Shift with the Tides

The only thing keeping Luna from breaking down crying in her bedroom was Cadance leaning against the doorway only two yards away. Blinking rapidly several times to drain the liquid blurring her vision, Luna turned around to face Cadance. The pink alicorn’s wide, expressionless eyes and contracted pupils staring at the floor suggested that she still hadn’t recovered from the incident five minutes ago.

Which is to be expected, Luna realized; at this point, little to nothing surprised Luna, and Celestia’s fever dreams turning into violent fits of mindless rage wasn’t an exception. Walking up to Cadance, Luna gave her a nudge with her wing, directing the princess to sit on Luna’s bed and rest her legs. Wanting to do something to ease Cadance’s mind, Luna gave the alicorn a complement.

The thin scars on her and Cadance’s body were gaping gashes minutes ago. Thanks to Cadance’s magic, she and Luna were almost completely healed. With a tired but sincere smile, Luna said, “Your magical abilities are superb, Princess Cadance.”

Cadance had been staring blankly at the milky-white crescent-moon shape painted on the floor, and she flinched when Luna started to speak. Her head slowly cocked up, gazing with the same blank stare into Luna’s eyes. She was surprisingly collected but a minute ago. Perhaps the shock of what just happened has only now begun to seep in. Luna could feel water rising back into her dry eyes, forcing her to turn and avoid Cadance’s stare. “I am, sorry you had to witness that.”

“What’s wrong with her?” The voice coming from Cadance’s voice was muffled and wet—the sound of someone talking while trying to keep their emotions in their throat. Turning around sharply, Luna saw Cadance had given up the fight against tears and was crying freely. It was surreal, watching the princess of an entire empire sobbing shamelessly, but Luna couldn’t blame her for it. As much as she wanted to give in to emotion like Cadance, though, Luna held back her tears. Someone had to stay strong during a time like this.

Luna hopped onto the edge of her bed alongside Cadance and wrapped a comforting wing around the alicorn’s shoulder. It was weird; despite Cadance being, more or less, Luna’s equal, Luna couldn’t help but feel a maternal instinct kick in. Perhaps a symptom of being an expecting mother, Luna mused as she chewed the inside of her cheek. Cadance was too emotional and didn’t consider whether or not the scene was as ‘weird’ as Luna considered it; she immediately leaned her head onto Luna’s shoulder and continued to cry. Luna thought about saying something, but realized that if Cadance would speak first if she wanted to talk.

Sure enough, two and a half minutes later, Cadance spoke up. Opening her eyes with a sniffle, Cadance mumbled, “Is she going to get better?”

“Of course she is,” Luna responded, arguably too quickly. Trying to lighten the mood, she added, “She has a Ball to attend, after all! Celestia wouldn’t let herself miss such an event!”

Luna mentally smacked herself after saying that. The joke flew over Cadance’s head, however. “Oh! The Ball! What are we to do about that, Princess Luna? What if Celestia isn’t better by then?”

“Maybe you could wear a disguise and pose as Celestia for the evening; I doubt anyone would even notice.”

This time, Luna felt inclined to physically smack herself, which she promptly did. Cadance was left in confusion as to why Luna hurt herself. Tucking her wing back in, Luna leapt off the bed and looked to Cadance.

“I’m going to go check on Tia. You can stay here if you’d like.”

The mention of Celestia constricted Cadance’s pupils. “Yes, I’d like to stay here, thank you.” She sniffed and rubbed her cheeks, her pent-up emotions finally drained out.

With a nod, Luna left her bedroom and entered the hallway. Cadance hadn’t fixed the door embedded in the wall opposite Celestia’s room, but Luna knew she couldn’t ask such a thing of her at this moment. She walked through the doorway to Celestia’s room. The white alicorn was sprawled out on top of the covers, her face a shade of light pink. Luna stood by the side of the bed and sat down, looking at the white sheets. Minutes ago, those sheets—like everything else in the room—were a smoldering pile of black and grey ash.

“You gave Princess Cadance quite a scare, Sister,” Luna said to the unconscious alicorn. “I don’t know how well she’s going to hold up. She’s fine, but I think she’s scared of you now. …I never got to know her very well—you know, the whole one-thousand-years thing. She’s a very kind and powerful girl. I’m sure she’s going to make an excellent ruler for the Crystal Empire. You did good choosing her.”

