//------------------------------//
// Unlikely alliance and hellfire 
// Story: Celestial Tortures Book III: Changes 
// by Rarity Belle 
//------------------------------//

	The breaking of the glass window alone was something that both of the stallion up in the tower didn't expected to happen. They gently looked each other in the eyes with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t suppose you know…” said Starswirl before he finally set his bottle of mead on the floor.

        Warding shook his head a bit from side to side before he placed his own bottle back on the floor and stood up. But the two of them had been sitting in the same laid back position and as he stood up, the bones in all four of his legs were literally being snapped into their respectable places.

        The sounds that were released because of it went through marrow and bone for the wizard. He didn't happen to be actually fond of the sounds. More correctly, he hated it to his very soul. But he never made any complaints about it. Starswirl rose his body up after Warding had stood up and looked over the railing towards the castle. They scanned the horizon for anything, everything.

        The sight that the two stallions saw was something that neither of them could have ever predicted to have happened but the facts were given straight in their faces. In their eyes they both caught the ball of fire that left the throne room in glory. Something had gone wrong, that was clear.

        Both the wizard and the captain of the guard knew one thing for certain though. That whatever the force happened to be that just left, it was everything but a good thing. Their eyes followed the trailing comet through the skies before it was Warding himself who nudged Starswirl to break the attention off of it. “Come on, we need to go to the throne right now.” His tone was urgent as he literally feared for the sights that he would see inside of the place.

        The worst fears raised up in the both of them but for different reasons. Warding prayed with all of his soul that Celestia wouldn't have been harmed and hoped that it was a spell she had used. Although the mere shadow inside of the comet itself strongly resembled the princess of the sun.

        Starswirl on the other end feared the fact that even Celestia had made the transition over to the more darker side of her magic. The thing they saw was only the first thing that would be going down for the land only weeks after Luna’s banishment. Dark times had been entered, that much was certain to him in the moment. Little did he knew that the scale would be going up to eleven –if not twelve– of how much trouble they had on their hooves. Though neither of the two stallions had even the slightest of clue that Chrysalis and her changelings also happened to be inside of the room itself.

        Starswirl nodded to the words that were spoken by Warding about going to the room. “Go captain, inspect the situation as it is and do everything to secure it without ending lives. Contain but don’t destroy, I’ll be with you shortly. Trust me. It, will only take ten minutes or something the like.”

        The bat pony captain nodded to the words. He turned himself around and spread the wings. With one powerful gallop and a jump in the air, Warding Scale had come off from the ground and flew through the air like an eagle. Except the fact that he was going literally the opposing direction.

        The old wizard looked over to the captain and started to actually think that he happened to be that stupid but the thought itself was quickly discarded as the batpony showed some excellent flying by doing one of the sharpest turns there was and he then soared right over the tower. Starswirl had to duck if he didn't wanted to get hit by  the low flying captain and turned himself around in order to see there where he was going.

        With military precision did the captain of the Lunar Guard fly through the broken window of the throne room and was the first of the two stallions to actually be right on the scene, with all the horrors that came with it.

        The wizard charged up his horn and poofed himself out of existence. Then he reappeared into his room. There was something that he needed then more than anything and he was in a hurry. Two items where that what he needed to gather from there. With the horn still charged, the power itself increased as he started to search through the room.

        “Where did I leave it? Where did I leave it?” Starswirl repeated to himself. He searched vividly through the cabinets, wardrobes and closets. But on the desk, small and little particles of light had begun to create themselves. They formed a small vortex which brought little pieces of a maroon red color right back into existence. The stallion kept on looking for his missing object while the fire wyvern opened one of its eyes and looked over its master.

        “You, are coming with me as well,” mumbled Starswirl to it. Then both of the eyes opened. It could hardly believe the words that were spoken but if it was the wish of the stallion, he could only obey it. Whether the fire wyvern liked it or not. “Bingo!” the stallion spoke up as he found the thing he was looking for. A wooden staff that had given him a lifesaver more than once in his lifetime. The very staff with which he stood on top of the hill when the final draconi-war had emerged. “Hello old friend, it has been far too long since we did anything.”

