Before the battle began, Chrysalis stood in the forest and surveyed her army.

The Swarm had reoccupied its original position in the Everfree, clearing out the overgrowth and building temporary fortifications after the resurrection. There they had stayed, foraging to survive, fending off attacks from monsters in the Everfree. Waiting for their queen to return.

And now she had. Chrysalis walked down the encampment, glancing from side to side at her warriors as they stood to attention. How different everything was. How similar, and yet how different.

She remembered, or rather, she understood from the memories of her soldiers what had happened. They had awoken, confused, afraid, digging themselves out of the mass grave Fluttershy had constructed or out of the burned section of the Everfree, the various ambush sites where so many had perished.

The changelings had risen, assembled as one, and waited for their queen to return. But she hadn’t. They had searched for her presence, casting their minds around frantically, but found nothing. Only when the fourteen, the fourteen changeling soldiers that had survived contacted them had the truth had come out.

Fluttershy was Chrysalis. Chrysalis was Fluttershy. She believed she was the meek pegasus, and that the real Fluttershy was simply another changeling imposter. Of all the disasters, how could this have been worse? The Swarm had retreated to their initial position in the forest and waited, desperately hoping their queen would come to her senses.

And she had. The changelings gathered as she paced pasted them, assembling with pride and relief to await her call. They feared her and feared her wrath, her slightest displeasure, and the death she had so often bestowed upon them in the past. But they were still loyal to her and each changeling would gladly give their lives in her name.

Chrysalis knew this. She felt the unwavering support of her changelings everywhere she looked as she walked slowly past the ranks of changelings. It felt so strange.

They looked at her with complete devotion. Not a shadow of doubt was in their eyes, but that was because she was queen. She had to lead, and they had to follow. That was the way the world worked. But Chrysalis remembered a different kind of gaze.

She had not ruled as Fluttershy. She had been general, trainer, leader to her animals, but never their queen. They wouldn’t have accepted it, and she hadn’t thought of herself that way. Though she had led them, she had inspired their loyalty through her actions and their trust. It had to be earned first. They had looked at her so differently.

Her changeling’s eyes were on her. Chrysalis kept walking, passing by face after face, each one identical, and each soul unique. They trusted her implicitly, would die for her. She would lead them because she had to, because she had been born to do so. She was queen and they were her subjects. That was all there was to it.

It felt wrong.

----

The sun rose high into the sky as Fluttershy and Chrysalis assembled their armies in the Everfree. Without communication the two leaders had chosen the same spot to fight. The burned-out section of the Everfree was where the changeling army and army of animals grouped, and the difference in the two strategies became apparent at once.

Fluttershy’s animals immediately dug into the burned soil and charred landscape when they arrived, building fortifications of dirt and sharpened stakes as they formed a giant semicircle facing the changelings.

Though Fluttershy was curiously absent for the first hour as the animals worked, their progress was unimpeded and soon the various digging animals had created thick dirt walls four feet thick in places, staggered with stakes and gaps to let the defending animals easily hold off overwhelming numbers of changelings. On the ground, that was.

For the sky the many birds of the Everfree circled high overhead or roosted in the trees still left standing, an endless flock of wings. Their numbers didn’t really worry Chrysalis; despite their ability to harass her troops or defeat smaller units of changelings, the birds would quickly fall apart in any serious aerial combat. No, what disturbed her was the twenty blackened stormclouds hovering behind the animal lines. Any assault from the air would be suicidal with Fluttershy’s little insurance policy in effect.

To add to the danger, Chrysalis saw not only Angel in command of the animal army, but Longfoot, both rabbits organizing the left and right wings of the army respectively. That was troublesome. Angel had led Fluttershy’s animals once which made him exceptionally dangerous, but Longfoot knew Chrysalis’s strategies and knew the animals she had trained and their capabilities. He would defend to the death and could probably take a heavy toll on Chrysalis’s army if left alive.

If left alive. Chrysalis grimaced and shifted. She was sitting on one of the burnt treetops, surveying the battlefield. She had already assembled her army of changelings in a simple rank formation, lines of changelings facing the animal’s defenses but she was scouting to see if any weak points emerged in Fluttershy’s formations. So far she hadn’t found much.

What was worse was that Chrysalis’s heart just wasn’t in it today. She knew she should be feeling exhilarated at this moment, ready for the combat. Her mind would normally have been buzzing with attack and counterattack, devious traps and cunning feints to overwhelm her foe, but today she had nothing.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Chrysalis had sent several units of changelings out of the forest already to enact some plans. She had also brought along countless bundles wrapped in cloth so that each changeling carried one. They had left them behind the army – an insurance policy. Two backup plans in short, and Chrysalis knew they would work, but she was still uninspired. She just…didn’t feel like attacking today. At least, not Fluttershy’s army.