All the lights were off; the only source of light was that from the hallway slipping into the open doorway. Luna’s dark shadow was cast over Celestia’s body. Luna wasn’t one for waxing poetic, but she couldn’t help but find the sight ominous, and she got up to sit on the other side of the bed, where her shadow wouldn’t loom over her sister.

Unconscious or not, Luna was finding it easier to talk to Celestia’s back than her face. “I found myself making a very bad joke at your expense but a moment ago. I’m going to be honest, Tia,” Celestia’s shadow on the sheets moved up and down rhythmically with her light breathing, “I loved all those times when you would try and mess with me. Childish, I know, to make you do it more by acting like I didn’t like it. It was fun.” Luna turned her head and said softer, “It was the only fun I ever really had. And now that’s gone.

“…I wonder if it will ever come back?”

Thankfully for Rainbow Dash, Twilight had the common courtesy to admit that threatening to burn their only means of transport was a terrible idea, and she used a small repairing spell purely out of guilt. Unfortunately for Rainbow Dash, she now had to pull the chariot, Twilight, and the temple monk that was coming with them to speak to Luna and Celestia. Twilight rushing Rainbow wasn’t helping, either.

“Can’t you please go faster?” Twilight begged yet again. She pointed at the monk as she spoke, not that Rainbow’s back could see. “We need to get him to the Princesses ASAP!”

“Get him to their ‘eh-sap’?” Rainbow asked, not familiar with the word.

The monk rolled his eyes and sighed loudly. “Do these kinds of conversations occur often between you two?”

“Nobody asked you!” Rainbow said automatically as the monk started to talk. “I can get there just fine, alright? I’m just used to flying freely in the sky—not acting the role of transport mule!”

Far on the ground below, a mule could feel something was off. He could feel the words “none taken” on the tip of his tongue, prepared to come from his throat should he hear an apology of some kind. The response, innate, was prepared to go off—but no apology came. Apology for what? the mule thought. Either way, nothing happened, and so he continued with his day—though now feeling a tad sour.

A mountain in the distance towered over the surrounding lands of Equestria; the city of Canterlot, embedded near the mountain’s summit, was coming into view.

Arriving over the rooftops of the Canterlot buildings, Rainbow prepared for a landing next to the castle. The lines in the monk’s old face showed hard and creased with his squinting eyes, even though the hood draped over his head was protecting him from the midday sunlight. He spotted the upper torso of Princess Luna hanging out one of the windows on the top floor of the castle, waving and beckoning them to come closer.

“Over there,” the monk said patiently and pointed in the direction of Luna, which both Rainbow and Twilight had failed to spot. “I think the Princess would prefer speed to modesty. Park on the roof of the castle if you would, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow didn’t like the idea of taking orders from this guy, but she obeyed and landed on a flat section of the roof of the castle. Twilight immediately jumped out and hung her head over the edge of the golden tiling. Luna was still there in the window, looking up. She appeared both eager and worried.

“Greetings, Twilight Sparkle!” Luna said. “I see you brought someone with you, yes?”

Twilight’s attention shifted to the golden tiling she was perched on, and she tapped it lightly with her hooves. “Yeah,” Twilight said with much less enthusiasm. “We, uh, we brought one of the monks along with us. He wanted to talk to you and Celestia directly.”

“Good, good. Bring them within my view and I can teleport you all into my room. I have Princess Cadance here as well; she has been helping me out for the past day.”

Twilight’s mouth opened into a smile. She was leaning off the roof now, prepared to say “sunshine, sunshine…” should Cadance suddenly come into view. “Just a sec!” Twilight stood back up and looked behind her. The monk’s old hooves clacked against the angled roof until he was standing on the edge with Twilight. Rainbow just finished wriggling out from the chariot’s reigns and flew to Twilight’s side.

Luna’s magic surrounded the three looking over the rooftop above her and she teleported them into the center of her bedroom, right above the white crescent-moon adorning her blue floor. Sitting next to a table in the corner opposite Luna’s bed was Cadance; the pink mare’s face lit up brighter than the glowing fireplace next to her upon seeing her sister-in-law. The ponies’ backs were facing her, and with a pounce she surprised Twilight Sparkle.

