Chapter 5: Schemes
Chapter 5: Schemes
“He did what?!”
Sky winced, his hoof freezing an inch from the door to the Solstice Hall. Twilight might have been getting better at keeping her temper in stressful situations, and Sky understood he hadn’t been around to see the worst of it, but hearing her outburst was still worrying. He sighed, and continued on to open the door and enter.
The room was mostly empty. Twilight sat with a hoof to her face, wings drooping limply at her side, while Spike awkwardly patted her on the back. Her friends sat around her, minus Rarity and Pinkie Pie, who were off elsewhere, and Rainbow Dash, who was currently sprawled out and napping on a nearby cushion. The rest looked somewhat surprised and unsure, except for Fluttershy, who simply looked awkward. Skiris and Trip both sat nearby, exchanging confused looks.
Contrary to the rest of the gathering, Luna looked entirely unperturbed about whatever had upset Twilight.
“Of all the times,” Twilight grumbled, “of course he’d pull this now. I don’t even know why I’m surprised any more.”
Sky cautiously approached, concern rising. “Did something happen?” he asked, quite glad that ponies couldn’t read the trepidation clinging to his mind.
Twilight let her hoof fall, looking up to him with a tired, irritated look. “Discord is skipping town, right when he might actually be useful for once.”
The unexpected answer brought Sky to a halt. “Wait, Discord?” He blinked, not quite sure what to think. Normally, him being elsewhere was a cause for relief for most ponies. “And, um… why is he leaving?”
“Because…” Twilight trailed off, then frowned and turned to Fluttershy. “Actually, I don’t know. Why is he leaving right now?”
“Well, um, you see…” Fluttershy paused, drew a calming breath, and continued. “He said that ponies always think it’s his fault whenever anything really chaotic happens, and he doesn’t want to be blamed for the next few days.”
Applejack cocked her head to the side, looking suspicious. “Wait, are you tellin’ us he’s expectin’ things to be so chaotic that even he doesn’t want to be around for it?”
“I, um… I don’t think that’s quite what he meant.” She shifted awkwardly and added, “He said he’d be keeping an eye out to see what happens here.”
“Ah,” Luna said, her thoughtfully neutral expression replaced with a look of tired disapproval. “‘Keeping an eye out.’ So that explains the disembodied eye in my washroom this morning.”
Twilight looked momentarily disturbed at the thought, but quickly blinked it away before turning back to Fluttershy. “Keeping an eye out… to help us, or to enjoy the show?”
“Um,” Fluttershy said, delaying for a moment by fidgeting with her hooves. “...I’m sure he’ll come back to help us if anything goes wrong.”
Twilight sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t know why I’m even surprised.” She finally turned back to Sky. “Anyway, how are things with Nictis and the rest?”
“Oh, uh, they’re doing… well, I guess. Subtle and Celestia have been talking with them to get the details of what happened. Celestia is… kind of irritated.”
“Oh, she’s not irritated,” Luna said with a soft chuckle. “She’s furious.”
Sky’s eyes widened. “Why is that so funny? That’s bad, isn’t it?”
“Not so much,” Luna replied, still smiling. “At least, not for us. For Chrysalis?” She shrugged slightly, her smile looking a little sharper. “Well, we shall see.”
“Oh,” Sky said uneasily, as he took a seat.
“And do not worry,” Luna said, her smile softening. “I do not mean to make light of the situation, but as a sister, it is practically my duty to find some amusement in her reaction.”
Sky grumbled. “So much for negotiations. I didn’t expect them to end before they even started.”
“Do not be too hasty,” Luna said. “Let us see what comes, first. At the very least, I want to hear how Chrysalis intends to explain this.”
“She’s done nothing but mock the entire idea of peace between the hive and Equestria,” Sky said, ears starting to droop. “And now this. Celestia was trying to hide how angry she was, but it’s still kind of… frightening.”
Luna nodded. “My sister has always tied her emotions closely to her subjects. Ponies seem to overlook that. She has always been loving and protective, yet somehow it seems ponies expect me to be the more emotional of us.” She turned a wry smile toward Sky. “I know from experience that nopony who had ever made a point of harming Equestria or its subjects would make that mistake.”
Sky frowned. “That’s not exactly reassuring.”
“What I mean is, she will do what’s best for everyone in Equestria. If that means making a deal with Chrysalis, then she will. As angry as she may be, she is not driven by wrath or pride. Her passion lies in the well-being of her ponies, and all the subjects of Equestria.”
Sky considered that for a moment, though he still looked dubious. “So… what’s yours, then?”
Luna raised a hoof, idly tapping it to her chin for a moment before neatly crossing her forelegs, a grin crossing her face. “Adversity. Conflict, even.” She lifted her hoof again to wave it dismissively. “Which is not to say I dislike peace, or any such nonsense. I value the well-being of Equestria’s subjects as much as my sister. I simply enjoy a challenge, but there are many ways to find such things without subjecting anyone to harm.”
Her grin turned sharp for a moment. “So as much as I’d love to storm into Chrysalis’s chambers, dispatch her soldiers, and demand answers, I’d like to see where this is going. She is an intriguing adversary.”
Twilight snorted softly. “Intriguing is probably the nicest word I’ve ever heard used to describe her.”
“Perhaps,” Luna chuckled. “But that’s what makes it so interesting.”
“Interesting,” Sky echoed, shaking his head. “I don’t think Celestia finds it quite so interesting.”
“My sister and I are contrary in nature,” Luna replied with a knowing smile, “and it serves us well. We have the same goals, but we often have different outlooks on how to achieve them. I perhaps favor more direct methods than my sister. After all, I think it is quite important to encourage our subjects to pursue that which matters most to them.” She inclined her head toward the sleeping form of Rainbow Dash, then leaned in toward Sky, a sly smile on her face. “Even if it is a little scary.”
If it were physically possible, Sky was sure he would have been blushing furiously at the comment. Instead, he merely made a faint, wordless squeak before clamping his mouth shut, ears pinned back, and trying to ignore the amusement of the rest of the group.
A moment later their attention was drawn to the doors as they opened, and a grim-faced Celestia marched into the hall.
“Speaking of,” Luna murmured softly before rising to her hooves. “Please excuse me, I believe my sister and I have some matters to discuss.”
Despite the bruising and the faint limp that persisted when she walked, Cotton Candy had a bounce to her step as she trotted along beside Nictis. “...A suite in the castle, and we got to talk with Princess Celestia. This day just keeps getting better!”
Nictis sighed yet again. “Cotton, your day started by getting beat up. It’s kind of hard to not improve from there.”
“Pfft,” was Cotton’s dismissive reply. “I can get beat up any day. I don’t get to talk to the princesses all the time like you do!” She swerved to the side, bumping her shoulder against his. “That’s really cool, by the way,” she said as she resumed her happy trotting.
“This was less talk and more interrogation,” Nictis grumbled.
“Meh, details,” she said, hopping forward just to spin around to face him, walking backward for the moment. “Either way, I got to talk with a princess, and now I get to stay in the castle, and I’m going to enjoy it!”
Nictis rolled his eyes while she simply grinned back at him. “...I’m just worried, is all.”
With a quick pirouette, Cotton fell in beside him again. “Well, you shouldn’t be. We’re in the castle, we’ll be fine.”
“I know that,” he replied, his mouth hanging open for a moment longer before he decided against elaborating. Fortunately, an easy distraction presented itself. “Well, we’re here,” he said, stepping up to the door to his room.
Cotton giggled happily as she threw open the door and trotted in, head turning this way and that as she took in the room. It was about the size of her entire apartment, with a pair of couches, a table, a line of windows showing a grand view of the city and the valley beyond, and all manner of decorations. As if that wasn’t enough, it was only the first room; the large doors in the back led to a bedroom that was almost as big and just as impressive, and a different door led to one of the largest and most well-stocked bathrooms Nictis had ever seen.
“Wow!” Cotton gasped as she spun around giddily. “This place is awesome! And you’ve got it all to yourself?”
“Yeah,” Nictis reluctantly replied. “I told Celestia that we didn’t need so many rooms, but she still gave us several, so I ended up with one to myself.” He shrugged awkwardly. “But I guess at least I’m not uprooting anyling to make room for you.”
He glanced back as Spark and Bigs followed them into the room, both rather more reserved in their reactions. In fact, Spark had been looking at him rather than the room, and immediately glanced away the moment their eyes met. Bigs did not, staring back at Nictis, though at least he had stopped glaring. The anger Bigs held had faded some after Subtle had mentioned being in Nictis’s company when his doppelganger had attacked them. Nictis was particularly thankful toward the mare when the same comment had diminished the lingering concern Spark had been feeling toward him. At least some good had come of the questioning.
He shook himself from his thoughts. “Anyway, I hope this will do,” he said, to which Cotton snorted with laughter.
“Do?” she asked between laughs. “Oh, it’ll more than do. Come on, Nictis, this is the royal castle. How could it be any better?”
“Well, um… okay,” Nictis said, hesitating a moment before continuing. “Anyway, there are guards outside if you need anything.” He gestured toward one side. “And I’ll be staying next door, though I’ll probably be busy most of--”
“Wait, what?” Cotton said, coming to a halt in front of him. “I thought this was your room?”
“It was,” he said, taking a half-step back. “But I’m going to move over to the next room, so you guys can have the room to yourself.” He glanced over to Spark, but said nothing more.
“No, no, no,” Cotton said, stepping up beside him and hooking a foreleg around his shoulders. “We aren’t kicking you out of your room! Besides, there’s more than enough room for all of us. Think of it like a slumber party. We’ve got a whole Rising Sun reunion going on!” She gave him a squeeze. “Come on!”
Nictis sighed, deflating a little. “Only if it’s okay with everypony else,” he conceded.
Surprisingly, Spark spoke up right away, though quietly. “It’s okay.” A moment later Bigs nodded, and Cotton looked back to Nictis with a grin. “See? It’s unanimous, now you’ve got to stay.”
“Okay,” Nictis said, hoping that it wouldn’t all end up being a horrible mistake. “But I’ve got to go for now.”
“Right,” Cotton said, releasing him again. “I always figured you’d end up doing something talky, but I’ve got to admit, I never expected you to end up as a diplomat.”
“I’m not really a diplomat,” Nictis said as he slowly made his way to the door, with Cotton following along. “I’m just there to answer any questions Princess Celestia might have… and to show that changelings and ponies can live together.” He glanced back for a moment and sighed. “Not that I’m the best example of it.”
“Ah-ah!” Cotton chided, lifting a hoof mock-threateningly. “You’re not starting that up again. You go do your whole pseudo-ambassadorial thingy, and then when you get back we can all have some fun.” She stepped forward to open the door for him. “I promise.”
Nictis paused, torn, but eventually nodded. “...Thanks.” He looked back to the others. “Goodbye, then. I guess I’ll see you all tonight.”
Spark made a quiet and awkward sound that might have been a very soft “Goodbye,” while Bigs merely nodded again.
