////
A Hard Sell
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Chrysalis growled at the sight in front of her, as her entire army made its way toward the castle. Alpha, in his first move as an Omega, decided that he would completely put a stop to their conquering of Canterlot, so that he could flex his new muscles in front of his subjects. And even though it would have made much more sense to just keep going, and get it over with, he insisted that he have this moment in the sun.
When they got back to the hive, she was going to make sure he knew his place. Perhaps the threat of some conditioning would sway him back on to the straight and narrow.
Looking over her shoulder, she scoffed as Alpha once again entered the room, and bowed to her.
“I take it you won’t be attending my coronation?” He asked, his gaze locked on the back of her head so powerfully that she could feel it.
“As if I would abandon this mission like everypony else!” She shouted, turning around and finding herself grow even angrier, “Why can’t this wait until Canterlot is taken over?”
“This is the moment I pained for, Chrysalis,” Alpha said, narrowing his gaze as he approached her, “I failed at Haven Station, I lost my wing, I lost any shred of respect I had from the hive, and then you froze me in stone with that damned machine you had made.”
“You should be happy all those things led you to here!” She retorted, “You’re much better off now, then you were five years ago!”
“That depends on your definition.” He shook his head, as he patted her on the side in what she could only assume was his attempt at a friendly gesture, “If you stood where I did, you would be doing this too.”
“Do not try and convince me.” She spat, turning away from him once again, “Go and have your praise.”
“Fine.” He said, turning and heading back for the door, “I suggest you keep your eyes open, there will be no guards stationed outside the room for the next twenty minutes.”
“I can take care of myself.” She said simply, avoiding eye contact still.
She could only hear him exhale as he turned around and left the room, leaving her to wonder what kind of mistake she had made by promoting him like this.
////
“They’re all leaving,” Trixie said, having just watched several guards teleport away, “I don’t know what Alpha has in store for us, but I promise that I’ll keep you out of harm’s way, Twilight.”
“Mhmm…” She said half-mindedly as she focused herself completely on containing her rage.
“Do you mind if I take a look at you?” The Doctor asked, having popped up from nowhere in particular, “Looks like you might need some help.”
Twilight shook her head back and forth a couple of times, leaving him guess as to what she had meant.
“Is that a: ‘No, I don’t mind.’? Or, was that a ‘No, please don’t.’?”
“Go ahead.” Twilight got out, as she instantly felt his hoof on her chin, lifting her up to face him.
The Doctor quickly pressed a hoof to just above her eye, and lifted it, forcing her eye open.
“Screwdriver.” He said, as Derpy grabbed it from her bag, and happily threw it over his head.
“Well, that was closer than last time.” He turned and smiled to her.
The Doctor returned to his examination of Twilight as Cadence approached the concerned Trixie.
“So, you’re a friend of Twilight’s?” Cadence asked, extending her hoof, “I’m Cadence.”
“I’m Trixie... It’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess.” She said, only taking her eyes off of Twilight for a moment to smile to the princess, “And… I’m not sure that I’m a ‘friend’ of hers yet.”
“Oh come on,” Cadence said, smiling at the timidity of the mare, “You’re obviously worried about her.”
“Well, Twilight is fast to trust ponies… so, maybe I am.” She nodded, leaning her head to the side, “I feel so bad for her.”
“This was a surprise for everypony.” Cadence nodded, watching Twilight as she was looked over by the physician, “But I’m sure she’ll pull though this. She’s strong.”
“She might be slow to love somepony again,” Trixie frowned, her own heart breaking over what Twilight had to face, “It’s not easy to lose somepony you love…”
Cadence frowned at the statement. She could feel what Trixie was describing within Twilight. She may not have said much to the mare, but the affection she felt for Alpha was no joke.
“The last one is gone!” Pinkie called, as everypony turned their attention to her, “All the guards left!”
“So… what’s coming to replace them?” Spike asked, looking to Rarity with concern, “Think we could fight our way past it?”
“No.” Rarity said instantly, giving him a grave look, “We’re powerless right now, and the last thing any of us need to do, is act rashly.”
“But what is he sending down here?” Fluttershy asked, hidden behind a large stone behind the rest of the ground, “I-Is it going to be some kind of… monster?!”
