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Octavia Melody winced at the changeling drone’s insistent and aggressive prodding. Singled out and separated from her fellow band members, she couldn’t help but pick up an unsettling vibe from her captors. Thus far, Princess Exuvia had been true to her word in one respect: Beauty Brass, Horseshoepin, Harpo, and Sousaphone had all been unharmed, though a bit rattled, by their abduction and captivity. All four were in one of the airship’s converted holds along with a dozen other musicians, some Octavia knew from the orchestral and classical scene, most she didn’t know. Exuvia had foalnapped jazz musicians and DJs and radio-ponies from all trots of life.
…
Princess Exuvia.
One of the mature daughters of Queen Chrysalis of the Biscione Hive, (the Greens). In most changeling hives, drones are sterile females. Changeling Princesses are drones that are fed small amounts of royal jelly as nymphs. They develop and grow larger than drones and are sexually mature though only capable of laying small numbers of eggs and only drones. The Queen is the only changeling with a Royal Jelly gland. This trait is passed on to another Princess when the Queen dies, and the cycle continues.
Chrysalis has several daughters who serve as overseers in her swarm:
Instar, the oldest, currently besieging Ponyville and overseeing the encirclement of Canterlot
Exuvia, the middle daughter, overseeing the acquisition of Equestrian valuables, culture and magic
Ecdysis, the youngest, overseeing the inter-swarm war effort below Canterlot
…
Ushered through the ship, she couldn’t help but also notice stacks of paintings against the walls and a crate containing what looked like a pony-sized statue. The changelings here were packing it all up for storage. ‘Just like us,’ she couldn’t help but think, having seen the cocoons that ponies, especially unicorns, had been stuffed into for ‘safekeeping.’
“No dawdling,” the changeling behind her hissed. He – or she, since they all called one another sister and used female pronouns – wore pegasus wings on a chitin body. A strange, oily-looking organic blade was fixed in place on the shape shifter’s front right leg. It looked more than capable of cutting a pony open with the wicked barb of an end it had.
“There’s no need to push me,” Octavia objected, but kept walking.
Up ahead, two changeling guards in armor opened a door leading to a spacious cabin with a trio of broad bay windows built into the side of the ship.
“What about this one, Princess? Marvelous, don’t you think?”
The voice was unfamiliar to her, but Octavia identified the source easily enough. It was coming from a pink-coated mare with a dark purple mane. She was currently indisposed, obsequiously fawning over a tall “mare” in an alabaster white coat. This was the guise of Exuvia, the changeling Princess, with her untamed mane of green and neon highlights, her eyes a serpentine green-gold. Exuvia’s jagged, twisted horn jutted proudly from what might otherwise have been mistaken for a unicorn mare’s stately silhouette.
Not far from the two, a changeling was wearing what could only be a strange dress composed of sharp geometric shapes and angles. The front half of the bizarre dress was further embellished by a criss-cross of lines and the rear train by jagged mountain-stripes. It looked bad enough on a changeling; it would’ve been just as silly on a pony. Really, it looked like just about the worst thing a pony would see on some ridiculous Manehattan catwalk…
“I don’t see the appeal, Miss Polomare.” Exuvia judged the piece after a moment’s thought. “No, no. This ‘geometric fashion’ of yours doesn’t do it for me.” She sighed and shook her head in dismay. “If only I’d managed to capture that Hoity Toity pony in time—”
“Who needs Hoity?” Suri Polomare asked, jumping in front of the changeling Princess. “You have me! I’m sure you’ll find that my skills and services are invaluable! Simply invaluable! Totally invaluable even!”
“Our space here is limited,” Exuvia reminded her. “Preserving Equestrian culture is one thing, but this fashion of yours seems… redundant. Perhaps I should return you to the surface?”
“No! I have more!” Suri pleaded, her eyes growing wide with fright when one of the changeling guards started towards her. “Lots more! So much more! You’ll need fashion, Princess! It is – it is a part of civilization! A vital part!” She threw herself at the Princess’ hooves. “I live only to serve you! Please don’t toss me back into the city! I won’t last an hour down there! If you have to get rid of the dead weight, eject Coco, but not me!”
Exuvia rolled her eyes and pushed the mare away with her hoof.
“Very well,” she consented, “Ready your next line for display, and pray they are more impressive than the last batch.”
“Thank you! Oh, thank you! Thank you!”
“Release my hoof, Miss Polomare.”
“Of course, Princess! Your wish is my humble command!” Suri lifted her lips from Exuvia’s hoof and bolted for the door past Octavia like her tail was on fire. The musician couldn’t help but frown in her wake. The changelings hadn’t even taken over yet, and already ponies were ingratiating themselves to them. She was barely out the door when Octavia overheard her scream, “Coco! Coffee! Make it strong!”
In the fashion-mare’s absence, Princess Exuvia continued to ponder the changeling in the boxy, geometric dress. The stately changeling remained silent for a few long seconds before waving a hoof and giving permission for the walkway changeling to disrobe. It – she – did so eagerly, shedding the clothes and throwing them into a growing pile by the window. Only then did Exuvia turn her attention to her latest guest.
“Please,” the changeling Princess said, gesturing to a soft lavender pillow on the floor. “Sit.”
Octavia, prickled by defiance, remained where she stood.
“Sit,” the guard behind her snarled.
“Please,” Exuvia repeated.
Silently relenting, Octavia did as the changelings requested and sat on the cushion. No sooner was she in place, however, than a platter was pushed in front of her. On it was a medley of breads, jams and cheeses. The smell touched her nose, and her stomach treacherously rumbled. Still, she turned up her nose. The other ponies down in the ship’s hold had only been given some bread and pudding. Besides, it was better not to give this so-called “Princess” the satisfaction, no matter how courtly or genteel she pretended to be. She was still a monster, still a changeling, still part of the army that was destroying Canterlot and laying waste to Equestria as they spoke. Octavia had nothing but contempt for the changeling Princess, and she wanted to make sure that point was unmuddied by circumstance.
“I have made a study of Equestrian culture,” Exuvia finally said, trotting slowly over to the windows that separated those inside the airship from the freedom beyond – a fleeting freedom, given the changeling swarms in the air and the deadly fall to the ground below.
“My mother made me just for that purpose: to study and preserve Equestrian culture when the war came and to smooth the transition from pony rule to changeling rule.” Exuvia craned her neck as she looked out over the dark sky and the burning city below. “Picking what to preserve and what to discard was a challenge. Beyond the vast scope of Equestrian culture spanning multiple realms, I had to choose between high and low culture.”
She turned to Octavia. “You understand what I mean, I’m sure. It was obvious that works of high art had to be protected and preserved for future changelings, works like the Starswirl Treatise, the collected works of Lively, Haycartes, and the plays of Shakes Spear. But what of the Celestia Superbus? A work of art to be sure, but one glorifying your Princess Celestia… is it worth preserving? And what of ‘low’ culture, like your games of chance and sports? It is a grave responsibility to weigh the worth of so much in my hooves.”
“My heart aches for you,” Octavia quipped, against her better judgement. As if to soften the jibe, and well aware of the snarling guard behind her, she added, “Princess.”
