Queen Chrysalis has a Doom Citadel

Chapters

That's no cloud
I find your lack of brains disturbing
Coffee. A bit on the dark side
Dun dun dun, dun deh-dun, dun deh-dun...
The Empire strikes
Not-so-fully operational sky station

That's no cloud

After the momentous defeat of King Sombra, Princess Cadence and her dutiful husband Shining Armor have been saddled with the monstrous task of reintegrating the long lost Crystal Empire into the folds of modern Equestrian life. It has proven to be no small task, as the denizens of the Empire, the crystal ponies struggle to forget the horrors of the dark king's reign. Despite all obstacles in their path however, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor remain determined in their noble goal, vowing to give the crystal ponies the chance at the free and happy life they had been deprived of for so very long.

Unbeknownst to them however, an old enemy is about to bring forth the greatest instrument of her revenge.

Queen Chrysalis overlooked a vast chasm in the earth, filled with hundreds of little green lights. Each light was one of her changeling workers, smoothing out the final kinks on her latest project. Soon she wold have her revenge, and taste the victory that eluded her in Canterlot.

"How is it coming Commander?" she asked in an irritated and impatient tone.

The changeling next to her brought up a reading on one of several moniter crystals. "Structural Integrity: 91%. Hull Insulation: well within acceptable ranges. External Stabilizers: mounted and fully functional. Power supply: 67% and charging. Ammunition: we are the ammunition. External shields: ... we're working on that."

"And what flavor of ice cream will the cafeteria be serving on Monday?" Chrysalis asked with a smile.

"Uh... Strawberry?"

Chrysalis's smile turned to a scowl of disgust in an instant. "WHAT!?" she screamed.

"Y-you're highness. W-we ran out of Chocolate Chip two days ago, and haven't been able to restock due to all our forces focusing on the construction." her Commander stuttered, "W-we shall double our efforts. I assure you, this station will be operational as planned."

"I hope so Commander... for your sake." Chrysalis said with a deathly glare before turning her mind back to thoughts of revenge. Soon... very soon.

Though it was by far Equestria's most remote city, the Crystal Empire was a gleaming jewel in the snow. It was a place of happiness and love, and it served as a beacon, radiating its awesome feels all over Equestria.

Though King Sombra was gone for good, and the crystal ponies were free. Things weren't as simple as picking up their lives where they left off. Brutal enslavement and a subsequent thousand-year banishment from existence would take a toll on anypony. They were still suffering from severe headaches that came and went seemingly at random, and traumatic memories of Sombra still haunted them. Recovering from something like that wasn't going to be easy or fast by any stretch of the imagination.

But with their strong, kind and caring leaders there to guide them along the way, thing weren't as dire as they seemed.

For a start, the Crystal Empire was back on the map within days of it being deemed safe, almost as though it had never left. For merchants, vacation agencies, and business entrepreneurs the Crystal Empire was one thing above all else: an untapped market. Even more of a rarity, it worked both ways; the crystal ponies would be introduced to everything that was new in Equestria, and Equestria could visit something a place and culture so old that it was practically brand new.

And the wonders kept on coming as not only was it a win/win for all involved, but the traffic and trade was exactly what the city needed to revitalize itself, thus smoothing the integration process even further.

So it was a win/win win-win win... win. Right?

Well that wasn't how a certain Princess of Love was seeing it. After all... she had to organize and approve everything.

The crystal clock on the wall ticked with incessant and unrelenting loudness as the meeting dragged on. Cadence, in all her blessed patience, tried her best to listen to what the businesspony in front of her was talking about.

She told herself each and every morning that she would do everything in her power to lead the crystal ponies to a prosperous and happy life. She told herself she owed it to them after all they had suffered through. But each and every day, her promise only held up by the thinnest of threads, and it only got thinner as the tedious droll of the day began to slowly wear her down.

6:00am Wake up/ shower
6:15 Breakfast
6:30am - 10:00pm Meetings Meetings Meetings Meetings Meetings Meetings Meetings- Break for Lunch -Meetings Meetings Meetings Meetings Meetings Meetings Meetings All meetings and no play make Cadence a dull pony.
10:01 Go to bed
Rinse and repeat

That was her typical schedule. All of it important, she knew that...

Princess Celestia had trained for her royal duties when she was young, but nothing could have prepared her for how much of an absolute slog it was.

It seemed that every advertiser, celebrity, and business pony thought she was some unreasonable tyrant. Why else would they go off on such grand spiels, talking for hours at a time about why their ideas are the absolute best thing ever? If it weren't seen as highly unprofessional, she would have gladly listened to a thirty second summary and decided on that whether to give a project the green light or not.

But no... tedious, boring slog it was.

Once again Cadence shook herself back to attention from nearly falling asleep with her head on the table.

In front of her, a short white stallion with a graying mane was going over several business figures. If she remembered right, his name was Wheel 'n' Deal. He had already taken up her entire morning with statistics, plans and designs for opening a waterpark on the north edge of the city, and the logistics of using the snow from outside the city's shield as a source of water for the rides. He was particularly intent on winner her over on the whole idea with the waterfall-of-love ride, going so far as to slap her face all over the little plastic boats.

And this was only the first of twenty-three ponies that she had scheduled to meet with. Today!

It was times like this that Cadence envied her husband Shining Armor; his job was so much more exciting. Since he was the Captain of the royal guard back in Canterlot, it only made sense that he be in charge of the security here in the Empire, and it had worked quite well.

Back in the old days of the Crystal Empire, it had absolutely no means of defense besides the crystal heart. If the notion that they should train some guards was ever pondered over, it was quashed under the iron hoof of Sombra, who kept them oppressed through his dark magic and unrelenting fear.

As soon as he was able, Shining wasted no time whatsoever in turning that around. At the moment he was addressing the guards that had transferred over from other cities around Equestria, as well as few local conscripts. Cadence imagined that right now he was concluding the tour of the Empire, a simple patrol to familiarize them with the new setting.

Oh how Cadence wished that she could have them given the tour. She'd take parading around the streets with a platoon of guards in tow over her current situation almost any day.

"Eh, Princess? You still there?" Wheel asked through his bushy mustache as he adjusted his spectacles.

"Hmm? Oh yes, of course." she said unconvincingly while motioning with a hoof for him to continue.

Cadence was beginning to wonder what would happen if she simply stopped everything and told him to just take whatever he was planning and go for it. She wasn't being lazy, but as far as she could see, it didn't matter where he put the water-powered Ferris wheel.

"I would do literally anything to get out of this right now." Cadence thought to herself as she tried not to slump over "Come on universe, hit me with your best shot! Right here. Right-

"BWWWAAAAAHHHMMM!"

The walls shook at the noise and papers that lay carefully organized on the desk in front of her scattered and flew across the room. Her advisers fell to the floor and held their ears in pain.

Outside, ponies screamed in horror as and ran indoors, hoping it would protect them from the giant black fortress manifesting just outside the city's protective barrier.

Shining Armor was nearly in a panic trying to organize a mere hooffull of unprepared guards, knowing they alone would have to counter whatever that monster did until they could get reinforcements, preferably from Celestia and Luna themselves.

And from inside the counsel chambers, Princess Cadence stared wide eyed as the silhouette of a castle nearly half the size and bulk of Canterlot just hovered there, bathed in a menacing green glow.

"Umm... I didn't really mean that?"

I find your lack of brains disturbing

Princess Cadence stood looking out through the giant pane of glass that formed her window, staring straight ahead at the giant, floating black castle as she had done for the last several minutes since it arrived. She didn't know what to make of it, let alone what to do about it. For now it seemed to just be sitting outside the Empire's shield, but it was just so menacing with its cold iron and stone and the massive green crystals that kept it afloat; it looked like something straight out of a gothic horror novel, and it was just floating there!

