The Black Knight

by ElementBrigade

Chapters

Chapter 1: First Impressions Are Everything
Chapter 2: The Vanguard of the Empire
Chapter 3: Preparing for War
Chapter 4: I am the Shadow
Chapter 5: The Taste of Victory
Chapter 6: Prisoners of War
Chapter 7: Cultural and Idle Chatter
Chapter 8: Peace was Never an Option

Chapter 1: First Impressions Are Everything

Author's Note

What she looks like

Chapter 1: First Impressions Are Everything

Chapter one

First Impressions Are Everything

[Changeling Kingdom]

The Changeling kingdom, home to all the changelings of Equestria and their queen. Queen Chrysalis. The once proud and noble kingdom has been reduced to nothing more than a kingdom on the verge of collapsing. Ever since the failed attempt to take over Canterlot for the soul purpose of obtaining love during the Canterlot wedding, Celestia have been keeping an eye on them as she set up a station at the borders of the badlands to prevent them from leaving. Somewhere within the kingdom’s meeting room was Chrysalis and her generals all gathered together to talk about the situation and status of the Changeling Empire.

“We can’t keep going like this forever Chrysalis. With the constant low supplies of love potions that Celestia is forcing us to drink as a substitute for real love, we won’t be able to last very much long.” Pharynx said as Chrysalis sighed upon hearing that.

“And how much time would we have left if this problem isn’t taken care of?”

“I would say...about a month or two if we ration it out sparingly.” said a mare changeling with glasses. “Though given how the ponies that Celestia have looking over us, I have a feeling that they’re the ones that have been tampering with our supply of love potion.” She said as Chrysalis cursed underneath her breath.

“Not to mention that we’re still having the issue of the children missing. We haven’t figure out who is doing it, even with the added security around the nursery.” Thorax said as an annoyed expression started to appear on her face.

“How is it that whoever is doing this is still being able to steal our children even with the security?”

“We don’t know Chrysalis, we might have a spy within our ranks that’s working with the ones that are stealing the children. We don’t know who, but we’re still looking into it who is doing this.”

“And the preparation plans for storming the watch station that Celestia had build near the border?” Chrysalis asked as the five changeling looked off in different directions. “Still no progress I take it?”

“It’s not like we can’t Chrysalis. It’s the fact that we don’t have any weapons, nor the drones to do it.” Pharynx said as he laid his head against the seat he was sitting in. “Almost 95% of our soldiers have been placed on guard at the nursery, and the other 5% of them are out protecting our gatherers from being attacked by any monsters out in the badlands.”

“Things are not looking so good for us Changelings.” said an elderly looking changeling. “If nothing is done before the next meeting with the Equestrians, then we could be seeing a mass genocide of the changeling race. Only those who are able to hide themselves well enough within pony society or somewhere else will be the only ones left to live on.”

“And of course this is my fault for not thinking of a back up plan if the invasion of Canterlot didn’t work out. That or try to take the diplomatic route again to see if something has changed.”

“Given the fact that we tried multiple times to ask for their help only to be met with an apology and love potions, it was bound to happen soon or later that we would try to take over Equestria.” The changeling with glasses said as she adjusted her glasses.

“Chrysalis, if I may suggest something?” asked a mare wearing what appeared to be a kimono.

“I take it that you wanted to perform that spell you’ve been trying to perfect Lotus Juice?”

“What spell?” Thorax asked as Chrysalis turned her attention to him.

“Lotus was able to go to Ponyville during the time we had the soldiers attack the patrol post that one time. She was able to return back to us with a book from Canterlot that might be able to help us in getting help from somepony outside of the badlands.”

“Which took me awhile to figure out the right spells to get the help that we need.” Lotus said as her horn glowed and summon a book with a royal seal on it. “It took me a while to find the right spells for transportation. Though it’s a bit hard to understand most of it seeing how it’s in an old equestrian language.”

“And you think that using something like that will help us?” Pharynx asked as he eyed the book suspiciously. “How do we know that this book isn’t bugged with a tracking spell?”

“Sadly, the book is laced with a tracking spell. Meaning the moment I use said spell from this book, that’s when all tartarus will break loose.”

“So we have options. We either wait until the next meeting with the Equestrian to talk about what’s been going on and hope they will help us, or we take a risk and gamble on this spell of yours to get help?” Pharynx asked as the mare nodded. The male changeling looked over at Chrysalis who was thinking things over in her mind. “Your thoughts on this Queen Chrysalis?”

“If we have more love potions, then we could wait it out. But seeing how we can’t, we’ll have to risk this.” She said as she turned her attention at Lotus Juice and the Changeling with glasses. “Lotus Juice, take Scarlet Sapphire with you to help you with the spell. If the two of you performed the spell, then it should help boost the strength of the spell.”

“Yes Queen Chrysalis!” Both mares said as they hurried off towards the top of the hive.

“You do know that if they do this and it fails, you might end up getting killed due to being a threat to Equestria?”

“I know Crimson Mist, but we’re at the end of the line here. We don’t have much of a choice in this matter...I’m willing to take another risky gamble at this and pray that we get somepony or something that can help us in this time of need.”

[Eorzea, Costa del Sol]

“Attention Maelstrom company personnel, we are now arriving at Coastal Del Sol. As per orders by Admiral Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn, all members of the Maelstrom company are allowed to have one souvenir, and NO. Lalafell do not count, you pigs. It’s 0007 guys… get with the program.”

“This sucks!” Juritta yelled as she stormed her way through the beach with her teammates. “Why are we here? You said that there would be a monster on the hunting list that needed to be killed. And so far there isn’t anything here but sand, water, and the annoying sun hitting my face!”

“Oh come on Jurrita. You been working your ass off for the past year, why not take a break and just relax?” said a dark skinned Miqo'te wearing a bikini as she swam around in the water. “You can’t keep hunting monsters everyday just to make a quick gil.”

“In case you have forgotten, we need gil to buy food. We spent whatever we had on buying better armor and weapons for raiding dungeons to get even more better gear and weapons, Ruby.”

“I know that we need gil, but we can’t keep fighting and raiding dungeons 24/7. We do need time to recover and relax a bit before doing another dungeon raid.” Ruby said as she pulled herself out of the water and onto the deck that Jurrita was on. “We’re not machines that can go on fighting everyday. I know you might be able to, what with the whole dark night and darkness going on for you.”

“Look, as the team’s only tank and friend. It’s my job to make sure you lot are battle ready and prepared. Because if I end up falling in battle or end up having to go someplace else for a while.” The lalafell said as she took a seat on the dock. “Look out of everyone here, I’m the most experienced adventurer out of the group. And I prefer not to have an incident of what happen before you, Hal, and Garnet forced me to be the group tank.”

“Technically we bribed you in becoming the tank with Hal’s cooking.” Ruby said as Jurrita deadpaned at her. “But I can see what you mean by that.” She said before reaching for her bag to pull out a stack of fliers for Juritta to have. “Here, why don’t you go back and hunt some of the monsters around Limsa Lominsa. They’re having a monster hunting event thing for The Maelstrom Grand Company that with each hunt you complete, you get five-thousand gil.”

“....This isn’t some kind of prank like last time where you guy ambushed me for me to wear that sailors outfit, is it?” The dark knight asked as her eyes began to glow crimson red. Ruby raised her hands in defense as she shakes her head.

“No, no! Not this time. We learned our lesson after you pile drived us Hildibrand style...which I am still wondering how you were able to do that to Hal. I mean the guy is a freakin Roegadyn.”

“If I told you, then I would have to kill you in your sleep.” The lalafell said as she snatched the fliers of papers before heading off toward the aetheryte. Once she was there she extended her hand toward the giant crystal to teleport off to Eastern La Noscea, she felt something offly strange about the crystal’s aether. Once she looked up, she noticed that the color of the aetheryte was green and was giving off a sickly surge of energy. “What the hell is going on with this thing?” She said as the lalafell pulled her hand away from it. While this was happening, Ruby took notice to the odd feeling from the crystal as she looked over at it to see Jurrita backing away from it.

“Jurrita, what did you do to the Aetheryte!?”

“I don’t know!? And how do you know it was me that did this-” Before the dark knight could finish her sentence, a surge of lightning like energy spewed out from the crystal and hit the lalafell from behind. This caused Ruby to close her eyes for a moment, before regaining her sight once the flash vanish. Once her sight was regain, her eyes widen to see nothing but the fliers that Jurrita was holding were now on the ground and blowing in the wind. “.....Seven hells!”

[Badlands, Changeling Empire]

On top of the Changeling Empire, Sapphire and Lotus prepared the magic spell to summon somepony to assist them in helping the kingdom in the current crisis it’s having. Chrysalis would be off to the side while keeping an eye on the patrol station through a pair of binoculars. As she did that, she would notice a stallion doing the same as she was doing only they would be looking at the front entrance due to the soldiers running around as a distraction.

“Okay, they’re distracted. But I don’t think it’ll last long.” The queen said as she looked over at Lotus and Sapphire. “How big is this spell of yours anyway?”

“About as big as a firework during the Canterlot Wedding two years ago…..bad reference to say, but that’s the only thing I got for an example.” Lotus said as she continued to paint the ground with crimson red ink like substance.

“Once the spell is cast, we’ll have a good ten to twenty minutes before the border patrol invade the castle.” Sapphire said as she read through the book to make sure the spells that Lotus looked up were correct. “Though if you don’t mind me asking. What is your plan once this being gets here? I mean, I’m sure you have a plan on taking back the land that we had to give up to the Equestrians, but what happens afterwards?”

“We focus now on the spell and making sure they come here first. Afterwards, if the patrol from the border do show up… we might have to do something that I am not going to enjoy…” The queen groaned.

“You mean killing them so that they don’t get the others from inside the building to come in and kill every last one of us?” Lotus asked as she finished putting the markings on the ground.

“No, I mean if the one we’re summoning gets here before them…” The queen replied back. “What was the first part of teaching young drones how to hide under cover?”

“You mean play the part that you have or…” Sapphire asked, before a realization dawned on her as she looked back at the Queen. “Wait… you’re not thinking what I’m thinking now… are you?”

“I am…” Chrysalis told the drone. “We play the victim. It might not be like us to show fear and weakness during times like these, but if it's the only way to convince this somepony to lend us their aid, then we have to play the part.”

“I’m still saying that we should tell this pony the truth. I mean what if they find out what happen later on? They will be pissed beyond how you are when somepony called you fat.” Lotus said as she walked over to the two.

“We tell her the truth after we bring them here and deal with the patrol. We can’t tell the truth if they find us first.”

“If you say so Chrysalis, but for now, I’ve finished setting the markings on the ground. All we need now is the magic to activate it and hope for the best. Because Faust knows we really need it after today.”

The queen nodded, turning back towards the land that was behind them and staring off into the distance, before saying a few words. “Then begin the spell.”

“At once, Chrysalis.” Both the changelings said in union as their horns began to glow. As they did this, the circle on the ground began to glow crimson red. “Hero from another world, we summon you here to grant us your aid. Hear the call of this circle and aid us with your strength to reclaim our home from our oppressor!” They said in union as the sky above them turn black as the night sky. Once the sky turned black, the sky soon revealed a demonic eye opening up as a blood like substance began to drip from it.

“....What kind of summoning is that!?” Chrysalis yelled in disbelief at what she was seeing. “We’re trying to summon a hero, not a demon from tartarus!” she said before squinting her eyes as to where the eye was hanging over. “....You did make sure it was near us right?”

“Of course, my queen. We made sure to take it into account before-” As Sapphire was speaking though, that was when the eye in the sky did something that neither her, nor Lotus anticipated. The eye moved. Drifting away from them and towards the last place they wanted it to be. “No no no no no!! Come on, get back here!!” Sapphire began to channel more magic, trying to regain control of the spell. But it did not work. In fact, it was as if the eye was acting on its own. “Lotus-”

“I’m trying!!” She said, trying her best to help Sapphire. Both mares fell forwards as they felt their magic gave out as the eye appeared above the border station. “....You don’t think that it’ll summon our hero there...will it?”

“There’s only one way for us to know for sure. We should hurry. I have a bad feeling about this.”

[Border Station]

“Sir! We have a problem going on outside.” said Broadsword, a earth pony soldier that just arrived in the office of the sergeant who was in charge.

“What is it this time? Are those stupid bugs trying to take over the station again?” Buckle Shield asked as he pulled himself away from his paperwork.

“N-no sir. Something just crashed into the station…” The earth pony shook his head, before leading his commanding officer outside to show him. “We can’t tell if this is an attack or if its something else entirely.”

“Where the hell did it crash into?”

“I-i believe it was where we were holding the children, sir.” There a moment of silence in the room for a moment before Buckle Shield quickly bolted from his desk and towards the boiler room. “Gather the soldiers! We can’t let those stupid brats die before we get payback for what those bugs did to us in Canterlot!”

“Yes sir!!” The earth pony saluted before rushing off to fulfill the order that he was given. While he was doing that, elsewhere, a certain lalafell found herself smack dab on the floor in the boiler room of the border station. She let out a low grunt from the sudden pain as she slowly began to pull herself up.

