Fluttershy
Fluttershy
Celestia's sun shone radiantly upon the Crystal Empire, the skies a pristine blue. There wasn't a cloud in the sky or a haze in the breeze, not even outside the Empire's magical field. The air was perfectly warm, the birds were chirping, it was a beautiful day.
There was no reason for it to be such a nice day.
The funeral for Twilight's brother was held in the cemetery behind the Opal park within the Crystal Empire, early in the morning.
It wasn't a very big funeral, but it was still notable in size. A lot more ponies attended than she had expected, but if she thought about it, it really wasn't that big of a surprise. Shining Armor had been their prince, after all, so maybe it wasn't such a big surprise that there was such a crowd. It didn't make Fluttershy any more comfortable though; all those ponies, judging her, deeming her a traitor.
The coffin was ready to be buried. There had been no wake, and the procession from the Palace to the graveyard was behind them. The sun beat down harshly despite how early it was, as if Princess Celestia had accidentally placed it on too high a setting. Twilight sat on the grass with her head low, visibly fighting back tears, Princess Cadance mimicking her to the unicorn's left while Spike sat to Twilight's right. Fluttershy sat with the girls in the row behind them, sitting at the far right of their little ensemble, Rainbow was next to her with a wing over her withers. After that came Applejack, then Rarity and then, lastly, Pinkie. A little ways to Pinkie's left, looking wholly uncomfortable among all the ponies, was the changeling queen.
Fluttershy didn't know much about what had happened after Elizabeth had sent the infected to attack. She caught glimpses here and there, and Elizabeth had told her about some of the things going on each night before Fluttershy went to bed. She knew that the changelings had come to help Equestria - is it really helping if they're stopping Elizabeth? wondered a traitorous voice in her head - and apparently they were... friendly?
She wasn't entirely sure, but either way Princess Cadance had asked for Queen Chrysalis to come, so she'd certainly missed something. It didn't make her any less afraid of the towering changeling queen, but what could she do without making a scene?
She looked down and shuffled her forelegs, which just prompted Rainbow to briefly squeeze her wing tighter. Behind them, several other crystal ponies sat in rows. Apparently the ones in the row right behind them were former friends of Shining, either members of the military or the castle staff.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood by the coffin, the Daybringer giving a speech while Princess Luna looked over those assembled. While Celestia spoke of Shining's bravery and sacrifice, speaking only briefly about how he'd saved their own lives from Elizabeth's 'wrath', Fluttershy couldn't help but feel like Princess Luna was staring straight at her. Princess Cadance had asked them to officiate the funeral, or whatever the position was. Fluttershy didn't know; she didn't attend many pony funerals.
Time passed painfully slowly, Fluttershy trying to balance her fear of the changeling, her sorrow at Shining Armor being d-dead, and her unease at being around the him. Eventually, Princess Cadance got up and trotted next to the other alicorns, and lowered the casket into the hole that had been dug. Fluttershy bit her lip and wiped her eyes with a hoof. What was she doing here? It was her fault he was dead.
A tremor passed through her body, but she otherwise ignored it and continued to look as morose as she felt.
Once the casket was underground, Princess Cadance stepped back and a trio of crystal ponies, each bearing a spade, began to shovel in dirt from a nearby mound. Fluttershy felt herself tearing up watching it, so she looked away. She didn't want to draw any attention to herself. Not now.
Not ever.
Eventually everypony broke off into groups, talking to each other about their memories of Shining Armor. Twilight spoke with Princess Celestia, Princess Cadance with the changeling. For her part, Fluttershy just went as far away from everypony else as she could, as if maybe that way they wouldn't notice her. Of course, even when she found a relatively secluded place, Rainbow still followed after her like a bodyguard.
Knowing Rainbow, that was probably what she was doing. Loyal even to a traitor. It made her want to cry.
She sat down on a slight hill, watching everypony talk with each other. She tried not to fixate on anything, but Chrysalis's giant dark form stood out very sharply in the hyper-reflective Crystal Empire.
After all, it such was a bright and sunny day.
Rainbow Dash sat down next to her. "Hey, how're you holding up?" she asked gently.
"Okay," she whispered, trying to hide behind her mane. "I'm okay. How's, um, Twilight?"
"She's taking it hard, but she's a champ," Rainbow said. "Ya know, I don't think I ever thanked you for, well, using your Element back there."
"Hmm?" she asked, turning towards Rainbow. "When did I use my Element?"
"You didn't see it? Flutters, you totally saved our flanks! We were pinned down by the infected, we were tired, we were cut off, and then woosh! All of them drop at once, and we're all fresh as a daisy. Just in time for Greene to come. I don't wanna imagine how badly we'd have lost to that... that monster without you."
"Please don't talk about her like that," she whispered.
"What was that?"
She shook her head. "Nothing, nothing."
"Right. So anyway, yeah, you and your Element totally saved our lives." Rainbow's face fell. "Most of our lives, anyway."
