The Changeling Abdication

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“You have got to be kidding.”

Celestia stared down the leering changeling queen through the magical barrier, held aloft by Celestia’s faithful guards. Each armored stallion stood tense behind their ruler, staring in trepidation at the two. One on each side of the barrier, each with their own army. Celestia, standing warily and protectively before her ponies; and Queen Chrysalis, her own enormous army directly behind her and awaiting the command to strike.

“I make no jokes, Celestia,” Chrysalis hummed proudly, strutting back and forth in front of the princess, just beyond her reach. “Either comply with my demands, or face the wrath of my army; and this time, your little lovebirds are out of the way in the Crystal Empire, too far away to be of any use.”

Her taunting was obvious, but Celestia was a little more worried with just how she came by the information. In all likelihood, one of her changelings had slipped in somewhere as a spy, and this made her even more nervous. Forcing herself to retain her serene façade, Celestia met the arrogant changeling’s eyes.

“Many of your children shall fall should you even think of attempting to breach Canterlot,” Celestia threatened, and Chrysalis could have sworn that she felt the sun growing just a little bit hotter from the threat. However, if she was intimidated, she didn’t show it.

“Invade Canterlot?” Chrysalis scoffed, her echoing voice ringing over the heads of the many silent ponies and changelings, each nervously preparing for battle. “Oh, please. I intend to do no such thing. Do you see this army behind me?” she asked suddenly, waving a holed hoof behind her.

“No,” Celestia deadpanned. “I have been stricken with a sudden and inexplicable case of blindness. I see no changeling army,” she spat sarcastically.

“This isn’t a quarter of the troops I have prepared to invade Ponyville.”

That caught Celestia’s attention.

The sun princess’s eyes narrowed dangerously, a burning glow emanating from behind them as she was tempted to tear down the barrier herself and lay waste to the offenders.

“You’re bluffing.”

“Am I?” Chrysalis asked cheerfully, as if they were discussing the weather. “Are you truly willing to bet the lives of your subjects on such a frivolous wager? And that’s not even counting the tactical strikes prepared for numerous other little villages that don’t have the defensive capabilities to withstand an invasion. So many lost little lives.”

“Lives that you claim you would spare should I comply to your ‘demands’?” Celestia glowered hatefully at her old foe.

“Claim? I guarantee you,” Chrysalis said with a smirk, “Neither I nor any fragment of my army or my children shall bring harm to a single of your subjects should you submit. It’s not even that weighty a price, in retrospect…” she inspected her hoof disinterestedly.

“That’s a ridiculous notion!” Celestia raised her voice. “No one life is worth-”

“Worth an entire city?” the changeling queen hummed pleasantly. She raised her hoof again, every single subservient behind her poising to strike on her command. “You’re telling me that you would rather let everypony die than give up one little pony.”

Celestia paused, breath coming heavy through her nostrils as she weighed her options.

“No, no,” Chrysalis said cheerfully. “Take your time. I’ll give you an entire hour. I’ve waited this long; I can wait an hour longer before you give her to me.”

“And what makes you think I’ll meet the terms of your agreement?” Celestia’s brows furrowed.

“Fifty-nine minutes and counting.”

But Celestia was already gone.

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Twilight passed by row after row of changelings, each and every single one glaring at her with icy blue eyes.

“Twilight?” Spike whispered from her back as they trotted toward the barrier surrounding Canterlot. “How come the princess’s letter didn’t mention these guys?”

Twilight, however, was completely unresponsive. The letter in her saddlebag stayed firmly in her mind, the burden almost making her hooves drag.

Fortunately, she had her cautious friends directly behind her as guards to keep her on pace.

“You know you ain’t gotta do this, Twi,” Applejack said wearily as she eyed the many rows of battle-ready changelings as they neared the vibrantly colored magical barrier. “Celestia said she wouldn’t blame ya if –”

“Of course she’s not going to do it…” Rainbow Dash butted in uncomfortably, looking back and forth between the melancholy Twilight and the still-as-stone changelings alongside them. “R-right, Twilight?”

Twilight ruffled her wings awkwardly, causing Spike to jitter. The visage of the much taller Queen Chrysalis loomed quietly over them as they approached, Celestia standing just as she had an hour before on the opposite side of the barrier.

“Go on through, girls,” Twilight said softly, pulling the little dragon from her back. “You too, Spike.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Pinkie Pie chewed her lip tearfully, her pink mane flopping limply against her when Twilight shook her head.

As each of her friends stood before the small opening in the barrier, they all tried what they had been trying to do since she had received the letter. However, as she removed her saddlebag and placed it carefully in the miserable claws of her beloved assistant, they could plainly see that there was no changing her mind.

“You don’t have to worry about me.” Twilight shook her head again, pulling away from Spike as he tried to cling desperately to her neck. “It’s for the good of everypony.”

“It’s not fair, Twilight,” Rarity scowled viciously at the changeling queen, who stood passively by. Watching, waiting.

“Get through the barrier,” Twilight said a little more forcefully, nudging them toward the miniscule opening. “It won’t be open for long.”

“Twi,” Spike spluttered. “This is insane. You can’t trust anything she says…!”

“Princess Celestia,” Twilight cleared her throat. “I fully understand what is about to happen, and accept the position delegated to myself.”

The princess only gazed at her student with a look between pity and sorrow, the regret blatant on her features. She approached Twilight as closely as she could without passing through the barrier, Chrysalis’s hungry eyes following her, waiting for a single moment when she would slip up.

“I am so sorry to have placed such a terrible encumbrance upon your shoulders, little one.” Celestia held a single hoof up to the barrier, which Twilight met quietly. A slight tingling rippled along her hoof as she touched it, Twilight’s hoof meeting her own on the opposite side.

“Princess is a pretty tough job,” Twilight joked weakly. “Occupational hazards, you know.”

Celestia was a master of disguising herself beneath a mask of serenity and calm, and her student’s statement alone was nearly enough to break her.

A sharp hissing filled the air, and Twilight’s skin prickled as she realized that the sound was emanating from every changeling in the surrounding area. Even Queen Chrysalis was licking her lips, and the changeling army seemed to become just a little more energetic. It took her a moment to realize that they were feeding off of the ambient love in the air, slurping it down greedily.

Celestia frowned in slight revulsion at the display, her heartache only growing as she watched her student bow her head and resign herself to her fate. If Twilight tried hard enough, she could almost pretend that she couldn’t really hear her friends crying on the other side of the barrier.

“You have what you want, Chrysalis,” Twilight’s voice cracked.

“Oh, don’t be so sour and dour,” the changeling queen threw a holed hoof over Twilight’s shoulder cheerily, slowly leading her away through the sudden path that her servants made for her. They briskly wound away from Canterlot, the army mobilizing as the sound of buzzing wings beginning to fill the air.

“You make it sound like I don’t have reason to be.” Twilight’s voice was quiet, and croaky, but Chrysalis heard her all the same.

“Oh, my dear Twilight Sparkle,” Queen Chrysalis said with an unnaturally sharp grin, pulling her a little closer to her side and nearly causing her to stumble. “You make it sound like you didn’t sign up for this.”

Twilight cringed uneasily from the touch of the changeling ruler, but she wasn’t holding her uncomfortably close.

“Just so long as you call off the army hidden around Ponyville as well…” Twilight murmured bitterly.

“Army?” Chrysalis snorted. “What army?”

Twilight was on the verge of a confused retort before her whole world went dark.

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