Princess Cadance couldn’t sleep, and she had no real idea as to why.
It wasn’t that it was too cold outside. The Crystal Empire was kept heated and verdant against the frozen wastes at all times; and besides, the windows were shut and a fire was still smouldering in the hearth on the far side of the room. Nor was it the opposite problem, that she was too hot. The underneath of her blankets were wonderfully warm and toasty, filled with comforting heat that soothed her right down to her bones but not a single degree more.
A little self-reflection and experimental shifting revealed that it wasn’t any of the other usual suspects either. She hadn’t been sleeping in an improper position, she did not feel noticeably hungry or thirsty, and the call of nature was completely silent. Turning her senses outward didn’t shed any light on the issue either. There weren’t any untoward light sources shining in from between the curtains; apart from the gentle sounds of the sleeping city outside and the not-so-gentle sounds of her snoring husband, the room was silent.
On a whim, she decided to turn her senses inward and then inwards again, focusing on her magic. She then smiled to herself as she found what she was looking for.
As both an alicorn and the Princess of Love, she held powers far beyond those of a regular pony as well as abilities unique to her station. One of which was the ability to sense the hearts of nearby beings and the states they were in. It was a strange thing to experience. She always found describing it to others hard to do but, if pressed, would compare it to noticing a candle flickering in the dark. How strongly the heart was loving and in turn felt loved corresponded with its brightness. She could even see each ‘candle’s’ distinctive shape and colour that showed what kinds of love it was experiencing.
Young love, for example, was round, bright-white like a newborn sun, and full of promise and potentiality. The love of a long-term relationship, meanwhile, glowed a soft, comfortable yellow and with a flickering teardrop shape like warm firelight on a winter’s evening.
The heart she was sensing was not like either of these. It was tiny and dim like a too-distant star and glowed a sickly green with a spiky shape. More worryingly, it occasionally flickered and even disappeared from her magical sight entirely — something that she’d never seen a heart do, save in death.
Clearly then, she reasoned, this was the reason she couldn’t sleep. Somewhere within the palace, a heart was in trouble; and as the Princess of Love (and surely hearts, by association) it was her duty to help.
“Yes,” she thought, “that makes sense.”
She slid out from beneath the sheets as carefully as she could and made her way across the room, slipping her regalia on along the way. As she reached for the doorknob her husband shifted in bed, mumbling something about food before settling back down. She smirked. “Stallions.”
The guards in the corridors proved just as easy to sneak around, as they were all standing up asleep at their posts. It was understandable (it was nearly late enough for it to be called early), but Shining Armour still detested it and vigorously tried to stomp the practice out. “Shoddy” he called it. Cadance didn’t mind herself, though. With how peaceful the land usually was, the guards were mostly for show anyway. She wouldn’t begrudge them a little extra rest now and then.
She walked through the palace with an easy peace, the only sound the clip-clopping of her hooves off the polished floors. Whoever this heart belonged to, they seemed to be within the east wing. That wing was more tourist-oriented than the others and showcased the paintings and sculptures that were still being discovered within the numerous basements and attics of the Crystal Palace. It seemed that King Sombra had not approved of artistic expression and locked away every piece he could get his hooves on. Why he hadn’t simply destroyed them Cadance didn’t know; but for whatever reason it was, she was thankful for it.
Finally, she arrived at her destination. The heart seemed to be inside the thirteenth art gallery, one which was in the process of being renovated and thus closed to the general public. Placing an ear to the door, she heard the faint snufflings of someone who had cried themselves to sleep.
Had they intentionally chosen this place, knowing that the chances of someone stumbling across their misery were slim? Or was it chosen at random, perhaps because they were unable to read the door names through their tears? No matter. Cadence was there to help.
Pausing only to adjust her regalia and perfect her smile, she pushed open the door. Dust sheets covered everything within, and the only illumination was the moonlight drifting in through the windows. On the other side of the room nearer to the centre than the wall, was the unmoving silhouette of a sitting mare.