"I guess," she whispered with a cringe, looking over at where Princess Cadance was openly crying, hugging the changeling queen who, in turn, stood ramrod stiff with horror on her face, eyes darting this way and that for an escape. Twilight and Princess Celestia were having a heated discussion. Or rather, Twilight was having a heated discussion while Princess Celestia maintained her calm against her student's anger and blame. She was actually almost shouting at Princess Celestia. That made another shock of fear go through Fluttershy; she's angry because her brother's dead, and it's all my fault.
Fluttershy almost caught herself leaning into Rainbow's wing, but stopped. She didn't want to act so... needy. Especially not after the events of the Outbreak. Her friends had been pushed to their limits, enduring horrors that hadn't existed... ever. And meanwhile she had been with the enemy, helping her, safe and secure in the castle.
And what about Elizabeth? Did nopony else care about her anymore? Did all of them just see her as a monster, Tartarus-bent on enslaving the world to her will? Was she the only one who remembered Elizabeth as a well-meaning mother who only wanted to end all the bad things in the world for the rest of time? Was it only Fluttershy who remembered all the fun they'd had before she started the Outbreak?
Elizabeth warily clinging to her when they'd met in Canterlot Castle, helping her convince the termites under her house to use the Everfree's trees instead. Elizabeth foalsitting the Cutie Mark Crusaders... successfully. Helping her on Nightmare Night so that for the first time in years she wasn't the holiday's laughingstock. Did all of that mean nothing to everypony else? Had they all just... forgotten it in their sorrow?
The fact that is was her fault she'd lost, her fault Elizabeth was alone and afraid in the dungeons, made it all the worse. The blame of Elizabeth's failure squarely on her withers, the fact that everypony forgot that Greene was their friend, the sheer unfairness of it all, oh it made her want to scream! But she didn't, because doing that at a funeral wouldn't be nice.
She must've started to cry again, because Rainbow held her tighter, like when they were foals and she was bullied so often. It was a bright, sunny day.
And it had only just begun.
***-_***_-***-_***_-***-_***_-***
Chrysalis
She frowned. Was this the best they could come up with on short notice? Granted, the small room, bereft of windows or any other way to see outside of it, dimly lit by a hoofful of crystals, reminded her of home, but the seats! It scraped against her chitin something awful. In the back of her mind, Chrysalis wondered if it wasn't some form of petty payback for the invasion.
The funeral had finished not that long ago; long enough for everyling to cool down, but not so long that it wasn't lunch. She opened her mouth and took in a bit of the Crystal Empire's ambient love, feeling it warm her insides as well-being surged through her limbs.
The table was snowflake obsidian, the glass-like rock reinforced with bands of iron. On the table rested several sheets of paper - a premade alliance that Celestia had teleported in from her castle, go figure - an inkwell, and a long feather quill that looked like it might've been plucked from Luna's wings. The table was a triangle, each side equal in length. Chrysalis had taken one side, Cadance another, and the alicorn sisters squeezed together uncomfortably on the third side. There was only one topic on the ponies' minds, and that was the alliance.
Chrysalis couldn't help but wonder. After all, she was ready to push Equestria beneath her hoof at a moment's notice.
"Are we all prepared to carry through with this?" Celestia asked. "There will certainly be much uprest among the remaining civilians as a result of this."
Luna scoffed. "Let them. The world has changed, and they must change along with it."
That was right, the world had changed. The ponies wanted to craft a formal alliance with her people, and turn to neutrality with the other races. The ponies wanted to form an alliance with her people. The very idea was madness, it was insanity, it...
... intrigued Chrysalis.
She would be lying if the general idea didn't at least interest her. What would an alliance with the ponies even look like? What would be the advantage of that compared to just outright conquering them?
She looked at the alicorn sisters. "I must confess, I did not truly think you were serious about this."
Luna nodded. "We art indeed serious." She sighed. "Equestria is a broken nation. We shalt pull through, surely, but the economy will fall to ruins, our ability to defend ourselves hath been limited to the Elements, which art largely all-or-nothing." Luna nodded towards Chrysalis respectfully. "Thou personally demonstrated how to counter the use of the Elements." Chrysalis smirked proudly at that. She had, hadn't she?
Luna continued. "Equestria, as it stands now, is defenseless, and there are other nations out there that would seek to do us harm, such as the Diamond Dog Beta Pack, or the cheetahs. Our current allies evidently do not care enough about our well being to be trusted, and the paperwork is already being drawn up to sever our official ties with them."
Celestia continued. "In one fell swoop, Elizabeth Greene has destroyed Equestria's status as a world power. Chrysalis, I know how odd this must sound but we..." She pursued her lips. "We need your help."
They were trusting her. They were trusting her. Not a disguise she summoned forth, the veil of hypnosis she could weave on their minds. The ponies were actually putting their faith in Chrysalis. It was just so easy. Too easy. It made her strangely ill at ease.
