The air; it had a slight sting to it, whether it be from the slightly cooler weather that had started to make its appearance, or due to the amount of tension that occupied the room. The room was a plain cube, with the only sources of light coming from the a small candle and a thick, sturdy piece of glass that lead out to a view of the outskirts of the city, just before the city's edge, a steep drop proceeding it. The edge of the mountain that the entirety of the city was mounted too was easily visible from the window, and all of the small deformities in the stone structure were quite evident. A bird landed in its nest on a higher up part of the mountain.
The night was beginning to fall, and the small candle gave a small sphere of light within the dank room, specs of dust flying across its beam lit up like small fireflies in the night. A small sliver of a bluish light came in from the window but quickly evaporated due to the room's pure concrete structure, which also helped to keep the room much cooler than the hallway directly outside of the steel door that resided on the opposite wall from the window. The door had no slits to see from. It resembled a slab of solid metal with a few bolts in it, fitted with a vault-style lock, that was placed directly into the wall. The room resonated a feeling of captivity, dependency, and jail.
Two beings inhabited the room; Princess Celestia, who was angrily leaning over the table, which was fitted with a map of the general area surrounding Canterlot, and Twilight Sparkle, who sat on a wooden stool in the corner, watching Celestia closely. Placed on the map were small dots and miniatures, all of which were quickly and eagerly placed, having no obvious care to how they were positioned out and showing an impatient, estimated position. Both ponies had spent countless hours in this enclosed space during the past few weeks; the Changeling Pony War had overtaken them quickly, and Celestia and the other princesses were tasked with making rash, decisive decisions. No one had expected the changelings to attack again so soon... The general consensus was that the changelings had a much bigger army than first anticipated, and that the thousands of drones that had been seen during the Siege of Canterlot had only been a portion of their entire military force.
The room had been a pool of silence for some time, and Celestia finally broke the silence with an ecstatic "we could," but then quickly pausing and shaking her head slowly. Organizing an attack on another army was something Celestia hadn't done for thousands of years. All of the current inhabitants of Equestria had never lived during wartime, and this was a new era for them all. The economy was starting to diminish, the government was the one everypony was leaning on, and the society was changing drastically; most weren't prepared, and it showed.
Twilight blinked a couple of times and then asked her old mentor, "what exactly is the main thing in our way right now, if you don't mind me asking? I mean, the trail to the left of-"
"-Is blocked off by the debris of the damage from their attack four days ago, and the right pass is-"
"-Surrounded by the enemy... I know." Twilight scratched her ear. She seemed to study the wall for quite some time before adding, "I just can't believe how unprepared we were... We lost a tenth of our territory in the first two weeks. Good thing that area was agricultural-dedicated land; no citizens to be hurt."
Celestia was silent for a small period and then responded, "but plenty of food to be lost. We're on a recession of wheat, corn, oats, and hay." Twilight looked down from the response, thinking deeply as her eyes darted around, scanning different areas of the stone, cold floor. Celestia slumped down onto her rump, a small cloud of dust rising into the already strict atmosphere of the room, and rested her muzzle upon her hooves. "I just can't deal with this stuff as well as I used to, I suppose." She let out a soft sigh. She remembered back when she was in her more "golden" days; war was just second nature to her and her sister. So many small, innocent nations had been taken over for the land of Equestria to be the industrial superpower it was today, and in a weird sort of manner, she both hated and missed those times.
Twilight scratched her ear before asking, "what're you worried about? I know us losing at the moment isn't your top concern, Celestia... I can tell." Twilight scooted off of the stool to stand, wobbling a little bit due to her legs falling asleep from the extended period of resting upon the creaky, unstable chair.
"Just..." Celestia looked towards her student with only her eyes, not pivoting her head, almost as if she had already given up on even moving, "there's no way they don't realize that we're going down right now... I just don't understand why they haven't taken their opportunity. They're greedy, but their actions don't show it, and," she gave off another short pause, "it scares me." Celestia sniffled a little, the musty air from the sealed room clogging her nose.
"The changelings are historically-proven creatures of war, Celestia, what they're doing is honestly probably helping them out somehow." Twilight realised what she said only after she had said it, and quickly brought her lips inward in order to keep from saying another thing to lower her mentor's spirits. "Sorry."
Celestia gave no response to this fact and apology other than standing up and slowly walking over to the window. Her reflection stood slightly transparent on the pane of dirty, unwashed, thick glass, and she immediately noticed how much of a mess she looked. Her mane had stranglers along its entire length, and small spots of her mane and tail had lost their shimmering, looking almost like a light bulb with a hoof-print smothering the light in those specific places. She stared out for a few seconds following a fly that was trying valiantly to smash its way in.
