> New Opportunities > by shenadri > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > There is a changeling in the doorstep > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a gloomy day on Canterlot, the pitter-patter of the rain against the windows resonating through the vast halls of canterlot castle, Princess Celestia was ready to adjourn day court due to this fact, however, things aren't always as planned. The great doors of the court banged open when a breathless guard enters into the room, startling some of the remaining ponies in it. “Princess Celestia!... Princess Celestia, we have an emergency!” The guard yells, looking frantically towards the throne, while Celestia looks back, a bewildered expression on the monarch’s face. “Calm down my little pony” the sun princess began, “now, please tell me what is happening?” “The changelings are back your majesty, there are actually in the front gate.” “Care to repeat that one for me, guard?” the princess manages to say after the stunning silence that befalls the throne room. “The changelings are in the main gates of canterlot, and they are badly injured and asking for one of the princess to hear their pleas.” the guard repeats, looking forward to her monarch, only to widen his eyes when the pacific sun princess teleports a set of golden armor and a giant claymore, donning the armor and strapping the huge sword squarely on her back, Celestia took a deep breath, before looking at the guard, her eyes now emotionless. “Take me to the doors, now” the solar diarch says, beginning to stride to the main doors of Canterlot along the guard, a quick command after, and now six more guards are with her and the scout. When she approaches the main door however, the scene that was there makes the alicorn to stop and gasp, covering her mouth with a golden armored hoof. The changelings were huddled on one side of the main street, however, they were only twenty or so, all looking warily to the ponies that were in the streets in spite of the bad climate, all the changelings were huddling together, as if they were hiding something from the view, but when the solar princess approaches, some of the ponies began to insult and yell at the huddle group of insect-pony hybrids. “Insects!” “Murderers!” “Bugs!” “SILENCE!” Celestia exclaims, all the ponies gaping at the sudden appearance of the monarch cladded in combat gear, “now, all of you, please leave us and the royal guard to check this…” “That wouldn't be necessary, your highness…” a raspy voice says within all the conglomerated changelings “I ordered the remaining loyal changelings to come with me... to formally surrender to you...” the changelings part away, revealing a tall changeling female looking to Celestia. “Chrysalis” the solar monarch says, an eyebrow raising The changeling queen was badly injured, as almost all her entourage, her chitin weak and cracked, some dirty bandages in her body and one of the forelegs in a improvised cast, however the thing that impress Celestia the most was the former queen's eyes, now almost lifeless and glassy. “Please, help us…” was the only thing the queen could say, before fainting on the spot. PONYVILLE Twilight Sparkle, new princess in the realm of Equestria, was having a little tea in her new castle with all her friends, looking through the windows to the nasty weather that was in the capitol “Hey egghead” Rainbow Dash says, waving a hoof in front of the librarian “something on your mind?” A little startled, the princess of friendship recoils, looking to the rose eyes of one of her best friends in the wide world “Sorry RD, I guess the weather puts me down a little, but I am fine…” the purple princess says, looking past the daredevil to see all her other friends in the main hall of the castle of harmony, Applejack and Rarity both were arguing about something, Spike the dragon hovering near the white unicorn with little hearts on his eyes, Fluttershy was half hidden in the couch, Discord floating above it and laughing hard on the shy pegasus discomfort, and Pinkie… well she was on the floor, looking forwards Canterlot when suddenly she began to vibrate on place. “Wowie Zowie, that was a doozy” the pink mare says, snorting and laughing, “but i feel it is a good doozy.” Before Twilight could ask, however, a loud burping sound diverts her attention to her number one assistant, who is picking up a letter from Princess Celestia, however, this letter has an official ribbon, meaning that is one directed to Princess Twilight Sparkle. Dear Princess Twilight this missive is for requesting your presence and the elements of harmony in Canterlot post haste, The queen of the Changelings, Chrysalis, has requested asylum and political aid for her race, also this scroll has an advanced teleporting rune etched on the back, whenever you could gather your friends, fuel the spell and you will be with us in canterlot, also Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Prince Shining Armor are requested to testify and bring justice upon the former Queen of the Changelings. “Oh boy… THAT was the doozy” Pinkie Pie chirped in, however, all the other ponies were looking at the princess of friendship, which gaze was obscured by the parchment and her own mane, after a while, she puts the scroll face down on the crystal floor, and taking a deep breath, proceeds to scream. “You done?” Rainbow asks after a while, looking boredly to the princess of friendship. “Yes, thanks, now i need all the girls close so we can go to Canterlot to see what this queen has to say for herself” Twilight says with a little manic grin on her face. “Wha’ do you mean come closer?” Applejack says, only for Pinkie Pie to hug all her friends and give to Twilight an affirmative nod, igniting her horn all the mane 6 were gone. CANTERLOT, MEDICAL WING, CASTLE CANTERLOT Celestia was pacing back and forth through the corridor, once the changeling queen has fainted, all the other mimickers stopped altogether and simply slumped down on the street, looking