While everypony wanted to comfort the panicking mare, along with the several other upset citizens of the town, none of them wanted to be liars, should something terrible be coming to replace the guards.
////
Alex and Rainbow Dash sat backstage, just a few feet away from Alpha as he prepared to give his big speech to his people. The Changeling had gone to great lengths to tie the two of them tightly back to back, and both knew that no matter how much they struggled, there was no breaking out of the binding.
“What are we supposed to do?” Alex asked, having given up on escaping the rope, “I feel so naked without my magic!”
“Not all of us were born with wings and a horn you know,” Dash said, still trying to get any kind of give that might get them free, “Why don’t you work a little harder here? I’m doing all the work!”
“Dash, I’ve rubbed off a lot of the hair on my coat, and it’s starting to burn on the patches,” Alex said, enduring her movement of the rope for now, “At this rate, I’ll be dead before we get out of here.”
Dash growled as she tried to wiggle her arms, “When I get my hoofs on that guy… I’m gonna cream him!”
“I wasn’t sure at first, but I think I’m right there with you.” Alex sighed, having held out as much hope as possible for Alpha as he could, “When we get free, I think I’m gonna rip off his other wing.”
“What I don’t get though, is why did he tell us all that stuff about Chrysalis?” Dash asked, looking over her shoulder, “Like… Does he want me to pity her, while she’s torturing me?”
“I was thinking about that too,” Alex said, looking over his own shoulder and meeting her gaze as best he could, “At first, I thought that it was because he wanted to show us that bad ponies sometimes have a reason for their ‘badness.’”
“Then why wouldn’t he tell us his sob story?” Dash asked, her eyebrow raised.
“Well that’s where I got stuck on it too.” Alex replied, shrugging as much as he could, “I’d be defending myself if I were about to betray all my friends.”
“We were never his friends,” Dash spat, looking away from Alex and growling under her breath, “It was all just a big scheme for him.”
”Hello everypony, my name… is Omega.”
“Here we go.” Dash huffed, “Let’s hear his big plan for conquering Equestria.”
////
Alpha stood on the stage where the hearth's warming eve show was normally put on, and sighed at the sight in front of him. The entire force that had invaded Canterlot was standing before him, all of them looking to him as if he were their new king. And, to be honest, that was something he needed from this right now.
Casting the same spell he used to address the entire kingdom before, Alpha cleared his throat, and felt his heart begin beating out of his chest.
“Hello everypony, my name… is Omega.”
////
Chrysalis looked stood on the balcony overlooking the city and found herself rather appreciative of the calm that had come with Alpha’s ceremony. She could just stand here and take in the breathtaking view that was Canterlot. The ponies that lived here clearly kept it pristine. Royalty did live here, after all.
”Hello everypony, my name… is Omega”
“Great. So much for peace and quiet.” Chrysalis said under her breath as she walked toward the throne, just behind the wedding altar, and sat herself down in it, “Why don’t we listen to the cocky bastards show, hmm?”
Chrysalis looked up to Celestia and winked.
The princess made no motion toward her. This was either because she was ignoring her on purpose, or because she was a little out of it, hanging upside down in that cocoon. The more Chrysalis thought about it, the more likely she though the latter answer was the case.
”First, I’d like to thank everypony for their support, and belief that I could complete this task, even after being trapped in Equestria for such a long time.”
“Do you hear that?” Chrysalis said to the Princess in the cocoon, “Support? Belief?! Ha!”
Chrysalis, leaned her back against the chair, and kicked her back legs up on the wedding altar.
“He was a laughing stock! Alpha was a joke after he failed at Haven Station!” Chrysalis continued speaking toward Celestia, not caring if she was being heard or not, “It was only a few weeks ago that he started to gain some popularity, when I gave an update on the war, saying that we had on operative next to the Equestrian royalty.”
No reply…
“Then, when I was pestered by so many about his status here, I told them that he wasn’t even in disguise! That he was just a changeling living amongst all of you.” She said, crossing her front arms and blowing some hair out from in front of her eyes, “Let me tell you, they went crazy when they heard that. He became a legend overnight.”
”Now, to get this moving right along, I’d like to discuss some changes coming to the hive.”
