What Didn't Happen

by Zeg

Facing Harsh Reality

Moondancer walked the dim cobblestone halls, filling them with the metallic clank of her hoof armor echoing a steady, repeating pattern. Two stallions wearing the standard issue Nightguard armor had accompanied her on this journey into the prison area of Canterlot’s Grand Palace this evening. Earlier, she had received word that Chrysalis had something important she wanted to share with Nightmare Moon, and was now on her way to see to this matter herself.

As requested, the message had been delivered to Moondancer first, which meant that Nightmare Moon would still be unaware of the request. Twilight had mentioned days earlier that Chrysalis somehow knew her secret, and had asked that Moondancer help keep this information from spreading if possible. It seemed now the captive was attempting to use her leverage in some way, but why so suddenly out of the blue was a mystery.

There was no possible way that Chrysalis would know that Twilight had already shared the secret with her, Moondancer thought to herself. This opened up an opportunity, one where she may be able to get the changeling to divulge something useful, and all she would have to do is hear what the prisoner had to say. Moondancer let a smirk turn up the corners of her mouth as the thought passed through her mind, taking a moment to wonder if Twilight’s methods were somehow rubbing off on her. Get them to start talking and they may tell you things you hadn’t even thought to ask, she thought as she recalled Twilight’s wisdom.

The group of guards came to a stop just in front of Chrysalis’s cell. The captive queen lifted her head from where she had been resting on the floor, and with a light yawn and stretch she pushed herself to sit up. She blinked her tired eyes as she peered through the bars at Moondancer. “Hmm, I knew you would be the one to show,” she mused as the corners of her mouth slowly turned up into a smile.

I guess it won’t be that easy, Moondancer thought. She cleared her throat. “Anything you say to me will be reported to her Majesty directly. That’s how it works.”

“Of course,” Chrysalis said as she stood tall in her cell. “That would actually matter If I were really going to tell you anything.”

Moondancer frowned at the odd statement. She momentarily wondered if she had been duped, but thought it odd that Chrysalis would stoop to pulling silly pranks just to waste her time. However, just as she began to consider the possible reasons for Chrysalis’s sudden change of mind, she stumbled forward from a jarring blow to the back of her head that sent her helmet flying and clattering to the floor.

The stinging pain from being bluntly struck shot down the back of her neck. She nearly fell face first into the cell bars as she stumbled toward them, only catching herself just barely quick enough to spin around and see one of the two guards swinging an armor clad hoof at her face. Her head still ringing from the dizzying blow and her eyesight blurred, she failed to properly block the thrust and took another hit, this one solidly landing against the side of her head and causing her to crash into the cell bars full force. The sound of her armor clattering against the metal bars echoed through the halls as her legs scrambled to keep herself upright. She managed to focus her vision just enough in time to see an armored back hoof right before it came up under her chin. Her head snapped back from the kick and slammed against the metal bars again, causing her to let go a short gasp in pain before she slumped down to the ground against the bars into an unmoving heap.

The guard that had assailed Moondancer stood watch over her unconscious body as the other moved toward the cell door. Raising a hoof to the doorway, he pressed the flat of the hoof armor against a circular plate on the door. The plate glowed a light blue before letting go a clack, and then he slid the door to the side opening the cell wide.

Chrysalis still stood where she had quietly watched the entire spectacle, and calmly walked out of her cell after the doorway had been opened. As she stepped out into the hallway, she raised a hoof, presenting it to the guard that had freed her, and he quickly worked to remove the anti-magic band that encircled her fetlock using the same enchanted armored hoof that he had used to open the cell door.

Chrysalis looked to the guard standing over Moondancer’s body while her bindings were being removed. “I take it everything is proceeding as planned?” she asked.

“Yes, your Grace,” the guard said with a quick bow. “They should be arriving on the next train, within the hour.”

“Excellent,” Chrysalis said as she lowered her head enough for the anti-magic band encircling her horn to be removed. It opened and fell to the ground with a metallic clatter after the guard touched it. Chrysalis took in a deep breath and let it out slowly with a happy sigh. “Oh, how I’ve missed my magic,” she said as she took a few steps around toward where Moondancer was laying unconscious on the floor. “As much as I would like to enjoy this moment, we haven’t a lot of time,” she said as her horn lit with a fiery green aura. Moondancer’s helmet lifted from the ground as Chrysalis levitated it over. She propped up Moondancer’s head just enough to fit the helm back on, and the enchantment did its work to change Moondancer’s outward appearance to conform to the standard Nightguard gray. She smiled down as she held Moondancer’s unconscious form in her hooves.

The hallways flashed bright green for an instant before returning back to the dim light levels.

