//------------------------------// // The Empire strikes // Story: Queen Chrysalis has a Doom Citadel // by Erised the ink-moth //------------------------------// Princess Celestia sat on her throne in Canterlot, meeting with several of her royal advisers to discuss an outrageous petition by a large number of her subjects. The petition itself had surfaced in part thanks to a popular movie trilogy and its enormous following, and was spear-headed by a number of political leaders including chancellor Pal Panties. It had already received over twenty-five thousand signatures. Their request: build a "Star Killer" sky station like the one utilized by the villains in the movie. "It's preposterous!" shouted one of her advisers "There's just no way it could ever, would ever, or even should ever be done. By our predictions, it would cost nearly eighty-five quadrillion bits!" "I know." Clestia said with a sigh as she rubbed the bridge of her muzzle "But these ponies seem far more fanatic about this proposal than any of us could have expected, and we're running out of options. I agree that building such a structure would be a gross misallocation of time, money and resources, not to mention the reaction we would receive from the other nations; they might believe us preparing to make war with them." "We've tried explaining all this to these fans, but these ponies argue that because they reached a full list of signatures, that we're obligated to build it." her lead spokesmare told her "It's ridiculous; that's not even how a petition works!" "Indeed." Celestia stood up to her full height. "Therefore, I'm afraid I've no other choice. For the good of Equestria and its ponies, I must use my authority as Princess to personally veto their request." There was a small round of applause from everypony present. "Good, then it is done." Celestia sighed. Just then a grey mail pony flew in, ignoring all pretense, shouts from the guards, and the important ponies in her path, hovering right up to Princess Celestia with a letter. "Mail for you Princess!" she said with a smile. "Thank you Miss Ditzy." Celestia said to the mare as she took the scroll. Centuries had taught her a great deal about patience and tolerance for quirks, and she'd learned to just accept Ditzy's forwardness when it came to her deliveries. She was pleased to see that it was a letter from the Crystal Empire, and eagerly unfurled it. It read in hastily scrawled words: (Dear Princess Celestia, The Crystal Empire has fallen under attack from a terrifying race of demon insect ponies that Princess Cadence has referred to as "changelings" as well as their leader "that husband stealing cheese-legged she-witch Queen Chrysalis". They arrived not long ago in what one of their ranks described as a "Doom Citadel", and they have us vastly overpowered and outnumbered. Help us Princess Celestia. You're our only hope.) Celestia looked over the document again, checking to see if she'd read it correctly, or whether the stress of striking down a petition that would surely lead to public backlash had finally gotten to her. But sure enough, those were the actual words. What distressed her more though was the date on which it was sent. "The twenty-fifth? But that was nearly a week ago!" "Oops. I must have gotten lost." Ditzy shrugged. Celestia rolled up the scroll and set it aside; urgent or no, she couldn't fault the derpy-eyed pegasus for being late, she would simply have to make haste. "Raven." she motioned to her secretary "Postpone all meetings for today and tell my personal flight squad to meet me at the gates. I want them combat ready within the hour. We have an Empire to save... again." "Yes your majesty. What shall I tell them to prepare for?" Raven asked as she tucked the day's planner into her mane. "Tell them we're facing off against a changeling Doom Citadel." Celestia said grimly. "Oooohh, I get it!" an obnoxious voice cut it from a nearby window, causing everypony to pause and direct their attention to it. "So the changelings can have a giant sky station capable of leveling entire cities but we can't? Screw you Celestia, I'm joining their side." "Ugh, somepony get him out of here." Celestia said as she left the room. "You can't deny us what we desire most!" the fanatic yelled as the guards dragged him off the castle grounds "We will have our victory!" Celestia and her team of elite pegasus guards were quickly approaching the Crystal Empire, and through the freezing arctic winds they could see the massive silhouette of the changelings' Doom Citadel, standing as tall as the crystal tower and maintaining a width to match the size of the entire city. It was currently sitting stationary, just outside the city proper as it cast its gloomy shadow upon it. Though something strange she noted, was how the Empire's shield had expanded to cover the dark tower as well. "They must be