Crystal Heart Solid: The Twin Crysis

Chapters

Chapter One - Sneaking Mission
Chapter Two - Mission Briefing
Chapter Three - Dance Like Nopony's Watching
Chapter Four - Wet Ops
Chapter Five - Legend of the Hidden Temple
Chapter Six - The Oldest Trick

Chapter One - Sneaking Mission

The changeling hive was, for lack of a better word, buzzing with activity. It was an ancient structure, hundreds of years old, and formerly the capital of some fallen empire that had succumbed to the infighting and paranoia that overcame a society after a swarm of changelings had fed on the love of its citizens.

Drained of love for the people, the leaders became tyrants. Drained of love for their husbands and wives, couples broke apart. Drained of love for their country, nopony cared enough to try and fix things when they started to fall apart.

It was enough to make a young lady dream of being somewhere else. Somewhere where everything was perfect, just the way she’d dreamed since she was small.

“Chrysalis! Pay attention!” Queen Morpha knocked the textbook out of Chrysalis’ magical grasp, the young changeling princess unable to save it before it fell to the ground, the magazine she had actually been reading sliding out of its hiding space.

Chrysalis’ eyes went wide with fear as Morpha picked up the magazine, looking at it with critical eyes.

“Fifty ways to surprise your mate,” Morpha started, reading from the cover. “Twelve illegal sex acts and how to avoid getting caught. The best and worst dressed on the streets of Canterlot.”

She threw the magazine back at Chrysalis, the younger changeling flinching as it hit her horn and slid to the ground, Chrysalis too embarrassed to even try picking it back up.

“Idiot,” Morpha huffed. “That drivel will never help you infiltrate the ponies successfully. Most of them don’t even wear clothing, and I’m quite sure they don’t discuss any of those… other things in public. You’d be seen as a pervert.” She stopped and narrowed her eyes. “More of a pervert than you already are.”

“I‘m not a pervert,” Chrysalis muttered, looking down at her hooves and the crumpled magazine. It had taken ages to get one that wasn’t in awful condition.

“What are the three most important rules of infiltration?” Morpha snapped, grabbing Chrysalis’ chin with her magic and making her look away from the magazine.

“Never reveal your true form,” Chrysalis recited from memory. “Never endanger the hive. Always take more than you give.”

“At least you learned something,” Morpha sighed. “Now, let’s discuss your mission. This is going to be your first real test as an infiltrator, Chrysalis. All you need to do is maintain a low profile and learn about ponies. If you’re lucky, you’ll manage to make some useful contacts - even a friend or two can sustain the average changeling indefinitely as long as you’re conservative in your use of magic.”

Chrysalis nodded, keeping her eyes on her mother.

“Have you decided which city you’ll be infiltrating?” Morpha asked.

“Canterlot,” Chrysalis said.

“That’s a bold choice. Why?” She said bold, but her tone made it sound a lot more like stupid.

“It’s full of important ponies. Fashion designers, composers, the nobility…” Chrysalis sighed, smiling and thinking about how she’d obviously fit in perfectly.

“And the home of the only pony alive who has ever defeated me in combat,” Morpha frowned, her crippled wings buzzing raggedly.

“Princess Celestia knows changelings exist. It’s entirely possible that others share that knowledge.”

“I’ll stay away from her,” Chrysalis said dismissively. How hard could it be? She was a giant white pony almost the size of the Queen.

“If you don’t, she will kill you,” Morpha retorted. “And worse than that, I’d have to pull back some of my own plans. It could cost me years of hard work! Decades! If you got caught, I’d kill you even if she doesn’t.”

“I’ll act like my life depends on it.” Chrysalis’ voice dripped with sarcasm.

“Good. Remember you said that.” Morpha stalked to the far side of the chamber, collapsing onto a throne in the way only an exasperated elder could manage. “Get out of here, and don’t come back until you’ve done something worthwhile for the hive. Prove you’re worthy of the time and energy I spent to make you.”

“Prove I’m worthy,” Chrysalis huffed. “As if.” She rummaged through the piles of junk in her room. Some of the many benefits of being a royal - private rooms and access to the finest stolen trash and treasures from Equestria.

Chrysalis found what she was looking for. Saddlebags. She started packing the essentials for her long journey.

“Mother’s plan is so useless,” she said, talking to herself. She looked up at the cracked mirror in the corner, running a hoof through her patchy mane. “Maybe if I was some average drone, a scouting mission would be sufficient. She has her aim set so low! A few contacts? Get in and get out without being noticed?”

Chrysalis scoffed and stuffed a half-dozen cans of pickled jalapenos in her bag.

“My own plan is so much better.” She grabbed a scroll from her dresser and unrolled it.

“Step one, infiltrate Canterlot. Anyone could do that.” Chrysalis turned, trying out a few disguises. Most of them were just nondescript ponies, with nothing special about them. Suitable for fading into the background where even the most careful eyes would overlook her.

“Step two, use my natural beauty and charm to rise to the top of the social scene.” She looked at herself in the mirror again, smirking, and assumed a slender, graceful form, the very picture of beauty. She’d mostly copied an up and coming model named Fleur, though with a few changes to the color scheme. Chrysalis couldn’t stand pink. “That should take a week at most.”

“Step three, meet the stallion of my dreams and marry him, just like in all my stories~” Chrysalis sighed happily and packed one bag entirely full of romance novels, all of them dog-eared and worn from being read over and over again. She giggled to herself, picking up a stuffed white stallion in felt armor.

“It’s going to be so perfect! He’ll love me for who I am, and we’ll get married and have a honeymoon and we’ll even have time for that thing with an eggplant and jelly-”

She danced with the stuffed stallion and spun, turning to see another changeling standing in her doorway. Chrysalis froze in place. She was lucky chitin couldn’t turn white from terror.

“How much did you see?” She asked, her voice barely coming out as an uneven whisper.

“I didn’t see you playing with your doll again, Princess Chrysalis,” the changeling said, very carefully not looking at her.

“T-that’s good.” She shoved the doll in her pack. “What do you want?”

“I’m here to escort you to the hive exit,” he said.

“Does Mother think I’ll manage to get lost in my own hive?” She rolled her eyes.

“She also asked me to give you a map, some Equestrian currency, and to remind you not to get caught.” He hesitated. “Queen Morpha further implied I should hit you several times and call you an idiot to ensure you didn’t forget.”

“Can we pretend you did and skip that?” Chrysalis asked.

“Yes, please, ma’am,” the changeling said. He levitated over a small bag of bits and a rolled-up map. It was a rough depiction of Equestria, less for navigation and more to give the general lay of the land.

“Excellent.” Chrysalis’ hoof traced a path from the Badlands all the way to Canterlot. It would be a simple journey, and then she could begin her hunt.

“Why is this so haaaaaard?” Chrysalis complained, as she collapsed into the grass on the side of the road. It was a bright, sunny day. The birds were chirping. The sky was blue. She’d even managed to land near wildflowers.

“Stupid ponies and their stupid, weak bodies,” she mumbled. Her hooves were sore, and her legs felt heavy. “How can they even stand to walk around with completely solid legs? It’s unnatural!”

She sighed, lounging on the soft grass. At least that was something ponies were good at. Sitting around. They were soft and cuddly and she could just imagine some kind stallion finding her, and taking her in, and caring for her and falling in love.

Chrysalis giggled and rolled over.

“I wonder what having a job is like. I’ll probably have to get something inconspicuous until I’m rich and famous.” She looked at the clouds overhead. They were puffy and soft-looking, not like the scraggly, thin clouds of the Badlands. “Maybe I could make slime. Everyone needs slime.”

“As I’ve explained before, we don’t have any openings for a… slime… enthusiast,” the stallion said. He looked at Chrysalis like she was something unpleasant. She checked her disguise in the mirror behind the desk to make sure she hadn’t gotten something wrong. Tall, slender unicorn mare. Teal mane. She smiled. No fangs. She’d had to practice for weeks to make sure she remembered to get that right.

“But I need a job!” Chrysalis exclaimed.

“I’m sure you do. How about we go over a few things and we see if you have some relevant skills?” The stallion offered. “Your resume is… questionable at best, but sometimes an interview tells more than words on paper.”

“Right, sure.” Chrysalis considered using magic to charm him. It would certainly work, but she didn’t have a supply of love yet, and if he didn’t want her, she’d have to spend far more love maintaining the charm than a few casual friendships could replenish.

“First, why do you want to work here at Hayburger Princess?”

Chrysalis considered the question. She’d heard that honesty was important in an interview. She just have to make sure she didn’t reveal anything about the hive, and maintain her cover as a normal, average pony. Who was also beautiful and perfect in every way.

“I want to work here so I can gain currency in exchange for my services.” Chrysalis smiled. She’d definitely nailed that! His expression was still a tight frown. Had she done something wrong? Had her answer been too perfect?

“...Okay. What’s your greatest strength?”

“My cunning, adaptability, and mastery of deception!”

“I’ll just write down ‘customer service’.” He checked a box on the form in front of him. “And what’s your greatest weakness?”

“I’LL NEVER REVEAL MY WEAKNESSES, PONY SCUM!” Chrysalis screamed.

“I thought ponies were supposed to fall all over themselves and accept apologies for anything as long as you pretend you mean it.” Chrysalis sniffled. She had to admit she’d overreacted a little, but the fire had been contained very quickly, and it wasn’t her fault that she’d somewhat misunderstood the question. She’d retreated to one of the many parks to get away from the press of ponies around her. She needed a few moments alone to compose herself. It was the first time she’d really felt like she’d failed.

“Hey there,” somepony said, as they sat next to Chrysalis. “Are you okay?”

“I’m just having a bad day,” Chrysalis mumbled. She didn’t have the energy to turn and look at her. What was the point?

“I can tell. I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you new in town?”

“Canterlot isn’t as nice as I’d heard,” Chrysalis said, looking at her hooves. She wasn’t sure why this pony was bothering with her.

“It’s definitely different,” the mare agreed. “I had to move because of, well…” she trailed off, as if unwilling to continue the sentence, or as if Chrysalis should have been able to figure it out on her own.

“I really messed up a job interview,” Chrysalis admitted. It felt good to just say it. With no other changelings around, she could talk more freely. “I don’t think it could have gone much worse.”

“You’re really upset, I think.” The voice sounded oddly unsure. “You can’t have messed up that badly.”

“You have no idea-” Chrysalis looked up. The pony in front of her had wings. And a horn. And wings! And a horn! She promised her mother she wouldn’t get caught, and now she was in front of Princess Celestia, and she was-

She was much shorter than Chrysalis had expected. And pinker. She hated pink.

“Please, you don’t have to bow,” the alicorn said, sounding sheepish. Chrysalis was confused for a moment. She wasn’t bowing. She was cowering. Tactically. The foolish Princess clearly couldn’t tell the difference between a changel- a pony showing deference and a predator ready to strike.

“Right. Yes. Bowing.” Chrysalis said, avoiding her gaze and straightening up. To her surprise she found that she was actually taller than the princess, even in this disguise. Clearly, it was a sign that changelings were the superior race, as tallness had always been the primary determinator of power and the right to rule.

“Do you want to talk about what happened? A beautiful mare like you shouldn’t be crying in the park.” The princess gave her a warm smile. Chrysalis swallowed back her fear. She had to maintain control of this situation.

“It’s nothing. I just… don’t interview well,” Chrysalis said. “I got nervous and started to panic.” That, at least, was true.

“Most ponies don’t handle pressure very well,” the princess said. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I’m still learning to deal with this whole… princess thing. I mean, just a few years ago I was just an orphan, and now ponies are bowing and expecting me to be some kind of great leader…”

She sighed. Chrysalis tilted her head, confused.

“A few years ago? But I thought you’d ruled Equestria since before written history and…” She trailed off as the pink alicorn’s eyebrow rose. Chrysalis felt herself starting to sweat again. Clearly she’d missed something very important in her training. “...and… you’re… not Celestia?” She ventured.

The pink alicorn started laughing. Chrysalis had never been more embarrassed in her life.

“That’s- you really thought-” the alicorn snickered. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh. I guess I’m just so used to everypony knowing who I am. It’s actually kind of refreshing to meet somepony who doesn’t know.” She held out a hoof. “I’m Cadance. What’s your name?”

“Chrysalis,” she said, and immediately regretted it. She’d given her real name! To an alicorn! She was going to be thrown into a dungeon, and not the nice dungeons like they had at the hive, but the really awful ones where the guards would come by every day and remind her that she was a disappointment to her mother and her people! There probably wouldn’t even be any slime.

“That’s a nice name,” Cadance said. She shook Chrysalis’ hoof. “You know, if you’re having problems finding a job, I could probably help you…”

“N-no!” Chrysalis said. “I mean… I need to do it on my own.” The less the alicorn was involved with her, the better.

“I know the feeling,” Cadance smiled, shifting closer to the disguised changeling. “It just isn’t as fulfilling when things are given to you. Earning them feels better.”

“S-so what is a Princess doing in a park?” Chrysalis asked, falling back on her training. Ponies loved to talk about themselves. All she had to do was make sure she kept Cadance talking about herself and she’d be able to escape without raising more suspicion.

“Foalsitting,” Cadance explained. She gestured to where a group of smaller, weaker ponies were engaging in combat against one another. Or perhaps they were playing. Chrysalis wasn’t entirely clear on when ponies started their combat training. Changelings learned to defend themselves almost from birth, but ponies were softer. Much softer. Almost as soft as the Princess who was increasingly getting closer and closer.

“Foalsitting…” Chrysalis considered. “So you’re… taking care of one of those?” She looked at the ponies, trying to figure out which was important enough to have a Princess watch over her. Surely it would be the biggest and strongest. Being big and strong meant you were important enough to be regularly fed.

“Mmhmm…” Cadance said. She pointed off to the side, where a filly was sitting in the sandbox, her snout buried in a book.

“Her?” Chrysalis tilted her head. She didn’t seem like anything special. If anything, she looked scrawnier and weaker than the others.

“Her name’s Twilight Sparkle. She’s a very bright little filly. I’ve been trying to drag her out of her shell, but…” Cadance shrugged. Chrysalis felt a pink wing brush against her back. These ponies clearly had no sense of personal space. She stayed perfectly still, just in case it was some kind of challenge.

“But what?” Chrysalis asked.

“She’s almost as hard to read as you are,” Cadance laughed. “She bottles everything up inside and she’s really shy. But you know, I can’t read you at all, and I’m usually pretty good with it. It really makes you… mysterious. And interesting.”

Chrysalis felt a bead of sweat work its way down her face.

“This may seem really sudden, but maybe we could get something to eat later-”

“Cady! Twily!” A new voice broke the awkward tension. Chrysalis turned to look and found herself face-to-face with the most handsome stallion she’d ever seen in her life.

The snow-white pony was almost the same shade she’d chosen for herself, even their mane colors were nearly identical. He was muscular, and tall, and had the most wonderful smile, and she could just feel her heart melt. This was the one! She had found the perfect stallion to become her husband and love her forever.

“You’re drooling a little,” Cadance whispered. Chrysalis wiped her mouth.

“Probably because of these corn dogs!” The stallion said, holding out a half-dozen batter covered… things. “Do you want one, Cady?”

“Um… n-no thanks,” Cadance said, her smile falling a little.

“I’ll take one!” Chrysalis said. Sharing food with a pony was one of the fastest ways to get them to love you. Or at least that was the rumor.

“Well sure!” He hovered one over to her. She grabbed it with her own magic and sniffed at it. It smelled like corn.

“Thanks,” Chrysalis said, smiling up at him.

“Who’s your friend, Cady?” He asked.

“Oh, this is Chrysalis. She’s new in town.” Cadance said, almost dismissively. “Chrysalis, this is Shining Armor. He’s Twilight’s big brother.”

“I’m charmed,” Chrysalis said, fluttering her eyelashes. And if she could just get a few moments alone with him, he might be just as charmed with a little magical persuasion.

“I’m gonna see if Twilight wants a corndog!” Shining replied, trotting off obliviously. Chrysalis felt her eye twitch. Her charms hadn’t worked at all. He was clearly made of sterner stuff.

Cadance waited for him to go before speaking up again. “I wouldn’t get your hopes up.”

Chrysalis slid her gaze over to the alicorn, her smile tight. “Oh?”

“He won’t pay attention to you unless you’re covered in batter and deep-fried.” Cadance sighed. “Trust me. I know.”

Chrysalis snorted and bit into the corn dog. Her teeth slid through the breading and into something solid. She frowned and pulled back, looking at the food.

“...This is just a corn cob with breading on it.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to impose…” Chrysalis said.

“The least I can do for a new friend is take her out for a meal,” Cadance said, smiling a little too broadly. Chrysalis was uncomfortably reminded of a predator.

“But this is supposed to be a special meal!” Twilight protested. “For my BBBFF and the best foalsitter ever!”

“BBBFF…?” Chrysalis tilted her head.

“Big Brother Best Friend Forever!” Twilight explained, huffing as if it was obvious.

“I’m joining the Guard!” Shining Armor put in. He had eventually been convinced, after both Twilight and Cadance ganged up on him, that corn dogs from a street vendor weren’t what they had in mind as a going-away dinner.

“The Royal Guard...” Chrysalis muttered, considering. It made sense. He was a big, handsome stallion. He’d look just wonderful in armor. Or out of armor. On her bed. She started drooling again until she realized Twilight was staring at her. The filly’s eyes were narrowed in annoyance, her ears back.

“I don’t wanna eat with her. She’s strange,” Twilight pouted.

“No I’m not,” Chrysalis said, huffing. Her disguise was perfect. She’d checked several times.

“You act strange,” Twilight continued, the foal narrowing her eyes at the disguised changeling. “I don’t think you’re really a pony.”

“That’s so silly,” Cadance laughed. “Twilight, of course she’s a pony.”

“Nuh-uh! Ponies don’t act like her!” Twilight stomped her hoof.

“And foals don’t read books on Quantum Magnetothaumatics,” Chrysalis countered, glancing at the titles of the books Twilight was reading. “Maybe you’re the one who isn’t a pony.”

“No way! I’m a pony!” Twilight protested.

“I don’t know, she’s got a point…” Cadance considered.

“Cadance, you know I’m a pony!” Twilight yelled, face turning red.

“Can you prove it?” Chrysalis asked.

“Prove it?” Twilight put a hoof to her chin, thinking. “W-well, we could go to a doctor and have him sign a paper that says I’m a pony. Then it’d be official because doctors are always right.”

“Unless you used your reptilian shapeshifter mind control powers on him,” Cadance said, with a teasing grin.

“Reptilian shapeshifters?” Chrysalis asked, suddenly nervous again.

“Uh-huh! Just like in Daring Do and the Republican Party Nomination!” Twilight said, hopping in excitement. “They’re big snake lizards that live underground and tried to take over Equestria using mind control and paying ponies off with secret reptilian gold!”

“Is that so?” Chrysalis laughed a little.

“It’s okay, though,” Twilight said. “Daring Do stopped them using magical orgone bombs from the lost Cattleantis city of Moo.”

“It’s Twily’s favorite book series,” Shining Armor added. “Or at least her favorite book series where I can pronounce all the words.”

“Almost all the words,” Twilight corrected. “You got Azuhotl’s name wrong. But they’re still my favorite, because you and Cadance read them to me.”

