A Kindled Beginning

by Darkevony

Finale: Chapter 8: To Live Free and to Save all of Our Kind.

An overwhelming power erupted from the little changeling. The Mistress’s presence within her had ushered a truly cataclysmic sight with the golden glow of her magic shifting into an intense green so saturated with malice, that despite its glow, it felt like darkness itself. Much in the same way they had faced back in their first confrontation against her, Twilight and her friends were met by the horrifying effect of her magic stretching all around them onto every surface it could touch, creating a truly surreal void-like ground beneath them.

The Mistress was theatrical in her own cruel way, purposely using the massive power she now wielded thanks to her fusion with Chrys to darken the skies with black, thundering rain clouds called forth through her magic. She wanted the ponies to know how truly defeated and helpless they were by dyeing the very world almost as black as the inside of that cave, creating the stage for her rise and doubling down on making them despair to feed on more of their troubled hearts for her magical purposes.

She got on both hind legs to raise her horn to the greatest height of Chrys’ body only to slam her front hooves down to the ground while letting one resounding blast of dark energy rush towards those whom she’d made it a personal goal to intimidate with this show of strength. Nothing of the small girl remained in her eyes, save for that familiar amber hue of her irises. The Mistress had twisted the little changeling's visage considerably, darkening even the luster of her wings and hair. Her pupils were sharp, like those of the mad Queen and the whites of her eyes had become the neon green of the Mistress’ power.

Applejack struggled against the leeching tendrils, trying to inch toward the purple alicorn. “Twilight! What do we do?!”

“I... I don’t know...” Twilight’s voice trailed off, truly in despair. “This is wrong. It’s all so wrong. Chrys! Please! If you can hear me, say something!”

A cruel smile answered that call and the little changeling’s mouth dropped open to respond. Yet, nothing came out. An uncomfortable silence lingered while The Mistress looked to be trying to say something, but finding it difficult in Chrys’ body and becoming more irritated by the second.

“Ponies, rule. No more. I, have won. Now, know despair.” The Mistress said in Chrys’ voice, finally making a modicum of sense. She shook her head in frustration, and the dark green glow of her magic exploded with fury. A green mist then coiled down from Chrys’ twisted horn and around her throat, latching on like an ethereal necklace. “Finally! How obnoxious. It’s unfortunate that such a powerful vessel comes with such inconvenient problems, but I can make do.” These words were uttered by a much deeper voice, like the one they’d heard from the mad Queen.

Twilight got up with a start, her own magic surging at these words and blasting away at the creeping darkness that fed on her power. Yet to no avail, with the pitch black from under her hooves being quick to replace the tendrils that had been lost, sending her crashing back down onto the ground.

“Already so eager to give to me what I desire. But it’s not like I don’t understand why. You’re angry that I might damage her vocal cords by forcefully inducing speech through magic. If you’re going to blame anyone for it, blame that little cretin for not trying harder.” She laughed haughtily and without remorse at seeing Twilight becoming increasingly furious, trying to tear away from the darkness with vicious force.

Twilight could not stand it. From every inch of her being, she had now let every ounce of her own anger and sadness forth, giving rise to a madness of her own. How dare she, she thought. Who was she to speak of Chrys’ efforts, not knowing how hard the little girl had tried to speak correctly. Always taking her lessons seriously and trying her best to communicate her gratitude to others. Always feeling sorry for her inability to speak properly and doubling her efforts each time.

But she was no fool. She could tell what the Mistress was trying to do with these words, inciting her into further madness with them. Twilight could see that she knew this as much as she did. For the little changeling had sat by her bedside and spoke of her days to her almost every single day. The knowing, malicious smile that spread across Chrys’ face indicated this. But even so, it made Twilight angry beyond belief to think she was purposely saying all of that in an act to berate the little changeling's desperate efforts. How dare she, indeed.

“From the moment she hatched into this world, she’d created numerous issues within the royal palace of Queen Chrysalis’ Kingdom, you know. Even in the throes of the Formless, she was the final nail in the coffin for her kind when the Queen sacrificed everything for her. Just look at her eyes!” She raised one of Chrys’ hooves to her amber eyes. “They are not even her own! They were passed down to her after she lost hers to the fire that destroyed her home. How poetic, is it not?!” She’d begun to shout with intensity, making sure every pony could hear her monologue. Her words were filled with nothing but vitriol. “Worthless, miserable bug! All that she is, and all that she was, she owes to everyone else. Truly detestable. Taking and taking. Never truly giving. Perfect for the new me. This, Chrys.”

“Don’t speak her name!” Twilight’s voice yelled out. “Chrys, don’t listen to her! This is not you!”

“Save your words! Are you dumb? Isn’t it obvious that she can’t hear you?!”

Twilight ignored the Mistress. “Don’t let this be the end! You did everything in your power to try and make those roads for your kind. Even when every pony looked at you with spite. Even when I didn’t know what you were going through, you’ve been putting up with my own troubled feelings for so long. And even when you saved us all the first time too. You did it all for our sake. Ponies and changelings. It should’ve never been your responsibility to begin with. Chrys... you’ve done more than enough!”

Applejack found the strength to stand up at Twilight’s words despite the tendrils doing their best to hold her down, the sheer strength of her athletic capabilities shining through. She pulled out the crystal Chrys had gifted to her that she’d kept in her hat, holding it out to her so that she could see it. She was fully intent on keeping her promise to Chrys. “If it wasn’t for you, Chrys, this town would’ve already been run to the ground with the stampede. I saw it with my own eyes. How you ran to the very front of that herd despite everything, with every gosh darn ounce of bravery I’ve ever seen in anyone. You helped me in my moment of weakness when it would’ve usually been Winona and I whose job it was to save the town from such a threat. So you best hear what I’m saying to you! You saved us. You saved this town. Believe in my words, sugarcube. I am the Element of Honesty, after all. So know that I won’t lie to you. I told you, that we’d be the ones to protect you. So let us do that!” Applejack’s monologue ended with those words as the tendrils pulled her back to the ground.

The Mistress scoffed after having purposely allowed the orange one to interject due to their useless efforts being mildly amusing to her at first but finding her last few words grating. “Look around you. At the squalor you call a town and its citizens. Couldn’t you see the distrust in their eyes? Their prejudice, their madness?” She waved Chrys’ foreleg over behind them in the direction of the railroad where a majority of Ponyville’s citizens were likely evacuating. “Even now, and especially with these eyes, I can see their fear of changelings. Now that we’re together like this, even your precious Chrys should know how easy it was for me to make those blocks fall. One by one on top of each other like toppling dominos, they were so easy to manipulate. It took almost nothing at all. And I can tell you this on her behalf... They’re ‘worthless’, she says. The ponies, the changelings, her work to save them. She’s feeling it so strongly right now, don’t you know? This power of mine... it’s coming from her sorrow. Sadness from feeling like it was all for naught. How worthless it all seems. Her efforts, and even herself.”

Twilight found that she could not retort. It was very likely that she was trying to get another rise out of her. But the prevailing truth had always been that one can not help but feel what they feel, or think what they think. Twilight imagined that Chrys really did believe this somewhere deep in her heart. Even Twilight herself had begun to think the same way during the previous week when she’d toiled tirelessly to quell the rumors spreading around town but making zero headway with the pony-folk. It was the sad realization that no one could be perfect enough to not think this way that had made her believe that this was Chrys’ honest truth. She felt her heart begin to ache, feeling mute to respond to the Mistress.

Even if Twilight could not bring herself to rebuke her, likely from the weight of her close relationship with the little changeling and her internal conflict because of it, to her surprise she found that Fluttershy was the one to do so in her stead. Even from where she was being pulled to the ground every pony could feel the intensity of her stare after having snapped into a fit of fury. It had even elicited a shudder of fear in the small girl’s body, despite the Mistress herself being unfazed by it.

“Glare all you want, but it won’t make a difference. It won’t change the fact that she’s worth nothing more than a-”

“That’s enough out of you!” Her voice had just about muted even the thundering heavens above, for a silence lingered in the wake of it. The Mistress had gone quiet at this, likely from an internal reaction by Chrys' body. “You. Do. Not. Pick. On my friends! And Chrys is one of them. It may seem like nothing to others, but she’s been a huge help to everyone in this town. Including my animal friends too. Had it not been for her, all of the migrating birds would’ve been left to suffer the magic fowl’s down. Her tireless effort and kind heart kept Spike and I motivated enough to finish cleaning the pond. It wasn’t just then either. I’d often see her around town taking care of all sorts of animals, stopping to feed them or help them out in whatever form they needed. She’s a truly lovely creature, and the world is much better off with her in it. Which is more than can be said for you!” Fluttershy also pulled out her own crystal and held it in front of Chrys. “This is my proof too, Chrys.”

Before the Mistress could respond, another loud voice cut off her initial words almost immediately, not wanting to give her another chance to speak ill of Chrys.

“I’d never met a more gracious creature in all my days! Never once complaining when I strung her up in making my new changeling line-up. Always with such nice things to say about each and every dress I adorned her with.” Rarity called out to her, now trying her best to strip at the darkness around herself with her magic enough so she could get her own crystal ready in a similar display. “Not forgetting how much she helped me during my Spring unveiling and the wonderful gifts she gave us all. Ponies have talked about my generosity like it had always been a natural extension of my character. To this day, I don’t quite believe that I am as selfless as they say. But you, Chrys... You’re every bit of that word. And even if that’s somehow not the truth of it, know this from one generous soul to another, your actions speak of who you are. And you, well, you are truly beautiful. Don’t let this ugly thing tell you otherwise!”

The Mistress had tried opening her mouth to argue against them, but for some reason or another, she was finding it difficult to produce the words. The magic around Chrys’ neck began to glow brighter and stronger, trying to force those words to come out of her but something within the little changeling’s body was adamantly refusing now. Like... a knot in the throat.

“It must’ve been so lonely. It must’ve been so sad. I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like.” Pinkie’s disheartened voice cut into the silence that followed. There were beads in her eyes from tearing up at the idea that Chrys had suffered so much, and had, had the weight of almost everyone in Ponyville think so negatively of her. “I wanted to believe it wasn’t true. That the ponies of this town wouldn’t just say things like that. But ever since what happened at Sugarcube Corner, I’m not so sure anymore. And to hear about you having to face that in school every day too... oh it’s just awful. It hurts just to think it could happen to someone, but for it to happen to you, Chrys...” She sniffed back her forming tears and wiped them away with her forelegs, taking out her crystal from within her hair and rejoicing a bit sadly at the sight of it, then holding it out to her too. “It’s not right. No one should have to feel like that. Especially you, who always tried so hard to make everyone close to you happy as much if not more than I have in these few days we’ve gotten to spend together. We’re finally friends now, and so please, in the name of our friendship, please know that we’d never think badly of you!” Pinkie Pie's intensely emotional words, strangely enough, sounded natural coming out of her. Her friends all nodded their agreement, all of them realizing how personal this might’ve felt to the pink pony.

