"I guess he planned it this way, not like it matters"
"No, no it does not"
"Ooooh, what is with that face? It does all but fit you, my dear"
"You have three prisoners and you think this face isn't called for?"
"Three prisoners? Oh no, no, I have two, and they are all but prisoners, my dear princess. As you can see I have two... guests, and a little larva"
The scene was interesting, mostly because there were few words to describe it other than maybe 'strange', 'weird' or 'what the hell is happening here?'. For those in the know they would be aware of the identity of the two figures, while most would wonder what they were, how had they arrived here and what was the blue rippling effect behind the three figures that were lying haphazardly in the floor. So many questions, right? But let's begin by putting things in context with those two.
The first figure, the on the right of this whole picture, was almost the size of a horse, albeit her mane, the fact that she could clearly talk, a certain brand in her flank and that she wore clothes (So to speak) did give away the fact that she was all but a horse.
Then we take into account the wings and horn and we are ready to drop the nuke.
Celestia, the princess of the sun within the land of Equestria in a world whose name escapes most creatures' mind and is a subject of heated debate since every species wants to call it one thing or another (Though Equis was a popular name for most despite certain complains). The large alicorn was regal white in color with a multicolored mane that floated around as if alive, whether there was wind or not. With large wings as far as the common pegasus was concerned, and equally large horn, for unicorns hardly had such length to body ratio even when they were taller than average, one would think Celestia an imposing figure if it wasn't because the long lived mare was as gentle as it could get.
It hadn't been like that, not always at least, and Celestia's face was perfected as far as smiling or scowling went. She had done a lot of both in her lengthy life and politics, as well as past experiences, had made her perfect them.
Even after so many troublesome situations that all but tested her patience, Celestia was quite the gracious mare, if only after she had mastered herself once she noticed the harm she had done. Whatever the case was, for her subjects didn't care as much for the past as they should, the magenta eyed mare was seen in thought with a neutral expression, or smiling and quite happy most of the time these days. With her crown polished and radiant alongside her collar and shoes, all made of an alloy that was even more vibrant than gold itself as far as most her subjects were concerned, the daily monarch was as bright as the sun whose cutie mark she had on her flank.
"I may be weakened, Chrysalis, but I am not about to let you run off with somepony like that"
Right now her face conveyed little more than barely held anger as she eyed her counterpart mere steps away from her. Had she decided to walk instead of teleport, at her own body's expense, back to the portal that she had made (with some help mind you), then she would have missed the scene. The fact that there was not a battle raging right now was not only thanks to the weakness Celestia admitted to, but many other little things that the changeling was all but privy about, or so Celestia hoped.
"Oh my dear sun princess, how hard it must be to admit you are weak like that. I am sure it must be... infuriating"
Celestia's voice was gentle and caring, like that of a mother that, even when she scolded their children, had a warm feeling about it as she tried her best to help. Chrysalis' own was between sensual and grating, with something akin to buzzing, though some would describe it in far less pleasant way, mixed in for good measure whenever she talked.
One of them was a pony, so to speak. She was a mammal, and an intelligent creature capable of magical feats beyond most creatures' imagination, feats that ranged from simple combat magic and telekinesis to the incredible power of taking control of the sun itself.
The other was more akin to an insect while still retaining more than enough similarities to the former to be called a mockery in very poor taste by many. And yet she was a mockery that was perfectly capable of replicating nearly any and all ponies she wanted to, and many other creatures, much like the rest of her kin.
However, and despite these differences that could utterly set them apart without much effort, both mares had their similarities, one of which was their size. This single and easy to spot similarity on itself meant nothing, but it did make comparisons much easier, more so when both figures were mostly still as both of them thought of what to say next for completely different reasons.
To start this deep comparison, let's begin with the one thing that most would see first in the alicorn, other than her cutie mark, horn or her wings: Celestia's mane. The daily monarch did have a very strange, albeit beautiful, multicolored mane. Different, yes, but it was indeed a mane.
It would be hard on anyone at first, but to begin understanding how different both mares were you would just need to look at her counterpart and see that Chrysalis had something that could be considered a mane, but the 'hair' was, for a lack of a better term, strange, and the word hair would be deemed even less fitting if you ever touched it.
Not only was the touch different; it didn't have single strands in the same way as any other horse would, as it was, in fact, extremely soft dark cerulean chitin whose tact, the feeling your brain would perceive at least, was almost similar to that of hair. The warmth, consistency and the solid sensation it gave out could be considered unnerving, at least for those unused to such, let's call it exotic, mane, a bit of an aquired taste, if you ever got to touch the real thing that is.
It was not the only thing made of an interesting type of chitin on the mare's body either, as changelings did have both an internal and external skeleton. The internal was to ensure functionality and survival chances in case of enough superficial damage while the external, the chitin plating, was both a defense, a way to control their powers to mimic others via visual, scent based and magical cues, as well as an easy way to determine a changeling's function just by size and form. In the case of Chrysalis this meant that she was as tall as the princess in front of her, and while the black chitin was smooth and maybe even pleasing to the touch, even soft when Chrysalis wished, it could be as easily rendered sickening and hard as steel just by the empath's desire and a magical change.
This, of course, would bring the important question as to why did the changeling's large horn have holes much like her mane and tail. It could be considered an oddity at first glance, worrying when you looked at her horn and knew no better, but it would turn to be downright horrible to the mind when you found out that her own legs lacked massive CHUNKS from one side to the other. It could be explained with some anatomy lessons however.
While much larger and much more complex than any other insect, changelings were partial insects, and while they required things that insects didn't (Like emotions such as love to feed themselves), they had certain needs common to insects. Changelings, unlike mammals of their size, required an increased amount of oxygen to sustain themselves, and to make sure that they satisfied that need they had a very complex respiratory system that was connected to the holes.
Simplified version: The bigger the body, the bigger the holes as far as proportions went.
It was hard to believe but they didn't harm their capabilities, not even those holes located around the insect wings that the changeling had along her back. This was partially because the back carapace protected incredibly powerful muscles for their size, that, and their wings acted like those of a pegasus and caught magic to fly, though they required more muscle than the nimble flying equines. For that reason the carapace was vividly marked, in this case with green coloration, a green almost as vivid as that of the queen's predatory eyes.
Yes, predatory, because not only did Chrysalis have slits in her eyes, much like many known predators, and her fangs didn't help to dissuade that notion. Adding her temper to the equation, the fact that she was quite ruthless, capable of backstabbing anyone if she found it beneficial and that she was actually capable of physically harming even those that even most villains would pity, if only a little, would make it easy to understand how dangerous she was... and how different both mares were from each other.
The important thing that made them alike, however, was not so easily seen, and most would think it impossible for the changeling to begin with.
"Let's stop with this game, Chrysalis: Release them at once" A level voice hardly meant calm when Celestia was involved, much less when she was obviously holding anger behind the scowl that could convey many an emotion "Otherwise I will do something that both of us will regret"
Chrysalis just laughed, and she laughed hard and loud for a good ten seconds, showing her fangs and the green flesh within her mouth. She hadn't mean to, truly, but laughter had been something almost alien to the changeling queen for quite a while and the opportunity had to be savored despite how over the top or undignified it looked.
The answer to Celestia's order once Chrysalis calmed down? "No"
"You'll...!" The white mare was about to get up, composure lost and anger rising, when Chrysalis lifted her forelegs to signal her for a moment.
"Have I harmed them, Celestia? Truly, have I done anything bad to them?" Chrysalis looked at the three figures lying close to her and the portal "I have done nothing, yet. I simply offered them a little choice, with help of your gallant mismatched knight in furry and scaly armor of course" The changeling chuckled at that "How else could I find a little larva here of all places? You don't think 'I' would bring one here, do you? Changelings do not abuse their young despite what some uncultured oafs think" She offered Celestia a disdainful smile "Ponies do that more than any other culture anyway, no need to add mine"
Celestia looked at Chrysalis with a neutral face, scowl gone, for now, but the anger was present. The dark green around her pupils was as still as the lighter hue she had further back. Much could be said with the eyes, and as someone that mastered the sun Celestia knew that even a simple glance away could mean the world, much more where they were now.
Changelings have a hive mind. This was a much more complex form of communication than most common insects had as far as common knowledge was concerned. It varied greatly from hive to hive or group to group, and while in some it meant total control of those beneath the royal changelings, in others it was simply a way to talk to the point where you could decide who to talk to and who to block out, other than those that had an higher rank in society of course. It was one of the reasons why changelings could coordinate as well as they did, which included knowing the locations of others that came from the same hive.
This, though, much like many other capabilities that Celestia had, required magic. It was, after all, a natural part on both the alicorn and the queen in front of her, and as such it required the one thing that both of them took for granted.
Here there was hardly any magic, if you don't count what Celestia was sacrificing at the moment anyway, and there would hardly be any more than that for a long time. Chrysalis would need cues for other changelings to follow, be it visual or vocal. Celestia was not focusing on the other mare because she wanted to after all; she needed to act fast if Chrysalis did something that she could consider as dangerous. Back home she would be giving Chrysalis just enough attention to ensure she was not trying to attack her as Celestia looked around for more danger.
Chrysalis didn't do much other than move her lips to talk though "Or do you think it strange that I have them outside of cocoons, hmmm? Is that it, Celestia? Think I can only have others come to me against their will?" And it was quite surprising that the changeling queen was as civil as this "Because I seem to remember that we changelings didn't always do things this way..."
Celestia furrowed her brow at that "Chrysalis..." There was something wrong here, but she didn't manage to push it any further as Chrysalis cut her off.
"Why, I even remember the tales of old when there was no alicorn MAD with grief and anger lashing at EVERYTHING and EVERYPONY" The glee on Chrysalis' face could be easily taken as madness and Celestia's worry grew "I wonder HOW that changed"
"Chrysalis" Celestia's mood soured to the point where her scowl returned as the queen grew in agitation.
