• Published 20th May 2012
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Mirror's Image - Evilpresident



Twilight never was a unicorn. And she didn't even know it.

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Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Celestia couldn’t believe how the evening had turned out. One moment, she was strolling through the sleeping city of Canterlot with her sister and the next, she received a torn cry for help from Spike.

Now however, she stood in the middle of the ballroom, having returned there as quickly as she could. Of course, Luna had stopped her by warning her of the dangers of teleporting into the fray. For all they knew, Celestia could’ve ended up in the middle of a fight.

Though in retrospect, upon seeing the torn and still body of Twilight Velvet, Celestia wished that she had ignored Luna’s advice and had teleported into the ball room immediately. Perhaps showing up mere seconds sooner could have averted a tragedy. Perhaps it could have made things worse. She had no way to ever know.

Celestia looked at the scene in front of her, silent in absolute perplexity. All over the ball room there were signs of struggle. Tables upturned, decorations smashed and broken glass littered the floor.

She noticed several downed changelings and one that looked like he was just about ready to topple over. Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle had rushed over to him, the later carrying a first aid kit in her mouth.

Applejack and Sir Macintosh were tending to Spike and the other crusaders, while Pinkie Pie was quietly crying, holding on to the little changeling nymph. Rainbow Dash tried her best to comfort her friend.

Seeing just what situation they had ended up, Luna gave her sister a curt nod and quickly disappeared in a flash of magic. Soon, she would return with help but until then, Celestia would try and do her best to help out. And perhaps find out what happened as well.

“My little ponies,” Celestia uttered, shocked by the chaos all around her. “What happened here?”

However, her question remained unanswered. Nopony seemed to pay attention to her, as there were more troubling matters at hoof.

Amidst the chaos, Celestia walked over to Twilight Sparkle and Night Light, who were both unconscious. For a brief second, Celestia had feared that they too had suffered Velvet’s fate but their slowly rising and falling chests assured her that they had not.

“A bit late to the party, aren’t we?” the Great and Powerful Changeling remarked, though her voice was not her own.

“Chrysalis,” Celestia whispered. “What happened here?”

"The details are still unclear, but some mad stallion came into the ballroom, started to make accusations, and next thing I know..." she said, taking a glance and pointing with her hole-ridden hoof at the lifeless body nearby.

"The whole hive felt Amaryllis' grief. They are furious, and it is no wonder. Twilight Velvet was a brave mare, standing by her… daughter till the end,” Chrysalis said. “Unlike some other mares I know."

She turned back and glared at Celestia, who could not help but step back at the sight of those eyes, staring at her with anger burning in them.

"Even so, I tried. I trusted you to keep my daughter safe, and you've disappointed me again. Why am I not surprised?" Chrysalis snarled, baring her fangs at Celestia. However, her expression was quick to soften, if just a bit. "But my guards appear to have been inadequate as well," she admitted.

"I- I was only gone for a few moments! I could not have foreseen this", she tried to defend herself. "But I assure you, I will keep Twilight safe.”

Chrysalis laughed in her face. “No, I will. Tell your guard that you’ll have visitors in the morning. For now, I will leave my daughter in your hooves, as I have a hive to calm down.”

Celestia expected Chrysalis to leave abruptly, as she had done before. Instead she made a quick round around the ballroom, to check on her fallen guards, to see that they were okay and stopping to whisper some soft words to them.

After making sure that they were all safe, the Great and Powerful Changeling’s eyes closed and turned back to normal, signaling that she was once again in charge of her own body.

With Chrysalis having left, Celestia took it on her to look after Twilight and her father. Using her magic, she cleared away the glass shards and broken furniture. With the floor clear, she moved them into a sitting position against the wall. Finally, Celestia conjured up two blankets and wrapped both Night Light and Twilight up in them, to keep them warm.