With that, Nictis tuned and left, head drooping as he walked. He didn’t get far. Only halfway to the corner of the hall, Spark’s voice called out to him. “Wait!”
Nictis stopped abruptly, head snapping up and around to see Spark slipping past a surprised Cotton and trotting after him. Spark slowed the closer he got, until he was practically creeping up to Nictis. Despite that slowness, his breathing was growing faster, mirroring the increasing jumble of emotions coming from him. Nictis remained silent, ears drooping.
Spark was trembling faintly as he drew near, and he struggled for several moments, trying to find his voice. Fear and unease grew by the moment as he wavered, and Nictis tried to think of something to say, anything to try to relieve that fear. He never got the chance; Spark quickly closed the distance between them and wrapped his forelegs around Nictis, squeezing firmly despite the shudder that passed through him.
“It wasn’t you,” Spark said, his voice tight and small. “I-I know it wasn’t you. I’m sorry. It wasn’t you...”
While Spark repeatedly mumbled the same words again and again, Nictis hugged back automatically, but otherwise just stood there for a moment, stunned. As realization sank in, he found himself blinking and soon clenching his eyes shut to hold off the watering, a faint shudder passing through him as he hugged tighter. “It’s okay,” he murmured weakly, leaning his head gently against Spark’s, saying those words again every time the trembling pony repeated himself.
They held each other tight as the trembling slowed and stopped, their murmured words fading. As they did, the feelings of fear in Spark also diminished, though they lingered alongside a persistent and pervasive worrying. He had even just started to relax in Nictis’s grip when a quiet and cautious voice drew his attention.
“Is everypony alright?”
Nictis blinked a few times, raising a hoof to wipe away the last bit of blurriness to his eyes as he glanced over. The source of the voice was a gray pegasus guard, who was regarding the pair of them cautiously. “We’re okay,” he quietly replied, turning his attention back to Spark, but the initial glance turned into a double-take as recognition struck.
Spark had drawn back from the hug, wiping the back of his hoof across his face in an attempt to dry some of the dampness on his cheeks. “Th-Thunder Chaser?”
“Hey, Spark,” Thunder said, quietly. “I came as soon as I could. I only just heard what happened. You’re okay?”
Spark glanced to Nictis, though he quickly looked back to Thunder Chaser with a faint, apologetic feeling. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Good to hear,” Thunder said with a weak smile. “What about Cotton?”
“A little bruised,” Spark quietly replied, “but she’s okay, too.”
He gave a timid gesture back down the hall, and Nictis automatically glanced that way. Cotton Candy was still standing at the door, halfway down the hall. Surprisingly, she had company; Pinkie Pie was bouncing in front of her as they shared a very animated conversation, both of them grinning enough to make Nictis feel vaguely uneasy.
Spark drew in a deep breath, let it back out, and then gestured again. “Come on,” he said softly, and started to pad back toward Cotton and their room. As they drew closer, Nictis could pick out bits of Cotton and Pinkie’s conversation, which sounded to revolve around baking. Said conversation came to an abrupt end when Cotton glanced their way, her face lighting up even more. “T.C.! Oh my gosh, this is perfect!”
Thunder’s wings snapped out as if to take flight when Cotton lunged at him, wrapping him in a tight hug. A moment later she released the hug, though she kept her forehooves planted firmly on his shoulders. “Are you off-duty tonight, T.C.?”
He looked warily at her, then back to the pink earth pony who hadn’t stopped bouncing the whole time, and finally back to Spark and Nictis. “Uh, I’m… I’m kind of on-duty right now.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Cotton said, removing one hoof from his shoulder in order to wave it around. “But what about tonight? Are you available?”
“Well… I’m off-duty at eight, but I don’t know if--”
“Perfect!” Cotton exclaimed with a grin. “We’re having a slumber party and reunion tonight, and you’re coming!”
Thunder cocked an eyebrow, and looked about ready to object when Pinkie Pie bounced forward. “That is perfect!” she cried, grinning at Cotton. “I can help you get ready for your party, and then you can help me with my super-secret special surprise stealth project!”
Nictis cringed as they both giggled.
Thunder Chaser looked nearly as uneasy. “I don’t know…”
“Aw, come on!” Cotton said, grinning encouragingly. “We’ve got a whole Rising Sun reunion thing going on. We even have Bigs here--and he’s being nice! Besides, um…” She slipped up close to him, quickly whispering into his ear. When she drew back, Nictis saw a hint of pleading to her expression, while Thunder Chaser cast a momentary glance Spark’s way.
“Okay,” he replied with a small nod. “I’ll see if I can make it.”
“Great!” Cotton said as she wrapped him again in a hug, her grin having returned full-strength. “Okay, I should get going then, if I’m going to get all the treats ready in time! Pinkie here is even giving me access to the castle’s kitchens!”
Nictis frowned, fairly certain that Pinkie didn’t actually have the authority to do that.
“Of course!” Pinkie said, as full of enthusiasm as ever. “I heard that you were going to be staying here in the castle, and I remembered your cutie mark, and Niccy--I like that name, by the way!--Niccy mentioned you liked parties and baking, so I thought, ‘Perfect!’”
Dubiously, Nictis asked, “Uh, Pinkie, what exactly are you planning?”
The response was a simultaneous “Secret!” from both Pinkie and Cotton.
“Oookay,” Nictis said, even more dubiously. “And why do you need Cotton?”
Pinkie bounced, grinning even bigger than usual. “Oh! Because the kitchens are so huge, and I can bake so much stuff there, and I want to bake so much stuff, but I can only bake so much on my own, so I need somepony to help me so that I can bake all that I can bake!”
“And how could I turn down an argument like that?” Cotton said with a laugh. “Anyway, we’ve got to get going to the kitchen, and you’re going to be late to your diplomatical stuff. Shoo!” She gave a quick wave as she turned away. “See you all tonight! This is going to be great!”
“Yeah,” Nictis replied with a sigh. “This can only end well.”
“I know!” Cotton replied happily over her shoulder. She and Pinkie trotted and bounced down the hall, babbling energetically as they went.
Silence lingered among the rest of them for a few seconds before Thunder Chaser glanced over to Spark. “Did she get a little more manic at some point?”
“She’s being weird today,” Nictis sighed, shaking his head. “But she’s right, I’ve got to get going.” He turned to look to Spark. “Are you going to be okay?”
Spark nodded faintly, giving a small, fragile smile. “Yeah.”
“Okay. I’ll, uh… I’ll see you two tonight, I guess.”
“Yeah,” Thunder Chaser said. “We’ve… got some catching up to do.”
Nictis hesitated; even with the advantage of his natural senses, he couldn’t quite get a good feel for how Thunder was feeling about him. Instead, he gave a little nod before turning and walking off to make his way across the castle.
The Solstice Hall was rather quiet. Luna and Celestia sat to one side, though their quiet conversation had ended some time ago. The others chatted quietly amongst themselves, though it was somewhat muted and uneasy, recent events weighing heavily on many minds. Sky knew they were likely weighing most heavily on Nictis, but the other changeling had quietly assured him that he was more-or-less fine before going very quiet.
Sky himself remained rather quiet, as well. The events of earlier were troubling, not just for what it might mean for Nictis and his friends but for changelings everywhere. At the same time, he found himself dwelling on Luna’s earlier words. It wasn’t helped when Rainbow Dash finally woke from her nap and joined the group; he immediately wanted to talk with her, but it felt somehow inappropriate at the moment.
Instead, he quietly joined in on the conversation, throwing in a few words every now and then while they waited.
For better or worse, they did not have to wait long.
The double doors leading into the room opened to allow Chrysalis to enter, a smug and condescending smile on her face as her gaze landed on the group awaiting her. Behind her trailed a half-dozen of her own soldiers, followed by twice that number in Royal Guards. A few magical auras sparkled nearby as the last few members of the procession were scanned by the door guards.
“Chrysalis.” Celestia’s voice was hard and sharp. She had already risen to her hooves and walked toward the queen, followed by Luna and, a moment behind, Twilight. Sky shuffled his wings anxiously, watching the three advance on Chrysalis. “You were welcomed into Equestria as a guest in the hopes that we might find a peaceful resolution to our situation. Instead, I find that hospitality betrayed and my subjects attacked. Explain yourself.”
Chrysalis came to a halt, regarding Celestia with a look of bored disapproval. “...What in the world are you blathering on about, now?”
The muscles in Celestia’s jaw tightened faintly. “After Nictis met with you, his friends were attacked by one of your changelings. They were beaten and told to deliver a message to him, telling him to reconsider the offer you made to him. I don’t know what made you think you could get away with such barbaric behavior, but I will not tolerate attacks on my subjects.”
Chrysalis met Celestia’s glare for several long seconds. Slowly, the corners of her mouth crept up, until the queen chuckled out loud, her voice full of amusement. “Oh, Celestia. You must have an overly high view of yourself if you think I would ever be such an idiot!” She snapped the last word out with a growl, any humor dying in an instant. “Yes, I have changelings out in your precious little city. They were instructed to hide and wait, as an insurance policy for your good behavior. Emphasis on ‘hide.’”
She turned away from Celestia, casually strutting toward the grand table. “If what you say is true, and I find that doubtful, then it was done against my explicit instructions.”
“So you’re telling us that you have such poor command over your own agents that you cannot restrain their actions?” Celestia asked, glaring after her. “That does not relieve you of responsibility for what they have done.”
Chrysalis snapped her head around, teeth bared. “You do not need to tell me my responsibility, princess. I have led my subjects through far more adversity and hardship than you might think. If one of my subjects has disobeyed my direct orders, then I shall discipline them.” She sneered coldly. “Does that satisfy your enraged sense of justice?”
“This isn’t about a lack of discipline or a failure to follow orders,” Celestia replied sharply. “This is about an assault on my subjects.”
“We feed on your precious little ponies,” Chrysalis said, her sneer turning to a smug grin. “If you are truly interested in any sort of ‘peaceful’ agreement with the hive, then you’re going to have to learn to cope with that fact.”
“That is not the same thing,” Celestia replied, though to Sky’s surprise, she had calmed slightly. She followed the statement by sweeping a hoof to her side, indicating the small gathering of ponies and changelings. “Changelings can live alongside ponies, getting all the food they need, without having to resort to such cruel violence.”
“Oh, please,” Chrysalis laughed, rolling her eyes before pointing a hoof at Nictis; Sky reflexively shifted a little closer to him, though she paid him no mind. “You mean the one who poisoned and nearly killed his lover, and who intentionally and repeatedly drained him dry just to leave him mentally impaired? The one who ruined a child’s hopes of adoption for half a decade? Who repeatedly framed another foal in an attempt to assert social dominance, and when that failed, beat and choked him to the verge of death? How about his string of burglaries, stealing so many thousands of bits, and which eventually led to him putting a pony in the hospital with a fractured skull?”
