Friends, Forgiveness, and Magic

by Invinsible


Bugs!

Friends, Forgiveness, and Magic

Bugs!

“Woohoo!” Pinkie Pie cheered.  “Party, party, party!  I wanna have a party!  I need to have a party!  You better have a party!”

Discord danced and slid backwards up a spiraling slide as he sang along.  “Oh, party, party, party!  You gotta party hardy! I…” he trailed off as he noticed something.

Discord focused his vision on the spiraling chaos around him.  “Pinkie, stop!”

“What?!  Did you say something Discord?!” Pinkie shouted over the party music.

“Pinkie, something’s wrong.”

Pinkie frowned a little before she snapped her fingers, causing the dancing and chaotic creatures to freeze in mid-step.  She floated over to him and asked, “What’s the problem?”

“Can you feel that?  It’s like-”

But he was interrupted as the party completely vanished all around them, leaving Discord and Pinkie in a floating white void.  The two friends looked up as a hippogriff descended from the sky.

The hippogriff touched down on what could have been technically called a floor and smiled at them.  She had a light, yellowish-gray coat and a light blue mane and tail.  “Miss Pinkie Pie.  Mister Discord.  My name is Princess Skystar.”

“Oh.  Um, hello there,” Discord waved politely.  “What can we do for you?”

“Hang on.  Are you from the Everfree kingdom or from Equestria?” Pinkie asked with narrowed eyes.  She hovered near Discord’s ear and whispered, “I’ve got a bad feeling about her!”

Skystar cleared her throat to get their attention.  “I come bearing a message from my Queen.”

Pinkie blinked.  “Queen Novo?”

Skystar smirked a little.  “No.  Not Queen Novo.  A Queen more regal and far more powerful than any of us pitiful ponies could ever be.  My Queen commands that I say to you this:

“Your party is over.  Cease these foolish interruptions, or all that you love will be destroyed”

Skystar smiled and slowly faded into the void.  “A good day to you.”

As Pinkie and Discord exchanged worried looks with each other they noticed that their surroundings had changed.  They were no longer in the mini-universe they had created to house the wilder side of their party but were instead floating in the middle of Peaceville.

“So...she just erased the party that we created, right?” Discord asked.

“Looks like,” Pinkie stated.

“Huh...”

The two fun loving, reality warpers floated silently together.

“...Well that's ominous.”


Sunset Shimmer’s body tensed like a coiled spring about to unwind.  “Any minute now…”

She grinned as the sun’s rays began to bounce off the crystals in Clear Crystal Cavern, illuminating the underground part of Peaceville and bringing daylight down below.  “Alright!  It’s officially crystal harvesting time!”

She galloped over to a fresh cluster of bright green crystals clinging to the cavern ceiling and admired them.  “Okay, these ones should be ready to go by now.”  She turned around a gave a solid kick to the cavern wall, causing the crystals to drop from the ceiling.  But as she caught them in her magic the crystals shattered into a hundred tiny pieces.  “What the heck?”

She galloped over to a few other patches of crystals.  “Okay, red ones?” She telekinetically pulled about five crystals out.  “Okay, these ones are fine.  Blue crystals?”  She pulled out a few more.  “Clear.  Green ones?”

She frowned as the fresh green crystals she harvested shattered.  “Oh joy, I have a thief on my farm. Okay, I know you’re out there!” she shouted.  “Crystals like these don’t shatter unless someone has been draining them!”  Her horn flared with power before she zapped a large rock.  “And green crystals only have changeling magic!  So, here’s what I’m thinking, sneak thief!  You can keep disguising yourself as an inanimate object and eventually I’ll blast you sky high AND have you arrested!  Or, you can stop hiding and maybe we can resolve this without anyone being sent to jail!  How’s that sound?”

“Ugh…shut up, stupid pony.”

Sunset’s eyes narrowed as she heard someone groaning.  She followed the noise coming from the creatures moans to a decently large crater.  Inside the crater, and surrounded by dozens of shattered green crystals lay…

Sunset blinked in surprise.  “Chrysalis?  What are you doing?”

Chrysalis glared up at Sunset and waved her hoof dismissively.  “I ordered you to be silent, foolish pony.  A changeling queen stands before you.”  She hummed in thought and rubbed her belly.  “Well, I lay within a crater surrounded by these delectable crystals, simply bursting with changeling magic so rich I may not have to feed on love for a week, but you get the idea.”

Sunset's brow furrowed in confusion. “Chrysalis?”

Another groan came out as Chrysalis got back on her hooves. “I thought I told you to be silent, stupid farm filly. Or do I need to drain your love to get some peace and quiet?”

Sunset glared at Chrysalis and slid down into the shallow crater.  “Well someling is being rude.  So, either someone has altered your mind with magic or you’re an imposter.  Which is it?”

“Imposter?  You think me, the imposter?!  Now your familiarity makes sense!  You’re one those obnoxious friends to my weak, pathetic counterpart!”  The changeling queen sneered as she buzzed her wings and hovered in the air.  “Tremble with fear, little pony!  You stand before the true Queen Chrysalis!” she said with a cackle.

Sunset rolled her eyes.  “That’s nice.  But the thing is, you’re standing in MY cave.  And I’m the only queen of this cavern!”  She smirked right back at Queen Chrysalis as she levitated dozens of crystals out the ground; their raw magical power draining into the orange unicorn as she summoned them.  With her magic supercharged by the crystals, she created eight fireballs out of thin air and launched them at the evil counterpart of her friend.

Queen Chrysalis snarled as she created a sickly green shield of magic around herself, protecting her from the fireballs.  “Pest!” she hissed.

“Who’re you calling pest, you cowardly thief!” Sunset shouted back as she zapped the queen’s shield with a fiery red blast of magic.

“Insignificant worm!” Queen Chrysalis snarled as she dropped the shield and buzzed her wings to hover away from the blast.  She fired a green beam of magic at Sunset next.

Sunset leapt out of the way of the blast before she ripped dozens of drained crystals from the crater, crushed them with her magic, and sent the shards spiraling towards her opponent.

Queen Chrysalis’ eyes widened as she conjured up another shield while flying away from Sunset’s attack.  As the crystal shards bounced off her shield and fell to the ground, she scowled at Sunset.  “I don’t have time to waste playing around with you, unicorn.  The next time you meet my counterpart, ensure she knows that I’m looking for her.  It’s high time she learns how a true queen of the changelings should rule!”

Queen Chrysalis let out another evil cackle before she vanished in a flash of green light.


“And I haven’t seen her since then,” Sunset said as she finished explaining to her friends.

“You…you gotta be kidding me,” the kind-hearted Chrysalis of Everfree said softly.

“How long ago did you say this was?” Gilda asked.

Sunset frowned.  “Six hours ago.  Didn’t I already tell you that?”

“Sorry, Sun.  My head’s still kinda ringing from the party horn dopey Discord blew in my ear,” Gilda grumbled.  “We have any idea where those two idiots ran off to?”

Trixie sighed.  “One problem at a time dear Gilda.  I think the evil version of Chrysalis running rampant around Everfree holds more priority over punishing Pinkie and Discord.  At least for now.”  She glared up at the sky and shouted, “Are you two listening to us?!  We will hunt you down and have our revenge!  Nobody uses the Great and Powerful Trixie’s cape for a tie dye T-shirt contest and gets away with it!”

“I know what you mean. Most of my hive is still sleeping off whatever it was they drank at that party. It's honestly a miracle that it only took us six hours to recover,” Chrysalis groaned, rubbing her head with her hoof. “What was I thinking? Eyeball and tail smoothie?”

“How did you manage to wake up hours before we did?” Gilda asked Sunset.