forwards without seeing, the best doctors available in the moment where in the other room, looking the changeling queen with the supervision of two royal guards. “Chrysalis” the alabaster alicorn mutters, looking to the door, suddenly a gallop in the corridor distracts the monarch and lifting up her gaze, she sees Twilight and Co. Their Rainbow Power ready and all of them glowing. “Princess, we have received your letter, where is the changeling queen so we can finish this business?” Twilight says, looking determined “Princess Twilight Sparkle!” Celestia admonishes, making the purple alicorn to flinch and lose the concentration needed to maintain the power boost, “never, EVER let your emotion dictate your actions, Chrysalis is in the medical wing of the castle, severely injured and she asked for help, now WE are going to wait so we can hear her and look what can we do, is that clear?” > what have you seen on me...? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNKNOWN PLACE “C’mon Hearty, please come with me?” a little voice says, the owner a pegasus with brown mane and tail and a forest green coat, talking to a little white coated and green maned unicorn filly. “I am not sure about this, Brownie, what if we get lost in the woods, or if something catch us in there, you surely know that some ponies went missing the last week, and the forest is… angry” the white filly says, looking warily over her shoulder, the pitch black bark of the trees giving a looming and standstill sensation over the meadow. “What do you mean about the forest being angry, Emerald Heart, the forest’s cannot be angry, hay, the trees even feel a thing, my dad explained it to me” the colt says, frowning, “and besides, I am with you!” he quickly adds, puffing out his chest in a display of bravery. “I have a bad feeling about this” the filly says. unknown by both ponies, two shadows in the background are watching the complete scene, before talking with each other. “Sister, this…” “We are not sure about this… seems to foggy, so a lucid dream or… a very old memory” “Why that filly looks so familiar to me?” one of the shadows ask, however, they jumped forward, now both ponies were inside the dark forest, looking a little frightened. “Brown, I am scared” the little filly says, whimpering, “Totally told you this was a bad idea” “D-don't worry Hearty, i'll get us out of here” The brown colt says, looking around for any marker to get out of the forest, founding none. “Somehow…” anyhow, both ponies didn’t know that something was lurking in the shadows, however before any of them could react, it jumps on the brown colt and drags him into the wilderness, the filly screamed in horror but was frozen in place by the fear, however, after a while, a grayish mare appears all of the sudden. “STOP YELLING AND FOLLOW ME, NOW!!!” Startled, the little filly stop screaming and made a quick dash towards the elder pony. before they could see more all begins to crumble apart and fall into darkness… CANTERLOT CASTLE, MEDICAL WING “BROWNIE!!” Chrysalis yells, startling all the occupants into the recovery room. “with powder sugar, chocolate or simple” Pinkie chirp’s in, half sleep, all the other mares were looking to the changeling in the room, suddenly, a burst of magic torn the door apart, revealing some of the changelings which were catatonic when Chrysalis fainted at the doors of Canterlot “My queen, we sense your distress, what happened?” one of them asked, all of the others were bowing to either her or the three alicorns that were in the room. After a while, the former changeling queen finish to relate the dream that she had, sobbing and sniffling a little about the unknown destiny of the brown colt. “Well Chrysalis, my sister and I think that you can explain what exactly has happened to you in that dream after you were saved by this gray mare” Luna says, looking a little conflicted, on one hoof, she genuinely believes in second chances, because of her past, but on the other, she still want to observe the changeling queen a little more, in case this surrender were a ruse against the kingdom. “I-I don’t know, I just have this nightmare or whatever it was, who is this Brownie colt that I see and why I am dreaming about this… Emerald Heart” Chrysalis answers, tears running down her cheeks, “and why I care about it, I can’t remember anything but fragments and pieces of all my past.” Celestia meanwhile was looking at the changeling queen intently, and also looking all the others in the room, suddenly, a smile graced her lips, and a mischievous grin appears on the alicorn of the sun. “Well Chrysalis, you maybe can’t remember all your past, but I personally think that you still deserve a second chance, however you need to earn that redemption. in the meantime, I will be investigating about this “Emerald Heart” that you say you saw on your dream, I am sure that i heard that name a long time ago, Twilight?” “Yes?” the purple alicorn turns, looking to the solar diarch. “Chrysalis will be staying with you in ponyville in the meantime” “WHAT!!!?” > Lessons from our past... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- CANTERLOT CASTLE, MEDICAL WING “ARE YOU COMPLETELY INSANE CELESTIA!” Twilight yells, rivaling Luna’s own royal canterlot voice, “I COMPLETELY UNDERSTANDS THAT SHE IS A DIPLOMAT AND SHE IS UNDER OUR PROTECTION, BUT I CANNOT FORGIVE HER FOR THE LIVING TARTARUS SHE MADE ME PASS THROUGH WHEN WE WERE PLANNING MY BROTHER’S WEDDING!!!” “So, are you saying that the Princess of Friendship refuses to take a wounded and emotionally hurt diplomat, also hindering the possible way of peace and friendship between two nations… because she can’t let it go from a petty grudge that happened like a year ago?” the alicorn of the sun says, looking straight back to the ex librarian, “also I am hearing this correctly, Twilight Sparkle, the most intelligent pony after Starswirl the bearded, letting go an opportunity to learn something new about a race lost in the story of the