The Changeling Queen herself paced back and forth in her dark and empty throne room. She took deep breaths and snarled at the thought of her awaited guest arriving. Tilting her head back, she placed a hoof over her horn and recalled the last day she saw the impudent little unicorn; so full of herself, so quick to try and foil her plans.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the palace door.
Tap Tap
Chrysalis glared, crumbling up the letter that detailed her guest's arrival. She lit her jagged horn and pulled the rusty iron door open. A small purple unicorn nervously trotted in, glancing over her shoulder into the darkness in time to see many glowing red eyes disappear in a seemingly endless black void. She gulped and turned to face the one she traveled so far to see.
"I'll have you know that you are not welcome here! Your princess has no authority over me nor my kingdom!" Chrysalis snapped her teeth and shouted.
Twilight took a deep breath and composed herself. "Please Queen Chrysalis, Princess Celestia believes that you can be reformed, and that you and your species could do a lot of good for Equestria. Provided of course we could find a new source of nourishment for you."
"Ha! Ridiculous! As if I'd ever even consider it," Chrysalis scoffed.
"We reformed Discord, and I never believed that could happen. I won't make the same mistake again. You can, and will be reformed." Twilight stamped her hoof and stared into the queen's eyes.
"Such insolence!" Chrysalis shouted. "I should strike you down where you stand."
"I wouldn't try that if I were you." Twilight smugly grinned and lit her horn.
"And why not?" The Changeling Queen took a step back and frowned.
The young mare smiled and shot a small black sphere at the queen's hooves. "Because if you refuse to let me reform you, then I'm to bring you back to Canterlot as my prisoner."
The sphere expanded around her, imprisoning her within. Chrysalis fought and kicked at the walls, but they were impervious.
Twilight continued, "And I wouldn't try casting any magic in there, those walls will reflect it against yourself tenfold."
The rampageous queen set her horn ablaze, then let it fizzle out before sliding down to the bottom of the sphere with a devious glint in her eyes.
"Okay, okay... You win. Let me out and you can begin... reforming me..." she said with the utmost sense of sarcasm.
Twilight merrily hopped up to the sphere and tapped its sides. "Don't be silly. The reformation has already begun. First off, you should know that I'm your superior in every way. You may be a queen in this dark, rotten wasteland, but where it counts, I'm practically royalty myself."
Chrysalis sighed and pressed her forehead against the magical cage. Hmm, it seems I'll have to use my cunning to escape this situation... All my cunning.
"Oh Twilight Sparkle, you're absolutely right. This place is simply wretched, and I dream of living with those wonderful ponies in Equestria. It's just in my nature to want to rule, I crave it. I... I need reformation." Chrysalis began sobbing from within the container.
Twilight frowned and dissipated the bubble. "Wow, this went exactly how I predicted it would. I told Celestia that you were unhappy with yourself, and that I didn't blame you. It must have crushed you to have come so close to conquering Canterlot, only to have my brother and his wife randomly unleash some ridiculous power that made absolutely no sense. Even I was secretly a little annoyed, I can't imagine what that must feel like for you."
Chrysalis ground her teeth as her eye involuntarily twitched. "Okay, deal's off. I'm going to kill you."
The Changeling Queen's horn burst into a deep green flame as dozens of her royal minions flooded the chamber.
"That's it. You're going back in the ball." Twilight shot the sphere again.
"Ha! Fool me once, Twilight..." She fluttered into the air and shot a bright beam of green light down at her foe.
The unicorn protected herself with a magical bubble, deflecting the beam into a few of the changelings. She quickly focused her magical aura and cast her older brother's warding shield spell, sending the smaller changelings flying into the walls. However, Chrysalis stood strong against the spell, pressing past it to continue her assault.
Twilight watched closely, then dived to the left as a green burst of evil magic zipped towards her. It exploded against the castle wall, and she lifted her hooves against the dust and the debris. A large black hoof connected with her chin, sending her into a dizzy blur as she tumbled across the floor.
"Hmhmhmahahaha! You will not be missed, Twilight Sparkle." Chrysalis spat a thick chunk of green goop onto the unicorn's horn, stopping the flow of magic.
"No! This isn't going according to my bulleted list at all!" Twilight cried out. "And I will so be missed! Unlike you, I have the greatest friends in the world waiting for me!"
"On the contrary Ms. Sparkle, your friends are waiting on me now, and no pony will even realize you're gone." The dark queen closed her eyes and began slowly transforming into the purple mare beneath her.
