Romance and the Fate of Equestria

Chapter One Hundred and Seven

Discord stood at the top of a forested hill, watching the sunrise with great interest and thoughtfulness. Chrysalis flew over the hill and set down beside him, yawning and stretching, and with her came a pale green early-morning fog.

"Good morning, Your Majesty," he said pleasantly.

"Mmm, to you as well," she said lazily.

"And how was your night?"

"Oh, it went quite well," she said. "Mating with my brother was successful and pleasurable… yes, it was very nice. He's been gone so long. We missed the season wherein my body was receptive to breeding… a shame. I had wanted so dearly to have his eggs. The time shall not come again for several years—you can be certain it will be under more apt circumstances."

"Mm-hmm."

"Ah, but there's no sense in waiting and wishing for something whose coming cannot be hastened," she said jovially. "It is good to have him back. We will enjoy ourselves greatly in moons to come."

Discord considered. "I confess I'm quite surprised, Your Majesty. You really do love him, don't you?"

She shrugged. "Well, since love is something upon which we feed, I would venture a guess that the answer is no, I don't 'love' him. However…" she said carefully, "I both desire him and have a high amount of respect for who he is as a changeling."

Discord chuckled. "Well, I admit that I'm only a semi-professional on the subject, but to me, that sounds an awful lot like being in love."

"Perhaps," Chrysalis said simply. "However you wish to label my feelings, the fact remains that a queen—or any female—holding a male in such regard… it's considered a grievous weakness. Look around sometime, at all the females you see about, including my own sisters, and you'll see that they all judge me quite harshly… they whisper in the darkness that such behavior is unacceptable in society… and yet, I run this society, do I not? I should be the one to decide what is right and wrong."

Discord nodded his approval. "Indeed, my friend. Indeed."

"He is the only mate I shall ever take," Chrysalis said dreamily. "All these months alone, and yet never did my eyes so much as wander to another male. No other wretched male could possibly be worthy of mating privileges with such a glorious queen as I, not even for a brief moment of carnal pleasure."

"Damn it, I'm saying words again," Discord muttered, before proceeding aloud, "This would almost be romantic, almost, if we weren't talking about YOUR BROTHER!" He swallowed hard, embarrassed, then muttered again, "And even then… only almost."

Chrysalis laughed. "Yes, most would consider that a taboo, wouldn't they? So it is in this civilization as well… but again, this civilization is mine—I own it, I have absolute control over its people—taboo is whatever I say it is! And I say it is acceptable for me to share carnal pleasures with my brother, when my alternative is the unworthy scum of the common male of the species. And as I am allowed to choose my mate, so too can I share romance with the one I have chosen."

Discord didn't respond, simply continuing to nod his head casually. "So you're liking my plan?" he finally said.

"Oh, I am indeed," Chrysalis said excitedly. "Your tale of forcing Celestia to fall in love with you—I do not impress easily, but I am impressed. I wish I could do such a thing. It would make things so much easier. I was always taught that love cannot be manufactured, that it must be cultivated where it already exists, but then again, you are hardly a representative of things which are normal and possible, now are you?"

"Aw, you," Discord giggled. "How flattering! Now you're just going to make me blush."

"If this love is truly as unconditional and all-consuming as you say, I very much look forward to feeding on it," Chrysalis continued. "If it's as good as the real thing…"

"I assure you it is," Discord said seriously. "Complete with all the angst and irrationality that accompanies true love. And regret, of course. All the regret…"

Chrysalis grinned, and tiny electrical storms seemed to run through the fog. "It sounds wonderful. And when I've consumed it, this all-encompassing mad love, I shall become more powerful than ever before, even more so than when I was able to overcome Celestia's magic with my own." She eyed him with interest. "You truly can't lie. I know enough of the Elements to be certain of this. I'm surprised, then, that I didn't notice Celestia's love for you during all the time I spent in her presence."