She chuckled darkly as she turned away, waving a hoof. “And that’s not even counting all the smaller lies, threats, frauds, and assaults he’s committed throughout your precious little kingdom.” She looked back over her shoulder at Celestia, smirking. “If he’s your standard for good behavior, then I must be a paragon of virtue by comparison.”
Celestia’s voice was surprisingly soft. “He may have done many bad things in his past, but he has sought to change his ways and make amends for his behavior. Nobody is beyond redemption, if they truly seek it.” The edge returned to her voice as she added, “But attempting to excuse needless violence and oppression will never be justified.”
Chrysalis’s smirk never wavered. “You never get tired of this self-righteousness, do you?”
“Chrysalis,” Celestia replied in a warning tone, eyes narrowing.
“What?” Chrysalis spat back. “Do you expect me to apologize for something I had no part in? Do you expect me to plant my snout in the dirt and grovel like all your hoof-licking little sycophants? If one of my subjects has disobeyed me, then that is something that I shall punish, myself. I will not, however, subject them or any other subject to whatever absurdity passes for justice in Equestria. If that is unacceptable to you, then it seems we have nothing further to discuss.”
While Chrysalis and Celestia glared at each other, Luna stepped up. “There may be other concessions that could be considered.”
The queen’s eyes darted over to the younger princess. “Oh, right. I keep forgetting that you’re supposed to be a real princess, too.”
“We can discuss your failing memory another time,” Luna replied with a confident smile. “For now, perhaps we should stick to the matter at hoof.”
Chrysalis held her stare for a long, silent moment, before snorting softly; Sky wasn’t quite sure if it was annoyance, amusement, or both. “Very well,” she said. “Go on.”
Instead of replying herself, Luna looked over to Celestia. It was a moment before the older princess spoke, her glare holding strong. “First, since you claim to be unable to ensure the proper conduct of the agents you have in my city, you will remove them immediately.”
“Hah,” Chrysalis snapped back, scornfully. “I’m not about to remove what little insurance I have against any Equestrian treachery.”
“You know quite well that no such thing will happen,” Celestia said. “You face three of the most powerful beings in Equestria, backed by the entire Royal Guard, and with your own soldiers scattered and surrounded. Despite that, you’ve been nothing but provocative since you arrived, unconcerned about the response your insults might bring. Any trap would have been sprung long ago. Their removal will not have any effect on your safety and you know it.”
Chrysalis considered for a moment before allowing a small chuckle. “Oh, very well. If a half-dozen changelings are terrifying you so much, I suppose I could send them a message to wait outside of your precious little city.”
“No,” Celestia said, firmly. “You’re not going make a show of them leaving only to sneak them back in again. You will bring them to the castle, and they will stay with you and the rest of your soldiers until you all leave.”
“Ah,” Chrysalis dryly replied. “So they’re to be treated as prisoners.”
Luna spoke up again. “They will be hosted in a suite at the castle, and will be free to leave with you on the conclusion of our talks.”
“How generous of you,” Chrysalis said, her voice making it clear that she considered it anything but. As Celestia opened her mouth to speak, Chrysalis raised a hoof to cut her off. “Oh, fine, if you’re going to make such a fuss of it. It’s not like six changelings will make much difference, anyway. Satisfied?”
“Not just the six we know of,” Celestia replied. “All of the changelings following you.”
“I only brought the six,” Chrysalis replied, sounding bored.
“And we will remember that you said that, if we find any more of your agents in Canterlot.”
Chrysalis gave a dry laugh. “Oh, you might find an Infiltrator or two. They’re given a degree of independence in accomplishing their goals, it wouldn’t surprise me if a few have made their way here, but I am not aware of them, specifically.”
Celestia nodded. “Second: your soldiers will disarm.”
“What?” Chrysalis snapped, amusement vanishing. “I will not leave my soldiers defenseless!”
“They are already defenseless,” Celestia replied.
“Any fight would be hopelessly one-sided,” Luna said, still smiling. “Disarming them makes no practical difference. It is a purely symbolic gesture.”
“If it makes no difference,” Chrysalis hissed, teeth bared, “then surely you won’t mind when I refuse.”
“Ever since you arrived, you have been insulting and dismissive of the very idea of negotiations,” Celestia said, unwavering. “It is time for you to give some indication that there is any hope of you being willing to listen.”
“I showed up,” Chrysalis sneered.
“And brought along soldiers and Infiltrators, verbally lashed out at several ponies, and allowed the assault of my subjects,” Celestia said. “So far, you’ve used these talks as an excuse, and nothing more. I was willing to be lenient, but not when my subjects are being attacked. Your soldiers will disarm, or you will be expelled from Equestria. Again.”
Chrysalis met her glare, silent for several moments. Eventually, she rolled her eyes. “Here in the depths of your own castle, surrounded by your personal guard, and you still feel threatened by me. Fair enough, I suppose. I did beat you the last time we crossed horns.” She grinned slyly. “But very well, they will disarm. My soldiers are quite capable of defending themselves without such weapons.”
“Third,” Celestia said, “on the same note, you will attend these talks, and make an effort to at least appear to listen. No more scoffing at the very idea of them, no more insults, and no more refusing to speak for whatever fabricated outrage you can come up with.”
This time, Chrysalis simply smiled, though the look was hardly reassuring. “Oh, but of course. That is why I’m here, after all.”
“...In that case,” Celestia said, gesturing to the table, “let us take our seats and begin.”
Sky rose to his hooves, as did everyone else awaiting the outcome of the two rulers’ confrontation. His eyes were fixed on Chrysalis as they all began to make their way to the table. It was rather hard to look away from her, even as the nervous anxiety in him grew. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to notice him.
A moment later he caught a hint of a smile on her features. Adrenaline flooded his senses as her wings snapped to life and lifted her from the ground; whatever attack he imagined, however, never came. Instead, she flew over the table to descend on the largest of the two chairs, sinking down to lay out luxuriously across it.
Celestia frowned as she approached. “Chrysalis, that’s not yours.”
“It’s not?” Chrysalis purred, though the sharp teeth thoroughly countered any softness. “And why is that? Seems fitting that the grandest chair would go to the ruling queen, and the smaller one to the ruling princess. Surely you didn’t expect me to just sit on the floor while you and your sister lord over me, hmm?”
“Chrysalis…”
“Hmm?” she hummed with a feigned smile.
“Get out of my chair.”
With a soft snort, Chrysalis rose, wings flickering as her hooves left the cushion of the chair to alight upon the table. She turned away from Celestia, slowly strutting down the length of the table. “At least we’ve made it clear where changelings stand in your eyes,” she said, before stepping down from the table, laying out atop a cushion, and leveling a smug smile back at Celestia.
Sky noted that her new seat also put her uncomfortably close to the Equestrian changelings, and tried to stay as still and unnoticed as possible.
“Given your behavior here, you have no ground to be accusing anypony of disrespect,” Celestia replied, taking her seat. “Especially when there was none intended.”
“No, you’re quite capable of being unintentionally disrespectful,” Chrysalis noted, “but that doesn’t make it any better, now does it?”
Celestia exchanged a wordless glance with Luna, and sighed, relaxing slightly. “We can find you another chair, if it is so important to you.”
Chrysalis scoffed. “As if that would make any difference, now. Besides, aren’t we here to discuss slightly more important matters than the seating arrangement?”
Celesia frowned slightly, but nodded. “Yes, we are,” she said, though hesitantly, as if there was something else she had wanted to say. “Specifically, we are here to discuss the possibility of peaceful coexistence between changelings and ponies.”
“By which you mean that you mean you want changelings to be subservient to you,” Chrysalis said, “and you expect me to simply turn the whole hive over.”
“What I want is what’s best for everyone, pony and changeling alike. I want changelings to be able to get all of the food they need, openly and freely. I want ponies to be able to live without the fear that one of the ponies around them might be a changeling from a hive hostile to Equestria.”
“Sounds like Equestria gets the better deal,” Chrysalis noted. “We can take everything we need without your peace.”
“Because that’s working so well for you,” Luna said with a hollow chuckle.
“Your hive is struggling,” Celestia said. “Every changeling has had a slightly different tale, but the picture is clear. Your subjects live in squalor. The love you’re able to gather is stretched thin. To be blunt, your hive would benefit from such a deal more than Equestria would.”
Chrysalis snorted. “So you suggest we just give up?”
“I could suggest many things. The first thing I will suggest is that your hive joins Equestria.”
Lifting a hoof to idly tap her chin, Chrysalis considered for a moment, then let her hoof fall back to the cushion. “Very well, I accept.”
The surprised silence lasted only an instant before Chrysalis continued, giving Celestia a cold grin. “I’ll even let you rule beside me as an equal, even though I do outrank you. Isn’t that so generous of me?”
Celestia shook her head. “I am quite willing to allow you, or some other changeling, to maintain rulership over your territory, and to have the same prospects in government as any other subject. Every changeling would be given the same rights and protections as any other subject of Equestria. The rulership of Equestria as a whole, however, will not be changed.”
“Of course not,’” Chrysalis dryly noted. “Even you realize how idiotic it would be to put your species in the hooves of another.”
“I am less concerned with species than I am ability and intent. You have repeatedly expressed your contempt for ponies and your willingness to victimize them for your own gain, while Equestria has been willing to do everything it can to help those changelings willing to live in peace. Your rulership has left your hive small, poor, and weak, while Equestria has thrived. That is why, whatever agreement we may come to, you will not be allowed such unchecked authority over my subjects.”
Chrysalis smirked. “If you have such a personal problem with me, then perhaps one of my princesses? Or are you just opposed to the idea of sharing power at all?”
Surprisingly, Celestia smiled at that. “On the contrary. I’m sure you remember Princess Cadance? She was not always a princess, and now she rules over the Crystal Empire.” She inclined her head to the young alicorn sitting beside her. “Nor was Princess Twilight Sparkle,” she said, producing a smile from the pony in question. “I am quite willing to elevate those who prove themselves capable and worthy of holding a position of power. If that individual happened to be a changeling, it would make no difference.”
The expression grew firmer as the smile faded. “That said, it is not something I would ever do lightly. If you were to join Equestria, the most I can offer you now is the continued rulership over your hive and surrounding territory, just as Princess Cadance rules over the Crystal Empire. I cannot offer anything higher as a condition of our negotiations. Such an offer of trust must come with time, but I can assure you that any promising changeling would be given the same consideration as any of my ponies.”
“Oh, how reassuring,” Chrysalis replied with a roll of her eyes. “You might eventually extend us the trust you demand we give you now, and you call that equal.”
“You launched an unprovoked surprise attack on a peaceful nation. If we intended you harm, we could have simply struck back. Instead, we’re offering to help you. Surely that should be proof of our good intentions.”
Chrysalis gave a dry laugh. “Empty threats do not scare me, princess. You can’t ‘strike back’ against an enemy you can’t find.”