“Hello?” Cadence called out, illuminating the torches along the walls with a simple spell as she advanced. “It’s okay, I’m here to—You!”
It was Queen Chrysalis. There. In the Crystal Empire. That mane, those legs, that silly, little, sproingy crown. Even with her face turned away and obscured, it could only be her.
Had Cadence been the same mare she was when they’d first had the displeasure to meet, she would have been terrified. Now, she was a little smarter and a little stronger. Any fear that might have lingered was replaced with confidence and righteous fury. “What do you think you’re doing!” Cadence roared, moving into a defensive stance. “How dare you show your face around here, in my own palace! Whatever it is you’re planning Chrysalis, you’re not going to… get away with it...?”
Cadence’s tirade petered out as Chrysalis failed to respond in any way. She stayed sitting up and facing the wall, as still as when she had been first discovered, continuing to whimper. Wary of any tricks, Cadence walked around her in a wide circle, her horn ignited and ready to fire off a spell at a moments notice.
As it turned out, the reason Chrysalis had not reacted was that she was fast asleep. Cadence was incredulous. The queen of the changelings being somewhere within the palace, perhaps looking for revenge, was a horrible but unfortunately quite possible thought she had pondered over once or twice. But said queen just standing there, in one of the closed art galleries, fast asleep? That was just weird, not to mention a little embarrassing. “I just went and shouted for nothing.”
Her anger and embarrassment choked back for a moment, Cadence extinguished her horn as she remembered the reason she had been there in the first place instead of staying in bed like a normal pony. “No,” she mused, “it couldn’t be. Could it?” She focused on her alicorn magic again, and saw that it was true: Chrysalis was the owner of the distressed heart she had sensed.
It was her duty as the Princess of Love to take care of such issues, and she was committed to carry it out to the fullest. But on the other hoof… well, it was Chrysalis. She and her kind were enemies of Equestria, would-be invaders that had tried to take over Canterlot, on Cadence’s wedding day, no less, in a plot that involved replacing her and brainwashing her husband-to-be.
Even after that had failed and her army had been repelled, she never took the hint. She tried again months later with a vile scheme that involved taking foals as hostage and capturing Cadence’s sister-in-law, Twilight Sparkle, and her friends.
“I could help her,” Cadence mused, “but does she really deserve it after all of that? Do I help her, or do I arrest her? Oh, I’m in way over my head. What would aunt Celestia do?”
The answer was as immediate as it was obvious. Both. Why did one exclude the other? Is not showing right from wrong what justice is about? Even Discord, the very spirit of chaos and disharmony itself, could be and was reformed. Why not her?
”Yes,” Cadance concluded for the second time, ”that makes sense.”
Without ceremony, she poked the sleeping changeling in the shoulder, causing Chrysalis to awaken with a grunt and a sudden start.
“Hmm? What?” Blearily she looked around until her eyes settled on Cadence. “Oh,” she said flatly. “Cadenza. Hello.”
“What are you doing here, Chrysalis?” Cadence asked, keeping her own voice stern yet professional with perhaps a touch of something suggesting that she could become very unprofessional if necessary. “You’ve got some nerve to come here of all places.”
The queen actually looked uncomfortable for a moment; though, it passed quickly. She shrugged. “I was feeling nostalgic.”
Cadence’s frown deepened. “Nostalgic? Of what? That time you kidnapped and brainwashed my husband?”
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. Her hoof reached down to beside herself and came back grasping a bottle. She took a heavy swig and put it back down. “Not exactly, no.”
“Hang on, is that…?” With a quick spell Cadence snatched the bottle and brought it to her face. “It is! That’s our wine. I can’t believe you raided our wine cellar — it’s over a thousand years old!”
“Only technically,” Chrysalis weakly protested, snatching it right back. “Time-lock spell, remember? Really, it’s only a couple of years.”
