Two normal days have passed since Twilight and her friends departed in search of the Elements of Harmony, but the sun and the moon went and came without order or schedule. The floating buildings of the city of Canterlot started to spin around the palace, and the trees and bushes grew legs and were walking on the streets, nopony knew what could happen next. Some ponies, dragons and Changelings couldn't stand the randomness of the city, their colors faded away as the time passed until they were completely gray colored, and most of them left the city to find a new home. As for the creatures who stayed in the city, they were trying to get used to the chaos and kept the hope that the Elements of Harmony would return to defeat Discord.
In the palace, Discord and Screwball were watching from the throne room, they were both laughing out loud, and Discord was holding a bowl filled with popcorn on his lion paw. Princess Luna and Queen Chrysalis were also inside the throne room, unable to do anything, Chrysalis still had her horn and wings, but trying to attack Discord was foolishness.
Suddenly, a long scream echoed from afar, it was Princess Celestia's voice, who had been sleeping under Discord's spell, Discord and Screwball laughed for a while until the doors to the throne room were aggressively opened. It was, of course, Princess Celestia, so enraged that you could practically feel a tremor with each one of her steps.
"Discord!" she exclaimed, "give us back our wings and horns, NOW!"
Discord watched her while he was munching some popcorn, put his mouth on a straw drink and drank some gulps of soda from a large plastic cup, and after swallowing, he turned his sight to Princess Celestia.
"No." He calmly said, and ate another handful of popcorn, Celestia enraged even more as Discord's daughter fell on her back, laughing unceasingly.
"Don't try our patience, Discord." Luna warned the Draconequus. "When the Elements of Harmony return, you'll pay for this."
"Twilight and her friends!" Screwball remembered something, "why did you let them go, daddy? You are the spirit of chaos, you don't have to follow no rules, you have the power to create anything you like, and destroy everything you don't." she strongly stomped on the floor as if trying to crush an insect.
"My little dolly, I have to follow the rules I create." Discord lifted her up with his lion arm, "Yes, we have all the powers we could ever dream, but it doesn't matter how mighty we are, that doesn't give us the right to decide who lives and who doesn't. Besides, there's no fun in creating a wonderful chaotic world if no creature is going to live in it."
"But they always turn you into stone! Doesn't that make you angry? Don't you want revenge?" Screwball asked curiously.
"It's how it is, darling. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose." Discord said, "Revenge corresponds to a sore loser, to a rancorous soul who lives in the past unable to seek for a better future. No, my young demon, leave revenge to the crybabies."
"But this game is too easy for them," Screwball frowned. "They even have friends to help them."
"It seems easy now," Discord laughed, "I let them go with some friends because they won't stand a chance by themselves against my favorite pony." He smiled at his daughter.
"Yay! Can I really go and play with them?" Screwball jumped and bounced around Discord, cheerfully. And she disappeared in a blink, leaving the echo of her innocent laughter which slowly turned in a sinister laugh.
"I understand that you keep Celestia and Luna," Chrysalis was a little annoyed to be part of Discord's game, "but my Changelings and I have nothing to do with this."
"Oh! I see, you want to leave the party," Discord turned to her and smiled, "now that Equestria is not a place of love and tolerance anymore, there's no love for the Changelings to consume."
"We have nothing to do here," Chrisalys stepped forward, defying Discord, "if you excuse me, we must leave Equestria and find another place filled with love." Then, she walked to the throne room's main door, while Luna and Celestia were indignant, but not surprised.
"Yes, you could do that, or you could..." Discord interrupted himself, he closed his eyes and started playing with his beard, thinking, knowing that the Queen of Changelings would stop to hear what he had to say.
"Or we could what?" Chrysalis turned around.
"Or you could stop stealing love," Discord snapped his fingers again, "and live once again, as the beautiful crystal ponies you used to be," he said, while the green flames wrapped Chrysalis' body, she was being transformed while the flames began to fade like big candle which is fading, the Queen of Changelings was turned into the Crystal Queen.
However, this wasn't a Changeling transformation. When the Changelings transform, they keep their horns and their wings, even the hollows of their bodies, they see themselves and other Changelings as what they really are. But this transformation was real, Chrysalis saw no more hollows in her now crystal blue colored body, her wings were made of transparent and shiny feathers, her horn was straight and bright as a lamp, her manes and tail, sraight like a light blue waterfall, and her eyes shone like two precious amethysts stones.
"Is this... Is this really happening?" Chrysalis put one of her hooves in front of her face, her voice was clear.
"No tricks, no catch," Discord bowed to her, as Chrysalis stood speechless, contemplating her body, Discord said, "this is really happening to you, and to all your dear subjects. You don't have to starve ever again, you are what you are supposed to be."
"Don't trust him, Chrysalis!" Princess Celestia objected, "he is deceitful and treacherous."
"Shut up!" Chrysalis turned around and yelled, and the sisters quieted down. "Since I was turned to a Changeling, I regretted the day I decided to join King Sombra, all I wanted was to lift this curse from me and my subjects. But he said that Equestria holds magic secrets that the Crystal Empire could not imagine, even the magic to lift curses.."
"Then, why didn't you asked for our help?" Celestia asked her, trying to understand. "You didn't have to attack us, we could have helped you."
"When I was a filly," Chrysalis replied with an unhappy tone, "I was told that I should look after my subjects, and that my duty was to make them happy, I grew up to be the queen everypony expected. Until Sombra, YOUR student, showed up, under YOUR command, to exchange secrets of magic. It's a good chance to befriend the neighbors, I thought."
Chrysalis laughed, making fun of herself, then she changed to an angry tone.
"But silly me!" She said "It was all a trick to have me teaching him the secrets of dark magic. And I fell for that! When he returned, he said that Celestia ordered him to conquer the Crystal Empire, he used our own magic to defeat us, enslave my ponies, and cursed me and my loyals to be those hideous Changelings! It was all your fault!"
"No! Sombra and you conspired to take over Equestria!" Luna replied, defying her.
"Was that what he told you? Or what you deduced." Chrysalis said, and Luna backed down without saying a word.
"It was all a misunderstanding, Chrysalis," Celestia said, "There was no reason for you to attack us!"
"Save your excuses, Celestia!" Chrysalis turned her back against the alicorns, and faced the window. "Look at your ponies, they follow you blindly, they do anything you tell them without questioning, it's only natural that some of them look for freedom to act on their own, and as long as you keep ruling like this, there will be more Kings Sombras and more Fluttershys who will start more wars. But these wars not only affect Equestria, they affect the neighbor kingdoms, too."
Chrysalis turned her sight to the sisters again and kept talking. "So I decided that I had to make it stop! We dug the Crystal Caves to sneak in Canterlot, we kidnapped your niece, I took her place and used Twilight's brother's love to feed me and keep my energy. I could have taken over Equestria, I could have prevented Sombra's return and Fluttershy's treason, and recover my old body! I could have made everypony happy, I could have had my perfect day! The kind of day which I dreamed since I was small!"
"But you failed," Discord said, "defeated by a completely ridiculous power, the power of love." He said while making a disgusted gesture, "but you can still do the right thing, I have created a new kingdom, and every kingdom needs its queen, right? What do you say, Chrysalis?"
Chrysalis turned an evil smile at Discord and replied, "I say, that my name is Crystalis."