"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
I had figured to get such a response, but what I didn't expect was that Cadence was capable of using the infamous Canterlot Voice.
"If you would just hear me out--"
"No, Jack," the Princess of Love snapped, still standing after her initial outburst, "Whatever kind of plan you hatched, I don't want to hear it."
The other members of the council looked on with relative degrees of anxiety. But of all the ponies and various other ambassadors present, only Luna didn't look as if I had achieved spontaneous combustion. And even she might have only been smiling out of pity for me.
"Cadence," Celestia finally spoke, as calm and collected as ever, "I believe we owe it to Jack to hear what he has in mind. He did call this meeting, after all."
Cadence sighed before finally returning to her seat beside Shining Armor, "OK. But don't expect me to do a one-eighty on this matter."
"Thank you, princess," I stated before rising out of my chair and moving to a spot where everyone could see me.
"I am fully aware that what I just said may sound ridiculous," I began.
"More like suicidal," Julius the griffin chirped, "You want to negotiate with them? You're out of your skull."
"Well then, I apologize for not wanting to condemn an entire species to death."
"Hey, it's either you or them, human."
See," I countered immediately, gesticulating with my hands, "that's the problem. This isn't about us against them or even me against them. This is about finding a path through which all species, changelings included, can live in harmony. Isn't that the entire point of this council?"
Some members of my audience, notably Twilight, nodded in agreement. Celestia merely smiled.
"But what makes you think they want harmony," Stone Chin the minotaur asked, "They haven't been big on it so far."
"You make a fair point," I admitted, "But I think I have learned a lot about changelings in the relatively short time I've known about them. They will do absolutely anything if it means being fed. And I intend to feed them. But not in the way Chrysalis wants me to.
I paused to gauge my audience again. Many of them were leaned forward in their chairs, anxious to find out just how I planned to do that.
"It is my opinion," I continued, "that Chrysalis will negotiate for the sake of her children. That she will take the middle ground if the other two options are death."
"But what if she doesn't?"
All eyes turned to Luna. She sat at her end of the table, cold-blooded seriousness etched upon every feature. If others could hear the worry in her voice, they didn't show it. I could, however.
My train of thought came to a screeching halt. I had kept this plan of mine secret from everyone until now, even Luna. Mostly I did it to keep her from worrying over me, particularly after my nightmare. But now that I heard it, as subtle as it was, I thought about what failure would mean. Obviously being captured and held hostage by love-hungry changelings would have been bad enough. But what would have weighed on my mind more than that would be how Luna would fare. Not for a second did I consider a scenario in which Celestia, Luna, and the others would not try to rescue me, but I had not considered the possible lengths Luna may go to in order to do such a thing. That one little sentence, that one question brought up a line of thinking which I suppose I had been avoiding.
That all being said, an answer was soon on my tongue. I smiled, much to the confusion of my fellows.
"That's why I want all of you to back me up."
"Uh...come again," Twilight asked.
"Look, I have a feeling that Chrysalis is going to tell me exactly when, and exactly where, she's going to come for me. And I expect her to bring her army. I think I can convince her to meet me face-to-face. But I don't dare go it alone. I want all of you behind me, as insurance.
All eyes were shifting. Some to see what their fellows reactions were, some just out of worry.
"Put it to a vote," I said, looking directly at Celestia, "If you all don't want me to take the risk, then I will accept that. Just remember that it is my health and well-being on the line, and I think I should be the one to face it."
"Then a vote it shall be," Celestia agreed, "When I call your name, please answer 'yea' or 'nay' as to whether or not we should go with Jack's plan. As for myself, I vote yea. Princess Twilight?"
Twilight first looked at her mentor, then to me, before gaining a determined look on her face, "Yea."
"Applejack?"
The farmer shook her head and put down her hat, "Nay."
"Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow put on a confident smirk, "Yea."
"Pinkie Pie?"
The pink party pony licked her lips and looked as if she wanted to say a lot of things, but answered simply, "Nay."
"Rarity?"
The fashionable unicorn tossed her mane and looked at me with a smile, "Yea."
"Fluttershy?"
It did not take the pegasus two seconds to answer, "Nay."
"Zanzar?"
The zebra ambassador looked straight ahead into the middle distance as if contemplating the universe, "Yea."
"Selik?"
The ambassador from Saddle Arabia turned his head toward Celestia and nodded, "Yea."
"Julius?"