Nightmare Moon sat upon Canterlot’s golden throne, adorned with her onyx regalia. A dozen of her Nightguard stood at attention along the crimson carpet that lead up to the throne, which was positioned at one end of the long hall lined with stained glass windows that depicted the history of her nation. Four additional guards stood at their post beside the throne, two to each side of her. She had chosen to hold court in the same location that her sister once had since shortly after her return, hoping that the familiar surroundings would encourage ponies to attend and ease in the transition. The first couple weeks had seen very little activity at all, but lately things were beginning to show change as the nobility and politicians of Canterlot came to an acceptance of their new ruler, or at the very least had overcome their fear of her enough to bear their questions and grievances to her directly. One such group had her attention when she took notice of a disturbance out in the hall that seemed to be growing louder. She glanced up toward the doorway just as Moondancer galloped through, entering the room with two of her fellow guards close behind her. They all paused to very quickly bend their knee to the monarch before Moondancer trotted up to the throne.

“What has happened?” Nightmare Moon said as she stood from her throne, walking through and past the group of guests as they made way for her. The sudden interruption of their meeting caused a light buzzing of confused whispering to circulate about them.

Moondancer glanced at the confused ponies, carefully choosing her words. “She has escaped,” she simply said as she looked back Nightmare Moon.

As shocking as the information was, Nightmare Moon kept her calm demeanor. She turned her attention to her guests when she heard the hushed whispering coming from them increase in intensity. “We shall continue our discussion at a later time,” she said before turning her attention to one of the Nightguard posted near her throne. “See them safely out,” she commanded, to which the guard quickly nodded in response and began to quickly usher the group out of the room. She then raised her voice so all others in the room could hear her clearly. “The rest of you, lend your help in the search. Go.” Her command set loose a flurry of activity as every guard in the hall set into action, leaving their post and making their way down the hallway at a gallop.

Moondancer followed along with the gathered group of guards until she had nearly reached the grand double doors. She paused there, turning to her side and looking back down the hall toward Nightmare Moon. As she did, seven of the other Nightguard separated from the group and also stopped there next to her, lingering in the room as the rest of the ponies funneled out through the door. Once all others had left, Moondancer’s horn lit with a glowing green light, and the double doors slammed closed with a pulse that then traveled back down the length of the hallway, seeming to skitter along the walls with an electric crackling sound. The pulse ended with a loud snap when it made its way to the end of the hall behind the golden throne.

Nightmare Moon was unsure what she was sensing. The magical pulse that had just rippled its way through her throne room was not familiar to her, and she had not asked for any sort of protective spell to be cast. “What is this? We gave you a command,” she said as she glared at the group of guards that were walking back down the length of the hallway toward her.

The only sound that filled the room for a time was the steady pattern of hoof steps coming from the group of Nightguard. They closed the distance to the Queen, covering most of the length of the room at a casual pace. As they grew closer, Nightmare Moon’s visage only grew more stern and dangerous as she stared down the defiant group of guardsponies. Finally, the group stopped at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the throne, only a few trots away from her. Moondancer responded to the glare aimed squarely at her with a sudden smile. Her mouth opened to form two simple words, “Do it.”

The other seven Nightguard sprung into action immediately, rushing toward Nightmare Moon at an alarming speed. Two pegasi among the guards took to the air, closing the distance first and both trying to simultaneously tackle her from either side. However, Nightmare Moon reacted to the assault quickly with her magic as her horn crackled to life with energy. One of the guards seemed to bounce off an unseen shield as the other was forcefully swatted away by a wave of kinetic power. “You would dare to attack your Queen!?” she yelled as her voice reached levels that threatened to shake the foundation of the palace. However, her challenging shout seemed to have absolutely no effect. The remaining five ground-bound guards had reached her, and were now attempting to force her to the ground with their superior numbers as they worked to tackle her as a team.

Moondancer had begun to calmly close the distance between herself and the remaining steps leading up to the throne as Nightmare Moon worked to stave off the attacks. She ducked her head slightly as one of the guards flew past her after Nightmare Moon had magically wretched him from her back and tossed him aside. The guard impacted one of the nearby pillars and fell to the ground with a clatter. As he did, his appearance shifted with a green shock of light, revealing an unconscious changeling clad in Nightguard armor.

Surprise was the first emotion that registered on Nightmare Moon’s face, followed very quickly by an unquestionable, building rage at the realization that changelings had managed to trick their way into her throne room. Her draconic eyes flashed brightly, and her ethereal mane and tail billowed wildly about her as she chose to use unrestrained force against the invaders. The guards were all forced back simultaneously by a wave of raw power, scattering them in all directions. A dark storm cloud formed from her mane and rose into the air within the chamber. Lightning skittered across the clouds surface as it threatened to unleash its power upon any who would dare approach.

And one did. The mare that appeared to be Moondancer had nearly covered the remaining distance to the top of the stairs, and was now only steps away from standing face to face with Nightmare Moon. Her horn was glowing a bright fire green, and even her eyes seemed to match the intensity with a green glow of their own. Nightmare Moon brought up a protective shield to guard herself against whatever magical force the imposter might be thinking of using against her, prepared to counter attack the very second the attack failed. However, the fake Captain let go a blast of green light that seemed to simply erode the shield as if it were made of nothing more than water vapor, casually blowing the shield aside like smoke being pushed aside by a light breeze. Surprised at how easily her magic had been disabled, Nightmare Moon didn’t see Moondancer’s metal clad hoof until it was too late, and took a back-hoofed hit squarely to the side of her face.