"Don't worry, princess," Twilight said reassuringly, "I'm sure we'll get through this just fine."
"I hope you're right, Twilight." Celestia shifted a little, obviously a slight bit uncomfortable. Something in the air felt off to her. She couldn't describe it correctly if she tried, but something wasn't right. While it could have been just the stress and the foreboding pressure upon her to rule and lead her country correctly, she didn't feel right pawning it off on that. "Could you list off all of the different known routes between Equestria and Yakyakistan, Twilight? Perhaps we'll send someone to request support." While the chance of Yakyakistan helping seemed a long-shot, Celestia mainly just wanted to get the subject away from the losing and the failure; there was still time to turn the tide, and she way hoping anything, anyone, would help them.
Twilight raised an eyebrow to this question, but still managed to respond. "Really, Celestia? They're yaks, they'd rather wait until one of the sides are destroyed and steal their stuff as spoils." Twilight made some odd movements with her hooves to prove her point, though it mainly just made it look like she was having strange muscle spasms, though Celestia didn't let on to this.
"Just do it, Twilight," Celestia said, a little snippy, "perhaps it'll be a better strategy to attack them from behind..." Celestia thought about that, and realized that that would probably be a much worse idea. Despite the fact that they'd have to go through at least two other countries to get an ample behind-strike, but the changelings would probably have spies along that way anyways... They'd be spotted for sure. "Scratch that." She gave another sigh. "I'm at a loss, Twilight. Perhaps I'm not fit to lead anymore..." Celestia waited for a response, but when she didn't get one, she turned around, confused.
Behind her stood nothing besides the table. The velvet colored mare was nowhere to be found within the confines of the room. Had she gone out of the room to grab something? Perhaps to get some suggestions from other ponies around the castle? Maybe a map? That seemed the most appropriate response to this confusion; Twilight had merely gone out to get a map to answer the question that Celestia had literally asked only seconds before. Still, she didn't feel that was ample enough, and the feeling swirling around in her head and in the air had gotten stronger. Something was wrong. Celestia took a look out the window again, almost expecting to see changelings soaring quickly towards her, but she found nothing out of the ordinary. The bird in the nest took off once again, most likely searching for more food for her children waiting within the walls of the straw nest.
Eager to get her mind off of the suspicion that was growing rapidly within her senses, Celestia made her way slowly to the door, reaching out a hoof to turn the handle. She had decided that she had gone without coffee for too long, a whole three hours, and that a little burst of caffeine would get her hopes up once again. Just when she was about to shift the wheel, the sound of a hoof upon the rock floor shocked her out of her movement. It sounded as if a pony, supposedly Twilight, had landed behind her. How had she not heard her flapping? "No," Twilight said, answering a question said roughly a few minutes earlier, "perhaps you aren't fit to lead, Celestia."
Celestia didn't turn around, and instead just kept her face turned towards the steel door, her cool, staggered breathing creating fog on the cool metal. It formed quickly but then evaporated and dispersed soon after, almost like the indefinite ticking of a heart. "Now why is that, Twilight?" Celestia was not asking for the wonder or the curiosity, but more to play the game that she knew she was now a part of, one that she didn't have any say in at the current moment. One thing her father had taught her and Luna when they were little and learning about the art of warfare was that, when in a position where you're trapped, don't mouth off, play their game, unless it'll cost you your life, and right now was one of those times. The longer she could hold out this confrontation, the better chance there was of her surviving to live the tale.
"Why, you said it yourself, 'princess.' Your country is failing, and you aren't good enough to turn it around." She made a small clicking sound with her mouth. "Man, that sucks. A ruler for so long, such a prosperous period, and now what? Failing her country? If I didn't know what I was talking about, I'd say that you'd have treason to deal with in the near future." Celestia got slightly aggravated by how lightly "Twilight" was taking this situation, but she knew complaining wouldn't help her.
"Who are you?" Celestia made sure to keep a monotone voice, another part of what her father had taught her; less emotion equals more intimidation, and more intimidation equals more power.
