"So," Acone muttered, rubbing his balding head. "What exactly are we supposed to do?"

Marshal shrugged, still looking out the window of the limousine. It was, of course, dark, but he could still make out the trees surrounding the highway.

"What you said," he replied. "Let them talk."

"Yeah, but that might be a fucking disaster," Acone replied. "There's some funny shit going on."

"Yes," Marshal responded, holding his forehead, "There's definitely funny shit going on. But I cannot determine if that shit is because Twilight and that thing are working together, or because that thing has a plan up its sleeve."

Acone took another gulp of his water bottle. "Christ, I hope it's the second thing."

Marshal looked up at him, surprised. "Why?"

"Because," Acone said, adjusting his posture so he was leaning towards Marshal, "I put a lot of faith in her. If she turned out to be evil, well—"

He gave a sarcastic chuckle.

"I'm going to feel like a real asshole. And a lot of little girls are going to be fucking pissed."

Marshal nodded, turning back to the window.

"I mean, shit. Maybe we should let them talk over Skype or some shit," Acone said, leaning back. "No reason for us to close down the whole damn highway for this convoy."

"No," Marshal replied. "No, I don't think so. I doubt Twilight has anything to do with this. You saw how she reacted."

"Could be rehearsed!" Acone exclaimed, shaking his head. "Could all be a fucking ruse. We might be getting played like fucking fiddles."

"I don't think that's it," Marshal said. "I trust her. Still do. You heard that changeling. She didn't sound—well, she's either a very good actor or she was fucking terrified. Desperate. And you saw those readings."

Acone took a breath. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

The limo slowed down as it exited the highway, silently slipping onto the streets below. Only a few more turns now. He finished off his bottle of water, crumpled the bottle, and tossed it into a recycling bin built into the back of the bench.

"Think Twilight's gonna be mad about our travel arrangements?"

"No," Marshal responded. "At least, not compared to what she'll feel about our methods for detaining the thing."

Acone just nodded. The car came to a halt and he stepped out, stretching his arms. Behind him, soldiers opened the doors of the armored truck that was tailing them. Twilight hopped to the ground, silently.

"Hello," she stated, looking at the ground. Acone squirmed nervously.

"Again, sorry about, the, uh..."

"It's fine," Twilight muttered, cutting off his ramble before it could start. "Let's just go and get this sorted out."

"We, uh—" Acone said, before shaking his head to clear it. "We gotta blindfold you."

Twilight just nodded as a solider slipped the black band over her eyes. The humans walked with the pony in the most roundabout way possible, making several pointless U-turns, going up a flight of stairs and down an elevator a few times, and randomly pausing for no reason once or twice. Eventually, the winding route led them to the proper bunker. Marshal motioned for her guards to take off the blindfold when they were safely inside the freight elevator.

"Sorry." Acone stated, avoiding her gaze. Not that he needed to: she was staring firmly at the ground.

"Again, I understand," she replied. "I must look.. suspicious."

"Just a bit, yeah," Acone let out, before he even really noticed he was talking.

The elevator jerked to a halt. Twilight stared at the massive doors as they forced their way open.

"Ok. Just down the hall," Marshal stated, stepping through the doors. Twilight and Acone followed him.

Marshal stopped in front of the proper blast door, pushing a button on the wall to make it slide upwards into the ceiling. Twilight and Acone stepped inside, while the guards stayed behind to man the door.

"Jesus Christ," Veladre muttered. "You actually brought her."

"Yes," Marshal said. "Is that a problem?"

"No, sir," Veladre said, standing up slightly straighter. "Not at all."

"Good. Put on the monitors, wake her up," Marshal barked. "We gotta let these two talk it out."

Taylor typed a few commands on a keyboard, and the video screens above them instantly popped to life. There was seventeen HD cameras on the Changeling, viewing her from all angles. Twilight's expression was undecipherable as she looked at them.

"Here," Taylor said, holding out a microphone, "You'll be able to talk to her with this."

Twilight grabbed it with magic. The two military personal in the room tensed, but made no other motion.

"G-what?"

Chrysalis's voice came over two speakers as her eyes snapped open. "Where–What—what did you..."

The Changeling blinked, staring at the tube in her arm. "Did... Did I..."

"Chrysalis," Twilight said, enunciating the name into the microphone. Taylor made a note of the Queen's increase in pulse on his logs.

"Is that..."

"Yes."

The Queen set her eyes, staring straight ahead. "Hello."

"Hi," Twilight said, obviously restraining herself. "I heard you wanted to speak to me?"

"Yes," she breathed. "Give me a minute, please."

The room stood in silence for a while. Acone briefly thought of interrupting it, but managed to stop himself.

"First," the changeling started, "I want to offer the hive's formal surrender to the standing leader of the Equestrian people."

Twilight's eyes widened. Marshal saw her mouth the worlds "standing leader."

"What do you mean?" Twilight said, holding the microphone closer to her face.

"I surrender, Twilight," Chrysalis repeated. "Unconditionally. My hive is at your disposal."