"Nooooo!" Twilight violently flailed herself around, kicking the queen in her stomach mid transformation.
Chrysalis fell backwards and bumped her head on a large stone, sending a burst of magic ricocheting around the palace as the transformation undid itself. Twilight quickly scraped the goo from her horn and recast the imprisonment spell. Just as it began to seal, Chrysalis used her magic to zap Twilight inside as well, and right before the tip of the sphere closed up, the green burst entered and exploded within.
The black sphere began to crack, then shattered into nothingness. Both girls fell to the floor, black smoke drifting from their scuffed bodies. Twilight Sparkle stood up on her wobbly hooves and coughed. As she coughed, she began pounding on chest and clearing her throat.
"My voice! What's happened?!" Twilight shouted in a deep, echoy voice.
Chrysalis stood up as well and looked herself over. "Huh... This feels wrong."
Twilight held her shaky hooves out in front of herself to see them black and full of holes. "What did you do?!"
She lunged at the queen and tackled her to the floor. "Change us back this instant. This most certainly is not part of your reformation."
Chrysalis shook her head and stumbled backwards. "My stomach... It hurts. Why?! Am I dying?! Oh the pain..." She cringed and fell onto her side, writhing across the floor.
Twilight soon noticed she no longer felt hungry, she no longer felt anything for that matter; anything other than an inherent right to rule everything in sight, and everyone who ever lived or ever shall live! "Muahahahaha!" Twilight stretched her neck back and laughed victoriously.
She then quickly shoved her holey hooves into her mouth and shook the thought from her head. "We need to fix this... Come with me and I'll teleport us to the library. I think I know of a book that might help us."
"Nnng," Chrysalis groaned. "I can't..."
Twilight rolled her eyes and clumsily stepped towards her saddle bag lying on the floor. She pulled out a sandwich and gave it to the agonized changeling. "Suck it up. Hunger pains aren't that bad... I wasn't even that hungry."
Chrysalis began ravenously consuming the sustenance. "Disgusting..."
"Uh-huh. Now follow me." Twilight began waddling towards the rusty palace door. "Ugh! It feels like I weigh a million pounds!"
Chrysalis glared and flared her nostrils. "I'll have you know I'm in great shape. I work out daily, and I can tell you haven't really exercised a day in you life. I feel exhausted simply fighting against gravity with all this loose, feeble flesh clinging to my bones."
Twilight rolled her eyes and faced the trail home. "Just be quiet and stand by me."
The mare attempted to light her horn, but instead she sent a ray of green, destructive energy coursing through her jagged horn. The beam shot straight up into the sky, and glowed like a brilliant beacon. "Okay, so that didn't work..."
"So much for being my superior," Chrysalis chuckled. "Just fly us there."
"Wait! I can do this." Twilight focused her horn again, this time creating a familiar purple aura; however, before her spell could be cast, the aura fizzled out in an anticlimactic spark. "Fine..."
Twilight hesitantly lifted Chrysalis into her hooves and began buzzing her insect-like wings. She began to hover, then swayed back and forth as she clumsily guided herself away from the dark plain and towards Equestria. As she frantically flapped her paper-thin wings, she lost her bearings and crashed into the side of the queen's castle, Chrysalis' nose making first contact with the building.
"Ow you little idiot! You did that on purpose!" The injured queen squeezed her teary eyes shut and held onto her aching muzzle.
Startled, Twilight lost all balance and fell crashing to the ground, landing on top of the angry queen. A plume of dust and dirt engulfed them before Chrysalis tossed Twilight Sparkle off of her and onto the ground. "I hate you so much..."
Twilight held onto her head and rolled onto her back. "Well I don't care much for you either. These wings of yours are awful by the way. How am I supposed to carry all this weight with flimsy little bug wings that are full of holes?!"
Chrysalis raised her hoof in fury, but simply sighed and let her head fall onto the ground in defeat. "Let's just walk..."
***
Fluttershy paced the halls of Celestia's throne-room, ringing her tail anxiously. "I... I don't know, but I think sending her alone was a bad idea."
"Me too! Who knows what kinda crazy stuff that changeling freak has cooked up, especially since she already knew Twi was on her way!" Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves and flew up to the palace window, staring out over the horizon.
"Please, my loyal subjects. Twilight and I agreed that this was the best way, and I'm confident she'll come through for us. I was right about Fluttershy and Discord, and I have a good feeling about this too. Have some faith." Celestia sat at her throne and glanced up at the window detailing the Changeling Queen's defeat.