"What? Does it hurt to bring back those memories of yours? Why? It has been, how long? Maybe three years since you had your sister back? Somepony that went over the verge because somepony else that we shall not mention was little more than a tyrant with a gentle smile?" The smirk on Chrysalis' face fell alongside her mirth "Every war and death you have caused have been but a footnote to you. Bravo my dear princess, bravo, because not only did you get to do all you did, but you are still portrayed as 'best pony', even once those that starve because of you are forced to bash down the gates and try to dethrone the abusing monarch"
"This is not the time to bring that up"
"I disagree: It is the perfect time!" Chrysalis all but burst out as she got on her hooves, forcing Celestia to do the same just in case "Do you know madness like your sister does? Did you ever go so hungry and lonely that you turned as bad as Nightmare Moon herself!?" The changeling queen snorted as she gritted her teeth in pure hate at the monarch of the sun "How long has it been, Celestia? How long since a changeling could feed without turning its feeder into a dry husk after prolonged exposure just because we are starved at all times and can't stop feeding when we get our hooves on somepony? How long since every species could simply stand each other instead of going for each other's throats when you aren't looking? Not even my mother saw such a thing, Celestia, they are but fairy tales now"
Celestia stamped a hoof on the ground "The matter at hoof...!"
"The matter at hoof is that I have two creatures you need, Celestia" From raging to completely even tone. Celestia had seen this kind of change quite a lot during her life, and the look in Chrysalis' eyes told her more than enough to know that the changeling would do something very stupid if she tried to shut her up "Either you tell me what they are worth to you or we are done with words"
Chrysalis shook her head for a second "I am tired of this, Celestia" The changeling mare started to walk circles around the daily monarch "Losing sons and daughters left and right everyday as I took villages and cities. They died, and not only from battle, but also thanks to the ever pressing famine"
From changeling to zebra Chrysalis went, it was but a blink of green flame within the night. The pupils were pinpricks, only to be replaced by those green eyes, those slits, that hunger. Celestia made sure to follow the queen as she trotted around her.
"Traveling far and wide, hardly stopping for anything or anypony" The zebra, simply the size of a pony instead of her previous queen height, changed into a large brown colored horse slightly taller than Celestia "Tasting love, seeing happy lives, crushing them" The large mare stopped in front of Celestia to change forms as fast as the eye could see. Hundreds of species, massive waste of energy, energy that the changeling needed to live. It was obvious that Chrysalis didn't give a damn anymore "Everywhere, Celestia, everywhere we went we were hunted, both before and after I gave up on everything. I slaved myself day and night to feed my children and those that joined me from hives that had lost their own queens and couldn't go on alone. And you know what I got in the end?"
At that point Chrysalis' eyes glassed over, only to turn bright green in coloration. The brightness was little more than the common denomination of your average changeling no matter its position. The change did not stop there, for her form sifted, the cloak left her, and it could be seen at last that the queen had lost more than one would thing. It would begin with the tip of her horn, her wings in tatters and her shell cracked in so many places that Chrysalis looked like a scar riddled war veteran. Her eyes didn't change at all for a moment, not until their bright green turned into a slightly dull blue with pupils still focused on Celestia despite the faraway look on them.
She was a veritable mess, and Celestia was sure that both of them were much less than what they had once been.
"Failing at Canterlot was crushing, our first real defeat in so long... What could be worse than that? To be stomped after taking that damned castle with those sugary critters around" Any other time Chrysalis would've shuddered, gagged or laughed, but right now she didn't seem to care or have the strength for that "Another plan, another failure, with my own trap trapping me of all things, and those damn animals giving us love to the point that saturated us nonstop. It reached a point that made us sick"
She chuckled without mirth as Celestia tried to picture that scene "It went so far as for me to be needed almost all the time. I had to literally take away the love that my changelings were being feed or they would bloat and... well, you probably know how it would have ended if I hadn't" Again Chrysalis laughed, this time in a way that sincerely scared Celestia "How ironic that we had gone from starving to being close to death by overfeeding ourselves. You know what is even worse? Since I could not free us, even when I tried to use my magic to blast us out of that damned prison, my hive grew restless. When another hive found us and freed us... they... took my hive away from me"
Celestia hadn't heard many rumors, but after being assured by Twilight that Chrysalis wouldn't be a problem for a long time, paired with everything that happened after the changeling queen disappeared... she just couldn't look into the few things she did hear. There was a problem every week, big ones at that, world threatening in the worst cases. That Chrysalis was nowhere to be found was, probably, so far back in her mind that Celestia sincerely almost forgot that she was, technically, still at large. However she did have to admit that the idea of 'serving justice' right now felt...
"No, they didn't take my hive, that was something I just couldn't have anymore, thus I was not robbed of my title and followers. I failed, I brought too much attention, other hives had been discovered because of my little act" Again she chuckled, this time with a sad undertone as her eyes and form as a whole returned. Despite looking 'whole' it was obvious that Chrysalis was tired "But it still saddens me that they did take away the few of my children, my true children, that still lived... all but a few"
She did her best to compose herself "Less than two dozen of my children stayed with me, Celestia. I wonder if I should still hate you for that" Neutrality was inching towards a monotone droning by now "You caused so much havoc, my dear Celestia, and most of today's problems were born thanks to you. How does it feel that lives are still crumbling left and right because you pushed your sister away just enough to allow for the darkness to consume her?"
Her smile was teasing, predatory, the only thing revealing just how close she was to snap "But we can't have that, can we? Another problem, another solution, and if it is not one executed by your loyal Sparkle then it is done by the mare in person. Everypony thinks you are such a saint" Celestia did flinch at that. It was true and it did hurt more than Chrysalis thought "When I was told that there were new creatures that could feed us, creatures of such emotion that we would not dry them ever if we managed things right, I simply wondered 'how?' at first, but then..."
A few seconds passed with neither mare speaking. After a slight breeze managed to get at least some movement out of Chrysalis, if only to pull her mane away, she nudged the regent of the sun with a simple "Well? Don't you have anything to say?"
"You think this is my fault too" It was not a question, it was fact.
Chrysalis didn't even smirk this time, she just shrugged "Who else? Who else but you, or maybe Discord, could know of another world? The question was not 'how?' anymore, not once you know of those that can be responsible" There was another little pause added for effect "The question is 'why?'" Then, and much to Celestia's surprise, emotion returned to Chrysalis as she sported a feral grin "Reasoning aside, you want something here, and you try way too hard to be nice, too hard even for you. I was told a few things, and after a few days of thought I came to a conclusion: This could benefit me and I would hardly need to do a thing"
"So" Celestia let out a sigh as she saw where this was going "You want to know why we are here, how it was done and what you can take from me. Is that your little plan?"
Chrysalis' feral grin didn't diminish "Bravo, seems the sun has yet to fry whatever remains hidden under the crown" Her mirth died down once more as she stated the only thing that seemed to be on her mind at this point in time "One way or another I want you groveling, that way I can die in peace if nothing else. There is hardly anything else I can fight for anyway"
By now Celestia had stopped paying attention to the changeling queen, or ex-queen as it were. To admit that many of the problems that had taken place on Equestria had been, indeed, because of her was something that Celestia didn't do, and she didn't do it because she could not. After all the turmoil that the banishment generated? After her depression and anger? She had created so much bad blood that it took every day, every hour, every second of her life to fix those problems once she managed to regain her sanity and put her subjects before her wallowing. Admitting the truth behind those claims would bring just more misery, and there was plenty of that already, way too much.
Immortals had a tendency to create massive problems, and this new one was just another one to add to the pile.
"You know humiliating me will give you nothing of what you want, Chrysalis, not even satisfaction at this point" The sun mare noticed that the feral glee on the changeling went away as quickly as it came "I can offer you something else, something worth your time"
The former queen gave Celestia little more than an arching eyebrow to signal her curiosity.
"Yes, this is my fault, albeit indirectly, and I will tell you what I need of your... friends, in a moment" Chrysalis' chuckling didn't take more than a few seconds from Celestia, though the mare was truly getting worried that this would end badly sooner rater than latter "Even if I were to beg for your aid, in public" And it seemed the idea did get Chrysalis giddy, much to Celstia's chagrin "It would do little more than harm the both of us. Instead of that solution, which would make things worse than they are, I recommend you show everypony they are wrong about changelings"
"Yea, of course, because that would be soooo easy" Chrysalis deadpanned with a heavy voice comparable to a ton of bricks "I think your sun did burn something important after all"
"Chrysalis, look" Celestia did the best she could to remain civil in front of the probably slightly unbalanced changeling "You may have heard stories from those that were there, but let me tell you that it was worse than most would tell you. I will NOT tell you anything other than yes: many of the problems, villains and a few disasters were caused by me, and yes, I lost it for a long time" The former queen was about to say something before Celestia cut her off "But now look at you, look at yourself and tell me you aren't headed down the same route"
Chrysalis stopped right then and let her brain work for a moment before her dark green eyelids made her otherwise neutral face look bored. She had heard similar things before "Are you trying to be high and mighty with me, Celestia?"
The sun mare shook her head "No, I am trying to save everypony I can. This includes giving a second chance now that I am able to" She threw a look at the figures besides them "And if nothing else you have leverage on me, something that I am sure you love"
"Very much so"
That composure of hers was wavering at the smirk she was given. Chrysalis was not helping Celestia as far as peace of mind went, mostly because the worry that the white mare had was directed to the figures lying there, but also towards the whole of Equestria. No, not really Equestria this time, because this little problem was a bit too big for it to harm just Equestria if someone messed up.