“I’m just glad I can get you to read something that doesn’t have math in it,” Cadence said. “I’ll make you a deal, Twilight. If you let our new friend eat with us, I’ll take you to the Canterlot History Museum next Tuesday.”

Twilight considered the offer carefully. “Even if I wanna stay and listen to one of the lectures?”

“Even if you want to stay late to ask questions,” Cadance confirmed.

“Okay,” Twilight said. “But I’m watching you, strange lady. You’d better not try to use MSG to turn us all into slaves!”

“...I promise I won’t?” Chrysalis said, unsure of what the proper response was. Or what MSG was. Probably some sort of pony enchantment spell. It seemed to satisfy the filly, though, and she nodded severely and trotted off after her brother towards the restaurant.

“She’s still learning how to talk to other ponies,” Cadance said, lingering behind with Chrysalis. “Twilight really is a nice little filly when you get to know her.”

“I’m sure,” Chrysalis said. She wasn’t really sure, but it seemed like the polite thing to say.

“Are you coming?!” Twilight yelled back. Cadance waved and pulled Chrysalis along with her. The changeling had a feeling that this was going to be a disaster.

A few glasses of wine and a plate of pasta later, and Chrysalis was feeling like maybe, just maybe, this wasn’t a disaster after all.

“You only packed pickled peppers?” Cadance asked, shocked.

“They’re my favorite food!” Chrysalis protested. “I didn’t think I’d get tired of eating them.” She stuck out her tongue. “But after a few days I started not liking them so much. They’re good as a treat, but only having sour, spicy food kind of gets to your stomach.” Changelings didn’t strictly need to eat, but having real food helped supplant their need for love.

“That’s not a balanced diet,” Twilight said, with the assurance that only a foal could manage. “You should have brought peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They have almost all the food groups.”

“They would have gone stale after a few days,” Chrysalis said. Not that peanut butter was something she’d have been able to get her hooves on. Her mother had a weakness for it, and any peanut butter in the hive was the property of the Queen by ancient law, violators punished in horrific ways involving fresh ginger and places where ginger shouldn’t go.

“If you’re having trouble finding a job, you could always join the Guard,” Shining Armor suggested.

“The Guard?” Chrysalis scoffed. “Why?”

“The Royal Guard protects Equestria!” Shining Armor said, happily.

Chrysalis waited for him to continue. He did not. “And?”

“And that’s why I’m joining,” Shining Armor said. “I want to protect everypony. There’s only so much I can do on my own, but as part of something bigger, the Princesses will send me where I need to go to do the most good. It’s not something I could do on my own, no matter how strong I am.”

“He’s really strong, too,” Twilight asserted. “I built a thaumameter and used it on him when he was sleeping and it said he had-”

“Twilight, what have I told you about experimenting on ponies while they’re asleep?” Cadance sighed.

“Don’t do it without permission…” Twilight mumbled.

“That’s right,” Cadance said. She looked at Chrysalis and smiled. “Twilight’s sometimes too clever for us to handle. Ever since she got the letter from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, she’s been studying about twenty-five hours a day.”

“She’s exaggerating,” Twilight corrected. “It’s only twenty hours of studying, then four hours of sleep. It’s not even possible to study for twenty-five hours a day.”

“Unless she asks Princess Celestia very nicely to delay sunset for an hour each day,” Chrysalis put in, unable to stop herself.

Twilight’s eyes went wide, her ears perking up at the completely brilliant and totally feasible idea, and she turned to Cadance.

“Twilight, you know it’s not a good idea,” Cadance said, shaking her head.

“But Cadanceee…” The filly managed to drag out the word in ways that even Chrysalis found impressive, the final sound managing to hit every note on the scale and convey total desperation and exasperation. “I need to make sure I’m ready for any question they ask me! What if they want me to create a Hipponic Solid, or isolate a monad?!”

“There’s such a thing as being over-prepared, too,” Cadance said. “You don’t want to fall asleep in the middle of the test.”

Chrysalis snorted. “Studying isn’t important.”

Twilight looked at her with horror. “I knew she wasn’t really a pony! She’s some kind of demon from Tartarus!”

“Studying isn’t important because you can fake it,” Chrysalis continued. “You just have to be confident. If you aren’t confident, it doesn’t matter if your facts are right, because no one will believe you.”

“B-but… I have math! And diagrams!” Twilight reached for her saddlebags.

“So? You don’t sound sure of yourself. If you’re not even sure about your own facts, why should I take them seriously?” Chrysalis raised her eyebrow.

“Actually, that’s a good lesson,” Shining Armor agreed. “It was something my hoofball coach always said - a leader has to be able to make a decision, even if it’s the wrong one. Doing nothing is almost always wrong, and making ponies feel like you know what you’re doing is key.”

Chrysalis smiled and nodded. “Exactly!” She leaned towards him, her casual lounge almost reaching across the table thanks to her lanky frame. “It’s what a big, strong, handsome stallion should be good at~”

“Celestia sort of said that too,” Cadance agreed, pulling Chrysalis back before she could make Twilight even more uncomfortable. “But it’s better to know what you’re talking about.”

“And I know the Guard,” Shining Armor said. “I might not study like my little Twily here, but I’ve been preparing myself for this my whole life. I’ve read books, done battle simulations-”

“Ogres and Oubliettes isn’t a tactical simulation, no matter how much you say it is,” Cadance teased.

“The point is,” Shining Armor said, trying to maintain composure despite the pink tinge to his cheeks. “I’m going into the Guard because it’s what I’ve always wanted. Just like how Twily is going to end up a bookworm at school.”

“I’m a pony, not a worm,” Twilight mumbled.

“If you don’t have anywhere to go, you could join the guard,” Shining Armor suggested. “The big recruiting drive is tomorrow.”

“It’s not something to just decide on a whim,” Cadance cautioned. “It’s not the kind of thing where you can, um, fake it until you make it. It’s hard work, it can be dangerous, and it’s a big commitment.”

“And you would have to pass the tests to get in,” Shining Armor added.

“You wouldn’t make it,” Twilight said, sounding sure. “Shiny worked for a long time to get ready, and he’s the best big brother. You’d have to work twice as hard. And I’m not sure if they’d take a strange pony like you.”

“I could pass if I wanted to,” Chrysalis huffed. Anything these ponies did, she could do better.

“Don’t let them pressure you into anything,” Cadance sighed. “If you really need a job, I’d be happy to help. You seem like a really good mare.” Even if she couldn’t tell what Chrysalis was feeling, she’d gone most of her life without that kind of cheating, and she could read ponies well.

Not that Chrysalis was a pony. Or good, for that matter. But even Cadance wasn’t perfect.

“Join the Royal Guard,’ Chrysalis snorted, as she paced in the park. “What a stupid idea.” She’d been walking around the fountain for what felt like hours. She had a room waiting for her in a seedy little motel, but she needed space and air, two luxuries she’d never gotten in the hive. Being alone with her own thoughts was liberating and confusing at the same time. No mother to tell her that her ideas were stupid. No drones constantly after her help and approval. Just her, and her decisions.

“I mean, it would put me in a position to get intelligence and influence from within,” Chrysalis said, to nopony. “I would be able to get access to classified documents, move freely, act with authority that I couldn’t otherwise have.”

She stopped, looking at her reflection. Her perfect disguise.

“But on the other hoof…” She mumbled. “I’d have to keep up this act for years. Pretending to be a pony, surrounded by ponies who are all trained and experienced at rooting out threats to Equestria. It would be absurdly dangerous.”

She snorted, looking away, turning to a statue of Celestia.

“It would be the kind of deception worthy of a Queen! Or a fool.” She shook her head. “Mother would tell me I was an idiot for considering it. The risk is so great… and the reward…” She blushed as she thought of Shining Armor, letting out a raspy purr. “I could make him mine, stay close to him and make him love me~”

Chrysalis leaned against the statue, looking up at the night sky.

“It should be an easy decision to make, but he’s just so perfect~” She giggled. “How am I supposed to decide?”

Something caught her eye, a glint on the cobblestones. A single bit, left lying on the ground and forgotten. She grabbed it in her magic, holding it up in front of her eyes and letting it rotate.

“I’ve done plenty of foolish things today. What’s one more?” She spun the bit faster and faster until it was a blur. “I’m gambling either way, aren’t I? So heads, I go and join the Guard. Tails, I play it safe and…” she shrugged. “I don’t know. Come back in a few years with an army and take him by force? That’s what Mother would want.”

She flipped the coin into the air, and the rest was fate.

Author's Note

I don't have nearly enough unfinished stories, so I'm starting another one.

More seriously, this is what's been keeping me busy for the last few weeks. It's been fun to write, and I wanted to be almost done with it before I started posting anything.

Chapter Two - Mission Briefing

Every fall, as the recruits graduated from basic training, their fates were decided by a secretive council of elders, guided by magical artifacts and prophesy.

...Or at least that was the rumor.

The truth was somewhat less fantastic, but involved much more drinking, which suited the ponies in charge just fine.

“I’m telling you, she’s a menace!” General Iron Hoof said, pounding his hoof against the ancient table, nearly spilling his ale. The table wasn’t quite an artifact, but it had managed to survive generations of other earth ponies, many of them his ancestors, abusing it in similar ways.

Or not quite so similar, given the scandal with his grandfather. General Steel Shod and his secretary had found all sorts of creative uses for the table, which ended after he had forgotten to clear the schedule that day (his secretary had presumably been too busy serving his other needs to take care of his calendar) and several Centurions found him out of uniform, to put it politely. Ever since that incident, his family had taken a dim view of mares being in the Guard.

“I think she’s quite creative,” countered Dusk Flash. The magus shrugged, flipping through the recruit’s file with her orange magic. “Sleeping spells instead of stun bolts, a firm grip on illusion spells. She hasn’t exactly mastered the expected curriculum, but she does well enough within her own specialties.”

“So then you’d feel comfortable putting her in a front-line unit?” Wingwolf asked. He pointed at the file, wings fluttering with annoyance. “During the wilderness survival exercise, she systematically ambushed and captured all of the other trainees!”

“You have to admit it’s an achievement,” Dusk Flash said.

“Not when she was supposed to be working with them!” Wingwolf snorted. “Chrysalis has a pretty face, but she has no teamwork.”

“I think it says something about the other recruits that a single mare was able to disable all of them,” Dusk Flash retorted. “That kind of talent is useful for an independent operative like a battle magus or scout.”

“So let’s put her in a solo assignment and give her enough rope to hang herself,” Iron Hoof said. “I don’t want her to drag any of the more promising recruits down with her.”

“There is one available,” Dusk Flash said, with a certain amount of hesitancy. “It’s… not high profile to the general public, and not a critical position. But there is an issue.”

“What issue?” Wingwolf asked.

“The position was recently vacated after the last guard posted there took required leave for a mental breakdown,” Dusk Flash continued. “And we’d have to promote her. Assuming Princess Celestia allows it at all.”

“We’d have to do that for almost any unusual capacity,” Wingwolf noted. “What do we have that’s so bad it gave a stallion a nervous breakdown? Guarding some portal to Tartarus? Cursed artifact duty?”

“Worse,” Dusk Flash said, pushing a form across the table.

“Don’t tell me you want her guarding the Royal Cake Reserve!” Iron Hoof yelled. “Do you remember what happened last time we posted somepony new and the Princess decided to make a withdrawal? It nearly bankrupted the economy of Trottingham!”

“No, nothing so dramatic. Just a little escort mission.” Dusk Flash held the form up for him.

Iron Hoof looked at it and hissed. “That’s…”

“Quite bad, yes. Dangerous to life and limb, the constant threat of being humiliated, and having to deal with…” Dusk Flash shuddered. “...the shipping.”

“Draw up the transfer form,” Wingwolf said, his voice low. “And may Harmony have mercy on her soul.”

Chrysalis looked at the scroll in her magical grip, reading it over again. For some reason it stubbornly refused to change. It should have had her orders to report for guard duty in the castle, but instead...

“Stalliongrad?” Chrysalis asked. She only had a very vague idea of where it was. Far to the north, a lot of snow, frowning faces. Not the best place for changelings - even ones disguised as Royal Guards. To be fair, even the average pony only knew a few scraps about the place. It was far enough from central Equestria that only the tax offices of the Royal Revenue Service had any regular contact with it.

“You’ll be on VIP guard duty during a meeting between Yakyakistani officials and Equestrian diplomats,” Captain Wingwolf said, as he walked with her. He’d delivered the orders himself after verifying their contents and having a few stiff drinks. “The position does come with a promotion to Evocatus, with the pay bump retroactive to the beginning of the month.”

“Why is anyone even there?” Chrysalis frowned. She stopped for a moment to adjust her armor. It had already been customized quite a bit, but there was only so much they could do without forging something new entirely for her lanky frame. It almost made her wish she’d picked something less classically beautiful.

Almost. It was still useful for turning heads. She just needed to get through this assignment and get close to Shining Armor. Close enough to slip under the covers of his bunk~

“It’s an arms reduction treaty,” Wingwolf explained, waiting for her to adjust her harness. “It’s taken a long time to bring the Yaks to the table on this. The full details are for the diplomats, but what’s important is that we and the Yaks are going to be reducing the size of our navies, and possibly ending some trade restrictions.”

“That sounds good?” Chrysalis ventured.

“It breaks almost a century of silence to our attempts at diplomacy,” Wingwolf agreed. “The VIP you’re escorting is only scheduled to be there for the opening ceremony along with the Yakyakistani leadership delegation.”

“So we just… fly up there on an airship, do a little meet and greet, and turn around?” Chrysalis frowned. “That’s so inefficient.”

“That’s how diplomats live,” Wingwolf said. “We aren’t expecting any trouble. You’ll be the personal guard and escort for the VIP, but overall security operations are already being handled on-site.”

“What are my duties, then?” Chrysalis asked, putting the scroll away.

“For the most part, you’re going to provide close, visible protection to the VIP. If anything happens, you’re going to be responsible only for her, not any of the other diplomats.” Wingwolf stopped as they got to a security checkpoint, the two guards standing by saluting and letting them pass to the secure section of the Canterlot airship docks.

“So just stick close to the VIP and keep her out of trouble,” Chrysalis said, shrugging. “Not that hard. Who is my mysterious new superior, anyway?”

“You’ll meet her onboard the Defiant,” Wingwolf said. He stopped at a gangplank. “And this is as far as I go. I wish you luck, Evocatus Chrysalis.” He saluted. A moment later, Chrysalis returned the gesture.

“Thanks, sir. I’ll bring her back home safe.”

“I’m holding you to that.”

Chrysalis walked around the ship. She hadn’t seen many airships, even in her time in Canterlot. They were rare even in most of Equestria, and Changelings had never developed the technology at all. From what little she understood, it used a matrix of spells similar to the ones that kept the weather factories of Cloudsdale from falling through the clouds,

The whole ship was small compared to the whale-like behemoths in the other docks. It was perhaps the size of a house, streamlined and sleek. It almost looked like some kind of pleasure boat or yacht, but...

She stopped and ran a hoof along the hull. It looked like simple oak, but the surface felt more like wrought iron, cold and hard.

“Ironwood beams sandwiching a layer of Orichalum,” said a voice behind Chrysalis. She stopped and turned to look. An older stallion stood there, watching her. Her eyes flickered up and down his form for a moment. Salt and pepper mane, the gray from age and not something he was born with. From his build and the scars just hidden under his coat, he practically screamed ‘Royal Guard’ even without a uniform.

Maybe he was retired. Chrysalis didn’t see any weapons, or sense a threat. Just expectation and a little bit of curiosity.

“They have some Ironwood weapons in Canterlot,” Chrysalis said. “It’s made from a type of tree from the Everfree, right? It has to be worked under high pressure and temperature, but it doesn’t burn and it’s almost as strong as steel.”

“Almost, but a lot lighter,” the stallion agreed.

“Just the Ironwood would cost more than some of those ships out there. Even the military battleships.” Chrysalis looked out across the dock. “Quite an expensive little boat.”

“I’m Stone Soup, Captain of the Defiant, and the only crew this little boat needs.” He held out a hoof. Chrysalis looked at it for a moment, then shook.

“Evocatus Chrysalis. So what’s the Orichalum part?”

“Magical gold. Only Celestia knows how to make it.”

“It’s armored with gold?!” Chrysalis recoiled.

“Not as heavy as it sounds, and practically invulnerable. Absorbs magical energy and impacts. The only problem is how much it costs.” Stone Soup nodded for her to follow him, and Chrysalis walked down to the lower deck with him.

“I bet. You could buy a kingdom for how much this ship is worth.” Chrysalis was a little sick. Sure, Equestria was rich compared to the Hive, but this was insane. How could they justify this kind of expense? Actually, that was a good question. “How can they justify this kind of expense?”

“They really didn’t tell you anything, did they?” Stone Soup asked, shaking his head. “Figures. Royal Guard SOP, don’t tell nopony nothin’.” He stopped in front of a door. “This is your cabin. Across the hall is the VIP. I sleep up top, behind the bridge. I’m just gonna leave you two to get acquainted.”

“You said that in an ominous way.”

“Yes I did.”

“Why did you say that in an ominous way?!”

“He’s just worried that you’ll get scared off like my last bodyguard.”

Chrysalis turned, slowly, as if too sudden of a motion would alert the predator behind her. The door to the VIP cabin had cracked open, and Cadance stood behind her, smiling.

“I tried to set him up with Captain Soup, but they just kept denying that it was a perfect pairing.” Cadance sighed. “I just know he and Flash would have gotten along, but they were torn apart by duty and the pressures of society!” She swooned, raising a hoof to her forehead and leaning against the doorframe.

“I told you, I’m straight!” Captain Soup yelled from abovedecks.

“That’s just an excuse,” Cadance said, somewhere between teasing and a pout. “They’re in denial. Which only makes it so much cuter!” She leaned towards Chrysalis. “I’m pretty sure they still send letters to each other.”

“I can see why your last guard had a nervous breakdown,” Chrysalis muttered.

“Speaking of which,” Cadance said. “You’re not exactly the tall, dark stallion I ordered, but I suppose you’ll do.” She giggled. “I’m kidding! Your face was so- so-” She laughed.

“Promise me that you’re not going to try and set me up with a yak,” Chrysalis said, flatly.

“There aren’t any promises in love,” Cadance said, turning around. “Come on in. We need to get caught up!”

“...so I picked him up and threw him over the wall without even using magic, and he starts screaming before he even lands!” Chrysalis laughed, almost spilling the tea she was holding. “It was great. He didn’t complain about how hard it was to fly in armor after that.”

“That’s so awful,” Cadance said, trying to sound like she disapproved despite her smile. “The drill instructors are supposed to do that, not other recruits.”

“We were graded on our time as a team,” Chrysalis said. “From the time the first recruit set off until the moment the slowest crossed the finish line. It was his fault we had to run extra laps almost every day, and I was getting annoyed.”

“What about constructive criticism?” Cadance suggested.

“Too much effort,” Chrysalis said, dismissively. “I want to be judged on my own merits, not get held back by expectations on another pony.”

“I do understand that,” Cadance said, her smile fading. “Celestia has been the only Princess here for a thousand years. If I try and do anything that she wouldn’t, either ponies think I’m a poor substitute or…”

“Or they have nervous breakdowns?” Chrysalis grinned. She didn’t have fangs at the moment, but it was toothy enough even without them.

Cadance stuck out her tongue. “Or that. I’m the Princess of Love! More or less, anyway. I should be allowed to help ponies get together!”