        Starswirl turned himself around to face the desk and discharged his horn as he noticed that the thing he had summoned was fully there and touchable. With a nod to himself he walked over to the piece of cloth and gently removed it in order to reveal the ruby.

        Though that ruby wasn't like any other one that could be found in the ground by a spell. His ruby like rock was something that gave him life every time as he touched it. The product where the art of alchemy saw as their holy grail. A stone that could extend the life of the creator indefinitely and thus give it a form of immortality. The one and only, true philosopher’s stone. Somehow and  somewhere had Starswirl actually managed to create the item were thousand would commit a murder for. The one magical item that would grant him his life.

        That was his very secret of being alive for as long as he was. No magic from the arcane arts were being used as it would cause suspicion by both of the princesses. Instead it was nothing else but pure alchemy and a little bit of black magic that extended his life. And at the moment he could use a boost in his muscles to make him feel young again.

        With great care did the stallion touch the stone and the tingles that it irradiated started to pulse through his body. The aging process on the inside of his body was reversed by a couple of decades as he held his hoof on the stone for half a minute. But the pain that surged through his body was something that was simply unbearable for the poor stallion.

        It extended his life for certain but at a terrible price. That being the pain he was suffering every single time he touched it. Yet it was a price he was more than willing to pay for it.

        When the time was over and he had removed his hoof from the stone, Starswirl’s body age had turned back into that of a stallion in the mid of his life. Filled with life and every possible muscle still working in the proper order. He panted a couple of times as both his hoof and the stone itself started to smoke a little bit.

        With his mind focusing itself upon the events that had happened covered the wizard the rock once again by the piece of cloth and he nodded his head to the fire wyvern. The creature almost right away understood the signal and it started to fly over to him.

        Starswirl shook his head a couple of times as the wyvern landed on his shoulder and back. “There must have been a mistake right into it, it shouldn't be hurting that much whenever somepony touches it,” he mumbled to himself before the departure of the room was being made and the journey to the throne room could begin. Outside of his hooves was the staff held in a magical field and when needed it would either work as an extender of his horn or he would let the magic flow through the staff in his hoof and then cast.

        But that was the least of his worries in the moment. What he could possibly find right in the throne room was the thing that worried him the most. He prepared for anything behind the doors.


---

                     
Once he finally arrived in the room after a stroll that took him a minute or three, one of his worst fears became true there and then. The entirety of the room had flooded itself. Warding Scale aimed his blade for one of the changelings that was unaffected by the cast flamethrower-like spell.

        Six of them stood around the pile of burned changelings, as well as their apparent queen. A queen who was left powerless in the moment. But surrounding the creatures, was a horde of guards that were ready to attack if the signal was given. The sight in and of itself was something that was somber to see but little did any of them knew that the burned changelings was only the beginning of the troubles that had been given to them.

        “Captain Scale, removed your blade at once! Don’t you see these creatures are defending as well?” Starswirl said in a confident tone. He stood in the door opening and looked over to the scene as a whole. Furious didn’t even cover the emotions that were going through him.

        Though where the wizard thought that the captain wouldn't listen to him, Warding was quite aware of who was in charge on that moment. It wasn't himself for certain. Thus the blade was sheathed and the sounds of hooves moving again fell in his ears. From his right side did Starswirl appear and judging the looks in his eyes, he wanted to know what happened.

        “Can’t identify the creatures sir, but we found them in the formation and they haven’t moved a muscle ever since except of their buzzing and hissing.” Warding spoke up and the wizard gave a nod to the words. At least he had listened to the words that were spoken to him.

        One thing had to be given to Warding Scale, was that he knew the ranks better than anypony else in the entire guard. With the absence of Celestia, it was Starswirl who was automatically put in command. Something that by far not every other guard actually knew or had thought about. ”Let’s see what they want, shall we?” the wizard replied with a soft tone. Then he did a couple steps further forward and nudged some of the circling guards away. The wyvern hissed softly to them before it turned the attention back to the changelings and tilted its little head to the side.