The glow only grew brighter at those words, trying harder against her new host’s refusal. The Mistress was finally making headway with a few grunted growls of frustration being audible to Twilight and her friends. Twilight looked over to Rainbow Dash already getting her own crystal ready by nudging her wings out of the tendril’s grasp to hold it aloft on one of them. She smiled and nodded at her when their eyes met.

“You better leave her body, or else! That pipsqueak actually found it in her heart to forgive me despite my own prejudices against her. You think I’m just going to sit quietly and let you do as you please?! You’ve got another thing coming if you think you can take our Chrys away from us. I don’t care about any stupid responsibilities or whatever her worth is. I made a promise to her. I WILL teach her to fly. In that, she’s worth everything to me as my friend. Every one of us here. We’re all thinking the same. So get a clue and scram!”

Rainbow Dash’s words in particular had resonated with a similar young filly who had also felt the weight of her own misconcieved biases weigh her conscience. The events unfolding before them had terrified the young Crusaders so thoroughly until now, that even Scootaloo had not found the courage to say anything in light of this. But perhaps because of wanting to follow up Rainbow Dash, or more likely due to her appreciation for the little changeling for having been such a wonderful friend to train with alongside Rainbow Dash within the last week, the small filly had found the bravery necessary to struggle against the tendrils coiled around her body in order to pull her cape forward in front of her chest to show the in-lined crystal pinned to it to Chrys. The other two Crusaders saw this and found their own courage to follow Scootaloo’s lead, showing theirs to her as well.

“Please believe her, Chrys. And please, believe me too! When I say that I’m sorry for having thought so negatively of you at first. You’ve been a real friend to me all this time. I regret letting that voice convince me that you were bad. It was such an obvious lie... The moment it spoke, I knew I recognized that voice. She was the one that's been feeding the town with doubts this entire time! So don’t listen to her lies!” Scootaloo took hold of a small stick near where she’d been pinned to the ground, and held it up like a cutlass to point it at her. “This is the Kraken, Chrys. You need to fight it.”

Apple Bloom placed a hoof onto Scootaloo’s shoulder after rending one of hers free. “Look, I still don’t know what all this business with the Formless is, or why it had Granny so scared. But what I do know is that you’re our friend, Chrys. You’re an honorary member of the Crusaders. You saved us from those Diamond Dogs. You played with us all week long. You even gave us these wonderful presents. No way in heck we’re letting you think you’re not important to us!”

To complete the trio, Sweetie Belle was the last to speak while placing her hoof onto Applebloom too. “Whether you need someone to speak against Diamond Tiara, or take you with us to play outside for the first time, or get you out of a long queue, or yell at other ponies for judging you so willingly with false rumors... I already resolved to help you anytime, any day! Doesn’t matter if you’re a changeling, a Princess, or whatever, that will never change! We’ll be with you, every step of the way.”

“Enough!” Another wave of dark energy that seemingly signaled the tendrils to coil around their mouths stopped them from speaking further. The glow around Chrys' neck had grown almost too bright to look at and died back down once the Mistress could tell she had gotten through the temporary setback. “Finally, this voice is mine again. I was tiring of your prattling. As sweet as your sorrows and meaningless efforts are, there is such a thing as 'too much’, you understand? Don't take it personally. I'm just not one for sappy things. Besides, she can't really hear you. Can't you tell?”

A smile streaked across the little changeling's face. Not a cruel one either, but a bright one with all the happiness from the love she was feeling. which would've come to the Mistress' surprise had she the ability to see her reflection at that moment. Her eyes had begun to shimmer from a mist that hugged at them. Even her body shuddered and stuttered in its struggle to maintain her form from the emotion of the moment, to the completely blinded Mistress who still very much believed she was in total control.

“Nothing of her remains now, so it's best you give it up ponies and despair! No one will come to save you this time.”

“I will!” The voice of a small baby dragon could be heard yelling from the distance.

Spike had initially evacuated with the rest of the pony-folk as per Twilight's instructions, but he had felt the premonitions too and had already taken some steps towards helping out in his own way. In particular, he had been on standby and watching the events unfold from the safety of the nearby library where the Mistress' magic had not reached. He would've gone out to help sooner had it not been for another set of instructions from the purple alicorn who had asked him only moments before to produce a couple of items that rested in the library.

It seemed all of the friends were very much on the same wavelength, for she had sent Spike these instructions the moment Applejack had thought to pull out her own crystal to show to the little changeling the proof of their friendship. At that moment, everyone could see that the sight of those stones was bringing forth a break in the spell. With each one they'd shown to her, the more they could see of the old Chrys within.

Inside one claw on Spike's hands was his own gift from Chrys, still inside its box. On his back and with the other arm, he supported the very large crystal that belonged to Twilight. Using his fire breath, he cleared a path through to the girls slowly by blasting the darkness on the ground away. Each time the tendrils coiled around his legs, he would breathe his fire at his feet to clear more distance, to the annoyance of the Mistress. Spike was a little surprised at himself from having never used his dragon fire for offensive or defensive purposes and having been none too confident of his own magical aptitude to this degree. His surprise also stemmed from his belly glowing yellow each time he'd belched another round of fire. Both he and Twilight could easily guess why that was.

Now close to Twilight, Spike let down Twilight's gem onto the ground and held up his gift by opening the small box, the half-chewed crystal glowing along with Chrys' infused magic floating inside of his stomach.

“Chrys, my offer still stands! You can always just join me at the library. We can read, play, or do whatever else you want to do. You don’t have to deal with this if you don’t want to. We’re here for you. Forever and always.” At this, a mass of tendrils coiled almost instantly around Spike, enveloping him in a pitch black as they made their way to the box in his hands only to be driven back by the light of its glow having not been able to consume the heartfelt love within. The green from Spike’s fire freed him once more, showing that he would not be done in like the others thanks to the power he’d borrowed.

“Even now, Chrys. You're protecting us.” Twilight got up from the ground despite the strong pull from the tendrils. “And I’m so very proud of you. Please, come back to us.” She looked over to Spike and nodded at him. “Spike, do it.” Whatever she had silently asked him to do, Spike hesitated in doing it. The intensity in Twilight’s stare was not leaving him with many options, and his brows furrowed with concern. “It’s alright, Spike. And thank you. For believing in both of us in the end.”

At these words, the little dragon clenched his claws, puffed out his chest, and shot his fire breath in Twilight’s direction towards her back in order to strip away enough darkness to set her free from the draining effect of the tendrils enough to let her produce a protective bubble to keep more from latching on. A large part of her back had been singed, but Twilight wore the pain of it with pride. Chrys’ face had contorted to concern at the sight, again to the cluelessness of the Mistress. Twilight placed a hoof onto the crystal that Spike had left at her side, gave it a glance once over, and then turned to look at Chrys one more time.

“I never know who is saving who in the end, Chrys. But this time, let me be the one who saves you. I love you. We all do.” At Twilight’s words, the stream of tears that were on the cusp before had now begun to form on the little changeling. Hearing those three words had meant everything to Chrys. Now the Mistress could do nothing to stop the tears that clouded her vision even while she tried to stem the flow of them with magic. Nor could she hold back the smile she struggled desperately to contain.

Her pupils were now dilating back into normalcy, yet still being resisted and falling back to the cat-like eyes of the Mistress. She only needed one final push. Twilight could see the internal struggle going on now, and thought to help her the best way she knew how. She began to concentrate every ounce of magic still within her into her horn.

“To do what we must, and shake off the rust.” The purple glow of Twilight’s magic began to spiral around her horn, glowing brighter with each word uttered. “We pool our power to cast, a spell aimed at the distant past.” Down from the length of her horn, the powers encircled the entirety of Twilight’s body. “We’ll find where we belong, as we go along.” Outward from her body, the energies of her magic flew while she walked in the direction of Chrys, inching closer despite the Mistress now sending shockwaves of dark energy everywhere to fight Chrys from taking control again. Twilight’s magic tore at the darkness as it traveled along the ground, freeing up the rest of the friends who’d begun to slowly compose themselves after having been drained of their energy. “With fate’s grand design, to live our lives as was predivined.” Finally next to the little changeling, Twilight placed their foreheads together.

At the finality of the spell’s incantation, her spell became complete and enveloped everything in the melodious resonance of that familiar spell. With the spell’s effect all around the little changeling now and Twilight’s horn to Chrys', the internal struggle within Chrys grew and grew. Until suddenly her body became quite still, the effects of the Mistress’ possession remaining.

Before Twilight’s heart could sink back into despair, the magical glow around Chrys’ horn that until now had been a neon green had slowly shifted back into its usual golden color. It burned at the green magical mist around her and at the darkness that clung to her. Her pupils became their usual, loving roundness and the whites of her eyes returned to normal. The shining of her hair illuminated her mane to the same effect it always did when she’d used such potent magic, and the crystalline aspect of her wings returned to their formal glory.

To Chrys, it had felt exactly like the moment she’d first shed off her fears for Fate. The very moment she had allowed the Mistress inside her heart, funny enough. But now, she was truly casting that madness out for good. And it felt good. Great even. Like the truest sense of freedom, whatever that felt like. If that freedom felt like being surrounded by the love of your friends, and your own love for them... well, maybe that’s what freedom was.

Finally completely separated, Chrys felt the weight of her relief and the exhaustion of the intensity of those emotions hit her all at once.

---

In the end, I could not fight it. I never realized how weak I’d become to my own heart’s beating. Every ounce of sadness, every drop of anger, every smidge of anxiety. Every single time, it felt like I’d been run through. Even love was a heavy thing, for it shackled me to my responsibilities. In my love for Twilight, the changelings, and the ponies, I put the world on my shoulders. And it took me all too long to realize I didn’t have the strength for such a thing.

I was thrown into the dark recess of my mind. Into a familiar darkness, but a much sinister version of it. For I could feel no wind wafting, no water drops echoing, no walls to guide me. There was nothing but myself in there, and I was truly, undeniably... Alone. Lost. Restless. And blind.

Within that darkness, I was asked hundreds of questions continuously. From hundreds of different voices. Voices that were likely the changelings of old. The Mistress, you see, was a manifestation of madness. It had been created from the individual feelings of all my brethren, pooled into a single being. While it had adopted the Queen’s image in its ethereal form, each individual dot within that cloud of energy was a single maddened mind it had consumed. From that of changelings, ponies, and animals. So I’d like for you to imagine the kind of questions that a changeling like myself gets asked from other maddened changelings. Maddened ponies. And maddened animals.

Okay, you can probably guess that maddened animals just sound like a bunch of nonsensical growls, chirps, hisses, and other noises like that. It’s kind of funny now that we talk about it like this. But do not discount what their addition meant to me while I was in there. It wasn’t just the questions that I could hear. It was their emotions I could feel, and their strong desires I could see. The cacophony of their anguish mixed in with questions of why I wasn’t trying harder to save the changelings, and accusations of our kind bringing ruin to the world of ponies...