Rather than answer, Celestia raised her horn, glowing with magic. An instant later an illusionary image sprawled out in the center of the circular table, depicting a section of land in miniature. It showed a dry and barren land, cut through with canyons and jagged rocky formations. At the center of the image, tucked away in the folds of a canyon, were several towering spires. Sky did not remember having ever seen them before, but something about them seemed familiar.
“As you can see,” Celestia said, “we are quite well aware of where the main hive is. We have been for some time now.”
Sky glanced to his side; Nictis was staring at the image in wide-eyed horror. Looking back, he saw that Chrysalis was silently staring at the image as well, though her expression was completely neutral. After several long moments of staring, she turned to the gathered Equestrian changelings, eyes narrowing to a glare. Sky flinched back, the pounding of his heart loud in his ears as he stared back into those green eyes, but he sensed no anger. In fact, he couldn’t feel anything from her.
“It was not their doing,” Celestia said, and Sky gave silent thanks as Chrysalis turned her eyes back to the princess. “You should give them credit. They held the secrecy of the hive’s location as being too important to betray, and we did not pry. We did not need to. Once we knew there was something to find out there, and the general region to look in, it was only a matter of time. A pegasus flight spotted the spires over two months ago. If we had wanted to strike back, we were perfectly capable of doing so. We don’t want a war, Chrysalis, and neither do you.”
Chrysalis’s lips curled. “You don’t want the thousands of dead soldiers it would take to storm the hive,” she growled. “Not when you think you can destroy us with a few cheap words. But you misunderstand me, princess. You might be able to take the hive, but you’re a fool if you think that will be the end of us. My changelings will endure, hidden among your ponies, and they will remember. You will not know peace.”
“Even your trained Infiltrators are being uncovered. How do you think such a life would go for a laborer who’s never been among ponies before?” Celestia sadly shook her head. “You can’t want that. All it would bring is suffering for your subjects, and gain you nothing.”
“You overestimate your guards,” Chrysalis replied with a sneer. “And yourself. You run off a few changelings, and you think you’re accomplishing something. Hah! You couldn’t even sniff me out when I was hiding right under your nose, in the form of one of the few ponies close to you. It was pathetic.” She emphasized the statement with a dismissive snort.
“You did not fool everypony,” Celestia noted, tilting her head toward Twilight. “It only takes one pony to unravel everything.”
“Oh, yes. Little Twilight Sparkle.” Chrysalis fixed her eyes on the youngest princess. “I have to admit, you were… disappointing.”
Twilight met her glare with a somewhat smug smile. “I’m glad to disappoint you.”
Surprisingly, Chrysalis laughed at that. “Oh, I’m sure you would be! But you’ve got it wrong, little princess.” She bared her teeth in a grin; Sky noticed Celestia’s eyes narrowing faintly at the gesture. “I was disappointed in you. You see, while I was busy impersonating your brother’s tasty little bride, it seems someone just happened to make a threat on Canterlot. Such a wonderful coincidence, wasn’t it? Suddenly, everypony was too busy watching for an attack to think twice of Cadenza.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “All except you. Who would have expected that Celestia’s prized pupil would be so callous toward the fate of Canterlot itself that she’d ignore all of that in favor of fussing over the bride’s bad attitude. I suppose it was all my fault for expecting better of you.”
Twilight’s eyes had only just started to widen in response when Celestia’s hoof banged down on the table. Celestia stood, frowning. Even Luna’s amusement had vanished, her eyes fixed unwaveringly on the changeling queen.
When Celestia spoke, her voice was calm, but firm. “That is enough, Chrysalis.”
Sky had the urge to back away, half expecting the confrontation to come to blows, but Chrysalis simply smiled a sharp-toothed smile and shrugged. “I mean no disrespect,” she said, prompting a quiet snort from Twilight, “but you’re asking me to subject the hive to Equestria’s rule, and I’m not impressed with its rulers. Twilight is self-centered, disregarding the safety of your precious ponies to throw a fit when she doesn’t get her way. Cadenza has plenty of reason to hate changelings, little chance of fair treatment there. Oh, and let’s not forget your sister and her little temper tantrum.”
Celestia’s scowl deepened, though Sky noticed a hint of a smile creep into Luna’s expression, cold and dangerous. “You are wrong,” Celestia said, voice low. “Every single one of them has earned my trust time and again. They can be trusted to do what is right.”
“I don’t trust you,” Chrysalis replied with a scoff, “much less them. I’m not going to place the future of my hive in the hooves of these ponies, so if this is the best you have to offer, we may as well be done with it.”
Celestia glared at her for a few seconds before sitting again and speaking. “What do you want, Chrysalis? There must be some reason that you came here, some sort of arrangement you’ll be willing to accept.”
“What do I want?” Chrysalis grinned. “I want the hive to grow strong, strong enough that no other nation can threaten it. I want food for my subjects, enough to fill every changeling and more. And I want the hive to remain free, not squeezed under the hoof of some pony. Can you offer that, princess?”
“Equestria has more than enough food to feed your hive,” Celestia replied. “If you were an ally, we could join forces to protect each other. There’s quite a lot your hive could gain from friendship with Equestria.”
Chrysalis looked unimpressed. “All of which leaves the hive dependent on your goodwill, while you lure away my subjects with promises of love and luxury.”
“You are already dependent on our goodwill,” Luna interjected. “At least this way, you and your subjects will gain something for it.”
“And you’re still trying to threaten me,” Chrysalis said with a smirk. “So tell me, little princess, just what are you going to do if I refuse? Turn off the lights again?”
“That may be excessive,” Luna replied with a cold smile.
Celestia cut in. “If your hive lived in friendship with Equestria, we can provide more than just food and mutual protection. We can give assistance to improve the situation of all your subjects. Tools and technology to develop your industry. Medicine and comforts to improve the lives of your subjects.”
“Changelings are not so soft and weak as your ponies,” Chrysalis replied. “The betterment of the hive is the only comfort we need.”
“It seems your subjects would disagree,” Celestia noted.
The statement led to Chrysalis casting a sideways glare toward Sky and the other Equestrian changelings, but halfway into it her expression faltered. She hesitated, and for a moment a thoughtful look crossed her face. It was almost encouraging, Sky thought. Almost, except for the way the corners of her mouth crept up in a sly smirk.
Turning back to Celestia, Chrysalis’s reply was rather more calm and conversational. It bordered on polite, albeit with a fine sprinkling of smug superiority and resentment. “I might be persuaded to consider your proposal, depending on your conditions.”
Sky watched her, questioningly. Reactions around the table were mostly various degrees of surprised; mostly hopeful surprise, though a few looked more wary. Fluttershy--ever optimistic of others, Sky knew--looked entirely happy with the development, while Luna appeared particularly doubtful and distrusting.
Celestia, however, didn’t visibly react. “We have few conditions that would not also benefit your hive and subjects. Most are open to some degree of compromise, but there is one in particular that we must see fulfilled, regardless of what other arrangement are made.”
“Please, do tell,” Chrysalis practically purred; Sky once again faced the urge to back away from her.
“There are, by last count, thirty eight sapient beings held in cocoons within your hive. You will release them.”
“What?” Chrysalis snapped, the thin and momentary pleasantness stripped away as she turned a withering glare in Sky’s direction. She bared her teeth, quickly looking back to Celestia. “I will do no such thing. They are our food, and I will not see my hive wither with starvation for some petty comforts.”
“I am not asking you to starve your subjects,” Celestia said. “I am offering you a way of providing enough food that you will never need to take such cruel steps again.”
Chrysalis snorted derisively. “By making the hive dependent on your generosity. I might as well ask you to give up farming!”
“One way or another, they will be freed,” Celestia stated firmly. Her voice relaxed slightly as she continued. “It will be done soon, but it does not have to be immediate. Some of those changelings you keep glaring at convinced me to wait and give you a chance to do the right thing, assuring me that the beings held in your hive were in no immediate danger. I would be willing to wait, for a short time. That should be sufficient for you to see how much an agreement can aid your hive, and how unnecessary their imprisonment is.”
“My Infiltrators barely bring in enough love even with what we get from those cocoons. We can’t feed ourselves without them, and whatever assistance you think you can offer won’t change that.”
“The changelings living here seem to think differently,” Celestia said with a smile, her eyes turning to Sky. “Isn’t that right?”
Sky quickly wiped away a wide-eyed expression of surprise at being so unexpectedly thrown into the conversation. “Oh, um… yes. We--”
He was cut off by an angry glare and snarl from Chrysalis. “You have caused enough problems already, Azure. Be silent.”
Sky flinched back, a cold chill passing through him. “W-what?”
“Sigh-lent,” Chrysalis enunciated. “The opposite of what you’re doing now.”
“N-no, not… what did you call me?”
“Azure,” she growled. “Your name.”
Sky found himself trembling faintly as he inched back; the sound of the word brought back the sensation of old nightmares, imagery that was both familiar and frighteningly alien. He stumbled to quietly speak. “My name is Sky.”
“I’m not going to call you by that ridiculous pony name,” Chrysalis said, with a roll of her eyes. “Your name is Azure.”
“That’s not my name!” Sky choked back as loud as he could, which ended up being barely louder than a casual talking voice.
Chrysalis’s eyes returned to Sky, looking down on him with a tight frown. “Your name is Azure,” she repeated. “You are an Infiltrator of the hive, one my most experienced, as sad as that is. You were one of the Infiltrators assigned to gathering information in Canterlot prior to our invasion, and served as an adviser during the planning and execution. You used to be a very important changeling.”
“He still is,” Celestia cut in, while Sky did his best to keep from hyperventilating. “He advises me on matters relating to changelings, and as such acts as a representative to all the changelings of Equestria, and if you would bother listening to him for a moment instead of heaping scorn on him, you could learn quite a bit about what friendship with Equestria can mean for changelings.”
Sky heard the words, but they only dimly registered. His mind was still locked on what Chrysalis had said. His past was there, within his reach, and with it came all the fears that he had dealt with over the past year. That he was an Infiltrator… was no real surprise. Not really. Nictis had said it enough, and even if he never wanted to accept it, it fit. Even as painful as it was, he could deal with that. He knew he must have done some bad things in the past. He had likely lied to and tricked ponies, maybe even hurt them. As much as he hated what he must have done, he could deal with it. In some small way, he could make up for it.
But the sheer scope of what Chrysalis said was like a crushing weight set atop those hopes. The knowledge of participating in the invasion, of being a part of attacking innocent ponies for a needless cause, it had been troubling enough. Now he was being told that he might have been, in some part, responsible for everything that happened in it.
The weight of that bore down on him, thoughts of long-dead nightmares stirring up for the first time in months. The trembling grew despite his efforts to act normal, to hide away the turmoil that grew in him. The word “monster” echoed in his memory.
She could be lying, he knew, but it all felt far too plausible for comfort.