“It's a potion I bought from Zecora. Helps me get enough sleep but still rise early. Really popular with farm fillies like me,” Sunset explained. “I've actually been mixing it with some spells and crystals to-”

“We’re here!  We’re here,” Princess Nightmare Moon called out as she flew into the cavern and touched down next to her friends, with Smog hopping off her back.  “We searched all over Peaceville.  Sorry Chrysalis, but no sign of your evil doppelganger.”

“It’s not your fault, Nightmare,” Chrysalis sighed.  Her horn glowed green as she etched out a simple map of Peaceville on the cavern floor.  “If I was the one hiding from you – and she’s practically me – I would have switched between a dozen different pony forms to sneak out of town and throw anyone off my scent.”

“First of all, your crazy counterpart could never be the amazing changeling queen you are,” Smog said.  “That nutcase is from Equestria, and no offense to our friends on the other side of the mirror, but they do everything backwards over there.”

“An excellent point, Smog,” Trixie said; Smog blushing at the praise she had given them.  “On that note, perhaps we should contact our friends in said backwards world, given as how they have the most experience in dealing with your stupid counterpart.”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes.  “We don’t need their help to capture one rogue queen.  Besides, I thought the mirror was broken like everything else after Pinkie and Discord tried to break the record for Biggest Party in the Universe.”

“About that,” Nightmare said, holding up a wing for them to wait until she was finished speaking.  “Two things happened on my way back here.  First of all, the mirror’s working again.  Smog accidentally tripped and tossed something into the mirror and it didn’t just bounce off like last time.  Second of all, there’s an angry mob heading this way.”

Chrysalis’ eyes widened.  “An angry mob?”

“They might have been my crystals but Pinkie was the one who enchanted them for her party game.  I had nothing to do with that singing spaghetti monster!” Sunset said with a firm stomp of her hoof.

“No, they’re here for Chrysalis.  Seems like they’re having a hard time telling the difference between you and your nutcase twin,” Smog informed them.

“Oh. Maybe lead with that next time?” a concerned Sunset said. “An angry mob is nothing to laugh at.”

Smog smirked. “That's what you think. They're pretty small and slow by angry mob standards. We can fight them off-”

“If we have no other choice,” Nightmare said, shooting him a glare. “As much as I'd love some action around here, it would just make Chrysalis look bad.”

Chrysalis groaned.  “For the love of love!  When is that mare going to leave us alone!”  She backed up behind a cluster of red crystals and said to her friends, “I have an idea of who’s leading the mob.  Just play along with what I’m doing.” She ducked behind the crystals and vanished in a flash of green light.  She emerged from her hiding spot in the form of Applejewel, or Applejack as her close friends knew her.

Heavy stomps from a pair of iron boots announced the arrival of Merry Weather, one of Applejack’s more aggressive employees.  Following behind Merry Weather were about a dozen ponies who looked very angry indeed.

“Howdy there, Merry Weather,” Chrysalis said with a tip of Applejack’s hat.  “Was just catching up with mah friends here.  What can Ah do ya for?”

Merry Weather’s eyes widened in surprise.  “Miss Applejack?  I’m surprised to see you here.”  Her brow furrowed as she growled, “If you are Miss Applejack and not that disgusting parasite disguised as her.”

Nightmare stepped forward.  “I can confirm that the pony you see before you is Applejack.  For those of you who didn’t know, I have a changeling detecting spell on my eyes,” she said, addressing Merry Weather and her followers.  “Now can someone explain to me what you’re all doing here?”

Merry Weather eyed the alicorn with a suspicious frown.  “Princess Nightmare Moon.  Hmm…even if you were friends with the former Element of Love, surely you understand the threat an out-of-control changeling presents, so I assume that you are telling the truth.”  She paused for a moment and sighed, “Very well.  Me and my friends are here to capture the beastly changeling and bring her to justice.”

Silver Tiara, one of the ponies in the mob, nodded in agreement.  “Well said Miss Weather.  The sooner that bothersome bug queen and her hive of vermin are purged from this town the better.”  She sneered at Smog and Gilda.  “And if we can get rid of our other pest problems, so much the better.”

Gilda glared at her.  “Well you’re no prize yourself, lady.”

Silver Tiara scoffed.  “Well I never!”

Gilda stuck her tongue out at her.  “Well I never indeed!” she whined in the most ‘arrogant elite’ tone she could manage.

“Why you…you brute!” Silver Tiara gasped.

Merry Weather stomped one of her boots against the cave floor.  “That’s enough Silver.  One set of monsters at a time.”

“Monsters?  Don’t ya think yer being awfully harsh?” Chrysalis said.  “Ah think y’all got the wrong idea about what’s going on here.”

“With all due respect, Miss Applejewel, I can assure you that we don’t think it’s harsh.”

Smog raised his claw to get her attention. “But Sunset here wasn’t attacked by the real Chrysalis.  It was an imposter-”

“I did not come here to listen to excuses!” Merry Weather shouted.  She stared at who she thought was Applejack and sighed, “Even from you Miss Applejack.  Queen Chrysalis needs to be removed.”

“But-”

“But nothing!” Merry Weather cut her off.  She turned away from the Elements of Redemption to glare at the shattered green crystals that the other Queen Chrysalis had been feeding from.

“Them shape stealing bugs will give you a fright!
Draining our love both day and night
They’re the ugliest things you’ll ever see
So I’ll put them all out of their misery!”

Before anyone could interrupt her, she spun back around to face them and kept angrily singing.

“They don’t care about nada, not zilch, no, nothing
Except bringing about our total destruction.”

Chrysalis, still disguised as Applejack, spoke up.

“Now wait just a minute, there’s another side to this
And if Ah did not defend them, then Ah would be remiss
These changelings are friends and family too
They care about our health just like we ponies do.”

Merry Weather growled and started up again.

“Oh, give me a break, you’re being too kind
These changelings have a one-track mind
They gobble up ponies faster than Smooze
Those bugs are nothing but bad news!”

“Okay listen, whiny!” Gilda shouted, attempting to end the song.  “You don’t even know what you’re saying!”

Merry Weather snarled and pressed on.

“Shut! Up now! Or taste my boot’s attack!
These bugs, they’ve got to give our crystals back!”

Chrysalis spoke up again.

“That’s where I have to disagree
There’s so much love in Everfree
Crystals keep growing far and wide!”

Merry Weather spread out her forelegs to illustrate her point to her followers.

“You see one coming, you’d better run and hide!
They’re big and ugly and mean as sin!
Will ya look at the state these crystals are in!”

Sunset’s horn glowed as green crystals blossomed out of the ground.

My crystals are fine!  They’ll regrow with my magic!”

Merry Weather growled and smashed the crystal back into the ground.

“What about death?  Can ya heal something that tragic?!”

Silver Tiara stuck her nose in the air and snorted.

“Well, I for one don’t have a doubt
These vermin must be stamped right out!”

Gilda growled.

“Okay lady, it’s time to go.
You take your mob and hit the road!”

This time, Merry Weather and her entire mob spoke as one as they circled the Elements.

“Stomp the ground!
That’s how they’ll know we’re mad!
It’s time to make those changelings sad!”

“Stomp the bugs! Stomp the bugs!
Free Peaceville of all these thugs!
Stomp the bugs! Stomp the bugs!
Clean Peaceville of all these thugs!
Stomp the bugs! Stomp the bugs!
Purge Peaceville of all these thugs!”

Merry Weather broke off from the group and shot a glare at Gilda.

“So back off now
Or taste my iron boot
Go fly off and tell those bugs to scoot!”

