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// Chapter 19 
// Story: The Right Man in the Wrong Place... 
// by CORACK 
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	Rainbow Dash was the first to react, in a fraction of a second she was out of her chair and flying at the changeling queen. Before any other pony had even moved she was halfway to Chrysalis, her hoof was extended like a spear. She smashed into her target, knocking Chrysalis her backwards across the marble floor. The changeling queen slammed into the wall, knocking down a painting of Celestia. She let out a grunt of pain as Rainbow flew back, preparing to slam into her again.

"Cease your attack!" Chrysalis yelled as she stumbled to her hooves.

Rainbow didn't listen and instead flew at the changeling again. Less than a second before she could strike another blow, a green barrier flared into existence between Chrysalis and the prismatic pony. Rainbow crashed into it, and careened off to towards the wall. With a reaction time that no other pony could hope to match, Dash flared her wings, recovered, spun around mid air and launched herself yet again, just as the other ponies were beginning to react. Spitfire took to the air, swooping in from the opposite direction. Both ponies' attacks were blocked as the green barrier had expanded into a half dome surrounding Chrysalis completely.

By this time Shining Armor had raised a shield around himself, Cadance and Twilight. Twilight was staring at Chrysalis, her eyes wide with shock, but with a shake of her head she forced herself into action. Seconds later a pair of magenta bolts slammed into the green shield. The first glanced off, nearly hitting Fluttershy, but the second bolt hit with such force that a large crack spread over the barrier. 

Cadance, not to be outdone, fired a continuous beam at the damaged shield. It ground against the green barrier, sparking and sputtering until Chrysalis's defenses failed completely and the entire dome shattered. Most of the beam’s power was spent in the act of breaching the shield, but a tiny fragment of magic continued through and struck Chrysalis in the back right near one of her wings with a pitiful amount of force. To everypony's surprise, Chrysalis dropped to the floor with a bloodcurdling scream of pain.

Just as Chrysalis fell, Applejack reached the door and flung it open, calling for the guards. The two guard ponies standing outside ran in, spears aimed at the downed changeling. When they reached her, the first guard spun around, let out an unpony-like hiss, and shook his spear threateningly. The other dropped his spear to the ground and with a flash of green flames it's disguise burned away revealing a small changeling. It bent down and nuzzled Chrysalis, then it's horn lit with a gentle green glow and a stream of magic flowed into the queen. Then it picked up it's spear, re-disguised itself and joined the other guard.

Chrysalis coughed and slowly pulled herself to her hooves.

"Two more changelings won't save you Chrysalis," Cadance said. She took a step towards the two guards and her horn lit up as she prepared another attack.

Chrysalis smiled weakly at the pink alicorn, "you would attack children to get to me?" she asked with a ragged laugh.

Cadance stopped mid step, "children?"

"Stand down," Chrysalis said, still panting as she looked at the two disguised changelings.

Both of them immediately lowered their spears and dropped their disguises. Like the changeling that had helped Chrysalis, the second one was also quite small, no bigger than a Applejack's sister, Twilight noted. Each of the small changelings wore a necklace with a glowing green gem.

"I... am here... to talk" Chrysalis said as she brought her heavy breathing under control. "I came here to find out where Celestia and Luna had disappeared off to. Now that I know, Equestria is likely doomed, but not by me. I have neither the strength nor the will to fight you, it pains me to say this but I am in need of aid and I have an excellent reason for you to give it to me."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Cadance asked.

"You don't, but if you promise to see my proof and hear me out, I will explain my situation and then you can decide what to do from there. If you listen, I will not resist."

"How do you know you can trust us?" Shining Armor asked.

Chrysalis laughed, "I am a changeling, I excel at reading ponies and other creatures, one of the reasons I can mimic them so easily. I can detect a pony lying as easily as you can lift a quill, you have no hope of deceiving me."

"Fine," Twilight said rolling her eyes, "we will hear you out, what proof of the need for aid can you offer?"

"This," Chrysalis replied, a small flash of green flame lit up on her back where Cadance's spell had struck the changeling. A large jagged hole appeared on her back, at the joint of her left wing. The wing itself vanished, nothing was left of it but a small burnt end, the one that had been visible moments before was nothing more than an illusion. The injury ran deep, black charred flesh mixed with pus stained muscle was visible inside the hole and the surrounding carapace was cracked and covered with dried green blood. Twilight gasped and turned to Cadance with a puzzled look. 

Cadance looked bewildered, she turned and met Twilight's gaze, "impossible, my spell didn't do that, I'd never put that much power into an attack."

"No, it did not, it was merely misfortune that you happened to hit an already existing wound," Chrysalis said. "I will tell you how I received this injury but it will require a lengthy explanation."

The rest of the ponies stood by while Twilight and Cadance talked quietly with Shining Armor, after a minute Twilight turned back towards Chrysalis and nodded, "start talking."

"Wait!" Fluttershy shouted, interrupting Chrysalis before she could begin. When she realized everypony was staring at her, she ducked behind her mane, "I'm sorry for yelling but we can't just ignore that," she said pointing at the wound. "Chrysalis is hurt she needs medical attention, "

Twilight's face turned red, burning with shame as she realized she hadn't even considered offering any help, but Chrysalis just laughed.

"Fluttershy speaks and she is true to her Element, but still, I expect the rest of your friends to be wiser, they will not help me until I convince them that they must."

"No, Fluttershy is right, at this point Chrysalis is either our prisoner... or a guest," Shining Armor said somewhat reluctantly. "I'm not sure which she is yet, and honestly I'm leaning towards prisoner until I have reason to otherwise, but Equestria does not mistreat either."

Cadance stepped forward, "I will look at it."

"You don't have, we can get a doctor," Shining Armor said.

"No, it was my spell that hit the wound, I feel responsible," Cadance said quietly.

"You will not succeed," Chrysalis said, her eyes narrowing as she gazed down at Cadance. "Changelings have amazing regenerative powers, this wound should have healed months ago, instead it festers, a side effect I fear of the dark magic which inflicted it."