Fluttershy herself now; that was a different story. Chrysalis had spotted the pegasus flitting in and out of the forest, accompanied each moment by Discord. If it was just a matter of killing that one pony and the chaos god, Chrysalis would have attacked the instant the two armies spotted each other. But for the rest…

Chrysalis glanced again at Longfoot haranguing her—his soldiers. He had adopted her tactics, positioning squirrels, rodents and other smaller creatures near the front lines with tripwires, snares and other traps designed to impede movement. Once the initial attack wave hit them and slowed up, the heavy hitters advanced: beaver groups and foxes, badgers, smashing into the enemy and allowing the smaller animals to overwhelm stragglers.

Yes, no doubt. Any battle with Fluttershy’s army would be a bloodbath on both sides. Chrysalis knew she would win regardless, but she didn’t desire the slaughter.

Odd. Chrysalis frowned briefly. She would have once relished the chance to kill so many potential enemies, regardless of the cost to her own army. Especially a group that had once managed to stalemate her own forces. But now all she could think of was how much of a waste all the killing would be.

What was happening? Chrysalis looked at the animals. They were watching the changelings, nervously, intently, but they showed no signs of wanting to run. Her animals. She had trained them. She had drilled them, dieted them, shown them how to fight, and lived with them.

For a year. And now she was going to wipe them off the face of the earth. It was inevitable. She had trained them as best she could, but they were still woodland creatures with claws and teeth made for scavenging or minor hunting. She had changelings bred for war and hardened on the battlefield. It wasn’t if they won, it was at what cost.

What a waste.

Chrysalis spotted Fluttershy flying back out the forest and resisted the urge to fire a spell at her. It wouldn’t work and Discord would probably fire something equally nasty right back at her. He had already bombarded her army with a rain of sundaes – which didn’t sound bad until you realized he’d also materialized the spoons and glass dishes as well. The broken glass and surprisingly sharp spoons had already shredded several changelings’ wings and nearly taken a few eyes out.

But what Chrysalis was more concerned about was what Fluttershy had been doing. She watched the pegasus like a hawk as Fluttershy conferred with Angel and Longfoot. There was no way Chrysalis would believe Fluttershy hadn’t come up with several traps, but aside from the thunderclouds, Chrysalis had no idea what she’d done to prepare.

Still, that was war. And it was bloody, brutal, and inevitable. Chrysalis stopped looking at the enemy army. She recognized too many faces there.

----

Time passed. Each force assembled its forces, organized them more effectively, checked weaponry, stared down the other side, but mainly, waited. As the sun rose to the halfway point in the sky the waiting armies finally shifted.

The lines of changelings parted. A single figure taller than the rest walked between them onto the no man’s land.

The fortifications of the animals rippled. A pegasus flew out of the sea of furry bodies, ignoring the roar of protest and rabbit that ran after her. She alighted on the ground and walked into the center of the battlefield.

Chrysalis and Fluttershy stopped a few paces away from each other. They stared at each other and remembered.

It was the same spot. If not the exact same location, close enough. They were not the same armies, though. One had been reborn, but the other was twice as large as it had been and prepared for conflict. And neither were the leaders the same.

“Well,” Chrysalis said at last. “Here we are again.”

“Here we are,” Fluttershy agreed.

“It all seems rather pointless and boring,” Chrysalis said. “The events of the last few…months, that is. Me, thinking I was you and you, masquerading as that sniveling spineless coward.”

“I would say it all had a purpose. A lot happened.”

“True. Twilight became an alicorn. I killed Sombra and Tirek, and you managed to win over Discord. Let’s call that 2-1 in your favor.”

“Really? I imagine you’d have wanted Sombra and Tirek alive.”

“You must be joking. I’d have had to kill them eventually .They were far too dangerous and ambitious to live.”

“Hm. Sounds familiar.”

“Yes, well, the original is the best. And I’m not dead yet.”

“Not yet.”

“…”

“…”

“You know, your plan was stupid. I mean, I understand the bit about not being able to kill me while everyone thought you were an imposter, but did you honestly think I’d ever change my ways? Even when I thought I was you I acted like me. I made soldiers out of your friends and killed anyone I thought was a threat.”

“That sounds like a benefit to my side, doesn’t it?”

“But it’s not. You said it yourself. Fluttershy shouldn’t be a killer. She only fought Chrysalis because she had to. And even that was a mistake, according to you.”

