//------------------------------//
// Chapter 59: The Catacombs 
// Story: Secrets of the Everfree 
// by PaisleyPerson 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 59
The Catacombs


“Wouldn’t teleporting us there be quicker?” Applejack suggested once we’d reached the cobblestone road. 
“Of course!” In his haste, Discord had nearly forgotten such a possibility. He snapped his claw, and my head filled with bright light. 
“Ow,” I rubbed it to clear the haze.
“Uh... Discord? I thought we were supposed to be heading to the Everfree,” Rainbow pointed out.
“Of course we-” the draconequus paused and looked around, realizing that the teleport had only landed us on the outskirts of town. “That can’t be right...” he mumbled.
“Are you alright?” Fluttershy fretted.
“It’s nothing... must be sidetracked, is all. Let me try again.” He waved off her concern and snapped his other paw. This time we landed just inside the tree line, but could still see the town from through the brush.
“Discord? You feelin’ okay?” Rainbow rarely showed concern for our chaotic friend, but now we all expressed looks of worry. 
“I...” Discord’s vision blurred, and he momentarily collapsed on the ground before us.
“Heavens!” Rarity gasped.
“Discord!” I cried, practically pouncing my friend as we all leaned in close.
“Give him space, for cryin’ out loud!” Caramel pulled us all back. Fluttershy managed to escape his grip and dashed to his head, supporting him on her lap.
“Discord?” she squeaked, sheer worry bringing her to tears.
“What’s wrong with him?” Cheese asked. Twilight promptly ran a scanning spell over the draconequus. 
“I think it was that timberwolf bite!” she gasped. “He said it was resistant to his magic. I’m sensing some sort of magic suppressant in his bloodstream... venom from the timberwolf, maybe?”
“I’ve never heard o’ such a thing!” Applejack exclaimed.
“It’s the best explanation I have at the moment,” she apologized. “We need to get you to a hospital!”
“But Radiance,” the weakened draconequus protested.
“She’s lasted this long. She’ll keep, but you won’t,” Torchwood pointed out.
“Torch’s right- our priority is taking care of you right now,” I agreed, taking his paw.
“No! I have to see her,” he gritted his teeth, and leaned against Fluttershy as he staggered to his feet. “I’ll be fine without magic for a few hours.”
“Discord, I really think-”
“I have to see her, Twilight. I love her.” Quiet fell upon us like a blanket. 
“If he thinks he’s well enough, I think we should let him,” Flash finally voiced.
“You do?!” Twilight exclaimed.
“If you were in danger, nothing would keep me from finding you,” he took her hoof in his. “And not just because I’m your guard.”
“Aww!” Pinkie cooed.
“Well... okay. But I’m teleporting us,” she finally decided. “Where am I going, Discord?”
“Take us to my place,” he directed. “I’ll lead us from there.”
“Right.” Twilight’s horn lit up, and for the third time that day, bright light flooded my mind. 
We took a moment to steady ourselves from the teleport before looking to Discord. He supported himself between Torchwood and Soarin’, now. After regaining his balance, he weakly lifted a claw. “That way.” Twilight wasted no time in leading the charge, towing Discord behind her in a levitation bubble.
I knew the Everfree well, but we weren’t on any path I recognized, so it took a moment to gain my bearings. We were headed just north of Essence’s castle. The brush was becoming extremely thick, and impeded our progress a bit. We realized this was due to the fact that we were nearing the Pit where the castle was located. Discord guided us around the rim of the basin, however, and we avoided the palace altogether.
“Not far now,” he informed.
“Thank goodness! I’m sick of all this icky muck!” Rarity sighed.
“At least the brush is thinning out,” Soarin’ pointed out.
“Does anypony else hear that?” Torchwood called out.
“Hear what?” We all strained our ears, but nothing could be heard over the sound of our own hooves crashing through the tangled undergrowth.
“Nevermind. I thought...”