"Oh, she's gotten good at suppressing it, just like she spends most of her time ignoring my presence in her mind," said Discord. "You just need to get me and her in the same room, and it'll all come flooding out of her. Then it'll be you and me at the top of the world, baby! You'll get the Elements of Harmony out of me, and with my full power back, the entire world shall be reshaped into a glorious beacon of our partnership! You know, I might even use my power to reach deep into Princess Luna's heart and pluck Nightmare Moon out of her. We can be like a trinity of tyrannical rulers! Sure, her goals are less 'take over Equestria' and more 'slowly and painfully kill all life on the entire planet', but hey, a partnership is all about making compromises, we can work something out with her. And I'll walk down the street, my nose held high in the air like the elite, a queenly lady under each arm, you and Nightmare… you two would make a pretty good matched set, I think." He mimed walking down the street in just such a manner.

"No one would be able to keep us down ever again!" he said gleefully. "Because I'll finally have full and total control of where the Elements of Harmony are and what they do. After they're out of me, no more games, ever again, at least not with those as the stakes. I would play some games, of course. You know, make deals and such. Oh, I'll be so free! No more curses, no more limitations, I'll finally be able to put my mother in the ground! You and me, my dear queen, you and me to the top of the heap or bust, am I right? Ha ha… hahahaha… AHHHH-BWA-HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

He stumbled slightly, looking woozy and out of breath. "Oh, it's been so long since I've indulged in maniacal laughter. It's very therapeutic! Have you ever tried it?"

"Occasionally," Chrysalis said wryly.

"Have you?" Discord challenged. "Sure, I've heard you chuckle every now and again, but have you ever reeeeally let it all go? You should sometime."

"Perhaps I will," said Chrysalis.

The fog began to thicken as Chrysalis's expression darkened. Discord took notice and looked around in alarm. "Is something the matter?"

"Oh, no, I'm just concerned," Chrysalis assured him. "You seem to be laboring under the delusion that you and I are… partners of some sort."

"Delusion?" Discord said blankly. "Of course we're partners. I came here offering an alliance, a team-up…"

"No," Chrysalis said coldly. "You came here because you're trapped in the role of a follower, and you needed somepony to follow. You came to me, desperate to obey all of my orders, follow all of my laws, and tell me the absolute truth at all times. Why would I seek to end that by making us equal partners?"

"You said you'd take the Elements of Harmony out of me," Discord said nervously.

"Wrong again," said Chrysalis. "I said that when I absorbed Celestia's love for you, I would become powerful enough to be able to do so. You then assumed that I was saying I would actually do it."

Discord dropped his jaw. "You used 'exact words' tactics on me? ME? I practically invented that game, you bitch! How dare you play that trick on the master!"

"It's not my fault you fell for it," Chrysalis said in amusement. "Clearly those Elements have made you a bit too trusting. You're losing your touch, little by little, you said so yourself. Not to worry, I can still find uses for you."

She advanced on him with an evil, tight-lipped smile, the fog thickening dramatically around her. He backed away in fear. "Chryssie, baby," he said frantically, "there's no need for this… we can do this together as friends. It would be so much easier on both of us that way." He jumped in surprise when he realized she had backed him up against a tree.

"The ponies were your friends too," she hissed. "Look how it ended for them. Clearly, they gave you too much leeway. I am not going to make the same mistakes they did."

"Oh dear," Discord peeped.

"Lie flat on your back in submission to me, like a dog," she ordered coldly.

He did so instantly, dropping to the ground with his arms and legs splayed out, his chest and stomach vulnerable.

"Now, don't scream," Chrysalis commanded. "Don't even cry out."

She reared up onto her hind legs and stomped powerfully on his stomach. He flinched, but didn't make a sound. She then stomped on him with all four hooves at once, pressing her entire body weight into his diaphragm… over and over and over. All the while, he did little more than release a small puff of air with each blow, glaring at her with absolute hatred all the while.