“No need for sarcasm,” Exuvia replied with an amused titter. “Miss Melody, please. I was simply thinking that fashion is one of the harder concepts for me to understand – even after all the years I’ve spent among ponies! I sometimes question if it can even really bridge the gap between equestrian and changeling.” She touched a hoof to her white-coated chest, part of her patchwork pony disguise. “We changelings change our appearance constantly. Wearing clothes as a sign of influence, interest, suitability as a mate or companion, sociability… it just doesn’t quite translate.”
Octavia’s nostrils flared as she inhaled the smell of the food before her. It was growing more and more tempting to give into her hunger and eat. Still, she refused.
Instead, she asked, “Why am I here, Princess?”
“Ah, yes, why are you here? Beyond being one of those I have deemed worthy of preserving for future changeling generations you mean?”
“Why am I here?” Octavia repeated. It was exactly what she meant, and Exuvia knew it.
The changeling Princess nodded slowly and sat down almost within hooves reach. “Aside from that, you are here to listen to me tell a story.”
“A story?” Octavia narrowed her eyes, instantly suspicious.
“Your friend Vinyl Scratch has been taken from me and is likely now in the company of Lord Alpha Brass and those allied to him,” Exuvia explained. “She is going to be exposed to one side of this story. I want you to be exposed to the other. When the end comes and you are reunited, I want you to share what you know. Between the two of you, you will be able to put together the truth of much of what has led to this moment. History, as you may have heard, is a three edged sword.”
Octavia’s ears flattened against her head, and she stared at the curious alien “Princess.” Exuvia stared back with her unearthly orange-green eyes. As strange as it sounded, she seemed… sincere. At least being talked to wasn’t going to hurt and who knew, maybe she could let slip some information that would be her undoing. That was how it always worked in books and radio dramas.
“It isn’t like I have a choice,” Octavia replied, trying her best to sound more nonchalant than outright passive-aggressive. “If you want to talk, then talk.”
Exuvia smiled, just a little, just enough to show teeth… and they weren’t pony teeth, but a dentition more fitting a shark. It was just another reminder that, as much as she might wear a white coat and sport a wild green mane, it was only skin deep. Maybe less.
“Our part of the story, the changeling part, began in my grandmother’s time. You have seen the various hives that make up our invasion? We Greens call ourselves the Biscione, but before that, our name for ourselves was simply ‘us’ the ‘true ones.’ In light of equestrian science, we have determined that, biologically speaking, the first Green Queen was a mutation born of the Yellows, the Inkanyamba. Those are the animalistic golden changelings, the ones that mimic beasts and monsters. We were a small hive, living off of zebra tribes near the coasts…”
Above Exuvia, illusionary images began to take shape, illustrating the story though her magic. Octavia saw green changelings, just like the ones that held her and much of Canterlot captive, except these ones seemed… smaller. Their prey of choice were zebra, a group of near-equines Octavia was only distantly aware of. The green changelings lived among them, replacing family members and feeding off of emotions, but in the end not killing their victims. Instead they moved from place to place in small bands, never lingering anywhere for too long lest they stir up too much anger or suspicion.
“As always, the peace couldn’t last.”
The scene changed to that of a battlefield, as the greens and their ensorcelled zebra fled from a pack of loping red changelings. The Reds were larger and more vicious than their green cousins, and they didn’t hesitate to chase them down and pounce on them, barbed front legs scything down to deliver killing blows. It was a slaughter, not that Octavia felt particularly sympathetic towards changelings of any color at the moment. Maybe if she couldn’t see the glow of fires from the city outside, the city that had been her home for her entire life, maybe then.
“The Zilant, the Red Hive, was driven into our territories by the Yellow Hives, themselves displaced by a drought. We were the smallest, the youngest, and the weakest of the Hives. Only a smattering of drones survived, carrying with them a young Queen… my grandmother.”
Fleeing from the onslaught of the murderous Reds, a huddled band of changelings in disguise ran across the shore, just ahead of their pursuers.
“Fate intervened.”
There was a ship off shore: a great ship with wooden sides and a billowing sail proudly displaying a yellow and orange sun, circled by wave-like rays of light. A bust of a pony dominated the prow. There was no doubt as to the ship’s origins: it was Equestrian. In the next scene Octavia saw, ponies – earth ponies and a pair of unicorns with one pegasus – were ashore, trading with zebra at a small village. The changelings were there, too, and the young Queen pointed towards the equine strangers. This, she saw, was their chance.
“They left their homeland behind,” Exuvia explained, with more than a little pride, “in hopes of finding a better future far from their enemies. In time, my grandmother grew to become a prominent member of the court of Lady Olive Branch. She used her position there to protect her children and to spread her influence…”
Olive Branch was a middle-aged mare in the next scene Exuvia revealed, a unicorn with a creamy off-white coat and dark pink mane. Pregnant, she stood before a bowing zebra who offered her a strange potion, a zebra who could only be the original green changeling queen in disguise. Olive Branch took the potion in-hoof, curious, but clearly unconvinced it could accomplish whatever it had been promised to do. The “zebra” bowed again, offering some sort of assurances. Finally Olive Branch nodded and motioned for her to follow.
“While a renowned diplomat and negotiator, Marquessa Olive Branch was a hedonist and an orientalist, enraptured by anything strange and foreign to add to her personal collection of odds and oddities… but she was also powerful and influential within Equestria. Not long after my grandmother rose to prominence in her court, the Marquessa bore two foals by her husband at the time: my non-changeling ‘sisters,’ Euporie and Eunomie Mosaic.”
…
Euporie and Eunomie Mosaic
The step-daughters of Alpha Brass, both unicorns of substantial power – Euporie is a hedonist and libertine, the natural genius of the two sisters. Her brief time in Ponyville and her cruel and reckless ways soon had her butting heads with Pinkie Pie. Eunomie is the quiet and diligent counterpart to her sister, compensating for her lack of natural talent with relentless, machine-like precision and practice. During their short stay in Ponyville, she lived and worked alongside Twilight Sparkle in the library. Euporie’s powerful magic specializes in emotional manipulation, Eunomie’s in the legalistic art of contract magic.
…
The next scene showed Olive Branch holding two foals, one with wisps of bright red hair and the other with blue. She seemed relieved that they were alright… and quickly hoofed them over to a wet nurse.
“It was such a shame when their father died… so unexpectedly.”
An older gray stallion stood alongside a mare that looked like Olive Branch… except her eyes shone with a green inner light. As if in response, his eyes burned an identical green. The changeling Olive Branch grinned triumphantly. The scene shifted again. This time it was of the real Olive Branch as she trotted into her chambers. Her husband was on their bed, still as the grave. Olive Branch yelled something angrily and turned towards her loyal “zebra: advisor, ordering her to do something. All too quickly, the “zebra” offered a tonic of some sort, which Olive Branch quickly drank before slumping down and covering her head with her hooves in despair. She sobbed softly, and behind her, the changeling that was the Green Queen allowed herself a small, almost imperceptible, smirk.
“My grandmother was ruthless and ambitious… to a point,” Exuvia stated with rather clinical detachment. “And even if her methods were suspect, they did bear fruit. It wasn’t long before she felt confident enough to dispose of the original Olive Branch entirely and assume her identity. In one fell stroke, a changeling took power in one of the highest offices in Equestria.”
A picture of Olive Branch and a young Euporie and Eunomie shimmered. The original Olive Branch faded away, and a new one took her place, green eyes glowing.