“AAAAAH!” Twilight was thrown aside as a brown blur leapt from the brambles and caught her headlong. She and Discord both went tumbling into the bushes.
“Twilight!” We all slammed on the brakes, sliding to a stop and retracing our steps. We found the alicorn and draconequus, but their attacker was nowhere to be seen. 
“What was that?” Flash helped Twilight to her hooves.
“I... don’t know... oooh...” Twilight uneasily fell into the guardspony.
“Twilight?!” Flash supported the woozy mare while Rarity helped Fluttershy gently turn her over.
“Oh, gracious,” Rarity gasped, covering her mouth with her hooves.
“What’s wrong?” I strained to see over the others, and my heart fell. A jagged bite mark was left on her back. A timberwolf bite identical to Discord’s.
“Seems my story wasn’t absolute rubbish after all,” the draconequus dryly remarked.
“I’m alright,” Twilight groaned, shakily standing. “Let’s keep going.”
“Are you kidding? We have to get you out of here!” Flash burst.
“Without your magic, we’re defenseless!” Rarity agreed. 
“And we’ll have traveled out here for nothing! You need your magic to figure out how to fix Radiance,” Rainbow agreed.
“It won’t be a complete waste. If I can just get a look around, it might help. And Discord said that he couldn’t teleport her out, but we may still be able to remove her manually. We’ve come all this way- it’s worth a shot.”
“I don’t like it. Something, or someone, is targeting us,” Flash pointed out. “I don’t think it was coincidence that our two most powerful friends were bitten by that timberwolf.”
“Do you think it’ll start picking the rest of us off, too?” Fluttershy shivered.
“Guys, I have a really bad feeling about this. I think we should go back until we know what we’re up against,” I shuddered.
“Okay, now I’m worried. Acrylic’s scared of this timberwolf, so I am too,” Rainbow spoke.
“Let’s put it to a vote. All in favor of going back, say I.”
“I!” Well over half our company raised their hooves. 
“Okay, then. Sorry, Discord. It looks like we’re just going to have to come back.”
“GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” a vicious snarl barked from behind us. The red-eyed timberwolf leapt into our midst.
“YAH!”
“Everypony, RUN!” I needed no convincing to obey the order. My legs snapped into action, but sharp teeth sank into my neck mid-leap.
“AAH!”
“Acrylic?”
“TORCHWOOD!” I kicked and squirmed, screaming at the top of my lungs for my husband as the timberwolf dragged me away.





Brambles scratched my face as the timberwolf carried me through the underbrush. I’d tried everything: kicking, biting, punching, even fire dancing. Nothing fazed the timberwolf. Whatever shielded it from Discord’s magic also appeared to repel thestral fire. I’d heard Torchwood and my friends calling out for me, but I lost their hoofbeats within minutes. This timberwolf was extraordinarily fast. It would take a miracle for the others to catch up, let alone find us.
The timberwolf finally broke free from the brush, and I was temporarily blinded by the sudden flood of sunlight. My vision focused just in time to eye a small, partially buried entrance embedded in a low recess. The wolf dove down inside, and I felt as though we had been swallowed up by the blackness. Having gone from bright sunlight to a dark void, my eyes took a while to adjust. For a while I couldn’t see anything, and the only thing that alerted me that I was still alive was the screaming pain of timberwolf teeth still buried in my scruff and his hot breath ruffling my already-mussed hair. 
When my vision adjusted, I realized we had entered an extensive network of underground tunnels. The catacombs.
Each tunnel looked identical, and though I tried to keep track of the twists and turns the wolf took, I soon found this impossible. Even if I managed to get away, I would never find my way out of this maze. Only one room finally caught my eye; the entrance was well lit by the torches flickering within. The wolf had slowed down enough for me to get a good look inside. The statue of a frightened alicorn mare stood at the center of the room, face twisted in agony and one hoof raised to shield her face from an invisible attacker. This must be Radiance.
I only got a glimpse of the statue as the wolf passed. Even the light from the room vanished from sight when we rounded another turn. My only landmark was gone. 