“Seven hells...what the hell just happened?” Jurrita said as she staggered to her feet. “Stupid Aetheryte. They should really put up a sign that says it’s out of order or something at least.” She said as she tries to look around in the dark room she was now in. “Great, nothing but darkness….ironic given the class I’m in.”

“H-hello?” A voice spoke up as she began to look around her. Seeing what looked like a pair of yellow eyes in the darkness. “W-who are you?”

“Gah! Who’s there!? Is it Heydalyn?” The Lalafell asked as her eyes glowed red. Once they were red, her vision in the darkness began to become more clear as she saw what appeared to be humanoid like bug creatures in the room she’s in. Ones that had holes in their legs and arms that reminded her of cheese.

“W-what? N-no!” She heard again. Now, Jurrita began to see who the voice was coming from. It was one of the creatures that was closer to her. “P-please, w-we didn’t mean to be rude.”

“Is she like those ponies that captured us?” Another voice asked, before hearing a few murmurs as Jurrita now could see multiple pairs of eyes. And all of them were looking to be around almost the same height that she was. Some a bit taller.

Of course, it was when the first voice spoke up that the lalafell was left with a new question. “Q-quiet everybuggy. M-maybe she’s here to save us.”

“Wait, save you guys? From what if you don’t mind me asking? Because I was just busy minding my own business in Costa Del Sol, and the next I’m in a room talking to bug children...no offense if that’s a racial slur.”

All the creatures in the room were a bit confused when she mentioned the name of the town. Almost like they haven’t heard of it before. But the first one then spoke again. “I-its a lot to explain… And we are the changelings. We may come off as bugs, but that’s just our normal appearance. H-however, a-all of us were taken captive by the p-ponies who live at this station,” The changeling then paused, brushing something away from her face as she looked back at her. “M-my name’s Yellow. Yellow Jacket. W-who are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Jurrita Kalahan, I’m a lalafell from the land of Eorzea and a traveling sellsword for the most part.” She said before walking over to Yellow.

“What’s an Eorzea?” They both heard another changeling ask. “Is it some kind of food?”

“Probably something that we can’t have anyways. Not enough love in something like that.”

That caused Yellow to sigh, right before looking back at the lalafell. “I’m sorry, but my friends here are just… surprised. We haven’t seen anyone aside from the ponies that have been standing guard over us for so long… We just want to go back home.” Jurrita stared at the group of children for a moment before placing a hand to her chin and begins to think to herself for a moment.

“Stuck in a room with a bunch of kidnapped children from another country with no knowledge of where I am and how I got here. Talk about getting myself into something that isn’t my own business… maybe if I can save these kids and have them take me to their leader, then I might be able to get some answers and a way to get back to Eorzea.” She thought as she looked over at the kids. “Does anyone here know any of the ponies in this station. As in have they been nice to you or something?”

“Well, not… exactly-”

Before the changeling could be able to fully answer Jurrita’s question, there were several loud bangs at the door. Causing a lot of the changelings to shiver and hide as the two of them looked back at it. “Alright, open this door RIGHT NOW! We know you’re in here! And I’m not going to repeat myself a second time.”

“-The pony in charge runs a tight ship and really despises us. Only some of his troops think we are living creatures and not some bug they can crush under a hoof.” Yellow said softly, before looking back at the door. “W-we need to open it up or else they’ll not give us the food we need to live-”

“I said…” Another loud bang on the door was heard. Just as pieces of metal from the hinges were beginning to shake look. “Open… THIS… DOOR!!!” On the third slam, the door was forced open. Almost hitting Jurrita as it flew backwards and narrowly missing a few of the kids. “All of you maggots, get out here right-” The pony paused, before looking back at Jurrita. Caught off guard by her presence. “-The hell? Boss, there’s some kind of rabbit thing in here with them!”

“Care to make a deal, Yellow Jacket? I get you and your friends out of here and in exchange, you take me to where you live.” Jurrita said as she reached for her claymore and gets into a fighting stance. “Not gonna lie, but there might be some blood, guts and a whole lot of dead bodies around the station when I’m done.”

“A-anything that could get us out of this place! Please.” Yellow told her, making the lalafell grin in response.

“Shows about to start… you might want to sit back though. First few feet is a slash zone~” She said as darkness began to flow through her greatsword.

As Yellow watched though, that was only followed up by one of the other changelings asking a question. “W-what does she mean by that?” As they said that, the lalafell unleashed a blast of darkness at the poor pony standing in the doorway as the impact sent him flying backwards and exploding due to the force behind the attack. Blood soon flew off into the room as it covered Jurrita’s face and armor a bit.

“Dammit, and I just cleaned this armor yesterday.” Jurrita said as she wiped away some of the blood on her face. “How many more are in this place kid-?” Before she could get an answer from him, she soon heard the sound of soldiers yelling from the distance from where she was. It didn’t help that they saw what just happen to the poor pony she killed.

“Over there!! It’s the intruder!!”

“Stop that monster before she escapes!!”

“But sir, she just decimated-”

“I DON’T CARE!! I am NOT letting some short deformed rabbit intimidate us and make our company look like a bunch of fools,” The pony that looked to be the one in charge shouted at his men. “Stop it now or all of you will suffer the consequences!!”

“What a good leader you are pal.” She thought as a dark aura developed around herself as she took one step forwards. “Listen up, all of you. Because I’m only offering you this once in a lifetime chance. You can move to the side and let me take these children home that you kidnapped and you’ll be able to walk home to your friends and family members that some of you might have. But if you chose to fight me, then every last one of you will die. That is unless you ask for mercy, but I have a feeling that won’t be likely.”

It didn’t help the commanding officer that a few moments after making that declaration, a couple of ponies dropped their arms and began to flee. Terrified of the amount of power the lalafell just put on display. As for the others though. “KILL HER!!!”

“And with that, you sealed your fates.” She said before placing her sword onto the side of her shoulder and quickly bolted at the soldiers with a devilish smile on her face. Once she was close to the nearest soldier, she quickly lunges herself at him and brought down her sword at the pony’s neck, and cut it clean off. Blood splattered all over most of the soldiers standing behind him as the lalafell quickly kicked the decapitated body over to them before firing off a ball of darkness towards the body. Once it exploded and cause them to cover their eyes, Jurrita jumped over the squad of ponies and began to bolt it down the hallway. “Can’t catch me you old farts!”

“Where did she-!?”

“She’s by the armory! Stop her!!” Buckler Shield yelled as the squad quickly ran after her to the armory. Once they made it to where she was, the captain quickly ducked as a dagger flew pass him and implanted into Broadsword’s head. “Fall back! Fall back!” He ordered as they quickly moved back into the hallway on each side of the doorway.

“Ha! Headshot! And I wasn’t even aiming that time!” Jurrita yelled as she quickly reached for a spear and readied herself to throw it.

“Everypony regroup, now-!” He ordered as one of the ponies from the otherside of the doorway tried to quickly make his way over to the captain, only to get speared in the head and stuck to the wall next to them. “Dammit!”

“Who’s next!? I got a ton of spears just itching to throw them at you punks!” She yelled as she readied another spear. However, when she looked back at the group, she saw that some of the ponies were backing away from her position. But there was another sound that was being heard. Something that sounded like… sizzling.

“Fire!!”

“Nald’s balls!” Jurrita quickly jumped out of the way of the cannon fire and quickly covers her head from the explosion from the cannonball hitting the room. The projectile tearing through the support beams that held up the structure that she was in as the roof began to collapse on top of her.

“Ha! We got her sir! There’s no way she could survive that!”

“Stay on your guard! There’s no telling if that thing’s dead or not!” Their commander snapped as the soldiers stayed cautious as they slowly began to peak their heads into the room. Only to be met with one of the soldier’s head to be split into by an oncoming axe flying through his head.

“H-how?! She should’ve died when the building collapsed!!”

“What did I just tell you?!!” The commanding officer snapped again. The sound of a wall breaking could be heard coming from beside them as the soot, dirt, and blood covered dark knight glared at the group while panting.

“Using a cannonball to try and kill me while taking out your armory. Bold and risky move, but that doesn’t work unless you can aim properly.” She said before charging at them while dragging her sword against the ground towards them.

“S-sargeant? W-what do we do now?!”

“Hold fast and stand ready! We’re not going to let her take those children away. Not over my dead body!!” Upon hearing that, the dark knight jumped up into the air, lifted up her greatsword, and threw it like at spear at the captain’s chest.

“That can be arranged.”

“H-holy!! She killed Buckle Shield!!”

“E-everypony run! Get out of here now!!” Some of the ponies soon immediately darted off in a hastened attempt to retreat as the lalafell began to pull the greatsword out of the chest of the commanding officer. She would go after the others, but she was already satisfied with the kind of carnage that she had just unleashed. “Dammit, there goes my threat of killing every last one of them.” She said before turning around and started to head back towards the kids slowly. Once she was near the room where Yellow Jacket and the other kids were in, she staggerly made her way over to them with a smile on her face. “Anyone know how to get back to your homes?”

“Umm…”

“...Please tell me that someone here knows how to get you all back from where you came from?”

“M-maybe… but we don’t know where we are exactly aside from the fact that this is a border station.” Yellow told her in response.

“Hey, maybe we should look around a bit. Those equines did leave behind all their stuff. Maybe they have a map or something?” Another one of the changelings suggested as they all began to come out of the small room that they were hiding in.

“Sounds like a plan. While you do that, I’m gonna pass out for a bit or two.” The lalafell’s eyes widen for a moment before dropping to the floor like a ton of bricks and passing out.

“… This being is the one who saved us?”

“Maybe you shouldn’t talk about her like that. Unless you want to have her sword go through your chest.”

“… Noted.”

[Outside, Border Station]

“Never thought we’d be coming back here anytime soon. Especially after what happened last time.” Pharynx said as he along with three soldiers landed side-by-side next to Chrysalis. “You sure this is the place that the spell landed our hero into?”

“It must be. We saw it with our own eyes.” Sapphire insisted.

“And you don’t think that they might’ve killed the being that you summoned already. For all we know this could be a trap.”

“That’s why we brought you guys here just in case this is a trap.” Lotus said as she took notice to the building. “Huh, I’m surprised that no pony has come out to try and attack us yet...You think they up and left?”

“Wait…” Pharynx lifted a hoof as he looked around, before getting closer and sniffing the air around him. “Do you smell that?”

“Smell what?” Sapphire ask.

“The scent in the air. It smells like the scent of… corpses.”

“Are they Equestrian?” Chrysalis asked as she began to walk over to the front door of the station, only to get stampeded on by a squad of fleeing stallions as they ran out of the station off in the direction of Equestria.

“What was that all about?” Sapphire asked.

“I’m not entirely sure…” Pharynx stretched out his right arm as he pointed to the hallway of the border station. “But I think I can take a few guesses.”

“No please. Take your time in getting me up to my feet.” Chrysalis said as she pulled herself up from the ground. Once she was up, she took notice to seeing Pharynx point to the hallway as she gasp in horror. “Oh my me….”

“Don’t you mean oh my Celestia?” Lotus asked as the queen glared at her.

“I am not saying her name after what she did!” She said before carefully making her way inside. “Let’s go. If our hero that you two botched the landing summoning is in here, then we need to get them out of here before the equestrians come back with reinforcements.”

“Yes, my queen.” Sapphire responded as the drones followed after Chrysalis. “Geez, whoever it was we summoned really did a number on Celestia’s royal guards.” She said before examining one of the bodies that were still intact along with the burn marks on the wall. “Seems this one we summon can use magic….dark magic from the smell of it.”

“That would explain why there’s a giant sword sticking from out of that pony’s chest over there.” Lotus said as she pointed a finger over near the armory of the border station. Chrysalis squinted her eyes for a moment before they widen upon seeing how it was.

“That’s….Buckle Shield.”

“Isn’t he the one in charge of the border station?” Sapphire asked.

“He is… and with it, he was somepony who was seen as almost invincible around the ponies that were at the station,” Pharynx spoke up. “I wonder who did a number on the bastard…”

“My guess is the one we summon. Now the biggest question is where is he or she?” As if the universal gods were listening, the group hear someone talking in the distance a couple of feet away from them. “There’s still somepony here?”

“Hey, do you think that creature that saved us is going to be okay? I mean, she did just pass out right now.”

“Look, if Yellow Jacket trusts her, then I believe her. If anything, she’s probably exhausted from using up a lot of magical power. Besides, shouldn’t we be looking for a map? It would be hard to try and return home to the queen without knowing where we are going.”

“I’m just glad to finally be free.”

“Wait...aren’t they the children that were foalnapped?” Lotus asked.

“That… does sound like them.” Sapphire admitted, before turning to Chrysalis. “My Queen, what do you think?”

“If they’re here then we need to get them out fast.” Chrysalis said as she rushed over to where the voices were coming from. “Move it drones!”

“Yes, my queen!” They yelled as they quickly followed after the queen. Once they located the source of the talking, they soon see the children dragging the lalafell by her legs through the hallway...well, trying to at least, the girl’s armor was pretty heavy from the looks of it.

“Q-queen Chrysalis?” They soon heard another voice speak up. One that was rather familiar to her as she looked to see a changeling drone with yellow eyes stare in her direction. “Everybuggy, over here! It’s the queen!”