world’s nations?” Celestia adds, looking briefly to Princess Luna, who was doing her best for not break into a fit of giggles. All the other ponies in the room where silent, looking at the newest princess, all of them almost looking the tiny gears twist and turn inside the ex-librarian mind, with a defeated sigh, Twilight relented. “That’s not fair Tia” Luna telepathically says to Celestia, “you know exactly how to push her buttons to do your will, and your student has a valid point” the Lunar alicorn states, “anyhow we should have asked Chrysalis if she is alright with this agreement.” “Ok princess, I think it is fair to give her a second chance, we do it with Discord, so why not?” Twilight finally says, lowering her arms in defeat. “You rang?” a new voice says, and then the very same god of chaos appears with a flash of light, he has a hawaiian red and white shirt, a skirt made of grass on his hips and a coconut with a bending straw on it, however, nopony was expecting the reaction that comes after the chaos entity entrance, all of the sudden, the changelings in the room turn into different objects trying to hide from the new occupant in the room, and the queen that once stood defiantly over Celestia was now screaming bloody murder, pointing with one hoof to a bewildered discord and babbling incoherently, then unconsciousness claims Chrysalis again. “why I never” the chaos spirit says annoyed, then with a pop, he disappears again. “Ok… that happened, now somepony can explain me what the hay just happened here?” Rainbow Dash exclaims, frustration evident in her voice. “We were hiding from the chaosbringer” a muffled voice says, then one of the cupboards transform back into an insectoid pony, “he is the culprit of our… condition, and we learn to fear him because of what he do to our first ancestor.” “What do you mean?” Twilight says, looking towards the changeling intently, a quill and a parchment appearing from thin air, “wait, what is your name?” “My name is Cayo, I am one of the chroniclers of the hive and one of the chamber guardian’s” the changeling begin, “many eons ago, we were a far away little kingdom between the dracospire and one of the Griffon aeries, our little hole in the world better known as the Flutter Valley.” “It cannot be, Discord and the Smooze destroyed the valley when we try to stop them the first time” Celestia whispers, looking quite shocked by this news, Cayo turning around and looking at the solar diarch with an even look. “The valley was destroyed, yes, but we thrive in adversity, when Discord and the everlasting darkness took the valley we were hidden below the earth, however, the fel magic those two used to destroy the land and render it barren seeped through the soil, also tarnishing us, and turning into this” he says, pointing at himself, “however, Flutterheart, the kind monarch and matriarch of all Flutter Ponies, shielded us with her might, and we survived the contamination, as we called it, but our once empathetic ancestors turned into hungry beasts, our ability to sense emotions turned in our very doom; because you see ponies, we now were dependant on festing into emotions to survive and use magic.” “However not all was lost, Queen Harrow Heart the second changeling queen after the contamination, was a prophet of sorts, and she foresee that the thirteen queen in the thirteenth century after our fall will redeem us, joining with one of the descendants of the ones that unified the ponies, and that time is finally upon us, Chrysalis is that queen, and she almost failed us, but she shallow her own pride to seek aid after her… madness.” the changeling says, a look of pity and pride in his eyes, nuzzling her monarch. “fair Cayo, what do you mean by that?” Luna asks, looking the changelings in a new light, also tearing up a little, old memories resurfacing in the light of this new information. “let me finish then, maiden of the night” the changeling continues, bowing her head, “we were safe, but our hunger for emotions eventually degraded our minds, and the heir of the last queen was no exception, she was once a pony, but our last queen took it from her village and tried to forge her into her descendant, however, the alchemy needed for this feat kills our last queen and triggered the transformation of the pony, turning her into the new queen, Chrysalis.” shocked, all the ponies recoil from the changeling and all the others that finally were in her normal forms, “when she surged from the royal chambers, she told us that she finally understood why this had happened to us, and seizing all of our broken memories and minds, build the strongest hivemind last seen in two centuries and linked us permanently to her, obligating us to her will, but in exchange, she lost her memories, and she went down to a madness path, blaming the ponies of our ancestor’s fall, she thought that if we could conquer the golden city in the mountain, our heritage and our might will be rewarded by our redemption, she then proceed to breed a lot of drones, capture and convert any stray ponies, griffons or zebras that were on our lands, and build an army to try and take Canterlot, however, we all know how that ended.” the changeling finishes, looking forward, his cheeks moisten with fresh tears. > Surprise! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNKNOWN LOCATION Emerald wake up with a start, she was looking frantically around her for any trace of Brown, after a while, she began to sob. “Brownie?” she started, knowing that he would not answer, however, one shadow leaped from the wall and, without the filly knowing, scurried to the other side of the room and through the entrance of the strange cave where the filly, unknown by her, was prisoner. After a while, the two shadows from the first memory manifested again, their tone concerned. “Another memory?” “It would seem so, sister, however, we cannot interfere, these are mere fragments from her past, now I am sure of it, and we need to let them play so she can… rest from it” After a while, the grey mare which have saved Emerald Heart entered the cave, looking a little frazzled up, but wearing a smile, she anyways, promptly change it for a concerned look. “Dear, are you alright?” the mare asked, coming near the distressed filly and patting her in the withers, “I heard you from the other side of the room, what happened?” “I-I-I want to go home!” “Shh” The gray mare says, trying to calm the distraught filly, “I know my dear, but I am looking for your friend, maybe, and I mean MAYBE, he can still be alive” after a while, the older mare gives the filly some space, now her little eyes filled with hope. “Y-you mean it?” the filly says between sobs, her eyes never leaving the older mare. “I mean it little one, meanwhile why you don't sleep some more?”,the mare says, motioning the filly towards the bed in the back, “you must be really tired after this ordeal.” After this, the old pony stays behind, however, the young filly came back after a while, also catching someone with the mare that has saved her “... and don't look anymore, that colt is as good as dead, I think, anyhow, if this pony keeps her hope up, she can feed us for a little while.” the gray pony was saying, all the time, the little filly has a look of sorrow and despair, she had a pretty good idea about what the older pony was talking about, however, she gasped when she saw to who the mare was talking to, a black pony with weird holes in his legs and blue eyes that shine with an eerie glow in the dim-lit cave. “but, my queen, if I can speak freely, that pack of shadow wolves maybe just leave the damn colt in the woods, we can try and find him, she would be in better spirit and she can aid us more before we can drain her.” *What are they talking about, and why...* Then a sudden green light and after that… nothing. CANTERLOT CASTLE, MEDICAL WING Chrysalis was awake with a start, panting and sweating a little, also startling a new pony that was in a bed in front of her. “Goodness gracious!” a white pony with a monocle and a expensive tuxedo says, entering into the queen’s range of vision, “that was a very lively nightmare, don’t you agree, dear?” he continues, looking straight at the insectoid pony. “Y-yes, I think…” the changeling queen began, only to stare a little to the pony in front of her, “wait a second, why aren’t you scared about me?” “Why, I need to be?” the stallion says, a deadpan look on his face, “however, my name is Fancy Pants, and my lovely wife over there, is Fleur de Lis” he continues, pointing to the mare that was in front of Chrysalis bed, both ponies oblivious of the incredulous look that the aforementioned queen was giving them. “So, you didn't find strange that a thing that is not a pony is in a bed near your wife.” Chrysalis says, her voice latched with heavy sarcasm. “First of all my fair lady, I honestly say I am kinda curious about your… species” the stallion began, eyeing the holes in the queen’s legs, “but we just arrived here from our trip to Prance, trying to find…” suddenly the stallion sulked, a look of deception and shame on his face, “well, whatever, we just arrived here and one friend of mine ask me if we can keep an eye on you in the meanwhile, she and her friends are needed somewhere else, and as a fine gentlestallion, I couldn’t refuse.” CANTERLOT TRAIN STATION “I hope Fancy Pants and Fleur are all right” Rarity whines for the fourth time, “and next time that anyone want to supervise the changeling queen, don’t ask out of the blue to an ambassador and his wife out of the bat!” she continues, glaring to Pinkie Pie, who was oblivious to the world. “I am sorry, generous Rarity” Princess Luna says, looking apologetically to the alabaster unicorn, “but we need to hurry to the train station before that specific train arrives here” she adds, looking warily to Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight Sparkle. “Why we need to wait for the train anyways?” Rainbow Dash asked, “we are waiting for somepony else?” the stunt flyer continues, not noticing the glare from Princess Luna, and the eyebrow twitch from her purple friend. “Yes RD, we indeed are waiting for two ponies now” Twilight says, looking intently to the train arriving, “both of them come from the Crystal Empire, and they have… issues, with our current changeling queen". “Wait, the Crystal Empire, but the only ones that we know…” the speedster continues, but an deafening sound of crystal against metal interrupts the tomboyish pegasus, after the smoke clears from the newly arrived train, two ponies, a pink alicorn and a white unicorn, are the first two that descend from the train. “... Are princess Cadence and Twilight’s brother” the pegasus finishes, all of the ponies on the platform are quite shocked, the alicorn of love was armed with a longsword and a light plate armor, and the former captain of the guard also carries his official uniform, and a huge warhammer. “Weeell, this is akward” Princess Luna mutters, looking to both sides. > Another explanation... and avoiding a raging couple > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “I DON’T WANT TO LISTEN ANY EXCUSES FOR THAT WHORSE TO BE IN THIS CITY” Shining Armor was yelling, his hammer swinging by in a blurry, accidentally hitting one of the lunar guards, “THAT… THAT THING IS GOING TO BE ARRESTED AND PROSECUTED ACCORDINGLY TO ALL OUR REGULATIONS.” Shining Armor usually is a very calm and collected individual, however, after receiving a letter with a summon in Canterlot, also explaining in more detail that the changeling queen has surrendered to the diarchy, immediately changed the demeanor of the ex royal canterlot guard captain, fuming, he had reached the letter to his Wife, Empress Mi Amore Cadenza, who also was outraged by the gall of the black insectoid pony. “What my husband is trying to say” Cadence began, she didn’t like it but still, she was a public figure, and throwing a tantrum in front of the press and all the nobles in Canterlot didn’t make any of the