"I supposed so. Now, I know for a fact that some of the underground areas outside of the Everfree Forest have been vacated. Since the creatures living there have very long life cycles I could easily arrange to separate a big enough area for a settlement, just for you and your small hive" Chrysalis' wide eyes were enough to calm Celestia, if only just a bit "Twilight Sparkle would make sure to enforce peace between Ponyville and your new home. Not only that, but if you allowed her to study your hive she would make modern books on your general attributes and show facts, not diluted rumors that had once been widespread with an intent that is too well known by us both"
Chrysalis' bored look returned in earnest. Skepticism badly masqueraded as disinterest "And how do I know your little student won't blow me away?"
"Because she will have the chance of making more than one book maybe?" Once more Celestia pointed at the figures "You show her that you are not a threat and you abide by simple rules that would translate into approval from me and Twilight will be more than glad to help. Despite her faults she does what few ponies do: She tries to be the best pony she can and offer friendship to everypony" Turning her gaze to the figures once more, Celestia focused on the little one "But first I do need to ask you something"
"What is it?" Celestia didn't see her, but Chrysalis had a pensive look on her face at this point.
"Where did you stay after you left your, shall we say, self made prison?"
The changeling's face morphed into an angry one at the mention of the castle, if only for a few seconds "I traveled to the Everfree Forest. No creature desires to anger a changeling unless they are constructs, and those timber wolves do not feed on us even when we are weak"
"Did you meet a pair of fillies during your stay?"
Silence reigned and the question remained without answer. Celestia didn't need to look at her to see Chrysalis having a blank expression, and this time she still looked like she had the last time anypony had seen her as a queen.
"Little foals with no family are not that uncommon, sadly, as you probably know" Celestia did her best to remain neutral as she said that despite how much it hurt her to admit such a thing "Not everypony is as nice as I have tried to make them, but there are those that go above and beyond just being nice. These ponies try to do their best, and they are widely recognized for their acts. That is why it was so strange to have an unknown mare drop two drained fillies back at Ponyville's hospital explaining in perfect detail what was happening to them and asking for their treatment, only leaving when she was promised they would be taken care of" The sun monarch finally faced a forlorn looking Chrysalis "Few know how an emotional drained pony looks, how to treat them or where to send them. Why, with no changeling reported anywhere close to pony borders it was night impossible for any creature with your diet to be found feeding on them"
"How are they?" Not that Celestia thought Chrysalis would say anything, either to confirm or deny it, but to look worried, genuinely so... "Is... is Sparkly Glass okay? And Sweet Cinnamon?" The episode ended as fast as it began and Chrysalis' face turned from worry to anger "You..."
"Did I do something wrong?" Steel seemed to reinforce Celestia's voice as both mares eyed each other "I wanted confirmation, Chrysalis. At the time there had been other problems, and while worrying, the poor fillies were okay" For a moment it seemed like she had said all she wanted to, but right now she felt, just felt, that she could make a push in the right direction if she let something slip "They asked for their new mother" Chrysalis' face changed in a flash once more, but the expression was a mixture that Celestia would not rush to define "Just thought you would like to know that"
"This is not how I planned it" By this point Chrysalis' voice conveyed feelings that Celestia could categorize as longing, hate, anger, fear and probably just plain depression "I was supposed to drag these away, convince them to help me and get back at YOU!" At any other moment, and with any other pony, Celestia was sure that those eyes would be full of tears, but these ones were dry, they had been for some time now. Right now her worry lingered on the things that Chrysalis could do if she went over the edge "What else do you want to take from me?"
"I am offering them to you, Chrysalis"
The changeling looked dumbfounded "Huh?"
"Many things may have changed, but I know a hive is everything for a queen" Chrysalis gave Celestia a hateful look that was simply welcome at this point, anything to have a single emotion within the unstable mare "The backlash of what you went through probably has affected you in many ways, one of which is sterility, if I remember how your kind works"
"Such a nice memory, princess" The changeling deadpanned with venom dripping from every word.
"This brings us to the fillies" It was back to neutrality with Chrysalis' face once more "I will ensure you have a safe haven close to Ponyville AND I will let you have the fillies you bonded with"
"Bonded?" Curiosity, interest, maybe doubt, better than most other things Celestia expected.
"I may know the theory, Chrysalis, but you can imagine I hardly had much contact with your kind, unlike others from my family back in the day. I know not how badly things have affected you, but I have had the chance to talk with both fillies and I know you didn't charm them or harm them, in fact they may have a minute connection to your hive mind. You may not be queen, but you are something similar to the little ones and you still have your hive, however small it is" Celestia wanted, wanted so much, to have a tender tone. Situations like these were heartwarming, but at the moment it was all but recommended "But I cannot do that, not without assurance"
"So this is it, isn't it?" By now it could be said that Chrysalis had gone full circle as far as emotions went, only to reach acceptance, whether she liked it or not "I can't even do this right..."
"Sincerely, Chrysalis, if I tried to do this without getting some assurance from you then we both would get ponies at our door, figuratively speaking" The attempt at lighting the mood didn't have the desired effect, as Chrysalis made sure to express "But if you were to come to me and offer your help with your new... friends, once you get them to speed in a few days, we could talk terms"
"And I expect an apology would be in order" Chrysalis deadpanned once more, this time with no joy left, sane or insane, since her little ploy had been utterly crushed by now.
"Nopony was hurt during your latest attack, other than the critters you bothered, and even they weren't really all that hurt. Fluttershy said they can't really be harmed as far as one of them stays strong with love" Even for Celestia that was a little too much, she had been unable to stand so much cute in one place for as long as the elements. Maybe back in the day, but now... "Equestria was barely touched by your hive, the problem will be with other nations, but that will be for a different time, a less troubled one if posible. If someone comes forth wishing for an apology, it will be Shining Armor and my niece"
The former queen rolled her eyes at that "Oh, them, joy. I can forget ever living past THAT one"
"There could be worse things than that"
"Worse?" Celestia feared that Chrysalis was about to get into another rant, or mad, but she seemed to be spent by now, in all senses "Did you or did you not hear me, Celestia? Do you think I don't know how far I have gone? Do you think I am unaware of the hate I have created? Unlike your little Discord" And she did say the name with disdain "I did things that cannot be undone. Your little 'chaos god' hates death, it is 'unfunny', if I remember correctly. He may love fights, but he would prefer extravagant punishments to outright killings. Last I checked though, changelings don't feed on laughter"
"Preaching to the choir much?" Usually Celestia would have laughed at Luna once she said that. This time she was pretty much serious as she eyed a surprised changeling "You know very well that any other time we would have done much more than talk if I found you in this situation, don't you?" Chrysalis just nodded, still surprised "Chrysalis, let me be direct here before I tell you what is happening: If these two are one of the few I need, they will have to help, if they don't, we all perish" For a moment it looked like Chrysalis was going to laugh at her, but Celestia pressed on "This is not a test for Twilight, this is not a small villain or another would be conqueror. I mean it when I say that nothing would remain if things get out of hand. No chaos from Discord, no oppressive rule from Tirek, eternal night from Nightmare Moon, a damaged land thanks to the changeling swarm... There would be death, just death"
Madness could've been there before, but Chrysalis' eyes widened in pure terror at Celestia's words. Celestia would hardly bluff with such a topic. She could be shrewd, but not like this, at least not anymore "Tell me what in Tartarus is going on, now"
Celestia smiled with anything but happiness or mirth "Funny you mention Tartarus..."
The scenery hadn't changed at all since the last time Celestia had been here, not that it had been so long that something big could have happened anyway. As things were going though, one would think that Tartarus itself opened every week or so, what with Twilight and her friends having an adventure a month when things were slow. Right now, and she had to say that it had surprised everypony, the adventures had stopped completely, in fact things had been strangely quiet for too long after a few years with a disaster or two taking place in a regular basis. Many ponies were quite worried.
And with good reason.
Few knew about it, at least for now, and Celestia hardly could believe what Discord, DISCORD, had told her that something felt wrong before it started. The draconequus could be as reformed as one could expect the embodiment of chaos to be, but Celestia hadn't expected for him to be all business, for real (as strange as it sounds), when he confided with her on what he had seen.
Celestia shook her head. This could still be a joke in very poor taste, Discord had a bit of a bad time being friendly and chaotic. True that he was categorized as a monster by many, and he was, even if he liked to consider himself a party animal more than anything these days. Celestia had to do her best to not roll her eyes at the thought and the parties that he and Pinkie Pie tried to throw around nowadays. What scared her was that he had stopped doing anything but watch the sun for a few days, with little more than a few scares or pranks on the side mind you, but nothing that could be considered normal for him. He had been... tame.
It unnerved her enough to give to his suggestion and check. Why? She didn't know. Celestia was sure that SHE of all ponies would have been able to feel whatever was wrong, if anything had been wrong, but she refused to believe that Discord had been trying to prank her in such a distasteful way... Then the first report came in and Celestia felt herself drown in worry when it became evident that Discord had really tried to warn her.
Discord didn't laugh, he didn't even say 'Told you so' when she told him. He just frowned. Her worry increased as more reports arrived, it grew until she finally decided to check, and then her worry became utter fear when she heard that voice calm as a sunny day. He had been waiting for her.
"It seems you found out at last" The tired and weak voice of Tirek didn't betray any feeling as Celestia finally came to face the weakened immortal centaur "I have to say that you took longer than expected. It is... disappointing"
Tirek was still its weak, thin, self. His horns were small, his appearance resembled that of a creature about to wither away thanks to famine despite being feed regularly, and his eyes spoke of well calculated anger and plans. Whereas his skin had been once of a vivid reddish hue, now it was little more than a dusty discoloration of its previous incarnation, much like his once black fur that was now grayed out all over his equine lower body. The only thing on his body that was intact, the only that had not felt the force of discoloration brought by his forceful power down, were his yellow eyes.