Well, I’d like for you to imagine that being in there at that moment, with my heart open, vulnerable, and empathetic as I am... It was like a living nightmare. A hell specifically designed for me. The pain that I felt while in there... that’s how the Mistress planned to siphon more of my emotional power from me all along.

It reminded me of my dreams of the past. When I was caught in the rampaging fires that broke all around the Formless Kingdom during the time of its greatest tragedy.

Still so young with only a few years to my name after being hatched, I stayed at a communal nursery where changeling children were taken care of for a few years and taught the basics before being taken to their parental homes with their guardian predecessors. Changelings do not have the same birthing rituals as ponies do, and familial bonds do not exist due to the nature of our kind. We were all connected by blood technically, incubated in the Great Nest as eggs, then only hatched and given our characteristics by the unique changeling magics of those who wished to pass down their life to another. To changelings, there are no such things as mothers and fathers. Only predecessors and successors.

Connections between parent and child existed regardless, for there are no creatures without love in this world. That much is true, no matter how twisted. Even for changelings whose impersonal attribution to their children were ‘successors’, living together in any capacity meant you were family. And having a home, like most changelings did after their nursery period, was often seen as the truest sign that you were loved.

Yet, the years rolled by and my time to leave had come and gone. I was left to live in a room where usually at least ten changeling children would sleep at a time, all alone since the egg incubation ceremonies for prospective predecessors had not arrived to renew the cycle. The whole of the nursery was silent, being left to wait for the moment when its halls would see a slew of children again.

But please, do not feel sorry for me. My circumstances were quite unique, and they could not be helped. I was Queen Chrysalis’ successor after all, and the palace was no place for a small girl who barely knew to place one hoof over the other when walking. She would visit often and on most days, despite the toils of her position and the constant nagging of her advisor. Always trying to make as much time as possible to teach me about the world and to play with me.

Perhaps a part of me felt lonely in those quiet moments, all by my lonesome, though I seldom remember much of that time. But thankfully, I also had the eldest of the nursery workers to take care of me, who would be the one to sleep in the nursery at night with me so that I wouldn’t be truly alone. She was kind to everyone and was often referred to as Mother by all of the younger kids who had come and gone.

And she was no changeling either. She was a pony. A wisened old earth pony with a white coat and a yellow mane, irises in a bright golden hue. Her stories and descriptions of pony families are likely where are all the changeling’s familial bonds originated, with many a changeling child wanting to have that same connection with their predecessors.

Although she was always nice to me, something upset me about the way she looked at me... always with concern and pity in her expressions. Her face would furrow with worry and she’d take extra care in comforting me each time.

The kids often believed that she was a witch. That she had the ability to know their mischief-making before they made it, or for being too keen on the sentimentalities of the quieter kids who did not show their emotions on their sleeves like some others. But to me, she always wore that same expression. Always looking at me with sadness in her eyes. What did she see I wonder?

I still remember her vividly. I remember the fires as they crackled all around me, my world burning. In the murky darkness of my mind with all those voices yelling their anguish and anger at me, I remember being blinded by the flicking flames, erratically stabbing at my eyes. And I remember her voice, yelling out to someone.

“Hurry! She's got to be here somewhere!”

And I hear their questions, over and over, clear as day from the changelings of that time.

“Why? Why me? Why us?” Questions with no good answers.

I hear them ask these questions, their voices tripping over each other surrounded by the ruins of their homes with the Queen at the center, standing atop rubble to speak to her people. Or so I would guess, for my memories of that time are completely dimmed, dull, and distorted, likely from the damage the fire had done to my eyes. I could only paint a foggy picture of her at the center of it all. But I could feel it. The madness of that moment. The Queen’s ultimate sacrifice. The birth of the Mistress... The hands of Fate, beginning to move.

In the final moments of these memories, I remember feeling the powerful, desperate magic of the Queen. The spell she’d used to stop my time, and protect my mind from our plight. To the side of her, I remember the old nursery Mother, waving goodbye with tears in her eyes.

And from there all I remember are... stars.

The sun, the moon. The sparkly little things in the night sky.

---

The Mistress had not been entirely untruthful. In the wave of this nightmarish mental torture she’d subjected Chrys to by entrapping her in her own mind, the little girl had begun to feel the absolute most dangerous feeling that a changeling could feel.

Apathy.

Her own voice was speaking questions to her now. “Why? Why me? What was all my work for? For whom? Meaningless... I changed nothing. I am... nothing.”

We have to remember that changelings are emotionally driven creatures. Whether it be rage, madness, grief, happiness, or love, a changeling is meant to live with emotion in their heart.

But apathy is no such thing. It is a depression of the mind. A sorrow so powerful, it leaves one with nothing inside. And a changeling with no emotion is just a walking husk... The fire in their souls reduced to nothing but ash.

Chrys understood this. She’d seen so many of her brethren become as so within the darkness of that cave after so long. It was a state of being that previously, she’d feared with every fiber of her being that she might one day adopt. The reason why Fate scared her so. And she understood that the apathy she was feeling was a mortally dangerous sign of her very self being stamped out for good. That her body would ultimately become the Mistress’s forever.

But that’s the thing about apathy. It creeps in like a darkness threatening to swallow the world. And where her concerns and emotions of wanting to keep moving forward would usually lie, instead, only a resounding emptiness existed. Trapped there in the corner of her mind, all the questions silenced to give center stage to three words being spoken to her by her own voice. Three words repeated verbatim over and over.

“I don’t care.”

She had been an effigy of flame. Burned to soot by those hateful emotions. And now only a few embers trickled out of her ashes. Fading... fading into the quiet dark all around her.

Before she could slip into nothing altogether, a voice spoke to her.

"Feel the world around you. Hear the sounds it makes. Take in the smells, the scents of this sweetened earth. Open your eyes and see what only you can see with them. Experience it all. It's pleasant, isn't it?”

The darkness all around her shifted into the image of the Everfree Forest, down that familiar path she’d always taken. And down the very same steps she’d made when she ventured into the outside for the first time since she’d been trapped within the cave. The sights, the sound, the smells... all over again they entranced her.

The greens of the trees and the blades of grass swayed to a gentle breeze that caressed her hair. The wind picked up the scent of moistened earth after a rain, mixed in with the smell of newly bloomed flowers and sweet tree sap. The hues of silvery fish gleamed like gemstones beneath the water after she’d dipped her head into the stream to gaze at them, the cold sensation of that rush refreshing her spirit after coming out for air.

Two firey birds then flew by her, up and down the length of the stream chasing after each other and swirling around in the air in a beautiful airborne dance, then leaving for their nest shortly after. She climbed a tall tree to look at where they had left to and saw three smaller birds being taken care of once she’d reached the top. The bigger birds flew away, and one by one, each of the smaller ones took flight toward them. The skies parted, and for the first time since she’d been out of the darkness of her cave, she saw the sun again, illuminating their plumage in a beautiful display.

But this time, she had not fallen out of the perch by some disconnect in her soul or some wailing voice. There, Chrys rested atop the tree to see the moon rise and give way to the sparkling night. And from that height, she could see the mystical purple hue of a massive bear walking through the forest and toward her den. Each step from the mother bear shook the earth, thump thump thumping to the rhythm of her heart. Suddenly, one step made her lose her grip in her carelessness, and she felt herself falling. Falling, yet slowly. Falling away from the night sky, the stars and moon becoming farther and farther out of her reach with the silhouette of the trees becoming larger and larger the closer she got to the ground. She hit the ground, although rather gently. Like if it had been made from cotton candy.

And popping into her vision, the sight of Twilight’s purple eyes appeared before her. They were speaking to her, in a desperate tone, trying to make her understand something. She couldn’t piece everything she was saying within the darkness of her mind, having been too far strung by the Mistress. But some of it was coming through, loud and clear.

“Don’t let this be the end! You did it all for our sake. You’ve done more than enough.”

Twilight’s eyes were replaced by Applejack’s, the orange of her coat reminding Chrys of her gift to the orange earth pony. One filled with comfort and security. One of honesty.

“You saved us. Believe in my words, sugarcube. Know that I won’t lie to you. I told you, that we’d be the ones to protect you. So let us do that!”

Then to that of Fluttershy, whose pink hair reminded her of the feelings of nurturing warmth and kindness she’d infused into her crystal.

“She’s been a huge help to everyone in town. She’s a truly lovely creature, and the world is much better off with her in it.”

Fluttershy did not say this to her specifically but to the Mistress. Chrys understood what she was hearing now at this. It was her friends calling out to her, fighting against the Mistress...

Sure enough, Rarity’s eyes were the ones to fill her sight next, the purple of her soul’s flame reminding her of the heartfelt gratitude and grace in her gift to her.

“Know this from one generous soul to another, your actions speak of who you are. And you, well, you are truly beautiful. Don’t let this ugly thing tell you otherwise!”

Strangely, the downtrodden eyes of Pinkie Pie were the ones that followed next, with tears forming in them. It hurt Chrys to see her so sad when usually she’d be the picture of happiness and cheer. But she could see how hard she was trying to stay intact, like Chrys herself had often tried in swallowing her own feelings of sadness and solitude. Chrys only hoped that the pink pony would carry the gift she gave her so that she could be reminded of the joys she brought others, as was the feeling she'd ingraved into it.

“We’re finally friends now, and so please, in the name of our friendship, please know that we’d never think badly of you!”

Her words were pleading, but Chrys had already etched them onto her heart before she had even said them. For she could feel and see the expression the pink pony was trying to convey the moment she thought of them.

“You’ve got another thing coming if you think you can take Chrys away from us! She’s worth everything to me as my friend. Every one of us here. We’re all thinking the same. So get a clue and scram!” She heard Rainbow Dash yell at the Mistress before her eyes had even come into sight, the reds of her irises shining the parallels of her loyalty and trust in her friends like she was so famous for.

Chrys had imbued those ideas into her gift as well. Despite her scowl and initial reaction to Chrys, it always seemed deep down Rainbow Dash had trusted Twilight’s decision when they had argued about helping her all that time ago. It might’ve seemed strange that the anxious little girl who had been too scared to be around others could adapt to the turbid personality of Rainbow Dash in an instant despite both inner and outer physical appearances indicating that she would be unwilling to be friendly, but to Chrys who could see into a pony much deeper than anyone else... Well, maybe there are unspoken truths to every moment in the story of our lives.

Three pairs of eyes were the ones to replace her. The three distinct eyes that reminded her of that familiar red and gold cape with a blue badge pinned to it. The same badge she’d colored her gifts to them in her feelings of fun, adventurous appreciation for her friends who had done so much for her already.

“Please believe her! And believe me too. When I say that I’m sorry for having thought so negatively of you at first. You’ve been a real friend to me all this time.”

