After a long and hard trudge through the Black Widow's Peaks, Chrysalis, along with what remained of her army and the prisoners they took from the Canterlot settlement arrived at the Changeling hive, one of the tallest peaks in the entire mountain range. From the numerous cracks and windows that dotted the structure, a sickly green light glowed, with trace amounts of smoke rising from them. The valley through which the convoy walked was dotted with rocks and boulders of all shapes and sizes, with the surrounding mountains acting as a perimeter wall which surrounded the hive. Standing before Chrysalis was a tall and thick stone gate, which opened immediately to reveal an equally tall iron portcullis. The Changelings bowed to greet their queen, before casting hard and menacing looks upon the line of prisoners that were marched inside. It wasn't long before Chrysalis reached her throne room, where Captain Black Blade, one of the many mid-ranked officers in the Changeling Army was waiting for her, along with her royal guard.

"Welcome back my Queen" Hissed Blade. "I hope you aren't hurt?"

"Just a few scars" Replied Chrysalis. "They will heal. Now, I want the prisoners, all the prisoners, to be rehabilitated. The army is in need of replenishment."

"Of course your Majesty" Blade hissed in response. "Changelings! Prepare the prisoners for their rehabilitation."

Amidst the cries and pleas of the terrified prisoners, Chrysalis sat atop her throne once more, the wounds from her landing fresh, but unbled. Her throne possessed the ability to channel the love from her prisoners into her body, giving her extra magic power and increased strength, a much needed boost considering the toll Cadance and Shining's spell took on her. Having settled in, Chrysalis decided to pass on some fresh orders to her officers.

"Major Shroud! Come." Barked Chrysalis. In response, Dark Shroud, another of Chrysalis's officers, and one of the most experienced in her army stepped forth.

"Your Majesty?" Asked Shroud, preparing his mind to take mental notes, regardless of length.

"You are in charge of the armory. I want my new Changelings to be equipped with the finest armours and weapons my blacksmiths can forge. Last time we merely harvested the love from the ponies and kept attacking. This time we harvest, and then we kill. This time, there can be no resistance to the might of the Changelings. You will also be in charge of drilling. I want the new army to be deadlier than before. Merciless, unforgiving, unwilling to spare even the smallest quarter."

"Thank you your Majesty." Hissed Shroud. "I will not fail you."

With that, Shroud left to get the blacksmiths to work. Chrysalis, on the other hoof, was not quite finished. Now that she had a man in charge of drilling and equipment, she needed somepony to command the home defense. There was no doubt in her mind that Celestia would retaliate for this particular assault, should it fail, but for whatever she would send to attack the Hive, be it her Guards or the Element Bearers (the latter being the more likely), or even if Canterlot was conquered but a small resistance movement had managed to infiltrate enemy lines in an attempt to assassinate her or even to attack the Hive, it was necessary to ready the home defences.

"Lieutenant Fang! Come forth at once!"

Fang stepped before Chrysalis, his eyes shimmering with anticipation.

"How may I serve you your Majesty?"

"Lieutenant Fang, let it be known that this operation will be enacted on a size and scale greater than that of the first. We may either succeed and conquer Canterlot, or we may fail and be evicted once more, but once thing is for certain. Celestia will retaliate, and it will be her intent to destroy us as a force once and for all. The first step will be to attack the Hive, and therefore we must set up a home defence. I want you to lead it. Can you do that Fang?"

"It would be an honour, my Queen."

"Excellent. Lieutenant Fang, you are hereby dismissed."

With that, Fang departed the throne room, but not before bowing to Chrysalis, who prepared to issue the day's final orders.

"Captain Blade!"

Almost instantly, Blade returned to the throne room, always ready and eager to serve his queen. With no words, he awaited his orders.

"Captain, I hereby bestow upon you the order of leading my forces in the assault on Canterlot, and any other town or villages I decide to conquer. As my most trusted lieutenant, I am sure you will not fail me."

"Your Majesty, the word "failure" does not exist in my vocabulary. It never has and it never will, for as long as my heart beats, my brain thinks and my allegiance lies with you. I will run Canterlot into the ground, even if it takes my life."

An evil and satisfied smile crept across the Changeling Queen's mouth. Black Blade's loyalty to her has never failed to impress. The only question that lingered, however, was how long would that loyalty last?

