The Redemption of Chrysalis

Chapters

Chapter One: The Cutie Mark Crusaders
Chapter Two: Chicane
Chapter Four: Zecora (Take One)
Chapter Five: Unveiled
Chapter Six: Forsaken
Chapter Seven: Zecora (Take Two)
Chapter Eight: Confrontation
Epilogue: Acceptance
Prologue: Discovery
Chapter Three: Choices and Impulses

Chapter One: The Cutie Mark Crusaders

“You’re certain they will like me?” Chrysalis asked, sitting awkwardly inside one of the barns at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash stood beside her, giving her reassuring pats on the shoulder.

“But of course!” Rarity declared. “Sweetie Belle is just as sweet as her name implies.”

“And Scootaloo’s a tough little filly,” Rainbow added. “I don’t know about liking you, but at least she won’t be scared of you.”

“And what of Apple Bloom? Will she be accepting of me?”

“Ain’t no doubt in my mind,” Applejack replied with complete confidence. “My sis is one of the most acceptin’ and open-minded ponies Ah know. Got her to blame for gettin’ rid of everypony’s fear of Zecora.”

“Who?” Chrysalis inquired, arching a brow in confusion.

“The zebra who lives in the Everfree Forest,” Rainbow answered. “Didn’t you get to Fluttershy’s through there? I’m surprised you didn’t bump into her.”

“The forest is an expansive one,” Chrysalis stated. “And avoiding its denizens was of greater concern at the time than seeking companionship.” The information sparked her interest, however. An outsider who was shunned upon her initial visits to Ponyville... someone who had actually experienced the same thing Chrysalis had come to fear since arriving.

Ever since Celestia granted her pardon, she’d mostly sheltered herself within the Golden Oak Library, with only Twilight Sparkle, Spike and Owlowiscious to keep her regular company. On the few occasions she stepped outside the confines of Twilight’s home, she went in disguise; in fact, she still had yet to shed the Applejack disguise she wore to venture to Sweet Apple Acres. Despite her desire to lay low with the friends she’d made and await any sort of word on the changeling relief effort, she knew how the townsfolk would respond to an undisguised changeling living amongst them. Nothing short of an endorsement from Celestia herself, if even that, would save her from persecution and prying eyes. They’d be paranoid and distrustful, and after what she’d done to their ruler and their kingdom, why shouldn’t they be?

If such a reaction were spurred by her reveal, she may find a kindred spirit in this Zecora.

“We shall have to introduce you to her sometime, then,” Rarity decided, bringing Chrysalis back into the conversation. “For now, however, we have the Cutie Mark Crusaders to worry about.”

“Before we go bother ‘em in the clubhouse, though,” Applejack interjected, “could ya please drop yer disguise? You’re freakin’ me out!”

“If I must,” Chrysalis relented. “Though this form of yours is quite a sturdy and powerful one. I’m rather fond of the hat.”

“And as flatterin’ as that all is, if Ah wanted to talk t’myself, Ah’d strike up a chat with a mirror.”

“She does present a valid point,” Rarity admitted. “The only things differentiating you from the real Applejack are your eyes and your seated position. It only serves to make this situation more awkward than necessary.”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes at the remark, but did as she was asked and changed back to her natural appearance. She noted the drastic and jarring change in size, suddenly wondering just how long she’d been donning the guise of an average-sized mare if she’d grown used to it.

“Now that we got that taken care of, we've gotta figure out how to break this to ‘em,” Applejack suggested. “Ah know they’ll like ya just fine, but Ah still wanna ease ‘em into it.”

“Or...” Rainbow countered, whispering an alternate plan into Chrysalis’ ear. A plan that immediately put a wicked grin on the monarch’s face.

“Again!?” Scootaloo cried as she and her friends entered their clubhouse, frosting all over their coats. “At this point, we should just be working on getting cutie marks for getting covered in tree sap!”

“We were in Sugarcube Corner!” Apple Bloom stated. “How’d ya even manage that in there?”

Sweetie Belle could only sigh and shake her head. “Whatever happened, we’re not getting our cake decorating cutie marks anytime soon.”

“No kiddin’,” Apple Bloom responded, rifling through the dresser drawers and pulling out a checklist. “There’s still a little daylight left. Wanna try for one more cutie mark before y’all hafta go home?”

Scootaloo’s expression changed instantly from one of dejection to one of determination. “You don’t have to ask me twice!”

“So what are we going to do next?” Sweetie asked, equally excited.

“Well, next on the list is snowboardin’,” Apple Bloom informed her. “Sounds like fun!”

“It’s safer than most of the last few we tried,” Sweetie remarked, her gaze absently and accusingly drifting towards Scootaloo.

Scootaloo simply rolled her eyes. “The Running of the Leaves wasn't that long ago. Where would we even find snow?”

“Ya do have a point...” Apple Bloom conceded. “Alright, how ‘bout surfin’?”

“I think we still have the same problem,” Sweetie argued. “We’re not near any oceans or anything.”

“There’s always the lake,” Scootaloo offered. “There’s plenty of water there!”

“Not enough for waves!” Sweetie countered. “If anything, it’s just a big pool!”

“Well, surfin’s still out,” Apple Bloom decided, ending the discussion early. “After that, there’s... shapeshiftin’?”

“Who put that on there!?” Scootaloo demanded. If she was ever to get a reply to her question, it was silenced by a knock at the clubhouse door.

The noise confused Apple Bloom. She hadn't invited anypony to the clubhouse, and there weren't all that many ponies who knew it was there. If it were a member of her family, she was sure they’d have called for her rather than knocking on the door.

“Uh... who is it?” Apple Bloom called out nervously.

“It’s Miss Cheerilee,” the pony who’d knocked on the door replied. “I need to have a word with the three of you.”

The voice surprised Apple Bloom even more. It wasn't even the fact that Cheerilee had found the clubhouse; if she’d asked anypony in the family, they’d have pointed her right toward it. The fact that she even wanted to talk to them now, during the weekend and so late into the day, struck her as odd.

“What do you think she wants?” Scootaloo asked, evidently as confused as Apple Bloom was.

“It must be something important,” Sweetie suggested. “We should let her in!”

Following Sweetie’s advice, Apple Bloom walked over to the front door and opened it. There stood Cheerilee, the kindest and best teacher she and the other girls have ever had. Strangely enough, though, her face bore an unnervingly stern expression.

“So... what brings ya ‘round these parts, Miss Cheerilee?” Apple Bloom inquired, trying and failing to hide her unease.

“Your grades,” Cheerilee explained, her tone harsher than any of the girls had ever heard it. “It’s still so early into the school year, and yet the three of you have been faltering. You’re dangerously close to failing.”

“What!?” Sweetie cried shrilly. “How could that happen!?”

“They’re your grades, not mine,” Cheerilee replied. “You know I care about you girls, and I don’t want to see you fail, but I’m not just going to artificially inflate your grades to something you haven’t earned.”

“There goes my idea...” Scootaloo mumbled.

“But we can still earn it, right?” Sweetie pleaded. “I know I did just fine last year! I don’t want to fail!”

Apple Bloom remained silent, however. She remembered the grade she got on the last quiz she’d taken, and while it was far from perfect, it had still been a solid passing grade. She didn’t think it was possible to be on the verge of failing with a grade like that, and combined with the timing of this information, it made her somewhat suspicious of Cheerilee’s intentions.

“Well, I suppose I could give you some extra credit,” Cheerilee suggested. “I don’t have any assignments set aside for that purpose, though...”

“We’ll do anything!” Scootaloo shouted. “My parents would kill me if I didn’t pass!”

“And Rarity would never let me hear the end of it!” Sweetie added. “Even if my parents let me go, she’d yell at me for days!”

Cheerilee paused, seemingly deep in thought. “If you’re that desperate... I suppose you could earn yourselves some extra credit by cleaning the schoolhouse.”

Scootaloo groaned. “I take it back. We’ll do anything but clean.”

“Scootaloo, we’re going to fail!” Sweetie argued. “If we have a chance to pass, I say we take it.”

“And Ah say this is a mite fishy,” Apple Bloom announced, staring Cheerilee dead in the eye. “Miss Cheerilee coulda told us all this after school on Friday and not had to come over here. And Ah’m willin’ to bet none of us are actually failin’ after that last quiz. She’s trickin’ us!”

Cheerilee held her stare, locking eyes with Apple Bloom... then broke her gaze, chuckling. “You’re rather bright, young Apple Bloom. You are also almost entirely correct.”

“Ah knew it!” Apple Bloom declared proudly.

“Good one, Miss Cheerilee,” Scootaloo complemented with a snicker of her own. “You had me going there for a while.”

“So Rarity’s not going to yell at me?” Sweetie asked hopefully.

“Not unless you’ve done something else to anger her,” Cheerilee responded.

“You’re talkin’ kinda funny,” Apple Bloom stated, derailing the conversation. “What’s goin’ on? Ah mean, what’s really goin’ on? Why are ya really here?”

Cheerilee chuckled again. “Well... you managed to deduce that I was not truly here to trick you into performing chores to raise your academic grades. I applaud you for that.”

Apple Bloom blushed at the compliment, but remained quiet.

“However,” Cheerilee continued, “you were still only mostly correct, and though you came so close to putting the final pieces together, you missed one last detail, perhaps the most important one of all.”

The schoolteacher then shut her eyes. When she opened him, the Cutie Mark Crusaders could only gape in shock. Those eyes... those weren’t a pony’s eyes. And the voice that spoke next was not the one they knew and loved. And the brilliant green flame that surrounded her in an instant pulled back to reveal a form that only resembled that of a pony.

“I’m not even Miss Cheerilee.”

Chrysalis had to admit that Rainbow Dash had a very good idea, asking her to pose as the fillies’ teacher and try to get them to labor over false grades. It surprised her when the white unicorn filly—Sweetie Belle, she assumed—had actually accepted the offer, but the greater surprise was Apple Bloom seeing through the façade. The looks on their faces when she shed her disguise were beautiful and priceless. Sometimes she missed seeing reactions of terror...

“You would not believe your expressions right now,” Chrysalis stated with a mirthful smile. “I may just have to do that more often.”

“Changeling!” Sweetie Belle shouted at the top of her little lungs. The screeching pain in Chrysalis’ ears told her that the top of those lungs could easily pierce the stratosphere.

“What do you want with us?” Scootaloo demanded, her wavering voice betraying her aggressive stance.

“Simply put, I seek merely your friendship,” Chrysalis informed the terrified fillies. “This was Applejack’s idea. The Cheerilee disguise was Rainbow Dash’s, and I must say it was worth it.”

“Rainbow Dash would never want anything to do with you!” Scootaloo shouted. “And once she finds out you’re here, she’s gonna stop you from doing whatever it is you’re really here to do!”

“Hold on,” Apple Bloom commanded, extending a foreleg to restrain Scootaloo’s forward advance. “What are ya really here t’do?”

Chrysalis frowned, somewhat disheartened. “You don’t believe me?”

“Nopony’s sayin’ that—” Apple Bloom began, but was swiftly interrupted.

“Why should we?” Scootaloo asked. “You attacked Canterlot! We all saw it!”

“Please don’t steal my love!” Sweetie pleaded, attempting to hide behind Scootaloo. “I’m still using it!”

“Cut it out, girls!” Apple Bloom demanded. “Ah’m tryin’ to talk to her!” Sweetie and Scootaloo groaned in protest, but ultimately complied.

“Much appreciated, Apple Bloom,” Chrysalis conceded.

“Ah just wanna know why you’re here,” Apple Bloom countered. “And how ya know my name and where our clubhouse is.”

“If you must know,” Chrysalis explained, “I can give you the abridged version. I am here because your princess is leading an effort to recover what remains of the changeling race. I’ve made friends with the spirits of the Elements of Harmony, and I have been spending the last few weeks with Twilight Sparkle. I’m still awaiting word on how far along the relief effort has come.”

“Why do the changelings need help?” Apple Bloom inquired. “What happened to them?”

“That is a much longer story,” Chrysalis admitted. “And one I tire of sharing. Suffice to say, there are very few left, scattered from the force field that expelled us from Canterlot.

“If I may ask a question of my own,” she added, “what makes you so trusting of me? After what I’ve done, how are you willing to hold a civil conversation with me?”

There was a moment of silence, with Apple Bloom considering her answer, Sweetie Belle slowly stepping out of hiding, and Scootaloo still glaring at the changeling queen. Chrysalis simply stood there in wait, feeling increasingly awkward the longer she did.

Finally, Apple Bloom spoke. “Ah guess... Ah just don’t like judgin’ ponies Ah don’t know. It doesn’t make the other pony feel good, and Ah know Ah could be totally wrong. In fact, Ah’m really good friends with somepony that everypony else was scared of just ‘cuz of how she looked!”

“Zecora?” Chrysalis wondered aloud.

“Exactly!” Apple Bloom replied, youthful joy returning to her at the mention of the name. “Nopony else would give her a chance but me, and Ah learned that she was really nice! Everypony deserves a chance, and you’re no different.”

Chrysalis regarded the young filly in stunned silence. She was so young, so innocent, and yet so open and understanding. In all her years, the monarch had never seen anything like it, not even from younger changelings.

She must be getting soft, she realized, if such a statement could bring a tear to her eye.

“So... what’s going on?” Sweetie Belle asked, ruining the moment entirely. “Is she good, or what? Nothing’s happening to us.”

“I still don’t trust her,” Scootaloo declared, her gaze not leaving Chrysalis. The poorly-hidden fear, however, had begun to leave her voice.

“Ah don’t think she wants to hurt us,” Apple Bloom decided. “She can’t be all that bad if she knows Zecora!”

“In all honesty,” Chrysalis interrupted, “I have not met this Zecora. I know the name only through your sister, the same way I knew all of yours.”

“So ya really do know Applejack?” Apple Bloom asked with the cutest, widest smile any filly could ever manage.

“And her friends,” Chrysalis corrected her. “If it weren’t for them, I would not be standing here before you now.”

“Funny story,” a voice chimed in from the doorway. “The first time we met, Chrysalis couldn’t even remember my name.”

Chrysalis turned to the source of the voice, and there stood the three mares she’d conversed with in the barn, Applejack heading the pack. Immediately, the fillies ran up to hug them.

“Rarity!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “Is she here to hurt us?”

“Not at all,” Rarity responded. “It was our idea for her to introduce herself to you. And if we’re discussing first encounters, I first saw her dangling from the ceiling of Fluttershy’s cottage.”

Sweetie Belle giggled and buried herself in her sister’s forelegs, apparently at ease.

“What about you, Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo inquired. “What happened when you met this changeling?”

“They never use my name...” Chrysalis lamented under her breath.

“It wasn’t really as funny as their stories,” Rainbow began, “but it’s still pretty awesome. I actually saw her through the window of the library having a party with the other girls, and I thought she was still our enemy, so I swooped in and took her out!”

“That is so cool!” Scootaloo remarked, her large eyes wide in admiration.

“If I recall,” Chrysalis added, “that was actually the point in the night where things took a turn for the worse. How are things with you and Twilight, by the way?”

“I’m mostly over it now,” Rainbow answered, rubbing the back of her neck. “And I think she is too. I thought she’d never stop apologizing.”

“Well, I suppose this leaves only one question unanswered,” Chrysalis stated.

“Why ya came in lookin’ like Miss Cheerilee?” Apple Bloom suggested.

“That was my idea,” Rainbow confessed. “I told her she should go in disguised as your teacher and make you do something ridiculous to boost your grades.”

“And a very good idea it was,” Chrysalis complemented. “Their expressions were as priceless as you suggested they would be. But it was not the question I was referring to.”

“Then what did ya mean?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Whether or not the three of you would accept my friendship.”

“Ah’m sold,” Apple Bloom answered.

“If you’re cool enough for Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo added, “you’re cool enough for me.”

“Well, if they’re okay with it,” Sweetie Belle stated, “then I don’t see why not.”

Chrysalis smiled at the blank-flanked fillies before her. This was her first properly arranged meeting since her initial encounter with Twilight, and the first successful one since Fluttershy, and the girls were younger than anypony else she’d met. This made them the youngest friends Chrysalis could claim she had. And if these three fillies could find it in their hearts to befriend her, surely there was hope for her throughout all of Ponyville!

The thought had only just finished flashing through her mind when she heard a noise behind her. She could not properly describe it, but she imagined it to be what it would sound like if time and space were ripped apart. Sure enough, she turned around to find an open gateway leading to Princess Celestia’s private quarters in Canterlot, with the solar monarch herself smiling from the other side.

“Hello, Queen Chrysalis,” Celestia greeted. “It brings me great pleasure to report that Shining Armor has made his first find. We have one of your changeling subjects being admitted to Canterlot Hospital as we speak.”

Chrysalis could barely contain her joy. At long last, she had solid validation of Celestia’s words about potential survivors. With any luck, she would be able to hear another’s thoughts in the changeling hive mind in no time at all!

After a moment of internal celebration, however, her expression hardened, and she approached the portal and stared demandingly at the princess.

“Take me to see my subject.”

Chapter Two: Chicane

“...and I told them they had to clean the schoolhouse if they wanted extra credit!” Chrysalis narrated as she and Celestia made their way to the hospital.

Celestia couldn’t help but laugh. “I hope you didn’t scare them too much when you revealed yourself.”

“It was priceless, I tell you,” Chrysalis added. “Sweetie Belle’s shriek may prove to have lasting effects on my hearing, but their faces made it worth it.”

“I know that look well,” Celestia informed her. “I used to be quite the trickster in my youth. Ponies used to think I didn’t take my position seriously. A few even suggested they were trading one Discord for another. I was never so cruel, though, and I always had my targets laughing with me in the end. I think Philomena got her mischievousness from me, not that I’m complaining.”

“Your pet phoenix, I presume? How long have you had her?”

“For centuries,” Celestia responded. “After I imprisoned Nightmare Moon, I became rather lonely, so I sought out a pet. I chose her specifically because of her longevity. Every time she dies, she rises anew from her ashes.”

“A constant presence in your life,” Chrysalis deduced, “for when your only other long-lived companion was sealed away.”

“I suppose,” Celestia agreed. “Though I never rationalized it as such, I felt the need for just one living thing in my life that I wouldn’t have to mourn the loss of. I’ve had other pony friends, of course, but they... well...”

“The curse of immortality,” Chrysalis suggested.

“It truly does bother me sometimes,” Celestia admitted. “The filly I met to whose family I loaned the land that would become Sweet Apple Acres... she’s an elderly mare now. And yet I look as if I haven’t aged a day. To think a pony so much younger than I can look to be my elder...”

“This conversation has taken a rather somber turn,” Chrysalis noted.

Celestia sighed. She’d found this discussion with the changeling queen, her first since their initial meeting, to be rather relaxing. It felt as if they were just two average ponies chatting casually with each other over how their days were. Then Philomena came into it, and all of a sudden she found herself dwelling on her extensive past. And here she thought Chrysalis had more cause to worry about making a good impression.

“Sorry about that,” she apologized. “I haven’t been able to have a conversation like this in a long time. I just got a little carried away. You disguising yourself as my sister might have something to do with my being comfortable talking about these things.”

“I’m still not comfortable showing my true face in public,” Chrysalis confessed. “Especially not here in Canterlot, where I’m more liable to be recognized.”

“I can always put in a good word for you,” Celestia suggested. “My subjects would trust my endorsement. It might save you a lot of trouble in the long run.”

“Perhaps,” Chrysalis agreed. “At any rate, it seems we’ve arrived.”

Celestia looked up, and there stood the structure that housed the finest medical staff in Canterlot, if not all of Equestria. Somewhere within those white-painted brick walls, beyond those glass doors, lay the changeling for whom Chrysalis had come to the city.

Before either had a chance to enter, they heard a voice bellowing from inside. “You shall! ‘Tis my sister’s order, and thus mine as well!”

At that moment, Princess Luna came into view, still shouting at the staff as she backed out through the doors. Her words stopped in her throat, however, when she turned to see the disguised Chrysalis wearing her face.

“Well,” Luna stated flatly. “This suddenly became extraordinarily awkward. Queen Chrysalis, I presume?”

“Correct,” Chrysalis replied. “I’ve come to—”

“I know quite well why you are here,” Luna interrupted. “I had just terminated a... heated discussion about your incapacitated subject. My niece awaits your arrival within.” She then turned to face her sister. “And yours as well. The doctors will not listen to her. Or to me, which I find incredibly insulting, as my authority is equal to yours!”