She glanced at Cadance, then back at the other alicorns. It wasn't even a question that they could rely on the Crystal Empire; while surely the little pink alicorn would try, her nation was just too small to be able to do much in the way of international policy. "You really want to do this," she whispered, more to herself than anyling else. "You ponies actually want to form an alliance with my people." She looked at Cadance, the pony sitting in her chair and staring at Chrysalis expectantly. "Even you?"
With a blink and a nod, she said, "I'm willing to put the past behind us if you are." Something in her chest tightened. Then there was a slight pressure inside her skull, right next to her ears.
'Your Majesty,' said Swarm Commander Mandible, successor to Polin after he'd fallen in battle to Greene herself. 'We are in position.'
She held up a holed forehoof. "Hold on a moment, I need to answer this." She allowed herself to gaze at nothingness while she focused on Mandible's message. She focused her telepathy in his 'direction'. 'Really now?'
'Yes, my Queen. We are ready to begin takeover at your command.'
She smiled. She just had to bluff her way through this meeting, pretend to want to ally with them, and once Greene was dealt with - one way or another - she could pull the rug out from under their hooves. And then she could ensure none of the other races would take her food away from her, and her people would never need to ration ever again.
As opposed to forming an alliance, where she could ensure none of the other races would take her food away from her, and her people would never need to ration ever again.
'That is... great news,' she thought to him with less enthusiasm than she would've a month ago. 'I'll think about it.'
'Pardon me for asking, Your Majesty, but what do you mean you'll think about it?'
'Exactly that! Now silence, I have other things to do at the moment than idly chat with you.'
'Idly - '
'Silence!' she shouted into his mind, brows furrowing. She returned her attention to the perplexed looking alicorns and forced herself to relax. "I am willing to give it a chance," she said truthfully. "What are your terms for this... allegiance? One at a time, if that's not too hard for you." If they said their terms first, she could argue back and have a better chance of her own terms...
... Queen Chrysalis racked her mind for what she'd want out of a hypothetical alliance with the pretty little ponies.
"We have more land than we can do anything with, now," Celestia said. "A great many of our cities simply do not have enough ponies to keep them operational; we can fit nearly all of our remaining little ponies into Canterlot."
Wasn't that true. For the first time in... ever, changelings outnumbered ponies.
Princess Celestia continued. "To say nothing of the high number of ghost towns that have simply been eradicated. I understand that the Badlands are very desolate, and Luna and I have both agreed that there would be little problem in annexing a great deal of land to your kingdom. It will all simply go to waste otherwise."
She considered that for a few moments, a hoof tapping her chin, and then shook her head. "You can keep your land, we have nothing we can use it for. The Badlands may be 'desolate' to your kind, but they're home to us." She tilted her head sideways. "My apologies, but it seems that you're just going to have to cut your losses; it'll take decades for your numbers to rebuild, decades that your cities and towns simply don't have." She narrowed her eyes. "That'll likely bring other races asking why you need all your land if you aren't using it. They'll probably try and acquire it for themselves."
Celestia and Luna shared an uneasy look. "Truth be told," the Daybringer said. "I had not thought of that." She frowned. "They'll likely be upset at us severing ties..."
"I won't let them," she said without thinking. "Your well being is somewhat important to me. If they want Equestria, they'll have to fight us for it." She smirked. "You know, for a while after we invaded the other nations thought our only real strength is in stealth, but now? Let them test their might against the only military that could slow down the infected." Sure, she'd lost a fifth of her soldiers, but that still left a respectable four hundred thousand. "If we ally, then I promise you, you will have the protection of the Unified Changeling Swarm as you rebuild your country, however long that may take." She frowned. "Wounds like these take a very long time to heal."
Even longer if they were enslaved, which meant more time where they couldn't help themselves.
Luna nodded. "We shalt be grateful for thy assistance. Needless to say, as part of this treatise thy subjects shalt be allowed to... feed, obviously considering informed consent between the two parties. However, we know not the ratio of pony-to-changeling needed to feed thy subjects."
Chrysalis searched her memory for a moment. "It depends on how much love is available, but generally we've gotten by with one harvester per fifty changelings. That's twenty thousand harvesters, with roughly fifteen ponies per harvester; easily supportable, even with your... new population."
Celestia nodded. "Seems reasonable. Also, I feel that your subjects should wear some sort of identification - "
"Absolutely not," she snapped. "My subjects will remain independent. You do not ask the zebras or the minotaurs to do such, do you?"
"Zebras and minotaurs cannot shapeshift like your species can," Celestia retaliated.
"Our power is an integral part of who we are," she near-snapped. "You may as well ask the griffons to wear tags proclaiming them carnivores."
"How about," Cadance said. "A compromise? No identification, but not impersonating anypony either."
Queen Chrysalis frowned, shocked that she was actually considering it. "We still rely on that skill to feed ourselves," she mentioned.
