Chapter 9: The Diplomatic Process
Chapter 9: The Diplomatic Process
Almost twenty changelings now made the main room of the suite their temporary home. There was more than enough room for all of them, despite the restlessness that had taken hold. Lacking any tasks to occupy their time, they alternated between resting and busywork; armor had been polished time and again, several soldiers sparred with each other, and weapons had been honed to perfection.
Chrysalis slowly strode through the chamber, overseeing her small collection of drones for a moment before retiring to her own chambers. Those who were working continued on, diligently. Those who were resting but not asleep bowed their heads to her, but said nothing.
Satisfied with her short inspection, she turned back to her own room.
Just as she was about to open the large door, there was a thunderous crash from the far side of the room, followed by a voice that was just as loud. “Chrysalis!”
Chrysalis snapped her head around to see that the large double doors had been thrown open so violently that they had cracked. Between them, in the open doorway, stood the dark-blue form of Celestia’s younger sister, Princess Luna. Her eyes were fixed on Chrysalis, narrowing faintly as a cold grin formed. Fury and excitement met the queen’s senses. There were no signs of the soldiers who had been standing guard outside their room.
The alicorn stalked forward, her mane flowing out behind her. “We have come to speak with you.”
All around the room, changelings scrambled into place, snatching up whatever weapons they had available before lining up between their queen and the approaching alicorn. Chrysalis looked around at the gathering soldiers, and returned a smug smile. “I don’t feel much like talking. Why don’t you come back later?”
“You do not need to talk,” Luna said, her grin growing, “but you will listen.”
The light shining in through the windows grew weak. From every nook and cranny, the faint shadows in the room swiftly deepened. They leaked out like water, seeping out from the edges of the room and pooling together. They swirled along the walls and spread from every corner, consuming the light.
Luna continued to advance, even as the changeling soldiers leveled weapons and charged their horns. Her mane spread, meeting the oncoming darkness until they appeared to be one and the same. The darkness surged like a physical entity, a fog of darkness that swiftly filled the room. Already the outermost soldiers were fading from sight, obscured by the twisting shadows.
As Luna approached the closest soldier, indifferent to the sharp spears leveled her way, the final light faded, the shadows consuming everything.
There was absolutely no light; Chrysalis could see nothing. She could hear nothing. The unnatural darkness seemed to consume sound just as readily as light. Even her own breathing was muffled and distant.
She stepped back, finding that even the feel of the polished stone floor felt oddly indistinct. She lit her horn, pushing her magic to light up as bright as she could, but it did not even reach the short distance to her own eyes.
There was nothing.
Then something caught Chrysalis’s eyes. For a moment she couldn’t be sure she had seen anything, but the faint light slowly grew, burning through the fog of darkness. Soon she could make out that there were two points of light. A few moments later she could make them out more clearly: they were eyes, glowing white in the darkness, and moving toward her.
Slowly, light began to seep back into the room. It was as if her eyes were adjusting to the dark; the swirling shadows were gone, the haze of darkness burning away to reveal the room that it had hidden away.
Princess Luna advanced through the empty room, unopposed. Chrysalis looked about, but the only sign of her soldiers were their weapons, lying abandoned on the floor.
Chrysalis bared her teeth as she turned back to Luna, meeting those glowing eyes. “How dare you!” She snarled, her horn charging again. “You treacherous--”
“No,” Luna said, her voice firm and powerful, and Chrysalis’s magic winked out.
The queen staggered back a step, her eyes gone wide. She instinctively looked up to her horn. That had been no simple counterspell. Her magic hadn’t been locked away, unable to be used. It was simply gone. She couldn’t have even levitated a feather or performed the most simple shape-shifting. She couldn’t even sense the emotions coming from the pony standing right in front of her.
Her gaze dropped back down to meet Luna’s glowing eyes; somehow, the smaller princess seemed to have grown more imposing, an effect that grew further as she spread her wings.
Luna grinned as she stepped right up to the queen, her voice cold, but amused. “What’s wrong, Chrysalis? Isn’t this what you have strived for all this time? Didn’t you want us to be enemies? I thought you would be happy to have it finally come to this.”
Chrysalis almost stepped back again as Luna’s face came close to hers. The abrupt loss of her magic weighed heavily on her, but she kept her voice steady. “I will not be intimidated--”
“You are a fool,” Luna boomed out, the final word punctuated by a deep crack of thunder piercing through the windows; outside, the sky had become darkened by swirling storm clouds. Chrysalis flinched back at the barrage of sound, ears pinned back against the noise. “You poke and sting at a giant with no concept of what it shall do if you rouse its wrath. You are in our domain, now. We wield powers that you have never imagined, yet you come into our kingdom, to the heart of our power, and foolishly try to provoke us. We have shown you leniency before now, but that time is at an end!”
Luna’s mane flared with power as she declared, “There will be peace between the hive and Equestria. The only choice you now possess is whether you shall remain a part of it, or if we shall remove you.”
Chrysalis’s eyes widened, then narrowed as anger coursed through her. “You will never take my hive, princess.”
“And what, precisely, will you do to stop us?” Luna smugly replied, though at least her voice had returned to a somewhat more normal volume. “I could crush you where you stand, and there is not a single thing you could do about it. You can not win a fight against Equestria, Chrysalis.” She turned her head, looking back to the empty room behind her. “If you truly cared about your subjects--”
Chrysalis moved, fueled by anger and desperation. When the princess looked away, Chrysalis lowered her head and lunged forward, sinking her jagged horn into Luna’s chest.
And then she stumbled on, nearly falling onto her face as the expected resistance never appeared. She spun around as soon as she regained her balance; shadows swirled angrily where Luna had stood moments before, and an instant later several tendrils of darkness shot out. Chrysalis let out a cry of outrage--and certainly not at all from fear--as those tendrils ensnared her and hauled her off her hooves. Her back met the wall hard enough to knock the breath from her.
The shadows coalesced, reforming into Princess Luna; her horn was lit, holding Chrysalis in place as she stepped up. “A fair effort, Chrysalis, but foolish and short-sighted as ever.” She lowered her head slightly, tilting her horn toward the queen. “Would you like me to return the gesture?”
Chrysalis barred her teeth, ignoring the hammering in her chest as her eyes fixed on the tip of Luna’s horn. “Let go of me!” she snarled, kicking out against the magic holding her.