“Maybe I should be asking your advice on how to get together with Shining Armor,” Chrysalis wiggled her eyebrows. “Assuming you don’t already have him paired up with some damsel in distress somewhere.”

“He’s almost as much of a black hole as you are,” Cadance said, shrugging. “Well, more like a brick wall. He’s a big, happy, stallion, and I don’t think he’s going to understand romance until he finds something he loves more than fried food, hoofball, and marching around in platemail. Maybe he’s changed now that he’s in the Guard. But you’d know about that more than I would, right?”

Chrysalis considered the question.

“I don’t really know for sure,” she started. “We were in different camps, so I didn’t get to train with him.” Which was an awful waste, really. It would have been so easy to manipulate her way into his bunk.

“I can see the look on your face,” Cadance teased. “You were thinking of playing around in the mud with him~”

“Princess,” Chrysalis coughed, trying to hide a blush. It was much more difficult to hide on a white coat than black chitin, especially while maintaining a disguise. “Basic training wasn’t just playing around in the mud. It was difficult.” Not for a changeling, of course, but it would have been difficult for a pony.

“So what kind of training does my new bodyguard have? Parade formations? Armor maintenance?”

“Well, we learned hoof-to-hoof combat…”

“Recruit! Did you just attempt to tear out your CQC partner’s throat with your teeth?” the drill instructor snapped.

“Well, um…” Chrysalis stammered. It hadn’t worked very well with flat pony teeth instead of fangs. She spat out the hair in her mouth and looked down at the pony she’d pounced on. After the mock combat had started she’d sort of blanked out for a moment and let her predatory nature take over.

“Ugh, it’s like a giant hickey!” the stallion complained, rubbing at his neck.

“Excellent work!” the drill instructor said. “That’s using your instincts!”

“That must have been hard for you,” Cadance said. Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. Cadance immediately started backpedaling on that. “I just mean you’re not the sort of mare- you’re not a big musclebound-” she groaned. “I’m going to stop before dig myself in so deep I hit Tartarus.”

“It wasn’t as hard as you might think,” Chrysalis said, amused by Cadance’s embarrassment. She was starting to feel more in control. “The worst part was the food.”

“Really? I didn’t think the Guard mess hall was that bad.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised at what you have to do to get by…”

Silver Shield shivered at morning roll call, feeling anemic and drained.

“Good morning~” Chrysalis said, as she trotted up to stand next to her. She looked far too rested and happy for such an early start.

“Mmph…” Silver Shield said. Sort of said. It wasn’t a word, but it did manage to convey all sorts of information.

“Didn’t sleep well?” Chrysalis asked. “Don’t tell me you’re having nightmares again.”

Silver Shield shuddered at that and nodded. Every night, the same dream. A wonderful date with her coltfriend, and then an awful, draining sensation like her dreams were being sucked right out of her. It was bad enough that she would have already dropped out of training if not for her bunkmate, Chrysalis, encouraging her to keep going.

“That’s too bad. I had a great night!” Chrysalis said. She licked her lips. “Delicious.”

“I’m just glad I get to have you as my personal guard,” Cadance said. She nibbled at a cucumber sandwich and looked up at Chrysalis. “I wanted to see how you were doing since we last met.”

“We barely even met before,” Chrysalis said.

“I know! Such a waste!” Cadance sighed. “It wasn’t like I could forget, though. I can’t feel you, and that’s just so strange…”

Chrysalis reached out with a hoof and gently prodded her shoulder. “You seem solid enough.”

“That’s not what I mean and you know it,” Cadance giggled. “I mean I can’t sense your emotions.” She saw the confusion on Chrysalis’ face and continued, completely mistaking the source of the Guard’s bewilderment. “I can usually feel the emotions of the ponies around me. Love, happiness, joy… and sometimes sadness, or anger, or hate.”

Cadance stuck out her tongue, disgusted. Chrysalis could sympathize. Negative emotions tasted terrible.

“I don’t feel anything from you, though,” Cadance continued. “It’s the strangest thing. You’re so mysterious! Did you have some kind of special training?”

“All kinds of special training,” Chrysalis said, amused. “I am a Guard, after all. We’re trained to resist interrogation. Even from a pretty pink pony Princess.”

“I meant before that.” Cadance tried to hide a blush. “Like when I saw you in the park that first time, I couldn’t read your emotions then. It was like, um…” She tried to think of a good metaphor for it. “It was like finding a quiet spot in a noisy room. It’s hard to block out the feelings I get from other ponies.”

She took off her crown, looking at the gems.

“Celestia made this herself to help me deal with it. It doesn’t block emotions entirely, but it makes things more bearable for a while. Otherwise I start to get an awful headache. Canterlot is just too full of ponies with too many dreams and feelings.”

“Do you ever turn it off?” Chrysalis asked.

“Sometimes. Especially at night when ponies are sleeping.” She paused. “Or at least sleeping together.” She giggled.

“Cute,” Chrysalis snorted.

“Anyway, the point is, I can’t just feel you out. I can’t cheat.” Cadance put her empty teacup down. “I want to get to know you the old fashioned way, and this is a great opportunity for it!”

“I’m not that easy to get to know.” Chrysalis finished her tea. “Thank you for the tea, Princess Cadance. I need to get my bunk settled before we set off.”

“I’ll let you escape this time.” Cadance stood, and Chrysalis stood with her. Learning proper social protocol had been the hardest part of her training. It wasn’t easy going from being nearly at the top to almost all the way at the bottom (according to the drill instructors, the pecking order went roughly like this - the recruits, the dirt on the instructor’s hooves, the drill instructor, and then Celestia herself, because they didn’t answer to anypony else.)

Chrysalis got to the door before Cadance spoke up again.

“It’ll be a long trip. I’ll get some answers out of you eventually.”

“You can try,” Chrysalis muttered.

“Three years of basic training to sit on a boat as far away from Canterlot as possible,” Chrysalis muttered, as she looked out over the railing. There was an ocean of trees below them, slowly changing from broad-leafed trees to the pines and firs of the north. They weren’t far enough north of Equestria proper to see snow, yet.

The prospect of that scared her, a little. Changelings usually didn’t do so well in the cold. They’d hold up well enough with a disguise, of course, but it was very unpleasant. Back at the hive, it had almost never gotten cold enough for still water to freeze. Until her training in Canterlot she’d never even seen snow.

She hadn’t expected it to be puffy and white and soft. Then again, it had been made by ponies. They loved fluffy things.

“You could also take it another way,” Stone Soup said. Chrysalis jumped a little in surprise, so absorbed in her own thoughts that she hadn’t even felt him coming. He leaned on the railing next to her. “They trust you enough to take care of a Princess on your own. That’s a pretty big responsibility.”

“I know,” Chrysalis frowned. “It just isn’t what I expected.” She should have been happy about it. That kind of trust was exactly what she wanted. The kind of thing an infiltrator would be willing to kill for.

“It’s a little too late to back out now, unless you know a spell that’ll let you sprout wings.” Stone Soup pulled a flask from his jacket, sipping from it. “Long way down and a long way that direction until we stop again.” He gestured towards the bow.

“You might be surprised!” Chrysalis smirked. “I know a lot of spells.” That was only partly a lie. As a royal changeling, she certainly had more tricks up her sleeves than most of her kind, but a real unicorn battle mage had much more versatility.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from someone the Princess picked out herself,” Stone Soup agreed. He held up the flask. “Drink?”

“What?” Chrysalis blinked.

“Vodka. All they drink in Stalliongrad. Better to get used to the taste now so you don’t make a fool of yourself when you end up drinking with the locals.” He took another sip himself. “Made from potatoes, apparently. Tastes like Tartarus, but it does keep the cold away.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Chrysalis growled. “Cadance said she wasn’t expecting me. She didn’t pick me out.”

“I misspoke. Advanced age and all that.” He held out the flask again. Chrysalis took it angrily, sipping at it and almost spitting it right out. “Warned you about the taste. But what I meant was, it’s not normal for somepony fresh out of basic to get an assignment like this. Usually they stick them with experienced guards first, kind of make sure they get banged into shape before they can develop bad habits on duty.”

“I must have impressed them.” The second sip went down easier, now that she was expecting it. It did make her feel warm inside. Almost like love.

“I’ll say,” Stone Soup agreed. He took the flask back and put it away. “When I said the Princess picked you out, I meant Princess Celestia. Apparently she gave the approval for the transfer herself. You’ve got friends in high places.”

“That’s impossible,” Chrysalis snorted. “I never even met her. The closest I’ve come was saluting on graduation day, and I wasn’t even in the first row.”

“Well, she does work in mysterious ways,” Stone Soup shrugged. “You know, you might fit in pretty well in Stalliongrad. Been there a few times myself. They’ve all got that same kind of lean and hungry look you do.”

Chrysalis smiled at that. “You have no idea.”

A week. A week without touching the ground. Trapped in a small space with a Princess and an old codger that still managed to sneak up on her. Worst of all, she was starting to experience what cold weather could do to a frail pony body.

“ACHOO!” Chrysalis sneezed, snorting and wiping her nose. She looked up hatefully at the grey clouds overhead. The gray sea below. The flurries of snow falling between the two. She hated all of it quite a bit.

“Careful or you’re going to catch a cold,” Cadance said, as she stepped out on deck. Chrysalis glared at her. The princess didn’t seem even a little chilly, while Chrysalis was wrapped up in her thin blanket. The scratchy wool provided the same amount of protection against the cold as would some happy thoughts, and Chrysalis was fresh out of those.

“I’ve already got plenty of cold,” Chrysalis retorted. “I’m not trying to catch anything.”

“I mean you’ll get sick.” Cadance sat down next to her. “There’s not much to look at out here, you know. Besides you, anyway.”

“Isn’t that enough?” Chrysalis raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, definitely. You might be the most attractive mare for miles around.”

“I’d be flattered if we weren’t over open water.”

“You can be flattered anyway,” Cadance assured her. “But I did mean it when I said it was cold out here. Unicorns don’t handle the cold as well as a pegasus like me.” She blushed. “Um, former pegasus. You know what I meant.”

“Are you worried I’m going to be jealous of you because you’re an alicorn?” Chrysalis asked, faintly amused, as she felt a thin thread of worry from the princess. She looked at Cadance, turning her attention from the weather to the pink pony next to her. The princess looked almost ashamed.

“When I first came to Canterlot, my being an alicorn… it caused a lot of problems. The nobility all seemed convinced I was going to ruin the nation, everything I did ended up in the papers, and then there was Sunset Shimmer…”

“Who?” Chrysalis tilted her head.

“She was Celestia’s student. They had a falling out because she thought I was going to take her place. They got into an argument and she just vanished.” Cadance fidgeted on the seat, playing her her long mane for a moment. “Twilight and her family were the only ones who really treated me like a normal pony.”

“Luckily for you, I’ve been told repeatedly that I don’t show nearly enough respect or deference to my betters,” Chrysalis said, smiling. “And I won’t get jealous. Believe me.” She did, after all, have both wings and a horn in her natural form.

She sneezed, ruining the moment they were having. She was starting to hate the way that ponies managed to secrete slime from the least useful orifices for it.

“Well, you might get jealous after this,” Cadance said, spreading her wings. She wrapped one around the shivering pony next to her. “Pegasus down is waterproof, warm, and extremely comfortable.”

“It’s also usually difficult to get without a pegasus complaining about it,” Chrysalis noted. “They don’t seem to like being plucked.” She instinctively moved closer to the warmth. It was pretty comfortable. Ponies definitely made better pillows than any of the changelings at the hive. Maybe she could be a little jealous of Cadance’s wings after all.

“You’re so awful,” Cadance laughed.

Chrysalis snorted, half with laughter and half with phlegm, and they watched the sea for a while in silence.

“Anypony ever told you that you pace a lot?” Stone Soup asked, as he watched Chrysalis on what had to be her tenth lap of the night around the deck.

“I don’t like being confined,” Chrysalis said. “I’ve been stuck on this boat for days. Even in Canterlot I could get away for a while and go for a walk around the woods or the city streets. There’s not even anything to look at except for you and the Princess, and no offense, but you’re definitely the worse of those two options.”

“I’m surprised you’re not spending time in her cabin, then,” Stone Soup chuckled.

“She’ll probably start asking about my family again,” Chrysalis muttered. “I’m getting tired of telling her that I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Can’t blame her too much. She was an orphan, after all,” Stone Soup shrugged. He joined Chrysalis as she passed him, walking around the deck with her. She slowed a bit to let him keep pace more easily.

“What happened to your leg?” Chrysalis asked.

“Hm?” Stone Soup glanced at his left front leg. “Just because you’ve got those long noodles you call legs doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with me for bein’ a little slow in my old age.”

“You’re limping,” Chrysalis said. “And trying to hide it. Badly.” Changelings had a natural eye for body language. Sometimes it was the only way to tell friend from foe.

“I wouldn’t be much of a soldier if I didn’t have a few scars for my troubles,” Stone Soup retorted. “Nothin’ much to tell, though.”

“Tell me,” Chrysalis pressed, feeling him trying to dodge the question. “What was it? Throwing yourself in front of a crossbow to save Celestia from an assassin? A wild timberwolf attack? Or maybe rescuing a foal from a burning building?”

“Pie,” Stone Soup said, flatly.

“I didn’t know pastries were so dangerous.”

“They are when they’re at the top of a long marble staircase because some idiot decided it was too much trouble to put it back on a damn table,” Stone Soup grumbled. “Wasn’t watching where I was going and I ended up with a compound fracture and covered in blueberry jam.”

“And they couldn’t fix that in the hospital?” Chrysalis frowned. She’d always assumed ponies had better medical technology than changelings. After all, they couldn’t just moult to make everything feel better.

“They probably could have until I found the idiot that left the pie on the stairs and punched him hard enough to make him spend a week in the trauma ward with me.” Stone Soup stopped to rub at his shoulder. “Never did quite heal right after that. Chipped somethin’ in my shoulder joint.”

“I bet you regret it.” Chrysalis stopped. He didn’t seem like he really wanted to keep up, and she would feel awkward trying to have a conversation if he was standing still.

“Don’t be silly. Some ponies deserve to be socked in the snout.” He grinned. “Last thing you want is to get old and full of regrets."

“I don't regret anything I've done,” Chrysalis said, turning away.

“Sometimes it's worse with the things you didn't do,” Stone Soup shrugged.

“Don't be silly,” Chrysalis shot back, over her shoulder. “I already know what I want, and I just have to wait for the right moment to get him- I mean, to get it.” She looked over the railing, her expression falling. “I think.”

Author's Note

Politics!

Anyway, some notes. Ironwood is a relatively rare material, if only because the places where it grows naturally tend to resist any sort of intrusion, and it has never been cultivated successfully. It's most often used in making polearms, as branches are easier to work than trying to make boards out of the trunk.

Orichalcum is an extremely rare material. Royal Guard armor is colored gold because it used to be made of the stuff, back when the force was small enough and they saw enough combat to make it worthwhile. These days, Royal Guard armor is mostly just gold-plated.

Orichalcum is all but indestructible by normal means, with the main weakness being that it needs to release the force and energy it absorbs, typically along the edges of plates made of it. This means that Orichalcum items need to be made in as few pieces as possible, because they'll literally tear themselves apart at the seams if they get hit too hard. The plates tend to be undamaged, though, so once you hose the blood off, hey can be reassembled with little difficulty.

Chapter Three - Dance Like Nopony's Watching

“Are you ready yet?” Chrysalis yelled, annoyed. It definitely wasn’t proper to use that tone with a princess. It especially wasn’t proper when you were her personal guard - and that’s all she was. Chrysalis had to keep her goals in mind, even if Shining Armor was increasingly far away.

“Almost!” Cadance called, from deeper inside the palace. “Are you feeling any better yet?” She sounded much too happy.

“I’m fine,” Chrysalis said, avoiding actually answering that. She’d had a headache since they’d landed. She wasn’t sure if it was the gray buildings and gray snow or the gray ponies wrapped up in gray cloaks thinking gray thoughts and feeling gray emotions. It was like eating ashes, and she was already counting the minutes until she could leave.

She looked out into the night, though with the glare and the poor window glazing, mostly she was just looking at her own reflection. At least the dress uniform fit fairly well. She adjusted her high collar, pleased with her appearance.

“At least I make this look good,” Chrysalis smiled, turning to look at her own flank. She wiggled it a little. She made it look very good.

“See something you like? I know I do.” Cadance asked. Chrysalis blushed and turned around, standing at attention. The princess was wearing a slim dress, with just enough layering to make it look extremely expensive, as if the pink diamonds sewn into the neckline weren’t enough for that.

“The slit in the skirt goes up so high I can see some of your cutie mark,” Chrysalis said. “I think everypony in the room is going to see something they like.”

“If I’m stuck being eye candy, I might as well make the most of it, right?” Cadance walked around Chrysalis, examining her. “You definitely make for a perfect escort, though. You can be all prim and proper and keep me out of trouble.”

“A dress like that isn’t for staying out of trouble,” Chrysalis said.

“But it will make sure you’re watching me,” Cadance teased. “I want to make sure my private bodyguard is keeping their eyes on my body all night long.”

“That won’t be a problem,’ Chrysalis said. Her eyes widened for a moment as she realized that she’d said that out loud and coughed, trying to cover up her words.

Cadance laughed.

The Palace of the Winter Star was one of the oldest still-occupied structures in Equestria. There were a few ruins that were still standing, but they were just that, ruins, and only of real interest to archaeologists.

Chrysalis walked behind Cadance as they passed windows large enough to use as entire walls, the glass old and wavy, distorting the city outside.

“You know, Celestia told me a story about those windows,” Cadance said, looking back. “They were made a thousand years ago, before ponies had really mastered the art of glassmaking. Large areas of perfectly clear glass like that were almost impossible to make. After the Crystal Empire fell, a lot of refugees came here, and they brought some of their secrets with them. The windows were a gift to the ponies here for letting them stay, and it’s said they’ll never break as long as their descendants call this place their home.”

“Cute,” Chrysalis said. “Before we get to the conference hall, we need to talk.”

“Sure.” Cadance smiled, stopping. “What about? The whole time we were on the Defiant, you barely wanted to talk at all.”

“Security.” Chrysalis rolled her eyes as Cadance gave her a pouting face. “Look, it’s my job to worry about keeping you safe. I just want to make sure we’re on the same page.”

“Don’t worry so much,” Cadance said, smiling. “Look over there.” She pointed. There were stallions in the local guard uniforms standing at attention at a door. “Every entrance and exit has guards posted. Ponies entering the palace are being searched. The yaks weren’t even allowed to bring more than a few of their own soldiers. There’s no danger here.”

“There’s always danger,” Chrysalis countered.

“You’re so serious,” Cadance sighed, leaning against a decorative railing. “Okay. Since you want to foalsit me instead of treating me like an adult, what do you want me to do?”

“First, we have to stick together.” Chrysalis started pacing. “I don’t know this palace, so if you go off without me, it’s going to be hard to find you.”

“Stick together, huh?” Cadance grinned at that. “So you want to keep me close by.”

“Second,” Chrysalis said, ignoring Cadance. “If I tell you we’re leaving, we’re leaving. I don’t care if that means we’re leaving other ponies in danger, or if you’re having fun, or whatever. I’m supposed to keep you safe, not worry about anything else.”

