Uncomfortable questions swirled around Cadance’s head like storm clouds as she stared wordlessly at her aunt. How did she know they were in danger? What did she know that they didn’t? Was this really a dream after all? Even worse, how much had she seen?

But worst of all, Cadance wondered if Moonbreeze had betrayed her confidence. The possibility tore at her insides as she tried to think of something to say.

Luna’s proclamation hung heavy in the air between the three of them, but before Cadance could find her voice there was a harsh snarl, followed immediately by a hiss and a loud crack. Sickly toxic green lightning spat sparks as it cut through the smog and arced towards the princess of the moon, who effortlessly drew a cobalt blue shield across herself. The impulsive attack was smothered without any hint of a surprise from the intended target.

“Another wretched princess…” Chrysalis seethed. “You ponies can’t seem to get enough of me. You ought to learn to keep your hooves out of things that don’t concern you. To what do I owe the displeasure, Alicorn?” She spat the final word with, to Cadance’s ear, exaggerated disdain.

“And thou cannot seem to keep thine own hooves out of trouble, changeling.” Luna delivered her retort with the same confident grace that she defended herself with magic. “Be thankful my fellow princess is embroiled in the same danger as thee, or I might have left thee to thy fate. It is a miracle to have survived this long. I dare not think what would have happened had thou been alone.”

Chrysalis started to speak again, but before she could spit back her own retort, Luna spoke again. In a voice that was as cold as the distant moon she warned, “If thou would prefer to be left to thy death, I can easily oblige.”

The stray changeling stayed silent, but glared defiant daggers at the princess. Cadance realised this was the first time she had seen the former queen in her own body, albeit apparently graced in gold. Chrysalis had never been a soft figure, but there was a certain gaunt quality to her features. Was she always that thin? Cadance wondered, unnerved.

Luna turned to her dumbfounded niece. “Quickly Cadance, there is no time to tarry.”

Cadance blinked in shock. “W-wait, how do we know it’s really you, this could be a trick. How did you know we were in danger? I never told you about any of this.”

“No, thou did not,” Luna replied.

Cadance suppressed the urge to apologise as her aunt gave her a calculating look and continued. “I was alerted to thy peril by a maid working in thine employ by the name of Moonbreeze. She was deeply worried, and right to be.”

The little pink pony princess felt something in her twang and snap at the name. Ah, of course. Her dear friend was worried about her… and went behind her back to tell her aunt. Of course. How kind and thoughtful.

As Cadance sagged, her aunt scowled and stepped forward. “There is no time for this!” Luna urged.

Before either dreamer could object, the Princess of the Moon lit her horn and enveloped the three of them in a pocket of night sky. Cadance felt the air chill as she was insulated from the nightmare by the glittering bubble. Luna, eyes closed and brow furrowed in concentration, mouthed something silently to herself as she worked her spell.

Cadance watched motionless as Chrysalis stepped towards her aunt, rage radiating off her in waves. Dripping hatred she snarled, “Just what do you think you’re doing, p-” but was cut off by a flash of white light.

The tunnel around them vanished, but the bubble… Cadance gasped and looked down at her hooves, expecting the floor to burst beneath her at any moment and the pitch black void to flood in. Except, she realised, the bubble was gone too. In its place she felt something soft and plush underhoof. But to her senses, she was staring into empty space.

She stumbled, head spinning. Looking around she saw the night sky in every direction. Twinkling stars on an endless sea of purple and blue. Reflexively she clung tighter to Chrysalis’ leg, and felt the changeling falter, then slump. Cadance turned to see her begrudging companion reeling in shock and awe just like she was.

Luna spoke abruptly, “Wait here, they cannot reach us in this place. I will return posthaste, I must prepare myself for what lies ahead.”

Cadance could only watch her aunt leave as abruptly as she’d arrived, disappearing in another flash of magic.

“You’re kidding… she really expects us to just wait here? No explanation? Just zap, flash to wherever this is, and wait like foals in the cart while she does who knows what?” Cadance lamented, watching the empty spot of darkness where her aunt had been a few seconds prior. “Surely we deserve a little more than that…”

She turned to Chrysalis as she trailed off, hoping to find understanding. The changeling shrugged, not meeting Cadance’s gaze.

“Perhaps Miss cold and rigid is upset because she thinks that you’ve been fraternising with the enemy. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch for her to come to that conclusion. I’m sure she’ll be back in no time with guards to clap me in irons, and a stern talking to for you.” Saying this, Chrysalis sighed heavily and lay down to wait.