The timberwolf finally entered a large chamber, probably at the center of the catacombs. I was unceremoniously tossed to the cold stone floor, dumped into layers of dust, dirt, leaves, and who knew what else.
“Thank you, Casper,” a cold, voice clicked. The wolf snorted acknowledgement before exiting the room. “I trust he treated you fairly?” I looked up into the wicked grin of the changeling queen. 
“Chrysallis,” I snarled, defiantly standing.
“Did you miss me? It has been a while since our last encounter. What is this I see? Gray hair? My, how time flies when you’re immortal.”
“What do you want?” I hissed.
“What do I want? I want love, of course,” she casually replied.
“Is that why I’m here? So you can take my place and feed off Torchwood’s love fore me?”
“You can keep that thestral of yours,” she shuddered at the mere thought. “I have a lover of my own, now.”
“What kind of creature could ever love you?” 
“That’s none of your business,” she shot back.
“Fine. Then let’s change the subject. What am I doing here? And why did your timberwolf attack Twilight and Discord?”
“Casper isn’t my timberwolf. He belongs to my fiancé,” she answered. “As to what you’re doing here, well... I presume Casper needed another way to lure the rest of your friends here after poisoning Twilight. You all were about to return to Ponyville when she lost her magic, weren’t you?”
“What do you want with them?”
“It’s not what I want with them, but what Kindling wants.”
“Kindling?”
“Kindling Pyre. I would imagine Princess Essence has mentioned him.” My heart stopped in my chest. Kindling Pyre. Essence’s former student. A power-hungry destral. “I see I am correct,” she grinned.
“What has he got to do with anything?” I snapped out of my stupor.
“He has got to do with everything! Once you and your miserable Elements of Harmony are out of the way, there will be nothing to stop us!”
“Us?”
“Why, Kindling and I, of course. With my army and his power, nothing will stand in our way, and we will rule Equestria together!”
“He’s your fiancé?! Why would you want to marry the guy?”
“Because he loves me, of course.”
“Pfft!” I disbelievingly snorted. Her expression darkened.
“You obviously don’t know the power that can be unleashed when a changeling feeds off true love that is intended for them. True love will complete the spell I created, and restore me to my full power.”
“Restore you?”
“I wasn’t always this way. Something went wrong with a spell of my own design, and turned me into a love-feeder,” she coolly explained. “Unfortunately, my new appearance turned off most ponies. I didn’t take the rejection well, and made any who resisted my affections like me.”
“Wait... spell gone wrong... Kindling...” Essence’s Chief of Research had cast a spell on herself that made her crave love and attention. She’d also fallen in love with Kindling. The pieces were finally coming together. My pupils shrank to pinpricks. “S-Smoky Topaz?” 
“What an honor! I see Essence remembered me as well,” she smirked.
“You turned into a changeling? You turned your coworkers- your friends- into changelings?!” I was absolutely horrified.
“The spell I cast upon them wasn’t as strong as the first. They were not immortalized as I was. These were just mindless drones, subject to do my bidding,” she shrugged. “None of them loved me... no one could ever love the creature I had become. None but Kindling,” she fondly sighed just speaking the name. “He informed me of the true purpose to the destrals’ research program- to create more powerful thestrals to use in his army. But my soldiers, he assured, were far greater than anything he could have hoped to achieve. That day, I promised him my military support, and he promised me his heart.”
“Sounds to me like he was using you,” I figured.
“Kindling would never use me!” she viciously snarled. “He’s far too kind for that.”
“The stallion who turned against his own mentor, poisoned two of my friends, and kidnapped me is kind?!”
“You don’t know him.”
“I know that he’s sorely underestimated the power of friendship.”
“Has he? Let’s see... Discord and Twilight’s magic have both been disabled and can’t put up any resistance.”
“We’ve beaten the odds with no magic before. Because what you can’t take away is our friendship.”