The griffin looked at me with a smirk, "Nay."
"Stone Chin?"
The representative of the minotaurs nodded, "Yea."
"Princess Cadance?"
The alicorn of love simply stated her obvious answer, "Nay."
"Prince Shining Armor?"
Her husband answered in a likewise manner, "Nay."
"Princess Luna?"
Every head turned toward the lunar princess. By my calculations, the vote was 7-6 in my favor. A vote against my plan would hang the vote. She, however, had her eyes firmly on me to where I could almost see the gears turning in her mind. She was not rushing her answer by any means, whether it was to back me or to search for a new solution. The weight of her gaze fell upon me, and I felt myself attempt to gulp down my anxiety.
Finally, she spoke, and while her countenance had never changed to one of outright determination, or conviction, or even confidence, she answered in the affirmative, "Yea."
"Then it is settled," Celestia spoke, "Jack, you are free to go ahead with your plan, and we all as upholders of our nations, and harmony between them, will back you."
At hearing that, I let out a large, heavy, sigh. Straightening up again, I said one final thing, "Thank you."
*-*-*-*-*
"Thank you, again," I said, looking up to the mare who's lap my head was in.
"Thou does not need to thank us," Luna replied, running her fingers through my hair, "We were always going to support thee."
"Then why did you make it so suspenseful?"
"We wanted to see the look upon thy face as the seconds ticked by," the princess said with a smile and a giggle.
I couldn't help but chuckle, "I'm going to get you back for that."
"Looking forward to it, love," she said before planting a kiss on my forehead, "But know this, if We sense that you are in any danger, We will not hesitate to defend thee."
"Wouldn't dream of it, dear," I replied with a wink.
"Speaking of which, We think it is time for thee to sleep."
"You don't want me awake?"
"It has been a long day," Luna said as she forced me to sit up before standing up herself, "But fear not, We will not be far."
"Meaning," I asked, swinging my feet over so that I could sit properly.
"Thou will be sleeping in our bed tonight," she cooed, coming over and raising my chin to look in her eyes, "That way, We can keep an eye on thee."
"Will you be sleeping with me," I asked hopefully.
"Nay," now it was her turn to smirk, "We shall stay awake, in the event that we need to wake thee."
"That was one time, Luna," I remarked, rising to my feet and immediately bringing my favorite princess into a hug, "You don't need to stand vigil over my dreams."
"Recall that watching over dreams is a part of our duties," Luna responded, more serious than I expected, "That being said," her tone softened and she placed her head on my shoulder, "Until we know why We can not infiltrate thy nightmares, We wish to be near while thee rest."
Upon hearing that, I smiled and brought my head around to look into Luna's eyes, "I understand, Luna. Thanks for being there," I leaned forward to give Luna a kiss, "I love you."
"We love thee," my lover replied before reciprocating with another kiss, "Always and forever."
After a little more mutual affection, I relented and prepared myself for slumber. Two minutes and one alicorn sleep spell later, and I was out like a light.
*-*-*-*-*
A tree provided shade for me as I sat against its trunk. In my line of sight, not one hundred yards away, I could see a road which I recognized as the one which ran between Ponyville to Canterlot. The road was to my right, to the left was a field, a sort of gap between separate groupings of trees.
"About time you arrived," a hallow, echoed voice said. Turning my head to find the source of the voice, I noticed some teal and black in my peripheral vision. Turning more, I saw Chrysalis just sitting there on the opposite side of the tree.
"What, no drones," I asked, turning my head back around to face the way I started.
"This is not the place for violence," she responded with no noticeable venom, "Whatever I can or cannot do in this realm means little in the grand scheme of things."
"I would agree."
"Besides, the last thing I need is to have your marefriend princess come in. And, contrary to what I just say, she can indeed do things in this realm that can change things."
"In other words, she could kill you in my dreams."
"In so few words."
"So then, what are you doing here?"
"I have come to give you one more message."
"And that is," I asked, intrigued by this information.
"It is time that we met in person. I have gathered all the information I can."
"Gather information? What does that mean?"
"You will learn. When I'm good and ready to tell you. In the meantime, know this: my children and I will be right here in this field tomorrow, high noon. If you want to know everything you want to know, you will show up."
"Fine. Just know that I'm not coming alone."
"Good," Chyrsalis replied. I heard rustling behind me, so I turned around to see that she was getting up and walking away, "I wouldn't expect anything less."