“...who says a girl can’t really have it all~”

Chrysalis chuckled as she surveyed the carnage all over Canterlot. Thousands of her changelings, unstoppable and hungry, draining love from ponies all over. Not even the ROyal Guards can stop them.

Chrysalis turned towards a cocooned Celestia and smirked, ignoring her hostages in the room. The latter thrashed around, to no avail. “When I asked the other hive queens about attacking Canterlot, they only said ‘you don’t, period’. Shows them right, huh? See who’s laughing now.”

“You won’t get away with this, Chrysalis!” Celestia threatened. “My little ponies will-”

Chrysalis faux-yawned. “Oh quit it, Celestia. We both know your little ponies, the gullible bunch they are, can’t touch me. A bit of infiltration there, and a bit of tampering there, and even you can succumb to exhaustion.”

“Exhaustion? I’m not exhausted! If it weren’t for-” Celestia cut herself off, her yawn betraying her glare. The dark rings around her eyes doing nothing to strengthen her image.

An epiphany occurred. “If it weren’t for… You! All those incidents! The random attacks! The threat messages, thrown from bricks each and every night towards my very chambers! The intense amounts of paperworks these last two weeks! It was all you?!”

Chrysalis smiled and caressed Celestia’s cocoon. “Very true, Princess. You are irrational when you are sleepy. Even when your very student called me out of my act, you shrugged her off instead of launching an investigation. Truly, look at how disappointed she is,” she pointed at a seething Twilight Sparkle. “Now, I have you all where you belong: under our hooves, as our food!”

Turning her head back as she ignored Celestia’s further ramblings, Chrysalis was greeted with Princess Cadance’s pitiful attempt in getting her husband, Shining, out of his trance. She cursed herself when it worked, but then saw the state they were in: ragged, dirty, and tired.

Weakened.

She was then at her full strength. Shining’s love for her wife was so great, that when Chrysalis impersonated her, it elevated her power miles above that of even Celestia herself. Even without her precautions, she could’ve taken on both Princesses and won. With her meticulous planning, however, it was even better: A cocooned Celestia in her grasp, a helpless Cadance in panic, and a lost Luna somewhere in the outer cities trying to find a fictitious murderer.

After some teasing, Chrysalis turned back towards the window. Everything was settling into motion. Her chess pieces were set and established, and she would only need to deliver the checkmate. Her chitin platings looked even brighter than ever, a true testament of the wicked genius running under her webbed green mane.

If the invasion was a game of chess, however, then she would be one of those players that would forget to look at her clock, run out of time, and lose.

Suddenly sensing a powerful spell, even more than what she could do herself, she panicked and looked back. There were Shining Armour and Cadance, both restored back to full health and magic. With the power of love, they casted a spell unseen and unheard of for a millenia.

The Love Barrier.

“Nooooooo!”

*BOOM*

The Love Barrier shot outwards from the combined tips of both Shining Armour and Cadance’s horns. The pink bubble exploded with such force that it not only expelled Chrysalis out of the city, but also each and every changelings with malicious intent. From an outsider’s perspective, one could see a big pink bubble expanding from the epicenter of Canterlot, expelling hundreds of tiny black dots kilometers away from the sprawling ancient city.

The force of Love slowly diluted in colour, but it kept going, outwards into the furthest reach of Equestria. Ponyville, Cloudsdale, Appleloosa, Fillydelphia, Manehattan, Las Pegasus, even the newly-minted equalist village way up northeast.

The powerful and invisible force of strengthened love was felt by everypony as a tickly sensation that hyped their spirits up. A sudden surge of vigor shot through those whom the force collided with. Frowns turned into smiles as bad thoughts and depressions were temporarily lifted from the hearts of many.

Heartsongs erupted within various cities, towns, and settlements all across Equestria. With the general upbeat atmosphere, ponies would turn to songs and music to express themselves. Spontaneous singing, powered and assisted by ancient magic, boomed all across the equine nation-continent.