Nightmare Moon stumbled from the surprisingly strong strike, letting go a gasping cry of pain. She found it impossible to focus clearly enough to conjure anything in response, and the storm cloud she had prepared to smite her enemies with dissipated quickly. She felt her head being guided upward by a hoof under her chin, and through her blinking, watery eyes she saw something that actually caused her to feel fear. This imposter was facing down an alicorn, arguably the most powerful single alicorn in Equestria at this very moment, and seemed to be fully enjoying herself.

“Remember when I said I wasn’t powerful enough to fight you?” the mare masquerading as the Captain asked, to which Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened slightly at the realization of who this imposter truly was. ‘Moondancer’ only grinned back at the reaction as she leaned in slightly, letting go a short, amused laugh through her teeth before whispering into her ear. “I lied.”

With a flick of her hoof, the imposter lifted and tossed her guard’s helm aside, and a quick flash of green flame that rippled from the floor around her up to and over her head stripped her disguise away. Before Nightmare Moon now stood Queen Chrysalis, still clad in the remaining pieces of Moondancer’s Nightguard armor.

Nightmare Moon made a quick attempt to conjure her spells once again, but was denied when she felt a sudden searing pain that seemed to originate deep within her skull. “Ah ah...,” Chrysalis said as she raised one hoof, waggling it as she shook her head. “We’ll have none of that.” Nightmare Moon struggled under the strange power that seemed to be reaching directly into her mind and squeezing her senses mercilessly. She couldn’t properly think, and was even beginning to find it difficult to stand as her legs shook underneath her. She squeezed her eyes closed against the pain as her head hung lowly.

Chrysalis once again used a hoof to guide Nightmare Moon’s glance upward, the touch causing her to tremble. She could only manage to stare back with one eye opened as she clenched her teeth in a last ditch effort to deny the screams that her body wanted to let out. Chrysalis seemed to regard Nightmare Moon curiously as she tilted her head at the sight of her struggling under her mind magic. “This little personality disorder you have is troublesome, but I can solve it all right here,” she said in a soothing voice. As she slowly pulled her hoof away, Nightmare Moon collapsed to the floor as if it had been the only thing supporting her weight. “Now,” Chrysalis said as a wide grin spread across her muzzle, “let's dig that nasty little splinter of a personality out of your mind.”

The unimaginable pain seemed to double in an instant. The only reason why Nightmare Moon didn’t scream at the top of her lungs at that very moment was the fact that the sudden surge in power had completely stolen the wind from her. Her body reacted involuntarily as she writhed on the floor, eventually finding her way onto her side. Her mouth hung open, and after many long, painful seconds had passed, her voice finally returned to her as she let out an agonizing cry. “Don’t worry,” Chrysalis said calmly. “It will all be over soon enough, and then you can go back to being the weak, little sister.”

Twilight had left her tower, having prepared herself to meet with the Queen to discuss the ongoing study of the Everfree Hive. After her discussion with Chrysalis days ago, she had come to the conclusion that the gigantic crystal suspended within the hive must have some sort of additional importance. Chrysalis had admitted that she had received more than just prisoners from Equestria, though she had left out specifically what. The magical crystal was something that seemed very out of place given the location, and had never existed in Equestria’s true past to Twilight’s knowledge. This made it the focus of what was now over two days worth of study by a group of unicorns she had hoof picked for an expedition back to the abandoned hive. The hope was that analyzing the magical properties of the crystal would provide some answers to the tangled web of questions that had been forming ever since Twilight had arrived in this past.

However, the study had provided few results so far, and even fewer that she could actually share. The crystal itself had proven impossible to get any sort of readings on, as it was protected by a large matrix of enchantments that prevented outside interference. Twilight had probed the layers of enchantments herself the previous day, and had found that a large number of the components that made up the enchantments were very familiar to her, containing magical structures that she had developed herself. If anything, she now had enough circumstantial evidence to all but confirm that her student had somehow been involved with the changelings at some point. There was no other possible way that the magic could exist in this time.

None of this was information that Twilight could reveal to Nightmare Moon, not without raising a lot of additional questions that she couldn’t safely answer. Even so, she had returned to Canterlot to request an extension. Her group was due to return from the Nightguard camp stationed near the Everfree Hive along with the Nightguard that had been sent as protection in less than a day, and she still hadn’t uncovered the crystal’s true purpose. She needed more time to unravel the protections, as forcing her way through them would likely trigger a self-destructive enchantment that she had found buried deep under the outer layers. Whatever the secret was that was being hidden, Chrysalis was willing to destroy it before allowing anypony else to discover it. That simply made it all the more important that the truth be uncovered.

Twilight was quickly approaching the stairs to the main entryway of Canterlot’s Grand Palace, but her senses had picked up on something out of place as she had approached. She paused at the entryway, holding one hoof raised as she glanced to the sides of the stairs before her. There was no one there, and there should have been. At all times of every day, there were always two guards posted at this entryway.

