“Remember,” Matt warned her again as they approached the lake, “don’t do anything rash. Just-”
“Check if the fillies are okay and teleport them away, I know.” Twilight cut him off, annoyed. Looking at him sharply, she added: “You know, you are awfully determined to be alone with the Changeling Queen.”
Now, it was his turn to be annoyed. “Are we still on that issue?” Matt asked, exasperated.
“Well, you’re kinda asking for this.” she teased him. Even if she was still angry with him for kissing the Changeling Queen, and hated the mentioned bug, Twilight found his discomfort to be highly amusing. “There will be just the two of you-”
“Do you really think that she hadn’t brought any guards with her?” the paladin interrupted her. “Even if she really came here just to talk with me, Chrysalis isn’t a fool. She probably has a few fallback plans in case things went south for her.”
“I guess you’re right.” the unicorn admitted.
The Changeling Queen managed to plan an attack on Canterlot, slipped into it either before Shining Armor cast his protection spell or she found a way around it somehow, kidnapped Princess Cadance (an alicorn) and trapped both her and Twilight in the forgotten caves beneath Canterlot. She also - according to Matt - had the control of the entire battle as those two fought; and was she able to overpower Celestia, although that came to her surprise as well, and sent a lot of her minions to guard the Elements of Harmony just in case.
“By now, most of the power she gained by feeding off my brother - ugh - must had spent.” Twilight concluded, shaking with disgust. “So she will be weaker… but based upon everything we know about her, that could make her more dangerous.”
As much as she hated changelings, she knew that what Matt told her some time ago was true: they were pulling their punches. Nopony was gravely wounded during the invasion; the queen had Princess Celestia on the platter, as well as Matt, and them… Twilight even suspected that when she started choking them, she might have planned on releasing them as soon as they passed out.
The curious Twilight was beginning to push away the vengeful Twilight out of her mind. I she could just talk with a changeling for a bit, try to understand them-
“No!” she quickly stopped. “My job is to take the fillies back to the Abbey. I am the only one that can take them out of the danger almost instantly. I will have to trust Matt with the rest.”
It was a good thing that they were meeting in the open area like this. Should the Changeling Queen have pointed the place along the lines of the Castle or the Royal Pony Sisters, then she could have placed wards against teleporting from there, trapping them.
Twilight thought back to the changeling left in the Abbey, Wind Reaver. He said that his queen wished to show that this wasn’t a trap. Was her choosing the lakeside as the meeting place also a part of that?
“It will probably be pointless…” Matt began after few seconds of silence. The lake was already in their sight, and so was the oddly gentle green shine that emanated from the shore, creating weird reflections in the water as the nightfall descended. “But I might be good if you could hide your emotions from them.”
“Hide my emotions?” Twilight whispered.
She knew that the changelings could sense them, Matt mentioned that much of his fight, but how does one hide their emotions?”
“Try to focus on something.” he advised her quietly; not they could see that there were several sources of the green light. “It would be best if it could be a few lines of a prayer, a mantra, or a poem. One of your books about magic should probably do it as well.”
“Oh, I see…wait, why do you say it would be pointless?”
“Because they probably expect you to be pissed at them.”
There it was again; the smirk that she hated so much. Despite the gravity of the situation, Twilight quickly used her magic to pull him by his ear, making him jerk his head to the side. She released him before he managed to wail, more due to the surprise than pain; although by now he should have expected that kind of reaction from her. Twilight would have liked to punish him longer, but by now they could see the source of the green light… and what was around it.
Suspended in the air were several small orbs, which were spread around the small clearing that during warmed days served as a picnic side for many ponies of Ponyville. How could they just… float by themselves, without the support of magic? It baffled Twilight’s mind greatly. She saw crystals doing practically the same within the Crystal Empire, but… they were doing that due to Empire’s magic. Those orbs…
“Maybe talking with changelings won’t be that bad…” Twilight thought, wondering what ponies could learn from them-
“Ah, hello my guests.”
“... Forget what I thought.” the unicorn immediately reacted at the sound of the strange and unforgettable voice, or rather voices that were out of sync. “Burn them all.”