        Even the wizard had to admit the fact that he was impressed. He was impressed by the appearance of such a creature right in the throne room. His honest eyes looked straight into the stroking blue ones of the changeling and to everyponies surprise, he then too began to talk in a buzzing and hissing back to the creature.

        The entire room was caught by surprise from that action alone. Nopony, guard, captain nor changeling had ever expected the fact that a pony could be speaking the other language. It was something that proved once again, that the wizard was full of surprises even to that day.

But the words that he spoke against the changeling were not words that it needed to leave or anything the like. No, all that Starswirl wanted there and then was information on what happened. “What happened here and who is responsible for this all?” questioned Starswirl in the buzzing tone. The thing that followed was an entire conversation with the changeling who had stared at the blade.

        “First things first, pony, how did you manages to speak our tongue?” the changeling replied in buzzes, hisses and even wheezes of its own. He didn’t trust him at all, and for good reason.

        “My dear boy, I’m capable of many things that ponies in this very room haven’t even seen. But you wish to know how I manage to speak it so well? Years of listening in the night while the moon shines.” Starswirl gave off as an answer to the creature.

        The changeling first didn't believe the words while the mouth opened itself and the fangs were revealed. A dark sounding hiss left the throat but then it looked into the eyes of the wizard, seeing something unusual to say the least. What it saw in the rims of the old stallion was nothing but the truth. The mouth was closed again and the buzzing continued in a normal speech pattern as the wings flapped a couple of times.

        “Our queen is mortally wounded by a creature that called itself Solarflare and came forth out of the princess of the sun. You speak our tongue, help her. Without her, we’re nothing more but aimless,” the changeling replied in return as a desperate cry for help. The tone had turned into a sad sounding one as the head turned itself over to the passed out queen and then back to him. “Help her!” it then spoke up in a demanding tone. There wouldn’t have been much of a choice.

        Though the stallion didn't even move a muscle in response to the threat. Although the possibility of his life being ended right there and then was something he was quite aware of. Though the fire wyvern on his shoulder wouldn't be intimidated that easily. It returned the hiss right back at the changeling and Starswirl shushed his pet down.

        His honest eyes looked back over to the creature and nodded. “I shall do my best for your queen. But, I require full cooperation from you and your, friends, I presume?”

        “They are my brethren and you shall gain that cooperation, the moment they are gone from here,” the changeling spoke in return. It was a demand that couldn't be neglected and the stallion released a deep sigh through his nostrils. But then gave a nod that spoke he accepted their terms. 

        To Warding Scale and all the other guards that were in the room, were the words the two exchanged nothing but complete and utter gibberish. All they heard was buzzing and hissing. But when Starswirl turned himself back around and walked up to the captain, his head signaled him to come alone for a little bit.

        The captain could only do that what was silently asked from him and went with the wizard to the far end of the room. It was there were their whispers started to take and make their exchanges.

        “So let me get this straight here,” Warding spoke while his hoof rubbed his face in disbelief, “those things, want all of us out with the exception of you, so that you can patch their queen up who is having more information about this, Solarflare? How do you know they are not lying against you and the minute you have send us away, they make their charge?”

        The wizard shook his head at the words of suspicion against him and replied with a confident tone in his voice. “I can not tell whether or not they would turn themselves against me, but if there is one thing I do know, is that they have information about Celestia and what happened here. Captain, I know the secrets that she tries to hide. If it is true that even one of them had come out, you need to pray for your dear life that you don’t end up burning in an inferno of Tartarus, on the land.”

        Those words made Warding gulp deep. It was about the last ending of his life where he had ever thought about to happen. So with that information known to him and Starswirl having the highest authority of them all, he could only retreat the men in the room.

        “Fall back to behind the doors and resume posts there,” the captain spoke up in a loud tone into the direction of the guards. Each of them looked a bit strange in response to it. Though they executed the order that was given. Warding then calmly turned his head right back to Starswirl as he stared at him with a stern look in his eyes. Not to mention the fact he spoke some words in a deeply unpleasant tone. “One wrong word, and we’re back inside of here. You understand me?”