Surprisingly, the magical grip vanished, and Chrysalis fell to her hooves. After a moment to regain her balance, she stood up, eyes narrowed on the irritating princess, who simply stood there with her infuriatingly smug smile. For a moment, neither said anything. Chrysalis tried to slow her breathing, to still the rage that demanded retribution; it seemed clear enough that trying to attack again would achieve nothing useful, but Luna was still waiting expectantly.
Eventually, Chrysalis hissed, “What do you want?”
“I want to be done with your little games,” Luna replied. “It was vaguely amusing at first, but your transgressions can not be so simply overlooked any more. Time and again you show yourself to be selfish, petty, egotistical, and short-sighted. Further, you have shown an unrelenting callousness and hostility, demonstrating your willingness to harm our subjects without necessity, and all the while, you have resisted any efforts to aid your own subjects.”
The princess raised a hoof and slammed it to the ground, sending out a spiderweb of cracks, and echoed by another rattling boom of thunder. “You will choose, Chrysalis. You can either work for peace to the benefit of your subjects, or we shall remove you and take up the responsibilities of caring for them ourselves.”
Chrysalis practically growled. “I already told you, princess, you will never take my hive.”
“Then you had best start working for peace so we have any reason to let you keep it,” Luna said. “I hope that I have made it abundantly clear that, if you instead choose to continue this infantile provocation, we are more than capable of dealing with you. We can always find someone more suited to leading the hive. Perhaps Counselor Sky could use a promotion? He has done well enough for the changelings in Equestria. Or perhaps one of your princesses will be more amenable to accepting peaceful relations and less likely to let her ego and fantasies of revenge get in the way of her duty to her subjects?”
Chrysalis bristled, almost snapping back at her, but forced herself to remain silent.
“Better,” Luna said. “No more testing your boundaries, Chrysalis. No more provocation. And absolutely, under no circumstances, will you cause harm to another one of our subjects, pony or not. Understood?”
Chrysalis replied through gritted teeth, face contorting into a sneer. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Luna’s eyes narrowed, the glow of power growing brighter. “I am perfectly aware of what you dream, Chrysalis. I know of the fantasies you held as you traveled here. I have seen your dreams of Canterlot burning.” She stepped forward, her face moving close, and Chrysalis cringed back. “I’ve seen your desire for retribution. I’ve watched you reveling in the destruction of our city and the death of those we have sworn to protect.”
The princess reared back, wings spread for balance, and her voice boomed out once again. “Know now that these dreams shall never come to pass. We shall do whatever it takes to preserve the safety of our subjects, and all other innocents, even if it means your destruction!”
The statement made, Luna dropped back to all fours again, leaving a fresh pattern of cracks in the stone floor. “Do you understand?” She demanded, fixing Chrysalis with narrowed eyes and a savage grin, as if challenging her to say no.
“...Yes,” Chrysalis quietly hissed, even as her body tried to shudder with held-in anger.
“Good,” Luna replied, the glow from her eyes winking out. “Then you will give us no further reason to question allowing you to have any say in the future of Equestria or the changeling hive.”
The princess turned to leave, and Chrysalis had to fight the urge to attack her exposed back; after all, it would probably go no better than the last attempt, and likely much worse. Luna only made it a step before she hesitated, as if just remembering something. She looked back over her shoulder with an amused smile and said, “I understand that my sister has been extending you invitations to dine with us, correct?”
“Yes,” Chrysalis replied, with only a small hint of the bitterness she felt reaching her voice.
“Then you will start showing some courtesy and attend when invited. Agreed?”
Chrysalis nearly snapped out a refusal, but reluctantly gave a tiny nod.
“Good,” Luna said with a nod. “Then you will attend breakfast with us, and at least try to act like a civil and responsible national leader. In fact, breakfast should be starting in, oh, ten minutes.” She flashed a smile. “You wouldn’t want to be rude by showing up late, so wake up.”
Chrysalis jerked as her eyes opened to the sight of one of the pillows laying beside her and the soft glow of the morning sun creeping past the edges of the curtain beyond. She rolled onto her back with a grunt, the plush bedding shifting around her as her head sank back into her pillow. For a moment she just stared up at the ceiling, controlling her breathing as she ignored the pounding of her heartbeat.
Slowly her expression hardened, and with a snarl and a flash of magic she tore away the thick blankets. An instant later she was on her hooves, a growl building in the back of her throat as she stormed over to the door and threw it open.
“Elytron!”
The castle’s cooks made some of the highest quality meals one could find, and in an impressive variety. The spread prepared for the princesses and their guests was truly impressive, but then, it always was. Sky wouldn’t say that he was entirely used to dining with the princesses--except possibly Twilight--but he had the occasion several times, mostly thanks to his official duties. These less-formal meals were the best, in his experience: more casual and relaxed, and often served as a buffet rather than fixed courses, letting everyone choose exactly what they wanted. As usual, Sky chose a bit of most everything, enjoying the variety to be had. He even sampled a couple of the meat dishes that the cooks had prepared due to the larger number of changeling guests. They were still strange after the entirely vegetarian diet he had grown used to, but he had to admit, they were pretty tasty.
Despite the wonderful food, there were several distractions that made the meal unusual, even exempting how unusual dining with all four of Equestria’s princesses might be considered, otherwise.
Nictis was probably the least significant of these distractions, though still concerning. Something was off about him. He seemed lethargic and without focus. When they had gotten food, he had stared at his own plate for a while, looking faintly nauseous for a moment, and picking unenthusiastically at his food since then. The few times Sky had spoken to him, it took a few moments before Nictis reacted, and he seemed slightly confused, as if he had just woken up.
Another distraction was Rainbow Dash. Sky hadn’t really seen her since their meeting with Chrysalis the previous day. He’d been tempted to go looking for her when she didn’t show up for dinner, but had eventually decided not to. She had finally shown up again for breakfast, but he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. She seemed almost as withdrawn as Nictis despite the occasional short-lived attempts to join in the conversation, and the emotions he could feel directed toward him were more jumbled than usual, and mostly dominated by awkwardness.
A third distraction came just as the meal was about to start, when Princess Cadance whispered a few words to her husband before rising and walking over to the small collection of changelings. She smiled as she stepped up to them, looking over the five of them. “Do you mind if I sit with you for a while?”
Nervous looks were exchanged, and the wide-eyed expression Cara wore suggested that he was seriously considering hiding under the table again. Nictis didn’t seem to react at all. The silence lasted until Trip glanced over to Sky, who gave a tiny nod in reply, and Trip looked back to her to reply, “Of course! Um… have a seat!”
