Chrysalis stood at the doors to the Elder Council's meeting hall, all the way in the forgotten lands and in the depths of the Hive itself. The seven gathered in the Hive and usually a Queen or King of the Hive needed their permission to go to war. Chrysalis had forsaken that rule after they had decreed that she would fail in her invasion and had gone after Canterlot anyway, though she failed in the end. Now here she was, standing at the gate to the room that she had been in only one other time in her entire life.
So why was it she was scared of what lied behind those doors?
The Council knew many things and the fact that they had called her all the way back to the Hive wasn't a good thing. They didn't summon Changelings for fun and games, they summoned them if something bad had happened or they needed to understand something. They must have known about her blunder in Canterlot and were going to see what she was planning since had not returned to the Hive since the wedding. And here she was, waiting for their caretaker to tell her that they were ready for the Changeling Queen to enter their chamber.
Lucky for her Chrysalis had already sent the thirteen guards on a break so she could ponder everything without having to worry them needlessly. They were her worries and nopony else, not even her guards, needed to concern themselves with them. She had a great deal of things that she wanted to say to Zircon now that they were going to see each other again, but she suspected that she would not be given the chance to do so.
"Chrysalis, the Elder Council will see you now."
The changeling caretaker seemed to appear out of thin air, but Chrysalis knew better. Changeling magic allowed the caretaker to do that, but the fact he had appeared out of thin air wasn't what annoyed her. What annoyed her was the fact that she hadn't been called by her title, which meant that Zircon was trying to piss her off again.
"Okay then," she said, getting up and heading for the door, "Let's do this."
The chamber was the same as she had last seen it; huge, circular, and had seven seats that circled where she was standing and faced the center of the room. In the three seats behind her sat the Elders Aleu, Sequoia, and Jarrah. To Chrysalis' left sat Sorrel, who was next to Sequoia. On her right sat Spruce and Drunix, which left one spot open. Directly in front of her, sitting on the tallest of the seats, was the Head Elder himself, Zircon.
Each of the seven were dressed up in silver robes, which naturally covered their entire body and exposed their neck and heads. Each of them wore a small necklace with a gem attached to it, but Zircon wore one that Chrysalis swore looked like one of the Elements of Harmony. Unlike the Elements it had a silver neck piece and the gem was a combination of diamond and onyx, strangely shaped like the mark she had seen on Inner Wisdom's flank.
"Ah, Chrysalis, so nice of you to join us," one of the Elders, Sequoia, said, "I take it you understand why you have been summoned before the court at this day and time?"
"Cut the crap with me Zircon," Chrysalis said, turning towards the Head Elder, "You want to punish me more for my failure to take Canterlot and my disobedience for not following what the Council told me at the time? Or do you want me to stop my search for a way to defeat the dreaded Celestia and my eventual takeover of Equestria?"
"We want you to stop harassing the newcomers in Ponyville," Drunix spoke up, "We know why your interested in that stallion, but we fail to see what good will come out of it."
"Oh, so you want me to elaborate as to my plan is that it?" Chrysalis angrily asked, her eyes not leaving the silent stallion, "His power is unmatched. He killed a Ursa Major with pure magic and defeated three dragons using that same magic. If the Princesses hadn't intervened when they did he would have taken them down like he did the Major. He's losing control of himself and its only a matter of time before the monster remains."
"So you think you could tame such power?" Aleu asked, staring down at the Queen.
"Certainly," Chrysalis responded, "I'll just slip into Twilight Sparkle's library and steal him when nopony's looking. I'll turn him into a Changeling and command the power he contains. I'll unleash him on Celestia and watch him destroy the empire that she built."
"And how do you propose that you'll be able to contain this power?" Jarrah asked.
"Why contain it when I could use it on our enemies?" Chrysalis asked the Elder, though her eyes rested on Zircon, "Admit it, with such power we could take over the world and have an unlimited source of love to keep our nation strong for years on end."
"What makes you think that war is still the answer?" Zircon asked suddenly, opening his eyes and staring down at her, "The last time you stood before the Council you declared that you were going to war against Canterlot and that you were going to do so even if the Council didn't back your decision. You stood before us, told us every inch of your plan and backup plans, exposed everything just to get us to change our minds about going to war with Canterlot. Now, Chrysalis, what did we say to you?"