Applejack nodded and stood up. "She's right y'all. Twilight always comes through for us when we needed her to, and this time ain't gonna be no different."
Rarity's eyes wandered upward as she recited what her not-so-well-spoken friend had just said in her mind. "Applejack, must you always insist on speaking with that insufferable southern drawl? To some, you may as well have said that Twilight will fail in her mission."
"Well shoot Rarity, I can't help how I talk. I think it's a heck of a lot better than usin' all them fancy words what no pony can barely understand." Applejack lowered her hat and glanced away.
Rainbow Dash fell forcefully to the ground and pressed her muzzle against Applejack's face, a glint of rage burning in her eyes. "You think Twilight's gonna fail?! How could you say that about our friend?!"
Fluttershy fluttered down and shouted in a hardly audible tone, "Stooooop!" just before shying away and cowering beneath her tail. "Can't you see this mission is tearing us apart? Please Celestia, let us go check on her?"
Pinkie Pie hopped into the throne-room carrying a tray of chimi-cherry-changas. "Mmm! Look what I found!"
Immediately distracted, the other five skipped up to the tray and helped themselves. Celestia's eyes rolled back as she bit through the crispy, flaky crust. Fluttershy squeaked in delight when her tongue made contact with the sweet, gooey cherry filling. Rarity twirled around and hugged onto the deep-fried snack, its scent filling her nostrils. Rainbow Dash fell onto her back, heavily salivating as she bit into one of the warm, succulent cherries hiding within.
Applejack preferred apple-themed treats.
***
Twilight trudged through the front door to the library, calling out for her assistant. "Oh there you are," she said with a sigh of relief.
Owlicious came fluttering downstairs and sat perched on a bookshelf. "Hoo?"
"I know what you're thinking, but it's not what you think! I swear! Hold on, I'm Twilight. I know I don't look like me, but it's me. You have to help me find a book to help change us back. I recall having a book on military grade spell reversals. Oh! And bring me the Imprisonment Spell Scroll as well, just in case." Twilight slumped down against the wall and sighed.
"Hoo?"
Twilight's gaze locked on the disobedient owl and she scowled. "Do it now you insolent little welp!"
Owlicious frantically fluttered to the bookshelf and Twilight placed both hooves over her mouth. "I'm so sorry... I have no idea what came over me..."
Meanwhile, Chrysalis stumbled into the library, finally having caught up. "It's... it's so beautiful..."
Tears filled the dark queen's eyes as she saw the world as she'd never seen it before. "So many colors... so many happy ponies waving at me..." She shook her head and gritted her teeth. "It's awful! How do you live like this?!"
"What in Equestria is she doing here?!" Spike shouted as he hid behind Chrysalis, pointing at Twilight. "I thought you were going to reform her at her castle, not bring her home!"
"Get off me, foul creature." Chrysalis kicked Spike down and trotted into the kitchen. "Now if you'll excuse me, I require more sustenance."
"Sustenance?" Spike scratched his chin and rubbed his sore cheek. "Are you okay Twilight? What happened?"
"I'm fine Spike. Now hush while I read this!" Twilight shouted with sweat pouring down her brow.
"Wait... WHAT?!" Spike stumbled backwards and fell onto a small stack of miscellaneous books.
Twilight sighed and levitated several more books off the shelf, and Owlicious dropped the scroll onto her lap. "Thanks... And Spike, we accidentally swapped bodies, now I'm trying to fix it. You can help by finding more books and asking less questions! Now get to it minion!"
"Yes ma'am!" Spike hopped up and began scouring the bookshelves for anything that might be helpful.
Chrysalis wobbled out of the kitchen with a stack of various foods in her front hooves. She continued eating, one mouthful of randomly assorted snacks at a time, all the while sobbing.
"I can't take it anymore!" The Changeling Queen tossed the food over her shoulder and angrily marched up to Twilight, who had her nose buried in a book. "Fix it!"
"I'm trying!"
"Fix it!"
"Stop interrup-"
"Fix it!!!"
Spike stood quietly behind them, one finger raised as he looked for an opening to speak. "Um..."
"What?!" The two shouted in unison.
"I found something that might help..." He held a large book out to Twilight, who quickly snatched it away.
"The Necronomicon? Spike... where did you even find this?" Twilight carefully held the book out at arms length, then dropped it as if it were contaminated with a horrible plague.
"It was listed under 'N', and I figured you might be able to use it to put your soul into Chrysalis', I mean Twilight's... I mean your old body. You know?" Spike explained.