By the lakeshore sit the Changeling Queen, Chrysalis. She looked as creepy as Twilight remembered: vaguely pony-shaped, bigger than other changelings or most of ponies, with only Celestia matching her in size. Black chitin covered her body, two bug-like wings sprung from her back, as did a twisted horn from her head. Visible were also two characteristics that marked her different that the rest of her kind other than size: instead of frills she had an almost normal mane, and her eyes were green with oval pupils.
She was flanked by two changelings who, unlike Wind Reaver, bore strange armor. Twilight remembered seeing few of their kind wore similar one back on the day they invaded Canterlot. However, her attention shifted from them to something else when she noticed what exactly the Changeling Queen was sitting on.
It was… Twilight had no idea what it was. The best way to describe it would be to say that it was a mix between a plant, like a fern, and a sofa. Chrysalis wasn’t as much sitting on it as laying, her long body fitting perfectly into the strange couch as if it was made specifically for her, which was probably the case. Its long leaves that sprout around the Changeling Queen weaved at the wind, adding more to the surreal furniture.
And while she couldn’t be sure, maybe it was the light that made it so, Twilight could swear that it was of the same shade of green as the orbs, cocoon and amber in which Celestia and Matt were trapped in.
Twilight didn’t have much time to ponder on that, because Chrysalis spoke, raising from her… seat.
“Greetings, Sir Matthias Lehner, Grand Master of the Celestial Light… or do you go by Lightbringer now?” she asked, leaning her head to the side as if in question. The queen than turned to Twilight. “And Lady Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia. How… cute.”
The unicorn had no idea what in Tartarus was that comment at the end supposed to mean. But she knew it pissed her. She grinded her teeth as she was about to bark back a reply, but Matt beat her to it.
“Where are they?” he asked the Changeling Queen, a threat at the back of his throat.
If she detected it, she was unmoved by it.
“Amusing.” Chrysalis said, smirking and turned to Twilight. “Those are the same words he used when he stopped the ceremony. I hope you thanked him for that; otherwise, you brother would have to go through rather embarrassing divorce procedures.”
Twilight grinded her teeth as her blood boiled with anger. The thought of Shining Armor being married, even for a few seconds, to this oversized bug threatened to send her mind into frenzy. And that she was lecturing her was even more infuriating!
“We didn’t come here to exchange pleasantries, Chrysalis.” Matt spoke, as Twilight fought hard to calm herself. “Where are the fillies?”
Chrysalis again smirked. “And I thought Matt’s smirk was irritating!” Twilight thought. After a second, she nodded her head to the left. Twilight glanced in that direction and almost at once from behind the bushes emerged Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Babs Seed… and a black unicorn filly?
“Girls!” she shouted as she ran to meet them halfway. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
“Nah, Twilight, they didn’t.” Apple Bloom replied, smiling. “In fact, Queen Chrysalis apologised to us when we were brought ‘ere, and told Nymph to keep us company.”
Twilight looked puzzled at the black filly Apple Bloom pointed at, but her confusion ended when she noticed that the filly had the exact same eyes as the Changeling Queen. The filly, who smiled shyly at her, cringed and took few steps back when the unicorn’s gaze pierced her.
“Hey, Twilight, knock it off!” Scootaloo exclaimed, placing herself between Twilight and the changeling in disguise. “She was nice to us the entire time we played together!”
The lavender unicorn blinked. Did Scootaloo just defended a changeling?!
“Yeah, she even showed us how she really looks when we asked her.” Babs Seed added as she stood besides Scootaloo.
“Then again, we could have just looked at another changeling; they all look the same…” Sweetie Belle murmured, but after receiving a nudge into the ribs from Apple Bloom she quickly glanced at… Nymph. “Wait, I didn’t mean it as… um…”
“Don’t worry, I know ponies can’t tell us apart.” the black filly replied smirking, but as she looked at Twilight for a moment her smile disappeared. Turning to the fillies again she said: “It’s been fun playing with you, but you now need to get back, so… bye.”