Hoofsteps sounded softly behind him. He knew who it was even before she placed a hoof on his shoulder, and he looked back to see Fluttershy’s soft and reassuring smile. He managed a weak smile in return, though the fragile expression lasted only a moment before fading. The other changelings looked on with concern and sympathy, despite their uncertainty; Nictis stood out from the rest, his sympathy flowing stronger, backed by a knowing sadness.
His eyes met Rainbow’s for just a moment, sensing the incredible awkwardness she was feeling. She shuffled her wings, giving him an unsure smile.
Fluttershy moved her hoof, slipping in behind him to give him a soft hug. It was strange that such a physical gesture should have more effect than the feelings of sympathy, but it was a familiar comfort. He had long since learned to trust Fluttershy’s judgment in this sort of thing.
It would have been more comfortable if Chrysalis would stop staring at him. At least the disgusted sneer had faded, though the neutral, almost thoughtful expression she wore now was no more comforting.
Celestia spoke up. “As you can see, ponies and changelings--”
Chrysalis didn’t look away as she cut the Princess off. “Do you ever get tired of the sound of your own voice?”
“Chrysalis...”
“That means ‘shut up,’” Chrysalis stated.
As Celestia rose to her hooves, the queen quickly added, “I’m not saying that to be insulting. You’ve already given me more than enough to think about for one day.”
Celestia stopped, the rigid expression that had taken hold softening, crossed with faint surprise and curiosity. “Is that so?”
“It is so,” Chrysalis said as she looked over Sky and Fluttershy one last time before rising and facing Celestia. “Enough that we will have to break from negotiations for the evening. I need some time to consider your offer.”
“Already?” Celestia asked, disapproval strong in her voice. “We only just began, and you’ve agreed to no more delays.”
“I will not be pressured into making an impulsive decision that could have such drastic consequences for my hive. If you want to negotiate, then I am going to need some time to decide whether I should even consider your offer. We can meet in the morning, once I’ve chosen the best course for the hive to take.”
Celestia frowned, silent for a moment before speaking. “You never planned on reaching an agreement with us, did you?”
Chrysalis snorted out a short laugh. “Of course not. The idea was ridiculous. I came because I wanted to see what sort of idiotic, sentimental drivel you’d spew. I figured it should be good for a laugh.” She snorted again, the disgusted sneer returning. “I never thought I might actually consider listening to any of it.”
“I think you may find that there are many benefits to peace and friendship, if you’re simply willing to listen,” Celestia said, prompting a faint groan from Chrysalis.
“Spare me,” the queen grunted as she turned away. She only took a single step before stopping, looking back to Sky and considering him for a moment. “...But I want Azure to come by my chambers later this evening. If he’s going to be speaking for the changelings living here, I would like to have some questions answered before I make any decisions.”
“You could at least refer to him by his chosen name,” Celestia pointed out.
“I could,” Chrysalis said, eyes still fixed on Sky. The silence stretched on for several seconds, until he finally swallowed and nodded in reply.
“Good,” she said, turning to leave.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Celestia asked, firmly.
Chrysalis came to a halt again, sighing. “Oh, what is it now, princess?”
Celestia’s eyes narrowed slightly at the tone, but let it pass. “You agreed to remove the agents you have in my city.”
“Oh, yes,” Chrysalis dryly replied. She paused to think a moment before speaking again. “I assume you will allow one of my soldiers to enter the city as a messenger?”
Celestia nodded. “With an escort, of course.”
“Of course,” Chrysalis said with a bitter snort, then in a more commanding voice, “Elytron.”
One of the soldiers, the same one who had shown up unarmed several times before, stepped up to her, his head bowed. “My queen?”
Chrysalis dipped her head, speaking softly in his ear for several seconds. Eventually she stopped, standing tall as he nodded in reply. “At once, my queen.” He immediately turned and trotted out, a few pegasus guards splitting off to follow.
When he had left, Chrysalis looked back to the rest of her soldiers, and frowned. Sky tensed as her horn lit with magic, mirrored by the glow that gripped the changeling soldiers’ spears. Royal Guard members shifted their grip on their spears as the changelings released their own without any sign of hesitation. “I suppose you’ll be wanting these, too,” Chrysalis said, as the collection of weapons floated over to her side. The magic vanished an instant later, sending them clattering to the ground.
Without another word, Chrysalis turned and left, followed by her sizable escort of soldiers and guards.
“...So I guess we’re done here,” Rainbow said, breaking the silence that followed. The comment prompted a rush of grumbling over what had just happened, which was soon interrupted by a clatter of hooves and laughter. Sky looked up to see Subtle practically dancing as she skipped up to the table, and managing to do so despite the thick bundle of folders clutched in one leg.
Celestia turned her head to Subtle as the earth pony approached. “What do you think, Miss Tea?”
“What do I think?” Subtle replied as she skipped up to the table and hopped up to sit on the edge. “I think that was perfect! All we need to do now is get our hooves on some of her remaining Infiltrators, and we’ll have even more leverage over her. Which reminds me.” She looked over to Twilight. “You’re really good at magic, right?”
Twilight blinked in surprise. “Oh, uh, I guess I’m pretty decent?” she replied modestly, which drew a look of amusement from Celestia.
Subtle had plopped the stack of folders down, flipping one open to pull out a few pages. “We had a couple unicorn experts look over this spell, trying to identify it,” she said as she set the pages before Twilight. “I’d like to get your opinion on it, first.”
“Oh, sure, I guess… wait, what?” Twilight was already looking down at the page with a doubtful expression. “But… you can’t actually cast like… the pattern is all…”
She blinked in surprise. “This is changeling magic.”
“You got that quick,” Subtle replied with a grin. “The unicorns I have observing Chrysalis’s chambers detected this spell a few times, and it wasn’t telekinesis, fire bolts, a fire portal, or shape-shifting, so they scribed down the details as best they could. You’ve probably studied changeling magic more than any other pony, so I thought you might have some insight into how it works.”
“Maybe,” Twilight said, attention returning to the pages before her. Sky could only barely make out any details from where he sat, and it all looked like meaningless scribbles. Familiar meaningless scribbles, at least, as Twilight had recorded notes that looked quite similar in their style when he had helped her with her studies into changeling magic.
“It’s very intricate and refined,” Twilight said, a hint of approval in her voice. Her hoof moved to indicate where her attention turned. “This part here, it looks similar to the directing portion of a fire portal in some ways, but it’s targeted by the spell itself. Like it seeks out a target, rather than being aimed at a location. Hmm… way too low-powered for a fire portal, though. The basic spell is so complex, but the targeted effect is so low on power and throughput.”
She idly tapped her hoof against the table as everyone looked on, her eyes darting from one part to the next. “Low power, but long range, and this part here... it’d put out magical energy, but it doesn’t manifest it into--” She stopped, eyes widening as she stared down at the pages. “...It’s a communication spell!”
Subtle was chuckling. “That right there took three of the brightest unicorns I know almost two hours, and they started knowing it was changeling magic. So, do you think you could cast it?”
“What?” Twilight said, then quickly shook her head. “No. No, changeling magic is completely different from unicorn magic. The energies and mental patterns are all wrong; they’re just physically incompatible. I could maybe use this as a framework to make a new spell that did the same thing, at least between unicorns, but this? I’d have to turn myself into a changeling or something before I could cast this.”
She paused, jokingly adding, “I, uh, don’t think I’m quite to that point in my studies.”
“In that case,” Subtle said, “do you think you could work out a way to track it?”
Twilight paused to consider that, her eyes scanning over the documents. “It’s hard to get changeling and unicorn magic to work together, but… yes, that shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Perfect!” Subtle replied with a grin. “Because that’s how we’re going to find her remaining Infiltrators.”
“You think she’s communicating with other changelings in Canterlot?” Twilight asked.
“Most likely,” Subtle said. “The timing is too perfect.”
Celestia rejoined the conversation, leaving Twilight to examine the spell. “How so?”
“The comparison of Chrysalis’s actions and whereabouts and when the spell was detected,” Subtle replied. “The most obvious being when it was cast immediately after Nictis spoke with her.”
Celestia frowned. “So she was lying after all.”
“Oh, let’s not be hasty,” Subtle said. “She might have just been informing her ‘backup plan’ of recent developments, and one of them might have chosen to act on their own.”
Celestia responded merely by raising an eyebrow, which prompted Subtle to laugh. “Of course she’s lying!” Subtle said, though she seemed to be grinning far too much for such a statement. “But that’s what she’ll claim if we tell her what we know.”
“Which is why we won’t tell her,” Luna said with a determined smile.
“Exactly,” Subtle replied with a quick point of her hoof. “This will give us our first solid lead toward tracking down the other Infiltrators Chrysalis has in Canterlot, because you know she has more than the six we know of. Plus you can use the knowledge of her communications as ammunition during negotiations if you need to get some extra concessions out of her.”
“So you think she truly intends to negotiate?” Celestia asked, sounding doubtful.
“Oh, absolutely,” Subtle said with a smile that could only be described as cheeky. “But that’s not the important question.”
A hint of a smile returned to Celestia’s lips as she humored the earth pony. “And what would that be?"
“The real question is how much she plans to hurt us with what she gets.”
Celestia sighed and nodded, the smile slipping away. “Sadly, I think you are right.”
“I must admit,” Luna said, “I am concerned by today’s developments. Queen Chrysalis has no interest in peace. She is only concerned about what she can get for herself.”
“Eh, at least she’s talking,” Rainbow pointed out, flopping back on her cushion.
Luna nodded, though her expression was grim. “She is, and there is still some small hope that seeing the benefits of whatever arrangement we reach might convince her of the benefits of peace, but I find it increasingly unlikely. I had hoped that the plight of her subjects might motivate her to discard some of her hostility, but it appears that hope was misplaced.”
“Changelings don’t value comfort,” Nictis said quietly. “Or at least, we’re not ‘supposed’ to. We’re supposed to just devote our lives to serving the hive, and there’s no room for luxuries in that.”
“At least we know some of her motivation, now,” Subtle said, still grinning. “I can’t be the only one who noticed. She was scornful of the idea of those so-called luxuries, right up until it was put in the context of why her subjects were abandoning her. That was the first time she seemed interested about anything you offered her. I think we might have found what motivated her to come here.”
Nictis slumped. “You may be right,” he grumbled.
“Everything about her behavior screams self-interest,” Subtle said. “She’s arrogant, temperamental, prideful, and possibly megalomaniacal. She may care somewhat for the well-being of the hive, but I suspect she may value what it gets her even more.”
A few of the changelings fidgeted, but none said a word. Twilight, however, sighed. “This is starting to sound more and more like a bad idea.”
“Maybe,” Subtle said with a shrug and a smile, “but it doesn’t mean it won’t work. That’s almost word-for-word how I described Discord before he was sent to Ponyville, and we saw how that went.”
Twilight exchanged a nervous glance with Fluttershy. “That was, erm… a rather narrow thing…”
Beside Sky, Nictis was frowning deeply, but he remained silent.
“On the plus side, she is rather less dangerous than him,” Subtle said. “Especially since we have him more-or-less on our side.”