Observant ones would notice however, that while other ponies were singing, dancing, and praising be Celestia’s shining sun, a rather large group of ponies would instead start running home, into hiding, and generally staying out of public view. These ponies would start flickering, as if their image was nothing but a well-constructed imagery.

The images would flicker, and there was nothing they could’ve done to fix their main ability. The love energy slowly shorted their system, revealing their base forms.

These ‘ponies’ weren’t even ponies, as the few- rather, the lot that stayed around with them would find out.

Even with Chrysalis expelled along with her cronies, that didn’t mean all the ropes, concrete slime, and other various impromptu bindings they had used to restrict ponies of all occupations were also magically expelled. Royal guards and citizens alike had to scour the streets and buildings, each and every room, every little nook and cranny, manually freeing ponies trapped within their bindings.

Within a nondescript office room in a nondescript office, two royal guards were tied up together. One of them had a white magical coat-uniform, while the other brown. Trapped in a half-cocoon of changeling slime-concrete, their struggles to escape had been futile, and all they could do then was patiently wait for rescue.

“Rrgh, those damn changelings!” Brown grunted. “Who’d they think they are? Damn shapeshifting, pony-abducting, love-draining, hole-hoofed, insectoid parasites!”

White just shook his head at his partner’s declarations. He knew he wass angry and frustrated, but deep down he couldn’t help but be concerned for himself.

Brown sighed, forgoing any more squirming as it would further cramp his tired legs. “Those damn idiots way up high, I bucking told them! It’s changelings! They’re more than just conspiracies, and I’m right! I’m right all along, aren’t I?!” He shouted at his comrade.

“I guess…? I mean, you didn’t exactly report it professionally. All you did was enter into an important meeting, screamed your nonsense, and got latrine duty for a month,” White deadpanned.

“Ugh, whatever.” Brown tried to throw his hooves upwards, before remembering how he was immobilized. “At least now it’s all over. No more changelings, no more threat. Finally I can get some peace. Bucking changelings, right?”

White didn’t respond. His calm demeanor was the result of years worth of military training, but mind readers would hear his internal screams of a thousand choir. His disguise was shorting, and he had no clue on how exactly it happened or how to fix it. All he could do was stabilize his image, but even that only prolongs the inevitable.

Panic gave way to the kind of calm one would experience after staring death himself. If he were to be discovered, the least he could do was be honest with his lifelong friend. Changeling or not, manners maketh mare, or stallion in this case.

“Hey, uh. I gotta tell you something,” White started. “You see, all these changelings got me thinking…”

“Yeah?” Brown inquired.

“Well, I mean, what if there’s not only one swarm, but multiple. Like, out of the million ponies living in Canterlot, there’s more changelings than just the thousand we see out there?”

Brown rubbed his chin. “Well, now that’s what I call a conspiracy. Spill it out.”

White sweated, but kept his cool voice. “Like, multiple hives, multiple swarms. All across Equestria. Like, what if changelings had been living around us for millennia, since the dawn of time. Like, they’re just hidden, silently harvesting love from ponies, who didn’t even notice it. I mean, it could be, right? Like those lizard ponies conspiracy, but deeper?”

Brown was hooked, lined, and sinkered. Each new word his comrade uttered brought his twisted tin-foiled mind up to gear. “Whoo, that’s some juicy stuff, dude. Where’d you even get that kind of thoughts? Come on now, we all know that changelings are either boogeyponies, or those like outside. Black, holey bugs, all out for our love and nothing else. What, you’re a changeling? Hah, please, no way a changeling would know our times in high school.”

White bit his lips, both suppressing a smile in the midst of his growing anxiety. “Well, I know you pissed yourself in fifth grade, in front of the mare you-”

“Hey! Dammit, we agreed to never talk about that! Celestia’s sake, I hate you!”

White chuckled as Brown shook his head, before asking with a subdued voice. “Anyways, d- do you trust me?”

“With my life, dude. What’s up? You’re a lizard pony? An Everfreemason? I swear I won’t tell anypony.”

