Eleven – A Shadow Before Dawn
Something slithered past Princess Celestia as she turned away from the carnage in Bad Horse Lane. She was covered in grime and sweat from all the fighting. Her wings and horn ached terribly. She hadn’t had a fight this bad since the Griffin Wars.
Ahead, her handful of guards were holding the line. The unicorns among them were using their magic to break up the changelings’ illusions, while their brothers-in-arms were knocking the enemy back with well-placed kicks and throws. Not their finest hour, but they were valiant all the same. Celestia swore to repay them all for their service.
“Ah, Princess.” That slithering sensation came over her as a wisp of black smoke curled up around her. The smoke grew a pair of yellow eyes that winked at her. “So good to see you. Queen Chrysalis sends her regards.”
“Tell me where she is, Discord!”
The draconequus emerged from the smoke in his true form. He put one finger to the Princess’s lips, then snapped his other fingers.
Time froze around them. The changeling swarm was frozen in midair, some of them stuck in the middle of their transformations into royal guard imitators. The guards themselves seemed no worse for the wear. It was all too common to see them keeping perfectly still when on-duty.
“That’s better.” Discord bowed his head obediently. “Now then, Chrysalis’s minions have been spotted in a small forest to the northeast, roughly between Canterlot and the Crystal Empire. If I were to hazard a guess, I would imagine our six Element-bearers can be found there as well.”
“But can you free them?”
Discord’s smile was suddenly less friendly. “I’ll do my best. Provided they haven’t already freed themselves. They’re terribly clever and resourceful, you know.”
Celestia breathed a sigh of relief. “Then do so. And thank you.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to take care of that?” He pointed at the frozen changelings. Although several had been knocked out or injured, there were still well over a hundred ready to fight. “One finger-snap and they’re gone.”
“Thank you, but no. Chrysalis will try to take both Canterlot and the Crystal Empire. If she believes she can easily reclaim Canterlot, she’ll be more focused on the Crystal Empire.” Though she was exhausted as an earth pony, she allowed herself a tiny, impetuous smile. “And I need her to believe she’s close to winning.”
“Oh, I love it when you’re nasty.” Discord rubbed his paws together in satisfaction. “Very well, Your Highness. Try to have fun. I know I will!”
He cackled and vanished in a white flash. Celestia blew some loose strands of her mane out of her eyes and turned back to the battle, which had just resumed.
Rearing up on her hind legs, she charged back into the fight.
Twilight had nothing better to do but watch Fluttershy carry on a pointless conversation with one of their changeling guards. She recognized the creature as Ichor, the one who’d tried to abduct her in Fluttershy’s room.
And, she remembered bitterly, the one who’d abducted and impersonated Fluttershy.
Despite racking her brains, she couldn’t think of a good escape plan. The containment pods were sealed from the outside and they seemed to be limiting her magic. Twilight couldn’t blow it up from the inside-out, nor could she project illusions to trick one of the changelings into opening the pod for her. Wearied from her numerous attempts, she sat back in her cell and stared.
At least Fluttershy was awake. She could focus on her, if nothing else.
But she was worried that none of her other friends had woken up. The four of them were still lying in their pods, their eyes closed peacefully. Twilight wondered how long they’d been asleep. And she couldn’t help but wonder if they’d all been abducted since they went to their rooms back at the Crystal Palace.
No, she told herself. Don’t start down that path. That leads to despair. Think. What would Princess Celestia do in this situation?
Try as she might, she couldn’t imagine anypony capturing Celestia. Wounding her, yes. Thwarting her, sure. But imprisoning her would be difficult, and how would they contain her?
Twilight remembered the wedding between Cadance and Shining Armor. She thought about how Queen Chrysalis and the changelings had nearly ruined everything with their takeover of Canterlot. Celestia had stood by, defiant when Chrysalis revealed herself. Even wounded, she managed to talk Twilight and her friends into getting the Elements of Harmony. And when that plan failed, what had she done then?
Nothing, Twilight realized, but I did my part for Cadance.
She could see it clearly in her mind. A simple spell to break Cadance out of her restraints. Cadance nuzzling Shining Armor, now freed from Chrysalis’s brainwashing. Cadance’s love powering Shining Armor’s defense of Canterlot, ridding the city of every last changeling.
That was the true power of a princess. What Cadance had tried to tell her before. It wasn’t about smashing your foes to dust or lording over everypony or hosting extravagant ceremonies.
It came down to empowering your subjects. The ponies you trusted most.
Twilight’s greatest magic was her friendship. She could bring the Elements of Harmony together with a simple spark of hope, a friendly nudge in the right direction.
She looked out of her pod at Fluttershy. To her surprise, Ichor was listening to the pegasus with a rapt expression. Not cruelty or smugness like before.
“Keep talking, Fluttershy,” Twilight whispered. “Show them the kindness that their queen never gave them. Then we’ll see what happens next.”