“What I do know is that you’re our friend, Chrys. You’re an honorary member of the Crusaders. No way in heck we’re letting you think you’re not important to us!”

“I already resolved to help you anytime, any day! Doesn’t matter if you’re a changeling, a Princess, or whatever, that will never change! We’ll be with you, every step of the way.”

And Scootaloo’s earlier words appeared again at the end of their conversation. “This is the Kraken, Chrys. You need to fight it.”

With a start, Chrys sat up to see a familiar pool of water in the Everfree. Its waters were still and reflective, and they showed her the corrupted image of her visage from the Mistress having taken over her body. She was horrified by it, and tried batting it away with one foreleg. Yet it remained when the waters stilled again. This time, Spike stood at her side in the reflection despite no one being beside her. He had one outstretched claw towards her, with the gift she’d given him in hand.

“Chrys, my offer still stands! You can always just join me at the library. We can read, play, or do whatever else you want to do. You don’t have to deal with this if you don’t want to. We’re here for you. Forever and always.”

She felt her heart clench and stop altogether the moment Spike’s image in the water turned to that of Twilight, her gift at her side.

“I never know who is saving who in the end, Chrys. But this time, let me be the one who saves you. I love you. We all do.”

The three words that had constantly been repeating in her head all this time silenced at this. The reflection in the pond had become unclear now that a steady stream of tears disturbed its waters.

Despite the ripples making it hard to see anything clearly, Chrys could make out the image of the old Queen sitting at her side and looking at her not directly like the others had done, but into the reflection as well to contemplate and see Chrys looking back at her through it.

“I don’t regret hatching you, Chrys.” Her motherly, gentle, and warm voice said from her side. It was the other voice she’d heard in the Mistress a long time ago when she spoke in reverberating doubles. “Because of my position, me choosing a successor was a big deal for our kind. And because politics can be nasty, I made the heavy decision to keep you at a foreleg’s length away from me. There were many who weren’t happy with my decision. They wanted a King, not another Queen. They wanted this, they wanted that. Always someone to complain about why you might’ve not been the right choice.” A small silence endured while she hesitated to say the next words. “But like I said. Not for a moment have I regretted choosing you. I regret not being able to do more for you. I regret not being able to give you a kingdom of your own. I regret not being next to you all this time. And I regret leaving you with our fate.”

“Mom...”

“And yet you still think of me that way.” The ripples in the pond were now too many to see anything even remotely reminiscent of figures within its reflection as a new stream of tears joined in the pool. “I really wanted it, Chrys. To give you all of that. I thought invading the ponies would give me the chance of doing so. But you made me realize that it was my mistake in thinking this way. In the end, I was thankful that our invasion of Canterlot failed. You have no idea how relieved and happy I was to hear you talk about your days with me, despite my failures as a mother. I don’t know what I did to deserve you like this, but both back then and now, my words stay true.”

The pond quieted down and now only Chrys’ image remained. Her old self, not the one made by the Mistress. The Everfree turned back into darkness at this, then into a bright, familiar purple from Twilight’s magic. Like the wind wafting by, the Queen’s final words were imparted to her before Chrys left the prison within her mind.

In the Queen’s voice, and in Twilight’s...

“I love you. We all do.”

The words she had longed for. The words she always wanted to hear. The words she heard only once before, a long time ago before she awoke to the darkness.

---

She opened her eyes to the sight of everyone crowding around her, with Twilight and Spike at the center of them all. Chrys had collapsed to the ground from the forceful separation, and her eyes fluttered with grogginess in the same way they would after getting up out of bed in the morning. Her expression brightened at the sight of the ponies and dragon gathered around her, and to Twilight in particular, she held out her hooves out to her motioning for a hug. This time, it was not an err of miscommunicated intentions. No shame left in either of them either. Twilight hugged her with all her might, happy beyond relief.

“Chrys! It’s you!” Exclaimed Spike when he saw this himself.

“Mm. It, me.” She said, still within Twilight’s hug and making everyone chuckle at her words. They all pulled into another group hug, all wildly relieved too. "I, love you, everyone.” She said completely audibly this time, prompting every pony to reciprocate that feeling. “I love you, Twilight.” She said in a whisper to her ear with exclusivity. Her voice had become a little raspy from the Mistress’ overwhelming magical effort forcing Chrys’ throat to speak her words, but the intention in it could not have been clearer if she tried.

“And I do to you, Chrys. I love you so very much. I’m sorry I haven’t said so until now, but I’m glad you were able to hear my words in the end. I hope you don’t get tired of them because you’ll be hearing them a lot from me from now on.” Pulling away from their hug, Twilight and Chrys fell into their expression, their horns touching each other, the both of them smiling the world.

“That villain!” Rarity shrieked, making everyone jump almost out of their coats at her outburst. Everyone immediately turned to look in the direction that a hoof of hers was pointing at. At Chrys’ neck, who’d been permanently marked by the forces of the Mistress’ magic. A burned-in scar now ran around the width of it. Rarity forcedly took the small changeling into her own hug and combed Chrys’ disturbed mane back to normal with her foreleg in her grievances. “OH! If I wasn’t mad before, now I’m fuming. That monster really went and did this to you, you poor dear.”

Chrys winced when she made a grab for her neck to feel the burn mark around it, prompting a lot of worried stares. “I’m, okay.” Her tired, grunting voice said, only helping to alleviate a tiny bit of everyone’s concerns. Especially Twilight who was worrying about everything at this point and considering the internal damage that forceful magic might’ve caused her. It took a bit from Chrys to get her to feel more at ease, slowly regaining her voice as she spoke to them about what kind of things she could hear, trapped within her own mind. “Reminded, of gifts.” She pointed at the crystals everyone now adorned with pride.

Spike was the first to ask a series of questions they all had. “Speaking of your gifts, Chrys, I understand you made them yourself with magic. Uhm, I was breathing a lot of fire back there and my belly was glowing yellow! What are they supposed to be?”

“They’re concentrations of her magic. When I saw that from you, Spike, I figured that’s what they were. I thought you were doing real transmutation the first time I saw it, Chrys. But that’s not the case, is it?” Twilight followed up.

Chrys shook her head and walked over to Twilight’s large crystal. “Changelings, put feelings, into crystals. Emotion, is magic! Uhm.” She thought a bit about the words she wanted to say next. “My feelings. Placed into, gifts. For friends.” She placed a hoof onto Twilight’s crystal. Her voice quieted in her embarrassment as she spoke her next words. “Feelings, too strong, for Twilight gift. Needed find bigger, vessel.”

Chrys continued to explain what each of their gifts meant, and the kind of feelings she’d infused into them. They were all feeling a bit touched by these gifts even more than they had been when they first received them. In reaching Twilight, she hesitated to speak of it out of embarrassment. But Twilight didn’t need words to know the kind of things that lay within that incredibly foggy gem.

“Hah...” Before they could lose themselves in the moment of triumph and jubilation, a dark voice sounded from behind them all, from a smokey black cloud barely visible clinging to Mayor Mare. “Guess now I know why it was so difficult to get under your coats. The ones I wanted revenge against the most, yet somehow you were all immune to my effects this entire time.” Behind Mayor Mare, all of Ponyville’s townsfolk walked behind her in unison, like a well-organized army of mindless drones. Their eyes dulled, dead. For all the friends knew, every pony else were supposed to be on the way out of town evacuating, but it seemed that the Mistress had already planned for this eventuality. “You infused that troublesome spell of yours into those things, didn’t you?!” The darkened heavens above thundered in her fury. “What? Don’t look so surprised. I told you, didn’t I? Only fools believe they’ve won with only one victory.”

Everyone, including the Crusaders and Spike, got in front of Chrys to protect her from the Mistress once again, noting that this fight was still not over between them. But to their surprise, Chrys cut through them to stand front and center against the Mistress.

“Please, stop.” Chrys pleaded with all of her heart.

“Stop what? This madness?! I swore to build a better world for our kind. And I will do that, even if I have to burn it down first.” Mayor Mare dropped unconscious with these words, the black mist separating from her and pooling in the air above her. Every pony who’d been affected too fell to the same effect, with more of the black mist creating a massive ball of dark energy. Regaining her powers again, the black ball gave way to the Mistress' cloudy ethereal form. Then, her whole form began to vibrate in place, eminating a very strong buzzing sound that shook everyone's ears and disturbing the air for miles, noting by the birds that could be seen trying to fly away from a long, long distance. The ground beneath every pony’s hooves began to tremble lightly at first after the sound ended, and growing in intensity by the second.

“This is bad, this is very very bad!” Pinkie Pie was trembling even more intensely than the ground below, her Pinkie sense now at the very pinnacle of its oracle. “Watch out for falling rocks!”

In the direction of the Everfree Forest, a massive dust cloud that reached the sky could be seen all from where they stood, miles and miles away. “Mom!” Chrys yelled out in panic. The cloud of smoke had come from the direction of the cave, and all the way from where she stood, she could see and feel one massive signature of madness, approaching them with speed. The trembling had now become so intense, that every pony was struggling to keep their footing and the dust cloud had been growing the more that signature got closer to Ponyville. “Twilight! Cave! Its, Guardian!”

Only Twilight knew what she meant. They had spoken about it once before in the moments after their reunion when Twilight explained to Chrys how she had freed her from the changeling’s prison after so long.

The Guardian. A living cave. Princess Celestia had explained it to her after she’d sought answers to the changeling’s fate after their confrontation with the Mistress the first time around. The truth of it was that the changelings had been imprisoned of the old Queen’s own volition, having sensed her downturn before it had happened and the madness that consumed her kind. Imprisoned inside the maws of the Guardian, a legendary beast older than any race to ever grace Equestria. A massive, mountain-like snake creature made entirely of sediments and stone that had slumbered for eons.

It had taken Twilight a considerable amount of magic to open its jaws. Magic she could only afford after becoming an Alicorn and a Princess herself. If what Chrys was saying was true, then that meant that the Mistress had pooled an unimaginable amount of power to take control of the creature. Almost as if reading her mind, the cloudy figure of the Mistress turned to face her and Chrys only momentarily before flying off in the direction of the Everfree and toward her biggest trump card.

Twilight was at a loss of what to do even when everyone turned to look at her for guidance. She could not imagine going against the Guardian. That thing was a living calamity all on its own. A nightmare of incredible proportions that no pony or creature in all of Equestria could go against. The seconds ticked by, and the tremor only worsened. From the dust clouds now so near the town, an enormous wave of rocks broke through them like a landslide to show the Guardian’s absoluteness in its size. If even a small bit of that creature visited Ponyville, it would be over for the small town and all the unconcious citizens. Before a wave of despair could hit her, however, she was brought out of her trance by Chrys.

“Gifts!” The little changeling motioned to everyone to gather around Twilight’s crystal. “Bring gifts. Need, focus!” One by one, everyone pooled over to her not entirely understanding what she needed them for and all deadly afraid of what was transpiring to their little knowledge.