She then turned to the still body of Twilight Velvet. Tears formed in her eyes as Celestia looked at the fallen mare. However, Celestia quickly steeled herself, as the time for mourning would have to wait. Once again, she conjured up a blanket and draped it over the body.

As she did so, Celestia studied the wound that covered Twilight Velvet’s chest. The magic that still lingered around it felt familiar, yet darker than anything she had sensed in a long time. “Who did this to you, my little pony?” Celestia asked out loud.

“Prince Blueblood.”

Celestia turned to see Rarity standing behind her. She gently covered the fallen mare, before addressing Rarity. “What do you mean?” she asked, a bit shocked by the accusation of her beloved nephew.

“Prince Blueblood came in here and started rambling about how we were all under mind control,” Rarity explained. As she spoke, she rubbed at her cheeks to clean off her run out make up but she only succeeded in smearing it out. “He then tried to take Twilight! And he threatened Sweetie Belle and Spike and Apple Bloom and Scootaloo!” Rarity spoke increasingly faster as she got all worked up, merely from telling what they had just been through.

“And then…” Rarity shuddered. “Then he… he killed Twilight’s mother.”

That revelation made Celestia feel cold, so very cold. She would never have thought her beloved nephew to be capable of this but why would Rarity lie about this? “Why?” she eventually uttered. “How?”

Rarity shook her head. “I’m not sure but he had this strange amulet around his neck.”

“An amulet?” Celestia mimicked, a hint of fear clear in her voice. “Did it have a symbol of an alicorn on it, with a red gem in the center?!” she asked.

“I think so, yes,” Rarity said. “I didn’t see it in detail, obviously but it did have a huge red gem in the middle.”

Celestia felt a shiver travel down her spine. Just then, she heard the door behind her rattle. A quick spell from her horn dissolved the chains across the door, allowing it to open up.

Princess Luna burst through the door, followed by a small herd of ponies dressed in medical gear. Some seemed like they were still half asleep, though upon the sight of ponies and changelings in distress, they shot into action.

“Celestia, have you found out what happened here?” Luna asked urgently as she came up to her sister. It didn’t take long for her to spot the draped body nearby. The mere thought of one of her little ponies laying there caused her eyes to moisten as she looked at her sister.

“I know not the details but it appears that our dear nephew is responsible for this drama.” Celestia shuddered at the mere thought.

“Prince Blueblood?” Luna uttered unbelievingly. “Neigh, Celestia. Our nephew may be a bit hasty and full of himself but he’s not a monster!”

Celestia shook her head. “Rarity just told me it was him. His mind was clouded by an amulet. One that we haven’t seen in a long time.”

It didn’t take long for Luna to understand what her sister was saying. She took a step back, unable to accept the information her sister had given her. “No,” she said. “Bluey’s a good pony! He would not do this!”

She shook her head and turned around, walking towards the door. “I’m sure that he’s in his room right now, snoring to high heavens as he usually does.”

Luna ran off, faster than she normally would have with her cape billowing behind her. Her sister was struggling to keep up but Luna paid her no heed.

After all, there was no way that Prince Blueblood would do something like… that, was there? Nopony would deny that the young prince was an odd character but Luna knew that he was a good pony. He had helped her crawl out of her isolation and in a way, he helped her make friends!

There was absolutely no way that he could’ve been behind… whatever it was that had happened in her and her sister’s absence. In her hurry, Luna had neglected to see just who it was that had died.

Luna stopped in her tracks, half tempted to turn around and run back to the ball room. However she was right in front of Prince Blueblood’s room now. Luna decided to tend to her ponies, immediately after she had confirmed Prince Blueblood’s innocence.

She briefly considered waiting for her sister to catch up but decided against it. After all, there was precious little time to lose. Luna lifted a hoof to knock on the door. Much to her surprise, the door swung open without much effort. The lights were still on and judging from the frantic hoofsteps there was obviously somepony there.

“Prince Blueblood?” she called out, walking through the open door.