“My grandmother was content to be Marquessa. It was a powerful position, after all, from which she could control Equestria’s borders and colonies. It was enough for her… but she had higher hopes still for the next generation. When the time came for her to produce a successor, a Princess, she made a radical gambit. You see, though Princess Celestia herself was untouchable, a new alicorn had recently appeared in Equestria.”
“Cadenza,” Octavia realized. It couldn’t be anypony else.
“Mi Amore Cadenza,” Exuvia said, confirming the musician’s suspicions. The image over her head changed again, this time to that of a young Princess Cadance. The teenage mare was still a bit awkward in her new freshly ascended alicorn body, but she smiled and tucked a strand of her mane out of her eyes. Her horn glowed a moment later as she struggled to master the unicorn magic she hadn’t been born with, eyes wide with surprise and delight as she managed to float a ball and a pair of books overhead.
…
Princess Cadance
Once only a pegasus filly, Mi Amore Cadenza Ascended to alicornhood at a very young age. In accordance with noble traditions dating back to the founding of Equestria, she was adopted into the Blueblood Family and raised to become a Princess Royal. Her position was a joy to Duchess Vernal Equinox, who had a son but no daughters, at least two being miscarried or stillborn. Her rise also prompted the Duke of Canterlot at the time to re-examine the engagements made between the Bluebloods and the Terre Rare, prompting the duel with Cruciger that took his life, leaving his son to become the Fifty-Second Blueblood.
…
“Changeling larvae imprint on a species before they mature into adults,” Exuvia explained – though, Octavia could already see some of where this was headed. “There are genetic and magical factors as well, but this is a large part of why the hives are biologically distinct – why we look different. Before we came to Equestria, green changelings imprinted on zebras, but after we settled down here, we used ponies. But to create a new Princess to rival an alicorn, an alicorn was required.”
The image of Cadance changed, this time to a picture of her with her friends from the past. They passed by in a blur of faces, but a few stuck out. A young Prince Blueblood was there, as Cadance had been adopted into the royal family as his step-sister. There was also Shining Armor and the mares who were the famous bridesmaids at the disastrous wedding earlier today. The parade of friends and faces stopped, abruptly, with a picture of Cadance and another young stallion with a golden coat and mane: Alpha Brass, the young scion of Duke Cruciger and Duchess Twinkling Star Light.
“This is where Alpha Brass and the Terre Rare come in,” Exuvia explained, looking up and dwelling on the image overhead. “Brass had been born into his family with the expectation that if the Bluebloods in Canterlot had an heiress, they would marry. However, the Duchess Equinox never bore a daughter who survived more than a month. There was only the colt-child, the fifty-second Blueblood. With this turn of events, Brass’s engagement was left unresolved. The Terre Rare have always been apt to conquer in the bedroom what they could not take by force…”
Olive Branch and Twinkling Star Light appeared, shaking hooves. A deal had been struck between the two powerful mares, it seemed. Off to the side, Duke Cruciger loomed over both mares with hardly a ghost of an expression on his scarred face. Twinkling Star Light said something then, and her husband stepped aside, allowing a young Alpha Brass to come forward. He bowed to the older Olive Branch and kissed her hoof. Star Light said something again and Olive Branch nodded. The terms of the deal, it seemed, were acceptable.
…
The Terre Rare
Descended from Arsenic, an extremely powerful but troubled earth pony of the Blueblood line, they are a prominent noble family in Equestria. The foundation of their current power is the union between Cruciger, Duke of Germaney, and Twinkling Star Light, Duchess of Prance. While the Terre Rare prize efficiency and prosperity in their domains, they do so primarily to prove their worthiness to displace the decadent Blueblood line they broke from. Driven by Arsenic’s loathing for inheritance by seniority (primogeniture), successors to the family are tested relentlessly and finally pitted against one another for the right to rule. Twilight Sparkle herself is a descendant of Arsenic from the younger and less ambitious Kamacite line that resettled in Canterlot.
The children of Cruciger and Star Light:
Alpha Brass, the only male, the Marquis of the Equestrian Reach and Colonies
Polished Jewel, the eldest, a Duchess married to the Duke of Whinnychester
Chalice, the middle daughter, a meek mare considered a failure by most of her family
Antimony, the youngest, an aggressive and uncompromising mare slated to marry Blueblood and take Canterlot for the Terre Rare
…
“Bringing Alpha Brass into our control would be a boon, my grandmother calculated, and it would also give us a golden opportunity,” Exuvia explained.
The view changed to a grand wedding reception. Olive Branch was in a flowing white bridal ensemble, smiling to herself, while Alpha Brass greeted guests in a military uniform adorned with Terre Rare red and gold. Among their guests was the groom’s friend from his time in Canterlot, a young alicorn mare in a pink and gold bridesmaid’s dress. Alpha Brass took her hoof and brought her in for a nuzzle, thanking her personally for coming. She said something, looking a little worried for him, but he shook his head and patted her hoof with his own. She smiled at Olive Branch, then, and curtsied politely. Olive Branch’s smile widened, bearing just a hint of teeth.
“That opportunity came the night after the wedding. The two newlyweds soon became acquainted, and my grandmother took off her make-up before introducing herself to her new husband.”
Olive Branch’s appearance rippled and shifted as her true self broke through, membranous wings fluttering hungrily as she straddled the stallion below her. Her eyes blazed green as she drank in his emotions like a glutton at a feast, laughing uproariously yet in complete silence in the light of Exuvia’s illusion. Pinned to the bed below her, her husband gasped wordlessly as his eyes flashed and faded green.
At the height of her feeding ecstasy, the changeling Olive Branch held up a small black softly pulsing sack: a larval changeling, Octavia realized. Coming down from her high, she held the pupa up so her husband could see it. She then pointed to the door.
The scene shimmered, melting away. In its place, Octavia could now see Alpha Brass slowly walking down a hall. Tucked into a pouch by his side was a nondescript package. Red uniformed Terre Rare guards and gold armored Royal Guards nodded respectfully as he passed them. A few stopped him to shake his hoof and offer their congratulations. One Royal Guard even took off his helmet and seemed to ask if Brass remembered him, probably from the Royal Academy so many nobles attended as colts and fillies. Only the pair that guarded the door at the end of his trek seemed to put up more than a cursory obstacle. A few honeyed words, though, and they let him pass.
The image blurred away again, and when it reformed, it was of Brass holding the changeling pupa up to a sleeping Princess Cadance.
“So it was that my mother, Princess Chrysalis, soon to be Queen Chrysalis, was born,” Exuvia said, simply.
Octavia was speechless.
“Changelings mature very quickly, much more quickly than ponies,” the Princess continued, tilting her head to the side and conjuring up the next illustrative illusion. “My mother grew strong off the emotions of Lord Brass.”
Like a flipbook, images of a subdued stallion with Olive Branch looming over him passed by. In each one was a second changeling, this time with a full, jagged horn to go with her wings. With each page in the flipbook of images, she grew larger and larger, feeding alongside or after her mother softened up her husband.
“But my mother was different, and not just in being the first alicorn-imprinted changeling. She grew up among equestrians, within equestrian culture, surrounded by equestrian philosophy and technology…”
The young Chrysalis trotted slowly past a line of ponies, lingering to look down disdainfully at her quasi-siblings Euporie and Eunomie, as her smaller weaker changeling forebears, at unicorns and pegasi and earth ponies alike. Growing larger and taller with every stride, she finally stepped up to her mother, still in the guise of Olive Branch.
