//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: Families 
// by Darth Link 22 
//------------------------------//

Chrysalis awoke in a void. Large, black nothingness. She looked around in fear. She was supposed to be safe in an abandoned diamond dog mine with her soldiers, but here... where was here.

A disapproving *tsk tsk tsk* sounded, followed by a voice that turned her blood cold. "Chryssy, Chryssy, Chryssy, somechangeling's been a bad mare..."

Slowly, she turned her head, and was greeted by a horrifying sight.

"Now, did you forget all about me? Honestly, I taught you better than that."

With a frightened cry, Chrysalis scooted back, even though the logical part of her brain was telling her that trying to run from Discord was a foalish gesture that could never work.

"How could you? I could forgive stabbing me in the back and leaving me to rot, but... really? An invasion? You couldn't be more original? Honestly, I thought you were listening when I taught you about chaos. Shapeshifting infiltration and you decide to just rush them?" The spirit of disharmony put his face in his lion's paw. "Ah, well, you could still be of some use..."

"No!" Chrysalis said, finding her bravado. "I'm not your servant anymore! I will be the one conquering Equestria, me! On my terms! I have no interest in your plans..."

At that, Discord laughed, a truly jovial laugh, as if what Chrysalis said had been a particularly amusing joke. "My plans? My plans? Chryssy, look at me. Do I look like the kind of spirit that makes plans? Yeah, no. That requires order, strategy, a rhyme and reason, and that's not me. I'm just out to have my fun. As much as I'm allowed."

Chrysalis gaped at this. "You... work for somepony else?"

"Are you listening? Working for somepony is just as bad as having somepony work for you. That requires taking... ugh, orders." he spat. "No, I don't work for any being. I can, however, push things in the right direction if our purposes cross, and lo and behold, it has."

Chrysalis said nothing, so Discord snapped his fingers. A black feline appeared before him, who then reached into her mouth and pulled on her tongue, stretching it to an impossible length.

"Aw, cat got your tongue? Get it?"

"Yeth, yeth!" she screamed in terror. As harmless as this was, she knew it was a precursor to true abuse.

"Good. Now then, I need you to rendezvous with an acquaintance of mine. Once in contact, you'll be able to discuss freeing me."

Chrysalis blinked. "Freeing? But..."

"Oh, I'm still a statue," he explained. "I have limited powers to contact you. In your dreams, of course. When you awaken, you will find a portal in your little hiding place. Go through it, and you'll meet the pony you'll be working with."

"And why should I help you?" Chrysalis demanded. "Even if I do, life under you was no different than Tartarus! You can hardly do much worse to me if I don't cooperate!"

"...True," the draconequus admitted. "How about this, then: if you help me, I'll return you to normal And you'll be completely safe from my chaos."

"...What's the catch?"

"Trout," Discord exclaimed, pulling a fish on the end of the line he was now holding. His fishing cap almost obstructed his eyes.

"Don't play games! You manipulate, speak in half-truths!"

"I do," he admitted. "But really, what have you got to lose?"

There was silence for a moment.

"Fine. Where do you need me to go?"