Surrounded by darkness and fixated on Celestia, Tirek's dot like pupils were like daggers that wanted oh so badly to pierce their target. Tirek wanted to break his chains, destroy the prison and wreck Tartarus alongside Celestia, but he had a weak body, no powers and he knew that even that would probably don't do much more than bother Celestia for a little while, not unless he had more power.
At one time his form had been majestic, brutal, the embodiment of conquest and raw power. Now he was little more than a failure full of anger and he knew it well. Despite what others thought Tirek was all but a stupid muscle mass with too much ego on him, although he had to admit that learning faster would have been handy when fighting the ponies.
"Unlike you may think, Tirek, you are not the center of the universe" Celestia could hardly contain her emotions this time. Her little ponies were suffering and this creature was the cause of it all. His anger was not one of her many failures as a regent and she felt that this particular punishment was not justified "There was hardly any time to catch up to your ploy, Tirek. I had to repair what damage you had done and ensure that the order of things was restored" The prisoner just let out a little 'Heh' at the memory "But I did catch up"
"And I suppose it was thanks to Discord's help?" His tired voice revealed as few details as Celestia's neutral face. Neither of them could fool each other "I thought so"
"Tell me what you did, Tirek" Celestia's frown could have scared anyone else. Tirek didn't even blink "I have a few of my guards falling into a magical coma first thing in the morning a few days ago. After that happened I receive reports of similar happenings from a few cities that also reported spikes on magic in the environment, as if it was trying to saturate certain areas completely " Her scowl deepened to a point that few had ever seen "Then I find out that the sun reacts differently to my commands, something I hadn't noticed, and I would have missed, if Discord didn't tip me about it" Being humble was no weakness, and baiting Tirek could potentially pay off. Celestia had said worse things to herself in any case "It all started shortly after your defeat, so I will ask again: What did you do?"
Tirek simply chuckled as he paced around his prison. Despite the limited space and the brooding surroundings of stone, far, far underground, he found the place... comforting, at least now. To have Celestia visit him for this? Better than to have her summon him to the overworld. She didn't want to make a scene.
She was scared, and Celestia knew perfectly well that Tirek could see it, either that or he would just assume soon enough.
"A deadmare switch, as you Equestrians put it" Tirek commented offhandedly "When I absorbed Discord's powers I saw what he saw: Infinite possibilities. The crazy idiot has had so many lives, has seen so many worlds, universes, dimensions... It was just a second, but a second for Discord is enough to live billions of different lifetimes" He barely turned his head to look at Celestia "So I used a fragment of his power to spread thousands of plans and as much destruction as I could, in case I was defeated" The centaur gave Celestia a smirk before he turned to face her fully "This is one such plan, and you can take it in any way you want" Not like Celestia needed his permission to form a few possible answers to what he meant "Had I not feed on Discord, well, let us say that I would've missed on the previous incarnations of our world, and our bonded world"
"Bonded world..." Celestia muttered to herself.
"I know you are aware of different dimensions, Celestia. When I feed on your collective power, that of the four alicorn princesses, I saw it, I saw everything" Tirek's tone was distant, as if he was in a haze, looking beyond any barriers that could damper any living mind "I saw how many different incarnations of our world and bonded world were out there, how many alternative realities of them all existed at the time, how many times they connected with each other" His haze came and went, only to be replaced by an even voice "Creating another one was not hard, but it needed a trigger, a cause, a reason to exist... and power"
Celestia thought for a moment about what could be such a trigger, but despite all she knew and all she had seen, there was not a thing that came to mind. She did know of different worlds, of course she did, but every single one of them had their own rules and was vastly different in at least a few key elements. She was sure that she was all but omnipotent and knowledgeable in some, while in others she probably didn't exist anymore or at all, while a certain one had her as the villainess until recently, but other than that? It was incredibly hard to break those barriers and gain insight, well, except for Discord that is. The thing is...
"You are not Discord, nor are you as capable as he is with his powers" Celestia directed an inquisitive look at Tirek "For as powerful and intelligent as you are, Tirek, you would need time to master it all. You could not create such a disturbance by yourself"
"Such a shame that you prefer your little friendship over anything else, Celestia. I know for a fact that you would make such a delightful overlord" Tirek grinned at Celestia, even more so when it was obvious that she was offended by his words "Yes, I could not do it myself. The ins and outs of chaos magic are... volatile, at best, and I had little time to do much. When I got everything I wanted from Sparkle I did have a moment, though, a moment to connect"
With whatever magic Tirek had left, which was not much more than his own diminished reserves, the centaur conjured a very simple illusion that did little more than flicker. What he created was nothing else but the sun.
"How long can an artifact gain magic until it becomes more than an object? It is quite the question if what I have been told is true" Tirek grinned as he played with the sun on his hands "Weapons can gain some short of sentience after years, maybe months at best, or worst, depends on the power of the enchantment and in a very simple variable: If it is permanent. Different thinks take different time, and they depend on the intent of the enchantment as being exactly what I told you, to grant them life, or a connection to its user"
"To put it bluntly" Tirek slowly expanded the sun in his hands. Celestia could swear she saw something within, something... "I connected with the sun and found an entity forming within its brilliant visage, a young, malleable, entity. After that I just focused all the spent magic, magic spent thanks to your connection with the sun from countless dimensions if we are to be precise, and poured it in our lovely star" The centaur grinned as Celestia saw what was hiding within the one thing that had made her special for all these years "Then, I let it free to enjoy sentience and an immeasurable wealth of power"
"ARE YOU MAD!?"
Tirek's boisterous laughter was as close as his original form as he could muster. But there was no madness there, Celestia saw way too late, as Tirek dissipated his illusion, that there was something else.
"At one time I tried to bring darkness and pure evil to corrupt the ponies" Tirek calmed quite quickly, surprising the princess with a demeanor that was akin to someone that knew horribly well just what he had done "I died" And Celestia did not like where such realization was headed "I came back once, I did so in this world after many cycles. I have no doubts at all that I will be back again be in this life or the next, in this world or another one. I am immortal, the same as you" Tirek's gaze burned on Celestia's mind "Death, as our bonded friends would say, is just the beginning"
It came like the first light in the morning: Crashing down your window. In this case the window shattered and waking up rudely thanks to the sun's glare was akin to an explosion to the face.
Celestia had little more than a few seconds to notice that Tirek had not collapsed the illusion, he had condensed it. It would not mean anything more than just maintaining the magic there for latter use, but in this case it was something else. When she noticed what he was doing it became clear that harming her was not the objective, even if destruction would be achieved.
In a quick attempt to fix the problem Celestia used her magic, only for Tirek to smirk and lift one hand, pushing her away with more power than Celestia thought possible of the weakened being. A flash, a rumble, the impact of her body against the stony surface of the prison, and Celestia managed to regain herself and get back on her feet. The impact hadn't been strong, but it had been a direct assault with something that was no elemental magic, not even life or death, it was just... a pull... like he had tugged at her very being. And what did he want to gain out of such display of power?
"Seek counsel somewhere else, Celestia, and be warned..."
Little more than scrap metal remained in the area that Tirek had been just a moment ago. Nothing around the sphere of his spell existed anymore, it had literally been erased from existence and transferred to something else; a transmutation spell that would basically consume the user no matter its intended objective. In layman terms: A form of suicide and sacrifice to empower something or someone else with the totality of one's own energy.
"I will be watching..."
A cold shiver ran down Celestia's back as she used her magic to leave. This had gone beyond quick escalation.
"Interesting" Chrysalis muttered as she mulled over what she had been told. Celestia could see that she was toying with many ideas and problematic thoughts that clashed with what she wanted to attain "What exactly did he mean?"
"I did not know at the time, but I talked with Discord and Luna once I was back" The notion of Discord being helpful still seemed extremely weird to Celestia, almost as much as talking more or less amicably with Chrysalis right now "Chaotic magic was used in such a hasty way that even Tirek could hardly know what he did, other than predict the end result, and even that could be an stretch on our part"
Celestia was about to say something else, but decided to be sincere "To be frank, Luna needed to know, and I thought that not even Discord knew what would come out of doing what Tirek did. For that reason I was sure that the only thing Tire would know was that he was capable of destroying everything. I found myself with knowing more than Discord himself, and it was not a welcome change" She gave a very tired chuckle "Luckily, or unluckily, he decided to tell us many things during our meeting"
"The entity that resides in the sun is the polar opposite of what my sister once had" Celestia had made sure that the throne room was devoid of anything but the other two figures there with her. No guards, no mane six, no royalty. This had to be a secret for now "There was a time that I tried to escape from reality after... Luna and I had our fight. My attempt fueled Star Swirl the Bearded and his research on alternate dimensions after he managed to create a mirror that allowed to..."
"Yes, yes, we know about that, little sun-butt" Discord chuckled as he floated above Celestia's head "Twilight could hardly shut up about THAT adventure of hers, if you can remember, so no need to give me the 'theory' cover story" He literally made air quotes in front of Celestia's face "Nice coltfriend by the way"
"What I am TRYING to say, Discord" And the draconequus simply laughed at Celestia's stinkeye like it was nothing "Is that there are so many it is impossible to know which one is the real one, IF there is a real one. This means that there are infinite possibilities out there" She let out a sigh as the huge migraine she had been trying to suppress decided to make itself apparent once more "What I saw on Tirek's illusion... It was similar to Luna's moon, similar to the essence of Nightmare Moon and her desire to have everything under her hoof. But it just... it felt worse, without any real desire or feeling at all. A blank slate given power and a nudge in the wrong direction"
Celestia's sister, Luna, was sitting beside her daily counterpart. Whereas Celestia embodied the day with her colors, Luna took on the darker hue of the night. Her mane was of a sapphire blue coloration with purplish aura on its border adorned with magical sparkles that perfectly mirrored the star filled sky at night. With a much lighter sapphire tonality for eye shadow, dark blue coat and a much darker, if not black, representation of the night sky with a crescent moon as a cutie mark, Luna looked the perfect opposite of Celestia in many ways.