Twilight quickly glanced up when she noticed a shadow flick across the ground, immediately trying to trace the angle that it would have been cast from. She blinked as her eyes scanned the skies, her pegasus sight working to pick up movement in the moonlit night. Once her eyes adjusted slightly, she noticed not just something, but many somethings moving against the stars. The shadows soared through the air quickly in circles, some of them diving back down to the palace to land at the spires, others taking to the night sky. A large number of pegasi were currently roaming the skies over the palace.

“Enchantress!” Twilight spun around to face the familiar voice that had called out to her, and then saw an armor clad pegasus descend from the sky, her hooves making a quick clanking pattern on the ground when she touched down.

“Sergeant Gale?” Twilight asked as she approached the guardsmare. “What’s going on? Has something happened in the palace?”

The Sergeant seemed slightly winded, but didn’t let it stop her from speaking. “Chrysalis has escaped,” she said. When she saw the expected shock on Twilight’s face, she moved right into to answering the obvious question. “We’re not sure how. Captain Moondancer reported it to the Queen directly and the entire guard force is searching the palace now, but the Captain locked herself inside the throne room with her Majesty for some reason. We haven’t been able to get the door open since then and we don’t know what’s going on in there.”

The shocked look on Twilight’s face changed to something more unsettling. “Are you sure it was Moondancer?” When she saw that Gale had to stop and consider the question, Twilight immediately took off at a gallop up the stairway into the palace proper, prompting the Sergeant to follow close behind her. “How long ago?” she asked as she rounded a bend in the hallway, taking the most direct route she knew to the throne room.

Gale had lept from the ground after turning the corner, and was now flying just barely higher than Twilight’s height off the floor to keep up. “Not long. Five minutes, perhaps a few more now?” she answered.

“That’s too long.”

“She wasn’t the only one. Maybe half a dozen other Nightguard were in there too.” The Sergeant knew why Twilight was suddenly so concerned about this, and mentally chastised herself for not having realized sooner. If Chrysalis had escaped, she could look like anyone.

Twilight came to a skidding stop just in front of the large double doors that barred entry into the throne room. She wasted no time charging her magic, causing a quick pulse of white light to expand from her horn in all directions around her. The few Nightguard that had been present at the doorway all backed away slightly at the unexpected spell, but there was otherwise no reaction as its white light washed over everyone there. “We have to assume anypony could be a changeling right now,” Twilight said, looking to the small group of guards. “All of you check out, but you need to stick together and confirm that everyone you come across is not a changeling in disguise. We have no idea how many there could be.”

“That might be easier said than done, Enchantress. A lot of our unicorns are away at the Everfree camp,” Gale said. Twilight visibly cringed at the realization that her expedition had left the guard force in Canterlot weakened, and the convenient timing of Chrysalis’s escape was not lost on her.

Sergeant Gale approached a Nightguard unicorn who was busy with scanning the double doors with her magic. “Have you figured anything out about this door?” she asked.

The mare ended her scanning spell, turning her full attention to her superior. “Sorry Sarge, but I haven’t been able to even figure out how this thing is working yet,” she said with a shake of her head. “I’ve never seen magic like it.”

Twilight had wasted no time beginning her own probe of the spell. She very quickly found what she thought she would, that the spell had components that matched designs of her own. This meant it would be too complicated to break it down from the outside in time, even for herself. But she did have another option.

“I’m going inside,” Twilight said as she turned from the doorway toward Gale. “We can’t safely break this down from here, but I can get past it and open it from the other side.”

Sergeant Gale glanced up at the imposing double doors, and then back to Twilight with an unsure look. “Are you sure? We have no idea what is happening in there.”

“That’s more the reason for me to get in there now. The Queen needs our help.” Twilight turned her focus back to the doorway, starting to conjure up her power as she continued to speak. “Do not try to attack this door, that would have very bad results. Just wait for me to open it.”

Even though she wasn’t a member of the Nightguard, it was clear to the Sergeant that Twilight was the one in control of this situation, and was likely the only pony among them who could solve it. “Understood,” Gale said with a quick nod of respect to the Enchantress. She caught Twilight’s gaze briefly as she looked back, and offered a quick smile adding, “Good luck.”

Twilight nodded back to the Sergeant, and then focused her attention fully on the doors as she prepared to push past the barrier using a method she had invented herself. Her studies of magic had led her to find that magical shields operated in the three dimensional world differently than most things. They nullified the natural laws that most things were bound to, such as forces of gravity. It was a byproduct of their purpose, which was to stop other things from getting through.

Twilight had also found that with proper understanding of the underlying workings of the world, one could manipulate space in such a way as to warp it. The warped space was completely undetectable by conventional means, as any light, sound, energy, or matter that passed through it would conform to it harmlessly. All things, except for shielding spells. Knowing this, Twilight could ‘push’ the warped space around and through the spell, and create a sort of ‘gap’ that was untouched by the shield that she could cast a teleport through. It took a greater amount of effort to do, as the gap had to be maintained at the same time the teleport spell was cast for it to complete. And this ward in particular had some complexities to it that were forcing her to exert extra effort just to find the gap she was looking for.