“What’s going on in there?” Celestia demanded.

“Cadance will explain when you rendezvous with her,” Luna replied. “For now, I want nothing more than to return to the castle and raise the moon.” She then proceeded to storm off without even a proper goodbye.

“Quite the temper on her,” Chrysalis noted.

“She can get rather passionate,” Celestia explained. “Now remove your disguise. We have a changeling to visit.”

“What makes him different from any of the other patients here?” Princess Cadance shouted at the doctor in front of her.

“The fact that he’s not a pony,” the doctor replied.

“You’ve treated mules, griffons and minotaurs!” Cadance countered. “How is treating a changeling any different?”

“Those species are at least partially mammalian,” the doctor answered. “We can actually accommodate their needs. We can’t and won’t do that for changelings.”

Cadance groaned loudly. She was getting real tired of this doctor’s attitude. “He needs love more than anything else, and the last place I’d expect to be short on love is a hospital!”

“Look, lady,” the doctor responded, “I already made my choice. I told your aunt the exact same thing. I’m not. Treating. A changeling. You want him taken care of? Go to a vet.”

“Would you be able to say to my other aunt’s face that this whole thing isn’t about the invasion?” Cadance challenged. She was almost certain that was the primary reason this argument was even happening.

“It’s not about that at all,” the doctor insisted, “but it’s not helping that this thing attacked the city. Or were you not there for that?”

“Not there for—that was my wedding!” Cadance bellowed, much more forcefully than she intended.

“Save your breath,” a voice ordered from across the hall. “I’ll handle this.” From behind the troublesome doctor, Princess Celestia and Queen Chrysalis stepped into view.

“Now then,” Celestia began, locking eyes with the doctor. “What exactly is the problem with providing essential medical care for a critically injured changeling?”

The doctor merely stammered, intimidated by the ruler’s cold stare. Cadance grinned smugly at the display. As much as she disliked exploiting her royal status in everyday life, she still appreciated her aunt sticking up for her and enforcing her orders.

“I-I never said that there was anything wrong with—”

“My sister and niece would beg to differ,” Celestia interrupted. “There is a sentient being lying in a coma in that room, and it is your job to care for him to the extent of your ability. Whether you like it or not, he is a patient in need, and you will treat him as such.”

“Your aunt is terrifying when she’s angry,” Chrysalis whispered.

“I know,” Cadance responded. “It’s kind of cool.”

“Alright, fine!” the doctor relented. “I’ll put aside my bias against the changeling race and tend to this individual’s injuries. But I’m not going to allow him any visitors.”

“I believe I earn the right to be an exception,” Chrysalis interjected.

“Nopony asked you, changeling,” the doctor spat.

“Enough!” Celestia demanded. “I respect your decision, doctor, but I have every right to decide what exceptions will be made. For his own safety, however, this room will be off-limits to all but the staff and those select visitors.”

“Fine,” the doctor agreed. “I’m also not letting this thing suck the love out of me.”

“You would deprive my subject of the nourishment he needs to survive!?” Chrysalis shouted.

“Yes, as a matter of fact. I don’t know how that whole thing works, but I do know that if that thing in there doesn’t know when to stop, it’ll put my life at risk.”

“I understand your concern,” Chrysalis replied bitterly. “You have so little love yourself that you would be bled dry in seconds. Not even enough for a proper meal!”

“Easy, Chrysalis,” Celestia warned. “If he won’t, we’ll just have to find somepony who will. I can name several off the top of my head who might be willing if asked.”

“You do that,” the doctor stated. “Now if it’s all the same to you, I have other patients to attend to, so I need you all away from this room.”

“What happened to visitation rights?” Chrysalis demanded.

“I didn’t say I was allowing it yet,” the doctor retorted. "Now if you’ll excuse me, I—”

He was cut off, however, when Chrysalis levitated him off his hooves and embedded him into the nearest wall. The furious monarch held him in place with her magic, and he watched in abject terror as she approached, getting right in his face and staring him dead in the eye.

“You will. Let me. See him.”

Moments later, the three of them stood inside the hospital room the changeling was being held in. Chrysalis simply beamed with smug satisfaction.

“That was kind of harsh,” Celestia scolded.

“We’re here in the room, are we not?” Chrysalis asked rhetorically. “Besides, I hear no objections from Cadance.”

“That stallion probably isn’t fit to carry a medical license,” Cadance suggested. “Though the thing with the wall was a bit much.”

“I did what I needed to do,” Chrysalis declared. “The way he spoke to you, the co-ruler of all Equestria, was all the proof I needed that words would not sway him.”

“They were working up to that point,” Celestia countered.

“What worked was your intimidation and show of force.”

“A stern look and harsh words are far different from slamming somepony into a wall,” Celestia stated.

“It doesn’t matter now,” Chrysalis replied. “The point is that we’re here. One of my loyal subjects lies behind this curtain, and I’m not leaving here until I can at least identify him.”

“How do you manage that?” Cadance asked. “Most changelings look exactly alike.”

“And most of you ponies look alike to me,” Chrysalis retorted. “The difference is in the vomit-inducingly bright colors.”

“That’s kind of racist, isn’t it?” Cadance asked.

“What transpired outside was closer to racism,” Chrysalis replied. “At the very least, it was strong discrimination. Now can we stop arguing semantics and see my subject?”

“My thoughts exactly,” Celestia interjected. “Chrysalis, as this changeling is your subject, I believe it’s only fair that you be the first to see him.”

Chrysalis nodded, then reached for the curtain. However, her hoof stopped as it made contact. Suddenly she was all too aware of the kind of state the changeling could be in. His carapace clearly withstood the distance and crash to enough of a degree that he was still alive, but she suddenly wondered if she was ready to see one of her own in such a severely battered state.

After a moment, she let out a sigh, attempting to steel herself for the sight she was about to behold. Without further ado, she pushed the curtain aside.

The changeling, her faithful subject, lay unbandaged and exposed in the hospital bed. His entire body looked battered, but most of his right side was demolished. There were scars etching his exoskeleton and bones sticking out at odd angles. His right limbs were broken horribly, his right wing was torn to shreds, and there were cracks running along that side of his horn. Even his face looked worse for wear, a massive gash running through his eye and straight down to his chin.

What made it worse, in her opinion, was that he was still recognizable. This mangled face still had a name.

“Chicane...”

Cadance watched on as Chrysalis examined the changeling body in the bed. Her own view of him was obscured by the queen’s massive form, but what she could see made her uneasy.

“You know him?” Cadance asked.

“My subjects’ thoughts once ran through my mind,” Chrysalis replied. “I knew them all, some of them better than they knew themselves.”

“Who is he?”

“One of my scouts,” Chrysalis answered. “Not one of the more successful ones, but certainly one of the more reliable ones. I’d summoned him from his post in Baltimare to participate in the invasion.”

“He probably wishes he stayed behind,” Cadance remarked. “He won’t be mad at you, will he?”

“I hope not,” Chrysalis stated. “I’ve done nothing to earn his anger before. Chicane was unwaveringly loyal to the hive. He would die for me if given the chance... and it brings me great sorrow to see how close he came.”

“Do you mind if I take a look?” Cadance offered. Chrysalis’ only response was to step aside and allow her a fuller view.

Cadance retched the moment she laid eyes on Chicane’s form. Nothing in that state of disrepair should reasonably still be alive. The disgust quickly gave way to pity, the poor soul clearly suffering physically more than anypony she ever knew.

In the end, everything merged into guilt. It was her fault. She helped make this happen. Every shattered bone and scarring gash was caused by her and her force field. And now here he lay, untended in a hospital bed and left in the care of a doctor who’d sooner watch him die.

The tears came against her will. This must have been a fate worse than death. He didn’t deserve it, nopony did. Everything about it was wrong.

“...I’ll do it.”

“I’m sorry?” Celestia replied.

“He needs love,” Cadance explained. “Without love to feed on, he won’t last much longer. If the doctor won’t feed him, I will. In fact, it might be better for him to get out of this hospital if nopony wants to help him.”

“I strongly appreciate the sentiment,” Chrysalis interjected, “but you don’t have to do this.”

“Yes I do,” Cadance declared, her voice wavering. “It’s my fault he’s in this condition in the first place, not to mention all the other changelings who are dead or dying all over Equestria. I killed thousands of them. The least I can do is save one.”

The room fell silent, save Chicane’s uneasy breathing. Cadance held eye contact with her aunt, tearful but determined. She wasn’t going to rest until she made sure this changeling was given proper care.

After what felt like an eternity, Celestia sighed. “Very well. I’ll make the arrangements to bring some unused equipment into your home and release the changeling Chicane into your custody as soon as he’s bandaged up. Would it be easier for you to learn to use the equipment or to have some doctors and nurses check in on a regular basis?”

“Why even bring him there?” Chrysalis inquired. “Wouldn’t it be easier to keep him here, in a safe environment?”

“A safe but hostile one,” Cadance corrected her. “That doctor out there doesn’t care. I guarantee you he’ll only do the bare minimum to keep Chicane alive and kick him out as soon as he’s conscious. It’s not enough to feed him love. I want him in a place where he’ll be shown love.”

Before she could say anything more, she was nearly overwhelmed by a sudden and tight hug from Chrysalis. Cadance was shocked at first, but eventually moved to return it.

“Thank you,” Chrysalis stated. “This is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me.”

“Don’t be so selfish,” Cadance teased. “I’m doing it for him too.”

Chrysalis felt rather relieved that the entire Royal Guard was aware of her; it meant she did not have to disguise herself for the stallions carrying the chariot that was sending her back to the Golden Oak Library. Back home.

When the carriage touched down, Chrysalis dismounted immediately and waved it off. She entered the library with more force than she intended, delighted in this moment just to be alive.

The sound of the door slamming into the wall alerted Twilight Sparkle, who had been reshelving a batch of returned books. “There you are, Chrysalis! I was wondering where you were. I thought you were just going down to Sweet Apple Acres for the afternoon.”

“Looks like someone had a good day,” Spike added, calling down from the top of the ladder.

Chrysalis simply smiled, one of the biggest and most genuine smiles she’d ever had. “There has never been a greater understatement.”

“I’m sure my psychologist will be excited to hear that tomorrow,” Twilight stated, having quickly caught the smile virus spreading around the room.

“You’ve told him about me?” Chrysalis asked.

“He wants me to be completely open with him,” Twilight replied. “Plus, and I mean no offense by this, but you’re the main reason I’m seeing him in the first place, so Princess Celestia had already told him about you.”

Chrysalis shrugged. “Fair enough.”

“You haven’t been this happy since she let you stay here in Ponyville,” Spike noted. “What’s got you in such a good mood?”

“Well,” Chrysalis began, “it started when Applejack suggested I meet her sister...”

“I knew it!” Celestia shouted the next morning, telekinetically throwing her newspaper at the wall behind her. “I knew this would come back to bite her!”

“Big sister?” Luna groaned, entirely ready to turn in for a good day’s sleep. “Is something troubling you?”

“Look at this,” Celestia demanded, hovering the paper back off the floor and right into her sister’s face. “Tell me what’s wrong here.”

“If I could see it, I would,” Luna retorted, which was Celestia’s cue to pull the paper further back. Luna enveloped it with her own magic and examined it for herself. Within seconds, her eyes widened in shock.

“Queen Chrysalis? On the front page!?”

Chapter Four: Zecora (Take One)

Chicane was starting to tire of Baltimare.

Equestria in general was far too bright and colorful for his tastes, and it was nothing against the city in particular. It wasn’t like he wasn’t doing anything either; he’d been collecting and stockpiling love for the last week or so, all for the glory of the changeling hive. Ponies here were nice enough as well, and had he not been under standing orders to treat them as food first, he may have actually made some friends.

His real issue was with his position in general. He was immensely proud to serve his hive and his queen in any way he could, and scavenging for love was one of the most important jobs a changeling could have. Unfortunately, it meant that he would be away from the hive for weeks and even months at a time. It made him incredibly anxious the first few times he’d left to infiltrate Equestria, and even now, it distressed him that he was so far away from his fellow changelings.

Not that Chicane had the time to miss them, though, since the hive mind never shut up.

He would admit that he couldn’t possibly know what it was like to have the only thoughts in one’s head be one’s own. He was part of the hive mind from birth, and even though it meant he knew everyone in the hive very well, it also meant he had to deal with every thought that ran through their heads on a permanent basis. It was constant background noise, and even as proficient as he was at tuning it out, there were times when he longed to shut it off completely.

He couldn’t help but admire these ponies. Their thoughts were actually capable of being kept to themselves. They didn’t have to share their thoughts or get bombarded with the thoughts of others. He, in the meantime, was forced to contend with the chatter and lack of privacy. He disliked it, sometimes even detested it, and the nature of the hive mind meant that everyone else knew it.

Fantastic. He was starting to envy his food again. Another reason he didn’t like staying in Equestria so long. He wondered how long it would take before he grew too fond of his disguise and refused to shed it. He’d heard cases of that—literally heard them—and he’d seen the treatment for it. It looked extraordinarily unpleasant.

Still, though... if he could take one trait from this love-rich race, it would be the singular mind.

Chicane was suddenly struck by a quick pang of lightheadedness. In his experience, that could mean one of two things: he was running dangerously low on love, or the glorious Queen Chrysalis, his exalted ruler, had entered the hive mind to address her subjects. The growling of his stomach did little to help him decide which it was.

My loyal subjects, this is your queen. Cease your activities, because I have an important announcement.

Now that did help him decide. He looked reverently up to the monarch of the hive, as all changelings did, and if need be, he would gladly give his life for her. With the near-fasting required for him to do his extraction and collection job right, he practically was giving his life for her. Above all else, though, he admired and envied her. She could disconnect herself from the hive mind at will, a good fortune Chicane would never know. He had little way of knowing what went on in that head of hers, which almost made her feel distant and detached at times, but the urge to know how she did it tended to override any doubts.

Right now, though, his selfish jealousy didn’t matter. What mattered was his magnificent queen’s announcement. He held his breath, hanging on Chrysalis’ every word.

I am recalling all scouts stationed in Equestria, she declared. I need every single one of you for what I have planned. You will be briefed in person when you all arrive, but suffice to say, should this succeed, you will never go hungry again!

Chicane was so glad he chose a pegasus stallion for his disguise. It made it that much easier to take off over the city and charge right in the general direction of the hive without too many prying eyes monitoring him. He shed his costume the moment he was out of sight, excited just to be coming home. He could hear the other scouts rejoicing just as much as he was. Even in their heads, some of these morons had no volume control...

Regardless, Chicane was completely certain of one thing: whatever Queen Chrysalis had planned, it would be way better than wasting time in that city.

This hive-forsaken forest wasn’t any less unnerving the second time around.

Given the lack of animal encounters thus far, Chrysalis was led to assume that Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy knew a safe route to the hut that was supposed to lie somewhere in the heart of Everfree. The foreboding atmosphere created by the unchecked trees and the constant rustling sounds negated any relief she was brought, however. She didn’t see the two mares escorting her as viable protection if a confrontation did occur; Fluttershy was, for lack of a nicer term, a coward, and the worst she imagined Pinkie could do was laugh at the opposing creature and damage its self-esteem. If anything, she would need to protect them.

Not that it mattered anyway. The fabled shack was now in view. Much like Twilight’s library, it appeared to be built within a tree, but this tree grew without any cohesive structure, looking to only be able to support a one-story abode within its trunk. A tribal mask hung above the entrance, and the erratic branches were decorated by hanging lanterns and pouches. Its windows were misaligned, and its larger roots protruded from the ground. It looked exactly as menacing as the forest around it.

“There it is,” Fluttershy announced. “This is where Zecora lives.”

“Given the lack of other landmarks,” Chrysalis retorted, “that was a rather keen observation.”

“Oh, be nice, Chryssy!” Pinkie scolded. “Isn’t it enough that we’ll be nice and cozy indoors in a few seconds?”

“We are still in the Everfree Forest,” Chrysalis answered. “Even if Zecora is welcoming, the setting itself is not.”

“I don’t like it here either,” Fluttershy admitted. “The darkness... the trees... the noises... I’m always terrified to come in here alone, even if it’s to visit Zecora.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Pinkie asked, bouncing up to the front door and knocking on it. “Because she’s waiting for us!”

“You told her about me!?” Chrysalis cried.

“Well, duh!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I can think of a few reasons...” Fluttershy muttered.

Chrysalis prepared to give Pinkie a serious verbal thrashing for her utter lack of forethought, but before she had the chance to speak, the door opened. On the other side was a pony with a gray, striped coat, a mane styled in a mohawk, and a number of rings worn around her neck and foreleg. Clearly, Chrysalis thought, this must be Zecora herself.

“How lovely to see you, Pinkie Pie!” Zecora greeted, then turned to the pegasus. “And to see you as well, dear Fluttershy!”

“Hello, Zecora,” Fluttershy returned. “I’m pretty sure Pinkie Pie already told you this, so I’m sorry if it sounds redundant, but we wanted you to meet—”

“The changeling queen?” Zecora interrupted, gazing at Chrysalis. “Yes, I have seen.”

Chrysalis was having a hard time reading the zebra’s expression. Her face was a picture perfect image of stoicism. It was at once alarming due to its lack of happiness or acceptance, and comforting due to its lack of hatred or malice. It seemed that this was Chrysalis’ first meeting with a completely clean slate. There was no sense in squandering this opportunity for a completely fresh start.

“Greetings, Zecora,” Chrysalis stated, holding out a hoof in front of the witch doctor. “I am Queen Chrysalis, ruler of the changelings. If it pleases you, you may simply call me Chrysalis and do away with the formality.”

Zecora lifted her own hoof to shake the queen’s. “I feel the title suits you ill. I’ve heard of all the changelings killed. Your friend Pinkie Pie has informed me of some of your recent tragedy.”

“I cannot imagine why,” Chrysalis replied, shooting a glare at the pink pony beside her, “but at the very least, it saves me the time it would take to explain.”

For a while, Zecora simply regarded Chrysalis in silence, seemingly examining her. Had she been clothed, Chrysalis would have likened it to undressing her with her eyes. And in a way, she figured the zebra may have been doing just that.

“May I ask what you’re doing?” she inquired once she felt the situation had gotten adequately awkward. No response came, however, so she simply stood there and left Zecora to her activity.

Eventually, Zecora finished looking her over. “Please come inside, Miss Chrysalis,” she offered. “I sense that nothing is amiss.” With that, she turned and walked into her home, her guests following suit.

Chrysalis leaned in towards Fluttershy. “Does she always speak in rhyme?” she whispered.

“Yes,” Fluttershy replied. “You get used to it.”

Chrysalis took the time to examine the interior of Zecora’s home. Beyond the shelves of herbs and potions, the hanging masks on the walls, and the cauldron at the center of the room, there seemed to be little in the way of conventional furnishing. All she could see was the bed in the adjacent room. Zecora enjoyed a simple life, it seemed, mostly living off the land and brewing her concoctions in solitude.

“Please, Chrysalis,” Zecora requested, “if you would, have a seat. I feel it would be nice to formally meet.”

Chrysalis seated herself on the floor, beside one of the many shelves in the back of the room. Pinkie and Fluttershy moved to join her, taking their places on either side of her.

“So...” Chrysalis began. “When did Pinkie Pie approach you about this meeting?”

“Yesterday morning!” Pinkie answered. “I talked to her in the marketplace when she came by for her ingredient run. This was all before you met the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

“I did not ask you,” Chrysalis groaned. “Though I assume she is unaware of the events between then and now.”

“All I know of you was told to me by her,” Zecora explained, “so I know not of the events to which you refer.”

Chrysalis breathed a sigh of relief. The incident in the hospital would not play into Zecora’s opinion of her, at least not as the media reported it. This first impression was more or less untarnished.

“Excellent,” she declared. “Then discussion can commence.”

“Then with a simple inquiry I would like to begin,” Zecora replied, “about the Canterlot invasion, your original sin.”

Chrysalis sighed again, this time in exasperation. “Pinkie Pie did not tell you everything, then. Very well. From the top...”

For the next hour or so, Zecora sat in complete silence, listening to Chrysalis as she told her tale of woe, with Pinkie and Fluttershy interjecting every so often to tell their own parts. All she’d been told prior was that the changeling queen was in Equestria, staying at Ponyville’s library and hoping to make peace after the royal wedding and the mass deaths of her subjects. Chrysalis herself seemed to be keeping her composure remarkably well, considering the content of her story. She was clearly very used to telling it, almost to the point where it sounded rehearsed.