“Aw, can’t you come with us?” Sweetie Belle asked with round eyes.
“Yeah, you could join the Cutie Mark Crusader!” Scootaloo added.
Twilight, who was watching this whole scene with her jaw dropped, looked at Matt, hoping to see… some sort of explanation of what the hay was going on. Matt, however, who was also surprised by this, merely raised an eyebrow and just shrugged.
“How can you just shrug with them being friends with a changeling?!” Twilight wanted to scream at him.
“You… do realize that I am a changeling, right?” Nymph asked, as if following the same train of thoughts as her. “We don’t have cutie marks… and while we’re at it, I’m not your age.”
“So?” Babs Seed asked. “We can make ya an… honorary Cutie Mark Crusader!”
“Yeah, that it!” Apple Bloom added.
“Oookay, they’re under a spell.” Twilight concluded. “It’s the only explanation.”
A cough from behind catch her attention before she could address that.
“I hate to interrupt, but I would like to remind you that you are supposed to be going now.” the Changeling Queen pointed out. “I have some business to do with Sir Lightbringer over here, and I prefer to do that in private… minus all my guards.” she added to Matt, squinting her eyes.
Twilight didn’t even vouchsafe her with a glare. Instead, she proceeded to scan the four fillies for any signs that her minds were under a spell, so that she could free them from…
She gasped. There was no trace of any spell. That meant that either the changelings found some way to mask them… or that there was no spell at all.
“Um… Twilight?” Apple Bloom asked, confused. “Whatch’ya doin’?”
The unicorn shook her head. She would have to figure this out later. Now she needed to take them away from the changelings. But still…
“I’m taking you back to the Abbey. Say goodbye to… Nymph.” she told them.
She waited patiently for them to finish parting with the changelings in disguise. As she did so, she caught Matt looking at her with an approving smile. She shrugged and smiled back. What else was she supposed to do? Just take them away from a friend they probably would never see again?
“Okay, Twilight, we can go.” Apple Bloom said.
Twilight nodded, and began concentrating. Teleporting five ponies all the way to the Everfree Abbey at once is going to be a bit taxing, but she knew she could manage. Before she cast the spell, however, she looked one more time at Matt.
Stay safe.
I will.
A lavender light enveloped them, and they were no longer by the lake. As Twilight looked around, she saw that the Abbey was just as she and Matt left it.
“Girls!” Applejack shouted with relief as she raced towards them, with other ponies right beside her.
Twilight however, as much as she was glad that they were safe, was too busy worrying about Matt to just rest and wait. She needed to do something.
“And I know just what this something will be.” she mused as she looked at guarded by two paladins Wind Reaver.
“Now that we are all alone,” Chrysalis chided, “why don’t you come over here so we can begin talking?”
Matthias moved his gaze from the spot where Twilight and the girls were standing just a second ago to the Changeling Queen, to see her point at the spot next to her seat. Instead of replying right away, he made a show of looking around at all changelings… at least those he could see.
“‘All alone’?” he asked sarcastically.
Chrysalis rolled her eyes before she addressed her subjects: “Leave us.” much to Matthias surprise. As the two guards and Nymph flew away, she looked at him a mocking concern. “Better?”
Matthias took a deep, calming breath, and trotted to sit next to her. He wasn’t going to believe that they were completely alone. There were probably at least tens of changelings somewhere nearby, waiting for him to do something that would put their queen at risk… or, in case this was all a farce, for Chrysalis’ signal to attack him.
The Changeling Queen took a sip from a cup that lay on a table next to her that Matthias only now had noticed. It was build from the same substance that the seat was, and in the same style. It was green, and looked as if it was a mix between a furniture and plant.
“I would have offered you something to drink, but you would probably expect it to be a poison.” she noted casually once he joined her. “Also, ponies react strangely to love in this form.”
“This… is love?” Matthias asked, confused. From this angle he could see that the contents of the cup (also green) looked like a tea… a green tea, to be specific.
“Well, its bit complicated.” Chrysalis replied, putting the cup back at the table. “And I hadn’t invited you here to talk about my kind’s feeding systems.”