Chrysalis gulped at the level of hatred and fear she felt rolling off in waves from Merry Weather, Silver Tiara, and their followers.  “C-come on now, sugarcube.  Don’t y’all think that’s excessive?”

“It’s more than excessive.  I’m pretty sure what you’re all proposing is illegal,” Nightmare announced.

Merry Weather blinked in shock at her statement.  “Excuse me?”

“We are dealing with ONE crazy changeling.  Just one changeling, who as far as we know was involved in some petty theft and assaulted exactly one unicorn, who was more than capable of defending herself.  It’s quite possible that’s she committed worse crimes since then but so far, she’s the only rogue changeling I’ve heard of.  We’re also pretty sure she’s not even the real Chrysalis,” Nightmare summarized.

“And how do you propose to deal with that?  By announcing your mission to ‘stomp the bugs’ in front of an alicorn princess.  I know you, Miss Weather; I know you don’t like creatures that aren’t ponies but I never thought you’d go so far to commit hate crimes.”

“Hate crime?!” Silver Tiara cried, making a noise like a nervous squawk.  “T-that’s not what we’re talking about, your highness!”

Nightmare’s eyes narrowed.  “It sure sounds like it.  You’re using the crimes of one person to justify a violent confrontation with an entire group of people just because they’re different from you, even though they've never hurt anyone!”

“Please your majesty, I beg of you to listen to reason!  That’s not what we’re doing!” Silver Tiara protested.

“Well whatever you’re doing, stop.  As a princess of Everfree, I will notify our guards and our allies about what has happened.  More than that, I will personally lead the hunt for Queen Chrysalis, or more likely for her imposter.  If you have a problem with my decisions, you can make an appointment to see King Sombra or Princess Twilight.  As for now, all of you leave Sunset Shimmer’s property at once.”

Nightmare’s eyes glowed white as her mane and tail began to whip around her, swirling like gathering storm clouds.  “Now, are there any questions?”  As Merry Weather’s angry mob collectively gulped and began to walk away at a brisk pace, Nightmare’s hair and eyes returned to normal.  “I didn’t think so.”

“This isn’t over,” Merry Weather growled under her breath before she left the farm, her boots stomping heavily against the ground with every step.

“Way to take charge Nightmare,” Gilda said with a nod.  She flapped her wings and hovered in the air, crossing her forelegs as she glared in the direction of the retreating mob.  “You know that won’t hold them off forever, though.”

Nightmare sighed.  “You think they’ll come back, even after my warning?”

Gilda shook her head in disgust.  “Those racist idiots are too stupid to listen to ya.  If we want to get Chrysie cleared, we gotta find her evil twin before they do.”

With a flash of green fire, Chrysalis returned to her normal form.  “Gilda’s right.”

“Do you have any idea where we can start looking?” Trixie asked.  “Trixie has been meaning to test out some of her more experimental tricks and since we don’t care if your imposter is hurt, Trixie can discover for herself if her tricks are a little too explosive or not.”

“Just try not to completely fry her, you pyro,” Sunset said with a chuckle.  “But we’ll figure out how to fight her once we actually catch her.  So Chrysie, any ideas?”

Chrysalis grimaced.  “I know I said we didn’t need help from Equestria, but Merry Weather and her goons have made me a little more worried.  And as much as I know what I’d do in this situation, that doesn’t mean the other Queen Chrysalis is facing the same circumstances.  We don’t know what she’s done in Equestria recently.”  She shrugged and said, “Maybe we can ask someone for directions.”


Ten minutes later, Nightmare Moon, Gilda, Trixie, Smog, and Chrysalis were waiting within the secret chamber of King Sombra's castle where the portal to Equestria was stored.

Gilda’s tail impatiently snapped against the wall.  “I’m gonna smash Discord’s head in for making us wait.”

“It wouldn’t hurt him anyway,” Nightmare sighed.

“It’d make me feel better though.”

Trixie flicked her hat back a little.  “What do you expect?  Trixie’s mad at him too.  How could anyone bear the burden of the Furious and Betrayed Trixie’s glare of disapproval?”

Gilda’s wings snapped open.  “Hey, I know why you’re mad at him.  I know why we’re ALL mad at him.  But Chrysie could get into a heckuva lot of trouble because of her stupid evil twin.  You’d think that’d be enough for Discord to stop hiding like a little chicken and help his friend out, but-”

“But, indeed, my dear griffon,” Discord’s voice said behind her.  Gilda spun around to face him but all she saw was a wall.  Eyes narrowed in suspicion, she glanced over her wings to see Discord somehow stepping out of the bit of fluff at the end of her tail until his own tail separated from hers.

“Trixie will admit, that’s one of your more creative entrances,” Trixie commented.  She wrinkled her nose a little and said, “I can’t tell if that was inappropriate though.”

Discord waved his paw dismissively.  “I’ve seen you ponies grab each other's tails with your teeth out in public.  Can’t we all just agree to be platonically crazy?”

“As always, Trixie understands about half of what you say.  It’s good to see you again, but she is still mad at you.”

Chrysalis cleared her throat.  “I don’t mean to hog the spotlight, but this concerns me PLUS all of my changeling friends.”

“Quite right, my dear.  Just say the word and I’ll snap this whole problem away!” Discord raised his claw to snap his talons.

“Thank you for the offer but that’s not what I had in mind.  Honestly, I just need to know where all my friends are so that I don’t have to worry about the evil me replacing one of you.”  She sighed.  “It’s what I’d do in her situation.”

“I see.  Well I’m here in whatever capacity you need me, ladies.”  Discord coughed a little and asked, “Um, no hard feelings about that unfortunate accident at the party, right?  It was mostly Pinkie’s fault.”

Chrysalis sighed.  “Is it okay if I speak for everyone?”

Nightmare gestured to the mirror to Equestria.  “We’re just waiting around for Sunset’s message to get through to the other Princess Twilight.  I think you know all our thoughts on the subject.”

“Right.  Discord, you’re our best friend and that’ll never change.  But you and Pinkie Pie broke time during your crazy party.”

Accidentally broke time,” Discord corrected.  “And besides, Everfree is still standing.”

“Yes but now we’re standing a little farther behind than Equestria, and any other parallel worlds,” Sunset said.  “We wouldn’t have even known that time was frozen if Pinkie didn’t blab your secret.  But while only seconds passed for Everfree, it’s possible that our friends in Equestria haven’t seen us in years.  Decades even.  Their evil version of Chrysalis is the only bit of news we’ve heard from them so far, and she does not inspire confidence for the Equestrian kingdom’s wellbeing.”

Discord cleared his throat.  “Yes, I suppose that is pretty bad.  Is there anything I can do to patch things up?”

“I’d suggest you and Pinkie rewinding time so that Everfree is back in it’s rightful place in space-time but I think you’ve already messed around with the universe enough,” Sunset said.

“If Equestria has gone up in flames, you can try rewinding time.  If our friends on the other side of the mirror are doing okay, then everything’s okay,” Nightmare said.

“Really?  Great!  So, no problems here then?” Discord asked hopefully.

“It’s like Chrysie said dude,” Gilda said, hovering over to him and placing her claw on his shoulder.  “You’re our buddy and that ain’t gonna change.  But the next time I see you, I’m punching your lights out.”

“While we’re still waiting for an answer, why not get it out of your system?” Discord suggested, transforming his eyeballs in lightbulbs with target drawn around them.

Gilda pulled her fist back and smashed his face in.  While Discord scrapped himself off the floor, she sighed happily.  “Well I forgive you.”

“Fantastic,” Discord grumbled.  His face shifted back to normal and he glared at the mirror.  “How much longer must they keep us waiting?”

