2
The seven remaining at the table looked at each other, not sure what to do. “I’ll go after her.” Twilight eventually decided. The others slowly nodded, watching as Twilight left. The unicorn made her way through the crowd, eventually making it out of the gardens. Knowing her marefriend, Luna was likely to follow up on what she said, and leave soon for the changelings. She raced around for a bit before realizing the one place Luna would go to at a time like this, the balcony outside her room. With a smile, Twilight closed her eyes, and teleported away.
In a small flash Twilight reappeared, standing just outside Luna’s oak doors. The pair of Lunar Guards who always stood guard at her doors immediately lowered their spears, pointing them at Twilight. A few tense moments passed before the guards raised their spears, sighing. “Twilight, please stop doing that.” One of them requested. “We’re all a little twitchy right now. Just, please, teleport in farther down the hall.”
Twilight grinned sheepishly, recognizing her mistake. “Sorry sirs. Is Luna in her room?” They nodded, opening the door for Twilight. “Thank you.” She said, rushing into the room, skidding as she turned to head for the balcony. Looking over she saw the doors still open, Luna standing on the balcony her horn’s glow just fading, a large cloud mass having formed just on the other side of the balcony. “Luna! Wait!” Twilight cried out, sprinting out onto the balcony.
Luna stopped, turning around, watching as Twilight ran up next to her, panting. “What is it my love?” Luna’s horn began glowing softly, the clouds slowly shaping into a vessel behind her.
“Is there any way I can convince you to leave them alone?” Twilight asked, having caught her breath. “Why is it you want to help them anyways? They were going to kill us!”
Luna shook her head, sitting down, pulling Twilight next to her. “Twilight, you need to understand a few things. The changelings are less likely to hurt me than you are.”
“But Celestia said-” Twilight began.
“As I said, Celestia hates Chrysalis, and is a horrible xenophobe.” Luna interrupted. “I love her dearly, but there is a reason diplomatic relations have been shaky the past thousand years. To Celestia, the ponies are above all others. She is hardly willing to treat others on the same level.” Twilight stared, shocked at what she had just heard. “Before my fall, I handled the diplomatic issues.”
Twilight stared, not knowing what to believe. On the one hoof, Celestia had practically raised her. Twilight looked up to her, and couldn’t fathom her being anything less than perfect. On the other though, Luna was her marefriend, and Twilight had long since learned to trust her. And she had known Celestia for far longer than her. The unicorn battled it back and forth in her mind, eventually giving in to the obvious. “Why? Why does she hate the changelings?”
“As I said Twilight, about fifteen hundred years ago, Chrysalis came to the old capital city, in what is now the Everfree Forest. The changelings weren’t doing so well, but not as bad as now.” Luna’s horn relit, the clouds beginning their formation again. “They gathered love just by walking around, and slowly recovered. Celestia was never happy with them though. Eventually she said they had to be gone by the end of the week. She said she couldn’t trust the changelings to not harm her subjects.” Luna rolled her eyes, her horn’s glow fading as the clouds had finished forming into a chariot for two. “Climb on Twilight, and I will continue.” Twilight quickly cast her cloud-walking spell before clambering up next to Luna. With a flap of her wings, Luna sent their cloud chariot flying off. “So, on the day before they had to leave, Chrysalis took on the form of Celestia. She must have been saving up a massive amount of magic, Celestia and I are very hard for her to imitate. But anyways, she walked out amongst the ponies, greeting them, pretending to be Celestia. She got about an hour of love and adoration before Celestia came in with her guard. She quickly dropped her disguise, to which everypony fled. I arrived in time to watch Celestia declare that the changelings would never be allowed in Equestria again.”
Twilight simply stared. The story had shaken much of what she knew about her mentor to pieces. “So that’s why Celestia doesn’t like them? Because Chrysalis impersonated her, to gather love?”
“Yes.” Luna responded, wrapping a wing around her love. “Celestia has never liked outsiders, as she calls them, but after that she just got worse.” Luna hung her head, sighing. “All Chrysy was trying to do was feed her children. And she got kicked out of Equestria for it.”
Twilight’s face fell after hearing Luna’s explanation. Then it perked back up, staring at Luna. “Chrysy? Where did that come from?”