trying to siphon energy from the crystal heart." Celestia muttered before calling to the squadron flanking her. "We're nearly there. All wings, check in." "Red leader standing by." "Red Skull, standing by." "Red Hood, standing by." "Red Neck standing by, yee-haw!" "Red October, schtanding by." "Red Power Ranger standing by." "Red Bull, ready to give you wings." "Red Lobster, standing by with new specials every week." "Our objective is to defeat their Queen, the rest should scatter once that happens. Check the forward deflectors on your armor and follow me." Celestia ordered, setting up her own combat shield as she did "Prepare yourselves everypony, we're going in." Her squad did as they were told, swooping down on the fortress. Their approach didn't go unnoticed though, and as soon as they got in range an alarm sounded, and they were bombarded with a multitude of colorful explosions from the Citadel's defensive cannons. "They're shooting at us!" Lobster yelled as he tried to see through the blinding flashes of light. The explosions and made their shields flicker and rocked them on impact, but they held their formation tight as they reached the exterior of the castle. "There! Head for the gate while it's unguarded!" Red leader, Luke-warm Skywater pointed to the Citadel's main entrance, a large metal door which was completely unprotected save for a sheet of ice keeping it closed. "I'm gonna use the force!" he yelled as he charged straight for the door, emitting a sonic-force-boom when he reached his maximum speed. *Clong!* "... Didn't go in..." he muttered, embedded into the solid metal door "Just impacted on the surface... Ow..." "We must get inside before they are able to pin us down!" Celestia yelled, and her squad instinctively got out of the way. The Princess charged up enough power in her horn to level a small mountain, focused it into a sphere the size of a golf ball, and pressed it into the solid metal door. With a radient explosion of force, the entire massive gate was reduced to a molten sludge that pooled on the floor. The few changelings on the other side, who had apparently been sitting around doing nothing beforehoof, suddenly looked up in shock before running away screaming incomprehensible gibberish. "Everypony, they know we're here." Red Ranger began "Move quickly and watch out for-" Suddenly twice as many changelings reappeared, marching down the stairs and hallways towards them with plates of cake balanced atop their heads. "Holy absconding apricots Princess! They're armed with double dark chocolate fudge cakes!" Hood screamed "Everypony take cover!" Celestia's guards were thrown into panic and disarray as the cake-bearing changeling horde charged at them, demented smiles spread from ear to ear as they shoved the death-filled chocolaty goodness into the guard ponies' faces. "Go on your highness!" Red Bull yelled as he choked down a giant mouthful of cake "We'll keep them off you while you defeat their Queen! Gak! No no, at least get me a glass of milk first- AAAAHHHH- Nmmph." Celestia allowed herself one last look at the brave soldiers before turning and galloping full speed down the main corridor, leaving them to fend for themselves. It hurt her, leaving them behind, but she knew they were right; if victory was to be had this day, it was a sacrifice they were willing to make, and she would have to honor that. A tear slid down her face as she heard the echoing screams of one stallion who's diet had been officially ruined. Celestia burst through the ornate doors leading to the changeling throne room. "Chrysalis! Your reign of terror is at an end!" she declared as she lit up her horn and aimed it at the form of the changeling Queen lazily slumped over on her throne next to Cadence as they oversaw a political debate between the crystal ponies and changelings- wait, what? "Celestia, magnificent timing." Chrysalis droned as she raised her head from her hoof. "Let's take a break everypony!" Cadence called "Goodness knows I could use it." she mumbled to herself as she stood up from her seat and stretched. Celestia watched in confusion as ponies and changelings alike shuffled out of the chambers. Each group kept mostly to their own kind respectively, though the changelings were much more energetic and excited about being set free from apparent negotiations. The crystal ponies on the other hoof moved slower, allowed the changelings a wide berth, and flinched whenever one came too near. "What exactly is going on here?" Celestia asked as she cautiously approached her niece and the changeling Queen, this was hardly what she expected to find. "I bet you want to know what's going on." Cadence started. "She just asked that, you twit." Chrysalis remarked, earning a glare from Cadence. "Honestly I'm still trying to adjust to this as well, and I'm not sure where to begin. So I'll just get right to the point. Auntie