"I can try," Cadance said, as she returned Chrysalis's stare with a look of defiance.

She cautiously approached Chrysalis, keeping her eyes locked on the queen's face watching for any sudden movements. Chrysalis for her part just eyed Cadance wearily, looking no more comfortable at the alicorn's closeness than Cadance was. A light blue glow surrounded the wound as Cadance prepared her spell. Cadance grunted with effort as she directed her magic to heal the wound, Chrysalis bared her teeth, as the pain of the muscle and chitin slowly regrowing coursed through her. Some of the burns began to fade away and turn pink again as living tissue replaced scorched flesh. Cadance beamed with pride as her spell slowly repaired the damage, but her smug look quickly vanished as her progress slowed and then halted completely. She grimaced, sweat dripping down her face as the glow of her horn increased twofold and she poured more and more magic into the spell but the wound refused to heal further. A moment later, her stamina exhausted, she collapsed, panting heavily. Shining Armor rushed over to her side and helped her to her hooves.

"I'm sorry, it was working but then I felt a resistance begin to build up and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't heal anymore," Cadance said.

"I warned you! Only Celestia, or perhaps her sister, would have the power needed to heal this wound," Chrysalis said as if annoyed with the alicorn's attempt. Then she turned to inspect the small amounts of progress Cadance had been able to make. Her stern, almost angry look, faltered and dropped away.

"Still, I thank you for your efforts," she spat out. "It is more than I expected after what I did to you and your husband."

"I don't mean to sound callous, but we still need to know why you are here," Twilight said.

Chrysalis took on a more serious look, she sat down on the floor and began to speak. 

"After the wedding, the changelings that survived Cadance and Shining's retaliation were scattered for miles around Canterlot."

"Wait, survived? What do you mean?" Shining Armor asked, looking puzzled.

"You didn't know? Your spell destroyed most of my army outright. The few of us that were not killed were left nearly powerless. Even I took days to recover access to my magic, days that I had to spend in hiding instead of gathering my scattered warriors. When my powers returned, I sought out those that remained alive, so I could return them to the safety of the hive. How many changelings died while I was recovering or still searching? I do not know. With their magic disrupted they were unable to disguise themselves and as a result could not feed. The ones that had enough energy to make it home on their own did so, some others I was able to rescue. The rest starved to death."

Cadance went pale while Shining Armor stared in shock, horrified to learn what had happened as a result of his actions. The rest of the ponies in the room stood still in mute silence unable to believe what they had just heard.

"I... I had no idea, " Cadance said stammering, her ears hung limply against her head.

Chrysalis scoffed at the ponies reactions. "We invaded your capital and you fought back, It took me a long time to come to terms with what happened but after the rage passed and I was thinking more clearly I realized that the fault was my own. If my hive had been attacked in such a manner, I would have responded the same as you."

"Of the 50,000 changelings, nearly a quarter of my total forces, that marched on Canterlot, less than 5,000 returned, so many changelings were lost that day, so many of my subjects... my children," Chrysalis said slumping downward.

"The invasion was a mistake on my part, changelings have avoided open war in the past, preferring to stay in the shadows, but I foolishly believed I had grown powerful enough to deal with any resistance, but as I said, it took me a while to come to terms with that. After first being cast out, I went mad with grief and a burning need for revenge. Yet even in my madness I knew I did not have the strength to succeed. To accomplish my goals I would need a new power, something more reliable than the stolen love of a pony."


"I still don't understand why you attacked us to begin with," Cadance said. "What did we ever do to you?"

Chrysalis raised her head back upwards and smiled at Cadance's question, her one remaining wing bouncing up and down as she shook with laughter. "Did? You did nothing, it is what you offered that fueled my desire to control Equestria."

"What we offered?" Twilight asked.

"Tell me Princess Cadance or Princess Twilight," Chrysalis said, stressing their titles with a hint of disdain, "what would either of you do if your subjects were slowly starving to death?" She spread her wing and reached out towards the two small changelings. "If the vast  majority of your young never reached adulthood due to a lack of food, while a neighboring nation had an overabundance of the very thing you needed for sustenance?" she paused as her head sank down. "How far would you go to save them?"

The pair of changelings nestled up against their queen, hissing and clicking contently, Pinkie Pie let out a squeak in excitement, she looked at the adorable duo and asked, "how old are they?"

"Six and seven years," Chrysalis replied, nuzzling each of them.

"Changelings are not like ponies, the love of another does not just feed our magic, it sustains us, we consume it like ponies consume food. Without it we will slowly wither and starve."

"You don't eat food?" Rainbow asked confused.

"We do, though a changelings diet is more... carnivorous in nature, than your average ponies," Chrysalis said with a smile, a small pair of fangs clearly visible. "But alone it is not enough."

"Y'all don't eat ponies do ya?" Applejack asked slowly.

"Of course not," Chrysalis said shaking her head in disgust. "Changelings don't eat sapient species anymore than griffons or even some ponies do. Only for love do we need to feed off of an intelligent species and that is not normally dangerous, at worst it may result in some bad headaches," she said glancing at Shining Armor who looked a little relieved at the news.

"If your kingdom was in trouble why did you not just ask for help?" Rarity asked. "I'm sure Princess Celestia would have offered assistance."

"The thought had crossed my mind, I have been around long enough to see what Celestia does to her enemies, but I have also seen her great compassion, I knew it was if I approached her for aid, it was possible that she would help, but in the end I decided that I could not take the risk. A decision that was heavily influenced by a lust for power that grew as I became drunk on the strong love Shining Armor has for Cadance."

Shining blushed at that statement and Cadance gave him a quick nuzzle.

"You were saying you needed to find a new form of power?" Twilight asked.

"The Elements of Harmony are not the only magical artifacts of great power in this world, I believe you are familiar with at least a few others..." Chrysalis said trailing off.

"You mean the Crystal Heart?" Cadance asked. "You could no more bend that to your will than you could the Elements."