“Not that, though. I, uh- I mean…” White’s heart rate spiked. “J- just know that I am always the one and the same that you knew ever since elementary school. I’m always me, no matter what I look like.”

A sliver of decent logic pierced through Brown’s mind. “W- what do you mean by that? Spare me the suspense, damnit.”

White sighed. His time was up. “You see, I was never a pony. I’m so sorry for hiding this for so long, but that blast of love shorted my disguise.”

“D- dude, what are you-”

Brown’s words choked in his throat, as the stallion he had always been friends with suddenly erupted in violet fire, not unlike the green fire displayed by the invading changelings. The fire didn’t burn his skin, but it slowly burned White’s image away.

Instead of his comrade, there was a black insectoid being, with a general equine shape, but chitin instead of skin and fur. His hooves were holey, albeit more decorative and slick than the admittedly scary and intimidating holes from the invading changelings. His pupiless eyes, back carapace, and glittery dragonfly-like wings were brilliant and shiny purple, instead of blue. Tiny fangs shyly poked out of his mouth, which harboured a sheepish and awkward smile.

“So uh, I know this is literally the worst time to bring this up, and I’m sorry for holding it this long, but yeah, I’m uhh… I’m a changeling,” the changeling admitted.

Brown stared, blinked, and flopped. His life flashed before his vertically-rolling eyes, as scenes of his childhood played over and over, with his friend replaced with a changeling. Even in what he presumed was certain death, he still couldn’t accept it. Not his friend, his one and only friend, who bucking saw him piss himself in fifth grade, who stuck with him through their thicks and thins.

A changeling.

*thud*

Fleur de Lis closed her eyes, breathed, counted to three, and opened them again. Nope, in front of her was the same view. A sheepish changeling with yellow carapace, eyes, and jagged wings. The changeling’s straight horn glowed a thick yellow aura, holding a cup of tea in his magic.

She closed and opened her eyes again. Close, open. She shook her head, and retreated into her mind. She didn’t want to accept it. There has to be a better explanation, anything other than ‘his husband is a changeling all along’!

“N- now, don’t play around with me, dear. Please, I- the joke is funny, haha, alright, p- please stop with your little tricks,” Fleur pleaded. There was little doubt in her mind that he’s actually joking, but it wouldn’t be rational to not be rational and just accept it face value.

The changelings had broken into their estate, and nearly abducted them. It was only through the efforts of her husband and the self-defense maids that they were able to repel all two dozen of them. Especially her husband and his magical martial arts prowess.

What could she even say if her husband was one of them all along? Fleur, being a modelmare of tiny details, knew better than to accuse him of being with the other changelings, but still.

“F- Fancy, please drop the act. Please, just…” Fleur sighed as her words died in her throat. Like it or not, she wasn’t quite as creative and imaginative as her peers, not in distress. She couldn’t think of anything but it being the truth. Even as the changeling sat, she could note the few little trademarks of her husband: The way he would grip teacups by its handle, how he would fidget every so often, the swishes of his tail.

The changeling lowered his head. Ashamed wouldn’t begin to describe how he was feeling. Yes, he lied to his wife, and for years on end by then. He never intended to reveal it, as how the system had always been working. The invasion and subsequent Love discharge, however, forced his hoof.

He at least made sure to ease the blow, even just a little bit. He let her tie him up and even willingly wear the anti-magical ring placed on his horn, even when the latter only blocked unicorn magic and not changeling’s. He knew that it was of his species’ nature to lie and deceive, but getting caught red-hoofed was embarrassing and guilt-wrenching nonetheless.

Fleur sipped her tea once more, the brown liquid imported straight from Griffonstone doing nothing to satiate the desert in her throat. “W- where’s the real Fancy Pants?” She knew it was futile, but maybe, just maybe-

“My most sincere apologies, mon petit fleur. I am Fancy Pants, always have been,” ‘Fancy’ admitted, again, the tenth time today. The ringing silence deafened both parties in the room, with the sipping of their tea washing reprieve from it every so often.