Celestia, Chrysalis and I have a child." Cadence quickly shut her eyes and waited for the inevitable explosion of questions from the sun goddess. After a few moments when none came, she hesitantly continued. "I know what you might be thinking. Let's just say that when I found out.... I may have overreacted." "That's a stretch." Chrysalis laughed, remembering what happened whenever anyone brought it up. ===== "Cadence, honey she's your daughter! You have to face this!" Shining begged her. "NNNNNNNNOOOOOOO!" Cadence yelled in overdramatic fashion before fainting again. ===== "It was quite funny... the first few dozen times at least." "It took a while, but I finally accepted it. It was actually Scale that managed to break through to me. She's really a sweet filly when you get past all the black eye-liner." Cadence gave a small smile "But that brought a new problem. She's technically royalty on both sides, and so Chrysalis and I... we sort of... well..." "Our little accident is the reason our kingdoms are uniting." Chrysalis cut in, and Cadence could only blush and nod in agreement. "We sent you a letter about it just this morning, we didn't think you'd get off you fat flank to get here so soon though." "Chrissy!" Cadence snapped. "What? You said the same." Chrysalis shrugged. "I did receive a letter." Celestia told them slowly, still trying to process the whirlwind of information she'd been given, but she'd ask those other questions in due time. "It was from a week ago, saying you were under attack. I assembled my personal contingent of pegasus guard and rushed to aid you as soon as we could." Just then a puff of pink flame erupted next to Celestia and a scroll with the Crystal Empire insignia dropped out. She picked it up and quickly scanned over its contents. There was quite a lot of buildup involving how much Cadence respected and cared about her like a mother and telling her not to panic, followed by a tremendous number of apologies before finally getting to the point; Princess Cadence and Queen Chrysalis had, after much debate and insistence from family members, agreed to unite their kingdoms, and they wished for Princess Celestia to be present as they finalized the documents. "Insistence from family members?" Celestia asked. "Scale, our daughter, said she didn't want her parents to fight, that she wanted us all to live together like an actual family, and then held her breath until we said yes. She held it so long her asthma kicked in. And then she did it again once we saved her!" Cadence told her "We were all so scared for her safety that we caved in and agreed to just do what she asked." "That little brat will do anything to get her way." Chrysalis said bitterly, but then tears welled up in her eyes "I'm... so proud of her." "Well, this is a quite an unexpected development, but not entirely unwanted. I only hope this agreement turns out well for us all." Celestia told them happily "Though I have to ask, if you were expecting my arrival, then why did your subjects attack me and my guards, Chrysalis?" "What do you mean?" Chrysalis looked genuinely puzzled. "Their cannons opened fire on us, and changelings armed with cakes tried to smother us the second we set hoof inside." Celestia told her in that no nonsense sort of way. Chrysalis groaned and slapped her forehead. "We were preparing a welcoming party for you, Cadence insisted. Cake, fireworks, a trip to the spa... the works. Of course those idiots would mess it up, they always do." "Actually," Celestia began with a smirk "they've yet to forcibly drag me into the spa yet. Would the two of you care to join me? Perhaps we can talk more about this matter while we get hooficures; I'm eager to hear more about it." Cadence and Chrysalis gave each other a questioning glance. "That sounds wonderful Auntie." Cadence told her. The walk from Chrysalis's Doom Citadel to the Crystal Empire's spa was fairly uneventful, once Celestia and Chrysalis had sorted out their respective guards of course. But one thing Celestia noticed along the way was the condition of the Crystal Empire. It wasn't how the city looked, more about how it felt. She'd been there multiple times on diplomatic ventures and casual visits, and each time the Empire looked as sparkly and crystalline as it did now. But she noted what it lacked; enthusiasm, happiness, sheer joyful energy. Where normally the streets would be bustling with activity and ponies out and about, there was nothing but silence and crystal tumbleweeds as they walked. A door rang above the door as the trio of royalty entered the spa. "Greetings Princess... Princesses... and Queen." the clerk greeted them, correcting herself with each new face "What can we do for you today." "The usual please. Thank you Lilac, I'm glad you're still open through all of this, it's been a very pressing time for all of us." Cadence told her before