“But I can take away one of the friends.” I choked back a gulp. “Think about it. With one of the elements missing- in this case, you- your friends will have no way to activate the power of the tree. All seven must be present to tap into such power.” I was growing tired of her cocky attitude.
“Just you wait. When my friends find me-”
“Oh, they’ll find you alright,” she evilly cackled. “But not here, and not like this.” She used her magic to teleport an odd looking sphere into the room. A sphere identical to the one we originally found Princess Essence trapped in. She held it close to her face, casually examining the design.
“Goodbye, Acrylic. I’ll be sure to say hello to your friends for you. Oh, and don’t worry about your children.” My heart stopped in my chest. “They will be joining you shortly.” 
Chrysalis channeled her magic into the orb, and the bark exoskeleton unwound itself, revealing a blinding, painful light. The bark was angled so that it directed the bright beams right at me, but shielded Chrysalis. I screamed. The light burned my skin. My head pounded. I couldn’t tell if it was taking my energy or flooding me with it. I soon realized it was both; it was absorbing me.
“No! NOOOOOOOO!” I scrabbled on the stone, trying to hold on to something, anything.
“Don’t fight it, dear,” Chrysalis all-too-sweetly grinned. “You are fighting a battle you cannot win.”
My hooves were slipping. It was pulling me in. I finally lost my hold altogether.
“NOOOOOOOOOO!”
My hat lightly dropped to the floor as I was jerked from beneath it.





“NOOOOOOOOOO!” The twelve ponies and draconequus stiffened as a faint call pierced the silent Everfree.
“Did you hear that?” Fluttershy gasped.
“You don’t think...?” Soarin’ couldn’t bring himself to finish the statement, at least not in front of Torchwood. The brown stallion stood stock straight, determination as well as pain set in his eyes.
“That way,” Torchwood instantly took the lead, concern for his beloved wife pushing him to unimaginable speeds. He couldn’t- wouldn’t- accept the fact that Acrylic might be...
No. He mustn’t think such thoughts. Acrylic would be alright. He would take her home and they would all be a whole, happy family again. 
Whole. 
Please let them be whole.
The distressed, long-legged stallion raced through the forest, not a bramble or bush hindering his progress. Driven by fear, it didn’t take long before Torchwood’s friends fell behind. Even they didn’t matter now. Torchwood charged on, thinking only of his wife.
How had he let this happen? He was supposed to be good with timberwolves. He had spent years protecting his sector from all sorts of Everfree monsters. Yet his own wife had been swiped from right out under his nose. Why hadn’t he stopped it? Why hadn’t he saved her? Torchwood ran faster, faster. He had to save her.  He would most certainly not allow one of those vile beasts to be the one to take his wife from him.
Torchwood’s long legs came to a grinding halt. Deadened eyes stared straight ahead. The tracks led directly to a deep black abyss. These must be the catacombs Discord had mentioned. Would it also turn out to be his wife’s tomb?
Paralyzed by fear and dread, the last of the stragglers finally caught up to Torchwood. They, too, joined him in a moment of silence as they all stared blankly ahead. It wasn’t until Flash, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, still supporting Discord and Twilight, caught up that a single word was spoken. 
“That’s it. The catacombs,” Discord gravely informed.
“Well, we aren’t doin’ any good standin’ ‘round up here,” Applejack nervously mused. Torchwood took a deep breath, and planted one shaky hoof forward before Caramel stopped him.
“We’ll find her,” the yellow stallion promised. Torchwood’s eyes reflected deep gratitude, and shut his eyes to steady himself. By the time he opened them again, Torchwood was cool headed and ready to tear the timberwolf apart.
“Let’s go,” he beckoned, cautiously taking the lead into the dark tunnels. Now the only thestral present, the others relied heavily on his fire to guide their way. Rarity and Trenderhoof had managed to hang onto their magic, and provided a little illumination as well. 
“That way,” Discord directed, correcting Torchwood’s path.
“How do you know where she is?” the brown stallion challenged.