Despite this apparent mirror image, Luna was much gentler in her approach than her sister. Having been all but pushed away back in the day, which in turn brought her close to madness thanks to what she felt as rejection, and with a long time needed to adapt to modern times, Luna was, whenever she could get away from court, livelier than her sister and less, shall we say, stuck up. Hardly anyone knew that of course, what with her guard being composed of thestrals (widely known as 'bat ponies' by most) instead of the more known pony tribes, or her penchant to use the royal Canterlot voice that she went back to from time to time when she was nervous.
She could be smaller, her clothing and regalia darker than her sister, and she was hardly seen by the royals compared to Celestia, but for those that knew Luna she was slightly more approachable than her sister, if only because Celestia had less free time than the smaller alicorn. That, and Luna had found so much enjoyment with other ponies now that her night was widely appreciated unlike bad in the day.
"How could it be worse, sister?" On par with her, shall we say, younger look, her voice sounded almost like that of a teenager.
It still scared some people though, and by now Luna either rolled her eyes at that or snickered in front of them.
"Poor little woona" Rolling her eyes was right whenever Discord did that at least "What your sister means is that the world could survive with eternal night, you know? There are plants and that can grow and the animals would adapt, much like ponies, despite the cold rising, much like near the Crystal Empire's wastelands" The embodiment of chaos finally touched the ground, only to turn into a pile of ash with eyes on contact "Getting hit by the sun's direct power does hurt, tough"
Discord, chaos incarnate, the creator of mischief, nonsensical chief of laughs and overall swell guy when he wants to be, which depends on his fancy. To describe discord one would need to explain how likely you are to like falling into a hole, this is to say: It depends what you find in that hole and how deep it goes.
It was hard to know where the chaos begins and ends with Discord, because as surprising as it may seem, he was slightly more orderly than one may expect. This, however, didn't translate with his body. A deer horn paired with that of a goat, if you decided to do something truly horrible to the goat's horn anyways, these were located atop of a horse like head with yellow eyes and crimson pupils of different sizes with a muzzle sporting horse like teeth for all but a single dragon fang and a goat like beard with bushy white eyebrows to top it off. And that was only the head.
From there you go to a feathered main body with a small bat wing on the right and a pegasus wing on the left, a lion's leg on the right and an eagle's left, talons and all, to support his upper body. His lower body not only has a dragon's right leg and a the left leg of a goat, but Discord's body ends in a dragon's tail, either that or a very weird snake, that ends in a white tuff. With a body shape like that of a dragon from the west, including the viper tongue (literally, not figuratively), it was hard to know how to describe discord in a few words.
He was, however, a more careful planer than he seemed, though he was a bit of an egomaniac and little more than a kid with powers that could rival nearly any other creature in the world. Let's just say he gets bored easily, but he usually means well, more or less.
"That is to say, my little moon butt, that the sun does not appreciate a world that seems to lack the order Celestia wanted to bring to it" Discord reformed with the snap of his fingers, better not think how he did it when he was ash, much to Luna's chagrin "So we basically have thousands of years worth of magical buildup in something that we cannot even touch and that probably feels like a spoiled brat that has been denied its toys"
"Excuse me?" Luna stomped a hoof in anger. It surprised her a bit to find it echoing within the throne room, but then again Celestia had made sure no sound could escape "We managed to force the moon to get closer to the world without it affecting anypony. How could controlling the sun to stop it for burning us be any different? Even if we need to force it to come closer for the bearers of the elements to do something it should be..."
"Pretty much a waste of time and very unintelligent on your part" Discord seemed instantly bored with Luna's lack of imagination "Let me make it simple, my dear Luna" And by now Luna had such a tick on her eye that anyone else would fear for their ears "What you lacked was control and appreciation, and you wanted that above all else, so of course Nightmare Moon would do anything to have that where she found it lacking" Interestingly enough, Discord didn't laugh as he embarrassed the nightly monarch "Celestia had all the control she could want, but after certain... ventures, shall we say, that control was little more than an illusion despite her wishes against such outcome"
Luna tilted her head for a moment before eyeing her sister as Celestia looked away "What do you mean?"
"Come on Luna, how long has it been since you came back? We are approaching the third year now, or at least I think so. You see I tend to not keep up with time you know?" A rain of mistreated calendars fell on top of Discord. The draconequus made an act to get out of the pile, gasping for air "Okay, so maybe I REALLY need to be more orderly, but thing is I am not the only one"
"What he is trying to say, sister" Celestia cut on Discord's shenanigans to move things along "Is that all those story books were... touched up a bit" She sighed as Luna's eyebrows rose "Despite all I had back then, I... was not happy. Star Swirl lived long and happily despite all I did, we were never the closest of friends we once were when I betrayed his trust, but once he too passed away I was... alone... Not you, not him, no one was with me" Celestia let a her eyes water for a few moments "I pushed everypony away, I hurt so many people, cut trade and entertained myself playing a selfish game of crowns with the other species on our world. Many of today's conflicts and disputes happened because of me, although few know of the truth, and of those that know I had quite a few in my hooves thanks to information or more mundane needs"
"Other dimensions were not enough" She went on "I could have... happiness... or as close to it as I could have, in some of them, specially one of them, but my time was limited despite how omnipotent I wanted to portray myself to my little ponies. I grew bitter, resentful and, over time, I cared for nothing, not even myself" Celestia looked down in shame while Discord lied to her side, on a magically summoned couch, taking notes and motioning her to go on "I hurt so many ponies, your thestrals know about it as much, if not better, than most" Luna didn't say anything, and it hurt almost as much as being slapped as far as Celestia was concerned "By the time I got myself together things had spiraled out of control"
"All those wars... so much misery..."
Celestia felt like she was going to cry as Luna's eyes widened as her mind decided to get back to work "Not ALL of them were my fault, but they could have been stopped if I had done what I had to. For all intents and purposes I am to blame for everything that made everypony suffer after you were gone, despite my best efforts" The otherwise regal alicorn let herself fall from her sitting position until she lied on the throne room's floor "It was thanks to me that you had to be sent away, and instead of learning I deluded myself more and more until I just... didn't care"
"Sister..."
"And that is why I told you back in the day that you had to get a coltfriend. Thinking about it you totally should get your REAL coltfriend back" Both sisters eyed Discord as he put the couch and notes away in some kind of alternate space between dimensions "What? I may not enjoy how you ponies procreate, too many fluids, but I am told it is very therapeutic as stress relief"
"Seriously, Discord" Celestia did her best to force the migraine away alongside the retort she wanted to use "Not. The. Time"
"Oh but it is! And for various reasons!" Discord seemed as eager as a foal with a new toy. Compared to his demeanor prior to this little meeting Celestia had to admit that it was an improvement, barely "While you were away I went to the sun you know?"
"YOU WHAT?!"
Celestia composed herself and her mane after that little outburst that surprised her more than it did Luna or Discord. Then again Discord probably expected it and Luna was just a bit shocked at Discord, enough to ignore her sister's outburst.
"Come on, little princess, you know I can't keep quiet, and I haaaaaaate being serious" He droned that last part like a robot "I dislike being down as you very well know, and this problem means one of the few things that I really don't like: Real harm and death. It is ironically unfunny in so many ways that you don't even realize, and the Elements of Harmony know it as well as I do. Why do you think I was turned to stone instead of 'defeated' in a more permanent way?" Celestia didn't exactly have an answer for that "So I made sure to go check on what was making me feel like this, found the problem and made a solution!"
"Now" Discord made sure to start his explanation before the two mares could stop him "I may not like death, too common, boring, it is quite the final thing you know? Despite whatever Tirek may thing" He sent Celestia a pointed look that told her that yes, he had been spying on her "You need a lot of magic to make sure you don't get lost in limbo for a few lifetimes, and I mean an universe's lifetime. Boring, boring, boring" He sighed as if he was speaking of a mundane play "Anyway, that is not exactly a problem now since our little ball of radiance is generating magic nonstop"
"Generating magic?" Celestia furrowed her brown at that "You mean to tell me that the magic buildup is thanks to the sun itself?"
"Of course!" A loud 'POOF!' echoed within the halls as Discord got a pair of large glasses and long coat with pencils in every pocket, pants with a book on one side and a few rulers on the other... He was simply nerdy "You see, a lot of worlds think that everything is finite, but it is wrong! Oh boy is it wrong. You see, you can take something and create TWICE as much, if not more, that is how every universe is expanding forever, only to collapse on itself and then produce more universes out of seemingly nothing"
Both mares blinked a few times. In a moment of clarity Celestia thought that this is how most people may feel when Twilight is around.
The draconequus didn't seem to care about this and droned on "Now, universes are very large things as you may know, and they have an extremely long lifespan. I have to say that we aren't 'immortal' enough to see them collapse, though it would be quite the chaotic thing, hmmm yes... But anyway, let me show you"
Discord summoned a glass of his favorite drink: Chocolate milk. Such a simple thing yet something so tasty. It was nothing like cake as far as Celestia (And Luna, not like she will admit it to your face) was concerned, but the spirit of chaos LOVED the damn thing. This time his drinking problem came with a lesson attached, because as he placed the glass on his lips and started drinking... the glass grew and its contents expanded.
After a few seconds of chugging it down Discord had on his hands a massive barrel made of glass, a barrel full of chocolate milk that he was downing with a crowd of burly Discords all around him, 'forcing' the nerdy one to drink more and more while roaring 'CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!'. A few seconds of this and the barrel reached immense proportions that risked the walls and ceiling.
Then it blew up with a loud 'POP'.
A battlefield would leave less of a mess behind. Every glass window was now stained, literally and figuratively. Nothing but brown could be seen all over the place, and two very angry mares eyed a very, very fat Discord with hearty intent placed behind their plans for his demise.