“In her mother, she saw a… plateau,” Exuvia explained. “The Hive could only grow under new leadership. And so, a transfer of power occurred.”
Exuvia closed her eyes this time, but still the illusions answered her call.
This time, Octavia was shown an image much like before: Olive Branch straddling her husband, about to feed, with a young Chrysalis forced to wait for her turn. Then, like the batting of an eye, Olive Branch shivered. In the silence of the illusion, Chrysalis laughed, her wings fluttering excitedly. Slowly, her mother’s neck bent backwards, revealing her near decapitation. Octavia gasped at the sudden murder and flinched when the illusionary Chrysalis pounced on her mother’s corpse, ripping something out of her neck.
“The Royal Jelly gland,” Exuvia answered the unspoken question.
The illusionary young Chrysalis laughed triumphantly and held it up to the captive Brass. She then put the bloody mass in his mouth and violently and forcefully kissed him. When she came back up for air, her mouth was bloody, and some sort of strange goo dribbled down her lower lip. Arching her back, her very body began to grow and shift under the skin – under the chitin – but she paid it little mind as she finished the feeding her now dead mother had begun.
“My mother ascended and took her place as Queen, and with her rise, came a new dream: a dream that was a nation for changelings ruled by changelings. A nation that could only exist, my mother believed, if it was built on the ashes of Equestria. Ponies, she believed, would never simply let us feed on them. They had to be reduced to cattle. They had to be broken. It was the only way a changeling state and a changeling culture could emerge into the sun, rather than languish in the shadows.”
A bust of Chrysalis floated over her daughter, smiling viciously. Silhouettes took shape behind her and began to resolve into faces: other changelings but with different colors.
“Taking up the identity of Olive Branch, she began to travel the world, gathering allies and using her influence to expand her swarm. She returned to the lands of her mother and crushed the defiant Zilant, gradually converting Queen Sarai to her cause. She traveled to the strange port of Zebrabar and bent Yejide and the Aida-Weddo to her. She courted the terrible Worm-Queen Tlanextli and her parasitic brood. She unmasked the reclusive Blue Hive and Queen Freyja, forming an alliance with the changelings who feed on other changelings. Even the great Yellow Hive was eventually bent to serve her, Chrysalis, the Queen of Queens.”
…
The Queen of Queens
The Changeling Swarm invading Canterlot is an alliance of multiple changeling hives. Dominant among them are the magic-capable green changelings, led by Queen Chrysalis, styling herself the Queen of Queens. The red hive, capable of mimicking their surroundings, was led by the vicious Queen Sarai (currently a captive of Luna’s nobles). The brown hive, able to mimic biological matter and parasitize other species, even the massive Tatzlwurm, was led by the arrogant Queen Tlanextli (slain by Luna and her allies). The blue hive, able to mimic other changelings, was led by the naive Queen Freyja (killed in battle with Celestia). The golden hive, able to mimic animals, was led by the savage Queen Bahati. Finally the purple hive, able to mimic the dead, was led by the cunning Queen Yejide.
…
The illusion warped, changing to that of Princess Cadance running through a dark cavern. She turned a corner, trying to keep her balance, only to bump into… herself.
“Finally, Queen Chrysalis did what she was destined to do and replaced the one she had first imprinted on.”
Cadance screamed, but Chrysalis was on her.
“Everything was in place for the invasion.” Exuvia smirked, and it soon became clear why: the next image was of herself, along with several other Chrysalis-like changelings. “Our allies trickled into Equestria and gathered in our secret places. Our numbers swelled. Princesses like myself matured in our mother’s image. Princess Instar. Princess Exuvia. Princess Ecdysis. Lesser Princess, like Pharate and Tarsus. We are Commanders in our mother’s army, competitors for the title of Queen one day.”
Next came the famous trio of bridesmaids, mares Octavia knew because they were minor celebrities leading up to the wedding of the decade. Twinkleshine. Minuette. Heartstrings.
“The Bridesmaids… created specifically to counter Princess Celestia and keep Cadance confined. Mother had Alpha Brass use his resources to find a way to empower three mares with otherworldly power. They were then controlled by changeling handlers impersonating their loved ones. Everything was going according to plan… or so it seemed.”
…
The Bridesmaids
Childhood friends of Princess Cadance, all three were covertly empowered via contract magic pioneered by Twinkling Star Light and adapted by Alpha Brass and Eunomie. Twinkleshine, paired with the celestial Triangulum (the Triad), Minuette, paired with the deadly Equuleus Pictoris (the Painter’s Easel). Last was Lyra Heartstrings, empowered by the starry Cadens (the Lyre). Unlike the other two, a loophole in Lyra’s enchantment allowed Cadance to free her from changeling domination. Made aware of this sleeper agent in her captivity via Eunomie’s magic, Cadance used her to escape and save herself and Blueblood, freeing dozens of other captives in the process.
…
Princess Exuvia inhaled deeply, seeming to breathe out the next illusion in the story.
“Rarity of Ponyville,” the changeling royal began.
The illusion of Rarity showed her first with Prince Blueblood at the Grand Galloping Gala and then at a ship christening and then at another ball. Everywhere they went, ponies gossiped about the new royal couple. The happy pictures faded away, then, replaced by that of Rarity locking glares with a tall white mare with cold red eyes and a dark purple mane.
“It was expected that Lady Antimony would marry the Prince. Her family had groomed her for the role, and she had spent the last six years intimidating or dueling her rivals out of the running. She was also sister to Alpha Brass, but the Queen’s control over him began to slip… likely due to overharvesting, as what remained of his emotions became inedible. This was known to happen, but the result was usually a corpse, not a pony immune to changeling charms. Regardless, he was impossible to replace. Plans went ahead under the assumption that Alpha Brass and the Terre Rare could be mollified by being given part of Equestria once Canterlot fell.”
Exuvia paused to gesture to herself with a dainty hoof. “As Alpha Brass was the love meal I gestated on, of all the Princesses, I feel I understand him best. I warned mother not to trust him, and I don’t think she did… but we needed him, and he had plans for Antimony. Rarity was an obstacle, but she was also another opportunity… so we watched and waited to see what would happen. Breaking apart the Terre Rare would go a long way to crippling Equestria as a whole.”
Rarity and Antimony locked magic, dashing through the ruins of a decaying castle. The taller mare was clearly the more powerful of the two, but Rarity never gave up or gave in. She attacked with surprise and kept from a stand-up fight. Finally, she was cornered… only for her to lock eyes with her opponent. For a moment, the illusionary battle was still. Then a rainbow whirlwind enveloped the dressmaker and surged into Antimony, knocking her through the air.
“Against all odds, Rarity emerged victorious against one of Equestria’s most acclaimed duelists. At the time, we considered this to have a silver lining: it put the Terre Rare succession in disarray, as Antimony was discredited as a threat, and it emboldened all of her defeated rivals for the Platinum Crown to jump back in the ring and cause chaos.”
A muscular gray pegasus mare swooped down, explosions trailing in her wake.
A severe earth pony mare stood atop a growling Timberwolf, flanked by a quartet of retainers.