“I- I know, it’s just- mon Céleste, I wouldn’t ever dream of such things. It’s just- I just- I don’t know what to think. You’ve been hiding all this from me, for such a long time too. Dix ans, Fancy! Ten years!” Fleur screamed, her voice hoarse with too much sticky from the thick brew she had been drinking. “I don’t know what to think! What to say, to do?! I just- sorry, but I- gah! Merde, osti de sacremouille! Are you- are you sure, you’re the Fancy Pants I knew and love?! How would I know you didn’t replace him several years prior?”

‘Fancy’ dropped his teacup gently onto the table, leaving only the spoon in his magic. “This spoon is a cheap, ordinary teaspoon, the one utensil unfit for this table of antique tea set imported straight from Zhu Ma Dian in Chineigh.” He looked upwards to the ceiling, eyeing the chandelier above as he delved into memories from ages ago. “Eleven years ago. Our tea set was stolen, along with everything in the house. My family’s crystal bust, robbed. My collection of rare bits, stolen. Various trinkets from our trip around Equestria, neigh. Every furniture, every stool, chair, everything, all gone.”

Fleur remembered the event. It was their wake up call to stop dealing with the more unscrupulous parts of the economic underworld. The Griffon Mafia stormed their - formerly Fancy’s - estate when they weren’t home and literally took everything but the estate itself. They had saved a lot of money for a grand wedding, money which they spent away to repair and refurbish the old family home instead.

Tears began flowing from the corner of Fleur’s eyes; the bitter memories weren't one she was fond to remember. She looked upwards from her downtrodden posture, into the changeling’s teary, pupil-less yellow eyes.

“I wanted to throw everything down the line. One final play, do or die. Screw the world, screw my dad.” The changeling smiled, pointing to Fleur with the spoon. “You were there, listening to me ranting, screaming, crying. I swore up and down, to the sun and the moon, that I would gain my revenge. Instead, you hugged me, cried on my chest, and told me to stop.”

Her eyes widened. There were only the two of them back then, and Fleur was sure of it. They were crying in a basement closet after checking every corner of the estate. The memories were as vivid as it was fresh. Fleur remembered the texture of her former coltfriend’s coat. His soft, well-cared coat, which she stained with tears.

“We found a box tucked in the corner, containing old tea, some plastic cups, and this one spoon, among the rest of the junk.” The changeling passed the spoon to Fleur, which she took in her own magic. Her eyes never left the changeling’s pair.

“We boiled water from the nearby sink with a heating spell, and drank the diluted, vile concoction. What was our toast back then? Pour une nouvelle vie." The changeling looked to Fleur and smiled, his moderate fangs glinting. “Je t’aime toujours, mon petit lys fleuri."

Fleur gasped. The phrase was one that Fancy said, word-for-word, right when they were united, in sickness and in health, for better and worse, forever and always. She leaped at the changeling, hooves outstretched, tacking him down to the floor.

Fleur sobbed in regret and relief. The changeling was indeed him, the stallion she swore her life to. The stallion that swore his life for her. The one and only, Fancy Prosperous Pants the 3rd.

Both of them cried within each other's embrace, nuzzling each other in intense euphoria. They were reunited, in body and in spirit, bound closer than ever before. Neither invasion or species difference would separate them, and they both knew it. The oath stayed true, and their love unbroken.

As time passed under their own warmths, Fleur couldn’t help but finally entertain her growing curiosity. “Say, mon beau chevalier, will you entertain me with the story of your family? How long has changelings been in Canterlot?”

Fancy Pants chuckled in a dignified manner, then giggled, then laughed. With his secret then known and accepted by his wife, he could afford to be less ‘prim and proper’ for once, and let his laugh roar in amusement. “Oh goodness, Fleur. Ever the eager mare, aren’t you? Well then.” Fancy’s smile turned into an adventurous smirk.

“As my wife, I shall let you in on a secret not even Celestia knows of.”