Zecora would be inclined to believe that, too, if Chrysalis’ eyes were not telling the same story. Reptilian eyes for a pseudo-insectoid form, and yet there was as much emotion in them as in any pony’s eyes. Combined with the testimonies of the mares beside her, there was little to make her doubt the truth in their words.

Finally, it sounded like Chrysalis was wrapping up her story. “...and I have resided in the library ever since, as I believe you know.” She sighed. “I have stayed within its walls, for the most part, for fear of making enemies amongst a populace I have no further quarrel with.”

Zecora nodded. “I know the persecution rather well, from my first days visiting Ponyville. The ponies acted like I spelled their doom... with the sole exception of—”

“Apple Bloom,” Chrysalis finished. “She told me a similar story when I met her. It must have been a dreadful experience.”

“Over time,” Zecora explained, “I learned to simply dismiss it. Of course, with it gone, I cannot say I miss it.”

“You still should not have had to deal with such intolerance,” Chrysalis countered. “It baffles me that you would still show your face in public with pure intentions when the townsfolk harbored such negative feelings for you.”

“I would come seeking ingredients for my brews,” Zecora replied, “and there seldom were other locations to choose.”

"Your brews?” Chrysalis asked. “These potions and elixirs are truly worth the sacrifice of your good image?”

“My natural remedies can do quite a lot,” Zecora told her. “They can wake the unconscious, and they can ease the trots. In my life, there is nothing more that I need than to see ponies’ smiles when the cures succeed.

“Besides...” she continued, exchanging glances with the two other mares. “If I went elsewhere or worked under cover of shade, I would never have confronted the friends I have made.”

Chrysalis saw Pinkie beam radiantly and Fluttershy blush meekly at the compliment Zecora gave them. It was almost inspiring, hearing how much these ponies had touched her life despite how much they once feared her. In a way, it reminded her of the way Chrysalis herself had met them, having to win their sympathy before they would give her the slightest chance. It eventually worked on them all, some sooner than others, and she was thankful every moment for it.

Zecora’s situation was not the same, however. She had only faced the prejudiced judgment of ponies who had no prior exposure to her whatsoever. There was nothing in her actions that could create any sort of hatred for her. Chrysalis, however, had let her starving changelings loose on an entire city in the middle of a royal wedding, an unprovoked invasion that a less forgiving ruler would have declared an act of war. She’d made an impression that Canterlot was still trying to clean up, and her recent spat with the doctor ensured that they still remembered it vividly.

She sighed. Her method worked fine one-on-one. Once Twilight returned to Ponyville, she would find a way to make it work with a crowd.

Wait a moment. What did she just say about her brews?

“You said ‘wake the unconscious,’” Chrysalis stated. “Exactly how unconscious would the pony, or whatever other creature, have to be for it not to work?”

Fluttershy gasped. “Chrysalis, are you suggesting that we could use one of Zecora’s potions to—”

“To rouse Chicane from his coma,” Chrysalis finished. “Can it be done?”

Zecora went silent for a moment, looking contemplative. Chrysalis supposed she had never been approached about comatose ponies before, not that many would have approached her at all in earlier years.

“It would take extra effort,” Zecora finally said, “but it can be done indeed. If you’d be so kind as to help, there are some things I will need.”

A smile spread instantly across Chrysalis’ face. “Nothing would please me more.”

“We can help too!” Pinkie shouted, breaking her impressively lengthy silence. “It’ll be like a potion party! It is a potion we’re making, right?”

“Yes, a potion will be the final result,” Zecora confirmed, smiling warmly. “First, I will require some smelling salts...”

In what felt like no time at all, the four had managed to concoct their elixir. It was a muddy blue solution, unlike anything most of them had ever seen. It bubbled slightly, still rather warm to the touch as it was extracted from Zecora’s cauldron, and it smelled strongly and strangely like citrus. Pinkie moved to taste-test it, but Zecora backed her away, telling her that it was meant as an inhalant rather than a beverage. Pinkie’s grimace and exclamation of “Yuck!” when she snuck the taste test anyway was enough to confirm that suspicion.

“How long does it take for this stuff to work?” Fluttershy inquired, gathering some of the brew in a small flask.

“He’ll be feeling fine in three hours’ time,” Zecora assured her.

Chrysalis’ smile widened to a degree that would make the pink earth pony proud. Her beloved subject would be returned to the waking world before day’s end. And when Chicane finally awoke, he would be so elated to know that his queen survived as well!

She was so pleased with this development, in fact, that when Twilight and Spike burst through the door to Zecora’s home, she completely failed to register the urgent distress on their faces.

“We need to get you back to town,” Spike declared.

“I’m so glad I caught you before you left,” Twilight added, “because I have no idea what would’ve happened to you if you tried walking back to the library. The only safe way back is to teleport.”

“What’s happening?” Fluttershy asked frightfully. “Is everypony okay?”

“They’re fine for now,” Twilight responded. “I just don’t know how long they’ll stay calm before—”

“Then it’s not urgent,” Chrysalis dismissed. “The important thing, Spike, is that you are here to send a quick package to Celestia.”

“Twilight just said it’s not safe to walk back to town!” Spike shouted. “How is that not urgent!?”

“It’s simple,” Chrysalis answered. “It is occurring away from here, it does not directly involve any of us at the moment, and it does not involve Chicane at the moment. In addition, nopony has been harmed by it.”

“What kind of reasoning is that!?” Twilight demanded.

“It doesn’t matter. I am in far too good a mood to allow you to ruin it, and I will not leave this hut until your assistant takes a letter and sends this flask.”

“Why can’t this wait until we—”

“Just do it,” Chrysalis ordered. “Getting this to Chicane and Cadance is all I care about.”

Twilight sputtered a string of incoherent, apparently unconnected words, having become very visibly exasperated. Chrysalis felt somewhat bad for riling her up, especially considering the mare’s recent attempts to rein in her more extreme emotions, but if it got her closer to reviving the unconscious changeling, it would be worth it.

Eventually, Twilight ran out of steam and groaned in defeat. “Spike, I don’t think we’re going to change her mind. Just take her letter.”

Dear Princess Celestia,

The potion I am sending to you is to be given to Cadance immediately. I have also enclosed its list of instructions and effects, which she must also receive posthaste. If Zecora is correct, it will return Chicane to full consciousness, hopefully lightening her burden by a significant degree and allowing me to speak with him once more.

I understand if you are skeptical of this potion’s effectiveness. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy have faith in the witch doctor’s abilities, however, which is all I need to have faith as well.

Your friend and ally,

Queen Chrysalis

Chrysalis watched with a great deal of satisfaction as the elixir was engulfed by the dragon’s emerald flames, the smoke trailing out through a window to deliver its cargo to Celestia in Canterlot. She knew the transfer from princess to princess would go just as smoothly.

“Now then,” she stated, her good mood completely incorruptible. “What brings you two here?”

Twilight’s response came after a few deep breaths. It was brief, but it was all it took to bring Chrysalis’ joy crashing down in an instant.

“It’s Ponyville. They’re starting a riot.”

Chapter Five: Unveiled

This was pretty intense. An all-out invasion of Canterlot! Chicane was barely able to contain his excitement, and whatever he did manage to bottle up was projected in his thoughts to the hive mind. There were countless other voices in his head with comparable amounts of excitement, and the migraine from their volume and quantity nearly stifled his own good feelings, but all he had to do was imagine the infinite banquet of love in the city below, and he’d cheer himself back up.

The issue, of course, was the force field. A magical bubble stood between the changeling forces and the heart of Equestria itself. Their attack had been announced, and the groom of the wedding scheduled to take place had erected the barrier in response. Chicane didn’t quite get why Queen Chrysalis would make their presence known, but he was convinced that it was all part of her perfect and foolproof plan.

After all, he figured, Queen Chrysalis could do no wrong.

The important thing, at any rate, was that his revered ruler was currently inside the city disguised as the bride, slowly draining the groom’s energy and weakening the barrier. She’d told her subjects that she had every intention of having it down by the end of the wedding, and Chicane didn’t doubt her for a moment.

Not that it was stopping several of the other changelings from impotently bashing into the force field, though. The more they kept at it, the more Chicane felt compelled to wonder what thousands of concussions sounded like. He knew better than to break his skull over a giant bubble. He would simply have to bide his time and wait for his queen’s command.

In the meantime, there were plenty of other unoccupied changelings he could try to strike up a chat with, assuming they’d be able to hear each other over the ones that were turning their own brains to mush.

Or he could just wait until the slamming died down. He knew the other changelings weren’t going anywhere.

Cadance had no idea what this was supposed to do.

The instructions were there with it, and its effects were listed plainly, but she had absolutely no clue how this potion was meant to work. The best equipment medical science had to offer couldn’t just wake up a coma patient. It was a miracle that Chicane even survived in a coma, on top of his rather severe injuries, for entire weeks before he was found. He was hanging on by the skin of his teeth, and she couldn’t imagine that changing with this potion.

On the other hoof... it was given to her by Princess Celestia. She’d seemed sure it would work, and Cadance trusted her aunt’s judgment in serious matters. The well-being of a battered changeling, one of the last of his kind on the brink of death, definitely counted as a serious matter.

It probably wouldn’t do as much good as everypony was convinced it would do, but if this was put in her hooves, it couldn’t do any harm either.

Cadance looked over the instructions one last time. The formula was meant to be inhaled. The flask was small, but not small enough to comfortably position under Chicane’s nose. She would need to pour it onto a rag and place it over his nose so he could breathe in the vapor, something the actual medical professionals helping her out would probably have tried to stop her from doing. She kept them well-informed, however, and they’d seemed to reluctantly consent to the proposed action.

After a brief search, Cadance found the rag that most closely matched the potion’s unsavory color. This way, if the potion stained, it wouldn’t be as noticeable. Whether the citrusy smell would ever go away was an issue for future Cadance to deal with.

Once the rag was properly soaked, she levitated it beside her as she approached Chicane. His peaceful look despite his condition unnerved her slightly. She figured he’d be screaming in agony if he were awake. If this worked, she’d have to brace herself for the potential noise.

Cadance enveloped the changeling’s oxygen mask with her magic, slowly and carefully dropping it from his face. She could hear his breathing much better without it, and it still sounded uneven and labored. She absently wondered whether the mask was even doing anything for him. Without further delay, she sat on the floor beside Chicane and brought the rag over his face, allowing the fumes to enter his system. It almost felt like she was smothering him or trying to knock him out with chloroform. She held it there for a full minute, listening as the poor thing breathed through it, before removing it.

Her job finished, Cadance replaced Chicane’s mask. She knew it wasn’t supposed to fully take effect for another three hours, but she still felt compelled to watch as he lay on the couch, unable to do anything but struggle to breathe. In spite of herself, she briefly hoped the concoction wouldn’t work. She didn’t know how she’d be able to cope if Chicane woke up and put her entirely at fault for his condition.

As if to counteract that selfish thought, Cadance leaned in and planted a light kiss on the changeling’s forehead. She’d vowed to show him that he was welcome and wanted, and she wasn’t going to wait until he was conscious to do that. Every little bit counted.

As she rose to leave, Cadance noticed something that put a smile on her face. She didn’t know if it was from the small gesture of love or from the gross-looking potion, but she was positive that Chicane’s breathing had just slightly steadied itself.

It felt good to take care of a changeling.

“It’s starting to look pretty bad,” Spike warned, watching the town from the safety of the library window. “I can hear the shouting from here. They’re just one step away from torches and pitchforks.”

Chrysalis became very aware of how wrong she was in claiming that this whole riot business was of no concern to her. Granted, she’d made the claim before she knew that it was a riot, but it still made her feel like a selfish idiot. Now, hiding in Twilight’s library with Spike and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, she realized just how badly the town of Ponyville was taking the news of her return.

“How’d this even happen!?” Applejack demanded. “This all can’t be over a stinkin’ paper!”

“Why not?” Rainbow Dash asked. “That same paper’s telling them the changelings are back for round two!”

“Can we please not argue?” Fluttershy pleaded. “Everything’s stressful and scary enough as it is.”

Chrysalis stood beside Spike, looking through the window at Ponyville. He was right; it was a show of chaos that would make Discord blush. Ponies were running and screaming, knocking things over, pointing hooves at others to presumably accuse them of being changeling spies. A few had even taken to throwing loose objects at buildings, some even going through windows.

That was why she had no idea how it surprised her that an orange went flying through the window on the other side of the library.

Chrysalis suddenly turned to the ponies in the room. “This is getting ridiculous. I have to make myself known to them.”

“Have you lost your mind!?” Rarity shouted. “You can’t let them know you’re here! It would be a massacre! A bloodbath!”

“Would it really be a bloodbath, though?” Pinkie Pie asked. “I think the spraying would make it a blood shower!”

“Not helping...” Fluttershy complained, backing as far away from the front door as possible. Chrysalis had to agree; now was not the time for such grim humor.

Twilight, meanwhile, sat at the center desk in silence. She seemed deep enough in thought to not be fazed by the antics around her. Chrysalis hoped she would speak up before the townsponies found her, the girls’ infighting tore them apart, or she just stormed out that door and outed herself regardless.

Ultimately, Twilight rose to her hooves with a look of determination. “Chrysalis is right. She’s held off publicly showing herself long enough. It’s better to get it done now than to let them find her themselves.”

“You think I can’t defend myself against these rioters?” Chrysalis asked. She surely could, but she would much rather find a solution that didn’t force her to.

“Let’s avoid that,” Twilight suggested, as if reading Chrysalis’ mind. “We need to show them that Chrysalis is here and that she’s peaceful. Hopefully, even if they don’t believe that she’s not here to hurt them, they’ll at least stop acting like everypony around them is a changeling.”

“How are we gonna talk to all of them at once?” Spike inquired.

“We can gather ‘em at town hall!” Applejack proclaimed. “Y’all can get over there and get yerselves ready while Rainbow and Ah round ‘em all up!”

Rainbow saluted. “You can count on me!”

“That’s a good start,” Twilight agreed. “I’m loving where you’re going with this, and I think I already know how to follow it up. The issue is with getting Chrysalis over there without being noticed. She can’t just use any of us as a disguise, and I don’t know if she’d get away with copying anypony else in town in case she gets recognized because she’s supposed to be joining the panic.”

“What about Derpy?”

All eyes turned to Pinkie Pie, who was grinning proudly. “Think about it! She’s always just in the background not getting involved in anything, and she’s been away for the last week without anypony else in town even noticing! I could take Chryssy over to make sure the disguise works! I can even help with her cover story if she needs one, since I know Derpy so well!”

Twilight beamed. “Perfect! Chrysalis, do you know what she looks li—”

Chrysalis didn’t even wait for Twilight to finish her sentence. She concentrated on the mental image in her head—pegasus mare, gray coat, somewhat ragged yellow mane, bubble cutie mark, misaligned golden eyes—and transformed with as subtle a display as she could manage.

“I’m quite impressed!” Rarity commented. “The match is perfect! How did you manage to alter your size as well? I noticed yesterday afternoon as well, but I never thought to ask.”

“How did you know who Derpy was?” Fluttershy added. “I didn’t think we’d introduced you to her.”

“She came into the library once when I had to watch it,” Chrysalis explained. “I never caught her name, but I could immediately tell who you were referring to from that alone.”

“Awesome!” Pinkie stated. “I’m still gonna be your escort, right?”

“Please do,” Chrysalis answered. “How does this mare even see straight?”

“I don’t even think she does,” Spike muttered, earning him a light smack across the back of the head from Pinkie.

“Well, I think we have almost everything straightened out,” Twilight decided. “Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike and I will go straight to town hall, and we’ll meet up with the rest of you there. Once everypony’s been gathered, we’ll need to find a nice, calm, quiet way to get them to—”

“Calm the heck down!” Rainbow bellowed at the top of her lungs, causing the others to smack their foreheads with their hooves. To her credit, it seemed to work. The townsponies immediately stopped shouting and bickering and looked to the podium at which the girls and Spike were standing. The disguised Chrysalis, having found a place in the back of the crowd, simply continued regarding them.

After a quick roll of her eyes, Twilight took center stage and approached the podium directly. “Thanks for gathering here on such short notice, everypony. I know the paper today contained some troubling news, but—”

“Troubling!?” a mare shouted from the crowd. “The changelings are back in Equestria!”

“I’m not saying they aren’t,” Twilight replied, “but I am saying that we can’t just fall back on panicking without knowing the whole story.”

“Why not?” another mare inquired. “Do you have any idea what those changeling beasts could do to us!?”

Unseen by anypony else, the pony who appeared to be Derpy Hooves began to frown.

“I know exactly what they could do,” Twilight answered. “I spent a lot of time after the invasion trying to learn about them.” She rubbed her neck and chuckled nervously. “Know your enemy, right?” Chrysalis desperately wanted to roll her eyes, but she didn’t trust these eyes to roll in any coherent direction.

“Why should we believe you?” came a third voice from the crowd. “For all we know, the reason you know about changelings is because you are a changeling!”

“I promise you, I’m not,” Twilight declared. “And if you think about it for two seconds, you’ll probably come up with several reasons why I can’t be one.”

The mare—a cream-colored earth pony with a magenta-pink mane and rose cutie mark—tried to retort, but paused to think for a moment. There were several murmurs across the crowd, the consensus seeming to be that Twilight might have a point.

“You see?” Twilight asked. “We need to stay calm and handle this rationally. Accusing everypony around you of being changelings causes more problems than it solves. Just this once, can’t we try thinking before we react?”

The crowd nodded and muttered in agreement again. Chrysalis couldn’t help but smile. It seemed like everything was going alright so far.

“But what if one of those disgusting things tries to attack?” the first voice asked. Chrysalis scowled, displeased by the populace’s prejudice.

“We’ll do as we’ve always done,” Twilight responded. “We deal with the problem as it comes along. There’s no sense in worrying when there’s nothing to worry about yet.”

“You’re one to talk!” came a new voice. “How many times has your own worrying gotten this town in trouble? And you’re up there telling us that these monsters aren’t our problem yet!?”

“Enough of this!” Chrysalis finally shouted. The audience watched as she attempted to fly over them and over to the podium, struggling through her crooked sight to follow a straight path. She unceremoniously collapsed as she reached the stage, shoving Twilight aside as she approached the podium herself.

“I tire of hearing you speak ill of the changeling race!” she announced. “And I am especially displeased by your disrespect for the mare that played a hoof in rescuing your town and kingdom from peril on countless occasions! She is correct; none of you in the crowd could possibly be changelings, and do you know why!?”

With that, Chrysalis exploded with a brilliant pillar of green magic, and when it subsided, she stood before the stunned crowd in her true form.

“Because the only changeling in Ponyville is I!”

“Chrysalis, what are you—” Twilight started, but the rest of her question was drowned out by screams of terror. Impressively enough, nopony ran screaming from town hall, which may have been due to Twilight’s brief speech a moment earlier.

Instead, with a rallying cry of “Get her!” the crowd, now a mob, charged forward, apparently hoping strength in numbers would be enough to overwhelm the obviously evil creature standing at the podium. Chrysalis watched the spectacle unfold, most of her conflicting emotions fighting for dominance with the sudden fear for her life.

Before the mob ever reached her, though, Chrysalis felt herself become spatially displaced as Twilight teleported them out of town hall.

Oh, sweet princess, another episode. Twilight had been doing so well before now.

She had the crowd perfectly in control before. She might even have warmed them up to the idea of Chrysalis hanging around Ponyville given enough of her time and their attention. But of course, the queen couldn't sit back and let them talk smack about her subjects. It was almost like she was starting to give up on making bad plans and instead jumping right to the part where she screwed herself over in one fell swoop. There must not have been a shred of common sense in that head of hers!

Twilight mentally chastised herself. She shouldn't be freaking out. Now was an absolutely perfect time to freak out, but she shouldn't be freaking out. If she could keep a level head through this, she could keep a level head through anything. As many times as she repeated this to herself, though, it didn’t stop her from antsily trotting in place in the middle of the library.

Princess Celestia was going to hear about this, and she was not going to be happy.

“This is all my fault,” Chrysalis confessed. “I should not have spoken out of turn as I did.”

“Ya think!?” Applejack scolded. “Chrysalis, ya just organized the riot into a mob!”