"Are you crazy?! I can't do that, because then Chrysalis will die! Do you know what that means?!" Twilight glared down at the little dragon, pressing her forehead against his.
"Uh..." He gulped and scooted away.
"It means I'll have failed! I'm supposed to reform her, not kill her. And if I fail this mission, Celestia will be furious! I'll be executed on the spot. Or I'll be tied to a post in the center of Canterlot, where everypony will be able to attack me at will, throw rotten foods at me, or... worse..." Twilight's eyes watered over and she fell backwards. "This is hopeless..."
"I'm so hungry..." Chrysalis fell over clutching her aching stomach, sobbing. "And you don't care if I live or die... you only care what your precious little pony princess thinks of you... I'm so alooooone!"
"Aha! I'll just have to get to Celestia before she finds out what happened. I'll overthrow her and take my place at the top of the palace! I deserve to rule! Not her! Me! Canterlot, nay, all of Equestria will be mine! All mine! Ahahahahahaaa!" Twilight triumphantly held her hooves up and laughed maniacally.
Spike began to sweat as he quietly stepped away, grabbing a quill and ink. I need to get some help right away.
Twilight shoved Chrysalis out of her way as she headed out into Ponyville. "First this muddy little town, then Canterlot."
She buzzed up into the air, perching herself atop Town Hall. "Listen up you pathetic little flesh-bags! I'm your new queen, now bow down to me, or I'll destroy you all!"
Roseluck pointed up and shouted. "The Evil Queen of Darkness is here to end the world!" She then fainted as her friends began sprinting around in a panic.
Big Macintosh raised an eyebrow and looked up at the mare. "You and what army?"
Twilight placed a hoof to her chin and tilted her head. "Good point... I'll be right back."
She buzzed back down to the library and kicked past the front door. "You, weak one! How do I use your ability to command an army of changelings? Tell me, I must know!"
"What's the point..." Chrysalis lay curled in a little ball. "We're nothing more than a speck in time, born to die, left forgotten in the vastness of an unlimited universe..."
"Words of a true coward! Very well, if you won't tell me, then I'll just have to figure it out on my own!" Twilight turned her gaze to the outside and stomped past the sulking queen.
"It won't change anything... in the relative blink of an eye, we'll all be dust..."
Chrysalis' sorrowful words fell on deaf ears as Twilight took flight once again, this time focusing and casting various bursts of green and purple magic high into the sky. Spike went rushing out onto the balcony in time to see a bright, majestic light soaring through the sky, then ran away and hid when Twilight made sharp eye contact with him.
"What is going on here?" Celestia shouted out as she landed on the library's balcony.
Twilight turned to face the princess with fury burning in her eyes. "I know what you want! I will not be tied to a poll, you hear me?!"
Confused, Celestia cast the imprisonment spell and trapped the apparent Queen of the Changelings in a black sphere. She then fluttered down to the front door and leaned down to face who she thought was Twilight.
"Care to explain what exactly is going on?" Celestia lifted the sulking mare to her hooves and looked down at her with worried eyes, noticing her gaze was still fixed on the floor.
"What difference does it make? One day we're here, the next we're there, then we'll be somewhere else, until we die. May as well just get it over with..." Chrysalis slumped back onto the floor, then looked up to meet the princess' gaze, inciting a burning pit of fury in her heart.
The queen shook her head and stood up, fighting the inexplicable depression away. "You! I'll end you!" She lit her horn, a mixture of purple and green sparks flickering down to the floor.
Celestia glanced over her shoulder back at the black sphere with a raised eyebrow. "Let me guess: you two switched bodies."
Chrysalis focused her magic with all her might, attempting to cast a devastating beam of destructive energy at her target. Unable to use the small horn as a proper medium, she collapsed back down to the floor and huffed. "Just finish me... you have me right where you want me, useless... weak... full of feelings and hunger for... for sustenance."
"I have an idea." Celestia smiled and levitated Chrysalis into the air, dropping her into the sphere with Twilight Sparkle. "Now touch your horns together and focus all your magic at once."
Twilight pressed Chrysalis' face away with a hoof, turning the other cheek with a scoff. "I'll never place this magnificent horn against something so small, and so weak."
"Twilight Sparkle, listen to me. Remember your friends, and remember what's truly important to you." Celestia spoke against the sphere, desperately hoping to get through to the corrupted mare.