The changeling was tied to a chair, with all the rope and fabric they could manage. Her captors forced an anti-magic ring onto her horn. She grunted and squirmed, her red pupiless eyes staring into the six ponies and one baby dragon surrounding her. Five pairs of angered eyes plus one tired, black-ringed eyes stared back at her.

“Ah told ya thickbrained snakes, Ah’m Applejack! Always am! Give me mah stetson back, Rainbow!”

“Don’t you talk to me like you’re her, changeling!” Rainbow Dash spat, the blue pegasus mare with rainbow mane floated in the air as she pointed an accusing hoof to the changeling. “You better tell us now where the real Applejack is or I’ll start punching!”

“Ya darned featherbrain, Ah am Applejack!”

“Nonsense!” Rarity, a white unicorn with well-trimmed curly purple mane and tail, denied. “You are a shapeshifting, body-stealing monster. Your entire existence is based on deceit! I have known Applejack since my foalhood. If there’s anything I’ve learned over the years, it is that Applejack never lies. Unlike you!”

“Bein’ a hypocrite is different from bein’ a liar, sugarcube,” the changeling responded with a flat face.

“Girls, I have a better idea!” Pinkie called. “Question her with things only the real Applejack would know. If she is the real Applejack, then she can answer it. If she’s not, she can’t. Easy as pie! And my name’s Pinkie Pie!” she chuckled. The girls hummed in agreement.

“That could work. It’s better to ask details chronologically backwards, so we can know when she was intercepted and replaced,” Twilight said, ignoring the changeling’s glare.

“Me first! Me first!” Pinkie waved her hoof like a school filly. “What’s my name?”

The changeling smiled. “Ah know yer Pinkie Pie, Pinks.”

“Very good! One point for you!” Pinkie cheered, patting the changeling’s head.

Twilight couldn’t help but mirthfully rolled her eyes at the display. “My turn. Do you remember the thing with those two conponies?”

The changeling nodded. “Flim an’ Flam an’ their cider machine. They tried t’ buy out mah family farm, then they made that contest thang. They teckhnically won, but them cider they made was worse than Apple Bloom’s cookin’s. They ran outta town.”

Rainbow hovered in front of the changeling’s face. “Hmph, good one, but that’s several months recent. I’m loyal enough to know if you're just an imposter or the real deal. Tell us about the thing in Appleloosa, you spy!”

The changeling bit back a retort about the spy accusation. “Ah went ta Appleloosa deliverin’ Bloomberg. We ended up solvin’ a hay load’a probem with them buffaloes stampede route.”

“And what did you do on the train?”

“Ah read Bloomberg stories an’ all. Poor girl can’t get a wink’a sleep,” Rainbow deadpanned at the changeling. “What? She’s jus’ a fragile little tree, ya know how rowdy them foals can git at times? It’s th’ secret ta Apple Fam’ly apples, and ya know it!”

Rainbow stared unamused. The changeling turned away with a slight greenish blush on her face. Eventually, Rainbow pulled back and shrugged. “Eh, I’m convinced. Anypony else wanna take a crack?”

“Oh, that’s so like you to drop things half way,” Rarity huffed. “I refuse to believe that this hideous, overgrown cockroach is the Applejack we truly know and love. Listen to me, you insect. Applejack and I had lived in Ponyville our entire lives. If you really are Applejack, and I mean however improbable it may be, you will know of that one moment back in elementary school.”

The changeling’s face paled. “Naw, you ain’t! You can’t-”

“I can, and if you are to convince me, you are to tell me that. No come on, speak up, time’s a-wasting,” Rarity demanded.

“Gosh-darnit ya evil witch, fine! It was when Ah had mah first cr-” The changeling’s answer was cut short by a rumble that shook the entire groom room they had occupied just to interrogate the changeling and take shelter. The wave of mass panic finally hit the general area they were in. Hundreds of changelings running around, intermingling with hundreds of ponies running around in an unholy menagerie of colours.