“But you’re not my enemy. You saved my life! If she won’t listen, surely Celestia or Twilight will…” Cadance said, wishing she felt certain.

Chrysalis simply shrugged again in response, and Cadance was reminded how different the world she lived in was to that of her companion. They had lived through polar opposite experiences of the Equestrian royal family. Her family, however much she felt like a black sheep within it.

Seeing nothing better to do, Cadance moved closer to Chrysalis and sat down to wait. Whatever they were sitting on was comfortable at least, despite the way her stomach felt whenever she accidentally glanced at where the ground ought to be and saw only the yawning abyss.

Cadance began sorting through the events of the night in her dream. It hadn’t been more than a quarter of an hour since she’d woken up in that recreation of her foalhood bedroom at Canterlot, but every moment since had been fraught.

“How long were you waiting outside?” The question had been lurking in her head since Chrysalis found her, and now with nothing to do it struck her again. “When I was… you know…” She finished lamely.

“Invading my privacy?” Chrysalis snapped, finishing for her. “Not long, It happened just like the real thing. I caught up with you just before you could gallop off in the wrong direction. Why does it matter?”

“Oh, well, I was just wondering…” Cadance looked away, embarrassed. After a few seconds of tense silence she piped up again. “It’s just… something’s bothering me. Something your… Something Chatelicera said.”

“Spit it out already” Chrysalis hissed, eyes still closed.

Cadance swallowed. “Well Celestia has technically only ever named one heir…”

“What’s your point?” Chrysalis retorted, turning over and staring daggers at Cadance, daring her to finish.

“W-well, that didn’t happen until I’d been living in Canterlot for a while, and it was at least a couple of years before Celestia announced anything publicly.” Cadance pushed onwards through the ice and snow of Chrysalis’ glare. “And you said I was seeing things that happened when you were being brought up… I was just wondering…”

“Are you… younger than me?” Cadance said, meeting Chrysalis’ eyes with a frantic courage she could barely hold onto.

Chrysalis bared her teeth in a snarl, but Cadance could see the shock and fear in her eyes as the changeling stammered and faltered. “That’s not- You don’t know anything!”

Before Chrysalis could find some biting retort and dismiss the question, as Cadance was sure she was desperate to do, there was another flash of white light nearby.

Pony and changeling both turned as one to see Princess Luna reappear. Gird in the pale blue metal of her ancient battle armour, Cadance was startled by her aunt’s appearance, mistaking her for a split second for her corrupted alter ego. Cadance was still reeling as Chrysalis leapt to her hooves and strode aggressively towards Luna.

“It’s about time! Explain yourself now, pony, my patience is already worn thin and you do not want to see me lose it.” Chrysalis demanded, malice dripping from every syllable as she stood over the princess of the moon.

Cadance hurried over as Luna started to reply. “There is no time, we must-”

“No!” Chrysalis cut her off, “No more dodging the question, if time is so scarce then you had better speak quickly. I’m not going anywhere until I get an explanation.”

Luna scoffed derisively. “Thou would only undo thyself to wait, we have mere minutes before thy captor awakes.”

“Oh for hive’s sake, pony just ex-” As Chrysalis spoke, Luna reached out and repeated her earlier trick, catching the three of them in another bubble and teleporting away.

“-plain!” Chrysalis finished, then gaped at the forest now pressing in on the three creatures.

They were in a clearing, trees and brambles pressing in on them. It was just like the first dream, when Cadance had found herself alone, surrounded on all sides by the hostile forest. When she’d helped Chrysalis, who had in turn saved her…

Without waiting to see if they would follow, Luna strode off towards the treeline. Cadance ran after her, calling out as she went. “Please Aunt Luna, can we really not spare a minute or two? What’s going on? Why are you dressed for a fight?”

Still moving fast, Luna opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off as another toxic bolt of green magic shot through the air just beside her face. As the stricken trees hissed and smoked, the exiled changeling queen roared. “DO NOT IGNORE ME AGAIN, PONY. TALK NOW, or it will go very BADLY for you.”

After only a second’s hesitation, Princess Luna turned to face the changeling. “Keep thy voice down, at least for thy own sake” She said, curtly. Lips pursed and glaring she continued. “We have only a short window, we must strike before she wakes. The two of thou are under the hoof of Morphia, self proclaimed Queen of Dreams. She is an old enemy of mine, if we do not stop her and these dreams continue, she will drain thy very lives to empower herself.

“‘Tis not for me to judge thou for pursuing destruction of thyself, but for whatever reason she has taken thee and my niece as a pair, changeling.” Luna said, disdain dripping off every syllable. “And I would very much like to keep Cadance alive.”