“I can figure out a way to fix all of this!” Chrysalis insisted. “I just need some time, and if you girls can continue to keep me hidden—”

“How?” Rarity asked. “The entire town has mobilized against you. Against us, I’m willing to bet. They will rip this town apart searching for you, and I have no doubt that our homes will be searched vigorously.”

“You don’t think you can manage it!?” Chrysalis shouted. “What if I went somewhere closer to the outskirts? Better yet, I could hide with Rainbow Dash in her cloud home!”

“That won’t protect you from the other pegasi,” Rainbow stated, rubbing the back of her neck. “I’ve seen my fair share of pegasus riots, and they can get nasty. I’d be in just as much danger as you if I kept you anywhere near me.”

Rainbow’s words lingered in Twilight’s mind for a moment. Chrysalis would put her in danger by being there with her. It was a consequence she never even considered for if the town reacted as poorly as it did. It wasn’t just Rainbow, either. All of them would find themselves on the townsponies’ bad side in the worst way if they kept Chrysalis close to them. The changeling queen was horribly at risk if she stayed in town, and whoever she stayed with would be endangered as well.

Twilight’s eyes began to fill with tears. She knew what she would have to do, and she desperately didn’t want to do it, but for everypony’s safety, she had no other choice.

“I’m so sorry,” she sobbed, turning her head away from Chrysalis. “You can’t stay here.”

Chrysalis backed herself against a wall, completely shocked. “What did you just say!?”

“I can’t keep you here in the library anymore!” Twilight yelled, her voice cracking. “Rarity and Rainbow Dash are right. They’re coming for you, they’ll look everywhere, and we’ll be in just as much trouble as you are if they find us with you. Not just us, either; everypony we live with would get in just as much trouble, whether it be Applejack’s family, the Cakes, or even Spike.

“It hurts me so much to have to break this to you, but... you have to leave town.”

The group sat in stunned silence for the longest time, the only sounds coming from the rioting mob outside. Twilight tried to look at Chrysalis, but the heartbreak in her eyes forced her to turn away. Spike and the other girls were just as appalled by her words, but none of them stepped up to counter them. Twilight was right, whether they liked it or not. Whether she liked it or not.

“Town hall’s still a little while away,” Twilight stated. “If you leave now, you can make it out without anypony seeing you, and you can go wherever you think you’ll be safe, but you’re not safe here.” She walked solemnly over to the door, opening it for Chrysalis. “For your own safety, as well as all of ours, I need you to get out of my library.”

Chrysalis, however, refused to move. “No. I-I can’t leave. I refuse to leave any of you! Friends are meant to stay together, right!?”

“They also have to look out for each other,” Twilight replied. “There’s no other way this will work out for everypony. Please, Chrysalis, this is so hard for me to do, but I don’t want you to make it any harder.”

“Why not!?” Chrysalis demanded. “You’re just acting upon the first solution that came into your head! I beg of you, just think more about it, take the time to create another plan to—”

“We don’t have time, Chrysalis!” Twilight shouted. “And the longer you stay, the closer they get, and the less time you have to escape!”

“I don’t care!” Chrysalis retorted. “I will not leave you! I can’t!”

“You can and you will! Get out!”

Almost without thinking, Twilight lit up her horn and enveloped the changeling in her magic. She backed herself out the door, dragging Chrysalis along, Once Twilight was just outside, she gathered her magical strength and forcibly threw Chrysalis out of the library.

“And don’t come back,” she hissed tearfully.

Chrysalis picked herself up off the ground, not once taking her eyes off Twilight. The librarian glared back, but the utter distress and betrayal on the queen’s face broke her heart. She kept her gaze locked, hoping beyond hope that Chrysalis would just leave so she wouldn’t have to look at that face anymore.

Finally, she did leave, frantically sprinting towards the edge of town.

Twilight turned to re-enter her home, feeling like the most heartless and disgusting pony alive, never noticing the three small heads poking out from behind her bushes.

“You did what!?” Cadance cried, in utter disbelief of what her sister-in-law had just told her.

“I couldn’t do anything else!” Twilight insisted. “The mob would’ve ripped her to shreds, and if they caught us with her, they’d rip us to shreds too!”

“So you threw her out of the library!?” Cadance shouted. “What in Celestia’s name were you thinking!?”

“I was thinking of all of us!” Twilight replied. “There was no other way to make sure she stayed safe and we weren’t put at risk! None of us could’ve done anything for her!”

“What about just being there for her!?” Cadance asked.

Twilight fumbled for words, but nothing coherent came. It seemed like a family curse; Cadance just had more common sense than Shining Armor and Twilight, and arguments like these would keep falling in her favor.

Most times, though, she really wished she didn’t have to keep having arguments like these.

“Twilight, Chrysalis is a complete wreck right now,” Cadance informed her. “Your casting her out like that is only going to make things worse for her. You just showed her that she couldn’t count on you or your friends to help her out of this. She has no shoulder to cry on now, and I guarantee you she needs one more than anything else.”

“What she needs is to stay alive,” Twilight countered, but there was a distinct lack of conviction in her tone. “I... I didn’t have the time to think of anything that would keep her safe and make her happy.”

“You still should’ve handled it in a way that wouldn’t make her miserable,” Cadance scolded, cutting off the connection on her end before Twilight could retaliate.

Cadance let out a long, deep sigh. All this, just because Chrysalis couldn’t keep her temper in control. The queen had the worst habit of creating terrible situations for herself and finding new and spectacular ways of making them so much worse. She was shaping up to be her own worst enemy.

Twilight was just as at fault in this case. There was absolutely no need for her to hurl Chrysalis out of the library and demand that she stay out. Cadance sincerely hoped Twilight’s friends had the sense to scold her for her actions, just as she had. The poor mare needed to think long and hard about what she’d done, and hopefully, the next Cadance heard, she’ll have found the queen and reconciled.

For now, though, Chrysalis was of much greater concern. Even if Cadance couldn’t physically be there for her, the changeling at least deserved to know that she wasn’t entirely without support. She concentrated, intending to open another portal so she could speak to her.

Before she could finish the spell, she heard a scream from the couch downstairs.

Chapter Six: Forsaken

Chicane could barely mask his joy when he finally heard a crack in the barrier where his body collided with it. He had a perfect view of the throne room in which the wedding ceremony was being held from this angle, and he’d watched his glorious leader drop her disguise in a brilliant display as she gave the order to attack the weakened force field. Once he’d started, he immediately complained that magic should not be this solid. Naturally, that just made the cracking that much more satisfying.

He paused just long enough to watch Queen Chrysalis overcome that pony princess with the energy she sapped from the groom. If anyone tried to doubt her perfection, he’d forever use that one moment as his counter-argument. He wouldn’t even need anything else.

Then he saw six mares gallop out of the room. Had the field not been protecting them, they would have been open targets. The other changelings doubled their efforts, cracking the magenta bubble even more.

Soon there were cracks across the entire surface of the barrier, but it still held. Chicane heard several suggestions that they should coordinate and synchronize their tackles. Hopefully, the force of every changeling attacking at once would be enough to shatter it completely. He and the others complied, backing away from the bubble and encircling it from a short distance.

The countdown started. Three. Two. One.

Chicane would never have guessed that magic sounded like glass when it broke. The top collapsed first, the fractures and shards spreading further down the shield until the city below lay completely vulnerable.

At once, the changelings dove.

The rest of the ordeal went by like a blur, and Chicane was too driven by adrenaline to register much of it. There was a giant brawl with the six mares, a fleeting moment by his queen’s side, and some of the best eating he’d done in ages. Queen Chrysalis was truly a genius, bringing her subjects to an all-you-can-eat love buffet.

The next thing he knew, he was flying. Very fast. And very far. Entirely against his will. For a split second, he could look back down at Canterlot and see a fresh new force field, which must have expanded outward from the throne room and shoved the changelings right out of the city. The barrier faded from sight before the city itself did.

All he could see for a time was sky. He had every right to just recover and fly back to the safety of the hive, but he was moving too fast and in far too much shock to right himself.

A realization suddenly dawned on him, and it dawned on a few others at the same time. He was absolutely going to die. Blast through the sky, smash into solid ground, and die.

His head was filled with panicked screams. He tried his best to block them out, but there were too many. As much as he disliked the hive mind, he never truly hated it more than he did now. It wasn’t enough that he’d probably be splattered across several miles at any moment. He would have to go out hearing his fellow changelings’ terror and agony, powerless to stop the unbearable pain the noise caused him. It would probably tear his skull apart before the earth below ever got the chance.

Eventually, he dropped low enough to see the ground speeding by underneath him. There seemed to be a lot of desert in Equestria. The sand would probably be the softest thing he’d ever broken anything on. He’d be lucky to even get away with that much; at this speed, he doubted it would cushion his fall enough for him to be able to walk away from it.

As the shrieks of his fellow changelings started abruptly cutting short, Chicane watched the ground come closer. He thought he could see an orchard in the distance, far enough away to make it difficult to identify the kind of trees but close enough that he’d probably collide with any number of them before the desert floor had its way with him.

His last thought before darkness overtook him was that the infallible Queen Chrysalis was wrong. Horribly, catastrophically wrong.

Pain. Immediately after regaining consciousness, the first thing to register was the pain.

The next thing to register was the deafening silence.

Chicane awoke, jolting upright with a bloodcurdling scream. It started out of terror and despair generated by the sheer emptiness of the hive mind, then turned into a cry of pain when his sudden motion triggered innumerable agonizing sensations along his entire body.

He lay back down in as comfortable a position as he could manage, trying to comprehend exactly what was going on. Right away, he realized that he couldn’t see out of his right eye. It felt like he was on a couch, and it looked like he was in a pony’s home. There were tubes and wires hooked up to him, his snout was covered by an oxygen mask, and there were casts and bandages on the entire right side of his body, as well as a good deal of the left. He wondered what must have happened to him that could leave him in such a state.

Then the memories assaulted him without warning. The wedding invasion that Queen Chrysalis orchestrated had failed catastrophically, and he’d been flung through the air only to land untold miles away from the invasion site. Not only did the impact with the desert ground not kill him, but it looked like this pony actually saved him.

Saved by a pony. The others wouldn’t let him hear the end of—

Before he could finish his thought, the emptiness of the hive mind and its implications struck home completely. There were no others. He could finally really hear himself think, but he could only hear himself think. There were no mental conversations, no stray unconscious thoughts, no feeling of presence at all. The hive mind itself was still there, he could feel it, but its vacancy was overwhelming.

He never thought getting what he’d always wanted would be so completely, soul-crushingly awful.

He heard the sound of frantic hoofsteps scrambling down a stairway, which turned into a series of grunts and thuds towards the end as the pony the sounds belonged to apparently lost their footing. Her footing, from the sound of the voice creating the grunts. The pony apparently righted herself instantly, the flapping noise suggesting she chose instead to fly the rest of the way to the room in which he lay.

Then the pony came into view, and Chicane couldn’t believe his eyes. Pink coat, purple eyes, gorgeous mane displaying a rainbow of warm colors, crystallized heart upon her flank, regal attire, horn and wings... this was the bride of the wedding he’d crashed. The very pony whose place had been taken by his queen. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

That must have meant he was still in Canterlot. If so, then why was there a memory of plummeting to his near-doom in a desert? If that never happened, how did he get so badly injured? How much was he misremembering? Did his queen actually win the day? Could this pony even be her in disguise?

Upon closer inspection, he realized that this was indeed the real Mi Amore Cadenza. It was difficult to properly describe, but a changeling was simply aware of when a pony they saw was a fellow changeling in hiding. Not even the queen could avoid that aura of awareness. The pony before him was actually a pony.

Plus, if the queen had been victorious, there was still the urgent matter of the absolutely vacant hive mind. He knew she would not have simply slaughtered the other changelings, and he highly doubted Mi Amore Cadenza would be roaming free in the case of a victory.

Then again... he suddenly realized just how little he could say he actually knew about Queen Chrysalis.

“Chicane!” the princess cried. “You’re awake! Are you alright!?”

Chicane could hardly believe his ears. He was an accessory to the ruination of this pony’s special day, if his memory wasn’t lying to him about that little detail. And yet, she was showing actual concern for his well-being. He couldn’t doubt its legitimacy, not if this was her home and her couch he was occupying. For some irrational, inexplicable reason, she cared.

He chose to keep silent regardless. The oxygen mask obscured his mouth too much for him to be clearly understood. And that was just ignoring the infinite number of questions he had, so many that he couldn’t decide which to ask first.

“Please, Chicane, talk to me!” Mi Amore Cadenza pleaded, using her magic to remove his mask. “Are you hurt?”

Chicane was impressed with himself. Even through the pain, he was still able to manage a completely deadpan stare.

“Okay, stupid question,” the princess conceded. “But please just say something to let me know you’re alright.”

Chicane decided he might as well stop his apparent healer’s worrying. After a brief time, most of it filled with painful coughs, he finally managed to formulate actual words.

“C... Cadenza...”

“Please, just call me Cadance,” she insisted, sighing in relief. “Oh, you can’t even imagine how happy I am to see you recovering!”

“What—” Chicane started, interrupting himself with another cough. “What... h-happened to... me?”

Cadance’s relief gave way to nervousness. “Well... my husband found you in the orchards of Appleloosa, way out in the western desert. He and I... we made the force field that forced you all out of Canterlot.”

Chicane zoned out after the first sentence, after the mention of the desert. His memory hadn’t been lying to him at all. The invasion did fail. He did get sent flying.

Queen Chrysalis was wrong.

“Then... the other changelings...”

“Dead,” Cadance confirmed, solemnly hanging her head. “If any more are still alive, they’re in comas, just like you were. The only other one left that I actually know of... is your queen.”

Simply amazing. Even when her race had diminished to almost nothing, Queen Chrysalis still managed to find a way to survive and thrive. It made logical sense, too, based on what Cadance had told him. She knew his name, and her husband knew to seek out survivors, through the queen’s word.

More surprising to him, though, was his utter lack of elation at the news. Why wasn’t he more excited and overjoyed to hear that his beautiful, most exalted ruler still lived? Why couldn’t he take solace in the survival of the glorious beacon of perfection that was Queen Chrysalis?

At last, the fact truly sank in. She was not perfect. She was never perfect. She was just as flawed as the changelings she lorded over, the only difference being that she could close off her mind and hide her flaws. He always thought the ability to break off from the hive mind was a gift, a blessing he could only dream of, but she used it as a shroud to cover up everything that made her her. Changelings had no choice but to be open with each other; if anything, avoiding it made her an anomaly. She was cold and distant to them. She claimed she cared, but she never showed it. In fact, the extinction of their race due to a plan executed in her name seemed to show just how little she valued her subjects. She wasn’t a queen; she was a tyrant, distancing herself from her subjects to give the illusion of being above them. And to her, the changelings were all disposable. He’d always trusted Chrysalis, and she betrayed that trust by leading the changelings to their doom.

So no, Chicane didn’t rejoice. He didn’t celebrate. All he could do was hate.

His emotions must have been very clear on his face, because Cadance recoiled at the sight of him. “I’m sorry!” she cried. “I was trying to protect the kingdom! I didn’t know any of this was going to happen, and if I could go back to my wedding day, it wouldn’t have happened! Now Shining Armor’s trying to clean up our mess, and I haven’t slept right in weeks because of what I did!”

She brought herself closer to Chicane, placing his uncasted hoof in hers. “I don’t care if you hate me, and I don’t expect you to forgive me. I just want you to understand that I didn’t want any of this.”

Chicane just stared blankly at Cadance. She stared back with the deepest regret, eyes wide and watering. Despite what she said, it seemed like she really was desperate to hear that he forgave her for her actions. In turn, he could only look at her like she was crazy.

“It’s not your fault,” he told her. “None of us should’ve... should’ve even been there.” He saw Cadance start to smile, and he couldn’t help but smile back. “If anything, I’m sorry. I helped destroy your... your wedding, and I was just... following orders. You ponies... you’re not that bad. Especially not if... you had it in your... in your heart to help me... after all that.”

“I’ve done enough damage,” Cadance replied. “All I want is to fix even the tiniest bit of that damage, and the first step is... well, fixing you.”

“Well... thanks. I apprecia—”

Suddenly, Chicane felt uncomfortably lightheaded. It couldn’t have been love shortage, though he was unbearably hungry. Nor did he believe it was related to his pitiful condition in any other way. The utter nothing in the hive mind left no question as to where this dizziness was coming from.

Chrysalis, the queen, caretaker, and destroyer of the changeling race, was addressing her subject.

The three hours had passed. Chicane was awake.

Chrysalis stood on the outskirts of that dreaded Everfree Forest. She once saw this place as the most hostile environment she’d ever encountered, but now she felt more safe and welcome in this natural abomination than anywhere else. She reached out to the hive mind’s sole occupant, to the one individual she knew she could turn to.

Chicane, this is Queen Chrysalis. Please, please respond.

Finally, Chrysalis was about to hear the thoughts of her beloved subject. She just knew that Chicane would be delighted to be awake and in the mental presence of his ruler again. She’d heard his desires for a less crowded mind many a time, and while it came at such a price, she was sure he’d come to appreciate the hive mind’s current vacancy.

This was such a joyous occasion, in fact, that she was already starting to feel better about everything else in her life at the moment. It made her want to turn right back to Ponyville and brave the growing mob to reach her friends. She figured she could take the rioting ponies. In fact, there may even still be hope for reasoning with them! She eagerly awaited her subject’s response, just knowing it would be the push she needed to turn around and head back to town.

You murdered us all, you bitch.

Chrysalis bolted into the forest without a second thought.

Cadance watched in horror as Chicane’s relatively friendly expression transformed in a heartbeat into one of pure, unbridled rage. He let out a snarl of frustration and punched the couch with his one good foreleg, knocking his IV tube loose. She figured he may not need it anymore now that he was conscious and functional enough to properly eat, but she still fumbled with the tube, trying to stop the fluid from coming out of the open end while setting it aside.

“What’s gotten into you!?” she demanded. “If I’m not the problem, what is?”

“That monster that calls herself a queen,” Chicane hissed. “She led us all to our deaths. And she just tried... to talk to me.”

Cadance nearly asked how it was possible for him to speak to her, but she retracted her query, having met her stupid-question quota for the day. “The hive mind.”

“She’s told you a lot,” Chicane muttered. “Even my name. What are you doing... associating with her?”

“It’s a long story,” Cadance replied. “A really long story. Right now, though, what’s important is what happened just now with her.”

“It’s funny,” Chicane stated, apparently changing the subject. “The hive mind used to be so... so cluttered and crowded. I wasn’t a fan of it. Now it’s just... it’s so empty. It’s so quiet. I always wanted that... but not like this.”

“Focus, Chicane!” Cadance demanded. “What happened with Chrysalis? What did you tell her?”

“The truth,” Chicane answered. “I told her... that she killed us all.”

Cadance was suddenly filled with a sense of dread. The last thing Chrysalis needed now was to hear something like that. There was no telling what she might be driven to do now. This desertion from her only conscious subject would put her over the edge for sure! She needed to talk to her now, if only to stop her from hurting herself... or worse.

There was one other call she wanted to make first. Chrysalis would need a few friends to help her now, and Cadance would make sure she got them. Starting with herself, of course, and the first other pony to come to her mind that she knew was on good terms with the changeling queen. With newfound determination, she cast her communication spell and met with her first contact.

"Shining Armor, we need to talk. Now.”

Chrysalis didn’t know how long she’d been running. All she knew was that it was now dark enough to render the already-shaded forest nearly pitch-black. She could barely see anything around her.

Not that she’d been able to see much up to now anyway. Her tears had been impairing her vision the entire time.

She found herself slowing down, exhaustion finally beginning to overcome her. Before she could come to a complete stop, however, her hoof collided with an unseen log, sending her face-first to the ground and creating a small crater in the loose dirt and leaves. The collision knocked the wind out of her, robbing her of the energy she may have used to right herself again. The most pain came from her chest, only some of it due to the old wound from Twilight’s magic blast reopening.

He hated her. Chrysalis thought it unfathomable that Chicane, of all changelings, could ever have spoken such words about her. She was supposed to reunite with him in high spirits, bonding over their shared misery and perhaps discussing the fate of the changeling race. She would have befriended him, something she could never have done as queen of a swarm of thousands. And on the extremely off chance that Shining Armor failed to find anymore survivors, she would need him to repopulate, though she hoped dearly that it would not have to come to that. But Chicane had projected his message with conviction and venom, meaning every spiteful word. He once revered her, but now she was dead to him.