“A-aunt Luna!” Blueblood uttered in surprise. The young prince was running around from one side of the room to the other but ground to a halt when he heard her. “Aunt Luna,” he said again. “What brings you to my humble abode? Can I help you with something?”

“What are you doing?” Luna asked. The floor was covered in maps and scrolls and several other items.

“Reorganizing!” Blueblood answered. “Yes, reorganizing! I couldn’t sleep and decided that I’m going to switch things in my filing system!”

The prince was sweating profusely, with drops of sweat rolling off his forehead. His eyes were moving frantically from one side of the room to the other, as if looking for something.

Luna narrowed her eyes and took a step back, away from the prince. “You’re bleeding,” she stated, lifting a hoof to her own cheek. Blueblood mimicked her, rubbing away a small stream of blood and some dried drops.

“No worries,” Blueblood assured her. “Just a little scratch. Nothing to worry about. Say, Aunt Luna, do you still have my brooch?”

“Your brooch?” Luna asked. That was the last thing on her mind right now, as Blueblood was looking pretty suspicious now. “I have it pinned on my cloak,” she answered. “But Bluey, be honest with me now. Did you attack Princess Amaryllis and her friends?”

Blueblood smiled at her. But it wasn’t a kind or friendly smile, like Luna was used to it. It was the kind of smile she had seen before on her worst enemies.

“Of course not, Aunt Luna. Why on Equestria would I do such a thing?” he answered, doing his best to sound truthful. “Little old me, attacking a foreign dignitary?”

But Luna heard the malice in his voice. It was there, clear as day to her. “But you did, didn’t you?” she accused.

Blueblood’s smile fell.

Luna shivered as his eyes turned red, obviously under the influence of a dark, yet familiar, magic.

“Everything went all wrong, Aunt Luna,” Blueblood said. “But I will fix things. I promise.”

“Luna!” Celestia ran into the room, having picked up the pace on hearing Blueblood’s voice echo through the empty halls.

Seeing her nephew’s eyes glow red, Celestia wasted no time and reacted immediately, igniting her horn with magic. Bolder and braver ponies had buckled at the mere sight of the princess turning her horn on them. However, fuelled by the Alicorn Amulet around his neck, Blueblood just grinned and responded by lighting up his own horn.

Before Celestia could unleash her paralyzing spell, the room erupted into blinding light. It was so bright that even Celestia had to avert her eyes. Both she and Luna had to turn away in pain. As they did so, Prince Blueblood used his magic to tear at Luna’s cloak, taking back what was his.

But it didn’t take long for Celestia to recover from the magical attack, allowing her to cast a counterspell and extinguish the searing bright light.

Though it was only just in time to see Prince Blueblood teleport away. The last thing the two sisters saw was the mocking glow of the Alicorn Amulet before he disappeared.

-

Celestia and Luna didn’t speak much on the way back to the ballroom. Neither of them knew what to say at this point. Luna kept fidgeting with her cloak the whole way, as Blueblood had shredded the clasp trying to retrieve his beloved brooch. In the end, she left it behind on a statue for the servants to find later.

“Celestia?” Luna eventually uttered, just as they stopped before the door to the ballroom. “What are we going to do about this?”

“We’ll look for him,” Celestia said. “We’ll find him and we’ll convince him to take off the amulet. We will not allow him to stray even further down that dark path.” She shivered at the thought of her beloved nephew, his mind under the Alicorn Amulet’s terrible spell. “But for now, we take care of our little ponies.”

Luna nodded. “Yes, sister,” she agreed. “But before we enter… just who was it that fell to Blueblood’s magic?”

“Twilight Velvet,” Celestia told her in a hushed voice.

“I see.” Luna frowned. She didn’t know the mare personally but she was Twilight Sparkle’s adoptive mother and thus very important to somepony to whom she owed so much. Not only that but she was one of her little ponies, who she had sworn to protect.