The faux Twilight leaned her head to one side, slightly surprised by the princess' question."Oh, come now, Celestia. Do I really need to-"
"I know who you are, I just want to hear you reveal yourself. After all, once you do, there's no going back and your element of surprise is ruined." Celestia chuckled a little, amused by how simple the changelings' way of victory was, or lack there of victory.. "You changelings all work the same; gain the advantage, reveal your plan, and then lose soon after." Celestia recalled when the same thing happened nearly two thousand years ago, during her and Luna's first stage of their leadership. "When will you ever learn-"
"Shut it, white-butt." The Twilight impostor realized what she had just said and, slightly embarrassed, quickly shook her head and regained her powerful state.
"You never did take kindly to criticism, eh Chrysalis?"
"Woopdeedoo, you figured it out." Twilight slapped her hooves together, a loud clicking emanating from between them. "The mystery is solved, and now we can get back to where we were." Celestia heard the sound of metal upon metal, and a loud ting soon afterwards. Celestia was a little surprised, though she really shouldn't of been; changelings were never really ones to use materialistic weapons, though it would help Chrysalis if she had gotten into a sticky situation with Celestia.
"About to reveal your master plan, right?" Celestia smiled for a short period before her eyes gaped open at the cold sting of a sharp knife being placed along the bottom side of her neck. The blade was long, smooth, and mighty. Along the sharp side, starting from about an inch up, the blade was serrated down to the hilt of the dagger, and the small points tickled slightly under her chin. The rest of the blade curved in an oddly satisfying way, despite it being the thing that would kill her if it came down to it. Chrysalis, still showing off as Twilight, had her back legs wrapped around the bottom of Celestia's neck, down to the area in between her forelegs. Of the other two hooves, one hoof held the knife, and the other held the top of Celestia's head, making sure it didn't break free of the danger it was in. Celestia's mane swirled and galloped strangely around the hoof, and it seemed to sway in an invisible breeze.
"Don't get cocky when you have a knife to your neck, sunshine." She pushed the blade a little harder into her enemy's throat, the cold blade losing it's sting and instead replaced with just the feeling of the sharp object along the edge of her windpipe. "After all, I have nothing to hesitate about."
Celestia calmed down to control her breathing, which had quickly gained speed over the past few seconds. Showing her slight fear wouldn't do her any good, anyways, so no reason to keep it around to herself. Celestia pushed her head back towards the mare wrapped around her neck, if only to get rid of a little bit of the sensation of the cool metal. She was in a predicament, she would not deny that, especially due to the security of the enclosed space that she was trapped in with Chrysalis. Both parties stayed silent for some time before Celestia asked, "is it required that you stay looking like my student, Chrysalis?"
Chrysalis let out a short breath, an audible indicator that she was now letting on a smirk, plainly realizing that she was in control at this current moment, and she planned to stay there until the end of this confrontation. While physical power was nice, Chrysalis had always felt that emotional and sensational power was the strategy to ruling any situation; hence her performance during the wedding of the beloved Cadence and Shining Armor. "I suppose not, but I think it is a rather enjoyable twist; while I may be your enemy, there's something so... Satisfying about the thought of your most precious Twilight turning on you during a time of war, a time of weakness. I guess you could say that it's not quite like her to do something like that. Oh, wait a minute..."
"Chrysalis," Celestia interrupted, finally letting a bit of her emotion show through her intimidating guise, "you have a knife to my neck and I am a few inches from an agonizing death, please take it seriously."
"Oh, Celestia," Chrysalis said, obvious enthusiasm in her voice reverberating off the cold, stone walls of the room as her plan of emotional domination was truly taking its effect, "you always did have such a posh personality. Why not have a bit of fun once in a while?" Chrysalis waited for a response. When she didn't get one, she used her hoof that had the knife to slowly turn Celestia's head about forty-five degrees. Chrysalis got her mouth close to Celestia's ear and whispered, putting an annoying emphasis on each and every word, "make your death a lively one, would you? After all," she brought the knife closer to Celestia's head, aiming it right at the base of her jaw, "no one likes a sad sap."
Celestia's only form of response was clenching her jaw and lifting her chin up, eager to find any way to keep the knife as far away as possible. Out of her peripheral vision, she could see Chrysalis, still holding the guise of Twilight, smiling and looking right back at her. "Where is Twilight?" Celestia was surprised she hadn't though of asking earlier, but seeing the fake image of her student smiling as her death was near brought the thought tumbling into her mind.
Chrysalis was a little staggered by the sudden question, but quickly recomposed herself. "Somewhere. I'd say you should focus more on your-"
"-My life can wait." Celestia held a stern face, still and emotionless. She had already let the bug on her neck get the better of her earlier, she had to be careful which waters she walked along now. "Where's Twilight?"