“My… my little ponies…” Celestia mumbled, struggling to voice her throat amidst her untimely yawn. “No… No! NO! HOW MANY MORE OF THEM ARE THERE?! HOW MANY OF MY PONIES ARE REPLACED?! STOLEN?!” she cried, he rarely-used Royal Canterlot Voice booming across the entire city. Her tired, sagged face took a second wind as she turned and strode with determination to the changeling they captured. “No more! No more of you! NO MORE!”

“P- P- Princess?” The changeling wilted under Celestia’s fierce gaze. Fire burning in the diarch’s eyes.

“I have had enough with your pitiful attempts of lying through your fangs. Time is running awaste as more of your kind are running around MY city. You will tell me where the Element of Honesty is, changeling, or I will have to take the information myself,” Celestia threatened.

The Elements all looked at their sun diarch as if she had grown a new head. Not in their very lives would they ever think of seeing their princess use such a thinly-veiled threat to the sacred sanctity that was their minds, not even to a changeling. Twilight understood the implications better than most, and tried defusing the situation. “P- Princess! Mind magic is illegal and unethical. I- Forgive me for talking you out, but I don’t think-”

“It is unethical, Twilight, but we are running out of time! There’s no telling what they would do to the captured ponies once everyling is revealed as they are now.” Celestia took a deep breath and softened her eyebagged gaze. “The absence of even just one Element is not something we can afford for longer than necessary, but you are right. I will not resort to such underhooved methods.” She turned towards the changeling, who wilted under her blazing eyes. “Instead, you will answer my question, changeling, or face my wrath! Now, where is the Element of Honesty, Applejack Apple?”

The changeling began tearing up, seeing what was previously the esteemed ever-benevolent Princess of the Sun staring her down like a timberwolf upon a defenseless bunny. “Ah- Ah told’ja Princess, Ah’m Applejack! Ah never was a pony!”

Celestia snorted, lifting a hoof to rub her sore, dry eyes. “Wrong answer, changeling. I am sick and tired of your frankly ludicrous claims. I will ask you once again, and you better not repeat your mistakes.”

The previous fiery eyes metaphor turned literal as Celestia powered up her form, slowly turning into her alter-ego, Daybreaker. “I am Princess Celeste Eternatus Solarium, the Heir of the Sun, Conqueror of the Seven Seas! The Embodiment of the Sun, the Daybreaker!” Her once tri-colored mane and tail floating in aethereal winds evaporated and burnt into flames.

Twilight conjured a shield to protect her and her friends, who huddled together as they saw with their own eyes the transformation of their beloved princess into a twisted, more sinister version of herself. The air of benevolence around her vanished, giving way to a heated, oppressive atmosphere. “Princess! What are you doing?! Stop! STOP!!!” Twilight screamed. Her friends helped in screaming for the princess to stop.

Their cries were ignored as Celestia continued her transformation. “I have slain a thousand demigods, saved Equestria from the Reign of Discord, and single-hoofedly routed a Griffonian Empire assault!” Her golden peytral and slippers turned fire orange as her body heat rose significantly, slowly roasting those near her, even the Elements of Harmony. “The existence of the Element of Honesty is indescribably important, and I will not have Equestria defenseless against outside threats! Not anymore!” Her cutie mark shifted and reoriented, adding another layer of solar crown further out around the sun mark. “I can squish you like the single pitiful bug you are, changeling, and I will do so if you do not answer to my question.” Her tiara transformed into a battle helmet, just as wingblades crept into position.

“WHERE. IS. APPLEJACK!”

The Royal Canterlot Voice she bellowed deafened everypony but herself. The booming sound could be heard all the way to Farthest Reaches. The ongoing changeling panic within Canterlot momentarily stopped as both ponies and changelings alike gaped at the strength of Celestia’s thick reverberating voice.

Within the room in which it happened, there was nothing the changeling could’ve done but peek into what was previously her princess’ now-reptilian eyes. Without any liar plate in her exoskeleton, however, there was nothing to do but tell them the truth. The truth they wouldn’t accept.