"You are dismissed. Go now and assemble the army. I think they have marinated long enough. You will also find me your finest spy. I have a job for them."

"Immediately!" Barked Blade, who ran off to prepare the freshly replenished Changeling Army. Chrysalis then stared into a green flame that burned at the side of her throne. Glaring into it, the flame produced a vision of Twilight in her library, reading through the lumps of friendship reports she and her former best friends had written over the months. They were nothing more than relics to her now, relics that celebrated a friendship she thoroughly enjoyed.

At least, while it lasted anyway.

Grinning evilly, Chrysalis held little care for such a plight. The only thing she cared about was how Twilight had provided her the perfect setup to launch a perfect, foolproof and failsafe assault on Canterlot. The Princess of Love, accompanied by the other five Element Bearers were heading to Ponyville in order to mend relations with the lavender unicorn, leaving Canterlot vulnerable to attack. Chrysalis had her enemies right where she wanted them, and it was all thanks to Twilight that this was possible.

"Oh little Twilight Sparkle, I cannot imagine how much it must hurt to have been betrayed and left for dead by those you held close to your heart, those you loved. The pain must be excruciating, for want of a fitting word. On the other hoof, I can imagine how glorious victory will be when we storm the gates of Canterlot, and it is all thanks to you that this is possible! Now, do me a favour and try not to cry while I'm spying on you."    

In the background, Black Blade had returned with one of the best spies in the army, Snake Bite. Snake was renowned for his effectiveness on the field, particularly in espionage and marking targets for the army to eliminate. Entire towns and villages had fallen mostly by his hoof alone, hence why Blade saw fit to pick him for this job.

"Your Majesty, may I present Snake Bite. The finest spy in my intelligence corps."

Snake Bite bowed without a word. Chrysalis turned to look at the pair, before returning an affirmative nod to Blade.

"Thank you Lieutenant. You may go."

Bowing to his queen, Blade departed the hall, leaving Snake Bite alone with Chrysalis.

"Snake Bite, I have summoned your presence for a task of great importance. What you are about to hear is top secret, and absolutely nopony can know of it."

Bracing himself, Snake Bite cued to Chrysalis he was ready to receive the intel.

"My magic torch has revealed to me that the leader of the Element Bearers, Twilight Sparkle, has returned to her home in Ponyville following a fallout with her friends, her brother and Princess Celestia, her mentor, feeling hurt and betrayed by all of the previously mentioned. Celestia has since sent a delegation, made up of the Element Bearers, to Ponyville. They are led by Cadance, the Princess of Love and their mission is to broker a renewed peace with Twilight. I want you to go to Ponyville to keep an eye on the meeting. Once the Princess of Love has entered the treehouse, I want you to signal the battalion, which will be following you, to storm both the treehouse and the village, capture the Princess and bring her to the Hive. Anypony who attempts to resist or to rescue her is to be dealt with immediately. Once the Princess is captured, you are to flee the village and return to the Hive. In your disguise, try to look panicked and terrified. I don't care how you do it, just get out of Ponyville, but only when we have Cadance. Am I clear Snake Bite?"

"Transparently." Snake hissed gently.

"Excellent." Replied Chrysalis. "Go now Snake Bite. The battalion will be waiting in the Everfree within moments of your arrival.

With a quick and curt bow, Snake Bite flew off to Ponyville.

Back in Canterlot, Shining Armor had arrived at his and Twilight’s old family home with the orders to inform their parents, Twilight Velvet and Night Light of their current situation. The shamed former groom felt antsy about the whole ordeal; now he was beginning to wish he hadn’t taken on the extra order from Celestia.

He knew he'd have to tell them everything that happened including their betrayal and the invasion that followed their naivety and ignorance to her. He couldn’t bear to think of it any longer but he wanted to get it over with so they can quickly make amends to his own sister, the Element Bearer's best friend and Celestia's student they all scarred for life.Still, they had to know, so Shining knocked on the door and it opened to reveal his father Night Light.

"Why Shining! So good to see you again!"

"Is that my Shining Armor?!" screamed Twilight Velvet from the kitchen. The unicorn mare, bearing a mane almost similar to Twilight's, raced to the door to greet her son. "Oh honey! I'm so happy to see you, but shouldn't you be at the wedding?"