Cadance looked at her warmly and tiredly. "I'm willing to let however many changelings inside my Empire as you need to make up for the deficit."
Luna raised an eyebrow. "Mi Amore Cadenza, thou would let them feed directly from the Crystal Heart?"
"Oh no, not directly from the heart." The young alicorn frowned. "No telling what that would do. But Chrysalis, I've seen you feeding from its aura and it hasn't been doing anything to the Heart itself. I don't see why you couldn't have some, um, harvesters up here feeding from the crystal field."
Chrysalis smiled. "Very generous of you. That would certainly be acceptable, Princess Cadance."
They spent a good couple of hours ironing out the details. Chrysalis offered to trade them iron, much to their surprise; they didn't know the Badlands were rich in iron, since all of it was far underground. There was also the question of how criminals between their species would be punished, and the mutual agreement that anything like foreign exchange students could wait. There were some arguments, of course, such as the alicorn sisters insisting on making immigration to their side easier than hers. It didn't matter that changelings could survive both Equestria and the Badlands with ease and the ponies only one, she was not opening up that door.
... she really was considering it. She, Queen Chrysalis the Green, was actually considering allying herself and her people with their food source.
Eventually, their discussions came to a close, and Celestia finished penning up the edits to the treaty. She levitated it before herself in her golden magic. "I believe that settles everything. Just need the signatures now." There was a flourish with the quill before she gave it to Luna, who performed the same, followed by Cadance. Then the pink princess gave it to her. Chrysalis didn't sign it. She just held both the treaty and the quill in the air, staring at them, transfixed.
If she signed this, then that would make conquering them so much easier. They'd be trusting her more than if she spat the offer back in their faces, especially after two hours of debating terms. But... what precisely would she gain by going through with the invasion?
The knowledge that she'd gotten her revenge. The satisfaction that she had put the ponies beneath her hoof. Knowing that she, like all the green queens before her, would go down in changeling history. The work needed to keep the ponies safe, without the alicorns or the Elements to protect them. A way to move the sun and the moon without Celestia and Luna.
And... if she didn't? She'd forever have lost to them. Her changelings would live alongside them, with much less fear of being harmed. She would go down as the queen who brought peace. Her people would still need to protect them, but the ponies could also do something to keep themselves safe. The alicorns would continue to move the cosmic orbs. And she wouldn't feel so terribly sick about having done the other path.
The world has changed, she thought. We have to change with it. And if there's one thing we're good at...
She took a deep breath, narrowed her eyes, and focused back on Mandible. 'Swarm Commander,' she said, ignoring the increasingly worried looks the ponies were giving her. 'Call our troops back.'
'Right away, my - wait, what? My queen, did I hear that correctly?'
'You did,' she thought to him sharply. 'Keep our other soldiers in place, but anyling preparing to strike at Equestria is to stand down immediately.'
'But, then how are we conquering them?'
'We aren't.'
There was a pause. Luna asked, "Chrysalis, art thou... feeling well?"
'... my queen, let me be blunt. What is wrong with you? This has been your goal since you took the throne, and now it's being tossed right into our hooves and you're just going to... let it go?'
'Watch your tongue, subject,' she warned.
'I'm sorry Queen Chrysalis, but you and I both know that yes-lings help noling.' She bit down on her lip so hard her fangs nearly drew blood. 'What could possibly lead you to decide on this? Taking over the little ponies will give us everything we ever wanted!'
'There's nothing that performing a takeover can give us that an alliance cannot, not anymore,' she explained. 'The ponies... they're willing to grant us trade. Feeding directly from the Heart. Dual protection acts. We'd be nymphs to turn down this offer.'
There was a pause. '... are you certain, my queen? What if they betray us?'
She mentally scoffed. 'That's not the pony way, they won't do it. Call your soldiers back now, Swarm Commander. We'll have both Equestria and the Crystal Empire as feeding grounds, but not that way.'
There was an even longer pause. 'By your will, Your Majesty. I'll begin coordinating the stand-down immediately.'
'Good,' she sent to him, before returning her focus to the ponies. She took in a deep breath through her nostrils, then let out a long sigh to try and defuse the butterflies in her crop. Looking around, she saw that Cadance looked horrified, Celestia grim, and the Nightbringer's horn was shimmering with power.
"Chrysalis?" Cadance whispered shakily.
They still fear me, she thought with almost satisfaction. She shook her head. "I am fine, simply communicating with someling. Here." She signed her name with a flourish and set all the articles in the middle of the table. "There. Done," she said with finality.
The others relaxed, and Luna's horn went out. Princess Celestia gave her a tentative smile. "Thank you. For a moment I was starting to be worried."
Chrysalis murmured something under her breath. Luna rotated one of her ears in response. "Pardon?" she asked.