“Hey!” Twilight giggled as Cadance had her pinned to the floor. Luna paid the two little mind; knowing just how stressed Cadance had been since yesterday evening, she wasn’t going to say boo to a little unbecoming roughhousing. She gave a thankful nod to Rainbow Dash, making the mare erect her posture when she realized she was in the presence of royalty.

A breath of air blew out Luna’s nose and she smiled at Rainbow’s formality—especially considering the princess a few feet away, giving Twilight a noogie. “At ease, Rainbow Dash,” Luna laughed. Finally, her attention turned to the monk standing silently in the middle of the room. Walking up to him, Luna’s humor was replaced with anticipation. She swallowed before speaking. “Hello.”

“Hello,” the monk replied. “Princess Luna. I don’t believe we’ve met before.”

The sudden cut of Twilight’s laughing left the room eerily still. Wriggling out of Cadance’s clutches, she said to the pink mare, “Cadance, maybe you should—or, we, should, ah, give Luna some time to talk alone.”

“Is something the matter, Twilight?” Cadance asked. She turned to the monk; he suddenly seemed suspicious to her.

“Worried about something, Twilight Sparkle?” The monk seemed to be teasing the unicorn. “No, it’s a good thing she’s here. It allows me some much-needed closure.”

Luna’s head turned towards Twilight, but her eyes stayed fixed on the newcomer. “Twilight,” Luna said cautiously, “who is this man?”

“She said she could help,” both Rainbow and Twilight said in unison.

Cadance heard enough. Ropes made of sky-blue light rose from the floor and constricted around each ankle, anchoring the monk in place—plus one around the neck for good measure. The stallion stood unyielding to Cadance’s attack. Cadance’s jaw was clenched tight and her nostrils flared. “Don’t tell me this is who I think it is, Twilight!” she said angrily.

“Oh come now, Princess Cadance,” the monk said casually, earning himself a tighter grip from the strands of light. “It was nothing personal, honestly.”

“Why would you bring her here!?” Cadance demanded to Twilight and Rainbow. The words were hard and cold, and they drilled into Twilight with enough force to make her tear up. “You both know very well what she caused the last time she slipped her way into Canterlot!”

“This time I wore a disguise to protect myself from someone else, not from you,” the monk replied as casually as he could with the restraints digging into his neck.

“Is this the Changeling Queen, then?” Luna asked sternly to anyone in the room who was willing to answer.

Managing to turn his constricted neck enough to look Luna in the eyes, the monk said, “A pleasure to finally meet you, Princess.”

“Cadance!” Luna’s voice boomed, making the monk’s restraints squeeze tighter for a moment when Cadance flinched. “Release her.”

“But Luna—”

“Do it.”

Cadance hesitated, debating whether or not to obey her superior’s orders. She finally gave in after a tense twenty seconds. The monk shifted in place to return feeling to his hooves. In one swift motion and a flare of luminous green, a tall black figure replaced the monk, filling the brown, raggedy robe. Chrysalis took in a deep breath and exhaled. Luna couldn’t help but feel intimidated by the queen who as tall as her sister. “Tell, me, Changeling Queen—”

“‘Chrysalis’ will suffice, thank you very much,” the changeling interrupted. Her face was apathetic as ever.

“Okay, ‘Chrysalis,’ tell me what your reasons are for coming here. Obviously, if Twilight Sparkle thought it wise to bring you to me, you must be of some help.”

“Hey, uh,” Rainbow Dash said softly enough that no one noticed her, “I also helped make the decision…”

“You’re going to need my help soon enough,” Chrysalis replied to Luna. “You see, I have a plan—a plan that I do not want to share with you, no offense.” As she talked, Chrysalis tossed the robe aside and made her way to Luna’s bed. She sat on the edge of it as Cadance stood with her horn at the ready, glowing bright enough to illuminate the floor around her. “You see, you and I,” Chrysalis pointed to Luna and then to herself with a hole-dotted hoof, “we have different goals. Both of these goals, however, require similar steps to be taken if these goals are to be met. We have a common enemy, Princess Luna—you just aren’t aware of it yet.”

Luna narrowed her gaze at the changeling. “Are you implying you know who it is that conceived my child?”

