Cassius entered the castle of Queen Chrysalis from a large hole in the wall of the throne hall. The place was empty and appeared like it hasn't been managed in months. The stone floor was a mess of rubble and several walls were blown out. A slimy residue was covering some of the ceiling, walls, and parts of the floors. Cassius had dispersed the shadows that consumed him except the ones around his cutie mark and had them cover the multi colored rings in his eyes and made his mane and tail look black before he entered what was now called the changeling kingdom. He figured its been years since his attempt to kill Celestia. He must have done something wrong and he intended to cover any bases he might have missed the first time.
After so many years for being gone he was going to test the loyalty of his allies by playing the part of an exploring pegasus.
It took Cassius hours before he finally heard something and it sounded like Pinkie Pie. Following the sounds of what appeared to be singing, Cassius found a door that was open and a black vortex sat in the frame.
Suddenly the vortex spoke, "How is a pegasus like a writing desk? Can you answer this riddle?"
Thinking for a moment on the riddle Cassius heard Pinkie Pie again behind the door. Then it hit him, if Pinkie Pie was involved nothing made logical sense.
"No, I cannot." Cassius answered with a sinister smile.
"Correct!" hollered the door.
Within a matter of seconds the vortex collapsed and Cassius was looking at the back of a cloth costume of Pinkie Pie. He hadn't been seen by the changelings thanks to the size of the large head. The imprisoned changelings guessing at the current riddle that the imposter had asked. Cassius quickly composed himself to fit his part. When he was ready he pushed the fake in the costume with little force as they were sent off balance. What he heard was the sounds of metal and wood smashing as the costume fell down a set of stairs. It landed on a base platform with a thud, with enough force to knock off the head, its contents spilled onto the stone. What came out was the mangled remains of a old record player and a smashed record. The changelings stared at it a moment then to a frightened gray pegasus at the top of the steps. A large changeling walked over to the mess on the floor then to their rescuer.
"Well. Well, what do we have here? A lost pegasus that just opened the way out for us." she called to her minions.
Cassius walked back into a wall trying to show as much fear as possible without laughing. Chrysalis flew over to him and smiled darkly.
"So what is your name pony?" she hissed.
Now visibly trembling, he replied while stuttering as he spoke to add effect, "A-Ace Gray-feather."
Chrysalis looked him in the eyes and replied, "Do you know what we are Ace?"
With a gulp he mumbled, "Y-You are changelings."
Cassius know he must have been doing a good job. If he wasn't she would have called her guards to try to kill him now.
"Very good. Now do you mind telling me what you are?" she asked Ace as she walked away and down the steps.
He looked confused and spoke softly, "I'm a pegasus from..."
Chrysalis turned and glared at him before blurting out, "Do you think I am that naïve. You are taller than most Pegasi, you have a strange aura about you and no cutie mark. So Tell me what you really are before I kill you myself."
Ace looked around frantically then mumbled something.
"What was that? What did you say?" Asked the queen impatiently.
Clearing his throat Ace repeated, "I said, I don't think you can kill me."
Chrysalis started to chuckle then calmly asked, "And why not?"
Taking a step closer Ace responded, "Well Chrysalis, you never were able to kill me before. Why would this time be any different."
Any hint of amusement left Chrysalis face and a look of confusion replaced it.
"What do you mean by, this time?"
Cassius had her attention and was going to play with her fear as long as he could.
"Oh sweet, amusing Chrysalis, you don't recognize me?" Ace said with a crazed laugh.
"Discord is that you? What are you doing here?" the changeling asked backing away slowly.
The laughing only grew harder, "Discord? Now that's rich, the fool can't even take the simplest tasks serious for any longer than a few minutes."
Chrysalis felt a growing fear as the pony stepped closer. In a panic she fired a blast of magic at him. The blast hit home sending stone and smoke into the air. When the smoke cleared Ace was brushing off some rubble from his coat with his wings while glaring at Chrysalis.
"You shouldn't attack a friend Chrysalis, Its bad for business and you life." He responded to her fearful look.
The queen yelled at her loudest, "Who are you? What are you?"
At that moment Ace's eyes revealed the multi colored rings. Chrysalis froze and her minions looked at their queen with puzzled expressions.
"No... you can't be alive. I saw you die by your own hooves?" She said as her voice cracked.