“It was a miscalculation, but—”

“Don’t lie.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ve had to deal with you for nearly a whole year now. I can tell when you’re lying. Don’t do it.”

“What makes you think I’m lying?”

“Look, if you’re not going to bother to be honest we’ll get things started right now. But this is the last moment before everything goes down. Can’t you tell the truth just once?”

“…Alright, fine. I admit it. I really did think you’d change.”

“Hah! You idiot!”

“I was wrong. But it was worth a shot. You were there, thinking you were me, talking to my friends, trying to be nice.”

“But I couldn’t do it. I’m not you. I can’t even pretend to be you. I could pass off being Cadence fairly well to anyone who didn’t know her, but you…”

“Yes. I think you were trying to understand how I could be kind and cruel at the same time.”

“I still don’t understand it. But even if I did—how did you expect me to react? Did you think I’d lay down my horn and join the rest of you lot and start barfing sunshine and rainbows?”

“No. But I hoped you might not do this. I hoped you’d do anything but this, really.”

“But you knew this is what I’d do. You had to have known. You’re no idiot—actually, you are an idiot, but you’re not stupid.”

“…Yes. I knew.”

“Then, why? Why not place a knife in the back of my head when everyone came back to life, or even before that? Why act so foolishly?”

“Because I hoped. Even though I knew I was wrong, I hoped you could learn to be kind.”

“It was a mistake. You believed in my goodness when there’s nothing in here but war. That hope—that’s your weakness.”

“True. But that’s what kindness is. Believing the best of ponies. It’s not just about being nice. It’s about believing in others. It’s hope as well as love.”

“It is your death.”

“Yes. But it’s who I am.”

“You’re crazy, you know that, right? You’re more insane than Twilight, or Discord, or even Pinkie Pie. Do you think you can win here? Even with Discord, you’re facing the full might of the Swarm. I’m not pretending to be you. I beat Celestia one-on-one when I had Shining Armor’s love in me, and I’m not much weaker now.”

“I know.”

“There are a thousand warriors behind me. You’ve got a bit less than three thousand animals with you. In conventional battle, a changeling is worth at least ten animals.”

“I know.”

“And you’ll still order them to attack, won’t you? They’ll follow you to your graves, and you’ll lead them there.”

“Yes.”

“They’ll be slaughtered.”

“Perhaps.”

“And you won’t call for Twilight or the other Elements, will you? You didn’t warn Celestia, and you haven’t sent to the Crystal Empire for aid.”

“No. I didn’t.”

“There are children and parents in your army. At least I only brought those who could be sacrificed with me. They’re soldiers. You have civilians fighting with you.”

“They’re defending their homes. I won’t deny them that right.”

“…I’ll give you one chance. Pull them back, and I’ll withdraw half my forces. It’ll be a thousand against five hundred. That’s better than they’ll do anyways.”

“I appreciate the offer, I really do. But no. They die, I die. We all die together.”

“You are a monster. You’re a fool, a monster, and an idiot.”

“I know.”

“Well then, there’s not much to say.” Chrysalis looked up and sighed. “I don’t suppose you’ll let me kill you now, will you?”

“No,” Fluttershy shrugged. “Sorry about that.”

“A pity.”

Fluttershy dove left as Chrysalis’s head snapped back down. The changeling queen fired a blast of green energy that raked the ground and missed Fluttershy. The pegasus galloped back and Chrysalis, who had been expecting Fluttershy to fly, missed again.

The third shot would have blasted Fluttershy to bits, but a giant wall of bricks appeared and took the blast. Chrysalis cursed and took to the air herself. She didn’t attack Fluttershy any further, but rather let the pegasus retreat behind the lines of her army.

From the ground Discord made several gestures Chrysalis assumed were rude. She didn’t have fingers, so she could only guess. She spat in his general direction and flew back to her army.

Changelings assembled around Chrysalis, squad leaders and officers awaiting her orders.

“Prepare for the assault,” Chrysalis snapped.

The changeling ranks shifted, and they began to organize into teams. From the straight rows of soldiers they shifted into squads of sixteen in wedge formation. Chrysalis walked past them and looked at Fluttershy’s army. The animals were watching her, afraid, defiant, brave, fearful. She saw too many faces and had to look down for a second. But this was war.

“Fluttershy!” Chrysalis roared. She stood at the head of her changelings as they formed up behind her. “You are a fool! You will never defeat this army!”

Chrysalis spread her wings and heard her changelings roar in response. Their voices were deafening, and she saw many of the animals shrinking back. “We will salt the earth with your bodies! We are the Swarm; we will devour you in endless number! I’ll give any animal once chance to run: if not I’ll start by destroying that pathetic thing you call a defense!”