“Then why did you invite me?” Matthias decided to go right to the point; while he would have liked to learn more about changelings, there was time and place for everything.
The Changeling Queen didn’t reply at first, instead looked at the lake. She opened her mouth for a second, and then closed it again. Chrysalis gave a tired sigh and finally turned back to him.
“I want to make a deal with Equestria.”
“What are ponies to changelings?”
Wind Reaver blinked hearing her question. Her friends all looked at her in confusion. After she assured them that everything was alright, and that Matt was currently talking with the Changeling Queen, she trotted up to the changeling. She figured that this was as good moment as ever to ask some questions.
“My queen forbade me from telling you anything.”
Pity it looked as if she wasn’t going to get any answers.
“Why?” Twilight asked, surprised. She then cursed in her head. He just said that he wasn’t going to tell her anything.
“Why are you asking it anything?” Rainbow Dash questioned.
“Because…” that was a good question: why did she want to know? Wasn’t she content with just hating them? “I am confused. I thought them to be evil after Canterlot, and now they kidnapped the girls, but… listen to them. They sound like they had a great time.”
“‘Cause we did.” Apple Bloom said.
“Ya hush.” Applejack pressed her hoof to her mouth. “Those changelings must ‘ave did somethin’ to yar brain…”
“No they didn’t.” Twilight interrupted her, almost wistfully; how simple the life would be if that was the case. “I checked all four of them for any spells that could manipulate them.”
“Hey, how do we know this is a real-” Rainbow Dash began suspiciously, but Twilight was really not in the mood for that.
“Do you want me to tell you about what each of us did after the reception?” she hissed. “Because we all know there were no changelings at that time in Canterlot.”
Rainbow Dash’s cheeks reddened as she backed away.
“Also, something that Matt kept pointing out for me is true; the changelings didn’t harm anypony too seriously during the invasion.”
“Because we were forbidden from doing so unless it’s in self-defense.”
All sixteen pairs of eyes looked at Wind Reaver. He continued to stand calmly, as if he hadn’t just broken his silence.
“Didn’t you say that Chrysalis forbid you telling us anything?” Twilight asked. “Like a minute ago?”
“I am allowed to tell that.” he replied with a shrug. “We feed on the love you have; it makes no sense for us to harm you.”
“They why would you attack Canterlot?”
“Because our queen ordered us to so.” he answered, and then grinned: “Also, that was fun.”
“Fun?!” Applejack exclaimed. “Ya think attacking others is fun?!”
“If by ‘ya’ you mean me in specific, then yes.” Wind Reaver explained, mocking her accent at the same time. “I like fighting.”
“So you were at Canterlot.” Twilight stated, wondering how she should react. Should she be angry? Annoyed? Horrified?
“In the group that captured you, I might add.”
“Phgf, big deal.” Rainbow Dash snorted. “You outnumbered us like ten to one. We fought our way through a smaller group before we reached you.
“Oh, how brave of you to beat a bunch of six year olds.” the changeling mocked, and then his eyes widened. “Oh, crap.”
“Wait, six year olds?!” Twilight asked in shock.
For a moment, it looked as if the changeling wasn’t going to answer. Clearly, it was something he wasn’t supposed to tell them.
“Yeah, kinda.” he finally replied, cringing. “Although, that would be by how you ponies measure age: the group that intercepted you was composed of the changelings in ages between six and eight years from the day they hatched from eggs… Oh, crap, I wasn’t supposed to say that, either.”
“So you hatch from eggs?” Twilight repeated, processing that information. Clearly, they shared with bugs more things. However, she wasn’t expecting him to explain more, so instead she asked: “How old are you?”
“Sixteen.”
“Geesh, a teenager.” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “No wonder he was stupid enough to volunteer for this.”
The changeling wings buzzed, betraying his anger at the comment, but when he spoke, he did so mockingly: “Maybe, but strong and fast enough to punch you through a wall few months back.”