“How much have you had to drink, anyway?” Cadence moved further around until she was facing Chrysalis head on. She did a double-take when she saw the host of bottles lying on the other side of her. “Seven! You’ve drunk seven bottles! Are you—” Her voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. “Are you drunk right now?”
“What? No,” Chrysalis denied. Her eyes unfocused for a moment while she suppressed a belch. She amended, “Okay, maybe a little. Why’d you ask?”
Cadance gave a ragged sigh. “Okay, that’s it!” she declared, her horn flaring into life. Light blue aura glowed around Chrysalis’ horn and each of her hooves, pushing her into a prostrate position and pinning her in place. “Chrysalis, by the power vested in me as a Princess of the Crystal Empire, I am arresting you on charges that I’m too tired to bother listing right now.”
She gave the queen another stern gaze, although her eyes still contained a measure of pity. Chrysalis might be a monster, but a drunken, sniffling one was sad regardless. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
Chrysalis took another swig of wine. Luckily for her, the limb holding the bottle was forced down close enough to her head. “Yes, actually,” she said, her tone suggesting that she either hadn’t noticed her predicament or just didn’t care. “Have you taken a look at these paintings lately?”
“What? I—no. These paintings were only found recently; the gallery hasn’t even been officially opened yet.” Collecting herself, she continued, “Why does it matter?”
“Look at the one behind you.”
Cadance turned her head, and what she saw made her extinguish her magic in surprise. It was a large portrait in an ornate golden frame, its dust cover piled at its foot, and on the canvas was a painting of a crystal mare. She was a creamy white with just a tinge of blue. Her mane was the colour of sapphire and done up in a traditional crystal headdress, adorned with silver thread and gems of every kind. Around her neck was a thick, similarly-impressive diamond-inlaid choker. Her face was turned towards the painter with a slight, knowing smile that didn’t quite seem to reach her eyes.
“Who is that?” Cadance asked, transfixed.
“I’m amazed you don’t know,” Chrysalis remarked, rising from the floor on wobbly legs and moving over to sit beside her. She swept a foreleg towards the painting in reverence. “That is your predecessor. The greatest ruler of the Crystal Empire: the Queen of Hearts.”
A predecessor? The idea had never really occurred to Cadance, busy as she was with actually running the place. But it did make perfect sense; after all, the Crystal Empire was old, even accounting for the curse that had frozen it in time. For her to think that King Sombra was the first or only to rule would be silly at the very least.
“She’s beautiful,” Cadance said.
Chrysalis chuckled, stopping momentarily to hold down another belch. “Why, thank you. I’d like to think I’ve still got it.”
“What are you—” Cadance’s eyes widened as she realised just what Chrysalis implied. She whipped her head between the picture and the changeling queen. “You?!” she gasped for the second time.
A thousand statements and questions vied for attention in Cadance’s mind, ranging from “But that’s impossible!” to “How did you manage to make the hairstyle work?” What Chrysalis was saying couldn’t be true, could it? The more she thought about it the more questions it raised. The implications coupled with the lateness of the hour—finally beginning to affect her—made her head swim.
Wordlessly, Chrysalis handed her the bottle. Cadance took a few draws on the wine within, relishing its syrupy sweetness before giving it back and managing a single word: “How?”
Again, Chrysalis looked uncomfortable, but within a blink it slipped back beneath the mask. “My husband’s doing.” She paused thoughtfully, then added, “Well, ex-husband, I suppose. Congratulations on doing that for me, by the way.”
It took a moment for Cadance to realise just what she was getting at. “Sombra…” she mumbled distractedly, staring off into space.
“Oh, yes,” Chrysalis continued. “You probably didn’t know this, but the crystal ponies weren’t always completely useless. There was even something of a resistance movement towards the beginning of the end.” She paused to take another drink. “He wasn’t happy when he discovered that his beloved wife was their leader.”