So saying, Chrysalis took aim at the barricades the animals had erected on Angel’s side. Her horn began to charge with green energy. The animals standing behind the dirt walls shrieked and ran backwards in terror.

Chrysalis let the spell simmer on the tip of her horn for a few seconds longer and then fired the blast of magic at the dirt barriers. It wasn’t her strongest spell, but she hadn’t held back much either.

The walls of packed earth the animals had made were strong and designed to stand up to a lot of force over the course of the battle. Chrysalis’s spell hit the wall and it imploded around the green energy for one moment before exploding in a rain of dirt. The animal that had run for cover shrieked as they were pelted with superheated debris that rained across the army in a wide arc.

After the debris had stopped raining down, Fluttershy’s army looked back at where Chrysalis’s spell had hit their front line. A low groan ran through their ranks at the sight of the massive hole nearly fourteen feet across that had opened up in the wall and demolished all the snares, palisades, and other traps.

From her position Chrysalis grinned as she both saw and heard Angel shouting at his troops, ordering them back to the front lines. They clearly did not want to go; she saw them trying to draw back into the tree line and arguing with the rabbit.

She had aimed for Angel’s side on purpose. His animals were the old kind, the ones not drilled in warfare by Chrysalis. Long Foot’s animals had seen the blast, but they had remained at their posts. They were clearly worried, but their discipline was holding.

On the other hand Angel looked like he was facing a near-revolt. The animals had seen Chrysalis’s power and they knew she could blast holes in their defenses if she chose. They wanted to go back and fight in the forest where she wouldn’t have such clear aim, regardless of the fact that they’d lose their established formations if they did so.

Chrysalis had expected anarchy in their lines, but she thought she might even get some of them to run. Fluttershy wasn’t moving from her position in the center of the army and Longfoot was staying with his troops. Angel might have ruled the animals around Fluttershy's cottage by fear, but that wasn’t working now, in face of a far greater threat.

The animals moved in a mass, pulling back. Chrysalis raised her hoof and felt her army tense as one changeling, ready to charge. When they clustered around Fluttershy she’d sweep in through the left side and rampage through their disorganized ranks.

The first few animals ran at Fluttershy, shrieking protests and pointing at the broken walls. Angel was kicking them, throwing them back, but he was a single rabbit trying to force far larger animals to move. He was helpless, and Fluttershy was distracted.

Chrysalis’s hoof shot up—

“My, my.” Discord stretched and yawned toothily. “Looks like there’s quite a fuss going on.”

His voice was casual, but it was magnified by magic so that it boomed out across the battlefield with unparalleled volume. The animals around the god of chaos covered their ears and stepped back, and the Angel’s retreating animals stopped in their tracks.

Discord got to his feet and the animals around him fell away. He nodded at Fluttershy who nodded back, and then the god of chaos turned to look at Chrysalis. He didn’t need to cup his hands to his mouth to speak; his voice was simply amplified so that he spoke to Chrysalis as if he were next to her, yet his words echoed with the distance.

“You talk a big game Chrysalis, and I’ll grant you that you know a few parlor tricks.” Discord flicked his fingers dismissively and sent a shower of sparks arching to the ground. “But you know, it’s pretty pathetic stuff. It might be able to make Celestia blink, and I’m sure you could impress a few rodents and birds that’ve never seen the real McCoy, but let me tell you, I think it’s pathetic.”

Discord began walking nonchalantly toward Chrysalis’s army. At this distance he was tiny, but his voice still echoed across the open ground as if he was right in front of Chrysalis.

“Let me give you a little taste of what real magic looks like.”

Chrysalis was ready for Discord to click his fingers and materialize a rain of fire, or some kind of deadly prank, but nothing happened. The draconequus just kept walking towards her, as if he were taking a stroll. He was still tiny, but he was growing—

Chrysalis blinked. Discord was growing. It wasn’t just that he was getting closer, he was actually getting taller. First he was just his lanky self, three times as tall as the average pony, but then he was as tall as a tree. Before he had taken ten steps his antlers were higher than even the highest tree, and his body had become gigantic, dwarfing even houses. Another step, and he was the size of Twilight’s palace. Another…

A shadow loomed across the changeling army, blotting out the sun. Chrysalis looked up.

Discord loomed above the tree line, a giant, a leviathan reaching towards the sky. His horns were the size of the largest tree; his eyes spotlights that gazed down upon the now-small army of changelings with contempt. With his bear paw Discord pointed down at changelings and his voice echoed across the battlefield.