Luna looked slightly embarrassed, realizing her slip up. She cast her mind around, looking for a way out, but quickly found there was none. Twilight continued to stare, an eyebrow raised. “First Twilight, you need to understand how hard it is for Celestia, Chrysalis or I to have a romantic relationship with anypony. To me, your life is going to be over in the blink of an eye. I may have years to spend with you, but that pales in comparison to the years without you. None of us can hold a relationship with a mortal, the pain is too much. Just because we live forever doesn’t mean we are immune to the pain it brings.” Luna hung her head, pulling away slightly from Twilight.
“So, why are you with me then? If the pain is going to be so great-” Twilight began.
“Because I don’t care Twilight.” Luna answered, a small smile spreading on her face. “I don’t care how much pain this relationship will cause me, you’re worth it to me. Even if all I get is a few decades, I want them.” Twilight shifted over, leaning against her marefriend, a smile growing on her lips. After a few tender moments, Luna continued. “But, back to your question, I, long before my banishment, was in a relationship with Chrysalis. We were a happy couple. And my love for her kept all of the changelings fed for hundreds of years. I started calling her Chrysy during that time,” Luna finished, slightly embarrassed.
Twilight nodded, understanding. But, the idea that Luna had loved another, and for so much longer hurt her deep down. She leaned in close, sighing to herself. I won’t live forever, and Luna will, she thought to herself. And I’m just going to cause her pain in the end, she said so. No wonder she loved Chrysalis, they could have been together forever. As Twilight sat thinking, a morbid thought came to her. What if when Luna meets Chrysalis again, she wants to be with her? The thought scared Twilight. Though she wouldn’t say she loved Luna as strongly as Luna loved her, she still didn’t want to lose her. But the fear was there, implanted in her mind, her worry and doubt growing. After all, they can be together for eons. I can only stay with her for a few decades at most.
“We should be there soon.” Luna commented, snapping Twilight out of her downward spiral.
“Where exactly are we going?” Twilight asked, not knowing where the hive of the changelings was located.
“Oh, right I didn’t tell you. Though I am surprised you didn’t figure it out.” As Twilight stared, confused, Luna let out a small chuckle. “We’re going to Prance Twilight. I surprised you didn’t notice her prench accent.”
Twilight stared, confused. “Really? The changelings hive is in Prance? I think we would have figured that one out by now.” Twilight retorted, still in disbelief.
Luna just rolled her eyes. “They’re hiding in plain sight Twilight. The mimes are just changelings with a bit of paint, and a small transformation to hide their wings. And why else would everypony in Prance seem so different from us? Or eat snails? Or all look and talk the exact same? And why else would we call Paris the city of love?”
Twilight thought for a moment, then gently smacked her hoof against her forehead. “Wow, that is obvious when you think about it.” With a small chuckle she curled back up against Luna, settling in for the remainder of the ride.
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Chrysalis opened her eyes, smiling. Most of her changelings had returned, and a few patrols had been sent out to determine the fate of those who hadn’t. So far, not a single patrol had reported losses, just severe injuries. The queen had quickly responded by sending healing love where it was needed. Those who hadn’t been sent out to find stragglers had been split between finishing repairs to the hive, and siphoning love where they could find it.
The queen smiled to herself. Those wonderful Prench ponies. So much love. Not as much as Canterlot, but enough for now. Chrysalis turned to the hive, focusing her horn to help with the repairs. Chrysalis once again connected to the Hive, gathering the newest reports. Her face fell, as did a few tears from her eyes, as she learned that a pack of changelings had been found, brutally killed. The tears flowed freely as she learned of another changeling who had faded just as the patrol found him. She sent out packets of love to the patrols, hoping to avoid any more losses. Pulling away, she sat down, tired. It had been a long day for her. Just as she was about to continue working, her ears perked up as she sensed a familiar magic speeding towards her. Luna. I’m glad you’re coming. I hope you will help us. She thought to herself. As she watched her once lover fly closer, another magical aura became known to her. Though it took her a moment to determine whose it was, its presence filled her with dread.
“Evacuate the hive!” Chrysalis thought out to the Hive. “Luna is coming, and Twilight Sparkle is with her. You all know the plan, and you know the rules of succession. Run.” She commanded, opening her eyes to see the last of her children disappearing into the trees. She stood her ground, knowing she had minutes till the two would arrive. Minutes to live it seems.