turning to back the other two with a smile, and motioned for them to follow her into the back room which housed the sauna. "After you Princess." Chrysalis said to Celestia with an exaggerated sweeping of her hoof. ... Water sizzled on the fire crystals in the center of the room, and more hot steam filled the air. Chrysalis stretched her limbs and neck, letting out a moan as she leaned back in her seat. For the first time since Celestia saw her all day, Cadence seemed to unwind and breathe normally again, the tension she'd hidden so well dissipating into the steam. However, Celestia herself was more wound up than when she'd entered, and she had so many questions to ask. Unable to help herself any longer, she started with something simple. "So how are you two getting along these days?" Okay, perhaps not as harmless a question as she may have thought, as she could visibly see both Cadence and Chrysalis snap back from their bliss and stare straight at her. Chrysalis was the first to speak up. "Really?" she deadpanned "Out of everything you could have asked, you really... Okay then. Things are not great Princess; I'm sure you can tell. At first this plan to join the Crystal Empire actually sounded appealing, save for a few minor things; if done right, we'd never need to hunt for ponies to feed on ever again. I was actually thinking about giving up the 'Conquering Equestria with my amazing new Doom Citadel' plan. But of course, there were complications." "It's the changelings Auntie, the crystal ponies are terrified of them!" Cadence told her. "That's your problem!" Chrysalis snapped back "It's not my fault they're a bunch of chickens. I suggested that we just disguise ourselves, but your paranoid husband said no!" "And for good reason! I still don't trust you not to pull the rug out from under us at some point!" Cadence got into the Queen's face. Celestia silenced them both with a simple clearing of her throat. She looked at each of them, and with a blink of her piercing eyes, told them to calmly continue. "Most ponies are too afraid to even come out of their homes, much less do their jobs." Cadence said with a sigh "We tried to coax them out with a festival. We even brought out those darn noisy flugalhorns, knowing how much they love them. And it was going well at first..." "But then a literal slip-up later and they found out that the friendly carnival ponies running the faire were actually my changelings." Chrysalis continued for her "The crystal ponies started screaming. And then my changelings thought it was a contest and started screaming too, like the idiots they are. There were a lot of pies to clean up off the streets by the end of that day." "We've been trying everything to reach an agreement between my subjects and the changelings, but everything so far has fallen through. And with almost no pony working right now. The empire is officially..." Cadence paused for dramatic effect "Striking." "Well that's not entirely true." Chrysalis corrected "My changelings have kept it from collapsing by running most of the kingdom's more mundane facilities and services. In all seriousness we could probably just start doing your jobs for you, and conquer the Crystal Empire that way. And wouldn't it be funny if that was my plan all along." she gave a sinister giggle. Cadence rolled her eyes. "Yes Chrissy. What an absolutely brilliant plan. All you had to do was fly up to our doorstep in a giant floating castle, meet Shining and me in combat and then make an offer of peace through our illegitimate daughter. Then once you do that, just have your changelings do all the hard work around here while the rest of us sit back eating crystal doughnuts. Why, it's almost as good as your last plan to ruin my life!" "Are you quite done?" Chrysalis asked, glaring daggers at Cadence. "After all, give me one reason it still wouldn't work." "Simple Chrysalis." Cadence told her "They're your changelings." Chrysalis glared a moment more before breaking her gaze. "Point taken." she conceded. "But I still would have won that day in Canterlot and you know it. The only reason we failed is because the power of boners was stronger!" "What did you just say?!" Cadence fumed "It was love that beat you that day. LOVE darn it!" And so the fires of war were once again kindled, and the two mares began another heated argument over the question "what it love?"(baby don't hurt me). Meanwhile, the two of them barely even noticed Celestia watching them with the same amused smile one would wear while watching a bar fight between two hot chicks. "I really should stop them before they hurt each other." Celestia thought as she ladled more water onto the fire crystals "But it's just so hard to take either of them seriously when they're acting like this. Oh! And now they're pulling at each other's manes... Oh my, it seems to be getting rather hot in here.[i/]