current situation better, “is that WE are going to be judging the situation with Chrysalis, and WE have the right to punish her accordingly.” Saying this without breaking her calm mask was a very hard thing to do, shortly after their arrival, Princess Luna had explained them, in the best of her abilities, why Canterlot wasn’t taking any reprisals against the changeling ambassadors, also taking into account that they were the last ones loyal to their queen, and after Shining Armor formerly asked permission to execute the remaining “Changeling scum” (gaining horrified looks from all the gathered ponies, and a frown from Princess Luna and Princess Twilight Sparkle.) After this, things went downhill, one of the survivors of the changelings has come in that exact moment, and when the captain had locked eyes with her, he has gone ballistic, chasing after the frightened changeling, which in turn had been a bad idea, because she was one of the lower drones, in charge of the maintenance of the crops outside the hive, this isn't bad per se, but those farmer changelings, according to what little info that Chrysalis has given to the princesses, could excrete an highly nauseating gas, and in her panic, this drone (Akeela) has done exactly that, however, nopony knew that the expanding ratio of the gas was almost of two blocks, and now half of the train yard and one of the fanciest business blocks on Canterlot were closed due to “hazardous environmental conditions.” After this (and the drone properly unconscious, due to one lucky shot with the captain’s warhammer) now both parties were shouting to each other, distressed about this incident. “BE QUIET!!!” Princess Twilight Sparkle shouts, using her Canterlot Royal Voice for more impact, “I understand completely your situation Captain/emperor Shining Armor and empress Mi Amore Cadenza, HOWEVER, the former changeling queen asked us for armistice and protection, and Canterlot government has fully agreed on this, besides, it is highly unlikely that Chrysalis could do anything due to severe malnutrition and also severe injuries that her body sustained when she was forcibly… evacuated from this city.” “What do you mean, Princess Twilight?” Cadence asks, letting her mask crack a little, and showing some concern for the changelings. “What I mean is that, according to princess Celestia, Chrysalis has come covered in bandages, with all the other changeling refugees, looking for our aid, you should have been there when she told me this, Cadence, Celestia said that she was so… so broken!” the purple ex librarian says, tears welling in her eyes, “When i saw her, she was completely and utterly destroyed, asking for our help, also shortly after she arrived and asked for help she fainted in front of us, all of their children falling with her, when she woke up in the hospital, she woke from a nightmare, for Celestia’s sake!” Cadence was now putting a hoof on her mouth horrified, she had tasted the superiority of her former enemy first hoof, and she know better that anypony how proud and superior Chrysalis was on that time, so the empress of the Crystal empire now was having doubts over this. “I don’t believe it” Shining Armor said in a hollow tone “Shining, I can’t believe that…” Twilight began, only for her to be knocked out by one sleeping spell casted by her brother. “WHAT THE HAY!” Rainbow Dash says, flying straight towards the white stallion, “WATCH IT PAL, SHE IS YOUR SISTER!” “I refuse to believe this… this load of horseapples, she might be an imposter send by that witch to confound us” Shining replies, headbutting Rainbow, however both ponies held their ground, “now that it is unconscious, the illusion spell on that thing will fade momentarily and we should see the faker” he replied, a smug grin on his face. TEN MINUTES LATER “Shining” “Yes dear?” “Tonight you will be sleeping on the couch.” > Avoiding your murderous sister and the wrath of a God > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canterlot Castle, Medical wing. “SHINING PERCIVAL ARMOR SPARKLEE!!!” a loud screech was heard just before a loud explosion engulfs the west tower and all the glass around the hall of legends in the castle cracks, after that a resounding pair of hooves were heard running in the castle Celestia sighed before delicately putting away her tea and looking straight at Chrysalis with a bored face “What did you just do now Chrysalis?” “N-Nothing that I know off, Celestia, I was just laying here and talking with a young couple of ponies that apparently were some of the nobles here, after they retire, I was just getting comfortable when suddenly this happened” the insectoid pony answers, looking offended by the question. “In that case, do you mind explaining to me why are two or more ponies running around my castle wreaking havoc” the white alicorn says “ and, if the shouting voice I hear is correct, one of those is Princess Twilight?” “WAIT UNTIL I GET MY HOOVES ON YOU… I… I AM GOING TO TRANSFORM YOU INTO A CACTUS… NO, WAIT, CACTUS IS TOO GOOD FOR YOU, I WILL TRANSFORM YOU INTO AN AMOEBA! In that moment, the door to the infirmary burst into flames, and an enraged Twilight Sparkle barges in, looking like a mad mare, nostrils flared. “WHERE IS SHINING ARMOR?” the purple alicorn yell, with the Royal Canterlot voice in full, “I WILL PUNISH HIM FOR CASTING A SLEEPING SPELL ON ME!” after checking for her brother, she cast a quick repair spell on the door, before opening it and disappearing down the corridor. “She is always this… lively?” the changeling queen asked, raising an eyebrow. “Not always, but considering this incident it would appear that my faithful student sometimes is prone to blow things out of proportion” Princess Celestia says, standing up and inspecting the recently repaired door, “however, she is a very good repair pony when she wants to be, that reconstitution spell is difficult even for me.” After a tense silence, the door opens again, this time revealing a pink alicorn with a purple, yellow and