“Oh, he has changes?” Chrysalis scoffed, “This’ll be interesting to hear.”
”Recently, while living here in Equestria, I learned of an unknown force that has threatened not just Equestria… But the entire world.”
Chrysalis didn’t make a snide remark at this. That was not something she had heard before.
”I’d like all of you to remember that I’ve been through several tough situations in my life. I’ve fought in battles against the zebra nation, equestria… I even lost my wing in one of those. So I hope that it makes more of an impact when I say that I am truly scared by what I’ve been told.”
Chrysalis continued to listen, as he continued to scare her with his speech.
”This is a power so great, that the old god of chaos, Discord, has expressed concern that we could all be destroyed by whatever it is that is coming for us. The threat is incredibly real, and I am taking it upon myself to make sure every living creature in Equestria is aware of its impending arrival.”
Chrysalis looked to Celestia. The Princess was looking right at her with a small smirk.
”However, the ponies in this country have been working very hard to prepare for this unknown force. Some of them have literally been through hell to make sure they’re ready to protect you and me when this force finally arrives. And, if you were to ask my opinion on the matter, I would tell you that I was confident in their ability to stop it.”
Chrysalis didn’t like where this was going, and immediately stood up from her new throne, heading for the exit.
”I spoke to the Queen at length on this topic, and the two of us have come to an agreement.
Chrysalis grabbed the handle and tried to open the door. It wouldn’t budge.
Looking to her left, every single door and window snapped shut, all of them being help closed magically.
”We are going to pull out of Equestira, and abandon this mission.”
////
“Did you hear that, Twilight?” Cadence said, looking from the ceiling to the collapsed, and shaking purple mare, her heart pounding out of her chest, “Alpha is taking the changelings out of Canterlot!”
Twilight didn’t answer at first, as the princess knelt down to bring herself closer to the mare. “Can you hear me, Twilight?”
“Everypony needs to go…” Twilight muttered, as her shivering grew more intense, “Something is… coming…”
”By now, I’m sure that prisoners being kept in the caves below have realized that there is no new guard coming to keep them in place. Everypony is free to leave, and come back to the surface.”
Cadence looked toward the exit, before turning to Trixie and Twilight’s other friends, “We need to get her out of here right now.”
“Where’s that ship of yours?” Applejack asked the Doctor, as he scratched the back of his head, “Ain’t ya’ able to bring it tuh’ us?”
“Now… That would be very cool!” He answered, smiling brightly while nodded, “Well, that is to say that… it would be cool if I could…”
“I might be able to help her,” Trixie said, kneeling down next to Twilight once again, “But I need that anti-magic field turned off!”
“We need somepony that can get to Alpha fast, and tell him to give us our power back!” Spike said, looking around at the rather lackluster group of ponies around him at this moment, “Anypony fast!”
After a few moments of nervous glances, and the hiding of some of the more cowardly ponies, all eyes rested on the most cowardly of all.
“Fluttershy.” Rarity said, approaching her quickly, seeing the unease in her eyes, “All of our lives depend on you making it up there in time to get our magic back, can you do that for us?”
Fluttershy squeaked as she looked around the room in fear, “C-Can’t anypony else go?!”
Even the crickets wouldn’t make a sound in this dead silence.
Suddenly, in the silence, a deep laughter was heard emanating from the purple mare on the floor, as everypony looked slowly to Twilight.
“I can smell all of you…” She said under her breath, but still loud enough to be heard, “All of that energy running through your veins. All of that mmm-magic.”
Opening her eyes and looking up from the floor, a deep red aura rippled out from them, as she looked to Rarity and bit her lip.
“You’re just full of chaos… aren’t you?” She asked, twitching as she slowly rose from the ground, “I can’t wait to drink it out from your neck!”
Twilight lunged at Rarity, but was stopped as Spike got between them, grabbed her by the neck and rather forcefully pushed her in to the ground.
“H-help me out here!” Spike called, as Applejack, The Doctor, and Pinkie piled on top of the thrashing mare, “Fluttershy! It’s time to go now!”
Fluttershy didn’t need to be told twice. An entire army of changelings was nothing compared to whatever it was that Twilight held inside of her right now.