She then sighed with what was probably meant to be wistfulness. “‘Love-sucking insect,’ I believe he called me at the time. Well, you know how villains are with tragic irony...” She wiped her face with a foreleg.
Cadance opened her mouth to say something, perhaps a few words of comfort, when a sceptical thought wormed to the forefront of her attention. Mulling it over for a moment, she frowned slightly and turned her head back to Chrysalis.
“Is this a trick?” she demanded. “Was any of that actually true? If any of this had all actually happened, surely my subjects would know about it; they would have brought it up.” Her horn lit up with magic again, and with equal parts authority and request she warned, “Please, don’t lie to me.”
Chrysalis just snorted and took another swig from her bottle, not even acknowledging the threat. “Pfft, because it’s not like Sombra had the means to wipe the minds and memories of his subjects,” she said, sarcasm thick as treacle. “Nope. I know it’s hard for you, being a pretty pink pony princess and everything, but please use your brain for once, Cadenza. Dictators abhor martyrs.”
The insult stung, but her point couldn’t be faulted. For several minutes they sat in silence, facing the portrait and lost in their respective thoughts. Chrysalis, having long emptied the eighth and final bottle, listed from side to side, blearily eyeing the ornately-framed image of her former self.
Enough had been said and revealed, and Chrysalis was in no state to oppose anyone. Stifling a yawn, Cadance began, “I still have to arrest you, you know. All of this doesn’t make your crimes disappear.” Waiting for some sort of objection and hearing none, she continued, “But — and I can’t believe I’m actually saying this — I’m going to help you, Chrysalis. We’ll work something out. Make a happy ending for everypony.”
Cadance turned to the changeling queen with a smile, then frowned upon seeing her fast asleep, still sitting upright. With a sigh and a series of tsks she picked Chrysalis up with her magic (noting how light she turned out to be, despite her size) and trotted out of the room towards the dungeons.
With a satisfied yawn Cadance crept back into her bedroom. The matter had been settled. She woke a dozing guard along the way to the dungeons (who was quite startled to see Chrysalis, even grasped in Cadance’s magical grip) and asked for some items to be procured. An inhibitor ring was placed upon Chrysalis’s horn, sealing off her magic for the foreseeable future, and the queen herself was placed in a cell along with some blankets. Thinking back to the several wine bottles left in the art gallery, Cadance asked for a large pitcher of water to be procured as well.
All that remained was to write a letter Aunt Celestia informing her of the occurrence. Perhaps letters to the other princesses as well, if she needed to. She imagined Twilight would be especially interested, considering her general thirst for knowledge.
”It can wait until the morning,” Cadance thought as she slinked back between the sheets. She was absolutely exhausted. Focusing on her alicorn abilities again for a moment, she found herself smiling again. She could still see Chrysalis’s heart in all its miniscule, flickering sickliness, but (and perhaps it was just a trick of the brain) it seemed to shine a tad brighter and went out fewer times as she watched. It was a possible start, if nothing else.
Cadance yawned, closed her eyes, and drifted off into a deep, peaceful sleep.
Author's Note
Many thanks to my editor, xIMPERSONATORx.
Hello there!
Ever since I first saw them, changelings have fascinated me as a fantasy species. They're an interesting take on a bunch of ideas, and just thinking about how they would actually work raises a lot of intriguing questions that are fun to ponder. Ever since season 3 I've had a certain headcanon surrounding them, their history and the Crystal Empire. One that I have finally decided to write down, as you can see.
I initially intended to write this as a very closed-off one-shot, but as it went on I found that I couldn't quite fit everything I wanted to say into one chapter. So although this chapter does work pretty well by itself (at least, I hope it does), I will probably be adding future ones to this story at some point in the future.
This is however probably going to stay a side project, so updates may not be as fast as you or I would like. On the plus side though, it means that my other story won't be sidetracked, delayed or neglected. Anymore that it has already, I mean.
I hope you enjoy it! Or, at least, that it's not too terrible.