Luna knew how Twilight Sparkle felt as she knew just how much it hurt to lose a mother. A few tears formed in Luna’s eyes as she thought back to that time, allowing herself a moment of weakness.

Celestia didn’t hesitate and pulled her sister close to her. For a few minutes, the royal sisters just sat there in front of the closed door. The only thing breaking the silence between them being the sounds of ponies running around inside the ball room.

But eventually the two princesses had to break up their moment. After all, they were needed. “Be strong, little sister,” Celestia whispered to Luna.

“Only if you are too,” Luna shot back.

-

Come morning, Celestia and Luna moved to Celestia’s chambers to raise the sun and lower the moon. Both of them were tired, having spent many hours helping the injured changelings and talking to the traumatized ponies. Most of them were asleep now, resting in the chambers provided for them.

The two of them stepped out onto the balcony and lit up their horns. With a little bit more effort than usual, Celestia and Luna performed their duty and turned night into day.

“Do you see that?” Luna asked, pointing at the horizon.

Celestia squinted as she looked to where Luna’s hoof was. She could see movement in the distance. She quickly grabbed her telescope and looked into the distance.

“I see it,” Celestia said as she peered into her spyglass. “Luna, I may have forgotten to mention something last night.”

“What is it?” Luna asked.

Celestia didn’t say anything, instead just offering the telescope to Luna. The younger pony looked through the lens. What had been a distant spot before was clear as day now to her.

“Changelings,” Luna stated as she pulled her eye away. “Lots of them.”

Celestia nodded. “Queen Chrysalis told me to expect ‘visitors’ in the morning.”

“Visitors?” Luna laughed weakly. “By sheer numbers, this looks more like another invasion.”

“Indeed,” Celestia said. Even from a distance, the force Chrysalis had sent looked very formidable and she could understand why the queen would send them. “Luna, round up as many guards as you can and meet them halfway. If they enter the city like that, it’ll cause panic and confusion.”

“With haste,” Luna said. “What will you be doing in the meanwhile,” she wondered.

“Something much harder…” Celestia said sadly. “Telling Shining Armor of what happened to his mother.”

-

Luna wasted no time gathering several soldiers, both of her own Night Guard and Celestia’s Royal Guard. Many in the hastily assembled squad seemed apprehensive to see the princess leading them. While they were glad to see Blueblood gone, the fact that one of the Royal Sisters took direct charge, instead of taking the time to select a proper temporary replacement for Captain Shining Armor's position, made clear that this was a very delicate situation.

With her hastily put together band of pegasus and batpony soldiers, Luna flew towards the swarm of changelings that came closer by the minute. She kept a safe distance as she flew over them, observing them from afar.

Plenty of changelings were on route, ranging from regular-sized warriors to giant armored behemoths. Such a force entering Canterlot unattended would surely cause a lot of chaos. Luckily, it didn’t take long for Luna to spot Queen Chrysalis amongst them.

The queen was riding atop her own chariot, choosing to stand on the roof instead of retreating to the safety of the closed carriage.

As such, she spotted Princess Luna and her guards from quite a distance away.

With a wave of her hoof, she beckoned towards Princess Luna, urging her to approach. Her convoy ground to a halt, to receive the Equestrian princess.

Luna took the invitation and quickly descended, landing on the roof of the pitch-black carriage. With a courteous bow, she greeted the queen. “Queen Chrysalis,” she said. “It is good to see you again.”

“Princess Luna.” Chrysalis returned Luna’s bow, though she didn’t bow quite as deep as Luna had. “While I am pleased to see you too so soon, I wish it had been under… different circumstances.”

“As did I,” Luna said. “But we take things as they come.”

Chrysalis nodded. “Is my daughter safe?” she asked.

Luna nodded. “She hasn’t awoken yet but she and her father are safe. We moved them to a warded and teleport-proof room inside the castle.”