Without waiting for either of the apparently paired dreamers to respond, Luna turned and strode off again into the woods. The trees parted in front of her as she moved forward with purpose, like the prow of a boat through waves. Luna exerted her own power over the dreamscape as effortlessly as she seemed to do everything else, Cadance thought as she chased after her aunt.

She turned back to see if Chrysalis was following. The changeling had a look on her face like a camera flash had gone off inches from her nose.

Cadance called out to her, “Are you alright?”

The question seemed to draw her out of her shock, and Chrysalis snapped back, “Oh be quiet…” and hurried over to Cadance’s side.

Galloping together, the two dreamers chased after Luna, who had gotten well ahead already. Where she had passed through the formerly oppressive trees stayed bent back, seemingly totally cowed by the Princess of the Moon’s power.

No one spoke as the three figures made their way through the path Luna forged. Cadance felt the silence of the forest striving to compensate for the failure of the trees to frighten and hinder their progress. It gave her a deep seated sense that she was somehow intruding. Into what she had no idea, but as she turned the idea over in her head, she was brought back to the forefront of the situation by an indignant yelp from her fellow dreamer.

Chrysalis had stopped suddenly again, as though petrified mid stride. She was looking at herself with horror, and Cadance couldn’t help but follow her example and stop to stare.

“You’re so… minty” Cadance said, the words slipping out of her mouth before she could stop them.

“Shut up!” Chrysalis spat back, her cheeks bright pink, clearly she knew she could hardly deny it.

Once again the dream, or perhaps the creature controlling it, had worked its magic, playing a now tired trick and turning the changeling queen into a pony. This time though, her shape had hardly changed. Cadance wondered, was it low effort, or was there a point?

Chrysalis was just as tall and lythe as ever, but sharp angles and dark carapace were replaced with a bright minty green fur coat, matched with a perfect pointed horn and graceful wings. In fact, to Cadance she looked the very model of an Alicorn Princess of Equestria.

The princess of what though? Cadance mused privately.

Chrysalis cut into her reverie. “Speak for yourself princess,” she snarled. “I think your Hive might be missing you…”

Without thinking Cadance looked down to check her own form. It was a dull little surprise, what she saw there. Was this the fifth or sixth time she’d been put in a different body? It was hard to keep track, and it occurred to her how very odd it was to be desensitised to this phenomenon. She wondered if this was at all similar to how a changeling felt in their day to day.

From what she could see of herself, she could almost have passed for a young Queen Chrysanthe. She didn’t have time to dwell on the changes before from the trees ahead Luna shot a hissed command at the two dreamers.

“Quit thy gawking, are thy minds addled? ‘Tis only thy lives at stake…”

The two dreamers caught up to Luna just as she finished berating them. After a frustrated sigh, she addressed them again.

“Thy latest changes are evidence that we are nearing our goal. Morphia is attempting to distract thee and halt our progress. Somewhere nearby she sleeps within the dream so that she may mould it and thee to her whims. Unless thee wishes to be drawn again into a labyrinth built from thy own traumas, we must apprehend her before she escapes into the waking world.”

As they walked and listened intently, Cadance noticed Chrysalis shooting her a questioning look behind Luna’s back. Cadance simply shrugged, hoping to convey that while she was just as lost, it sounded as plausible as anything could at this point. Chrysalis simply bared her teeth in frustration and went back to trudging through the undergrowth.

Just as Cadance felt her doubt starting to boil over, Luna gestured that they halt, then pointed out something ahead through the trees. Squinting through the gloom, Cadance could just make out a dim orange glow.

Barely audible, Luna turned and whispered to the ensnared duo. “The beast’s lair lies ahead, we must proceed in silence. I will cast a spell to dampen the sound of thy tread. Once we enter thy are to stay close to me lest thy mind fall to Morphia’s spell again. If all goes to plan, I will ensnare thy enemy and free thee. Ready thyselves.”

Luna met Cadance and Chrysalis’ gaze in turn, waiting for something. Chrysalis still looked frustrated, but simply nodded. Cadance nervously followed suit, feeling she had no option but to trust her aunt, assuming this really was Luna and not another trick. She shivered as the thought slid down her spine.

With the dampening spell cast, the trio proceeded through the trees, quickly reaching the edge of the clearing up ahead. Cadance was finally able to see clearly the source of the light. It was a quaint wrought iron lantern, lit and hanging from a hook by the door of a small ancient looking cottage. With sagging thatch roof and low stone walls, the ancient structure seemed ready any moment to sink exhausted into the grass and return to nature.