“Ye small mortals who claim to sow havoc; know thine own despair and futility. Your masks and illusions are dust upon the winds of eternity. Petty schemes and plots are nothing compared to the madness in the hearts of mortals. Wheresoever lurks discontent and dissent in hearts so too shall my presence continue. I am Chaos. I am Change. Discord be mine name.”

Chrysalis took one step back. She couldn’t help it. She felt the Swarm shudder as Discord’s words broke upon them like the living tide. Several changelings passed out from the chaos god’s presence alone, but the rest of the Swarm stood strong.

And then, just as quickly as the terrifying realization of Discord’s true nature had dawned upon those present, it was gone. Discord was standing by Fluttershy again, no longer a colossus beyond description. He winked at Fluttershy and said in a stage whisper,

“How’d I do? I thought about pulling off some of the old Sturm und Drang, but I liked that speech too much to not use it.”

Chrysalis blinked, shuddered, and then sent a command through the minds of her army. They shook their heads and refocused, shedding their fears like water.

“Parlor tricks!” She shouted at Discord. “If you had that power, you’d have used it before! You may command chaos, but even you can’t fight all of us at once!”

Her changelings shouted their agreements and Discord scowled. He folded his arms and glared at Chrysalis.

“Seriously? I thought even you would take the hint from that. What, do I have to grow a beard and start waving a staff around before you get the message?”

Discord clicked his fingers and a wall of thorns rose out of the ground in front of Chrysalis’s army. The vines were the same as those that had attacked Ponyville once before; black and twisting, the thorns sharp as blades. They rose up and crept towards the changelings who had to fall back or be engulfed.

“I can make volcanos explode, turn all your soldiers into vegetables – I can even tell you what the fox says! You’re outmatched Chrysalis, in every sense of the word. I can do anything. All you can do is blacken an alicorn horn or two. Give up and I’ll put in a good word with Celestia for you.”

Chrysalis eyed the thorns. Not good. Time to put one of her backup plans into action. She sent a brief mental message out to a part of her army.

Discord was still gloating as the changelings retreated. He laughed, capered in place, and froze when he heard the explosion.

Boom.

The noise echoed through the forest. It came from far away, miles in point of fact, but the noise was still loud enough to shake leaves from the trees. Discord paused, and looked in the direction of the noise.

“Chrysalis. I don’t suppose you had anything to do with that?”

“Oh, me?” Chrysalis eyed the forest as the rumbling began. She’d have to time this right if she wanted the Swarm to survive. “What could I do? I’m just a changeling, not a wise and powerful chaos god like you.”

Discord looked around. The faint rumbling sound that had begun was growing louder. Much louder. “Not that I’m uh, worried, but what exactly did you do?”

“Oh, nothing. Not much of anything, really.” Chrysalis bared her teeth. “But would you care for a drink?”

Water. It was such a lovely thing. It could be drunk, used for bathing, waterboarding, and all kinds of delightful activities. You could even swim in it. But if you had enough water going in one direction you got only one thing.

Death.

Ten thousand tons. No, a hundred thousand tons of water. Several hundred thousand tons of water. That was how much the Ponyville dam kept at bay. All of that weight was kept neatly held behind a wall of stone, but what happened when you took away the stone all at once? Well, then you got a wall of water traveling hundreds of miles per hour. And if you aimed it right, you could wipe out a town within minutes. Or, perhaps, a land-bound army.

The roar of water preceded the actual flood by only a few seconds. Chrysalis spotted the water breaking through the forest as a gray-green tide with brown trunks of trees caught in between.

The water crashed through the Everfree forest, countless tons of water per second breaking down trees and smashing aside rocks as the energy of the dam spent itself in one charge. This was no flood. Such was the weight behind this wave that even the oldest trees in the Everfree cracked and tore themselves out of the ground, hurtling along with the water as it surged right at its target.

Fluttershy’s army.

And Chrysalis’s army, to be fair, but they had already jumped into the sky. The Swarm hovered in midair and watched the wall of water flowing at the helpless animals. They couldn’t fly, and the water was moving too fast to escape.

The animals below them were panicking, screaming and about to break formation. But there was nowhere to run. Chrysalis spotted Fluttershy shouting amidst the chaos, but she was just as helpless to save her people. She could fly away herself, but no more.

In fact, in the scene of confusion below them Chrysalis saw only one figure standing still. Discord. He stood, watching the wall of water approaching Fluttershy’s army. He was unnaturally still and silent, in fact. Almost like a statue.

And then he looked up. Even at a distance, Chrysalis recoiled. But then Discord looked away, and towards the water.