"Princess... what is that thing?" Glimmer Quill, her secretary and scribe asked her as she shakily got out from under the desk in the center of the room.

"I... I don't know." Cadence answered, only to realize how bad that must have sounded to somepony looking to her for hope. "But I'm going to find out. In the meantime, go send a message to Princess Celestia about this." she turned to the guards standing next to her. "You two, go tell Shining Armor to reinforce the shield around the city. No matter what happens, we can't let ponies start to panic."

*B-wump!*

Everypony present whipped around to see what had made the sound. What they saw was unlike anything they'd seen before, except for Cadence, and it terrified her. She'd recognize one of those creatures anywhere with its black chitinous shell, gleaming white fangs, and soulless blue eyes. But most of all she could feel its presence, for deep in their hearts, they were pure evil.

"Hello." a changeling said cheerfully as it pressed it's nose against the outside of the window. "We have a Doom Citadel!"

For a second, nopony knew what to say.

"W-what?" Princess Cadence was the first to speak up.

"We have a Doom Citadel!" the changeling repeated with a smile, "All your Equestria are belong to us!" it said as it slid down the glass, leaving a trail of saliva in its wake until it reached the bottom of the pane and fell off.

Cadence narrowed her eyes. "Mother of Faust."

Shining tore through the streets, the guards behind him galloping to match his break-neck pace. As they got nearer to the crystal tower at the center of the city, he ordered more and more of his division to break off and secure the streets, tell ponies to stay indoors, and prepare for the inevitable... whatever that may be.

Finally he was alone as he passed through the arches that supported the tower, his wife Cadence glided down from the castle to trot beside him. "Shining! It's the-"

"Changelings, I know." Shining interrupted, "One dived right into me and said something about a Doom Citadel. It flew off before I could even react. We need to raise the Empire's defenses, it's our only chance right now."

The two stopped at the Crystal Heart, and Shining wasted no time in charging his shield spell, aiming right for the giant rotating gem. Like a conductor, the Heart ate his spell as soon as he let it loose and amplified it, spreading it over its already generated force-field. The shield that protected the city from the cold outside and projected the illusion of a clear sunny sky for the inhabitants suddenly became coated in a strong pink tinge, as though someone had poured crystal-berry jelly over it all.

Shining breathed a sigh of relief, whatever the changelings were planning in their so-called Doom Citadel, at least they'd be held back. Shields were Shining's special talent; nothing could get though them when they were fully operational.

Of course, there's a first time for everything. There was a sudden and tremendous bangin the distance, and a flaming green projectile smashed a hole right through the shield like it were made of glass before streaking right towards them.

"Shining watch out!" Cadence dove into him, shoving him out of the way just in time to avoid the green flaming ball of... changeling?

With the magic fire on it's body gone, the changeling lost it's momentum, bouncing and skidding along the crystal ground until it hit its head on the pillar supporting the Crystal Heart.

"Ow..." it moaned and rubbed its head. Then it noticed them and quickly shook off its daze. "Ha HA! Your shield will do nothing to stop us this time! Our advanced cannons get us through easily! Your efforts are futile, and our glorious Queen Chrysalis shall have her revenge!" it paused for a moment as though it had forgotten something. "What was that last thing again? Oh yeah... MWA HA HA HA ha ha!"

Shining and Cadence gave each other worried expressions.

"What are we supposed to do?" Shining asked, "We can't fight her head on, it would be one garrison against however many changelings are in that giant thing. We wouldn't stand a chance."

"We'll have to stall for time." Cadence decided, "If they can getting through our shield we need to figure out some way to protect the city."

"You know, you could always just surrender." a scratchy buzzing voice spoke up.

Cadence and Shining turned to the changeling who was sitting up against the Heart pedestal. "Oh right, you're still here."

"Well my buddies shot me out of that cannon, and I delivered the message already, sooooo... I dunno what I'm supposed to do now."

"Wait, they fired you out of a cannon? That's how you got through my shield just now?!" Shining asked in moderate shock, that impact must have been incredibly painful. "I didn't know that was something changelings could do."

"It has been ever since we built our awesome Doom Citadel!" the changeling told him gleefully. "Hey look, here comes another."

Sure enough, another changeling streaked out of the sky in a cone of flame and skidded to a halt next to the other. "Queen Chrysalis orders for you both to surrender your kingdom and your people to her!" it told them.

Then another plummeted face first into the ground next to Shining. "She says to lower your shield, or we'll..." it started.
"Blast right through it, and take your kingdom by force." another finished as it landed.

"And don't think we-"
"Won't do it-"
"'Cause we will." another trio of changelings relayed their Queen's message as they whizzed past before faceplanting into the ground.

Suddenly another changeling fell out of the sky, only its trajectory was slightly off, which lead to it impacting the top of the archway supporting the Crystal Tower. It then peeled off and fell to the ground with its brothers.

"Boom, what are you doing down here?" one of the other seven drones asked. "You're the one that fires the cannons!"

"I did it 'cause it looked like fun!"

Queen Chrysalis paced back and forth with an angry sneer before looking over the edge of her flying fortress again. It was cold out, and the icy wind bit at her face as she glared down at the city below. Several of her guards stood there, shivering alongside her yet ready to answer to her commands.

"Do you think they got my messages?" she asked one of the many changelings she'd dragged out with her, some of which had been complaining the entire time about how they were freezing inside their shells.

"I can't say your highness. They don't seem capable of responding in any way." one of her changelings responded.

"They can respond by dropping their shield like I requested." Chrysalis sneered "Give me that telescope!"

As she was passed the extendable piece of bronze, she noticed the changeling giving to her a questioning look. She raised a brow at him. "You have a question?" she asked as she looked through the telescope towards the center of the city where her hated enemies stood.

"W-well... your highness. If we can get through the shield already, why ask them to lower it?" her assistant asked.

Chrysalis chuckled to herself before answering. "Ah but that's the beauty of it. It's not because we need them to, it's to force them into a show of submission." she grinned "After they thwarted me in Canterlot, I wish to savor the taste of their defeat as they lose everything they hold dear. And it begins here... at their precious city, with their precious subjects-"

"AAAAAAAHH!" *K-wump*

Chrysalis had to duck for cover as one of Shining and Cadence's precious subjects came hurtling past her and slammed into the hard stone wall behind her, as well as bowling over several of her changelings in the process. She walked over, eyeing the poor guard-stallion as the ringing in his head ceased and his vision cleared.

Though he looked terrified by the sight of her, he spoke calmly and clearly. "Their majesties Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadence are delivering you a warning. You and your... ahem, Doom Citadel... are to leave the territory of the Crystal Empire immediately, or we shall be forced to use our secret weapon on you. This is your only warning."

"Secret weapon?" Chrysalis mouthed wordlessly before grabbing one of her drones and stuffing him into the end of a cannon. "Get down there and ask them what in Tartarus they're talking about!"

She lit the fuze, and there was a thunderous bang as the explosion of magic-infused powder sent the little guy towards the crystal city with such force that it punched a hole clean through the shield, only for the barrier to heal itself in a matter of seconds.

Chrysalis waited impatiently for around half a minute before another of the empire's guards was sent crashing through the shield the other way. She caught this one in her magic field, leaving the crystal pegasus dangling before her.

"Well?" she said expectantly.

"W-we h-have a giant lazer! A really big one!" he stuttered under her scrutinizing glare "And we'll use it to blast you right out of the sky! Y-you know... if we have to."