“You know I outrank you, right?” Cadance said. “If I’m going to follow your rules, you have to follow mine, too.”

“Cadance-”

“If you follow them, I won’t mention to Celestia that you can’t keep your eyes off my flank~”

“I- that’s- I’m just keeping tabs on you for your own safety.” Chrysalis frowned, fighting back a blush, her hears folding back.

“Let’s see… since you want us to stick together, that means my first rule is that you have to be interesting company. No more ignoring me or dodging questions.” Cadance stepped up to Chrysalis and put a hoof under her chin, lifting it up so their eyes met. “Second, since you’re threatening to keep me from having any fun, you have to dance with me at least once.”

“That’s improper,” Chrysalis said, though there wasn’t much force behind it.

“Maybe. But it’s what I want,” Cadance said. She smiled and lowered her hoof. “I don’t want a bodyguard hanging around me if I can’t get along with them as a friend.”

“Fine. One dance.” Chrysalis relented. “But I don’t really know how.”

“Don’t worry,” Cadance said. “You can’t be worse than Twilight.” She smiled at a stray thought. “You know, she still thinks you’re some kind of monster.”

“I’m the worst kind of monster,” Chrysalis said. “The kind that has to keep ponies from jumping you after they’ve had a few drinks and they see what you’re wearing tonight.”

“Scary~” Cadance laughed. “Come on. The conference hall is this way.”

Chrysalis followed her through several guard posts, giving the soldiers sideways glances as they passed. If the civilians in the streets were blurs of gray emotion, they were like walls of steel. She saw Cadance frown as she passed them, evidently feeling the same thing. There was a coldness to them that the regular Royal Guard didn’t share.

“I’m glad I don’t have one of them with me,” Cadance whispered. “You’re a lot nicer than they are.”

“Do you think they had to take a special class on glaring angrily at nothing?” Chrysalis asked.

“I’m pretty sure it’s a standard part of their training.” Cadance giggled, covering her mouth to try and hide her mirth. “Careful. You don’t want to get on their bad side.” She quieted herself as they came up to a set of ornate double doors. The guards stationed there pulled the doors open in perfect concert, moving as smoothly as machines.

A wall of sound hit them, rolling over the two in a surge of light music and voices. Chrysalis could feel the emotions even from here, annoyance and boredom covered up in layers of sickly-sweet false happiness and polite discourse. It was the taste of politicians and bureaucrats.

Cadance didn’t taste like that. She was always genuine. Instead of cloying, there was a sweetness like-

Chrysalis shook her head, dismissing the thought. She needed to focus. The room itself wasn’t so different than Canterlot, at least in the general layout. Musicians on a raised stage, playing something between jazz and classical, light enough to be background music that wouldn’t interrupt anyone’s conversations. Buffet tables off to one side. A dance floor, currently unoccupied, and most important of all - an open bar in the back.

“Diplomacy has a three-drink minimum,” Cadance said, following Chrysalis’ gaze. “You wouldn’t believe how often peace comes down to getting everyone involved drunk enough that they can stand to talk to each other.”

“Trust me, I can guess,” Chrysalis said. “That must be the Yakyakistani delegation.” She nodded subtly towards the massive forms. They seemed to mostly be keeping to themselves, and as she watched, two of them literally butted heads. For a moment she thought they were going to start fighting before they started laughing at each other.

“Let’s mingle,” Cadance said. “Just stay behind me and be polite.”

Chrysalis nodded and followed her, staying silent as Cadance said a few words to each of the ponies there, even greeting the Yaks in their native tongue. She could feel the genuine admiration that other ponies had for the Princess. They practically worshiped her.

It made her jealous. It was what she wanted. That easy, unconditional love. And Cadance made it look so easy. It wasn’t her looks. They didn’t want favors from her. Everywhere she went, she left ponies looking happier for having met her.

Chrysalis watched her, trying to figure out how she always seemed to know the right thing to say.

“What do you drink?” Cadance asked, suddenly turning to Chrysalis.

“Drink?” Chrysalis was caught off-guard. They’d wandered over to the bar while she was only half paying attention. “I can’t drink while I’m on duty.”

“I'll give you permission,” Cadance said, smiling. “It’s fine. Besides, you look like you’re not having much fun.”

“I’m not here to have fun. I’m here to protect you.”

“And you’ll protect me better if you’re a little relaxed,” Cadance smiled warmly. “Come on, what do you want? I know Stone Soup liked straight vodka, but I think it’s a little rough, myself.”

“Let me guess - you’re more of a wine person? Maybe a berry wine?” Chrysalis guessed.

“Wine is okay for cooking, but for drinking, I prefer something a little sweeter.” She turned to the bartender. “Can I get some orange juice and vodka?”

“A screwdriver?” Chrysalis asked. “That still seems like more serious drinking than a Princess should manage.”

“Alicorn metabolism,” Cadance smiled. “It takes a lot before I even get tipsy.” She took her drink from the bartender and sipped at it. “Would you like one?”

“I’ll have, um…” Chrysalis considered. Drinking on duty wasn’t something she liked to do, but she had practically been ordered to do it, and it would certainly help with the cloying fake emotions that were already giving her a headache. She decided to settle on a safe answer. “I’ll have what you’re having.”

“Brave. I like that.” Cadance grinned and got her a drink. “You know, there aren’t many ponies that can say a Princess bought them a drink.”

“I hope not.” Chrysalis sipped at the drink and almost spat it out, coughing for a moment. “I think you accidentally got me straight vodka.”

“Now, now. Don’t waste it,” Cadance scolded. “This is Stalliongrad. They make the drinks very strong at this sort of function.” She paused. “Besides, maybe after you have a few drinks you’ll open up a little.”

“Of course. An agenda. I should have expected that.” Chrysalis took another sip, ready for the strong drink this time.

“So, I think you agreed to answer some of my questions?” Cadance smiled.

“I guess I did.”

“Let’s see… we’ll start with an easy one. How old are you?”

“You could have gotten that from my file,” Chrysalis said. “It’s hardly classified information, even if it’s a little rude to ask a lady her age.”

“Please?” Cadance asked.

“Fine. If you really want to know, I’m the same age you are. We practically even have the same birthday.”

“Ooh~” Cadance smiled. “But only practically? So you’re a little older than me? Or is it younger?”

“I thought only foals cared about a few weeks here and there,” Chrysalis countered.

“Okay, okay,” Cadance sighed. “What about your family?”

“My mom raised me. She didn’t come to Equestria with me.” Chrysalis looked up for a moment, briefly wondering how the Queen was doing. “I wanted a better life. I think she knew I’d end up leaving for good.”

“Do you miss her?” Cadance looked down at her drink. “I never even got to know my real parents. I mean, I’m grateful. I was raised by a lot of ponies, and all of them wanted the best for me, even before I was a princess. But none of them were…”

“Your mom?” Chrysalis guessed. Cadance nodded. “I miss her, sometimes, even if we did butt heads a lot. When things get tough, I wonder if she was right about me wasting my time chasing dreams like… finding a handsome stallion to take care of me and love me.” Chrysalis snorted. “That definitely went off the rails. I tried to chase one and…” She shook her head.

“Not all bad, though,” Cadance smiled. “I like to think I make pretty good company, even if I’m not a stallion.”

“You do,” Chrysalis said, the corner of her mouth turning up slightly.

“Ah, you must be Princess Cadance,” said a friendly voice. “I apologize if I’m interrupting?” An earth pony stallion stepped between Cadance and Chrysalis. Chrysalis felt her hair stand on end for a moment before she got herself back under control. Cadance had told her to be polite, and that meant not blasting somepony just for interrupting a conversation.

“Hello,” Cadance said, shooting Chrysalis an apologetic look. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“My name is Miller,” the pony said, brushing back his golden mane. “Grain Miller. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I saw you a few times in Canterlot, but we were never formally introduced.”

“From Canterlot?” Cadance asked. “So you’re not native?”

“Well, yes and no. I’m a farmer by trade. Or more accurately, I trade crops and own land and let other ponies do most of the work. You sort of need it with grains like wheat, oats, that sort of thing. Fruit sells itself, but barley takes a little more work.”

“A farmer is an odd sight at a peace treaty signing,” Chrysalis noted.

“You’re absolutely right, miss…?”

“Chrysalis. She’s my friend and my personal guard,” Cadance said. “I have to agree, though. It is a bit odd, if you’re not a diplomat or a local businessman.”

“Well, keep this on the down-low,” Miller said, leaning in to speak more quietly. “But with the trade restrictions that are being lifted, the Yaks are going to allow agricultural shipments. Equestria’s main exports are weather and food, and I plan on getting a headstart in the market.”

“I get it,” Chrysalis snorted. “So you’re here to meet their delegation, get your name on their lips, that kind of thing.” She sipped at her drink. The vodka was a lot easier to handle now, every sip numbing her tastebuds bit by bit.

“Exactly!” Miller smiled. “You’d make a good businesspony. Got the looks and the smarts. I can see why our fair Princess took an interest in you.”

Chrysalis hesitated at that. Did he mean Cadance? Stone Soup had mentioned something about Celestia before on the Defiant. Maybe she was just being paranoid.

“I’m here to sell them on something better than grain shipments,” Miller smiled. “I want to sell them the whole package. Seeds, farming techniques, expert help getting farms set up. I’ve even got the perfect crop. Type of hybrid wheat and rye mix called quadrotriticale. High-yield, grows practically anywhere it’s planted, even in permafrost.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know much about farming,” Cadance admitted. “But that does sound like it could help them.”

“I hope so,” Miller sighed. “They’re big on tradition, but they seem sensible enough to try things our way if it might help. This arms reduction treaty is proof of that.” He shook his head and smiled. “But here I am, talking your ear off. I think the least I can do in return is offer you a dance.”

“Oh, well…” Cadance looked at Chrysalis. “Sure. But just one.” She passed Chrysalis her drink and walked out onto the dance floor with him as a simple tune started, other couples joining them once somepony had broken the ice and occupied the dance floor for the first time.

Chrysalis frowned. She wasn’t sure why. It shouldn’t have bothered her. She could tell that Cadance didn’t care for the stallion, any more than she cared for anypony else, but… seeing them dance together annoyed her.

She sipped at her drink, watching them. Cadance was a graceful dancer, better than Chrysalis would have imagined, almost like she was floating and barely touching the ground. Miller had clearly taken at least a few classes himself, though he was a bit stiff compared to the princess.

After Miller, another pony asked for a dance, and Cadance obliged. The mare, a cute pegasus, took her into the air for a whirling spin around the dance floor. When they parted, Cadance ended up with one of the Yaks, letting him lead her on what was clearly a very practiced rendition of a formal dance, the Yak moving precisely to a rhythm just slightly off of the music.

Chrysalis took another pull from her drink and found it empty. She looked at the bottom of the glass wondering how all the vodka had managed to get inside her already. At least it felt warm, even if she was a little sick. And that was probably just the vodka too. It had nothing to do with watching Cadance dance with another pony, this time a tall stallion with the elaborate jewelry of the Saddle Arabians.

“It shouldn’t matter,” Chrysalis muttered to herself. They were, after all, just friends. If that. Cadance didn’t know anything about her.

For a moment, her reflection in the bottom of the glass looked like what she really was. Twisted, black chitin and a patchy mane. A monster. If Cadance knew what she looked like, they wouldn’t be friends. They wouldn’t even be a princess and a bodyguard. They’d be enemies. That was just the way things worked.

“Are you okay?” Cadance asked. Chrysalis blinked. She hadn’t heard the music wind down. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror behind the bar. Despite what she’d seen in the glass, her disguise was still holding up.

Of course, she’d had a lot of practice hiding what she was.

“I’m fine,” Chrysalis snapped, a little more annoyance in her voice than necessary. She felt bad about it immediately, but Cadance just looked at her with obvious worry.

“Are you sure?” She took her glass back, stepping closer to Chrysalis and looking into her eyes. “You look tired.”

“It’s… just been a long trip,” Chrysalis said. “Sorry. I promised I wouldn’t keep you from having fun, and I meant it. I’ll be okay. I just need to wait for the vodka to work its way out of me.”

“If you say so,” Cadance sighed.

“I’m tougher than I look.” Chrysalis leaned against the bar. “You don’t need to worry about me. Worrying is what I’m paid to do, remember?”

“I suppose,” Cadance admitted. She put her drink down on the bar. “But I wanted you to have some fun too. Speaking of which, I think you owe me a dance.”

Chrysalis scoffed. “You haven’t had enough already? I’m probably the worst dancer in the room. I’ve got four left hooves, I can’t fly, and I’ve never taken any classes. I’d be a pretty awful bodyguard if I ended up bruising your hooves stepping all over them.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Cadance said, firmly. “A dance isn’t about being good at dancing, and it doesn’t reflect the type of pony you are. Just look at the ponies I danced with so far…” She nodded across the room.

“Miller learned how to dance in finishing school, but he hasn’t really kept up with it. He only knows older dances, which is fine for impressing business partners, but he doesn’t enjoy it. It’s just another part of doing business for him, not fun.”

She looked at the pegasus, who was dancing with two more partners now. “Raven Wing is only here because her father wanted her to come and be seen with all these important ponies. Dancing with me was just so she’d have a story to tell later when she’s with her real friends.”

Her gaze drifted over to the Yak. “Ambassador Cowron is the most important yak in the entire delegation, and he wanted to show that he respects our traditions. He practiced that dance for weeks to make sure it was exactly perfect, though he didn’t seem to notice we were dancing to a slightly different tune.” She paused. “Or he was too worried to change, with how focused he was on the details.”

“And the Saddle Arabian?” Chrysalis asked, curious now.

“He’s a prince, and not into mares at all. Their culture doesn’t really allow for that in public, though, and he’s an old friend. We have something of a standing agreement that we’ll always dance, to let him save face… even though he’s actually here with his coltfriend.” Cadance waved across the room to the prince, who was standing very close to a pony who Chrysalis wouldn’t have been able to place as colt or mare unless she’d been told in advance.

“It sounds like you already know everypony here,” Chrysalis said. She was starting to feel stupid. It was just like Stone Soup had said - they didn’t tell her anything.

“Almost everypony.” Cadance turned to her. “It comes with being a diplomat. Every country sends the same few ambassadors to all these events. We get to know each other even when we don’t try. I was hoping I could introduce you to some griffons, but they aren’t coming after all. The Emperor doesn’t want ambassadors to be seen at an event like this when they’ve been pushing for a military buildup to fend off the Zebrican irregulars in Ibexiland.”

“This whole thing isn’t exactly what I expected,” Chrysalis admitted.

“I hope not. Most ponies would be terrified to know how much diplomacy is just a social club where we pass on messages from our bosses.” Cadance smiled. “Now come on. I still want a dance from you. It’s not often enough that I get to have a dance that actually means something, instead of being just a story for a kid, or a cost of doing business, or arranged by a government.”

“Cadance…” Chrysalis hesitated.

“Don’t worry. They have a saying here in Stalliongrad - what you can’t do while sober, you can excel at with vodka. With how much you’ve had, you might be surprised how much better you are.”

“Just one dance,” Chrysalis relented.

“Just one,” Cadance nodded, holding her hoof and pulling her onto the dance floor. As if by some pre-arranged signal, the music switched to something slow and simple. A waltz. Cadance pulled Chrysalis closer. “Just let me lead. I asked for them to take it easy once I got on the dance floor with the most attractive mare in the room.”

“That’s cruel,” Chrysalis said. “I don’t think they’d let you bring a mirror out here with you.”

“Ooh. Cheeky.” Cadance smiled sweetly as she moved through a circle with Chrysalis, spinning her with gentle strength. “We both know you’re not humble enough for that, though, which means you’re just flirting.”

“I’m a terrible flirt,” Chrysalis admitted.

“No, you’re actually pretty good at it.” They’d gotten near the center of the dance floor now, couples making way as the pair kept dancing even as the music changed to a new tune.

“I thought we were only having one dance,” Chrysalis said, though she wasn’t making a move to end it.

“It only counts as one as long as we don’t stop,” Cadance whispered.

Stone Soup had been right about vodka keeping the cold away. Chrysalis barely felt it out on the balcony, though maybe the company was helping. Cadance pointed to the stars above.

“...That one’s called the Lady. Those stars frame her face, the really bright one is her eye, and if it’s really dark, you can see these streams of faint light like a mane flowing down around her.” Cadance lowered her hoof. “They say that ponies born while the Lady is high in the sky are gifted with grace and natural nobility.”

“Where I come from that’s called the Fox.The streams are its tail.” Chrysalis smirked. “It’s a symbol of cunning and trickery.”

“I’ve never heard of it being called that,” Cadance tilted her head. “One of these days you have to tell me about where you’re from.”

“You wouldn’t want to hear about it,” Chrysalis said. “Like I said, I came here to find a better life. It’s not exactly like I imagined, but I’m starting to enjoy it.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Cadance said. She shivered and leaned into Chrysalis. “The reception is almost over. It’s probably best for us to take our leave. We’re only guests, after all, and a lot of ponies wouldn’t feel right leaving before a princess.”

“Sure,” Chrysalis said. Cadance pulled away, and the cold wind hit her like a brick. The disguised changeling shivered and followed the young princess back inside, shadowing her as she let her hosts know that she was retiring for the night.

The noise and bustle of the conference faded behind them, and the sickly fake emotions went with them. Chrysalis was already feeling better. She’d have to get used to it if she was going to be guarding Cadance for long, but she didn’t have to enjoy it.

“Are you okay?” Cadance asked, looking back with a worried expression. “You’ve been quiet ever since the dance.”

“Just tired,” Chrysalis said. “It’s a new job, having to keep track of one pony in a crowded room. It’s a lot different from being on patrol or making sure ponies don’t wander through a door into a restricted part of the castle.”

“I thought you did well.” Cadance smiled. “Flash, my last guard… he couldn’t get over the whole Princess thing. He’d never speak to me like I was a pony, and I could hardly keep him from saluting the whole time I was in the room.”

“Celestia likes her guards to be like that, show her deference, that sort of thing,” Chrysalis shrugged. “Or at least that’s what I hear. I never spoke with her.”

“The first time we met you almost seemed terrified at the prospect of meeting Celestia. She’s not that bad, you know. More like a distant aunt than a goddess.” Cadance giggled. “Maybe I have a different perspective on it, though.”

“Where I came from, we heard all the old stories,” Chrysalis said, her voice lowering. “I don’t think anyone in Equestria knows them, anymore. All the monsters she killed, the enemies she brought to ruin. Ponies here love her, because she protects them, and they’ve forgotten that she once burned a country to ashes to do it.”

“I’ve never heard of her doing anything like that…” Cadance’s pace slowed. “You don’t think I’m like that, do you?”

“No, of course not,” Chrysalis scoffed. “You’re much too soft for it. I don’t think you have it in you to actually hurt somepony.”

“You say that almost like it’s a bad thing.”

“It’s not.” Chrysalis stepped in front of her, turning to look at her. “You’re a good pony. Maybe the best one I’ve ever met. I thought I wanted a posting in the castle, but right now, I wouldn’t trade this for anything. Despite the hangover I’m going to have in the morning.”

Cadance smiled. “You might have wanted to chase after a handsome stallion, but you make a pretty decent one yourself.”

“I should be insulted!” Chrysalis huffed jokingly. “A stallion doesn’t have flanks like mine.”