Twilight shook her head and forced her eyes shut, her cold, black heart beating icy blood through her ridged, stony body. "I... I can't!" She shook her head and placed her hooves to her temples, a small part of her still fighting for sanity.
Chrysalis sighed and leaned up, placing her horn against Twilight's and focusing a small aura of sputtering green magic. Twilight's deep green, malevolent eyes stabbed into Chrysalis' innocent purple ones. Suddenly something sparked, a glint in her old body's eyes sent a burst of realization through her mind.
"My bulleted list! This is all wrong! Wait... I can still fix this." She pressed her horn against Chrysalis' and set it ablaze, a powerful beam of magic engulfing them both, amplified by the sphere's backfiring-defense.
As the rumbling came to a halt, Celestia released the spell, letting the two mares fall to the floor. Spike tiptoed around the corner and nervously chewed his claws. "Did it work?"
Twilight leaned up and rubbed her head while Chrysalis wobbled to her hooves.
"Well?" Celestia asked in anticipation.
"I..." Twilight held her hoof out in front of her face. "It didn't work..."
"Darn." Celestia sighed and looked over the two. "I don't know why I thought it would, that was a really bad idea now that I think about it."
"I'll go grab the Necronimicon." Spike hopped back over to the pile of discarded books and began searching.
Celestia stood up and lifted a gold-booted hoof to the air. "Wait! I have another idea..."
***
Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity stood around Twilight in a circle, each swaying side to side as they sang. Applejack too.
♪A good good friend helps a friend in need. Blah blah blaaah blah blah, your destiny?♪
Twilight Sparkle then touched her own forehead with her long, jagged black horn, sending an array of memories coursing through her body like a metaphorical simulation of a computer being rebooted, and the memories were also reflected in her eyes. She began to levitate as the Magic of Friendship enveloped her body. As it disappeared and she slowly fell to the floor, she stood with her magical purple cutie mark sparkling on her jet-black flank.
"Huh... I really thought that would work." Celestia scratched her chin.
"Ri Crux sacra lie sangr lux! N'quam draxi lie sangr dux. Vladel ret Satana! N'quam sruadel lie vana crupsti! Sount malta quarel libastex. Ipses svenena Yog-Sothoth!" Spike's eyes glowed white as he lifted his claws, pulling the souls from both affected mares and waving them back and forth through the air with each hand.
He then forced each soul into the appropriate body. Each mare lay perfectly silent, seemingly lifeless. Suddenly Twilight Sparkle gasped, shooting straight up and fighting for air. She held both hooves in front of herself, and a wide smile began to grow across her face.
"It worked!" The young purple unicorn stood up and hopped around the room in excitement.
Each of her friends hugged onto her and and shared a moment of joyous victory while Chrysalis drearily stood off the floor. The dark queen made her way to the door, alone, the emotions she'd experienced as a unicorn still lingering in her cold, black chest.
Twilight turned to face the queen, her smile fading. She gently pressed past her friends and trotted up to Chrysalis. "I... I learned something today; something I never could have imagined to be true without experiencing it for myself. Queen Chrysalis doesn't need to be reformed, she just needs to be understood. It's simply in her nature to want to conquer us all, and not something that we should change. If I've learned anything about friendship, it's that we need to accept our friends for who they are, quirks and all. To truly reform Chrysalis, we must first reform ourselves..."
Each other mare nodded and hung her head in shame. "You're right Twilight."
The queen gulped and looked back over her shoulder at the young lavender unicorn, who stared back up at her with wide, accepting eyes. "You want to be friends with me?"
Twilight nodded and reached up to offer a hug.
"I... I don't understand. When I was in your body, I felt such a vast and seemingly infinite array of emotions and sensations that overwhelmed me entirely. I also for the first time began to think about the significance of our actions, and of our very existence. It was... it was awful! I hated it! I have a lot to think about, but one thing is absolutely for certain..." Chrysalis spread her wings and stood strong.
"And what's that?" Twilight asked, tilting her head with a smile.
"A queen fit to rule the land would never be friends with the likes of you! Ahahahahahahaa!" Chrysalis flew into the air and created a bright green flash, covering her escape as she zipped back towards the darkest edge of the Everfree Forest.
Celestia took flight and prepared to pursue, but was stopped by a quick magical tug. "Let her go."
"But Twilight..." Celestia narrowed her eyes and looked down at her student.
"Trust me Celestia, I'll get her on our side someday, and probably sooner than you think." The lavender mare winked and watched as the Changeling Queen disappeared over the horizon.
Soon...