"That is one, but it is not the artifact of which I speak, nor the only one Twilight had dealings with. And while the Element of Harmony and the Crystal Heart would never lend their power for misuse, not every ancient relic has such restrictions."

Twilight gasped, "You don't mean the Alicorn Amulet do you? How do you know about that?"

"You are a quick one," Chrysalis said with a wicked smile. "I have ears and eyes throughout Equestria, even now when there are few of us that remain, your kind are hard pressed to keep secrets from me. I knew that the princesses were missing before I arrived, though the reason eluded me, which is one of the reasons I came. In the same way, I heard about your run in with the Trixie and was shocked to learn that the amulet had surfaced again after all these years."

"All these years?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Surfaced again?" Twilight asked at almost the exact same time.

"This is not the first time that amulet has caused trouble, but I am guessing from your reaction that not every event of significance is recorded into pony history. Suffice it to say, Trixie's use of the amulet caused far less serious problems than that amulet has been involved with in the past. You are lucky she only wore it for a few days. The last pony to find it murdered a whole town in a fit of madness."

"If it's not in this history books, how do you know about it," Spitfire asked, breaking her silence.

"As I said before, I have been around a long time. Celestia and Luna would call me young but I have walked this world for almost 3,000 years and I have seen many things."

"3000 years? Are you immortal?" Shining Armor asked.

"Trying to determine the vulnerability your enemy?" Chrysalis asked with a grin as she stood up and walked towards Shining Armor.

"I am ageless, not immortal," she said before leaning in very close. 

"But should you try to kill me you will find out that changeling queens do not die easily," she whispered in his ear before walking away.

"How do you tell?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Tell what?" Chrysalis asked.

"Agelessness and immortality, until the pony, or in this case changeling died, how would you know the difference?"

"Well, for one, none of my predecessors were immortal. Nor is my hive the only changeling hive on Equus. I have personally seen other queens rise to power and fall from it. None of them were withered by time's cruel touch no matter how old they grew, nor did any die of natural causes," the dark queen replied.

"I do not expect myself to be any different than those who preceded me. The high honors, or perhaps curse, depending on your point of view, of true immortality belong to a very small group of beings, I know of only three in existence and you have managed to somehow lose track of them all," she said smugly.

"How do you know..." Rainbow Dash began to ask but Chrysalis interrupted her.

"I was there, in the shadows, unseen and unknown, watching as the fate of Equus was decided," she said with a slight tremor. 

"No mortal could have survived the onslaught your lost princesses loosed upon Discord in a futile attempt to stop him, nor could any mortal pony have survived his counter attack as he tried to dispense of what he thought were two mere ponies trying to stand to his might. It was only after that great battle did the two sisters finally turn to the Elements," she said paling slightly. 

"Now that I am no longer drunk on Shining's love nor mad with revenge, my thoughts often turn to the day of the wedding. I do not know how Celestia did not destroy me, I made a challenge that should have killed me yet I still live..." she said trailing off.

There was an awkward silence before Twilight spoke up.

"I think we're getting a little sidetracked," she said "You still haven't told us why you are here."

"If you do not want to get side tracked, then stop asking so many questions!" Chrysalis said sharply.

"She's right, why don't we let Chrysalis speak, we can hold any questions till the end." Shining Armor said.

Everypony nodded in agreement, Twilight pulled out a scroll and quill, ready to take notes as Chrysalis resumed her tale.

"Finding the amulet was easy enough, let this be a lesson to you Twilight. Hiding an artifact of unimaginable power is a poor substitute for true security. Especially when you practically gave the location away in your letter to Celestia."

"Only Celestia has access to those!" Twilight exclaimed.

"And as far as the guards at her room were concerned none but Celestia has ever entered her room without permission," Chrysalis said her horn lit up and with a flash her body morphed into a perfect duplicate of the solar princess. Seconds later she dispelled the disguise and returned to her true form with a laugh.

"Even if your letters had not made the location so obvious, in the long term that which is hidden tends to become lost, lost to memory and lost to time. Then, after it is long forgotten, somepony stumbles upon it and by the time anypony remembers why it was hidden, it is too late," Chrysalis said sternly.

"With the amulet in my possession and plans of revenge brewing, I began my trip back to the hive. I had not worn the amulet yet for even in my madness I knew its power would corrupt my goals, so I needed to do some research. The amulet you see, has a terrible side effect. If worn for long enough it will drive the bearer insane. A lack of mental control had already cost me dearly, if my plans were to succeed I needed a way around that unfortunate side effect. But research takes time and I felt that visiting the Canterlot Royal Archives for days at a time were too risky, even for me. In the end I went to the only other place that would have the records I would need. The once great but now abandoned library in the ancient Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree Forest."

"It was at that castle I ran into somepony I did not expect, tell me is anyone familiar with Lord Tirek?"

"I don't think I've heard of him," Twilight said shaking her head. The rest of the ponies nodded in agreement.

"I did not think you would be. As I said before, not everything makes it into your history books," Chrysalis paused in thought before continuing.

"Sometimes I think you ponies do not know how lucky you are. Power corrupts, is something that is often heard, but I disagree with it. Instead I say power, without the responsibility to wield it, corrupts, but it is perfectly possible to be powerful and remain pure. I offer this as proof, one of the most powerful beings that has ever existed rules over your kind with benevolence. She uses her strength not to bend others to her will, nor to further her own goals, but to keep her subjects safe so they can learn and grow as a species, often placing herself in harm's way to do so."

"Celestia has fought so many to keep ponykind safe. Discord, Sombra, myself and even her own sister, of those you are familiar with. They all have something in common. None of them, myself included, started out with the intention to do evil. Discord wields unimaginable power, but he is not evil, instead he is more like a child, driven purely by wants and desires, but with no regard for others. Luna wanted nothing more than the love of her ponies, a desire that I can relate to. Though we wanted love for different reasons, the need for it drove both of us to do horrible things. Sombra was nothing more than a scholar and a wizard. His obsession with immortality eventually drove him to delve into forbidden texts and experiment with dark magic before he was prepared to properly control it. Let this be a warning, the quest for knowledge can often have unintended consequences," Chrysalis said, glancing at Twilight.