She leaned down to whisper in his ear, all four of her hooves still on his body. "Listen to this order and heed it well," she said gently. "You will obey me and my heirs from now until the end of time. You will follow the laws of the changeling empire… forever. Regardless of how unlawful you choose to perceive us as being, you will never turn your back on my country as you did to Equestria. You will never escape me. You will never betray me. You will never stop being my slave. For all eternity, you shall follow my orders and my laws. No exceptions. No loopholes. Ever. Do you understand the instructions you have been given, you pathetic beast?"

"Y-yes…" he growled weakly.

She nodded and stepped off of him. "Stand." He did so, and she smiled at him smugly. "I did what the ponies were too weak to do. Don't blame me for being the one to find the proper use for the gift I've been given. Now, chin up. Show me a smile."

He grinned at her coldly.

"Very good!" she said brightly. "I think I'm going to like this. I'll leave you to mull things over a bit. Remember, you're mine forever." She turned her back on him and started laughing. "Hahahahaha… muahahahahahaha… MUUUWWAAAHAHAHAHA… HAHAHAHAHAHA! …Ooh." She turned back to him, smirking. "You're right. I just let it all loose… that feels so much better than holding it in." She started walking back to the changeling camp, the thick fog going along with her.

"Mull things over…" he grumbled under his breath. "Why don't you mull things over? Mull over the fact that even though you've seemingly bound me to your will forever, I'm waltzing over to your little dungeon to free your prisoners right now."

"Did you say something, Discord?" she called to him.

"Nothing that you needed to hear, my queen," he called back darkly.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The six ponies were in a cell dug out of the earth, its walls full of rocks and intruding tree roots. The floors were covered in a sticky green substance, and each of the ponies had a chain around their waist and pegged to the earthen wall, preventing them from walking very far. Twilight and Rarity still had their horns coated in black silk, with metal caps pinned over them.

"She knows everything about our loved ones," Fluttershy said shakily. "She'll find them and trick them, and then kill them…"

"Well, that's why we've got to get out of here and finish this mission," Twilight said more firmly, putting a hoof on her shoulder. She eyed the cell door, where two changelings stood guard, armored and carrying tridents. "We can try talking to the guards," she said quietly. "It's pretty clear how the changelings feel about their queen engaging in deviant sexual acts. If we get them to open up about it… plus, factor in how Cadance said they'd have no incentive to go to war if not for her… I think it would be very easy to persuade a large amount of changelings that eliminating Queen Chrysalis is a good thing."

"Okay, let's say we break out," said Applejack. "Even if we have part of the changeling army on our side, how do we beat the queen without the Elements of Harmony?"

"How hard can that be?" Rainbow demanded.

"Harder than you'd think," Rarity said grimly. "Did you see the way the sky and the forest seemed to express her emotions with her? Clearly, her magic is still immensely powerful. I wouldn't want to go up against it."

"…I did notice that," Rainbow muttered. "It was almost like she was a goddess."

"Cocoon beat all six of us," Twilight pondered, glaring and pawing at the ground. "She has him, and an army, and Discord. Not to mention herself. I don't like this at all. The odds against us just seem insurmountable. …But we'll think about that later. The important thing is to get ourselves out of this cell."

"If I had my party cannon, I'd blast us out!" Pinkie declared. "But it's in my saddlebags, and they put our stuff in that little room down the hall. Ooh, it's so close and yet so far away! We'd be in that room in three seconds with my party cannon, but if we had my party cannon we wouldn't need to blast our way through to get our stuff, because my party cannon is with our stuff, and if we had my party cannon we'd already have our stuff so there'd be no need to break into that room with the party cannon to get it."

The others were silent for a moment. "Remember when we used to have trouble following trains of thought like that?" Rainbow said dryly.

"I'm not even surprised to learn that she brought her party cannon with her on this mission," Twilight admitted. "And in those tiny saddlebags, to boot. Morbidly curious, yes, but not surprised."