Chrysalis turned to the side and wiggled her hips. Cadance giggled and flapped her wings, getting ahead of her. “You know, there aren’t a lot of guards in this part of the palace. I could get into a lot of trouble.”

“That’s what I’m here for.” Chrysalis stepped towards her, and Cadance shied away.

“And we have to stick close together, right?” Cadance asked, flapping her wings again. She turned away from Chrysalis and flicked her tail.

Chrysalis nodded. “Very close.”

“Then you’re going to have to catch me~” Cadance teased, before she bolted. Chrysalis was stunned for a moment, then grinned, feeling her instincts kick in. She ran after the fleeing pony, skidding on the marble floors of the palace as they got back to the guest rooms. Cadance kept slowing down just enough for Cadance to keep up on hoof. The changeling kept almost catching her, and then Cadance would escape with a wiggle of her butt and a flap of her wings.

“I’ll get you!” Chrysalis hissed, charging up a spell. Cadance looked back and stopped, suddenly alone in the hallway.

“Chrysalis?” She asked, blinking. “I didn’t think I was that far ahead…”

There was a distortion in the air, and she was suddenly tackled by an unseen form. Cadance was flat on her back on the ground as a shimmering shape materialized over her.

“Got you,” Chrysalis said, as she was revealed, panting and flush with excitement over the chase. Cadance looked up at her, breathing heavily, her cheeks red.

“That was a pretty good spell. Invisibility is tough to master,” Cadance said.

“It’s easier if you stay still,” Chrysalis said. “The faster you move, the less effective the active camouflage is.”

“But you know, I can think of all sorts of uses for it. You could sneak into somepony’s room for a secret meeting, or pilfer a few slices of Celestia’s cake, or even do things right in the corridors that are completely improper~”

“You’d have to be very quiet to avoid getting caught,” Chrysalis whispered.

“A princess has to pride herself on self control,” Cadance said, her voice low. “You’d be surprised at what I can withstand.”

Chrysalis leaned in closer. “Royal guards are trained to remain silent no matter what.”

“Oh really?” Cadance lifted her head, her nose only inches from Chrysalis’. “Because I can think of a few things that would probably make you scream~”

There was a cough from the end of the hallway. Cadance and Chrysalis turned their heads towards the sound, and found themselves looking at two of the palace guards, both of them carefully not looking at the scene only a dozen paces away from their post. Despite how stoic they were pretending to be, both were blushing hard enough to turn their cheeks almost beet-red.

“I-I was just helping her up!” Chrysalis said quickly. “After she fell!”

‘Y-yes, that’s all it is,” Cadance agreed. “Thank you, Chrysalis. For helping me up! After I fell!”

Chrysalis quickly stepped back, helping the fallen princess to her hooves. Cadance adjusted her dress, which had fallen rather invitingly open, and trotted quickly away from the guards. Chrysalis watched her go for a moment, then quickly scrambled after her, both of them leaving their dignity where it had fallen, mortally wounded.

“I can’t believe we did that,” Cadance laughed, as they reached their rooms. “Right where those guards could see us!”

“I guess a cute mare can really affect my operational awareness,” Chrysalis lamented. “I should have seen them standing there. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” Cadance smiled. “That was fun. Sometimes the risk of getting caught just makes it more exciting.”

“Well, you’re a princess. You’ve got a reputation to keep up,” Chrysalis said. “I think it might cause riots in the street if ponies found out Celestia was keeping a secret harem.”

“Please,” Cadance giggled. “She’s terrified of physical relationships. She’d have a secret pâtissier, not a secret harem.”

“Not much like you at all, then,” Chrysalis said. She looked up at the doorways. “Well, guess we’re back. This is your room.”

“Yep. My room,” Cadance said, fluttering her wings. Chrysalis could taste a strand of nervousness. “You know, it’s not that late. You could come in, we could have some coffee brought up…”

Chrysalis hesitated, surprisingly tempted by the offer. After what happened in the hallway, it might start with coffee, but it wasn’t likely to end there.

She opened her mouth to say something, and felt her throat dry as she remembered what she’d briefly seen at the bottom of a stiff drink. She wasn’t a pony. She was a monster, and the only reason Cadance was putting up with her was because she could pretend otherwise. Strip away her disguise, and the princess would be screaming for the palace guard to arrest her instead of inviting her in.

“I… it’s probably not a good idea,” Chrysalis sighed, turning away. “I’ll be across the hallway if you need me.”

“What’s wrong?” Cadance asked, her chest tight with worry.

“It’s nothing you did. You’re… perfect.” Except maybe for the pink. It was still Chrysalis’ least favorite color, but it was starting to grow on her. “It just isn’t a good idea for you to associate with me.”

“I think I should at least get some say in that,” Cadance pouted.

“It’s my job to protect you, even from me,” Chrysalis smirked. “I know my flank is irresistible.”

“Was I moving too fast?” Cadance sighed.

“It’s just…” Chrysalis closed her eyes. “If you knew the real me, you wouldn’t want to get close. Definitely not the sort of pony you’d want to show off to Princess Celestia.”

“I don’t need her approval.” Cadance stepped closer. “I think I’ve seen enough of the real you to know who you are. If you’re that worried, though, what if we take things a little slower?”

“How?” Chrysalis asked.

“There’s no rush back to Canterlot. We can make a few stops along the way to stretch our legs, maybe have a nice dinner in Vanhoover? I think they’ll let us in even without reservations.”

“I’d like that,” Chrysalis said, quietly. Cadance stepped closer and kissed her cheek.

“I might not be able to feel your emotions, but I can still tell how you feel. I’m not blind. Whatever you want to tell me, I’ll listen, and it can stay a secret between us.”

“I’ll… I’ll tell you everything, before we get back to Canterlot.” Chrysalis deflated at the kiss, tension leaving her. Resolve wasn’t quite ready to take its place, but it was coming along. “I need a little while to work up to it.”

“Okay,” Cadance smiled. “I can wait. You don’t have to tell me anything until you’re ready.”

“I’m never going to be ready,” Chrysalis muttered, as she lounged on her bed. She’d given up even trying to sleep. “Mom never really gave me a talk on how to reveal myself to a pony except with very loud words that involved the terms ‘never’ and ‘don’t’.”

She rolled over, unable to get comfortable. Everything was too hot or too cold and there wasn’t a comfortable middle ground between them. Worse, her disguise was starting to itch. She’d been stuck in the form for a long time, practically the whole airship ride up to Stalliongrad. Chrysalis hadn’t been able to find any scrying sensors in her quarters, but she was sure that just meant they were well-hidden.

In a flash of green fire, she dropped her disguise, stretching her legs.

“I could just never tell her,” she considered. “Keep it a secret forever. That’d be the safest thing. But I’d have to distance myself. Celestia could probably see through my disguise if she wanted, and being around Cadance would get me noticed.”

She rolled onto her belly, wings buzzing angrily. She didn’t like that idea, having to keep away from Cadance.

“Okay, what’s the worst that could happen if I tell her?” She slid off of the bed and walked over to the dresser, looking into the mirror. It had been a long time since she’d seen her own face. “She could kill me. Even if she didn’t mean to do it, if she panics, it’s not like I can fight an alicorn.”

That wasn’t likely, though. Cadance was just too nice to blast her into dust.

“Cadance would probably just panic, tell me that we could still be friends, and then want to stay as far away from me as possible. Maybe she’d feel guilty enough about it that she’d even keep my secret as long as I didn’t make any waves.”

Chrysalis picked up her armor. As ill-fitting as it was in her disguise, it wouldn’t even begin to fit her like this.

“If she didn’t reject me, though…” She considered. “That’s what I wanted all along, isn’t it? Someone who would love me for who I am. It was supposed to be some handsome stallion, but changelings are nothing if not adaptable.”

Chrysalis put the armor down carefully, slipping back into bed.

“I hope this isn’t a mistake,” she sighed. “I’ll wait until after that romantic dinner. That way if things go poorly…” She yawned, jaw cracking. “...At least I’ll have gotten a decent meal out of it, and it’ll be easier to leave in Vanhoover than Canterlot.”

Chrysalis grabbed a pillow and pulled it to her chest, drifting off to sleep and imagining she was hugging something softer and warmer, maybe with fluffy wings to wrap around her…

She awoke with a start, rolling off of the bed and to the floor before she was even properly awake. It took a few seconds for her brain to start putting things together. Something had happened, a loud crashing sound. It had been too distant to be in her room. It sounded more like it had come from across the hall.

“Cadance!” Chrysalis hissed. She ran for the door, grabbing the handle with a black hoof, and froze in place. She’d almost run right out without a disguise. She needed to be more careful than that. A wave of green fire consumed her, and she was in her usual guise again, familiar enough that she didn’t need to check it in the mirror.

She threw the door open and ran across the hall, grabbing for the doorknob. Locked.

“Tartarus…” It would take a few minutes to pick the lock. Something else broke inside the room. No time for being subtle, then. She stepped back and charged up magic along her horn, blasting the lock and shattering the wood around it. A kick did the rest, popping the door open.

“Cadance!” Chrysalis yelled. No point in trying to be quiet now after that display. The room was in shambles. Scorch marks littered the walls, and the window had been smashed. She pressed against a wall, looking for any sign of an intruder.

There was nothing. Just eerie silence and a chill infiltrating the palace through the broken glass. A gust blew through the room, and a crinkling sound caught Chrysalis’ attention. She spun around to face the threat and found a scroll on the bedside table, pinned in place by a curved dagger as long as her horn.

Chrysalis glanced around the room to confirm it was empty, then unrolled the scroll.

‘The Night Will Last Forever’

Author's Note

I hope this is a more proper cliffhanger.

I admit, I mostly wrote this whole thing just so I could write this chapter and some soppy romance.

Chapter Four - Wet Ops

Chrysalis sat at the back of a room, deep in the palace. There were no windows, and it was hot and stuffy from the number of ponies packed into it. It reminded her of the hive. Not just how crowded it was, but the way she was being treated like an idiot.

A hoof rapped on the table in the middle of the room, quieting the conversations as the head of the palace guards, a badly scarred earth pony named Thunderbolt, brought the room to attention.

“We have confirmation. The kidnappers are from a group called the Midnight Club.” The conversations around the room started up again. Thunderbolt scowled and slammed his hoof down, quieting them. “For those of you not already informed about them, the Midnight Club have been a thorn in the side of Equestria for centuries.”

Thunderbolt looked around the room, making sure ponies were still paying attention to him.

“They worship Nightmare Moon. On the surface, they look like a social club, just playing at it in the same way rebellious teens do. Dig a little deeper, and you see the true face of it. Subversives, all of them, trying to undermine Celestia’s authority and cementing their place with blackmail and an underground trade in artifacts and books of dark magic.”

“The lot of them should have been thrown in prison,” another pony muttered.

“That’s not our decision to make,” Thunderbolt said. “Celestia has turned a blind eye to them for some reason. She refuses to make that kind of group outright illegal, and so we’ve had to put up with them for this long.”

He tapped a hoof on the map in front of him.

“From what we can tell, agents broke in from outside and captured Princess Mi Amore Cadenza while her personal guard was sleeping.” He shot a look at Chrysalis, glaring at her. “After subduing her, they smuggled her out and through the city. We’ve caught a few of the ponies that made their escape possible, and we’re interrogating them now for details on the group and how they found the Princess’ room, and more importantly how they were able to evade palace security.”

“Do we suspect they’re working with somepony on the inside?” Asked a pony next to Chrysalis, nodding subtly towards her.

“We don’t know, yet,” Thunderbolt said. “But we’re going to find out. Right now, I want all non-essential personnel cleared out of this room. Those of you in the palace guard, report to your direct report and remain on-duty. The rest of you…” he met Chrysalis’ gaze. “Get back to your quarters and stay there.”

Chrysalis slammed the door closed behind her, teeth bared in irritation.

“Be careful. That’s fairly good oak, and you already broke the one across the hall.”

Chrysalis froze at the voice, spinning to the left to find Grain Miller sitting at the desk in her room, drinking from a small flask and reading over papers that hadn’t been there before.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, narrowing her eyes.

“I should ask you the same thing,” Miller said. “You’re supposed to be protecting Cadance, not moping around this drafty old place.” He put down the papers. The one on top was the same map that Thunderbolt had had, with the same annotations. He'd lost the easy-going accent he'd had before, and sounded almost like a proper Canterlot noble. It made Chrysalis trust him even less.

“I’ve been ordered to stay here and sit, since I’m such a failure,” Chrysalis growled.

“That won’t do at all,” Miller frowned, shaking his head. “I think I should introduce myself. When I said I was a farmer, I wasn’t telling the whole truth.”

“You weren’t telling any of the truth,” Chrysalis corrected. “You’re a good liar, for a pony, but I could tell it was an act. I thought you were just trying to scam the yaks out of a lot of money, but I’m guessing that’s not the case.”

“Mm. Suspicious.” Miller nodded in approval. “That’s good! I’ll have to work on my story for next time I do something like this. The grain trade is typically dull enough that ponies won’t ask for details, and saying I’m a landlord instead of a farmer keeps the ponies who actually care about farming techniques away.”

“So let me guess. You’re a member of the cult.” Chrysalis stalked closer.

“Quite the opposite,” Miller said. He stood up. “I’m a member of SECT. Special Equestrian Combat Troop. We handle the kind of black ops that the Royal Guard can’t be a part of. Monster hunting, for example.”

Chrysalis felt her white coat bristle at that, and her ears folded back. “And?”

“And I’m here to help,” Miller said, simply. “Someone on the inside probably is helping the cultists, but it’s anypony’s guess who. The only one I know for sure has a vested interest in Cadance’s safety is you, and frankly, you don’t know enough about the situation to actually be a member of the cult yourself.”

“So you’re saying my best alibi is that I’m too stupid to be a part of the evil plot?”

“Well, I just think somepony with such a hopeless crush on our young princess as you probably isn’t going to get her sacrificed to Nightmare Moon.” He chuckled as Chrysalis’ cheeks reddened.

“If you want to help, then you should be talking to Thunderbolt.”

“Not my style,” Miller shook his head. “I already know what he’s planning. A display of overwhelming force, and he’s far away enough from Canterlot that they won’t be able to tell him not to until it’s already all over.”

“That’s insane!” Chrysalis hissed. ‘They have a hostage!”

“That they do. And they’ve already made their demands.” Miller stepped back to the desk and pulled out a scroll, passing it off to Chrysalis.

“Thirty million, two hundred twenty-one thousand bits?” Chrysalis frowned. “Why such a specific number?”

“We’re working on that, but we suspect it’s supposed to be a message to their agents. If we pass along the demand, we pass along the message. There’s one other demand, too.” He nodded to the scroll.

“The establishment of a New Lunar Republic?” Chrysalis snorted. “They must know that we’ll never agree to this.”

“Of course not,” Miller agreed. “It’s absurd. We aren’t going to go cutting up Equestria just because some extremists want to play at resurrecting a demon buried for a millennium. With Cadance as a bargaining chip they have leverage, but not nearly that much.”

“Terms like that… they’re a cover for something else,” Chrysalis frowned.

“It’s possible. But no matter what they’re planning, a frontal assault is going to put Cadance at risk.” Miller nodded for Chrysalis to follow him, stepping into her bedroom. A metal locker sat on her bed.

“What’s this?” Chrysalis asked.

“A new outfit for you. That armor you’ve got won’t do if you’re going to go after the princess on your own.”

Chrysalis stopped with her hoof on the case. “On my own?”

“A frontal assault is too obvious. It’s exactly what they’re going to be watching for.” Miller sipped from his flask. “This is the exact kind of mission SECT was put together for - one pony, operating on their own.”

“You said you’re a member, though,” Chrysalis frowned. “Shouldn’t you be doing this? I already failed her once.”

“A pony who has failed once is more reliable than one that’s always succeeded. You know what it’s like to taste defeat, and you’ve got something to prove.” Miller smiled. “I’m too old for a field operation.”

“And I’m barely trained,” Chrysalis shot back. “How do you know I won’t screw this up?”

“You have more at stake than most ponies.” He smiled. “Now let’s go over the plan.”

“I can’t get too close,” Stone Soup warned. “They’ll be watching for an attack from the air.” He looked down at the map in his cabin, considering the lay of the land.

“And going in by land is impossible,” Miller noted. “Shadow Star Island hasn’t been inhabited for a very long time. The bridges that were there a thousand years ago are just rubble at the bottom of the sea.”

“From what I hear, there’s some kind of archaeology team that was busy doing excavations there. Looking for old Lunar artifacts, that sort of thing. They’re rather in vogue at the moment.” Stone Soup rubbed his chin. “From what I hear, the Royal Historical Society is paying quite a bounty.”

“Do you think that team was part of the cult?” Chrysalis asked.

“That’s very suspicious thinking, which means it’s wise.” Miller smiled. “I’d say that it’s a safe bet. They were probably using the expedition as a cover to secure the area as a base of operations, while funding their activities by selling whatever trinkets they didn’t want to keep on-hoof.”

“But if they’re really paying that much for Lunar artifacts, why ask for money at all?” Chrysalis frowned.

“Their demands are just a sham. If bits could get Princess Cadance back, we’d pay it in a heartbeat,” Miller shrugged. “All of us would rather be trying to rescue a few chests of gold instead of a princess.”

“Most likely what they wanted was for us to sit around and debate the terms,” Stone Soup said. “The bits are a hefty chunk of the royal treasury, but they’re just bits. The attempt to secede from Equestria, that’s to make sure we don’t agree to it too quickly.”

“So they stall in a way where diplomacy is impossible, and then what?” Chrysalis tilted her head. “Thunderbolt goes in and crushes them.”

“They’ve implied they have some way to kill Princess Cadance, despite the alicorn talent for immortality,” Miller said. “I don’t know how viable that is, but we need to find out. If it’s a bluff, then the frontal attack will end up killing a lot of ponies, but Cadance will be safe. If not…”

“Then it could end up with a dead princess and ponies wondering if the same thing could happen to Celestia,” Chrysalis muttered.

“More than that, other nations will see it as a drastic change in policy. If Celestia sanctioned it, then she’s willing to kill her own family to put down some otherwise harmless cultists. If she doesn’t, then the military is operating outside of her control and she’s just a figurehead. Either way could lead to war.”

“And the best answer is for somepony to get Cadance out of there so the whole thing can be called off,” Stone Soup said.

“I have to save her,” Chrysalis said, standing. “Okay. Do we have a map of the island?”

Stone Soup pulled one of the maps out of the stack, laying it down on top. “Shadow Star Island. It’s shaped roughly like a kidney bean.” He traced around it with a hoof. “Cliffs on most edges, which is pretty typical for islands in this area. Rocky beach in some places, but no easy ascent paths.”

“Were the archaeologists getting everything delivered by airship?” Chrysalis frowned.

“No. They mostly used a small dock here.” He pointed. “It’s built into a natural cave in the cliffside and provides protection from the elements for most ships. It’s almost inaccessible at high tide, which unfortunately-”

“Is right now,” Chrysalis guessed.

“Right. So you can’t get a boat in,” Stone Soup said. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t get yourself in. We’re pretty sure the cultists have at least one airship, which they used to get Cadance to the island, but with the sea at high tide, the dock should be almost entirely unguarded.”

“You want me to swim?” Chrysalis snorted. “There’s a snowstorm outside. That water’s going to be cold enough to kill.”