The flood crashed down upon the first ranks of animals and burst as it hit the wall of magic Discord created. The water spread out as it raged against the barrier, seeking a way around. With so much water, it would eventually spread out until it seeped around even the longest wall. This is what Chrysalis expected.

But the water spread, and spread, and still the barrier held. Even as the flood continued pouring water into the forest, the water halted at an invisible line that stretched across the forest. And it was boxed in.

A thousand paces across, and what must have been two thousand paces deep, a magical shimmering shield phased into existence. It rippled with every color of the rainbow and several not seen in reality, an ever-shifting shield of raw chaos energy. And the water rushed into it and the shield held.

First five feet. Then ten feet. Then fifty, a hundred. The waters rose in Discord’s magical barriers until they rose even higher than the Swarm was flying. The magical walls of water rose, but did not break. And the barrier held.

Discord was standing with his hands pressed against the shimmering magic, sweat rolling down his face. Gone was his expression of sardonic amusement. Now his eyes were focused with pure concentration.

At last the floodwaters stopped rising. They held at a point two hundred meters high and a thousand across, a wave held only by one creature’s magic. And then the waters began to move.

One step. Discord took one step and pushed the waters back. The entire body of water moved through the forest and then stopped. Discord paused to pant. Then he took another step.

The animals were keeping well clear of Discord. They feared to get near him, to disrupt his concentration. But a pegasus landed next to the chaos god and spoke. Chrysalis didn’t hear the words, but she saw the pegasus nod once, and then look up at Chrysalis.

The Swarm landed on the ground and Chrysalis considered her options. Fluttershy’s army was still intact, untouched. They were still entrenched in their formations. Only Discord had been removed, but he was still able to move the waters, and by the looks of it, slowly pushing them back towards the Ponyville dam.

Damn. But he was the biggest threat, and with him gone, the battle was entirely in Chrysalis’s favor. It was an acceptable result.

Chrysalis rose to her full height. It was time. “Changelings, attack!”

Her army roared and charged in one great mass. It was instantaneous; from their standing position every changeling ran at Fluttershy’s army in a howling mass.

Chrysalis outpaced her army with her longer legs. She had the greatest pleasure of seeing Fluttershy’s stunned expression right before she hit the first rank of animals.

Angel’s side had lost most of its fortifications when Chrysalis had attacked. Though he had finally managed to bully the animals back into place, they weren’t covered by their static defenses.

A squad of beavers made up part of the front row, holding long pikes of sharpened wood to fend off a charge. They took one look at Chrysalis charging at them and screamed. They would have run, but the animals behind them offered no escape. Instead, the beavers set their pikes in the ground and closed their eyes.

Pikes had been designed to kill a rushing enemy like horses. They were a battlefield changer that allowed infantry to deal with mounted forces, or smaller animals to fend off fast-moving creatures like ponies. At least, that would be the case if magic didn’t exist.

A barrier of emerald energy formed around Chrysalis before she hit the wall of pikes. She smashed into the ranks of beaver and sent them flying like bowling balls while the wooden pikes snapped against her shields. In truth, she probably hadn’t needed the magic at all. Chrysalis’s chitin was strong enough to deflect even Harry’s claws; the thin pikes the beaves used probably wouldn’t have been able to scratch her armor.

But the shield had other uses, too. Chrysalis saw the flash and felt the impact as lightning crackled, but didn’t even slow her mad rush. Fluttershy unleashed two more lightning bursts from her thundercloud, but then Chrysalis was too far in her army, and the pegasus had to stop attacking or hit her own animals.

They were all around her, beavers, squirrels, foxes, mice, birds, woodland creatures a fraction of Chryalis’s height. For all that they were brave, ready to fight changelings and die defending their home. But Chrysalis was a giant among changelings, and far more terrifying. Her magic shields made her invincible, and she was faster, stronger, and more ruthless than her minions.

Knives and wooden arrows bounced off Chrysalis’s shields. She lashed out with her hooves and flattened a badger as it ran from her and then punched twice. A small black bear that had been lunging at Chrysalis got a hoof to the face and the stomach. It reeled back and received a blast of magic that knocked it on its back.

She hadn’t killed it, though. The bear was merely unconscious, albeit with second-degree burns and probably a fractured jaw. Likewise, the badger and other animals Chrysalis struck were merely knocked unconscious; in the worst case with broken bones. She wasn’t killing them.

It was strategic, though. Chrysalis told herself that as she stopped to let her changelings catch up to her. Neither she nor her changelings were killing. They were under strict orders only to maim and hurt. Why?