“Thank you,” Cadance replied with a friendly smile, and everyling shifted their positions slightly so that she could sit among them. “I was hoping I might get the chance to chat with all of you, maybe get to know you a little better. I haven’t had the opportunity to talk with many of the changelings now living in Equestria. You all live in Ponyville?”
While most of the changelings were nervous and hesitant to reply at first, the genuine interest and friendly feelings from the princess soon began to calm them, and before long they were talking happily about their lives in Ponyville, their interests, and all manner of friendly conversation.
Sky missed most of the conversation, however, as his attention was caught up in other distractions, and in particular, a fourth one: Princess Luna, who had shown up for breakfast with a happy smile and a bounce to her step. She was no more vocal than usual, although Sky had caught a moment of humming as she had approached the table. She simply seemed a little more animated, and exceptionally cheerful as she loaded up her plate with enough food to look thoroughly undignified beside her sister’s own plate.
Celestia had smiled at seeing her sister so happy, though Sky noted the way her brow raised a moment later, turning the look slightly suspicious. “I take it your night went well?”
“Exceptionally,” Luna replied, flashing her a smug smile.
“And your discussion with Chrysalis?” Celestia asked, the happy-but-suspicious expression swinging a bit more toward suspicious, but Luna simply waved it off with a gesture of her hoof.
“It went exactly as I had anticipated,” Luna replied simply, smiling as she levitated up a pastry and took a bite.
Celestia looked only halfway satisfied with that answer, a look that promised the conversation would be continued later, but she did not pry further at the moment. Luna took no note of this, continuing on with her meal with an energetic happiness.
The meal continued on for a couple peaceful minutes of casual conversation before the door was thrown open in the grip of vivid green magic, and several shouts echoed from the doorway.
Just outside the door stood five changeling soldiers, headed by Chrysalis. Chrysalis herself was snarling at one of the two unicorn guards who had closed in on her, their horns lit with readied magic. “I was invited, you dolts!”
Around the room, everyone reacted differently. Most of the changelings cringed back, while Twilight and her friends glared at the queen, ready for trouble; Rainbow Dash practically bristled, her wings flaring out, and Sky was almost surprised that she didn’t charge in.
Luna merely took another bite and looked on with a pleased smile.
Celestia, on the other hoof, stood up, her wings spread wide. “Chrysalis! What are you doing?”
The queen turned to face Celestia with a sour expression. “I’m attempting to accept your invitation, only to be accosted by your guards when I try to enter. That’s a rather mixed message, don’t you think?”
“My invitation did not include barging past my guards,” Celestia said, her eyes narrowing faintly.
“If I was barging past them, I wouldn’t have stopped when they started yelling,” Chrysalis replied. “Your sister insisted that I join you for breakfast, but apparently she neglected to tell your guards to expect me.”
Luna cut in, her voice calm and her tone surprisingly friendly, even though her smile seemed just a bit too sharp. “You should show a little more civility in how you interact with ponies, Chrysalis. I know you’re used to having everyling in your hive following your directions, but you are a guest, and you should show a little more respect and courtesy to your hosts and their subordinates.”
Chrysalis glared back at her. Her lips curled back into the start of a sneer, though after a moment the expression softened to one of mild irritation. “Noted,” she darkly replied.
Sky caught the glance Celestia cast toward her sister, though she looked back just before Chrysalis addressed her; the queen’s voice had only the faintest hint of mockery as she asked, “May I enter?”
Celestia was silent for a second before answering. “You may, but your guards will wait outside.”
The unicorn guards stepped back as Chrysalis stepped into the room, casting a disapproving glance around. “Not that there would be much room for them, anyway. I expected something grander.” She turned her head, addressing the five changeling soldiers that followed her; Sky noted that Elytron was again at their head. “You will remain outside unless I call for you.”
Elytron’s expression tightened. “My queen, are you--”
“Go,” Chrysalis commanded, walking further into the room.
“Yes, my queen,” Elytron said after her, bowing his head even though she would not see the gesture. With that he turned around, and the changeling soldiers stood back as the doors closed again.
The moment the door shut, Celestia opened her mouth, but Luna was already speaking. “Come, Chrysalis. We have reserved a seat for you by our side, so we may converse over our meal.”
“Of course,” Chrysalis grumbled as she stalked toward the table. Her advance hesitated for a moment as her gaze shifted to Cadance, sitting amongst the small gathering of changelings. The queen’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Cadance stared back, her earlier smiles and light-hearted behavior swept away by the cold stare she had leveled at Chrysalis.
Meanwhile, most of the changelings tried to hide their awkwardness to varying degrees of success; Sky was at least somewhat amused--and a little pleased--to note that Cara had instinctively inched closer to Cadance. A few seats down, Shining Armor sat very still, the perfect picture of an alert guard, ready for anything.
Chrysalis opened her mouth as if to say something, but evidently thought better of it. Instead, she snorted and broke off the silent matchup by looking away, continuing on to the seat offered her.
“I’ve been inviting you to join us since you arrived,” Celestia said, and though she hid the tone well, Sky could still hear the suspicion behind her words. “What changed your mind?”
Chrysalis scowled in reply. “I had been under the impression that an invitation implied choice. Your sister decided to make it clear that it did not.”
“Nonsense,” Luna replied with a chuckle and a wave of her hoof. “I simply clarified what that choice was.”
The statement earned a quiet grumble from the queen in reply.
There was a hardness to Celestia’s words as she spoke. “I trust she also clarified what will and will not be tolerated in the future?”
“Excessively so,” Chrysalis growled. Several of the room’s occupants twitched as her wings flicked to life, lifting her into the air. Seeing her looming over him, Sky was abruptly reminded of how huge she was, and how comparatively tiny and insignificant he was. It was a relief when she landed atop the cushion she had been offered, and sat; sitting near Celestia and Luna went a long way in making Chrysalis seem less gigantic by comparison.
As soon as she had settled in, Chrysalis spoke with a somewhat bitter tone. “Even though I expected it, the hypocrisy is disgusting.”
Celestia’s jaw was tight, but she kept her voice remarkably even. “What hypocrisy do you have any grounds to complain of? We have been far more tolerant than you deserve, especially after you take advantage of our hospitality and leniency to engage in thinly veiled attacks on our subjects.”
To Sky’s surprise, Chrysalis dipped her muzzle, turning away slightly. She grimaced, teeth bared for a moment as she slowly reined herself in. When she spoke, her voice held only a faint tone of irritation. “If you’re speaking of last night, that was a… mistaken assumption.” Her face contorted for a moment before she added, “I apologize.”
Just about everyone in the room stared in silent surprise at what they heard.