“What, seriously?!”

“By the hive, we’re saved!!”

“First that bunny girl and now this? What kind of blessing did we receive?!”

“Bunny girl? What do you mean by that my child?” Chrysalis asked as she noticed the lalafell that two of them were trying to carry. “What in all of Equestria is that thing?”

“That’s Juritta,” Yellow then replied. “She was the one who saved us… and also warned us of a splash zone or something.”

“I can think of a bunch of reasons why she would say that given the blood and guts scattered around the hallway.” Sapphire said as she walked over to Jurrita’s body and picked her up over her shoulder. “Right now we should go before anything else happens. I would suggest that we have some of the drones come here and gather any useful equipment or tools that might help us.”

“I’ll be sure to do that once we’re at the castle.” Chrysalis said before looking over at Yellow Jacket. “But before I forget, I would like to ask you children some questions on the way there if you don’t mind.”

“What kind of questions, Queen Chrysalis?” Yellow asked her.

“Who foalnapped you all, and what does he or she look like?”

Chapter 2: The Vanguard of the Empire

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Chapter 3: Preparing for War

Chapter 3

Preparing For War

“This is by far the most disgusting thing I have ever heard of in my entire life.” Chrysalis said as she watched her changelings set up the traps and covering the pit spikes with sewer waste. “How is this going to help us when the equestrians come and attack us?”

“Seeing how you don’t have much artillery wise, we’re gonna use the next best thing.” Jurrita said as she smirked. “The ponies think this place is like a barren wasteland with little to no materials. So they won’t be thinking to bring water or curatives. Which means-”

“They would get sick from the infection of the wounds given the traveling they had to do.” Pharynx said as the lalafell nodded.

“Yep. We have to think tactfully, not rely on power or brute force in this upcoming fight. Which means I’m gonna need you all to be ready to fight.” She said as the group of changelings looked at each other for a moment before Thorax spoke up.

“What do you mean?”

“From what you told me, you’re down a member seeing how...um...Who was that guy that betrayed you all?”

“Greenlight. Lotus and Sapphire’s father. Yellow Jacket told me that he has been working with the ponies in the station you were fighting in. Hard to believe that somepony like him would turn against his own kind...But after what I did, I wouldn’t blame him for doing that.” She said as the two changelings lowered their heads in shame.

“Right, that guy. Seeing how you’re down a member, you all need to step up more and not be on the sideline that much. Especially with how poorly this place is thanks to the equestrians that you said put you into this mess for the most part.”

“But…we’re not fighters. Aside from Pharynx, Chrysalis, and the soldiers Chrysalis mentioned.” Lotus said.

“You want my help or not?”

“O-Of course we do!” Chrysalis said as the lalafell folded her arms.

“Then it’s time to get out of your comfort zone and step up bugs. Because you’re fighting for your right to be free and seen as equals against anyone that wanted to crush you. And right now you all need all the help you need from me. Or in this case, it’s time to learn a few things from Eorzea.” She said before seeing a spark of interest appear on Lotus and Sapphire’s faces. “Lucky for you all I have some Soul Crystals to help remedy that.”

“Soul Crystals?” Chrysalis asked as she noticed the lalafell reach into her pockets to pull out a set of colorful looking stones with markings on them.

“Soul Crystals are literal crystals that contain the memories of past practitioners of that particular class you’re going to be. All their skills are within these stones, and will be yours to learn.” She said as the five changelings walked up to the Jurrita to look at the soulstones. “But it’ll be up to you for the most part on how you unlock the skills and magicks within your soul crystal. I will teach you all I know and you will pass that knowledge to those that you trust within your inner circle of friends or whatever you call it here.”

“Not to be rude, but what do each one represent?” Lotus asked as Jurrita handed each changeling a specific type of soul crystal.

“Black Mage, White Mage, Gunbreaker, Scholar, and Warrior. Lotus and Sapphire will be getting the Black and white mage crystals, Pharynx and Thorax will be getting the Warrior and Scholar crystals, and Chrysalis will be getting the Gunbreaker crystal.”

“Warrior...sounds fitting for me.” Pharynx he said while examining the red soul crystal.

“Should be. You, Chrysalis and I will be the vanguard of the army, Lotus will be the magic artillery, and Sapphire & Thorax will be our healers. It’ll be your job to heal the wounded and dying as best as you can.”

“Is that even possible?” Thorax asked as he and Sapphire examined their Scholar and White Mage crystals. “I mean, I’m not trying to be negative or anything. But is using these soul crystals even going to work on us?” He said as a burst of light erupted from beside them. The four generals looked over at Chrysalis as she was wearing a dark blue coat, a black leather like shirt, black pants, hard leather like shoes, and capsules on the side of her coat. In her hand was a gunblade that took her by surprise as she examines it with interest. She looks up at Thorax with a smirk on her face.

“I believe this answers your question Thorax.” The queen said as she swings the gunblade a bit. “I would like for you to personally train me in how to use this weapon if you don’t mind Jurrita?”

“I’m planning on it. Mostly because you need it more as you’ll be on the front line with Pharynx and I.”

“Wouldn’t that be dangerous for her to be on the front line? If she were to be killed, then the moral of the changelings will fall.” Lotus replied as she looks over her soul crystal.

“That is true, but with her on the battlefield from time to time will increase the army’s courage and moral. Meaning they will follow her and give her their trust and lives without a shadow of a doubt.” The lalafell said as she walks up towards the queen. “As for you, we will begin with your training. Mainly how to hold your own in a fight without the use of magic.”

“We’re starting already?” Chrysalis asked as she was taken by surprise. “Shouldn’t we be reinforcing the castle before Celestia’s army get here? Or maybe think of a battle plan?”

“That is what Pharynx is for. Right now we need you to be able to stand on your own without the need of some assistance.” She said before looking over at Pharynx. “What’s a good open spaced area to train in?”

“We use to have a training ground, but we’re using that for changelings that can’t go back to their homes due to wild animals attacking the citizens at night.”

“We’ll have to do something about that later, but for now use the soul crystals that I gave you and train yourself in the ways of magicks and skills. For when they do come knocking on our front door, we will be ready for a counterattack of the utmost brutality.” She said as the lalafell motioned for Chrysalis to follow. The queen sighed as she begrudgingly followed after Jurrita, but not before looking over at Thorax.

“Be sure to tell the changelings in the lookout tower to keep an eye on the borders for anypony coming here.” Thorax nodded as he and the other began to fly off into different sections of the castle, leaving Jurrita and Chrysalis alone with one another.

“Be forewarned. From here on out, I am going to be training you to the brink of exhaustion. I will not hold back just because you’re the queen of the changeling hive. Nor will I go easy on you.”

“How bad will the training be?”

“To the point where you’ll be able to take your enemy down by surprise. Now, care to explain what you know about Equestria and how they fight?”

“From my short time in the place, the capital of the place is Canterlot. That’s where Celestia and her sister Luna resides in as they rule over Equestria. You already had a taste of what their forces are given what you did in the building you appeared in by accident.”

“Yeah, though they were nothing more then just grunts from the way they fight and acted when they saw me.” Jurrita said with a smirk. “But I get the feeling the ones who are in charge of the knights of this world might be more of a challenge?”

“That would be Shining Armor. He’s in charge of both the Royal Guards of Canterlot and Crystal Guards in the Crystal Empire. But other then that, there’s not that many strong ponies in Equestria other then the Princesses, Shining Armor, Cadence, and the Elements of Harmony.”

“Mind telling me more about them? I would like to know this before hand just in case I might end up having to fight them.”

“The Princesses rely on magic and Twilight and her friends do the whole saving Equestria stuff. So taking them down shouldn’t be an issue for the most part. Twilight and her friends are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. The elements are Equestria’s shield when repelling darkness from their land or turning ponies into stone. Cadence is a new princess that I have no idea where she came from. She’s currently the ruler of the Crystal Empire and married to Prince Shining Armor. Be careful when they’re both together, their love is sickening but they can become more powerful when they use magic in unison. A lesson I had to learn the hard way.”

“Hm, so in a way they might send Twilight and her friends here to see if they can handle the situation if all else fails?”

“That or they send an army first before sending in their trump card.” Chrysalis nodded. “Hm, how long does it take for their...magicks to be cast?”

“A good few minutes?”

“And does it require one or all of them to perform this magicks?”

“It requires all of them to use the elements of harmony. Why do you ask?” The queen said as she noticed a smirk on the lalafell’s face. “You’re planning on killing one of them are you?”

“I only kill those that are evil like the ones in that station I was in. I’m planning on seeing how strong they are when they make their move. If they have the elements of harmony on them, then I will be taking one as a means to cripple their shield.”

“Wouldn’t that make them try and get it back?”

“Yes, and they would no doubt send their army to get it. But if we can hold out long enough and deliver a hard blow to their forces each time they attack us, then we will be able to make a deal with them. One where it favors you all.”

“.....Go on.” Chrysalis said as a grin appeared on her face.

[Equestria, Canterlot Castle]

The doors to the throne room open up as Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor, and the mane six entered into the room with Celestia sitting on the throne with a stern expression on her face. The white alicorn was broken from her thoughts as she heard her sister clearing her throat to get her attention as she looked down at the group as her expression softened up a bit.

“Thank you all for coming. I take it Luna filled you in on the most part of why you’re here?” She asked as they nodded.

“To think that the changelings would be up to their old tricks again. Haven’t they learned their lesson after what happened before?” Cadence said as she snorted in disgust. “Even after we made a treaty with them when they begged for mercy.”

“Well I’m not surprised. Especially seeing how Chrysalis is the one controlling them.” said Rainbow Dash. “What’s even worse is that they have a weird looking creature under their control. A kid no less given what Luna said.”

“How low can that bug go to get what she needs.” Applejack said as she tipped her hat upwards a bit. “It’s unforgivable.”

“It is why I had my sister come and teleport you all here. In some way, Chrysalis must have stolen one of the old books from my studies during the invasion to summon this creature. I don’t know how long they had this creature in their possession. But if something is not done, then Chrysalis might summon more to control. And if that were to happen...”

“Then she’ll have an army ready to take over Equestria.” Twilight said as she looks up at Celestia. “What is it you want us to do?”

“Our first priority is to save the creature from whatever spell Chrysalis placed on it. You will need the elements of harmony to do so. Once you have done this, bring the creature here so that we may provide it a place to stay until we can find a means to send it back from where it came from.”

“But what if Chrysalis tries to attack us?” Fluttershy as Shining Armor cleared his throat to get their attention.

“That is where Cadence and I come in. While we distract her, you all can find the creature and save it.”

“Be warned my little ponies. The Badlands is a place unfamiliar to any pony and the changelings will have the advantage over you seeing how that’s their home. Be careful of where you tread. Less you invoke the ire of the hive colony.” Celestia said as the group nodded. “When you are ready. Luna will teleport you to the border station so that you won’t be spotted. But after that, it will be up to you to try and make it to the Changeling Empire on hoof.”

“Understood, we won’t let you down Princess Celestia!”

“I have faith that you will succeed in your mission Twilight. The future of Equestria is in you and your friend’s hands.”

Chapter 4: I am the Shadow

Chapter 4

I am the Shadow

[Badlands, Changeling Empire]

The sounds of metal clashing against metal echoed throughout the open field that Chrysalis and Jurrita were training in. The Changeling Queen could be seen being sent flying backwards, and skid into the ground before stopping. Chrysalis let out a painful grunt from being thrown as she staggered to her feet and glared at the Lalafell who glared back with her greatsword in her hands.

“You call that swordplay? A baby Kobold can do a better job at swinging a sword than a bug like you!” yelled Jurrita as she quickly charges at the staggered queen. Once she was close, she used the flat part of her blade to smack her in the face. Only for Chrysalis to parry the incoming attack to the side and counter with a horizontal slash of her Gunblade to her chest. It didn’t cause any damage, but she smiled from the fact that Chrysalis finally got hit in. But that little victory was short-lived as the Lalafell’s greatsword was wrapped in darkness and erupted with a powerful shockwave.

The shockwave caused Chrysalis to tumble backwards a bit before noticing a beam of darkness heading towards her. She quickly lifted up her gunblade to block the oncoming beam as she was pushed back a bit before being pushed out of the way and fell onto her back. The queen let out a gasp as the wind was knocked out of her body and began to gasp for air.

“Get up maggot! We still got two more hours of swordplay before moving on to dodging oncoming magicks and objects.”

“Seriously!? How are we not done yet with the first part of this training!?”

“I added a couple more hours due to you being the leader of this place.” Jurrita said as Chrysalis glared daggers at the Lalafell, only for her to smirk in return. “You wanted my help, then this is what you got. Now quit your complaining and get back on your feet. Do well in this, and I’ll give you a two-hour break so you can recover and relax a bit.” She said as the changeling queen staggered to her feet and lifted her gunblade into her hands. “Good, rise up and fight. Use that rage to try and kill me.”

“Oh, you are so going to get your tiny little flank handed to you.” The queen said as she took up a fighting stance.

“Good luck with that bug lady. Wouldn’t be the first time someone told me they would do that to me.” The Lalafell said as she brought her sword up and coated it in darkness. “Now try not to disappoint me queeny, less you want that beautiful face of yours to get scratched up~?” Just as the queen was about to charge at the dark knight, a changeling drone burst in a flash of magic in between the two fighters as the two of them turned their attention onto the drone.