Luna didn’t hesitate even slightly as the cottage came into view, and strode forward, confident as ever up to the front door. Cadance and Chrysalis reached her just in time to see a heavy iron lock drop sharply and silently into the damp grass, half buried in the soil by its own weight. A moment’s work and two more, even larger black metal padlocks joined the first. Each had somehow been wrenched free in the grip of her magic, split like walnuts in the process. The noise should have been almighty, but the silencing spell was evidently doing its work well.

The wooden door, made of thick oak planks, swung open slowly. Cadance watched flakes of rust and thick dust rain down from the hinges as it moved. Friction fought admirably against the Lunar Princess, and like the locks, the noise would have been tremendous had Luna not thought ahead.. Cadance shuddered as she imagined the concealed din, and wondered if this whole structure was designed like a guard dog, to react loudly to the merest hint of intruders.

It was only mildly surprising to Cadance when she saw that the inside of the cottage was larger than the exterior could ever allow. The unreality of dreams was losing its dramatic effect for her. Cobblestone floor stretched off into the darkness, the distance lost to sight until Luna lit her horn and pierced through the gloom.

Ahead of the trio, outlined softly in the blue light of Luna’s horn, the entryway was enormous. Stone pillars disappeared into shadow, holding up a roof hidden out of sight far above. Between them the floor was covered with all manner of ruined finery from forgotten eras. Torn paintings and crumpled tapestries, rusty suits of sundered armour in scattered pieces, piles of corroded coins and cracked jewels. Everywhere she looked Cadance saw yet more opulence abandoned to time. The room was plagued with it, now all just ancient trash. Obstacles and distractions for unwanted guests, guests who would never have come if they’d been given a choice.

As Cadance took in the sight of the ancient dust and debris, a doubt tugged at her mind. Why was she here anyway? Wasn’t there somewhere more important she ought to be? She knew there was… something, or maybe someone, that she was forgetting.

She shrugged off the thought as Luna gestured to her and Chrysalis, beckoning them forward. In the centre of the room the lunar princess had begun to clear away the debris, revealing the edge of a trapdoor. It didn’t take long, working together, for them to fully clear the rubble. Cadance brushed flakes of rust off her carapace, hoping she didn’t have to add tetanus to her list of worries, while Chrysalis lifted the trapdoor open with her magic.

Through the yawning portal a spiral staircase wound down out of sight. Doubt clawed at the back of Cadance’s mind again as she stared into the darkness below. Why was she here? Did she really believe Luna’s tall tale of an explanation? Dread pooled in her throat, and she turned to see the pony princess Chrysalis hesitating just as she was. Some feeling deep in her gut told her nothing good would come of continuing forward down those stairs.

“We are on the precipice, do not lose thy nerve now that escape is within reach.” Luna’s voice broke the silence, intruding upon Cadance’s mind and grounding her as though sensing the urge to flee growing within her.

It took every bit of concentration she had to break her inertia and force herself forward. With a furtive glance, she met Chrysalis’ eyes, and knew without a doubt the princess was burdened by the same feelings. Still, she had to trust Luna, and she clung to that point of light in a swirling storm of uncertainty.

They descended in single file, for the stairwell was too narrow to do otherwise. Unlike the soaring ceiling of the foyer above, the stairs were cramped, and as they carefully made their way Cadance struggled not to scrape her horn or carapace on the rough stone above and beside her. The minutes were taken to the rack, stretched out and broken by the sheer discomfort and tension of travelling down the claustrophobic stairwell. It was clearly not made for a trio of creatures their size, maybe not even made for an average pony.

Ahead of her Cadance felt Chrysalis flinch, and had it not been for the cramped confines she was sure the princess would have turned back, just as she herself wished desperately to do.

Questions rose again, swirling in the chaos of her mind. Why was she here? What was she forgetting? She fought to reach them, grasping at the edges with her mind. Someone was waiting for her… someone who needed her. They were helpless, lost without her… they were…

The uncertainty grew into confusion, swirling ever swirling, filling her whole mind as she trudged slowly through the darkness. Her heartbeat raced, and sweat beaded on her brow. This wasn’t where she was supposed to be, they needed her!

The fog covering her mind suddenly burst, memories flooded in like a tidal wave crashing down and wiping everything else she knew away.

Her hive! Her changelings, they needed her! She was their queen, what was she doing here in some dank dungeon? She had to-

The revelation was cut short as the pony in front of her bucked wildly, hyperventilating and wailing.

“I- I can’t turn around! I need to leave, I can’t be here!” The pale green princess sobbed. “She needs me! My daughter, she’s all alone! She’s too young to take care of herself!”

