Mirror, Mirror

Two centuries after Luna's unfortunate banishment, the hivelands stirred with ceremony. It was coronation day, to proclaim their next princess. Only at the time, it wasn't called the hivelands. There were ponies everywhere, all sorts. Colors, marks, size, race, no combination repeated itself. Their city was small, at its inception, and since grew to rival that of Canterlot. Because of its size, the ruler of their land decided it best to sink their own city into the earth.

There it settled, in the badlands to the southeast. Their queen at the time fixed all damages to the castle and the ground above them. One unicorn mare, questioned why this had to happen.

"If it didn't happen, we'd have been forced into submission by the princess," her friend replied. "Don't get me wrong, I'll miss the surface world, but it's always changing. Who knows? Maybe one day we'll rise and claim our own corner of Equestria for ourselves."

"It's just not fair," Crystal replied, "We were doing just fine. Why the sudden change in location? I'm telling you, something's not right with our leaders."

"It's not fair, to us. But our opinion doesn't matter to the rulers, you know that as well as I do." Her friend smiled and walked into her house, leaving the door open. "No sense dwelling on it now. You can lead your revolution tomorrow," she said jokingly.

Crystal laughed and followed her inside. There, Crystal offered to make tea. Once done, they sat down and talked about their new world. About Crystal's wish that things could one day go back to how they were.

The following morning met with a pounding at the front door and a stern, "Crystal! Your presence is requested in the castle." She opened the door and saw a stallion wearing the guard colors black and green.

"What is this about? H-Hey!" she cried as they pulled her away. She could do nothing against them, for that meant penalty. Everypony knew not to go against the will of the rulers, so quietly she followed. Crystal was thrown at the hooves of the princess and queen of their land.

"This is the one who talked of revolution... Crystal, your name is, yes?" She nodded slowly. "Leave us." She watched as the guards left the room. "I will not have an uprising in this city. What is your problem, so that we might see it through?"

Crystal stood, bowed, and replied, "Why did we need to change where we lived? Surely our surfaced city would be seen as an opportunity to join forces with-"

"That's what this is all about?" the queen asked. "You want to know why?" She turned to the side and brought in a royal guard from Canterlot. "This stallion was caught snooping around the surface. I saw it as an investigation. I will not allow Celestia to push her nose where it doesn't belong."

Crystal looked at the green pegasus, wings and hooves bound. "Is this true?" she asked him.

Before he could respond, the princess interrupted, "Of course it's true, why would he be here otherwise? Besides, what do you care?"

"I'm just ... curious, is all."

"Of?" the queen asked.

It was wrong to imprison him like this. Maybe if I get him out of here, he'll help me be free. "Curious to know how he got down here."

"That, you can ask him yourself." She turned to the prisoner and added, "And if he doesn't respond, then throw him in the dungeon sentenced to death."

Crystal walked over to the stallion and sat down in front of him. He looked up at her quietly. "Is there any way he can sit up? Looking down at him like this... I feel sorry for him."

"He'll lay on his side," the princess responded. Crystal looked over at her, and saw a sword leaning up against her throne.

that must be his... She looked again at him. "First, who are you?"

"I am a knight in the service of her highness Princess Celestia. I am called Regulus."

"How did you get down here?"

"I was ambushed by your military, bound and dragged away to this castle. My weapon was taken from me and I was thrown at the hooves of your rulers."

I see his memory is in tact... "Why are you here? And don't lie."

He was silent for but a moment. "I am here to discover where the city has gone. A week ago, we at Canterlot received a missive asking that a representative be sent to negotiate a peace treaty. Lo and behold, when I got here a few days ago, the city had vanished. Then I was ambushed, like they knew I'd be here."

"Preposterous! I never sent any missive! Lies! All of them! He's here to spy on us! To find our weakness!"