And if Chicane felt this way... she knew they all would. They deserved to hate her, and she deserved to be hated.

Once again, the desperate and hopeless queen, in too much pain to move up from the forest floor, could do nothing except lay in her crater and weep. Now, however, the very thing that had driven her to rise and carry on before had sent her here in the first place.

She heard a faint rustling beside her. One of Everfree’s denizens was coming for her now that she hadn’t even the strength to stand. She figured it could be that manticore looking to settle an imagined score. She’d also heard tales of cockatrices that would petrify with a glance, of timber wolves that would reconstruct themselves if broken apart. Either way, the once-great Queen Chrysalis would meet her gruesome end at the hands of some wild animal.

She closed her leaking eyes, resigning herself to her fate. Her failure was complete. The entire kingdom was against her, her friends felt unsafe around her, and the only conscious changeling alive had denounced her. There was nothing left for her now but the sweet release of death.

Then she heard a voice. With her hopes irreparably shattered, she almost dreaded the sound, taking it to mean she would not be left to suffer her fate in as much peace as a feral beast would allow. The dread dissipated, though only somewhat, when she realized that the voice was familiar.

“What is amiss, Queen Chrysalis?”

Chrysalis didn’t have time to answer before she finally blacked out.

Chapter Seven: Zecora (Take Two)

“C’mon, gals!” Apple Bloom shouted. “She went into th’ Everfree Forest!”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders stood before the closest thing to an entrance they could find into the dark, unregulated woods. Over time, many of the stories about Everfree were disproven and forgotten, due largely to Zecora’s residence and the frequent trips made by the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. The fact of the matter, however, was that the forest was still extraordinarily dangerous, and the majority of ponies were still scared to venture within.

These fillies, of course, had relatively little fear of the forest now, especially Apple Bloom. She knew a mostly safe path to Zecora’s home, and she visited the zebra frequently with or without Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Everfree was also the site of some of their riskier, more disastrous attempts to earn their cutie marks, and their only issue had been with a cockatrice, which Fluttershy had fended off. Well, there was one incident in the past with a patch of poison joke flowers, but Scootaloo had demanded that they never speak of it again.

“Do we have to go after her?” Sweetie Belle asked. “She can handle herself, can’t she?”

“You’re not chickening out, are you?” Scootaloo teased.

“Of course not!” Sweetie insisted. “It’s just that the last time we came in here at night, we needed Fluttershy to save us.”

“Ain’t no better durin’ the day,” Apple Bloom stated. “Half the time Ah don’t even think th’ animals can tell the difference. Besides, she’s our friend, and we’ve gotta help her!”

“What could she possibly need help with?” Scootaloo inquired. “Those angry ponies aren’t gonna get anywhere near the Everfree Forest. She’ll be fine.”

Apple Bloom smacked her forehead. Scootaloo just wasn’t getting why it was so important that they find Chrysalis. Bloom knew she needed help, but it wasn’t anything to do with the mob. Her sister had always told her that she should seek out family and friends for comfort if she was feeling down, and after what happened at town hall, Chrysalis was just about the downest pony she’d ever seen.

“Scootaloo... remember when the front wheel and handlebars broke off yer scooter?”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo answered. “That week of waiting for it to get fixed was pretty rough. That thing’s practically my baby.”

“I think that was the first time you ever cried in front of us,” Sweetie added, smiling a little more than was situationally appropriate.

Scootaloo scowled at Sweetie, then sighed and turned back to Apple Bloom. “She’s right, I guess. I was more of a wreck than the scooter. If you guys hadn’t been there for me, I don’t know what I would’ve done.”

“That’s my point,” Apple Bloom explained. “Ya needed yer friends pretty bad after that. Miss Chrysalis is the same way right now, prob’ly even worse, and we need to be there for her. Ah’m goin’ in that forest and findin’ her whether y’all come with me or not.”

“If it’s for Miss Chrysalis,” Sweetie proclaimed, “then why wouldn’t we come?”

“And maybe if we do a good enough job,” Scootaloo suggested, “we can get our cutie marks in making changelings feel better!”

Apple Bloom glared at Scootaloo. “You’re seriously thinkin’ ‘bout yer cutie mark at a time like this?”

“You never know!” Scootaloo insisted, smiling sheepishly.

“This is serious, Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom scolded. “We’ve gotta find her and help her!”

“The Everfree Forest is pretty big,” Sweetie observed. “She could be anywhere in there by now. Where do we start looking?”

Apple Bloom smirked. “Where else? Zecora’s hut!”

When Chrysalis awoke, her first thought was that it didn’t feel like she was lying on the forest floor anymore. In fact, the surface on which she lay felt soft and cushioned.

When she opened her eyes, she realized she was lying on a bed. She remembered a pony addressing her before she lost consciousness, but could not recall the voice or the words. She was certain, however, that she was currently lying on that pony’s bed.

She looked down at her torso to find it wrapped in gauze, stained red around the chest area. The hospitable pony who took her in must also have treated her reopened wound.

Who could have recovered her from the Everfree Forest, though? It certainly wasn’t a villager from Ponyville, which would still be in unanimous turmoil. She doubted it would be any of her friends, least of all Twilight, who felt so unsafe around her that she’d thrown her out of town. The room looked far too humble and simplistic for it to belong to any of the princesses. Who did that leave, out of the ponies who knew she was here?

A number of factors played into the realization of the pony’s identity. The first was the recollection that those words she heard before passing out were spoken in rhyme. The next was Chrysalis glancing towards the open doorway, recognizing the cauldron and masks in the next room. The one that really drove it home was the sight of the pony herself standing in the doorway.

“Zecora...?”

“C’mon, gals!” Applejack shouted. “The Crusaders went this way!”

The six mares galloped in pursuit of the three young fillies, Spike desperately clinging to Twilight for dear life. Once they saw where their hunt was leading them, however, they stopped dead in their tracks.

“Th-th-the Everfree Forest!?” Fluttershy exclaimed, backing away frantically.

“What possible reason could they have for journeying into the forest alone at this time of night?” Rarity demanded, as if anypony present could accurately answer her.

“Ah don’t rightly know,” Applejack replied, “but Ah swear, when Ah get my hooves on Apple Bloom...”

“Cool your jets, AJ,” Rainbow Dash cautioned. “Save it for when we find them, which we’re not gonna do by just standing here talking about it!”

“Let’s get this search party started!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, inexplicably flinging confetti into the air.

“I vote we check Zecora’s place first,” Spike declared. “Apple Bloom’s pretty close to her, so I bet that’s the first place she’d go, and if she turns up there, so will Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Twilight, what do you think?”

Twilight didn’t answer. Her mind was barely even on the renegade schoolfillies. She was simply following her friends around while they fretted over the girls’ disappearance, and even then, it had been at Spike’s insistence.

She felt awful for not caring more, but it was because she was too busy feeling awful for what she did to Chrysalis. Cadance was right; she did the right thing the completely wrong way. She was never one to assume that the ends would justify the means, especially not if there were other lasting consequences to meeting those ends. What she’d just done could potentially have sabotaged her friendship with Chrysalis, a friendship that had taken so much heartbreak and hardship to forge in the first place. Who knew what Chrysalis might have been driven to do between then and now? Twilight prayed they wouldn’t find her hanging by her neck from a tree after several days, but she wasn’t convinced that there wasn’t a chance of it happening. She needed friends now more than ever, and all her friends had driven her away. Well, most of them; it wasn’t like the Cutie Mark Crusaders had any say in—

Twilight gasped. All at once, the pieces of the puzzle fit themselves together in her head. At the thought of the Crusaders, she suddenly realized where they went, why they went there, and who they went there for.

“They’re looking for Chrysalis.”

“Now just hold on a minute here,” Applejack stated. “How could ya know that? How’d ya figure it out?”

“They must have come to the same conclusion Cadance did,” Twilight replied, explaining without properly answering. “I think they followed her into the forest, just like we’re about to do, so she could have friends by her side.”

“I’m still angry at you for doing that, you know,” Fluttershy informed her. Twilight shrank back, not wanting to be subjected to another round of scolding.

“Spike’s right,” Twilight continued. “The first place they’d look would be with Zecora. Depending on her mental state when she ran through here, Chrysalis may have had the same idea.”

“Called it,” Spike declared, smiling smugly.

“Yes you did,” Twilight muttered. “This search just got a lot more urgent, girls. Let’s move out.”

And move out they did, storming into the depths of the Everfree Forest.

Zecora stood smiling by the doorway to her bedroom, keeping an eye on Chrysalis as she regained her consciousness. Dragging her from the forest floor all the way home was physically taxing and definitely didn’t do the changeling any favors, but it was refreshing to see her come to and realize where she was.

“You should have left me to die,” Chrysalis spat, though Zecora detected a hint of thankfulness in her tone.

“And exactly why would I leave you to die?” Zecora asked, still somewhat alarmed that Chrysalis would even say such a thing.

“Your potion worked all too well,” Chrysalis explained. “Chicane is alive and well. He remembers everything... and he holds me accountable.”

She sighed deeply, and Zecora could see tears welling up in her eyes. “All of Ponyville is against me, even worse than when they were against you. They have become violent, and I fear for the safety of my friends.” She paused for a moment, and when she continued, her voice was wavering. “They fear for their own safety as well. Twilight Sparkle... she told me I was a risk to them all, and she threw me out of town! I cannot turn to them, the subject I’ve fought so hard to save won’t let me turn to him, and I’ve made myself the enemy of an entire village, if not an entire kingdom! There is nothing left for me, Zecora. You should have left me at the mercy of the forest!”

Without a word, Zecora ran to the bed and wrapped Chrysalis in a hug. Those seemed to work often enough.

“We’re all clear on this?” Cadance asked.

“We’re not clear on anything!” Shining Armor answered. “Do you realize how much this is gonna take out of you, running around and performing all these spells? I don’t want you to overwork yourself!”

“It’s our best option,” Cadance insisted. “Chrysalis needs us.”

“And Chicane needs you,” Shining replied. “Heck, I need you. I won’t have you killing yourself over this!”

“Just wait for my signal,” Cadance ordered. “I’ll be fine. I’ll talk to you again in a bit.”

Without further warning, she cut the connection and very nearly collapsed to the floor. Shining was right about one thing; using the communication spell this many times would seriously exhaust her. Having already used it once before today, this one made her feel lightheaded, and she was certain it would be topped off with a headache later on.

“Why even bother?” a voice asked from the couch. “She’s not worth it.”

“I don’t want to hear it, Chicane,” Cadance demanded. “You should be resting right now.”

“I don’t want to watch you do this to yourself,” Chicane insisted. “Not over her.”

“You won’t have to watch me if you just go to sleep!” Cadance snapped. The foreseen headache was taking effect, and on top of the day’s events and the extraordinary stress, she was seriously starting to lose her patience. Mercifully, Chicane must not have seen the sense in arguing, and he shifted uncomfortably on the couch to face away from her.

Her aunts, the ruling powers of Equestria, were next. Wasting no time, not even to recover from the last spell, Cadance cast another communication spell targeting Princess Celestia. To her good fortune, both sisters were present.

“—where that rumor originated,” Princess Luna stated, Cadance seemingly having come in during a conversation. “You are far more slender than the average pony.”

“Neither of us are average ponies,” Celestia replied, “and it started because they’ve seen my appetite. I blame my own metabolism for it not showing in my appearance.”

Luna smirked. “Perhaps the weight all goes to your—” She stopped in surprise when she looked toward the spatial window beside them. “I believe we have an eavesdropper, big sister.”

Celestia followed Luna’s gaze to the portal. She smiled at first when she saw who was on the other side, but her face twisted into a look of concern. “Cadance? Are you alright? Is something wrong?”

“There’s not much time,” Cadance hastily explained. “Something terrible has happened in Ponyville, and Chrysalis had to go into hiding. She needs moral support, and she needs it now.”

“You disrupted our conversation for this?” Luna complained.

“Have care how you speak, little sister,” Celestia cautioned. “Cadance, what exactly happened? This isn’t about the newspaper, is it?”

“It must have been,” Cadance replied. “Apparently Ponyville’s gone into full riot mode. It’s so bad right now that Twilight thr—convinced Chrysalis to leave her care and skip town. She’s all alone, and at a time like this, she shouldn’t be.”

“I should have publicly pardoned her the moment I made my ruling...” Celestia lamented. “I’ll use this spell to contact Queen Chrysalis immediately. In the meantime... you look like you could use some rest.”

“How can I rest at a time like this!?” Cadance asked. “I still need to get back to Shining Armor to tell him it’s time to talk to Chrysalis, then I need to actually get in touch with Chrysalis herself—”

“I will talk to Shining Armor,” Celestia declared. “You’re exerting yourself far too much. You need to save your energy.”

“Not until I can help Chrysalis,” Cadance asserted. “She needs me. She needs all of us.”

A lengthy pause occurred between the three princesses. Cadance looked to her elders with determination, waiting for their response.

Ultimately, it was Luna who spoke. “Do what you must,” she decided. “Leave Shining Armor to my sister, but contact Queen Chrysalis posthaste. If you like, I could lend a hoof as well and discuss this with Twilight Sparkle and her friends.”

“I talked to her when all this was just starting,” Cadance informed her. “If I know her half as well as I think I do, she’s already on it.”

Chrysalis had no idea why Zecora tried the hug. Those never worked.

She certainly didn't feel any better, not even as she let her tears flow freely in the zebra's embrace. Her problems were going nowhere. The kingdom still hated her, her subject still rejected her, and her friends still evicted her. No amount of ponies ensnaring her in their forelegs would make any of that go away.

“What are you doing?” Chrysalis demanded.

“You were in a rut,” Zecora explained, “so I wished to try to alleviate your desire to die.”

“And you’re doing a fantastic job of that,” Chrysalis spat. “You should have left me. My well-being is none of your concern.”

“Your cries were impossible to ignore,” Zecora explained. “It was sorrow unlike any I’d heard before. And when I found you lying there, I had to bring you into my care.”

“Why!?” Chrysalis shouted. “What possible reason could you have to do this!? Why do you care!?”

“Because you are my friend.”

Chrysalis nearly went limp in her shock. The lack of rhyme did not even register. For just how long had she known Zecora before now? And yet a connection had already been made? For a fleeting moment, the notion seemed simply outrageous.

Then she began to recollect. Had it been any different with Fluttershy? With any of the others, save Twilight Sparkle? Almost all of her connections had been made within moments and cemented during the wait for Princess Celestia’s verdict. Pinkie Pie had practically befriended her on sight! Chrysalis had even taken the time to assist Zecora with her potion, so she may have done more to earn her friendship than to earn anypony else’s.

The train of thought came with a new feeling of guilt. She should have sought out Zecora in the first place rather than running blindly through the forest, and she only had either unconscious guidance or coincidence to blame for coming as close as she had.

The hug started feeling like it was working. Chrysalis returned it with great force, smiling for the first time that night.

The first knocks came as Chrysalis clung to the zebra, and a young voice called from the other side. “Zecora? Ah need to talk to ya! It’s important!”

Of course. Apple Bloom. How could Chrysalis have forgotten about her and the Crusaders? She had only seen them the previous day, and the event was one of the most pleasant she'd experienced in her time in Ponyville despite its brevity. It was through Apple Bloom and her sister that she had even heard about Zecora, and at this moment, she couldn't help but feel thankful for that.

“Go ahead and answer the door,” Zecora offered. “It just might be you she’s looking for.”

Chrysalis released her grip on the zebra, ready to ask how she could possibly know that, when she heard another, higher voice cry, “Please, Zecora! We need to find Miss Chrysalis!”

The voice belonged to Sweetie Belle. It was not much of a stretch to assume Scootaloo was with them as well. Apple Bloom had gotten the gang together just for her.

Chrysalis climbed off Zecora’s bed, wincing in pain as her chest wound reacted to the movement, and gingerly approached the door. When she opened it, she was greeted with the sight of the three fillies who called themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

The sight remained for only a second, as the girls immediately leapt up and tackled her to the ground, hugging her as she fell. She howled in pain as she landed on her side, aggravating the bandaged wound.

“That didn’t sound good,” Scootaloo remarked as the girls climbed off the injured changeling.

“Miss Chrysalis!” Sweetie Belle shouted. “Your chest! What happened?”

“It’s an old wound,” Chrysalis groaned, working through the pain as she sat herself upright. “I acquired it upon my first visit to Ponyville. It must have reopened as I was running through the forest.”

“Why were ya runnin’, though?” Apple Bloom inquired. “Ah thought ya woulda come right here to Zecora.”

“One seldom acts rationally under extreme emotional distress,” Chrysalis admitted. “I never even gave it a passing thought. I was so distraught by the actions of my friends in Ponyville that I neglected my other friend here.”

“We’re really sorry about what happened in town,” Sweetie stated. “Is there anything we can do to help other than just being here?”

Chrysalis was utterly dumbstruck. These three fillies took the risk of skipping town and venturing through dangerous terrain to find her, and now that they had, they wanted to help her. She couldn’t imagine how they would be able to, but just the fact that they were dedicated enough to her to make that effort...

She must really be getting soft, she realized, if such a sentiment could still bring a tear to her eye after everything else.

“Your presence is enough,” Chrysalis declared, wrapping the Crusaders in as tight a hug as her chest would allow. “Thank you. I had almost given up hope.”

As eased as her troubled mind was becoming, Chrysalis still dwelled on the day’s events as the fillies returned her embrace. It pleased her to know that she had not been shunned by all of her friends, but it still bothered her that the ones who had driven her out were the ones she was closest to. The moral support these friends strove to provide was also not enough to eliminate her concerns about the town and her subject. There was no way for them to fix all of her problems.

Still... it was nice of them to try and fix one.

As Chrysalis released her grip on the three girls, she heard three very strange sounds, akin to the tearing of the fabric of reality itself. Before her eyes, three spatial windows opened, each with distinct aura coloration. The first to appear behind the magenta-bordered window was Shining Armor, who seemed to be travelling through an expansive desert. The second was rimmed gold, showing Princesses Celestia and Luna in the throne room of Canterlot Castle.

The third opened into the residence of Princess Cadance, whose bright blue magic was straining to keep the window open. The princess looked spent, like she had been exerting herself far more than any magic-wielding pony ever should.

“What is the meaning of this?” Chrysalis demanded, partly in delight but mostly in confusion.

“Cadance said you were in serious emotional trouble,” Shining explained. “She told me she was getting a bunch of ponies together to get you out of it.”

“We know of the events in Ponyville,” Luna added. “It is truly distressing to hear, and to an extent, I am able to empathize. When I first visited Ponyville after—”

“I will not hear of it now,” Chrysalis interrupted. “I am more concerned about Cadance.”

“Don’t be,” Cadance insisted wearily. “I’m trying to help you. I’m trying to get you to see that you’re not alone, and that you shouldn’t feel like you are.”

“I think we beat you to that,” Scootaloo quipped, earning a glare from Sweetie and Apple Bloom.

“You should not have put yourself at such risk,” Chrysalis stated. “My well-being is not worth the jeopardy of your own.”

She heard a cry of “That’s what I said!” from Cadance’s background. The voice was recognizably Chicane’s. For the first time, she was hearing his physical voice rather than his thoughts. She became aware that she should not be as pleased as she was by the milestone, given the circumstances.

“You are also risking your patient’s well-being,” she remarked. “If you lose yourself to exhaustion, he will be left without care, and I will not have that.”

“If I didn’t think I’d be fine,” Cadance replied, “I wouldn’t be doing this. You’re my friend, Chrysalis, and I want to do everything in my power to make sure you get through this. This is still in my power.”

Shining sighed at his wife’s remarks. “You can be real stubborn when you want to be. You can’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I will make sure she rests after this,” Celestia assured him. “For now, we must address the matter of Ponyv—”

Her speech was cut short by a second round of knocks at the door, followed by a cry of “Let us in, Zecora! It’s urgent!” Chrysalis glanced toward the window of Zecora’s home, noticing a great deal of activity on the other side. A fair group of ponies had gathered at the zebra’s doorstep, some of them trying to peer through the windows.

She recognized the seven individuals outside in an instant. When Zecora opened the door to let them in, the changeling couldn’t take the smile off her face. Their purpose for being here would likely be the same as the others’.