Meanwhile on the ground, Cadence was concentrating on the floating castle of darkness above, carefully watching Chrysalis's subtle movements through the pair of heart-shaped binoculars she'd conjured up.

"Do you think they bought it?" she turned to Shining.

"Totally! This is one of the tactical maneuvers we get taught in the guard academy. It's bound to work." he said confidently.

Just then another changeling fell out of the sky and crushed a funnel-cake cart a few feet from them. "We don't believe you guys!" it yelled before trying to free his hind quarters from the condiment section.

"Diabolical... inconceivable even!" Shining shook his head in disbelief "Nopony's ever seen through that bluff! The question is, what do we do now?"

Cadence put a hoof to her chin and thought for a moment. "If I know anything about Chrysalis, she's scheming something. It might be a long shot, but let's try and find out what she wants. If we know that, we can figure a way to defeat her without having to give in."

"Right! Boys, you heard the Princess. Who wants to ask what they want from us?" Shining asked.

His guards didn't answer give an answer, but each of them took a single step backwards. All save for one.

"Twitchy! Way to stallion up!" Shining walked forward and gave him a solid pat on the back. "You've got a lot of guts for a new recruit. I respect that."

"What? Who? Me? NOW?" Twitchy said spastically "What'd ya want from me cap'n?"

"Easy Twitch. Just go up there, and ask what they want." Shining told him before hoisting him up over his head like a javelin "Up, up and away!"

"No. Wait. What? AAAAAAAAAHHHH..."

Coffee Cookie, or Twitch as his friends called him, was seriously beginning to question his choices in life. He questioned his choices most strongly when he smashed through the city's defensive barrier head first. "Be a guard, they said. Protect the Empire, they said. It'll be fun, they said. You don't even need to take an arrow in the kneee, they said. Worst career choice ever." he lamented as he sailed through the frigid air "I should have kept making frappechinos for stuck-up business ponies in Manehatten.

"Oh no, here it comes-AAAHHHHHH- oof!" Twitch screamed, ending with a grunt as he landed, feeling as though he nearly broke something from that last impact.

He looked up to see a freakishly tall changeling with a long blue mane looming over him.

"So little pony..." she spoke to him in an eerily distorted tone as she lifted his chin to her eyes "Have you come to tell us that you surrender?"

He stared at her, not knowing what he was even looking at. And he kept staring for a moment too long.

Chrysalis gritted her teeth. "Well? Are you here to-"

"WHAT ARE YOU?!" he shrieked, pointing a trembling hoof in her face.

Chrysalis's expression was a mixture of surprised and insulted, but she quickly returned to her normal demeanor. "What's the matter pony? Have you never seen a changeling before?" she asked Twitch, breathing on his face slightly "Well you're in luck, for you're about to see us in all our glory! After I exact my revenge on that Princess and her pet husband, we'll harvest the love from every pony in the Crystal Empire, and Conquer all of Equestria with our marvelous Doom Citadel!" she gave her big villain speech, breaking into stereotypical maniacal laughter immediately afterwards.

"Whoa, okay. No. Not good. Very not good! Don't want. Do not want!" Twitch belted out before he could gain control of his breathing again. "Okay wait. Just... wait a second. Okay?"

All eyes were on him, the changelings manning the ramparts, his fellow guards that had been detained, and especially the Queen. It made him nervous, but he did his best to stop another panic attack, at least long enough to get some full sentences out.

"Okay... so you want to take over Equestria, and you want to start with this city so you can get revenge on Princess Cadence and Captain Shining. Okay. Not okay, but okay." he said as calmly as he could muster. "But this is hardly the way to do it. I mean, look at yourself; you're a big, powerful... intimidating... changeling Queen... yeah? But you're sending messages back and forth, using us I might add. You should be staring your enemies in the eyes, talking to them face to face while you um... break their morale? Or something? Right? Am I right guys?"

Twitch looked to the other two guards who had been sent up before him, and to the changelings next in the cannon queue. "We don't want to get in the way of important evil talks... right guys?" he stressed that last part.

Nods and murmurs of agreement came quickly from both parties.

"I dunno. I like being a part of things." One changeling spoke up.

That changeling was thrown over the wall.

Chrysalis thought on it all for a second, and realized her the pathetic quivering guard before her had a point, not that she'd ever admit it though. "And what do you suggest, pony?" she asked.

"Uh, I don't know. Maybe... just set your flying castle-"

"DOOM CITADEL!" Chrysalis barked.

"Right! Sorry! Doom Citadel. Anyway, you could just like, set it down and meet with the Princess so the two of you can just talk without having anypony else to go between." Twitch finished, giving an awkward cough at the end.

Chrysalis worked over the details in her mind, forming a sinister smile as she did. "Acceptable." she decided "Go back and tell those two festering thorns in my flank to meet me aboard the Doom Citadel so we may discuss the terms of their surrender.

She then grabbed Twitch in her magic and tried to stuff him inside the cannon.

"NO! No more of that! I can just walk down there! Please!" he begged her.

"Oh fine." She rolled her eyes and set him back on the floor "Ruin all the fun."

Coffee. A bit on the dark side

Coffee "Twitch" Cookie made it back to the city's shield, even though the cold outside was nearly unbearable, especially because the cold was unbearable. He was accompanied by one of the Queen's personal servants, who she sent to make sure he got the job done. And by personal servant, I mean the one random changeling that was unfortunate enough to be chosen that morning to do all the Queen's grunt work.

"Alright, here we are. I just gotta open the shield for a second... gimme a moment." Twitch said as he pressed his hooves against the solid barrier "How am I supposed to... Oh! Right!"

With the magical identification: friend or foe in his armor triggering, the steel wall became like a weightless curtain, and Twitch was able to easily lift a small section of it over his shoulders. "I guess you should come in too." he told his changeling companion, who followed without a word.

The streets of the Crystal Empire were calm to say the least, and deathly silent and deserted to say the most. Ponies had been shut up inside their houses since it all began, and they were probably hiding in fear, or maybe being brave enough to peek out the windows. But at least it was nice and warm inside the shield.

"So where to?" came a soft feminine voice behind him.

Twitch whipped around to find a unicorn mare with a tan coat and a deep blue mane standing behind him. In less than a second his mind began going into overdrive with terrible scenarios, and he frantically looked around for the changeling, thinking it must have run off to cause some mayhem, and he'd let it in! He could feel his throat start to clench and his hooves start to sweat.

"Oh no. Oh no, oh no... I let one in and now it's gone." he started to panic "Cap's gonna kill me. Excuse me Miss! Did you see a changeling here? It was with me just a minute ago- I mean I was escorting it through the city. Or maybe it was escorting me. But that doesn't make any sense. But it was right where you're standing. And- wait-a-minute..."

The mare facehoofed while the realization donned on him.

"Ooooohhh. That's scary." he said blankly.

"What are we doing here?" the disguised changeling asked Twitch as the to of them came to a halt in front of a building "Don't you have a message to deliver?"

"In a minute." he dismissed and walked towards the place.

She took a moment to look it over; it looked like a business or a restaurant of some kind, very welcoming, with bright flashy colors everywhere. There were chairs and umbrella-covered tables set out front, and the insides of the windows were plastered with adds pushing all kinds of drinks and pastries.

Shrugging, the changeling followed him inside, taking a second near her reflection in the front window to see if her eyes and hair looked right.

A small bell above the door tinkled as Twitch pushed it open. There was no cashier behind the register, the chairs and booths were completely vacant, yet plates of cold and unfinished food was left sitting on the table, and on one side of the floor, an entire pot of coffee had been left to spill its brown murky contents all over the floor.