I don't know which to believe... "I'm done. It is a comfort to me that a threat is neutralized. Long live the queen." Crystal turned and bowed to the rulers, and whispered, "i'll see what i can do to help you." After that, she was escorted back to her friend's house.

~~~~~~~~~

"Chryssi! I'm so glad you're still alive! I only meant it as a joke. The whole, 'revolution' thing. I'm so sorry, I di-"

"Calm yourself, girl. It's fine," she interrupted. She turned to the door and smiled, "Thank you for your continued service."

"What happened? Did they hurt you? Are your limbs still attached? How's your mental state?" Her friend's barrage of questions only made her laugh.

"I'm fine, really." Crystal looked around quickly. "Come, I want to play a game with you." She lead the way to the upstairs bedroom and closed the door.

"What's this about?" She watched as Crystal locked the door, shut the windows, and listened.

"They're holding an investigator from Canterlot at the castle, a pegasus by the name of Regulus. And I don't think he's going to last the week if their torture methods keep up."

"You're scaring me... What are you up to?"

"I'm going to rescue him. If I can get him out, he can take me to Canterlot where I'll finally be free. And if I have to do it alone, I will." She looked at her friend with a serious frown.

"You're going to get yourself killed, you know. Sneaking in is one thing, out is another story."

"He has a sword. I'm getting that first. I know roughly where it is. As well as the cell he'll be in. Getting thrown in one myself will finally come in handy."

"The weapon vault. So, you're going tonight?" Crystal nodded. "I'm sorry, but if you get caught, you'll face the death penalty, along with anypony you bring with you, for treason. I won't be faced with that. I'm sorry. You're on your own."

"Then stay put and don't tell anypony. I'll be back by morning." She walked out and was stopped at the stairs.

"Stay here for now. If you go out there now, you could be caught again. Go in the night." She leaned in. "For all our sakes, I hope this plan is a success. When you make it big in the big city, don't forget about us."

The two enjoyed their day until the lights in the city dimmed and went out. Crystal was ready. She had familiarized herself with the layout of the castle from memory. "Now, if I can figure out how to change the way the queen thinks, then things will go well."

"But first you must change yourself," a voice called out. "Both inside and out."

"I thought you were asleep?" She looked at the closed door to find nothing. "Ivy?"

"Not quite," it replied. A bright white light filled the room as a tall white alicorn graced the small area. "I have a piece of advice for you. When you get him out, you will be captured. When you are in front of the princess and queen, that will be your only time to free your fellow ponies from rule."

"Why are you telling me this?" Crystal asked her.

"Because, I want to. The last pony I wanted to see change the world, decided to try and rule it for himself. But you, you want to change it for the better. If you decide to free your fellow ponies, I will see you again... In the meantime, a parting gift." Her horn lit up a rainbow of colors and surrounded Crystal within. Once complete, her form fell to the floor, a creature with a horn and wings. Her coat changed to black as well.

"What did you do to me?!" she cried.

"I gave you the ability to change into anything you want. The drawback is this: you can only feed on the love from others."

"Who are you even?"

"I am The Divine Creator, The Ultimate, The Mother. I am All, I am One. As I have many names, I may take many forms. My abilities are grand and miniscule, and none are without price."

"You can take many forms... And you passed that ability to ... me?" She nodded. "Then why do I look like a bug?"

"You are called a Changeling. A name befitting your powers of transformation. Try to think about what you looked like before."

Crystal closed her eyes and imagined her previous body. With a quick burst of flame, she stood there, as she was before. "It worked. When does it wear off?"

"When you attempt to change again. In time, you wll learn to control this power. But know this: your magic will forever be a green color. Even when you change." Her light grew in brightness as she disappeared. "You don't have long."

Crystal looked herself and flew out the window as the pegasus guard that took her away. When she changed, she got the armor as well. After a short flight, she landed at the base of the castle. No guards had seen her, thankfully. She was able to sneak inside, get to the weapons vault and retrieve the sword. However, she tried to get the sword out of its sheath, but that failed. So she changed to a unicorn guard with two sword holders and placed the one on one side, and a different one on the other. Getting in was easy, getting out was harder. She heard hoofsteps just outside.

Crystal knocked on the door. "Is somepony out there? I'm trapped!" she called.

Quickly, the guard unlocked the door as she ran out, taking sharp breaths. "You alright? What happened?"

"The prisoner escaped, and locked me in there. I don't know which way he went."

The guard turned away and replied, "I'm sure we'll find him. We took him down once, what's once mo-" He didn't hear the sword unsheath, nor did he see it plunge into his underbelly. Death was swift and painless.

"I'm sorry, but I have to do this." She wiped off the blood and sheathed it once more. With her magic, she dragged the body inside the room, shut and locked the door.

She walked the halls as a unicorn guard and came to the dungeon entrance. "Finally, a replacement. Only one of you?

