Author's Notes:

Kind of a short filler to wrap up the previous changeling event.

“I’m so sorry, Excalibur,” Celestia continued to apologize as she moved one of her chess pieces. This was probably the thousandth time she had done that over the last couple of days. But she is very protective of her little sister just as much as I am.

“It’s fine,” I replied while rubbing my chest lightly. I won't deny that she has one hell of a kick. My shields took most of the force, but the impact movement did some internal damage. I moved one of my pieces.

Next to the chess board, a small rubber ball groaned. “Will you just get a room!?” Ignoring her, she still didn’t get the fact that we were in Celestia’s personal study. I moved a piece forward. I just had this feeling that the mare had something up her sleeve.

“I know how siblings are, Celestia. I would have done the same if that were my sister,” I further explained as she moved one of her knights.

“And this is why I hate all of you…” Both Celestia and I glanced down at the ball. Inside, Nightmare Moon sat with a bored expression on her face. All she has done is pester us every time we come together.

“Hey, Nightmare?” I asked, grabbing the ball. The tiny mare gulped and started to shiver in her horse shoes. She knew my power and her place, so I always make sure to harass her about it.

“Y-Yes… master?”

I smirked down at her as she backed away to the far wall of the gem. “Shut up!” With that, I threw her against the far wall. As she went sailing through the air screaming, the rubber ball impacted on the wall before bouncing off the floor. Satisfied, I turned back to Celestia. I saw an opening and made my move. “Thank you for the pawn,” I said as I took the piece and replaced it with mine.

Celestia just waved her hoof dismissively as she took a sip of her tea. Nightmare went screaming by between us as the solar mare placed her cup down. “It was of no use to me anyway.”

She moved another piece of her tiny plastic army. “You know, Celestia,” I started by glancing up at her and moving one of my own pawns. “I wouldn’t dismiss your troops like that.”

The mare raised an eyebrow at me as she levitated her knight and took my bishop. “And why is that?”

I glanced up and moved another pawn forward, taking one of hers. “Because pawns and grunts make up most of your army,” I answered while leaning on the table with both arms. “Out of everything here, pawns make up half of it.”

She scoffed. Behind her, Nightmare bounced off a nearby table and in another random direction. “They hold very little power. Only able to move one step at a time.” But that one move can make a massive difference. I already have a plan thanks to that Sunbutt. She moved her castle forward.

I just shook my head. “Oh Celestia… so naive.” I moved my queen as a distraction. She fell right for it. Moving her knight to intercept, I made my move. “You know, Celestia? You need to take everything into account.” She hummed lightly as she moved one of her pieces, taking my queen. “As a soldier myself and you a princess,” I gestured to myself and her before lowering my arm and moving another pawn. “You have to have plans for your plans. Right?”

“Right,” she nodded.

“Murphy’s Law, as it's called,” I continued as she took one of my bishops. “What can go wrong, will?” She nodded. “You must be observant.”

“Of course!” she agreed while moving her queen. “Which is why you played right into my trap!” she declared happily. “Sorry, Excalibur, but your next move better be a good one!” she taunted, a playful smirk on her muzzle.

I lifted the right side of my mouth slightly and huffed out of my nose. I glanced up at her smiling face before back down at the board. “Or maybe…” I added, moving another pawn forward. “You played right into mine?” That smile slowly started to fade as she quickly dropped her gaze down towards the board. My smile turned into a victorious smirk as I winked at her. “Checkmate…”

“WHAT!?” she planted both hooves on the table and stood up to examine the board in a panic. All around her king my pawns had her surrounded. She ignored the most basic of troops and went for my support system. But the truth was there, I had her pinned with no means of escape. “That… that’s impossible!” she fell back in her seat and placed her elbows on the table and her head in her hooves. “I have been around since the game was invented! I know all the moves, counters, and strategies!” Her gaze rose up as she looked up at me dumbfounded. “Twilight spent hours upon hours on strategy books and even she was unable to beat me…” her hooves slowly lowered onto the table. “How?”