“I’m here!”  a unicorn mare said as she stumbled out of the portal.  She had a pale purplish-pink coat, purple hair with light blue streaks, and a cutie mark of a purple star with two turquoise streams shooting out of the star.

Sunset blinked as she recognized the familiar looking pony.  “Starlight?”

After catching her breath from the inter-dimensional journey, Starlight Glimmer looked up at her with concern on her face.  “Sunset!  I got here as soon as I…” she trailed off as she examined Sunset’s features.  “Hold on.  I thought I was the one who came to your world?  How are we still ponies?”

“She’s not the one we know,” Chrysalis remarked.  “Her mane style is different from what I remember.”

“C-Chrysalis?!” Starlight gasped.

“Not the one you’re familiar with,” Nightmare spoke up.  “Miss Starlight-”

“Nightmare Moon?!” Starlight shrieked.  “S-stay back!  Sunset, we need to-”

“Let’s hold off on the panic party for now, shall we?” Discord suggested as he snapped his fingers, causing the floor beneath Starlight’s hooves to melt into a candy cane coloured pile of super sticky sludge.

“Discord?!” Starlight cried as some of the sludge leapt up to her horn, temporarily cutting off her ability to use magic.  She gazed around the room.  “Trixie?!  And…” she trailed off as she got to the two Elements of Redemption she didn't recognize.

The young dragon pointed to himself and his griffon friend.  “Smog and Gilda.”

“What the hay is going…” Starlight trailed off as her eyes widened.  “Wait…I remember Twilight telling me about this…”

Discord grinned.  “Superb!  Allow me to fill in any blanks you might have, in the interest of speeding this search up along.”  He reached over to her forehead and tapped it, causing her eyes to swirl with a rainbow of colours.  The sticky sludge dissolved as he turned to face his friends and gestured at her.  “What do you suppose her deal is?”

“I know the Equestrians mentioned it to us, but it was a long time ago,” Sunset said.  “All I can remember was that this Starlight Glimmer was too evil to build the Glimmering Stars resort.”

“Doesn’t seem like the case now if she’s concerned about your wellbeing,” Trixie commented as the colours stopped swirling around Starlight’s eyes.

“Yeah…yeah, Twilight was right!” Starlight said with a grin.  “Wow.  Wow, this is such a surprise!  And an honor!” She bowed to Nightmare.  “Please forgive me, your highness.  If I had known you were the good version of Nightmare Moon, I wouldn’t have freaked out like I did.”  She smiled sheepishly.

“That’s okay,” Nightmare said, bowing her head to Starlight as a show of respect and allowing Starlight to stand up from her own bow.  “Though I am surprised as to what you’re doing in Equestria Twilight’s castle.  The last time we spoke with her friends, they mentioned that they had a bit of trouble with you.”

Starlight winced and scratched the back of her neck sheepishly.  “Well, yes.  But uh, that was a long time ago.”

“Something else you can help us with,” Trixie said.  “You see, a little while ago our two idiot goofballs threw a party so wild and chaotic that it froze time all over Everfree.  Perhaps you can tell us how much time has passed in your world and whether we should be worried.”

“Really?  Um, okay.  Let me go ask Spike,” Starlight said before she turned around and hopped back through the portal to Equestria.  Two minutes later, she hopped back out and informed them, “Spike says it’s been two and a half years since they heard from you.”

The Element bearers all blinked in surprise.  “Two and a half years?!” Nightmare asked.  “That’s…well it’s not as bad as I was afraid but still not exactly optimal.  Um, what’s changed since the last time we saw them?”

“Uh, nothing too bad, I assure you!” Starlight said with a smile.  “I tried to get my revenge on Twilight but she helped me see the error of my ways and we became friends.”  She chuckled sheepishly.  “I ended up messing around with time in my own way before I became her friendship student, but uh, it’s water under the bridge at this point.”

Sunset shrugged.  “If Princess Twilight is okay with that so am I.  What else?”

“Okay, uh let’s see.  The changelings on our side are good now, so-”

“Wait, let’s go back to that,” Chrysalis insisted.  “If you read Sunset’s letter then you know about my counterpart, right?”

Starlight’s eyes widened.  “Oh no.  If Queen Chrysalis is here causing trouble then everypony…sorry, I mean everybody is going to think she’s you!  Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” she cried as she wrapped Chrysalis in a tight hug, her eyes tearing up a little.

Chrysalis started a little from the sudden hug, but relaxed into it and gently patted Starlight on the back.  “Hey, hey now.  It’s okay.  It’s not your fault my counterpart is so nutty.”

Starlight stepped out of the hug and sniffled.  “Not entirely but I think I played a role in this.  You see, Queen Chrysalis tried to kidnap Twilight and her friends and replace them with changelings to soak up all the love in Equestria.  Me and some of my other friends were able to escape and sneak into her kingdom where we convinced the changelings to be good and saved everyone.  I tried to help her too but she swore revenge against me and flew off.  And I can’t help but think she’s here in Everfree because of me.”

As Starlight wiped the last tear out of her eye, Chrysalis hummed in thought.  “You think she’s in our world to get revenge on you?  But…what would she need in our world for that?”

“I don’t know.  I’m really sorry I couldn’t be more help but that was the last thing we heard from her and nobody’s seen or heard any news about Queen Chrysalis in months.”  Starlight straightened up with renewed confidence.  “But I’ll be happy to help you find her and bring her in.”

But surprisingly, Chrysalis shook her head.  “This is your first time stepping into our kingdom and you don’t know the changelings of this world like I do.  I don’t want you getting hurt so it’ll be best if I handle the next part on my own.”

“What?  I…wait.  Please let me come with you.  I feel responsible for her sneaking into your world and trying to ruin your reputation.”

But Chrysalis offered her a patient smile and patted her on the back again.  “Well you shouldn’t.  If there’s one thing I have in common with my loopy counterpart it’s that Queen Chrysalis is always responsible for her actions.  A rogue changeling queen is my responsibility too, even if she’s another version of me from an alternate world.  Don’t get me wrong, you’ve been more helpful than you realize.  Now that I have a better idea of what her motivation is, I know how to draw her out of hiding.”

Starlight’s eyes widened as Chrysalis was consumed by a flash of green fire and replaced with her mirror image.  “What?  No, I can’t ask you to disguise yourself as me!”

The other Starlight smiled.  “It’s a good thing you didn’t ask me then.  Don’t worry Starlight.  And guys, you don’t need to worry anymore either,” she said to her friends.  “I know what I need to do now, and trust me, I’ve got this.”

“Are you sure you don't need our help?” Smog asked.

“Sorry buddy, but I need to do this mission solo. If only to prove to Everfree and to myself that I'm the better queen.”

Nightmare stared at her for a moment.  She then shrugged and smiled.  “Your confidence is infectious.  Very well Chrysalis.  If you say you’ve got this, I believe you.”

“Same here,” Gilda said with a thumbs-up.  Sunset, Smog, and Trixie nodded in encouragement too as Discord waved a couple of cheerleader pom-poms.

Starlight bit her lip nervously.  “Are you sure?”

Chrysalis smirked confidently.  “Come on Starlight, I’m the Element of Love.  I’m the one and only Queen Chrysalis.  I know I can be a little shy, but I don’t need my friends to solve ALL my problems.”

CRASH

Everyone spun around to face a poor little pegasus mare who had somehow managed to crash through the castle ceiling, even though Sombra’s castle was made of pure crystal.  The baby blue pony with a green mane and tail quickly got to her hooves and gazed at the group in alarm.

“Oh my gosh!  Are you okay?  That was a nasty fall!” Starlight exclaimed, rushing to check the pegasus for injuries.