A flailing hoof struck Cadance in the jaw and she fell backwards, ears ringing. The world swam out of focus and the universe shorted out. Cadance flailed alone in the void until consciousness trickled back into her. She returned seconds later to a red pulsing ache in her jaw, and impassioned voices somewhere very far away.

Sitting up carefully, she probed her face. There was a hairline crack on the left side of her jaw, where Chrysalis’ hoof had made contact. She wondered how that would translate to her real body when she woke up in the morning. Somewhere in the distance far below her an argument raged.

Clarity returned like a cold winter morning. She was a pony. But she could still feel the memories of a life she knew now wasn’t real. Of being a Queen, ruling a hive, of having thousands of changelings who depended on you for their next meal. A life lived on the edge, in the shadows. A life defined by hunger.

The world around her came into focus, as the ringing in her ears abated she began taking in the heated altercation happening right in front of her eyes.

It was nearly a brawl. Chrysalis was on her back, on the ground, with Luna on top of her holding her down. The changeling turned pony was howling and begging the lunar princess to let her go, while Luna stammered out fragments of sentences insisting the opposite. It was painful to watch.

Cadance pulled herself to her hooves, the movement catching her aunt’s attention.

Through the wailing din, Luna implored her niece. “Cadance! Oh, thank goodness you’re back. Please, she won’t listen! I- I don’t know what to do, it’s all I can do just to maintain the spell! You’ve got to do something!”

Before Cadance could speak, the transformed Chrysalis struggled out of Luna’s grasp and leapt to her hooves. Somehow in the cramped space she had found room to turn around, and was now trying to push past Cadance and flee, but the crystal princess stood her ground and body blocked the sobbing changeling.

“No! You have to let me go!” Chrysalis moaned, tears pouring down her face. “She’s just a foal, she needs me, my filly!”

Fighting through a tangle of long limbs all trying to climb over her, Cadance managed to catch the woefully enchanted changeling in a tight hug.

Forcing all her own fears and worries down, she took on the tone she used to reassure her own daughter and whispered into the terrified changeling’s ear.

“Hush, it’s okay. She’s safe, you don’t need to worry.” Holding Chrysalis tight, in spite of all of her own fear she continued. “She’s sound asleep, dreaming peacefully. There’s nothing to fear.”

Exhaustion caught up with the changeling queen turned pony princess. Still trying to escape, she gradually slumped sobbing into Cadance’s embrace. “She needs me…” Chrysalis whimpered softly through tears.

“Shh, it’s okay. Just a little further and we’ll be free. She’s safe, you’re safe too. I promise. I won’t let anything happen.” Cadance said gently.

Slowly, Chrysalis’ sobbing subsided. Still Cadance held her tight, half for her own sake. It was all too much. She felt close to breaking down herself as the implanted memories of caring for a starving, suffering changeling hive clung to her, still open and fresh.

The changeling’s body suddenly turned rigid. Chrysalis gasped, then pulled away. In the eerie blue light of Luna’s magic Cadance saw the shame and fear etched into the changeling queen’s face as she recovered from the illusion, and realised what she’d just done. Their eyes met, and Cadance spoke in a whisper only Chrysalis could hear.

“It’s okay, I promise.”

Tears welled in the changeling’s eyes again, and she hesitated for a moment before pulling away completely. She gave Cadance another brief, desperate look, then turned away.

After a few long, awkward moments of gathering themselves and hastily tying together torn composure, the trio were ready to move again. They proceeded in silence down the rest of the claustrophobic stairway, each entrenched in a private need for this nightmare to end.

So it was that the trio continued their trial, headed into unknown but surely certain danger.

Author's Note

Howdy, hell of a delay on this one jeez. Yet again one chapter turns into two.

For once I don't feel like I have a lot to say here. There were a lot of periods of on and off writing since I posted the last chapter. I couldn't stick with it and be consistent like I could at the start of the year. I don't want to get into talking about my personal life but it finally feels like things are starting to stabilise.

This chapter is a little odd, what with it mostly being transit. It's a necessary build up to the next chapter though, and it's on the shorter side by my standards for this fic.

I didn't reread and reread and make tonnes of careful little tweaks and edits until it felt polished to my utmost satisfaction this time. I was still pretty thorough, but this and the next chapter are my least polished so far. Though I'm confident they'll stand up plenty, in spite of not getting 100% of the love the other chapters got.

Thanks for the comments and words of encouragement, without you my audience and my treasured proofreader this fic wouldn't be happening. It feels good to put something out into the world.

See yall in the next chapter