“Radiance is down that hall. Trust me, I would remember the way.”
“Discord, I think finding Acrylic is a little more important than freeing Radiance right now,” Fluttershy chided.
“Don’t you think it’s even a little strange that the timberwolf brought her here? It must be connected to Radiance somehow. If we find Radiance, we might find the wolf, and better yet, Acrylic,” the draconequus explained.
“It’s worth a shot,” Twilight shrugged, desperate and defeated. 
“It’s gotta be better than aimlessly wandering through an underground maze,” Rainbow agreed.
“My cheese sense usually tells me where I need to go, but I’m not getting anything,” Cheese reported.
“My pinkie sense isn’t working either,” his marefriend reported. 
“Come on. Let’s go for it, Torch,” Soarin’ advised.
“Fine,” Torchwood grumbled, reluctantly turning the other way. He couldn’t help but feel like their focus had been switched off of Acrylic. But if there was any chance of finding her...
“That room,” Discord pointed. It wasn’t easy to miss; it was the only pre-existing light source they’d seen. Torchwood let his fire blow out as they approached, but the unicorns kept their horns lit. 
Torchwood poked his head into the room to spy out the area. The stallion choked, staggering backward at the sight that met his eyes. It was a stone statue of an alicorn, face twisted in pain and shielding her face. But even more disturbing was that Acrylic’s beret had been tossed atop the petrified mare’s mane.
“What is it?” Caramel asked, bravely taking the lead where Torchwood faltered. He squeezed around Torchwood into the room. “Oh, my...”
“Goodness!” Rarity gasped. Rainbow impatiently pushed her way through, and likewise gasped.
“What kind of sick joke is this?” she demanded. The rest of their friends made their way into the chamber, equally disturbed and confused by the sight that met their eyes.
“I’m glad you found it so amusing.” Everyone whirled as the voice with a metallic ring sounded from the doorway.
“Chrysalis,” Twilight snarled. 
“LET ME AT HER!” Soarin’ had half a mind to let his wife charge at the changeling, and it wasn’t until Applejack had a grip on her technicolor tail that he assisted in holding her back. The Queen just laughed.
“Congratulations, Discord. You’ve found your long lost love,” Chrysalis spat.
“Now if only we could find Acrylic,” he shot back, just as sarcastic.
“Acrylic... Acrylic... the name doesn’t seem to ring a bell.”
“Give us our friend back right now, Ms. Swiss Cheese Legs!” Pinkie growled.
“Before we make a sandwich out of you,” Cheese half joked, half threatened. He looked to Pinkie for a reaction.
“Ha ha! Sandwich! Good one!”
“Pinkie!” everyone else groaned. 
“Oh, right, not the time,” she blushed. 
“WHERE IS MY WIFE?!” Torchwood bellowed, lunging forward and slamming the Changeling Queen against the wall. No one made a move to stop him, even after his hoof was planted firmly against her throat. Though the queen could have easily tossed him away or encased him in a cocoon of green goo with her magic, she did not resist.
“Oh, you mean that foolish mare that exposed all thestral kind, and helped to expel my changelings and I from Canterlot,” she coolly narrowed her eyes.
“That’s the one,” Discord helpfully put in.
“That’s what this is about? But why take revenge on Acrylic? She distracted you, but it was really Princess Cadance and Shining Armor that ‘expelled’ you,” Soarin’ wondered.
“Soarin’!” Twilight sharply elbowed the pegasus for drawing attention to her relatives. His eyes widened and his ears went flat as he realized the mistake.
“Revenge? This isn’t about revenge,” she chuckled, roughly nudging Torchwood off. He allowed her up, but remained tense and ready to pounce. “Actually, I thought the whole episode was quite funny. My plan failed, yes, but imagine my surprise when I hear that Acrylic, the very pony who had put everything on the line to save Equestria from my tyranny was imprisoned!” The six mares shifted as the unpleasant memory was brought back to light.
“Thestrals were still new at the time. There was a lot of uncertainty and nopony knew how to react,” Twilight slowly justified the reaction.