But the pegasus backed away from Starlight.  “I’m fine!  I’m fine, please!  Please, just don’t…I don’t like being touched.”  The mare gulped and looked around the room.  “Really, I’m fine.  I’m not scratched up or anything.”

“I know that ponies have deceptively tough skin, but you crashed through a ceiling made up of sharp, pointy crystals.  Are you sure you’re okay?” Discord asked with some concern.

“I’m fine!  I’m fine!  Just, uh…I got spooked while I was flying.”

“What?” Gilda asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Nothing.  Anyway, please ignore me.  I’m leaving now!” the pegasus smiled sheepishly before she flapped her wings and flew back up through the hole she had made.

Discord’s head stretched out like a giraffe’s through the hole.  A few seconds of searching passed before his head shrunk back to normal size and he addressed the group.  “Well she was in a hurry.”

Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed.  “Yes, she was.  Something weird is going on.”  Her Starlight disguise was replaced with a Gilda disguise in a burst of shape-shifting magic.  “Guys, take a look around the castle then fan out from there.  I have an idea about where to start looking but the more ground we cover the better.”

“Are you sure, you’ll be okay by yourself?” Starlight asked.

She smiled back at her and said, “Thank you for the concern, but once we’ve found her, Queen Chrysalis is my responsibility.  This is just something I have to take care on my own.”


“Miss Merry Weather!  We have a problem!”

Merry Weather scowled at the blue pegasus who touched down beside her.  “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

The pegasus bowed low.  “I was never given a name.  I am a humble servant to our glorious queen.”

Merry Weather’s eyes widened before she grabbed the pony’s ear with her teeth and pulled her behind a corner.  She pushed the pegasus up against the wall and hissed.  “What are you doing out in the open?!  You know what our queen told us!  Eyes and ears are everywhere!”

“Forgive me Merry Weather!  I know what my orders are, but something has come up!  I must deliver this new information to the queen at once!”

Merry Weather held her head high.  “I am our queen’s most faithful servant.  I can relay the message to her.”

The pegasus hesitated.  “Under any other circumstance I would be happy to tell you, Miss Merry Weather.  However, I don’t know if you would understand the severity of this bad news the same way our queen would.”

Merry Weather frowned.  “Are you insulting me?”

“I…” The pegasus titled her head to look around the area.  “Alright.  But what you told us about the eyes and ears everywhere is true.  I’ll need to whisper the information as quietly as I can.”

“Go on then.”  Merry Weather closed her eyes and pressed her right ear up against the pony’s mouth.  They huddled together as close as they could while the pegasus whispered her message.

Merry Weather pulled away from the pegasus in confusion.  “So it is a doppelganger.  I suppose Chrysalis can wait then.  I don’t understand how the other thing can be bad news though.  It sounds as if Chrysalis would be doing us a favor.”

“I’m sorry Miss Merry Weather, but I can’t go into the details out here in the open.”  The pony’s eyes narrowed.  “Where are we, anyway?  This is not where our queen ordered you to be.”

Merry Weather winced.  “I know.  Deliver my apologies when you see our queen again.  Unfortunately, you’re not the only mare who ran into a complication.”

She poked her head out from around the stone corner and glared out into the marketplace of the village she had found herself in.  The town was centered around a crumbling, ancient castle.  The village itself could best be described as ruined yet functional.  Every house was made with dark stone, the wooden window shutters were covered in mold, and what little paint could be seen was peeling at an alarming rate.  Merry Weather grumbled as Queen Chrysalis drained the love out of a donkey, one of the citizens of this miserable town.

“Mwa, ha, ha!” Queen Chrysalis cackled as she threw the donkey aside.  “Who needs stealth and subterfuge?  Brute force all the way!  Kneel before your queen, insignificant donkeys!”

Up above the chaos, Chrysalis in Gilda’s form swooped down from the sky and landed behind a building, out of her counterpart’s view.  She flinched back as a donkey hissed at her.  “Hey!  What are you doing here?!  Can’t you see the crazy changeling?!”

“I know.  Don’t worry, I’m here to stop her,” Chrysalis whispered to him.

“How?  That crazy parasite is shooting magic left and right!  Even if you come at her flying, you’ll never land a hit on her!”

Chrysalis sighed as she transformed into Starlight Glimmer.  “You see that flash just now?  I’m a changeling like she is but I’m on your side.”

The donkey squinted at her.  “Well, sorry for the parasite remark then.  But how do I know she’s not your queen or whatever?”

“My name is Chrysalis and whoever that changeling is, they’re impersonating me.  I’m an Element of Redemption.”

“That supposed to mean something?”

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow at that; certain that everyone should have heard of the Elements.  “We’re a group of about seven creatures who protect Everfree from-”

“Band of heroes, got it.  Now quit jibber-jabbering with me and get her!” the donkey shouted, pushing her out into the open before ducking back into his hiding spot.  “I believe in you, or whatever.”

Chrysalis spared one last glance at the odd donkey before galloping into the center of town, to finally face off against her rampaging doppelganger.

“Mm,” Queen Chrysalis moaned as she drained the love out of a poor cow.  “Tastes like ice cream.  Who else is on the menu?”

“You’re not going to hurt anyone else, you love thief!” Chrysalis shouted as she levitated her body in front of her doppelganger; hovering in midair.

Queen Chrysalis gazed at the unicorn before her and smirked.  “A pony?  While it has been refreshing to steal my love from a town that isn’t infested with you creatures, I do miss that sweet, sweet pony love.”

Chrysalis' eyes widened.  “Wait a minute…”

“Changeling queen!” The two versions of Chrysalis turned their gaze to the left to see a dark blue ram marched towards them.  The ram had two large black horns and big red eyes.  He wore a red cape similar to King Sombra’s cape and a collar with a big bell hanging from it.

“I am King Gregory the Second,” the ram announced.  “You stand within the center of Tambelon, a kingdom of dark magic.  We do not know how you have discovered our home but it does not matter.  I order you to leave this place and never return.”  He scowled and hissed, “Lest you face my great-grandfather’s undying wrath.”

“Finally!” Queen Chrysalis hissed with sadistic glee.  “Someone I can overthrow!”  She turned and fired a blast of magic at the ram.

King Gregory rang the bell around his neck with his right hoof.  The bell and the ram’s horns began to glow with the same dark magic Sombra used.  He lowered his head and fired a blast of magic at Queen Chrysalis, the two beams of power clashing against each other and creating a shockwave.

The shockwave blasted the two combatants apart, but Queen Chrysalis was quick to buzz her wings and fly up into the air.  “What fun!” she cackled as she fired another beam at King Gregory.

While the two dark mages fought each other, Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed.  “Of course.  How did I not see this?”

King Gregory grimaced in pain as Queen Chrysalis’ attack pushed him against a stone wall.  “Curses.  I’m out of practise.”

A donkey and a cow dove out of their hiding spots to help him up.  “You can’t give up now, King Gregory!  This is our home!” the cow cried.

“Please, stay back!” the ram ordered.  “I won’t have my subjects in harms way!  If I fall in battle, you’re the only ones who can keep the demon imprisoned!”

“Forget about that old fossil!” the donkey cried.

“This is all very touching, but you don’t need to fear me,” Queen Chrysalis said as she hovered over them, glaring down at them with amused contempt.  “Give your kingdom and all your love to me.  I’ll spare your lives and even deal with your little demon problem.”  Her evil grin widened as she spread her forelegs into the air.  “With all this power I can do anything!”

“Except face the truth it seems,” Chrysalis announced as she flew over to them, dropping her Starlight disguise and revealing her true self.

