The changeling walked through the hive. She was headed to the egg chamber. There were many new eggs after the queen had feasted on all the ponies' love. No one gave her a second look. Her disguise was excellent. It wasn't perfect, but it was nearly so, so nearly so that only Chrysalis herself would be able to pierce it.
As she made her way past the two guards at the entrance to the egg chamber, the changeling looked around. The absolute magnitude of the room astounded her. There were remnants of walls obviously knocked down to allow more room for the massive influx of eggs after the conquering of Equestria. There were all stages from eggs, to pupa, to outright larva, but most were still eggs. Even in the little eggs she could feel the spark of life, and the larva were almost changeling like in shape, if a bit underdeveloped to be independently capable. She walked among them, they were unaware of her presence. Unaware that a creature that could spell their end was in their midst.
They were completely defenseless, she could pick out a few, or a lot if she'd wanted. But she didn't want to take any, she wasn't taking anything, she was leaving things. She was leaving small motes of magic all around the egg hatchery. On the pillars, on the egg sacks, in the nutrient pools, everywhere. She walked slowly through the egg room, part of her hoping to be caught, to be stopped before she could complete the task she'd set before herself. But they hadn't, she had laced her magic all through the egg chambers. Walking over to one of the pools, not the nutrient pools, but one of the pools of water, and looked down at herself.
Staring down at her own face the changeling shook her head. It wasn't her, she still had to make her final decision one way or the other, and hiding behind a mask wasn't helping her decide on whether or not she'd enact her final defiance. Shaking off the illusion and staring down at her true face, Twilight Sparkle gave herself a weak smile. She sighed and looked up at the door, she still hadn't been noticed. Though it was already too late now. Even with her standing in the middle of the room as her true self, it didn't matter when the guards noticed. With her magic was now permeating the room the guards couldn't hope to stop her. If they rushed in in great numbers she could just detonate all the magic.
She looked up at the many, many eggs she now held dominion over. The word detonate echoed in her mind. Yes, if the guards, in sufficient number rushed the room to overwhelm her she could still enact a final gambit. To detonate the magic she'd seeded through the room and decimate everything inside it. All the theoretical guards, herself, and... All the life in the room. She took another long look at all that life in the room she had invaded. She was at the pinnacle of her goal, but that was the crux of the issue. She was here, but she didn't know what to do.
Defeating Queen Chrysalis was beyond her capabilities. Queen Chrysalis was far more powerful than she had ever been before. But Twilight could take everything away from her. She had snuck, fought, and lied her way to get here. She had traveled, and suffered, so much since the fall of Equestria. She was tired of it all. It would be so easy to just let her magic go, let it detonate and bring down a good portion of the hive. More impactfully it would kill all the eggs and larva in the room. An entire generation of the hive, wiped out in a single, glorious act of vengeance. She was tired, so, very, very tired. She could solve it all with such a simple fact, barely a flick of her horn...
The question was, was that right? Could she enact such a terrible vengeance on creatures that, though a result of the wrongs done her, hadn't done them themselves. But also they were changelings, ruled by Queen Chrysalis, in such a situation could they be anything but evil? She shook her head, reaching up and dipping her hoof into the water, rippling its surface, moving her hoof around swirling the water as she contemplated morality and consequences of her plan. And, on another level, whether abandoning it would be better than going through with it. Was one, final act of defiance really worth it? Was this just her petty need to show Queen Chrysalis a final flare of Equestria before it's tired flame puttered out forever?
But, as with many of the times she'd contemplated it in the past she heard echoes of the past. She smirked as she could almost see their reflections in the pool. It was, of course, just her mind playing tricks on her. But trick or not they wouldn't remain silent.
Pinkie Pie's imaged snarled like she never had in life. "Do it, Twilight! Set off the magic, bury all that insect's rotten gains!" Twilight sighed, she'd never expected to see, and technically wasn't seeing, Pinkie Pie like this. However Pinkie had died before the rest of her family. Twilight wasn't entirely sure that she wouldn't have seen this side of Pinkie Pie if she had survived her family.
"No." The statement came from an image of Rainbow Dash sitting in her full Wonderbolts uniform, even though by the end it was little more than tatters, here, in Twilight's memory, she was again in her fully glory. "It is better to die with honor, than to live in shame." The corner of Twilight's mouth twitched, in her memory Rainbow Dash was more elegant than she was in life, but her personality was still there. Blunt, to the point, and holding her own values most closely, damn what others may think of them.
Twilight rolled her eyes as she heard the next voice. She loved all her real friends dearly, however this version of Fluttershy was completely unhelpful. "Well... It's not like the eggs have done anything... But they will become Chrysalis' soldiers..." Twilight's subconscious had made Fluttershy indecision, and that was literally the struggle that these voices were, presumably, supposed to help her get through.
Applejack's intervention made her shiver. "It must be done. It's like killin' a fox that got near the farm. Ain't it's fault it's a predator, but that don't protect my chickens." She looked at Applejacks image. It was leagues less hostile than Pinkie Pie but it was all the more terrifying for that. It wasn't anger, it wasn't gut reaction. It was cold, calculating reason.
Each of the three of them had points about the destruction of the eggs. As Pinkie Pie's statement covered, vengeance would, at least for a moment, feel very, very good, but was it worth it? As Rainbow Dash said destroying the innocent lives would, by many views, put a stain on her honor, the question was, would she call it a stain? Or, as Applejack said, would it be a purely utilitarian approach? No hate, no vengeance, no stain of honor, just an act of practicality to help the world in the future by weakening the changeling hive.
Looking to the last image, that of Rarity always made her smile. "What was that quote you told me, darling? "Above all, don't lie to yourself. The stallion who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love."" She had assigned Rarity her own knowledge of historical arguments and quotes by famous ponies. It was refreshing to not just have to be reasoning against herself, though it was technically not telling her anything new, like Fluttershy, it was telling her something important... That it wasn't about her arguing herself, justifying anything, or seeking vengeance, it was about what she thought she should do at the very core of her being, stripping everything else away, what were the values of Equestria she's wish to show at the last.
Queen Chrysalis barged into the chamber, snarling at the princess, but then paused as she saw all the motes of magic surrounding her. She scowled, "So you're going to kill my children!?" She had enough power to shield herself, or the room, but not both.
Princess Twilight locked eyes with the queen. "Goodbye Queen Chrysalis." As Twilight's horn flared Queen Chrysalis quickly pulled a shield up around herself. Then, a few moments later, dropped it, as the princess had just teleported away, she hadn't set off any of her magical motes.
But then Queen Chrysalis heard rumblings, as the crowd of changelings at the door saw the choice she had made.
Author's Note
The quote from Rarity is by Fyodor Dostoevsky from the book The Brothers Karamazov. It's the same except I replaced "man" with "stallion "
Full quote:
"Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love."