A shy-looking pink unicorn glared at Octavia as black magic poured out of her mouth and eyes.
A stately unicorn mare the color of sand and bronze rested her hoof on an ornate hourglass.
…
The Rivals
Ritterkreuz, daughter of the Winter Bora, one of the four Commanders of the Pegasus Quorum, rogue Wonderbolt and wanted criminal. Challenged by Rainbow Dash and defeated by the Sonic Rainboom she wished to prove she could overcome.
Yumi, daughter of Lord Yama of Neighpon, gifted in earth pony nature magic. Besieged Ponyville in an effort to pressure Rarity, her schemes undone, she was nearly replaced by a changeling in her retinue and then nearly killed by Chalice, only surviving thanks to Fluttershy.
Chalice, Lady of Gaskinring, empowered fully by the celestial Sagittarius. A timid and soft-spoken mare, devoutly following her brother Alpha Brass after her fall from grace at the hooves of her sister Antimony. Her otherworldly power was necessary to break the Platinum Crown during the confusion of the Changeling Invasion, crippling both Celestia and Luna.
Sand Dune, the Lady of Bitaly, a master of the Quartz family’s time magic. Turned from potential opponent to ally as a result of Rarity’s quick thinking and negotiation, saving her from entangling herself with the changeling posing as Blueblood.
…
“It also revealed something to us that we had never expected,” Exuvia added with a grin. The image of Prince Blueblood appeared, holding Rarity’s hooves protectively. “The narcissistic Prince of Equestria, who changeling scouts had dismissed as being unable to provide a lovemeal… suddenly had somepony besides the Princess that he genuinely loved and who loved him in return. Just like that, a whole new range of possibilities emerged for us.”
While Rarity and the other mares fought it out between themselves, one of the earth pony’s retainers smirked, her eyes glowing green.
“We discovered that Lord Brass was aiding one Lady Yumi in attempting to unseat the new Lady Rarity, then given the formerly vacant Barony of Ponyville. He provided her with a teleportation specialist, except that specialist was actually one of us in disguise.”
The changeling cackled and transformed, turning from a petite mare into a full-bodied stallion. The she-turned-he tossed her new blond mane and grinned confidently. It was a remarkable facsimile. Octavia had met the Prince a few times, and he was well known in Canterlot, both as a playboy and as a patron of the arts. She had played at his garden parties more than once, and he had recommended her quartet to attend the Grand Galloping Gala. At the time, Octavia couldn’t say she cared either way how much of a womanizer he was as long as his taste in music kept a roof over her head. Truthfully, the mares of Canterlot had been far more upset with Lady Rarity for finally “stealing” their precious Prince away than they had ever been for him foaling around with mares left and right.
“A little convenient chaos and our sister made the switch…!” Exuvia gestured up at the illusions overhead. “We whisked away the Prince to discover his secrets in peace elsewhere. The rest should have been nymph’s play! First: find a way to separate Lady Yumi from her companions and replace her with another of our changeling sisters.”
The illusionary Blueblood spoke in private with Yumi, offering her a drink. Octavia shook her head in dismay. Poison. Again. It seemed to be a favorite tool among these insects. Except Yumi didn’t drink. Instead, she seemed to be saying something, pleading almost. The fake Blueblood turned on her, threatening her. Guards burst in. She screamed.
And then the wall crashed in, thanks to one of her retainers, and she fled.
“An ambush was set up in the Everfree Forest,” Exuvia went on to say and sighed. “It didn’t go as planned either.”
A burning, molten scar in the forest was testament to some sort of battle with forces unknown.
“The changelings we sent after Yumi were never heard from.” The changeling Princess paused. “I think this might be a part of the story your friend Vinyl Scratch may learn… exactly why I’m telling you this half now. But I digress: Yumi slipped through our hooves, costing us our chance to seize control of Neighpon. But still… we had Blueblood, and through him, we could wear away at the defenses of Canterlot. Our sister should also have been able to use her new identity to control Lady Rarity, negating the so-called ‘Elements of Harmony.’”
“I take it that didn’t go as planned either?” Octavia asked and allowed herself a small, vicarious smile.
“No,” Exuvia answered, running a hoof through her green-on-green mane. “Not only did she seem… resistant to normal changeling control, she also began to meet with her former enemies and rivals.”
Antimony returned, but this time, she and Rarity nodded to one another with respect. They were joined by the sandy mare with the hourglass and a lavender unicorn that Octavia knew to be Twilight Sparkle.
“You can call it the insidious power of friendship, but whatever the cause, this Rarity from Ponyville began to build a power bloc of her own. Still, our Queen pressed forward. What difference could one mare do, once Canterlot itself was thrown into chaos?”
A series of scenes followed: Rarity talking with Twilight, Twilight facing off against two older unicorns Octavia didn’t recognize. A great magical duel that passed in a moment. A scene that could only be of the Royal Wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. Twilight Sparkle, once again with Rarity behind her, stepping up to object and getting into an argument with Cadance.
Chrysalis being revealed with a magical spell! So that was how they’d done it!
The scenes came faster. Princess Celestia rising up in a fury. Fire! The bridesmaids and Chrysalis fighting her. Luna being attacked from behind and then splitting into three smaller versions of herself? Rarity standing before a hastily assembled group of nobles, raising her voice and saying something to them, her supporters behind her. A small group with the Elements of Harmony rushing across the city via rooftops.
More battles across Equestria.
The Red Queen of the changelings fighting Rarity, orange earth pony and a pegasus mare with a rainbow mane and tail. A pink mare holding some sort of paint gun in her front hooves surrounded by pastries. A butter yellow pegasus somehow fighting off a half dozen changelings with wrestling moves. Twilight Sparkle blasting a stream of magenta magic out of her horn. An exploding airship stunning two armies poised to go to war. Princess Luna riding a burning airship down, crashing it into another ship by the air harbor. Then Luna and the three mares from before fighting a gigantic worm monster. Princess Cadance and Prince Blueblood fighting alongside a group of guards in some sort of crystal tunnels, aided by a green mare with a golden magical hand.
Then, in a scene that filled Octavia’s heart with hope…
Princess Celestia being rescued by Blueblood while Chrysalis held her hooves up to her eyes, screaming in impotent rage, her horn blasting the air wildly while other blinded changelings flying in circles. Celestia! The Princess was still alive! The Princess was free! Both Princesses were! In fact, all three were!
There was still hope for Canterlot!
“And that brings us to the present,” Exuvia finally said, and the stream of images and illusions came at last to an end. The changeling Princess let out a breath and wiped her forehead, brushing away magical stardust.
“What happens now?” Octavia asked, without even thinking. A moment later and she composed herself and remembered that this so-called Princess was her enemy. No matter what she said. No matter how much she claimed to want to protect “Equestrian Culture.”
“Now we enter the climax.” Exuvia fixed Octavia with her unnatural eyes, the slit within them sharp and narrow like a cat’s. “Now we win or we die. Our choices have backed us into this corner. Our Queen has refused to run or retreat.” She lowered her hoof slightly, just enough to point at the cellist. “And as for you…”
Octavia suddenly felt nervous. “What about me?”
“You are going to leave. I’m sending you with a letter to my dear sister, Princess Instar. As a gift.” Exuvia gestured to her waiting, lurking guard by the door and Octavia cringed. “But I strongly suspect you won’t reach Instar. Partway there, you may coincidentally run into a group of ponies loyal to Lady Antimony who are even now fighting my sister’s forces under and around the mountain.”