“Chrys, what are you...” Twilight’s eyes widened the moment that all of the gifts from the friends, including the magic stored in Spike’s stomach, began to glow. Strings of different hued magics circled around the little changeling, seeping into her coat, absorbing the very color from the crystals given to the friends and out from Spike’s mouth, leaving the crystals pale and translucent as a result. It was all very obvious now... "Please, not again... Chrys, don’t do this. You shouldn’t have to be the one to fix this. Let me-”

“It, okay!” She shouted adamantly, stunning Twilight in the process. “Won’t, step down. Need, save mom. Changelings.” Chrys touched her horn to Twilight’s crystal, and from it, she pulled a single string of concentrated purple magic like a thread. Bit by bit, the massive energies within that crystal poured into her from that connected line, making her struggle against the sheer amount of magic she was taking into her body. Her pained grunts made it obvious to see that even she could not hold all of this magic together within herself.

“Chrys, I...”

“Can’t, save alone. Need help. Please, help me. Twilight.” She looked at her one last time, waiting for her to say something. Chrys’ body stuttered and shook in waves, struggling to keep in her original form due to her vessel spilling forth.

The answer was obvious. There was no way Twilight could say no to this, much as she wanted to refuse her allowing whatever plan she was thinking. But she wanted to trust Chrys with all her heart.

And so she did. Twilight nodded her approval.

“Destroy, crystals inside, Guardian. Release, from madness. Save mom, my kind. I’ll, protect town. Protect, everyone!” With these words, she ran alone toward the Everfree Forest and leaving everyone else to wonder how the small girl planned to stop such a mountainous creature.

They'd also been left with specific instructions that didn't make much sense. Destroy the crystals inside? But why?

Chrys could see spots of concentrated magic along the coiling body of the Guardian, so she had guessed that the Mistress had somehow used the crystals that lined its inner halls to manifest her madness directly into its soul. She had always wondered why the cave had always had a pattern to it. A rhythm, much like a heartbeat. But now in full view and very much awake, from it, she could see its massive flame being held hostage by the Mistress' magic. Perhaps that had always been the case from the start. The old Queen's good intentions twisted into the bad ones of the Mistress. Oh how it made her blood boil at the thought, but she suppressed her anger.

The love she was feeling from her friends and the trust she had in them had made every other feeling in her mute. Even fear could not break through to her with these impossible odds against her.

Now a good distance away from her friends, Chrys let go of all the magic she’d harnessed from the crystals, and all at once her changeling form vanished.

What replaced her was a sea of beautiful purple-hued, transparent hairs with tiny lights resting inside of them. A large swath of Ponyville’s road filled with the sight of night along its large main street. Even when shadowed by the darkened, thundering sky... the massive creature that Chrys had turned into was a true spectacle of unfathomable size.

An Ursa Major. The momma bear that Twilight and Chrys had seen on that fateful night.

A changeling’s form could be easily maintained if the creatures they changed into were one-to-one. But in this, the amount of magic to become an Ursa and maintain that form... was incalculable. Even with every drop of magic from all of the gifts she had made, and that of her own feelings currently inside of her during such a pivotal moment following one of the most moving moments of her life, Chrys could not maintain such an enormous transformation perfectly. A lot of stars within the pelt were missing, and the irises within the beast's eyes were her own amber-colored ones.

It was even more of a struggle to maintain her balance as she walked to meet the Guardian head-on, ready to stop its advance before reaching the town. Twilight had already been busy explaining all the information the group of friends were missing from these events and was coordinating everyone to get ready to enter the Guardian to follow Chrys’ request of saving the changelings and destroying the crystals.

“I knew she was awesome, but I didn’t think she could do THAT!” Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but exclaim at the sight of the Ursa’s back drifting away from them towards the Everfree.

“Focus, girls. We need to do everything we can as fast as possible while Chrys tries to buy us time. There is no room for failure. Do we all understand the plan?” Twilight brought Rainbow Dash back with her words.

"What about us? What can we do?" Sweetie Belle asked on the Crusader's behalf.

"You will do nothing. It's far too dangerous for you to follow us." Rarity scolded the eager filly.

"Nuh-uh, no way we're staying out of this. Chrys is our friend!" Sweetie barked back.

It wasn't just the sisters either that'd begun to bicker, but also Applejack against Apple Bloom and the rest of the girls who were entirely against the idea of endangering them. The group had devolved into in-fighting save for Twilight and the baby dragon. It was Spike who brought them back to reality at that moment.

"WE. DON'T. HAVE. THE. TIME! Settle down everypony! Chrys needs us." Spike had silenced them enough to help them see reason.

"Spike's right. I don't want to let the girls go either, but we need all the help we can get. Sometimes we just have to trust that they'll be alright..." Her words were heavy and had trailed off. She was looking on at the sight of Chrys now passing into the Everfree, inching closer to the unavoidable showdown. Her expression wore a world of worry on it, and their concerns seemed like nothing in the face of that.

Fluttershy's serious tone kicked in at this moment. "Very well, I'll allow you kids to help us. But you will only focus on the entrance of the cave. At the FIRST sign of danger, I want you four out of there immediately, do I make myself clear?!" her shouts had stunned the group of four.

"Wait, why me too? I'm a dragon, I'll be alright." Spike said, fully intent on helping Chrys to the bitter end despite trying to pass it off as machismo. The look Fluttershy gave him broke him out of any such notion, and they all reluctantly agreed. They understood the stakes and were fully intent on keeping this promise.

"They're about to meet!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed from where she was keeping eye on the advances in the sky.

"This is it, everyone! Let's get moving!" Spike said while he got up to Twilight's back to have her fly him toward Chrys.

With all honesty, Twilight could have never guessed how this would all fare out in the end. Certainly, she never expected a fight between two titans. When she took in that wounded, ailing, and weak girl all that time ago, she never imagined fate would ordain this bombastic world-shattering calamity. But here they were, running headlong into a cataclysmic battle, ready to lay down their lives for everyone's sake, and especially the sake of one small girl who had permanently altered their lives forever.

The weight of a soul. What could one little changeling do in the storm of these events? Everything, as it turned out.

They were pushed back by the rush of air from the impact of the two titans colliding at last, a gust of wind mixed with dense clouds of dirt kicking up at every swing of an arm or tail. Their sheer size meant that any action either of the two titans took was done almost in slow motion, as they needed to account for their own weight when tossing their body around. Unlearned as Chrys was with this form, the massive stature of her form was the only thing keeping their bout from being a one-sided victory for the Guardian.

Chrys was desperately trying to keep the Guardian from moving all too much. Every time it reared its front up into the air, she would quickly try to pin it back down with her claws. Her mother and the changelings were still in there after all and having it fight back for prolonged periods of time could mean the worst for them. She needed to give Twilight and her friends room to enter the Guardian somehow too, so for the entire time they fought, she spent it trying to get a good hold on the mighty beast’s head.

Beyond the unimaginable effort she was putting into learning how to simply function within the Ursa Major’s form in realtime, she was also trying her best to keep damage to the Everfree Forest down. It hurt her to see so many trees felled in the wake of their struggle, knowing it was likely the home to a lot of woodland critters and nests to birds much like those she had seen. She could only pray that none had been harmed by all of this. She knew the animals were smart enough to flee at this kind of immense danger, as they had done before, but her worry still existed.

Especially against a creature like the Guardian, a creature made of stones. Due to their enormous size, even so much as grazing it lightly meant that chunks of its rock-like body were being batted into the distance, hurtling danger into the forest no matter how careful Chrys was trying to be. The same was happening on the flip side, and she was feeling the pressure of its loose stones flying towards Ponyville behind her whenever it would try to slam into her hulking body.

Finally, she was able to get a good hold of the Guardian after a hefty tussle by draping both of the Ursa’s forelegs over the front half of its snake-like body. She pinned it to the ground by focusing all of her weight forward on top of it. Now all she had to do was signal her friends that the time to enter it was upon them. Far more loudly than she intended not accounting for the optics of her form, she roared to let them know. The noise was ear-shattering at ground zero but palatable at the distance Twilight and everyone else had been waiting in safety.

Chrys felt the Guadian still trying to writhe within her hold. She needed to trust that her friends understood the signal, and bit down on the Guardian with her massive fangs to add further grip, weight, and force into her efforts. Now, all she had to do was concentrate on keeping her form. For her to do this, she needed to channel more magic from herself. So her concentration came in the form of going back to remember everything she had gone through with Twilight and her friends, remembering every happy moment and even sad one.

Where was she to start? Perhaps with the few words that had truly changed her life forever, for the better.

”It doesn't matter what you are. I'll take my chances on you, no matter what comes our way.”

---

The plan was simple. The strongest and most athletic of the ponies would rush to save the changelings and Queen Chrysalis. The weaker ones would seek out all of the crystals and destroy them. The kids would too, but would stay near the mouth of the cave so they could retreat at a moment’s notice. Twilight had explained to the group of friends the intricacies of the Guardian, and she informed them of what they would likely be met with. From what she had seen before, discussed with Celestia and Chrys of their meeting with it, and what old documents she had dug up on its information, Twilight had correctly surmised that the Guardian’s inner reaches could change at will all from guessing from what they had experienced the first time inside and from Chrys' recounts of escaping it’s maw initially. If the mighty beast truly was being controlled by the Mistress, then they would be wise to expect that its maze-like structure would try and fool their steps once inside.

But reality seldom goes as planned.

Having entered the Guardian at Chrys’ signal, the ponies were immediately faced with a very dire problem. The mouth of the Guardian had closed behind them. It had been such a tiny oversight that no pony or baby dragon had thought of before entering due to the adrenaline and wild excitement of the moment, but it was too late.

To make matters worse, even Twilight’s magic was not working within the guardian. Both her and Rarity could feel that their power was being absorbed into its very walls. Any amount of light they tried to produce was quickly snuffed out by the shadows around them.

They were all trapped in darkness.

Twilight had glossed over a very important detail. The changelings had not been imprisoned inside the Guardian just to keep them out of the outside world. They had been imprisoned within it to stem the flow of their magical power. For a race able to create and store their magical power for later use within pseudo-artifact-like crystals, if given enough time they could escape from any normal prison easily. So it was, that the living mountain known as the Guardian turned out to be the ultimate prison for them.

Yet somehow, the Mistress had found a way to imbue her very madness into it and rest control despite its magic-absorbing properties. Chrys’ plan was making a lot more sense now. Those crystals she’d seen before... they’d been used to inject that madness directly into the Guardian. Breaking the crystals would free up the Mistress’ control of it, and they would likely have the chance to escape afterward.

But... things weren’t going to be nearly so easy. With no magic and no tools on hoof to guide them through the tunnels, everyone was now trapped in the total darkness that Chrys had always lived in all her life.