"What a waste." Twitch said as he looked sorrowfully at the spilled pot. "Hello? Anypony here?" he called to the seemingly deserted shop.

"No!" came a response, ironically implying that somepony was indeed here. "And if there was, he wouldn't be hiding in the back room! So don't bother checking there!"

"Oh... well in that case I'm just going to serve myself. Kay?" Twitch said and wandered behind the counter, starting up a fresh batch of his favorite with practiced and familiar ease. "Let's see... one third crystal berry blend to two thirds Manehatten espresso... three sugars and two shots of hazelnut cream standing by..."

"This is what you came here for?" came a slightly annoyed voice from the other side of the counter, interrupting his mental checklist.

"You know it." he said simply.

"Why?" she asked.

"Why? You want to know why?" he turned to face her with an almost manic grin "I woke up this morning after trying to sleep all night in a barracks full of noisy, snoring stallions! Then I was told we were getting a tour of the Crystal Empire and I thought, Sweet, this'll be fun!" he chuckled hollowly "Oh boy was I wrong. Marching up and down the square for two hours! But if that wasn't the highlight of my day, a freaking Doom Fortress-"

"Citadel."

"What ever!" he snapped "That thing shows up out of nowhere and the next thing I know, everypony is screaming and panicking and throwing pickle jars everywhere, and I'm just trying to keep up with the Captain because I don't know what the buck is going on! I got thrown through a shield- our own shield, because neither my Captain or your Queen has heard of shouting really loud! And to top it all off, it's two o' clock, and I've haven't even had lunch yet." he finished his rant, panting "So that..." he said, spreading his forelegs around himself "That is why we are here."

*Ding*

"Ooh, coffee's done!" he said, his mood making an instant u-turn on a bit. "You want anything? I guarantee I can make it."

The changeling blinked a couple times. "I'll... just have some hot chocolate, if that's fine." she told him. She then turned away and wiped the sweat from her brow.

The bell rang above the door as the two of them passed through it again. Twitch had nearly finished his second cup of coffee, and was bobbing his head back and forth, humming a little tune as they walked.

"You're in a good mood." the changeling mentioned.

"All is right with the world." Twitch sighed.

"You know we've still got our Doom Citadel parked outside, right? And you still need to tell your Captain about meeting with out Queen. I wonder that will turn ou-"

"Hmmm hmm hmmmm, hmm hmmm..." Twitch hummed louder "I can't hear you over the sound of my personal zen!" he sing-songed as he finished the last of his drink and threw the cup into a waste basket. "Swoosh."

The changeling rolled her eyes and took a sip of her cocoa. It was a pretty rich flavor, better than most she'd tasted in her many times infiltrating Equestria.

"What's your name anyway?" Twitch asked, earning a questioning glance from his follower "I feel weird not knowing what to call you."

The changeling paused for a moment. "Seruli."

"Cerulean? Like the color?"

"N- no. Not like the color, it's spelled completely different. S-e-r-u-l-i." She said, accentuating every letter.

"That's a weird name." Twitch commented.

"You're one to talk. What kind of name is Twitch?" Seruli shot back "Although it does kind of fit you."

"Yeah well, the other guards though so too." he said sadly "And my classmates in school. And my parents. And my marefriend."

"You have a marefriend?!" Seruli said, flabbergasted.

"Bwuh- I- Of course I do!" Twitch fixed her with a stare that lasted for several seconds before it morphed into a frown "Or at least I did before she broke up with me."

Seruli chuckled for a moment at his expense. "Oh you're such a silly sap, you know that?" she said with a sigh and a playful nudge at his side. "Hey cheer up. There's more out there. There'd have to be, or all us changelings would starve!"

"Yeah..." Twitch sighed glumly. "I just miss her."

Seruli rolled her eyes and finished off her cocoa , throwing it into a trash can they passed like Twitch did. "Swoosh." she said, imitating him. When she noticed he didn't look up, laugh, or even smile, she got another idea. "Hey Twitch, what was your marefriend like anyway?"

"She was amazing." Twitch said dreamily "She was so nice, and caring, and sweet, and-"

"What did she look like?" Seruli interrupted him.

Twitch thought a second on the details, deciding how to quickly sum up her looks. It was harder than he thought it would be. "Well... she had these blu-ish eyes that matched her mane; light blue, not dark blue. And she liked keeping her mane sort of long, and barely ever bothered to tie it up or anything." he rubbed his chin, not noticing the flash of green to his left "What else... She was pretty slim I guess, and had a dark magenta coat that kind of reminded me of this syrup I had on pancakes once."

Another flash of green to his right, this time he noticed.

"What are you- Oh my Gee-bus!" he screamed "Will you stop changing forms when I'm not looking!"

Seruli laughed. "Well, how do I look?" she did a quick turn around so he could get a look at her. "Did I get her right?"

Twitch got to his hooves and took a few glaces at the mare in front of him, pacing around her while rubbing his chin and then giving a long thoughtful hum. "Not even close." he finally decided and kept walking.

Seruli snorted and reverted to her previous form. "No wonder she left you." she told him with a frown as they continued on.

Dun dun dun, dun deh-dun, dun deh-dun...

A teenage changeling sat in her room, flopped lazily on her back, staring up at the posters of her favorite heavy metal bands that she had plastered to the ceiling. She slowly blinked a few times, blew the dark fringe out of her eyes, played a bit with the asthma inhaler around her neck, and then rolled over onto her stomach.

"This is so bogus." she said to herself with a huff.

Her name was Dark Spawn. But she never liked to be called that, mostly out of disdain for her mother, Queen Chrysalis; she may have been Queen, but she was horrible with names. Instead she had chosen the name Shining Scale for herself, after the royal guard her mother had used as a stepping stone in the invasion of Canterlot, and ironically, who had defeated her in the end. There was a strong sense of irony in that, something Scale could appreciate. Plus the fact that it drove Chrysalis absolutely nuts was a nice bonus.

Yes, Dark "Shining Scale" Spawn was the daughter of the Queen. And she had been grounded, yet again.

"I hate being grounded!" she yelled in frustration.

"Perhaps you wouldn't find yourself confined to your quarters so frequently if you did not anger your mother so much." Treep he-oh, one of her personal guards commented from outside the door.

Her other guard, Arr-too, merely let out a low whistle in agreement.

Just then an explosion shook the Doom Citadel, and from how frequently it happened, Scale knew it had come from the inside. There was no way she was going to miss out on this, so while Arr-too and Treep e-oh bantered on what might be happening, Scale picked up one of her pillows and one of the Equestrian bits she kept laying around her messy room. She quickly and quietly moved over to the ventilation shaft and unscrewed the cover, quickly slipping inside, using the pillow to muffle the sound of her sliding along.

Shining Scale spent a few minutes crawling through the vents of her mother's Doom Citadel, following the sounds of explosions and more often the shouts and sounds of a battle.

Finally she came to the vents overlooking the throne room; she liked to sneak over to this part some times to watch her mother give orders to her subjects, and then chuckle silently as those subjects proceeded to mess up in some hilarious manner. But what she saw this time was much more entertaining; a pair of ponies were doing battle with her mother, spells were being shot off as frequently as insults and taunts, and exploding with just as much impact.

This would have been amazing to watch, but one thing made that impossible, and that was the particular ponies involved. By their looks and how they matched up with the unflattering descriptions she'd heard Chrysalis use, those ponies could only have been Captain Shining Armor and Princess Cadence.

This was no longer something that Scale could be content with watching from the sidelines. She simply had to get in on the action. And this... this required a dramatic entrance.

