Starlight Glimmer returned to the Castle of Friendship after spending the day at her former village's festival feeling a sense of full redemption. For the past few months, she had been under the tutelage of Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, learning about the magic of friendship.
Now, she had been put through her toughest test of trying to spread what she had learned to the Changeling Kingdom. However when she tried to convince the former Changeling Queen Chrysalis to abandon her evil ways and learn the magic of friendship, Starlight was met with Chrysalis coldly rebuking and vowing to return to get revenge on Starlight herself. Yes, Starlight was happy to have her teacher, her friends as well as the Equestrian Royal Family freed from Chrysalis' clutches, but she couldn't help but feel herself as a failure to an extent.
…
"Starlight," called a voice as Starlight stood out on the outdoor balcony of Twilight's castle. Starlight hastily turned around to see her teacher, Princess Twilight Sparkle, walking up towards her. "It's late at night, you know. I think you should be asleep."
"Sorry," she said, regaining her attention back towards overlooking the horizon of Equestria. "I just…I don't know…I feel like I failed to make Chrysalis understand that everypony deserves a second chance."
"I know how you feel," sighed Twilight. "But, I guess you now understand that not everypony deserves a second chance, Starlight. Chrysalis is just far too evil to even think about redeeming herself. Given what had happened to us recently, I'm not surprised that all of Equestria is going to do everything in its power to hunt her down."
Starlight's eyes widened at this remark. Up until this moment, she thought that everypony deserved a second chance.
"Hunt her down?" cried Starlight, giving Twilight a worried glance. "What are you talking about?"
"Chrysalis is a major threat to Equestria," answered Twilight, firmly. "I and the other princesses have all agreed that there is no other choice but to treat Chrysalis like a threat that must be not be allowed to roam free."
"What do you think you and the other princesses might do?" asked Starlight, leaving Twilight struggling to find the words to respond.
"Starlight, I, I don't know," stuttered Twilight. "Part of me wants to just let it go and move on, but I am a princess now and I must do whatever I can to keep my subjects safe as well as my friends. Nothing would make me happier than to see Chrysalis placed in Tartarus locked up in a cage next to Tirek."
"Sure, you need to respond in some way," remarked Starlight. "But, I tried to reason with her, Twilight. Perhaps I just need to try again and maybe this time Chrysalis will listen to me and realize what she's doing is wrong.."
Twilight knew that reasoning with Chrysalis was no longer an option at this point. This was a creature that did more than just kidnap Twilight, her friends and fellow princesses. Chrysalis also captured her brother, Shining Armor and her niece, Flurry Heart, which made it all that much more personal to Twilight.
"I need to try, Twilight!" cried Starlight. "Perhaps maybe…"
"She won't listen, Starlight!" barked Twilight, causing Starlight to jump back slightly. "Chrysalis is very dangerous to wander free around Equestria, you know!"
Starlight rebounded from her teacher's short outburst and realized that there was possibly no other option. Yes, the Changelings were now under the leadership of Thorax and that would make it seemed like the end, but it wasn't. There was always the chance that Chrysalis would find a way to carry out her revenge in the most monotonous way possible.
…
Suddenly, a loud scream was heard from down in the castle and Starlight darted back in to find the source of the disturbance.
"What was that?" she cried as Twilight calmly walked up to her.
"The changelings that had taken over the castle are being questioned," answered Twilight. "Several high ranking guards from Canterlot are down in the castle's basement trying to get information out of him."
The two ponies heard the screams again and for the next few moments, they were repeated over and over again. Finally, Starlight couldn't take it anymore.
"Then, make them stop, Twilight!" protested Starlight. "Send them back to the Changeling Kingdom where they belong!"
"I can't do that, Starlight," said Twilight. "As far as we both are concerned, these Changelings remain loyal to Chrysalis and if I just let them go on their way, then they will just return to Chrysalis and who knows what else they could do?"
The sound of high pitched screams continued and Twilight went downstairs with Starlight following not too far behind. Once they were downstairs, Twilight and Starlight were met by several heavyset Canterlot guards.
"Princess Twilight," said one of the guards as they saluted Twilight while she walked in. "They still refuse to talk to us. We've done everything in our power to try and make them talk. What should we do now?"
"Take them back to the dungeons," she ordered. "How are the interrogations in Canterlot and the Crystal Empire?"