Fluttershy sighed. "So what's our solution?" she asked. "We're not trying to escape for us here. We need to get out of here to save the ones we love and Equestria."

"I know, Fluttershy," Twilight said anxiously. She walked back and forth, but the sticky goo on the cell floor made lifting her hooves difficult, and the chain in the wall only allowed her to walk so far. "Ugh, I can't even pace in here," she said in exasperation. "Girls, we may be in over our heads this time."

An eagle talon and a lion paw came down from above, grasped the heads of the two changeling guards and snapped their necks instantly. Discord dropped down from the ceiling and snapped his fingers. The cell door opened, and their chains fell away, along with the metal caps on the unicorns' horns.

"Interesting trivia fact," he said casually. "The changeling empire doesn't actually have a whole lot of laws. I guess Chrysalis assumes that her will goes without saying. That's always a dangerous assumption to make, especially when you're dealing with me. She said no loopholes, but I can't use loopholes if there are no laws to begin with. Which, in itself, is kind of a loophole, but, meh, I'm standing here over the bodies of two murdered changelings holding the door open for you, so apparently the Elements are copacetic with all this."

He stepped aside to allow them to step through the door. "Anyway, your possessions are down the hall in that room," he said, pointing down the earthen tunnel leading to their right. "The place was rigged, but I took the liberty of taking out the traps. Keep following the tunnel that led you to that room, and you'll find a back entrance, which I've made sure is unguarded. If you're both quick and quiet, you can be off of changeling turf in five minutes."

The ponies started filing out of the cell. Fluttershy exited first, then noticed Rarity's horn still wrapped in silk and started peeling it off. Rarity glared up at Discord. "Whose side on you on, exactly?" she demanded.

He rolled his eyes. "Now, that's a stupid question. Obviously I'm on my side."

Applejack gazed at him sadly. "Of course…" she said with regret.

"Being on my own side is easy when I have all my powers," he said bitterly, "but on the alarmingly common occasions when I don't, I'm forced to be—eurgh—subtle about it." He shuddered.

Twilight stared blankly at him as Rainbow helped her pull the silk from her horn. "Why are you doing this?" she said softly.

"Chrysalis… demoted me," he growled, clenching his fists. "She had no intentions of setting me free. I'm her slave, forever. She's a good player of the game… not better than you, Twilight, but you pull your punches because you're nice. Chrysalis, she's sort of, kind of, what we might call… not nice. I'd love to betray her completely, but I can't. So get out of my sight before I'm forced to tattle on you."

He glared at the ponies furiously. "Remember who you're fighting. Remember why I was able to murder these guards and spring you from prison: in changeling society, killing a fellow changeling isn't a crime, not even considered a sin. Being caught killing a fellow changeling is the height of dishonor. And really, this exemplifies rule number one in every society ever: don't get caught. I'd hate to see what happened if you did. Mess her up for me, my little ponies."

Twilight nodded. "We'll do what we can."

"Thank you," said Discord. "And good luck."

Twilight lifted her hoof, then slowly withdrew it. "I… I was going to shake your hand and wish you luck too… but, you know what, I'm still mad at you, so I'm gonna pass."

"Fair enough," said Discord. "We'll see how you feel about me next time we cross paths."

"Sounds good," Twilight agreed. "So, I guess this is goodbye."

"Perhaps," Discord warned. "And perhaps not."

Twilight's face darkened, grasping the implications. "Yeah," she said. "Come on, girls. Let's get the hell out of here."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Minutes later, the six ponies were in the forest, on a hilltop from which they could see the small changeling camp… and beyond it, the makings of an entire hastily-constructed changeling empire, trees and dirt carved and warped into large guarded compounds.

They all stared at it for a while. Eventually, five pairs of eyes pointed at Twilight. She felt, more than saw, their gaze on her.

"All right, everypony," she said solemnly. "Let's go."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Endnotes

Wow… it's just hit me… Part Two is almost over. Three more chapters… only one more update to go… wow, I'm getting kind of emotional here.