Our King is trapped behind enemy lines, and everyone in our kingdom will mourn for him.”
The tension between Princess and General finally broke, and they looked to the advisor.
“Now, General, you need to understand that Chrysalis has lost not only her king but her father as well.” Vathek said. “And Chrysalis, the General is simply upset because this was a very…valuable opportunity that we had. It will be a very long time before we’ll have another shot at this, and security is going to be even higher next time. Do you understand, Lis?”
Chrysalis looked down and slowly nodded. “I’m sorry…” she whispered.
“It’s alright. You can make it up to the General by training hard and looking for a new edge that will help us get into the kingdom. I suggest doing a little research on unicorn magic, your father wrote a lot of notes on his discoveries on unicorns.” the advisor said kindly.
Chrysalis took a deep breath. “Yes, that sounds like a good idea. Thank you, Vathek.”
The advisor smiled, then sat down in one of the chairs in the small, empty room. Chrysalis glanced over at Vizsora, who was sitting silently in the corner. The General himself sat in his chair, slumping a bit as he frowned at Vathek.
“What’s the matter, Uncle Vizzy?” Chrysalis asked, tilting her head. Though Vizsora was her distant cousin, Chrysalis had always called him ‘uncle’ since she could first speak Equestrian.
Vizsora glanced at the other two before turning to Chrysalis. “Well, I’m uncertain why these unicorns are so good at keeping us out.” he replied softly, his voice like velvet.
Vathek was glad to respond. “It’s not really all of the unicorns. Imago discovered that there was a particular energy from only certain unicorns, an energy that targets changelings directly. After three years of studying the unicorns, he noticed that the energy was unique to the ones who had been a part of Celestias magic school.”
“So why didn’t he simply burn down the school?” Vizsora asked, his brows furrowing.
“Imago found that there were no major behavioral differences between regular unicorns and those with this special power.” the advisor explained. “They seemed completely oblivious to the power, thus making them innocent to causing us actual harm. You know how Imago was about innocence.”
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. Her father had always had a thing about not bringing harm to anyone that didn’t cause him harm first. This was the biggest reason that his only target had been Princess Celestia, who had bluntly denied his request to let his people feed.
“Unfortunately, now that his research was cut short, there’s not much more we can learn about unicorns and their power. The only one who can get across the border without tripping alarm would be Chrysalis.”
“And that won’t be happening any time soon.” the General said in a cold voice.
Before Chrysalis could snap at him, Vathek interrupted. “What he means is, we can’t afford to lose another member of royalty.” he said quickly. “You’re the only heir, and you don’t have the years of experience that your father has.”
Chrysalis sighed, burying herself in thought. She had to come up with a way to study unicorns without putting herself in danger. She rubbed her hollow hooves against her head as the adults were conspiring.
“…Imago should have been studying younger unicorns too!” the General was grumbling.
Now, that caught the princess’ attention. Her eyes widened and she gasped sharply. “That’s it!” she cried, wings buzzing with excitement.
The three adults glanced at her with puzzlement.
“What if I told you that I could get a hold of a very young unicorn with great potential, without having to go any further than the border between Equestria and the Everfree?” Chrysalis said slyly.
“I’d say: this is the best idea you’ve had!” the General said with a grin. “Ready a room in the dungeon!”
“No!” Chrysalis said quickly.
The Generals face collapsed back into a scowl. “I retract my previous statement…”
Chrysalis ignored the General, continuing on. “Listen, it would be easy to throw a little unicorn in the dungeon and force her to do what we want. But I happen to know a unicorn that’s wandering the Everfree right now, alone in the world and really hating her precious Alicorn Princess. Don’t you get it? We could potentially get a unicorn on our side! That’s the edge we need, a secret weapon!”
The three stared at the little princess in awe. Slow smiles took them, and they became very comfortable with her plan. But, that all faded when the General shook his head a bit.
“Now just hang on a second… That means we’d have to take proper care of a unicorn!” he said gruffly. “Why should we let one of our enemies take up one of our beds?”
Chrysalis narrowed her eyes, standing tall. “Because if we raise her correctly and sway her in the right direction, our enemies child will become our strongest asset. And don’t forget, my grandmother was a unicorn. If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t be anywhere near as close as we are now to getting into Equestria.”
The General grumbled under his breath a bit. “Fine…” he muttered.
“Do I dare ask how you acquired such information about this unicorn?” Vizsora asked.
