Starswirl gazed around the small chamber he was in. It appeared to be the throne room, though very different from Celestia's. The entire room seemed to be spun from spider silk. The walls were like grey string, tightly wound together. Instead of doors and windows, this palace had sphincters for ponies to enter through. Although it was odd, nopony could say that it was not beautiful. At the very back of the room was a throne of webbing and bones, ornately carved, with a jewel-encrusted spider on top.

"What makes you think I owe you a favor?" asked Chrysalis, spreading out her insectoid wings.

"A number of reasons." Starswirl retorted, "For one, I stopped Tia from beating you up all those years ago."

"Well, I would have won that fight. Your argument is invalid."

"I gave you the idea to kidnap Cadence." said Starswirl, desperately.

"I would have come up with that eventually. Not to mention my plan was already in place and would have proceeded with or without the princess Cadenza."

"I know you owe me for one thing though." said Starswirl, pausing for dramatic effect. "You owe me for helping you overthrow your father."

"That was you?!" questioned Luna, outraged. "You were the one who helped her kill King Morphis?"

"Yep." said Chrysalis proudly. "If it weren't for Swirly here, I'd probably be in a dungeon while my daddy dearest let my people starve to death."

"Swirly?" muttered Twilight, inaudibly.

"B-but why?!" asked Luna. "How did you even know her in those days?"

"I helped her because she was the lesser of two evils." replied Starswirl. "And as I'm sure some of you can tell, we used to be-"

"Friends!" finished Applejack.

"Best friends in fact. Before I met you and Tia of course." said Starswirl. "But I learned she was no good for me, so we stopped hanging out. Not before we killed the king, though." he said, directing his attention to Chrysalis. "Like I said, you owe me. Do this and we call it even."

"Well I do owe you I suppose." replied the queen grumpily. "If it weren't for you I'd be in jail or dead, possibly worse. What do you need me to do?"

"We need your help to invade Canterlot, knock out Tia, and drag her back to Ponyville, where we will do some difficult, maybe even impossible magic." said Starswirl grimly. A short pause ensued, followed by a fit of laughter.

"Hahahahahaha!" laughed the queen of the changelings, "You are hilarious Swirly! You must have lost your mind since we last spoke."

"What's so funny?" asked Twilight defensively."You defeated Princess Celestia before."

"Simple, dim, Twilight Sparkle." said Chrysalis venomously, "The only reason I was able to overpower Celestia last time we met was because she was taken completely off guard. If Swirly has come to ask me for help, that means he has tried, failed and ran out of ideas to beat her, eliminating one of my most useful assets: the element of surprise. What help will I be?"

"You have an army of extremely powerful, extremely versatile creatures." said Luna. "We were hoping you could lend them to us."

"Do not dare talk of my children in such a manner!" shouted Chrysalis, anger overtaking her normally calm and sarcastic tone. "They are not weapons, nor are they playthings to be rented out to the highest bidder."

"Pardon me for making the assumption that you treated all life with the disregard and contempt you showed my people." said Luna, equally angry.

"You know what they say: Don't assume. It makes an a-"

"Ladies, ladies you're both very pretty!" said Twilight, a little perturbed. "Now listen. You two may not like each other. I know Chrysalis hates me as much as I hate her, if not more. But there are much bigger things at stake here than petty disagreements or being 'politically correct' or even our own lives! Chrysalis, what if I told you that somepony would come here today to destroy your kingdom and enslave your people, killing anyone who resists?"

"I would do everything in my power to stop that pony." said Chrysalis with no hesitation.

"That's what is going to happen if you don't help us stop Princess Celestia! Even someone like you, who doesn't care about what happens to us, has to help us fight. As little as you might want to help us, you don't have much choice. Your hooves are tied, Chrysalis. You need us just as much as we need you."

"It would seem Twi has you in checkmate, Chrysie. I couldn't have said any of that better myself. Nice work Twi, you make an excellent princess." said Starswirl, watching the youngest alicorn's face glow with pride.

"You are right." said Chrysalis. "I don't have much choice. But allow me to give some background on me and Swirly. He was better than me at almost everything. Almost. You see, I always trumped him in one field. Negotiation." Starswirl's look of joy became one of dread in a matter of seconds.

"W-what?" stuttered Starswirl, "You can't negotiate your way out of this! You owe me and you will repay your debt!"

"Oh this goes far beyond my debt." said Chrysalis, sly grin on her face. "You would have had to fight my father eventually. He did plan on invading Canterlot, but we killed him right before that. Not to mention the fact that Celestia is easily ten times stronger than me, forgetting completely about the addition of power that whatever made you want to fight her may have given her. This will be repaying my debt and then some. So we need something to compensate me. I will help you Starswirl, but on one condition."

"What is your condition?" inquired Starswirl, "I will make it happen. Just try to be reasonable."

"I want free reign over love on Hearts and Hooves Day for the next five years!" exclaimed the queen manically.

"No way!" screamed Luna. "You'll suck the ponies dry of their love!"

"Yes I will. But you need my help." said Chrysalis, basking in her diplomatic genius. Deciding it was time to mock them, she continued. "Whose hooves are tied again?! It would seem that I have you in checkmate!"

Starswirl didn't know what to do. Oh man!, he thought, She's good! We need her help, but five years of no love on Hearts and Hooves Day?! That's ludacris! I only have one choice. It's not the perfect choice, but it's all I have to work with.

"Fine." said Starswirl aloud. "Free reign over the next five Hearts and Hooves Days in exchange for helping us invade Canterlot and taking Princess Celestia."

"YES!" exclaimed Chrysalis.

"NO!" shouted everypony else in the room, save for Rarity.

"You can't be serious Starswirl!" yelled Luna. "Surely there is another way!"

"Princess Luna, if I may just say, I'm sure Starswirl is doing the best he can to find another solution." said Rarity, "The fact that this is his decision most likely means it is the best one."

"But that's insane" said Rainbow.

"That can't be a good idea." said Twilight.

"That plan is as dumb as a load of bricks." added Aj.

"Are you locko in the cocko?!" asked Pinkie.

"That sounds… bad." whispered Fluttershy.

"In any case, I won't let her have all that love." said Luna.

"I, Prince Starswirl, ruler of the Stars and speaking on behalf of all of Equestria and the Princesses Luna, Celestia, Twilight Sparkle and Mi Amore Cadenza, do solemnly swear that you will have complete immunity on Hearts and Hooves Day for the next five years if, and only if, Princess Celestia is of active body and mind to rule Equestria once more at that time. Do you agree to these terms?" said Starswirl, pointing his horn towards Chrysalis.

"I, Queen Chrysalis, ruler of the Changelings and speaking on behalf of the Changelings, do agree to these terms." returned the queen, her horn pointed at Starswirl's. They stepped towards each other slowly, horns trained on each other, until a faint light emitted from each of their horns. The light grew stronger and changed in color, on Chrysalis' side it glowed a lime green, on Starswirl's a deep, midnight blue. The light grew stronger the closer they got to each other, until their horns touched, bathing the room in a multi-color glow. There they stood for a few seconds, horns touching, until they said, in unison,

"Contractus signati." The light grew brighter and brighter until suddenly, it was gone. Chrysalis was now walking back to her throne, doing a spell. Out of the ground melted a war table, complete with scale models of buildings and even ponies.

"Well, get over here!" said Chrysalis diabolically. "We need to plan. Tonight we plan the Second Changeling Invasion!"