Except Luna; in the ensuing moment of silence, Sky could make out the happy tune she was humming as she continued eating.
The silence was broken when Chrysalis snorted, looking away and grumbling, “Though the whole thing could have been avoided if they had remembered that changelings feed on emotions and clarified which foods were actually being offered.”
“If they had intended to offer you that,” Celestia said, “you would not have had to forcibly drain them.”
Chrysalis turned her glare back to Celestia. “No offense, princess, but I don’t think you could find a single pony who actually likes me. I need to feed, unless you’re hoping I’ll just starve to death and solve your problem for you.”
“You could try actually being likeable,” Celestia replied, and Sky was a little surprised that anypony could make that statement without sounding obviously sarcastic. “It’s worked well for other changelings.”
“I’m sure I’ll have starved long before that happens,” Chrysalis said with a roll of her eyes. “And to answer your earlier question, what I have to complain of is how you make all these demands for my ‘good behavior,’ while meanwhile I get assaulted in my own chambers and have my mind invaded by your sister.”
Luna swallowed her last bite. “Strictly speaking, it was a shared dream-space, so I did not technically--”
“I don’t care,” Chrysalis groaned. She looked like she was going to say more, but Celestia spoke first.
“What was this about being assaulted?”
Chrysalis gestured toward the gathering of ponies near Twilight. “The colorful one attacked me,” she said, and Rainbow Dash bristled. “If not for Sky’s intervention, she would have struck me, for what little good it would have done her.”
Sky’s anger was tripped up for a moment as he realized she had addressed him by the correct name. On the other end of the table, Twilight and Rainbow Dash were sharing a hushed conversation, with Dash looking particularly irritated.
Celestia spoke again. “And why would she attack you?”
“Because she has a large but fragile ego,” Chrysalis replied, with a hint of a grin. “I wasn’t impressed with her, and she took offense.”
Sky quickly cut in. “Chrysalis insulted her the entire time she was there. She was trying to provoke Dash.”
“Is that true?” Celestia asked, while Luna turned a thin, smug smile toward the queen.
“No,” Chrysalis said, though the hint of smugness had vanished. “She was presented as some example of ponies and changelings coexisting, and I was critical of the many faults I found with that.”
“You didn’t even talk with her,” Sky said, his meal forgotten as he glared at the queen. “The only reason you brought her in was to insult her to her face!”
His glare was mirrored by Chrysalis. “And her first response was to attack me.”
“Chrysalis,” Celestia said in a warning tone, and the queen’s glare vanished as she quickly turned back. Celestia glanced over to the other side. Past her, Twilight and Rainbow continued to talk in hushed tones. Rainbow’s ears had drooped at some point, her posture sagged, and she was not quite meeting Twilight’s eyes, though hints of fiery anger still peeked out around the edges.
Looking back to Chrysalis, Celestia spoke again. “It seems Twilight has impressed upon Rainbow Dash how inappropriate it was to attempt to attack someone over words.” In the short pause, Chrysalis started to reply--no doubt with something smug--but Celestia cut her off. “But it’s also inappropriate to provoke others. You’ve been doing that since you got here, and it is time it stops.”
Chrysalis remained silent, though she looked away, her muzzle dipping slightly.
“‘Tis polite to reply when spoken to,” Luna lightly chided, her smile growing a bit more when Chrysalis groaned.
“Fine,” the queen bitterly replied. “I’ll try to coddle your ponies’ fragile little feelings.”
“Now try again,” Luna said, “but more politely.”
Chrysalis glared at her, fighting back a snarl. When she finally replied, her voice sounded forced. “I’ll be nice.”
“Better,” Luna replied with a nod, returning to her food.
Celestia looked at both Chrysalis and Luna with the same doubtful expression, but finally gave a silent sigh. “We can save any further discussions on the matter of our negotiations until this evening’s talks. We have a few other matters that will demand our attention this morning--”
“The Royal Guard ceremony?” Chrysalis asked, giving a small smile when Celestia leveled a suspicious and disapproving look her way. “What? I consider it important to keep up on current events, especially ones that involve my subjects.”
Luna leaned over between bites. “‘Tis also impolite to interrupt,” she said, quietly, earning another roll of the eyes from Chrysalis.
“As I was saying,” Celestia continued, “we have other matters we must attend to this morning. I hope you can occupy yourself peacefully until then?”
“Actually,” Chrysalis replied with a thin smile, “I was hoping I might be able to attend this ceremony myself.”
Celestia was silent for a long moment before replying. “I do not think that would be appropriate.”
“And why not?” Chrysalis said, the smile growing a little more. “I would think you would like that. A nice public display of cooperation and friendship, hmm?”
The sharp-toothed smile did not convey any sense of friendship.
“After the hostility that you have shown before now, it would send a mixed message, at best,” Celestia replied. “If you truly wish to make a public show of cooperation, we can arrange for other appearances that may be less divisive.”
“I suppose,” Chrysalis said, though the growing smile had vanished along with any feigned enthusiasm. “At the very least, I wish to speak with Chirrup before the ceremony.”
“You may speak with him after, should he choose to meet with you,” Celestia said. She forestalled any further objections by adding, “I am familiar with Chirrup, and I know how important this day is to him. I am also aware of how you have behaved every time you’ve met with one of the changelings living in Equestria. I will not spoil this day for him by subjecting him to that.”
A shadow of a grimace passed across Chrysalis’s face, vanishing as fast as it came. “I can promise that I’ll be on my best behavior,” she said, gesturing with a hoof as if to indicate herself and how ‘polite’ she was being.
“And for that reason, I shall ask him if he wishes to speak with you,” Celestia said, “after the ceremony is over. In any case, he and the other recruits are likely caught up in the preparations for the ceremony today, and unlikely to have much time to spare for visitors.”
Chrysalis started to snarl, though she restrained the expression into a small grimace. She took a second before replying with a grumble. “Fine.”
Celestia paused a moment, eying Chrysalis; the doubtful expression remained, though Sky thought it looked a little softer. “If you’re interested in showing that you, personally, can coexist with ponies, rather than being an opponent of peace, then perhaps you can start by showing that we can share a simple meal without your usual hostility.”
“Save the speeches, princess,” Chrysalis replied. The usual tone of derision was absent. Instead, she sounded tired. “I’ve already decided to accept the offer of peaceful relations with Equestria, even if we still have some fine details to work out, so you don’t need to waste more time trying to convince me.”
The statement did nothing to alleviate the doubtful look Celestia still leveled at her. “Is that so?”