With a faint shrug, Luna spoke. “In any case, it changes little. We knew she would have to be enticed into an agreement by what Equestria had to offer her. She may still be convinced. We’ve already surprised her, given her much to think on, and almost certainly caused her to alter her plans. It may just take a little longer than we had hoped.”
Subtle chuckled softly. “Maybe. I get the feeling I’m going to be very busy for the next few months.”
“I think we’ll have to focus on the next few hours, for now,” Celestia said, drawing a knowing smile and a nod from Subtle.
When she noticed the questioning looks leveled their way, Subtle clarified. “Chrysalis just set herself a couple deadlines. She’s going to have a very hard time justifying any further delays, so tomorrow morning is about as long as she can expect to delay. If she’s going to act overtly, there’s a good chance it’ll be before then, or at least, not long after. It’s even more likely that she would act before removing six of her own agents, so… if she’s going to do something unpleasant, it will probably be in the next hour or two.”
Nictis tensed, eyes wide. “You’re right.”
“Hmmph,” Luna grunted. “So much for getting any sleep before nightfall.”
A smile returned to Celestia’s face. “You can rest, and stand guard over the night. I’m sure we can handle any preparations for whatever Chrysalis may have planned.”
“That should already be taken care of,” Subtle said with a confident smile. “As soon as I heard Chrysalis agree to bring her agents in, I scrambled every resource I could get my hooves on. Also, I made several suggestions to Glimmer Shield that he took up. He called in extra guards, reinforced some patrols, and should be a good way through altering schedules to keep things unpredictable.”
Subtle then turned a very fake-innocent expression toward Celestia. “Also, he may have misinterpreted some of what I said and somehow come to the strange conclusion that it was all a direct order from you.”
Celestia shook her head, though the smile lingered. “You really shouldn’t do that,” she said with a hint of amusement.
“Time was of the essence, and I couldn’t just waltz in and tip off Chrysalis,” Subtle said with a shrug. “Though speaking of time, I should get to work.” She slid off the table and dropped onto her hooves before turning to the youngest princess. “So, Twilight, how long would it take you to work out a tracking spell for that?”
“Hmm?” Twilight said, looking up from the page she was scribbling out figures on. “Oh! Oh, that was easy. If you’ll give me just a few minutes, I think I can work out something that will tie into the communication spell’s scrying return, it should be a much more elegant solution.”
Subtle laughed softly. “Any solution is better than the none we have now. Think I can borrow you for a bit?” She looked over to Nictis. “And you, too?”
They both agreed and were soon following Subtle out. “I suppose I should be going, too,” Luna said, rising to her hooves.
Celestia rose as well, to share an affectionate nuzzle. “Sleep well, sister.”
“Just make sure to wake me if anything goes wrong, this time,” Luna chided, though she smiled as well.
Luna turned and walked away, but as she passed Sky, she paused. “I hope your conversation with Chrysalis goes well.”
“Thank you,” he replied with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.
He was surprised when Luna lowered her head alongside his, speaking softly. “I understand your fears, Sky. You must remember, she has no hold over you now. You are who you choose to be.”
Sky gave Luna a rather questioning look, which she met with a confident smile before turning away and walking on.
“She’s right, you know,” Fluttershy quietly said, a foreleg still looped comfortingly around his shoulder. “Chrysalis might be big and mean and scary, but we’re all right here with you.”
“...Thanks,” Sky said, finally allowing a weak smile, which Fluttershy answered with a happy smile of her own.
“Of course,” she said, giving a reassuring squeeze. “That’s what friends are for.”
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SO MUCH TALKING
This chapter took far too long to get done. I've been having a somewhat no-braining month, which made it hard to get any writing done.
4133185
Given that she stole cake from Celestia twice (documented, anyway), giving someone else the rights to her kitchen is the next closest thing.
though a little more extreme than we are used to seeing... Then again, we usually see her in full control of whatever situation she's in. It's when she isn't that we see her depth. And you did well expanding what little they showed us from the show into something that is still very much believable, even without context.
No-braining time periods are not fun. This we can agree on.
It was worth the wait, though. Nothing that was said by any of them seemed out of place. No one seemed to be out of character, either.
Pinkie gave someone permission to do stuff that she had no business giving.
Twilight is a magic genius, and calls herself 'adequate'.
Luna gives off that air of mysterious younger sister entirely too amused at seeing her sister's feathers ruffled. (This site needs a Luna icon... This site needs more icons in general.)
Celestia played the stern 'big sister/protective mother figure' card
Forget Chrysalis, this here is the real threat.
And is this the first time that question of Discord's status has been answered in this story? I like his current position, nominally on their side, but unwilling to do anything that might be identifiable as "usefull", "helpfull", or "work."
Sparks and Nictis are getting closer. HUZZAH! I'm pretty sure they win my best couple vote
Celestia had a nice trump card there with the "I know where you live" thing. Good play Sunny.
For that matter then entire debate was very interesting. You could tell the Chrysalis was just being an unreasonable, uncooperative ass for most of it, but she did raise some legitimate points.
4133185 great chapter though <3
4133292 there needs to be a luna icon ;~; also is it me or is chrysalis desperately trying to get her lost infiltrators. first nictis, now sky
I must admit, as much as I love this story and the plot, the character of Chrysalis just seems annoying.
)
Sure, she's a master of concealing emotions - she's the queen of manipulators for a reason. But in a literary sense, we really don't have much reason to even enjoy her; we aren't seeing anything at all aside from the 'I'm way above you scoff scoff' act, and her only motives so far are what the Equestrians have assumed. We - or at last I - can't connect at all... And given how pivotal she is, I think Chrysalis needs more dimensions in her personality than the one we've been shown.
Maybe I'm just jumping the gun - between the communication hijacks to be and the night with Sky, maybe we'll see another side of her. Maybe we'll get a flashback. Maybe you'll surprise us and throw in a giant plot twist that'll make everything male sense in hindsight
But really, I want to know Chrysalis a little more. That is all.
(Also sorry if I forgot something pivotal in an earlier chapter its quite early and I don't think I'm thinking at maximum capacity
Subtle is best spy.
So now Sky finally knows what his old name was.
Little worried about Discord's disappearance and what flavor of chaos may be coming up in the future.
Needs moar dialogue.
I love how you portray Chrysalis.
I sense a disturbance in the Force...which explains why Discord left.
Chrysalis is up to something, perhaps another attempt to take Canterlot. She's desperate, I should think, her hive in worse shape than she would have them believe.
Having said that: Although I am not in belief she attacked Canterlot because her subjects were starving (just my head canon...I'd love to see where in the show it was implied they were). She's a megalomaniac trying to make a mark for herself in changeling history (and world history). Does she care for her subjects? To a degree. She has to if she intends to have changelings to rule over. Chrysalis thrives on conflict and really doesn't see ponies as anything more than a food source.
Excellent chapter. I always look forward to updates to this story.
4133399
I'm getting this kind of vibe from Chrysalis like the original Joker who just wanted Batman to smile. Y'know, trying to provoke a reaction just to get the other to break from their character and express themselves. Except Chrysalis wants Celestia to actually lose her cool, not smile. And of course, if Celestia flips her s**t, then Chrysalis has a laugh and gets to throw Celestia's "unreasonableness" back at her.
What Luna said about Celestia is the scary part. Chrysalis is being a bully but she may have misjudged her target's unwillingness to retaliate. Celestia will do what's best for her ponies, and sometimes a bully just needs to get utterly thrashed behind the schoolhouse.
Shit gonna hit the fan.
4133506 Chrysalis cares for her subjects just much as Kim Jong Il cared for his. Their behavior and attitude is quite similar.
Chrysalis has likely also claimed to have ridden a unicorn.
I wouldn't be surprised if somepony (probably Rainbow Dash) adds a free swing at Chrysalis' face to the peace agreement at the last moment.
Celestia knows I want to.
I'm guessing that Discord is keeping an eye on them to make sure that none of his toys get broken. Particularly his favorites: Fluttershy (whom he can cuddle) and Twilight (whom he can tease). It may run deeper than that, but I am pretty sure that "my toys" is at least part of his motivation.
It looks like Spark still loves him/her. It's obvious that Meadow Song's old friends (especially Cotton) still like her as Nictis. And Bigs seems to be at least tolerating this development -- maybe because he knows that direct opposition would be counterproductive.
Chrysalis seems to know an awful lot of details about Nictis' old life as Meadow Song. I wonder tp whom she or her agents have been talking?
Very important point -- it means that if Chrysalis just wants to strike and vanish off into the darkness, she'll need to find a new home base. This means that there'll be a price for Chrysalis to pay if there are any more attacks.
Oh yes -- but then Chrysalis chose to come to Canterlot on both occasions -- nopony forced her either to invade or to show up before the Day Court, after all. She always had the option of just leaving the Equestrians alone.
4133668
She probably has. Which would piss off an alicorn.
4133506
Chrysalis is just asking Celestia to go all Song of Syhlex on her. This is foolish on her part, which makes me wonder what exactly is Chrysalis' endgame. Chrysalis can't really not grasp that, without the element of surprise, she stands no chance against Celestia backed up by Luna, Twilight, the other Elements, and the Royal Guards. Which makes me think that she is having her minions do something very nasty while using herself to draw everyone's attention away from the main attack. The "indirect approach" strikes me as only natural for Changelings. I don't trust that ling any farther than I could spot her in a Where's Waldo crowd, after she'd had time to Shift into a new form.
4133506
It is a common claim of aggressive tyrants that they are attacking others purely because the needs of their peoples demand it. The Changelings of Hive Chrysalis may well have been starving, but this in turn may have been because Chrysalis herself was focusing on breeding a large Swarm with which she hoped to attack other Hives and peoples, and acting in so predatory a manner that Hive Chrysalis had little choice but to keep seeking new hunting grounds (instead of being inconspicious parasites, or still better, symbionts). Tyrants never seem short of "needs" to attack others -- because their own behaviors create such needs.
But I guess that was the point, that Chrysalis isn't there for diplomacy. The problem I have is that that point has already been driven home, and that though it may have been non-negotiable to begin with, Celestia should have been much more methodical, and logical in her approach. This actually reminds me of a friend I have. If we're arguing and I take that approach, it becomes very easy to see exactly where our disagreement is (most of the time it's on definitions and there's no real disagreement). On the occasion that the root of the problem is bullshit, I just stop arguing, because there's no point.
You've definitely succeeded in making the reader frustrated though, there's no debating that!
I don't know, maybe it's just me. Anyways, I didn't really like the chapter, but you have some great characters, and a great story so far, so I'll stick with it.
4133913 Molestia has ridden many unicorns...
4133996 Once negotiations break down, the best bet is to drop the Sun on the changeling hideout.
Showing that you can vaporize an enemy's entire nation usually causes them to suddenly see reason.
4134050
Two problems:
(1) Chrysalis has some three dozen Pony prisoners, and
(2) She can move her Swarm to a new Hive. She probably had alternate Hives already prepared against just such an eventuality.