“And then the near uprising led by none other than Torchwood himself, Acrylic’s lover,” the queen continued. This only made Torchwood angrier, and Flash had to hold him back. “Using Discord’s plunderseeds against him? Ingenious! You would have succeeded, too, had it not been for those troublesome Elements of Harmony, Torchwood.”
“Thank goodness for that,” he seethed.
“What a shame. You would have made a fine ruler.”
“My wife. Where. Is. My. Wife?”
“You really want to see her?” Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. 
“YES!” the entire assembly exclaimed.
“Very well,” she sighed. 
“Really? Just like that?” Pinkie suspiciously raised an eyebrow.
“Horseapples! I had a whole slew of good threats thought up, too,” Applejack groaned.
“No need for such violence,” Chrysalis assured. “After all, we wouldn’t want to keep the happy couple apart now, would we?” She teleported a strange, spherical object into the room. 
“What is that?” Twilight squinted in the dark room. Rarity gasped upon recognizing the object. 
“But that’s-!”
“Essence,” Fluttershy squeaked, recalling their experience with the destral princess’s prison. Chrysalis smirked.
“LET HER GO!”
“I said I would let you see her,” she smugly spoke, activating the artifact. Blinding light was cast over the room’s occupants, who all shrieked in pain. Cries of fright and distress rang throughout the catacombs as they were all sucked into the orb’s light. Once they had all disappeared, Chrysalis calmly sealed the orb shut once more. “But I never said I would let her go.”





I was floating, yet my wings didn’t move. In fact, they had no effect when I tried to flap them. Kicking also proved futile. There was no floor, nothing to push off of, no way for me to gain momentum. So I was stuck, hovering, alone in a pool of black.
Darkness surrounded me like an empty void. This wasn’t like when I had been separated from my body with the elements. It was more like the feeling of nothingness I’d experienced when Essence had switched us all back to our rightful bodies. Unlike that unpleasant memory, though, there was no terror, just frustration. I was helpless. 
I could see nothing but my own hooves in front of me, and there was absolutely no noise in the entire hemisphere. The silence alone was unnerving. How long would it be until the dark and quiet drove me mad? Essence had survived eons of this, but I didn’t think I would last a day.
How was I to tell time? With no sun or moon or even a clock, measuring the increments would be impossible. How long had I already been here? Five minutes? An hour? Time was no longer relevant. 
I heaved a rather loud sigh, any noise providing me comfort. Boredom might grip me before madness overtook my mind. When I had been imprisoned in the Canterlot dungeons, at least there had been guards to torment. Here, there was nothing. How in Equestria had Essence managed it? 
I remembered she’d once told us that she was fairly sure Kindling had been likewise imprisoned because she could ‘sense’ him nearby. That obviously was no longer the case, but out of curiosity, I tried to focus and see if I could ‘sense’ anyone else trapped with me. I shut my eyes (not that there was anything to see anyway), and probed the abyss with my mind. I had no idea what I was doing, and there was no way to tell if it was working or not. I probably wouldn’t have recognized another presence anyway. What was I even looking for?
“Acrylic?”
“Who’s there?!” I yelped, caught completely off guard. I had found a presence after all! Or, it had found me.
“It’s me! Torchwood! Open your eyes!” I hadn’t realized they were still shut, since there really wasn’t a difference in view. My eyelids obediently snapped back, however, and I found this was no longer the case. My husband was wildly grinning, floating just beside me. And as I looked around, I found the rest of our friends to be hovering as well, all positioned in a circle. Trenderhoof was to my immediate left, alongside Rarity. Then Flash and Twilight, Rainbow and Soarin’, Fluttershy and Discord, Pinkie and Cheese, and the Apples before returning to Torchwood on my right.
“Acrylic!” each one chimed in perfect unison.
“Guys! You’re all here!” I exclaimed, happiness seeping into my voice. But then my heart sank. “You’re... here.”
