//------------------------------//
// Words Conclusion: Words with a Piece 
// Story: A Touch of Chaos 
// by Written Out 
//------------------------------//

Twilight ran a hoof through her mane, flattening a few stray strands and trying to bring it back into a semblance of order. Shortly after her conversation with the changeling, she had had him retake Fluttershy's form and they rejoined her friends. She felt bad lying to everypony like this - in her heart, she knew she was betraying them - but she just couldn't bring herself to tell them. How can you tell somepony that their friend has been stolen away, replaced, and that there's nothing that can be done to help them? No, it was far better to let them keep thinking nothing was wrong. They'd be happier this way.

At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

Her body plodded along the dirt path, the monotonous action freeing up her mind to wander and her eyes to watch over her friends ahead of her. They were all chatting happily, apparently without a care in the world, but Twilight's discerning eyes were able to see the growing weariness and traces of exhaustion on all of them. Applejack was doing much better now, having managed to recover enough to walk with support instead of needing to be carried about like a sack of potatoes. She chatted amicably with Pinkie, the two earth ponies swapping stories of their families while Rainbow Dash occasionally joined in with a sarcastic comment or quip. Dash was acting tough, but her front was starting to break down. Pinkie was just a little too loud; her laughs just a little too forced. Behind the trio, Rarity fussed over the changeling  with Fluttershy's appearance. Apparently, almost losing Fluttershy had awoken some protective instincts in Rarity, to the point that Twilight was actually worried about what would happen if she ever discovered the deception.

A sad sigh blew through Twilight's nose as she looked down at the dirt. No. There was no way she could tell them the truth. Worse, she couldn't trust the changeling. She liked him, much to her surprise - she hadn't thought she would ever think of one of those bug-ponies with anything other than hatred  - but she knew she couldn't trust him. He had told her so himself. If his Queen ordered him to do something, he would do it. He might not like his orders, but he couldn't refuse them. He just loved Chrysalis too much.

"You appear to be deep in thought," a rhythmic voice rang out beside her. "Tell me, what has you most distraught?"

Twilight shifted her gaze to Zecora before looking ahead again, her eyes blankly locked on nothing. "I'm confused," she admitted. "Ever since I've moved to Ponyville, I've met and fought several powerful foes. Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, King Sombra, and even Trixie when she was controlled by the Alicorn Amulet. Every one of them was incredibly powerful, and each of them wanted to bring ruin to everything I know and love. " She inhaled sharply. "But at the end of the day, every one of them followed the same simple pattern. I meet them, my friends and I fight and defeat them, and then we all go home. Simple."

Zecora looked from Twilight to where the creature with Fluttershy's appearance was walking ahead of them. "And yet a nagging voice does continue to ring. You can't stop thinking about the changeling."

Twilight lowered her head. "Yeah," she admitted quietly. "A race that needs to feed on us to live, on the verge of extinction because of my own actions? How am I supposed to deal with that? I was happier when I could just think of the changelings as mindless monsters. We were good, and they were evil. Simple black and white. Grey?" She shook her head and sighed heavily. "I don't know what to do with grey."

"Seeking an answer that is right has kept many a pony awake at night." A sly smirk spread on her lip and she gestured at the stripes covering her body. "But if black and white is what you seek, then look no farther than a zebra's mystique."

Despite herself, Twilight snorted at the corny joke. "That's terrible," she laughed. "It's not funny, I shouldn't be laughing. Why can't I stop laughing?"

"Stress and tension can destroy even the greats," Zecora said calmly as Twilight continued to giggle. "You should take care lest your thoughts drag you down like weights."

"Yeah, you're right," Twilight said as she finally managed to get her giggling under control. She straightened her back and shrugged her shoulders, feeling like she was shrugging off a heavy burden at the same time. "I can't make a decision like this. I need to know more about the Queen herself before I can decide what I'll do. Hopefully, she'll be willing to talk."