The instant she found it, she didn’t even waste one second before casting the teleport. Her senses shifted as the familiar sensation of being thrown through space rushed over her, ending in a near instant when she reappeared, this time on the other side of the door. Immediately, her ears were assaulted by the screams of Nightmare Moon, who she could see writhing around in agony on the floor just in front of the throne. Over her stood Chrysalis, who was mid cast in some sort of spell. Twilight’s next actions were almost purely reactionary. Her mind reached out for the gap she had just created in the ward and quickly located it. She focused her attention on Nightmare Moon, and then on the first safe place that came to her mind, paying no attention to the distance involved as she hadn’t any time to consider it. Her horn flared with a bright white flash and a shower of sparks as she poured her power into pressing another teleportation spell through the gap, and in that instant Nightmare Moon vanished in a flash. Her horn complained with a sharp, burning pain after the sudden exertion of power, but the spell had had the desired effect. Nightmare Moon was now safe, far away from the one who had been harming her.

Chrysalis flinched at the sudden interruption of her spell when her target vanished. She slowly turned toward the doorway, and upon seeing Twilight there, gave her a deep glower. “That... was rather annoying,” she growled as she began to walk the distance down the hallway toward Twilight. At the same time, a half dozen others in the room that appeared to be Nightguard gathered around her to follow.

Twilight realized she had little time to make a choice. She could attempt to bring down the ward, but it would likely take the majority of her focus to do so and would leave her vulnerable. She considered a retreat, but a third teleportation through the barrier could prove to be too much for her already exhausted magic, and even if it did succeed she didn’t want to give Chrysalis the chance to escape. Her only other option was to attempt to stand and fight against superior numbers with her magic reserves already greatly taxed.

None of the choices were good ones.

However, Twilight considered that she had an ace she had yet to play; her anti-changeling magic. If she could force enough of her remaining power into the spell, she could disable the entire group of changelings long enough to deal with the warding spell. She had already expended far more of her power than she had planned to when she had teleported Nightmare Moon to safety, so it was going to be an all or nothing attempt. She steeled herself, calling upon her remaining power and conjuring a white point of light at the tip of her horn. When she felt she had charged as much of her remaining magical energy as she safely could, she released the spell, filling the room with a white wave of light that rippled wall to wall against the warding and quickly expanded toward the group of changelings.

Chrysalis charged a spell of her own, matching the power that she saw and releasing something that appeared identical; a white wave of magical force that expanded from her horn to fill the room. When the two waves of white light impacted each other, they cancelled out causing a sound that was similar to that of breaking glass, leaving nothing behind.

The spell’s failure left Twilight breathless, both at the expenditure of the last of her magical reserves and the fact that it had been her last option. She blankly stared at the empty space between herself and the changelings that were still advancing toward her. Escape was no longer an option, fighting was no longer an option, even a rescue was likely not to happen since she had told the Nightguard to wait for her. She had completely underestimated her opponent, and now there was nothing left she could do.

“Hmm... weren’t expecting that to happen, were you?” Chrysalis said as she stopped only a few steps away. The guards fanned out to her sides, cutting off any sort of escape route that Twilight could possibly take into the throne room itself. Twilight backed herself away until her tail brushed against the double doors, her eyes quickly darting back and forth as she tried to keep track of the group surrounding her. Chrysalis let an amused chuckle escape from her throat. “You look utterly exhausted,” she said through a fang filled smile. She took a moment to glance to each side of herself at the guards that were eagerly waiting on their next command. She looked back to Twilight, finding the defiant glare from her cornered prey to be all the more amusing. Her voice had a tint of excitement as she gave her command. “Take her.”

The half dozen guards all rushed their target simultaneously. Twilight made one last effort to call forward what magic she could to defend herself, even pushing herself unsafely past her normal limits to find anything she could use, but she had expended her power far too quickly for it to recover in time. One of the guards received a mild shock of power that caused him to flinch and let out a yelp, but the rest easily tackled Twilight to the floor before she could do anything else.

Despite the increased strength gifted to alicorns through earth pony magic, Twilight’s physical strength alone was not enough to counter the strength of the six guards holding her against her will. She felt something come in contact with her horn and fasten around it with a hard click, and in that instant it was as if one of her senses had simply ceased to exist. The always constant connection that she had with the magical aura of the world around her had been severed. She felt something else being removed from atop her head, and was able to glance up to see one of the guards holding the Element of Magic out to Chrysalis. She struggled in vain to push herself up, but was harshly pressed back against the floor in response. She let out a wail of pain when one of the guards suddenly twisted her right foreleg back at an awkward angle.

“Stop!” Chrysalis barked out, the sudden shout causing the pain to immediately cease when the offending guard released his hold. “There’s no point in harming her needlessly,” Chrysalis growled with a harsh glare focused on the guard, causing him to cringe. After a reluctant pause, he continued to work at removing Twilight’s velvet jacket, this time much more carefully, pulling the sleeve loose from one foreleg and then the other. Another guard had been working to attach anti-magic bracelets around Twilight’s fetlocks, and she could feel her strength diminishing as each one was attached. One of the guards pulled the final restraint from a pouch on his armor; a body harness made of strong woven straps designed to restrain a pegasus’s wings. The guard worked to strap the harness around Twilight’s body after her jacket had been removed, securing it tightly and buckling it just above her shoulders to prevent her from being able to fly. The guards pulled her up to her hooves once all of the restrictive gear had been secured and checked.