From her perch on the tallest tree of the Old Forest, Queen Chrysalis surveyed the land that would soon be hers. Equestria looked much more appealing at night. It reminded her of the beautiful desolation in Morphopolis.
Her horn ached when she thought about those days. Hard days. Awful days without hope or laughter.
Chrysalis had been young and far more lenient when the Changeling Nation had set out in search of food and a new homeland. She’d earnestly believed that they could resettle, find new love to eat, and blend in with the locals. She’d sworn that they would grow strong and numerous once more.
And so the Great Exodus had taken them over hill and vale, bringing them toward the ponies’ land, where love never ran dry. But the ponies would not share their love. They could be not reasoned with nor would they bargain.
That left only taking by force and guile. Chrysalis would never apologize for her schemes, like the first failed invasion of Canterlot. She did what she had to do for the good of her subjects.
But it is a pity we cannot feed so well on fear, the queen mused as she looked up at the silhouetted moon. We would never starve while the ponies tremble in fear of us.
She did not understand why these ponies hated her. What crime had she committed? Chrysalis sought to nourish her own kind, nothing more or less. So what if they relished a little in the pain that came from absorbing a pony’s love? There was nothing wrong about enjoying one’s work.
A buzz and flutter of wings from behind her pulled Chrysalis out of her meditation. She turned and glowered at the minion hovering beneath her.
“M-my q-q-queen,” the changeling said in a raspy voice, “I bring news of the invasion. We have almost taken Canterlot. Our swarm is poised to take the Crystal Ponies by dawn.”
“But what of the Six?” Chrysalis’s glare turned deadly. “Have they gotten the Elements of Harmony to work yet?”
“N-no, my queen—zzt!”
The rest of his answer was lost as Chrysalis used her magic to hold him up in midair and shake him furiously.
“Then don’t come back until it’s done!” she bellowed. “I want results and I want them now! I want our swarm to occupy the Crystal Empire now! Do you understand, weakling?”
“Y-y-yes, my queen!”
She dropped the changeling, watching him plummet back into the forest to rejoin his comrades. It galled her to think that she was of the same species as her minions. They were so weak and uninspired. At least Chrysalis could grow and thrive on her own. But they needed a strong hand like hers or else they’d perish.
Really, what other choice did she have but to rule them?
Ichor looked at her companions with concern. “Has anyone seen Wriggler? We can’t perform the ritual without him!”
“I saw him going back toward the Crystal Palace a while ago,” said Gadfly, the youngest one among them.
Ichor frowned. That wasn’t like her mate. He wouldn’t neglect his duty to their queen and she had demanded results tonight—or else. But perhaps he had good reason for it.
Still, there was no time to lose. Ichor cleared her throat and looked over her four remaining siblings—Gadfly, Mantis, Cricket, and Longlegs. They were five of the six chosen to wield the Elements of Harmony.
Ichor waited for their transformations to finish up. She felt her body contort into a perfect replica of the pony called Fluttershy. Through the change, she felt she had learned something about the Element of Kindness from her conversation with the yellow pegasus. The pony was strong in a gentle way. She had the most powerful wings, yet rarely used them. She could shout across town, but she hardly raised her voice. Ichor knew something about self-restraint for the sake of another—usually as part of an act.
But kindness for its own sake was a curious feeling. Warm and fuzzy. She didn’t exactly hate it.
“I don’t think this can work,” Gadfly was saying, having taken on Rarity’s form. She shook her mane and put her hoof to her head. “I can’t think about generosity and conquest all at once.”
“Laughter seems more appropriate.” This was from Mantis, who was bouncing up and down as Pinkie Pie. “I can laugh in the face of the Crystal Ponies’ downfall. Ha ha!”
Ichor lifted a cautioning hoof. “No, no! The laughter shouldn’t be spiteful. It should be more… more bubbly! More happy!”
Mantis frowned. “I don’t do happy, Ichor. I’m used to feeling miserable, and I feel better when others share my misery.”
“Try pretending to feel happy, at least.”
Cricket and Longlegs—disguised as Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, respectively—glanced at each other, then back at Ichor.
“We’ve tried pretending emotions,” said Cricket. “It just doesn’t work, Ichor. You have to see that. Our queen’s plan isn’t working!”
Ichor wanted to dispute that. She wanted to say that such talk was treasonous and Cricket would be punished severely for it. But she couldn’t force the words out of her mouth.
All she could think about was Morphopolis and the Great Exodus. She knew now that the ponies long ago had faced the same conditions, but they endured through the power of friendship. But try as they might, it seemed the changelings were not made for friendship. They knew how to lie, cheat, steal, and attack, but nothing about how to make friends.
But the six most important prisoners knew something. Ichor decided it was time to find some answers.
“Come with me,” she told her crew. “We must interrogate our captives in person.”
That was a lie, albeit a well-told one. As Ichor led the way back to the prison pods, she knew she wasn’t going just for answers. She was going because she wanted one last chance to believe in the rightness of her queen’s cause.
She was going because, if the royal plan truly didn’t work, she would have to come up with a plan of her own.