pink streaks on her mane and tail. “Excuse me, somepony told me that…” whatever was the end of the phrase, was lost when Princess Mi Amore Cadenza looks at the only non-pony on the infirmary. “Hello, Mi Amore Cadenza” The changeling queen tries to start a conversation, only for ducking quickly to avoid a tray of tea, two biscuits and a teapot. “WHAT IN KET´SAVAH NAME IS WRONG WITH YOU!!!” The changeling queen yells, hiding behind Princess Celestia, which was a task on its own, both mares almost the same height. “I AM GOING TO RIP YOUR HORN AND PLUCK IT IN YOUR ASS YOU DAMN BUG!!” The love princess retaliated, only to stop mid-sentence when she took into account that the aforementioned tray and biscuits were now lodged in Celestia’s horn, all those present in the infirmary suppressing gasps of fear, and in case of one or two changelings that weren't taking into account that the pony receiving the late tea party favors moves the sun, snickers of laughter. “COME AND GET ME YOU-” Whatever Chrysalis was going to say was unheard as an extreme wave of heat and sound obliterated the tray, the biscuits and most of the linen sheets and covers from the infirmary “ENOUGH” The solar princess bellowed, not noticing the fire blast that she cast to get the point across, after deeply inhaling and exhaling, moving her forelimb away from her, she proceeds to try and talk to both the disturbances of the medical wing of the palace, only to stare in shock to a pink and green energy shield protecting both changelings and ponies from the explosion and heat blast. “Mother of me” the Solar diarch says, facehooving, “it is Filly Twilight all over again in this place.” Canterlot Castle Throne Room, 45 minutes later Celestia wasn't having a good day. First, she spent at least twenty minutes trying to convince Cadenza and Chrysalis to lower down the shields, both mares having put their respective grudge on hold (nearly being obliterated by a solar flare could have that effect, all things considered). After that, she finally found her student, giggling like a mad mare and looking at the ceiling, where, magnetized by his hooves, a frightened Shining Armor was screaming like a school filly. Lastly, she found a disgruntled Princess Luna just arriving to the main foyer of the Castle, after trying (and failing) to find both the Crystal Empire monarchs who just teleported away as soon as the night princess mentioned Chrysalis and Twilight Sparkle in the same phrase. “So, let me get this” Rainbow Dash said, trying her best to hold her mirth “After the captain of the guard, AKA the dumb, knocks out his own sister, then they both arrived here, only for being separated just arriving by an enraged alicorn, which is his sister, after that, she began to pursue him through all the Castle, and in the meanwhile, his wife, which is the paragon of love personificated, was trying to pelt the changeling queen with pastries and a solid tray, impacting the Princess of the sun in the process?” the speedster says, between guffaws of laugh, “this is sooo priceless, why would we need a reformed god of chaos when you four can create such havoc!” “For the record” the god of chaos himself says, dropping down from the ceiling ”I didn't lift a paw in all the madness caused by this four.” the white alicorn only sighs, looking sternly to all four protagonists of all the incident “Yes, it is going to be like when Twilight here was a filly in this castle all over again” Celestia confirmed At least Twilight and Cadenza had the decency to blush a little, between the laughs of all the others in the room. > Compromises > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canterlot Castle, two days after Princess Twilight's anger burst "It is good to be out of the bed", Chrysalis said, looking to the purple alicorn besides her, "a-and thank you for helping in my recovery" the Queen wispered, looking away, trying to hide her blush. After all the castle was notified that an ammbassador from a foreign nation and its delegation had arrived, all capable hooves were busy helping set up acomodations for all the remaining changelings; in the meanwhile the insectoid ponies were helping to their "hosts and saviors" however they could as they began to call the princesses, anyhow, the remaining changelings proved to be a capable workforce, aiding whenever they were needed without a complaint. On the medical wing of the castle, Princesses Celestia, Luna and Twilight have been helping out on the recovery of the changeling queen, healing magic applied with an alicorn boost having a miraculous effect on the queen, almost all the scars on her caparace had faded by now and the broken leg was now but a memory. Chrysalis had noticed that the youngest princess had put all her will to the task, also have been spending as much time as she could with the former enemy of equestria. "It was nothing, I would have done the same for any of my... friends" Twilight Sparkle answers in a monotone, "Anyways!, we with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were thinking..." "What?" the changeling queen asked, raising one eyebrow. "What do you think about a peace and land offer to you and your remaining brood?" the purple princess asked, craning her neck to lock back, a mischievous glint on her eyes, "we were thinking that you should get some land for your people within Equestria, because as you told us, you cannot go back to your place of birth right?" The second these words left the purple princess's lips, she was tackled by a very enthusiastic hug from the queen. "Y-you really mean all of that?" Chrysalis asked, looking directly into the ex-librarian purple eyes, "I-I and my children are allowed to stay in Equestria?" "I... Need... Air!!!" the purple librarian says between gasps. "Sorry, sorry" Chrysalis promptly released the flustered alicorn, after that she bowed low to her, "I and and our changelings accepts both your offers, Queen-Princess Twilight Sparkle" "Oh, that's great, I now can... wait a second, 