Twilight gulped and smiled nervously as Chrysalis resumed talking.

"But there was one in the distant past, a being whose intentions were evil from the start. He came to Equestria's shores from a distant land, drawn by tales of the great magic flows that through all ponies. With his brother, Scorpan, he worked on a way to take that magic and make it his own. They designed a spell that would allow them to steal a pony’s magic, as they took more and more their own power would grow."

"You can't completely separate a pony from magic, not without killing them. Suppress it yes, drain it for a time, sure, but completely take it? That's just not possible," Twilight said.

"True, Lord Tirek could only hold onto that power for a limited amount of time, but while drained, the ponies he attacked would be left weak, practically helpless. No more enhanced abilities, no flight, no spells. Even a pony's cutie mark would be stripped. If left alone, in time they'd recover, but there was nothing to stop Tirek from simply draining them again."

"Where is this story going?" Cadance asked.

"So much for holding your questions," Chrysalis said with a laugh. "He was stopped before he could carry out his full plan. Scorpan became friends with a young unicorn named Star Swirl, long before he became famous. Scorpan told Star Swirl of Tirek's plan and Star Swirl went to Celestia and Luna with that information. They stopped Tirek and cast him into Tartarus."

"Why didn't he just steal Celestia and Luna's magic?" Applejack asked.

"Draining a pony of magic is a little like drinking water. Some ponies might have barely a glasses worth of magic, others may have a barrels worth. Trying to drain either of those two sisters would be like trying to drink the ocean. The analogy is not perfect, for the more ponies Tirek drains, the more magic he can hold. He believed that in order to contain the magic of either of them, he would first have to drain every other pony in Equestria. Whether or not that would actually allow him to succeed, I do not know."

"While that's extremely fascinating, I don't get why you are telling us this," Twilight said.

"Because he escaped! A little over a year ago, when Cerberus left his post at the gates of Tartarus, Tirek broke out. I found him wandering in the ancient library, greatly weakened by the centuries he spent in Tartarus but slowly recovering. He was researching the vilest of dark magic, spells he would have never had access to in the past. He learned of the amulet and also wished to obtain it. I struck a deal with him. Tirek desired the magic of ponies and my changelings need your love. Since we wanted separate things but had a common enemy, I saw no reason to not work with him to discover a way to use the amulet."

"I brought him back to my hive and allowed him to feed off the magic of captured ponies, Tirek slowly regained strength; as he did we researched the amulet in the texts stolen from the Castle of the Two Sisters. It was there that we learned where it had come from. Would you care to make a guess?"

"No games Chrysalis, just spit it out," Shining Armor said sternly.

"A pony that you and your wife are intimately familiar with. The former ruler of your Crystal Empire, King Sombra."

The crowd let out a collective gasp.

"As I said earlier, Sombra was obsessed with finding a way to escape death. Celestia and Luna had been around for several thousands years in his time and he wanted, more than anything else, to find a way to extend his own life indefinitely, as theirs seemed to be. The Alicorn Amulet isn't named that way because it grants it's bearer great power. While it does enhance one’s abilities, according to what we discovered, it was originally meant to help Sombra ascend."

Chrysalis stood up and began to pace back and forth as she continued her story.

"We had learned all that we could, but it gave us a clue as to where to turn to next. Sombra's castle. I disguised myself and journeyed to the Crystal Empire. Because I had already read your report to Celestia about the hidden staircase you had discovered, I was able to gain access to it but found nothing. For months, a select group of my best changelings and I scoured the Crystal Empire for any information related to the amulet. While I searched for answers the rest of the hive focused on rebuilding my army. If I were to attack again, I wanted a vastly superior numerical advantage."

"You already outnumbered the Royal Guard if 50,000 changelings were a quarter of your forces," Shining Armor said.

"I know, I keep tabs on the size of the Royal Guard," Chrysalis said smugly. "I cannot engage with all my forces. My hive is both the largest and the strongest, and so I have many rivals. If I were to use all my forces to attack Canterlot, it would be a virtually guaranteed that another queen would invade my hive while I was gone.

"I thought you said your children were starving to death, how could you support more soldiers?" Twilight asked.

"No, my adult subjects were starving, the children, they do not reach adulthood. Changelings... they do not follow the same life cycle that ponies do. Physical growth halts between 10 and 12 years of age. At that point a changeling will be a little smaller than the average pegasus pony. They are known as worker drones at this point, still considered children. While they are physically strong, they do not have access to all the abilities that adult changelings have. They can not fly, nor can they disguise themselves. Their magic is limited to the transference of love and simple levitation."

"You said these changelings were 6 and 7 and they were disguised as guards," Cadance said.

"The gemstones they wear around their necks mimic a changelings ability to disguise themselves. It is limited to a single form and they must be recharged once a day," Chrysalis said.

"So how does a changeling reach maturity?" Twilight asked. A notepad had appeared and she was quickly writing down everything that Chrysalis had just said.

"Changelings need love to finish growing. Until they first start absorbing love, they can get by on normal food alone. When they absorb enough love, it resumes the normal growth process, they will then reach maturity in 6 months to a year, depending on how much love is available. The vast majority of a hive's population is made up of children and worker drones. This helps protect the hive from outgrowing its supply of love. It also allows us to quickly repopulate after a population loss, or grow our numbers rapidly when love is in abundance. In my hive, they outnumber adult changelings 10 to 1, they are just over four million in number."

"Four million!?" Shining Armor shouted out in shock.

"As long as they do not reach physical maturity the aging process is halted. They do not die of old age and I have been laying eggs for a long time," Chrysalis said.

"You... you could have overrun half of Equestria by numbers alone with an army that size," Shining Armor said weakly.