        Starswirl never lost even a bit of his cool and gave a simple nod to the words that were spoken. “Naturally, you’re just doing your job,” he replied calmly. After that had Warding also removed himself out of the room and closed the great doors behind him. All that remained inside of the room were the changelings, Starswirl the Bearded and his fire wyvern.
              
        While the massive beam was cast from the staff, Starswirl poured all of his energy right into one massive healing spell. One that would be having the capability to heal pretty much anything that was wrong inside of the changeling queen. Though the fact that scared him was that her injuries were far greater than he had imaged them to be. The wounds that were created by the fires had an interesting effect. Simple water would only worsen it, as he had seen in the first seconds.

        Though it also happened to be a great indication of what had actually happened and what type of fires were used. But nothing happened to be confirmed there and then. The eyelids of the queen began to twitch very gently. Then they opened up again and her legs started to kick as she laid on her side. Chrysalis seemed to have made it, but at what price of her pride?

        Unknown to the things that had happened after she had blacked out, her head rose itself up as she looked for the creature that was Solarflare but all she saw was Starswirl with the beam. Hisses of anger and hatred were being made into all the directions. Once those hisses came into the ears of the stallion, he knew that she had regained enough of her powers and stopped casting the beam.

        The light faded from the room and he fell through his forelegs in the position of a bow. Going by the information that she was of royal in the minds of the changeling, she needed to be treated with respect. And that was exactly what Starswirl was going to be giving her.

        “Queen..?” he spoke up in a humble tone of his voice but in the tongue of the changelings.

        “Chrysalis,” the changeling queen replied in the normal tongue of the ponies. “Do tell me, why did a filthy sack of emotions like yourself, as much as consider to heal me from my injuries?” Being friendly against ponies was another thing for the queen.

        “Because, queen Chrysalis, one of your own children asked me to do so,” Starswirl replied in his normal tone before he went over into the hisses and buzzes that were the changeling tongue. “And because it was told that you held the answers on what happened here. Answers that I want.”

        That their tongue was spoken by a pony even surprised her  further. Even though she didn't showed it to him, he had gained the respect of the queen herself. For a pony speaking the changeling tongue as perfectly as he did, wasn't an easy feat to say the least. “What do you require to know, foal?” she returned in the same buzzes and hisses.

        “I need to know everything what happened here, queen. Every, last, detail,” the wizard replied in a stern sounding tone while the words were spoken in the normal tongue again.

        “On one condition, neither myself nor my children will be persecuted for the deeds we originally were here for. Is that clear?” Chrysalis demanded from him as her green rimmed eyes looked over to him and she arose on all four of her legs.

        For the first time since he had ever laid eyes upon her, Starswirl saw Chrysalis in her fullest of heights and overall glory that she carried with her. A glory that appeared like she had fallen off of her stand and scattered in thousands of pieces. The aura of an ancient force not just surrounded her, it could be seen within her eyes. The being was cursed to live like it did, that much was obvious.

        The wizard chuckled to her words. The lips slightly formed a smirk to her. “Queen Chrysalis, do you see any guards around here?” he asked her while he spread one of his forelegs.

        Though the queen herself wasn't satisfied with the answer as a whole by the judging expression on her face. He could be lying against her of course and she gently charged up her own jagged horn. Her vision then turned itself from normal to heat seeking and turned her head and body to every possible corner of the room.

        Yet the things that she saw weren't there at all. She had expected a horde of guards stacked upon one another and invisible in corners of the room. But there was just nothing that she caught in her eyes. That was until she looked behind the doors. Guards that were ready for the attack whenever it was going to be needed.

        Her horn discharged itself as she started to speak in the tongue of the changelings again. “Since you’re the only one who understand it, I do not see any harm in telling you the information that is known to me,” replied Chrysalis before she told the tale. The tale of the events as she knew it. Yet what was striking for every soul present in the room had to be the sheer honesty her hisses and buzzes gave of.


---

                     
Soaring through the skies and not seeming to slow down, Solarflare flew through the air of the land. Yet her trajectory seemed to have not only slowed down but was also flying lower to the ground. Almost as if she was making herself ready for the landing of a lifetime. With the orbs of the elements still visible in her eyes there was only one thing where she would be going after.