"You mean the Queen named Chrysalis?" Zecora asked with an upraised eyebrow. "From what I heard, it sounds like she is known for her strength and viciousness."

A strange disdainful noise escaped from Twilight before she could stop it. "Yeah, you're probably right. Even when we met, she didn't seem like the reasonable type. Wait..." She hesitated and glanced at Zecora as something occurred to her. "What have you heard about her?"

Zecora's response was a casual shrug. "Simply what you and the changeling talked about. I remained close and listened in case you were to cry out."

"You were spying on us?" Twilight asked in surprise, slightly recoiling away from Zecora.

"Not spying, just prepared to do what I must." Zecora's earrings swung back and forth as she shook her head. "I would not leave you with one I did not completely trust."

"I..." Twilight hesitated. "I want to trust him. I do, it's just..." She went quiet before tailing off completely.

"It's just that choices can be hard when you have to live with every consequence. You can never know what you'll do with any degree of confidence. Decisions with lives on the line are hardest of all. You might do anything to help them, no matter how big or small."

Twilight was silent for several long second. She licked her dry lips, looked to make sure none of the others were close enough to hear, and turned her head so she was looking Zecora square in the eye. When she spoke, her voice was quiet and without accusation. "Is that why you're helping Discord?"

Zecora's eyes widened imperceptibly before closing completely. A tiny laugh escaped her. "What makes you say that?" she asked, her eyes remaining tightly shut.

Twilight swallowed. She had hoped that her logic was wrong, but Zecora wasn't even trying to deny it. Not only that, but she had come to realize that whenever Zecora's rhyming slipped, that was a clear sign the zebra was feeling stressed. "Discord told me that he had one piece in play. Only one. The simple fact is you continuously know far more than you should. You knew that Fluttershy had been replaced by a changeling. You knew about the magic that Discord had forced into my body. Hay, the entire reason we met that human in the first place was because you just happened to invite Pinkie to come over to your place and she met him on the trail! That's far too many coincidences to be coincidence!"

"I see." Zecora's eyes opened and she stared into Twilight's own. Her voice was calm, cool, collected, and not defensive in the slightest. If anything, it was actually supportive, encouraging Twilight to continue. "An interesting conclusion. But surely that's not enough. You wouldn't accuse me with something so flimsy. You must have more."

Twilight looked down, unable to meet Zecora's strong gaze. "There is more. You're here." She looked at Zecora, and her voice gained in confidence as she spoke. "For whatever reason, Discord wants to keep us alive. I don't know why, and intend to find out, but that's the reality of it. He wouldn't leave us alone and unprotected without somepony watching over us. None of my friends would have helped him, so that only leaves you." She started to stutter as the words she just said reached her own ears. "I mean, that's not... it's not like... I'm not saying you're not my friend, I just... that is..." She stopped and shyly looked at Zecora. "You are still my friend... right?"

Zecora gave Twilight a reassuring smile. "If you'll still have me after hearing what I have to say, than I would be honoured to be your friend."

"Thank you, Zecora." To her surprise, she wasn't angry or upset. When the idea had first occurred to her, she had thought confronting Zecora would be worse. Maybe it was because, despite everything, she still trusted the zebra. Maybe that was all it took. "You told me a while ago that you'd tell me more when the time was right. What can you tell me now?"

"Everything I know. Would you rather hear about Discord's plan or how he brought me into it first?"

Twilight watched a leaf detach from a nearby branch and slowly flutter down to the ground. "Tell me what Discord's plan was. I feel like your reasons will make more sense after that."

"Very well." Zecora stared up at the bright blue sky high above them. "I first heard from him several weeks ago. I was performing a routine ritual when his presence touched my magic. Once he made contact, we spoke for a while."

Twilight looked at Zecora in surprise. "You trusted him?"

Zecora snorted, a surprising noise from the normally composed mare. "By the Spirits, no. I knew who he was, and I took every precaution I could to keep him out. I used every trick I knew, but he knew how to counter each and every one."