“What is it? Can’t you see I’m doing something very important?”

“Forgive me for the intrusion, but we have a bit of a problem.”

“What kind of problem?” Jurrita asked as she placed her greatsword onto the holster on her back.

“Ponies from Equestria are at the outpost that we raided after the creature you summon ran amok and killed most of the ponies in there...Um, no offense.”

“Well, speak of the devil and they shall appear.” Jurrita said before looking at Chrysalis. “Time for a bit of a field test.”

“Seriously? We only trained for four hours. I’m pretty sure I’m not even close to mastering this...what is this thing anyway?”

“Gunblade. Don’t ask me why it’s named like that, it just is. Anyway, this will give me a field test on what I’m going to be dealing with from here on out.” She said before walking over to her bag and began to look around in it.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting ready to meet the locals of a foreign land. Pulling out a special sword for this~”

“And that would be?” The changeling asked as Lalafell pulled out a grayish colored greatsword as she began to admire its craftsmanship.

“A legend with an unknown parrel.” Jurrita implanted the sword in the ground as a dark purplish rune-like writing appeared on the handle and the blade of the sword. The greatsword was soon engulfed in the same aura as the symbols before forming an aura like blade around the actual sword. “The anima weapon. Cronus Lux!” She said as the queen stared at the weapon in amazement and interest.

“What kind of a weapon is this?” Chrysalis asked as she walked over to admire the blade. “So much magic, the craftsmanship of this blade is amazing, and the power...” She said while running a finger along the flat part of the blade as she shivered a bit from the power she was feeling coming from it. “How do we make these?”

“That might be a bit hard to do. I mean I have the materials to get them made, but we would have to find two people that are experts in crafting weapons like this. And sadly they’re stuck back in my world and I don’t know how to get back to Eorzea or get them here.”

“Hm...maybe we could do that same spell as before.”

“I don’t think so. Unless you end up bringing in a monster from my world by accident, I suggest we wait until your soldiers can recover both physically and morale.” She said before placing her anima weapon on the holster on her back. “Anyway, can you teleport or something?”

“I can. But it would be outside of the station that you came out of nowhere.”

“Perfect, take us there if you would Chrysalis?” Jurrita asked as she looked over at the changeling drone and tossed over a heavy-looking bag. “Give this to your blacksmith or whoever makes weapons here and see if he or she can make them.”

“O-Of course...um…”

“Jurrita is who you will address her as, drone.” Chrysalis said as her horn began to glow while walking over to the Lalafell. “We’ll be back in a bit.” She said before they teleported off.

[Badlands, Border station]

At the bordering station near the borderline of the badlands. Twilight and her friends along with Princess Luna and Shining Armor made their way to the borderline station via teleport magic thanks to Princess Luna. Once they were inside, everyone looked upon the damage, blood, and remains of the ponies that were guarding the station. Fluttershy’s face turned green upon seeing some of the dead bodies of the royal guards while Rarity ran off outside to throw up.

“Mother of me.” Luna said as she watched in shock at the scene she’s seeing. “What has Chrysalis brought into this world?”

“How can a little foal do so much damage?” Shining Armor asked as he grimaced at the gory scene. “Or do we even know if that creature she summoned is a filly? It could be some kind of monster that looks like a little foal.”

“I have to agree with Shining Armor on this one.” Rainbow Dash said as she eyed the damage the creature did. “I mean this place looks like a hurricane hit. And that thing pretty much did this in less than a couple of minutes.”

“Whatever Chrysalis did to this creature, it can’t be good. We need to find it, and break whatever spell is on it before she forces it to do any more damage.” Twilight said before starting to search around the ruined building. “Let’s look around for clues before we move towards the changeling empire.”

“What kind of clues are we supposed to find?” Fluttershy asked as she moved close to Rainbow Dash.

“Something that might give us some insight into what Chrysalis summoned. I mean, you did see what Princess Celestia showed us right?”

“How couldn’t we. It was like something out of a horror book, but small and dangerous.” Rainbow Dash answered.

“M-Maybe we should leave before they return. I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.” Fluttershy said before feeling Rainbow Dash place a hand on her shoulder.

“Relax, we have Princess Luna and Shining Armor with us. I doubt bug butt Chrysalis would stand a chance against us. And even with that creature under her control, Twilight can just hit it with a spell to break the spell that it’s under.”

“Still…”

“Your fear is understandable Fluttershy, but worry not! I, Princess Luna will defend you from whatever Chrysalis has in store for us!” Luna said with a confident smirk on her face. Fluttershy gave the lunar princess a small smile but it soon dropped like an anvil being dropped from the sky as the group heard a familiar scream coming from outside.

“Was that Rarity?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Unless you know somepony else that can scream like that?” Applejack asked as she began to run towards the entrance of the building.

“Applejack wait! Stay with the group!” Twilight said before sighing and turning her attention towards the group. “We better hurry. It could be Chrysalis making her move.” She said as they all quickly ran in the direction that Applejack ran off too. Once they were outside, they saw Rarity being entangled in a green cocoon while struggling within Chrysalis’s magical hold.

“Unhand me you veil beast! This is no way to treat a lady!” She yelled before noticing her new attire. “I must say, where did you get those stylish garments?”

“Really? One minute you’re screaming and flailing around and the next you’re admiring my clothes?”

“What can I say. I can’t help but admire the fine stitching and craftsmanship with both cloth and leather mixed together. Who is the pony that made this wonderful garment for you?”

“I’m not going to tell you! Bare in mind that you’re my captive/bargaining chip for when I have to trade you for-” Before she could finish her sentence, a magical beam shot passed the queen’s head as she soon turned her attention over to her left to see Twilight and her group glaring at her while taking formation.

“Let go of Rarity.” Luna threatened as her horn glowed violently as she readied another magical beam. “Or the next one won’t miss, Chrysalis.”

“Well if it isn’t Twilight Sparkle and her annoying friends.” She said before winking at Shining Armor who grimaced at her in disgust.

“Chrysalis. Must I remind you that you were under the treaty to not do anything that might cause trouble between both Equestria and your Empire? What reason do you possibly have to attack the border station we placed here to keep an eye on you all?” Luna said as the queen glared at her.

“That treaty was nothing more than a means for your royal council to make us changelings miserable. Lack of food, ponies foalnapping our children, monsters raiding our homes and killing us? You call that a fair treaty?”

“What nonsense are you talking about bug?” She asked as she noticed a crystal ball heading towards them, only for Twilight to quickly grab it with her magic.

“A little something that my soldiers picked up while raiding the border station. You should have a look at it and see how your ponies really are when you’re not there to hold their hands.”

“You expect us to believe you?” Rainbow Dash asked as she zoomed in front of Chrysalis’s face. “That could just be some kind of fake recording or something.”

“You got about five seconds to get out of my face pony, or else you’re going to get hurt.”

“I’d like to see you-” Before Rainbow Dash could finish, she was soon sent tumbling over to the side by a flood of darkness. The cyan pegasus quickly recovered as she glared at the one who hit her. “What in the name of Equestria was that!?” The pegasus along with the group looked over to their right to see a familiar figure walking towards them seething with darkness around her body and round her weapon.

“Four seconds. Well, it’s close enough I suppose. Next time try to be on point with your timing little one~”

“Don’t push it Chrysalis. And what did I tell you about calling me little?” Jurrita asked as the darkness around her settled down a bit but still remained around her body. The lalafell soon turned her attention to the equestrians as she placed the blade part of her sword on her shoulder. “So you must be the equestrians that Chrysalis told me about...I’m a bit disappointed by the way you all look...well all but the ones in armor...wait weren’t there eight of you?”

“She doesn’t look like she’s under Chrysalis’s mind control.” Pinkie said, appearing in front of Jurrita as she quickly jumps back and takes up a fighting stance. “Her eyes aren’t green. But she does have red eyes and they’re glowing.”

“You there...creature. Are you under Chrysalis’s spell?” Luna asked as Jurrita glared at her.

“The name’s Jurrita, not a creature horse lady. Do ask for someone’s name instead of saying something offensive.”

“Alright...Jurrita...are you under Chrysalis’s spell or not?”

“I am not.” The lalafell said as she noticed the alicorn glaring at the queen.

“What did she offer you in return for her service?”

“I’m pretty sure that thing Chrysalis gave you will give you your reason. But I’m mostly here as the hired vanguard to reclaim the land they lost to you ponies.”

“Child, you know not what you are doing. Whatever Chrysalis has said to you is nothing but lies. Come with us, and we will send you back to where you belong.” Luna said as she noticed Chrysalis backing away from Jurrita with a bit of a worried expression on her face. The lunar princess turned her attention back on Jurrita as she flinched back from seeing her eyes glowing red.

“First of all. I’m not a child. I’m twenty-one years old, you old hag.” She said before pointing her greatsword at Luna. “Second, it would be you who doesn’t know what you’re doing. I can understand they may be the enemy to your country or whatever. But to treat them as if they’re bugs underneath your shoe, starving them to near death, and kidnapping children. That’s something I can’t ignore.” Jurrita took up a fighting stance as the darkness around herself grew more from her anger.

“W-wait. What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked as she was about to take a step forward, only for Shining Armor to pull her back as he stands in front of her with his shield up.

“Stand back Twilight. Now isn’t the time for talking.” The stallion said as his horn began to glow as he glared at the lalafell. “So much darkness is being expelled from that creature. Just who or what is this creature?”

“It would seem Chrysalis has brainwashed this poor creature with her venomous words and lies.” Luna said as she drew out her rapier. “I will see if I can knock her out and take her with us. You girls try to save Rarity from Chrysalis if you can.” She said before turning her attention at the lalafell as she blinks in surprise at seeing Jurrita appear in front of her so quickly.

“Never let your guard down!” Jurrita yelled as she delivered a punch to the princess’s face, causing the alicorn to lose her footing and fall face-first into the ground. Once she was down, the lalafell soon delivered a strong kick to her stomach which sent Luna skidding backwards from the hit. “And never underestimate your opponent!”

“Lucky sho-” Before she could finish, she soon felt herself being pushed again as a flood of darkness hit her from the side and caused her to tumble away from the group.

“Chrysalis. Now would be the time for you to get going!”

“What about you!? You can’t expect to stand on your own against them?” Chrysalis said as she noticed the lalafell continued sending out a beam like a flood of darkness at the lunar princess.

“I’ll be fine. Just return once you take care of our bargaining chip. Just go!”

“Like hay, you’re going to leave bug!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she zoomed past the others and headed towards Chrysalis, only for the queen to pull out her gunblade and aim at the oncoming pegasus. Once she was close, Chrysalis pulled the trigger on the weapon as it caused an explosion. The queen was sent skidding back a bit as she gritted her teeth from the pain she felt from the recoil while Rainbow Dash fell to the ground covered in soot and smoke as she was unconscious.

“I thought I told you to be careful when pulling the trigger on that gunblade?”

“I didn’t think it would hurt that much.” She hissed before quickly using her magic to levitate Rainbow Dash over to her and began to wrap her in the same cocoon substance she used on Rarity. “Guess we have two bargain chips to use~” Once she was done quickly wrapping Rainbow Dash up, she winked at Twilight and her friends before teleporting off to her castle.

“Heh, two of the six will do I suppose.” Jurrita said before looking over at Luna and the others. “Seems like you came unprepared for this fight. Pitty, I was hoping for more of a challenge.” She said before dodging a magical beam coming from Twilight.

“Give us back our friends you monster!” Twilight yelled as she fired another magical beam at the lalafell as Shining Armor unsheathed his sword and charged at Jurrtia in an attempt to hit her with his shield. The lalafell took notice of the magical beam and quickly dodged it. Once she noticed the stallion heading towards her as her sword collided with his shield. The impact caused a small shockwave as Shining Armor was trying to push the dark knight back, but was having trouble in doing so due to the lalafell standing in place and unphased by the push.

“Monster? I’m not a monster per se.” Juritta parried Shining Armor’s shield to the side before sending him staggering backwards a bit before channeling darkness into her sword and delivered a horizontal slash to his chest as blood splattered from the deep open wound she caused. “I’m just a hired vanguard.”

“Shining Armor!” Twilight yelled as Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack gasped in horror from seeing the blood spill from out of Shining Armor as he kneels down from the pain he felt. Just as she was about to deliver another attack to Shining Armor, she noticed another magical beam heading towards her as she pushed back away from the stallion. Looking up, she saw Luna’s horn glowing as a sign she was the one that attacked her.

“Give us back Rarity and Rainbow Dash you fiend of a child.” She ordered, glaring down at the lalafell as she stood in front of Shining Armor.

“You keep calling me a child and I’m going to break that horn off, and stick it where the sun won’t shine.” Jurrita said as a dark aura developed around her greatsword as she took aim and fired off a flood of darkness at Luna. The alicorn’s eyes widened as she quickly summoned up a shield as the flood of darkness collided and began to eat away at the shield. While the lalafell was focused on the lunar princess, a lasso was soon tossed around the dark knight’s neck as she soon felt herself being pulled into the air and heading over towards Applejack.