"Yeah. Just me. But don't worry. I have two swords and can cover both your shifts." The guard on the left gave her the keys and trotted off with his buddy. Are all guards this dense? Once they were out of sight, she opened the door and descended the stone steps to the cells below. Most of the prisoners were asleep, but one. She whispered, "Regulus? Reguluuuuuus..." She heard a rock collide with an iron bar half way down the hall. She hurried and saw him strung up by his forelegs. "Regulus. Hold on, I'll get you out of here." Quickly, she unlocked his cell door, and began unlocking his cuffs.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"It's me, the mare from earlier."

"It's a trick, right? You're a stallion." He watched as she changed into her form from when they met. "How did you-"

"No time to talk. Can you stand?" He did so and looked at her sword. "Yeah, I kinda stole this from the vault. I know it's yours." She gave it to him and watched as he drew it effortlessly.

"The Sword of Masters has returned to me." He turned to her, and strapped it to his side. "Ma'am, you have my thanks. Now get out of here before you get caught."

"Actually, that's what I wanted to ask you. Can you take me with you? I don't want to live here anymore."

" ... Fine, but I cannot liberate your city from its rulers."

"That's fine. I have a feeling that'll be my job." She walked him out of the cell and stopped when she saw search lights. "That didn't take long. Can you fight?"

"Better than you." He flew forward and knocked the first few stallions over while clearing the path for Crystal. She changed into a pegasus and flew after him. Getting used to wings was easy, since she was a pegasus before. When she got out of the dungeon, she saw he had killed them. "Which way is out?"

"Uh... This way!" She flew down several halls, above the oncoming guards and arrived at an opening in the walls. "There!"

"Great, let's go! UGH!" he cried, as a bolt of magic hit his side. From the force, he was shot through the opening. As it was too late to go back to come to her rescue, he turned and fled to the edge of the cavern.

"Let him go," the queen ordered. "I don't know who you are, but you are in serious trouble! Huh?" the queen asked.

"Forgive me, your Majesty. I almost had him." There stood, in her place, an earth pony guard. "Had I come but a few moments sooner."

"To my throne room. You will tell me all you have witnessed." As the queen walked with Crystal at her side, she looked at her guard.

"What spell was that? If you don't mind my asking..."

"A degenerative magic spell. I gave him the worst illness a pegasus can get. Best of all, it goes through any immunities the pony has, so he won't live much longer."

In the throne room, Crystal knelt before her rulers, posing as an earth pony guard. The princess was furious at the fact that her first prisoner had escaped. "How could this have happened!? Where were the guards?!"

"Uh... Princess?" one of the guards began, "I gave my keys to a unicorn guard with two swords."

That was me Crystal thought, returning to her upright position. "How could you? Could you not tell he was committing treason?"

"Well, he said he was there to cover our shifts, so..."

Another guard interrupted, "I should say this now: Earlier, I found a body, stabbed in the underbelly, by the weapon's vault."

"Then we have a problem," Crystal said. "Somepony here, who knows all of this, is a traiter." This is too easy.

"And nopony leaves until that traitor is dead at my hooves. If I have to kill all of you, I will," the queen demanded.

The guards looked at each other. "So, a unicorn guard broke into the weapon's vault, killed a stationed guard, took two swords and took over your shifts at the dungeon doors." Crystal began pacing. "Then, he freed the prisoner and escaped?"

"Yes. But then there's something different: We didn't find any hoofprints in the blood pools."

"Hmm... You mean to say that they flew? Both of them? Unicorns can't fly." Crystal approached the guard. "And I doubt they'd take their time to walk over the corpses."

"True... but then what about when we saw him fly out? Where was his companion then?"

Crystal closed her eyes in thought. "That, is a good question... I doubt the traitor would be brave enough to come to this room willingly."

"You are incredibly perceptive. How can we be sure you aren't the traitor? After all, I did find you at the scene of his escape before anypony else," the queen noted. "You look suspicious."

"My apologies, your Majesty, but I lack the wings to fly, and a horn with which to break through the vault door. It couldn't be me." Crystal felt she was being stared at by the other guards.

"You know what it looks like? It looks like you're trying to manipulate us into believing that an alicorn did this. Or you're just covering for yourself somehow." the princess stepped down from her throne and walked to Crystal. She immediately bowed. "Draw your blades. All of you."

They did so, and held them out. "What is this about?"

"One of you stabbed the guard in front of the weapons vault. That one is our culprit. And there would be traces of blood on the sword that did the deed." She lit her horn and went over the blades one by one. "Blood is not easily cleaned from iron." Nothing. The guard sheathed it and stepped back. "Next. This assailant had two swords. One of which was the sword brought by the prisoner, the other from the vault itself." Again, nothing. He stepped back as the first one did. "Next. This pony then went to the cells and relieved the guards stationed there, and got the keys in the process. Then you proceeded down to the cell, freed him, and 'flew' away." Still no traces of blood. Crystal could tell she'd be caught. "Next. After 'flying' out, you and he flew over the remainder of the guards to the opening where the queen shot him with magic." Nothing, and Crystal was next.

"Next. The traitor was with him, the entire time he was out of his cell, until the time he flew out, by himself. ..." She looked up at Crystal. "And it, somehow, is you." She looked at Crystal's side and noticed the ring of keys hanging from a loop of metal. "What do those keys unlock?"

Crystal stepped back and began laughing. "You claim it's me? I picked this sword up from the floor outside the dungeon."