Chrysalis looked down. “It might have something to do with my rage fit in Canterlot…”
The General rolled his eyes. “Whatever, just go and get that unicorn before they send out a search party for her.”
“We’ll try to prepare those in the castle for unicorn presence as much as we can.” Vathek said, opening the door to the room. “The people themselves don’t need to know just yet. We need to break the news to them just the right way.”
Chrysalis smiled a bit. Back then, Twilight had simply been a pawn that they needed to capture to ensure their win in this game of chess. But now, Chrysalis had taken quite a liking to her, considered Twilight to be family.
The changelings absolutely adored her. Twilight was always so polite and kind to the them all, and often went out into the city to see if she could help out with any of the lower classed families. Before the little unicorn had become part of the kingdom, no one knew that changelings themselves were so capable of love.
They loved her so much, but it wasn’t quite enough to get them by. Their love wasn’t as pure as the ponies in Equestria, and was still clouded by their sad existence in the Everfree. It kept them better fed than before, but some of Chrysalis’ subjects were still starving. Another plus of Twilights kindness, was that when she visited families in the kingdom, her love fed them pretty well. Twilight would have gladly tried feeding the whole kingdom herself, but when she allowed them to consume her love, it left her a bit physically drained. That was really the only harm that the feeding changelings could cause.
Chrysalis turned to gaze at some notes she’d scribbled down last week, a new idea to implement into the plan to take Equestria. She stared blankly at the paper, realizing that in her rush, she’d made the notes unintelligible. The Changeling Queen sighed, pushing the notes away from herself, cradling her head in her hooves. The pressure of feeding her subjects was starting to get to her.
Your Highness?
Chrysalis looked up, seeing the young changeling she’d sent to fetch Twilight. She felt bad that she had chosen him, since he was fairly new to the High Court and wasn’t too good at his second language. However, it was short notice, and she didn’t have much of a choice.
Yes, Morbus? the Queen answered patiently.
The changeling shifted uncomfortably, gazing down at his hooves. She’s on her way.
Excellent. You didn’t have much difficulty talking to her, did you? Chrysalis asked, glancing back at the map.
She said something I didn’t quite understand, but then she thanked me. Morbus answered. I think I need some more Equestrian lessons.
Go talk to Kolvin then, he’d be glad to give you lessons. Chrysalis mused, tapping her chin.
The apprentice of the Court Alchemist? Morbus confirmed, doubt in his voice.
Chrysalis nodded. He and Twilight spend most of their free time together, so he’s gotten quite good at speaking Equestrian.
Morbus huffed, then fluttered off. Chrysalis knew that Morbus and the other newer Court members were a bit insecure that a whelp of a changeling was more fluent in Equestrian than they were. She was quite fond of Kolvin, despite the fact that sometimes he made some accidents in palace when he got overexcited. But she knew that he would be a great Alchemist someday.
She also knew that Kolvin and Twilight spending time together was more than simply two friends hanging out. It didn’t take a Queen to notice how Kolvins ashen cheeks would flush a bright red whenever Twilight complimented his work. Chrysalis chucked a bit, shaking her head. It also didn’t take a Queen to notice that Twilight was completely oblivious to Kolvins feelings. Maybe not even Kolvin himself knew.
Chrysalis was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the doors open. An older Royal Attendant appeared and bowed his head. “Your Majesty, I announce Miss Twilight Sparkle, honored guest of the High Court.” he said, his voice powerful and strong.
Chrysalis rolled up the map and pushed it off to the side. “Thank you, please send her in.” she said as she flew to her throne. She perched on the edge of the throne and watched as the purple unicorn poked her head cautiously through the doorway. “Do come in Twilight, you’re no stranger to my throne.”
Twilight smiled sheepishly and trotted in, Spike bouncing on her back with each step. “Sorry, I still feel humbled whenever I walk in here. Royalty etiquette and all that. So, what is it that you needed, Your Majesty?”
Chrysalis cracked a warm smile. “Now Twilight, you know that you’re exempt from calling me by my titles. Is the throne room still getting to you?”
Twilight sighed, a weak smile on her face. “I guess so…”
“Would you feel better if you took a seat in the throne?”
Twilight stared wide-eyed at Chrysalis. “You can’t be serious, Lis. Wouldn’t that be desecrating the rights of the.. something or other?” she blurted, waving her hoof wildly.