“Got ya, you no good varmint-” Before she could finish her sentence, Jurrita quickly delivered a staggering punch to the farm pony’s face as she went face down into the ground and knocked her out. As the lalafell landed in front of Applejack, she quickly tilted her head to the side as a magical beam shot passed her head. Looking up, she saw Twilight’s horn glowing as she fired another beam at the dark knight. Only for the knight to deflect it with her sword back at her as it caused Twilight to be sent flying backwards into Luna.

“Talk about being unorganized. How the hell did the changelings lose to you ponies?” She asked before hearing Chrysalis teleport back beside the lalafell. “About time you returned.”

“Had to take the pegasus to the infirmary. Didn’t think that blast would dislocate her right arm and wing, but no matter.” She said before noticing Applejack on the ground and levitate her over to them. “Three out of six, guess you’ve really as strong as you look.”

“Wasn’t that hard for the most part. Mainly because they’re very unorganized and lack strength.” Jurrita said before looking at the equestrians. “Next time we meet, it better be as a means to discuss a treaty between Equestria and The Changeling Empire.” She said before placing her sword back onto her back holster. “We’re done here. Let’s go.”

“You’re not going anywhere!” Luna said as she charged at the two, only for Jurrita and Chrysalis to teleport back to the hive as the lunar princess to hit the ground as they vanished.

“This is bad. Really bad.” Twilight said before noticing Shining Armor pulling himself up as she goes over to help him up. “We need to head back and inform Celestia about what happened.”

“We can’t just leave. What about our friends?” Pinkie Pie asked as she and Fluttershy went over to help Luna onto her feet.

“As much as I would like to go after them, we can’t go in there without a plan. And given the facts that were presented to us, we need to have a word with Celestia so we can get some answers.” Twilight said before looking over at Princess Luna. “Are you able to teleport us back to Equestria?”

“I should be able to, yes...sister is not going to like this.” Luna’s horn began to glow as she along with Twilight, her friends, and Shining Armor teleported back to Canterlot Castle.

Chapter 5: The Taste of Victory

Chapter 5

The Taste of Victory

[Changeling Empire, Meeting Room]

The sun was beginning to fall upon the wasteland as the changelings that were living in the castle quickly began to cover the entrances to the castle up with a green hardening substance, lit the lights within the hallways of the castle, and began their usual night patrol around and inside of the palace. Mainly the fifteen guards that could work, while the rest would be tending to those who were malnourished due to starvation. While the drones were busy tending to their friends and families by giving them the love potions that were taken by the border patrollers, Chrysalis, Jurrita, Lotus, Sapphire, Thorax, and Pharynx were in the war room discussing what had happened earlier this afternoon.

“I can’t believe it.” Chrysalis said fidgeting in her seat a bit. “The plan actually worked...I should be happy about this, but this is the first time we actually had a victory.”

“Given our track record, this is pretty much a victory in my book.” Thorax said just as he was writing it down in a book. “We should celebrate this most epic event.”

“You’re welcome by the way.” Jurrita said as the queen turned her attention at the lalafell. “But I wouldn’t celebrate just yet.”

“And why not?” Pharynx asked as he leaned back in his seat with a smug expression. “We have three of the equestrians' greatest warriors. Why not celebrate our victory?”

“Because dumbass. Now that we have our bargaining chips, they’re going to send an army to get them back. Which will prove a problem seeing how we’re not ready for that.” Sapphire answered. “Even though we have gotten the love potions, we still don’t have enough soldiers to withstand their assault.”

“And even with the traps we set outside and the anti-magic field around the castle, what’s to stop the pegasi from flying into the castle?” Lotus asked.

“Could be the fact that you all know your own home inside and out and you’ll be able to out-think them.” Jurrita answered before jumping onto the table and made her way towards the center. “From what I’m looking at, the border is a good distance away from the castle. They’ll have to end up having to stop in the town to try and resupply on water or food-wise.”

“Food-wise we don’t have much, but we do have plenty of water.” Chrysalis said before pointing at different towns on a map with water supplies. “Three of the small towns have water wells. But the one that the Equestrians might take, would be the one that leads to the path of the hive castle.”

“Have that town evacuated, burn the crops, and pollute the water supply.” Jurrite said as four of the changelings in the room stared at her in disbelief. “I know it’s a bit extreme.”

“A bit!? You’re asking us to destroy a town’s food and water supply! Do you know how much of a set back this will cause for us?” Sapphire asked as she looked over at Chrysalis. “You can’t actually go along with-”

“I’ll allow it.” She said which took Sapphire by surprise. “We already have three of their ponies here. You think they would let this slide?”

“No, I don’t. But this is really risky.”

“That’s war bug girl. There will be risks involved with it. And so far we have an advantage over them.” Jurrita said before kneeling down on the map. “We’re going to have to set traps within the town as well and along the path that leads to the castle. We may not be able to get the pegasi, but we can cripple some of the soldiers on land. Remember to lace the spike traps and your weapons with waste from the sewer. If not waste from the sewer, then poison will have to do.”

“Making them sick would be helpful in delaying their assault.” Thorax said before placing a hand to his chin. “We still need to train some of the changelings in the ways of the magic from what Jurrita introduced to us. And with an enemy army crippled by sickness, then it will give us time to recover and increase our strength.”

“So it’s agreed then?” Chrysalis asked as the four changelings nodded. “Alright then, have a messenger send a message to the village and have them move back into the hive. We’ll have to regrow the lost crops here in the hive.” She said before leaning back on her throne. “On to the next topic. The ponies from Equestria. Two are in the infirmary, while the other is in a holding cell. What do we do with them in the meantime?”

“For now we can let them roam around the castle, but with certain limitations.” Jurrita answered as the queen raised her eyebrow. “Hear me out. If they were to see how things are, mainly how malnourished the citizens are. Then they might change their minds. But bear in mind, we can’t let them escape or think of plans of escaping. Keep an eye on them at all times, and make sure the soldiers won’t get distracted by their attempts to try and get seduced by them.”

“You think they can do that?” Thorax asked as the females in the room deadpanned at him.

“You’re surprised at how well females can fool men that aren’t that smart...to some degree.” Sapphire responded before looking back at Jurrita. “We should possibly go check on the unicorn if that’s the case.”

“Who do you have guarding her anyway?” Jurrita asked.

“She’s still wrapped up in the cocoon I wrapped her in...fair warning, she has a bit of a black eye.” Chrysalis said as the lalafell raised her eyebrow. “Not my fault. I did warn her not to move around, less she ends up hitting something.”

“...Welp, guess this is going to be somewhat of a hassle.” The lalafell hopped off of the table as she motions Chrysalis to lead her to Rarity.

“I do hope you’re not planning on doing anything that might kill her?” Chrysalis asked as she quickly followed after Jurrita, only to pause and looked over at Thorax, Sapphire, Lotus, and Pharynx. “Meeting adjourned. Return to your station and relay the message to the others.” She said before going back to following the dark knight.

“Not going to kill her. But it all depends on her attitude on how I react to her.”

“So basically roughing her up?”

“If she acts unreasonable, then yes. I’ll rough her up a bit if need be.”

[Canterlot Castle, Throne Room]

After being informed about the confrontation with the changelings and the equestrians, a sigh of annoyance escaped from Celestia’s mouth as she looked down at Twilight and the rest of the group in disappointment. Not because of their failed attempt to investigate what happened, but more of what happened during the investigation. Mainly from the information given to her by Twilight from the lalafell.

“This….This is not good.” Celestia said as she looked down at Luna. “Who was in charge of the border station?”

“Wasn’t it one of your ponies from the royal guard. Buckle Shield, if I’m not mistaken.” Luna answered as the solar princes facepalmed herself.

“Great, not only did we lose three of the elements of harmony. But now they have evidence on how they were treated.”

“So the image on that crystal wasn’t fake?” Fluttershy asked as the solar princess nodded, causing the pegasus to gasp. “Oh dear, how can somepony be so cruel.”

“Let’s not forget that they’re the enemy, Fluttershy. Need I remind you about what happened at the royal wedding?” Luna asked, only for Twilight to respond.

“That may be true, but even we shouldn't treat our enemies like this. Did you not see how they were treating the foals or how malnourished they look?”

“No, I saw. And as much as I feel sorry for what had happened on my sister’s watch. We can’t forget that they are the invaders that attacked us not once, but twice. Not to mention that they stole one of our books to summon that creature. Such actions like this should not be tolerated.
But in this case, both sides are at fault in this case.”

“Which means that we’ll have to go to them to try and make some kind of peace agreement with them.” Celestia said as she leaned back in her throne. “Which might go one-sided seeing how they have Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack as their prisoners.”

“We have an army at our beck and call. Given the information we received from the crystal, it looks like they might not have much of an army on their side.” Luna said as it caused everyone to look at Luna in disbelief.

“You aren’t suggesting that we...force them to surrender our friends do you?” Pinkie Pie asked as Luna went silent. “You are suggesting it!”

“Only as a last resort. It will only depend on how negotiations with Chrysalis goes.”

“And given how this has been going on for the past seven months...this might not go in either favor.” Celestia said before sighing once again. “How is Shining Armor doing?”

“He’s currently being treated in the Canterlot hospital the moment we got here. Hence why we were late in reporting what happened.” Twilight answered. “Why do you ask?”

“I was hoping he was okay and only suffered minor injuries. But seeing how he’s in the hospital, I’ll have to go and see if I can make some kind of peace treaty or something where both sides can benefit each other.”

“You can’t expect to go there alone, do you? What makes you think she wouldn’t try to hold you for ransom as well!?” Luna asked, as the solar alicorn pulled herself up from the throne and began to make her way down towards the group.

“Because if they wanted to do that, they would’ve taken you while you were fighting with them.” She said while walking past them. “I will go alone. Whatever happens, while I’m there, happens.” Just as she walks out of the throne room and the doors close behind her. Twilight turns her attention to Luna with a worried expression on her face.

“You don’t think that they’ll try anything to Princess Celestia, do you?”

“Hard to say, but I’m not taking any chances with them.”

“What do you suggest we do?” Fluttershy asked. “Who knows what they’re doing to our friends as we speak.”

“For now, you all head back to Ponyville and get some rest. Celestia or I will call you all if anything changes.” Twilight and her friends nodded upon hearing this as they soon left the throne room. As they left, a bat pony soon appeared behind Princess Luna as she turned her attention towards him. “Follow after my sister and report to me if they try to attack her and hold her for ransom. Got it?” She asked as the bat pony nodded before vanishing into thin air. As the bat pony left, Princess Luna let out a sigh as she began to make her way out of the throne room and off to her chambers. “Things can’t get any worse then they are now...can they?”

[Changeling Empire, Dungeon]

“If you don’t mind me asking. What was your world like before coming here?” Chrysalis asked as the two made their way down into the dungeon with the lalafell riding on the queen’s shoulders.

“Eorzea? Well, it’s not a bad place to live in. Lushish land, an abundance of magic flowing in almost everything, everyone is friendly depending on the place you want to go to, and it has some amazing places that are almost as breathtaking as my real home.”

“Real home? What, Eorzea isn’t your real home?” The lalafell paused for a moment before letting out a breath of air, indicating that it was a touchy subject. “You don’t have to answer if you’re not up for it.”

“Amaurot...that is the name of the city I used to live in.” Jurrita answered as she pulled out a crystal from her bag. Chrysalis took notice of this as she saw an image of a city appearing in front of them as they walked. “Time for a little bit of a history lesson seeing how we’re going to be walking down these stairs for a while. This is what I can remember from my memories of the city."

“....Mother of the Hive. This city makes Canterlot look like a before picture of this.”

“Yeah, beautiful isn’t it? The city of Amaurot. A once peaceful city that I used to live in before coming to the source. During the day it looks pretty but at night. The city would be glowing like the stars in the night sky.”

“You might want to fill me in a bit on certain things from your world. Mainly because a lot of this stuff is going over my head.”

“Right, sorry.” Jurrita said before getting comfortable on Chrysalis’s shoulders like a child before speaking. “I’m only telling you this because you’re not from my world and it’s a sign of me giving you a piece of my trust. Do not tell anyone else.”

“My lips are sealed.”

“Good. Before I came to the source, Eorzea. I used to live in the city of Amaurot as I showed. This was not on the same planet as Eorzea, and was before there were thirteen worlds.” Jurrita said as Chrysalis saw strange hooded robed figures with masks on walking. “The figures with the robes. That’s what I used to look like.”

“.....Don’t take this the wrong way, but your kind, the...um….”

“The Ancients...but that name has been lost to history. Now we go by the name Ascians.”

“That's an odd name. But you all look like a bunch of plague doctors.” Chrysalis said as the lalafell couldn’t help but laugh at her comment.

“Yeah, I kinda notice. Especially when I woke up and saw some of the changelings wearing similar clothes like that. I never did like the way that I looked if I was being honest.”

“Well if I looked like that, I wouldn’t like the way that I looked either.”

“Pretty much. I didn't know why I didn’t like the way I looked. Even though my friends and family told me that I looked okay...I just didn’t like the way that I looked. I mean, thinking about it afterwards, I looked like death incarnate. So that might’ve been the issue.”

