Two months have passed since the invasion on Canterlot and the discovery of the Crystal Empire. Since then, everything went back to normal: ponies went on with their lives as if nothing had happened. The repairs on the city were completed, ponies with injuries recovered, and business went on as usual. But behind the castle walls, things were different…

“And I’m telling you that what I did was necessary, Anon.” Celestia continues to stare you down. Standing your ground, you maintain a calm demeanor.

“Princess Celestia, I know you mean your people... er, ponies, well, but what you did could have killed off an entire race. It was practically genocide,” you remind her. She stares you down with a fierce glare, practically stabbing your very conscious. Still, you look her in the eyes and refuse to stand down. “I know you had some history with her mother and father before this whole thing, but she shouldn't be held accountable for that.”

“I know you feel strongly against my actions about this, Anon,” the princess continues in her usual, tranquil tone, “but my ponies are top priority. The history between myself and the changelings did not once intervene with my initial decisi—”

“That queen came to you and asked—nay—begged for your help. Her kind were starving and she needed your help. And you waved her off without even hearing her plea.” You can feel the blood rushing to your head. Normally, you’re a very patient man, but this was getting outrageous. “She wanted a way to feed her kind and you left her with no choice but to take what she needed by force.”

Celestia closes her eyes, her patience obviously growing thin. Taking in a deep breath, she slowly opens her eyes. You can practically read them; she does not care for what you have to say, but she won’t stop until she proves that she’s right.

“They can find other methods of finding food. They don’t need to eat the love from ponies,” she retorts.

“And what prevented you from telling her that?” you ask, putting a matter-of-fact expression on. Celestia opens her mouth to reply, only to catch her own tongue. She looks you dead in the eyes and shrugs.

"It was my ponies or her changelings, Anonymous. I don't like what I had to do, but I do not regret it. What she asked could have killed my ponies and then the changelings would have starved in the end. There is no other end when dealing with such parasites. They've ensured that themselves. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Anon,” she adds, stepping down from her chair, “I have matters to attend to.”

As she walks past you, you can’t help but throw her a glare. Celestia disregards it and trots out the study room door. You stand there, listening to the echoes of her hooves tapping against the tiles in the hall until they die down, feeling your blood boil. Clenching your fists, you slam them against the table in frustration. Luna enters the room, concern plastered across her face.

“I assume that you got nowhere with your endeavor?” Luna asks with a sarcastic tone. Nodding your head, you let out a heavy sigh and turn to the mare.

“You’d think that with me being the new captain of the royal guard, she’d at least have some thought about what I said.” You pinch the bridge of your nose, still a little flustered about your previous conversation. “You weren’t joking about her being stubborn.”

Luna merely shrugs. She knows exactly how her sister is, but that didn’t stop her from taking a chance. At your expense, of course. “My sister can be… tenacious at times, but she has her heart in the right place,” she comments, scratching her foreleg.

“For her ponies, you mean,” you throw back at her. Luna rolls her eyes and approaches you with a soft tone.

“The only way you can get to my sister is to make her see the error of her ways with her own eyes. If you feel that strongly about this matter, you have to prove her wrong.” Luna stops for a moment, a puzzled expression covering her face. “Why is it that you feel the need to get this across anyway?”

Taking a deep breath, you walk over to the window and look down on the city below. Two foals are playing in the gardens, laughing and experiencing their youth how they should.

“Everyone from the world I come from felt that they should always treat each other as equals. I feel that should be no exception here as well, regardless of species, race, and gender. And if you want to maintain peace, you can’t have enemies. But people will not agree with everything you have to say, and some will take a violent path to express it. In that event, you will need as many friends as possible. More enemies lead to more problems.” Placing your hand against, the window pane, you feel the cold glass against your fingertips. “There’s a saying in my world: ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ If two groups have a common cause, they’ll band together and get their job done. I don’t want any more enemies for Equestria.”

“That’s rather noble of you,” Luna replies, a smirk pursed across her lips. It quickly fades as you remove your sash and place it on the table. “What are you doing?”

“If I had known that being a captain was merely a title, I wouldn’t have taken it in the first place. I’m going to do what should have been done two months ago.”

The swamp’s gases make it rather hard to navigate as you maneuver through the thick vegetation. If Luna’s directions were correct, the cave had to be somewhere in this forsaken wasteland. Pushing past the thick brush, you venture further into the dark swampland, boots sinking into the earth with every step. A smell similar to rotting flesh enters your nostrils as you get closer to a small pond covered in various plants.

As you remove a vine from your shoulder, you notice the cave in the cliffside opposite of the pond. Something seems amiss, however. Aside from the usual mosquitoes and other bugs, you haven’t run into any other creatures. And to tread across this pond would be quicker, but dangerous. Grabbing a large stone, you toss it into the water and wait. Sure enough, something stirs on the shoreline, revealing its camouflaged self. A large alligator quickly scurries into the pond, chasing after the rock.

Just as you expected. It would probably be best to walk around the pond, but even still, you would have to keep your guard up. Unsheathing your longsword, you grip it tightly as you make your way around the body of water. Taking slow steps, you keep your eyes peeled for any movements, any twitches; if anything attacks, you won’t hesitate to defend yourself. You make your way around the pond without so much as a single problem. That alligator must still be looking for its target.

Approaching the wide opening, you peer down into the cave, checking for any kind of traps. It seems clear enough. You enter the cave, making sure to keep the noise level to a minimum. The only thing you can hear is your breathing as you make your way further into the dark cavern. Soon enough, your vision is consumed by the dark, making it rather difficult to venture through. You come to sudden stop when the sound of whispers grace your ears.