Twilight knew she had been beaten. She had nothing left she could use to fight back with on her own now, so her only remaining option was to attempt to stall for time for the longshot chance that she would somehow be rescued. “You found Crystal Charm, didn’t you?” Twilight accused as she glared angrily at Chrysalis. It was something that she wanted to confirm at the very least, and if this Chrysalis was anything like the one she knew, she could probably prod her into wasting time on boasting about her victory.

“Whatever are you talking about?” Chrysalis said casually as she turned the Element of Magic over in her levitation magic, studying it closely. She seemed completely uninterested in holding the conversation.

Twilight knew she was being lied to, and was beyond the point of controlling her rage now. “Don’t play stupid with me!” She yelled back, drawing Chrysalis’s full attention to her. “I’ve seen it all over your magic. Things that I taught her.” Twilight’s voice weakened slightly as she asked the question that she needed to know the answer to, but feared the most. “What did you do to her?”

“Well then,” Chrysalis started with a slightly surprised tone. She passed the crown over to one of her guards as she said, “If you wanted to meet your precious student again so badly, why didn’t you ask me sooner?” Chrysalis closed her eyes, her horn glowing briefly as a ring of green fire lit around her hooves. The ring quickly flashed over her form, and left in her place was a young, dust gray unicorn mare. Her long, straight, sea green mane fell down to just slightly more than shoulder length, and she opened her deep emerald eyes to look directly at Twilight. “Hello, teacher,” she said in the voice that Twilight knew all too well; the voice of her student, Crystal Charm.

Twilight’s body shook with anger as she pushed herself forward, only to be restrained by two of the guards holding her back with a hoof on each shoulder. “What did you do to her!?” she screamed as tears pooled up in her eyes, threatening to overflow.

“Do to...,” Chrysalis paused for a second before she suddenly burst into a fit of laughter. It took her a moment to recover from whatever it was about Twilight’s outburst that she had found amusing. Twilight, on the otherhoof, was glaring daggers back at her.

“I-I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting that,” Chrysalis said as she tried to get her fit of giggles under control. She wiped away tears that had formed in the corners of her eyes from the laughing fit, and then looked straight into Twilight’s eyes after she had managed to catch her breath. “You don’t get it, do you? You still haven’t figured it out,” she said as she shook her head. A light chuckle sounded deep in her throat as she prepared to reveal another one of her well kept secrets.

“It’s me, teacher. It was always me, from the very first day we met.”

A lie. That is what she wanted it to be. Twilight’s mind immediately rejected the statement, and tried to find a hole in the claim. She needed something, anything she could use to prove that Crystal Charm was real, that her student had been more than a falsified personality, but she couldn’t find it. There was nothing that Chrysalis would gain from such a lie. The more she considered it, the more it made sense that Crystal Charm had never existed in the first place. The student of Princess Twilight Sparkle would have never had a reason to change the past, but the Queen of the Changelings definitely did.

Twilight’s logical side eventually won out, and the weight of the betrayal came down on her like a ton of bricks, causing her to stumbled as if she had been physically struck. Tears overflowed and soaked the fur under her eyes. A single sob wracked her body as she fought to control her emotions, and she ended up staring down at the floor in front of herself as she clutched at her chest with a foreleg.

“Oh...,” Chrysalis quietly said, raising a hoof to her muzzle as a concerned look washed over her face. “Oh, I think I can feel your little heart breaking all the way over here.”

Twilight’s eyes squeezed closed, causing more tears to pour over. Another sob made it past her, and she opened her eyes, glaring back with a mixture of sadness and anger. Through her gritted teeth, she managed to force out a simple question. “Why?”

“Why?” Chrysalis echoed the simple question, her tone indicating that the answer should be plainly obvious. She furrowed her brow as she approached Twilight, who flinched back a step. “I spend well over a thousand year brooding over my curse and living within the shadows of society before I finally decide to do something about it, and at every turn I have been denied, thanks in no small part to your efforts....” Chrysalis maintained a silent glare, allowing some time for the words to sink in, narrowing her eyes before continuing. “You have the nerve to ask why? Is it not obvious!?”

Twilight looked away, unable to bring herself to look into the angry face that she had known to be her student for so many years. Chrysalis tisked loudly, spinning on her hooves and walking a few steps away. She hung her head low for a moment, before turning sidelong toward Twilight, still harboring the angry glare. “You show absolutely no remorse for exploiting my curse, twisting magical spells against me and my kind. I had to do something or else I was doomed to suffer these injustices from now until eternity!”

Chrysalis closed her eyes and breathed in a calming breath, slowly releasing it as she opened her eyes again. Her scowl slowly melted away, and was replaced by a much more pleasant smile as she began to slowly walk back toward Twilight. “What better way to find a solution than from the mare herself. All I had to do was convince you that I wanted to be your little pet student. And you were so desperate for affection that you fell for it!” Twilight flinched as Chrysalis’s face flashed a moment of anger.