"That I was going to lose," Chrysalis spat, "You, the old Changeling King, told me, your own wife, that I was going to fail my empire, my people, all because of the love that the royal couple shared."
"And I was right," Zircon sighed, "Now here we are again, talking about war with Celestia all over again. Only this time you want to kidnap this stallion, Rocket Sky, and use his latent powers to destroy everything in your path so our people can be happy? Where is the happiness in destroying ones source of love? Where is the happiness in obliterating ponies who know nothing about us and could give us a chance?
Where is the happiness in destroying what our daughter longs for most?"
"You dare speak of her to me?" Chrysalis shouted, her anger getting the better of her, "She has no place in this conversation."
"Of course she does Chrysalis," Sorrel commented, "She is, after all, the Princess of the Changelings. If the Princess longs for peace amongst the races of Equestria, but the Queen longs for war, then who do you think we're going to side with?"
"So your going to side with 067, with Rose Petal, over your own Queen?" Chrysalis asked, "Over a Princess who hasn't tried to seize the throne from her mother yet? She doesn't seem to care that I'm in charge of things at the moment."
"Her name is Princess Viscarias," Zircon corrected, which annoyed Chrysalis, "and even if she hasn't expressed her opinion on these matters we know what lies in her heart. She doesn't care much for the way you rule, but she doesn't strike out because she doesn't want the throne. Eventually she will see that you will have to be stopped and she will stand against you. Mark my words Chrysalis, your daughter wont be siding with you much longer if you continue down this path that you have chosen to travel."
"Buck the lot of you," Chrysalis shouted, reaching for her magic but finding nothing, "What trickery is this?"
"Not trickery," Zircon said, "A bubble that prevents you from casting spells against the members of the Council. Now, if you want to go after one of us then I suggest you do it when we aren't in conference. Now, lets get back to the matter at hoof, your invasion to destroy Celestia for the second time."
"I'm done answering your pitiful questions," Chrysalis said, "Remove this barrier and let me show you that I can defeat Celestia. Or are you too scared to face me Zircon?"
"Hardly," Zircon answered, "I'm not scared of you, Chrysalis, nor am I afraid of your tricks. And if you are so sure that you can defeat Celestia this time I have news for you; you wont be getting close enough to fight her again."
The air between Chrysalis and Zircon rippled as a light blue bubble fazed into existence, only to begin falling apart moments later. The bubble was gone, which meant Chrysalis could easily cast her spells and take down the Council.
"Your so dead Zircon," Chrysalis shouted, her magic taking the form of an orb before she unleashed it right at Zircon.
Zircon barely moved as the energy passed where he was sitting, blowing a hole into the wall behind him before it began to settle down. Zircon was unfazed, having thrown up a shield to prevent the magic from hurting him, but all that seemed to do was annoy Chrysalis even more.
"Really Chrysalis?" Zircon asked, dispelling the shield, "You would go so far as to copy the power of the stallion your trying to turn? You will not succeed in your war against Celestia, nor will you be Queen much longer. I say that the Elder Council will not be backing you once more. All agreed?"
"The Council will not back Chrysalis," the other six agreed.
"Queen Chrysalis," Zircon said loudly, "The Elder Council does not approve of your war with Celestia, nor do we approve of your meddling with the ponies of Ponyville. Be warned, if you declare war on Canterlot again or steal the stallion known as Rocket Sky you will forfeit your title of Queen to your daughter. Now begone Chrysalis."
Chrysalis growled and turned around, marching out of the room and into the corridor she had been waiting in earlier. Her guards were waiting for her, which was to be expected since she had let off some steam in front of the Elders. She passed by the Caretaker without a word, not bothering to talk with the little changeling.
"Whats the plan my Queen?" one of them asked.
"Prepare your brothers and sisters," Chrysalis said, "We're moving into the Everfree Mountain. We're going to capture Rocket Sky and bind him to the darkness."
The guards smiled as they walked, Chrysalis would have the last laugh against the Council.