FINE!

Chrysalis read the final copy of the peace treaty between the Ponies of Equestria and the Changelings of the Warmlands, formerly known to the rest of the creatures as The Badlands.

She had already agreed to do so, but that didn't mean she would make things easy for Celestia. It had taken the Princess multiple attempts spread over several months to schedule a meeting between the two sovereigns. Chrysalis finally relented when Celestia threatened to send the Element of Laughter to the hive as her envoy so that the Queen would finally give in to the meeting.

For three days Chrysalis had been living in Canterlot Castle as a captive guest. Celestia had made sure that the Queen remained there until the peace treaty was properly written, was to the liking of both parties, and was signed and sealed by the both of them.

So for three days the Queen of the Changelings had been meeting with the Princess of the Ponies, locked and confined for far too many hours in Celestia's private study. Chrysalis wanted to exasperate Celestia, to push her to prolong and postpone the negotiations for as long as possible, but the Princess's patience proved to be an insurmountable obstacle even for her. Chrysalis came to believe that Celestia had been stretching out the days by a couple of hours each to accomplish this, but even her Changeling companions told her that was not being the case.

Part of the Changeling Queen would have liked to make this historic event a grand, celebratory affair, with bombastic parades winding through the city streets, with public speeches in front of packed crowds; but because Celestia was the first to suggest it and Chrysalis would never allow her that kind of satisfaction, she vehemently refused to let it happen in such a manner, demanding instead that it happen as a private affair and behind closed doors.

As far as the peace treaty went, it was a fairly standard one, if Chrysalis had ever seen one in her long life, and a fairly loose one, even before the changes she demanded.

In short, these were the main points of the treaty:

Establishment of borders. The Kingdom of Equestria recognized the Badlands as sovereign territory of the Changelings. Bordering them with the Macintosh Hill to the north and east, and with the Chrysalis Canyons to the south and west connecting them to the Forbidden Jungle. Reciprocally, the Changeling Kingdom recognized the borders of Equestria and its annexed territories.

Processes to resolve future disputes. Any future disputes between the nations, whatever they may be, must be dealt first and foremost through dialogue, in order to provide an opportunity for a peaceful solution, with the intention of preventing the conflict from escalating.

To avoid conflict of interest, it was agreed by the two nations that the Dragon Lans, represented by Dragon Lord Ember, would serve as an impartial third party and mechanism for negotiation, consultation, conciliation and arbitration of said disputes.

Access to and sharing of resources. It was at this point that discussions became heated, as sensitive issues began to be raised here. While Celestia, representing Equestria, now recognized the borders of the Changeling Empire, in the past this had not been the case, entirely due to Equestria's lack of knowledge of the existence of said borders, who by this point had already established towns within the Warmlands.

Celestia vehemently refused to let these ponies, who by this point already had generations of family living there, be evicted. The compromise agreed upon was to grant these towns the status of a confederate state between Equestria and the Warmland, making it the first space where Changelings and Ponies would live together on equal terms.

Status of refugees and prisoners of war. This was added to the peace treaty as a mere formality, since what was written here was settled even before the first draft of the peace treaty was conceived. This was because Equestria did not have any Changelings as prisoners. As soon as Everypony returned to their respective homes, the Changelings still there, taking their places, were promptly sent back to Chrysalis in the Changeling hive. And while Celestia was very patient with Chrysalis in formalizing the peace treaty, the Diarch of the Sun was quite unrelenting in demanding that the Changelings release and return any creatures, not just ponies, that they held prisoner.

As an addendum to this point, Celestia agreed that any Changeling still disguised in Equestria could continue with said life, if they so wished and as long as it was not the result of identity theft.

In the future this point became a source of headaches, moments of embarrassment and awkwardness for both parties, particularly when some of the families of returned ponies spoke out loud about how they ended up preferring the Changeling over their returned family member. Not to mention the paternity or maternity lawsuits that occurred, with half of the cases becoming worse when it was established that Ponies and Changelings could not reproduce with each other. All of this culminating in the creation of an Institution for the handling and resolution of Changeling-Pony family matters such as those exemplified here, and in some instances, stranger and more bizarre cases.

Debt Resolution. At first Chrysalis had demanded compensation for the damages caused to her hive during the events she did not wish to mention; however, when Celestia responded with receipts for all the expenses incurred to repair the damage caused by the Changelings during the events of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding to her castle and capital city... The Queen of the Changelings was quick to forgive and forget.

Definition of forbidden or disallowed acts. Celestia originally wanted any Changeling who wished to live or visit Equestria to do so without disguise, and even outlaw shape-shifting. Chrysalis, in a fit of indignant rage, let the Princess know that for Changelings, disguising themselves was more than a way to prey, commit deception and subterfuge, it was an important part of their way of being and living. That prohibiting a Changeling from using their shape-shifting abilities would be akin to prohibiting a Pony from following the call of their Cutie Mark!

Much to Chrysalis' surprise, Celestia actually listened to what she had to say and reconsidered her proposition. Ultimately, Celestia agreed to not penalize Changelings for shape-shifting, as long as this action was not done with the clear intention of violating any of the laws that the rest of the creatures of Equestria adhere to.

Once these and other smaller, finer points were properly drawn up and agreed upon, Chrysalis read the peace treaty once more, her patience finally at an end, unable or unwilling to find a detail worth prolonging her captivity.

With a deep sigh, the Queen of the Changelings floated a quill with which she wrote her name and then stamped the seal that represented her and the Changelings on it, right next to Celestia's signature and seal.

"What?" Chrysalis asked once she noticed Celestia looking at her with scrutiny.

"Nothing. I've noticed that you haven't gone through the metamorphosis."

"Yeah, that's right. What about it?"

"I was just wondering, how did you plan to follow through with what you just committed to?"

"I have my ways."

"And pray tell, what are those ways?"

"Oh, you want to know? Well, tough luck! For as long as I and the rest of the Changelings who are wary of that miraculous transformation abide by the laws and rules imposed upon us and you cannot prove us of the contrary, you need not worry about it."

And with that, and after several hours of being seated, Chrysalis stood up from her seat, heading for the exit.

"If there is nothing more to discuss and if you will excuse me, I am finally done with this place."