However, Chrysalis recovered quickly, and the gentle smile returned as she delicately raised a hoof, touching it against the side of Twilight’s muzzle, to which she almost immediately pulled herself away from. “I’ll admit, we had some good times,” Chrysalis said calmly, seeming unfazed by Twilight’s reactions. “But my goal was always to learn what I could from you so I could counter your magic. But then... you showed me something so much more valuable than that. To think that you had discovered such powerful magic, and had hidden it away. I seriously doubt that you realize the full potential of what you had.”

“The time spell is dangerous!” Twilight snapped back. “You’re destroying everything!”

Chrysalis raised one eyebrow, making a quarter turn and pausing with one hoof raised. “Not the way I see things,” she said before fully turning away to walk down the crimson carpet a ways. She spun around on her hooves, raising one foreleg high as she declared, “I’m fixing them!” Her hoof dropped limply back to the floor as she stared back at Twilight. She seemed to be confused at how Twilight failed to understand something so simple. “That Equestria,” she began as she gestured one hoof to the side, “the one that we both came from... should have never happened. Something else should have happened, but you never gave it the chance.” Chrysalis walked the distance back down the carpet, stopping just in front of Twilight again. “Have you not ever wanted to go back and change something?” she asked, seeming very seriously curious of the answer.

Twilight shook her head, casting her glance down to the floor. “We’re not supposed to get second chances.”

“You honestly believe that?” Chrysalis questioned as she craned her neck low to try and look Twilight in the eyes. When their eyes meet, she shook her head slightly. “I think you’re lying. Why else would you have put effort into developing a spell to accomplish just that; to give you a second chance.”

“I was wrong,” Twilight declared firmly, raising her gaze up level. “All of this is wrong, and you know it!” she said as she jabbed an accusing hoof toward Chrysalis, causing the guards to firmly hold her back out of reach. “Just think for a moment. You’re changing your own history! What if you came across your past self, what would happen then?”

“Oh, oooh yes that,” Chrysalis said as she sat back on her haunches, suddenly seeming very lost in thought as she pressed a hoof to her muzzle. “Well, that already came to pass, and the issue was... dealt with.” She ended the last two simple words with a small smile.

Twilight felt an unease creep up within herself at the cryptic meaning of the words. She reluctantly asked, “What do you mean?”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes and let go an annoyed sigh. “If you really must know, I decided that there would only need to be one me,” she said with a simple shrug of her shoulders.

Twilight stared back wide eyed. “You’re insane,” she said as her voice quivered slightly.

Chrysalis threw her head back, letting go a loud, unrestrained laugh. Her head rolled back forward, and quickly the laugh ended in a single breath. “What’s insane is that you still don’t comprehend the true power of the magic you created.” Chrysalis raised both of her forehooves to her sides as she glanced upward. “This world is my future now. The future that I was always meant to have!”

“So that’s your answer,” Twilight said, drawing Chrysalis’s attention back to her. “Just eliminate anyone and anything in the way of what you want?” She grew quieter, and then asked, “Is that what you did to me?” Her body visibly shook as as she asked.

Chrysalis stood and took a step closer toward Twilight, once again reaching a hoof delicately up toward her muzzle, to which Twilight quickly recoiled from once again. “How could I ever senselessly bring harm to the one who taught me so much?” Chrysalis asked. She used the same, quiet little closed-mouth giggle that Twilight had always found to be one of the most endearing quirks about her student, and then turned to walk toward one of her guards. “You’ll never know the truth of it, and at this point it no longer even matters,” she said as she used her magic to take up the Element of Magic that the guard presented to her. “You see, you’ve actually saved me a lot of trouble by coming here. You’ve had something in your possession that has been quite elusive in this Equestria. I’ve spent years trying to find a way to bring the focus back into existence, but you have brought it right to me.” She stopped admiring the crown briefly as it hung in her greenish levitation aura, casting a sidelong glance at Twilight. “I really should thank you, since you are making this much simpler. To think I was planning on taking little Luna’s place for a while just to get closer to you.”

The thought of the Queen of Changelings making use of the Element of Magic left Twilight with a sickening feeling, however, she knew they were not simply a tool to be used by anyone in the world. “The Element of Magic will never accept you,” she said with a firm degree of confidence.

Chrysalis let go another amused chuckle. “Shows how little you know,” she said as she dismissed the statement with a wave of her hoof. “But,” she started with a sigh, “I can’t really blame you for that. After all, Celestia failed to tell you how they really work. I’m sure she also never even told you where they came from, did she?” She raised her eyebrows as she looked toward Twilight waiting for an answer to come forth, but when all she got back was a silent stare she smirked, simply saying, “I thought not.”