"Let go of my Shiny!" Cadence yelled as she held on to Shining's front legs and upper torso for dear life.

"Not until you change my mane color back to normal! Pink does not suit me!" Chrysalis shouted back as she pulled Shining's back legs with all her might.

"Ladies please! There's enough of me to go around, but not like this!" Shining cried out in agony as he felt like his bones would give in and the mares would tear him in two any second.

Suddenly the lights went out, putting a stop to their fight as an ominous heavy breathing filled the room.

Then one of the lights went on, drawing their attention to one side of the room. One of the vents from above was covered in a dark aura as it was twisted, bent, split open, and then lowered like a ramp. And slowly descending in a dramatic fashion through the steam was... A changeling wearing a pillow case like a cape?

The three combatants just stared at the new arrival before Chrysalis spoke up.

"Dark Spawn, what are you doing out of your room?" she asked, visibly upset at her daughter's disobedience.

"I am here to greet our guests. And to put our plan back on schedule." Scale put simply.

"And... who are you exactly?" Cadence asked.

"My name is Dark Spawn. Lord Dark Spawn." she said, trying to be cool and intimidating, though her high-pitched voice failed her in that regard. "And I want you, Princess Cadenza, Shining Armor... to join us."

Cadence looked at her for a moment, trying to tell if she was serious. Shining was just glad to not be stretched anymore.

"You have seen what lengths we have gone to against each other." Dark Spawn continued "Imagine what could be accomplished if our species united!"

"That sounds... nice. Really." Cadence told the young changeling before her "But I'd never join her!" she thrust a hoof at Chrysalis.

However, Dark Spawn had one final ace up her metaphorical sleeve, and the Princess had just played right into her hoof. "Chrysalis never told you what happened at Canterlot."

"She didn't need to tell us. We were both there!" Shining pointed out the obvious "She locked Cadence in the caves and impersonated her, she messed with my mind! And then she ordered her changelings to attack the city! I don't think either of us could forget that for as long as we live."

"But you left out one very important thing Captain. After the invasion, Chrysalis had a child; she had me." Dark said, much to both ponies' shock "My real name is Shining Scale... and you... are my father."

"Shining?" Cadence looked at him and started tearing up in a mixture of anger and sadness fueled by betrayal.

"Cadence I didn't- I mean I don't think I- I can't even remember-" Shining went into a stuttering mess that would put Twitch to shame, trying to figure out when, if ever Chrysalis got him into bed. She surely didn't seem the type, or even remotely interested in him.

"No no no!" Scale stomped for attention "Not you..." she moved her hoof from Shining to Cadence "I meant Princess Cadenza! She's my father!"

The glass broke for a second time, and the two ponies stared wide-eyed at her.

"N-no." Cadence denied it with all her rational thought "That's not true; that can't be true! That IMPOSSIBLE! Literally impossible!"

"Actually... no it's not." Chrysalis chimed in, not confidently smirking or in a full blown rage, but actually timid for once. "You see, it's kind of a rare occurrence. I wasn't even sure what was happening to me until Dark's egg came out. But while I imprisoned Princess Cadenza in the crystal caverns, I had to find a way to detain her magic too, and that meant feeding on her until she could no longer use it." she looked away, twiddling her hooves "I may have taken far more than I needed to. And then when I was disguised as her to drain you of your love for her, Shining, it made the love I stole from Cadenza manifested within me as... her."

Shining was silent for a moment, mulling it all over in his mind. "So what you're saying is-"

"You two knocked me up through the power of love. Yes." Chrysalis finished and then refused to make further eye contact.

"Great! Now that that's settled..." Scale said as she walked over to Cadence "Dad, can I have some money for a tattoo and some piercings?"

Cadence simply looked down at Scale and tried to take in what she'd just heard, and promptly fell over with her eyes rolling back into her skull.

The Empire strikes

Princess Celestia sat on her throne in Canterlot, meeting with several of her royal advisers to discuss an outrageous petition by a large number of her subjects. The petition itself had surfaced in part thanks to a popular movie trilogy and its enormous following, and was spear-headed by a number of political leaders including chancellor Pal Panties. It had already received over twenty-five thousand signatures. Their request: build a "Star Killer" sky station like the one utilized by the villains in the movie.

"It's preposterous!" shouted one of her advisers "There's just no way it could ever, would ever, or even should ever be done. By our predictions, it would cost nearly eighty-five quadrillion bits!"

"I know." Clestia said with a sigh as she rubbed the bridge of her muzzle "But these ponies seem far more fanatic about this proposal than any of us could have expected, and we're running out of options. I agree that building such a structure would be a gross misallocation of time, money and resources, not to mention the reaction we would receive from the other nations; they might believe us preparing to make war with them."

"We've tried explaining all this to these fans, but these ponies argue that because they reached a full list of signatures, that we're obligated to build it." her lead spokesmare told her "It's ridiculous; that's not even how a petition works!"

"Indeed." Celestia stood up to her full height. "Therefore, I'm afraid I've no other choice. For the good of Equestria and its ponies, I must use my authority as Princess to personally veto their request."

There was a small round of applause from everypony present.

"Good, then it is done." Celestia sighed.

Just then a grey mail pony flew in, ignoring all pretense, shouts from the guards, and the important ponies in her path, hovering right up to Princess Celestia with a letter. "Mail for you Princess!" she said with a smile.

"Thank you Miss Ditzy." Celestia said to the mare as she took the scroll. Centuries had taught her a great deal about patience and tolerance for quirks, and she'd learned to just accept Ditzy's forwardness when it came to her deliveries.

She was pleased to see that it was a letter from the Crystal Empire, and eagerly unfurled it. It read in hastily scrawled words:
(Dear Princess Celestia,
The Crystal Empire has fallen under attack from a terrifying race of demon insect ponies that Princess Cadence has referred to as "changelings" as well as their leader "that husband stealing cheese-legged she-witch Queen Chrysalis".
They arrived not long ago in what one of their ranks described as a "Doom Citadel", and they have us vastly overpowered and outnumbered.
Help us Princess Celestia. You're our only hope.)

Celestia looked over the document again, checking to see if she'd read it correctly, or whether the stress of striking down a petition that would surely lead to public backlash had finally gotten to her. But sure enough, those were the actual words.

What distressed her more though was the date on which it was sent. "The twenty-fifth? But that was nearly a week ago!"

"Oops. I must have gotten lost." Ditzy shrugged.

Celestia rolled up the scroll and set it aside; urgent or no, she couldn't fault the derpy-eyed pegasus for being late, she would simply have to make haste.

"Raven." she motioned to her secretary "Postpone all meetings for today and tell my personal flight squad to meet me at the gates. I want them combat ready within the hour. We have an Empire to save... again."

"Yes your majesty. What shall I tell them to prepare for?" Raven asked as she tucked the day's planner into her mane.

"Tell them we're facing off against a changeling Doom Citadel." Celestia said grimly.

"Oooohh, I get it!" an obnoxious voice cut it from a nearby window, causing everypony to pause and direct their attention to it. "So the changelings can have a giant sky station capable of leveling entire cities but we can't? Screw you Celestia, I'm joining their side."

"Ugh, somepony get him out of here." Celestia said as she left the room.

"You can't deny us what we desire most!" the fanatic yelled as the guards dragged him off the castle grounds "We will have our victory!"

Celestia and her team of elite pegasus guards were quickly approaching the Crystal Empire, and through the freezing arctic winds they could see the massive silhouette of the changelings' Doom Citadel, standing as tall as the crystal tower and maintaining a width to match the size of the entire city. It was currently sitting stationary, just outside the city proper as it cast its gloomy shadow upon it.