"BUUUUUUUURP!" Discord hardly had time to place his lion paw in front of his lips "Erm, excuse me"
He snapped his fingers and relaxed as his normal (pun totally intended) form came back, with every bit of chocolate cleaned off, though both princesses had their piercing glares aimed at the lone male in the room.
"Discord, I am going to turn you into a lawn ornament, permanently" Celestia hissed between gritted teeth.
"Well, I for one think it was a sweet way to demonstrate what I meant" The draconequus mocked feeling hurt at the comment "But let's get back on topic: What is happening now is nothing new" It was out of need, but at least both mares stopped glaring daggers at him "Magic, like everything else, keeps growing, in fact magic worlds tend to last forever unless someone messes it up. This happens because magic replenishes itself and the world's resources over time, if it is traditional magic of course. It is partially thanks to that fact alone that ponies can do all they can do, which includes growing plants with Earth Pony magic, flight with Pegasy Magic and, well, magic with Unicorn Magic"
Luna decided to take a few seconds to whisper "It is scary when he makes this much sense" To her sister, which got quite the sharp nod from Celestia.
"Magic is the reason why ponies can last up to three hundred years a piece, much like most other sentient species" Discord didn't pay the two flabbergasted mares much attention as he was now drawing in a chalkboard to emphasize his points "This means that, over time and without any technologic advance, ponies would live more without need for further evolution and all that. However..."
"Why is there always a 'but' in these things?" Luna hissed under her breath.
"Too much magical buildup in a short time would be harmful and it would affect the living creatures of this world quite fast. One of the possibilities would be a magical induced coma, as you know" He looked at Celestia for a nod of confirmation, one that she gave him with reluctance. The problem was that there was no way to say no, no matter how much Celestia wanted "But even with so much magic poured into the sun, and it is a ton for what I managed to see when I went to check, it would be impossible for that thing to affect anything this quickly"
"But you just said...!" Luna blurted out, feeling like Discord was just playing with them again.
"The sun could not bleed out this much power without harming itself" Luna scrunched her muzzle as she heard the serious tone on her sister's voice. As she turned to look at her she did see that Celestia had a pensive frown on her "To affect the whole world would require a very precise amount of energy, and with how much has been placed in the sun..."
"Even the lightest show of force would incinerate parts of the world, or destroy it" Luna gulped at the thought "Magic creatures, from unicorns to dragons, spend years training. If there is something within the sun it will be young, months young at worst, no matter what Tirek did, right?"
"Exactly!" Discord took both of the mares away from their musings "That is why Tirek connected us to another world, what he called a 'bonded' world" In a moment, and with some magic, two worlds appeared on the board "While connecting with an alternate reality is 'easy'" This time the air quotes decided to poke both alicorns on their noses "Having a connection with a world that should be linked to the one you reside in is, well, quite impossible unless you are a god like me"
Discord had both worlds in front of each other in the middle of the board at this point. One of them had a map that neither mare knew about, but the other had Equestria on it and they knew it was theirs. Once they realized that it was time for Discord to make another world close to their own, quickly linking it with a line of chalk.
"The one Celestia went to visit regularly is now permanently linked with ours despite her best interests" Celestia cringed at that, and the memories, now that Discord was completely serious instead of poking fun at her. Luna was perfectly aware that her sister had not recovered from that one, nor would she for a long while "While rare in occurrence it IS still pretty common, but as I said, linking a completely DIFFERENT world is something else" Another chalk line went straight to the other world "This often happens with very bad reasons behind the link, and I mean reasons I would hardly use for my amusement, none at all"
The serious moment died when both mares gave Discord a deadpan look as he looked from left to right, changing his face to that of Applejack, the element of Honesty. It is not like he was lying or anything.
"Okay so maybe I have brought a few of these creatures to Equestria from time to time, it is funny and they usually enjoy it here, plus I like adventure and romance and it is cute to see them paired with ponies" The deadpan looks turned into disbelief as both princesses tried to retain at least some semblance of seriousness after hearing Discord "Oh come on! Fluttershy likes romance! I had to read SOMETHING when I was living with her!"
"Yea, of course you did" Celestia could hardly contain her chuckles at that "But do go on, please"
Discord harrumphed before resuming his task "As I was saying: Making a link is hard. Forcing one or two creatures to cross over? Doable. There are natural portals that open at random intervals all over the world, some of them even go to different realities of our bonded world, and no, I did not make them, magic is chaotic by definition thank you very much" Discord had to add that one when Luna was this close to bursting into laughter "To link both worlds permanently is extremely dangerous, not to mention foalish. Everypony could die on both sides, mostly because this other world, Earth, hardly has any magic at all"
"No magic?!" Luna's humor was gone in an instant "How can a world LACK magic? It is needed by almost every living thing, even small quantities of it are required at all times"
"I said 'hardly', I didn't mean 'no magic at all'" Discord blew a raspberry towards Luna "Because Earth usually has little to no magic the creatures in there are, in most cases, weak and mostly unintelligent, unlike here where almost any animal has a bit of sentience except certain species, most of which are fishes, monsters or some cattle as you two know" Both princesses nodded at the common knowledge "Earth usually has a single truly intelligent species, and I will refrain from air quotes because I would need half of Canterlot for this one" The deadpan tone and the look on his face made the sisters worry for a moment "I am usually quite picky with the individuals I 'guide' here" At least Discord recovered his grin quickly "But you two would have a heart attack if you saw some of their worst examples, even Nightmare Moon would refuse to go here or cut a deal with some of these things"
"I have to say that you aren't making this look good, Discord" Celestia's worry encroached on her mind once more.
"Oh don't worry, they are my kind of people" That really didn't help much "They can be either truly evil or good, it depends on their upbringing and many little things, unlike many ponies since you guys are generally goody two shoes even under the worst circumstances"
Luna sighed at Discord's offended tone "We'll take it as a compliment"
"You better" The chaotic creature smirked "In any case, because these creatures, the humans, have hardly any connection to magic, usually because they are deeply connected to technology and lack a proper magic source on their world, they, obviously, generate very little magic themselves. However, as our lovely sparkly head here mentioned" Luna frowned at Discord's new prod "Living things NEED magic, and this is a perfect way to show how something is created from almost nothing"
Discord drew a little stick figure that represented a human, though neither Celestia nor Luna really knew it was a human. Said figure was atop the world that represented Earth. After that was done Discord made the sun of their world atop of their own planet, then made a faint line of chalk directed to the human and a much denser one directed to their own world.
"Any creature has a soul, and a few things that aren't alive have one too, but the more complex they are the stronger the soul. Souls create energy just by existing, and this energy is what helps universes grow. Once somepony dies their soul breaks into thousands of little souls that will fuel more lives and, in many cases, will give the original person another chance" Discord made sure that both princesses were following him thus far. Since neither of them had steam coming out of their ears Discord considered his little lesson a failure, but he had some flanks to save, so he went on "In the meantime souls generate the energy we know as 'magic', which is known in solid form as 'mana'. This energy allows souls to exist, and is a necessary part to life, basically it is a permanent cycle that can only grow"
Celestia pursed her lips at that. If that world had so little as far as magic went... "Now, because magic is all but common on Earth, and it would need a miracle to change" Discord, however, just looked back and winked "The effects of this would be the same that ponies suffered here, only it would happen much faster. The thing is that the entity that lives within the sun uses what it steals to pour much more magic here. Basically it is like Pinkie Pie and her cakes: Give her enough ingredients for one and she will make one hundred, and all of them will be excellent"
"You just conjured enough chocolate to give Pinkie an attack" Luna was doing her best not to explode "I know it pains you but please finish the explanation"
Discord huffed with a frown on his face "No one appreciates what I do" He grumbled to himself for a moment "Okay, okay, don't get your hairs in a knot" And just for good measure, Discord made it happen, testing Luna's patience even more "And since you want me to be brief, let me be brief: If this keeps up both worlds will be no more in a few months"
There was a moment of silence. Luna had stopped fidgeting with her hair and was staring blankly at one of the walls as if she had been slapped. Celestia's pupils had turned into pinpricks and looked at Discord as if trying to search for something to say.
Discord just smiled happily at this little speck of chaos in the room.
"Of course, there are ways to slow it down, or stop it whole"
Both mares let out the breath they had been holding without them realizing it.
"Earth would be the first to go, and it would be what made the sun react. Alongside the chain reaction that would shake our world, I'd say the last bits of magic force feed to the land would make this place just, well, depressingly dead, quite literally in fact" The only thing that was stopping Celestia from being angry was the fact that Discord was calm "To counteract this problem we would need to give back the magic we are taking in"
Celestia furrowed her brow for a second. This had crossed dangerous territory, already, even crazy, but it was too well planed "Discord, a question please" The draconequus tilted his head for a moment until it literally fell to the ground. Celestia just sighed in exasperation "Did Twilight make you do this?"
"Oh? Whatever gave you that idea?" Discord smiled as he reattached his fallen headgear.
"The fact that you wouldn't sit still for two minutes and also the simple point you brought: You dislike death, you are not one for drama" That did make Discord look down for a moment "You went to her with your worries I assume"
"Of course!" Discord seemed insulted for a moment "I AM in my best behavior, and Twilight said that friends talk about what worries them" Then he looked away sheepishly and let his fingers play with the tuff of his tail "But maybe I got her to overreact and have an episode that resembled that 'Smarty Pants' incident a bit too much, so she 'grounded' me for not getting to her earlier and made me explain this to you whenever I could or she would tell Fluttershy about it"
Celestia finally sighed in relief, real relief "Oh thank goodness. I can relax now"
"Hey!" Discord crossed his arms, quite grumpy at what was being hinted here.
"Sorry Discord" Luna seemed to get some of her usual mood back "But I am much better knowing most of this came from Twilight's brain, not yours"
The chaos spawn grunted and grumbled a few words under his breath "It is not like I told her all I knew or anything" before sulking against the board.