“Should we alert the queen?”

“I think we can take it on.”

“Maybe we can capture it and use it for food?”

Sheathing your sword, you raise your hands up as a sign of surrender. “I come on peaceful terms. I merely wish to speak to your queen.” Silence. For what feels like an eternity, you stand there, waiting for anything. A green flame flicks up ahead, revealing the cavern’s inhabitants for a split second. Hundreds of changelings cover the walls and ceiling, staring you down, waiting for your next move.

“You have some nerve, showing your face around here,” said a voice that was all-too-familiar. Celestia emerges from the shadows, her horn glowing bright enough to make her visible. Hands still raised, you can’t help but snicker.

“It’s been a while, Queen Chrysalis.” In the blink of an eye, Chrysalis changes back to her normal form. A scowl is plastered across her face as she circles around you, inspecting every aspect of your body. She leans in towards your face, baring her sharp, fang-like teeth. Too bad it doesn’t really scare you like she hopes it does. “Are you quite finished? I have a reason for coming here.”

“To finish the job?” she asks in a sarcastic tone, not taking a second to wrench her eyes from your own. Shaking your head, you bring your arms down to your sides.

“Quite the opposite. I’m here to help you.” Chrysalis shows you a wry smile, shaking her head in amusement. It's hardly her fault she wouldn't believe you, after what happened. You continue anyway. After all, you gave up everything for this one chance. "Nothing sapient should live destitute like this, cast aside to live in squalor and starvation. Celestia, with her vaunted pony 'love and tolerance', refused to even consider assisting you. I saw another path, saw that you and your changelings could be helped peacefully. Is it so much to ask for a chance?"

Chrysalis stares you down, her eyes showing clear signs of distrust, yet hope. There’s a battle clearly raging in her mind right now on whether she should believe you or just cast you aside as a meal for her servants. Sweat begins to slowly trickle down your brow as she mulls over her decision. You can sense the uneasiness of her servants; their breathing has intensified and they’re getting restless. Suddenly, the queen’s eyes widen as she scans you over once more.

“Ah! I remember you. You were the one who talked with me when I first came to Celestia.” It was true. Even when Celestia had denied an audience with the changeling, you sat and listened to her plea. Her expression quickly changes as another memory comes to mind. “You were also the one who had suspicions about me when I played Candence’s part.”

Murmurs begins to fill the cave as the changelings’ anger grows.

“I remember that guy! He hurdled me into a wall!”

“Yeah, he punched me in the gut as I tried to bite him.”

Excuse me for defending myself, you think to yourself, listening to their complaints. Letting out an annoyed sigh, you shrug and turn to the queen.

“I understand that I was against you guys at one point, but I was just doing my job. I can assure you that I’m no longer part of the Equestrian army.” Chrysalis brings her face up to yours, her hot breath beating against your face.

“And who’s to say you aren’t some spy?” A good question indeed. Proving something like that would be difficult.

An eerie cry echoes throughout the cave, sending a chill into the very soul of everyone inside. The scream lets out again, even more blood curdling than before. By the sound of it, the noise is coming from the cave’s mouth. Chrysalis gallops past you, a few changelings following right behind her. Soon enough, you’re right alongside her as you exit the cave into the blinding light outside. It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust, but it doesn’t take long to see what’s causing the cries.

A small changeling, possibly a child, has its leg caught in an alligator’s mouth. The alligator whips its head violently, trying to tear the limb off. The changeling struggles to remove itself from the reptile’s grasp, screaming at the top of its lungs. Chrysalis stands there, still blinded by the outside light. She’s been in that cave a lot longer than you. Unsheathing your blade, you lunge forward and pierce through the alligator’s skull. The sound of flesh ripping and bone cracking ring in your ears as the alligator stops moving. Placing a foot down on its head, you use all your strength to draw the sword from the creature’s skull. You turn to the changeling as it continues its attempt to remove itself from the alligators tight jaw.

Chrysalis’s eyes finally adjust to see the scene before eyes. Blood pours out like a fountain from the reptile’s cranium as you try your hardest to pry open its jaw and free the changeling. It’s a useless effort; it should be apparent that an alligator’s jaw is nearly impossible to pry open. A green aura surrounds the creature’s mouth slowly opening its mouth and allowing the small changeling to free itself. Tears fill its eyes as it limps over to you, wrapping its forelegs around your leg.

“Thank you! Thank you so much! I thought I was going to die!” it squeaks, tightening its grip. Putting your hands around its torso, you lift it up and cradle it in your arm. To hold it in one arm… it’s even smaller than you thought.

“You’re not in the clear just yet. We have to take care of that leg of yours.” A green colored liquid, or what you assume is blood, oozes from the leg that was caught by the alligator. Grabbing a handkerchief from your pocket, it you wrap it around its wound and turn back to the queen. “We need to get it medical attention.”

Chrysalis nods and turns to one of her followers. “Get her inside and attend to her needs.” The changeling nods and grabs the child before flying back into the cave. You wipe the blood off your blade on your pants and sheathe it before turning back to Chrysalis.

“I’ll take my leave,” you say, turning your back to her. As you begin your walk back, a hoof lays across your shoulder, stopping you. You turn back to the queen who now wears an indifferent expression.

“I’m willing to listen to your proposal. But don’t think for a second I won’t have my eye on you.”

Author's Notes:

I felt like writing a darker story, but nothing grimderp. This is merely a test run and I want to see how people react to it.