I just smiled at her. “You fell for my plans,” I simply stated. Rising from my chair, I grabbed my helmet from a nearby table. “See yah, Sunbutt!” I said with a wave. Just before the door I caught Nightmare out of the air as she came flying by. Tossing her into the air with a yelp, I bounced the ball on the floor as I walked.

Back in her study, Celestia continued to stare at the chess board. With her head on her hooves, she continued to run strategy after strategy through her head. “How?” She shook her head before standing up. Walking over to her desk, she grabbed a fresh sheet of parchment, her quill and immediately started to scribble. “Dear Twilight, I. Need. Help!” She stamped the sheet, wrapped it in a ribbon, and sent it off before going back to her chair and examining the chessboard in more depth.

As I came to the bottom of the steps, far below the castle, I slipped my helmet over my head and held Nightmare in my hand. “What are we doing here?” she asked as she examined the dark, stone hall. The dungeon was damn near pitch black and the cells were empty. I simply continued to walk towards the end of the hall.

“I came to see someone,” I simply answered. Coming to a stop in front of the only closed sell, I peered inside at the lone chair in the middle of the room. We stood there in silence before Nightmare huffed.

“Congratulations. You arrested a chair,” I rolled my eyes and bounced the ball once. Catching it, Nightmare laid spread eagle, face down.

“I think we will be sick…” she mumbled. Good, that shut the little bitch up. Looking back at the chair, I kicked the bars with my foot. The chair refused to move. Stubborn I see. I rolled my eyes. Reaching back, I pulled a grenade from my belt.

“Nightmare?” I said, causing her to lift her head. Both cheeks were tinted green, interesting for a magical entity. I held up the grenade for her to see. “This is a thermal detonator. When it explodes it will create a massive fireball. Torching anything in its blast radius.” I tapped the top button, it started to beep. “Grenade!” I warned loudly, tossing it into the cell and right onto the chair.

“AH!” the chair screamed before green flames engulfed it. The large black mare dove for the lone bed into the room as the grenade landed flat on the floor. Like that bed would do anything against its massive fireball. She quivered and shook with her eyes covered by her hooves. The beeping started to speed up before the metal cylinder made a loud *popping* noise. Chrysalis continued to shake and shiver under the bed as I stood there, unfazed. Yeah, it was a dud.

Nightmare looked up at me. “You are cruel…”

I forcefully removed her horn and wings. I’d cut her limbs off if I wanted to be even more cruel. “You’re just figuring this out, Bouncy Ball?” I asked as I lifted her to my helmet. “How about I throw you off a cliff and we see what happens?” She gulped.

“Please no…”

“Then be quiet,” I accentuated my point by throwing her down the hall. She bounced off the wall and back down the hall before her bouncing diminished and she came rolling up. Stopping her with my foot, my attention turned back to Chrysalis. “How’s it going baby?”

The mare only glared at me from her spot under the bed. “What do you want?” she spat. “To insult me more then you already have, huh?” No. I actually came to talk. Her gaze dropped to the tiny ball under my foot. “And who are you?” Nightmare immediately perked up and stood from her spot.

“I am the great and powerful, Nightmare Moo-hu-hu-ooon!” she declared before I kicked her down the hall. I watched as the ball rolled away before turning back towards the changeling. “Just to talk,” I replied while taking a seat on the cold ground, the ball came rolling back several seconds later.

The jet black mare scoffed as she crawled out of her hole. “Funny,” she said, as her tone dripped with sarcasm. “You may as well just kill me.” Once she was out from under the bed she took a seat on the ground. “I am sentenced to hang for my crimes.” She looked down and to the side before she sighed. “The first hanging Equestria has seen in over three hundred years.”

I just sat there silently. It permeated for several seconds before I said anything. “You could have talked…” the mare raised her head and lifted an eyebrow. “You had every opportunity to make peace. But instead you just attacked… twice.”