"You had every right to be." She sighed and looked at the assembled alicorns, a worried frown tugging at her lips no matter how hard she tried to dislodge it. "You ponies value honesty as one of your values, yes? Element of harmony and all that nonsense." They nodded. "Well then, allow me, in the spirit of our new alliance, to be honest with you. Up until recently I've been planning to, once that monster is in the ground, conquer you. I'd ambush the three of you in your sleep, or when your backs were turned, and separate the Elements." She gave in fully to the frown. "At least, until recently."
"W-What changed?" Cadance asked fearfully.
She sighed sadly. "There's just... no point in it. This alliance... it's everything we could want. We finally have it all. There is nothing we could get from a hostile takeover that you... haven't already given us." She shook her head. "I'm willing to give this a try."
Celestia nodded, her face utterly even. Despite that, Chrysalis could sense her unease and relief, the two emotions clashing against each other. "Queen Chrysalis, while it greatly unsettles me that you were planning to do us harm even after all we have been through, it is good to hear you have chosen to be honest with us over such an uncomfortable task. Though you must understand it raises the question of, what is to stop you from changing your mind a second time?"
"Pragmatism," she said. "With this alliance we get all the food we could ever need, stable and secure, and a trading partner, and an ally, and so much more. Conquering you would take much more effort than getting our kind to get along. And as much as I hate to say it, those Elements hold a lot of firepower." The two immortal alicorns crinkled their snouts and revulsion filled her emotional senses, probably at having the Elements of Harmony referred to as having firepower. "Shame to say, I couldn't fare well against Discord's type. It's good to have them around as... insurance." She licked her lips and nodded. "There's simply no reason to do it."
Celestia and Luna's wariness both faded, while Cadance's, being ever so trusting, vanished completely. "I see," Celestia said. "I suppose that we'll just have to accept that." Chrysalis could hear the undertone that Celestia would keep an eye on her. Let her; Chrysalis was still at full power and expected, with their alliance, to stay that way for a while. "Now that this discussion is done, we can carry out Greene's trial. Luna and I already have a plan as to her sentence." Oh it was so cute that Celestia had come to a decision before the trial even began. Then again, Greene's guilt was beyond all doubt.
Cadance frowned. "I don't like it, auntie. Just... leaving her there like that? What if she tunnels underground?"
"She'll encounter the same countermeasures as above ground," the Daybringer said.
"And what," Chrysalis asked harshly. "is this plan?"
Celestia got up from her seat and cantered next to Chrysalis, and began whispering in her ear. Eventually, she frowned. "Really? That's it? But what about - " More whispers. " - okay I can see your point, and how that would contain them, but what if it fails - " Even more whispers. " - oh. Ooh! How devious, I'm rubbing off on you. I still think you should kill her." Even more whispers, which prompted Chrysalis to sigh. Certainly not pout. Queens do not pout. "Fine, I can understand your perspective." She pulled away from the alicorn and left her seat.
"Well then, I won't keep you. I disagree with your choice, but it neutralizes her all the same. I shall be taking my leave."
"So soon?" Cadance asked, tilting her head ever so slightly.
"I know that Equestria and the terraformed land under your Crystal Heart seem like a paradise," she explained. "But to my kind it's just so... verdant and overgrown. I want to be underground in a sea of dark stone, the only light that which shines from my eyes. I want to go home." She smirked. "I'll keep in touch through my changelings, of course, but I haven't slept in my own bed for too long." A queen deserved to sleep in her own bed.
She stepped over a safe distance from the others and raised a forehoof, preparing to stomp it for dramatic effect. She couldn't teleport all the way to the Badlands, certainly not from the Crystal Empire, but she could at least leave the palace. "Have fun taking care of Greene."
"Alright," the pink alicorn said. "Feel free to stop by any time, Chrysalis."
She paused at the genuine offer, and her mouth upturned in a smile. "I'll keep it in mind, Cadance."
Her hoof came down with a hard stomp. There was a rush of emerald flame in a perfect circle around her, and she was gone.
***-_***_-***-_***_-***-_***_-***
Twilight Sparkle
The Court of the Royal Pony Sisters was in session.
Twilight wasn't actually there to see it, but she could witness it all the same. She and her friends, with the Elements, crowded around a viewing crystal that projected the scene into the air, providing a baleful light in the poorly lit chamber; Rainbow just had to play with the illumination shards didn't she? Of course she had to.
After the funeral, and some business with the changelings that Twilight really wasn't interested in right then, Princess Celestia had found Twilight and her friends moping around lunch, and led them to a portal relay, which in turn lead to the sealed-off chamber they were currently in. In the corner of the room a crystal generator kept their coats shining and virus-free. The room was brown and the walls seemed to have been painted with airy strokes, the style of griffons. There were no windows and a faint pressure on her ears indicated they were underground. Twilight had long ago detected the presence of a carbon dioxide conversion spell on the chamber, which gave further credence to the 'secret underground room' theory.