Shining’s heart sank deeper into his stomach. Night Light and Twilight Velvet were clearly delighted to see him and that made breaking the grave news of Twilight and Spike even harder to bear.

"The wedding's been called off", said Shining, trying to keep a straight face.

"Oh, well that's a shame", said Night Light, disappointed.

Shining knew his parents wouldn’t take the wedding rehearsal incident and the invasion well but he knew they would have to know sooner or later, even if it meant him, Celestia and Twilight’s friends all getting another tongue-lashing for their actions, not to mention it would be the third time in total he got criticism over it. Knowing that there was no escape, he took a deep breath and made his decision with a heavy heart.

"Mom, Dad, I have some bad news".

"What is it honey?” asked Velvet, feeling concerned.

"It's......I’ll fill you in on everything inside", said Shining as they went into the living room.

Having settled himself in the living room, Shining gathered what remained of his steely nerves and what was left of his resolve to break the news to his parents.

"Mom, Dad......"

Night and Velvet leaned in close; whatever news he had was obviously bad.

"What’s wrong, honey?" asked Velvet.

Shining dug deep before finally letting it roll off his tongue. "Twilight has left the city with Spike".

The aura around the room and the three ponies inside it shattered to pieces like a sonic boom. Velvet and Night could barely comprehend the news given to them.

"Oh my Celestia, my poor Twiley!" cried Velvet.

"How did this happen?!" asked Night.

"Well, it's best that I start from the beginning….."

Shining proceeded to tell his parents of the events of the rehearsal, doing his utmost to retain his composure. On the other hoof, the levels of disbelief grew for both Night and Velvet as they took in every little bit of Shining's story. The part that struck them the hardest was when he scornfully scolded Twilight and cut her off from his life, Twilight's friends leaving her to melt into a puddle of misery and Princess Celestia stabbing the final dagger into her heart by saying what she said.

"And that's why all this has happened." said Shining. "Twilight and Spike left, my bride hates me and called off the wedding and now I'm left to wonder if I really deserve to be Captain of the Royal Guard and be with Twilight.........my LSBFF, the pony I loved so much and missed every day before she returned........."

Shining couldn't keep it together anymore and slowly wept. No one said a word until Velvet finally cut in, it was all too much for her to take.

"Shining......how could you? How could you do such a thing?! Twilight was your own sister, your own flesh and blood! Why did you all push her aside for your own wedding and Cadence? You, her friends and her princess put her and all of Canterlot in jeopardy! You didn’t even give Spike a chance to choose the wedding or her!”

"Mom, please!" pleaded Shining in protest. "I didn't know that she wasn't the real Cadence! And for Celestia's sake, Twilight was ruthlessly accusing her of being evil to the point where she upsets her! How could you think I wouldn't stand against that?!"

"Either way Son, you have shamed your family." said the recomposed Night Light. ”Two wrongs never make a right and when I say that, I meant it doesn’t matter how out of order Twilight was when she confronted the queen. You  had no right to berate her like that and that goes double for her friends and the Princess herself. The only reason we supported the wedding was so we can welcome Cadence, ours and Celestia’s own foalsitter and niece into the Sparkle family. She made a difference in Twilight when she forgot about friendship after becoming Princess Celestia’s star protégée and you took her love for you for granted. By cutting off your ties with her and brushing off her warnings, you nearly brought upon Equestria’s ultimate destruction."

"I know Dad", sighed Shining. “But what was I supposed to do? I mean, I know Twilight was only looking out for us and she was worried for me but the way she barged in with no proof to back up her reasoning, I couldn't tell whether or not she was trying to destroy the wedding or shatter our friendship.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore. You have already done enough as it is to destroy our daughter and so did the Princess and her friends”, reminded Velvet, still in tears. Shining could only hang his head deeper from the truth in her words.

“Mom……”

"Son, if I were you, know this: I'd be thinking about the apology you’ll say to your sister when the time comes and you’ve plenty of time to do it. If it comes without heart or feeling, I promise you that she will never forgive neither you nor her friends and the Princess. You’re all responsible for this and it’s only fair that a truly heartfelt apology is delivered if you want her and Spike to come around. Because of your foolishness, our dear Twilight will be lost. Do you understand, Shining Armor Sparkle?" asked Night with a hint of disappointment.