“And you attacked my hive… twice,” she countered.

I shrugged. “I will not deny that. But it could have all been avoided had you accepted my offer and talked to Celestia. You would be at peace and your people would not have suffered.” Chrysalis sighed.

“We are a race of secrecy…” she explained. “No one would accept us.”

“... I doubt that,” I replied after a few seconds. She just raised another eyebrow. “I visited your hive the other day and negotiated a few things with Celestia and Luna.”

I walked through the remains of the hive. The dust had settled and the debris was everywhere. Did I feel bad for doing this? Not really. When I act, I do it without a second thought. But I had to admit that both Celestia and I were a little curious about something. Crawling over a fallen column I came to a long hallway. Entering, I made my way inside. The walk was rather short. Soon, multiple dots started to appear on my mini-map. They scurried around both off and on the map. As I watched my surroundings, I would catch the occasional bright blue eye watching me. As the hall came to an end I entered another massive chamber.

“You have a lot of nerve coming here,” a male voice spoke as soon as I entered. Coming to a stop, I glanced around the dark cavern. All around me, the little shapeshifters started to appear. They hung from the walls, ceiling or stood around. I just raised my hands.

“I am unarmed.”

“Lies!” another voice accused. I tilted my head to the right. Clenching both hands into fists, both Venka claws opened as metal grinded on metal. He wasn't wrong. All eyes on me continued to glare while some reflexively hissed at me.

I shrugged. “Yah got me.” Lowering my arms I removed the blades from my hands and placed them in a storage device. Once they were gone I held my hands up slightly. “We good?” I asked before lowering my arms.

A single changeling walked up to me while others clad in blue armor surrounded me. It didn’t take very long others to follow suit, most lacking armor. One stepped up closer than the others. “Give me one reason not to kill you where you stand?” he said with a rather deep voice. I think he was trying to sound threatening, but I doubt he was convincing himself otherwise.

“You want to try again?” I offered.

His eyes twitched for a moment. “Thanks to you we are starving!” he spat. “Look around!” he said while turning and gesturing to the rest of the hive. All around multiple changelings stood on shaky legs. Some held foals while others leaned on each other. “Thanks to you we lack a queen and the ability to feed ourselves!” He turned back to me. “You brought this on us!” he accused with a hoof point at me.

The air went quiet as he stared me down.

“You brought this on yourselves,” I countered softly. “Your queen brought war to your species. She kidnapped an innocent civilian. She… failed to do the right thing.” I turned around to face the rest of the group. “You had every opportunity to make peace! And you failed!” I said rather loudly. “Which is why I came to make a proposition!” I turned back to the armor clad stallion.

Reaching behind my back I paused when all the soldiers tensed and took their battle stances. When he failed to move, I continued. Tapping the same storage device, I waited as a scroll started to form. Once it did, I held it high over my head. “The proposition!” I yelled while turning in a full circle. Coming to a stop I opened the scroll. I cleared my throat.

“To all the surviving Changelings of the Badlands Hive,” I started. “It has come to my attention that due to recent events you have been left without a leader. Due to your specific nature, I would like to offer my hoof in peace.” I paused, glancing up before continuing. “I have discussed this with my sister and we have come to an agreement. All that wish may join us in Equestria, can. You will be treated fairly and just. You will all receive a green card for joining. You will be fed, housed, and given proper medical attention. I have sent my friend Excalibur, probably much to your disliking, as a guide and ambassador. All of you that wish to join may follow him, there is plenty of room and we hope to put this mess behind us. I am truly sorry for everything that has happened. Signed, Princess Celestia of Equestria.”

Lowering the scroll, I just watched. All around many changelings were talking. Some were accusations others were questions of hope. “And how can we trust you!?” a female voice called from the crowd. There were many more voices that agreed with her. In all honesty they had every right not to trust me.