Just had a crazy thought; has anypony scanned Chrysalis for a disguise? I mean they're all assuming that she's actually there for the 'negotiations' but what if she's not? I'm not entirely sure what the benefit of this bluff would be but it would certainly cause confusion and allow for a surprise.
*sigh* Oh Celestia, you stupid, stupid mare...
Offering to take away one of the things Chrysalis clearly values most, her sovereignty and independence, and framing it as a gift? Are you trying to prove her right about you? Beneath that mask of smug and snide expression I believe I see a scared and resentful leader, one you are backing into a corner. Cornered creatures, sapient or other wise are dangerous and unpredictable things. You could crush them so easily... but they're going to make sure it hurts you badly if you do.
I can't say I'm satisfied with Celestia's diplomacy on a personal level... however from a story telling perspective you dear author are certainly keeping tensions high, the chapters engaging and the story oh so very entertaining. You have my deepest applause.
Pinkie and Cotton together? Why did I not see this coming until Cotton mentioned a slumber party? I'm sure those two are going to get on like... oh, I don't know... a castle on fire perhaps?
Man, I love this chapter. I love this story. I've always been a fan of dialogue and character interaction over most other parts of a story, and this chapter didn't disappoint. I also like that you seem to be balancing Sky's screentime better—I admit that I am more interested in Nictis than Sky, but the last few chapters have had so much focus on Nictis that Sky was being pushed into the background.
One criticism I have is about Spark. While his reactions to everything have been perfectly understandable, it's making him a really boring, one-note character. All of his previous personality and characterization has been thrown out the window and replaced with a meek guy that never speaks. Again, it's not that it doesn't make sense that he'd act like this, but he's just so boring. I figure that it'll be fixed as the story continues, but I just wanted to point it out now.
Excellent work! Looking forward to the next chapter!
4133399
Yeah, I knew I needed to address what he was up to while all of this is going on. He's not going to let someone else break his
toysfriends, after all! Plus it let me slip in a joke that I'd been wanting to do for a while.4133668
Much to Shining Armor's embarrassment.
And yeah, I've been noticing a fair number of parallels between the changeling hive and North Korea.
4134424
It was just an initial offer, followed up by the offer of alliance and cooperation that probably would seem more reasonable by comparison. It's fairly common to start negotiations asking for more than you expect to get and being "reasonable" by allowing others to talk you down to a compromise.
Though if Chrysalis pushes too hard, she might just lose those things she values, anyway.
4134481
Yeah, I agree about Spark, but he's opening up. There's been enough that's happened to him that it will take some time to heal, so it won't be an immediate change, but hopefully the upcoming scenes should be good.
4134778 I suppose that's right from a technical stand point but Celestia still sounded as antagonistic as Chrysalis was to me. Not without good reason though, I'll admit. I suppose I have a bit of a bias towards changelings in addition to their roll as the underdog here.
Either way, it's still a good read.
4133421
Chrysalis is supposed to seem like a flat, one-dimensional character at this point. Suspense in the story can be built in a couple different ways, and in this case it's being done through the fact that Chrysalis is a villain, we know she's a villain, we know she's playing silly buggers with everyone.....but we have no idea how. We won't see the real Chrysalis until right before her plans come to their fruition.
She shows us a facade of an arrogant, prideful queen, completely unconcerned at the consequences of poking a sleeping lion with a stick, while we sit there watching and trying to figure out how much of what she's doing is a bluff or if that stick is about to turn into a sword sliding between the lion's ribs. We find little pieces and bits of her plans here and there, but even then we're left questioning how much of what we know gives us an actual advantage and how much of it we only ever found because she wanted us to find it.
4134395
Won't everyone be surprised when it turns out Cotton was Chrysalis in disguise!
4133932
The obvious ruse here seems to be the one she already tried with Nictis -- try to tempt skilled infiltrators back to the hive. Perhaps she thought Azure had gone completely rogue, while there was still some hope for Nictis. Now she has some leverage over Sky and is interested in him again.
At least, that's the obvious story, which almost certainly means there's something big going down outside the conference room and safely out of sight. She's definitely pulling some crazy bait-and-switch during Nictis' audience with her, and possibly this chapter's meeting, so I suspect her real goal is going to be something mostly invisible to us at the moment.
4134424
Yeah, why did Celestia make Chrysalis attack Canterlot in the first place? Or come back afterward? Curse that Celestia and her evil refusal to just let Chrysalis raid Equestria at will! What is she thinking?
4134481
Unless something even sneaker than I imagine is going on here, Spark is emotionally-scarred by everything that has happened over the last year or so, and has to recover to be able to trust Nictis/Meadow Song again. I think it's understandable.
4135239
What I'm hoping is that Celestia and Luna know what Chrysalis is generally trying to do (distract them with negotiations while striking from the shadows) and have a good riposte planned for when this happens. The part where Luna flat-out admits that she likes to fight and points out that Celestia is furious even though her elder sister seems calm on the surface may be foreshadowing this. Remember, Celestia and Luna have been alive a long time, and Luna knows Celestia better than does any other entity alive.
4135239
brilliant summary.
I'm half-expecting that when her plans come to fruition, she's tackled by her own changelings......
4136022
Oh I have no doubt that if Chrysalis pushes too far, Celestia and Luna will have some very pointed words (and other things) in store for her. At this point my big worry is what they'll lose to push them that far, or that Chrysalis will be able to force them to hold back (hostages and all that jazz).
Her attempt to turn Nictis against the ponies has failed, for the moment at least, so now she's moved on to Sky. And to make it worse, she's offering him the one thing he both desires and is terrified of knowing at the same time. We'll just have to hope that his connections to the present are stronger than his guilt over his past......
4134124 Collateral damage is acceptable in warfare...
*Alondro blows up half the planet*
Collateral damage! (But at least I won!)
Why does that sound like she is able to, but doesn't want to admit it?
Why does that sound like she is able to, but doesn't want to admit it?
4135838 I never said that what Chrysalis did was right, but Celestia sure as hell could have handled that better. The changeling's perception of ponies has always been one of fear, from what I can tell in the context of this story the only reasons she attacked Canterlot is because of desperation and that her view of ponies was too narrow minded at the time.
Mental impression of this Chrysalis is pretty much:
"Changeling Korea is Best Korea!"
Given my impression of the situation, if I were there, I'd pretty much have come out with something along the lines of "It appears that the changeling hive isn't really the problem here. Rather, YOU [chrysalis] are..."
'What?!'
"It's simple, you're a power-hungry control freak used to micromanaging everything you can get your hooves on, and have proven to be short sighted, selfish, deceptive, ineffective, careless, sloppy, and incompetent. In short, completely unfit to rule an ant farm, let alone a changeling hive. That makes you the problem, not your so-called subjects, or would the word be 'slaves'?"
"How dare you accuse-"
"I don't know about anypony else here, but I prefer to nip problems like you in the bud... And, oh look, how convenient you're RIGHT HERE."
'What are you-'
"I wonder how effective your agents really are when you're not around calling the shots."
"!!! YOU!"
"Long live, the queen.Fireball! "
But then again, Slayers combat magic might be a bit OP for MLP...
4137094
I have great disbelief in what seem to me to be absurdly self-serving excuses on Chrysalis' part. It's obvious from Nictis' own experiences that it is possible for Changelings to live as either (mostly harmless) parasites or (positively beneficial) symbionts with Ponies. What's more, even granted that most Changelings despise Ponies, even marginally sane and wise leadership on Chrysalis' part would have acknowledged that Equestria was much stronger than Hive Chrysalis, and hence avoided a direct confrontation. In fact, such direct confrontations don't even seem to be the normal Changeling way: if they were, then the Changelings would have been noticed long ago.
It seems pretty obvious to me that Chrysalis is both paranoid and insanely aggressive even by Changeling standards. "Ponies passed near the Hive" does not logically mean "they've found us," and "they've found us" does not logically mean "we must strike now!," especially when the entity which has found you is a lot stronger than oneself. What's more, having escaped the first time, Chrysalis is behaving with paranoid aggression by coming back for a second try.
Given that Equestria is (1) stronger than Hive Chrysalis, and (2) was attacked without provocation by Hive Chrysalis in the first place; there is no sane reason why Celestia should make extreme concessions to Chrysalis to assuage her fears. It is in this situation the responsibility of Chrysalis to make concessions to Celestia to appease her wrath. If Chrysalis is too paranoid and aggressive to grasp this fairly obvious principle of statecraft, then she is also too paranoid and aggressive for negotiations to be productive.
And it's pretty damned obvious that Chrysalis didn't come to Canterlot to negotiate, she came to launch some sort of attack. The only real questions, as far as I see, is what is her exact plan of attack, and how she expects to win the ensuing battle of conquest -- or if it's just a raid, how she expects to escape and survive retaliation. She's really outmatched here -- so she must be planning to do something that can be done by stealth, and escape by the same means: presumably in both cases by shapeshifting and/or fire gating. And if she instead plans to take out all her enemies in one strike, the question arises as to how she expects this to work given the disparity of power against her.
4137106
This makes me wonder if the Chrysalis they are seeing actually is Chrysalis, or someling taking her form. One thing is obvious: either Chrysalis has some Brilliant Plan by which she thinks she can overcome three Princesses, and absurd numbers of powerful mages and combat troops with the tiny force she seems to have brought, or she's sneaked in a very large army, or she is planning to hit and run.
4137013
Well, in the main TV series she eventually learns species transformation, and she could use Sky or Nictis as a template. So either is possible -- she might not yet have learned the spell, or she might think that taking the form of a Changeling is potentially dangerous (I see an obvious danger in that she might not psychologically be able to resist Chrysalis in that form).
Incidentally, if the main revelation of my own Fluttershy Is Free were part of this continuity (I really doubt that it is!) then Rainbow Dash would have to wonder if she were cursed -- two of the very few entities to whom she has shown any romantic attraction would have turned out to be Changeling, or at least half-Changeling. Seriously, that would be weird.
Chrysalis is intriguing.
A goal. as though over waves
lingers near the surface in painful concealing...
I fear neither pony nor changeling will know of the other's true intention.
Build now a bond that shan't shatter for immorality
or scornful hatred!
Awaiting further releases.
4137147
The way I see it is simple: It's really her, and she's bluffing.
Her focus isn't on Equestria at all really. She knows she can't beat that. And she's not going to try. Rather, her attention is on Nictus and Sky. Essentially the two that really started the whole 'peaceful' living standard. The living standard that is now causing hive desertion.
Chrysalis has ruled her hive for a pretty long time, and during that time has sustained her authority as the 'caring mother' of her subjects by feeding them all lies and keeping them dependent on her leadership just for survival. With the revelation Sky and Nictus are symbolic of, her authority is starting to crumble.