It didn’t take long before the infighting began, despite their best efforts to feel through the ground and make out a direction. It started with minor fights about little things like accidentally bumping into one another, or saying they’d found a way but it turned out to be a dead end. The echoing within the cave was mixing up their senses, and they were not at all accustomed to seeing the same way Chrys always had.

Suddenly, their arguments took a turn for the worse when they all threw blame around for who was at fault for this blunder. No one was safe from blame, and they all argued against one another, having almost completely forgotten what they had gone in there for.

A chill crawled down Twilight’s spine when she remembered momentarily about Chrys waiting just outside, likely still holding onto the Guardian for dear life. The gifts Chrys had given them, if what she understood from the Mistress’ words about them... They’d acted as protective staves to ward off the maddening effect of the Mistress. They had been imbued with Chrys’ spell. But now that their gifts were empty husks from Chrys having taken their power, they'd all lost their protection and were being subjected to the Mistress’ magic.

Something wasn’t adding up in her mind either. If the Guardian absorbed all and any magic, why had it allowed her and Chrys to use it so many times within its halls night after night? Perhaps, deep inside the Guardian was a gentle, kind creature whose promise with the rulers of yesteryear and the old Queen had been made purely with good intentions. Princess Celestia did say that it had asked for nothing in return when accepting this promise. It was likely it had always intended to keep this agreement, the one to only imprison the creatures within it until it could see the signs of them having overcome their madness... So then the magic Chrys had used...

She took a gamble with the magical power she was being careful not to overuse, having been exhausted from the events of that day already. She recanted that spell again, and sure enough, the spell lingered having not been absorbed by the Guardian.

Why was fate so strange? Why was Fate so weird? Magic and Destiny... What did they mean to say by all of this?

Able to illuminate the room with the light created by this spell at last, the darkness cleared to give sight to a group of ponies and Spike having calmed down while being surrounded by it. The spell hadn’t been strong enough to illuminate the rest of the room, but it did allow Twilight to see one transparent crystal jutting out of the wall near the ground. Getting closer to it to inspect it, the dim crystal lit up all at once with a green glow that only grew stronger the closer Twilight got to it. She turned her head to point her horn at it, ready to blast it with her magic, yet something stopped her.

Looking into its glow, it was unlike the green of the Mistress’ magic. Its glow was gentle, with a mixture of light blue floating inside. It was strangely beautiful and maybe because she had now opened her heart so much in the last few moments and in her time with Chrys, she could now sense the good intentions emanating from it. She felt strangely compelled to touch it with her horn and pour magic into it, to give it more strength and let it help them guide their way.

In doing so, however, the crystal did not light up a path for them to take. On the contrary, it only showed them an impassible wall. An almost flat wall, with no sign of a hall near or around it. But on this wall... something far more valuable rested. Paintings. Pictures. Stick figures. Rough, crude depictions of things and stuff. Like if a child had made them...

“That’s us!” Apple Bloom walked over to the wall and placed a hoof right beneath the depiction of three small figures with an emblem in the same shape as their Crusader badge right above the three of them. Removing her hoof showed a small little not-so-perfect mound of... something? With a little stick at the top of it. Or what Twilight assumed was a stick, considering the oval shape that looked like a leaf at the end of it.

“Yeah, that’s the sandcastle we taught Chrys how to make! I’d recognize that disaster anywhere.” Sweetie Belle chimed in.

“And this...?” Rarity’s voice trailed off, looking at another section of the wall. “It’s my gift to Chrys. The hairpin I made for her... And look!” She pointed near where her own was, showing all the many small things she’d received. The portraits, the saddle, the doll, the basket of apples, Spike’s pancakes...

Twilight felt her throat tighten when she realized what she was seeing. Every pony and baby dragon did as well with an enduring silence that indicated their realization.

Suddenly, the crystal's glow grew very bright all at once and dimmed, seemingly passing off its glow to a lot of smaller ones jutting from the ground, like one obvious trail of bait. Seeing no other way forward, they followed the crystals. They were led down a plain hall. No side paths, no labyrinths. Just one room connected to the last. And again, once inside the next room, they could see only one way forward. Twilight had made sure to warn everyone. It was an almost sure thing that they were being led down a trap.

But again, inside that next room, all that there was, was a single crystal, waiting to illuminate more plain walls. This time, the drawings showed a herd of cows. A stick of cotton candy. A stack of pancakes. A school building. A pond filled to the brim with fuzzy dots. An apple tree orchid. A wrapped-up cat. A messy cake. A bench with a mast. A big bed. Fluffy clouds. And one large bear.

Again, they were led to another room in the exact same way. To more drawings.

This time, the wall was separated in two. One pictured a town, with a lot of figures running around presumably shopping at the kiosks. And even some recognizable figures with distinct features, that Twilight could easily guess at from circumstancial evidence despite the crude drawing. Big Mac, Granny Smith, Mr and Mrs Cake and the tots, Snips and Snails, Miss Cheerilee, and even Zecora.

The other looked to be like a room filled with a bed, a nightstand with a candle, and many, many bookshelves. Six figures circled the bed, while a smaller one waited by the door.

The silence between them all was deafening. In the atmospheric din of the cave with the occasional disruption from the events happening outside, the mood had turned very somber indeed. Twilight placed more of her magic into another crystal in the next room over, with yet another awfully familiar scene.

They showed a long river across the width of the wall, connected at one end by a cave, and the other to a town. Along the river bank, there were the unique trees that could be found in the Everfree and the many animals within the forest. In the center of it all was one large pond surrounded by a grotto of trees. Almost directly after that, two large pines could be seen, one of them with a bird’s nest at the top while the other had a strange figure sitting on its branches. Five large birds hovered around them, two big, three small. To the side of them was a circle, with squiggly lines to indicate the sun. Further down the length of the drawings, they showed that strange figure dropping to the floor. The moon followed next to meet its fall. And then, it ended with the introduction of another figure, this one bigger in size.

Finally, they were led down to the room that contained the last of these pictures.

Only each of the individuals present could tell you what they were feeling at the time, for words alone could do them no justice. They were witnessing the illustrations and memories of another mind. The pictures of another soul. The very heart in a creature, and everything that mattered to it. To one little girl, who had struggled all her life to be loved.

This painting covered one massive wall, far bigger than all the rest. The drawings were split into three, separated by uneven lines. One could imagine that the entirety of it could fit into the stained glass of a historical hall with grace, from its contents alone. Looking at the desaturation and wear in its colors, they had been created at different times, with the one at the center being the oldest, the one to the right second, and the one on the left being to newest almost as if freshly painted the day prior. From left to right, this was the telling of Chrys’ life.

On the right, it showed two figures sitting by a fire, their heads connected and surrounded by darkness save for what the light touched.

“I taught her this...” Spike touched the painting with one claw, seeing Chrys’ shading handiwork. “So then... this was all made by her?”

Everyone looked to the rest of the pictures. The one in the middle was of that familiar grotto surrounding a pond. There rested one lonely figure, with darkness surrounding it like smoke. At the tip of its horn, bits of yellow could be seen tearing the darkness away.

The final picture... Only Twilight understood it well. And giving it one single glance made her heart tremble.

“Everything is on fire. Atop a mound is a creature. Below it, a sea of dots that represent more of them. Further down, a single being... alone.” Twilight described it plainly. “This must be from the tragedy of the Formless Kingdom.”

“There it is again! Will someone please explain what the Formless are?!” Apple Bloom barked angrily, frustrated by the lack of answers.

“I don’t know everything yet. I don’t think I could know everything even if I tried. They’re not happy things and it might make you see Chrys differently...” Twilight was concerned. The truth of the changeling’s madness having sundered the world above could make them come to hate Chrys if they knew the whole truth... She looked back at Apple Bloom and at everyone else, all of them ready to hear it.

Reluctantly, Twilight explained the grim truth to them. It was a heavy story indeed.

“That’s horrible...” Apple Bloom voiced all of their sentiments the moment they heard the honest, ugly truth. They were a mixture of feelings. Afraid of what changelings were capable of, and saddened deeply for their plight.

“Seeing what that thing did to Chrys... and thinking about what it did as Queen Chrysalis... It’s... scary...” Sweetie Belle’s voice disappeared into the silent din of the cavern, distraught by the conversation.

“But it’s not their fault! And it’s not Chrys’ either. If we start worrying about who's at fault, we’re going to miss our chance at helping anyone! Let alone Chrys who's out there right now fighting for our sake!” Scootaloo was the one to bring them all back to their senses.

Twilight placed a hoof on the painting of the two figures sitting by the fire, eyeing it carefully. She cleared her throat and spoke to everyone while taking in every ounce of emotion she could feel from it. “Everyone deserves second chances. The ponies of this town that made life for Chrys miserable... the Formless who tried to destroy the world... Myself included, for having wrongly assumed things about Chrys in the past and hurt her inadvertently.”

They all quietly agreed by nodding their own determination. Almost as if on cue, the crystal dimmed to give them their next destination. They all walked forward in silence until one baby dragon spoke up amidst walking through a long-winding tunnel that was taking longer to traverse than usual.

“You said this happened ages ago, right? Before the current generation of Equestrians, during Granny Smith’s time as a young filly. If Chrys drew that, then wouldn’t it mean she was there at that time? How come she’s so young still?” Spike thought about this hole in the story’s logic.

“I can’t say for sure, Spike. Princess Celestia said the old Queen had used a strong spell to protect her successor from that madness before their imprisonment. I’m admittedly not knowledgeable on changeling's social structure or their unique magic, but I also hadn’t suspected that by ‘successor’, Celestia had meant Queen Chrysalis’ daughter. In other words, Chrys. But it makes sense now that I’m seeing all the pieces together like this. It was likely a spell to stop her aging altogether. I never sensed any such magic on her, so she likely broke out of that spell at some time before we met her. But still... I can’t imagine the kind of power needed to change the very hands of time...” She pondered for a bit, looking at the shadows in the cave just outside of their illuminated path. “With how afraid Chrys was of magic at first... perhaps that kind of spell didn’t come without its repercussions and cost. She likely lived inside of the Guardian in complete darkness for a long time before she was eventually released.”

“Chrys...” Spike balled his hands, digging his claws into his scales with trembling sadness.

“She’s the most innocent one in all of this. And yet, she’s been the one to carry that burden this entire time...” Fluttershy whispered to herself in quiet contemplation.

“All because she was saved from that horrible past.” Rainbow Dash said, half replying to her in her own thoughts.

“Saved? From a kettle to a frying pan...” Applejack murmured much the same.

“And for what? She’s been out there trying to make amends for something she should’ve never been responsible for.” Rarity huffed her anger.

“Like I said, it’s unfair. She deserves better. No pony should have to go through that, especially Chrys.” Pinkie’s face scowled.

“Why her?” Sweetie Belle asked no one in particular.

“Why the changelings?” Apple Bloom followed.

“For what reason?” Scootaloo thought out loud.