"Discord did say that he had taught the zebras magic," Twilight mused.

Zecora nodded. "He told me as much. That was why he was even able to contact me in the first place, since I use the same type of magic as he does. Once he broke through all my defenses, he started talking. He told me that he was planning something with you, and that my purpose throughout all of it would be to keep you and your friends safe."

"You accepted."

"Of course I did." Zecora conceded. "It was either that, or leave you without protection of any sort. Even without what he used to bribe me, that was no way I could reasonably refuse."

"What did he bribe you wi-?" Twilight cut herself off with a shake of her head. "Actually, never mind. We'll come back to that. Please, keep telling me about Discord."

"As you wish. Discord wasn't forthcoming with details, but I eventually managed to ferret out that he had made a deal with a dark being of great and malevolent power. Considering the events that followed, I believe he was either talking about Nightmare Moon or some other dark spirit that holds a relationship to Princess Luna's darker half."

A shiver made its way up Twilight's spine at the mention of that name. "So they really are working together. That's... terrifying."

"Were," Zecora clarified. Twilight gave her a sidelong look as Zecora continued her explanation. "From what I understand, this deal gave Discord enough strength to reach past his seal and thousands of years into the past, in order to bring one individual into the present. However, it seems Discord betrayed his ally somehow. "

"But why? Why would he want to bring a human here?" Twilight chewed on the inside of her cheek for several moments. "I just can't understand that." She blinked. "Hang on, one? I thought there were two?"

"I... don't know. I can only make assumptions," Zecora said hesitatingly. "He implied that he did not have enough power to bring two individuals here. As for his reasons, I believe it has to do with the Elements of Harmony. You know how they were created?"

" Princess Luna told me about it. She said that Princess Celestia and herself created them in order to defeat the Windigoes, but it was unneeded since the Windigoes were beaten before the Elements could be used. Come to think on it, she acted like it was an unpleasant memory, but she never explained why."

"I cannot even presume to guess what would make an immortal uncomfortable," Zecora admitted. "However, that is not important to our discussion. What is important is that the creation of the Elements affected the world's natural magical balance. They are literally the embodiments of Harmony. Simply living in a time at or since their creation would have deeply affected every being alive."

"I think I understand. You think the humans are important because they're from before the Elements were created. That's why they're important for whatever he wants. But why would he need to do this? Surely there must have been an easier way."  

Zecora hesitated and her steps faltered. A pained expression appeared on her face and she looked away from Twilight. "The Elements are the most powerful magical artifacts in existence. Even dormant, they held the world in a careful, harmonious balance for a thousand years, ever since Celestia used them for the last time to banish her sister to the moon. What would happen if someone were disturb that balance?"

Twilight gasped. "That would completely destabilize the harmonious magic that holds everything together! So you're saying Discord intends to demolish this careful balance?"

Zecora slowly shook her head before looking at Twilight with her large, sad eyes. "No. The balance has already been destroyed. Discord is simply taking advantage of the opportunity presented to him."

"Who?" Twilight gasped. "Who would do something like-?"

"It was you," Zecora said plainly. "You and your friends. When you first claimed the Elements from their resting place in that ancient castle, you forever destroyed the careful balance that had held the darkness of the world in check. Did you never think it odd? For a thousand years, Equestria had been an untainted paradise, filled with happiness and joy. Then, within the space of a few years, Nightmare Moon returned, Discord broke free, Queen Chrysalis attacked Canterlot, King Sombra reappeared along with the Crystal Empire, and an evil artifact controlled a small-time performer and nearly destroyed a small town. As you said, that's far too many coincidences to be coincidence."

"No," Twilight whispered. Her knees started to shake and she had to force herself to stay upright. "No, that's not right. Nightmare Moon returned before we used the Elements!"