////
“What do you mean we’re pulling out?!” One of the commanders shouted at Alpha, as he stepped forward from the crowd, “This has been in the works for years! We can handle this new enemy when it arrives!”
“Yeah!” The soldiers behind him cheered, as Alpha shook his head solemnly.
“Even if every one of us were to put our entire being in to a single combined spell that was fired right at this… entity, we would lose.” Alpha shouted over the soldiers in the room, “Its power is beyond comprehension.”
“Then what makes the Equestrians so special?” Another solider called from the crowd, as they continued to shout over him.
“They have the Elements of Harmony, and the Elements of Chaos!” Alpha shouted over the noise, being heard by all but the loudest, “It’s a well-known fact that only a few other things in this world possess such power!”
“This is bullshit!” The commander said again, stepping up on the stage, “You know what I think? I think you’re just trying to save your friends from the invasion!”
Alpha growled. He was half right. But… he was half wrong too.
“Where is the queen anyway?” He shouted, “I have a feeling that if we find her, we’ll hear a very different story!”
The crowd started to grow louder, as they all started to demand that they see the queen, and hear her side of things. Alpha was afraid something like this might happen. He was hoping that this story, along with an order from an Omega, would force the invaders out. This wasn’t the case, however. They were all here screaming for Chrysalis to show up, and tell them all what was going to happen next.
The chanting grew so loud that Alpha wouldn’t have heard a fog horn right next to his head if it went off.
So, casting his volume spell once again, he took in a deep breath, and shouted, ”The queen has abandoned you all!”
Silence filled the room, as Alpha finally regained his composure, and looked back to the crowd.
“The queen left, saying that her place in this world, and this war, wasn’t of any consequence, as long as a threat like the one I’ve been talking about exists.” Alpha said, looking over them with a grim expression, his lie perfectly hidden under his act, “She said that the changelings need to move past all of the hatred, and loathing, so they don’t have to grow up and run off to war and die.”
The crowd remained mostly silent as he continued.
“From now on, she told me that the hive will work with Canterlot, and find a way to save this planet from complete annihilation.” He continued, as some murmuring picked up amongst the crowd, “Either we work together, or we all die.”
Alpha would have felt good about his speech, if the commander with him on stage hadn’t stepped forward once again.
“Don’t listen to this pony!” He shouted, as the crowd instantly responded to his energy, “If we don’t take over Canterlot, we’ll have no food! All of your loved ones at home will starve if we don’t harvest the love and affection from everypony in Canterlot!”
The crowd cheered once again, as Alpha gulped loudly.
“We will take control of Equestria, and when the time comes, we will destroy this monster, and prove to the world that we are the strongest being on the—“
“Alpha!” A soft voice called from the back entrance to the auditorium, as a small yellow Pegasus ran in to the room, her face fraught with panic, “Y-you need to give us our magic back!”
“Don’t you dare!” The commander shouted, “if you have a shed of pride left, you will throw this mare back in the hole she crawled out of!”
“What’s wrong, Fluttershy?” He asked, ignoring the Beta, knowing this mare wouldn’t be here, in this room, if it weren’t important.
“Twilight is turning in to some kind of monster!” She shouted, her breathing producing horrified squeaks between each word, “I-it’s her—“
“Dark side…” Alpha muttered, as the ground began to shake below them.
“What’s going on?!” The commander shouted, “Did you disable the magic limiters?!”
Alpha shook his head slowly, a huge frown across his face.
“We can’t stop this… We need the Equestrians up here right now.”
“Don’t be a fool!” Beta shouted, “We can deal with this ourselves!”
Alpha was about to stop him, but then he had an idea.
“If I’m right… and a monster is on its way to us right now… You will all have the chance to sway me!” Alpha shouted to the group, “Defeat this monster, and I’ll allow us to continue the invasion.”
“You heard him!” Beta called to his troops as they all cheered, “Let’s show this Omega how it’s done.”
Alpha watched the crowds of soldiers leave the auditorium over the next minute, and silently hoped to himself that none of them got seriously hurt… because there was no way in Equestria that they were going to even scratch Twilight.
If it was strong enough to overcome the anti-magic barrier, it was stronger than his entire army already.
////