“That’s where this comes in,” Miller said. He opened up the locker he’d brought with him. He held up a black bodysuit. “This is a bit old, but still cutting edge compared to what you’re used to.”

Chrysalis took it, running a hoof along the weave. “I’ve never seen material like this before.”

“It’s called the G2 tactical suit, developed to be lighter and lower-profile than currently available Royal Guard equipment, and designed with SECT’s needs in mind.” Miller nodded to the suit. “It’s made of a type of magically woven synthetic material, and extremely strong without being rigid.”

“It looks small.” Chrysalis put it down on the table. “I don’t know if this is going to fit.”

“It has to be skin-tight to be effective,” Miller explained. “SECT fights monsters, and that means one of our primary concerns is extreme environmental effects. The tactical suit is waterproof, doesn’t burn, and provides excellent insulation from heat and cold.”

“I get it,” Chrysalis muttered. “So it’ll keep me from freezing to death in the water.”

“Just so. There’s an enchantment in the seams that will resize it to fit you.” He tapped the zipper, and the material loosened. “It’s a burst effect, not a continuous one, so you don’t have to worry about it restraining you if you end up in a null-magic field. The suit will stay permanently at your size until you activate it, and won’t give off a magical aura.”

“That’s good, at least.” Chrysalis picked it up again and looked around. “Where can I change?”

Chrysalis struggled her way into the suit, the material clinging to her. It even covered her hooves, the bottom surface having a rubbery, soft surface that made her steps almost silent. It felt oddly restricting, even though it wasn’t actually affecting her movement at all.

“This feels strange,” Chrysalis said, as she stepped out from behind of the paper curtain that Stone Soup had set up for her before disappearing up to the bridge to get the Defiant moving. “It’s squeezing me.”

“It’s designed to apply pressure to maintain a seal against your skin and help minimize bleeding,” Miller explained. “You’ll get used to it. We need to get you the rest of your equipment.” He had a small pile of gear on the table.

“I don’t need all of this,” Chrysalis said, putting a crossbow and several weapons aside. “I’m not going to go in there and storm the place.”

“You’re a battle mage, yes?” Miller asked. “Then no, I suppose the weapons are a bit redundant, but they are here if you want them.”

“The crossbow won’t survive the water very well, and I’d rather minimize the amount that I have to carry with me if I have to make a long swim,” Chrysalis explained.

“It should only be a kilometer or so, in relatively calm water,” Miller said. “We’re going to keep low over the treeline and approach this way…” He swept a hoof up from the South towards the West of the island. “And we’ll drop you off here.” He tapped a spot on the map.

“And the dock is on the East side,” Chrysalis muttered. “So they’ll be watching you while I approach on the opposite side of the island.”

“Exactly,” Miller smiled. “This-” he picked up a pendant. “Has a water breathing effect on it. It won’t last for long, just a few hours, but it’s more than enough to last for this purpose. It’s a standard piece of equipment for underwater work.”

“You seem oddly well-prepared for this.”

“It comes with the territory,” Miller sighed. “You’ll understand once you’ve been with the Guard for a while. Eventually you just start hanging onto useful things. You never know when you’ll need them.”

“We’re at the drop-off point,” Stone Soup yelled over the wind.

“Good luck,” Miller said, patting Chrysalis on the back. She took a deep breath and freed a hood from the collar of the suit she was wearing, tucking her mane in and pulling it over her face.

With one last look back, Chrysalis jumped over the edge of the deck. It was only a dozen paces down to the water, Stone Soup having brought it low over the waves to make sure she’d land safely.

The water still hit her like an ice-cold brick, even through the suit. She would have started cursing if she wasn’t struggling to breathe. A hoof frantically went to the charm around her neck and touched it, the waterbreathing charm kicking in.

“This is a terrible idea,” Chrysalis burbled. She started swimming. Most ponies were not particularly great in the water, pegasai aside (though with how buoyant they were, it barely counted as swimming). Chrysalis had never even tried swimming until she was forced to learn in basic training. That sort of physical activity was wasteful, and not something a royal changeling should be seen doing.

She was starting to wish she’d spent a little more time learning how to swim properly. The pony paddle was good for staying above water, but not for moving very quickly.

Chrysalis watched as the Defiant swerved up and away from the water, leaving her behind. It was going to be a long swim.

An hour later, she slipped into the underwater cave. Light filtered through from within, making it at least navigable, even if it was still gloomy. It had clearly been expanded and the walls smoothed at some point in the past, tool marks still visible in places where the tide hadn’t eroded them away over the centuries.

She kept near the wall as the passage expanded, swimming up towards the surface as the ceiling suddenly expanded up and away.

“-your eyes open. She’ll be through here. I can feel it.” Said a raspy voice. Chrysalis froze, looking for the source. The cavern was built out into a wide U shape around the water, a small ship docked on one of the long edges.

Chrysalis crept along the edge towards the end of the unoccupied dock, pulling herself onto dry land behind a pile of wooden crates.

“Where are you going, Ma’am?” Asked a second voice. Chrysalis leaned out carefully. Enchanted lights were set into the far wall, providing the light in the small cavern. She could see a tall, cloaked figure speaking with another pony.

“I’ve been alerted that an airship is scouting out the island,” the cloaked figure replied. “I’m off to swat down an annoying fly.”

The pony saluted, and the cloaked figure walked past to a stairwell, disappearing as it - she? The other pony had said Ma’am - turned the corner.

Chrysalis let her senses expand, trying to feel out the area. In her disguised form, her senses were dulled, but she wasn’t going to risk changing right now. She’d freeze to death even more quickly than she would as a pony, and there was no telling what it would do to the G2 armor.

She pulled the hood away from her face, shaking out her mane. Only one guard. Probably just supposed to raise an alert on the off-chance that somepony tried to get through the water.

Chrysalis crept closer, pulling a knife from the sheath on her back with telekinesis. He was an enemy, but he could be useful, too. There were enough boxes around that she could work her way up to him without being seen, and the stallion was either untrained or he didn’t take his job seriously enough, just pacing from one end of the cavern to the other.

“Freeze,” Chrysalis hissed, holding the blade to his throat. The stallion stiffened. “Drop the crossbow.” He was wearing one slung around his neck. It looked like a griffon design, awkward for an earth pony like him to use. He dropped it carefully, the knife staying along his throat as he moved.

“Please don’t kill me!” He pleased.

“You’ve got a hostage. Where is she?” Chrysalis waited a moment for him to answer, and when he didn’t immediately fold, she pushed the knife just a little harder, almost cutting into him. “Where is she?!” Chrysalis repeated.

“Upstairs!” The guard yelled. “Probably in the holding cells!”

“And where are those?” Chrysalis pressed, leaning closer to his ear.

“Warehouse. The new one. The holding cells are on the second floor.” He sniffled. “Please, I’ve got a-”

Before he could finish, she hit him with a sleeping spell, dropping him where he stood. It wasn’t as effective as a stun bolt in some ways - less effective on really dangerous opponents, sleeping foes could be woken up relatively easily - he’d be out for hours as long as he wasn’t disturbed. She dragged him over to where she’d slipped onto the dock.

“There. No one should find you here. And if you stay out of trouble, the worst that’ll happen to you is a nap.” Chrysalis patted him gently on the head and walked towards the stairs, her hoofsteps muffled by the padded boots of the tactical suit.

She stopped at the doorway, looking around the corner. The cloaked figure had left only a few minutes ago, and the last thing she wanted was to stumble right into her.

“That’s a long way up,” Chrysalis muttered, looking up at the spiral staircase. From the bottom, she couldn’t see exactly how far it was. She could, though, tell that it was as silent as a grave.

She started up the stairs, sticking close to the inner wall and creeping around corners, ready to duck back at a moment’s notice. It ran up a dozen twisting flights before she felt a cold breeze from outside.

Chrysalis ducked out of the doorway, throwing herself behind the first cover she found. A high-pitched whine filled the air, snow blasting past in a sudden gust of wind as a sleek ship rose up into the air, the edges of wide wings glowing with magical energy as it defied gravity.

“That’s a griffon airship…” Chrysalis muttered. The wings were a dead giveaway. “Why would there be an airship from Griffonstone here?”

It shot off at high speed towards the west. Chrysalis covered her eyes as the backwash from the engines drove snow over her in a wave.

As the airship left, and her eyes cleared, she could make out a path past the airship’s landing zone, lit by more magelights and leading to a much newer building.

“That must be the warehouse,” Chrysalis muttered. As she stood up, the label on the shipping containers caught her eye. “Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns?” She recoiled. “That’s… a magic school in Canterlot. What in Tartarus is going on here?”

Chrysalis slipped inside the warehouse, a wave of warmth washing over her and melting the snow that had stuck to her. It was so cold outside she could feel her wet mane start to freeze against her neck, and it was not a pleasant experience.

The warehouse itself was clearly only a few years old, built quickly and cheaply, the walls little more than plates of corrugated metal covered with rolls of insulation.

“Did you hear something?” A voice asked, echoing among the pallets of wood and bales of hay packed into the warehouse. Chrysalis ducked into the shadows between two crates as hoofsteps came closer.

“I didn’t hear anything,” said a second voice. “It was probably just the rats. You know they’re everywhere around here.”

Two ponies stopped in front of Chrysalis’ hiding place. They were both dressed in the same winter gear as the one she’d put to sleep in the underground dock, with the same griffon-designed crossbows.

“We could get one of the unicorns to get rid of them,” the first suggested. “They could probably cast some kind of spell to do it, right?”

“Are you kidding? Those firebrands would rather burn us for complaining!” The second scoffed. “Come on. We need to make sure everything is ready for the sacrifice.” He nudged the other pony, and the two walked off.

“Sacrifice?” Chrysalis whispered. She didn’t like the sound of that.

She crept out of the shadows, trailing them as they circled around to the back of the warehouse. A simple metal staircase led up to the upper level, and even from the lower level Chrysalis could see the bars of a secure cargo area, the same kind of cage that the Guard used to secure their weapons and armor.

“Cadance?” Chrysalis whispered, as she padded upstairs. She could feel somepony there in the shadows.

“Aren’t you a little tall to be a cultist?” Asked a raspy voice. Something shifted in the darkness, and a pony stepped to the front of the cell, a young pegasus mare with a tan coat and monochrome mane.

“And you’re a little short to be the Princess,” Chrysalis frowned.

“Since I haven’t seen you around before I’ll assume you’re not with them?” The pegasus tilted her head.

“There’s nopony else here,” Chrysalis said. “Where’s the Princess?”

“You’re lucky,” the pony said. “I’ve been stuck in here ever since they stopped pretending to be archaeologists. They did mention where she was being held, though. Let me out and I’ll lead you to her.”

Chrysalis shook her head. “This is a dangerous mission. I can’t take a rookie.”

“Really? You’re going to call me a rookie?” The pegasus snorted. “Do you know who I am?”

“You’re the pony who’s been locked in a little cage for days,” Chrysalis said. “I would have been out of there in minutes.”

“Have you ever had to pull yourself out of quicksand using only a venomous snake and one wing?” The pegasus glared through the bars. “Have you ever had to outfly the flaming magic pythons guarding the burial vaults of reptilian shapeshifters?”

“Well, no, but those are really specific examples…”

“Have you ever seen what happens when a pony becomes a mare-rattlesnake and you have to track her through the desert by the sound of her tail because she blinded you with venom?!”

Chrysalis frowned. “All of your examples are snakes.”

“It’s always snakes,” the pegasus muttered. “I don’t know why it’s always got to be snakes.”

“And some of those stories sound familiar,” Chrysalis said.

“Well, you might have heard of me,” the pegasus smirked. “I’ve been publishing stories of my exploits to fund expeditions when the Canterlot History Museum can’t or won’t.” She stuck a hoof through the bars. “Daring Do, at your service. And you’re with SECT, if I recognize that uniform.”

“I’m surprised you heard of SECT.”

“In my line of work, you meet a lot of people.” Daring Do stepped away from the door. “So how about getting me out?”

Chrysalis nodded and started working at the lock. She couldn’t produce enough force to break a metal lock on a metal door.

“You’ll need to figure out some way to get the artifact out of here, too,” Daring Do said, as Chrysalis slowly clicked the tumblers into place.

“What artifact?” Chrysalis asked.

“You mean you don’t know?!” Daring Do looked shocked. “But that’s the whole reason they’re here in the first place!”

“What are you talking about?” Chrysalis frowned. “They’re demanding secession from Equestria and threatening to kill Princess Cadance.” The lock clicked open, and Chrysalis pushed the door open.

“I don’t think we’re on the same page,” Daring Do frowned, as she walked out of the cell.

They were interrupted by the sound of the door on the lower level opening. Chrysalis leaned over the edge to see three stallions step in, holding their crossbows at the ready.

“Horseapples,” Chrysalis whispered.

“I thought SECT agents were supposed to be good,” Daring Do muttered. “You take the one on the right, I’ll take the one on the left, and we’ll share the one in the middle.”

“You don’t have any weapons!” Chrysalis hissed.

“I’m gonna have to be a little rough,” Daring Do agreed. Before Chrysalis could tell her to hide, she flew up into the rafters.

“Idiot!” Chrysalis hissed through her teeth. No choice now. If she attacked and Chrysalis didn’t back her up, she’d be more full of holes than Queen Morpha’s legs.

Chrysalis waited at the top of the stairs, crouched and using the railing as cover. She heard them coming up the stairs. Two sets of hoofsteps on metal. Where was the third? As they neared the top, she ran out of time to worry about that. The first came into view, and she grabbed him with her telekinesis, making him stumble towards her.

The moment he was off-balance, she forced him to the ground and hit him with a sleep spell, knocking him out.

“What the-!” The second guard was at the top of the stairs. Chrysalis threw herself at her, tumbling down the stairs with the stallion. The crossbow went off, shooting right past her face, close enough that she felt it nick her ear.

They landed heavily on the landing below, Chrysalis on top. He grunted, going limp as the fall stunned him.

“Hold it right there!” Chrysalis froze. Apparently she’d found the third guard. She started turning around. “Don’t move!”

She swore under her breath. This was not going as planned.

There was a crack behind her. She hesitated for a moment longer, then turned. Daring Do was standing over the prone cultist, an eyebrow raised.

“I have to say, you really are enthusiastic,” Daring Do said. “I was expecting somewhat more in the way of… tactics, though.”

“If you had been willing to spend a moment discussing tactics, we could have arranged something.” Chrysalis huffed. “Were you expecting me to read your mind?”

“No, but I did expect a SECT agent to be able to manage herself.”

“Shut up and help me get these idiots into a cell,” Chrysalis growled, picking up the guard she’d stunned.

Daring Do shut the cell door, putting the key into the lock and breaking it off.

“That should hold them. How long will your spell keep them out?” She looked up at Chrysalis.

“Assuming no one gives them a swift kick or throws a bucket of water at them? Maybe a full day.” Chrysalis shrugged. “They won’t wake up before it’s all over.”

“Good,” Daring Do sighed. “That should keep them from raising an alarm.”

“I don’t know how they knew I was here in the first place,” Chrysalis frowned. “Maybe the guard I knocked out in the docks got woken up.”

“No sense worrying about it,” Daring Do said. “We need to get to the temple. Since they don’t have your Princess here, she’s got to be down there.”

“You’ve seen it, right?” Chrysalis asked.

“Yeah. I got a look at it. It’s pretty standard for a post-banishment temple to Nightmare Moon. Hidden, inaccessible location, booby traps to protect the inner sanctum. Pretty normal stuff for a nexus of eternal evil.” Daring Do shrugged.

“Reminds me of home,” Chrysalis muttered. “You’ve been there, so you lead the way.”

“Sure,” Daring Do smiled. “I’ll show you how much a ‘rookie’ knows. Try not to fall into any pit traps. They’ve usually got something nasty at the bottom.”

“Glorious,” Chrysalis muttered. She was going to demand a pay increase once this was over.

Author's Note

Chrysalis is a bad enough dude to rescue the Princess.

Or at least that's what she's telling herself. She's been starved for love for years now, barely scraping by, and now she has to deal with an actual combat situation using what dregs she has left in her tank. Maybe she'll live long enough to apologize to Cadance for getting her kidnapped.

Chapter Five - Legend of the Hidden Temple

Chrysalis was starting to hate the cold even more than she already did. She raised her hoof to shield her eyes against the snow being driven at her like a wall of white, and her horn started to glow as she readied a spell to shield herself. She was quickly losing her patience with the sky raining down four billion tons of white horseapples.

“Stop that!” Daring Do hissed, hitting her horn with a hoof and disrupting the magic. “The glow will give us away. This area is almost entirely open. We’re lucky this storm is coming through to give us some cover.”

“You call this lucky?” Chrysalis shuddered. Even with the tactical suit she could feel the cold creeping into her.

“It’s a half-mile over open terrain to the temple entrance,” Daring Do explained. “If there wasn’t inclement weather they’d have seen us by now.”

“And we’re going to end up getting lost,” Chrysalis frowned. “I can’t see more than a few paces in any direction.”

“Don’t worry. We can’t really get lost,” Daring Do said. “We’re in a valley between two cliff faces. The way the island is shaped, the weather systems always blow in the same direction. As long as you’re walking into the wind, you’re going towards the temple.”

Chrysalis grunted and stomped through the snow, following the pegasus. A howl came over the wind, and she felt a chill run down her spine.

“A windigo?” She whispered.

“There are still some wild ones this far north,” Daring Do said, stopping. “They’re not that dangerous as long as a big pack doesn’t form. Most of them prey on ponies who are alone in the wilderness, slowly wearing away their sanity. A lot of ‘cabin fever’ stories are really because ponies were tormented by them.”

“That’s just… incredibly pleasant,” Chrysalis muttered.

“You should know this. SECT hunts down Windigo packs all the time when they get too large.”

“I’m not part of SECT,” Chrysalis said. “They just loaned me some gear to take care of this. If we don’t get it taken care of by sunrise, the Stalliongrad Guards will launch a frontal attack on the island to try and recover the Princess.”

“That’s…” Daring Do growled. “Those idiots will stumble into the traps, destroy anything of historical value, and cause a bigger mess than the cultists!”

“I’m more worried about Cadance, and what the cultists will do to the hostage if they’re really pressed.” Chrysalis squinted as she spotted something through the snow. “What’s that?”

“That is why I told you to keep your horn dim,” Daring Do said. “The guards have torches and we can see them all the way from here.” She put a hoof to her lips and stalked quietly towards the light, Chrysalis following her for a moment before a sudden gust of wind cut her off with a wall of white, separating her from Daring Do.

Chrysalis stopped, looking around. She could just barely feel Daring Do if she focused and extended her senses out. The windigo was too close, the spirit’s presence disrupting her empathic senses. She’d never actually seen one before, but her mother had warned her about how dangerous they could be, almost the polar opposite of changelings, for both meanings of the word polar, feeding on hatred instead of love.

“Cadance could probably turn it inside out,” Chrysalis muttered. She crept towards the moving lights. They had to be guarding something, and Daring Do had said the temple entrance was this way.

She didn’t have to go far. As she neared the lights, there was a dip in the terrain, the low spot littered with boulders that acted as natural bulwarks against the wind. Or, she realized as she pressed up against one of them, not so natural at all. The stone was obviously shaped, and not natural to the island. It was some kind of black, volcanic rock, in monoliths as big as a pony.