"Then where is yours? If you are on duty, you already have a blade. In that case, you'd have two now."

"The key ring was taken from the vault doors," she tried to argue.

"Nonsense. Only one key is on that ring. Anything else you want to dig your hole with?"

"I swear, it's not me! I can't fly or use magic!" get through that.

The princes stepped back, and sat on her throne once more. "And that's what I can't understand. All the evidence points to you, but I don't get how you could change form. Who are you?"

Crystal hesitated, then transformed into her former unicorn self. "It should come as no surprise." She grabbed the swords in her magic and stabbed the four guards in quick succession, then pointed the blades at the queen. "Tell me, what will you do, if I leave now?"

"I would see to it that every citizen in this city be placed under constant surveillance, to see that this treachery does not happen again." Crystal glanced at the princess, who built up magic in her horn.

Quickly, she pointed a few at her throat, forcing her to look up. This aimed her horn at the ceiling. "Your one-pony rescue attempt went further than any other."

"Before I end your lives, there's something I want to know: Why did you really sink the city?"

The royalty looked at each other, then the queen sighed. "I feared the power of the monarch of Equestria. So I appointed a princess and ascended to Queen in doing so. Having more royal members would grant me greater influence over the land. It's true I sent the missive, and I did ambush him with several guards. Even now, he flies back to Canterlot with a warning. That spell, will kill him. It saps away his ability to fly. Once the Princess of Equestria saw our power, she would know not to interfere with our way of life. It was for the ponies in this city that I did all of that."

"The ponies of this city were too afraid to stand up to you! But I'm not like them. You want Equestria to see you as an equal? You went the wrong way about it. Forcing others to follow you isn't right. If anything, you started a war between us and Canterlot! The only thing to do now, is have a change of leadership. And since you remain committed to your ideals, then there's but one way." Slowly, she plunged the swords into the throats of the queen and princess. "And that, is with your fall."

"That seemed a little dark," the familiar voice called. "But, you succeeded. Regulus is free, your fellow ponies are no longer in danger, and you are able to step up to the throne and rule how you desire. You keep what you kill after all."

A light filled the room as Crystal returned to her changeling form. "You... planned this?"

"To an extent. As promised," she lit her horn and materialized a mirror of black and green. "Step through, and see your dreams a reality. Or, do nothing, and shoulder the burden yourself. I can only show you the door. It is up to you, to open it." Just as quickly as she appeared, she vanished. "The choice is yours: change your world in your eyes, or remain like that, forever."

Crystal looked at the mirror, and it reflected her form. What is this... some trick? I walk through this, I ascend to queen and claim this city as mine. I ignore it, this city has no ruler, and will likely crumble. She stepped up to the mirror and stopped. "This had better be worth it..." She stepped through the reflective surface and emerged a different creature. Taller, with a horn full of holes. Her legs longer, also with holes. She grew wings which also had holes in it. Then she saw her mane. It changed to a teal color, while her coat turned black. "... Is that all? That's almost a let-down. !" Upon hearing her voice, she noticed it was lightly raspy, and almost like there were two voices. She changed into her former self and teleported back to her friend's house where she stood waiting.

"Chryssi!" she said, enveloping her in a warm embrace. "I'm so glad you're alive."

"Ivy! I'm sorry to have worried you. Are you alright?" She nodded. "Good." Crystal closed her eyes and looked to the castle. "The queen and princess are dead now."

"And the prisoner? How's he?" Crystal turned back to see her friend had turned into the same bug creature she was before. "What... what's wrong?" Crystal began shedding tears of sorrow as she hugged her friend once more. "You're scaring me again."

"I'm- I'm so sorry Ivy. I didn't know this would happen..." She lead her friend to a mirror and watched the horror spread across her face as she realized what she was. "I'm so sorry..." Throughout the city, screams were heard as an entire mob of Changelings stormed the castle, demanding an answer. "Forgive me, but there's something I need to declare to the city." She teleported away once more as she appeared in the throne room.

The door burst open as several waves of changelings flooded the room. their charge was halted at the sight of the slain royalty and a large version of them standing over them. "What's going on?"

"The queen and princess have been slain. You are now under new rule. Trust me when I say, we will not be restricted to the shadows. We will go out into the world and earn our place in it. But first, there need to be some changes to our current home."

"Who are you supposed to be?" one asked.

Crystal looked at the crown atop her head and smiled, "I am your new Queen. Queen Chrysalis."

In solitude from the world, group after group invaded the world, returning only when they've gathered enough love to sustain themselves. Under new rule, they transformed the castle and city into a hive for themselves, making themselves at home. Love is their food source, and easily obtained in the world of ponies. The queen herself has lead the charge on more than a few occasions, all flying under the radar of Princess Celestia. Nothing was out of place. They never revealed themselves. Ever.

One day, the queen caught wind of an alicorn being made, and set her sights on the new princess.