Chrysalis's Revenge

Rainbow Dash left a streak of color behind her as she darted along the street, screeching to a halt directly in front of Starlight. "Starlight!" she shouted. "I saw a changeling! Not one of the new ones, either, he was all black with the holes in his legs." She paused. "Wait, are you really Starlight? Quick, what's your favorite color?"

"It's blue. Wait, do you even know my favorite color? I don't think it ever came up."

Rainbow shrugged. "Yeah, we talked about it that one time. You know, with the- the stuff- argh." She facehooved. "You know when you just can't come up with the words for something?" She waved her arms around. "You know, that time we did that thing!"

"Oh! That time!" Starlight exclaimed. "At your birthday party!"

"Yeah! That one!"

"Yeah, when Pinkie Pie made only three dozen cupcakes even though she invited the whole town, and then we played Truth Or Dare!"

Rainbow nodded eagerly. Starlight leaned forwards, grabbing Rainbow's tail with her magic. "Uh, Starlight?" Rainbow asked uncertainly. "What's going on?"

"That never happened," Starlight growled. "Pinkie Pie would never have too little food for a party, and Rainbow Dash hates Truth Or Dare." Quicker than thought she blasted Rainbow with a powerful spell, forcing her to revert to her true, changeling form. The changeling, who appeared to be female, collapsed onto the ground, clearly dizzy. Right. Twilight told me that was a side effect of the revealing spell.

The changeling looked up at her. "You think you've won, but you're wrong, Starlight Glimmer. There are many of us left. From this moment forward, you'll never know if one of your friends is truly themselves. You'll never be able to trust them again. This, Starlight Glimmer, this is our revenge."

Starlight kept herself from reacting to that information, from giving the changeling the pleasure. She wasn't sure how she should react, anyway. "So, you're still loyal to Queen Chrysalis, then?"

"Until the day I die," the changeling hissed. Moving with surprising speed, the changeling rolled onto her hooves and buzzed off; she wobbled a little in midair, still dizzy, but it was clear that she had recovered quickly. Starlight cursed. She'd been stalling with that monologue, not actually telling her anything of use. Who knew if it was even true?

Although, come to think of it, she wasn't sure how much use it would've been anyway.

If their goal really was to make her doubt her friends, how did that knowledge help her? She still wouldn't know if one of them might be a changeling. She'd still have to watch her step and make sure she didn't mention anything important.

She'd still end up doubting them.

The worst part was that the changeling might not have even been telling the truth. She might just have been making something up to buy time. And Starlight would have to be suspicious anyway. It might not, technically, be the worst revenge possible, but it was definitely in the top ten.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Starlight took a long time to return to the castle. She was dreading facing Twilight, knowing that she might not actually be Twilight. She knew, in her mind, that stalling wouldn't help anything and that the real Twilight was the best pony to talk to about her dilemma, but her heart wasn't convinced. It was only hunger that brought her back, as the last light of sunset touched the sky. She was sure she'd missed dinner, and so she quietly snuck into the kitchen.

Spike waved. "Hi, Starlight! I kept your food warm for you. What took you so long?'

The lie rolled off her tongue before she even noticed it. "I just didn't realize how late it was getting." Inwardly, she winced. Applejack would be ashamed of her. But she didn't know if Spike was trustworthy either, and if he was she didn't want to worry him, and...

She sighed as she took her food and ate quickly. Somehow, in under two minutes of conversation, that changeling had managed to make her feel uncomfortable around her best friends. Even Spike's glances as he watched the dishes made her nervous. Any of her friends could be changelings, at any moment, and there was nothing she could even do about it.

She finished the last of her dinner and brought the dish over to Spike. "Sorry, I would wash it myself, but I really need to talk to Twilight."

Spike picked it up. "Go on, I understand."

She trotted up the stairs. Part of her wanted to hesitate more, to wait, but now that she had started, it was easier to keep going. She poked her head into room after room until she found Twilight reading at her table at the library. She approached slowly. "Hey, Twilight, remember that one time when the two of us went to the Dragon Lands with Spike, and Torch, the former Dragon Lord, almost stepped on us?"

"Uh-huh," Twilight muttered, turning a page with magenta-hued magic.

