The royal chamber shook as the blast waves collided with each other. King Craw tackled Queen Chrysalis, but Lord Umbriel was quick to grab his neck and attempted to break it in half.
"How...did...you get back to normal?!" growled Umbriel.
"That's for me to know, and for you to never, ever find out!" said Craw, who shook Umbriel off of him.
Queen Chrysalis straightened herself and hovered upright.
"Brother, you ought to explain yourself now." she said, blowing a lock of hair away from her eyes.
"Must I do it now?" questioned Umbriel, who was wrestling with Craw.
"Do you have any better suggestions?" demanded Chrysalis.
"I certainly do." said Craw, pushing Umbriel away. "It's that both of you drop dead!"
He blasted his aura beams at the two siblings, who both deflected his attack.
"Okay, okay." said Umbriel, zipping to his sister's side. "I'll admit it. I may have been keeping Craw alive behind your back."
Chrysalis' eyes widened.
"You what?!" exclaimed the Queen of the Changelings, dodging another of Craw's projectiles. "Whatever is the meaning of this? Brother, what do you think you're doing, keeping my enemies on life-support like that?"
"Oh, come on!" said Umbriel. "It really did seem like a good idea at the time."
But Chrysalis argued on, even as she and Umbriel continued battling against King Craw.
"A good idea? A good idea?!"
"You should've seen Craw when I first found him. There was no way he would've been able to try anything again!"
"Brother, Craw is one of the most brilliant tacticians the Changeling Royal Guard has ever seen! Did you not anticipate that he might find a way to restore his body to its original state?"
"Well, I did keep him on a short leash." shrugged Umbriel.
"A very short leash!" shouted Craw. "One that I hope to strangle you with!"
"At least your sense of humor is more or less the same." said Umbriel. "In that... it's non-existent!"
"We can all certainly agree on that!" laughed Chrysalis.
"Shut up, and continue fighting me!" shouted Craw.
Then the three Changelings continued battling each other. For nearly twenty minutes, they frequently battled against each other. Suddenly, there was a flash of red light, and Ghost appeared in the room.
"Hold everything!" he shouted over the conflict.
The three Changeling rulers stopped fighting each other, then turned towards the albino Changeling, who then sat down and started munching on a bag of candy hearts that he unclipped from his leg.
"Okay, you can keep fighting each other." said Ghost. "I just didn't want to miss this."
But Craw sighed.
"Listen, this hasn't really been what I wanted to have to do." he said. "At least, not like this."
"Whatever do you mean, Craw?" questioned Umbriel, feigning concern.
"Well, I just don't see the point in trying to overthrow you two now." admitted Craw. "I should've been able to dispose of you two by now. But you two are simply too powerful together."
"Good." said Umbriel.
Then Chrysalis and Umbriel's horns began to glow in unison. But Craw was quick, and flew out of the chamber.
"Guards! After him!" Chrysalis shouted as she flew out after Craw.
And right on cue, nearly every Changeling in Queen Chrysalis' lair was in hot pursuit of King Craw.
"For the Queen!" shouted a drone.
"Kill the traitor!" said another.
But Craw simply blasted them and several others away with little effort.
"Curses!" growled Chrysalis. "What do I pay these incompetent fools for?!"
"You don't pay them at all, sister." said Umbriel. "They're your subjects."
"I know that, brother!" said Chrysalis. "Just kill Craw, darn it!"
"Sister, there is a problem with that." said Umbriel.
"What?"
"He's already gone." Umbriel pointed a thick hoof at a massive hole in the wall.
Queen Chrysalis began to fume angrily, and was even hyperventilating on the spot.
"Curses, curses, curses!" she snarled. "Where could he have gone?!"
"Sister, I believe you should calm down." said Lord Umbriel. "We will find him again. I promise you that."
"Don't you try calming me down, Embryo!" snapped Queen Chrysalis. "This was your fault that he's out and about again!"
"It wasn't my fault at all!" denied Umbriel. "His horn was broken! He couldn't even use magic! Something must've happened that caused him to regenerate his body!"
"But that is simply ridiculous!" said Chrysalis. "Can our kind even regrow limbs?"
"Um, yes." nodded Umbriel. "But it would take the consumption of a tremendous amount of love for something like that to happen! Especially in Craw's condition. And I was so careful, too, not to let him anywhere near someone that could hold that much romantic love! Not to mention, he wouldn't have been able to shapeshift or use magic, so the only way that he could feed off of it was if it was directly offered to him."
Then Chrysalis began to laugh for a while.
"What a good joke. As if anypony could actually love one of our kind!" she snarked. "I'll admit that Craw may have been...rather charming when he was younger, but I don't think even he could get a pony to willingly fall in love with him like that!"
Umbriel tilted his head and opened his mouth to speak. But before he could to so, Ghost teleported behind Queen Chrysalis and Lord Umbriel.