“You don’t have to!” I answered. “But I offered help to your queen in the past! It may no longer pertain to her, but all of you are different. You are clearly suffering! If you come with me you will be treated fair and just!” The whispers started up yet again as I waited. After a little while, a single mare approached.

Tears rolled down her face. When she got close enough, I dropped to a knee. She wiped her eyes with a hoof. “Y-You may have taken everything… b-but…” she took a shuddered breath before turning to the group. “H-He let me go!” Wait… let me go? My eyes widened.

“You were that servant… weren’t you?” I asked.

She turned back to me and nodded. Well… good to see she made it out. She turned back to the crowd. This was… something? I mean, I know I am a somewhat bad person, but Equestria is the land of love, peace and harmony, as Celestia had explained it to me. All opposite of what I am used to. “H-He can show compassion!” the mare continued.

Well…

…

I well and truly have no idea what to say. I am stuck in the land where the giant rainbow themed space cannon can fix people. I pulled another freaking person from Luna’s head. I have been to an alternate universe, met a dragon, talking ponies, and all this other crazy shit in a matter of a few months. I honestly believe that these cute little ponies are going to be the death of me. “Which is why I am going!”

Op! She was still talking. The little mare stood by my side with a look of determination. Standing up, I glanced down to see she was shaking. All around me more started to talk. Many shared nervous looks. Out of the corner of my eye, another changeling approached. They came to a stop in front of me. “I don’t like what you did but… I wish to live,” he said. I nodded as he stood by me.

A family approached, one with two older changelings and a foal. “We are only doing this for our daughter,” the mother told me. It didn’t take long for many more to join my side. More families started to join me, hell, even some soldiers took a stand. They all started to circle around me and look around in the hopes that more would join. Others voiced their concerns, dislikes, and hatred towards some that joined.

Hooves were pointed and voices were raised, many shed tears, while others refused to talk and turned away. After several minutes, they stopped coming. “Alright,” I addressed. “Is that everyone?” When no more joined, I shook my head. The group was large, nothing I couldn’t handle though. I turned and started to make my way out. “Celestia?” I said over my radio. “We’re on our way.”

Chrysalis just sat there slack jawed as I finished talking. After several seconds she continued to search my eyes before slowly closing her mouth and taking on a more serious gaze. “You’re lying.” I shrugged.

“That's up to you.” With that, I grabbed my bouncy ball and took off down the hall. Behind me, the former queen grabbed the bars and stuck her head through them.

“You’re lying!” she spat. “You are a filthy liar and I hope your rot in Tartarus!” Paying no mind I continued on my way as a single mare walked past me. I gave her a simple nod as she did the same in return. At the end of the dell hall, in her cell, Chrysalis dropped to her rear and sobbed lightly as she rested her head on the bars.

The sound of hooves on the hard floor reached her ears, but she paid them no mind. All she wanted to do was be left alone to wallow in her own self pity. “My Queen,” a light, feminine voice said softly. The mare gasped as her eyes shot open, lifting her head, she was greeted by one her loyal drones. The smaller mare smiled. Straining her head back, she pulled a scroll from under her wing. Using her magic she held it in front of her face while the larger mare continued to sit in disbelief. “Dear Chrysalis,” the smaller mare started. “I am sorry for not coming in person but I thought it would be best if you heard it from one of your subjects.” She smiled up at her queen before continuing. “I know what you have done is wrong and is frowned upon by my subjects, but what type of mare would I be if I did not believe in second chances?

“I am willing to drop some of the charges, but I must let you know that your actions will not go unpunished. If you renounce your status as Queen and agree to my demands we may be able to come to a mutual agreement for not only you, but your subjects.” The mare glanced up before looking back down. “All of your subjects that have come to Equestria have been treated for their injuries and we are in the process of housing and addressing indoctrinating them into society.” The little mare wiped her now wet eyes. “W-We wish to give you a second chance at life in Equestria that does not involve further transgressions. I will personally be down later to make an agreement. Signed, Princess Celestia of Equestria.”