"CHANGELING!" Starlight shouted, blasting her with the spell.

Twilight started. "Gahhh, Starlight, that--tee hee!--that tickles! What was that for?"

"Well, I asked you if you remembered an incident that never happened, and you said yes!"

"I did?" Twilight looked down at her book. "I guess it's just a very engrossing story." She laughed. "But Starlight, the changelings are allies now!"

"Not all of them," Starlight said darkly. "I just saw one who impersonated Rainbow Dash, hadn't transformed, and told me she was loyal to Queen Chrysalis and was starting to enact her revenge. She told me that the goal was to get me to mistrust my friends, never knowing if one was a changeling." She hung her head. "I guess it worked."

Twilight stood up, walked over, and put her wing around Starlight. "We'll get through this. I'll call our friends together to tell them about the situation, and we'll come up with a plan. And don't worry," she added, smiling, "I'll check them first."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Elytra flew back into the changeling encampment, hidden in the Whitetail Woods. "It worked perfectly, your majesty," she reported. "After the encounter, I followed her, disguised as a fruit fly. She never noticed a thing, but I watched her. She accused Twilight of being a changeling. Unfortunately, there appears to be a spell that allows them to detect changelings in their midst."

Chrysalis waved her hoof dismissively. "It matters not, child," she said. "You have sown doubt and mistrust among them. It's only a matter of time before those seeds grow into friction and arguments, bearing fruit of splitting apart from each other, friendships ruined." As she spoke, she turned away from them, waving her hoof as if speaking to a wide audience. She turned back now. "Carapace, it will not be enough for Starlight to distrust them; they must distrust her as well. Impersonate her until caught, then flee the scene. Three of the rest of you should go out, too, spreading chaos. More than that and you'll only get in each other's way. Aphid and Arachnae, you two work among Starlight's friends. Move around, talk to lots of different ponies in lots of different guises. Spread as much confusion as you can--we want all their conversations to be 'But earlier you said-' and 'No, I never said that.' Chitin, you go out into the rest of their town. Spread confusion, but also panic. Be everywhere, and nowhere. Give Starlight's friends a hassle to deal with while they try to work out what is going on among them, complicating the issue. If any of you see an opportunity for something beyond your orders, take it. Spread confusion and disharmony."

The four changelings saluted. Elytra was a little bit disappointed that she wasn't going out tomorrow, but she had gotten to start things off, which was a huge role.

"Get some sleep," Chrysalis advised. "We've got a big day tomorrow." She laid out the watch schedule--four watches through the night, in pairs of two.

Elytra nodded, then turned and trotted to the softest-looking patch of grass in the clearing. Another changeling dropped down onto it, baring her teeth. "What, did you want this? Well too bad."

Elytra hissed. Squabbles over sleeping spots were common in the Hive; everyling should know by now not to mess with her, though. "Get out of the way, Arachnae."

"Make me."

Elytra reared and swung a hoof into Arachnae's horn. The move was intended to give her a rough jolt, leaving her startled and slower to react. At the same time, though, Arachnae drove her own hoof into Elytra's stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She buckled, but still turned around and gave Arachnae a solid buck to the chin. She staggered backwards, and Elytra moved forwards, claiming the spot and staring Arachnae down. Arachnae hesitated, then backed off, claiming a new spot. It had been a short skirmish--Elytra was an expert at ending a fight quickly. In fact, she was an expert at doing almost anything quickly.

Most of the changelings had been watching the fight with interest, but now that it was over, they turned away as she curled up to sleep.

All but Carapace.

His teal-blue eyes remained fixed upon her, thoughtful. She hoped he wasn't planning to come try to kick her off her spot--he was one of the few changelings who might be able to beat her, and his spot, though good, wasn't as good for her. But no, he simply stared at her, with something that looked like admiration in his gaze.

Maybe it was a leftover from his previous role. Carapace was very good at getting into character, and they'd been disguised as Shining Armor and Cadence. Shining Armor often stared lovingly at his wife--perhaps Carapace just hadn't had enough time for his role to wear off and get out of his head--Elytra had seen it happen before. That, or he just was impressed by her fighting skills.

Finally he stopped staring and went to sleep, and Elytra tucked her head in her hooves and resolved to think no more of it.