“Oh, for the love of…” Twilight commented mentally as her hot-heated friend took offense to the remark (which, considering how bad she was hit during their capture, was not surprising), but her thoughts were interrupted by a flash of green… flame, thankfully.
She quickly took the letter that the Princess sent and read it.
“The Princesses are coming here.” she said to the others when she was done. She quickly turned to the changelings before he could interpret it the wrong way: “Here, as in to this Abbey, not were Matt and your queen is. They won’t do anything unless she gives them a reason to.”
“So you say…” Wind Reaver replied, as he squint his eyes.
Twilight sighed mentally. Matt wasn’t going to be happy about this.
“I… didn’t expect that.” was all Matthias could reply after hearing Chrysalis. “What would that deal be, exactly?”
“The attack on Canterlot… it was a mistake.” the Queen replied. “Since that day, it became harder for my subjects to gather love without being caught. Surely, you must have heard about few changelings being discovered in cities around Equestria?”
He had. But every time the changelings had escaped, and they were all away from Ponyville, so he didn’t pay them much mind.
“The ponies became more alert to us.” Chrysalis continued. “They put on more and more warding spells. And while my kind has mastered the art of stealth… things cannot go on like this. The way I see it, making a deal with Equestria is one of two ways for my subjects to prosper.”
“And the other way is…” Matthias asked, even though he didn’t have to.
“War.” she replied, looking dismayed at the word. “But even though I don’t particularly care for ponies, I know that in a war we both would suffer.” looking at Matthias, she added: “I would spare every single one of my subjects any form of suffering. Believe that if nothing else.”
Matthias could certainly believe that. There was something in her tone when she said in those last two sentences that she was speaking truth, maybe because she did so without any sign of sarcasm or mocking?
“Let’s assume that I believe that you honestly want to make… a deal with Equestria.” he said slowly. “What would that deal be, exactly?”
“We would work together to find a way for my kind to feed on love from you without resorting to… how we usually do that.” Chrysalis said. “In return, I am prepared to share all our secrets about ourselves with Equestria… but only after your country is willing to give peace a chance. That’s why I came here to talk with you, to ask you to vouch for me before your Princesses.”
It was tempting. Matthias knew that ponies had practically no information about the changelings, and he had his own questions for them.
“Can’t you feed on love from beings other than ponies?” Matthias asked. As much as he was willing to believe that Chrysalis was honest with the proposition, he had to be sure before he would vouch for her.
“We can, but compared to ponies’ love, zebras’, griffons’ and all the others are… not fulfilling. It’s like for a pony to choose between a huge loaf of bread and just a slice of it.”
“Okay, then… why did you come to me?” he tried from a different angle.
“Isn’t it obvious?” she snorted, pointing at her horn. “You healed my horn, despite knowing that I could heal it myself, despite that I was your enemy. I have never heard of a pony like you… so I had you observed. I know about most things you did since our previous meeting. And… I think that you are the first pony that I could honestly believe when you would tell me that you and your Princesses want peace. With anypony else I would not trust them, not even Celestia herself. But you… who came from a faraway land that would appear to not exist…” she commented, letting him know that what he usually told everypony about being from a faraway land was a clear lie to her.
“You do realize that the Princesses will have a hard time convincing everypony to give you a chance, right?” Matthias asked her; not caring if she knew that he lied to everypony. If she knew that he was from another world, she would have probably said so.
“So you think they two of them would be all over the idea?” she asked sarcastically. “I would have assumed that they would be inclined to disbelief someling that trapped their niece in the cave and all that.”
“Some… ling?” Matthias repeated, puzzled. “Nevermind… But yes, you are correct; they might resent you for that. But they will try to do what is best.”
“Hmph.” Chrysalis snorted, clearly less trustful of Celestia’s and Luna’s intentions than he was. “If they hesitated, you might convince them by telling them about uniting against a common enemy.”
“A common… what?!” Matthias asked in surprise and alarm. “What do you mean by that?!”
“The attack on Canterlot.” the Changeling Queen explained ominously. “I had a reason for it other than gaining more love for my subjects. But… the more I think about it… the more I feel certain I was manipulated by something.”