"Hey Twilight!" Twilight looked up to see all her friends looking back at her with worried expressions. "You alright?" Rainbow shouted.

Twilight tried to give them the most reassuring smile she could. "Yeah, sorry. I'm fine. Just talking with Zecora about magical theory." They seemed to accept the lie and returned to their former conversations, while Twilight turned back to Zecora. "That can't be right," she whispered.

Zecora's mohawk appeared to list as the zebra's head dipped. "Nightmare Moon was the trigger. You needed to retrieve the Elements in order to defeat her, but it was that action that unsealed the darkness long held at bay. Ironic, is it not?"

"There's no way that could be right," Twilight hissed, starting to get angry. "There's no way Princess Celestia would have let the Elements remain connected to us if that would threaten Equestria!"

"And if she didn't know?" Zecora asked with a querying eyebrow. "Ever since she banished Nightmare Moon to the moon, Celestia hasn't paid as much attention to the Elements as she should have; probably because they reminded her too much of her sister. An understandable mistake, but a critical one."

A quiet growl reached Twilight's ears and it took her a few seconds to realize it was coming from her own throat. "And how do you know all this?" she accused.

Zecora shrugged, Twilight's anger sliding off her like water off a duck's back. "Discord told me most of it, the rest are simply my own assumptions. Remember, you asked for my thoughts on the matter."

Twilight took a deep breath and slowly released it. "Fine," she said after calming down. "So you think that Discord intends to take advantage of the weakening of Equestria's magical defences by using something from outside their reach. That's a bit much to swallow, but I'll accept it for now. But why would he do it? What's his goal?"

"I believe it has to do with you."

Twilight nearly fell face-first on the dirt path as her hoof caught on a rut in the dirt path and tripped her. "Me?" she sputtered out. "You mean all this, everything with the humans, and the changelings, and the Princesses disappearing, and everything else... You think it's all for my sake? Why?"

A twisted, apologetic smile spread on Zecora's lips. "You are Princess Celestia's prized student. Using the magic of friendship, you have defeated both Princess Celestia's corrupted sister as well as Discord himself. With your sister-in-law's assistance, you assisted in banishing the changelings and destroying the dark King Somba. Finally, with my help, you managed to free an innocent - if boastful - unicorn from an artifact of great evil and cruelty. Do not discount your own importance."

Twilight blushed at all the praise heaped on her head. "It wasn't just me," she demurred. "If my friends hadn't been there for me, I never would have managed any of that."

"And despite that, you did manage it. With the help of your friends, certainly, but do you think they could have accomplished any of that without you there? I, for one, do not."

Twilight groaned. "Fine, so all this is because of me. Great. Perfect. Just wonderful. That still doesn't explain what Discord wants."

Zecora shifted slightly, the glass vials and beakers in her saddlebags clinking as they shifted with her. "I believe he wishes to teach you something."

"That's it?" Twilight stared at Zecora in disbelief. "All this, everything that's happened, is just so he could teach me something? What in Equestria could possibly justify what he's done?"

"I don't know," Zecora admitted apologetically. "But I think it's important to him, not because of what he intends to teach you, but why. You are Princess Celestia's student. Her pride and joy, her crowning achievement. Discord wishes to take you, and twist you in his image. Not by using magic, or by controlling you, but by having you willingly take the steps that will lead you away from your teacher. He wants you to choose to leave Celestia behind and remake yourself in his image. Only in this way will he once and for all prove himself as Celestia's better."

"...I sincerely hope his reason isn't something as pathetic as that," Twilight said without emotion after a few seconds.

Zecora shrugged. "Who can understand the minds of immortals? To a soul that lives forever, holding on to what little you can is likely the difference between sanity and insanity."

"The Princesses aren't like that!" Twilight protested. Zecora just stared at her until she coughed awkwardly and backed down. "Well, Celestia isn't like that," she muttered belligerently. Nightmare Moon wasn't exactly the sort of thing one just brushed aside.