Well, because it was smart. Chrysalis had thought it out. Why kill your enemy and have the Tree of Harmony resurrect them in all probability when you could put them out of commission for a few months? That was why she had made it clear that the changeling who killed an animal on purpose or by accident would soon be dead by Chrysalis’s hooves, very much on purpose. After all, she had to stick to the strategy. There could be no accidental casualties.

It made sense. And besides which, Chrysalis’s army could use the handicap. They were rampaging past Fluttershy’s lines of troops with ease. Part of that had to do with their sudden, reckless all-out charge. It flew in the face of conventional tactics and was the last thing Fluttershy would have expected Chrysalis to do. But it had still been an aimed assault.

Chrysalis grinned. Angel’s side was a mess as animals fled and were attacked from behind by her changelings. The bulk of her army was dragging animals off the field to be placed under guard and claiming Fluttershy’s fortifications in this area. But the rest of her army, the ones facing Longfoot on the left side and Fluttershy’s group in the center? They hadn’t moved.

Attack where the enemy is weak. Avoid where they are strong. Basic rules of war. Fluttershy could build the strongest defensive line for all Chrysalis cared; they could sit there while she attacked their flanks.

Chrysalis moved back behind the ranks of her changelings. Their mad charge had worked; they now occupied a considerable part of Fluttershy’s space, and were fighting their way towards the center of the army.

Fluttershy had drawn back and she was setting up a hasty defensive wall of animals to hold off the changelings. Chrysalis spotted Harry, Matilda and a few other bears she didn’t recognize holding the line at various points. They were backed up by some very burly beavers and a whole squad of birds that harassed her changelings from above. They were keeping her changelings back, especially since even her best warriors didn’t want to get in range of the bear’s claws.

That was fine. So long as Fluttershy’s heavy-hitters were occupied Chrysalis counted it as a victory. She gestured with one hoof and several changeling squad leaders ran to her side.

“Take a force and hit them from behind.”

The changelings nodded. Chrysalis watched them run to their men and then gallop to the side. Another lovely benefit of breaking into the right side of Fluttershy’s army was that they could go around the defenses completely.

The animals holding up the rear guard were the smaller rodents and animals with less combat experience. They were watching the front lines fighting and failed to notice the changelings until they were right on top of them.

Fluttershy noticed the changelings too late. By the time she deployed squads of animals to fend them off, they were already well engaged. Now her army was surrounded on three fronts; one side with the heavy fortifications that had yet to see combat, the embattled left flank currently stalemated, and her rear. And the changelings there were some of Chrysalis’s best.

“What’s that idiot doing?” Chrysalis watched Fluttershy’s army move with a frown.

Her changelings had formed a simple line formation with squads hanging back to assist, but they had advanced through the ranks of animals with little problems. The squads Fluttershy had sent to reinforce met the changelings with a clash, but they fell back just as quickly.

Chrysalis watched as a platoon of squirrels swarmed a group of changelings. Her soldiers fell back and two fell under the weight of animals, but just as quickly another squad of changelings rushed into the fray. The squirrels were instantly routed and captured and her changelings resumed the battle without a single loss.

At another point in the rear changelings fell back, retreating from a bear and sixteen beavers armed with knives. They forced the line of changelings back, but were unable to stall the advance on other points.

“Moron.” Chrysalis felt like shouting at Fluttershy. She was wasting the animals Chrysalis had trained. “You don’t send the ambush squads to the front. You mix them behind a wall of soldiers and draw the enemy in with a weak front line. Too strong and they circle around. Like this.”

Chrysalis nodded to one of her squad leaders. “Take three units and hit the bear from the side while the main force engages. Chew them up, but break away after the first few moments. Show that idiot how it’s done.”

The bear and beavers were pressing her changelings hard. Hindered by their orders not to inflict fatal wounds, the changelings weren’t able to subdue any of the animals without being stabbed or shredded by their companions. They fell back quickly and without injury, letting the squad of animals move in further, further…

Too late the bear looked up and saw that he was alone in a sea of changelings. He roared at the beavers and the animals turned to rejoin the main army. That was when three squads of changelings hit them from all sides.

The beavers went down like bowling pins, each tackled by a larger changeling. The bear managed to knock out five changelings, but went down eventually under the sheer weight of numbers.

And her changelings were still advancing! Chrysalis couldn’t believe it. Fluttershy’s animals were falling back in disarray now, a full-retreat that left many of their number to be captured by her changelings.

What was that idiot thinking? Was she truly that bad at tactics? She had no notion of how to use the animals under her command, none. If Chrysalis were her, she’d have pulled the squirrels back to use slingshots rather than fight. Two squirrels could launch a damn painful rock that could blind a changeling.