“There’s three of them up there,” Daring Do said, as she pressed up against the stone next to Chrysalis. The disguised changeling peeked around the side. There was a yawning hole in the rock there, more like a mouth than a cave, with fangs carved into it. Even the snow couldn’t quite hide the menace the vaguely skull-like visage exuded. She could see two guards patrolling in a slow circle around the depression, carrying torches, and she could feel two more waiting in the shadows just inside the stone maw.

“Four,” Chrysalis corrected.

“We can probably get around the ones with torches,” Daring Do said.

“But not the ones in the doorway.” The windigo howled. The disharmony spirit was starting to give her a headache. She saw the guards on patrol stop and look up, though, and the headache was replaced with an idea. “I’ve got a plan.”

The two cultists in the doorway had been there for almost an hour, and knew they’d soon have to trade with the ones on patrol, giving the torch-bearers a chance to warm up and recover in the shelter of the temple entrance.

Neither of them had the correct senses to detect the spell cast between them. Even a unicorn would have had difficulty with it, given the exotic (for a pony) magic used to form it. However, there was something else that spotted it and chased after the ball of concentrated resentment and hate like a dog going after a treat.

The windigo howled as it surged into the mouth of the temple, ignoring the two ponies for a moment as it chased after what seemed like a meal to the simple spirit. A meal that popped like a soap bubble the moment it tried to feed.

And left a very hungry and now annoyed windigo on one side of the cultists, and the storm on the other side.

The cultists looked at the windigo for a moment, then each other, then back to the windigo just as it roared and charged. For their part, they decided that the storm wasn’t really all that bad, and started running.

“Okay, I admit that was pretty good,” Daring Do said. “I didn’t know there was a spell that could lure a windigo like that.”

“Mm. Not exactly a spell,” Chrysalis muttered. Projecting false emotions was as easy as breathing for a changeling, just rarely used. “I guess you could say it’s part of my special talent.” That was close enough. Ponies didn’t ask questions as long as cutie mark talents were involved.

“Luring monsters?” Daring Do raised an eyebrow.

“Monsters are probably involved,” Chrysalis said, the edges of her mouth curling into a smirk. She gestured at the cave around them. “So, I assume this is the temple?”

“Yes,” Daring Do nodded, walking in. As Chrysalis was starting to follow her, she held out a hoof to stop her. “Wait there. I need to search this area for traps. Most of them had been disarmed before I arrived, but with the Nightmare cultists on alert, they might have reactivated them.”

“Are you sure?” Chrysalis asked, frowning. In reply, Daring Do picked up a hoof-sized rock and threw it ahead of them, hitting a discolored part of the floor. There was a click like a lock releasing, and spears shot out of the walls, snapping shut like jaws.

“I’m pretty sure,” Daring Do said.

Chrysalis nodded quietly. The pegasus started going over the floor and walls, looking for more triggers.

“So I’m guessing you don’t know much about this place?” Daring Do asked as she carefully brushed dust from a mosaic. She didn’t wait for Chrysalis to confirm it. “This was actually built right around the time Nightmare Moon was banished. From what I can tell, it seems like construction started pre-banishment and wasn’t finished until afterwards.”

“Does that mean something in particular?”

“Ugh. You soldiers are all so hopeless.” Daring Do produced a small crowbar and carefully pried up a tile, revealing a mechanism behind it that she jammed. Chrysalis wasn’t sure where she had kept the tool. “It’s like you go to basic training and come back after forgetting all about what you learned in school.”

“I was… home schooled,” Chrysalis said. It was pretty much the truth.

“Well that explains a lot,” Daring Do muttered. “The point is, this place was sealed off in preparation for her return, and in this inaccessible location, there weren’t any looters to clear it out. A perfect archaeology site.”

“...And it means whatever they were protecting for this ‘Nightmare Moon’ pony is still around.” Chrysalis frowned. “Miller said the cultists implied they had some way to actually kill an alicorn. I can’t think they’re not related.”

“That would make… way too much sense,” Daring Do stopped moving, thinking. “Nightmare Moon would have a vested interest in that.”

“Who is she, anyway? Some demon from Tartarus?”

Daring Do turned halfway to give Chrysalis a look that said more than words ever could. “Are you serious? How have you never heard of her?”

“I’m not from around here.” Daring Do’s expression didn’t change. “When I say here, I mean Equestria. I only moved here a few years ago.”

“Well, I guess that explains a few things,” Daring Do sighed. “The story isn’t very well-known outside of Equestria, and Nightmare Night is really more of a foal’s holiday.” She walked over to the mosaic she’d defaced (carefully, so she could put it back together later once the traps it had concealed weren’t endangering anypony).

“A thousand years ago, give or take a century, Celestia and her sister Luna ruled over Equestria. According to the official story, Luna went insane, started calling herself Nightmare Moon, and tried to destroy the world, so Celestia had to banish her to the moon forever.

“The cultists, on the other hoof, say that Celestia became a power-hungry tyrant.” She pointed to a section of the mosaic that had a white pony trampling others with an army behind her. “She tried to force her sister out of power and caused a civil war. Nightmare Moon lost, but will return someday to right the wrongs that her sister inflicted on her followers.”

“So which is true?” Chrysalis tilted her head.

“Probably neither of them,” Daring Do said. “There aren’t a lot of written records from the centuries around the Banishment, and most accounts were written centuries later by ponies who had only heard the stories passed down from generation to generation. A place like this, perfectly preserved? It could have given us a clue to the real story.”

Chrysalis held up a hoof as they came to an intersection. She pressed against the wall and leaned around the corner, firing off a sleeping spell at the guard she’d sensed.

“Safe now,” She said. Daring Do looked down the hallway and shook her head.

“How did you know he was there? I didn’t hear anything.”

“Trade secret,” Chrysalis smirked. “It’s sort of a passive spell. I could sense him once we were close enough.”

“Not a bad trick to know.” Daring Do flew down the corridor, checking the cultist and disarming him.

“So what’s with all the Griffonian stuff, anyway?” Chrysalis asked, as she watched Daring Do cut the crossbow’s string, rendering it useless. “Weapons, an airship, but no griffons.”

“I don’t know for sure,” Daring Do said. “The team here was getting their funding mostly from private sources, but it was all coming from Canterlot.”

“I saw the crates,” Chrysalis nodded.

“Yeah. I mean, it’s not that unusual, really. Some members of the nobility like to be patrons for discoveries like this. Especially Blueblood, if you can believe it. Some of them also like to sit on things and keep them secret until they can reveal things and take credit for the entire discovery, so I wasn’t all that worried with the way they were hush-hush about what they’d found.”

“What did they find? You said there was an artifact.”

“Oh yeah,” Daring Do shuddered. “Probably the find of the century, and exactly the type of thing SECT would want kept under wraps. An intact Lunar Warstrider.”

“...Warstrider?”

“Sorry, sometimes I forget they stuffed a rookie into that uniform,” Daring Do teased. “A warstrider is an old weapon, sort of a Golem, but as big as a house.”

“A Golem?”

Daring Do gave her an annoyed look. “A magically animated construct. Didn’t they teach you anything in the guard?”

“Mostly they taught me how to march and look busy when the drill sergeant was around.”

Daring Do laughed at that. “Of course. I should have known. Anyway, the warstrider wasn’t active. It was in amazing condition despite its age, practically brand new. If I had to guess, I’d say it was built here and never fully activated.”

“Could it kill an alicorn?” Chrysalis asked, afraid of the answer.

“No. Definitely not. Even if it was fully activated, it’s more like an army condensed into one weapon. It’s dangerous, sure. But a crossbow is dangerous too, and that wouldn’t kill Celestia.”

“Then why…” Chrysalis mumbled, then shook her head. “I don’t even know why I’m trying to make sense of it. They’re cultists. They’re probably insane by definition, and given what they’re doing now, they’re proving it.”

“I’m sure they have a plan that makes sense to them,” Daring Do shrugged. “Trust me, sometimes you just stop asking why somepony wants to turn themselves into a giant snake. It never really solves any problems.”

“...turn themselves into a giant snake?”

“Don’t ask. It was a strange week.”

“I won’t,” Chrysalis assured her. She started walking further down the corridor.

“Wait, I haven’t checked that way for-” Chrysalis’ hoof sunk a quarter inch into the floor. There was a click.

“Horseapples,” Chrysalis swore. The walls and ceiling started to shake, dust raining down. Chrysalis looked up while one of the blocks in the ceiling crashed down next to her, frozen in place.

“Move it!” Daring Do yelled, snapping Chrysalis out of her temporary paralysis. Chrysalis ran for it, barreling forwards and hoping she didn’t set off any other traps as the corridor roared behind her, filling with falling rocks.

The changeling skidded to a halt as the commotion stopped. There was no sign of the pegasus.

“Daring Do?” She asked, quietly, hoping she didn’t get the archaeologist crushed like a bug.

“Great!” Daring Do yelled, from somewhere on the other side of the blockage. “I’m totally cut off this way. I’ll have to find some way around. It’s not safe for you to stay there, either.”

“More traps?” Chrysalis asked.

“The noise. Everypony in the temple will have heard that. I don’t think either of us wants to be here when a few dozen cultists show up.”

“I see your point,” Chrysalis admitted.

“Look, you’re on the main path to the lower temple,” Daring Do said. “Just keep going down and you should eventually get there. If you get lost, the place is a labyrinth.”

“That’s encouraging.”

“No, I mean, a labyrinth. Literally. All the paths lead to the center. Just put a hoof on a wall and follow it and you should eventually get there. It’s common in temples and represents a journey to enlightenment- and I don’t have time to explain the symbolism. Keep an eye open for secret passages.”

“Secret passages?”

“Places like this are always lousy with them. There’s usually a trick to getting them open. This is a Nightmare Moon temple, so look for shadowy corners and moon symbols. That tends to be a safe bet.”

“Thanks,” Chrysalis said. “Get yourself somewhere safe. If it gets bad, go outside or find somewhere to hide and I’ll try and get you out of here too after I rescue Cadance.”

“Sure. Or I’ll rescue both of you. Hey, if I save the Princess, does that mean I have to marry her? Because technically, I’m already betrothed to this one seapony princess, and I sort of skipped out on it-”

“Let me guess, snakes were involved.”

“Nah, I just wasn’t ready to give it all up and live underwater for the rest of my life.”

“Just don’t get captured again,” Chrysalis said as she started down the corridor.

A changeling’s natural habitat was damp, underground passages, twisty and difficult to navigate. The temple was starting to make Chrysalis feel almost nostalgic.

Of course, that only put her more on edge. When Chrysalis had been very young, her life had been quite different from the easy life she had in Canterlot. Even basic training with the Guard hadn’t matched learning how to stalk prey as a nymph or being abandoned in the Badlands and forced to fend for herself for a few weeks just to show how much she needed to rely on the changelings around her, and how to survive when she couldn’t.

Consequently, the scrying sensor stuck out like a sore pedipalp.

She watched it from around the corner, muttering to herself and trying to decypher the spell. It was unicorn magic, but there were some areas where unicorn and changeling magic overlapped pretty strongly, and sensing spells was one such area. The main difference between the two was a matter of tradition and technique rather than base principles.

This scrying sensor, for example, was a spell glyph drawn on the wall, using ink along with a trace of blood and tears, probably from the pony who had cast the spell. She could tell that it was largely automatic, just designed to raise an alarm if somepony unauthorized walked past the sensor. Pretty basic stuff, but basic also meant reliable. Just severing the spell circuit would probably set it off.

Basic, did, however, mean it didn’t include any complex detection methods.

Being a member of the Midnight Club came with some great benefits. You got to socialize with ponies in high places, you learned secret hoofshakes that would open a lot of doors, and you even got a really cool decoder ring for the secret bi-monthly newsletter.

However, it did mean that you sometimes had to do something in return, like voting for certain elected officials or passing messages along to other Club members. Or, if you owed a lot of favors, you could end up spending a moon or three at the end of nowhere, standing around and guarding a temple entrance.

Hayseed owed a lot of ponies a lot of money. He had expended a lot of favors after joining the club, which was why he was patrolling alone. He did like the crossbow and uniform, though. They made him look really intimidating, at least in his own mind.

His ears perked up as he heard something strange in the corridor ahead of him. He trotted up. It wasn’t the alarm going off. It sounded more like a bell.

“Hello?” He asked, walking past the sensor. Had some kind of animal gotten into the temple? He walked around a corner, wishing he had a torch. It sure was dark down in the middle of the earth.

Bells rang out again behind him, just a faint sound. He followed it, not quite sure where he was going. He ended up in a dead-end corridor, staring at a wall and a small shrine to one of the many brave soldiers who had fallen in the Lunar Rebellion. If he had been a better cultist, he might have known the name, but Hayseed was really just in it for the thrill and easy loans.

The shadows loomed up behind him.

“Guess it was nothing. This guard duty is so boring I’m hearing things. At least I was able to use the money I got to get my marefriend a ring,” Hayseed said to himself. “I’ll propose to her as soon as I get back from this mess.”

The shadows behind him hesitated.

“Of course, at that point, the world will have been taken over by a force of terrible darkness. It’s a good thing I’m on the winning side!”

Somepony tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around just in time to get knocked out.

“When you wake up, tell your girlfriend that she should find a stallion with a brain,” Chrysalis hissed, as she stripped the pony, looking for something she could use. She found it around his neck - a pendant with a small charm put on it, exactly the kind of thing that could get her past the magical sensor.

She looked at the discarded robe. And the pony she’d knocked out. Maybe there was one more thing she could take from him.

Author's Note

No, she's not taking that.

You dirty, dirty person.

So with NaNoWriMo, my writing here has slowed down a bit. I'll try to keep chapters coming, but I make no real promises until December. We're also just past the halfway point, by my reckoning.

Chapter Six - The Oldest Trick

The tactical suit really was amazing. A little activation of the magic in the seams, and it had resized to fit Chrysalis’ new form, and it was light and thin enough that with the cultist’s robes over it you couldn’t tell she - or rather he, in this form - was wearing it at all.

“Hey!” Chrysalis turned slowly, giving the yelling pony a dumb look, like the gormless earth pony she was pretending to be. A unicorn mare with hair like graying fire stalked up to her, glaring. “Hayseed, you’re supposed to be at the East entrance!”

“I am?” Chrysalis said, tilting her head. “But he said I was supposed to go check on the prisoners.”

“He?” The unicorn frowned. “He who?!”

“Um… you know?” Chrysalis frowned, as if trying to remember a name, hemming and hawing. “Everypony sort of looks the same when the light’s not so good and we’re in uniform. But he sounded like it was real important.”

“Hayseed, I’ve told you a dozen times,” the pony sighed. “You can’t just go and do what everypony tells you to do. Nightmare Moon wants us to think for ourselves.”

“And obey her will,” Chrysalis put in.

“Well obviously. Total freedom, as long as we follow her every whim.” The mare nodded to herself, as if that made perfect sense. “Walk with me, Hayseed. I know you’re just in this for the whole… 'worshippers-with-benefits' thing, but this is important work we’re doing. Do you know why my husband and I joined the Midnight Club?”

Chrysalis shook her head.

“For almost my entire life, I served Celestia. I didn’t get tenure as a teacher in the School for Gifted Unicorns, but there are a lot of small towns across Equestria that needed a unicorn to come in and teach foals for a month or two at a time. The pay was excellent, but it meant I didn’t have much time to spend with my own daughter.” She sighed and looked at her hooves. “When Sunset was accepted into the school, my first thought was that at least she’d have somepony looking out for her all the time. When I learned she was going to be Celestia’s personal student, well, it made it all seem like it was worth it.”

She smiled a little, shaking her head.

“Things were going so well. For Sunset, at least. We grew somewhat distant, but I can’t blame her. She was starting to find her own path in life and I thought Celestia was going to be the pony to help her with that. But then, three years ago…”

“What happened?” Chrysalis asked, curious despite herself.

“I wish I knew. Sunset vanished, and the Princess refused to ever tell me why. Worse, she had a new personal student before I even heard the news. She replaced my daughter just like that! She can raise the sun, but she can’t even give me the time of day enough to tell me where my daughter went!”

“I’m sorry,” Chrysalis said, softly.

“It’s not your fault, don’t apologize. I’ll do whatever it takes to knock her off of her little throne. I’ll scrape and dig my nose in muddy, frozen dirt, I’ll bend knee to Nightmare Moon, I’ll work with the griffons, all in the name of revenge.”

“The griffons?” Chrysalis asked.

“Their aims aren’t so different from mine,” the unicorn shrugged. “They gave us the weapons you’ve been using, and the airship. Our leader cut some kind of deal with them. She didn’t give me the details, but she’s getting results. We’ve already bagged ourselves Celestia’s adopted daughter. Or niece. I’m not entirely clear on what their relationship is...”

“Oh, that’s right,” Chrysalis said. “I was supposed to check on the prisoner. She’s still doing okay, right?”

“Well of course,” the mare said. “We can’t go and permanently damage her. Not if we want to use her for the sacrifice.”

Cadance panted, exhausted. The restraints on her legs were bad enough, keeping her pinned upright to a stone altar in a terribly unnatural pose, spread-eagle and with most of her weight on her rear hooves.

That wasn’t the worst of it, though. She hadn’t even had a horn for long, but she’d very quickly grown reliant on magic for a lot of things, and having it blocked off by the heavy restraining ring locked onto her was more than just uncomfortable, it was terrifying. She felt helpless in a way she never had before.

“You’re pretty tough,” her tormentor said, as he walked around her. “But I guess it wouldn’t be much fun if you broke too easily.”

“Mister Shimmer, why are you doing this?” Cadance croaked, her voice weak.

“Celestia took my daughter away, it’s the least I can do to take hers away too,” Silver Shimmer said. “One of the last letters we ever got from her was just a tear-stained mess about how Celestia had all but abandoned her to take care of you. We trusted Celestia to do right by our daughter, and what happened? She’s gone!”

“Princess Celestia didn’t have anything to do with that!” Cadance whimpered, tugging at her restraints. “She tried to get Sunset to take lessons with me, but instead Sunset refused to take them at all if she couldn’t have the Princess to herself.”

“Don’t talk about it like you’d understand!” Silver Shimmer yelled. “Sunset was a wonderful, loving foal! I’ll never even get to know what happened to her.” He picked up two glowing rods. “But I bet you know.”

“I already told you, I don’t know anything. She was just gone one day! Celestia wouldn’t even talk about it with me but…” Cadance looked down. “She looked so upset. I know something happened between her and Sunset. Maybe Sunset ran away, or did something to hurt herself-”

Silver Shimmer cut her off by touching her side with one of the glowing rods. Cadance immediately felt a wave of awful, twitching itchiness spread out from where it touched her, like he’d found the most ticklish part of her body and assaulted it.

Her breath caught in her throat and tears poured down her face as she choked on breathless laughter, unable to control herself.

Silver Shimmer pulled the rod back, watching her.

“Alicorns are largely immune to common physical harm,” Silver Shimmer said. “But not some relatively common and harmless charms. These rods are enchanted with a laughing charm, the kind of thing a foal might know, but with far more power. It’s actually quite terrible, wouldn’t you agree?”

Cadance looked up at him. “You’re going to regret this when my bodyguard shows up to save me.”

He replied by touching the rods to her left wing, and the spell surged through her, laughter driving the breath from her lungs and making it feel like she was being torn apart from within.