The instant that door opened, Twilight bolted inside and wrapped her forelegs around Chrysalis, screaming “I’m sorry” on an endless loop as she did so. The others came in wearing expressions of considerably less regret but equal amounts of sympathy, and they wasted no time in joining Twilight in her hug assault.

“I was wrong, I was so, so wrong!” Twilight sobbed. “I never should have thrown you out like that! I only wanted to protect you! I’m sorry I didn’t do it right!”

“Please don’t be mad at her,” Fluttershy insisted. “Or any of us. We wanted you to be safe, and there was no other way.”

“In her defense, you were getting pretty clingy,” Rainbow Dash added, getting a smack in the head from Applejack for her trouble.

“I really hope you didn’t think we abandoned you,” Pinkie Pie remarked. “I know what that’s like, and it’s really not fun to think that!”

Chrysalis couldn’t find the words to respond. Mere moments ago, she had been on the run, lying alone in a pool of dirt, leaves, and her own blood. She may never know exactly how, but in a short amount of time, she found herself surrounded by everypony whose lives she had influenced in her time in Ponyville. Surrounded by all of her friends.

She went from feeling abandoned to feeling utterly loved.

“Thank you all,” Chrysalis finally said, tears streaming from her eyes as she spoke. “Thank you all so much. I truly needed this. I don't know what I would do without you."

"Let's hope you won't have to find out anytime soon," Spike replied. He and the mares he arrived with released their grip on Chrysalis, leaving only Twilight clinging to her.

“So... you forgive me?” Twilight asked hopefully.

Chrysalis simply wrapped her forelegs around Twilight in a hug of her own. At the feeling of her grip, Twilight tightened hers, the two crying against each other as the only reconciliation they needed.

“It’s all gonna be just fine, sugarcube,” Applejack assured her. “Ya got us here to help ya through it.”

“And help you we shall,” Rarity announced. “Starting with the chaos in Ponyville. In their state, there is still no safe haven for you in town. Surely there is something else we can do to ease their troubled minds.”

“Troubled?” Rainbow quipped.

“Leave that to me,” Celestia declared. “Matters as serious as a town-wide riot fall within my jurisdiction. Queen Chrysalis, you are long overdue for a royal pardon. If anything will stop this madness, it is my word that you can be trusted.”

Chrysalis looked up from Twilight’s embrace. “You would really do that for me?”

“I’m ashamed of myself for not doing it sooner,” Celestia answered. “I will make the announcement immediately. Equestria will know that you’re no longer a threat, and in time, I’m sure you’ll be accepted and welcomed like my sister before you.”

Yet again, Princess Celestia had come in for the save. Chrysalis felt rather bad for leaving her to fix everything on her behalf, especially something as monumental as this. It almost felt wrong to use her as a tool to undo all of this damage that the princess had no part in causing. At the same time, however, it felt like Celestia had just lifted a gargantuan weight off of her shoulders, and she was not about to complain about her good fortune.

“I am once again in your debt, Celestia,” Chrysalis thanked her, cracking another smile. “You’ve been the solution to my problems more times than I deserve.”

Celestia chuckled. “One of these days you’ll find a problem you’ll be able to solve yourself.”

Chrysalis’ cheer sapped in an instant. As two of her major conflicts resolved themselves before her, her third conflict, almost forgotten in her rejoice, forced its way into the forefront of her mind. The one problem that directly tied into her purpose for coming back to this kingdom in the first place.

“Twilight?” she asked, releasing the mare in question. “Can your teleportation spell reach Canterlot?”

“I’ve used it to get to Manehattan a few times,” Twilight replied, “so Canterlot shouldn’t be as much of a problem. But... why?”

“Because there is a problem that I must solve myself. Take me to Cadance’s home.”

She sent out a thought, a single statement. It went unnoticed by the other ponies, unheard except by one. That one seemed to resist at first, but ultimately, everypony took notice of the cry of frustration from Cadance’s side.

Chicane. I’m coming to meet you.

Chapter Eight: Confrontation

The moment Chrysalis was transported to Cadance’s home, the princess closed her spatial window. She collapsed immediately, Chrysalis rushing to catch her before she hit the ground.

“Princess Cadance!” Chrysalis cried. “How many times have you used that spell today!?”

“That... was the fourth,” Cadance answered weakly. “Is it really... that important?”

“You could have killed yourself!” Chrysalis shouted. “ And if you had tried it once more, I’m certain you would have!”

“If it cheered you up... to hear from me...” Cadance remarked, “It was worth it.”

“I will not have you endanger yourself for my sake like this again,” Chrysalis demanded.

Cadance’s only reply was a groan. Chrysalis rolled her eyes at the sound, but when she did, her eyes fell upon the couch. There lay Chicane, her one living subject that she knew of, with his body in numerous casts and bandages and his head turned away from her. The only side of his face that she could see was concealed by his bandages.

“I require privacy,” Chrysalis stated as Cadance slowly rose to her hooves. “Do you have the strength to reach your bedroom?”

“I should,” Cadance replied, ruffling her wings. “It’s just up the stairs. I think... I think I can make it. If I pass out before then... at least you’ll have your privacy.” She departed without another word, and Chrysalis watched as she slowly and carefully walked out of sight.

At long last, for the first time since everything began, Chrysalis and Chicane were alone.

The pair sat in silence for several tense minutes. Chicane kept his gaze on the ceiling, while Chrysalis kept hers on Chicane. They just sat without talking, one unwilling and one unable.

They both knew who the responsibility of breaking the ice fell upon, but the problem was how. The matter of Chicane’s newfound hatred had to be addressed one way or another, but Chrysalis wanted to handle it as delicately as possible. The last thing she needed now was to escalate the present tension.

The best option would be to try and approach him as a friend. That seemed to have an unprecedented track record so far.

At last, Chrysalis spoke. “It feels like it’s been an eternity, Chicane.”

Chicane said nothing. He simply scowled and attempted to shift his position so he would face further away from her.

“Please don’t act like this,” Chrysalis insisted. “I want you to turn to me and look at me when we speak.”

Again, she was met with silence. Wherever Chicane’s gaze was instead, she could not follow it through the gauze masking his one otherwise-visible eye.

“Look at me!” Chrysalis ordered.

Finally, Chicane complied. He turned to face Chrysalis, his eye fixed on her. His expression was hateful and furious, the look of one who had been deceived his whole life and was finally discovering the truth.

"I was so worried, Chicane,” Chrysalis explained. “I thought you were dead. I thought you were all dead for a time! But when I heard of your survival, when I saw you in that—”

“Back off, Chrysalis.”

The changeling queen barely stopped herself from getting up and bolting out the door.

The hive’s greatest figurehead was always its queen. The drones, for lack of a better term, revered their queen like a pony would their mother or even their princesses. They generally saw her as a caregiver, an authority figure, and practically a goddess. Most importantly, they seldom, if ever, questioned her position, and they happily accepted her.

To hear her name without her title attached, from the mouth of one of her subjects, was a damning insult.

Before the invasion, Chrysalis had been just as convinced as her subjects were that she’d been doing all the right things as queen of the changelings. She’d had moments when her orders were questioned by a minority of them, but none would ever strip her of her title, not even in casual conversation. Hearing it now, with the voice of a changeling she always thought was unwaveringly loyal, she finally understood just how deeply his feelings ran.

“Chicane... how could you?”

“It’s not like there’s anyone else left who can,” Chicane spat. “I have to do it for them.”

“There must still be others,” Chrysalis insisted. “There are ponies out there trying to salvage our race as we speak.”

“And why do they need salvaging, huh!?” Chicane shouted. “It’s all because of you, sending us into that death trap of a city! Before then, I had so many voices in my head that I could never hear myself think. Imagine waking up to find them all gone!”

“I know what that’s like,” Chrysalis replied. “Linking myself to the hive mind met with nothing but silence until you awoke.”

“And there wouldn’t need to be that silence if you hadn’t murdered us all!” Chicane bellowed.

“Chicane, you were all starving!” Chrysalis cried. “I had to prevent the hunger from taking lives! Would you have preferred if I had tried nothing to prevent it? If I had sat back and let you all die!?”

“How is that not what you did anyway!?” Chicane retorted. “At least starving would’ve been less painful!”

Another pause. Chrysalis sat beside Chicane, at a loss for words, as the changeling took several deep breaths into his mask and regained some of his composure.

“You were supposed to be perfect,” Chicane muttered. “You were supposed to be smart and powerful and flawless... and you were supposed to care. Oh, but my eyes are open now. I’ve had time to reflect, and I see right through your greatest disguise of all.

“You’re not that smart. Otherwise you might have realized that telling everypony we were coming was a terrible idea. The one thing changelings have on their side is the element of surprise, and you threw that out the window before we even got there. If we’d set up an ambush instead, there probably never would’ve been a force field in the first place.

“You’re not that powerful. Otherwise this whole starvation thing would have cleared itself up a long time ago. A little thing like food shouldn’t have been an issue for a better ruler.

“And there’s no way you really cared. The fact that I had to be brought to Equestria to get taken care of tells me all I need to know there.”

Chicane paused, chuckling bitterly. “I actually think that pony princess is doing a better job of caring for me than you ever did.”

Chrysalis immediately backed away. Those words cut deep and left her speechless. It wasn’t enough for Chicane to shun his own queen. It wasn’t enough for him to accuse her of not caring about her subjects. It wasn’t even enough for him to blame her for sending so many of them to their deaths. Now he had to degrade her ability to provide for them, even after all she had done to ensure his survival.

And worst of all, she knew he was right.

“Ch-Chicane...” she stammered, on the verge of tears. “After all I’ve done for all of you... how could you forsake me like this?”

“All you’ve done for us?” Chicane repeated harshly. “You’ve done nothing, least of all for me. I’ve slaved away for years on your behalf, scraping together enough love to keep the hive running for another day or two. The most I’ve ever gotten was some half-hearted thanks and a fraction of what I collected.”

“That love was for the entire hive!” Chrysalis stated. “I had to distribute the rations equally and impartially! I couldn’t afford to play favorites!”

“What about when we weren’t starving?” Chicane asked. “Were you just as impartial then too? Did you even spend any time with your subjects? How many of us did you actually know?”

“All of you!” Chrysalis answered. “The hive mind projected yourselves to me every time I entered it.”

“You knew about us,” Chicane declared, “but you didn’t know us. Name one of your subjects you’ve taken time out for.”

Chrysalis attempted to respond, but she couldn’t find the words to argue. He was right again; with so many subjects, and so many cluttered thoughts filling the hive mind with cacophonic nonsense, she was never able to find time for individuals.

“...it would not have been fair to the rest of you if I had.”

“So you didn’t get to know your subjects because it wouldn’t be fair?” Chicane hissed. “What about letting us get to know you? All any of us ever got from you were announcements and orders, because you never stuck around inside the hive mind long enough for us to see your other thoughts. What was the problem there? Afraid that mask of perfection would fall apart? Afraid we’d hear something that would damage your massive ego?”

“Of course not!” Chrysalis responded. “It had nothing to do with myself!”

“Then it had to do with us,” Chicane deduced. “Just as I thought. You just couldn’t be bothered to listen to your subjects’ thoughts unless you had something to think at us. We weren’t worth your time. You didn’t care.”

“Stop saying that!” Chrysalis begged.

“I don’t see you proving me wrong,” Chicane retorted. “In fact, everything points to me being right. You never spent time with us. You never listened to us. You sent us all to our deaths.

“And worst of all, when we were scattered, you abandoned us.”

“I did no such thing!” Chrysalis insisted.

“Then what are you doing in Equestria!?” Chicane demanded. “Why are you back here, making friends with ponies instead of getting us help!?”

“That is why I’m here!” Chrysalis shouted, her voice cracking. “I came to Equestria for you! You would have died as well had I not swallowed the pride you so disdain and begged for Celestia’s aid! Everything I’ve done has been to ensure your continued survival and atone for my crimes! I know I was wrong, and I’m sorry!”

Then, without any warning, and against even her own expectations, Chrysalis collapsed onto her knees and openly wept.

Chicane sat there speechless as Chrysalis sobbed before him, betraying his old ideal image of her in such a dramatic manner. Not only was this easily the longest conversation he’d ever had with her, but he never once saw her show such emotion and vulnerability, least of all to another changeling.

As sick as it sounded, he actually enjoyed the sight of Chrysalis sobbing at his hooves. It was a state in which he’d never seen her, and it made it feel like he was actually looking upon a real person rather than a distant monarch or a perfect goddess.

For the first time since he awakened, he felt convinced that the changeling queen genuinely cared.

“...did you mourn?” Chicane finally asked. “When all the others died, did you cry for them?”

I still do.

Suddenly, Chicane’s mind was assaulted with a series of images, projected from her mind into his in rapid succession. All at once, he was shown everything as his queen recalled the events that led to now. He saw the starving hive, the invaded wedding, the scattered bodies, the first efforts in Ponyville, the royal verdict, the hospital visit, the riot... all in the space of a few seconds, all with crystal clarity. Everything she had ever done and suffered through for the hive’s sake, for his sake, was transferred from her mind to his.

Chrysalis seemed to linger on one moment in particular. Chicane saw her in what appeared to be a library, books strewn about the room as she stood there with a lilac-colored unicorn mare. Chrysalis’ brow was furrowed in concentration, similar to what he observed when she connected to the hive mind. The look suddenly shifted to one of horror and distress, and she collapsed before the unicorn in a frantic, sobbing heap. Chicane had never seen anyone show such sorrow, least of all her.

“That one image...” he finally remarked. “What was that?”

“The moment I thought all of you were dead,” Chrysalis informed him. She must have felt that her point had been made, as she immediately detached again from the hive mind.

“Don’t!” Chicane cried. “Please, don’t leave.”

“...I’m sorry?” Chrysalis inquired.

“It’s so empty,” Chicane replied. “I can’t hear anything but my own thoughts now. It... it scares me.”

“I thought a clear mind was your greatest desire,” Chrysalis stated.

“This isn’t like that,” Chicane explained. “It’s not like I have my head all to myself. I can still feel the hive mind. I can feel where the others’ thoughts are supposed to be, but there’s nothing but silence. It just feels wrong!”

He sighed, his eyes watering. “It’s so lonely. The whole hive mind’s quiet, and it’s too much for me. Please, please don’t leave me alone again.”

Chrysalis simply regarded Chicane in silence as he looked to her pleadingly. The hive mind’s emptiness only became more overwhelming when she left it, and he desperately hoped that she would do something for the benefit of a single subject for once in her life. As much as she disgusted him now, he couldn’t stand not having her there in his head.

To his delight, the feeling of lightheadedness soon returned, and he felt another presence in the hive mind.

I know how you feel, Chrysalis thought to him. I felt that emptiness as well, and it nearly destroyed me.

I miss them, Chicane stated. All I’ve ever known was the voices of the entire hive in my head, and now that they’re gone, I feel so alone. How can you stand having a mind to yourself?

Knowing the state of the hive mind makes it difficult, Chrysalis answered. I felt so guilty after I re-entered after being in Equestria for two days. I should have stayed. I should have comforted them as they died. I promise you, Chicane, I will never leave again.

Chicane noticed that Chrysalis had started to cry again. The thought of what the hive mind used to be was bringing her to tears.

As he stared as the sobbing monarch, Chicane allowed the day’s events to sink in. He was absolutely right about Chrysalis being imperfect, about her creating a false image of herself for the changelings to idolize. Hindsight had clearly shown him a lackluster planning résumé, an ego the size of an airship, and an inability to show the decency to interact with her subjects on a personal level.

Throughout their conversation, however, he saw the other facets of her hidden personality. He saw that she was capable of emotion, a stark contrast to the cold distance she would always show her subjects. He saw that she was capable of friendship, as her moment with Princess Cadance and the slideshow in his head proved. Most importantly, he saw that she was capable of caring for her subjects. The same slideshow had chronicled her extensive efforts to save what few changelings were left alive, all the physical and emotional pain the quest had brought her. She even swore to never leave him alone in the hive mind again, a solemn promise to learn from her mistakes and right one of her greatest wrongs.

What sold it for him, however, was watching the once-proud queen reach above her head and remove her crown. Without even sparing a glance at it, she tossed it across the room, where it collided with a wall before coming to rest well out of her reach. She sat before him not as a queen, but as a fellow changeling, a gesture that neither the Chrysalis he loved nor the Chrysalis he hated would ever make.

At long last, Chicane smiled at Chrysalis. “So... what happens now?”

That was what he said to her. His real reply was what he thought to her.

I forgive you, my queen.

He considered himself extremely lucky that her hug didn’t break every other bone in his body.

Princess Celestia stood flabbergasted at the podium in Ponyville’s town hall. She and her sister had intended to come into the town and calm a restless populace, but the populace was far beyond restlessness. She saw homes being raided, windows being shattered, fights breaking out for no discernible reason... the only thing missing was a series of burning buildings.

Not even Nightmare Moon or Discord had sown such dissent. The fear of an enemy that could walk among them unnoticed was greater than Celestia could ever have imagined. And she was powerless to force the frantic, rioting ponies to—

“Be still!” Princess Luna bellowed, her booming voice resonating throughout the entire town. The rioters looked to the source of the voice and congregated at the town hall, bowing as they did so.

“Is there a reason you could not have done that yourself?” Luna teased as the town’s population settled down.

“The royal Canterlot voice fell into obsoletion centuries ago,” Celestia replied. “I’m a little rusty.”

The elder sister turned to address the gathered civilians. “Citizens of Ponyville, it saddens me to have to deal with this chaos in person. The panic here is worse than in any other town or city in Equestria. And all this, over a newspaper article?”

“We saw her!” a voice cried out from the crowd. “The changeling queen is here!”

“Such matters should be left to my sister and I,” Luna declared. “Vigilantism of this nature is needless and destructive!”

“Princess Luna is correct,” Celestia continued. “The matter of the changeling presence in Equestria is being dealt with as we speak. For now, however, I have a more important announcement.”

The crowd erupted into light chatter, as if shocked that something could be more important than a major threat to the kingdom.

"This kingdom has made numerous enemies in the past," Celestia began. "Its continued prosperity is a testament to our ability to meet these enemies and still come out strong. The past few years alone have seen two separate instances where we required the use of the Elements of Harmony, and I have no doubt that there will be more.

"But now is not the time for panic. In fact, it's time to rejoice! Over the past few weeks, I've watched over the reformation of one of our recent foes, and it brings me great pleasure to tell you that this foe has since become a friend. It involved a lot of hardship from both parties, but I’ve deemed her ready to be integrated into Equestrian society.

“Fillies and gentlecolts,” she announced, using her magic to open up a spatial doorway behind her. “I feel it is long overdue for me to introduce Equestria’s newest ally: Queen Chrysalis, ruler of the changelings!”

The crowd gasped as the doorway formed, showing Chrysalis wrapping Chicane in a vice-like grip as he gritted his teeth in discomfort. To Celestia’s surprise, they kept their composure, resigning themselves to nervous chatter.

The princess turned to the queen, who had taken notice of the portal. “You’re up.”

Chrysalis released her grip on Chicane and looked out through the portal, at the princesses and the crowd they stood before. She recognized the site as Ponyville's town hall. Celestia must have been making the formal announcement of her return, wanting her to return to town and speak as well.

She still vividly remembered the events before, specifically the townsponies' hostility. The gathered crowd looked considerably calmer at a glance, most likely eased by the princess’s words. They had a full view of her as well, and the lack of panic at the sight of her was refreshing, but Twilight had similarly controlled the crowd before, and it had ended rather poorly.

She turned to Chicane, her dearest subject, for a second opinion. Should I go?

Don't keep them waiting, he thought back with a smirk.

It was all that needed to be said to boost Chrysalis’ confidence. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and walked through Celestia’s portal, exiting Cadance’s home in Canterlot to stand before the population of Ponyville. Once she crossed completely, the spatial doorway closed behind her.

“Where’s your crown?” Celestia inquired as the changeling took her place at the podium.

“I’ll explain later,” Chrysalis replied, then cleared her throat to address the crowd. “Well. I suppose my first action should be to apologize for my conduct over the past few days. I acted in haste without thought for the consequences at the hospital, and I made a poor impression when I first stepped onto this stage. In defense of the latter, I was defending the honor of a dear friend.

“And yes, I have made friends in this community. Your Elements of Harmony, with kindness and forgiveness in their hearts, had seen fit to shelter me as I sought aid for the changeling race, which is in a critical state following the wedding of Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor.”