"Were you not paying attention at all? These are CHILDREN! Would you send colts and fillies off to war?"

"No...I would not. I'm sorry," Shining Armor said.

"I suppose it is to be expected, after the first impression that I made," Chrysalis said, shaking her head. "In any case, worker drones are not fighters, their function is to build the hive, digging the vast network of underground tunnels that form a changeling home."

"That still doesn’t explain how you could feed your adult population," Twilight said.

"Surely you are not oblivious to the many reports of missing ponies throughout the Equestria?" Chrysalis asked. "A single pony can feed many changelings, but there are many in my hive and many hives. In the past we would kidnap what ponies we could, but we couldn't risk exposing our existence so the numbers had to be kept low. 

Shining Armor gulped, "I’ve been reading up on them, the numbers have been increasing rapidly and not a single pony has been found."

"My foalish attack on your capital is to blame for that change. Before it, often the ponies kidnapped would be fed upon and then released after a memory wipe. Now changelings are becoming more bold, worried that it is only a matter of time before ponykind seeks us out. They gather what strength they can now for the inevitable clash, keeping the ponies they enslave in perpetuity as a renewable food source."

"So all the missing ponies are in your hive?" Shining Armor asked.

"Some yes, but not all. As my own hive grew in number, other hives have stepped up their own abductions in order to grow their own numbers and keep a balance of power."

"Great, so now there are more changelings than ever." Shining Armor said with a hint of annoyance.

"Getting back on track... Were you able to find a way to safely use the amulet?" Twilight asked.

"Eventually I found a tome hidden in the depths of the catacombs below the Great Crystal Library. It spoke of the magical door that Twilight used to reach the Crystal Heart. King Sombra was extremely paranoid and he used powerful magic to hide not only the Crystal Heart but many other things as well. That door was the key to reaching those places. Twilight, you discovered that with the right spell the door brought you to the top of the tower. But that is not the only place it lead. The tome indicated that by altering the magic fed into the door it would take you to many other hidden locations. I was only able to find the correct spell for one additional area, a workshop hidden under the castle. It was where Sombra created the Alicorn Amulet."

"You mean to tell me that there is more of Sombra's dark magic still hidden in my empire?" Cadance asked.

"I suspect so, but as I said I only found one additional room. Sombra's notes were very clear, the Amulet was designed to drive anypony that used it utterly insane, save for Sombra himself. There was however, a single exception. Another being could use the amulet if they had the Will of Sombra."

"What the hay is the Will of Sombra?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"A small black gem that fits into a slot on the back of the amulet. I found the Will of Sombra in this room, the notes say that Sombra had never found another pony worth of using the amulet so it had never left the workshop. I took the Will of Sombra, all the notes I could find and headed back to my hive."

"In my absence, my army had been rebuilt. With Tirek helping us capture ponies to supply my forces with love we were able to sustain an enormous number of mature changelings. I now had over 150,000 changelings in my main force with a reserve of another 150,000 that could defend the hive."

"But as Tirek and I discussed our plans of attack and I brought him up to speed on my findings about the Alicorn Amulet, I grew unsettled. The things I had read in Sombra's notes had disturbed me greatly. They were not the writings of a pony simply seeking immortality at any cost, they were the works of a raving lunatic. Though I was alive during his reign, my hive is very distant from the Empire, I did not know the details of his reign, nor did I know of all the travesties he committed on his quest for immortality. I only learning what little Celestia had written down after she and Luna had banished him. It was one thing to read about Celestia's version of Sombra's history and the decisions he had made, but it was entirely different when I had at my hooves a firsthand account of the things he had done."

"I wasn't sure what to do anymore, in the back of my head a small voice told me to reach out to Celestia. But that was impossible, she had already left on her vacation, leaving you and Cadance in charge," Chrysalis said. 

"I found it odd that I could not locate either of the two princesses, wherever they had gone, it was the first pony secret I had been unable to discover. That meant dealing with the ponies I had hurt the most during my invasion, while I believed Celestia would have at least heard me out, I did not think either either you or Cadance would be so forgiving," Chrysalis said, looking at Twilight.

"Well you did come to us, what changed your mind?" Twilight asked.

"Tirek did. Even as my burning desire for revenge slowly waned, Tirek's lust for power grew. I could sense it growing and knew he would betray me if he thought he could get away with it. I thought I could control him, but I was wrong. He demanded we use the Alicorn Amulet and launch an immediate attack. I stalled him so I could consider my options, but when the news that Celestia and Luna were not just on vacation but were missing entirely, he refused to wait any longer."





"They have lost their greatest defense, the time to strike is now!" Tirek shouted, slamming his fist down on the large wooden table before them. The table shook with the force of the impact. His voice echoed off the black stone walls, stronger by far than it had been when Chrysalis had first found him. The steady infusion of magic over the last six months had caused him to grow in size. No longer withered and frail, he now stood nearly as tall as Chrysalis herself.

"It is MY ARMY! We will not attack unless I am sure we have a path to victory. I do not believe that 150,000 can hold the capital perpetually. The Royal Guard has grown since my last attack, eventually they will rally and take it back. And do not underestimate Twilight Sparkle or Cadance. The two of them working together nearly cost me my life the last time I attacked Canterlot."

Tirek reached down and picked up a miniature of a changeling warrior from the map sprawled out on the table. It represented one of the many battalions at the dark Queen's command. He looked at the tiny spear it carried, the armor it wore and he narrowed his eyes. He closed his fist and crushed the figure, dropping it on the table. 

"If you would use your workers, you could call upon an army of millions," he said, the annoyance in his voice was clear.

There was a scraping sound of stone on stone as Chrysalis pushed her chair back and slowly rose up. She walked over to the centaur and glared at him.

"Are... you... insane? Those workers are changeling children! You don't send children off to war!" 

"Children nearly as strong as a pony. Even with their limited magic they would still make a formidable force," Tirek said.

"No! And don't suggest it again."

"Fine!" Tirek shouted. He paused to collect his thoughts. "There is another option..." 