“None.” Spike’s words were in a low growl of frustration. “In the face of it all... how can she continue on? How can she be so strong?” Spike asked Twilight, who had been silent while everyone else whispered their discontent.

Thankfully for them, she’d already gone through those types of feelings. She knew, that the best thing to do... was to move past them.

For Chrys’ sake. For theirs. And for everyone’s.

Then, the path ended, straight into the throne room. There, the figure of the Mistress stood, rooted to the ground in trying to control the Guardian. The room practically oozed her malice, her madness. Without a vessel or a medium, she could not speak a word. The friends waited just outside, cautious about going headlong into the room.

The more they waited, the more their guard seemed to drop. Tied up like this, she was rather helpless. Any amount of effort the Mistress could try to do now would shake her grasp on the beast, ending her conquest for good.

The whole of the room was now covered in crystals, unlike how Twilight had seen it a few days ago. It looked like one massive hall of mirrors with the sickening green glow of the Mistress’s magic. The throne itself was one massive gem dug deep into the ground, and by the channeling of her magic coursing through it, Twilight could feel just how down and all around the room that magic spread. She could only imagine the depths of its reaches into the mighty beast.

She nodded to her friends who seemingly understood this signal from her and produced the Elements of Harmony, ready to deal the finishing blow. This hadn't been the plan, but there would be no better time for it.

Now it seemed even the Guardian was on their side, as the six accessories lit up with their power of friendship without being interrupted by its magic absorption. It all seemed so anti-climactic. For all the grief the Mistress had brought, was this the way to end things once and for all? Something didn't sit right with Twilight. Something in the silent way the cloudy figure looked on at them just... felt odd.

Why had they been purposely led there to begin with?

That was the cunning of one malicious creature that had been given a long time to plot her revenge. Even if she never expected anyone to confront the Guardian in the way Chrys had, the Mistress had prepared for everything.

The moment they had walked into the throne room was the moment she sent a weak little unrecognizable signal of magic to two crystals hidden by the doorway, releasing their pent-up power and creating a wave of dark tendrils that instantly grabbed at each of them. Battles were won before they started, and in this, the Mistress was an expert at playing dirty. It hadn't taken even an ounce of effort to best them all, and Twilight could swear she could see its smugness shining clearly despite the Mistress' faceless form.

It was frustrating. So very frustrating. So close and yet so far from seeing victory. Chrys was likely still outside, waiting on them. And perhaps now... she would be waiting forever...

But Fate was weird, you see. Magic is almost like a living thing in of itself. Unlike darkness, Fate chooses favorites. It chooses the strongest of its wielders. The mightiest of its heroes. The most gifted of its pupils. And for changelings? The ones with the strongest and purest of hearts.

The dark tendrils that enveloped them gave way to the sight of something truly surreal that everyone, especially Twilight, couldn't have foreseen even more than Chrys’ fantastical form.

Queen Chrysalis.

Alive, awake, and surrounded by a powerful veil of magic. With a dense aura full of love, happiness, sadness, anger, and regret...

She truly made for a magnificent sight. Beautiful, and easily mistaken for a fairy of legend. She looked nothing like her old self from when they had faced off at the royal wedding, or during Chrys' rescue. Like night and day.

Her magical veil spread out to every corner of the room, enveloping every single crystal within it including the throne. It turned the vile green into that of the beautiful light blue mixture that they had seen of the crystals prior.

The Mistress fell to her knees as if stricken, and a great rumbling from the Guardian shook the ground beneath them.

"Queen Chrysalis, uhm." Twilight stuttered, not knowing what to say. Her figure was majestic. She wore her royalty naturally and to great effect, much like Princess Celestia. Her presence was undeniable, whether you were a pony or changeling. "Your majesty..."

"I am Queen no more, Twilight. Besides, even if I was, I owe you a world of debt. Your reverence would be a little much, especially after you’ve given me so much." She turned to her and bowed her head as far as she could go, with her long horn touching the ground. Even her voice was truly something else. It was so... warm. “You gave me a chance to see my daughter grow up. Because of you, I got to hear all sorts of stories from her directly about just how much she loves you. And you’ve given me the ability to rewrite my past and my future.” She turned to the rest of the ponies and dragon who had all bowed their head, not having understood that her words extended to them too. “This goes for all of you, you know.” Again, she bowed to everyone else’s directions so that they could get the point. “I’m sorry it was a bit manipulative, but I used your feelings for Chrys to channel my magic and awaken from my slumber. I purposely showed you her drawings to that end, but also so you too could be witness to the kind of life she lived.”

“She drew them, didn’t she...?” Chrysalis nodded with a sad smile at Twilight’s question. “But why? What was it for? And how come she’s never shown me this...”

“She never intended for anyone to see them. Ever since her first adventure with you and in the time when she was imprisoned in the darkness again, she’s been deathly afraid of forgetting any of you. Forgetting her feelings for you. She didn’t think she’d get to see you all again, so those drawings were her own desperate attempt to keep you all close to her heart. Even amidst my sleep, I could feel it, you know. The love in her heart. The sadness that it brought. And the darkness that clung to her. The Mistress, was it? She’d already split from me the moment Chrys managed to defeat her the first time. I figured something like this might happen again one day, so I pooled what little of my magic I could to break free. But the Mistress found it and took it from me. Just the day prior. I was at a loss for what to do. Thankfully, you all came and saved the day. Inadvertently, but still.”

The group of friends could see shifting from the Mistress behind Chrysalis, and before they could even warn her, the old Queen had already raised one hoof with a spell at the ready, sending a shockwave of blue energy in her direction to make her kneel further.

“You worried me at first. You were feeding your negative emotions to this thing here when you entered, but thankfully you were able to break free. And with the spell I’ve felt Chyrs use so often now.” Her smile became very large indeed, and her eyes were jovial at a thought she had. “I’m so proud of her. I was beyond worried that she would be forever afraid of magic after the tragedy of our old kingdom. She was at the epicenter of that calamity. The fires that had broken out from the magic vein that sundered our land had sadly taken her eyes, you see. But a good pony friend of mine, an old girl with a lot of heart, passed hers down to Chrys before we were all forever sealed into the Guardian. They weren’t just any normal eyes, either...”

“Eyes that can see all manner of truths. The heart in a pony, creature, and anything that moves.” Twilight murmured to herself.

“You know of them?”

“A zebra friend of mine does. Or, she said she heard it from old folklore of her homeland.”

“Yes, that checks out. The nursery mother was a very traveled pony, and even I could never guess as to her real age. One wonders what happened to her, or if she still lives even to this day. I don't doubt it. She gave up her eyes readily, suggesting they had been passed down to her once in a similar way. She spoke of it like it were some grand design by fate.”

“Fate’s grand design...” Twilight was a little slack-jawed. What was this story? Where was it going? And why did they feel like simple characters within it?

“But Chrys overcame her fear of magic.” Chrysalis continued. “And she learned to deal with her new eyes. She grew past her daily troubles. She made friends. She found purpose. She loved and cried deeply.” Tears streamed down the old Queen’s eyes as she said this, worrying everyone but remaining silent in respect. “As a mother, I could not want for more. Oh, how I’ve missed her so much. How I’ve wanted to tell her I love her. To apologize for what I’ve done, what I’ve said. For leaving her alone to face this thing.” She turned back to face the Mistress. “We should all be free to make our own choice. But because of me, Chrys never had her own. And right now, I’ll choose mine so that I can afford her that freedom.”

Chrysalis’ horn lit up with powerful magic to encase the Mistress in a very, very dense magical bubble, making sure not to miss even a tiny puff of her cloudy form.

“Que- I mean... Chrysalis, what do you intend to do? You don’t mean to...” Twilight’s new understanding of changeling magic was allowing her to see the troubling premonition of what was still yet to come. She tried to reason with the old Queen, but she was no longer hearing words now that she was finalizing a special spell.

Chrysalis turned to them one last time, sane of mind, and said those dreaded words they really didn’t want to hear. “When you see Chrys again, tell her I loved her with all my heart. And that I’m sorry for what I’ve done. I trust you will end this once and for all.” She began to walk over to the Mistress, despite the pleading from Twilight and every pony else, who could all just about guess what she planned to do.

Without a second thought, Chrysalis walked into the bubble herself and took the Mistress in again. This time, from what Twilight could see... She’d done so permanently. She had fused the Mistress into her very soul... never to split again lest both of them felled. Chrysalis’ appearance slowly darkened, and the cat-like eyes of her pupils returned.

It was obvious why she had done this. The Mistress in her ethereal form, even if confronted by the Elements of Harmony, could stow away a part of its body and regain itself again like it had this time around. At best, they would've just bought time before it recuperated again and tried some other calamitous, world-shattering tactic to bring them all to ruin.

This was made apparent at the sight of the light blue crystals surging forth a mass of tendrils in the hue of the old Queen’s magic, toward the Mistress. Struggle as she might, they brought her to the throne to sit her down.

“I will not let this be the end of my story!” She yelled in vain, unable to break free from her bonds. Her voice was now reverberating again between the Mistress’ dark tone and that of the motherly, warm one of the old Queen. Much like they had heard from her during the royal wedding. “It is time for goodbye, little ponies. Take care of Chrys for me.” The old Queen had said, forcing control of her own body against the Mistress.

Twilight decided she hated this story. She hated its twists and turns, its trials and tribulations, and fate’s constant mockery of their feelings. How could she bring herself to seal the old Queen away? Especially knowing how much she meant to Chrys, and vice-versa. Turning back to the rest of her friends, they all felt a similar way. They hesitated, rightly so.

All this talk of freedom and choices, and they were being left with none themselves. But they couldn’t help it. They needed to do this. The look in the old Queen’s eyes was begging them to, and they couldn’t just endanger all of Equestria because of their selfish desires, much as they wanted to. With sadness in their hearts, the Elements of Harmony began to shine once more.

But before the spell could be cast, the fury of the Mistress tore for control and began sending shockwaves of her magic across the room.

Have we mentioned how utterly bizarre Fate can be?

No one can explain away what happened at that moment. Like something straight out of a book. From this bouncing vile green magic, reflected off the hues of the old Queen's magic, the memories entrapped in the crystals appeared before them. Like ghosts of the past. The group of friends found themselves in the middle of the crowd of ethereal changelings watching it all unfold, passing through those figures like a mirage. Where Chrysalis sat at her throne, her own illusion sat still while the Mistress writhed within it against the tendrils. The throne room looked like an audience chamber, while the rest of the nameless changelings all looked to be chanting their praise at the ghostly figure on the throne which was now being disturbed by the real thing.

Twilight’s eye caught sight of one last figure. Somewhere deep in the corner of the room where light had not been able to touch. There cowered one familiar shape. A small little creature, shivering in fear. The illusory Chrysalis extended a hoof out to her, and slowly but surely, she stood up to answer the call. The figure walked to the center of the room and toward the Mistress, the rest of the changelings giving way. The scene that was playing out was the same from the start of Chrys’ journey. Wordlessly, these figures put on a play of that event. They showed the fear in the small girl when every changeling turned to look at her, the menace of the Mistress, and the magic mist that freed them from their prison.