“A- Ah am, P- P- Princess, an’ it- it ain’t nothin’ but th’ t- truth...” the changeling answered once more, her voice subdued and shaky. Tears ran free from her eyes as she sobbed, afraid for what the princess had become.

“Wrong answer,” the Princess said simply, before raising a hoof with a bladed slipper, aiming at one of the changeling’s bound legs.

She was dead, and the changeling knew it. The princess had effectively turned into an elevated version tinfoil-hatters theorized she also had, like Nightmare Moon. Escape wasn’t possible with the tight ropes binding her entire form. She wasn’t magical like several of the more gifted changelings are, so teleporting out is an impossibility.

She closed her eyes,bracing for the inevitable pain.

“WAAAIIIIT!!!”

The shriek rivalled even the Princess’ magically amplified voice. Through the fire and the flames, a single butterscotch pegasus leaped and flew right into the face of her berserk princess. Her long pink mane, which was usually used as curtains to hide her own face from outside leers, fluttered to the side, revealing her angered face.

Fluttershy almost fanatically lives up to her name, but sometimes, a mare gotta do what a mare gotta do. And if it involves outscreaming a literal demigod into submission, then so be it.

“Princess Celeste Eternatus Solarium! I am thoroughly disappointed in you!” Fluttershy screamed, staring snout-to-snout into the Princess’ eyes. Everypony, drake, and ‘ling gaped with their jaws unhinged, looking at the normally timid mare absolutely fuming with anger that rivalled Nightmare Moon herself. “You are the benevolent Princess of Equestria. You are the exemplar example of what everypony strived to be. You might not be perfect, and I accept that, but this is outrageous! You need to stop this before you do anything you’ll regret!”

The Princess growled a feral grunt. “Treasonous, insolent mare! You are NOT to speak to me in such a way! If it weren’t for your status as the Element of Kindness, you will be dead where you hover. Now move aside, before I lose my thinning patience.”

“I will do no such thing! You should be ashamed of yourself! She was adamant of her answer, even into her death. Have you lost your inner touch as to go Daybreaker over a single changeling? Have you ever considered that she might be telling the truth after all?!” Fluttershy argued. Lowered jaws hit the floor as she presented her admittedly ridiculous idea out to her friends out to listen.

“What truth is there from a changeling’s mouth? They’re naught but a race of liars and deceivers! Don’t tell me-”

Fluttershy cut into her tirade, shocking even the Princess of the Sun herself. “And that is exactly why she wouldn’t reveal her true nature, is it not? You wouldn’t ever hear from her, never believe her, even when she’s telling the truth. You judge changelings by a single example, what should she expect if she came out of the closet? Best case, dungeon. Worst case, death. I do think that’s a good reason for her to keep quiet, don’t you think, Ma’am?”

“I am protecting my ponies. If it requires me to discriminate, then so be it! I am not putting my ponies’ life for the safety of others that don’t deserve it, especially not a race of liars that steals love from my ponies!” Daybreaker argued.

Twilight and her friends stared in awe into the scene that unfolded. Their benevolent-turned-evil princess argued with one of their most pacifist and timid friends, in a heated battle of wits and logical, meaty argument.

Fluttershy argued that Chrysalis and her swarm shouldn’t be posted as the central stereotype of their species. The animal caretaker had successfully deduced that the changeling was different by the colours of her carapace and eyes, and the design of her leg-holes. She argued further that if Applejack had always been a changeling, she had every reason to hide her identity, and instead of shunning her for it, they should be understanding her predicament and try to better understand her and changelings as a whole.

Daybreaker argued that changelings were never a peaceful species, and never has been. She counted the dozens of battles she had suffered against the previous queens of changelings, and how they will never be trustable, especially not with their natural ability to deceive and lie. Chrysalis wasn't even there to feed her changelings, but to conquer and enslave. Changelings were running amok all over Equestria, and she would make damn sure that Equestria wouldn’t fall down to chaos.