"As far as we are concerned," replied the other guard. "They are just as stubborn and strong willed. Even Prince Armor used brute force on his prisoners, going as far as using threats to get them to talk."
Both Starlight and Twilight felt their hearts sink upon hearing this and realized that things were starting to go far…way too far.
"I'm not surprised," remarked Twilight, remembering her brothers obsessed hatred for Changelings ever since his wedding to Cadence. "He, Cadence and Flurry Heart were victims in this just as much as we all are.
With a salute, the two guards walked back down into the basement and as both Starlight and Twilight watched in shock and disbelief, carried the three captured changelings in their magical bond. Twilight watched as they tried to weakly look back at her with angry eyes over their queen's overthrowing.
"There are some things that I can't just do with magic, Starlight," sighed Twilight. "But, I can't let what happened to us happen to somepony else. Perhaps you will understand at some point."
Starlight watched as Twilight retired for the night and realized that just because Chrysalis did what she did, there was absolutely no reason at all for the other smaller Changelings to suffer in this manner. But, Starlight had to remember what Twilight had said about stopping Chrysalis again from carrying out another attack against Equestria.
Little did she know, however, that the Changeling captives were being questioned to gain information for a much bigger counterattack…an intense manhunt for Chrysalis that would soon spread throughout Equestria unlike anything seen before.
Chapter 2: Equestria's Most Wanted
Shortly after Twilight had retired for the night, Starlight made her way down to the dungeons of the Friendship Castle which up until that moment, did not house any prisoners until today. The Changelings that were loyal to the ex-Queen Chrysalis were housed in their cells like caged animals. Despite the fact that they were evil, Starlight couldn't help but sympathize with them.
"Changelings," Starlight whispered as she walked toward the cells. "I understand of the pain that has been inflicted on you."
"Why should we listen to you?" remarked one of the changelings bitterly as he struggled to his feet. "Once our queen finds out what has happened to us, you will suffer the wrath that she harbors if it's the last thing we do."
Starlight sighed heavily at this remark, for she knew that Chrysalis would not be coming back to save her captured subjects. Starlight tried to convince Chrysalis to change her ways and when she didn't, it seemed like all the other changelings that were loyal to Chrysalis would not have any chance of freedom.
"I'm afraid that she's ran away," sighed Starlight. "Swearing to return for revenge against me and only me alone. But, I know for a fact that the princesses are going to hunt her down and punish her to the fullest extent of the law. However, you can help yourselves out of this situation."
"Is this a trick, pony?" hissed the second changeling, sticking out his tongue. "A trick to try to reveal the secret location of our queen? If it is…"
"It's not a trick!" interjected Starlight. "Don't you see? Chrysalis has been misleading you all along. You need to share love, not take it! That's what Thorax is preaching to your fellow Changelings now…"
"LIES!" growled the first changeling. "Changelings don't share love! We feed off of love and only love alone and nothing else, pony! And how dare you mention that traitor's name to us!"
Starlight stood at the captured Changeling's in an indigent manner, not believing the talk that they were saying to her. As far as she was concerned, Starlight was a pony that didn't believe in false talk anymore. Taking a deep breath, she scowled at the captured Changelings.
"Well, that traitor is the new leader of the Changelings," cried Starlight. "Chrysalis' reign is over and you can change along with the rest of the Changelings."
The three captured Changelings merely just stood in their cells refusing to believe every word that came out of Starlight's mouth. In their minds, Starlight was just trying to get them to release Chrysalis' whereabouts when in reality, she was trying to save their lives.
"Changelings can never change, pony," the third Changeling hissed. "We believe in the law that our queen has created and nothing more! So, if you have nothing else to say…"
"Of course they can change," preached Starlight, her voice becoming exasperated. "I was like your queen, brainwashing ponies to believe in something that was all made up! Princess Twilight and her friends gave me a second chance at learning friendship and you can too! But, being loyal to a false leader is not going to help you in your situation! The only way you can help yourself is by telling Twilight where Chrysalis is!"
Still, the three captured Changelings said nothing and then proceeded to give Starlight the silent treatment, vowing not to give the whereabouts of their queen. Starlight tried to think of a way to convince them to save themselves, but it was no use.
"I hope you realize in time what I am saying to you," Starlight sighed and turned to leave the Changelings in their cell.