“And good riddance to ‘em!” a voice shouted among the crowd, followed by a few murmurs of agreement.

“Hold your tongue!” Luna shouted, silencing the audience once more.

“Thank you,” Chrysalis stated. “As I’m sure you may have heard, the newlywed prince has been sent on a scouting mission to collect and care for the surviving changelings, of which I fear there are very few. I came to Equestria, with no ill will but with a heavy heart, to request this aid from your princess, which she saw fit to grant me in her mercy. For this I feel indebted to her, and to my—”

“Chrysalis!”

The changeling shifted her gaze to the back of the crowd, to the source of the calling voice. There stood Twilight Sparkle, who was waving her hoof in an attempt to grab her attention. Behind Twilight were the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony, her dragon assistant, and the fillies who called themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

They came. They left the Everfree Forest and came to see her address the crowd in Ponyville. Even though she’d been smothered by their love mere moments ago, they came to support her yet again.

She accepted the tears that came this time, not giving thought to the softness they implied.

“And to my friends,” she continued. “I would not be standing before you today were it not for Twilight Sparkle and the spirits of the Elements of Harmony. They have shown me friendship and hospitality I have seldom seen before, and they have shown me the true worth of the pony race. As my race owes their lives to the royals, I owe my own to the Elements.

“I cannot revoke my actions against your people, and I bear the guilt of the fate of mine. I have done things I regret, things that would make me unfit for the throne. As such, as my final repentance, I have laid down my crown. I feel it has harmed more than it has helped, and with my hive in its current state, I have nothing left to rule.”

The announcement elicited surprised chatter among the crowd, even from her friends in the back.

“I no longer stand before you as queen of the changelings,” Chrysalis announced. “As far as you should be concerned, I’m simply a refugee from a dying hive. I cannot hold myself above any of you, nor can I do so for my own people. Only one changeling survives in Equestria at this time, and he needs a friend more than he needs a queen. I have to be that for him, and for those your prince may also recover in his travels.

“I’d hoped at first to depart once my subjects had returned to full strength. However, I see now that the changeling hive will never return to full strength. It took more than two weeks to even find the one changeling, and the likelihood of finding more decreases with distance and time. Like it or not, Equestria is my permanent home now, and I hope for it to house what little remains of my race as willingly as it would house mules or griffins or minotaurs.

“I ask nothing of you, Ponyville,” Chrysalis concluded, “save your acceptance. I want for you to know that I have atoned for my past transgressions, and that I seek only to be a part of your peaceful community. I have spent the last few weeks proving this to the princesses and their emissaries, and now that my presence is known, I wish to prove it to all of you. All I ask is for that chance.”

The crowd was dead silent. The townsponies shared plenty of glances, but no words.

Chrysalis stared nervously out at her audience. She had no idea how to take their silence. It seemed like the riot had been put to an end, but whether or not they would tolerate her presence was harder to read. She glanced at the princesses on either side of her, who appeared to be just as unsure about the reaction as she was.

After several minutes passed, there was a commotion in the crowd, as if somepony was forcing their way to the front and trying to shove the rest of them out of the way. Chrysalis didn’t see anypony moving up to the stage; the only indication that somepony approached was the line of ponies moving out of the way.

Finally, a rather short colt managed to shove his way through the last few ponies and stood at the front of the crowd. Chrysalis noted the splotches of brown dotting his white coat, an oddity that she had seldom seen before in other ponies.

“Pipsqueak?” Luna asked beside the changeling. At the sound of his name, the young colt trotted off to the right-hoof side of the stage, climbing the steps to join the much taller ponies. He flashed a quick smile to the lunar princess, then gingerly took a few steps towards Chrysalis. Stopping just a few steps away from the changeling’s foreleg, he looked back to Luna, who merely smiled and nodded.

Without a word, Pipsqueak took those last few steps and hugged Chrysalis’ foreleg in front of the entire town.

The first reaction was a gasp of shock. The next was another brief silence. Chrysalis did nothing but stare at the foreleg that the tiny colt clung to. She couldn’t tell whether he was incredibly brave, incredibly stupid, or incredibly accepting.

Whichever it was, it elicited a third reaction from the crowd. At first, it was the sound of a lone pony stamping their forehooves in applause. When Chrysalis looked up to find the source of the noise, she saw Twilight performing the action from the very back. Soon her friends seemed to catch onto what she was doing, and they joined her in cheering and applauding.

Before long, other ponies in the audience began to stamp as well, and before Chrysalis knew it, the entire town erupted into a standing ovation.

Even as Pipsqueak released his grip and returned to the crowd, Chrysalis could only stare out into the crowd, her eyes wide and her mouth agape. She had absolutely no words for what was happening. She’d spent the entirety of her stay worried about the way townsponies would view her despite her good intentions, and she’d watched as those worries came to life in the worst way imaginable. A normal pony would have given up hope of ever being seen as anything but a monster in the public eye.

But they liked her. They accepted her. They were applauding her! She had no idea what brought it on—Celestia’s announcement, her own speech, Pipsqueak’s hug, or Twilight’s contribution—but the town’s opinion of her appeared to have reversed in an instant. Time would only tell how comfortable these ponies would truly be with her living openly among them, but at the time, they were loudly welcoming her with open forelegs, which was more than Chrysalis ever dared to expect from them.

The crowd split to allow the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony to pass to the front, and as soon as they hit the stage, they grabbed Chrysalis and locked her in a gigantic group hug. Her tear ducts must have finally worn themselves out, because all she did was smile and return the hug. At long, long last, she had her final victory.

The first pony to break away from the excitement was Pinkie Pie. “Hey! Do you know what this calls for?”

Epilogue: Acceptance

“...and she came home happier than I’ve ever seen her,” Twilight concluded. “I guess that sums up the day’s events. Yesterday was mostly spent partying with Pinkie Pie, and nothing really happened this morning.”

Doctor Open Mind scribbled a few remarks on his notepad. “So it all turned out fine in the end, did it?”

“I guess,” Twilight admitted. “I still did something awful to Chrysalis, though, and I still feel bad for that. And on top of that, I had another breakdown! I feel like we’re taking steps backwards now!”

“Not at all,” Mind replied. “This is your first incident since you first started seeing me. All things considered, your reaction had just as much basis in rational thought as in emotion. Not that it was a stable balance, but it’s certainly not nearly as extreme as some of the past incidents you described to me.”

“I know,” Twilight agreed, “and she was quick to forgive me for it. The problem is forgiving myse—”

“Don’t do this to yourself again,” Mind interjected. “I understand your need to make it up to Rainbow Dash the last time something like this happened, but from what you’ve told me, Chrysalis didn’t stay angry. You’ve already made it up to her, so there’s not much use in dwelling on it. Just keep moving forward.”

Twilight sighed on the doctor’s couch. “I guess you’re right. It just got me so worried, though. I spent almost every moment I had with her that day snapping at her. I don’t want that to be a regular occurrence. I don’t want to think... that our friendship might have an expiration date.”

Open Mind remained quiet for a disconcertingly long time, simply writing down additional notes. He had started to become a friend to Twilight in his own right, giving his guidance and advice with the sincerity that one only saw from somepony who cared about their job and the ponies it brought them into contact with. Hearing nothing come out of his mouth for this long worried Twilight to a degree.

“Twilight,” he finally stated, catching the mare off guard. “It’s been a few weeks now. Chrysalis has been mostly peaceful since she arrived, especially towards you. You gave her a place to stay, you helped give her a way to help the survivors of her race, and she fought tooth and nail to even get to that point. She’s the one who had to fight to earn your good graces, and yet you worry that she would have cause to end the friendship?

“From what I’ve heard from you, she values your friendship too much to leave over a day’s worth of fighting.”

Twilight dwelled on her shrink’s words. He was right, of course; she’d been entirely unwilling to give Chrysalis a chance in the beginning. The consequences of that were what led to her seeing him in the first place. Her other friends were blank slates to her when they first met; it was an accomplishment to have allowed herself to forge that same bond with someone she’d previously hated with every fiber of her being. Despite all that, it was her panicking about driving the other away.

When she thought about it, the notion just seemed silly. She stifled a chuckle.

“I believe that’s all the time we have for this session,” Mind informed her with a warm smile.

“Thank you, Doctor,” Twilight replied, returning the smile with one of her own. “Same time on Thursday?”

“Your horn’s looking a lot better!” Cadance mused as she removed the bandages from Chicane’s head. “The crack’s almost gone!”

“And praise the hive for that, because I am starving!” Chicane exclaimed. “I haven’t had a decent meal of love since you were still just Shining Armor’s fiancée!”

Cadance laughed heartily at the remark. “I guess you can feed off of mine for now. You know when to stop, right?”

“You’re seriously worried?” Chicane asked. “You couldn’t get sucked dry if there were twenty of me leeching off of you!”

“Changelings really have that little appetite?”

“Kinda-sorta,” Chicane replied, “but come on. The way you took me in, the way you helped me reconnect with my queen... when it comes to love, Cadance, you’re a one-pony banquet.”

“Thanks,” Cadance stated, blushing slightly. “Can you see out of your right eye?”

“Why don’t you take the bandage off so I can find out?”

“I... did,” Cadance informed him.

“Oh,” Chicane muttered. “Guess that answers that. How bad does it look?”

Cadance closely examined the injured eye. It seemed to be glazing over in an outward pattern, starting at a large streak going right through the center, a streak that matched perfectly up to the scar on his face. It looked jarring and unnatural; the fact that he even still had an eyeball was a miracle in and of itself.

“Well... not awful,” Cadance answered sheepishly.

Chicane gave Cadance a blank stare. “Get me a mirror.”

Cadance hesitantly complied, levitating a small mirror from a table across the room. The moment Chicane saw his reflection, he grimaced and recoiled. "How do I even still have the eye!?"

"That's exactly what—" Cadance started, but her sentence was lost to a knock at the front door. "Sorry, I should really—"

"Yeah, go get it." Chicane dismissed her, still staring at his reflection. "I think I'm gonna need to cover this up again..."

With a roll of her eyes, Cadance left Chicane's side and walked to the front door. The stallion’s face that greeted her when she opened it, his mouth occupied by a small doctor’s bag, was one of the last she'd ever want to see again.

"You!" Cadance cried. "You're the doctor that wouldn't treat Chicane!"

“Not anymore,” the stallion confessed, setting the bag down. “It’s just Cardiac Arrest now. That little stunt at the hospital... once they got both sides of the story, it cost me my job. Almost lost my medical license too. Can you believe it?”

“I can’t believe you didn’t lose it,” Cadance hissed. “What in Celestia’s name are you doing here?”

“Checking up on my patient,” Cardiac informed her. “I know the way I was going about the treatment was wrong, and my superiors wouldn’t let me hear the end of it. I feel awful about it, and I wish it didn’t have to take my getting fired for that to happen.”

“Just let him in,” Chicane called out. “You can throw him right back out if he tries anything.”

After a moment’s consideration, Cadance replied, “Fine. Check up on him, then get out. And I’ll have my eye on you the whole time, so don’t—”

“Wasn’t going to,” Cardiac assured her, picking up the bag and entering the home.

The process took about an hour. Cardiac spent most of it checking Chicane’s vitals, looking over the scans and x-rays that were out on display, and asking questions to both Cadance and Chicane regarding the latter’s pain and comfort. Cadance watched his every move, but he did nothing more out-of-the-ordinary than the impromptu visit itself.

Finally, Cardiac came to a diagnosis. “His eyesight won’t ever fully return, assuming it does at all. There’s too much structural damage. I can’t be certain he’ll ever fly again either, not with his right wing in this condition, though I admit I have no idea how changeling wings work in comparison to pegasus wings.”

“Oh, the wings?” Chicane interrupted. “Those grow back. The stupid things are so flimsy, a changeling would probably be grounded for life a thousand times over if they didn’t.”

“Well, that’s one less thing you’ll have to worry about,” Cardiac relented. “Those broken bones were trying to mend themselves for a good few weeks before you were found. I heard it was a nightmare trying to make those casts fit with the way they were trying to heal. You’ll likely be able to walk again, but assuming you do, you’ll have a limp for the rest of your life.”

“I can live with that,” Chicane decided. “It’ll take some getting used to, though.”

“That’s really all you came to do?” Cadance asked, sounding less distrustful and more relieved.

“I just wanted to make sure that you were actually caring for him,” Cardiac answered as he packed up his equipment. “And that both of you knew what to expect in the healing process.”

“Actual doctors have been coming in and out of this house since I got here,” Chicane remarked. “We knew that part already.”

“One more thing,” Cardiac added. “I don’t know what that thing is, but considering how bright and colorful everything else is in here, it looks out of place.”

Cadance followed the doctor’s pointing hoof to a small table beside the couch. Its place above Chicane’s head was never of issue to anyone else, but it didn’t take long for her to realize that it wasn’t the table he was referring to. She simply gave Cardiac a knowing smile once she noticed.

Atop the table, serving as a dark decoration in a vibrant room, sat the crown of Queen Chrysalis.

“Feast your eyes, lesser ponies, upon the infinite splendor of the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

The gathered crowd of colts and fillies, all dressed in colorful and varyingly elaborate costumes, watched in awe as the blue unicorn before them summoned a dazzling display of fireworks.

“Woooooow!” a lanky orange colt uttered. “That was amazing!”

“That’s exactly like her!” his stout blue friend replied. “You’re really good at that!”

With a smug smile, Trixie surrounded herself with a brilliant pillar of green light, revealing the massive changeling she truly was when it cleared. “Thank you kindly. I have time now for one final request.”

“Princess Luna! Do Princess Luna!” The request came from the shortest colt in the crowd—Pipsqueak, if Chrysalis recalled correctly. He was dressed in a pirate costume, which she’d heard was recycled from the previous Nightmare Night.

Not wanting to disappoint, Chrysalis disappeared in another green flash, her form changing to that of the lunar princess. Once she made sure she had the kids’ attention, she cleared her throat and took a long, deep breath.

“As your princess, we declare this to officially be the best Nightmare Night ever!”

The children went wild.

Chrysalis shed her disguise with one final “Thank you!” and took a bow. Using the foals’ cheers as her soundtrack for leaving the town hall stage, she joined up with Twilight and Spike, who were watching from the side. Twilight had dressed herself in makeshift princess attire, complete with cardboard wings, and Spike was sporting a tuxedo and the world’s least convincing false mustache.

“That was far too enjoyable,” Chrysalis declared. “Why settle for one costume when I can literally be whomever I want?”

Twilight laughed. “You looked like you were having a fantastic time with them!”

Chrysalis nodded. “I never spent much time with hatchlings. Impersonal policies aside, I thought they were somewhat annoying to listen to. Meeting the Cutie Mark Crusaders was quite a different experience for me... and Pipsqueak’s actions on the night of my public reveal were unforgettable. This time spent with the young crowd tonight has shown me conclusively just how much enjoyment one can derive from playing with them and being in their company.”

“You know,” Twilight hinted, “this is exactly the sort of lesson Princess Celestia likes for us to write about in friendship reports.”

“You mean... you think I should write to her as well?”

“You should,” Twilight replied with a beaming smile. “You haven’t been here long, and you still have a lot to learn.”

It seemed so obvious to Chrysalis that it would eventually come to this. She had no real friends to speak of before making her permanent residence in Ponyville, so knowing how to conduct herself better around them would be a great asset. Not that she was being a terrible friend up to this point, but there was always room for improvement.

She could apply this knowledge elsewhere as well, as it came to her. With her fellow changelings. If she would no longer be a queen to them, she must still be a friend to them. Chicane had made that abundantly clear to her.

“Very well,” Chrysalis stated. “Spike, take a letter.”

“You’ve got it!” Spike obliged, pulling out a quill and parchment he seemed to have handy for just this sort of occasion.

Dear Princess Celestia...

After a long and harrowing search, a total of eighteen changelings, Chicane included, were found alive. The search had been called off after the bodies the Royal Guard was finding consistently stopped resembling bodies. Very few of the recovered changelings were in any physical condition to properly function outside the Canterlot hospital’s walls, and those that were would require prosthetics and extensive surgery. The changeling race was officially critically endangered, with no hope of ever recovering to its former glory.

Shining Armor returned to Canterlot in relative triumph three days prior to Hearth’s Warming, just as he’d promised, with Chrysalis, Twilight, Cadance and Chicane standing by to meet him. Cadance greeted him enthusiastically, and the royal couple shared a long and passionate kiss. After so much time spent apart, they were finally able to hold each other again, and neither could be happier.

“Do you think I’ll ever get my turn to say hello?” Twilight asked once the liplock had reached the six-minute mark.

Shining ended the kiss at the sound of his sister’s voice. “Sorry, Twily. You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that.”

“I’ll let her have a turn with you,” Cadance decided. “I think Chrysalis has been drooling through that whole thing anyway.”

“I have not!” Chrysalis insisted, oblivious to the strand of saliva hanging from her mouth.

Chicane was silent throughout the merriment. For the first time, he was seeing in person the pony responsible for saving his life, for saving the entire changeling race. How was he supposed to confront him and tell him how important that was to him?

Simply thanking him should suffice.

Chicane looked up to see his que—to see Chrysalis smiling down at him as the three ponies celebrated, apparently having broken away from them once the predicament entered his mind. She rested a comforting foreleg over his shoulders, pushing slightly in an effort to get him to speak up.

After a moment, he adjusted his eyepatch and cleared his throat. “Shining Armor?” he called, grabbing the Guard captain’s attention.

“What’s going on, Chicane?” Shining replied.

“I just wanted to say... thanks,” Chicane stated, limping over to the stallion. “For saving me out there in that desert. And I guess for everything else you’ve done for the changelings. I know it really doesn’t look like much, but it really means a lot to me, and when the rest wake up, I’m sure it will to them too.”

“I’m just happy to do my duty,” Shining chuckled, giving Chicane a strong pat on his bad shoulder. The changeling groaned and winced at the forceful contact.

“No, I’m serious,” Chicane insisted. “I owe you and your wife everything. I wouldn’t be here at all if you two hadn’t cared enough to care for me.”

Shining merely smiled at Chicane. “Like I said, I just did what I had to do. Let’s not get too mushy, alright? I’m not really good with big emotional speeches.”

“Yeah,” Chicane agreed. “Alright.”

“Great,” Shining replied. “And now that I’m back... who’s up for donuts?”

Princess Celestia sat upon her throne, a pair of Royal Guards on either side of her and one of her personal assistants displaying for her a stack of papers requiring her signature. As she signed, she reflected on the events that transpired since the changeling queen arrived.

Chrysalis was making admirable progress in learning about friendship, judging from the letters Twilight had started her on writing. For a moment, she wondered if she may one day surpass her own student... but she was doubtful. Twilight’s charity, compassion, devotion, integrity, optimism and leadership marked her for greater things, and it would not be long before her true destiny would be realized.

With a content smile, Celestia continued with her paperwork. At last, all was well.

“News from northern Equestria!”

Celestia looked up from her stack of papers to see a Royal Guard running towards her, a look of the utmost urgency plastered on his face. As he approached the throne, he stopped to take a bow. “Uh... Your Highness.”

Her smile faded as she saw her guard’s expression. “Yes?” she asked, dismissing her assistant.

“I am simply to tell you that... it has returned.”

Celestia gasped in shock. The message bore bittersweet tidings; on the one hoof, it heralded the return of a once-prosperous empire that had been gone for more than a thousand years. However, if the crystal ponies had reappeared, then so, too, had their wicked king. He was a tyrant artful in black magics, now more a shadow than a stallion, but if he returned to his throne...

“Find Princess Cadance and Shining Armor,” she ordered. With a quick confirmation, the three guards departed the throne room together.

Without a moment to spare, Celestia summoned a quill and a blank scroll. She’d known that Twilight’s time was coming, but this was not the catalyst she’d planned for. As she wrote, she hoped she could find a way to challenge her with this to see if she was truly ready for ascension.

My dearest Twilight, you must come to Canterlot at once.

END

Prologue: Discovery

Shining Armor and his company had made admirable progress in their search for living changelings, at least in terms of land coverage. In the rough space of two weeks, they had traveled as far as the Appleloosan orchard, and several of the pegasi accompanying their newlywed captain took it upon themselves to scout the area from above. With any luck, he hoped, they would be able to make some legitimate headway with their objective this time.