The look Chrysalis gave her told Luna that the queen wasn’t entirely convinced, though Chrysalis didn’t bother to elaborate further.

Instead, she closed her eyes for a split second. In that second, the carriage started to move once more, as did all of its escorts.

“I assume that you showed up to escort us into Canterlot?” Queen Chrysalis asked. “And if not, well... I will not allow you to stop me from reaching my daughter.” The way she said that was a bit more threatening than she had intended.

Luna shook her head. “I’m just here to make sure that Canterlot doesn’t erupt into chaos when you stride into town.”

As she spoke, her own troops descended from above them and joined the changelings marching towards Canterlot. The mix of changelings and ponies looked more than a little bit odd but at least they resembled a military escort now.

“Isn’t this a bit much?” Luna remarked as she took a closer look at the small army that Chrysalis had brought with her. Several regular sized changelings, both armored and not, marched in front of the carriage. There had to be at least two dozen of them, Luna thought. And then she hadn’t counted the ones behind the carriage yet, the big changeling behemoths. Unlike their smaller, more agile brothers, they were dressed from head to hoof in a strange green armor. Only their eyes and their horns were visible.

If Luna didn’t know any better, she would’ve thought that they were ancient bronze statues, brought to life by magic. Armed with hammers that could flatten a pony with a single blow, they were truly a sight to behold.

“I only wish to protect my daughter,” Chrysalis replied, drawing Luna back out of her thoughts. “Surely you can understand that. And besides, I don’t think even a direct command of mine could’ve stopped all of them.”

“But you are the queen,” Luna pointed out, turning to face Chrysalis. “Your word is law, is it not?”

“Of course it is,” Chrysalis said. “But my children sensed that their princess was scared and in danger. No force in Equestria could’ve stopped them from coming here to protect her.”

Luna nodded. She didn’t fully understand how the changeling hive worked but it made sense that the individual changelings could choose to disregard their queen’s orders if it meant protecting her. The same was probably true when it came to Twilight Sparkle, who was the future of their hive.

Slowly but surely, the convoy of changelings and ponies marched closer to Canterlot. Both rulers stayed perched atop of the carriage, silence ruling between them.

At least, until Queen Chrysalis broke the silence. “Have you found Blueblood yet?” she asked sharply.

Luna shook her head. “Not yet,” she admitted. “He teleported away last night and hasn’t been seen since.”

“I see,” Chrysalis mused. “Well, I believe it goes without saying that if my changelings catch him near my daughter again…” She didn’t need to finish that sentence, as Luna understood what Chrysalis meant by that.

However, her changelings were more than willing to provide an example. The nearest behemoth swung his massive hammer around and hit a nearby boulder, crushing the grey stone into dust. Luna noticed that the behemoth’s hammer had a little cartoon drawing of a unicorn on it, with two x’s where his eyes should be.

“I… understand,” Luna said with a heavy heart. “But know that his actions are not entirely his own. My nephew foolishly tampered with a magical artifact. It greatly increases his magical prowess but also corrupts his way of thinking. It twists his thoughts and scrambles his mind.”

“So you wish for me to spare the whelp?” Chrysalis raised an eyebrow.

Luna nodded. “There is still time. If we can somehow convince him to take off the amulet soon, he’ll return to normal.”

“And if not?”

“Then his mind will forever be lost to the dark arts and his body will follow suit, being corrupted beyond repair,” Luna said with a heavy sigh at the end. “And if that comes to pass… death will be the only release for him.”

“Has this ever happened before?” Chrysalis asked.

“Yes, once.” Luna nodded, though she didn’t care to go into further detail.

Chrysalis frowned. She could feel the worry and love rolling off of the princess. She knew that the prince was family to Luna and thus precious to her. But Chrysalis had her own family to look out for. Though perhaps her behemoths could give the wayward prince a mere love tap with their mauls instead of a skull crushing blow.