Then, down the pitch-black corridor behind them, the apparition of Chrys ran out of the room. She ran further and further until nothing could be seen of its transparent, illusive figure in the total dark.

But a small glow replaced it.

The glint of some wonderfully familiar eyes. Deeply amber, and interconnected to the very story being told.

It was Chrys herself. The real one. She’d almost tackled Twilight in her relief at seeing her and all her friends okay, panting for breath after having overused her magic far more than she had ever done before and trying to get to them as fast as she could after realizing the Guardian had already been freed of the Mistress’ control and had quieted.

“Chrys! You’re safe! Are you hurt anywhere?!” Twilight had almost forgotten what was transpiring in the room had it not been for Chrys’ intense stare toward the old Queen and the Mistress being back together again.

“Mom...”

“You petulant child!” The Mistress yelled at the sight of her. “I will see to it that you suffer until your last.” She grunted and her head fell, only to return with the old Queen’s mind in control, evident by her pupils returning to their gentle form.

“My dear Chrys... You’ve become so beautiful." Her words shuttered with intense sorrow. "But this is goodbye. You understand this from my magic, don’t you?”

Chrys didn’t respond. She only stared intently into her eyes and walked up to the throne silently. Everyone knew in their heart... this moment was theirs alone.

Still saying nothing, the small girl produced from her hair her doll of Twilight. Embedded onto its back was a tiny gem unlike any other. Nothing, not even the crystals in the throne room could compare to the absoluteness of this gem. Within its infinite depth, it could hide away a plethora of magic despite its minuscule size. And by the looks of its pure white, milky sheen like a pearl, it did.

“My gift to you... when you were born. You’ve kept it all this time?”

Chrys nodded. “Reminded me, of sun. Of moon. Treasured. Always.”

The changeling princess dropped the gift to the floor. The moment it hit the ground, a crack could be seen across its surface. Whatever it was, it had always been incredibly frail if it could shatter from that type of fall. So that meant that Chrys had taken every ounce of care in the world to keep it protected along with her doll of Twilight. Her two most important gifts.

But then, she crushed the gem underneath her foot much to everyone’s surprise.

“Need, no longer.” She smiled brightly at Queen Chrysalis. ”Don’t need, reminding. Don’t need, drawings. Don’t need, gifts. And. Don’t need, say goodbye.” She said these words slowly and carefully, trying to be as concise as possible. “We’ll see each other, again.” Chrys brushed away the Queen’s tears that had formed with one gentle hoof. “No more, sacrifices. No more, hurting. I promised.” The Queen nodded her agreement to Chrys’ plan, having felt her determination and her intent.

The magical feelings that had been stored within the gem acted as one last surge of power for Chrys. With it, her horn lit up with a very powerful spell.

Yet it was not her usual spell. This one was different. Even the words that needed to be recanted to produce it were foreign to them all. It was only until much later that Twilight and her friends would find out that this spell was in fact the one that had saved Chrys herself so long ago. A spell taught to Chrysalis a long time ago, by one old, white and yellow pony with amber eyes. A spell that came from far-off lands, in times long lost. One to stop the very hands of time and protect the mind.

She’d only ever heard it once before and had only ever performed it that one time in all her life, but it spoke of Chrys’ natural calling and mastery over Fate. Fate chooses its heroines, after all. And Chrys was one of them.

Her obligation stood tall. In the face of her love, she intended to keep her promise. Even if it took until the end of time, Chrys would make sure to see her mom sane and whole again. If that meant having to use that spell everyday for years and years to come, then so be it. Its what she wanted to do, not something she had to. This was the ultimate freedom. To choose how our stories end. And Chrys well... she chose this particular ending for everyone's sake.

When the spell died down, all they could see was the unconscious body of Queen Chrysalis and a very tired, very exhausted little changeling who had just about experienced enough excitement for one lifetime.

---

From here, it’s hard to say what any of them were feeling. And for their sake, I refrained from asking them any more questions. Chrys herself had been so generous as to give me a wealth of knowledge on what happened, and even her personal accounts of what it felt like to be stuck within her own mind. Something that we, with smaller stakes at hoof, would most likely never get to feel.

Whatever it was they were feeling, I’m sure those emotions were strong. Walking out of their cave, they found that there was still an entire town of unconscious, emotionally ailing ponies, animals, sprites, and draconequus. Even the sky was still gloomy with the ill effects of the Mistress’ spells. With those strong emotions, Chrys was able to borrow her friend's feelings and her own to stand side by side with Twilight, who also mustered what she could of her own magic. Alone, they could do no more than a trickle of magic.

Together, they felt like they could stand up against the world. With all their friends in tow to lend their aid, they walked to the very edge of the cliff overlooking a valley, just outside where the serpent body of the Guardian had let them out near.

The golden glow of Chrys’ magic intertwined with Twilight’s purple one, and Twilight let the little changeling be the one to say the words that needed to be said for that familiar spell.

”To do what we must,
And shake off the rust.
We pool our power to cast,
A spell aimed at the distant past.

We’ll find where we belong,
As we go along,
With Fate’s grand design...

She hesitated, feeling like the last verse didn’t quite fit all that she had hoped to accomplish with this spell. But magic was tricksy, she’d come to realize. It did what it wanted, when it wanted, and for whomever it wanted. Maybe these words were a simple key to unlock the strong feelings strung up in the heart, to channel that magic better... If that was the case, then anything she said next would likely work. Well, it wouldn’t hurt to try, she supposed.

To live free and to save all of our kind."

The whole of the valley became engulfed in the energies of this gentle spell. So far it traveled, it reached every corner of Ponyville, ridding the town of its madness and helping along every ailing creature that had been done in. It covered such an amazing distance that even the heavens were touched. Their spell had rend the very sky in two, letting the gentle sunset through.

Even if we can’t know what they felt in that moment, I think it’s pretty obvious what they must have felt then. Relief. Joy. Love. And maybe a strong sense of hope?

Twilight did say this about that moment:

“I felt so powerless during that whole confrontation. Anything I tried to do, I could only be met with failure. And Chrys yet again saved us all once more. Looking at her... I figured that if you don’t like the story that’s being written about you, then it’s up to you to change it. Since then, I’ve lived my life with that sense in my heart. It’s worked out pretty great, don’t you think?”

She had said this in response to my inquiry about how she felt about the state of the Kingdom now that changelings were free and those times had long since been written into history. It truly was a more prosperous time than the kingdom had ever seen.

It hadn't happened overnight either. Even with the many great feats our protagonists accomplished, and the trust they built up in the time after, the damage the Mistress had done was extensive. It had taken many years still before Twilight and Chrys could create a good image of changelings.

Helped along by the fact their efforts were no longer being sabotaged by some ethereal manifestation of madness... Chrys' friends and all of Ponyville seemed to spread word throught the rest of the kingdom of all the wonderful, tragic, and beautiful things about the changeling race. Truths that were no longer hidden by pleasentries.

Even unlikely characters did what they could towards that end. Like one remorseful Draconequus who had been touched by the little changeling's defense towards his honor, a couple of Diamond Dogs who had been grateful to be rid of that nagging voice in their head, and a couple of snotty fillies that had since learned a thing or two about being better ponies.

And Chrys? Well, she’s likely still out there somewhere helping some pony or other, as she's always done. She has shied away from the public eye, and has declined time and again to be given a position of power and influence, despite the many changelings that revere her.

Turns out, she never really wanted to be Princess. She quite enjoyed her time living a normal life with Twilight and her friends, free from any obligation other than to live for herself and for those she loved dearly. And now that the changelings were free from their curse and even the Queen had come back to her senses after some many years of mental-magical therapy, Chrys truly was free to do all that she wanted.

I don't think anyone is born saintly, and if Chrys' life proves anything, it's that everyone has the capacity for good in their heart so long as they have the bravery and the strong desire to change for the better. In that, we could all learn a thing or two from that wonderful little girl from so long ago. A story is a story, good or bad. Still, we should try and write good stories for our sake if nothing else. So then...

What will your story tell? For whom is it for?

And most importantly...

What do you want to say?

Author's Note:

And so ends another chapter of my life. I very much enjoyed finishing the original. And very very much enjoyed making this, its sequel. Working alongside Mutters to see my little girl realized was truly something else. I've written many stories in my time, but never have I cared so much about any one character more than I did Chrys.

I hope you enjoyed what it was I wrote. It's been an absolute pleasure. Signing off for now. Ciao!

Comments

[Theresa]

I hope the town says sorry and that the little changeling gets to live a normal life.

[TheGJ90]

"Never forget the characters you're working with. It's okay to try to make them more human in their mannerisms, but completely forgetting the personality of the individual you're working with is a cardinal sin." - Some stories that have a realistic slant are not written with this in mind.

It's why I'm glad that this story did not fall down that same pitfall.

[Darkevony]

11436244
Mighty thanks for the compliment. Writing rated E is especially tricksy when you're trying to drive real stakes, on real villains. It's not just the villains but all the characters too. How does everyone else respond? What would they say? What would they do? What feels like a natural scene of events when contrasted to the show itself? And what felt natural following A Kindled Change? It felt like stepping on eggshells when I wrote the more serious things in the story.

It probably would've been better if I withheld my tangents in all honesty, as to not sour the finale by being needlessly defensive, but I figured this is the last chance I'll get to talk about the kind of things I've put a lot a thought into. Almost no detail on either of the two Kindled stories were left without purpose, and I'm proud of myself for it.

But I digress, thanks again for taking the time to comment and for the compliment. It's especially nice to see it now that the story is complete. Much love!

[Darkevony]

11436075
There's an ideology in writing that's called "Death of the Author", which leaves the individual reader to interpret and imagine their own conclusions. Judging by what I wrote (acting as a reader), I'd say... Maybe not immediately, but I'm sure Chrys was eventually given the apologies and praise she deserved and got to live her life snug as a bug next to Princess Twilight.

One wonders as to what parts she got to play in the canonical events of the show, and how her life with a recuperated Chrysalis might've been like. Full of love and mirth, I don't doubt. Always helping some pony or other, maybe behind the scenes in disguise since she keeps away from the public eye?

How did her teen years go? Did she ever get to fly after all? Did she ever find a partner in life?

Maybe her story will see a continuation one day. Anyway, thank you for reading Theresa. I appreciated the comments you left me, both in my blogs and my story.

[Mocha Star]

Fun read!
Not as good as the first, but the art is totally worth it.

[Rikad]

I really quite enjoyed reading this over the past few days. Chrys was a delightful character, and her interactions with the residents of Ponyville (and especially Twilight) were all very good. All of the details of the story worked well as well.

Additionally, the way the ideas of fate and freedom were written was very good and are of particular interest to me.