Princess Celestia's instructions had been clear and no-nonsense; stay in the chamber until she came to collect them. Accommodations would be provided, in spite of how small the room was. Twilight would've preferred to know what the room was and why she didn't know of it, but she supposed that over her long life Princess Celestia had accumulated a lot of secrets, places she remembered that nopony else did.
The Court of the Royal Pony Sisters was not held in its usual court room, for obvious reasons. The Crystal Court was used instead, the late afternoon light streaming in through the windows and diffracting into a hundred thousand scintillating colors that danced along the walls. The Court of the Royal Pony Sisters was the absolute highest court in the land, even above the Equestrian Court. It was only ever held in the direst of cases, when the alicorn sisters decided that they themselves directly had to preside directly over a hearing. It had only been held a hoofful of times throughout history. The procedure was different from that of other courts, mainly in that the Princesses served also as the prosecutors.
It was always short. Always direct. Always swift. Always reserved for those whose guilt was beyond any doubt, who also weren't so powerful that a regular court couldn't contain them. Such circumstances were rare.
Today was time number four.
The seats were not all filled, but there were plenty of journalists, law experts, and other witnesses. A great many of them were soldiers, and a great many of the soldiers changelings. At the head of the room, both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna - wearing none of their regalia after it had been destroyed by Greene's shockwave - sat side by side. Both were grim, both crackled with arcane might even through the viewing crystal, beams of light and blotches of shadow thickening near them. More changelings clung to the walls, at the ready, and Twilight could just barely see the shimmering of protective wards around the alicorns.
Princess Luna spoke. "Let this fourth hearing of the Court of the Royal Pony Sisters commence. The accused may enter."
There was the sound of doors opening, and Elizabeth Greene entered. Just looking at the alien made every muscle in her body ache, reminding her how hard she had been pushed in the final battle against the Plague Goddess. Physically the alien looked exactly the same as before, with her skin-tight plastic suit that she'd long ago assimilated into part of her own body, her ragged orange mane, and paler-than-snow skin. Some things, however, some things different.
For one, her hands were bound in front of her, encased from the wrists down in moondust-speckled changeling slime that glowed with solar energy. Second, there was a shadowy blindfold of magic across her eyes, but that faded away even as Twilight noticed it. Elizabeth walked with slow, methodical steps, nothing like the unshakable strength and indomitable balance she'd had in the past. Back when they'd thought she was their friend.
To her left and right stood two unicorns, their horns flaring with blue and orange light respectively as they siphoned something out of the slime bands. Behind them were two changeling Imperial Guards, the only ones wearing any armor - as if it would do any good if Greene got loose - with their horns lit up, projecting twin beams into the back of the monster's head. And everypony shimmered with the protection of the Crystal Heart.
Elizabeth was lead at spear point by two pegasi, hovering above the changelings, until she stopped a fair distance from the two sisters.
Princess Celestia began. "Elizabeth Anne Greene, you are here today because you have been accused of crimes against Equestria and her people so grievous, we have had to create a new class for them." The solar alicorn paused for a moment to let that sink in. Some ponies were busy writing on boards. "To begin, I am aware of your attitude towards us. Know that the Elements of Harmony have been brought to a secure location and view this court even now through magic. Attempt to cause us harm, escape, or otherwise disrupt justice, and the Elements of Harmony will be released upon you."
So that was why the Princess had brought them there. Twilight really couldn't argue with her logic.
Celestia cleared her throat. "Elizabeth Greene, you have been charged with Beyond High Treason, conspiring not to take the thrones of Equestria, but to destroy Equestria as a body altogether. You have also been charged with High Treason, specifically three counts of attempted regicide towards myself, and two towards Princess Luna."
Princess Luna continued. "Thou hast also been accused of three hundred and four counts of bioterrorism, over five and a half million counts of violation of free will, an equal number of counts of mental enslavement and defilement of form. Thou hast viciously attacked the militaries of not only Equestria but also that of her allies, the Unified Changeling Swarm and the Crystal Empire. Thou and the victims of thy mental enslavement hath killed one hundred forty five thousand soldiers."
The Sun Goddess picked up the ball while Luna stopped to take a breath. "Three hundred and two counts of destruction of private property. Eighty five counts of destruction of public property. Four hundred and twelve counts of defacement of private property and two hundred counts of defacement of public property."
Princess Celestia's glare hardened ever so slightly, her magenta irises shrinking a tiny amount. "Furthermore, you are charged with fourteen counts of civilian murder, varying between first and second degree, of Button Bell, Trixie Lulamoon, Swift Wing, Hopper Bell, Flim, Flam, Iron Will, Orange Juice, Orange Cake, Cavern Depths, Comedic Tragedy, Angel Cake, Maud Pie - " Pinkie gasped, and Rarity shot her a worried look. " - and Photo Finish. The attempted civilian murders of Applejack, Pinkamena Diane Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity Belle, and Twilight Sparkle." She heard Fluttershy squeak behind her.