“Of course we’re here! We came looking for you, darling,” Rarity sang.
“But then Chrysalis found us,” Rainbow sighed. 
“That’s where we hit a gray patch,” Soarin’ agreed.
“But, don’t worry everypony. We left Spike and Blaze behind to watch the kids. I’m sure they’ll come looking for us,” Twilight pointed out.
“Neither of them could even fit through the entrance if they wanted to,” Caramel pointed out.
“That’s not necessarily true. Catacomb entrances aren’t typically out in the middle of nowhere. My guess is that Chrysalis probably carved that one out herself to get access to the tunnels. I’ll bet the real entrance connects someplace else, maybe even to Princess Essence’s castle. If that’s the case, the entrance will probably be much larger.”
“Exactly right, Twilight. That was how Princess Essence was going to come down when I asked for her help, but she froze before we could get inside. Those doors are plenty big enough for your dragon friends.”
“Then why didn’t she mention the catacombs before?”
“If she couldn’t bring herself to look at the doors, she’s probably not going to want to talk about it,” Fluttershy brought out.
“Fluttershy’s right.”
“But what in Equestria could frighten a destral princess so terribly?”
“It might have something to do with Kindling,” I mused.
“What makes you say that?” Flash inquired. He and all the other stallions had heard of Essence’s story.
“Before Chrysalis imprisoned me, I got her to talk,” I explained. “She said that she was engaged to Kindling!”
“But that’s impossible!”
“He must’ve been imprisoned like Essence said, and recently freed.”
“By who?”
“My guess? Chrysalis. I think she is seriously in love with the guy.”
“Those two sure bring out the worst in each other,” Trender wrinkled his nose in distain.
“And there’s more: she’s also Smoky Topaz.”
“Essence’s Chief of Research?” Rarity’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.
“That means she wrote the spells that permanently upgraded thestrals!” Even Twilight was in awe of her sheer genius.
“And... you know how Essence said that she cast the same spell on any who defied her or denied her love, so they would become like her?”
“Oh, no!”
“Don’t say it!”
“She made them... changelings...” Twilight choked.
“Yeah.”
“How horrible!”
“She an’ Kindlin’ would make a perfect couple,” Applejack spat, utterly disgusted.
“I’m not so sure. It almost sounds like he’s using her. I think it’s more of a one-sided love interest. She’s just too blind to see it.”
“Serves her right!”
“I don’t know... I almost feel bad for her,” Fluttershy quietly sighed.
“YOU DO?!” we all squealed.
“Think about it. She’s had to feed on other ponies’ love her whole life because nopony loves her,” the yellow mare reasoned. “She must be desperate. Now she thinks she’s found true love, but he doesn’t really return her feelings.” She looked over to Discord, a sad, distant, even understanding look in her eyes. I squinted to better examine her facial expressions, but being almost directly across from her, this wasn’t easy. From here, it almost looked like she was speaking from experience. But who could have possibly rebuked her affection? 
“Oh, Fluttershy. Sometimes you’re too kind for your own good,” Discord sighed. Fluttershy pouted. “Despite her tragic love life, Chrysalis is still a monster, unworthy of our pity.”
“She did try an’ take over Canterlot,” Applejack reminded.
“And marry my brother,” Twilight added. 
“And overthrow Celestia,” Rainbow interjected.
“Okay, okay,” Fluttershy silenced. “She’s done a lot of bad things, but that’s not to say she can’t ever change. Discord turned around, didn’t he?”
“But that’s different. He let true friendship in. Chrysalis isn’t interested in friendship, just overthrowing the government!”
“She’s interested in love. What if she found a real lover? Maybe then she’d see that taking advantage of other ponies’ love isn’t the right thing to do.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Rainbow snorted.
“And who’d love a monster like that?”
“How about Discord? One ex-villain to another?” Caramel joked.
“I’m taken!” the Lord of Chaos declared. “Radiance still has my heart.”
“Right,” Fluttershy quietly moped.