“I’d like to think I do,” Chrysalis admitted with a shrug, cocking her head to the side. “I have no concrete proof of anything, but I’ve lived long enough to research what I need to know. If I were to guess, however, the ‘father’ is your very sister—as a means of avoiding potential backlash from the public.”

“And how in the world would that be a good thing!?” Rainbow Dash blurted out at Chrysalis.

Taking the comment in stride, Chrysalis replied, “We’ve reached a day and age in which technology allows us to see our own genetics. A simple DNA test on the child will reveal that there seemingly is no father—that is, as long as your DNA and your sister’s was mixed well enough, it would appear to the outside observer that this was a virgin conception. That is the purpose of using your sister’s genes.”

Luna took several dazed steps backward until she fell to a sit. “I think I’m going to be sick…” She placed pressed her arm against her forehead; she could feel her temples pounding hard in frustration.

“Don’t worry,” Chrysalis assured. “It’s not the same as inbreeding. I think,” she added with a sly tongue. “There will be no repercussions from the child’s parents being you and your sister—well, aside from any mental scarring from learning you’re the product of your mother and aunt. Don’t ever tell the kid about that.”

“This is ridiculous,” Cadance said, shaking her head at Luna, Twilight, and Rainbow. Her brow was creased tightly. “You’re letting her feed you this garbage with a spoon, Luna! This is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard!”

A bright thread of green light leapt from Chrysalis’s jagged horn and wrapped itself around Cadance’s snout, clamping her mouth shut. The other three mares took a fighting stance, but Chrysalis didn’t move from her lackadaisical sit on Luna’s bed. “I’ve never been a fan of your annoying voice. It really bothered me, having to listen to it every time I opened my blindingly-pink mouth back when I was impersonating you.”

With a quick motion of her horn, Luna removed the strand on Cadance’s mouth. “Watch yourself, Chrysalis,” she warned in a voice that made the fireplace flicker behind her.

The changeling snorted in reply. “I don’t blame your pretty pink princess for thinking I’m spouting lies. Since you need proof that I know what I’m talking about, listen to this: Very soon—I suspect within the next month or so—Princess Celestia is going to snap. Without rhyme or reason, you’ll find that her mentality will rapidly break down. All controllers of the sun do.” She leaned further back on Luna’s bed, resting her body on her elbows. “Longevity does not keep you from being a victim to time.”

“And what makes you so sure of that?” Luna asked, prying for as much information as she could before letting Chrysalis know anything, much less that her prediction had already come true. “A month is a very small time frame when you consider Celestia has been sound of mind for centuries.”

“I’m not sure. It is one of many assumptions made by my eons of research and planning. If something as simple as that does not happen, then the very foundations upon which I have prepared my plan shall crumble.” The severity of her statement puzzled Luna. What is this “plan” of hers, and just how long has she been perfecting it? In fact, just how old is Chrysalis?

“You mentioned that we have a ‘common enemy.’” Chrysalis only nodded her head at Luna’s statement. “Is this ‘enemy’ we share, say, a single person, or some kind of entity, or—”

“I would prefer to tell you as little as possible,” Chrysalis interrupted. “Keep in mind that I’m not here because I want to work alongside you, nor do I even wish to help you. For me, you are merely the means to an end.”

“And what ‘end’ is that?”

Chrysalis stepped back on the floor and thought for a moment. “If I were to put it into a single word…” She looked down to her side and placed a hoof on her chin. “Hmm, I can’t really put it into a word.” She walked slowly to Luna and lowered her head to be eye-level with her. “I desire nothing more than two things, my dear Princess: Salvation, and revenge. And with your assistance, both my goals and yours can be made a reality.”

“What would you need of us?” Luna asked, taking a step forward, not backing down from Chrysalis’s intimidating figure.

“A place to live—hide, rather—for starters,” Chrysalis replied with a breath, her air of seriousness leaving with it. “I’m more or less trapped under your roof for reasons I won’t delve into.”

“Obviously,” Luna said with a roll of her eyes.

Chrysalis glanced around the room. “Your place will do just nicely, I think. I’ll make a guest room out of your room. The bed is quite comfy.” She turned back to an eyebrow-cocked, slack-jawed Luna. “Oh, and where is your sister? I owe her one free slap in the face. Not much revenge for what I did to her, but it’s better than nothing, eh?”