"You're lying," Twilight said, shaking her head. "Did you really think I would—I'm not even the power-holder! You can't surrender to me, I don't have the authority! That's Celestia's job!"

A sad smile appeared on Chrysalis' face. "You are fourth in succession if the other three are unable to lead. And they aren't."

"You're LYING!" Twilight shouted. Acone coughed loudly.

"Twilight," he muttered, "Play along."

Twilight glanced at him, then nodded.

"I'm not. They are unable to lead. Nobody there's able to lead," Chrysalis stated, closing her eyes.

"What did you do?" Twilight asked, trying her hardest to sound sincere.

"My researchers managed to re-create the spell you used to get here," the Queen began. "While you were busy with... whatever you're doing, we planed on attacking. Wanted to get some forces. When casting it, I thought... thought about magic. Powerful magic. Magic strong enough to go back to my home universe and crush Celestia. And I suppose I got what I wished for."

The humans in the room shared a look.

"I wound up in—well, I'm not sure where. But they were waiting for me. Next thing I knew, I was in some kind of ship, and they were in Equestria, and... Well, Celestia surrendered within ten minutes, to stop the casualties. None of our magic worked against them. Nothing. Each one, individually, had a shield as strong as the one your brother can generate. They threw me in a cell, but... Strong emotions at their victory party. Managed to get enough power to escape. Find help. Figured there'd be more chances of me doing that wherever you were."

Twilight lowered the microphone, looking at Taylor. "Can you turn this off?"

Taylor flicked a switch. "We're in the clear."

"She has to be lying," Twilight said, turning to face the humans. "It's obvious. Isn't it?"

"Well, yeah," Marshal said. "No way in hell she'd be able to escape, if these guys are really as—"

"Guys!" Taylor shouted. "Look—Look at this!"

The group turned back to the video monitors, and Veladre immediately drew his pistol. "Stop her. Stop her now."

On the screen, Chrysalis' eyes were glowing. Her body lay completely slack against the bed, her mouth open and limbs relaxed. On one of the screens, the words "Sedation applied" appeared. To Veladre's dismay, however, the changeling's eye remained alight.

"Stop her," the captain shouted. "Stop her now."

"Your methods of restraining this one are broken."

A voice over the speakers. Male, deep. Like something out of a horror movie. Twilight jumped on a chair and squinted her eyes. Her horn, however, only let out a fizzle of sparks.

"No magic resists our spells," the voice continued, "and any attempts to stop our warning are futile."

Twilight, apparently changing tactics, jumped back down and ducked under a desk. Horn lighting successfully this time, she screamed at the humans to get down. In almost an instant, the room was covered in a strange purple glow.

"STOP, NOW!" He screamed, trying to channel his basic training officer. "CEASE CASTING OR—"

Acone, who was channeling Mr. and Ms. Anderoni arguing in the back of the pizza shop they owned, was easily able to scream over him: "DROP THE FUCKING WEAPON!"

Veladre followed orders, his pistol clattering to the metal floor with a clang. He spun around and faced Taylor. "Blow it. Blow it now."

Taylor shook his head. "Sir. Listen to what it's saying."

"...not take long to find you," the voice said, clearly broadcast over the speakers. "Not long. Your magic will belong to us. Do not resist and there will be no bloodshed. Your weapons are disabled in our presence. Even now."

Veladre paled. "So we can't blow it."

Taylor, again, shook his head. "Nope. All systems completely operational."

"But it said—"

Taylor typed two commands, and a test charge at the back of the room went off like a firecracker on the monitor.

"They've done literally nothing. Even the sedation worked—look at her brainwaves. She's just talking in her sleep."

"So..." Veladre said. "So... So, they're..."

"...surrender, then. We will not harm you. We desire only land and power. You will be able to live in our glorious empire..."

"They can't do shit, apparently, sir," Taylor said. "They can't do shit."

"You have only a few months. Prepare for our coming."

And, with that, Chrysalis' eyes lost their light. Twilight, breathing hard, let her shield fall away.

"I've never seen a spell like that before," she managed to get out. "That... That was lingering magic. Powerful magic. I couldn't—I couldn't cast anything offensive. I tried, to—to get her, but... it didn't work. So I put up the shield."

Twilight turned to Acone, raising an eyebrow. "How... how'd you know that was... was a shield?"

Acone shrugged. "I didn't."

"Then... why'd you..."

Again, a shrug. "Trusted you."

Twilight nodded, weakly. "Thanks."

"Don't thank us just yet." Marshal stood up, pulling himself off the floor. "We apparently still have a major fucking problem on our hands. Could that have been a ruse? Could she have been casting that?"

"No," Twilight replied, sounding utterly certain even through the panting. "No. It couldn't have been. She's powerful, but not... that powerful. On the plus side..."

Twilight managed a smile. "On the plus side, you said your weapons still worked. Even with that magic. So... we have a chance."

Author's Note

At this point my chapters are basically randomly titled.