“Wait – what?” Octavia had been all set to be wrapped up a “gift” lunch for this other changeling. Now Exuvia was saying she was going to be… rescued?
“If my mother dies tomorrow, or even tonight, then Princess Instar will become Queen,” Princess Exuvia explained, and her eyes narrowed into slits. “She will hold this city hostage and kill our crop of captive ponies by the thousands. She will orchestrate an atrocity that will see us hated and hunted to the ends of the earth by every civilized species across two continents. But if she dies… if Instar dies… then I become Queen. And I will not let mass murder be committed in our name, nor will I allow the changeling race to go extinct in a blaze of glory.”
She turned away from Octavia Melody and back to the burning view outside her airship’s window. “Do you understand?”
“I think so.” Octavia snatched up a hoof-full of previously untouched bread and jam from her plate. “I’ll take the food, too. For the road.”
Exuvia merely nodded and motioned for her to go.
“Try not to die along the way,” she added, dismissively. “I still want to hear your orchestra play Beethoofen’s Symphony No. 9 someday.”
“It’s kind of annoying that I like your taste in music,” Octavia told her, just before following the guard out of the cabin. “If you do become Queen, then I’ll play it at the cease fire. Or better yet, your surrender.”
Princess Exuvia sat in silence for only a few seconds.
“Coco! We’re up at bat again! Bring in the neon blue number five!”
“If-if you insist, Miss Suri!”
Exuvia closed her eyes and sighed.
- - -
The Royal Palace
Running alongside the Royal Apartments like an architectural spine was a collection of rooms and halls known as the Mirrored Concourse or simply the Hall of Mirrors. The primary hall, the one most equestrians thought of when they imagined this small section of their Princess’ Palace, was a pillared hall, three stories high, the first floor being two stories tall by itself. The ceiling was vaulted, the arches standing out slightly against the ceiling mosaic like colossal ribs. Interspersed among the marble were mirrored facades of crystal and stained glass, smaller than the great glass murals outside the throne room. These were not meant to be depictions of great acts and equine triumphs; they were simply decorative, and in the light of the chandeliers, they glittered like a frozen rainbow.
Yet this great piece of artwork and architectural design was only the public centerpiece of the Hall of Mirrors. There were rooms adjacent to the hall that sported the Princess’ private collection of mirrored glass, the pieces donated or commissioned over a thousand years. Many were just as they appeared to be: expensive and fantastic mirrors, some smaller than a hoof, others larger than a wall. They were prized works of art. Many were held in decorated frames or with delicately painted scenes, designed to frame the viewer.
Other mirrors, however, were not simple gifts. Scattered amid the mundane mirrors were magical ones, hidden in plain sight and known to only a few. One of these was the mirror to another world used by Sunset Shimmer during the last celestial alignment. Others led to even stranger worlds. Some led to other mirrors in other rooms. Some to forbidden places.
And one magic mirror… led to a donut shop on the outskirts of town.
Silver-gilt and framed with sculpted metal bands in a vine-like pattern, this one mirror in this one room glowed bright white in the darkness before spitting out a tall alabaster form. It was followed a second later by a smaller figure, also white, and then a smaller one still, in pink. Smaller even still, last but not least, a fourth figure in minty green jumped through with an excited whoop.
“Well, that was a rougher trip than usual!” Princess Celestia stood, shaking her head. Her flowing aurora mane was dimmed, but still regal, even in the low light of the magic mirror.
“We’re fortunate we came through in one piece,” Blueblood grumbled, patting down his coat for any unseen damage.
“Reconstructing a magic mirror is no different than a regular one,” Celestia reminded him, but only remembered to keep her voice down halfway through the sentence. “The trip back should be easier, as the link between the two stabilizes.”
“Digging around in a collapsed building for shards of glass…” Cadance stood up next to the two royals. “Thank the stars for magic and horns. I can’t imagine doing that with hooves, lips and wingtips.”
“I still can’t believe it; that was Pony Joe back there!” Lyra added, her expression still downcast. “Minuette, Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts and me… we used to hang out there all the time!” She glanced back over her shoulder at the magic mirror. “And all this time the mirror in the mares’ room led into the Royal Palace? Did Joe know about this?”
“Of course, my little pony!” Celestia assured her with a smile. “Dear Joe understood that sometimes a certain pony might need to get away from the palace and the intrigues of the court from time to time.”
Blueblood nodded agreeably. “And get away from her dietitian, too, of course.”
“Nephew!” Celestia objected but also shrugged a second later. “I’m a thousand years old, and I’m fit as a fiddle. Counting Calories can count her own darn calories.”
The one male among females raised an eyebrow but didn’t argue. “Of course, Auntie.” He then turned to Cadance and Lyra. “Well, we’re intact, and we’re in the palace. Shall we commence with the surreptitious devilry and other waggery?”
Cadance and Lyra had known each other from before, and both exchanged a quick look. On the way to Pony Joe's, they’d caught up some, mostly to help the latter determine when Cadance had been replaced by Chrysalis. They’d also started whispering amongst each other on the way from their underground hideout to the smashed and abandoned donut shop. They were pretty clearly up to something.
“Come on, out with it,” Blueblood finally said. “I’m assuming you’ve got some sort of plan brewing, aside from rescuing our good Captain of the Guard?”
“Rescuing Shining is the reason we’re here,” Cadance admitted, narrowing her eyes at the abuses her fiancé had been put through. “But at the same time… look how easily we snuck in! We’re just a short trot from the Royal Apartments!”
“Yeah! We can smash these bugs right here and right now!” Lyra chimed in. “End the fighting! End the war!”
“You want to go after Chrysalis,” Celestia realized and sighed, closing her eyes. “The thought crossed my mind as well. She is weakened… maybe even asleep as we speak.”
“You blinded her,” Cadance said, pointing to Blueblood. “And now we’re as deep behind enemy lines as anypony is ever going to get. We may only have this one chance! We should…”
“Kill her?” Blueblood finished when Cadance trailed off. He didn’t seem perturbed by the notion and inclined his head to Lyra. “It isn’t a bad idea. Shall we slit her throat while she sleeps? Or maybe you could use that power of yours to choke her to death?” he asked, and Lyra blanched at the image. “Too gruesome? Shall we drip poison into her ear?” he asked Cadance, and she scowled but also paled.
Blueblood then turned to his beloved Aunt. “Or maybe set fire to the room with her in it?”
“Believe me, nephew, I tried to kill her before, and I would certainly kill her tonight had I the strength,” Celestia answered him with steel and certainty. Celestia’s mane continued to waft peacefully in a non-existent wind even as her eyes narrowed into a murderous and terrifying glower. “She has slain my little ponies, my people, my servants, and my friends. When they carried me outside, I was weak but not blind. I saw the piles of dead stacked outside my throne room. I smelled them burning the bodies.”
“Burning… bodies?” Lyra asked, cautiously. She didn’t know.
He hadn’t told Cadance, either.
“Chrysalis is purging the non-earth pony population of Equestria,” he explained, doing his best to remain in control of his own emotions. “Certain groups of ponies are considered too dangerous, you see: mages, weather workers, you get the idea.”