"What is it?" Chrysalis asked with a sigh.

"The other hives. If you were to conquer them, unite all the changeling hives under one banner, you could have an army of millions, even without using your children."

"Such a thing has never been done. Every queen that has attempted it has failed, and died in the attempt," Chrysalis said wearily as she returned to her seat.

"Then let me use the Alicorn Amulet. With it's power I would be able to strip hundreds or even thousands of ponies of their magic at a time. Maybe even permanently. Their armies would only fuel my growing strength," Tirek said.

"I have told you already, I am still not convinced we can control it, " Chrysalis said, lifting a hoof to rub her head. "I do not want to risk using it unless we have no other choice."

"But the notes you found..."

"TO TARTARUS WITH THOSE NOTES! Have you read them? Sombra was completely insane, driven mad by his obsession! I would not place my trust in anything designed by him."

"Do not speak to me of Tartarus," Tirek growled, "you were not confined there for thousands of years."

"No, I wasn't. And I have no intention of going there either. Which means not attacking Canterlot a second time. If the ponies find that I survived the first encounter they may decide to banish me there when the second attempt fails."

"So now you will not attack at all?" Tirek asked.

Chrysalis let out a sigh, "I don't know. Part of me agrees with you, strike while they are weak. But another part says that maybe it is time I made peace with the ponies."

"That is unacceptable!" Tirek shouted, his rage growing anew. "Maybe you could find a way to coexist but they will never willingly give up their magic and nothing you can do will convince me to not take what is rightfully mine."

"Then perhaps it is time for us to call an end to our cooperation. Leave my hive, I will not stop you. You are doing exactly what King Sombra did, your lust for the ponies magic will destroy you just as Sombra's quest for immortality did him."

Tirek glared at Chrysalis, then his lips twisted upward into an evil grin.

"You were off in the Crystal Empire for quite some time. While you were away I learned much about changelings and their magic. I am particularly fond of how your species can ensnare the minds of their victims," Tirek said. His two horns began to glow and a green sphere of energy formed between them. A black beam lanced outward, striking Chrysalis in the head. "I am not going anywhere and you will help me whether you like it or not"

The glow around Chrysalis's head brightened, for a moment, her eyes went pale and lifeless. Then they lit up a dark green flash.

"MIND CONTROL!?" Chrysalis screamed. "You dare try to use changeling magic on me!? Her horn brightened and a pulse of magic traveled back up the beam, knocking Tirek backwards. "Changelings are highly resistant to that spell, you couldn't hope to command a single drone."

Tirek picked himself back up. "Not immune though, I just need more power." His horns lit up again, summoning a large ball of energy. He directed it at Chrysalis who raised a shield just in time to block the attack. The ball of energy glanced off the shield, hit the table, and exploded, sending chunks of wood and miniatures in all directions. As the smoke cleared, Chrysalis caught glimpse of Tirek running out of the room.

"Guards!" she shouted, as she ran into roughly hewn hallway. "Stop him!" 

A contingent of changelings rounded a corner down the far end of corridor, responding to the shouts from their queen. Tirek ran in the opposite direction, heading deeper into the hive. He slipped through an open passageway, just as another two more changelings appeared from a nearby room, trying to block his way. Chrysalis and the rest of the guard chased after him. The guard's horns lit with a green glow, they fired shot after shot of sticky green goop, but Tirek managed to dodge each attack as he headed towards Chrysalis's private quarters.





"What happened next?" Twilight asked.

"He made it to my chambers, it was where I was keeping the Alicorn Amulet. I suspect he had been planning this for some time because he was able to bypass the enchantment I had protecting it in seconds. My guards and I entered the room, the first thing I saw was the pedestal that the amulet had been resting on, the protective shield it was encased in had been dispelled.

"From the darkened corner of the room, Tirek stepped forward, just as he finished inserting the Will of Sombra into the back of the amulet. I tried to stop him from putting it on but I was too late. He blocked the first attack and then put the Alicorn Amulet around his neck before we could break his shield. The amulet began to glow, a dark blood red. He began to grow until he was even larger than Celestia. His horns lit up and a green ball of magic formed. It was so bright it hurt my eyes to look. A massive wave of energy went out in all directions and I and all my guards were knocked to the ground."

"I remember... a feeling of distance. I watched through my eyes as my body got up and moved about the room. I heard orders given by... somepony or something. I began to follow them. I didn't know what they were nor did I care. All I knew is I was going to follow them and everything would be alright. I... I…"

Shining Armor looked at Chrysalis knowingly. Slowly he opened his mouth, his voice barely a whisper.

"That was how I felt... before the wedding."

Chrysalis lowered her head and turned away from the white unicorn. Tears started to grow in her eyes, she tried to hold them back but it was too much. Her willpower crumbled and they began to fall freely. She collapsed to the floor, and quickly tried to bury her face in her hooves. The two young changelings galloped over to her and nuzzled up against her. She kept her face down, hidden from the rest of the room, unable to gather the will to look Shining Armor in the face.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... so sorry..." she cried out over and over again, stumbling over the words as sobs racked her body.

Shining Armor took a step forward, hesitated and began to turn his head, looking back towards the rest of the group. Before he made eye contact, his head drooped down. He turned back towards Chrysalis and took two more steps forward until he was standing at her side. He brought a forehoof up and rested it on her back.

"I forgive you."

Slowly, the flow of tears diminished. Shining Armor kept his hoof on Chrysalis' back until they stopped entirely. When her breathing had calmed down she spoke again, still refusing to make eye contact with any of the ponies in the room.

"Tirek’s spell had given him complete control over myself and the hoofful of guards present, but even with the amulet’s power there was no way for him to maintain dominance over my mind forever. Eventually my body’s natural resistance to mind control would adapt to the spell and break me free of his hold. He must have known this, known that he needed a weaker, younger mind, for over the next few weeks, he forced me to act the fool."