Both sides refused to relent, and in the end it devolved into a staring contest. Fluttershy stared into her princess’ reptilian eyes. Tired eyes of a ruler fed up with constant dangers, false alarms, and battles. Eyes that saw death, slaughter, and blood spillage of both ponies and other creatures. Eyes that once killed in cold-blood, and even pleasure. She stared harder, digging Daybreaker’s very soul, trying to pull the old Celestia out of it.

Daybreaker stared back into Fluttershy’s eyes. Comparatively tiny, timid eyes that harboured not a single ill-will to her. Eyes that forgive, care, and tolerate. Motherly and pure, without a single hint of deviousness or hidden intent. Beyond that veil, however, was an incredibly old soul. Somepony that had seen the Four Horsemares of the Apocalypse, spat on their hooves, and sprayed sand into their eyes. Her eyes were full of fear, but her gaze was a void filled with nothing but pure unadulterated spite.

Even as powerful and immortal as she was, she couldn’t say that she’s unafraid of death. Unlike her enemy, which would rise from death without a second thought if it meant she could convince her to lay down her being. Those were the eyes of something much bigger, stronger, and worse than whatever she could ever hope to be. Daybreaker took a step backwards, and wilted under Fluttershy’s Stare.

Whimpering, Daybreaker succumbed to resignation. Fires blew away, revealing an ethereal floating mane, which dissolved into a straight pink mane with slightly curled tips. Armour sizzled with smoke as it reverted back to the golden wears Celestia always wore day in and day out. Her form cooled down, as her cutie mark reverted back to its original sun marking.

As soon as the transformation glow stopped, Celestia fainted with a thud onto the tiled floor.

Twilight,and her friends let out a breath they didn’t know were holding. As much as they revere Celestia, all of them agreed that seeing Daybreaker up close and personal was something they wouldn’t ever want to go through ever again.

Rainbow shuddered as she and Rarity hugged, the fiery terror still lingering in their vision. “That was bucking scary.” Her friends nodded in agreement, still unable to find their own voices.

Fluttershy zipped towards the changeling and undid the ropes. The changeling was a broken sniveling mess by then, slowly curling into her chest as she cried.

Fluttershy cooed and patted the changeling on her back. The unlicensed vet knew that living beings would do extreme things to sustain themselves, and while she was pretty much upset with Chrysalis, her act really didn’t make sense. She pushed the changeling back on her hooves just as her friends flocked towards the fallen princess. “Run,” she whispered.

“W- wha- Flutters?”

“Run!” Fluttershy whispered, now with a bit more urgency. “Go, run! Fly! I don’t know what they’ll do to you, so go!”

The changeling shook her head. “F- Flutters, Ah can’t- Ah’m-”

“Listen, I don’t care if you’re Applejack or not, but for your own good, run! Hurry! Go back to your hive and flee!” Fluttershy instructed with audible urgency. The changeling nodded with teary eyes, before cracking her elytra open and flew, escaping the room from a window. With her objective completed, she collapsed down to her haunches as her energy vapourized in relief. The gang hurried to the furiously panting Fluttershy and stopped by her side, ensuring that she was okay.

Twilight glanced at her fainted mentor once more. She had always done everything right for Equestria, leading it to prosperity over a thousand years. Instead, what she did in those few minutes was definitely not the best, nor the most logical course of action. Horrible, in fact.

Millions of thoughts ran through her head, but she stored them away in favour of checking on her friend. “Fluttershy? A- are you sure that she’s the Applejack we always knew?” she asked.

With her bravery running dry, all Fluttershy could manage was a meek nod.

“I hope.”

Author's Note

I have a whole story planned for this. Fingers crossed that I don't abandon this.

[06/06/2021] Changelog:

• Added a bit of Chrysalis dialogue that explains Celestia’s actions
• Deleted a bit of unimportant, redundant dialogues and paragraphs
• Refined grammars all around
• Added and edited a lot of the dialogue between Celestia, Mane (6 - 1), and ‘the changeling’.
• Swapped mind magic suggestor.
• Tiny revamps on White and Brown, and Fleur’s sections.
• Increased collective IQ