Loose Pages

Queen Chrysalis sat on her throne, tapping her hoof on its handle, pondering the future of her hive. She was back to square one, her hive struggling to collect enough love to survive. Well, perhaps not entirely square one. The remains of what she had gathered leading up to the royal wedding would, on their own, be enough to last her subjects a few months. As it stood, they acted as a comfortable cushion to delay starvation.

Therein lay the problem. It could only delay the inevitable, and no plan she could conceive ever came close to being a decent, let alone perfect solution. Her current best option seemed to be to find another civilisation, far from Equestria, to feed off of. However, any option that came to mind seemed to have greater odds of wiping out her hive than saving it.

Equestria itself lay far from her hive, though close enough to be a viable target for certain operations. If she were to gradually relocate parts of her hive closer to its cities, her subjects could follow long-term, safe, infiltration plans and bring back love on a weekly basis. Now, however, her scouts reported a general distrust of strangers, following the events in Canterlot. Replacing existing ponies would still work, but such ploys would be discovered dangerously quickly.

With her last ditch effort to save her hive and buy time, Chrysalis had ironically ruined the best long-term strategy. Perhaps in a decade, the ponies of Equestria would—

A knock echoed throughout the throne room. It had to be one of her scouts or spies. She cleared her throat. “Come in.”

A moment later, she recognised Mandible, lit by a blue light on his back, as he pushed open the heavy door—to think that the pony princesses needed guards in front of their throne room! Had they no faith in their subjects? Chrysalis pushed the amusing thought out of her mind before it could make her smirk.

“Your highness,” Mandible greeted.

She nodded at him. “I trust your mission was a success?” The drone nodded. “Good. Report.”

Thus, the drone reported everything: his successful escape from Canterlot, the strange fog that enveloped everything around him, how it made artefact glow, how he was forced to fly over the Everfree forest, how the alicorn sisters themselves tailed him, how he hid, and finally how he escaped through the roots of the Everfree.

Mandible paused, allowing his Queen to ask any questions she might have, which she did. “I know you have no reason to lie to me, but the caves and tunnels dug out by the Everfree forest’s flora’s roots ranks amongst the most dangerous labyrinths I know of.” She raised an eyebrow. “How exactly did you survive to tell the tale? Furthermore, how did you know of their existence?”

“Your highness, the book told me. It… seems to be an artefact of impossible power that takes on the content that its reader wants or needs most. I had no intentions of making use of it for my own gain, but when I grew desperate, it gave me the answers. It held the description of the nearest entrance, as well as the exact path to take to avoid any danger.” He bowed, and continued only when his Queen motioned for him to do so. “Using it has made me confident I needed to bring it into your care, your highness.”

“I see. Nothing else of interest happened during your return trip? Did the alicorns continue to hunt you?”

“No, your highness. I was able to fly here uninterrupted since I emerged from the Everfree’s roots, and I know very little about how they found me to begin with. Maybe the sisters read a secret spell from it?”

“I see. Leave the book with me. You did a good job, my subject. Dismissed.”

After Mandible did as told, she lifted the book with her magic. As she read the title, her eyebrow rose and a curious smirk formed on her muzzle. A few pages later, a grimace subsumed it.

As Celestia trotted through the castle, guards turned their heads, surprised by her brisk pace. Dusk was approaching, and Luna had yet to come eat breakfast. She had never been very operational soon after waking up, but it was unusual for her to rise this late, and yesterday she had been nearly a shell of her normal self. The spell she had cast two nights ago had taken a toll on her, and yet she had refused to rest.

What if she had pushed herself too hard during her experiments and now couldn’t perform her duties? Losing the book was one thing, but if Celestia was forced to raise the Moon, their subjects would notice. Only Luna could make the night sky as gorgeous as she did.

Arriving at Luna’s chambers, Celestia knocked. When no reply came, she pushed the door open. Inside, she found Luna slowly pulling open her curtains.

“Oh,” said Celestia. “Apologies for barging in, Sister, I just thought…”

Luna silenced her with a glare, rings under her eyes and mane dishevelled. “Didst thou not hear me when I said to give me a moment?”

“I… I suppose not, sorry.”

Luna grumbled, but as she passed Celestia on her way out, she mumbled, “Think nothing of it. ’Tis soon time to raise the moon, and I must thank thee for waking me.”

As Celestia followed her, she asked, “I take it you stayed up late trying finding a way to track down the book?”

“Indeed. I have, as they say, cracked it, I believe. Once I have raised the Moon and fully woken up, I shall try.”

“Please tell me you are not planning to overexert yourself, Lulu.”

Though she could not see her face, Celestia knew Luna had rolled her eyes at that. “I shall be fine, sister, for the spell is far less taxing than the wide search I have used two nights ago. The book is already marked, and it is only a matter of finding that mark.”

Luna’s eyes and horn stopped glowing, and she sighed before turning to Celestia.