Chrysalis nodded. “Of course. The hive could benefit from the technology and development we could gain from Equestria.” She gave a dismissive wave of her hoof. “But as you said, we can save further discussion until our talks this evening. For now we can have that ‘peaceful’ meal.”
She finally turned her attention to the food laid out on the table, her attention quickly shifting down the table to where the other changelings sat. Her horn lit up as she levitated one of the dishes made specifically for the changeling guests, which consisted of sausage, thin slices of potatoes, and a variety of spices. Sky had to admit it was rather tasty, and was a little disappointed to see the whole dish deposited before Chrysalis. He also had to wonder if she had selected it out of expectation that it would taste good, or because she thought that eating meat might disturb the ponies around her.
The way she plucked a piece of sausage from the mix and popped it into her mouth with a satisfied grin made him think the latter. If that was her expectation, however, it was pretty well doomed to failure. It had, after all, been ponies who had offered those dishes. Even Cadance, sitting in the middle of the small gathering of changelings, seemed completely unconcerned by it. It wasn’t long before Chrysalis’s grin faded.
Slowly, the mood relaxed and casual conversations picked up again, despite the occasional glimpses toward the dark queen sitting silently in their midst.
Eventually the meal came to an end, and ponies and changelings began to rise and depart. Rarity was the first.
“I do hate to simply dash off like this,” she said apologetically, “but I have so many commitments to attend to today. If I hurry, I should be merely fashionably late to the brunch gathering.” She paused to bow to Celestia and Luna. “Thank you so much for the honor of sharing such a wonderful meal.”
“You’re very welcome, of course,” Celestia replied, while Luna gave a smile and a nod.
“Yes, a lovely meal,” Chrysalis replied rather more darkly, as she too rose. “Should I assume that I’m ‘invited’ to dinner, as well?”
“We would love to have you there,” Luna replied cheerily.
Celestia looked more wary. “You are welcome to come, if you like. The gesture would be appreciated.”
“Of course,” Chrysalis grumbled, her wings flicking to life as she took a short flight over the table before landing and strolling away. “In that case, I’ll see you at the negotiations. Goodbye.”
The room was silent as she walked out, the doors shutting behind her.
“I think that went well,” Luna said with a happy smile.
Celestia sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. “What did you do?”
Luna’s smile grew a bit more. “I simply had a short conversation with her as to why, exactly, she should not antagonize us any further.”
“In her dream.”
“Of course,” Luna replied. “‘Twas the simplest and most thorough way of informing her of the consequences of being our enemy, without actually bringing harm to her guardians.”
Celestia’s expression grew disapproving. “You attacked her in her dream?”
Luna shrugged. “Only after she attempted to impale me upon her horn.”
The remaining occupants of the room looked to Princess Luna with wide eyes; even Celestia seemed alarmed by the statement. “She attacked you?”
“I suppose some of my actions could have been considered provocative,” Luna replied thoughtfully, but then smiled again. “In any case, I believe I have thoroughly convinced her of the futility of attempting such a thing ever again, and not just on an individual scale. She knows now that, should she remain an opponent to peace, we are perfectly willing and capable of removing her in order to do so.”
Celestia frowned. “I’m not certain this will produce the effect you desire. She may be willing to play along, but I doubt this will convince her to end her plotting.”
“Oh, of course not,” Luna said with a wave of her hoof. “I imagine she is still considering whatever unpleasantness she had been considering before, although she now knows the consequences they may bring her. What it will do is end her petty provocations and infantile hostility during our negotiations, which should give you an unimpeded opportunity to convince her of the benefits of a friendly coexistence with Equestria.”
Celestia was silent for a moment, still frowning. “I suppose we shall see,” she finally said, to which Luna smiled again. “Though I think I shall have to speak with Miss Tea. I fear she may be very busy, soon.”
Sky was distracted from any further conversation as Princess Cadance rose. “Well, thank you for the pleasant conversation,” she said, looking around the group of changelings. “Perhaps we could talk again some time when we don’t have so many distractions.”
“I’d like that,” Trip replied, and the other changelings nodded with varying degrees of enthusiasm--except Nictis, who made a vaguely affirmative grunt while still staring down at his half-finished plate of salad.
As Cadance rejoined her husband, Sky leaned over to Nictis. “Hey, you okay?”
Nictis continued to stare for a second before speaking. “I ate about eighty pounds of sugar and got maybe three hours of sleep.” He unenthusiastically levitated up a single piece of lettuce and chewed on it for a moment before groaning faintly and pushing the plate away. “I’ll be fine. Probably.”
Sky smiled slightly, placing a hoof on Nictis’s shoulder, even though the gesture wasn’t really necessary. “Well, sounds like there’s not much to do until tonight. Maybe you should get some sleep.”
“No,” Nictis replied, straightening slightly. “Miss Tea wanted me to help out trying to prevent anything from going wrong at the ceremony today, and I’m not going to let her down.”
“Well… good luck with that.”
Nictis grunted again.
Celestia and Luna were saying a few parting words, and the rest of the gathering was starting to make their way out. Sky gave Nictis a final pat on the shoulder before rising to his hooves and making his way to the door. There he paused a moment, looking out after Rainbow Dash, who was slowly making her way down the hall.
He could feel his heart beating faster as he took a deep breath, let it out, and then nearly yelped as Cadance’s voice spoke up right beside him.
“You know,” she said, amusement filling her voice, “my offer of help still stands.”
Sky’s head had whipped around to her smiling face, with Shining Armor standing just behind her. She glanced down the hall, and he followed her gaze, finding a certain rainbow-patterned tail.
If it were possible, Sky was sure he’d be blushing. “Oh, um, I… thanks, but… well, I think I’m good. Actually, last night I was talking with Luna about, um…”
Cadance raised an eyebrow, though she laughed playfully. “So instead of asking the ‘Princess of Love’ for relationship advice, you asked Luna?”
He shuffled his wings, ears pinning back. “Well, you were going to bed, and she was there… and besides, Luna knows ponies pretty well. She can give good advice.”
Cadance was shaking her head, still smiling. “Sorry, I mean no disrespect to Princess Luna. She has many talents, but I don’t think she’s entirely gotten used to how things have changed while she was away.” Sparing another glance down the hall, she asked, “What did she say?”
“Well… there was some talk about fear and doubt and such, and how that was getting in the way.” He shrugged awkwardly. “Basically, she told me that I should try to put all that aside and just go after her instead of worrying about it.”
Cadance’s smile vanished. “Huh.” After a moment, a wry smile crept across her muzzle. “I’m not sure if I should be pleased for Luna or concerned for myself that she offered the same advice I would have.”