"At minimum, one hundred fifty counts of resisting arrest, including four counts of resisting arrest from royalty."
"Two counts of attempted regicide against Equestria's ally, Queen Chrysalis the Green of the Unified Changeling Swarm. One count of successful regicide against Equestria's ally, Prince Shining Armor." A tear dripped from Twilight's eyes. "Countrywide inducement of terror."
"The breaking of trust with the Royal Pathogen and Vaccine Research branch. Conspiracy to enslave and defile the forms of not only the remaining near-seven hundred thousand members of Equestria, but conspiracy to enslave and defile every member of every race on the planet."
When Luna finished that, Princess Celestia - it's her fault Shiny's dead, whispered an errant thought - shook her head ever so slightly. Elizabeth's gaze remained firmly on the ground as the Daybringer began to speak. "Elizabeth Greene, do you plead guilty or not guilty to the charges listed prior?"
There was a tense pause. Then, Greene spoke up, her rasping echoes chilling Twilight's blood even from across the magical crystal. "Done nothing wrong."
"That was not an answer to the question I asked," she said with coldness Twilight had rarely heard. She really didn't like to hear Princess Celestia using that tone of voice.
Elizabeth Greene looked up at the alicorns, her head tilted sideways. "Did them," she intoned, her voice hissing and rippling.
The only pony that had ever not confessed their guilt to Celestia and Luna had been Icy Winds, a pegasus mare whose crimes made Twilight sick to even think about. There was a mutual agreement that Elizabeth Greene had done those terrible things - she killed my brother! - and if she knew Princess Celestia, she would already have the sentence decided.
Privately, Twilight hoped that the former human burned in Tartarus for what she'd done to her family and friends. Not that she'd ever admit that.
"There is, then, an accord," Princess Luna said. "No question remains as to thy guilt. Elizabeth Greene, for the crimes thou hath committed there is but one sentence; exposure to the Elements of Harmony."
Elizabeth's head snapped up, and murmuring erupted among the assembled ponies. From where the viewing crystal was positioned Twilight couldn't see Greene, but she knew that her eyes had widened in horror. She could, after all, feel when the Elements were used on an infected. She knew what they did to infected. She knew what they'd do to her; death. If she reacted anything like the lesser infected did, then Elizabeth Greene would simply slump over dead without the virus coursing through her veins.
Princess Celestia said, "There are, however, extenuating circumstances. Namely, those you have infected and enslaved are wholly innocent, and their relation to you indicates that your exposure to the Elements would cause them great harm. As a result of your five and a half million dependents, your sentence will be lightened to as follows." Celestia took a moment to crack her neck, though Twilight couldn't hear anything from her distance. "You and all your infected will be exiled to the Island of the Abyss in the Great Sea, and sealed within by the Elements of Harmony for the rest of time. Whenever we so choose, we will come and take a sample of your blood for medicinal purposes, and you will comply. Failure to meet any of these terms will result in you being exposed to the light of Harmony."
What?! They're just letting her get away with a slap on the fetlocks?! No! No no no! She needs to be punished, she needs to be -
Twilight took a deep breath and calmed herself when she felt Pinkie put a hoof over her withers. "It's okay, Twilight. You can trust the Princesses, right?"
"Right." As much as Twilight wanted Greene to die for her crimes, that wouldn't solve anything. Nothing would actually be set right. And as horribly powerful Elizabeth Greene was, nothing was more powerful than the Elements of Harmony.
"You and your infected will never leave the island, and you will provide us with what we ask. One day, perhaps the lives saved from the medicine we get from your samples will equal the lives you have destroyed. You will have one week to move your infected to the Island of the Abyss. After that, any of your kind outside the island will be put down." Princess Celestia motioned to the guards. "Court is dismissed."
Twilight grimaced as the soldiers led Elizabeth away. Celestia rubbed her head with a hoof and Luna clapped her on the back with a wing, both of them clearly beyond caring of any witnesses to their moment of weakness. She turned to her friends, and then to Spike. "Well, I guess - "
***-_***_-***-_***_-***-_***_-***
" - it's time," she breathed. A week later, it was time.
The Great Sea was an enormous ocean that comprised half of the planet. The only land on it was a smattering of islands, and the Island of the Abyss was one of the closer ones. The island was tropical, and while it was closest to the Badlands it wasn't that close to anything at all. It was one of the larger islands, but still very small; only a little larger than Canterlot, in fact.
Twilight Sparkle and her fellow Bearers stood on a large cloud drifting maybe a mile away from the island. She'd provided cloudwalking to anypony who'd needed it. Idly, she touched her crystal amulet.
The six of them weren't alone; behind them stood two of Equestria's five remaining battlemages, keeping a portal to the Crystal Empire open for when they were done, reinforced with the alicorn sisters' power on the other end. Once they were done here, they could go back and begin rebuilding their lives.
Finally, she thought.