"Maybe," Zecora admitted easily. "But that's all I've got. Besides, I lived several years with a growing changeling in my house. I have obtained some experience at guessing intentions."

"Wait, you did what?"

"Discord's plan was simple."

Twilight gave Zecora an angry glare "No, go back a bit. What was that bit about a changeling in your house?"

"Once he brought the human into the Everfree, he had to make sure you and your friends were the first to find it," Zecora bulled on, pointedly ignoring the increasingly frustrated unicorn's question. "Just as you guessed, that was part of my role. I was to invite one of you to my abode at a time that would ensure you would encounter the human. "

"And you chose Pinkie," Twilight repeated tonelessly. "The same Pinkie that introduces herself to most ponies by firing a party cannon in their faces. That Pinkie?"

Zecora nodded, easily deflecting Twilight's blatant sarcasm."The same Pinkie who holds the Element of Laughter, and is the one most willing to make new friends. From what I heard, it sounded like it would have gone exactly as I had hoped had Nightmare not interfered."

"So what was the plan?"

"It's actually simpler than you might expect," Zecora admitted. "After you met the human, you were supposed to send a letter detailing exactly what he was. Once Princess Celestia realized that you had a human, she would wish to see him with her own eyes and would invite you to bring him to the castle."

"...And?" Twilight pressed.

Zecora shrugged. "I don't know any further than that. On that front, I think Discord only wanted Princess Celestia to meet the human. He seemed to believe events would move naturally after that point."

"But that can't be it!" Twilight protested. "What about whatever he intended to teach me? What about everything else." Her eyes flicked towards the fake Fluttershy. "What about the changelings? Where do they come in?"

"I can't answer for the rest, but as for the changelings..." Zecora sighed, and she seemed to age a dozen years within the space of a second. "That was what Discord bribed me with. In order to ensure my assistance, he ensured the changelings would invade Equestria."

"WHAT?!" Twilight shrieked loudly enough that all her friends turned to look at her. She waved them away as she sputtered at Zecora. "You di- What...? But... That's..." Before finally settling on: "How could you?"

"How could I not?" Zecora asked tiredly. She inclined her head towards the false pony ahead of them. "You've had a chance to speak with one of them. You've seen him as an individual, not as a monster. "

"But still!" Twilight protested. "What could have possessed you-?"

"They would have all died," Zecora said, cutting Twilight off. "Because of the nature of their existence, they were less than a week away from complete starvation. Would you have done otherwise? Could you have abandoned an entire race to total extermination?"

"I..." Twilight had no words.

Zecora seemed to understand the young unicorn's mental turmoil. "Maybe you would have," she said quietly. "A week ago, you thought of them only as mindless monsters. But I... I have long since known what they were." Since Twilight didn't respond, Zecora continued. "The story all starts with my daughter. She was a rambunctious little zebra filly, and loved to explore the world around her." Zecora snickered. "And she always love exploring high places the instant her poor mother's back was turned."

"She sounds adorable." Twilight giggled.

Zecora sighed in agreement. "She was. Unfortunately, her explorative tendencies wound up getting her in trouble. She stumbled on a changeling hive and they grabbed her and stuck her in one of those pods of theirs. When she didn't return, my teacher and I went looking for her." Her smile faded, and her expression turned haunted. "We found her alright... drained to a complete husk. She was already dead."

Twilight gasped. "Oh Zecora, I'm so sorry..."

The zebra gave Twilight a grateful smile. "Thank you, Twilight, but it was years ago. In any case, there was something else in that pod: an infant changeling. It was what had drained my daughter dry, and had ended up killing her."

Twilight's eyes widened in shock. "Oh, Celestia... What did you do?"

A small, reminiscent smile appeared on Zecora's face. "I adopted the changeling, and took it as my own. It was only doing what it's nature demanded; it wasn't its fault that that resulted in my daughter's death. Besides, my daughter died so that the changeling could live. In a way, it was as if my daughter lived on in it. Killing the changeling would have made my daughter's death meaningless."