Though something strange she noted, was how the Empire's shield had expanded to cover the dark tower as well.

"They must be trying to siphon energy from the crystal heart." Celestia muttered before calling to the squadron flanking her. "We're nearly there. All wings, check in."

"Red leader standing by."
"Red Skull, standing by."
"Red Hood, standing by."
"Red Neck standing by, yee-haw!"
"Red October, schtanding by."
"Red Power Ranger standing by."
"Red Bull, ready to give you wings."
"Red Lobster, standing by with new specials every week."

"Our objective is to defeat their Queen, the rest should scatter once that happens. Check the forward deflectors on your armor and follow me." Celestia ordered, setting up her own combat shield as she did "Prepare yourselves everypony, we're going in."

Her squad did as they were told, swooping down on the fortress. Their approach didn't go unnoticed though, and as soon as they got in range an alarm sounded, and they were bombarded with a multitude of colorful explosions from the Citadel's defensive cannons.

"They're shooting at us!" Lobster yelled as he tried to see through the blinding flashes of light.

The explosions and made their shields flicker and rocked them on impact, but they held their formation tight as they reached the exterior of the castle.

"There! Head for the gate while it's unguarded!" Red leader, Luke-warm Skywater pointed to the Citadel's main entrance, a large metal door which was completely unprotected save for a sheet of ice keeping it closed. "I'm gonna use the force!" he yelled as he charged straight for the door, emitting a sonic-force-boom when he reached his maximum speed.

*Clong!*

"... Didn't go in..." he muttered, embedded into the solid metal door "Just impacted on the surface... Ow..."

"We must get inside before they are able to pin us down!" Celestia yelled, and her squad instinctively got out of the way. The Princess charged up enough power in her horn to level a small mountain, focused it into a sphere the size of a golf ball, and pressed it into the solid metal door.

With a radient explosion of force, the entire massive gate was reduced to a molten sludge that pooled on the floor. The few changelings on the other side, who had apparently been sitting around doing nothing beforehoof, suddenly looked up in shock before running away screaming incomprehensible gibberish.

"Everypony, they know we're here." Red Ranger began "Move quickly and watch out for-"

Suddenly twice as many changelings reappeared, marching down the stairs and hallways towards them with plates of cake balanced atop their heads.

"Holy absconding apricots Princess! They're armed with double dark chocolate fudge cakes!" Hood screamed "Everypony take cover!"

Celestia's guards were thrown into panic and disarray as the cake-bearing changeling horde charged at them, demented smiles spread from ear to ear as they shoved the death-filled chocolaty goodness into the guard ponies' faces.

"Go on your highness!" Red Bull yelled as he choked down a giant mouthful of cake "We'll keep them off you while you defeat their Queen! Gak! No no, at least get me a glass of milk first- AAAAHHHH- Nmmph."

Celestia allowed herself one last look at the brave soldiers before turning and galloping full speed down the main corridor, leaving them to fend for themselves. It hurt her, leaving them behind, but she knew they were right; if victory was to be had this day, it was a sacrifice they were willing to make, and she would have to honor that. A tear slid down her face as she heard the echoing screams of one stallion who's diet had been officially ruined.

Celestia burst through the ornate doors leading to the changeling throne room. "Chrysalis! Your reign of terror is at an end!" she declared as she lit up her horn and aimed it at the form of the changeling Queen lazily slumped over on her throne next to Cadence as they oversaw a political debate between the crystal ponies and changelings- wait, what?

"Celestia, magnificent timing." Chrysalis droned as she raised her head from her hoof.

"Let's take a break everypony!" Cadence called "Goodness knows I could use it." she mumbled to herself as she stood up from her seat and stretched.

Celestia watched in confusion as ponies and changelings alike shuffled out of the chambers. Each group kept mostly to their own kind respectively, though the changelings were much more energetic and excited about being set free from apparent negotiations. The crystal ponies on the other hoof moved slower, allowed the changelings a wide berth, and flinched whenever one came too near.

"What exactly is going on here?" Celestia asked as she cautiously approached her niece and the changeling Queen, this was hardly what she expected to find.

"I bet you want to know what's going on." Cadence started.

"She just asked that, you twit." Chrysalis remarked, earning a glare from Cadence.

"Honestly I'm still trying to adjust to this as well, and I'm not sure where to begin. So I'll just get right to the point. Auntie Celestia, Chrysalis and I have a child." Cadence quickly shut her eyes and waited for the inevitable explosion of questions from the sun goddess. After a few moments when none came, she hesitantly continued. "I know what you might be thinking. Let's just say that when I found out.... I may have overreacted."

"That's a stretch." Chrysalis laughed, remembering what happened whenever anyone brought it up.

=====
"Cadence, honey she's your daughter! You have to face this!" Shining begged her.

"NNNNNNNNOOOOOOO!" Cadence yelled in overdramatic fashion before fainting again.

"It was quite funny... the first few dozen times at least."

"It took a while, but I finally accepted it. It was actually Scale that managed to break through to me. She's really a sweet filly when you get past all the black eye-liner." Cadence gave a small smile "But that brought a new problem. She's technically royalty on both sides, and so Chrysalis and I... we sort of... well..."

"Our little accident is the reason our kingdoms are uniting." Chrysalis cut in, and Cadence could only blush and nod in agreement. "We sent you a letter about it just this morning, we didn't think you'd get off you fat flank to get here so soon though."

"Chrissy!" Cadence snapped.

"What? You said the same." Chrysalis shrugged.

"I did receive a letter." Celestia told them slowly, still trying to process the whirlwind of information she'd been given, but she'd ask those other questions in due time. "It was from a week ago, saying you were under attack. I assembled my personal contingent of pegasus guard and rushed to aid you as soon as we could."

Just then a puff of pink flame erupted next to Celestia and a scroll with the Crystal Empire insignia dropped out. She picked it up and quickly scanned over its contents. There was quite a lot of buildup involving how much Cadence respected and cared about her like a mother and telling her not to panic, followed by a tremendous number of apologies before finally getting to the point; Princess Cadence and Queen Chrysalis had, after much debate and insistence from family members, agreed to unite their kingdoms, and they wished for Princess Celestia to be present as they finalized the documents.

"Insistence from family members?" Celestia asked.

"Scale, our daughter, said she didn't want her parents to fight, that she wanted us all to live together like an actual family, and then held her breath until we said yes. She held it so long her asthma kicked in. And then she did it again once we saved her!" Cadence told her "We were all so scared for her safety that we caved in and agreed to just do what she asked."

"That little brat will do anything to get her way." Chrysalis said bitterly, but then tears welled up in her eyes "I'm... so proud of her."

"Well, this is a quite an unexpected development, but not entirely unwanted. I only hope this agreement turns out well for us all." Celestia told them happily "Though I have to ask, if you were expecting my arrival, then why did your subjects attack me and my guards, Chrysalis?"

"What do you mean?" Chrysalis looked genuinely puzzled.

"Their cannons opened fire on us, and changelings armed with cakes tried to smother us the second we set hoof inside." Celestia told her in that no nonsense sort of way.

Chrysalis groaned and slapped her forehead. "We were preparing a welcoming party for you, Cadence insisted. Cake, fireworks, a trip to the spa... the works. Of course those idiots would mess it up, they always do."

"Actually," Celestia began with a smirk "they've yet to forcibly drag me into the spa yet. Would the two of you care to join me? Perhaps we can talk more about this matter while we get hooficures; I'm eager to hear more about it."

Cadence and Chrysalis gave each other a questioning glance. "That sounds wonderful Auntie." Cadence told her.

