Chrysalis sat on her haunches, hoof on her chest. Only the force of her will kept her breaths even. Even though she was nowhere near where the attack had happened, even though it was hours in the past, her instincts screamed at her to flee, to hide in the deepest, darkest place she could find.

Slowly, as if she had not a care in the world, she lifted the wine glass to her lips and drank. She cast her gaze to the mirror the utter darkness outside had turned the penthouse window into.

"So, that's who that spell was for, Celestia." She swirled the glass, watching how the mage light played moving liquid.

It had only taken seconds for Celestia to casually unleash enough magic to destroy the whole of Manehatten. The wine glass shook before she snarled and pulled back to throw it.

She caught herself before she released it, and carefully lowered the expensive glass to the table. She was doing everything she could to prepare. Half her hive was relocating, some to the backup location and a smaller contingent to the Crystal Empire.

Her mind went to the hatchery far below, to the future, to her royal daughter. Indecision plagued her. Moving the eggs was a risk, but was keeping them here more of one?

It's not all about me. She had to remind herself. The Nightmare's harsh lesson still stung. A single word had been all it had taken, and she had obeyed.

She downed the rest of the wine. The rich flavour barely touched her tongue as her aura opened another bottle and poured another one.

"As bad as the situation is, the hive has never been stronger."

Celestia had attacked, and thanks to Nightmare and her minions, not a single one of Chrysalis's hive had perished, despite being so close.

The Little Princess had even taken them along when they had fled north with the entire population of Ponyville. There was little reason for them to have done so, but they did.

They consider us allies? She took a sip from the new glass. It was not as good as the last one.

She walked to the window, looking out into the utter void of the empty night. The world was at a tipping point. Last time, Nightmare Moon was banished for one thousand years.

Celestia used me as a training aid for her student… Nightmare, on the other hoof.

A wry smile formed in her reflection. Luna and the Nightmare's gifts had done so much for the hive. More than enough she could move past if not forgive the mental ambush left in Elytron's mind. With all the love they had gifted the hive, if she had just asked for the infiltrator, she would have given the Nightmare a dozen and called it a bargain. The excess love meant no ling hungered, and both their minds and bodies could develop. It was not as extreme as when she crafted new types of lings, but the more a ling did something, the better they would become. Mind and shell optimising day by day.

Nightmare was brutal, direct and left no doubt where she drew the line. She had taken a changeling as a lover, made them her seneschal and supported the free-range harvesting operations. Comparing that to how Celestia operated made her choice simple.

Bring me a map. She commanded over the link, and the ling closest to the map room reallocated themselves to the task.

It was not long before she had the large continental map mounted to the wall. Luna, Twilight and Cadance were retreating to the Crystal Empire. Her eyes studied the map, racing over rivers and mountain ridges. Flying and teleportation may be options, but any large-scale conflict relied on ground transport. Her hoof traced the single train line to the Empire.

I want ambush teams in place yesterday.

Yes, my Queen.

Ensure they know the northern monsters. I will not have this come back on the Hive.

Naturally, my Queen. They will not suspect us.

Good, I leave this in your hooves.

The commander's mental presence pulsed with respect and then retreated.

"Your move Celestia."

Author's Note

2/2 for today

Thank you for reading. Sorry for these two posts being so short. Now everypony is where they need to be for things to start moving which should mean longer posts from each PoV.