Queen Chrysalis’ eyes widened in shock before they narrowed.  “Well, well, well.  If it isn’t my darling little doppelganger.  Have you come to stop me, little pony lover?  Or are you here to see what a TRUE changeling queen is capable of?”

Chrysalis frowned at her counterpart.  “Who are you?”

Queen Chrysalis smirked.  “I am everything you wish you could be, but lack the strength to become.”

“No.  You’re not.  I was just disguised as Starlight Glimmer, a unicorn who is supposed to be your arch enemy.  But you didn’t even recognize her, did you?  Let me tell you, if my arch enemy was in front of me I would have dropped everything to focus solely on their destruction.”

The other changeling’s eyes widened as she felt the icy, cold anger flowing off Chrysalis.  “W-well…why should I concern myself with a lowly unicorn.  My true opponent is you, the supposed ‘Queen Chrysalis’.  It’s time I show you how a TRUE queen of the changelings is supposed to – OW!”

The false Chrysalis cringed against the stone floor, clutching her muzzle.  “What did you just do?!”

“Punched you in the face,” Chrysalis answered as she flew over the changeling’s head and wrapped her back legs around the changeling’s neck.  “And now I’ve got you in a chokehold.”

Queen Chrysalis’ eyes bulged as she gasped for air, before she teleported out of the chokehold and fired a beam of magic at her mirror image.  “Fight like a queen!”

“I’ll fight as someone else, thanks.  It’s what you’re doing,” Chrysalis answered before she shape-shifted again.  When the green fire faded, she stood in the form of Duchess Celestia.  Her horn glowed with the power of an emerald sun as she unleashed blinding light upon the city of Tambelon.

“AGH!  The light!” the other changeling cried.

“Turn it off!” King Gregory shouted; his red eyes shut tightly even as his loyal subjects hurried him to the ruined castle.

Chrysalis flew over to her opponent and pulled her up by her face.  She dropped her disguise and glared at her mirror image.  She sucked in a breath of air and spat out a glob of changeling slime onto her enemy's hooves, sticking them to the ground. “This is your last chance, ‘Queen Chrysalis’.  Surrender or else I’ll use my ultimate attack.”

The changeling hissed at her, flicking out her long, forked tongue.  “Do your worst!”

But the changeling was caught by surprise as the true Queen Chrysalis kissed her.  "Mm!" The kiss was long...lingering...electric.  The changeling felt the queen's hooves grab her face. Her flank hit the ground and she struggled to remain upright, even though she felt like she was melting into a puddle. "Mmmm!" Pink and green trails of love magic danced along their tongues as Queen Chrysalis kissed her as hard as she could. The changeling's whole body tensed as she felt a wave of magic rushing towards her.

“MMMMMM” the changeling moaned as she felt the love pouring into her, overpowering her, until her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fainted.


“And you convinced her to follow you here without restraining her?  Wow, you did a great job Queen Chrysalis,” Princess Twilight said looking over the still disguised imposter.  For her part, the false Chrysalis just glared at the ground and didn’t say anything.

King Sombra glanced at the mirror portal to Equestria before turning his gaze back to the Chrysalis’.  “Yes, a great job indeed.  However, once we’ve finished sorting out this mess I’m going to need to talk to you about that small village you caught her attacking.”

“If you say so, your majesties.”

“I thought Tambelon was more of a kingdom than a village,” Nightmare commented.

King Sombra grit his teeth.  “It’s also supposed to be a secret, Princess Nightmare Moon.”  He glanced around the room.  “Now I trust the other members of the Elements of Redemption can keep this secret.  Isn’t that right?”

Gilda shrugged.  “Sure, I guess.” Smog gave him a smile and a thumbs-up.

“What’s supposed to be secret?” Discord asked, turning his attention away from the Leaning Tower of Platypus Trees he had been assembling.

“Trixie promises nothing,” Trixie stated, sticking her muzzle in the air.

Sunset glared at them for a second before flashing a smile at the king.  “They’re joking, King Sombra.  We’ll keep it under wraps.”

“As for you Miss Glimmer, can you please not inform anyone about what you might know about Tambelon?” Sombra asked the last pony in the room.

“No problem, your majesty.  If Tambelon even exists in Equestria, I haven’t heard of it,” Starlight said.  “I only stuck around because I thought it was my fault the Queen Chrysalis of my world was attacking yours.  But…you say she’s not your counterpart?”

Chrysalis nodded.  “You want to tell the truth now?”

“Not really,” the imposter grumbled, still glaring at the floor.

Chrysalis growled and yanked on her imposter’s hair with her magic.  “Do it, or I’ll force you to turn into a baby bunny and lock you in that form.  You know I can!”

“Alright, alright!” her imposter cried.  Once her mane was released, the imposter sighed and dropped her disguise.

“Thorax?!” Starlight shouted.

Chrysalis stared at the shocked unicorn.  “How do you know my ex?!”

“Ex?  As in ex-boyfriend?!” Sunset cried.

“Trixie!  You’re pregnant?!”

The other eight people in the room glared at Discord as he held Trixie by her flat stomach.  The two friends smiled sheepishly at them.  “Sorry. We just wanted attention,” Trixie explained.

“Okay.  So, I’m guessing this Thorax is from this world, and not the Thorax I know,” Starlight said.

Thorax frowned at her.  “What I am like in your version of Everfree, pony?”

“Well actually, our kingdom is called Equestria…”

“Does it look like anyone cares, pony?” Thorax asked with a scoff.

Starlight frowned.  “Well for one thing, the Thorax I know is way more polite than you.  He’s the king of the changelings and-”

Thorax grinned.  “HA!  I was right!” Thorax cried, pointing his hoof at Chrysalis in triumph.  “I told you!  I so told you, but you never listened!”

“Let her finish,” Chrysalis said with a glare.  She raised an eyebrow at Starlight and asked, “What kind of king is he?  Does he get along with ponies and other creatures?”

“Well yeah,” Starlight said, doing her best to ignore Thorax’s crestfallen expression.  “Spike was the first friend he made, then me and the Twilight Sparkle in my world became friends with him.  Then the Crystal Empire…er, sorry our Crystal Empire again since this is the Crystal Empire too.”  Starlight chuckled sheepishly.

“So how did your Thorax become king?” Chrysalis asked.  “He’s not a royal,” she said, pointing at the grumbling changeling.  “Is that different in your world or…”

“Thorax became king after he showed the changelings how to share love instead of stealing it.  They stopped being starved of love, then they all transformed and then the changelings made him king after he, I, and our friends defeated…well, the other Queen Chrysalis.  We stopped her plan but she escaped and we haven’t seen her since.  Which was why I was afraid that she came to this world.”

“Starved of love?” Thorax asked.  “All of them? What kind of pony propaganda is that?  I may be hungry but I haven’t been starving since I was young.”

“Actually, I’m curious about something,” Starlight said.  “So, all the changelings in your world are good, right?”

“We’re as good or as bad as you ponies are,” Chrysalis answered.  “I can’t speak for every changeling in the world but the changelings in my hive are some of the sweetest creatures you’ll ever meet.”  She beamed with pride.

“Okay.  Then if none of you are starving and you all share love, why do you look…like that?” Starlight asked, gesturing at the black chitin and numerous holes in Chrysalis and Thorax.  “I don’t want to offend either of you but the changelings back home used to look just like you, when they were starved of love.”

Chrysalis frowned in confusion.  “No offense taken.  What do the changelings in Equestria look like now?”

“Well, this is what King Thorax looks like.” Starlight’s horn glowed with power as she projected an illusion of a…very colourful creature.