At Sky’s questioning look, she chuckled. “No, I think that she gave you excellent advice. I suppose I shouldn’t be so surprised. She does understand how fear can change a pony. Or changeling, I suppose.” She gestured down the hall, and Sky felt a faint lurch as he realized Rainbow had already passed around the corner. “So, what do you plan to do?”
“Um… I don’t know,” he said. “Planning kind of feels like worry about it, I guess. I was kind of thinking I’d just wing it.”
Cadance nodded, her smile growing a bit. “Given the mare you’re dealing with, that’s probably a good idea.”
Shining Armor, who had been silent until then, allowed a soft chuckle, while Sky smiled at the princess. “Thanks.” He glanced down the hall, then back to her. “Though you know, I’ve always kind of wondered, why do you want to help me? I doubt many ponies get a princess trying to help them out like that.”
Cadance laughed softly. “Oh, I might play at being a matchmaker occasionally.”
“Occasionally,” Shining Armor echoed with a playful smirk, to which Cadance responded with a smile and a brush of her wing against his side.
“Occasionally,” she repeated. “It’s always such a joy to see love blossom between two ponies. Besides, is it so strange that I’d like the idea that changelings could become so close to ponies, instead of being enemies?”
“I suppose that makes sense,” Sky said. “But I think I’ll manage. If you really wanted to help a changeling with that, maybe you could talk to Nictis? I think he could use the help a lot more.”
Cadance’s smile faltered for a moment. “I’ll consider it,” she replied, the cheerful tone sounding just the faintest bit forced. When his expression turned questioning, she quickly gestured down the hall with her nose. “She’s getting away.”
“Oh, right!” Sky blurted, leaping forward on reflex. He made a whole two steps before skittering to a halt and looking back. “I mean, goodbye!” He wavered back and forth a moment. “Sorry. Thanks!”
Cadance was smiling as she made a shooing gesture with one hoof.
“Right! I’m going. Thanks!”
He galloped for a few steps before taking to the air, careening around the corner with a buzz of wings. He had to round a second corner before he caught sight of Rainbow, and dove in to land. He came in too hot, hooves sliding across the floor for a couple pony-lengths to end up just past Rainbow.
“Hey,” he said, recovering from the landing and falling in to walk beside her as if nothing had happened.
“Hey,” she replied, with a faint flash of amusement. “‘Sup?”
“Oh, you know, not much,” he said, immediately wanting to smack himself for the horrible reply. “I mean, there isn’t really anything going on until later, so we’ve kind of got the morning free. You want to go out and do something?”
The words “go out” echoed in his mind the moment he said them, accompanied by an abrupt nervousness at the unintended phrasing.
“Eh,” Rainbow replied with a shrug. Her ear flicked a moment later, accompanied by a subtle hitch in her step and a flicker of what seemed to be guilt or regret; it was too quick and subtle for him to get a good feel of it, and he was immediately distracted from the thought as she looked over to him. “Actually, yeah, that sounds good. What’d you have in mind?”
“Hadn’t really gotten that far,” Sky admitted with a shrug. “Fly around, hang out, maybe get some drinks or something.”
“Sure, why not?” Rainbow replied, giving a smile. “A bit of flying around, some drinks to cool down, sounds good. Where to?”
Sky shrugged. “Sunflower’s?”
Dash rolled her eyes, though the expression was at least accompanied by amusement. “You always want to go there. Let’s try something else. I’ve heard of a couple places around here that are supposed to be pretty cool. Sound good?”
“Sure,” Sky said with a quick flicker of his wings. “I’m always up for trying something new.”
The two of them continued on with just a bit more of a bounce to their step, making their way steadily toward the nearest exit.
As they stepped out into one of the castle’s many courtyards, Dash looked up, wings held loosely at her side as her smile faded. “So… Chrysalis...”
“Yeah,” Sky replied, frowning slightly.
“Is it just me, or is her playing ‘nice’ kinda… creepy.”
Sky snorted. “Oh yeah.”
“Like she’s planning something really nasty?”
“Yep,” Sky replied with a nod.
Rainbow Dash nodded as well, silent for a moment before turning a faint smirk to him. “Think we’re going to end up kicking her flank before this is all over?”
A smile crept across Sky’s muzzle. “Maybe.”
Rainbow grinned a little more at that, looking back up to the sky for a few seconds. Finally, she nodded, spread her wings, and took off, and Sky followed after her.
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I seem to be continuing my habit of under-estimating how many words are required to do certain scenes. I'd originally planned this and the next chapter to be just one chapter, thinking they'd be too small and brief to be on their own. Guess not! I'm getting the feeling this story is going to be another big one.
Fun fact: the "I wouldn't dream of it" line was kind of an accident. It just felt like the appropriate snarky response. Then I realized who she just said that to, and the reply wrote itself.
Also, I am once again employed, which slowed my writing... at first. Now it seems to have, oddly, accelerated it somewhat. Yay?
Luna wins the Badass contest forever. No competition.
Way to go Luna! Chrysalis needed to be taken down a peg. About time she was reminded that she's not the most powerful being around! At least she's behaving a bit better now, though, like Luna says, she's probably still scheming. Do I detect Rainbow Dash/Sky shipping! Keep writing!
4741383
Helps when you can twist the entire (perceived) universe to your own dramatic desires
4741383 Fully agreed. XD
4741294 lol Hilarious about the 'realized who she just said that to' bit. XD But, still, great to see another epic chapter from this. And Luna you have made so bad ass.:D
That was a great chapter on all fronts, although Luna totally stole the show.
Also, I thought I saw some grudging respect towards Luna from Chrysalis that went beyond bullying which is making me very curious to see how things go between them as the story continues.
This was here 2 HOURS ago?!?!?! Damn youtube. So addicting.
Nicely done. I was worried you were writing Luna OP considering how Celestia had trouble with Chrysalis one-on-one, but I realized it was a dream shortly before Chrysalis did. :)
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The most bad ass princess and the biggest troll. I guess I would be as listless as Nictics considering what he has to do later in the day while only getting three hours of sleep after a sugar binge. Nice to Nictics is not the only one who can make the big plays.
I love the way Luna just shut Chrysalis down like that. This, complete with her somewhat forcible demonstration of why Chrysalis continuing along her logical path was a bad idea, was not only awesome, but exactly the way I conceive of Luna -- capable of subtlety, but in a rather blunt manner. If you've read any of my writings, you're probably aware that Luna -- when done right -- is one of my favorite characters in that whole universe. You have definitely done her right!