"Under his control, I made many decisions that were clearly terrible for the hive’s well being. Unrest began to grow as I mismanaged our love stores, wasted the royal treasury on insane projects, and raised taxes to burdensome amounts. Finally, after a month of misrule, I rescinded my policy of letting proto-queens live."

"Proto-queens?" Twilight asked.

"Very rarely, a changeling is born that has the ability to grow into a queen. One of the reasons my hive has grown so large and so well without collapsing on itself, is that unlike most hives, I do not kill off internal rivals. When I find a proto-queen, I encourage their growth. When they are ready, I allow them to leave the hive with a few thousand changelings and start up their own hive. For this, my people love me, and the new hives, more often than not, ally themselves with mine."

"Tirek forced me to make a very public tirade about the dangers of proto-queens and how all the ally hives were rightfully mine. I ordered Nymph, a proto-queen I had been helping prepare to start her own hive, arrested as an enemy of the state and personally killed her husband, right in front of her."

"I… I can remember everything I did under Tirek’s control, with perfect clarity. I will never forget the look on Nymph’s face as I looked up at her, Iron Pyrites's blood still dripping from my horn." Chrysalis said, her face covered with grief while her eyes burned with rage.

"It wasn’t your fault," Shining Armor said, "You had no control over your actions."

"That is a lovely sentiment, but it will not bring Iron Pyrite back. I will have to live with what I did from now on," Chrysalis said.

"So, how did you escape then?" Spitfire asked.

"Sheer luck. After killing Nymph’s husband, it would have made sense for me to kill Nymph as well. Instead she was left to rot in prison, while I continued to mismanage the hive. Nymph began to gain support as the hive began to look for an alternate queen. Her followers broke her out of prison, while I ignored the pleas of of my dwindling support to do something. Instead I locked myself in my throne room and refused to take action, which only made me lose support faster."

"The mind control spell finally failed when I was alone in my throne room with Tirek and the guards he controlled. He tried to regain dominance over my mind but this time, I was able to block it. Seeing a chance to deal with him, I attacked while he was still trying to attack my mind."

"I intended to kill Tirek, once he was dealt with, I would do my best to reverse the damage he had done to my hive, starting with making amends with Nymph."

"I hit Tirek with the most powerful attack I could muster, completely disregarding my own defense, a decision that cost me my wing and nearly my life. However I believed it was worth it. He had not yet raised his defenses up since he was concentrating on his mind control spell. I struck what I thought was a fatal blow upon the centaur. He saw my attack coming, but it was too late, he didn't have time to mount a defense. Instead he lashed out and I took a direct hit from him, the wound you now see on my back. But, when the dust cleared, I was still standing and Tirek was broken. My attack had shattered one of his horns and ripped open the top of his skull."

"With Tirek's influence interrupted, the rest of the guards in the room should have been released from his spell, but it was clear that they had not. Instead they stood as if waiting for orders. I was unsure of what to make of that, so I limped over to one of the guards and was preparing to attempt to discern the cause when I heard the door to my throne room open."

"Nymph burst into the room with a contingent of guards. She accused me of crimes against the hive and stated that my rule was over and she was officially challenging me to for the hive. She began to attack while the guards watched on, waiting to see who would be the victor. In my wounded state I could barely defend myself, nevermind counter-attack. I tried to explain what happened, how Tirek had taken control and forced me to do all those horrible things, but they would not listen."

"I heard a dark laughter coming from the other side of the room. I stole a glance between blocking shot after shot. Tirek was pulling himself up off the floor, the Alicorn Amulet was shining fiercely but it was no longer with a dark red light. Instead it was a black glow that seemed to leech all light from the surrounding area while still being far too bright to look at."

Slowly Chrysalis turned to face the ponies, her voice dropped down to a whisper and look of fear washed over her.

"He spoke again, but his voice sounded different, it was ragged and twisted. The sound grated on my ears as if the very depths of Tartarus were howling at me."

"What did he say?" Cadance asked.

"Nymph will not listen to you, she lives only to serve my will, as soon shall all. Join her, or perish."

"What the hay?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Tirek must have placed her under the same spell he had me under. I believe now that he would have made me lose the fight, then he would have complete control over Nymph who would control the hive as the new queen. She is young enough and weak enough that he could maintain that control indefinitely."

"However, he made a mistake in declaring his deception. When the guards that arrived with Nymph heard him say that, they knew I had been truthful. They immediately turned on and tried to attack Tirek. Unfortunately, between Tirek, Nymph and the guards still under Tirek’s control, they were hopelessly outmatched. One by one they began to fall, in the confusion of the slaughter, I fled the throne room."

"One of the loyal guards followed me and explained the situation as we escaped. The hive was in the midst of a civil war between Nymph’s forces and ones that were still loyal to me. The loyalist changelings were severely outnumbered . I told him to round up any loyalist changelings he could and flee the hive, heading to the hive of Queen Nixe, my most loyal ally." 

"The hive was in disarray, there were small battles going on everywhere. There was no way I was going to make it out the main entrance, so I headed for the caverns, deep under the hive. It was there that Nymph and Tirek finally caught up with me. Nymph attacked and I allowed myself to be hit. The force of the blow knocked me into a chasm. With one of my wings destroyed and no ability to fly, the fall should have been fatal. Instead I was able to cushion the landing using a small amount of magic. I shifted my form so that I would appear to have been impaled on a jagged rock at the bottom. Nymph, the youngling that she is, couldn't tell the vision was an illusion. She flew down and inspected my corpse, then flew back up. It was only after she did not return that I made my way out of the caverns."

"I made my way east, along the shores of the South Luna Sea, to a mountain in the area you ponies refer to as the Undiscovered West. That is where Nixe’s hive is located . I had chosen her, because of all my allies, she was the least likely to betray me and because she holds one of the eastern most hives. It put the most distance possible between myself and my former hive."

"I’m going to interrupt now, what exactly do you want from us?" Cadance asked.