For several seconds, Twilight could only stare down at the dirt road below her. Her imagination was working overtime, envisioning what she would have done in the zebra's place. "...You're strong, Zecora," she admitted eventually.

Zecora inclined her head in acceptance of the praise. "I took the changeling into my home, and gave it all the love it needed to grow and thrive. My teacher accepted it, and we raised her - and yes, it was a her - together, away from the rest of the village. We weren't certain how the rest of the tribe would respond, so we hid her away from them. In time, I stopped thinking of her as my daughter living in a different body. To me, she became my daughter, just as much as her sister before her had."

Twilight smiled slightly nervously. "That's... a little twisted." she admitted. "Kinda like she killed her sister. What was her name?"

"Yes, I suppose it was a little 'twisted,'" Zecora admitted. Then, she laughed. "As for her name, you already know it. I thought long and hard about what I should call her. At the time, I had thought of her as simply my daughter in another form. That she was going through a change. A metamorphosis. I wanted a name that signified that."

Twilight tilted her head quizzically, not certain what Zecora was getting at. Then her eyes shot open as the obvious answer presented itself. She could feel pieces starting to fall into place as a connection occurred that she had never even suspected. "Chrysalis..."

"Exactly," Zecora said with a nod of her head. "My daughter, who I entered Equestria in search of, is the tyrannical Changeling Queen that has invaded Equestria twice. What am I supposed to say when I meet her again? That I'm proud of her for becoming such a strong leader of her people? That I'm ashamed of her for inflicting pain on another nation? Or just that I love her, and always will no matter what she does?" She looked up at the sky, her expression unreadable. "Yes. I think that last one sounds nice."

"I don't know..." Twilight muttered, not sure what to say. What could possibly be said to the mother of one of your greatest enemies? Unable to think of what to do with this new information, she decided to try and get a fuller picture of what happened. "So what happened next?"

Zecora's grim smile fell away. "My teacher died. He was sick, and by the time we figured out what it was, it was too late to save him. Not long after that, Chrysalis was discovered by the villagers and they blamed for his death, calling her a 'monster' and a 'beast'."

"But she didn't do it, right?" Twilight asked uncertainly. She wasn't sure what to think. Just hours ago, she had had this mental image of the Changeling Queen as a hideous, horrifying monster with no redeeming qualities who had to be defeated for the betterment of all living things. Now, though, that image was starting to fall apart at the seams, and she wasn't sure what was going to take its place.

"Of course not!" Zecora protested angrily. "He was sick! She wouldn't have had either the skill or the ability to kill him, even if she wanted to! You have no idea how distraught she was when he died! But they wouldn't listen! Those fools wouldn't listen, and in the end..." Zecora sighed, and all her steadily growing rage seemed to deflate. "Chrysalis disappeared."

"What? Just like that?"

"Just like that," Zecora said. "I don't know why she ran away. Maybe she thought I couldn't protect her. Maybe she was scared." She shook her head. "I couldn't live in the village that had forced my daughter to run away, so I left as well. For twenty years, I've been looking for even the slightest hint of where she might have gone, and had almost given up hope."

"And then the wedding happened..." Twilight said.

"Yes," Zecora said. "And it was the first hint I had gotten that my daughter was still alive. But even then, I still didn't have an answer. My daughter and her followers were defeated by Princess Cadance and yourself, and banished to places unknown."

Twilight blushed. "Sorry," she squeaked out.

Zecora glanced sidelong at Twilight, her eyes sparkling. "You were simply defending your friends and loved ones. I don't blame you for what happened." She shook her head sadly. "If anything, I blame myself for not being there for her at the time, and my further inability to find her. A few months later, Discord contacted me, and you know everything I do about what happened after that."