        Then it came into her view, the woods of Everfree were revealed. Together with the place where the mythical elements were stored until they would be used again. She knew the place all too well and the fiery comet crashed down just before the valley that had the rope bridge. An explosion of fire was what happened when she made touchdown to the ground itself and the fires died down almost instantly. The almighty mare was revealed once again in her white coat and golden set of armor. Both the mane and tail never seemed to have changed from their blue hellfire state.

        With a deep exhale towards the castle in the distance she looked over it with her sharp eyes. There was a mission she had to fulfill to herself. Which was to figure out how she could actually reconnect herself to the elements of harmony. How she could gain even more power than that was already surging through her body, through and because of them.

        Their destruction wouldn't be needed whatsoever, for all she needed was to melt them and absorbed their powers before they would be refined into fuel for her own. It was a risky plan and one not even Nightmare Moon could have come up with. But would it worth in the end of it all?

        The white alicorn of fire landed in the room that housed the mythical elements on their altar. The magenta colored eyes of the mare looked at the stone structure at the far end of it. They were just simply stone orbs, six of them hidden deep inside of it. Breaking stone wouldn't be something done that easily. But melting them might just be doing the tricks she was after.

        While her horn charged itself up in an attempt to smelt the very stones or at least liquefy the elements for absorbing as her powerful steps were set closer and closer towards the mythical altar. One that was designed by Celestia and Luna to keep those who wanted to harm the elements out. A calculation that Solarflare had forgotten in her mind.

        The massive charge was released in the form of another column of fire. The glittering in her eyes struck like thunder to the six orbs she also carried inside of them. Solarflare just kept on looking at the facts as they were. Her fires would be strong enough to do some harm against the elements. Except, there was one little part that she had forgotten. One tiny miscalculation.

        For the moment that the fires had reached one of the stone orbs of the elements, a magical shield was raised that would protect said stone from any harm. Not even the hellish fires of her could as much as make a dent right into them. But she didn't wanted to believe it the first time around and started to actually increase the charges that she was giving.
                    
        The shields were too powerful to even penetrate. They were created with a combination of both Luna’s and Celestia’s magic. The binding of the magic made it virtually impossible to get the fires to the orbs and thus any hope of absorbing the power of the elements was no more either.

        The fires that were cast from the horn became less and less, until the column just faded out of existence. The golden aura around the horn disappeared and the alicorn released a deep sigh through her nostrils. The eyes closed themselves while her right foreleg kept on tapping the stone floor and thus sending metallic clunks through the air as she sank away in her thoughts.

        But in her pupils didn't the six orbs just disappear but they shattered on their spots what caused the created debris to fall to the bottom of her cat like pupils. But it didn't just remain with that. As a matter of fact, the fine stone dust caused the creature to tear up a little bit and as those two tears traveled down her cheeks before they eventually fell to the ground.

        Inside of the tears was the fine stone dust of the six orbs. Whether she wanted to believe it or not, she had actually cried out the connection that her sister and herself once had with the powerful elements of harmony. Their connection wasn't broken with a bang, but with a silent cry. 

        Though it wouldn't have been enough to make the rage of Solarflare to come to an end. Instead it was only the beginning. The moment that she opened her eyes again and looked over to the altar began the fires to rise from below of her hooves. Her breathing became heavier with each passing second. At one point she wasn't even breathing anymore, instead she was wheezing.

        “So this is how we’re going to play the game, don’t we!? Well, I’ll tell you something, it’s all in or nothing,” growled Solarflare towards the altar. Though the faces of her mother, father, sister and many more ponies that she loved made an appearance on the orbs. One way or the other, she would be fighting all of them if she had to get to them. But not before she had done one last thing. And that thing was to topple the land in something it had never seen before.

        “The fires rise,” said the alicorn to the stones with a growl. She turned back into the comet and shot up into the skies. Once again she soared through the skies and looked down to the land. Solarflare had find the right place and time to unleash her inferno over the lands.
   