“Okay, so how did you end up going from a tall Plague doctor like creature to a small cute adorable murder machine?”

“The calamity came.” Jurrita said in a saddened tone as she made the image disappear. “It was told that in the final days that the world was going to end. And so it did.” She said before putting the crystal back into her bag. “Everything burned. The sky turned red like fire, the streets ran red with the blood of my kind. Ungodly abominations created from the chaotic magick. There wasn’t a place to hide, nor could we fight it on our own. One by one, I watch my friends and family die in front of me. And I was powerless to stop it.” She said as Chrysalis felt the lalafell hold onto tightly.

“You can stop if you-”

“That’s when my race summoned two primals into the world. Or in your terms, higher beings, Gods and Goddesses...what is the term here for that anyway?”

“Gods and Goddesses will do for me. Please continue if you would?”

“Right, so anyway. In order to try and save the world. A plan was made by my uncle Emet Selch, and the Convocation of the Fourteen. The Convocation of the Fourteen is a group that served as guardians of the city of Amaurot and the world. Falling into despair from seeing the world besieged by the calamity, he joined his fellow Convocation members and devised a plan to halt the calamity by summoning the will of the planet, the primal Zodiark.”

“...Wait.” Chrysalis paused from walking as she looked up at the lalafell with a raised eyebrow. “A calamity of that size to be stopped would need a huge amount of energy. What was the source of energy required to make that happen?”

“The price to accomplish this feat of summoning, however, would be grave. About half of the people were sacrificed to offer up the necessary aether or in this world's term, magical energy to complete the ritual.” She answered as the queen’s mouth dropped open upon hearing that. “I know. It's hard to believe, but what did you expect when your world is about to come to an end.”

“True...but still. A sacrifice like that...even I’m not that crazy to do that if it means the end of the world.”

“Sadly, the deity succeeded in its primary purpose, but then my uncle and the others became devout followers. The Convocation resolved to sacrifice another half of their people to replenish their ruined world. Next, in order for my uncle and the Convocation to restore the lives of those originally sacrificed, Zodiark would require even more aether; aether that would come from the new life being born into the world. This disturbed the dissenting member of the Convocation, who felt that the sacrificial costs were already too great and that the world now belonged to the lives birthed in it. The dissenting Convocation member, in turn, summoned Hydaelyn in opposition to Zodiark, and the resulting conflict ended with Hydaelyn's final attack shattering reality, sundering the world and nearly all life on it into the Source and its thirteen shards. Or worlds in this case. And how I ended up in the source, aka Eorzea.”

“Wow...all this, and you remember all that?”

“Originally, I didn’t. What with the whole being reborn into the body that you see now. My uncle pretty much helped me remember it thanks to his magick breaking down the mental blocks my brain put in to help cope with the situation. He was kind enough to at least tell me the whole story about what happened from his point of view.”

“So are you a Lalafell or an Ascian?”

“Body of a lalafell, but sadly the soul of an Ascian.” She said before looking down at her. “Don’t get the wrong idea. Just because I am one, doesn’t mean I can do the stuff that they can do.”

“Meaning?”

“Ascians are able to travel through different worlds via crystal. Meaning that they don’t need a physical form or connection to travel from one world to another. Me, on the other hand. I would have to find a connection or a means to travel from world to world, I can’t take over a person’s body as the others can, nor can I manipulate people to do what I want with my powers. The only thing I can do is fly around like I’m a bird, but I can’t fly fast. And my body is weaker to light then to darkness seeing how Zodiark was the one that revived me with the body of darkness .”

“....Wow, you’re like a defective changeling only different. It makes sense why you compensate for having that godly strength.”

“Zodiark’s “chosen” champion.” She said with air quotes. “Not that I would be that bastard’s follower after what he did to my world. Nor will I follow my fellow Ascians into bringing back our world by the means of sacrificing other worlds.”

“They’re still sacrificing!? Even after what happened to their world!?”

“They’re enthralled by Zodiark. Primals have the tendency to do that...well not Hydaelyn from what I saw when she made my sister her chosen champion of the light. But yeah, they’re still doing that. By destroying each world, they want to work with the other Paragons and their Ascian followers to orchestrate the Rejoining of the shards with the Source to restore both their god and their home.”

“.....I… don’t have any words to say then how stupid they are in attempting to do something like that.”

“Yeah, why do you think I’m helping my sister and our friends out as best I can.” Jurrita said before letting out a sigh. “Much as I would like to see my world back, I won’t allow it if it’s going to require something like this, I rather have it be a memory then have it reborn because of the blood they spill.”

“Understandable, then again I have no right to judge somepony on desperate actions. I mean look what I did? Trying to take over Canterlot just so that I can give my changelings a means for survival.”

“Give yourself credit. At least you’re not on the level of killing an entire world. All you did was try to make your kingdom survive. Though the way you went about it is maybe wrong, at least you learned from your mistake. Hence why I am helping you with the whole war effort thing that we’re going to be in for a while.” She said before feeling Chrysalis starting back to walking down the very long stairways down to the dungeon.

“If you need anypony to talk to...f-feel free to come to me if need be.”

“Thanks for the offer. I’ll be sure to take you up on that.” Jurrita said before looking down at the staircase they were walking down on. “How long is this?”

“...Not going to lie, I made it this way so that my enemies would hear me taking my time down into the dungeon.” She said as the lalafell pulled her head up a bit as the changeling noticed a deadpan expression on the lalafell’s face. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“....We’re going to have to do a bit of remodeling once we have some materials to do so. But for now, just keep walking.”

“You don’t want me to teleport?”

“I’m going to enjoy the ride, and I’m tired from today. So I’ll be riding you like a horse until tomorrow.”

“That’s racist you know that?”

“And so is calling a lalafell short, a child, or a potato, but you don’t see me complaining.”

“No, but you do throw stuff and possibly will bite at a pony’s ankle like an ankle biter. If they call you that like Pharynx did~” Chrysalis said with a smirk on her face. The lalafell wanted to say a witty remark, but couldn’t due to how right she was.

“J-Just keep walking asshole!”

Chapter 6: Prisoners of War

Chapter 6

Prisoners of War

The door to the cell Rarity was in opened as the lalafell and queen entered. Jurrita blinked to see a deadpan Rarity glaring daggers at Chrysalis as she hopped off the changeling queen to admire the work she did.

“Well, I can say that you did an okay job restraining her...though the cocoon might be a bit much.”

“It's not my fault she didn’t listen when I said stop resisting.” The lalafell simply rolled her eyes as she walked up to Rarity, unbuckled her greatsword from off her back, and quickly cut the seamstress down from the cocoon she was in. Once she was free, the lalafell changed her class from dark knight to white mage. Though unlike most white mages which robes are a mix of pure white and red, hers was a mix of black and grey. Normally this would be threatening to most people...or ponies...but given how she still has a set of bunny ears...it came off as cute.

“I’m sorry but that outfit is just so adorable on you! Especially with the bunny ears added in, nice touch on that by the way.” Rarity said as the lalafell quickly glared at Chrysalis after hearing her laughing as she quickly looked away from Jurrita.

“You...really like the way I look?”

“Well what pony wouldn’t? Though the color you have on your robe could be a different color, it doesn’t change the fact that it does look great on you, even though you are a child...I mean an….are you a child or an adult?”

“Adult, I can see why you might get my kind confused as a child given our height and what not.”

“You mean before you were a tall looking grim reaper or after?” Chrysalis asked in a snickering tone as the lalafell looked over at her and stuck her tongue out at her while glaring. Rarity raised an eyebrow at the two before asking.

“What does she mean by that?” She asked as Jurrita turned her attention to the unicorn and waved it off.

“Don’t mind her, she’s just being an ass. But before we get off topic about fashion. I would like to apologise for what Chrysalis did with the black eye you have. As a means of good faith, and some trust with me, I’ll patch that up for you.” The lalafell raised her staff as a greenish and aqua color aura burst from the unicorn’s body for a split second. Rarity felt the soreness in her eye vanish as she quickly pulled out a pocket mirror to see that the bruise mark on her eye was gone.

“I thank you for doing that. But that doesn’t change my opinion on you or Chrysalis. Especially after what we saw in the border station.”

“To be fair, they attacked me first and held the changelings' children captive in their base. I mean the state the children were in was pretty bad seeing how they were malnourished.”

“And you expected me to believe that? We saw the scene that you left from the station we were in. You can’t expect me to fall for your lies and tricks.”

“Again, they attacked me first and kidnapped the children of this kingdom. Something that I dislike, nor will show mercy to anyone that would do that.” Jurrita said as she snapped her fingers at Chrysalis. The changeling queen’s horn glowed as she presented a crystal ball in front of Rarity. “Here’s the visual recording of what’s been actually going on with the changelings all this time. You’re free to leave your cell and explore around the castle, but don’t expect to leave the kingdom. Because you along with your friends will be bargaining chips for when your ruler comes to negotiate terms.”

“You’re just going to let me go? Just like that?” Rarity asked as Chrysalis spoke.

“No, we’re letting you explore the castle. You will be watched by the changeling guards that won’t be entranced by your charms. Oh, and don’t try to teleport from out of the castle or use magic. The castle is made of a special material that can nullify magic that isn’t changeling magic...or whatever magic Jurrita’s is.”

“Eorzian magic...well to be accurate Ascian magic...but let’s just say it’s otherworldly magic for the time being.” Jurrita said before leaving the cell of the Element of Generosity. “For the time being, make yourself at home. We’ll try to make your time here as comfortable as possible.” she said as Chrysalis stared at Rarity for a moment before following after the lalafell. As the two left, Rarity pulled herself up, but stops when she looks over at the crystal ball they left behind. She reaches over to pick it up as she examines it a bit.

“...Could they be telling the truth?” She thought as she pulled herself up from the ground and placed the ball in her saddlebag. “I’ll have to look this over later.” She said before looking over herself and gags due to the remains of the cocoon she was wrapped in was still on her clothes. “Right now I need to get out of this dreadful place and clean myself off of this horrid gunk.”

[Changeling Empire, Medical Wing]

“So...that went better than I expected.” Chrysalis said while letting the lalafell ride on her shoulders.

“That’s a good sign. Meaning that there are ponies that aren’t stubborn idiots. Let us hope the other two will be just as if not more cooperative.” Jurrita said, only for her to notice a group of changelings standing outside of the medical room. “Which, I doubt they’ll be given the crowd standing outside.”

“You there, medical drone. What’s going on?” Chrysalis asked as one of the medical changelings turned their attention towards the queen and dark knight.

“Queen Chrysalis. Thank faust you’re here. We’re trying to see if the prisoners you brought here were okay or need to have their bandages change, but we’re having problems trying to check up on them.” he said as the two look over him to see a changeling flying out a nearby window.

“...Should I deal with them, or should you? Because I’m willing to use my magic on them.” Chrysalis said as she felt Jurrita hop off her shoulders and heads inside.

“I’ll deal with this.” Once inside, she noticed some of the changelings were hanging from the ceiling, flying outside due to being thrown out of said windows, or circling around the two while keeping their distance due to the two mares trying to swing at them if they got any closer. “Nice to see you two are up and about. Especially given what happened.”

“You!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she rushed towards the lalafell in an attempt to punch her in the face. Just as she was about to hit her in the face, the lalafell quickly changed from a cladded knight to a fast and agile fighter wearing loose clothing and gauntlets, quickly dodging the punch from the pegasus, and delivered a strong punch to her face causing her to tumble backwards from the pain.

While the pegasus recoils from the punch to her face, Applejack quickly rushes towards Jurrita in an attempt to grapple her into a headlock. The lalafell took notice of the apple farmer heading towards her as she quickly performs a backflip, causing the earth pony to stagger backward. While staggered, the lalafell quickly lunged toward the staggered earth pony and delivered a strong punch to her abdomen as it caused her to get the wind knocked out of her and fall to the ground.

“If you two are done fighting, I would like to talk with you both in a civil-” Before Jurrita could finish, she quickly dodged an oncoming flying kick from Rainbow Dash. As she moves to the side to dodge it, she quickly grabs her legs and slammed her onto the ground face first, then onto her back, and then her face again before letting go. Once Rainbow Dash was on the ground, she soon moved onto her and grabbed onto her wings.

“Wow, wasn’t expecting you to be this good at fighting...but why the sudden change in clothing?” Chrysalis asked while still noticing the bunny ears on her head as she snickers. Jurrita rolled her eyes before turning her attention to Rainbow Dash as she quickly breaks her wings. A loud sickening snap could be heard as it caused Chrysalis and the medical changelings to hiss and wince from the sound. The pegasus let out a loud scream of pain and began to flail around on the ground from the pain. Once she was done, the lalafell released her hold on her and moved over to Applejack and grabbed her legs.

“Listen well you two. Because I’m only going to say this once. Along with your unicorn friend, you all will be our bargain chips for when we negotiate with your Princess. During that time you three are free to walk around the castle and do as you please. But do not make any attempts on escaping. Because You will be met with severe punishment. Either by my hands or Chrysalis’s hands. And trust me, you do not want me to be the one to deliver the punishment upon you. Because just like how I broke the pegasus’s wings, I can break your arms or legs so you won’t be able to escape.”