The Changeling Queen laughed. “Twilight, I sat in the throne all the time when my father was King.”
“That’s different, you were the Princess.” the unicorn pointed out.
Spike raised his little claw. “Oh, oh! Can I sit on the throne?!” he yelled out with a grin.
Chrysalis laughed and rose from the throne, then gestured toward it with a flick of her tail. Spike grinned and jumped off of Twilights back, running to the throne. Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but fell quiet as she saw how willingly Chrysalis was letting Spike occupy the royal relic. Spike struggled to climb into the high seat, but once he did he began to belt out pretend orders in a deep, cracking voice.
Twilight held back a snicker as Chrysalis approached her. “So, getting back on topic, what is it that you needed, Lis?”
“Now that’s the Twilight I know!” Chrysalis smiled, smoothing down a few hairs in Twilights mane. “Keep in mind that this is a very important matter I’m about to discuss with you.”
Twilight went from smiling to solemn and curious. “O-okay…” she said, feeling a flit of nervousness in her stomach.
“Lately I’ve been talking to our Mage, as I was hoping he’d train you further in your magic skills.” Chrysalis began. “However, he says that in order to teach you more, you would need to learn proper unicorn spells first. Sadly, we don’t have any books on unicorn magic here, just notes that my father took about unicorn behavior.”
Twilight nodded sadly. “I figured something like this would come up eventually.”
“Twilight, you need to be able to expand your magical boundaries. You need to learn more.” Chrysalis said.
The young unicorn looked up at Chrysalis in surprise. She blinked, not entirely understanding what her caretaker was saying. “What…exactly are you saying?” she asked slowly.
“In order to learn more about unicorn magic and how to perform it, you’re going to have to go back to Equestria.”
“What?!” Twilight cried, slackjawed. “Go back to the place where that horrible, tyrant of an alicorn rules?! You can’t be serious, Chrysalis! You know what she did to me, what she did to my parents…what she did to your father!”
Chrysalis looked down, hiding the flash of guilt that crossed her face. “I realize this is upsetting news, Twilight. But if you to be to the best of your ability, you’re going to need information from them.”
Twilight frowned. “I’m not going back to Canterlot.”
Chrysalis looked up and blinked. “Oh, Twilight! Is that what you thought I meant? No no no, my dear. I would never dream of sending you back to that horrid city by yourself! Besides, I burned the library down when I was there, as revenge to Celestia for capturing my father.”
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, but still felt a bit uneasy. “Lis, I… I don’t know if I can do it.” The unicorn turned and faced partially away from the one who’d saved her from the Everfree. “I still have nightmares about that place sometimes.”
“You know that most of Celestia’s subjects aren’t really like her, right?” Chrysalis said softly. She stepped closer and gently rubbed Twilight’s back with a hoof. “You might even make a couple of…friends….” she said, saying the last word through gritted teeth.
Twilight gazed over her shoulder at Chrysalis, doubt very noticeably plastered across her face. “Lis, I-“
“Listen, Twilight.” Chrysalis said softly. “You don’t need to decide right now. I’ll give you the week to think about it, and I understand if you won’t want to. But just weigh things from both sides, including that if you pull this off…you could get revenge on Celestia.”
Twilight’s eyes widened, the idea of vengeance for her parents and her unfair banishment almost enough to accept the trip right there and then. But the logical side of Twilights brain stuck firm, twisting her tongue before she could say anything. Instead, she slowly nodded in understanding. “Okay, Lis…”
Chrysalis smiled softly, trying to dispel the seriousness in the room. She turned to look at Spike, who’d been oblivious to the conversation, and was still screaming out orders and giggling a bit. “Alright, little prince, that’s enough throne time for you today.” she laughed.
“Awww, okay.” Spike said, hopping off of the throne and running over to Twilight. “Hey Twi, what should we do now?”
Twilight Sparkle offered a small smile to her purple scaled companion. “I don’t know, Spike. Maybe we should go see what Kolvin’s up to today.”
“Okay!” Spike grinned, hopping onto Twilights back. He waved to Chrysalis. “See ya later, Lis!”
Twilight silently looked at the Queen for a moment, then slowly trotted out of the throne room. She closed the door behind her with her magic. Chrysalis listened to her hoofsteps fade down the hall, then let out a loud, frustrated sigh as she ran a hoof through her mane.
“Oh, Twilight…” she whispered softly to herself. “You’re our only chance… I wish you understood…”