“Silver!” Snapped his wife as she walked in, Hayseed in tow. “Did you tell Hayseed to leave his post?”

“No, dear,” Silver sighed, putting the torture tools down. Cadance looked over at the mare, still trying to catch her breath. If she had been mortal, she would probably have been knocked unconscious by now.

“T-Tequila Sunrise,” Cadance coughed. “You were never like this before. Why would you do something like this?”

“I hope you haven’t damaged her permanently, Silver,” Tequila said. “You know the plan. We have to make her a suitable host for the Nightmare, and then Equestria will fall. We can’t give our new Mistress a damaged body.”

“That’s insane!” Cadance whispered. “Nightmare Moon was banished forever.”

“Not forever,” Tequila corrected, dropping into the lecturing tone she had been using with Hayseed. “According to the prophecies of Star Swirl the Bearded, the wards would weaken and buckle over time. They’re so weak now she’ll probably be able to free herself within a few years, but if we can make you a suitable host, she can escape right now.”

“But what about the money and the whole… Republic… thing?” Hayseed asked, speaking up.

Silver sighed. “You really do only get what you pay for with minions. We don’t care about the money or the land. When Nightmare Moon is freed, we’ll be able to conquer all of Equestria!”

“Of course, if we didn’t make demands, they might actually try to figure out what we’re doing instead of just arguing with each other about if they should pay up or not,” Tequila Sunrise added. “They’ll probably be deadlocked for days.”

“Not that there will be days for much longer. We should go ask our leader about just what she wants us to do with the prisoner,” Silver muttered.

“Hayseed,” Tequila said sharply. “Just stay here and watch her. No matter what she says, don’t listen to her and don’t touch her, understood?”

Hayseed nodded slowly. “Don’t listen to her and don’t touch her.”

“Good,” Tequila nodded, then walked out of the room with her husband.

Hayseed waited for the door to close, then walked over to Cadance. “Well, that took them long enough.”

“Look, whatever they’re paying you, it’s not worth selling your soul!” Cadance said, softly. “If you let me go, I can make sure you aren’t punished like the rest. T-there can even be a reward!”

“A reward? Don’t be silly.” Hayseed laughed, stepping behind the altar. There was a flash of green light, though Cadance couldn’t see quite what he was doing.

“I’m already being paid for this,” Chrysalis said, as she walked the rest of the way around, back into Cadance’s field of vision, returned to her usual disguise. “Kept you waiting, huh?”

“You- but- how?!” Cadance gasped.

“Disguise spells,” Chrysalis said, muttering ‘sort of’ under her breath afterwards. “Now let’s get you out of here. How do these restraints work?”

“There’s sort of a key thing. It looked old.” Cadance nodded. “Over there.”

Chrysalis walked over, her steps silent, and looked at the pedestal. “Okay. That’s not great. This is some kind of magic lock. I don’t know if I can pick it. Did one of those two have the key?”

“Silver Shimmer did,” Cadance muttered. ‘It was sort of this, well, silver thing.”

“Of course. Are you going to be okay while I try and get it? What did those idiots do to you?” Chrysalis looked at her, worried.

“Torture, and things worse than torture,” Cadance whispered.

“Worse than torture?”

“They were reading me poetry. It was… it was so awful. There were hundreds of poems, and they were all about the moon!” Cadance sniffled. “I-I didn’t crack, though. No matter how awful the rhymes and imagery became!”

“I’ll get you out of here,” Chrysalis assured her, stepping closer. “Just hang in there for a little longer.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Cadance joked, weakly. Then Chrysalis did something she didn’t expect. She leaned in and kissed her cheek.

“I’ll be back soon.”

Cadance watched her sneak over to the door, and there was a wave of green fire. For just a moment, Cadance thought she saw something awful, but it was replaced with Hayseed’s gormless look before she could even really process what she saw.

Chrysalis looked back at her one last time, then slipped out.

Cadance sighed. “I really hate being the damsel in distress.”

“Sir! Ma’am!” Crysalis yelled, as she ran down the hallway, still in her Hayseed disguise. “Something really bad happened!” The two unicorns were standing in a larger room, some kind of storehouse, or at least it was a storehouse now. Crates were stacked in pallets with narrow paths between them. If not for her ability to sense emotions, Chrysalis might have missed them entirely.

“Hayseed, this isn’t a good time for something bad to happen,” Tequila Sunrise whispered. “And we left you there so you could guard her, not so you could run off!”

“You don’t understand, Ma’am!” Chrysalis looked back, trying to sound afraid, as if worried she might still be followed. “It’s real bad. Not just regular bad.”

“What happened?” Silver Shimmer asked, sighing.

“She started laughing real funny, then she was crying for a while, then she started talking to herself but it wasn’t really talking. It was all poems and stuff. About the moon!”

“About the moon?” Tequila Sunrise blinked. “This could be the breakthrough we’ve been waiting for! If she’s really started to crack, she could be a host for the Nightmare before the end of the night.”

“You two are idiots.” A voice hissed from behind them. Chrysalis blinked in surprise, taking a step back. She hadn’t sensed another pony there. And the voice was the same one from when she’d infiltrated the dock.

“What do you mean, Ma’am?” Tequila asked. “Do you think the Princess is faking it so we’ll release her? We weren’t intending to let her go until after the Nightmare consumed her.”

“Either way, it’s a good thing that Hayseed came to get us,” Silver said. “I don’t think he could really manage to deal with it himself.”

The cloaked figure stepped forwards, not leaving the shadows. Chrysalis saw a slitted eye, almost like-

“You two can’t even see through a simple disguise. There’s nothing going on with Princess Cadenza at all,” the figure said.

“But Hayseed said-”

“That is not Hayseed,” the figure corrected.

“But then who is it?” Tequila asked, turning around in alarm. Chrysalis didn’t have much time to react - she needed her magic and she needed it now. A wave of green fire washed over her, and she felt the tactical suit reshape itself to match the longer limbs of her usual disguise. Before the corona of magic from the disguise had even faded, she fired a sleep spell at Tequila Sunrise, only for it to hit a magical shield and dissipate into nothing.

“Naughty, naughty,” the cloaked figure chuckled. “You two take care of this. I have other arrangements to make.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Silver said, covering her as she left. Chrysalis jumped backwards as he launched a bolt of flame at her hooves, almost catching her. She threw a blinding illusionary burst of light at them to give her time to run for cover behind some of the crates.

“You’re not getting away that easily!” Tequila Sunrise yelled. She grabbed some of the crates and flung them at the doorway, blocking it off with debris. “You’re trapped in here with us, now.”

“Look,” Chrysalis said, using a quick charm to make it sound like her voice was coming from a dozen paces away. “I understand what you’re going through-”

“No you don’t! You’ve never lost a daughter!” A fireball blasted through the crates, right through where she would have been if she’d actually been where her voice was coming from.

“Celestia crippled my mother before I was even born,” Chrysalis yelled. “Tore off most of her wings. They’ve been enemies for longer than you’ve been alive.”

“Then you should be helping us!” Silver hissed. The light spell cut off as the illusion finally failed. It had actually lasted longer than Chrysalis had expected. Maybe seeing Cadance again had given her a little boost.

“Your plan is stupid. You’re going to sacrifice a pony I actually like and for what?” Chrysalis snorted. “Just for revenge? To destroy the world? Even my mother would never do that, and she was a bitter old nag.”

“Then she’s weak!” Tequila yelled. Another fireball crashed through the crates, revealing that nopony was there. “Where are you?”

Chrysalis considered her options, then tried a simple illusion, just a shadow moving on the other side of the room. At the same time, she crept around the crates, trying to work her way behind the two unicorns.

“You must be the bodyguard she mentioned,” Silver said. “You weren’t there to protect her before. What makes you think you can save her now?”

“So you were the ones who took her?” Chrysalis asked, keeping the ventriloquism charm up.

“We had some help from ponies on the inside,” Silver replied. “Don’t bother looking for them. Their pay included a little something extra to make sure they wouldn’t be telling anypony about their part in this.”

“Poison?” Chrysalis guessed.

“A curse,” Silver said. “Far harder to trace. It’ll just look like a series of unfortunate events that take the lives of a dozen loyal guards.”

“You know, I think that’s what I dislike most about you cultists,” Chrysalis said, readying herself. “You kill ponies when you don’t have to. It’s such a terrible waste.”

She jumped out from behind the crates, firing a bolt of force down the narrow path. Tequila spotted her, returning fire. The two bolts clashed in the air for a moment before Chrysalis’ spell shattered, only serving to deflect Tequila’s enough to make it miss and knock over a stack of boxes.

Chrysalis swore under her breath and got back into cover. This wasn’t going well.

“If that’s all you’ve got, you’re not much of a bodyguard,” Tequila said. “I’ve known foals that could put up a better fight than you.”

She was right, and Chrysalis knew it. She didn’t have nearly enough magical strength to actually beat her in a straight fight.

But she didn’t need to beat her fairly, either.

Chrysalis looked at the ceiling. Like most of the temple, the room was lit by magelights, long-lasting magical light sources that didn’t put out heat or smoke and didn’t need any wiring run for electricity or complicated diagrams. They might have been there for a thousand years, just running off of the ambient magic in the room.

Chrysalis tossed a globe of darkness around the lights. She couldn’t make it big enough to cover the room, but she could make it big enough to cover the lights, and her spell would last at least a few seconds before the magelights collapsed it.

She focused on a new disguise.

Silver Shimmer blinked as the darkness flashed back into light, dazzling him for a moment. Fighting this bodyguard was getting tiresome.

“What happened?” Tequila asked, from near him.

“A fake!” Yelled another voice. “She’s using a disguise!” Silver recognized that voice. He spun around to see Tequila, and past her… another copy of him. It looked panicked.

Tequila Sunrise looked between Silver and his double, confusion evident on her face. “But- another trick! Which one of you is real?”

Thankfully, Silver Shimmer was very quick on his hooves. “We met in Trottingham! When Sunset was born, the first thing she did was set the doctor on fire for spanking her flank! You hate olives because they have a ‘creepy hole’ in them!”

Tequila relaxed and turned on Silver’s double. “Blast him!” She ordered.

“Wait! This is just a tr-” the double yelled before Silver’s blast of force sent him crashing back into crates.

“That got her,” Silver said. Tequila stepped aside to let him through. He walked up to his duplicate. “This is a pretty awful illusion spell,” he noted, looking at the disguise. “I’m amazed you didn’t see through it on your own. It’s rough around the edges.”

“Well, I only had a few seconds to put it together,” Tequila Sunrise said, at the same time the illusion failed, revealing that the mare lying unconscious at Silver’s hooves was… Tequila Sunrise.

Silver’s eyes went wide, and a crate smashed into his head a moment before the sleeping spell hit him.

“The double-reverse-disguise trick always works,” Chrysalis smirked, as she dropped the disguise. Resuming her normal, much more graceful appearance, she searched through Silver Shimmer’s robes. “Now where’s that key…”

“Okay, so I have good news and bad news,” Chrysalis said, as she walked back into the interrogation room.

“The good news had better include getting me down from here,” Cadance said. “I have to go to the bathroom!”

“Okay, well, I have the key.” Chrysalis said. “Sort of.” She levitated three carved silver trinkets up. “Don’t panic! It’s not broken. Not exactly. It’s just sort of a combination lock. But a combination key. I have to get them in the right order, and they’ll unlock you.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Cadance said. “There are only a few combinations.”

“Right. Exactly,” Chrysalis hesitated. “But, um. This place is sort of full of traps, and if I was a trap-setting kind of person, using the key incorrectly is exactly the kind of thing I’d have as something that would set off said traps.”

“You’re kidding,” Cadance muttered.

“I wish I was,’ Chrysalis said. “But there has to be some kind of clue, right?” She looked at the key parts. “I mean, cultists managed to get this thing working, and we’re smarter than a bunch of cultists.”

“Chrysalis, some of those cultists were tenured professors for colleges from across Equestria!”

“Okay, right, but you’re a Princess, so you probably have a great education.”

“I was home-schooled until I went to Canterlot High!”

“...Okay. Well, I… didn’t qualify for officer's school. And my home-schooling wasn’t really focused on academics.” She started trying to fit the key parts together. There was something about the carvings…

“I believe in you,” Cadance said. She almost sounded like she meant it.

“Okay. I think I’ve got this thing right,” Chrysalis said. Most of the lines sort of lined up. “I’ll have you out of there in two shakes of a hornet’s stinger.”

She levitated the key over the pedestal and took a deep breath.

“Don’t!” Yelled another voice, as Daring Do flew into the room, tackling the key away from Chrysalis. The pegasus rolled, clutching the key in her hooves as she came to a halt. “That was way too close.”

“So you finally showed up,” Chrysalis said. “Cadance, meet Daring Do.”

“...Daring Do is real?!” Cadance blinked.

“Real and just saved your life. Probably. You’re immortal, right? It still wouldn’t have been pleasant.” Daring Do held up the key. “You assembled it wrong. Look at the carving on the front. It’s shaped like a monkey, and you have the head on upside down!”

“...And you could tell that from across the room?” Chrysalis was impressed.

“No, I just assumed you had it wrong. Felt it was a safe bet.”

Chrysalis was less impressed than before. Daring Do started reassembling the key. After a few seconds she had it looking nearly the same, except for the head. With confidence, she slid it into the pedestal, and there was a faint click.

Cadance slumped to the floor as her restraints released.

“Oh thank Harmony,” Cadance groaned. “My back is going to be sore for weeks!”

“No need to thank me, Princess. Just doing my job.” Daring Do tried to look humble. “But you know, I wouldn’t mind-”

Cadance pulled Chrysalis into a kiss.

“Never mind,” Daring Do sighed. “I guess I’ll just be over here, saving everypony’s life from ancient deathtraps, while you girls make out.”

“We probably should actually escape,” Cadance said, after a moment. Chrysalis just nodded, not quite able to speak. “Do you have a plan?”

“The Defiant is waiting not too far away,” Chrysalis said, after a moment to compose herself. “You and Daring Do should be able to fly there. If you feel strong enough, you can carry me, or I can swim to shore and signal you.”

“That’s a surprisingly simple plan,” Daring Do muttered. “No rescue mission, or a giant balloon to carry you away silently on the wind, or a teleport circle?”

“I didn’t figure I’d need one,” Chrysalis shrugged. “If Cadance was too weak to fly, I was just going to lie low and wait for Thunderbolt’s attack in the morning. If nothing else, I could keep her safe until he gets here a few hours after dawn.”

“Really?” Daring Do rubbed her chin. “Good to know I wasn’t just relying on you for the rescue.”

“You know any good secret passages out of here?” Chrysalis asked, expectantly.

“I think I know just the thing,” Daring Do said.

“I specified a good secret passage,” Chrysalis groaned.

“What’s wrong with this one?” Daring Do asked.

“We’ve been going up these stairs for ten minutes!” Chrysalis still couldn’t see the top, and it was too narrow for Cadance or Daring Do to fly.

“I’d try teleporting us out, but the inhibitor ring won’t come off,” Cadance sighed.

“It’s a magical lock,” Daring Do said. “We’ll need time to pick it. And maybe a better unicorn.”

“I’m a great unicorn!” Chrysalis huffed, lifting her chin. “You should have seen me fighting those two cultists.”

“Right, sure. So, we’ll need a better unicorn,” Daring Do continued. “It’s not ancient like the stuff downstairs, so we just need somepony skilled in enchanted and cursed objects. SECT should have a bunch of ponies like that in the area.”

“Miller should know somepony who can help,” Chrysalis nodded.

“Miller?” Cadance blinked. “Grain Miller? He’s a-”

“A secret agent, apparently” Chrysalis sighed. “And he loses the fake country accent really quickly once he’s serious about something.”

“When we get back to Canterlot I am going to have a very serious discussion with Celestia about all this,” Cadance grumped. “I bet he was just here to keep an eye on me, as if you aren’t more than enough.”

“Since you got kidnapped, I’d say that even with both of us, you needed more protection,” Chrysalis retorted.

“Well, if you’d been in my room with me~” Cadance started, the edges of her mouth pulling up into a smile.

“Please don’t start flirting,” Daring Do groaned.

“I’m sorry,” Cadance apologized. “When we get back to civilization, I can try to set you up with somepony of your own. Then you can flirt shamelessly in front of me and I’ll take notes on how you do things.”

“I don’t date,” Daring Do said. “It always ends in betrayal. Made me realize I should always be thinking about what kind of ulterior motives my dates had.”

“You’re right,” Chrysalis agreed. “I need to be careful around Cadance. She’s probably planning on having me around as a trophy wife to keep all the stallions at bay.”

“And here I thought you were planning on seducing me so you could sleep your way to the top,” Cadance smiled. “It wouldn’t work very well, by the way. Celestia’s the one in charge of the Royal Guard.”

“I’ll have to figure out how to seduce her, then,” Chrysalis teased. “Maybe I’ll dress up like a cake.”

“I was wrong,” Daring Do said. “This is worse than the flirting.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll stop soon,” Cadance said. “I think I see the way out!” She started running up the stairs, and as Chrysalis followed, she spotted it too, a doorway leading outside into the snow.

“Wait!” Chrysalis yelled. “We need to make sure there aren’t any cultists around.”

“Good idea,” Daring Do said, just before she was enveloped in a wave of green flame. Chrysalis froze. “It would just be terrible to fail at the last moment.”

A bolt of green psychic energy slammed into Chrysalis, knocking her off her hooves and into Cadance. The energy tore at her disguise, peeling it away like tearing off a band-aid, painful and sharp. The tactical suit shredded around her unable to accommodate the rapid change to her form.

Chrysalis could see the terror in Cadance’s eyes. She covered her face with her hooves, unable to even look at the Princess.

“C-Chrysalis?!” Cadance asked, frightened. “What did you do to her?!” She looked up at Daring Do.

“I just removed her veil.” The flames faded, and Cadance was looking at a monster. A monster almost identical to the one in her hooves. “I was hoping she would prove that she hadn’t forgotten her roots, but I’m really quite disappointed.”

“Her roots?” Cadance asked, quietly.

“At least she managed to avoid revealing herself. I thought she was a little soft in the way she was dealing with the guards, and I even had to step in to keep her from dying a few times.” The changeling shook her head. “How pathetic. Changeling royalty should be stronger than that… sister.”

“Sister?” Chrysalis croaked, feeling something twist inside her. That psychic blast had done more damage than she’d expected. “I don’t have a sister!”

“Mother tried to keep you secret from me, too,” the changeling said. She pressed a marked stone, and the doorway slammed shut, a boulder dropping down to cut off the outside world. “I’d like to say it’s a pleasure to meet you, Chrysalis, but you’re just pathetic. You’re supposed to make ponies fall in love with you, not the other way around.”

“Let her go,” Chrysalis coughed. “If you’ve got some kind of problem with me, we’ll settle it between us.”

“See? That’s even more pathetic,” the changeling scoffed. “Sacrificing yourself for her? You’re supposed to take more than you give!” She stalked over and kicked Chrysalis’ prone form.

“Who in Tartarus are you?” Chrysalis hissed.

“I’m you,” she said. “I’m your shadow.”

“What?” Chrysalis blinked.

“Ask the mother that you killed. I’ll send you to Tartarus to meet her!”

A ring of fire surrounded Cadance and Chrysalis, and they sank into the rock like they were falling into a pit of quicksand, darkness rising around them until it closed over their heads.