“BAH, HA, HA, HA!” Starlight’s attention was drawn toward Discord and Gilda as they collapsed in a fit of laughter, hugging each other as they fell to the floor.

“C…come on guys.  It’s not…that f-funny,” Sunset Shimmer said, even as she held her hoof over her mouth, suppressing her giggles.

“Yes…the Mature and Unamused Trixie does not find the giant butterfly amusing at all,” Trixie said, covering her face with her cape.

“Stop it you guys!  You’re being very rude…you too, Sombra?” Princess Twilight said, as she glared at King Sombra who was facing the wall, his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.

“What…is that?!” Chrysalis cried.  “What is that?!”

“Please tell me the other Chrysalis looks worse,” Thorax pleaded.

“Uh…no, she looks about the same here,” Starlight answered, feeling a little confused about what the joke was.

“Vegetable bug!” Gilda shouted.

“Bad OC!” Discord laughed

“Rudolph the Rainbow Reindeer!” Gilda laughed.

“Good one!” Discord laughed, giving Gilda a high five.

“The…stag horns and the butterfly wings…and a wing for a tail?!” Thorax cried.  “Whose idea of a joke is this?  What deity did I anger to deserve this?!”

Starlight frowned.  “Hey!  Stop making fun of him!  I’ll have you know the changelings happen to like their new appearance.”

“Can they still shape-shift?” Chrysalis.

“Well, yes…”

Chrysalis sighed in relief.  “Thank love.  Thank the moon and stars.  Thank everything.”  She stared at the image and sighed again.  “Well if they’re happy, I’m happy.”

“How can you be happy?!” Thorax cried.  “They’re bright and colourful!  And girly!  Oh gosh, they turned their changelings into ponies!  They’re contagious!”  Thorax backed away from Starlight, conjuring up a shield around himself and Chrysalis.  “Get away from me, you walking disease!”

“Thorax!” Chrysalis shouted, grabbing him with her magic and slamming him against the crystal wall, dissolving his shield.  “You’re being very rude!  Say you’re sorry!”

Thorax cringed.  “My queen, I love that you’re being more assertive, but I can’t apologize to a pony!”

“You broke the law, Thorax.  You attacked people and you stole from my friend Sunset.  You’re going to apologize to her, and a LOT of other people.  Now.  Say.  Sorry.”

Thorax sighed.  “Fine.  I’m sorry I think your version of me looks weird.  Honestly, I suppose it could've been worse.”  He turned to Sunset and said, “I’m sorry I drained your crystals and attacked you. And all those other creatures.”

“Can I ask why?” Sunset said.

Thorax groaned.  “What does it matter?  You’re going to throw me in jail anyway.”

“We’re the Elements of Forgiveness and Redemption.  You still need to be punished for hurting people but if you’re willing to earn our forgiveness then we’re willing to offer it,” Nightmare said.

Sunset hummed in thought.  “I’m guessing this has something to do with your past relationship with Chrysalis.  She said you’re her ex-boyfriend?”

Thorax cringed.  Chrysalis gazed at him with sympathy.  “It would be best if we start at the beginning.  Are you okay with that?”

“Whatever,” Thorax mumbled.

Chrysalis sighed.  “Thorax wasn’t always a member of my hive.  We adopted him from his old hive.  They had very few changelings who were scattered all over Everfree.  Most of Thorax’s friends preferred to go off on their own adventures.  Some built lives for themselves among ponies, griffons, and dragons.  Thorax managed to find a small village with ponies who were generous enough to give him a home.  Sadly, the two ponies that took him in were the only ones who cared about him.”

“That village was filled with packs of small-minded idiots,” Thorax hissed.  “Bullies and bigots littered the streets and the school I was forced to attend.  Always ordering me around, calling me a parasite and a hideous bug-eyed monster.  I couldn’t stand all the fear and hatred.”

Chrysalis gently brushed her hoof over his shoulder.  “With only two sources of love in a sea of hate, Thorax ran away from the village.  Not before causing a pretty big scene, from what I heard.  I still don’t know what Thorax did but he promised me that none of the ponies were hurt.  Unfortunately, after that experience Thorax never trusted ponies again.”

“I wandered from place to place, taking love wherever I could get it.  It wasn’t long until I found myself in the Equestria forest.  Two days later, I bumped into you,” Thorax said, gazing into Chrysalis’ eyes.  “You were…beautiful.  Kind.  Protective of your changelings.”

Chrysalis smiled.  “We got to talking.  Told each other about ourselves.  When I heard Thorax’s story, I welcomed him into my hive.  A few weeks later, we started dating.”

“Hold on, I’m confused,” Starlight said.  “You adopted him but then you became special some…body’s?  Isn’t that like…incest?”

Thorax growled at her.  “Excuse me?!”

She stared at Chrysalis. “Well just, what kind of relationship do you have with your hive?  Do changelings have parents or are the changelings all your children?  I mean, if you’re the queen do you lay all eggs or…”

Starlight yelped as Sunset stepped on her hoof.  “Starlight, you never ask a changeling about that sort of thing.  You let them be the ones who tell you who they’re related to.”

“Um, okay.  But why?” Starlight asked, rubbing her hoof.

“Nobody knows, but changelings get very upset when you ask them questions they think are too personal.”

Chrysalis sighed.  “She didn’t know, Sunset.  I’m sorry Starlight Glimmer, but I can’t talk about the inner workings and relationships of a hive to a non-changeling.  I don’t understand the rules myself, but there are some old traditions that we just have to listen to.”

“Stop apologizing!” Thorax snapped.  “You need to stay strong when confronting ponies.”

Chrysalis frowned at him.  “I guess that’s a good place to continue the story.  Thorax was a very sweet guy but when it came to dealing with ponies he was just…impossible!”  She kicked at the floor.  “It was always ‘stop being so shy’, ‘don’t waste your time with ponies’, ‘be more aggressive’…”

“Assertive!  I wanted you to be more assertive!” Thorax insisted.  “Your hive deserves a strong leader!”

I’m the queen of my hive!  Not you!  I decide what’s best for my changelings!” Chrysalis snapped at him.

“And you’re doing it!  Right now, this is the kind of confidence we deserve!  Why can’t you be like this all the time?”

“You don’t get to decide how I act or who I am.  And not all ponies are cruel.  Our hive doesn’t need me to be a ‘drain all ponies’ kind of queen.  I need to be wise, kind, generous, and understanding, the same as all great leaders!”

“But-”

“And I’m not just queen of a hive anymore.  I’m the Element of Love.  I have a responsibility to help my friends protect Everfree.  To be an example for other changelings to look up to.”

Thorax didn’t say anything.  His gaze turned to the ground as Chrysalis addressed her friends.  “You can see why things didn’t work out between us.  He kept telling me to be ruthless, cold-hearted, overly aggressive...someone I’m not.  And Nightmare, you remember how I was when we first met.  I’ve gotten better at talking to ponies, griffons, and dragons, but I’m still very shy.  I feel more comfortable around other changelings and I guess Thorax didn’t like it when I got nervous around what he felt were 'inferior beings'.”

“Spike was right. It really is like seeing a mix of Fluttershy and Chrysalis,” Starlight mumbled to herself.

Chrysalis spared a glance at her, before continuing.  “Anyway, I broke up with him and he got upset.  Not angry or anything just really sad and sulky.”

“Did not,” Thorax sulked.

“He was still a part of the hive, but he started avoiding me.  Sometimes he shape-shifted into a pony or another changeling.  Sometimes he’d leave Peaceville and wouldn’t come back for days or even weeks.  He disappeared again about a week before Discord and Pinkie threw their crazy time stopping party.”