Chrysalis took another moment to admire the crown she held in her levitation spell, and then looked past it to notice the velvet jacket that one of her guards was holding draped over his foreleg. She let go a thoughtful hum as she smiled. “I just had a marvelous idea,” she said as she began to work her magic to shed the remaining pieces of Moondancer’s Nightguard armor from her body. The metallic pieces each fell to the floor with a loud clunk when she dropped them, and once she had fully removed each piece, she passed the crown back to one of her guards for safe keeping as she approached Twilight. “You’ve succeeded in disrupting my plan to take Luna’s place, which does put me in a bind.” Casting her eyes upward at the giant doorway, she continued. “Once those doors open, a swarm of Nightguard are going to storm through, looking to save their precious Queen of the Night from the evil changelings.” She looked back to Twilight, her smile shifting over to a toothy grin. “I believe this will be so much easier if I just take your place instead.”

Twilight felt a wave of panic wash over her when Chrysalis lit her horn. She felt the two guards stiffen their grip on her shoulders, and could feel the primal fear deep inside her trying to urge her to flee. The only reason why she didn’t struggle was that she knew it was pointless, but it didn’t stop her heart from racing. “I don’t normally use this,” Chrysalis said, stopping very close to Twilight’s face as her horn and eyes cast an eerie green glow over her features. “It does take a great deal of effort, but I think in this case, it will be more than worth it.”

Twilight’s entire body tensed when she felt something foreign inside her being. It was like something was reaching into her, searching her. It was probing her mind, laying it open like a book for all to see. She momentarily tried to fight back against it, to find a way to close her mind to the intruder, but the invasive feeling only intensified causing the panicked feeling deep within her to force itself closer to the surface.

“Resisting just makes it worse, and it does nothing to stop me,” Chrysalis warned, which surprisingly caused her target to relax slightly. She continued the spell, rifling through Twilight’s memories like one might skim through the pages of a book to find the interesting highlights. Once she had gone back far enough to cover the short time span that Twilight had been in this past, she stopped. “So, that’s what you have been up to. Didn’t I tell you that you and the Captain didn’t make a good pairing?” she asked as she allowed the spell to fade.

Twilight was unable to keep her body from shaking from the lingering sensation. The spell had caused no physical harm nor any sensation of pain, but it had left her feeling insecure and violated, and the adrenaline rush caused by her panicking mind had left her with a wave of nausea to deal with.

“And now for the finishing touch,” Chrysalis said as she took a couple full steps back. She conjured her power again, and the floor around her lit with a ring of green fire that rippled up and over her body. When the ring dissipated, standing where the likeness of Crystal Charm had been, was now a complete look alike for Twilight Sparkle.

Chrysalis took a moment to spread her new, violet alicorn wings out and admire them before she turned her attention to a forehoof that she raised in front of herself, turning it over as she gazed at her hoofwork. She seemed pleased with the results, and wordlessly motioned for the two guards that had been keeping Twilight’s belongings to approach her. She donned the velvet jacket, wrapping it around her form and snapping it closed as she ran a hoof over the surface to smooth it. She then took up the Element of Magic, and placed it neatly atop her head, where it slowly faded from view by way of a translucency spell.

Chrysalis glanced to Twilight, letting a sideways smirk turn up the corner of her mouth. When she only saw Twilight just quietly staring back, she asked, “Nothing? No defiant, little remark?” taunting with Twilight’s own voice.

Twilight closed her eyes, keeping her breathing steady. Anger wasn’t going to help her any longer, so instead she relied on her determination. “I promised my friends that I would make things right,” she said as she locked her gaze on the fake Twilight standing before her. “And that is exactly what I will do.”

Chrysalis’s muzzle twisted further into a full smirk, finding the claim to be amusing given the situation. “I’m afraid you’ll be breaking that promise,” she said matter-of-fact like as she approached Twilight. She stopped just slightly out of reach as she let go a playful giggle that mocked Twilight’s own. “But don’t worry, I’ll be sure to let them know for you when I meet them.”

Chrysalis’s expression shifted toward seriousness as she looked between the two guards restraining Twilight. “See to it that she is brought to the hive, and don’t be seen,” she commanded as her horn lit with a green glow. Green flames encircled Twilight and the two guards, and then encapsulated them in a semi-circle dome that began to slowly sink through the floor. Chrysalis took a couple steps forward and looked down through the dome as it melded into the floor, smiling back at Twilight. “I always thought that you would make an interesting little pet,” she said just before the dome and green flames fully vanished beneath the floor of the throne room.

Chrysalis looked around herself, taking full inventory of her surroundings. She now had four of her drones disguised as guards left at her side, and one other drone that lay unconscious near one of the pillars in the room where he had been tossed to earlier. She glanced about the hall, her gaze ending up on the large stained glass windows, focusing on one in particular that appeared to depict various phases of the moon and stars.

Taking a moment to regard the ancient glass mural, she suddenly sent out a mental pulse of energy, slamming the window with a kinetic burst that caused it to shatter into a shower of sparkling pieces. The deafening sound of thousands of glass shards falling into a pile on the floor quickly lessened, leaving only a cloud of dust billowing out from the pile and the sound of a few errant glass pieces falling to the floor as they came loose from the shattered stained glass framing.

“And now, the stage is set,” Chrysalis said as she turned her attention to the grand double doors of the Canterlot throne room, prepared to play her new role.