Chrysalis gave out a short sigh before giving into Celestia's demands. "Here," she answered, "shall I show you?" Chrysalis' horn glowed its menacing and sickening green color as a small, two-dimensional rendition of Twilight popped into reality and floated just before Celestia's vision. "She was on her way back to Canterlot after delivering the package of intelligence to your neighbors over in Saddle Arabia," the Twilight hologram began to wiggle back in forth, as if walking. "Well, I was on my way back to my beloved hive when I spotted her. You see, we had been looking for a way in for a long time, and we believed this presented the best opportunity we had seen thus far. Well, I took the opportunity." A similar rendition of Chrysalis' true form appeared and it was shown flying towards Twilight from above, both forms disappearing when they collided. "Pop goes the weasel, I suppose."
Celestia felt no emotion at this time, her tactic of showing no emotion obviously starting to rub off on her true feelings in that moment. "She isn't dead, Chrysalis. This is just one of your tactics. The same thing was used 300 years ago during-"
Chrysalis put the hoof holding Celestia's head into the air, interrupting her tangent. "Quite the contrary, actually. She is most definitely quite dead." Chrysalis put her hoof to her chin, the knife still strong at Celestia's throat. "I think we actually forgot to pick up the head. Oh well..."
Celestia got angry, mostly by the lack of respect and seriousness during this conflict that Chrysalis held, so angry in fact that a small tear started to form at the base of her right eye, the one closest to the annoyance upon her back. Chrysalis spotted it quite quickly, giving a small smile, her reflection in the little sphere of water and salt looking quite menacing as it danced around and distorted within the boundaries of reality. She returned her hoof back to the top of the princess' head and used the knife to flick the tear away, splatting on the floor and glistening in the dusk light that filtered through the dirty pane of glass that lead to the outside. "Come now, Celestia, don't be getting into one of your moments. As you said, this is," she started to move her face and mouth in a mocking way, "a serious situation."
Celestia was losing ground to the insane, twisted mind of her enemy and her evil mind games that pulled and nagged at her like worms, squirming their way deeper and deeper into her mind as she went on thinking. She had to regain ground fast, and the only way to do that at this current moment was to beat her enemy at her own sickening game. "Just kill me, Chrysalis."
The fake Twilight merely kept a smile upon her muzzle and pushed out her response. "You're depressing, aren't you? I thought we were having just a friendly little chat." Chrysalis started to wiggle the knife up and down along the length of Celestia's neck, stimulating her nerves and giving her a small, ticklish feeling that ran along the length of her body and limbs.
Celestia wasn't happy with the result. No lead was taken, and Chrysalis still knew that she had Celestia within her grasp. She decided to try her luck again. "Kill me, bug." Celestia said, pushing her neck quickly into the knife to the point where just a bit more force would send the knife into her windpipe, leading to an exasperating death, assuming that Chrysalis relished the thought of that scene. A small amount of blood began to slide down her neck from under the knife, showing just how far she was willing to push her luck. "Take your opportunity."
Chrysalis stayed silent for a short period before answering. "No." The room was filled with silence once again, both parties looking at one another with hatred, with Chrysalis' stare a hint more enthusiasm to it, obviously enjoying the power and influence she was having, as evidenced by the smile that was still annoyingly plastered to her past student's face.. "No, Celestia, I won't kill you. At least not yet, not until I have a bit more fun with you."
"Why?" Celestia licked her lips, the cold sting of the air lingering on her taste buds. With the knife so close to her neck, her mind started playing tricks, making her think she also tasted blood along with the air, though she pawned that off as just the mere effect of the stress of the situation upon her mental state.
Chrysalis formed and held a blank stare, a drastic change from the smile she had produced and adorned during most of the confrontation. "I want to watch you suffer and grow mad, Celestia, just the way you think you never will."
"What will you do, Chrysalis?" Celestia gave almost a small growl, "stick me in a dungeon and watch my kingdom fall?"