The shadows removed themselves from Cassius and his mane and tail returned to its natural color, revealing his cutie mark.
"So, I killed myself then? Hmm, well that is interesting to know."
Cassius walked next to Chrysalis with a cold stare and an even colder voice and asked, "Will you still serve me or do I need to fight you again?"
Chrysalis just looked to him and blinked. "N-no I will follow you to battle, but my army isn't enough to take Canterlot."
Cassius looked to her smiling softly, "Which is why we are going to recall King Sombra. I still have fragments of all of your powers, but I need the originals at my side again.
When I kill Celestia I will help you conquer the neighboring lands. Sombra will have the Crystal empire and the balance will be restored with you leading this new world until the balance shifts again."
Queen Chrysalis thought about the reward for just supporting the guardian.
"What about Discord? Last time he fought beside us, now he is with Celestia." she asked.
At that moment Cassius erupted into shadows and said as he turned away, "I will take his place and send him straight to the eternal herd kicking and screaming myself."
With a look of fear Chrysalis mumbled, "Wow. the forces of the balance can really change some ponies."
"What was that?" Cassius snarled as he turned back to face her.
"Oh nothing Cassius, nothing at all." she quickly replied looking away trying to lose his gaze.
Queen Chrysalis turned back and asked, "Cassius what happened to your..."
Cassius quickly glared at her and said, "I am... incomplete at the moment and I have a blasted enchantment on me. I still don't have all of my powers. I do have well over enough to kill you though, incase you were wondering."
Chrysalis gulped and said nothing. Cassius let out a loud roar and began to hold his head with a hoof as he leaned against a wall.
Chrysalis walked over to him and asked, "Are you alright?"
Cassius looked down at the gray stone floor and said through gritted teeth, "No, they brought back Twilight Sparkle and... somepony else. The balance is even more off than before. It looks like your army might be used before this day is up."
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Celestia called the captain of the guards to her throne. Prince Shining Armor walked in to see her talking to another Alicorn. He stopped and bowed at the sight of a new face.
"Princess Celestia, you called for me?" asked the white unicorn as he slowly rose from his bow.
"Yes, Shining Armor this is Sereen. She is an old friend of mine that has been gone for awhile. She will help you to make preparations." Celestia said with a warm smile.
Shining Armor looked to her with a puzzled expression and asked, " Preparation for what?"
Celestia's smile gave way to a dark look before she spoke to her captain,
"We are going to war and old enemy has come back to face us once again."
"Which one your highness, Sombra or Chrysalis?" the white unicorn asked.
Celestia sighed and replied, "Both of them, and they are going to be followed by many others. A more powerful foe leads them to the call of my death. Because of this Shining Armor, I am promoting you to be the commander of the armies and Sereen will be your General."
Shining Armor looked at Celestia to see if this was a joke. Her face told him this was the dark truth. Sereen walked to him from the throne next to Celestia. Light seemed to shine off of her as she approached. She looked as though she might have been the sun itself that Celestia rose each day. She was right in front of him when she spoke.
Her voice was as calm and soothing as Celestia's, "Shining Armor, rally your men and send a messenger to any allies we may have. I will go and recruit some dragons and see how the elements are handling things."
Shining Armor gave the Alicorn a solute and galloped off without hesitation. If they were going to war and Celestia's life itself was on the line, there could be no hesitation or delay.
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Luna flew over Ponyville to oversee the restoration of the town. She hadn't been able to sleep due to the spell she used and her mind was racing.
What Celestia had said rang through her thoughts,
"He will go in their place if we can not separate him from them."
Celestia was going to give him to the herd as tribute for Twilight and Sereen if the Elements of Chaos were not be found and taken away. Why would Celestia do this to him after all of the years he had served as Luna's guardian and friend. He was always there for her when she needed somepony and Tia was occupied with something else. All his years of service to the herd and the ponies of Equestria, he gave his life to make sure nopony else was hurt by his hooves. A question popped into her head at that moment. Why did he return after all this time? Luna looked for a place to land when she saw the library.
"The Journal was there, Tia sent Twilight back with it. It might hold my answers!" exclaimed the anxious Alicorn.
She flew to the walkway in front of the building and landed by the door. She knocked on the wooden it’s surface and waited for a moment. With a creak, the door opened behind stood Spike, holding a blue book in his claw.
