Chrysalis stretches and yawns as she lays on her large heart shaped pillow with Ryota beside her. The Changeling second in command can't help but stare at the ceiling.

"You seem awfully distracted this morning. Is everything all right?" Chrysalis asks, rolling over to face Ryota.

"Yuuki is meeting with Despair for his 'tea party' invitation. I can't help, but worry for him..." Ryota states, before rolling off the pillow and standing up.

"I'm confident he doesn't need any help. That fox seems to be more than capable... Although, I still ponder where he and Princess Luna were during our invasion." Chrysalis muses, before standing up as well.

Ryota sighs deeply as he fidgets and begins pacing around the room. Chrysalis rolls her eyes and groans.

"For the sake of my sanity, do not start pacing again... I cannot handle another display of that..." Chrysalis states, making Ryota stop.

"I'm going to go out for a walk. Verdammnis is spending time with the Changeling research group, so she should be fine... I hope." Ryota begins leaving the room when he is caught up by Chrysalis.

"I'll join you. With how you are this morning you have me anxious..." Chrysalis states, sighing deeply.

The pair makes their way through the halls of the Changeling hive, before long they reach the entrance and breath in the 'fresh' swamp air. The present guards tense up and point their spears towards the swamp as a human figure is walking in their direction.

"What is the meaning of this? Who dares to approach my hive?!" Chrysalis bellows as the figure comes into view.

The figure is revealed to be wearing the armour of Despairs knights. The knight stops a short way from the hive entrance, his cape blowing in the wind.

"Forgive me, your majesty. My name is Dolor, general of Despair's elite knight legion." The knight slightly bows.

"What is your business here?!" Chrysalis demands as more Changeling guards in dark green armour exit the hive to protect their queen.

"I have come with a message. My lord Despair wishes to extend an invitation to his dark alliance. He is well aware of your evil past." Dolor offers as he looks over her guard.

"What would be the benefits of joining this alliance?" Chrysalis asks.

"My queen! Surely you do not-" Ryota is cut off.

"Silence!" Queen Chrysalis demands, making Ryota stop talking.

"Well, my master wishes to offer a percentage of Equestrian land to you. This is of course if you join us and we win." Dolor explains.

"Would we be allowed to take prisoners as we see fit?" Chrysalis asks.

"Of course. My master does not care what you do with anyone you capture or kill." Dolor answers.

Queen Chrysalis thinks for a few seconds before scoffing at the invitation.

"I do not need anyone to tell me what I can or cannot do. I take what I want, I do what I want. You can return to your master and tell him of my decline to his offer." Chrysalis states defiantly.

"I see... I was also instructed to make an example of you should you refuse." Dolor states as he begins to step forwards.

"My queen... Permission to eject this disrespectful pest from your swamp?" Ryota asks, stepping in front of Chrysalis.

"Do as you please with him so long as he is disposed of." Queen Chrysalis gives her consent.

"As you wish, my queen." Ryota states as he walks towards Dolor and stands up on his hind legs.

Binary sighs deeply as he has his head on the bar, much to Valentine's amusement. Not far from them Applejack and Rainbow Dash are idly talking while they help each other set up the bar.

"I can't take this much longer..." Binary groans.

"You still having trouble with that 'problem' we discussed?" Valentine asks, sipping a glass of whisky.

"I can't seem to wrap my head around how I feel... You explained it well and it seems so simple..." Binary sighs, as he sits up to drink his soda.

"It's not really something that I can explain too well with graphs and logical terminology. You just have to experience it and figure things out for yourself. I've done all I can." Valentine sighs, as he leans on the bar.

"But how did you 'figure' this out?" Binary asks, looking depressed.

"I confessed." Valentine states bluntly.

"Wait, so you just straight came out and said it to her?" Binary asks, looking confused.

"Not quite, no. We were having a conversation and things were mentioned. When I was prompted about maybe liking her, I hid nothing. I confessed how I felt without hesitation. Since then the burning in my heart has settled down, but it is no more intense than it was. I think I'm starting to understand." Valentine explains, downing his whisky.

"What do you mean?" Binary asks.

"We each were made from something. That something is part of us, in this world, it's more prominent than before. How I felt for Applejack was increased due to what I was made from. However, that does not define who or what I become. Those choices belong to us now and nobody can change that." Valentine continues to explain.

Binary is about to argue something, but they are both interrupted by screams coming from outside. The four exit the bar in a rush and look around to see ponies staring at the sky.

"Look there!" Binary points up at the distant lights heading towards the moon.

As the chains wrap around the moon, Valentine grips his chest as it burns with a searing pain. Binary is brought to his knees as his head hurts and feels like exploding. The gang watch as the moon is trapped and constricted by the eight chains before a ninth chain binds itself with them.

"Valentine! Are yer alright?!" Applejack asks, standing beside Valentine.

"My chest is practically on fire... What is this?" Valentine's vision blurs before passing out.

"Binary?! What is it?!" Rainbow Dash grabs Binary's face with her hooves, but all he can manage to do is collapse into her.

Ryota and Dolor circle each other, the knight lacking his regular sword and shield.

"No weapons then? I don't really mind which form of combat we indulge in." Dolor informs Ryota.

"Hand to hand seems fitting... Or hoof to hoof..." Ryota forces himself to think on that notion for a moment.

"Neither are wrong if we are to be technical." Dolor states with a chuckle.

The pair charge at each other and begin the fight by throwing and dodging narrow punches. Dolor attempts to throw a one-two punch, but Ryota slides underneath between his legs and performs a twirl flight maneuver behind him leading up to a harsh kick to Dolor's back. The knight general cracks his neck and turns around to face Ryota, who gives him no time to recover and comes at him with a flurry of hoof kicks.

"Pretty agile for a quadruped." Dolor comments.

"I've had plenty of training." Ryota replies.

The changeling second in command blocks a hard uppercut, which is followed by a variety of kick and punch combos to keep him blocking. Dropping underneath Dolor's attack arch, Ryota is able to get a double hoof back kick in, which sends Dolor recoiling.

"Perhaps I underestimated you... That ends here." Dolor states with a growl.

The pair charge and clash again, but something is different this time. Dolor lands hit after hit without fail on Ryota, not giving him any time to recover or regain his balance. Grabbing his back legs, Dolor spins Ryota around before releasing him hard into a nearby tree. The impact is followed up by a harsh punch from Dolor who swiftly followed his flight path. Picking Ryota up by his head Dolor chuckles before slamming his knee into Ryota's barrel and throwing him to land in front of Chrysalis.

"I think that's enough pain inflicted for today..." Dolor begins to leave before stopping to hear Chrysalis' voice.

"I will hunt you down and personally see to it that your end is painful..." Chrysalis snarls at Dolor.

The general chuckles as he leaves the hive area. Ryota attempts to lean himself up to talk but is stopped by Chrysalis.

"You fought well... Guards take second in command Ryota to the infirmary... I'm making a trip to Canterlot tomorrow, I will not tolerate this transgression..." Chrysalis states in a harsh, buzzing voice.

Author's Note

You'll have to forgive the delay on several of my fics. There have been delays in proofreading as my blog post explain. I hope to be able to get more chapters out at a regular pace.