The walk from Chrysalis's Doom Citadel to the Crystal Empire's spa was fairly uneventful, once Celestia and Chrysalis had sorted out their respective guards of course. But one thing Celestia noticed along the way was the condition of the Crystal Empire.

It wasn't how the city looked, more about how it felt. She'd been there multiple times on diplomatic ventures and casual visits, and each time the Empire looked as sparkly and crystalline as it did now. But she noted what it lacked; enthusiasm, happiness, sheer joyful energy. Where normally the streets would be bustling with activity and ponies out and about, there was nothing but silence and crystal tumbleweeds as they walked.

A door rang above the door as the trio of royalty entered the spa.

"Greetings Princess... Princesses... and Queen." the clerk greeted them, correcting herself with each new face "What can we do for you today."

"The usual please. Thank you Lilac, I'm glad you're still open through all of this, it's been a very pressing time for all of us." Cadence told her before turning to back the other two with a smile, and motioned for them to follow her into the back room which housed the sauna.

"After you Princess." Chrysalis said to Celestia with an exaggerated sweeping of her hoof.

...

Water sizzled on the fire crystals in the center of the room, and more hot steam filled the air. Chrysalis stretched her limbs and neck, letting out a moan as she leaned back in her seat. For the first time since Celestia saw her all day, Cadence seemed to unwind and breathe normally again, the tension she'd hidden so well dissipating into the steam.

However, Celestia herself was more wound up than when she'd entered, and she had so many questions to ask. Unable to help herself any longer, she started with something simple.

"So how are you two getting along these days?"

Okay, perhaps not as harmless a question as she may have thought, as she could visibly see both Cadence and Chrysalis snap back from their bliss and stare straight at her.

Chrysalis was the first to speak up. "Really?" she deadpanned "Out of everything you could have asked, you really... Okay then. Things are not great Princess; I'm sure you can tell. At first this plan to join the Crystal Empire actually sounded appealing, save for a few minor things; if done right, we'd never need to hunt for ponies to feed on ever again. I was actually thinking about giving up the 'Conquering Equestria with my amazing new Doom Citadel' plan. But of course, there were complications."

"It's the changelings Auntie, the crystal ponies are terrified of them!" Cadence told her.

"That's your problem!" Chrysalis snapped back "It's not my fault they're a bunch of chickens. I suggested that we just disguise ourselves, but your paranoid husband said no!"

"And for good reason! I still don't trust you not to pull the rug out from under us at some point!" Cadence got into the Queen's face.

Celestia silenced them both with a simple clearing of her throat. She looked at each of them, and with a blink of her piercing eyes, told them to calmly continue.

"Most ponies are too afraid to even come out of their homes, much less do their jobs." Cadence said with a sigh "We tried to coax them out with a festival. We even brought out those darn noisy flugalhorns, knowing how much they love them. And it was going well at first..."

"But then a literal slip-up later and they found out that the friendly carnival ponies running the faire were actually my changelings." Chrysalis continued for her "The crystal ponies started screaming. And then my changelings thought it was a contest and started screaming too, like the idiots they are. There were a lot of pies to clean up off the streets by the end of that day."

"We've been trying everything to reach an agreement between my subjects and the changelings, but everything so far has fallen through. And with almost no pony working right now. The empire is officially..." Cadence paused for dramatic effect "Striking."

"Well that's not entirely true." Chrysalis corrected "My changelings have kept it from collapsing by running most of the kingdom's more mundane facilities and services. In all seriousness we could probably just start doing your jobs for you, and conquer the Crystal Empire that way. And wouldn't it be funny if that was my plan all along." she gave a sinister giggle.

Cadence rolled her eyes. "Yes Chrissy. What an absolutely brilliant plan. All you had to do was fly up to our doorstep in a giant floating castle, meet Shining and me in combat and then make an offer of peace through our illegitimate daughter. Then once you do that, just have your changelings do all the hard work around here while the rest of us sit back eating crystal doughnuts. Why, it's almost as good as your last plan to ruin my life!"

"Are you quite done?" Chrysalis asked, glaring daggers at Cadence. "After all, give me one reason it still wouldn't work."

"Simple Chrysalis." Cadence told her "They're your changelings."

Chrysalis glared a moment more before breaking her gaze. "Point taken." she conceded. "But I still would have won that day in Canterlot and you know it. The only reason we failed is because the power of boners was stronger!"

"What did you just say?!" Cadence fumed "It was love that beat you that day. LOVE darn it!"

And so the fires of war were once again kindled, and the two mares began another heated argument over the question "what it love?"(baby don't hurt me).

Meanwhile, the two of them barely even noticed Celestia watching them with the same amused smile one would wear while watching a bar fight between two hot chicks.

"I really should stop them before they hurt each other." Celestia thought as she ladled more water onto the fire crystals "But it's just so hard to take either of them seriously when they're acting like this. Oh! And now they're pulling at each other's manes... Oh my, it seems to be getting rather hot in here.[i/]

Not-so-fully operational sky station

"This is ridiculous!" Cadence shouted.

The dozen changelings running around her throne room took a moment's pause in their activities before disregarding the slight outburst and carrying on with whatever they were doing; two were playing ping-pong in the center, another two cheered them on while waiting for their turn. Still more were scribbling nonsense all over the walls with crayons, things like "Greedo shot first" and "May the schwartz be with you".

"I know right!" Shining agreed with her as the changeling next to him dropped a whole package of Mint-o's into a bottle of Sparkle-cola, making it rain sticky soda everywhere "Chrysalis can't seriously believe we'd fall for that. Could she?"

"No way. How foolish does she think we are? If we walked onto that 'Doom Citadel' of hers, we'd be right where she wants us." Cadence said while a changeling swung by on her expensive curtains. "I thought we'd seen the last of her at our wedding, but she just keeps coming back! Guh, she makes me so mad!" she groaned.

"Soothing chamomile?" a changeling to her right offered her a cup.

"Ah, thank you." Cadence took a small sip, breathing calmly afterwards. "What I can't understand is how she even got a... Doom Citadel in the first place."

"Well however she got it, she certainly seems intent on using it to beat us once and for all." Shining told her "Though she seems to be using it sparingly... for now at least."

"Uh Captain. Sorry to interrupt. But you should probably make a decision soon. You know.... before their Queen gets impatient." Twitch spoke up, his sentences getting choppy like they always did when he was nervous or anxious.

"Our Queen is known for being quite..." Seruli paused, trying to find a word that didn't put it rudely "Demanding."

Shining sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I guess we have no choice." He looked up stoically "I'll go there alone and find a way to solve this."

"No!" Cadence interjected and appeared in front of Shining in a flash of light. "I'm going with you."

"Cadence I-" Shining tried to discourage her into staying in the city where it was safe... ish. But she wouldn't even let him start.

"You're not going in there without me, buster." she prodded his chest "I almost lost you to that heartless witch once, and I'm not about to let it happen again. If we're doing anything, we do it together."

"And we'd be happy to escort you there. Just as long as there's no more being fired from cannons." Seruli told them while dropping her disguise. She then turned to the other changelings "Alright guys, time to go home!"

"HOME!" the they all echoed.

In a buzzing, giggling stampede they scooped up a very surprised Shining and Cadence and carried them out the doors of the castle and through the streets of the Empire. Those crystal ponies brave enough to step hoof outside their houses quickly rushed back inside to avoid getting run over by the amorphous black blob heading their way.

Once it had landed and planted itself firmly into the snow-covered ground, the changeling Doom Citadel looked like any other dark spooky castle. It was fit for any evil overlord, complete with an eerie green glow and dark armored minions that patrolled the walls. Honestly, one could have considered it a simple expansion on the Crystal Empire if Sombra was still around.