“Can you do that? Can you just do something like that?” Lyra asked, not quite able to wrap her mind around such a calculated atrocity. “You can’t just kill ponies for a stupid reason like that!”
Blueblood gave her a sad, sympathetic look. “Would that you were correct, Miss Heartstrings.”
Celestia remained silent, but her rage was palpable. There was at least one mare in this room who wouldn’t hesitate to strangle Chrysalis in her sleep. It looked almost as if the Princess was keener to forgive Discord himself than the Bloody Queen of the Changelings.
“Still,” he went on to add, “please do keep your voices down. We do not want to risk being discovered here, now do we?”
“But!” Lyra objected.
“He’s right,” Cadance agreed, in a low whisper, “and he was right before, too. Saying we want to get rid of that monster is one thing, doing it is another. What if we get there and we can’t do it?”
“Can you do it?” Blueblood asked his adopted sister. “Can you take her life?”
“After all the things she’s done to me, after all the horror she’s brought to Equestria, I want to say yes.” Cadance lowered her eyes for a moment as if ashamed. “I… feel like I have to say yes… but the truth is…” She looked back up, at her brother, at her Princess and mentor. “But the truth is I’m not sure. When I killed that changeling to free Lyra, I was desperate, afraid… and so angry.”
The Princess of Love let out a shuddering breath, as she tried to calm herself or at least steady her nerves. It wasn’t shame. It couldn’t be.
“I broke its neck,” she said, softly. “I killed it, and I didn’t feel… sorry or anything. Not right away. But later, when we were waiting for you and Night Shade to get back with Princess Celestia, I started to think more about it. About that changeling and the others. I felt… a little guilty maybe, but… but I’d do it again to get free.”
“That’s not wrong, is it?” she asked her older brother and her Princess mentor. “I’m the Princess of Love. But when I think about changelings, I just…” Her eyebrows creased, and her eyes watered at the truth. “I hate them. I hate them so much it hurts! They’re monsters, all of them, and if I can kill Chrysalis, if I can end this by killing her, I should, shouldn’t I? That would be a good thing, wouldn’t it?”
“It would be a… a righteous thing?” Cadance asked in a weak voice, an unsure voice. “Right?”
Celestia’s expression softened, and she reached over to run a hoof down the smaller Princess’ cheek. “My poor little pony… how I wish this had never happened, to you or to anyone…”
“Cadance,” Blueblood said, but he was less openly conciliatory than their alicorn auntie, “no pony here would blame you for wanting retribution, and if you ask me, you have every right to it. Chrysalis had abused you, tortured you, singled you out for it above all others… stars knows why. But – not to be callous – but you need to focus on one thing and keep a level head about it.”
He took a step closer, prompting Celestia to release Cadance and give them some room.
“Do you want to free Shining Armor, or do you want to kill Chrysalis?” he asked, his expression like stone. “Think about it. What do you really want?”
“You know what I want!” Cadance snapped and pushed him back with a hoof. Instead of being cowed by the question, it just prickled her anger from before. But this time, maybe, it was anger towards herself. She frowned. “Shining. He’s what I want, more than anything.”
Blueblood nodded but didn’t smile. He’d expected that. “Then let’s get him and work out the extras later.”
“You know the way,” Celestia told them, the frown now having migrated to sour her face as well. “I should come with you… I should…”
“Auntie, you’re barely standing,” Blueblood interrupted her. “Besides, like I said when I rescued you, you’re invaluable. Equestria needs you. Without you, this… all this…” He gestured to the Palace around them. “It falls apart. Meaningless. Above all else, you must survive. Meet back up with Aunt Luna. You can win this war no matter what happens to us here.”
“And I’ve told you, you aren’t expendable to me,” Celestia answered. “None of you are! Nopony is.”
“Different ponies are valuable in different ways,” Blueblood argued back. “Please, Auntie. If nothing else, we need you here to make sure we have a way out. Only you can open the portal in the mirror, especially in its current condition.”
That reminder, at least, cemented the deal. It was one they had talked about and argued about on the way over, much to the Prince’s chagrin. He’d never wanted to, or even had to, argue with his deific aunt before. Then again, it wasn’t every day that the Princess of the Sun nearly died. Nerves were frayed all around, even millennia-old ones.
“Minuette is still out there, too,” Lyra reminded them. It was why she was here. “With that aethereal brush thing… the one that erases anything it touches…”
“Which means we have to be careful,” Blueblood surmised. “Nevermind the two or three hundred changelings on watch across the castle grounds. If we bump into the other bridesmaid or get into any other trouble, we’ll teleport back here and slip out.”
“Then let’s go.” Cadance didn’t bother to disguise her impatience. By now, the light of the magic mirror had faded away almost entirely, plunging the room back into near-darkness. Celestia nodded her permission to the two unicorns and the young Princess, encouraging them with a small smile. When they snuck out of the room, it was in total silence.
Only when they were gone did Celestia’s frown return.
‘Different ponies are valuable in different ways…’ she thought to herself and closed her eyes in repose. ‘I’ve spent lifetimes trying to make Equestria into a land where everypony has value. A land where friendship is more powerful than any individual. A land where Harmony was King. That elusive promised land of Equestria that Platinum told me could be more than just a dream: a truly New World, not just the old corrupt one with a fresh veneer. Where did I go wrong that it would all fall apart without me? If they get into trouble, does my nephew really expect me to just slink away, tail between my legs?’
- - -
Twilight Sparkle floated the cup of Marabian coffee to her lips as she entered this new and seemingly nondescript section of the Hanging Gardens. Alpha Brass had extended her invitation to include her friends Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, and even Vinyl Scratch, but all three were sound asleep, and Twilight had decided to let them be. Whatever they’d been up to while exploring the Gardens had left them exhausted.
For her part, Twilight could feel fatigue trying to set in, but a timely nap in Alpha’s quarters had gone a long way to replenishing her mental, emotional, and magical reserves. Maybe it had been the ambiance; maybe it had been his magic – her rational mind concluded it was mostly his magic – but she’d slept like a baby and woken up after only a couple hours with energy to spare. Now that she knew exactly what his power was, now that she could feel and even quantify it, the sensation was almost heady.
Despite running around the warzone that was Canterlot, fighting changelings and mind-controlled guards and monsters and even a run-in with that Princess Exuvia, Twilight felt good. She felt strong. It was just as Brass had promised. She was rejuvenated. He was giving her power – so much more power – and she was thankful for it. Together, they would do this. Together, they would win, just like they had against Cruciger and Twinkling Star Light. Together, nopony could stop them!
“Good morning, everypony,” Twilight said, sipping her cup of coffee. She smiled at seeing the tawny gold coat of Alpha Brass across the room. He raised a hoof and beckoned her over.
As she trotted towards him, she took in the room. It was circular and deceptively small, with a compound dome ceiling – basically a dome on top of a dome – with a prominent oculus at the apex. Curiously, there were sharp looking iron protrusions sticking out of the dome, pointing inward. Directly beneath the oculus of the dome was a recessed area with a raised platform.
Atop that platform was a floating model of the Hanging Gardens in miniature. Twilight took a moment to study it. She had a basic knowledge of the overall design of the gardens from seeing it and from looking over the small maps here and there to help ponies who are lost. The Gardens were essentially a single central section surrounded by a ring, and along that ring were a few wings or turrets, including four main turrets aligned with the four cardinal points on the compass. Aside from that, the design was not symmetric, and there were scattered terraces and patios all throughout.
