Dark Alleys, Bright Hearts

With a flash, I find myself in the middle of a forest clearing. I glance around, seeing Mark standing next to me.

Mark looks at me, “So, how’d fighting training go?”

I grin, “I told Messorem to go fuck himself after he started acting like an asshole.”

Mark grins, “Nice. Laevus was a lot more pleasant to speak to than Messorem, though I was with Laevus for a lot longer.”

I smile, “What did he talk to you about?”

He shrugs, “He told me about how Luna has done some fucked up shit to your people. Like, a genocide. Apparently she kept it snowing outside a Central Hive place for a year straight, killing most changelings with hunger or freezing.”

I pause, “That’s... very cruel of her.”

He nods, “Yeah, she’s a bitch. But I still don’t think she deserves to die.”

I nod back, “But what if it’s the only option?”

A female voice comes from the other side of the clearing, “There is always more than one option, Chrysalis.”

I look over, only to see a fox-like changeling. Her eyes are yellow, and she slinks over to us.

I turn to face her, “What other option is there, then? I already tried and failed to keep her captured.”

She nods, “Your thinking is not expanded, Chrysalis. Think more like an animal, like a beast, like all living things are deep inside. Killing Celestia is not a good idea to begin with.”

I raise an eyebrow, “Why?”

She grins, “When you kill the alpha, the pack does one of two things. They submit if they didn’t like their alpha, or they believe you are too powerful. Or they turn against you, seeking vengeance for their alpha.”

I nod, “And the first would be the most likely.”

She barks with laughter, “Ponies do not submit easily, Chrysalis. Especially when they have a weapon to defeat you.”

I nod slowly, “Yes... Celestia and Luna are that weapon. They’d be gone.”

She shakes her head, “No, Chrysalis, the weapon of the pony is their spirit. They believe in Harmony more than their Princesses. When Harmony banished one Princess to the moon, the pony accepted it without care. Do you understand, Chrysalis?”

I pause, but don’t respond.

She continues on, “You must use the pack’s idols to defeat the alphas. You must bend Harmony, but you cannot break it. Or if you cannot do that, make sure that Harmony no longer exists.”

Mark speaks up, “Are you talking about those Elements of Harmony?”

She nods, “Yes, Mark. They are the manifestation of the Harmony within ponies.”

I nod slowly, “So if we disable the Bearers, or bend them to our point of view, then the ponies will have no issue with their Princesses being killed.”

She shakes her head, “Not killed, Chrysalis. Harmony cannot kill. What it can do is trap.”

I nod again, “But I’ve already tried trapping them.”

Mark nods with me, “Plus, they’re powerful enough to eventually escape any prison we make.”

She smiles, “Not if that prison is stone. Or the moon.”

I nod, “Right, but how can we even do that? The Bearers are loyal to Celestia.”

She frowns, “Once again, Chrysalis, you are not thinking expansively. Harmony is flexible, so flex it.”

Mark looks at me, “I think I have an idea.”

I look at him, “Yeah?”

He grins, “What if we caused enough discontent in the Bearers that their Elements stopped working on them?”

I pause, “Or we could cause all of them to forsake their Elements. Make Honesty lie easily, make Kindness cruel, make Generosity greedy, make Loyalty a traitor, make Laughter depressed, and make Magic forsake knowledge.”

He shakes his head, “No, that’s cruel. That would ruin their lives.”

I nod, “You’re right. We won’t win by sinking to Celestia’s level. But what do we do, then?”

He smiles, “Well, think of it this way. If their Elements require Harmony, just introduce Disharmony.”

I shake my head, “Discord already did that, and it failed horribly for him.”

He pauses, “Damn. What did he do?”

I smile, “Well, he corrupted each one of them like I suggested earlier. Turned Honesty into a liar and all that. But they recovered quickly. He corrupted their minds to do it.”

Mark shakes his head, “Well, I don’t mean like that. But what if we were to use their Elements to cause a rift in them? Say Kindness heard what Magic did to me. Being that summoning an alien against their will is cruel, they would confront Magic out the kindness of their heart. Thus, the Harmony is ended between Kindness and Magic because Kindness is being kind.”

I pause, and grin, “That’s a pretty great idea, actually. Never took you as much of a manipulator, Mark.”

He smiles, “Well, it’s not manipulation. Just because it is conveniently good for me to tell the truth to a pony doesn’t mean that it’s inherently manipulative. After all, they deserve to know. And, if all goes wrong, we can just steal the Elements.”

I nod, “Well, it’s a good plan. The only problem is that we’d have no way to use them.”

He grins, “Well, you could definitely wield Kindness, Generosity, and Magic.”

I chuckle, “Always looking for the opportunity to flatter.”

He nods, “Well, it’s true. You were kind enough to befriend me, even if your intentions weren’t pure at first. You are generous in many different ways that I’m not even going to begin saying them all. And your form is magic on the eyes.”

I shake my head, “Alright, flatterer, focus on the plan and not my flank.”

He smirks, “That’s going to be a challenge.”

I pause, “What’s bringing this on, actually? I mean, you flatter usually, but this is more than ever before.”

He smiles, “You saved my life, Chrysalis. First by being my friend, because I would have wanted to die otherwise knowing that I have no way home. You saved me again when you freed me from prison, because I know I wouldn’t have been able to escape once the alarm on that vault went off. Then you saved me a third time by catching me before I hit the ground, even if you ended up getting injured because of it. You’re a lovely gal, and I feel it’s time you should start to hear it. Hear the truth, instead of some asshat calling you a monster because you look different. Personally, I think you look badass.”

I look down, and smile, “Thank you, Mark.”

He nods, “No problem, really. You deserve to be complimented.” He looks over to the other changeling, “You’re Spring, if I’m guessing right. Will our plan work?”

She shrugs, “That is not for me to know.”

He grins, looking back at me, “Well, it’s going to work. We’re Chrysalis and Mark, the best thieves to ever exist, and we’ll make it work.”