-

Meanwhile, Princess Celestia was a tad envious of her little sister. She had taken this task upon herself but she would have greatly preferred staring down her old student than telling Captain Shining Armor about his mother. Not to mention telling Cadance of what her little brother had done.

Celestia frowned, coming to a halt before the hospital room’s door. She wondered how Cadance and Shining Armor’s relationship would handle this. She knew for a fact that the two of them loved each other so very much but what had happened would forever cast a shadow over their love.

The princess took a deep breath and steeled herself, before gently knocking on the door. A soft voice, belonging to Cadance, called out to her that the door was open. Celestia pushed the door open and walked in.

“Good morning, Aunt Celestia,” Cadance said happily. “What brings you here so early?”

Shining Armor nodded in agreement. “It is a bit early for visiting hours, I think.”

“How are the two of you feeling today?” Celestia asked, allowing for some small talk to calm herself down a bit, before delivering the dreadful news.

“Fit as a fiddle, your highness,” Shining Armor said. “The doctor says I’ll probably be discharged soon.”

“Might be a bit longer for me,” Cadance continued. “But I feel amazing. I think last night was just what I needed.”

Both of them were smiling and looked a lot healthier than the day before.

A wry smile formed on Celestia’s face. Any other day, she would have loved seeing how energetic and happy they were. But right now, it made Celestia feel uneasy, knowing that in mere moments she would be wiping the smiles off of their faces.

“I am glad to hear that,” Celestia managed to say as she struggled to find the right words to use. “But I’m afraid that’s not why I’m here. I need to speak to Shining Armor.”

Cadance’s smile turned into a frown. She knew her aunt well enough to know that tone of voice. Something was wrong, very wrong. “Shiny?” She turned to the stallion besides her. Shining Armor starred back at her, confusion clear on his face.

“It involves you too,” Celestia noted, as she saw Cadance eyeing her wheelchair. “Both of you need to know about this.”

Cadance nodded, before reaching her hoof towards Shining Armor. He too had noticed the peculiar way Celestia was acting and didn’t like it one bit.

“What’s the matter, princess? Did something happen?” A sudden fear welled up in him. “Twilight? Did something happen to her? Is she okay?”

Celestia nodded. “It’s not Twilight. But something did happen, last night…”

She recounted the events of last night, watching as Shining Armor’s brave façade faltered and tears started to well up in his eyes. Before long, he was openly crying and Cadance was doing her best to comfort the devastated stallion. But her touch and warmth could only do so much.

It was heartbreaking for Celestia to see her brave captain like this. She had known him to stare down battle-hardened griffons, sharp –fanged hydras and all sorts of unmentionable horrors without flinching. It was a sobering experience, seeing Shining Armor as fragile as the next pony.

Cadance wasn’t better off. While she managed to hold back her tears, her face was equal parts sad, angry and confused. It was safe to say that Cadance just didn’t know what to think of her little brother right now.

“I need to see her,” Shining Armor croaked. “And Twilight. And dad. And Spike too.” He pushed Cadance away, gently and struggled to get out of bed.

“I’m coming with you,” Cadance proclaimed, leaving little room for argument.

-

In the meanwhile, Princess Luna and Queen Chrysalis had arrived at the entrance to Canterlot and were currently on the way to the castle. All around them, ponies were gathering to watch the display, thinking it to be a military parade.

Luna noticed many ponies stopping and staring at them. Some waved and others took pictures of the passing soldiers.

“You ponies are strange,” Chrysalis remarked as she watched the smiling ponies. “You’d think they’d be more… wary of our arrival.”

“Very few ponies know the details of what happened at the wedding,” Luna pointed out. “And Twilight being here seems to have helped.” Not to mention Celestia’s little speech last night. Canterlot may have been a big city but ponies loved to talk and the fact that most noble ponies were enthusiastic about the changelings as allies helped a lot.

