//------------------------------//
// Chapter Eight: Scheme Most Sinister 
// Story: Dan Vs. Equestria 
// by TreSiv 
//------------------------------//

	Hundreds of miles away, south of Ponyville, dark clouds formed over a twisted and sandy land. In the center of this land, there stood a castle, black and twisted stained with the sand that whipped up around it. It stood high upon a tall island that was surrounded by a large pit of lava. The heat radiated off of it would be deadly had it been a few degrees hotter. A long, narrow, ricketty, wooden bridge held up by a few, frail lengths of rope spanned the entire chasm of lava, from the charred rocky land to the island. On a small out cropping of rock that lay a few yards before it, a lone mare with a black cloak and hood stood staring at her destination. The wind began to pick up, and the mare pulled her cloak closer and began the trek that would lead her to the castle.

This castle was in the Badlands, the Changeling's Kingdom all ruled by the evil Queen Chrysalis. All the changelings, and the Queen, were dark, vile creatures, all sporting wings and horns, and they could turn into anyone they wanted. They had just been recovering over a heavy loss because the Queen's last attempt to take over Equestria had failed. Now, they were holed up in the castle, waiting, biding their time untill the next chance to take over the world arrived. Soon enough, though, this opportunity would be presenting itself.

The cloaked mare crossed the bridge carefully, as it swayed in the wind, making each step deliberatly soft as not to break the dry rotted boards that held the hoof path of the overpass of the lava lake together. She reached the tall, rotten wood door that lead to the enterance hall. She knocked on the door, but to no answer. The door creaked open from the force of the knocking, however, and the mare let herself in. Most ponies were terrified of even thinking of the Badlands themselves, for tales of ponies going and never returning plagued the conversation if it ever came up. The mare stepped inside and pushed her hood off to get a better light inside the dark, grimy castle which glowed green in some places.		

She looked around. In the soft green light, it could be seen that this was Trixie, the great and powerful, come to begin her plan of vengance against the town who ridiculed her, who tore asunder her very way of life. She had been living on the road without shelter, as her home had been destroyed by a rampaging Ursa Minor. Everywhere, there were large, black obsidian pillars that reached high into the ceiling. There was a huge, cracked staircase in the center, which led to the throne room. After weeks of searching, Trixie had finally found the place that was said to never be findable.

She trotted to the stairs across the room as her hoofsteps made an echo throughout the great enterance hall. On both sides, the railings were falling apart, and the stairs crumbling. At the top, there was another large black wood door. Trixie pushed it open slowly, and it creaked as well. Another long, large room presented itself, and at the end there stood a lone chair, tall and made of a shiny black obsidian found near the volcano that loomed over everything in the Badlands. On this chair laid the one and only Queen Chrysalis, sleeping, resting from her recent defeat. Trixie kneeled.

"Your majesty."

The Changeling Queen awoke from her pained slumber. She looked around the darkened hall, and her eyes rested on Trixie.

"Who are you? How did you find this place? I demand you leave at once before I execute you."

Trixie stopped kneeling. "It matters not who I am or how I found you. I am here because I have a plan you may be interested in."

The Queen frowned. "I do not make deals with you common, wretched ponies from the light. Your kind ruined us. YOU DIRTY HALF BREEDS! How dare you come here, thinking that you, a lesser than us, could have anything to offer. We are the top. We all are alicorns here, but the ones you revere the most, your leaders, you act like they are the only ones in existance! You regard them as gods, but you throw us to the wayside! We are much stronger than you can image!"

Trixie sneered. "So is that why you were defeated by a so-called 'dirty half-breed' and his wife?"

"It was only a minor setback. Now I am going to give you the option to leave now, or you will perish at my hooves."

"You must hear me. I have a plan that will ruin Equestria, that will help both of us if it succeeds."

Chrysalis turned her head slightly, staring in Trixie's eyes. "Why do you wish to betray your own kind?"

Trixie recoiled. "It matters not. What matters is that you listen."

Chrysalis said nothing for a moment. "Go on."

"I propose, with some help from you, that I steal the Elements of Harmony, bring them here. Once here, Canterlot will have no way to protect itself. Soon after they discover the Elements are gone, they'll send out the Bearers of the Elements to find them. They'll find them here, and when they arrive, you ambush them and destroy them. At this point, we will have the Elements, and with the Bearers gone, nothing will stop us."

The Queen sat in silence, mulling over the plan. "And if this plan goes awry? What of the Princesses?"

"It won't. Believe me it won't. And you defeated Celestia before, have you not?"

Chrysalis nodded, remembering. "How do you plan on stealing the Elements, then?"

"Under the cover of darkness, I'll break in and steal them. I know where they are located, but this is where I will need your help. I cannot get into the vault which contains them. You must send one of your changelings with me so they can turn into Celestia, so that I may use her horn to get in."

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes. Trixie continued.

"I'll garuntee your subject's protection, and afterwards, I'll bring the Elements directly here, where the rest of the plan will go into motion."

Chrysalis stood up and paced back and forth in front of Trixie. Trixie kneeled again.

"You know, I kill anyone who dare approach my throne uninvited, especially someone like you." Chrysalis sneered.

"However, I'll make an exception. You seem to have this planned out well enough. I'll help you on your little revenge stint. First thing tomorrow, I'll send someone to aid you. But should this plan fail, or this be a trap, there will be no world nor crevace that you can hide in that I will not find you." Chrysalis stopped pacing. "Oh, and don't think about running away if it does fail, because if you do, I'll hunt you down and kill you. Understood?"

Trixie nodded feebly.

"Good. Now leave my sight before I change my mind."

Trixie got up and backed out of the room. She made her way down the steps, and through the pillars in the large enterance hall. She looked behind her before she opened the doors to the outside and left the castle. There was a storm brewing. Trixie pulled her cloak over her head and trotted across the rickkety bridge over the lava. She cautiously made her way back to solid land, wishing she had wings, or at least, knew the spell that would give her wings.

Trixie found a cave-like structure of rocks just outside of the large round basin of magma to bundle up for the night. She made a small fire for warmth, then drifted off to sleep, as dreams of revenge finally being hers played in her head.