'our' changelings, 'Queen-princess'?" the purple alicorn said, looking confused for a second, then widening her eyes "oh no, nonononono..." "Actually, when you offered your help and now with the lands and the peace offer I, Queen Chrysalis of the wastelands and of the Emerald Hive Remains, officially declare that the union between Equestria and The Emerald Hive Remains is settled, that is, if the pony who offered this peace and land offer, Princess Twilight Sparkle, accepts joining efforts between ponies and changelings as a co-ruler." *thud* "Twilight Sparkle, are you well?" Chrysalis asked, nosing a unconcious alicorn. Throne Room, Canterlot Castle, 45 minutes later 'Ughhh my head, what did I do before raising up today', thought Twilight Sparkle, trying to rise from a bed, a splitting headache and a dull beeping sound in her ears, 'It appears to be like that day with Moonshine and friends, next thing we knew, all of us were sprawled on the floor of her house, none remembering what the buck we did beforehoof' "...light" "...ake up" "Twi... kle, wake..." "You are late for a test" a male voice finally gets into the muddle thoughts of the ex librarian. "AIEEE, I am lateeee!" Twilight Sparkle cries, rising up suddenly and tossing away a smug looking Spike, "Spike, please bring me..." she interrupted herself when she found the little drake getting away, snorting with laughter. she turned around slowly, noticing that all her friends, Queen Chrysallis and Princess Luna where on the same room, some of them snorting trying to contain their laughs at the studious alicorn's sudden wake up. "My, if I knew that a test will get you up from the dead, I would have tried that the time that we all went to camping" Rainbow Dash says, a smug smile plastered on her face, "what do you have to say to that, egghead?" "Uhm, maybe that if you try that, I can turn you into a Earth Pony, and without magic" the purple pony replies in a monotone, looking to all of them with bloodshot eyes, "the last thing that I remember is the talk that I had with Chrysalis about the Land and Peace offer." Twilight adds, looking pensively to the tallest mare in the room, "then she says that... oh, ponyfeathers." "Yes, Queen-Princess Twilight" Princess Luna interrupts the now panicking alicorn, "Queen Chrysallis has signed the offer, and we with Celestia had agreed on her terms, anyhow..." "HOLD YOUR HORSES!!!" a shout was heard from the other side of the door, before the aforementioned door were obliterated by a mad Shining Armor, "PRINCESS LUNA, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, THAT IS A LOAD OF MANURE, THAT TREATY WAS SIGNED WITH ONE OF THE PARTIES UNCONCIOUS, FOR CELESTIA'S SAKE." "Actually, Captain-Emperor Shinning Armor, the law says that if in case of one of the rulers of Equestria being incapable of taking vote in a new law, agreement or treaty, that being the case, all the other rulers could outvote the decision, if there were more than one ruler, also because Empress Mi Amore Cadenza now is a Noble on the Crystal Empire, her vote doesnt count." Princess Luna deadpanned "YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME!!" Now an enraged Twilight shouts, "ARE YOU SAYING THAT BECAUSE I WAS UNCONCIOUS AND CADENCE IS A FOREIGN DIGNATARY NOW, THE LAW WAS PASSED WITHOUT MY CONSENT!" "Apparently so, Queen-Princess..." "DON'T YOU DARE TO FINISH THAT SENTENCE, WHAT CLASS OF MANURE LAW WAS THAT??!!" In another part of the castle, Princess Celestia sneezed hard. "Sorry about that, ambassador whitefeather, as I was saying..." > And plotlitics... I mean politics... maybe? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "AND YOU VOTED FOR THIS," The purple librarian yelled, making Celestia and Luna wince. "Well, when you put it that way..." Luna trailed off, gaining a glare from her older sister. Celestia, after a while, simply came closer to her disgruntled fellow alicorn, and, putting one foreleg on her withers, proceeded to calm her down. "Twilight, we are concerned about the changelings, all of us truly are, and the nobles and all the other stuck up nobles want some retaliation for the crimes they committed, and that's why I approved the law, so the nobles couldn't put a hoof on the changelings" Celestia tried to placate her irate student. "I understand, really, but why you couldn't wait for me to be aware of this situation?" Twilight grumbles, turning her neck and locking eyes with her mentor. "Sorry, princess Twilight" one of the other changelings in the meeting, Cayo, if Twilight was remembering correctly, said, "but after our arrival, we were trying to help when one of the nobles, Prince Blueblood, I think he was called, was beginning to organize all the nobles to try and 'evict the evil little abyss dwellers from our fair city' or something like that" he said, even getting the falsetto voice of the pompous prince, "so we need to stay low, or to be integrated into your society" "Ok, let's see this logically," Twilight began, "on one hoof, the entire race of changelings, or at least the ones that want a pacific solution, need to be under my protection, meaning that I am bound by the law to protect them," all the heads on the table nodded, "the other option is to leave things like they currently are, meaning that, sometime in the future, the changelings would be attacked due to a misconception or out of spite." Again, all the ponies gathered nodded. "Ok, I will do it," Twilight said after a while, "But it will be on my terms, no blackmailing me into the situation at hoof." "First of all, I will be moving the changelings back to Ponyville, and even there, I'll be reclaiming the lands on the Everfree as our new land, those are forgotten by the crown, and it would be nice to put those lands in use." When Princess Celestia nodded, Twilight continued, "Secondly, this would be like the Crystal Empire, we would be a protectorate under the crown, meaning that we would get some financial aid, and some help to start, then we should get