Chrysalis shrugged. She didn’t notice any anger coming up from the gathered crowd. A bit of fear here and there but most of that seemed to belong to the foals clinging to their mother’s tails.

“Smile and wave,” Luna instructed. “They love that. And it’ll make you seem more… enthusiastic.”

Chrysalis hesitated for a moment. Being a changeling, she was not exactly used to this kind of exposure; but she was used to playing an act, so she complied with Luna’s advice, lifting a hoof and waving at the ponies. “I feel ridiculous,” she whispered from between clenched teeth.

“Welcome to my world,” Luna said as she too began to wave at the crowd.

-

Back in the castle, Celestia was accompanying her captain and her niece. She lead the way, pushing Cadance’s wheelchair through the bright halls. Not a word was spoken between the three of them. Before long, they ended up at a small, secluded room. A single guard was posted at the entrance.

“Captain Shining Armor,” the armored pegasus said, saluting his captain.

“At ease,” Shining Armor said.

The guard nodded and moved aside. “If I may say so, captain. I wish to express my condolences, sir.”

Shining Armor swallowed hard, muttering a soft thanks as he opened the door. As the door swung open, he stopped in his tracks. Dreading to see what was there, Shining Armor tiptoed into the room.

There wasn’t much to be said about the room itself, as it was obvious that was just a regular storeroom. It was surprisingly bare now, having been cleared out to give the poor mare a place to rest before the coroner could come to pick her up.

Tears formed in Shining Armor’s eyes once more as he spotted the body underneath a pristine white sheet, surrounded by candles.

It broke Celestia’s heart to see Shining Armor stumble towards his mother. She didn’t know what was going through his head right now but she did know what it was like to lose a loved one long before their time.

“I’ll leave you two here,” Celestia said as she stepped back. She then leaned down and whispered to Cadance. “Be strong for him, Cadance. He might not admit it, but he needs you now more than ever.”

“Of course, Aunt Celestia,” Cadance said as Celestia leaned in for a quick hug. “But what about… my little brother?” she whispered that last part.

“No sight of him yet,” Celestia kept her voice soft, as to not disturb the mourning stallion. Shining Armor had sat himself down near his mother now and was quietly weeping for her.

“I’m going to check on his father and Twilight now,” she said to Cadance. “Come meet us when you’re ready.”

-

Celestia would have preferred it if she could’ve gone to see Twilight immediately. Unfortunately, the army of changelings arriving in her backyard required her attention as well. Not that she didn’t trust her little sister to handle it but Celestia preferred to be on top of things at all times.

And for all intents and purposes, this was sort of like a diplomatic visit. That and Queen Chrysalis was most likely rearing to go find her daughter and make sure she was safe. And Celestia couldn’t blame her.

The grassy fields behind the castle were teeming with both changeling soldiers and pony guards. Despite their professional attitude, the Royal and Night guards present couldn’t help but ogle the newcomers.

The changelings weren’t bothered by the looks they got from the ponies. Or perhaps they didn’t even notice them. After all, they were all there for just one reason.

“Queen Chrysalis,” Celestia greeted the changeling queen as she unceremoniously leapt from atop of her carriage.

“Princess Celestia,” Chrysalis said, her tone as neutral as she could force it to be. After all, she still hated Celestia’s guts but right now, her feelings weren’t important.

“It’s good to see you in person,” Celestia said.

Chrysalis wanted to say that the feeling was not mutual but instead, kept her mouth shut. “Where’s my daughter?” she asked, getting straight to the point.

Celestia motioned with her hoof as Luna joined her. “Follow us.”

-

Twilight Sparkle sat up in her bed. She had no recollection of how she had gotten there last night. Frankly, she didn’t even care either.

No, Twilight had different things on her head right now. Perhaps it was because she had only woken up mere minutes ago but the memories of the night before were hazy and muddled. But one terrible detail refused to be obscured.

Her mom was dead.