A moment passed, and Celestia broke the silence. “Well? Did you find it?”

Luna nodded. “Thou willst not like it, however.”

“That does not matter. We have to reclaim the book at any almost any cost. If it falls into the wrong hooves…” The spells it had taught Luna were already powerful enough to be a thorn in their side if an enemy gained access to them, but there was no telling what horrors a truly malicious fiend could glean from the book.

High in the night sky over the badlands flew two armoured alicorns. When Luna stopped in mid-air, so did Celestia. A quick shield spell to block out the howling wind at this altitude, Luna spoke up, “We are here, Tia. Canst thou see it?”

After a few long moments of staring down, Celestia shook her head. “I am afraid my night-vision is not as sharp as yours, Lulu.” She turned to Luna and gave her her best smile. “We should go. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we will know how to proceed.”

“Agreed, Sister, but I must admit reluctance. I understand marching an army into the badlands on a short notice is intractable, and I understand we want to keep this secret, but…” She hesitated for a few seconds as she hovered. “But confronting a changeling hive with just us two seems… strategically disadvantageous, to put it mildly.”

“I am aware, but it might just be our only shot at resolving this without sending our ponies to die. Chrysalis may be our enemy, but I do not think she would want a large-scale armed conflict.” Celestia shook her head. “She would lose, and she knows this, and we have the means to leave if danger presents itself.” Touching one hoof to her peytral, she grimaced. “Not that I am fond of putting ourselves in such a dangerous position—enchanted barding or not.”

“I know, Sister, I merely… feel uneasy about this.” She sighed. “But we have delayed long enough. Let us go.”

Over the course of the next ten minutes, the two slowly circled down. Eventually, the ground came close enough that Luna lit her horn. A moment later, the spell carried her voice throughout the entire region. “This is Princess Luna of Equestria, and I am accompanied by my sister! We have come to negotiate with your Queen over a stolen artefact, and do not wish for a violent outcome!”

For a few moments, nothing happened, but as Celestia and Luna began to expect movement to arise between the jagged towers, everything remained still and quiet, and they continued to circle down, profoundly on edge.

Even when they landed before the main entrance, nothing moved. Was this a trap? Had they known the two would be coming? Perhaps the Queen had read about it in the book? Was the book even capable of showing someone the future? It seemed far-fetched, but it had shown Luna an alternative present.

Celestia prepared a teleportation spell, merely holding back its completion; if her focus were to break, the spell would cast. Keeping a spell near-completion required her entire attention, and it was Luna’s job to keep both of them safe in the event of an attack. She was stronger than Celestia at night, anyway.

And thus, they advanced throughout the jagged castle. Every corner caused their hearts to beat faster, and every deserted, open room full of abandoned… things set their fur further on edge. Celestia’s coat ran damp underneath her barding from the effort, and Luna’s nerves nearly made her blast a wall. Eventually, they reached a relatively small room, but the chair on the far side undeniably resembled a throne. An empty one, save for a book glowing blue.

“We should leave,” said Luna after picking up the artefact.

Celestia nodded. “I would prefer to know what happened here, but whatever it was, I do not think we can find someone who does not want to be found, not when she has had ample time to learn the book’s secrets.”

A flash of gold later, they appeared far in the sky. On the way back, the two of them discussed, argued, debated, what to do next. Letting Chrysalis forge her plans uncontested terrified them both, but neither could find a definitive way to deal with her.

They would send some pegasi to observe the hive, but given the Queen’s had read the book, they doubted this would be enough to reveal her plans. Had she decided to relocate her entire hive? Had the book told her to? Was she preparing an attack? But if so… how? Just what had she read in the book?

Predicting a cornered opponent was never easy, and Chrysalis might not be as cornered as they believed…

Celestia sat on her throne, hazy from her long night. Court would not be easy today, not with her mind elsewhere. She had been tempted to cancel it, but showing her panic to the public would only deteriorate an already bad situation. Equestria’s best strategists were hard at work analysing the situation, and she had to give them some time.

Before her mind could drag her thoughts into another spiral, the doors to the throne room opened, and a guard announced, “Royal Day Court is now in session. Now announcing Lady Sudden Change,”—a name Celestia had never heard before,— “Duchess of the Badlands.”

A charcoal grey unicorn mare with a pine green mane walked in. Surely a new, self-declared noble desperate for the Crown’s acknowledgement. Just what Celestia needed today: judging someone’s character and financial position to determine if she could allow her to claim whatever empty segment of Equestria she had chosen. What had the guard said… wait… the Badlands?

Celestia’s eyes darted to the unicorn mare in front of her and widened. “You…” she muttered.

“I have come to surrender,” said Sudden Change, before being engulfed in bright green flames, leaving only Queen Chrysalis behind.

Celestia shot to her hooves, magic pooling in her horn.

“Did you not hear me? I yield!” cried Chrysalis. “I swear, the Sun must have melted your brains.”