Shining paused by the start of the buffalo stampeding trail, recalling the events that led him here. A few short weeks ago, he had been greeted—or rather, verbally assaulted—by Queen Chrysalis, ruler of the nearly extinct changelings. She had declared her invasion of Canterlot to be a failed effort to feed her starving race, and in response to the alarming casualties created by his and Princess Cadance’s force field, she had returned to Equestria to plead for further aid, which Princess Celestia was ultimately happy to give. A large portion of the aid came in the form of Shining himself, who was tasked with scouring the land, both within and beyond the borders of the kingdom, for what few changelings may have survived the forceful expulsion.

The mission, however, also served as his punishment for the unintentional murder of thousands. He was forced to embark on his search the day after he’d returned from his honeymoon, and at this point in time, he’d spent more of the marriage separated from his beloved than he had at her side. While he had the communication spell given to him by his sister in Ponyville, and he’d been making good on his promise to contact Cadance at least once every day, it wasn’t the same as having her beside him. He sorely missed the closeness and intimacy, but this was his sentence, and he had no choice but to grin and bear it.

Speaking of Cadance, it was time to commune with her again. He stepped into one of the many lengthy shadows cast by the apple trees, trying to perform the spell from memory. He prayed he wasn’t too late to watch Canterlot’s sunset with her.

Several seconds of serious magical exertion later, he successfully conjured a spatial window overlooking a balcony in Canterlot Castle. At the very center of the portal, bathing in the radiance of the setting sun, was Cadance herself. She looked to the side, directly at Shining, and gasped in joyous surprise.

“Shining Armor!” Cadance greeted. “I’m so glad you managed to reach me! You almost didn’t make the sunset.”

“Sorry about that, Cadance,” Shining responded, rubbing the back of his neck. “I was helping the guys set up camp outside Appleloosa. We’ve been doing a lot of walking today.”

“Please don’t push yourself too far,” Cadance pleaded. “The last thing either of us needs is for you to get another one of your headaches because you’ve worked yourself to exhaustion.”

“I don’t think it’ll be a problem,” Shining assured her. “I haven’t used much magic since I left. Aside from calling you, I don’t think I’ve really used anything more complicated than levitation spells.”

“Can you blame me for worrying?” Cadance asked, placing a hoof on the portal’s surface. “I love you, Shining, and I miss you so much. I want you to come home soon, and more importantly, I want you to come home safe.”

Shining approached the portal and placed his own hoof beside hers. He felt the glasslike surface of his closed gateway to Canterlot, but not gleaming, golden shoe on his wife’s hoof. There wasn’t even any warmth where she made contact with the magical surface. Yet again, her touch eluded him, and he sighed heavily.

“I miss you too,” he stated. “There’s nothing I want more than to be with you right now. And I promise you, I’ll be home before you know it.”

“Before Hearth’s Warming,” Cadance demanded. “It’ll be our first as a married couple, and I refuse to spend it without you.”

Shining chuckled. “Hearth’s Warming is still a few months away. At the rate my men and I are going, we should be done by then. Even if we’re not, though, I’ll see if your aunt can make an exception for the holiday and bring me back. I’m positive she’ll do it if one of us asks.”

Cadance gave her husband a beaming smile, but before she could respond, Shining was alerted to a light thud behind him, followed by the rustling of a pair of wings. He turned to face the source of the noise, and a fully-uniformed pegasus stallion stood before him, saluting his superior officer.

“Anything to report, Commander?” Shining inquired.

“We’ve found a few still bodies, sir,” the commander responded. “I’d say about six or seven of them were visible from the treetops. I have the others checking for any signs of life, but for now, it just looks like another graveyard.”

Shining groaned and shook his head. From the sound of it, this search was just as unsuccessful as all the ones before it. He’d lost count of how many changeling corpses he’d seen since his departure, and he was reaching the point where even the most bizarre and grotesque impact-related injuries didn’t faze him. He began to doubt that Celestia was right about the possibility of survivors, even wondering if she’d lied outright about it. Maybe she was letting Chrysalis run on false hope and making him see the carnage he’d inadvertently created as punishment for creating it. He was certain she wouldn’t do such a thing, but two weeks of tiresome travel got a stallion to thinking...

Before he got the opportunity to convince himself of his darker assumptions, another pegasus stallion, a young rookie, flew towards him. He saluted in midair, nearly losing his balance as he tried landing while holding the salute.

“Captain Shining Armor,” the young pegasus reported. “I think you need to contact Princess Celestia. The one I just checked out... I think it’s alive.”

Silence befell the small group as Shining regarded the cadet in shock. After a moment, he turned to the portal, to his equally surprised wife.

“Cadance, I’m gonna have to call you back.”

“And you’re absolutely certain of this?” Princess Celestia asked as Shining Armor concluded his report.

“Heartbeat and everything,” Shining confirmed. “Poor guy’s hanging by a thread. We need to get him over there now.”

“Agreed. Now let me see the changeling,” Celestia ordered, and at her command, Shining stepped out of view. She expanded and opened the portal, setting hoof in the desert orchard to get a clear view of the creature where it still lay.

The changeling—a male, by all appearances—was in a pitiful state. He was lying in a pool of his own dried blood, most of the bones on the right side of his body shattered presumably on impact with the ground. As Celestia bent down to check his heartbeat, she heard his soft, labored breathing. It was a miracle the poor thing was still alive. At once, she nodded towards the portal, signaling for two ponies in medical garb to step through with a stretcher.

“I commend you and your troops for your excellent work today, Shining Armor,” Celestia announced. “I will relay news of this changeling’s recovery to his queen, and I will send more men out to cover more ground and speed up the search effort. If all the rest are as badly injured as this one, we have no time to waste.” With that, she turned to join the medics in their return to Canterlot.

“Wait, Princess,” Shining requested, forcing her to pause. “Before you go, there’s something I wanted to ask. It’s about Hearth’s Warming...”

Chapter Three: Choices and Impulses

“You did what!?”

The cry came from two different sources, miles apart, and for two different, if related, reasons. Yet both were uttered simultaneously, in a cosmic coincidence none would ever be aware of.

For even further convenience, the two ponies who spoke these three words were brother and sister.

“You did what!?” Shining Armor cried, startling his wife on the other side of the window she constructed.

“What else was I going to do?” Cadance asked. “He would’ve died in that hospital! The entire point of all this is to make sure he stays alive!”

“But this is probably even more dangerous for him!” Shining countered. “I mean, for one thing, I would’ve liked to know ahead of time, since it’s our house—”

“Right now, you’re not here,” Cadance stated. “I planned to have him able to go out on his own by the time you came back anyway.”

“That’s another thing,” Shining argued. “How are you planning on caring for him? You don’t know the first thing about treating coma patients!”

“I can learn the basics,” Cadance replied. “Princess Celestia said she’d have professionals come in regularly for everything else.”

“What about your own safety?” Shining warned. “Once he actually wakes up, he’s gonna be hungry for love. What if he takes all that you have?”

Suddenly Cadance came to a realization. She thought she understood exactly why Shining was so worried. A valid fear, to be sure, but still so ridiculous. “Shining... are you afraid that doing this is going to make me love you any less?”

“Of course I am,” Shining answered. “You mean everything to me. The last thing I want is for you to stop loving me back. What happens if you start loving him instead?”

“Did you love me any less after Chrysalis sapped your energy?” Cadance asked.

“No, I didn’t,” Shining answered truthfully.

“Then why are you so worried that one of her subjects could have that effect on me?”

Shining tried to respond, but no words came out. Yet again, Cadance had cornered him. In their relationship, she was simply the better arguer, and though it wasn’t very heated at all, this was still their biggest fight yet as a married couple. She was so convinced she was right this time, and she was sure he would see it her way.

“...when is he arriving?” Shining finally asked after a moment’s silence.

Cadance glanced at the clock beside her. “Any minute now. They just finished tending to his wounds and filing all the papers, last time I checked. You’ll probably be able to see him before we hang up here.”

“I already had to see him when we found him,” Shining replied. “I can’t say I’m looking forward to seeing him again. He was beat up pretty bad.”

“I noticed,” Cadance said morosely.

“I guess I only have one more question about all this,” Shining stated. “Why? Why do you feel like you have to put yourself through this?”

Cadance started to reply, but was interrupted by an urgent knock at her door. “I’m sorry. Hold on.”

She approached the door and opened it in an instant. As expected, a pair of ponies immediately barged in, carrying Chicane in a stretcher between them.

“Do you have a clear surface for us to put him?” the medic at the front asked.

Cadance pointed towards a couch on the other side of the room. “Right there, where all the equipment’s set up.”

The medical ponies moved to the couch and slowly lifted the battered changeling onto it. Cadance could only watch in awe as they quickly hooked him up to several machines she still hadn’t even learned the names of. They were supposed to stay for a few hours longer to guide Cadance through the basic motions, which she was incredibly thankful for, since she knew she’d be lost if she tried going in blind on her own.

Once the IV tube was fed into Chicane’s good foreleg and the heart monitor made its first steady beeps, the doctors moved aside, allowing Cadance a full view of him. His right legs were in casts, and much of his body was wrapped in gauze. The wrapping on his head engulfed his horn and concealed his damaged eye. He was much easier on the eyes with his more severe injuries concealed, but he somehow looked even more pitiful.

Cadance looked back to the portal, back to Shining Armor. He looked to feel just as sorry for the poor creature as she did.

“We did that to him,” Cadance stated. “We did that to his entire race. I’ve lost so much sleep over that these past few weeks. The worst thing about it is that, no matter how much I want to, we can’t take any of it back. I don’t think I can forgive myself for it unless I do something to make up for it. I can’t not do this.”

Shining paused for quite a while, looking upon the bandaged figure with an expression of guilt and remorse. Just as Cadance expected, he was finally seeing it her way.

Eventually, Shining sighed. “You can’t do this for all of them. You’ll barely be able to handle the one.”

“One is better than none,” Cadance declared. “I can forgive myself if I can make a difference in just one of these changelings’ lives. I don’t just want him to recover. I want him to feel welcome here.”

“He’s not, though,” Shining countered. “I appreciate what you’re doing for him, and I get why, but he helped crash our wedding and attack Canterlot. Most ponies won’t let that go easily.”

“There are plenty who will,” Cadance replied. “Even if it’s just us, Chrysalis, and Twilight and her friends, he’ll have ponies here that are willing to accept and help him. And with most of his swarm gone, I think he’ll need as much support as he can get.”

“Well, do what you need to do,” Shining instructed. “I need to head off now. The guys are getting sick of the heat, and we want to leave Appleloosa within the next hour.”

“Good luck out there,” Cadance encouraged him. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” Shining replied with a smile, and Cadance cut the connection. She had to rest a foreleg on the arm of the couch to keep her balance; that spell always took a lot out of her.

As she stabilized herself, her gaze fell back upon Chicane. Despite the countless fractures and scars concealed by so many bandages, despite the uneven and shallow breathing aided only by an oxygen mask, he looked strangely peaceful. She wondered if he could even feel any of it in his state.

Almost without thinking, Cadance lit her horn again with magic, surrounding it in a bright blue aura. She touched her horn to Chicane’s, hoping he would respond and consume the energy for himself.

“Princess Cadance,” one of the doctors called from behind her. She almost completely forgot those stallions were even there. “I don’t recommend you try that until the patient’s horn heals. With any luck, that will only take a few days, but for now, I think it’s too risky.”

Cadance stepped back from the changeling. With the horn concealed, she’d forgotten about the cracks. The doctor had a point; those cracks most likely impacted Chicane’s ability to use magic and absorb love. In a worst-case scenario, going through with it could have caused a backfire that would kill them both. It would still be some time before she could nourish him.

“If I can’t do that yet,” Cadance told the doctors, “I’ll find some other way to take care of him. I think we should start by teaching me how to change his IV bag.”

“You did what!?” Twilight Sparkle cried, shifting her eyes between Chrysalis and the morning paper.

“What else could I have done?” Chrysalis asked. “The doctor was refusing to let me see him! Chicane is my subject, one of those whom I’ve been fighting to preserve all this time!”

“What was stopping you from just talking to him?” Twilight demanded.

“We tried!” Chrysalis responded. “Princesses Luna and Cadance tried long before we arrived, and not even Celestia could generate the results I needed.”

“So you threw him into a wall!?” Twilight shouted. “Did you think he wouldn’t tell anypony about this? Did you even think at all!?”

“Those in glass houses...” Chrysalis muttered.

“Did you seriously just compare this to my problem!?” Twilight accused, slowly growing more and more upset. “I have actual issues, Chrysalis! I’ve been seeing somepony for them every other day because I can barely keep them under control on my own! You knew exactly what you were doing! You were just being stupid and reckless!”

“Alright, I get it!” Chrysalis yelled. “I’m sorry for comparing my impulsive actions to your emotional instability, and I admit that I may have been out of line at the hospital. But what’s done is done.”

Twilight paused, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down. “It’s alright. I shouldn’t have blown up at you like that. That’s exactly the kind of thing I’m trying to avoid. Right now, though, we need to worry about this.” With that last word, she shook the newspaper in her telekinetic grasp.

The fact that she’d made it onto the front page of the newspaper alarmed Chrysalis far more than she was willing to show. She knew that her eventual reveal was inevitable, but she’d hoped to be able to have it happen on her own terms. She’d envisioned herself standing by Celestia’s side while she made a public announcement declaring her and the changeling race to no longer be a threat to Equestria. She would even have taken the systematic method of introduction that her friends seemed eager to start implementing, meeting ponies a few at a time and perhaps letting word of mouth do the rest.

This was exactly what she wanted to avoid. She feared that the invasion would still be fresh on the public mind when the time came, but this incident would only serve to make things worse. She’d changed in her time in Ponyville, and she’d desired a clean slate for her public reveal, but now it would appear that she was just as malicious as her first visit made her appear to be. She would be judged a monster, a hostile tyrant come to take their kingdom once again.

Her fears were now guaranteed to come true. This article sealed her fate.

“What use is there now?” Chrysalis lamented. “Nothing can change the fact that this happened. If I were to take any action now, I’d certainly face persecution.”

“You can’t hide forever,” Twilight informed her. “Not from this, and not from the rest of Equestria. If this is a sign of anything, it’s that it’s time to show yourself.”

“After this?” Chrysalis asked. “This article has made me a villain in the public eye!”

“You did that yourself when you invaded Canterlot,” Twilight replied. “This isn’t nearly as bad as that.”

“To them, I may as well have just invaded a second time!” Chrysalis retorted. “I cannot make my presence known to them as a friend if they think of me as a foe!”

“You didn’t have that problem with us,” Twilight reminded her. She sighed, moving for the door. “At any rate, your presence is definitely known now. I need to get to Manehattan for my appointment, so we’ll talk about this when I get back.”

Chrysalis gave off a sigh of her own. “Take care, Twilight.” The mare nodded her acknowledgement, then headed out the door.

Another problem caused by lack of forethought. Chrysalis was so used to this, yet it would always take her by surprise when the consequences caught up with her. For the second time now, her grand mistake was in full view of a peaceful nation in which she was generally unwelcome. This time, though, it was not an intricate plan, and she could not map out its flaws in hindsight and try to learn from the mistakes. This time it was pure impulse, a choice made in the heat of the moment, where the only flaw was the fact that it had been made in the first place.

She knew she should have just accepted Celestia’s offer for a formal pardon...

“Something wrong, Chrysalis?”

Chrysalis looked behind her, to the staircase of the upper level of the library, where she found Spike standing at the foot of the steps. Would she ever have a conversation with him that did not involve him descending that staircase?

“You’ve seen the newspaper, have you not?” Chrysalis asked morosely.

“What about it?” Spike replied. “I didn’t think you were that interested in current events.”

“Not normally,” Chrysalis stated, “but I have a personal investment in today’s front-page story.” She grabbed the newspaper from across the room with her magic, tossing it into Spike’s waiting hands. He started to scan the paper, but after a moment, his eyes began to widen.

“Oh, that’s not good,” he panicked. “That’s not good at all! Everypony’s gonna know you’re here now! Do you have any idea what they could do to you, or to us, if they found out where in Equestria you are!?”

“You’re not helping,” Chrysalis retorted. “Twilight suggests that we find a solution before this truly gets out of hoof.”

“We could burn every copy that got sent out, right?” Spike asked, speaking rather quickly in his frantic state. “I bet if we hurry, we can just grab them all and have a nice little fire in a nice little clearing in the Everfree Forest! If we want to get the entire kingdom in less than thirty minutes, we need to leave now!”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. It seemed some of Twilight’s paranoia had rubbed off on him. “We are not burning anything. Besides, I have a less-than-pleasant history with that forest. I would rather not return to that place just to set fire to a pile of newspapers.”

“Then we’ll go to Winsome Falls!” Spike shouted, seemingly ignoring the first part of Chrysalis’ statement. “The smoke and fire won’t do too much damage to the rainbow waterfalls’ colors, will they?”

“Enough with the burning!” Chrysalis ordered. “We must find a way out of this mess that does not involve covering up the fact that the mess is there!”

Spike sighed, looking down at the floor. “Yeah, I guess so. I don’t even think it’s possible to get every newspaper in Equestria in half an hour.” He raised his head again to meet the changeling’s gaze. “So are we just waiting for Twilight to come back?”

“I see no better option,” Chrysalis answered, “so wait we shall.”

They waited for about an hour before there was a knock at the door. It was much too early for Twilight to have already returned, so Chrysalis assumed it was a hopeful patron to the library. And here she stood, completely undisguised! She stepped to the side, out of view from the doorway, as Spike moved to open it. As he did, she saw a smile cross his face.

“Hey there, Fluttershy!” Spike greeted, to Chrysalis’ surprise. “Looking for Twilight?”

“Um... actually, no,” Fluttershy’s voice replied from outside. “I wanted to talk to Chrysalis.”

Chrysalis stepped forward to meet Fluttershy as Spike allowed her entrance. “It’s been far too long, Fluttershy. What brings you here?”

Fluttershy muttered something under her breath, Chrysalis only able to catch the words “only four days,” before she raised her voice to a more comfortable volume. “Anyway, I was wondering if... well, maybe you’d like to come out and meet some other ponies. Rarity was telling me about how well things went with her sister, and—”

“You’re kidding,” Chrysalis interrupted. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Who kids about making friends?” came an unexpected and energetic voice from seemingly nowhere. Without warning, Pinkie Pie burst her way through a pile of unsorted books on the ground.

“How did you—” Chrysalis began to ask, but a knowing glance from Fluttershy told her not to question the methods of Pinkie’s madness.

“You don’t mind that I’m setting this all up, right?” Pinkie asked, talking at a mile a minute. “It made me so sad seeing you all shut up here in the library, so I thought to myself, ‘Hey, Pinkie, how can we get Chryssy to get out more?’ And then it hit me; make more friends! So I gave Applejack the idea to bring you over to Sweet Apple Acres to meet the Cutie Mark Crusaders, since they’re just the cutest and nicest fillies you’ll ever meet and they’d never be able to not get along with you! And now me and Fluttershy are gonna take you to meet Zecora! Isn’t this exciting?”

Chrysalis simply sat there stupefied for several seconds, trying and mostly failing to process everything that had just been said. It seemed like she said that this meeting system was of her own design, but she couldn’t be sure. What did catch her attention, however, was a name she used towards the end.

“Zecora? The zebra?”

“Aww, you already know her?” Pinkie moaned. “You weren’t supposed to meet her yet! My plan is ruined!”

Chrysalis chuckled. She knew the feeling well. “I have not met her personally, not as of yet. Applejack and Apple Bloom mentioned the name.”

“I think you’ll really like her,” Fluttershy assured her. “She’s wise, she’s charitable, she’s great with potions, and if you can get used to her manner of speaking, she’s very pleasant to talk to.”

“Which is why we’re leaving to talk to her right now!” Pinkie exclaimed, and Chrysalis barely had time to protest before she and Fluttershy were forcefully dragged out of the library.

Accepting her fate, the changeling queen groaned and disguised herself as Twilight before any attention could be drawn to her. She began walking with Pinkie and Fluttershy in silence, mentally preparing herself for another arranged encounter. She initially hoped that Zecora would not be too judgmental based on the newspaper article, then remembered that she likely would not receive a paper in the—

Chrysalis stopped dead in her tracks. That train of thought reminded her of where exactly Rainbow Dash had said Zecora lived. All at once, she was filled with unpleasant memories and a sense of dread.

She would need to re-enter Everfree.