"Now, now Discord" Celestia gave him a slight smile "Don't be like that. Twilight did make a plan, right?"
"Yea..." He got back in the mood with a mischievous smirk "Yea she did..." That didn't exactly seem reassuring to the sisters "Since I can go anywhere I want just because I can" It really, really didn't do anything to calm either of them "I can make permanent portals to that other world, but as said, it is dangerous, or it would be if there was no permanent link like the one that exists now"
When Discord drew again he did so in the lower side of the board, though as he did so the draconequus decided to flip gravity, quite literally, and stand in mid air like nothing. This was nothing new, and just because of that, and because we are talking about Discord, both sisters found themselves floating upside down with unamused glances directed to the little circular drawing that was connected with another faint line to the other world.
"Twilight thinks that it is possible to channel part of the magic that is radiating this world and send it back to Earth, but it will be taxing" Discord started to deflate slowly, as if he was a balloon with a little hole, while gravity slowly reasserted itself "It would need you, Celestia, and probably your sister, to keep the flow so as to increase Earth's magic and maintain the magic within the land as it is"
That was... a viable option. Waiting for infinity to get back on track and make another world was much harder to just wipe the slate clean and make a scorched ball, a dead planet, grow life again. Just killing everything sentient in a quiet way would make things even faster, so going slow would in fact be simply more productive in the end, but it would give time to at least stall.
It was a shudder inducing thought, and horrid beyond belief, but looking at it from a young creature's stand point of view it was much faster than waiting who knows how long for new toys.
Even Nightmare Moon was more mature than whatever the sun had within, mostly thanks to Luna herself, and even then it obviously had a lot of flaws. But that was because the plan had been partially overly complicated, as it required the conquest of Equestria first and foremost, and Nightmare Moon was physically located in the middle of ground zero. She had to be there to do everything and she had to risk herself to achieve her goals.
Destroying everything just enough to have the building foundations still standing after it was all said and done? Hundreds of years of work, maybe thousands, with magic, but much better than waiting an eternity for things to get back on track if the place just turned into dust.
Celestia did in fact shudder at how easily she could picture it happening.
"It is too easy to be a solution" Luna's musing took Celestia away from her own mind and the fear building within "And it would require a lot of effort. Either way the sun would end up noticing sooner or later"
"Yup! We would be in a tight spot" Discord was way too lively when he hung himself with nothing but air for a few seconds. Celestia didn't know about Luna, but she wasn't amused, at all "That is why Twilight and I came with two different plans"
Celestia snickered when her sister looked to the ceiling with a groan. She was obviously in mental pain at the idea of Discord genuinely planning something, not that Celestia could blame Luna at all for that.
"My plan first!" Discord clapped and jumped like a little filly, he even got a filly scout uniform that she had copied from the cutie mark crusaders some time ago "Since the creature in the sun is made of such condensed magic, more so than any other creature I know, even me" He tried to act thought when he said that, but this time the slip of a frown wasn't there for fun, as Celestia noticed "One way to prepare in case the thing tried to land would be to bring some humans here"
Both sisters looked at Discord as if he had turned into a pony permanently, willingly and had also asked to be a palace guard.
Discord just looked at them with a curious look on his eyes "What? I have done it a lot of times"
"Yes, you made sure to make it obvious" Celestia frowned a bit "But why should we pluck some creatures from another world into this one?"
"Oh, simple" Discord's grin turned more like the ones he had back in the day. Neither princess liked it "I would prefer to remain alive, that is all"
Luna was quicker to judge than Celestia on that one "Explain thyself!"
"At least you didn't use your royal voice this time" Discord chuckled "Oh 'thyself', great lapse there" Luna puffed her cheeks in indignation, but Discord thought it was better to leave the poking for next time "Look, I know that this place is flowing with magic, but can you imagine what a body completely accustomed to a partial lack of magic would suffer if we started bombarding it with the stuff twenty four seven when they suffer that little allergy I mentioned?"
Realization dawned on Luna "Oh..."
"'Oh' is right" Discord blew a raspberry her way "Twilight brought the topic up mind you, I am not trying to be cute here... for once" He added with puppy eyes directed at Celestia after she gave him a funny look "So I told her how easy had it been to shield those creatures from magic in various ways with a little help of yours truly. The problem is that the spell on itself feeds on a lot of magic, so leaving them in their world would only protect them for a while before it crumbled, and it is not a spell that can be used twice... it usually causes problems if you do" Neither one of the sisters asked, but it looked like Discord wasn't going to answer even if they did.
Clearing his throat as if he had said nothing, he went on "For that reason most of the humans that end up in the land of Equestria remain here forever in almost all other 'instances'" Celestia promised herself that she would bite Discord's paw once this was done, the air quotes were starting to annoy her and Discord was taking this all but seriously. That, and her nose was starting to itch whenever he did that "Their bodies can't always get used to the lack of magic once they leave, it is a massive shock to the mind and body to have magical alimentation happen twice in your life, that and in most cases they are much, much happier here. That and their struggles create so much chaos that it is just too funny to pass"
"Discord" Luna's face was turning red at this point "You still destroy lives... just for fun!? I thought you had changed!"
That made Discord frown for real this time. The visage was simply daunting "Didn't you hear me? They end up being HAPPY almost every time!" That Discord looked angry was scary enough to give both sisters pause "Chaos is needed for life, my little alicorn, but chaos means change, and change does sometimes mean death. It does not mean I have to like it" And from the venom in his voice it was clear that he didn't "It is a fact of life, I accept it, but I don't like it" He served himself some tea that neither sister wanted to try to even explain at this point "Humans are chaotic to the point that the cycle is broken: They can either be the gentlest creatures in the world, or pure monsters. Humans are unlike you in the fact that most ponies will do the right thing; they can convert, they can be sorry, they usually thinks of others first. There are many ways for ponies to go from bad to good, but few to go from good to bad, and usually they don't stay bad for their whole lives"
"Humans tend to tip the balance in the other way" He added with a very unhappy grumble.
"Then..." Luna was quite taken back by Discord's fuming "Why bring them here? Can't we make sure they stay alive back there? I want an adventure, but not against a whole world of strange creatures that are suffering, or against those we try to save"
"Because, my dear Luna, it is that inner conflict that gives them as much strength as you ponies have" The two sisters relaxed as Discord seemed to get back to his usual good mood "Those that are deathly allergic to magic deprivation or buildup are the ones that have suffered the most, be it to their own doing or somepony else"
"And that humans have a connection with whatever was created has nothing to do with this?"
Celestia was a bit less impressionable than her sister. She had been cold and calculating once, she was still quite shrewd. Discord was able to plan, and she was sure that everything he had showed hadn't been told to Twilight.
Discord just grinned in confirmation.
"Well, if worse comes to happen..." Discord let the words linger for a moment "If everything goes more or less according to what Twilight suspects, and it usually does when she shuts herself in solitary confinement to study, then the aspect of the sun should decide to come here and stop us so things go its way" His words don't help the sisters much "Going to the other world would destroy it, which would in turn destroy this one, that and the creatures of this world should be susceptible to its magic without the place ceasing to exist. You know, a bit like me but without being a nice guy"
"You think we need pawns" Celestia cut in once more. Discord's face turned sour at her words "Sacrificing anything to save your friends, I suspect"
"Would you do any different if that is the only choice you have?" That made Celestia pause. She had wanted to say a few more things, but she didn't feel capable of answering that question "I see" Discord being serious was... scary "We can do nothing to it, not only because the intense magic would leave us like any other affected pony, but because Luna, you and I, even Cadence, are tightly connected to that thing. Twilight has a pass thanks to the Elements of Harmony, otherwise she would be in the same boat" He had no mirth when he added the last bit. Despite his pranks Discord did enjoy Twilight's company, it was easy to get her to fuss over a few things "We need someone to take the brunt of the force if it comes to that, and I think it would be just payment for saving them"
Celestia sent Discord a knowing, unfeeling glare "Of course" She knew perfectly well what he meant.
"But the original purpose is not that one, I would prefer if it didn't come to that" Both sisters' interests were picked by Discord's sincerity "I talked with Twilight about very important things of the magic that was used in most the incarnations of Earth I have seen"
"I thought you said there was little magic on that world" Luna quipped.
"Most times there is not, but there are a few things that are almost universally regarded in all of its incarnations, so I mentioned them to Twilight and she is pretty sure that she can help me modify the spell I use for a few select humans, a few that would be able to help us against whatever is in the sun if things get really sour" A few seconds went by without Discord talking until he smirked "Nope, not telling you what is it, not yet anyway"
"Ugh" Celestia surrendered "Okay, keep your secrets, but go on please"
"You are no fun, and smiling is hardly going to be easy from now on until this ends, so I recommend you lighten up a bit" Discord decided to just stay where he was and float a bit "The reason that we, and I mean to add Twilight on this to in case you are wondering, want this to happen is because we will get quite a few immigrants directly to Equestria" The pointed look he got from the sisters wasn't missed, so teasing and stalling would have to wait "Humans are very resilient and harden quickly, but certain events do hurt them and it takes time to heal or would scar their souls for life. We will have at least a few hundreds, or a few thousands, that will whiter away if we don't act soon thanks to the damage to their very souls which would, as I said, basically make them allergic to the utter lack of magic or to the increase that will be needed for their world to stay alive"
Luna pursed her lips for a moment, as if thinking of something "We have the space for that" She muttered after a few seconds "Between our allies, all the cities, towns and villages in Equestria and some that my thestrals hold" The nightly monarch grimaced at the fact that her bat ponies weren't exactly accepted as citizens yet "We can help them find a place, and in case they eat meat..." She wasn't exactly happy of that part, but Celestia had made sure to help her 'open up' a bit since she came back "We still have the gryphons nagging at us for an open market on that border if I remember correctly"
"That is good and all" Discord did his best to not roll his eyes or do something else, only to find it very, very, very hard "But there is always a problem with humans, one quite bigger than most" He paused a bit for dramatic effect "They fight for power, messily I must add. Usually funny, but not in this case"
Both sisters blinked for a moment. What would that matter? They would be living in Equestria, or in some of their allies' lands if too many of them ended up coming here, so why worry? Celestia knew that some species were quite... belligerent, but there was none that was, well, headstrong enough to go against everyone because they wanted to be on top. That usually didn't end up very well.