I'm guessing that she enjoyed demonstrating to Chrysalis exactly why Chrysalis shouldn't mess with them.
Nice scene between Sky and Rainbow.
Luna! Excellent job there! Way to put Chrysalis in her place!
Celestia may not be overly pleased with Luna's methods, but there's a point where you really do need to just look them in the eye and tell them that if they don't cut out the crap, they're going to be hurt. Any other response is seen as weakness and reasoned away as "they're going to do anything; I can keep doing what I have been."
4741383
There's a time for badassery. There's a time for other means.
Personally, I hope Celestia has a power like Majesty from Vampire: the Masquerade. Essentially her will becomes the only law for a period and anyone in the area has to burn Willpower to go against it. For a turn. (Roughly 5 seconds) You can only have up to 10 Willpower - and most won't be above 7 - so that's only about a minute of resistance. Generally, if someone pops Majesty, you sit down and pay attention unless you think you can kill them and very quickly.
I'm...going against the crowd on this one. While what Luna did may seem badass and awesome, it really isn't.
Look at it from a different perspective. Chrysalis just had her dreams invaded, convinced of the power Luna doesn't really have(1), and was then issued a death threat if she doesn't start acting the way they want her to. There's only so many ways you can take "Start doing this or we'll remove you from the equation." And she's beaten Celestia before. She knows roughly what kind of power they have at their disposal.
Honestly, all Chrysalis can assume now is that either Luna was lying, or Celestia and Luna are horrible sadist deities comparable to old Discord who pretend to be weaker than they really are. Likely in some sick game where they like to watch their subjects panic and be afraid whenever a threat to Equestria appears, and they can just step in at any time to stop it and be the heroes.
Also from her perspective, where do they draw the line at her being "nice?" Will they be content with her genuinely giving it a shot? Will they take any reasonable stance on her part that doesn't benefit Equestria as much as they would like as her being "not nice" and have her killed?
She's being threatened to act a certain way by them. They're displaying their power over her. How she is nothing compared to them. That is seriously going to screw any negotiations between them in one of two ways. Either Celestia and Luna get away with anything and everything they want, or she has to take a harder stance and put more drastic, but also secret, plans in place.
--------------------
1. Celestia and Luna aren't as powerful as the fandom give them credit for. As has been shown time and time again.
*Next night, Chrysalis sees Alondro in her dreams!* And just what are you supposed to be?
*Alondro grins* An IRS agent. You haven't reported your income for 300 years. TIME FOR THE MOTHER OF ALL AUDITS!!!
*The next day, Chrysalis balefully begs Celestia for a treaty of absolute peace in return for sanctuary from the dreaded Tax Man!*
4742463
She certainly acted badass, but it's kind of easy when you can manipulate everything around you with perfect control.
Anyway, a lot of what you mentioned are Celestia's concerns about this. There are still a few ways this can go, however. The way Luna would like it to go (As she said) is to show Chrysalis that the downsides to being Equestria's enemy, convincing her to refrain from hostility long enough for her sister to convince her of the benefits of peace. The threat isn't really new, just made more personal: if things grow hostile, they're not going to remove the hive, they're going to remove her. There's also the hope that the clearer consequences might dissuade Chrysalis from trying anything significant; they already suspect she's got something nasty planned, and when she's got longing dreams of watching the entire city burn, it's likely they can't really push her to do something even worse.
Basically, Luna is optimistic that things might be better because of the reasons I mentioned here, while Celestia is more cautious about the possible downsides.
Of course, the other option was throwing her out and abandoning negotiations entirely, and the alternative to removing her, personally, was a war that the hive couldn't even dream of winning. So really, the worst-case scenario is probably that this did nothing at all.
4742538
Let me tell you how it will be: there's one for you, nineteen for me!
Man, Luna did not fail to deliver. After all Chrysalis has pulled, I think it was entirely merited; the queen's games had escalated to the point of endangering the lives of their subjects, and sending her back would prevent any possibility of peace.
Also, Celestia and Luna's power is one of the fanon things. While it's pretty obvious Luna was manipulating a dream rather than going eldritch abomination shadow god-monster, we don't need to assume they're both weaker than Chrysalis because Celestia got one-shotted by her. As long as you can come up with an interpretation that works for everything we've seen... well, why not? Celestia and Luna are both extremely long-lived if not immortal, so it's not surprising that fanon likens them to goddesses.
4742463
In normal diplomacy, when a potential foe shows himself to be both more powerful than and losing patience with oneself, one would have to be insane to respond by becoming less co-operative, because the next step might be a war that one would lose. I'm not sure where you get this notion that a credible threat of force makes matters worse for he who makes the threat.
As for power levels, the only reason why Celestia lost to Chrysalis in A Canterlot Wedding was because Celestia was taken unawares and Chrysalis was directly channeling Shining Armor's power. In the situation shown in this story, there are four alicorns on scene and Shining Armor, the other five Element Bearers, and an unknown but probably large number of other Equestrian mages and guards available. It seems unlikely that Chrysalis would win a direct stand-up fight.
Which makes me think that she is being obnoxious to draw Celestia and Luna's attention away from something really deadly her minions are doing in the shadows. That's the only explanation which makes sense from the POV that Chrysalis is being even marginally sane.
Yeah, it's pretty rare to see a chapter that so thoroughly establishes how awesome (in both senses of the word) Luna can be.
4742705
I thought it WAS amazingly awesome...quite simply.
I think the power Celestia and Luna has...varies on a great degree. Depends in the circumstance.
Meh. I came away from reading this thinking "yes. Luna is best pony." XD
But you know, maybe Chrysalis does have a legitimate grievance: she needs to eat equine love*, and has no way to obtain it freely at the present time.
*Boy, that sure sounds kinky.
4742463 My personal explanation for the seemingly-low power level Celestia displayed is that, beyond the absurd power-up Chrysalis had then (which is no longer available to her), Celestia's magic really only has two settings: routine unicorn magic (albeit rather powerful) and move-the-sun direct-plasma-impingement vaporize-everything-within-100-meters overkill. Needless to say, if this is the case, resorting to such overkill would have been entirely out of the question.
Luna does not have this particular problem, and can presumably efficiently unleash her full (albeit somewhat lesser) power, and would therefore very likely have been able to solo Chrysalis with decent odds of success even during the wedding. Now? It's not a contest, just a question of how much minor collateral damage the fight racks up and whether she considers it morally justified.