any possible advantage or trade on the land bestowed to us, right?" "Actually," Cayo said, gaining the attention of all the royals, "we changelings could provide a very useful service for you ponies." When all the eyes at the table were on him, he continued, "thing is, us changelings are renowed potion brewers, rivaling with the zebras, also we have one natural advantage" he afterwards proceded to spit a green goo on his forefoof, "this is called salve, we can produce it naturally, it is absolutely aseptic, also it is used to improve the healing or the restoration of tissue when we get wounded, we can engineer it to change its properties on the go, even we can make it so it can be used to avoid decomposition on perishable aliments. All the royals at the table were flabbergasted, Twilight was taking notes, Celestia and Luna were a little skeptical on the matter, Cadance's face was green and Shinning Armor was scrunching his own muzzle in distaste. "Well, first of all we are going to make this work, Cayo," Twilight finally said after an awkward silence. "Anyhow, I will help our own people to understand the changelings and, more importantly, to accept you guys as fellow equestrians." "So..." Crysalis began, eyes full of hope. "Yes, I am going to be your Queen-princess, but we will do it our own way, OK?" Twilight says with finalty, also putting one hoof over the queen's withers "We are now allies, Chrysalis." the alicorn of frienship said, extending her wings and embracing the changeling queen in a friendly hug. > Departure from Canterlot > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the changelings were recognized as citizens, princesses began making a small series of conferences to eliminate doubts about the strange shapeshifters, however, the vast majority of Canterlot still did not believe that the insectoid ponies had changed their ways, and after a couple of incidents with the nobility, finally Queen-princess Twilight Sparkle decided to leave the capital city for the land offered by the crown in the wild Everfree. they would have liked however to leave quietly. "STOP!" Blueblood shouted, pointing to the row of changelings behind the carriage where Crysalis and Twilight were "I demand retribution for all that these beasts have done to all citizens of Canterlot's lineage. Blueblood, despite being a pain in the ass, could never get away with Celestia and Luna presiding over peace talks and public events, however, at this time, the changelings were apparently leaving the city unarmed, and the pompous Foal thought it was the ideal time to solve the grievances that he and the rest of Canterlot Elite had suffered from the shapeshifters' hooves, also the irascible noble had gathered a lot of Canterlot's elite to deal with the menace of the Changelings themselves. That was, until the changelings actually looked towards the mob, and promptly they fall into the street, laughing and hitting the cobblestones with their hooves, in his haste, the idiot prince could only gather a lot of old stallions, and besides Blueblood master crafted rapier, they had answered with haste, bringing the first thing they could find to try to repel the "invaders" so the mob was armed with brooms, sticks, and mostly teapot, but nothing else, then, to everypony's surprise, Twilight Sparkle herself came down from the chariot, making slow steps, going forwards to the impertinent pony and his ragtag team. "My little ponies, what is happening here," Twilight asked, looking forwards to the crowd, one of her ears twitchin "We do not need a patchwork princess to drive these invaders out of our beloved city," Blueblood said, without even noticing the thick vein throbbing in the former librarian's forehead, "so, princess pet, if you were so kind of ... "what he was going to say was lost, when a furious Twilight Sparkle simply raised his hoof and hit him with such a blow, that she sent him flying back at least a couple of blocks, hitting the body against a stand of fruits at the end of the street. "First of all, Blueblood, I am not a patchwork princess, I have taken under my protection these changelings, as an endangered species in the world, second, I may not have been the best choice to ascend and have the honor of being a princess, but at least I have enough decorum to not go behind the backs of my peers, undermining a peace that cost a lot of sacrifice, and third "Twilight's voice rumbling through the city," no one would says that I am a pet, I am my own mare, and Celestia will keep you if I hear something like it again "Twilight finished, letting part of the Arcanum wrap around her, changing her appearance, her coat became white, and her mane, affected by magic around her, she immediately acquired the appearance of fire, the eyes of the mare, now scarlet, were nailed to the prince's excuse, challenging him. However, after the princess's harsh reprimand for Blueblood, the prince simply got up, straightened his torn jacket, picked up his rapier, simply approached Twilight, however, before he could continue, several changelings began to close ranks, possibly intimidated by the weapon that the stallion carried, in a couple of steps, he simply dropped the rapier, rode through all the shapeshifters, broke the rows and being a meter or less from Twilight Sparkle, lifting the head he proceeded to spit at the princess. "I will never recognize such a patetic mare to surrender as a noble, I, Narcis Blueblood, challenge you to duel Lady Twilight Sparkle, about the rights you have right now as a noble, if I win, your life belongs to me." 'This will stop her,' thought the stallion, 'nopony knows this tradition, and she has nothing to do since the last files with the protocol on noble duels were lost about four hundred years ago according to my grandparents' At that precise moment, Celestia and Luna arrived, however, a sepulchral silence arose, only broken by a tremulous voice. "I, Twilight Anbura Sparkle, I accept the challenge, If I win, Your life belongs to me"