“Alright, everypony just shut up!”
Twilight's sudden, and rather unexpected, command hushed the garble of talk inside the cavern instantly. She looked around at the silent changlings and ponies before taking a calmer breath.
“That's better.” She looked to her side, where Fluttershy stood, eyes sad and face downcast, the bird still clinging to her hair for dear life. “I'm sure you've all heard the news. Spike, my dragon companion and close friend,” she explained for the sake of the changlings, “has been taken captive by the Sheon emperor.”
She looked over at the changling queen at her other side and took another breath before facing the crowd. “We were hoping to figure out some way of opening negotiations again. Perhaps forcing an audience if we absolutely had to -”
“No way!” Rainbow raced up into the cold cavern air. “They just tried to kill us! And they have Spike! We have to fight back!”
Another wave of angry voices swept over the crowd of ponies, even Rarity, tired as she was, let out a desperate, “We can't let them harm our little Spike!” Twilight noticed the strange glances of the changlings and the flinch on the queen's face.
“Hold it!” She cried out, nearly taking to the air herself, but held back by something. She looked at her wings and saw they were still held down by that strange greenish substance. She gave a flinch herself. She had forgotten she was even injured. This was going to be harder than she thought.
“Alright, look,” she announced in a loud voice, “I know how you all feel. I really do. I... I raised Spike. I more than anypony,” she felt her voice wavering, her eyes watering and immediately stopped to take another gulp of air, closing her eyes for a moment. The cavern remained still. She forced her eyes open again. “We can't give in to anger. We'll do something we regret. We need to go about this as peacefully as we can.”
“And how are we gonna do that?” Applejack asked with a confused look. “Ah don't wanna rain on your rodeo, Twiahlight, but they ain't gonna just hand him over if we ask nicely.”
The alicorn shook her head. “I know that, but we can't just go in there attacking everything that moves.”
“Why not?” Rainbow demanded. “They started it!”
“And who is 'they?'” Chrysalis asked with a raised brow. “The soldiers are following orders. As you can see,” she nodded her head towards Blue Flame and his new recruits, “once they are told a bit more and have a choice, they are willing to listen to reason.”
“And it's not just the military,” Twilight agreed, “it's the civilians, palace guards, really anypony other than the emperor, and probably Solace, are unknown in their alliance. We have no idea exactly who is truly dangerous and who is simply following orders. We could hurt a lot of innocents if we just rush in there with our magic.”
There was a somber silence for a second before Twilight asked Princess Lily softly, even when she knew what the answer might be, “Is there any way you can convince your father to speak with us?”
The alicorn looked sadly at Twilight, her eyes focusing and unfocusing in thought. “I- I'm not sure.” she hung her head. “He's so stubborn. He believes he has to conquer this other nation. That the dragons are a gift from the heavens and that he alone has divine power over them. Even if I could talk to him...”
Twilight sighed. “I understand.” She thought for a moment. “Princess Lily?”
The alicorn rose her head.
“What would happen if it was proven that the dragons aren't just controlled by him?” she asked slowly.
Lily blinked and tilted her head. “B-but they are. They do anything he says. They're trained to. They follow nopony else. Even the trainers can do only so much.”
“That doesn't sound right,” Fluttershy murmured. “Dragons are huge and scary and they do anything they wish!”
Lily shook her head slowly. “Wild dragons, perhaps, but the ones here are perfectly tamed. They don't even have minds of their own.”
“But what if we could change that?” Twilight asked again, thinking of Spike's occasionally mischievous, but often kind and very unique, personality.
“Is that even possible?” the princess asked.
Twilight smirked. “It's worth a try!” She looked over at Discord, who had been oddly silent this whole time, a strange contemplating expression on his disproportioned face. “Discord!” The draconiquus looked over at her blankly. “Can you transport us all to where Spike is?”
The chaos master's eyes grew large and he looked around quickly. “Well, I'd hope where he is is spacious enough!”
Twilight walked forward with a nod, looking over the crowd. “Point taken. What about a small group? Saaaay, three ponies and two changlings?”
Discord rubbed at his chin and then leaned down to whisper into a nearby changling's ear, “Can I borrow you for a second?”
The small creature nodded curiously and Discord snapped. The changling disappeared from his spot near the draconiquus and appeared over by its queen, looking around in a panicked manner.
Discord nodded to himself. “Yes, I can manage that...” His face became playful again. “But I'd much prefer a more interesting job.”
“Oh, that's not all I want you to do,” Twilight grinned. Looking over at her friends she called over Silverline. “You and Fluttershy are coming with me and Chrysalis to the dragon grounds. We're going to remind them they have their own voice in this world.”
Fluttershy immediately hunkered down towards the floor, her eyes wide. “B-but d-d-dragons!”
“Fluttershy,” Twilight breathed, trying to remain calm, “I know they're scary to you... But you heard what Princess Lily said, right? These dragons have been stripped of their freedom. They're being used and controlled as weapons! Are you just going to sit back and watch?”
Something snapped inside of Fluttershy and she shot up instantly from the cold ground into the chill air, eyes focused. “No!”
Silverline didn't look convinced. “Wouldn't it be better for the princess to accompany you? She knows more about the dragon grounds and,” he looked at his bandaged wing and leg, “I'm not going to be very helpful to anypony like this.”
Twilight shook her head. “You have other qualities I'll need.” At his questioning look she answered, “Such as your calm logic and warrior's heart.” They exchanged smiles as Twilight turned to face the crowd again. “I need the princess here.” Raising her voice she addressed them all again. “Pikie Pie!”
The energetic ponie jumped up and down excitedly.
“You'll be rushing through the city, letting as many ponies know as you can that the Princess Lily has made a peace with the long awaited darkling tribe, returned to bring fortune to Sheon's citizens. Tell them to join her and the darkling tribe in a celebration of this momentous occasion in the forest clearing right outside the caves.”
Pinkie nearly burst with happiness. “Peace party!!!”
“Rarity!”
The unicorn looked up from her place laying down on the ground, Sally by her side, trying to make her new friend comfortable.
“I know you're tied, but could you help the princess, changlings and Discord to organize this peace celebration? It needs to look, safe, happy and , most of all, peaceful.”
The unicorn gave her friend a brave smile, though it cast over towards Discord with a worried look. “I'll... I'll do my best!”
Twilight returned her smile and then turned towards the others. “Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Blue Flame! You will provide security for the Princess' celebration. I've no doubt Pinkie's announcements will attract some hostile forces. Remember! Don't hurt anypony. Just keep anypony who wants to cause trouble away from the event. Discord? You'll be rushing around quite a bit. I need you to not only assist Rarity, but also keep anypony from getting injured if any military attacks become too aggressive."
The draconiquus looked curious about the idea, not giving the usual sarcastic remarks. He merely nodded. Twilight made a note to question about his odd behaver later.
She took one more breath "We have to make this whole thing look wonderful and peaceful and completely accepted by the royal house. That way, by the time the emperor can act against us, we'll have the hearts of all his kingdom on our side. Hopefully.”
She took a breath and looked over at Chrysalis. “You'll be coming with me along with one other changling. Your transformation abilities might be critical to us not being found out if there are patrols or caretakers where Spike is.” She pressed her lips before asking softly, “If you agree to all this, that is?”
The changling queen was silent for a moment before breaking into a grin. “Remind me never to play any strategy games with you, Twilight Sparkle. I fear it wouldn't turn out well for me.”