The island had been transformed over the past week. Its surface positively crawled with infected, a red miasma surrounding it. The trees that had once inhabited the island were gone, crushed. Its single mountain was mostly bare, but Twilight swore that she saw a tiny figure at the very top of it, looking at her, daring Twilight to do her worst.
Her body tingled. It was happening. In a few short minutes, the infection would officially end. Princess Celestia had helped her practice with the spell in a miniature scale, using only her own magic and not that of the Elements; a shield that also cut through to the space between spaces, preventing teleportation, and which would release a pulse of its energy once formed. But using her horn and using the Elements were totally different things, and she buzzed in nervous anticipation.
Fluttershy shuffled her hooves nervously. Rarity and Rainbow looked at each other and gave devious smirks, while Applejack and Pinkie stared forward at the island, as if waiting for a swarm of infected pegasi to attack them.
None came. Elizabeth knew she was beat.
"You know, in a way?" Twilight said, turning her head to look at her friends. "I almost feel sorry for her."
"Huh? Whaddaya mean, Twi?" Rainbow asked. "She's the bad guy!"
"Yeah, I know. She's a really bad guy, but she didn't have a choice in that. She used to be a regular human. She never asked to be infected. I don't think she ever had a choice. She's just as much a slave of the virus as the rest of them." She sighed. "Let's do this, girls."
Twilight tried to psych herself up for the Elements of Harmony as the girls got into position around her. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the influx of energy...
She was utterly unprepared. She likened it to being in a still pool and somepony started dropping giant boulders in a location, the waves crashing over her. And then there were five places where waves came from washing over her, clinging to her fur, entering her Element and surging through her body and... and...
Each and every one of her nerve endings fired. Fire and ice and pain and delight commingled and canceled out, leaving her body electrified but feeling nothing. She felt the cloud leave her hooves, but there wasn't wind lifting her. It was as if her hooves were fountains of energy, pushing her up into the air. The five surging waves of power rushed around her like a whirlwind, drawn in as if by gravity, so much magic she felt she would burst - !
Twilight could hear griffons in their empire arguing about why their government was being disloyal to Equestria. She could see Chrysalis in her underground chambers, reviewing an honest proposal to start up a joint pony-changeling border town. Twilight could feel the generous exchange of goods from ponies at the outskirts of Equestria to those who had lost everything to the infection. She saw the small acts of kindness between two zebras, one a rich prince and the other a pauper, half a world away. She heard the laughter of fawns attending a play. Twilight felt the vast eddies of magic, leylines that stretched around Equus, forming nodes around those who were friends, pooling in around her.
The Element of Magic opened its eyes, viewing the world through a ghostly white halo. Nothing was black and white, nothing was gray, but it could see a hundred million trillion gradations and knew what could be done to brighten each of them. It could feel rusty splotches of dark gray Wrong clinging to Equestria, the island, drifting through the winds around the entire world. The Element of Magic could reach out and just touch them, and the Wrong would be made Right. It knew it could, because its entire purpose was to set Right that which was Wrong.
No. The Element of Magic had to keep focused. It had a task to do and it would do that task Right. It gathered more power from its fellow Elements of Harmony and took precisely all that was needed for the task, but did not leave any deficit, because their Bearers had friendship between them and from there came all the power it ever needed to make things Right.
A shimmering, chromatic beam of Right flew out surged at the speed of light towards the island, circling it at visible speeds. The Element of Magic cocooned it in a sphere of its power, as its Bearer desired. The sphere cut through the physical realm to the space between spaces that was used to teleport. It went through stone like air, forming an identical barrier beneath the soil. Its fellow Elements knotted the cocoon of Right tighter than they had for the Demon, so that it would never unravel so long as their aspects existed.
The rainbow sphere was finished, and the Element of Magic turned its attention to the rest of the world, covered in aching splotches of Wrong, and sent its and its fellow Elements' power and Right at them, removing the areas of Wrong. The light of harmony spread further out, through the ocean, the mountains, the plains, and back to them, coasting over the quarantine sphere. Feeling its task was accomplished, the Element of Magic withdrew the beam of Right and closed its eyes -
Twilight Sparkle shook her head and groaned, getting to all fours. She felt a good, job-well-done burn under her skin, not the terrible ache there had been prior. Around her, the girls were also recovering, and the unicorn guards merely blinked hard before reinforcing the portal.
The island was encased in a hemisphere of magical power, glistening with ever-flowing rainbow colors like the sheen of a bubble. Taking a deep breath, Twilight reached a forehoof to her neck and took off the crystal amulet, her coat returning to normal.
"Twilight, are you crazy?!" Rarity asked.
"It's okay girl. There's no more of the Greene virus outside of the island." She looked at it. The small figure she thought she saw looked back. "Nor will there ever be." Turning to the portal, she started trotting. "Come on girls. Lets go home."
Behind her Fluttershy paused and raised a forehoof, looking back at the island that would forever serve as Elizabeth Greene's prison. Then she followed after them.