        No town or settlement would be saved and as the comet flew through the skies while pieces of its mighty tail fell from the heavens as massive fireballs that would set everything ablaze. Care was not given whether ponies would die from the fires. All that the alicorn wanted to see was a nationwide inferno of fires caused by her. She wanted to watch the world burn.

        It was about as bad as it sounded. Where the eternal night sounded bad, there could be lived with by ponies. It would be tough for certain but it would have been better than finding death itself in a sea of flames. It sounded so surreal that something like that would ever happen but many ponies found it a shocking reality. The blue orbs of fire came crashing down upon their homes and buildings.

        Water wouldn't have been able to let the fires die though. Instead it would just be more fuel for the fires. The inferno’s that were raging over the little settlements were only a percent of the power that she actually possessed. If Solarflare wanted and could concentrate her might for just long enough, she could let the sun plummet right into the land and wiping out everything at once.

        Pony and animal would be dead in a matter of seconds as tornadoes of fire would be formed and ravage the land before eventually the ground itself would not only be burned but literally being obliterated from its existence. Equestria and the mighty race of ponies would have never existed. Gone in the blink of an eye and clap of a hoof. But what was the fun in doing that?

        But luckily for the ponies, so far it hadn't come, yet. For some had the time come. Their houses were set ablaze with them inside of it. Horrifying screams and cries for help filled the nightly air. Mares and stallions being burned alive in the buildings that they once called their lovely homes. Prayers made by the young ones for a better ending while some of the elder had made peace with their lives and were holding hooves in hooves, they gave one another the final kiss before the fires ended their lives. The fires consumed everything that they encountered without mercy.

        Three things that happened in every burning settlement and town. A pattern that kept on returning as each generation valued life differently. Some found it time to go, while others had just began. But for all of them was the end looking straight in the eyes. The only force that could make them suffer less pain was their own mind.
      
        Though there also seemed to be a pattern in the fires that were spread by the comet. For so far only the settlements in the furthest eastern region of the land seemed to have been hit by it. And the sun itself of course would come up in the east. A clue literally as clear as day.

        It would be a worry for later though. As the sun needed to be raised by Celestia herself in order to let the new day begin. As long as that wouldn't be done, the dreaded twilight would remain indefinite and the fires caused by Solarflare would be visible for hundreds of miles, perhaps even thousands.


---

                     
Back in the throne room had Starswirl heard the entire story as it was given by Chrysalis. He was visually shocked by the words that the changeling queen had spoken. He had expected much of the events that could have happened in there. But the way she worded it, not even he could even image how much pain and sadness went through Celestia. Pain and sadness that turned in the anger of Solarflare. It made a click in his mind though. It had to happen at one point or the other.

        The wizard was pacing up and down of the throne room and circling around as his mind tried to wrap all the ends together on every single detail that there was. Plans were being made while theories mumbled themselves over his lips in the two tongues. He almost seemed like an aimless projectile that went all over the place. Yet it was the fire wyvern that simply continued to lay on his shoulder, neck and back.

        Chrysalis on the other end was starting to lose her patience with him and wanted the answers clear for her nose. But whether she would exactly like the words that he has to tell would be a whole other question. “Speak your words old fool, in clear tongue please,” the queen spoke in the changeling tongue. Then she jumped in the air and hovered around. Her wings caused the highly annoying buzzing to fill the room as the children that were hit by the original fire had lost their lives.

        It was saddening for the queen but she wasn't all too emotionally attached to them. They were her children for certain but they also were drones and warriors. Creatures meant to serve the hive and that was it. It was the lack of patience that caught Starswirl off guard and he turned his head over to the queen with a stern look in his eyes. A look that spoke to her that she shouldn't be pushing him as much as she did.

        Annoyed even more by the looks that he gave her, Chrysalis kept on hovering in the air and dropped her neck down a little bit before some hisses and buzzes even unknown to the wizard were released. Whatever they could have possibly meant, it most likely was an insult to him.