“You think we’re going to believe a word you say?” Rainbow Dash asked as she glared at the lalafell. “Especially after what you did at the station outside?” She said before noticing a crystal appearing in front of her and Applejack thanks to Chrysalis using her magic to levitate them over to the two.

“These might change your attitude a bit. But it's up to you both whether you want to believe a word I say or not. All that matters is that you three will be here for a while. So do make yourselves comfortable, try not to cause trouble, and if possible. Help out around the place, because they really need help in recovering from your princess’s neglect.” After saying that, Jurrita releases her hold on Applejack’s legs as she goes over to Chrysalis and hops back onto her shoulders.

“Doctors, patch them up and treat the pegasus’s wings.” Chrysalis said as the medical changelings did as ordered and rushed over to the two mares to get to work. “Once you fix the pegasus’s wings, seal them up so she doesn’t try and use them to escape.” She said as the two make their way out of the room and off to a different section of the castle they’re in.

“I think that went well, don’t you think?” Jurrita asked as the changeling queen looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. “What? They’re not dead or anything.”

“True, but did you have to break the pegasus’s wings like that?”

“When it comes to those who prefer to fight their way out of situations like that, they need to be dealt with physically. Mainly to show that you mean business and are not taking shit from anyone or pony.”

“So come off as ruthless first, then compassionate second?” She asked as the lalafell nodded.

“There’s nothing wrong with showing how ruthless you can be, but you also need to show how compassionate you are so that your subjects won’t think you’re weak or to be feared. You just need to know when and how to show it.”

“Heh, ever thought of being a ruler someday?” Chrysalis asked as Jurrita busted out laughing.

“Seven hells no! I’m not a leader. I prefer to go on adventures, fight people and monsters that put up a good challenge, and get gil so I can save up for when I retire someday...which might take a while given how I am.“ She said as she felt her stomach growling causing her to blush a bit.

“Seems like somepony is hungry.” Chrysalis said as her stomach began to growl as well. “And it would seem I am as well. I’ll have the cook whip up something for us to eat, but I make no promises that it’ll be good.”

“I think I might be able to help out with that.” Jurrita said as Chrysalis reached for the lalafell to lift her up in front of her like a child’s doll. The lalafell smirked at the queen as her clothes quickly changed in a burst of light as she was now wearing chefs clothing “It’s time for you all to try some culinary cooking. Eorzea style~”

Chapter 7: Cultural and Idle Chatter

Chapter Seven

Cultural and Idle Chatter

[Changeling Empire, Kitchen]

“...I seriously can’t take you seriously at this point.” Chrysalis said as she watched the lalafell cook. “I mean does every outfit you have always have those bunny ears?”

“Yes, yes it does.” Jurrita said before pulling out the delicious looking cake. “Now have a taste of Eorzea culinary food. This one is called pIxieberry cheesecake. Learned this recipe from my time in Ishgard, so I figure I will give you something sweet given how I don’t know your species' diet palette.”

“Food-wise, we can eat fruits, vegetables, and meats. But that’s only when we don’t have our main source of food. Which is raw emotion. Specifically, love.” Chrysalis said before taking a piece of the cheesecake as she sniffs it. “This isn’t going to kill me, is it?”

“Not unless you’re allergic to dairies like milk and butter...wait are you?”

“No...just never tried anything like this before.” She said before taking a small bite out of the piece she took. She begins to chew it for a bit before pausing and looking over at the lalafell. “....This is good...really good.”

“I knew you would like it.” Jurrita said before offering the whole cheesecake to her as the queen began to devour it quickly. “Normally I would cook more than just that for you. But given the limited food supply you guys have, I’ll have to hold off on making big meals until we can get more food ingredients.”

“How were you able to make this if that’s the case?”

“I have some ingredients that I have on me before coming here. Not a lot, but just enough to make something like that and this.” The lalafell walks over to her bag to pull out a basket with sandwiches in them.

“Did you just make this?”

“Naw, I made these a while back....well a lot of them. The bag I carry is magical so the food I keep inside here stays perfectly fresh so long as they’re inside said bag. Well, that and other stuff that might go bad over time.” She said before pulling out another basket of sandwiches. “You can give them to your subjects as a means of food for the time being.”

“How many of these do you have?”

“Fifty-thousand of them.” Jurrita answered as Chrysalis blinked in surprise. “What? I made a lot of these as a means to save Gil so I can buy materials to make armor, weapons, and other stuff. I’m not royal or anything like most people are.”

“...F-Fair point.” Chrysalis said as she used her magic to summon ten changeling soldiers into the kitchen.

“You summoned us Queen Chrysalis?” asked a male soldier as she nodded.

“You ten will distribute these sandwiches to the changelings inside the castle and outside. Start with the foals first, then the mares, and last the colts. Oh and don’t forget the prisoners as well. Can’t have them dying on us before Celestia comes here to negotiate with us.” Chrysalis ordered as the soldiers proceeded with taking the basket of sandwiches off and spread them throughout the empire. She looks over at the lalafell who was still pulling out more baskets of sandwiches. “Any chance you can make bags like that for us?”

“Sadly I can’t. I’m only semi-good at making stuff. But seeing how I’m more of a fighter than a maker. Sorry.”

“It’s fine. At least the food you have will help boost morale and keep them from going hungry for the time being.” The queen said before noticing a teenage changeling with long messy blue hair that reached to her feet, a black colored long sleeve shirt, dark green boxer shorts, and a set of headphones around her neck. “Ah, Nightshade. Nice to see you’re awake.”

“Been awake for a while, just been busy reading and...stuff.” Nightshade said before noticing the kitchen being filled to the brim with sandwiches. “...Mother, care to explain why there’s like a month's worth of food here?”

“That would be thanks to me.” Jurrita said as the changeling flinched back a bit from seeing the lalafell before noticing the bunny ears on her head.

“...Mother why is there a mutant rabbit in the kitchen?” The teen asked as it caused Chrysalis to bust out laughing.

“Hey! I’m not a mutant rabbit, kid. I’m a lalafell from the country of Eorzea. And your mother along with her generals are the ones that summoned me to this world to help your race out in this sticky situation you’re in.” She said as the teen looked over Chrysalis with a raised eyebrow.

“So far we managed to take over the border station, get back some of the love potions that the Equestrians gave up but ended up mysteriously missing, and new powers that could help us in negotiations with Celestia.”

“...Please tell me that you didn’t kill anypony important.”

“She didn’t, but I did kill some of the ponies in the border station due to them kidnapping some of the children. Not to mention the spy that you had in your ranks ran off once that was a bust.” Jurrita said which took the teen by surprise. “There are a few things I’ll let slide, but harming children. All bets are off with me.”

“...I’m having a hard time believing that given the way you look...is it wrong that I just want to hug and snuggle you like a toy.” Nightshade said as Chrysalis laughed even harder.

“...I’m about five seconds away from unleashing hell upon you kid. You got one more chance to not piss me off by calling short, child, or something along those lines. Afterwards, I can’t be held responsible for what happens next.”

“I’ll be quiet about it...still odd to see somepony like you offering to assist mother in something like this...what did she offer you?”

“No, I’m here willing to help her in this matter. Can’t just up and leave just when things have gotten interesting, and I’m not one to give up on something like this...Though it’s a bit of a surprise to see the queen would have a daughter. I take it there’s a king here in this place as well?” Jurrita asked as she looked over at Chrysalis who winced at her question. “Touchy subject?”

“I was born out of wedlock. Nuff said.” Nightshade said before taking a sandwich from out of the basket on the counter and began to eat it. “Huh, not bad.”

“Not one of my proudest moments in my life...especially seeing how her father is the colt that you pretty much put in the hospital.”

“And that would be?”

“Prince Shining Armor. Captain of The Royal Guards of Canterlot, and husband to Princess Cadence.”

“Ah...okay...I take it he knows about Nightshade?” Jurrita asked as Chrysalis nodded. “And I take it he wants nothing to do with her?”

“Seems like it seeing how he didn’t reply back in some time. He's either keeping it a secret or chose to ignore it. Which I’m going to ignore seeing how I ruined their wedding and did sleep with him when disguised as Cadence.” Chrysalis said as the lalafell grins. “Why are you smiling?”

“Because we have even more ammunition on us now that we have someone related to Prince Shining Armor. Who if I’m not mistaken is royalty, right?” The lalafell said as the sudden realization dawned on them both. “I do hope you have proof that she is her daughter, even though she was born out of wedlock?”

“I do in fact.” Chrysalis’s horn began to glow as a blue crystal appeared in front of her. “In case I needed some insurance, I was able to use the memory crystal to make a copy of that very night I had sex with him.”

“Ah gross!” Nightshade said in disgust. “Why would you even...never mind, don’t answer that. I don’t even want to know.”

“Gross, but that will do for the time being. With that and the recordings from the border station over the past couple of months to a year, they’ll have no choice but to heed our demands. Less we show this to the public and other nations...please tell me that there’s a way to do that?”

“I do have some spies within Equestria that I can send the stone to if need be. But I’m only doing that if we can’t get back the lands I gave them in the agreement.”

“That’s the plan.” Jurrita said before finishing unpacking the last of the basket sandwiches. “Now then, with that taken care of. I think I’ll take first watch over the Equestrians roaming around the castle. Mainly that pegasus girl with the rainbow-colored hair.” She said before walking off towards the doorway.

“Don’t you need some rest or something?” Chrysalis asked as the lalafell stopped at the doorway and looked over at her. “I’ll be fine. Got the much-needed rest from when I first came here, so I can stay up a bit longer before someone takes over my shift in watching over them.”

“...I’ll call the medics.”

“That would be best. This will give them practice on using white magic...depending on if they do something stupid.” With that, the lalafell walks off and begins her search for Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack.

“You seem to be taking this all surprisingly well, Nightshade.” Chrysalis said as Nightshade scarfed down another sandwich.

“Given how this empire is. I’m used to stuff like this...well expecting the unexpected to be accurate. But that...lalafell creature is something I wasn’t expecting, nor for us to end up going to war with Equestria...You do know that we might not be able to win this?”

“I know.”

“And this won’t be like how it was with the border station incident?”

“It won’t. Unlike before, I’m more level-headed and rational...But if things do go south. I will order Jurrita to take you somewhere safe until the aftermath is over. What you do afterwards is up to you.”

“Heh, I wouldn’t lie and say that I would take revenge on the Equestrians if they killed you on the spot. But for the time being, I’ll wait until I’m strong enough to do that.” She said before taking a basket of sandwiches with her before heading to her room. “I’ll support you to the best of my ability from my room, just be careful mother.”

“I’ll try, but I won’t make any promises.”

[Changeling Empire, Guest Room]

“For Celestia’s sake Rainbow Dash, will you please stop trying to break the bars on the window.” Rarity said as she watched Rainbow Dash trying to break the bars on the windows by pulling them apart.

“You expect us to just sit and wait to be rescued? For all we know they’re setting a trap for Celestia for when she comes to talk to them!”

“I doubt they’ll do that given what we saw around here. I mean, almost all the changelings in this place look like walking sticks with little to no life in them. The only time I saw some kind of life in them was when they were eating sandwiches made by that creature they summoned...it did taste good, not gonna lie.” Applejack said as the pegasus snorted before taking a seat back onto her own bed.

“Still doesn’t change the fact that we’re stuck in this place. What’s worse is that I lost to that pint-size...thing.”

“She’s not a thing Rainbow Dash. She’s a lady from what I can tell...even though she looks like a child.” Rarity answered. “Though I have to say, she does look cute with the bunny ears, and the robe she had on when meeting with me was pretty despite it being black and grey.”

“Still a thing in my book. There’s nothing ladylike about it. Especially after what it did to my wings.”

“First of all. I am not a thing, horse face.” Jurrita said as she entered the room, causing the girls to turn their attention towards the doorway. “I am a lalafell, a race that may be short in size but we make up for it in other means. Nice to see you girls are doing okay for the most part.”

“What do you want? Can’t you see we were busy talking?” Rainbow Dash said as the lalafell looked over at Rarity and Applejack. “I’ll be talking to you two the most given how you’re more reasonable to talk to than the hot-headed idiot.”

“Who are you calling an idiot you-” Before Rainbow Dash could finish, Applejack placed a hand in front of her to silence her before looking at Jurrita

“Is there a reason why you’re here, other than checking in on us?”

“Yep!” She said before moving over to a nearby chair and hops onto it. “I’m going to be your warden for tonight.”

“Aren’t you a bit young to be pretending to be a warden, kid?” Rainbow Dash said as the lalafell threw a knife past the pegasus’s face which caused her to yelp in surprise.

“That’s strike one. Call me short, child, or anything along those lines and I will do more than just throw a dagger at you.” The lalafell said before using her magic to bring the dagger she threw back to her. “Anyway, I’ll be watching you all for tonight until one of the guards takes my shift. But for tonight, I’ll do an all-nighter for their sake.”

“If you don’t mind me asking. Why help the changelings out? Do you know what they did?” Rarity asked.

“Crash a wedding due to trying to gather love due to starvation, and assault on the border station during their imprisonment. While it was wrong of them to do that, it doesn’t excuse the fact that they’re in a state where they could die off from the face of this world within about a month if I hadn’t gotten involved.”