"Your highnesses, do you not realize that there are many possible reasons as to how a pony could ever voluntarily love a Changeling without shape-shifting or spells?"
"Really, Ghost?" said Chrysalis, bored. "You're just telling me this now. What does Umbriel here pay you for?"
"I don't pay him at all." said Umbriel. "I just let him stay at my side because he offers very soothing massages."
"Really?"
"No! Of course not, sister!" said Umbriel. "He's a brilliant magic user! That's why I keep him around!"
Ghost flew up to the queen.
"But, your majesty, I can offer to give you a massage..." he said in a smarmy tone.
"No, no no!" spat Chrysalis, sticking her tongue out in disgust. "I am not letting you put one albino hoof on my coat, you maniac!"
"Down, boy." said Umbriel, gingerly pushing Ghost back with his silvery wings.
"Listen, Ghost, if you want to prove as helpful to me as you are to my brother, then do me a favor." said Chrysalis.
"Yes, my queen?" asked Ghost, earnestly.
"I want you to scramble my drones." said Queen Chrysalis. "Search every mountain in this range, and all of our outposts and fortresses in Equestria for Craw! I will not have him stirring up another rebellion again! The soldier that apprehends him gets to be the new captain of my elite guard. Do you understand me?!"
"Yes, madam!" said Ghost, who teleported away again.
"Sister, and whatever shall we do?" asked Umbriel.
"You and I are going to be working together on this one." said Chrysalis. "We are going to have to pool our soldiers together for this hunt."
"Of course, Chryssi." said Umbriel. "I shall be glad to do this."
"Oh, you had better be." said Chrysalis.
Sigma and Canopy had now returned, and saluted the two Changelings in unison.
"You two, I want you to reorganize the survivors of my Vanhoover stronghold, and search for Craw." said Umbriel. "Scout the settlements of Equestria for him."
"What about Sunset Shimmer, my lord?" asked Canopy.
"She can wait." said Umbriel. "Getting Craw back down to his knees is much more important than harassing a bunch of ponies."
"We'll see it done then, milord." said Sigma.
"Good." said Umbriel. "You may start your search where Craw staged his last attacks: Appleoosa, Ponyville, and Canterlot. But remember: Don't let your cover be blown! And pick any fights with those ponies...yet."
"Yes, my lord." said Canopy.
Then the two Changelings flew away, leaving Queen Chrysalis and Lord Umbriel behind again. The two siblings decided to go back into the royal chamber, and sat down.
"So, where were we before we were so rudely interrupted by...everyone." said Chrysalis.
"Well, I believe that we were going to talk about what I discovered in Canterlot?" asked Lord Umbriel.
He told his sister about the portal, and his interactions with Captain Umbriel, and about the Chrysalis Syndicate.
"How interesting." said Queen Chrysalis, once Umbriel was done.
"But what do you think we should do about them?" asked Umbriel.
"They sound like they'll only get in our way." said Chrysalis. "Especially if our own counterparts get themselves involved."
"Are you sure about this, sister?" asked Umbriel. "I mean, they're pretty much...well, us."
"Precisely." said Chrysalis. "I mean, what if they come into our world, and they come to crave for love, just like us? We would be fighting them for resources! We're already struggling to feed our people as it is! We can't let our population be doubled like this. Not to mention, we don't know what their motives are, so they may wind up killing us along with the ponies!"
"You don't even know if they plan to kill anyone, even the ponies!" said Umbriel. "My counterpart told me that his organization was only looking for Sunset Shimmer." said Umbriel. "Otherwise, they wouldn't be interested in Equestria at all."
"Or would they?" asked Chrysalis. "Think about it, brother. We Changelings hunger for love, happiness, and other such emotions. What if our counterparts hunger for something...more?"
"They have extremely powerful weapons and armor, apparently among the greatest their world has to offer." said Umbriel.
"And we have extraordinary magical skills, and yet it's not enough for us!" said Chrysalis.
"That is true." admitted Umbriel.
"So I am going to suggest that we give the Syndicate what they want." said Chrysalis. "Before they even have a chance to visit Equestria. We shall capture Sunset Shimmer, and when the portal opens itself again, we are going to cast her through it and let the Syndicate have her!"
Umbriel's eyes narrowed.
"No!" he shouted.
Chrysalis blinked her eyes in surprise. For the first time that she could remember, Umbriel had raised his voice against her in anger.
"Brother, whatever do you mean?"
Then Umbriel sighed, calming himself down.
"I apologize, sister." he said. "But I still have plans for Sunset Shimmer that require her alive, well, and in Equestria. I would rather not explain them now, but my plans...they are absolutely important to me."
"Very well, brother." said Chrysalis. "We will do things your way...for now. But on one condition, since I don't mean to spoil you at all."
"Capture Craw first?" asked Umbriel.
"Capture Craw first." confirmed Chrysalis.
"Yes, I will like that very much." grinned Umbriel.
"And so will I." said Chrysalis.