        The wizard didn't even go into the words he received as his legs carried him over to the broken window and he started to look over the land as it were. Everything that came into his view was a miracle, a gift of life itself. But the gift would soon be disappearing as the moon stood lower and lower on the skies. “Twilight’s coming,” buzzed Starswirl in the tongue of the changelings before a deep sigh was released through his nose.

        He knew that there only was one way how he could possibly even salvage whatever remained from the princess. And that was to declare war on Solarflare herself. But him alone wouldn't be nearly as powerful enough to piece through the thick skull of hers and make a statement inside of it. Instead he needed to have somepony at his size to complete the job with him. “One way. One way to make sure this doesn't escalate any further than it already has,” mumbled Starswirl to himself. All while the wyvern on his shoulder released a curious sounding tone for its throat.

        Almost instantly turned the wizard himself around and placed his staff loudly on the ground. The negotiations could begin and all the words that would follow would be spoken in the tongue of the changelings.

        “Queen Chrysalis, as my ears have heard it correctly, more or less, you are responsible for the release of this darkened version of our beloved princess. Understandable that you do not see any reason in helping me to revert her back to her original form. But we need to work together for this,” said Starswirl to her in a stern tone. Though his eyes narrowed themselves. He would be testing her just how far into the abyss of madness she had fallen and whether or not she could be saved from her own mind or not. Whatever the result may have been, he would see it from there.

        Chrysalis just released a deep huff before the neck straightened itself again and she dropped back on the floor. “There is nothing in the wide world that would make us work together, wizard. Nothing in this world. I prefer to have the princess the way she is by the way. Makes things a lot easier when it comes down to the throne. No, I say just let her soar on that comet of hers in the skies. That foal is worth nothing to me anymore,” was the answer that Chrysalis gave.

        But every word that she spoke, her hatred grew only more. She did a step towards the stallion. Once she stood right in front of him, the eye of Starswirl looked at the chest of the queen. A hoof was brought over to his chin and forced him to look up at her, while she looked down on him. “Any offer you’re giving me, I reject right away. So give me a good reason of why we shouldn't just make our departure straight away?”

        “L-Life.”

        “I beg your pardon?”

        “Staying, alive,” said Starsiwrl a bit louder. He did a step backwards and looked her in the eyes once again. He glanced to her with a serious set of eyes, hoping she would understand.

        “You’re kidding me here, right? You are threatening me after all you did for us? You certain you aren't escaped from any asylum?” The words of the queen were a true mocking of his personality and knowledge but his words were everything but a mock or a joke.

        Starswirl managed to keep his cool up and shook head in response to her words. “Not me, I’ll be toast long before you will be. No, Solarflare only wants to do one thing, reduce the world to ashes. Every, last, living, thing, burned to nothing but a crisp. Even your hive can’t stand a chance against the ever raging fires that have raised themselves in the east! Look out of the window and see for yourself! I never lied to you in the time we have known one another, why should I now?”

        His words were filled with power and honesty. So powerful even, that the queen even did that he told her to do and walked up to the window. Her eyes pointed themselves to the east and she noticed the most frightful thing that she had ever seen. “Impossible… This is not happening! This, this has to be a trick from you!”

        “It’s happening, queen. It already started and it won’t stop until the deed is complete.”

        Chrysalis then turned herself around as she had gained a spark in her eyes. There was this one little thing that didn't make any sense in her eyes. And that was the matter of his knowledge. “How do you know that she won’t stop like you said, hm?” she snarled to him. Answers was what she wanted and she wanted them there and then.

        “Celestia and I go back longer than you can even image. Much is hidden about her but not from me. The mind of a filly will often release things of the future in dreams. And those dreams can be witnessed through a window when given the right time and spell. I have seen the other self she would house queen. I could only pray it would never be released. But, you still haven’t answered my question. Will you help me to vanquish this evil from the land and spare everything that’s dear to you?” Starswirl spoke as a silent cry for all the help he could possibly get.

        The words of the stallion had an effect on the queen herself as she released a deep sigh through her nostrils. So many things that could have happened to there and then. But she made the decision that went in against every single thing that she stood for and closed her eyes. “I will help you,” she eventually said in the tongue of ponies. The alliance had been forged between them.