…
The next morning, Starlight came downstairs to find not just Twilight, but also Celestia, Luna and Cadence all converged in the throne room. Trying not to interrupt, Starlight peaked from behind the throne room doors as she listened into what they were saying.
"They aren't talking," said Twilight to her fellow princesses. "I don't know what else to do to get them to talk and the last thing I want is to use harm when they didn't harm us at all."
"None of us do, Twilight," replied Celestia. "After what happened with Tirek, I've had to take a good long look at myself in how I deal with those who harm Equestria. What I have learned is that its better to use as little violence as possible unless I have to."
"Shining Armor doesn't believe that," said Cadence. "He will do whatever it takes to get the captured Changelings to reveal Chrysalis' whereabouts. Nopony is more determined to get Chrysalis more than he does and I don't blame him, especially since our wedding."
The thought of Shining Armor around the Changelings was very much being considered. He was, after all, the one who would do everything in his power to see that the Changeling race was exterminated once and for all. One wrong move by anypony would result in severe consequences for all of Equestria.
"Then you have to convince him to be restrained," ordered Celestia to Cadence. "Yes, the Changelings are enemies of Equestria, but we cannot risk our reputation for petty incidents."
"We have all seen horrible acts against Equestria to last us a lifetime," remarked Luna. "But, there will always be an enemy willing to bring us down to their level. We've seen it with Sombra, we've seen it with Tirek and we have seen it with Discord as well to a degree."
A long silence fell on the princesses for a brief moment as they tried whatever they could do to find a way to get information without any extremes. Starlight felt like she wanted to say her peace on the matter, but after her time with the captured changelings, even Starlight was beginning to wonder if Chrysalis could be redeemed at all.
"Then what can we do?" wondered Cadence.
"We simply continue the questioning," answered Celestia. "If the Changeling gets out of line, we use methods that force the changelings to talk and give us Chrysalis' whereabouts. But, we have to remember that Chrysalis is very dangerous and she cannot be taken lightly."
The other princesses nodded in complete agreement on the matter at hand. Chrysalis' recent defeat at the hands of Starlight had made far more dangerous than before. Even more so was that she was now a fugitive at large and anypony who approached her was at far greater risk than Starlight.
"It's important to remember that while sit here," said Luna. "Chrysalis is somewhere trying to escape our forces that are already on the move."
"Then, we've got to notify other towns in Equestria where Chrysalis is possibly going to," said Twilight. "Even an ounce of love she consumes makes her all the more dangerous to other ponies."
It was at this point that Starlight decided to come in and offer her opinion on the matter at hand. Starlight walked in nervously so as to thinking that the princesses would be insulted to her interrupting their meeting. However, they weren't insulted at all.
"Um, sorry if I am interrupting anything," she said nervously. "I've been overhearing what you've been saying and I think that maybe perhaps I could help in the search for Chrysalis."
The four princesses stared at each other with this suggestion, even though Starlight would not be able to succeed in redeeming Chrysalis.
"I also believe along with Twilight," continued Starlight. "That Chrysalis should be sent to Tartarus once she is captured."
"Starlight, as much as we want to simply lock her up in Tartarus," advised Luna. "It is important to remember that Chrysalis is a creature that won't be afraid to go down without a fight. I've certainly lived through that the hard way."
Celestia, Cadence and Twilight nodded at this, for they could well remember Luna's vicious battle with Chrysalis while in Cadence's nightmares right after the Royal Wedding.
"Then we have to find Chrysalis and capture her before she plans her next move," sighed Celestia as she got up and walked over towards one of Twilight's many large windows. "As of right now, Equestria is on Lockdown."
Soon, the message went out that towns and cities in Equestria were to be placed on Lockdown, but that wasn't going to stop Chrysalis from plotting her next move. For in a far right corner of the Everfree Forest, the overthrown Queen of the Changelings was standing over the grave containing her most loyal General, General Kuwaga, who was buried in the Everfree Forest after he hanged himself following the events of his trial in Canterlot.
"Those fools think that I will go down that easily," she hissed in her distorted voice. "Ha! They are mistaken, for Starlight Glimmer and the rest of Equestria's elite will feel my revenge and before I am done, their precious love will be mine to consume along with the rest of Equestria!"