“Then you’re a bigger idiot than Chrysalis is.” Rainbow Dash said as the lalafell gaze turned on the pegasus. “We kicked her butt before, what makes you think she’ll win this?”

“This isn’t about winning anything idiot. This is a matter of survival. Or were the crystals we gave you from the border station not proof enough of what’s been going on here in the wasteland?” she asked which caused them to go silent. “If that wasn’t proof enough, did you notice that many soldiers around here are malnourished? Or how their clothes are torn and worn down to the point that some of the citizens are running around naked or wearing clothes big enough to cover their bodies? Because of your idiot of a princess’s negligence, these changelings are hanging at death's door. Or worse, they’re already at it and just waiting to die so they wouldn’t have to suffer.”

“Hey now, you can’t blame Celestia for-” Before Applejack could finish, the lalafell interrupted her as she noticed the lalafell’s eyes glowing red with anger.

“I am. Because she wasn’t the one keeping track of how things were going and put it to someone else to do it. Who I might add was the one that abducted the children of this empire and abused them both physically, mentally, and sexually. And you have the gull to think this isn’t Celestia’s fault in all this? No, in this situation. Celestia is at fault with this.” She said as her eyes returned to normal while letting out a sigh. “Answer me this, have any of you known what it’s like to go without food for months on end?”

“...What?” Rainbow Dash asked as it took her and the others off guard.

“I’m asking, have any of you known what it’s like to go for months without food? Or more accurately, has anyone experienced anything that the changelings are experiencing right now?”

“Well...no...no we have not.” Rarity answered in a shameful tone as the others looked away with shameful expressions on their faces.

“Which is not a surprise. Granted I’m sure there are ponies in your county that are experiencing hardship of their own, but I’m sure it’s not to the level of this. While you sit at home living your comfortable lives without a care in the world, others are working their asses off trying to survive depending on where they are in this world.”

“Okay, so maybe what’s happening to the changelings is wrong. That still doesn’t change the fact that what they did was wrong.” Rainbow Dash said. “What, you expect us to forgive them for ruining Cadence’s wedding?”

“I couldn’t give a damn about this Cadence pony or her fucking wedding being ruined. This is about the justification of changelings being treated like the scum of the earth.”

“...I mean-”

“Be careful of what you say next pegasus. Because the next words that come out of your mouth will end up costing you more than just broken wings like before.” Jurrita said which caused Rainbow Dash to quickly close her mouth. “Nice to see you’re not that much of an idiot not to learn.”

“...Who hurt you to make you be like this?” Applejack asked as the lalafell turned her attention to her.

“Lots of things made me the way I am...Though being in wars might be part of it...along with some other things.” She said before stretching her limbs a bit. “But I’m not in the mood to tell you three anything about my life story at the moment. After all, you three are enemies to the empire.”

“...Would it be possible to get you to join our side?” Rarity asked as the lalafell raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure Princess Celestia would be willing to...compensate you with whatever it is that you need. Seeing how you’re a...mercenary of sorts?”

“I’m not that kind of sellsword that would sell her services out to anyone with the highest amount of Gil, or whatever this world’s currency is. Plus I’m not being paid anything, this is out of the goodness of my heart.”

“Ha! Goodness of your heart?” Rainbow Dash laughed as she was soon met with another knife darting past her face.

“You and I are not going to get along well. Especially with the way you’re acting.” Jurrita said before using her magic to bring her dagger back over to her. “Now then. I think it should be time for you three to rest for tonight. Tomorrow’s going to be a bit busy if your Princess comes here to talk...let's hope that she comes tomorrow then just wait for who knows how long.” She said before walking over to the glowing stone in the center of the room and taps on it to turn it off. “And remember, I’ll be up all night. So don’t try to do anything stupid and if one of you has to use the bathroom, then I’ll wake you all up so you all can go together.” As the room faded into darkness, the only light that was visible was the piercing red eyes coming from the lalafell as it caused Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity to shiver in slight fear. Mainly due to the fact that this creature, despite being small, was a devil.

Chapter 8: Peace was Never an Option

Chapter Eight

Peace was Never an Option

[Changeling Empire, Throne Room]

The morning sun raised upon the badlands of the empire as every changeling began their new daily duty around the castle. The newly made group of White mages were led by Lotus, as they began to heal and tend to those that were in need of medical treatment. Magic artillery led by Sapphire began their training in the field of offensive magic and marksmanship at aiming from a distance. The soldiers led by Thorax are currently being trained in the way of the warrior, paladin, and dark knight along with getting new weapons and gear made with the assistance of Jurrita training a few of them in how to smith both weapons and armor. Those who couldn’t fight on the field of battle were left in Pharynx care and became scholars or summoners to either provide support for both offensive and defensive magic and study their enemies to come up with a way to beat their foes.

While the citizens of the empire were busy trying to recover from the damage dealt by the ponies at the border station and from Sapphire and Lotus’s dad betraying them, Chrysalis and Jurrita make their way into the throne room as they would have tired expressions on their faces. Seems like they both had a rough night for the most part. Upon seeing each other, they would blink in surprise at the expressions on their faces.

“Rough night watching the prisoners?” Chrysalis asked as the lalafell nodded. “From what I heard from Lotus, you had to break Rainbow Dash’s legs. Or what one of the drones said in their report “Say goodbye to your walking sticks” as you break her legs with...a stick of bread?”

“I might’ve gotten pissed off due to Rainbow Dash’s plan to try and use my sword to break the bars on the windows. it would’ve worked...if she wasn’t so weak strength wise.”

“How did she try to do that?” She asked as Jurrita looked away with a blush on her face. Chrysalis took notice of this as she grins. “You fell asleep didn’t you~?”

“N-No! Of course not...I was just resting my eyes! That’s all!” She said while trying to look away from Chrysalis. “A-Anyway, why are you tired?”

“Had to take care of a few things last night. Mainly making sure every changeling in the empire was fed. Which thankfully we had enough for just about every pony that was inside along with giving those in need love potions.”

“Well that’s good to hear. At least what I did helped for the time being.” Jurrita said as she walked over Chrysalis. “I’m going to assume that today’s the day Princess Celestia is coming over here to talk about releasing the ones we captured?”

“I’m going to assume yes. Otherwise I’d be a bit annoyed if she didn’t come today.” She said before taking a seat on her throne. “Though I’m more worried about what will happen if she refuses the terms we have set for releasing her friends.”

“That all depends on how she’ll answer. We have information on what her soldiers did to you, and even though you are prisoners under her ruling, that’s still no excuse for the hell your kind have gone through.”

“True, but still. I prefer not to go to war if possible.”

“Again, that all depends on Celestia’s answer. But if it does come to war, then we'll have the advantage over them.”

“And what pray tell would that be?” Chrysalis asks as the lalafell deadpan and points to herself. “Oh right. We have you...though that might not scare a lot of ponies given your...well.”

“Pretty sure they’ll be scared if they saw what I did at the border station.”

“I mean yeah, but you look like a little filly’s play thing.”

“And you look like moldy cheese. But you don’t see me calling you out on that.”

“....Okay ouch, and fair point on your part.” Chrysalis said as she noticed a maid changeling walk over to her to serve breakfast, but stopped her before she could do that. “You eat it. You need it more than I do. And that’s an order.”

“Y-Yes my queen.” The maid said as she awkwardly walked off with her breakfast. As she left, the lalafell reached into her bag and handed her a basket of sandwiches from last night.

“Much as I like you giving food to your subjects. I need you to be able to think properly with your stomach taking over during the meeting.” Jurrita said as the queen nodded and began to eat. “If war is the only option, I’ll see what I can do to assist you in military might.”

“You have more weapons in that bag of your. Not that I’m ungrateful for what you’ve given us already, but I’m pretty sure we need more than just swords, axes, and arrows.”

“....The curse of having my memory back.” Before Chrysalis could ask what Jurrita meant by that, a changeling drone appeared in the middle of the throne room via magic teleportation.

“My queen, forgive the intrusion but we have a visitor at the front gate of the castle.” he said as Jurrita and Chrysalis look at each other after hearing this.

“I honestly wasn’t expecting her to come here so quickly. Like I was thinking she would come in by noon.” Chrysalis said before quickly scarfing down the food she was given. “How do we go about this? Should I bring the other general along or what?”

“Let’s just be the two of us. Don’t want her to think that we’re going to capture her or anything.”

“Fair enough.” She said before looking at the Changeling soldier. “Bring her here at once. Make sure no pony tries to attack her or anything. Got it?”

“Understood.” He said before teleporting off.

“Get into your attire that I gave you.” Jurrita said as the changeling queen pulled out gunbreaker soul stone. She closed her eyes as the stone glowed, causing a white aura to appear around her as the gunbreaker clothes appeared on herself.

“Not that I’m against the idea of being taken seriously, but why have me put this on?”

“You can never be too sure about your enemies. They could have a few tricks up their sleeve. Have an assassin try to kill you during this meeting, or worse. You must always be on your toes with your enemies.” She said as the doors the throne room open revealing Princess Celestia and the changeling drone from before entering the room. The drone bowed to Chrysalis before leaving as Celesita was taken by surprise by her new attire.

“....I take it you've been using my spell book to give yourself new clothes Chrysalis?”

“Actually, you can thank my new general for that.” Chrysalis said as she pointed over to the lalafell...who was secretly munching on pixie berry cheesecake. Just as she was about to take another bite out of her food, pauses upon seeing Chrysalis and Celestia staring at her.

“...What? I’m hungry. Don’t judge!” Jurrita said before quickly scarfing down the slice she was eating as Chrysalis facepalmed herself.

“....Hard to believe something as small as her could do so much damage to the border station and to Shining Armor.” Celestia said as the Changeling Queen smirked.

“Well given how your subjects are trained, it’s not a surprise by that. They’re not trained well, too relaxed, and can do stuff behind your back without you knowing. Like foal napping little colts and fillies, or holding love potion supplies for innocent citizens, or not fending off monsters that have been attacking and leaving us to defend for ourselves.” She said as Celestia winced at the last part of her sentence. “I take it you saw the crystal that we left you?”

“Yes...I saw it. On behalf of myself, I want to apologise for my lack of management over the border station.”

“Your apology is not accepted. Do you have any idea what you put my kind through for the past couple of months? Had I not used your book to seek the aid of Jurrita, the entire changeling race would’ve been wiped out from the face of Equestria. But you wouldn’t care so much about it given how you already have what you need from us!”

“That’s not true! I would never-”

“Please, like somepony like you, wouldn't take the time to actually try to understand us. I mean, it was obvious seeing how you never once try to make some kind of friendship with us that you keep preaching about. Or is it only for your kind that the olive branch of friendship is allowed to have with one another.”

“Let’s not forget that you were the one that invaded Equestria, Chrysalis. How can you expect anyone to treat you as a friend when you attacked us first.”

“Only because you refuse our letters of conversation over and over again.”

“What letters? I haven’t been given anything of the sort.” She said as Chrysalis glared daggers at her and was about to say something, only for Jurrita to raise a hand at Chrysalis to stop her talking.

“Who’s in charge of foregn diplomacy affairs?”

“Blueblood’s in charge of that. But I don’t see how that has anything to do with that?”

“You don’t think that he might be the reason why you haven’t received any letters from Chrysalis?”

“Of course not. I have the utmost trust in him doing his job.” Celestia said as the lalafell rolled her eyes to this.

“You should investigate this matter. Because I get the feeling that you’re putting trust into the wrong ponies that you left in charge of a lot of certain things. Less we use what happened at the border station as an example of your neglect?”

“.....I will look into that once I return to Equestria. But now’s not the time for us to be talking about that. I’m here because you have three of my friends that you are keeping hostage.”

“Ah yes! Your precious warriors of light. The defenders of your home.” The lalafell said in a sarcastic tone in her voice and a sickly smile on her face. “You want them back, then you’ll have to give the changelings land back. The same land that they had to give up during that treaty the queen signed.”

“I can’t do that. We have ponies that live on the lands along with business that are needed for our economy.”

“Well then good luck trying to get your friends back then.”

“W-Wait. Surely there must be a way we can work this. Perhaps we can figure out a way for both changeling and ponies to co-exist-”

“Coexistence?” Chrysalis saids she glared at the white alicorn. “You think there’s a chance for that to happen? Don’t make me laugh. Need I remind about what your kind did to us during this stupid ordeal that you have me sign? There will never be coexistence between us given how things are. Give us our land back or you won’t get your elements of harmony back.”

“I can not do that.”

“Then you leave us no choice then.” Chrysalis said before getting up from her seat to walk over to Celestia. “This meeting is over. Leave now and prepare yourself, Ruler of Equestria.”

“...Prepare for what?” Celestia said with a worried expression on her face as Chrysalis and Jurrita smiled devilishly at her.

“Because I’m declaring war on your country. And I will get back the land that was taken from us.” She said as her smile vanished and was replaced with a serious grimdark expression. “No matter how many ponies I have to kill to get back what’s lost.”

“This should be an interesting conflit to be a part of. Bug horses vs Normal horses...I’m a bit excited to fight on the battlefield once again.” The lalafell said mentally as her eyes glowed with interest and excitement.