Celestia was surprised when Luna was the one to catch up first "Oh... They are the ONLY sentient species on their world" That left Celestia doing a little 'o' with her lips. The sisters weren't as naive as far as certain things went.
That would be a problem.
"Exactly" Discord said as if he had read their thoughts "A few of them being close to 'leaders' would give them peace of mind, more or less, and since they would function somewhat similar to the elements if Twilight nails it down..." Discord lets his words hang for a second "Let's simply say that that would solve a lot of problems before they form, because I do not really like where that would go since it would burn quite a bit"
"So they would serve both to help calm their people and as a wall in case the other plan crumbles" Celestia felt the words leaving a foul taste in her mouth "I don't like it. I don't enjoy the idea of using anypony in such a way. I did it once and I find the very idea of doing it again simply repulsive"
"If we need them and we don't have them then the alternative is worse than some manipulation, manipulation that doesn't necessarily mean such a thing" And Discord knows a lot about what is what, he is chaos incarnate after all "Having so much control over it is not exactly funny either" He didn't seem any happier about it, as weird as it sounded "If they are needed then and we don't have them then it means we may be about to get toasted, and if the humans do something bad because they feel wronged, then many ponies, and other creatures, may want them gone, something that would make us end overly cooked"
The so familiar silence reigned for a few more seconds once more until Celestia made a simple question "Are you sure it is necessary?"
"Absolutely. A lone human would be fun, a lot of them would be a handful unless we are prepared"
"Then we shall do that" Celestia sighed "But we will need to meet with their leaders. If we are going to be linked and this is going to escalate, then we need to make sure that nothing blows out of proportions"
"Can be done" Discord nodded, grinning at the thought. Oh boy, he found that part funny. Celestia knew it was going to be anything but entertaining "But don't you worry. The portals I open will push anyone away unless we bring them in, that way there will be a safety net, so to speak"
"How thoughtful of you" Luna deadpanned without so much as a smile "I guess you already tried?"
"Tried? I went and picked up the first one!"
Both mares' eyes grew as big as saucers as Discord said that. In a flash Discord created clothes that resembled Flim and Flam, two colts that Celestia had sadly met after Apple Jack sent her a second complain about their acts. Suffice to say that this didn't bode well, nor did the door that Discord had made appear out of apparently nowhere.
"Discord..." Celestia tried to keep a gentle and cool voice. What had he done now?
"Royal mares, friends of mine and cake filed plots" She just threw her hooves as high as they could go as if screaming 'WHY!?' to whoever was watching "Let me show you the unique, the incomparable, the most singular...!" Discord was about to open the door when he chuckled and winked at Celestia "You can't tell her about him yet, sun butt"
"You can't be serious" Chrysalis' face was incredulous if nothing else.
"We are talking about Discord here" Celestia managed to smile, but by now her facade had gone away and she just looked... tired "He didn't even tell me what he meant, but I think it fits this moment perfectly"
"You can be as bad as that damned jigsaw puzzle" The changeling groused. If nothing else she had calmed down for various reasons, not all of which were known to Celestia "So these two are part of this plan?"
"They should not be here to start with, not this close to the portal, unless they were meant to go in" Celestia sighed, her tiredness even more obvious as she fought to maintain her eyes open "There is only one more portal open in Earth right now, and Discord made sure it is somewhere safe before he got the first victim of this sickness. This one appeared because more victims had been found, so I have to guess that they are it"
Chrysalis looked to the pile for a moment "Discord did something to the young one, he turned him into a larva..."
Celestia nodded "I am sure that is part of why you don't want to relinquish them" The murderous glare on Chrysalis' face told her enough "Young ones and the elderly cannot be affected by the spell since it is very taxing to the body and mind, and you know Discord does not like death unless it is unavoidable. Giving them a new life was an apt solution, or at least Twilight was sure that changing the spell would be better than risking a worse end. I think Discord made some modifications afterwards though" She gave the little larva a gentle look, hoping Discord hadn't done anything too rash "Make sure he is well cared for alongside your fillies"
"..." She wanted to say something but right now Chrysalis wasn't exactly sure as to what that something was "You are really going to let me close to the fillies?"
"If you behave" Celestia promised "This is no time to be fragmented. There are many other things we need to talk about, but hat can wait, a week at the most" Chrysalis found herself grateful for that time if nothing else "It will take some time until more victims start ranking up, but Discord is sure that it will happen. In a week's time we may have only three, four, maybe five..."
"But that will change very fast"
Celestia nodded grimly.
"Show me the place you are offering me" Chrysalis remained neutral "And bring your student. I want to talk some terms" When Celestia gave her a questioning look Chrysalis explained with a big smirk "I know you, Celestia, and I know you would alter our deal if you thought it was necessary" That made the white mare purse her lips. There wasn't a way to say it was a lie when it technically was not "But your student? She can't. Even if her life is on the line she won't do anything she thinks goes against what is right, and if I am going to be a 'citizen of Equestria' by living in your land in an official way..." Chrysalis' fangs shone under the moonlight "Then our little purple princes will make sure whatever deal we make is as strong as a castle's foundations unless either of us break the rules"
"Accepted" Celestia pursed her lips but said nothing else.
"And..." On the other hand, Chrysalis was going to see how much she could push "I want what you have hidden in your collar"
Celestia was sincerely surprised, outraged and protective at the same time "My... collar?"
Anyone else would have seen nothing but the collar, well, other than the jewel it had encrusted in the middle of course. Chrysalis was a changeling though, and it meant that as a changeling, an empath, she could literally see the feelings, as well as what they were directed or attached to. A single strand of love, a very powerful one in fact, went to the white mare's collar.
One would need to look intently to see a little something sticking outside of its borders, a little something made of very special paper.
"N-no... I can't give that to you... Please, chose anything else, anything at all"
"Yes, I think you CAN, princess" Chrysalis' face ran the risk of degenerating into that feral grin from before as she hissed those words "You say you are oh so sorry, that you want to change, do the best for everypony... But here we are, with everypony losing things left and right, including our guests" She grinned, pointing a hoof at the three figures "And you fear giving me a little something that would remain safe with me unless somepony went back on their word?"
"I-I n-need it..." When she had said she was weakened no one would have expected her to sound like she was in the verge of tears. Chrysalis didn't let it show, but she was surprise because, yes, Celestia was indeed close to that. The former queen had touched something sensible and Celestia didn't have the strength to hide it "Please Chrysalis... I just..."
"Give that to me or there is no deal" Steel reigned over anything else that Chrysalis wanted to put forth. Enjoyment? Pride? Simple glee? The moment was exhilarating if nothing else "You may be doing all you can, but I don't believe for one minute that you won't do something, not without assurance" She took a step forward to remain inches away from Celestia "I may need to answer to many things, but I won't do it in chains. You either ensure that we both get what we want and then I'll return your little trinket. If you cross me, I'll destroy it"
In any other situation Celestia would glare at Chrysalis, in any other situation, even weakened, she would've given her a what for, but right now she didn't have the strength and she didn't want to endanger anything else.
But she didn't want to part ways with her little treasure.
She was being selfish, she knew, but just once, just once...
"I am a bad pony..."
The words burned her back then, and the pain was all too real now. Nothing had changed. She could say all she wanted; that she was doing her best, that she didn't like it, that she was practically slaving herself to help this world and her own, that she had given every second she could spare to this and that the pain it created was driving her insane... So many possible excuses.
It wasn't enough, because the one time she was asked to do something that truly hurt her, she said no. Much like the last time...
"Chrysalis" And Celestia felt pathetic as she looked back at the display she had offered. She had started with a strong front, she would end on the same note whether Chrysalis wanted it or not "I will give one of my dearest treasures to you" And it just made her angry that it would come to this "I will do my very best to uphold whatever terms we agree to, and I will ensure your hive isn't harmed any further by Equestrian citizens" She inched closer to the changeling, both of them had hardened their faces enough to compare them to stone "Break the agreement and I will kill you. No more playing"
The changeling blinked. Celestia wasn't lying.
"Oooh, the princess has bite as well as bark" Chrysalis smirked toothily, the playfulness leaving her voice "We have a deal"
Without another word Celestia pulled what she had tucked away. It was a simple piece of orange paper, or looked like it, a little something with a single word written over it. The writing, for as little as there was of it, was done with care and so gently that every letter looked, at least to Celestia, as a work of art.
Always.
She wanted to hold it down, to nuzzle it, kiss it. She wanted so many things, and not just from the memento, but from the one that was with her the day it was made. Celestia gazed at it longingly, not seeing the grin on Chrysalis' face, a grin that returned to stony neutrality once Celestia let the former queen's own magic hold onto the little piece of paper.
"Guard it with your life" That was the only thing that Celestia said. Everything else was unimportant.
Weak or not, Chrysalis was not stupid enough to do something now. It wouldn't end well for any of those present.
Chrysalis, for her part, said nothing. Both mares turned as one and started walking towards the portal, making sure to lift the three figures and help them cross the gateway that headed towards a world they had never seen. Most would think that adventure, danger and a new life awaited on the other side. Neither Chrysalis nor Celestia found those things as palatable as the ones they carried would. The future, for once, was uncertain for every creature that walked the land.
At least they did knew what they left behind: a world largely ignorant of what was going on. But for how long?