Surrounding the model was a faint translucent barrier… Twilight could make out what seemed like a night sky on it. Though it was strange looking-in rather than looking-out. Eunomie was overseeing things from another raised platform, her prim red mane and alert expression giving Twilight the impression that she didn’t even need sleep. A horn ring of inlaid jade on silver crackled with channeling magic.
“Your timing is excellent, Twilight,” Brass said with a welcoming smile. In contrast to Eunomie, he actually betrayed some of his exhaustion up close. It was nothing so obvious as a slouch or a slur in his voice; she could see it in the way his eyes were not entirely open, in the way he held himself, and she could feel it as she got closer to him.
“Are you okay?” she asked, and he waved a dismissive hoof in response.
“Simply preparing for Equestria’s great counter-attack,” he assured her. “Genuine Grade, Siren Song, and Cesian Beryl are almost finished making final adjustments to the Effulgent Forge. Once they are done, and once we have unleashed your spell, you will have to lead them in reforging the Platinum Crown according to our new design formula. It isn’t an Aethereal Forge, but it is the best that we can manage, given the present state of Equestrian magecraft.”
“We’ll get it done,” Twilight promised him, taking a spot to his right side. “Do you know the status of Princess Luna or Princess Celestia in Canterlot?”
“Our intelligence is limited,” he answered and sighed very softly under his breath. “Princess Luna is alive and fighting the changelings… She and your friend Rarity have rallied nobles to retake and secure the sky docks. They intend to link up with reinforcements from Cloudsdale.”
“Good!” Twilight smiled for her friend. “That’s really good! I knew she could pull it off! You know, Lady Sand Dune was skeptical that anypony could get the noble families working together.”
“Yet this Lady Rarity of yours pulled it off,” Brass said, coolly.
“She had me helping and Sand Dune and Antimony,” Twilight explained, blowing into her cup of dark coffee and taking another sip.
“Indeed,” Brass replied, his eyes squinting slightly and betraying a bit more of his weariness. “Yet none of you would be working together at all without her. Your friend Rarity is the one who found a way to get you all on the same side, working together, like the mortar holding the bricks of a wall together.”
“It wasn’t easy, either,” Twilight agreed. “You know Antimony and Sand Dune do not like one another at all… and both of them didn’t think much of me either. At least at first.”
She was quite happy, all things considered. Her friends were alive, the Princesses were alive – Luna definitely and Celestia certainly – and most importantly, they were about to strike back! Canterlot was still fighting! The changelings had thrown their dice, made their play, and not sealed the deal in time. What was strange was why Brass seemed so… off. If anything, he should have been saying something like—
“I believe I’d like to meet this friend of yours, this Lady Rarity,” Brass mused with a straight face and unflattering tone. “I’m sure she must be very charismatic to bring together so many former and potential rivals.”
He finally cracked a barest hint of a smile, just a twitch of his cheek.
“Maybe we will cross paths in Canterlot when this is all done,” he wondered.
“You two definitely have to meet!” Twilight enthused, feeling a bit bold and nudging him affectionately with her shoulder. “And not just Rarity, you know. All my friends! You already met Fluttershy, and you already survived Pinkie Pie! All the others are easy!”
“Eunomie!” Brass called out to his step-daughter. “Are we ready?”
“Yes, Father.” Eunomie’s voice was unhurried and almost monotone; her horn crackled again. “We are ready… resizing and expanding the projection now.”
Above the floating model of the Hanging Gardens, a series of lights and tunnels began to take form out of light and magic. At the same time, the projection of the sky shrank down, closer, until it just barely surrounded the model of the gardens itself like a bubble. More and more lines and details began to emerge on the projection: larger tunnels and smaller faults, until it finally reached the surface, where a wireframe of a small castle began to take form.
“What is that?” Twilight asked, pointing to the topmost projection with her hoof.
“That is Camlann Castle,” Brass explained, and the castle began to fill in with more color and details.
“Camlann?” Twilight searched her memory for the name and quickly remembered. “Oh! That’s one of the Terre Rare properties in Canterlot! Not far from Hocksbach! Wait… that castle was on your list of properties… the one I checked when you sent your proposal…”
Alpha Brass finally grinned, his green eyes twinkling. “As expected, you’ve done your research! Yes. Camlann was a gift to me from the late Duke Blueblood… given to me to celebrate my birth, actually. It was somewhat run down at the time, but my father has a well-known passion for rebuilding and refurbishing old castles.”
“Only so he can throw them at ponies,” Twilight added, recalling the two that Cruciger had summoned up in their duel: Château de fer à Cheval and Maerlaverock Tower. Cruciger had magical seals on all his castles, allowing him to summon them and literally throw them at an opponent.
Looking back on it, the magical feat was still pretty unbelievable. Cruciger’s raw power and mastery of kinetic, gravitational, and brute force magic was beyond any of Twilight’s own mentors, save Celestia. Not only that, but his wife, Twinkling Star Light, had also been powerful to a degree Twilight had never imagined. While Cruciger wielded tremendous power, Star Light possessed incredible and esoteric arcane knowledge. Still, both were limited to four-alliteration spells – though, they’d milked those four alliterations about as much as anypony could.
Neither of them knew what Twilight knew: Arsenic’s Secret, the Secret to Five Alliterations.
Twilight turned to Alpha Brass. “So… if Camlann is up there…?”
“Height: one thousand, nine hundred and eighteen meters above sea level,” Eunomie announced, “Depth: two hundred and eleven meters.”
A quartet of other unicorn mares took their places around the recessed projection pit. All wore similar silver and jade horn rings, slaved to Eunomie’s master copy.
“Prepare the timer,” Eunomie ordered, and the image of the castle and the bubble beneath it expanded even further, this time accounting for the angle of the terraced mountainside Canterlot was built on. “Formations… please begin.”
One of the mares, a white-coated arcanist with blue fire for a cutie mark, lit up her horn. Her star field blazed bright, and as it did, so did a series of lines stretching down from Camlann Castle into the ground.
“Algenib Formation is going active… now!” she said, her voice excited for all that Eunomie was restrained. “Activation confirmed! Synchronization achieved!”
“Alpheratz Formation going active,” a second unicorn mare said, the light of her horn matching another sparking constellation of lights between the underground bubble and the world above. “Activation confirmed! Synchronization achieved!”
A third unicorn mare, a lighter blue than Trixie but with a cutie mark of stars minus a wand, chimed in a second later. “Markab Formation going active now! Activation confirmed! Synchronization achieved!”
The fourth mare wore heavy coke-bottle glasses that glinted with the light of her magic as she took her place around the array. “Scheat Formation activating. Activation confirmed. Synchronization achieved.”
“Final safety check… looks good,” Eunomie said, overseeing the weaving tendrils of magical fire that linked the world above to the world below. “Begin the countdown.”
A floating timer began to display numbers, beginning with twenty. Twenty Seconds.
All around them, the Hanging Gardens began to rumble. All around them, the Hanging Gardens began to rise. And once it broke free of the mountain’s embrace, nothing in Equestria would ever be the same. Canterlot, Twilight Sparkle vowed, would be free as surely as night turned to day. All would be set right in the world! No matter what it took.