"I think I do," Twilight mused.  A clearer picture was starting to form. For the first time, she was starting to feel like she was developing a clearer understand of what was happening in Equestria.

She just had no idea what she was supposed to do about it.

Unfortunately, fate wasn't going to be so kind as to give her time to think. "Uh, hey Twilight," Rainbow Dash's voice called from up ahead. "Maybe it's just me, but is Canterlot supposed to be glowing green?"

"Huh?" Twilight repeated dumbly. She looked in the direction of Equestria's capitol, and just like Dash had said, there was a strange green glow coming from the city. In fact, the glow seemed to be getting brighter... and closer.

Twilight's eyes widened. "GET DOWN!" she screamed as she hastily threw the strongest barrier she could over herself and her friends just as a green magical blast slammed into it. The barrier exploded under the force of the unexpected attack, throwing up a great cloud of dust over the area.

"What..." Twilight coughed, the sudden dust storm making it hard to breath. "What happened?"

Zecora cocked an eyebrow as she stared up at the castle atop the mountain. "It seems like my daughter has gotten tired of waiting for us."

"Huh?" Twilight followed the zebra's gaze and her breath caught in her throat at the sight of another magical blast coming towards them. "Wh-wh-wh-what are we going to do?" She wasn't sure she could block another attack like that, and a quick look around was all it took for her to see that her friends had all been knocked to the ground and would not be able to get up in time to avoid the magical blast.

"Hmm," Zecora turned to look at Twilight. "To avoid the occurrence of something tragic, this seems like the ideal time to teach you a little more about World Magic."

"NOW?" Twilight shrieked in disbelief as the zebra had apparently become oblivious to the big ball of magic bearing down on them with all the force and unstoppability of a meteor. A tiny part of her noticed that Zecora had apparently relaxed enough to start rhyming again now that she had gotten what she needed to off her chest, but far more of her had devolved into simple gibbering panic.

 "Now is the ideal time, and there will not be a moment more prime," Zecora said as the magic got closer and closer. "World Magic's most useful ability is that it is not only one-way; and that being able to read the contours and shape of the world around you is simple child's play." She lifted her hoof a bare inch off the ground.

"Take, for example, the interconnecting tunnels beneath us as a sample."

The zebra tapped her hoof against the dirt. Cracks started to spread from the point of impact and the ground swiftly dropped away from underneath the five ponies, one zebra, and one disguised changeling, the earth rising up to swallow them as they fell into the darkness.





On the high walls of Canterlot, Chrysalis clicked her tongue angrily as she felt the six individuals she had been targeting fall out of reach. The glow of magic ceased around her horn and she turned away from the cliffside angrily.

Innocent Sin gave her a sharp salute when she turned to face him. "My Queen. Did you get them?"

"No," Chrysalis snarled. She gave him a discerning look. "You are certain of what you saw?"

"Without a doubt," the smaller changeling said. "The feeling and strength of Twilight Sparkle's magic changed completely when we fought. She was..." he trailed off.

"Well?" Chrysallis snapped. "She was what?"

"Her magic felt even stronger than yours is now," he admitted quietly.

"...I see," Chrysalis said after a moment. "Then she is a threat."

"Yes, my Queen. Your orders?"

Chrysalis tilted her head back, looking over the entirety of Canterlot. From the magnificent castle, to the normally so-full streets that twisted and wound through the mountain city. "Twilight Sparkle is a threat," Chrysalis said emotionlessly. "Capture the others if you can, but Twilight Sparkle is to be terminated on sight."

"Yes, my Queen," Innocent Sin snapped off another salute before leaving to ensure her orders were obeyed.

Left alone, Chrysalis continued to stare at the towering city. Her city. She snarled angrily and crack started to spread through the cobblestones under her hooves. "I've fought too hard to lose now. No one's taking this away from me. No matter what it takes."

With a swish of her mane, the Changeling Queen turned away from the cliffsides of Canterlot and returned to her castle.