Gone, deceased, released from the mortal coil. No matter how she chose to word it, Twilight Velvet was dead.

Twilight shifted her body, taking care not to crush her wings, and got out of bed. Her hooves felt warm as she stepped onto the carpet next to the bed. Only now did she notice that there was a second bed next to hers, holding her father on it. He was still soundly asleep but Twilight could see tear marks on his cheeks, suggesting that he had been crying for a long time.

Unlike her father, Twilight’s cheeks were dry. She didn’t really feel like crying either. She just felt numb. Empty maybe. It was very hard for her to put that feeling into words at the moment.

Twilight had never really thought about how it would feel to lose somepony so close to her. A part of her always knew that she could lose a friend or a family member at any time but she had always pushed that part far, far away where it belonged.

But now that part returned with a vengeance, demanding to be acknowledged. The realization that she’d never hear her mother sing again, no matter how off-key and out of tune it was. That she’d never hug her again, never feel her warmth again.

It hurt her. In a way that Twilight had never experienced before.

Twilight glanced at her father again. If she was hurting like this, Twilight couldn’t begin to imagine how he would feel when he woke up. She gently walked over to his bed and leaned down, planting a soft kiss on his cheek as he continued to snore softly.


Right now, Twilight felt like it was best to let him sleep. She quietly opened the door and left, finding herself in an empty corridor. She looked at the windows, and from the position of the sun in the sky, she could tell it was already almost noon. "I better find Princess Celestia", she thought.


Find her, and... then what? She slumped, disheartened. Her guards were strong and resourceful enough to overwhelm Celestia herself; her fellow Elements of Harmony had also faced immense dangers; and last night, all of them together were no match for Prince Blueblood.


Blueblood. It felt surreal to remember. They had known each other since they were foals, and she could not even recall him getting into fights or anything of the sort. He was smug and headstrong, yes, but usually also polite and accommodating. Except, of course, the times when they clashed in competition for Celestia's precious little free time.


If that amulet could turn a decent pony into a murderer, maybe the damned trinket was more of a threat than Blueblood himself.


Twilight found a momentary relief from her worried thoughts when she heard someone approaching.


"Amaryllis?"


"Hello..." She hesitated for a moment, deciding whether or not to pronounce the next word. It felt so wrong, but she knew it was right, and she would have to say it sooner or later.


"...mother."


Chrysalis gulped when she heard the second word. If it was any other occasion, she would be absolutely delighted, but this was not a proper time for celebrations. She took another step forward and sat next to the dejected changeling princess. "I am sorry for your loss. Twilight Velvet was an admirable pony, and I know she loved you until the end."


Twilight looked down and remained silent for a moment, trying to find the words. Finally, she tapped her own chest with her hoof, tears starting to run down her face again. "It feels like somepony has opened me here with a knife and ripped out my heart. I feel hollow... like everything that mattered in my life is gone."


The changeling queen leaned forward to nuzzle her daughter's head, and pulling her closer with her foreleg. "I know that feeling", she whispered, taking a glance at the resplendent alicorn waiting and looking back at the end of the corridor. "Believe it or not, I truly do."


The sobbing princess remained oblivious to Celestia's presence. "It hurts so bad. It feels like it will never stop hurting."


While holding her daughter close, Chrysalis looked again. She was perplexed to sense only sympathy, warmth, a sweet compassion emanating from her former teacher. No malice. No cruelty. No conceit. But a firm eagerness to right all wrongs.

"Maybe it will", she whispered to her daughter's ear.

Author's Note:

And that's that. Thanks once again to Stormwatch, Zerzviel and Gwenio for editing this chapter. Does anybody know what happened to uTTerAbsurdity? Haven't heard from him in months...

Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's a bit shorter than you all are used to but I found it rather difficult to write down.

Oh, and before I forget: a special thanks goes out to Stormwatch, who rewrote the last part with Chrysalis and Twilight. Trust me when I say that it's much, much better now.