Chrysalis is banking on one of two options. Option one being to strike at the symbolism of the 'peaceful living' movement, Nictus and Sky, in an attempt to cripple it and demonize the concept to the remaining loyal changelings... With a fallback option of trying to secure a very nice, cushy position of authority, or at least luxury, in pony society.
Either of these options leaves Chrysalis in a nice cushy place where she can be selfish and lord her weight around as she sees fit. It's practically transparent if you narrow the scope of the issue to her, and her alone. This isn't some grand master plan of a megalomaniac we're seeing, but the modus operandi of a modern despot.
This is North Korea with bug wings. And Chrissy is 'dear leader'. She holds two nations hostage with vague threats, cheap lies, and a good bluff of being a complete mad-ling while directing everything towards her own selfish whims.
Honestly, while they've got her RIGHT THERE, they just need to blast her in the face and end her outright. Her infiltrators and loyalists might cause some trouble, but would quickly find themselves at a loss as for what to do in the long term.
4137142 I... fail to see the context of you're augment.
I mean my entire point was that Celestia miss handled her negotiations not... what ever it is you're trying to convince me of here.
Yes, changelings are mistrustful of ponies and this negative view is indeed likely propagated Chrysalis's and her own view on ponies which is an entirely reasonable action when you think about it. If you perceive something as dangerous you are going to make those you care about aware of this danger however you can. Who taught her that ponies weren't to be trusted? Probably her mother and her mother's mother and so on until you come to some event in the forgotten past when ponies did react to changelings with violence.
It doesn't help her point view that such fears would be fed by the disappearance of a generation of upcoming infiltrators cutting their food gathering ability. From her perspective it's probable that they have been discovered by Equestria and killed. There was also much talk of an expedition in the direction of her hive not too long after. She doesn't have the best intelligence on Equestria so this can sound like a cover up for an attack. Yes, she's paranoid but it certainly doesn't help that paranoia when it is exacerbated by requests to disarm her personal guard, rather demeaning offers of annexation and threats of the total annihilation of her people.
Is Chrysalis being reasonable? Hell no. Has she got some other plan up her sleeve to put things in her favour? If she had sleeve then yes, most likely. Why? Because she never expected the ponies to be reasonable. Offers of annexation if exactly what she expected and it's exactly what she got. Only when she began to realise there were other options on the table did she begin to seriously open up. If she had heard a word of the conversation they had afterwards all that would have been wiped off the table and with good reason, they were literally plotting her downfall.
Are the Equestrians justified to do so? Again, yes given her unprovoked attack and provocative behaviour. However they are dealing with a cornered opponent which is all the more reason to appear non threatening. Saying, we will only attack you in retaliation to you moving against us again is very different to the statement to we can completely destroy you any time we like whether you like it or not.
Again, I fail to see the point of you're argument other then 'she's evil and we should just accept that, it's all the characterisation and reason she needs'. Please correct me if I'm wrong but if not then I doubt we will come to an agreement.
And again, I just want to say this isn't something I disagree with on a level with the story. It does keep things interesting and exciting, I just believe everyone especially the antagonist needs reasonable motivation and here everyone has been given such. It's why I'm loving the story so much.
I kinda feel like Chrysalis wants them to attack the main hive. We've gotten the info that she has a bunch of mini-hives so she could have that as a decoy and alternate raiding Equestria from the new bases while their army is out of position.
COTTON IS A CHANGELING
TC IS A CHANGELING
EVERYONE IS A CHANGELING
AAAAAAA
4137294
Right. I don't think that she "mishandled" the negotiations. I don't think that there was any way of getting anything out of the negotiations, because Chrysalis didn't really come to Canterlot to negotiate, and to the extent that Chrysalis did, only would have done so if Celestia had made absurd and uncalled-for concessions. Peace is not always preferable to war; peace bought at the price of sacrificing one's own national interests without either moral or strategic reason to a weaker challenger is most definitely not preferable, since it involves betraying one's own country.
If Chrysalis was indeed motivated primarily by fear of a strong potential enemy, the last thing that she would do would be to alert that enemy to her existence by attacking its capital. Afterward, she would have to be truly foolish to return to its capital and launch terrorist attacks under cover of her embassy, thus waving a red rag in that Power's face and daring it to do its worst. If she is that fearful and responds to her fear by insane acts of aggression, then the responsible thing for Celestia to do would be to destroy (or overthrow) her, because Chrysalis is obviously too paranoid to be permitted to remain in charge of a Power that could harm Equestria.
If this reminds you of supposedly "fearful" petty dictators in Earth's history, it's because they weren't "fearful" in any rational sense either. They were paranoid megalomaniacs, whom those who engaged in wishful thinking chose to call "fearful" and even "rationally fearful" in order to avoid facing up to the fact that people who were essentially insane were in command of national armed forces -- because that fact is scary.
Assuming that she was honest about her suspicions (and remember, we're talking about Chrysalis here) then if this hadn't made her think this, then something else would have done so. After all, Ceymi was taking them through a monster-haunted wilderness to get them to Equestria. Having a whole party be wiped out (save for Nictis, who had no idea how to get home) was unusual but hardly all that improbable.
But if she believed this, then she would have to believe that Equestria now knew that the Changelings were real. Which means her logical course of action should have been retreat rather than attack.
Yes, if you're insane. IIRC the expedition was merely planned, not even launched. To go from "expedition planned" to "expedition launched" to "expedition is an attack on the Hive" is an example of extremely paranoid serial reasoning. And again, the logical counter to such a threat would be to hide. To relocate. Not to attack Equestria.
No matter how you slice it, "attack Equestria" was a dumb plan. Seriously. Suppose that Chrysalis' attack had completely succeeded. Killed or captured all three Princesses, all six Element Bearers, the whole Guard in Canterlot, and every single other Pony in the city ("every stallion, mare and foal.") Oh, and Spike too.
Chrysalis would still be facing a nation of tens of millions of Ponies. And she's been watching the Ponies for what, decades? Centuries? She must know that their caste system doesn't work like hers -- getting all the Princesses does not mean that she can just step into leadership of the Equestrian "Hive."
Her best bet in that case would have been to try to replace Celestia. The problem is, she probably can't perform Celestia's main function. (The Unicorns might have figured out how to do so). But could she have done so well enough that nopony suspected? Not all mages live in Canterlot. And if there was a rebellion, she's not as POWERFUL as is Celestia.
It's a serial plan requiring success of each part of the plan in turn, and thus highly-vulnerable to single-point failure. The equivalent would be for the Soviet Union in the 1980's to launch a nuclear attack on the United States in the belief that a complicated launch pattern had a cumulative 25% chance of knocking out enough of our arsenal to achieve victory by preventing our retaliation. No sane leader would start a war at such long odds. (This is, basically, why the Cold War didn't go nuclear).
But it's worse than that, because at least the Soviet Union had comparable strength to our own. This is more like Cuba wanting to launch a nuclear war against America in 1962 under the theory that the Communists would win and the Cuban survivors inherit the Carribean (this is exactly what Castro did want in 1962, which is why the Soviets then decided that he was insane). Only this "Castro" doesn't even have a stronger ally (as far as we know).
One starts negotiations by demanding more than one expects. That is what Celestia did. What Celestia really would want is for Chrysalis to make and abide by some treaty that the Changelings are not to harm Ponies. There are numerous and obvious ways, some of them actually explored by Nictis in the previous stories, for Changelings to live peacefully with Ponies and to their mutual benefit (in Nictis' case, he literally "lived with" a Pony -- and fell in love with him, too, which is of course one of the things of which Chrysalis is afraid -- losing the loyalty of her people).
As for threatening destruction, of course Celestia would want to make plain to Chrysalis that this is what Equestria might do if Chrysalis chooses war. This should, rationally, make Chrysalis more eager to have peace. If it doesn't, it's because Chrysalis does not want peace.
"Diplomacy" is "the achievement of national objectives through peaceful means." The absolute minimum Celestia can accept is that her Ponies not be molested by the Changelings. If she accepts less, she is failing her nation as a leader.
When a leader has launched an unprovoked war against a stronger Power, one which depended upon every one of a complex chain of events going in that leader's favor, and that plan has failed, an "offer of annexation" is a reasonable one for the stronger Power to make. The stronger Power could, after all, simply focus on the weaker one's annihilation.
Of course they were. The Equestrian leaders have to be prepared for the (very strong) possibility that Chrysalis will either insist on a continuance of war or on unreasonable conditions for peace ("you cattle are our prey and have to learn not to fight us when we choose to prey on you") and thus continue the war.
One does not stop one's preparations for war because one is negotiating. Instead, one continues them to maintain pressure on the enemy.
First of all, she is evil -- I think even by Changeling standards. She's putting her own pride before the survival of her Hive. By comparison, Nictis' defection is a minor betrayal, as all he did them at most was to deprive him of his own individual talents. It is trivial to point out that she is extremely evil by Pony standards, as she is engaging in actions which cause severe emotional and physical harm to others, and rejecting all offers of Friendship.
Secondly, she is specifically a paranoid, aggressive megalomaniac. "Paranoid" -- she sees plans against her where none exist (before her attack on Canterlot, most Ponies thought Changelings were purely mythological). "Aggressive" -- she responds to these supposed plans by attacking, rather than hiding or retreating. And "megalomaniac" -- she clearly considers herself to have a special destiny such that ordinary strategic situations like avoiding attacks on overwhelmingly strong foes do not apply to herself.
Given her personality, there does not seem to me to be any way for there to be peaceful relations with her. Or even mutual non-aggression with her. And the cause of this has nothing to do with what Celestia does or does not say to her -- it's Chrysalis' own psychology that makes this the case.
Blaming Celestia for this is silly: Celestia does not control the mind of Chrysalis.
I agree. I also think she's planning a strike against some crucial assets in Canterlot before fleeing. Unless she has some way that she thinks will actually let her defeat all the force concentrated at Canterlot, but I can't see how she can do that.
Your story is good enough that I just wrote a freakin foreign policy essay on the situation presented. I hope you're happy about this.
4137978 I hope you don't take this the wrong way but that was tiresome to read and I honestly don't have the energy to chew through all of it and reply accordingly. I think you seriously need to find a way to condense and simplify you're arguments. I hate it when these things get drawn out in to huge walls of text...
Thinking about this though I believe this come down to differing personal interpretations of a character. I don't see Chrysalis in as nearly a malevolent light as you appear to do so. You seem to think of her as the enemy while I'm thinking of her as someone who doesn't have to be. Sometimes most of the work in negotiating with someone is convincing them that peace is possible and not just a pipe dream as opposed to simply debating the terms of peace.
Just to be clear though I'm not backing Chrysalis here, there are a number of things you say that I agree with. However I also see she also has no experience what so ever dealing in diplomacy. She needs to be educated to the fact that it isn't about tricking each other into giving themselves a better deal and I simply think throwing an offer at someone that they will find downright offensive is the wrong way to go about that.
May I request we take this into PMs if you want to continue? I would hate to clutter up the reviews space more then we already have.