"Yes Dad." Replied Shining sadly. Night Light turned to comfort his wife and left Shining to return to Celestia and carry on with his orders in shame. His parents literally didn’t take the news well and with the warning still buzzing in his head like a flock of angry parasprites, Shining began walking back to the palace, knowing he'd have to report to Princess Celestia Night and Velvet’s warning. The reality was obvious: While they thankfully hadn't signed their death warrants, Shining, the Mane 5 and Celestia had condemned themselves to this hell they were living.

Meanwhile, Cadance and the Mane 5 had arrived at Golden Oaks Library, only to find the tall but humble treehouse shut up tight and covered by a large shield, which Cadance was quick to recognize as a spell cast by Twilight to keep out any unwelcome visitors, namely her former best friends. However, Cadance sensed there was something off about the shield. The colour was the same as Twilight's magical aura, a reddish hue of purple, but it also contained a dark tint. The pink alicorn could tell this shield was no ordinary shield spell. When it was cast, the shield was laced with traces of hatred and anger. Not only did it give off the obvious signs all was not right with Twilight, but it also made the shield stronger. The group was intimidated, but only a little.

"Whoa nelly, would y'look at that?" Said Applejack, admiring the sight.

"This shield spell contains traces of Twilight's anger, hence it's dark coloring" Said Cadance grimly. "The poor mare must be a mess in there."

Taking a moment to test the shield's strength, Applejack knocked a hoof against it. Indeed, it was rock solid.

"Eeyup, there ain't nothing in Equestria that's going to break this shield." The cowpony confirmed glumly.

"To Tartarus with the shield! Twilight needs us, and we're getting to her one way or another!" Yelled Rainbow, who proceeded to charge the shield at lightspeed.

"No Rainbow!" Cried Cadance, but it was too late. The group cringed and groaned in unison as Rainbow hit the shield with a sickening thud, before sliding down to the ground. While she failed to break the shield, Rainbow had certainly gained somepony's attention as the doors to the treehouse balcony opened. Stepping through them was Spike.

"What's going on here!? State your business!" Spike barked firmly. The Mane 5 were shocked to see that the baby dragon had taken on such a strict form, but Cadance remained unbowed by such an appearance.

"Spike, we'd like to speak to Twilight."

"Sorry Cadance. We'll let you in, but they are not allowed on this property!" Spike roared, pointing a finger at the Mane 5 as he did so.

"Spike, please understand! The girls are sorry and they wish to apologise to Twilight personally!"

There was a brief pause as Spike registered what he had just heard. While his stance remained unchanged, he was willing to lend an ear to Cadance's plea.

"Is this true?"

"Yes. We have gone through much deliberation together, which led to the conclusion that because of the girl's collective incompetence, along with that of my husband-to-be and my aunt, Twilight would have very much gone to her death, followed by the ponies of Equestria. They now recognize that they made a terrible mistake and they wish to make amends however possible."

Another brief pause followed, before Spike made the decision to report to Twilight.

"Wait here. I need to check with Twilight."

"Take as much time as you both need Spike. We'll be waiting."

With that, Spike went back inside, the doors closing behind him. This left the group with little else to do other than ironing out any flaws in their apology speech. Unbeknownst to them, a Changeling disguised as a tanned yellow pegasus stallion, replete with a brown mane and tail had walked into town, and was quietly observing them. The minutes passed by, and eventually the balcony doors re-opened, Spike emerging from them once more.

"Everypony can come in, but no tricks or merriment. Twilight is not in the mood to be messed with."

With that, Spike walked back inside. As he did so, the balcony doors shut and the shield disappeared into the thin air. The girls proceeded inside, the front door open, but Cadance could still sense the traces of rage embedded within the shield's structure. It was making her apprehensive, but her overall mood was not shaken. Equestria needed Twilight back at the helm of the Elements, and this was probably the only chance they'd get to fix things. The Mane 5 did indeed regret everything; now was their opportunity to prove it. Next Chapter: Chapter 7 - Breaking The Ice Estimated time remaining: 53 Minutes