"Oh princess, please come in. What can I do for you?" responded the surprised baby dragon.
Luna walked in and asked while looking around for the glass dome, "Do you still have the journal here?"
Spike placed the book in his claw on a table and walked up the stairs. A few seconds later Twilight walked down with him and the journal was in his claw.
"Princess I have tried everything I can think of to open this journal and nothing has worked." Twilight said with her head low.
Luna placed a hoof over her and said in a soothing voice, "I don't expect you to. The Journal belongs to Cassius. He always was one to keep his problems to himself and the journal is a log of every feeling, problem, and thought he has had for at least over a millennia of living."
Twilight raised her head and an eyebrow, "A millennia of life. But the book is so thin?"
Luna let go and walked over to Spike.
"It is magic Twilight Sparkle. You of all ponies should know, that magic can be deceptive. Now as for trying everything, you didn't try to ask me to open it." Luna said as she lifted the book with her magic.
It hummed softly. Luna gave the journal a pulse of magic and it grew in size to that of a large encyclopedia. It fell to the floor and cracked the wood below. The cover now had an image of the Dark Libra cutie mark, Cassius's cutie mark.
The book sat for a moment then Luna opened its cover and skimmed page after page until one entry caught her eye. The inscription on the first page that she looked at and read was written in ancient Equine text. Twilight couldn't read it but Luna looked as though she could.
"Princess, what does it say?" asked the lavender unicorn.
"This is an entry from years back. This was when I was a filly. I had pranked Tia one morning, I replaced her tea with warm mud. She looked so mad and Cassius said he did it to make me laugh. She had him drink the rest of it. He did too and when he left her to rejoin me. The first thing he did was to smile at me with muddy teeth and I couldn't stop laughing." Luna said laughing hysterically at the good memories.
Twilight chuckled with Princess Luna at the story she told. Luna eventually turned the pages and found another entry that demanded her attention. Luna looked on with wide eyes.
"Luna what is it?" Twilight asked as she tried to understand the text.
At the halfway point of the book Luna sat down and looked at the ground.
"Luna what is it?" Twilight persisted to ask again with a little more unrest.
"He had planned to rebuild the castle of the two sisters for me. He had already made preparations and had the Elements of Harmony placed there. Twilight Sparkle, he was going to give me a Kingdom in the night for my birthday." Luna replied with a tear.
"Princess, from the sound of it he loved you like I love Celestia. She is like a mother to me. You must have been like a sister or even a daughter to him. If this journal will help us save him then lets keep reading." Twilight said with a look of determination in her eyes.
Luna perked up and said, "Thank you Twilight Sparkle, you have more years of wisdom than I could have guessed."
Luna got up and continued to read. Hours had passed and they learned of the thoughts Cassius had on almost everything. He liked to mess with Celestia and his sister, he loved to see Luna smile and would do whatever it took to make her happy and safe. He disliked the way Celestia ruled some times, but stood by her decisions and acted on her wishes without hesitation. One entry told of an order he had received from Celestia that he didn't like, but he didn't fight her about. He felt that it was the best choice given the eventual threat he may one day hold.
She wanted him to submit to another enchantment that would render his magic useless and remove his horn all together.
"This entry was days before he turned on Equestria." Luna mumbled.
Twilight leaned in and asked, "Why did he betray Celestia? If he was as loyal as you say then, what happened."
Luna sighed and said, "Harmony had become too great in Equestria, he could only fight his instanced to maintain a perfect balance for so long. The Eternal Herd requires a balance of Harmony and Chaos in this world. It is a trial for those here and if it is too easy or too hard then a pony doesn't get the experience they need or deserve. They don't get a rewarding life. Cassius and Sereen where a fail safe to keep balance in order along with the responsibility of protecting us from the biggest threats. He betrayed Celestia because she at the time was the largest source of Harmony in Equestria. He almost killed her too, but Sereen used the Elements of Harmony to become the bigger source and draw Cassius in to fight her. She did just that but was killed in the bloody battle. Her death was enough to restore the balance and revert him back to the kind soul he truly is. After seeing what he did he created the Elements of Chaos using his life force as the power source in their manifestation. This was his way of maintaining perfect order."
At that moment Luna wanted to forget everything as easily as Cassius did.