"Ah," Chrysalis moaned, agreeing rhetorically to Celestia's exasperated question, "it will be enjoyable to watch your pride burn to the ground." Chrysalis brought the knife a little closer to Celestia's neck, more blood lining up to flow down the length of her neck. It sailed smoothly down her white hair, matting it down and creating stained lines, almost like railroads, leading down to where they clotted and piled up on the fake, purple hoof that the shapeshifter adorned.. "Now, you can either come with me, or I can kill you right now. Make your choice wisely, Celestia. You die, there's now way for you to save your beloved country-"
Celestia noticed her effect; Chrysalis was in a state of longing and future-sight, leaving her to do with the true reality's time what she would. Celestia acted fast while Chrysalis was rambling on. She quickly but gently pushed her neck closer and closer to the knife at her neck. With the added few centimeters, she was able to swing her head backwards into Chrysalis with enough force to knock the impostor off of her back, stopping her tangent and leaving her sprawled out on the floor, a large clink filling the air as the knife bounced and soon settled motionless on the ground, bent and dull on the tip, evidence enough of where it had first impacted the floor. Celestia quickly turned around, not wanting to be caught off guard again. The last thing she wanted was to get Chrysalis on her back again after what she had just done; there's no doubt she would kill her, so Celestia had to keep that reality from coming along. "Stand down and I might not kill you, Chrysalis."
The fake that lay on the ground merely lifted her head to look at the white, glowing goddess, giving a weak smile. "Awfully mighty for someone who couldn't even defeat me last time, Cele-" She was interrupted by Celestia shooting a ray of magic straight at her, a large flash filling the entirety of the room with a blinding light blue light that Celestia had to blink in response to. The burst sent her enemy's body flying and sliding backwards into the table, tipping it over. Hearing the soothing sound of the stone miniatures landing and rolling about on the stone floor for a little moment, the room quickly became silent once again. Chrysalis was now facing towards the window, still and silent.
Celestia was breathing heavily. Casting such a strong spell at that speed, even for a goddess, was hard work, let alone the fact that Celestia hadn't done much training with her magic in the past few months, focusing most of her attention on leading her troops. She quickly regained her composure, slowing her breathing, and brought back up into a more natural posture. She took a second to breath, both giving calming herself down a little more and giving her enemy to make her way back to her hooves, to which she didn't. Celestia was sure that blast hadn't stopped Chrysalis in her tracks, so she decided to try for a response. "Stand down, Chrysalis," Celestia spoke with might, "it's over."
Still no response. She finally gave up and started her way towards the body on the ground, which was now starting a slow transformation back to its original, bug-like body, holes and all. The green vortex was soothing, in a way; its gentle progression up the legs, up to the knee, was slow and steady, almost as if a snake made of magic was eating each of the legs. The little rings of magic that sailed up the length of the legs gave off a small glow, illuminating the fake purple body along with the newly shown black, rock-like body of the changeling queen. Her eyes remained closed peacefully, most likely in a state of unconsciousness.
Celestia stood staring at the body on the ground, studying and thinking. With the leader of her enemies unconscious, would this be the end of the war, another set of changelings offensives defeated because of the changelings' ways? Was it really over that easily, all because Chrysalis had not been prepared, just as her country had been?
No, Chrysalis had decided, as her body and mind suddenly, quickly regained its consciousness, regained her strength in her previously lulled body, and got back to her hooves in enough time that Celestia had no time to even edge back before Chrysalis had grabbed onto her neck, pulling her closer. Celestia saw the true face of Chrysalis, her black, instinctive, savage face smiling once again, and quickly flicking out her tongue for a mere moment. She quickly warmed and buzzed her wings quickly, flinging herself over top of the head of Celestia in a smooth, quick motion, kicking the white, sparkling pony swiftly in the back of her neck, sending her flying into the window, a loud slam filling the room as Celestia fell to the ground, in almost the exact same position as Chrysalis was merely a few seconds before. A small amount of dust rained down upon the two, the particles showing up quite obviously upon the white coat of the previously great, mighty pony, almost as if mocking the position she was in now. The window had no evidence of being slammed into besides the smudges roughly making out the body of Celestia; no cracks, no shatters, no deformation.
Chrysalis walked over brassily to the body of the white princess, who winced and moaned as her entire body ached from the sudden stop upon the hard surface of the window. "Stand down," Chrysalis repeated Celestia's exact words, marking the exact turn of the situation in a eagerly mocking tone. "It's over."
Author's Note
I was planning on making this entire story into one chapter, but I realized that me going back to add an ample amount of description so that it meets my own personal standards increased the size of the story by enough that I decided it needed to become at least two separate parts. If you read this, thank you.
Also, if you could do one thing for me; if you leave a dislike, tell me why. Leaving just a dislike and no criticism gives me nothing to go off of to improve myself and my writing. That's basically saying "I don't like you" and then leaving; it leaves the person wondering what was wrong, and it isn't a good feeling, I'll give it that. If you do, I thank you in advance.