"Don’t you see? Tirek, through Nymph, now controls the strongest changeling army ever assembled. Over the last few months, we have received reports from Nixe's spies that Nymph is already moving against some of the smaller neighboring hives. She will continue to annex hive after hive until she has united all changelings under one banner. When she does, Tirek will turn his gaze on Equestria. They will march east, with a force in the millions, until they reach your borders. Then they will roll over your cities, one by one until they all fall. You must begin to prepare now while there is still time."

"I will help you prepare as best I can, in return I want amnesty for any changelings still loyal to me or Nixe. If you are able to defeat Tirek and after he is dealt with, and my kingdom restored, I will pay reparations for the damage I caused to your capital." Chrysalis said. "At least that was what I was going to offer to Celestia, without her or Luna to lead the battle, I do not think you stand a chance."

"You said, ‘while there is still time’," Spitfire said. "How long do you think it will take Nymph and Tirek to reach Equestria?"

"Based on the latest reports Nixe had received when I left her hive several weeks ago to head here, a year at least, two at the most. It depends on how quickly they are able to conquer the other hives. Even after that has happened, assembling and arming an army that large will take time."

"This is a lot to take in and I have many questions that need to be answered before we can even think about how to deal with Tirek," Twilight said. "My first is..."

Before Twilight could finish asking her question the door to the room burst open and Iron Fortress along with a dozen guards ran in.

"Princesses, Chrysalis is..." He trailed off when he saw the changeling Queen sitting out in the open.

"Thank you Iron Fortress, as you can see, we are already aware of her presence," Cadance said.

"Would you like me to arrest her?" Iron Fortress said, his eyes gleaming at the thought of hauling Chrysalis down to the deepest dungeon in the castle.

"That won't be necessary at this time," Cadance said.

"But..." Iron Fortress looked back and forth between Cadance and Shining Armor in confusion.

Chrysalis stood up and looked at the armored guard, "I am sorry for having to incapacitate you, I had much to discuss with Twilight and Cadance and needed to gain entry to this meeting."

"That will have to stop, " Twilight said, looking at the changeling. "Until further notice you are not to hide who you are, if you want us to trust you, there will be no more sneaking about."

"Can we really let Chrysalis wander around the capital, ponies are going to start talking," Shining Armor said.

"You raise a good point," Cadance said. She turned her eyes to Chrysalis, gears turning in her head.

"You'll have to pick a pony form and stick with it, there will be no more impersonations for the duration of your stay."

"Very well," Chrysalis said with a snort. She closed her eyes in concentration, deciding what form to take. Her horn began to glow and there was a burst of green light; it faded away revealing a tall slender white unicorn mare with a theater mask cutie mark. "I will not disguise myself as another pony for now, but I will have to feed myself. What of the changelings still loyal to me? Eventually Nixe will have to abandon her hive and move her subjects and what are left of mine to Equestria or Tirek will conquer them. My changelings are prepared to help fight against Tirek, but if they come to Equestria they will need a supply of love or they will starve."

"You said changelings don't need to feed on intimate love, can't you just make some friends?" Applejack asked.

"But who would want to be friends with her?" Dash asked, glaring at Chrysalis.

"I will! Just because she was a big meanie-pants before doesn't mean she can't learn to be a good friend." Pinkie said happily.

Chrysalis just snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Iron Fortress, please dismiss the rest of your guards, have them wait out in the hall. For now, order them to keep quiet about Chrysalis's presence. We need to fill you in on what you missed," Cadance said.

Iron Fortress gave the order and the rest of the guards filtered out of the room. Working together, Twilight and Cadance brought Iron Fortress up to speed.

"So both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are missing, perhaps with Discord to blame, and now we face a potential war with this Tirek and his changeling army?" Iron Fortress asked, like the changeling that had been imitating him, he kept a neutral expression.

"That's the short of it," Shining Armor said with a nod. "We are going to have to work hard and fast at enlarging the guard, and expand our training. Equestria has not fought a real war in so long that I worry about the Royal Guard's effectiveness. Chrysalis's invasion exposed a weakness in the Royal Guard, with centuries of stagnation, we no longer possess the skills to fight off an invading army."

Iron Fortress nodded in agreement, "Right now most of the guards' schedules are heavily weighted towards patrolling and very light on training. I'll work on correcting this. I assume for now we want to keep this information on a need to know basis?"

"That's correct," Twilight said with a sigh. "I hate keeping ponies in the dark but we don't want to cause a panic."

"This is going to cause a big stir, but I think we can keep the information contained for now. I can already think of a number of problems but there is one that needs to be addressed right now," Iron Fortress said.

"What is that?" Twilight asked.

"We can recruit more ponies, that should not prove to be too difficult, in fact since the invasion we've had more ponies signing up for the Guard than we could handle. We've actually had to turn many away. The Royal Guard just isn’t designed this kind of operation. I don’t mean to speak ill of the Guard, but we’re really just a glorified police force," Iron Fortress said.

Shining Armor snorted, "I hate to agree with you, but it’s true."

"Equestria is going to need more than that, we’re going to need an army. That presents it’s own set of problems. Arming and armoring an army is far beyond the capability of the Guard. As it stands we don't have enough to go around right now. Weapons and armor are still crafted by hoof at the Solar Forge. We will need to modernize the system to increase production rates or I fear we will be galloping off to war with half of our forces not equipped properly." Iron Fortress said.

"We can do that," Twilight said. "Whatever kind of funds you need, Cadance and I will approve them."

"Even if we can rapidly expand production and recruitment, I'm still not sure how we are going to stop a force of millions. Every sword in Equestria would go blunt before we cut through a quarter of a force that size. We could cut down all of White Tail Woods and not have enough arrows," Iron Fortress said, sadly.

"Maybe it isn't arrows we need... " Shining Armor said, scratching his chin. "Twilight, Cadance, I need to free my schedule tomorrow so I can make a trip to Ponyville. I have a report to read on Hail Storm's firearms that I've been putting off for a long time now.  After that, then... I think I need to have a talk with him."