(Incidentally, this also neatly explains why Celestia is so subtle diplomatically and personally. After the last time her clumsy use of magic to solve a problem created more problems [see also thousand-year lunar banishment instead of harmonic cleansing], it's entirely reasonable to suppose she went to great lengths to ensure that sort of crude power use would not be necessary again, with pretty considerable success most of the time.)
4742463
I really have to point out that, canonically speaking, the power levels of the princesses are a complete mystery, because the show is horrendously inconsistent about it. Chrysalis beats Celestia somehow, but Celestia raises the sun, and when Twilight absorbs all of their power, she turns into one motherfucking badass princess. In these cases, the only explanation that usually seems to make sense is the World Of Cardboard speech, where the being in question is so mindbogglingly powerful that were they to simply lose control it would level entire cities, hence their relative power levels varying wildly depending on how much control they have available to them at the given time and how close they are to other ponies.
Because it is impossible to reconcile the power levels of the princesses in any meaningful way inside the show itself, this means that the princesses can be as powerful as any individual author feels like without violating canon. If the author decides they are demigoddesses, then, well, they are. If he decides to make them significantly less powerful, then he can. The princesses are exactly as powerful as the author feels like and there simply isn't anything in canon that can effectively counter this in any meaningful way.
In this particular story, we actually have no idea how powerful the princesses are yet. As you pointed out, Luna went into Chrysalis' dream where she has absolute control. As of right now, we have no idea if that was a bluff, or they are insanely powerful demigoddesses. Which one they are depends entirely on what Phoenix Dragon decides.
4742911 One? As if! You only get to keep 0.00000000000000000000000001! All those government cronies need the money far more than you! Corruption's expensive to maintain!
4743408 I make Celestia so powerful that she is Super God!
As for Chrysalis' attack... uhm... Celestia was pretending to get blasted to lull her into a false sense of security! Yeah! Buuuuut... she kinda went Molestia for a bit and thought being held captive in goo would be kinky..
That explains everything!
Luna, you beautiful, beautiful troll.
While I can see Celestia's concerns, I think I have to side with Luna on this. There was relatively little to lose, and Chrysalis was so intent on being a dick even at the expense of her own people that she wouldn't have paid mind to much else than a very personal threat. I'm especially impressed with Luna's reasoning that this isn't actually the solution, but just to pacify her long enough that she might be able to soften up for herself and/or win over a few of her guard.
Hell, Luna being so willing to show some teeth might make her the first pony Chrysalis is able to respect and/or relate to. If she doesn't end up hating her forever.
As for power levels, my preferred explanation for Celestia's loss isn't really a question of power, so much as specialty. "Sun deity" just doesn't intrinsically seem the sort of moveset that plays nice with crowded rooms -- at least ones whose occupants you don't want to reduce to charcoal. Celestia actually does hulk out once in the comics, and it's a little too warm to be the sort of thing one would want to stand next to.
I first found your stories before I had an account, now that I found them again, have a favorite. I hope we see some more of Gray and Misty as well as Glitterbug. I loved Luna in this chapter and I can't wait to see what happenes in this story.
4747703 I agree with you on all points. Celestia's power is not environmentally friendly as well the fact it cares not for friend or foe. Also god damn luna is best princess <3 such a troll and badass for trying to put chrysalis in her place.
As much as Chrysalis needed that talk, I really hope she's gonna stay in her position. I've read so many fics lately where horrible things happen to her, I really hope this doesn't join that list and she wises up before it's too late.
In the last line in this chapter, I think there are one to many 'backs'.
Also 'Dream walker' Luna is awesome. Chrysalis deserved it. She better lose her crown in the end.
Just caught this now, as I was rereading this chapter to prepare for the next. Subtle.
Princess Luna is a Nightmare. Literally. The Supreme Royal Night Mare
Bwahaha
In other words, she knows she's the Supreme Bitch Queen?
Rarity! From breakfast straight to brunch? That can not be good for your figure!
No more than Chrysalis' own, mind you
Haaahahaha! And here I thought he was bummed out about the whole thing. Looks like he's mostly just partied out
Go get some coffee, Nictis
As she aptly demonstrated with Chrysalis
By Luna's howling moon madness, kiss already!
Remarks and corrections:
> “So, what do you plan to do.”
Needs a question mark.
5091694
A remark and a correction:
Only one correction was made friend
Oh and I love the story you wrote Flitter, some good stuff!
5392912
If you hadn't noticed, I put these on all my comments (where needed), and since I download and read chapters on the train a lot (which often means I read multiple chapters of different stories in one run then), I generally just copy that line around a lot. Though kudos to Phoenix_Dragon for only needing the occasional single correction
I've occasionally called it "The Dreaded Remarks and Corrections Section", in which case the fact there's only one underneath doesn't really matter; it's just a section reserved for that kind of things
(Oh, and changeling stories rule! Beware the Black Menace!
)
5393054
Even if some of them are horrendously obvious in hindsight and make me want to slap myself for having missed
(And yes, changeling stories are awesome. Give them all your love!)
so something like this
6919890
Heh, yep. The whole event took a lot of inspiration from that scene.
BUCK YEAH, LUNA!
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After going through this chapter, as well as the previous ones (I'll tell you something about that when I've gone through all this fic again), I've realized something. If Luna can enter dreams, shouldn't she also be able to enter the dreams of a comatose pony/changeling/ect?
7348670
Eeeyup
Well, so long as they're dreaming, anyway.
From anyone else, that would have sounded so sinister. Either way, it made me smile.
I could hear it in her voice. Chills from that line!
She'd make a pretty good queen of the changelings, come to think of it.
Please look at section five of your pamphlet. There should be two boxes. Please check the one marked "rekt."
7504634
It really seemed to me that the Princess of Love and creatures that literally lived on love might share some common ground. Shame about how she was introduced to them, though...
Why do I find this so adorable? This just puts a smile on my face.
with your brain, BEFORE they do it to you in reality.
Good to see Chryssi put in her place. Don't mess with immortal sun and moon goddesses, or they will
“'Tis (twice)
“'Twas
Huh... Luna with Chrysalis, reenacted Nictis' threat to Biggs.
Let it never be said that simple blunt force has no place in negotiating.
I fully expected Chrysalis to wake up and find hoofprints in her floor.
Oh now this is going to be fun.
Normally, I'd be opposed to things like Luna did- no matter how badass it was ("Wake up!" made me shiver; what a delightful image). However.... it's Chrysalis. If the bluntest and most forceful of changelings has any hope of seeing better ways, some bluntness and force will be required.
That, and Luna at breakfast was both hilarious and kind of adorable.