“We already said sorry for that,” Discord pointed out.  “Come on, it’s not like I’m the only one who’s ever messed with time.  Am I right?”

Starlight tensed as Discord nudged her shoulder.  “No comment.”

“That’s everything I know.  Wanna fill in the blanks?” Chrysalis asked Thorax.

Thorax grumbled some more before he answered.  “It’s not public knowledge but you haven’t exactly kept her weird alternate world a secret,” he said, pointing at Starlight.  “I did some digging and found out that the Elements of Redemption were much more ruthless in her world.  After that, I got curious about how the Queen Chrysalis took care of her changelings.  What I found was promising, even if the ponies cheated and sucker-punched her out of her victory.”

“We didn’t cheat!  And we never ‘sucker-punched’ anyone!” Starlight protested.

Thorax ignored her.  “So I decided to disguise myself as Queen Chrysalis to show you how strong you could be,” he said to Chrysalis, his eyes wide and pleading.  “When Merry Weather and her thugs started bugging you, I thought you’d see how undeserving ponies are of your kindness.  Then you could stop them from taking advantage of you. Please, Chrysie...everything I did-”

Chrysalis sighed, cutting him off.  “Thorax…I think I understand why you did all this.  But what you did was wrong.  I don’t want to conquer Everfree.  I want to be friends with other creatures, instead of treating them like food.”  Her gaze hardened as she bared her fangs.  “Your little stunt put a lot of people in danger, including the changelings in our hive.  What’s more, you really hurt my feelings.”

Thorax’s eyes widened as Chrysalis turned her gaze to the floor, wiping at the corner of her eye with her hoof.  “Chrysalis…Chrysalis I am so sorry.  You know that I’d never hurt you-”

“Well you did,” Chrysalis snapped.  “So, here’s what I’m thinking, guys,” she said to her friends.  “Thorax serves out a community service punishment.  He returns ALL the love that he stole and helps rebuild any damage he caused, including the mess he made out of Tambelon.  He spends time healing the creatures that he hates so much.”

“I don't hate them. I just don't like them,” Thorax mumbled.

“Sunset, he attacked your farm first.  Do you think that if he took orders from you, you could keep an eye on him?

Sunset smiled at Chrysalis.  “I can do that.  I’ve already got more than a few ideas on what he can do to repay me for all the trouble he caused.”  Thorax grimaced at the smirk she shot him.

“That seems like an appropriate punishment,” Princess Twilight said.

“I agree.  A rather generous one, considering what you have done.  I suggest you accept your punishment.  Unless of course, you’d prefer the solitude of a cozy prison cell?” King Sombra asked with a harsh bite to his tone.

Thorax stared at them with an unreadable expression on his face.  He then turned to Chrysalis and bowed.  “I will always be yours, my queen.  If you think this is appropriate, then I will accept the consequences for hurting you and your friends.  I can only hope that after I have served my sentence you will forgive me for my arrogance and we can be friends again.”

Chrysalis sighed and gave him a quick kiss on the head, causing him to smile dreamily. “In time, maybe we can.  I have missed you Thorax.  We might never had what we had before but I would love to be your friend again.”

“Well I’m glad that’s sorted out.  Starlight Glimmer, thank you for your insight and help in capturing Thorax,” Princess Twilight.

Starlight chuckled sheepishly.  “Thanks, but I hardly did anything.”

Trixie shrugged.  “Not every show can be a magnum opus.”

“I’m pretty sure an artist or performer can only have one magnum opus,” Sunset said.

Trixie stuck her tongue out.  “Says you.”

“There’s one thing I’m curious about,” Starlight said, glancing at Sombra.

The king sighed.  “What would that be?”

“What is Tambelon?”


“We weren’t prepared for a changeling attack!” King Gregory shouted, stomping his hoof.

“Your job is to be prepared for everything!” Merry Weather shouted back.

King Gregory sighed as he paced around his rather mediocre throne room.  “What does it even matter?  The city was already in ruins, not like you can even notice the extra damage.  Changelings who are allied with King Sombra are coming to share some of their love-”

Merry Weather scoffed.  King Gregory glared at her before continuing.  “-to help the drained citizens recover their strength.  More importantly, my great-grandfather is still sealed away.  In the end, no permanent harm was done.”

Merry Weather scowled.  “This is the thanks I get for investing in your kingdom?  I work hard for Miss Applejack and I have never once failed to deliver on the promise we made.  With all the money I donate to you, one would think that a lazy king would put in better security to stop his fossil of an ancestor from escaping.”

“Now you listen here, Missy…”

Gregory paused as the door to his throne room creaked open.  A white unicorn mare with pink hair and a blue bow tied around her tail, poked her head into the room.  “Miss Merry Weather?  I have a letter for you from Miss Applejack.”

Merry Weather paused for a moment before she turned around and smiled at the unicorn.  “Thank you Miss Sundancer.  I’ll be with you once I’m finished with this old goat.”

“I’m a ram, not a goat,” King Gregory corrected with some irritation.

“Um, Miss Merry Weather?  This letter is very urgent.”

Merry Weather nodded.  “Right.  Alright then.  We’ll have to continue this another time then, Gregory.”

King Gregory smirked at her.  “Of course, Miss Weather.  I wouldn’t want to keep you from your girlfriend.”

Merry Weather blushed.  “She’s not my girlfriend.  Shut up,” she muttered a little quietly.  She ignored Gregory’s chuckles as she followed Sundancer out of the throne room.  “Where’s the letter?”

“There is no letter.  Simply a message.”

With that cryptic answer, the two mares walked in silence.  They walked down the crumbling stone staircases, deeper and deeper, until their surroundings grew so dark, Merry Weather was having difficulty seeing her own hoof in front of her face.

They turned around a corner and Sundancer bowed low to the pony that was waiting for them.  “Princess Skystar,” Merry Weather said, nodding to the hippogriff in greeting.  “You have a message for me?”

Skystar smirked.  “Sundancer, please leave us.”

As the unicorn crept into the shadows, Merry Weather raised an eyebrow.  “What’s…going on?”

Skystar closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  Her blue eyes reopened, glowing with power and icy, cold anger.

“I’m disappointed in you, Merry Weather.”

Merry Weather’s eyes widened in fear, as she fell into a trembling bow.  “M-my queen.  I realize that my failure in controlling the old ram is inexcusable.  I don’t deserve it but I beg for your mercy!”

“Gregory is not my concern.  Grogar has never been a concern.  Your failure to control your attitude is what irks me.”

“I…I can be better.  Tell me how you want me to act, and I’ll do anything you say!”

“I already know that.”

“Please my queen, I have accomplished so much with you as my guiding light.  All I want is to remain by your side!  I am your devoted and eternally faithful servant!”

“DO NOT RAISE YOUR VOICE AT ME.”

Merry Weather lowered her head to the floor and whimpered.

“Merry Weather…my faithful little pony.”

Merry Weather felt a warm, loving magic lift her head up. Her tear-filled eyes gazed at the glowing blue eyes with awe and reverence.

“Our ultimate goal is within our reach.  My power continues to grow and we have brought an end to the interference.  Everything is going according to plan.  But a complication has arisen that even I could have never foreseen.  I have a mission for you, my faithful little pony.”

“I live to obey your commands, my queen.”

“You will allow Grogar to be revived.  And then you shall destroy him.  Let your battle serve as a distraction.  The Elements of Redemption cannot know of my plans until I reveal myself.”

Merry blinked in confusion.  “We are entering the final phase?  My queen…I thought that Everfree would be the first to fall?” she asked.   Skystar shook her head as the possessing voice answered her question.

“Everfree has become too risky to attack for now…

“But Equestria is more vulnerable than ever.”