Shining and Cadence stood before the gate of this shadowy structure, the wind and snow whipping around them, making their scarves almost useless in keeping them warm. The two looked at each other, then to the large group of changelings who had come with them, including Seruli and Twitch. After giving each other a confident nod, Shining spoke up first.

"Hello!" he shouted over the blizzard "We've come to speak with your leader Queen Chrysalis!"

A few seconds passed and nothing happened.

"We wish to speak with her in person! May we enter?" It was only sort of true, not many would wish to speak with Chrysalis after all.

Again, there was no response.

Getting rather irritated, and tired of standing outside getting frostbite, Cadence stepped forward and used her horn to amplify her voice, a trick Luna had taught her for addressing her subjects. Something that thankfully, she very rarely used. She faced the top of the gate, stood on her hind legs and shouted up "YOU CALLED US HERE CHRYSALIS, NOW LET US IN ALREADY!"

She lowered herself back to all fours and waited.

And then a changeling fell into the snow at her hooves, causing her to jump back a bit. "We're trying, something's wrong with the gate." it told her when it popped it's head out "I think it might be frozen shut. I told them we should have made all the doors with something that wouldn't freeze over, but nooooo. Nobuggy ever listens to me."

"It's okay guys! I've got a big bucket of hot water!" one changeling exclaimed from atop the gate.

"NO!" came a collective of voices.
"Don't do it!" a final one joined in at the end.

But it was too late, the changeling emptied the bucket over the door, and the scalding hot water instantly froze, permanently locking the mechanism into place.

"Awwww!" the voices groaned.
"You idiot!"

Seruli facehooved "Well, I guess we'll have to find another way in. C'mon... I know a way."

With no easier way to get in, Seruli had led them all through a long winding trench that spanned the perimeter of the Doom Citadel. All along the sides were defensive cannons that made Shining glad they didn't have to go in under fire. Finally they came to a small hatch at the end, barely two meters wide.

"Alright, climb in everypony." she said as she held it open. Her fellow changelings eagerly went in first, followed by cadence and Shining.

"This seems dangerous." Twitch commented as he pulled himself up "What's this hatch for anyway?"

"You're all gonna find out soon enough. Just believe me when I say that this is probably the Doom Citadel's greatest weakness." Seruli told him foreboding. "One wrong move, and the whole place could be blown to rubble."

Twitch gulped, but made a mental note of that.

Meanwhile, Chrysalis was waiting in her darkened throne room, her head resting on a hoof as he sat slumped on her twisted throne. She tapped her other hoof in idle boredom as she waited for her enemies to arrive before her. She couldn't wait for them to arrive so she could capture them in her anti-magic field; she'd activate it the second they stepped into the area in front of her throne. And if they tried to fight their way out, she would have her several elite guards detain them. It was perfect.

And then once she had them where she wanted them, she make them watch as her changelings swarmed the city and turned it into a ghost town full of pony husks.

She'd then move on to Shining, and drain the life out of him before Princess Cadence's eyes. And once she had finally been broken, she'd force her to join them with the offer of bringing Shining back to her. It would be a lie of course, but she wouldn't know, and then... she'd have all the love she could ever need.

Then something, something, something, dark side... And her swarm would rule over all of Equestria!

Now... if they would just get here she could do just that.

Any... second... now...

"You there, where are they?" Chrysalis hissed to one of her guards.

"Last I heard, a small group has infiltrated the Citadel's outer defenses, through means of a secret tunnel." the changeling told her "Your secret tunnel. The one you use to get tubs of ice cream through." it clarified.

Chrysalis's eyes bulged. "But that would lead them-"

The chute beside her throne burst open, and a baker's dozen changelings along with three ponies spilled out into the room. Their combined mass as it slid across the polished floor was enough to knock over a large brazier full of green flame. That brazier fell onto the one next to it, which fell onto the one next to it, and so on and do forth in a domino effect that ended with every one of the dark dishes on sticks spilling their burning oil onto the floor.

The floor lit up for a second in an arc of lightning which promptly fizzled out without a target, letting Chrysalis know that her anti-magic field had been wasted.

Chrysalis stared first in shock at the pile of ponies and changelings before her, then at her ruined plan, and she could have sworn she chipped a tooth she grit her teeth so hard.

"You insolent whelps!" Chrysalis shrieked "Guards, seize them! All of them!"

In an instant, every changeling in the pile as well as all the elite changeling guards lining the room started making every effort to detain Shining and Cadence.

"I've got this one!" Seruli yelled as she caught Twitch in a headlock/snuggle and dragged him away. "Dibs!"

"We've got the Princess!" one of three other changelings yelled as they piled on to of Cadence.

"Oh no you don't!" Shining yelled as he repulsed them with his shield spell.

As soon as he did, another wave was already on the offensive, barring down on him before a blast from Cadence's horn flung them back against the walls. The two of them stood back to back as the swarm surrounded them, snarling at them menacingly with their gleaming white fangs.

"We've really got ourselves into it this time!" Shining said and flared up his horn. "Cadence, honey? You alright?" he asked when he felt her trembling behind him.

"I'm good. But this is so much better than filling out paperwork!" she said with an out of place giddiness.

"Enough!" Chrysalis ordered "You've got them surrounded! Archers, fire tranquilizer arrows, now!"

On their Queen's command, a squad of gasmasked changelings with bows lining each balcony on the second floor made their presence known as they conjured a volley of arrows made of a sickly green liquid and aimed it straight at the pair of ponies below them.

Shining brought up a shield as the arrows were fired, but to his surprise, none of the venomous projectiles even came close to hitting his barrier. Instead they landed amid the crowd of changeling guards and exploded into a vapor that knocked anyone who breathed in in unconscious in seconds.

"We missed!" one of the archers yelled in dismay.

Chrysalis growled at her soldiers' incompetence. "Fine then, I'll do it myself!"

Chrysalis channeled her magic into a solid beam before further shaping into a deadly looking scythe. She smirked at Cadence and Shining before dashing forward.

Her swing struck a solid pink wall, carving only the smallest of lines across its surface. She slashed away at the shield again and again, and when brute force didn't work she tried to angle her magic blade around it, only for Shining to expand his shield to block it every time.

Chrysalis growled and bore her fangs at her through the semi-transparent wall. But then she saw something move behind him and immediately dove out of the way.

The sound of cracking stone echoed through the room, and right where the Queen was a second ago rested an glowing ethereal war hammer etched with a heart.

"You get away from my Shining Armor!" Cadence yelled and charged at Chrysalis, swinging her hammer wildly at the changeling Queen.

Chrysalis blocked one of the hits early on with the shaft of her scythe, and quickly learned that was a bad idea when the magical shockwaves from the impact reached her body. So her only alternatives were dodging, and keeping Cadence on the defensive. And after the Princess's hammer nearly grazed the side of her head, Chrysalis quickly went with the second option.

Mixing in short blasts of fire from her horn, and using her weapon's reach to keep the Princess back, Chrysalis seemed to have the upper hoof. It all came to a breaking point when Cadence tripped and stumbled backwards onto her rump, and Chrysalis took the opportunity for a fatal stab.

But it suddenly turned into a whole different kind of breaking point when Shining's shield intercepted the blow right in the nick of time.

Chrysalis leap back, giving the ponies a sneer while Shining helped his wife back to her hooves.

Cadence lifted her hammer again while Shining cast an armored ward spell on the two of them, Chrysalis channeled more of her magic into her own weapon to reform the scythe's tip. And for a single tense moment they glared across the ruined floor at each other.