Why were the birds only harassing? They should have been dropping stones from high overhead like before, but they were scattered all over the battlefield. And having all the bears in one place meant their power as diminished. It would be far better to send them out in attack squads of four, with flanking groups of beavers to back them up…

Chrysalis caught herself grinding her teeth. What was she doing? She wasn’t on the enemy’s side. If their leader was incompetent all the better. It was just that she would have done everything differently if it were her…

A cheering from the battlefield snapped Chrysalis out of her reverie. She saw the advancing black line of changelings falter and halt in the rear battlefield and begin to move back. What was happening?

Longfoot. The rabbit had abandoned the left side of the army to command the rear guard. And he had brought reinforcements with him. Squads of beavers held pikes to fend off changelings while birds harassed them and mice brought down changelings after changeling one at a time.

That was proper tactics. Chrysalis grinned. Was she happy that the enemy was competent? No. Of course not.

Maybe. She had trained them herself, after all. If they couldn’t amount to this much…

But Chrysalis had to focus. She wrenched her attention away from that battle to focus on the conflict nearest to her. Angel’s side was still struggling, despite the fact that many of the bears and larger animals were defending there. She pointed, and more of her changelings squads leapt into the larger attacking body, so that a mass of black shapes was constantly trying to force itself into the heart of Fluttershy’s army.

Fluttershy’s animals were not the same as Chrysalis’s soldiers. She had trained her animals well. That was…Chrysalis amended her thoughts. She had trained the animals well. They could fight in formations and they knew how an army should fight. But for all Fluttershy’s animals had seen combat, they were still just talented amateurs. They’d seen battle, but not war. Their defenses had gaps in it, and if pressed…

There. A hole opened up in the struggling right flank as changelings pushed the animals further and further back. Angel clearly saw the gap and screamed orders but it was too late. Chrysalis had been waiting for that moment.

“Charge!” She howled. The two units of her elites took wing and sped towards the break in the enemy lines.

The embattled animals looked up to see the changelings flying at them. They tried to brace, but they were still locked in combat. Too slow, too few.

Fluttershy was in the air. She had a thundercloud in each hoof. She would have blasted the changelings, but Chrysalis shot green death at her. The pegasus had to dodge, and the changelings were too close to her animals. She could not fire.

The lead changeling warrior was in striking range of the animals now. He dodged between two beavers and ran at Angel. The rabbit had taken a position between two trees in the Everfree forest. He had used the great wooden trunks as shields for his animals to block the changelings as they fought. But they were as much a trap as a shield.

The changeling squads dove at the animals. Angel braced himself, a knife in his paws. The animals around him cowered in fear. A changeling flew at him.

And disappeared.

Chrysalis blinked. Angel was still standing with the knife in his paws. The changelings were still charging, but one had vanished. The squad leader slowed as he noticed. And then he was gone.

The changelings halted. The trees blocked Chrysalis’s view. Something was there. It moved from behind the trees, a blur of movement.

A changeling looked up into a gaping maw filled with teeth, saliva and death. The manticore bit down savagely, swallowed, and then tore two changelings to shreds with its claws.

Chrysalis opened her mouth. Her changelings fell back, afraid. The manticore was among them, and there was no escape—

Something screamed. No, somethings screamed. Three voices howled as one and a rank of changelings fighting at the rear exploded as a gargantuan figure appeared from behind the animals.

A creature part goat, part snake, and part tiger roared with all three heads and threw changelings back, pulverizing them with its claws, biting with all three heads as the animal defenders around it retreated. The changelings warriors fell back despite themselves. They were strong, unified, but who could match the coordination of three souls working as one body? Three-in-one, one-in-three. Chimera.

All across the battlefield new shapes had appeared. The creatures of the Everfree appeared from the forest, charging towards her army of stunned changelings with the madness of berserkers. Changelings fell back or fought and died. They could not stop the advance of these things.

Once, Chrysalis had entered the forest and pacified many of these creatures. But she had done so individually, hunting them with her army rather than face them all at once. A manticore by itself was no match for her, but five? And they fought with the animals. They were ferocious, terrifying. They could not be stopped.

Chrysalis’s encircling formation of Fluttershy’s army had turned from an overwhelming advantage into a huge weakness. Spread out as they were, her changelings couldn’t rely on reinforcements, and they were being attacked. Everywhere.

A cockatrice bounded out of the forest and froze eighteen changelings in a single glance. Chrysalis fired at it, but the beast dodged away.

A deafening roar made every head turn. From out of the forest a huge monstrosity with eight heads emerged. The hydra ran at Chrysalis’ army and her changelings scattered in terror.

Chrysalis stood her ground and fired her magic at the hydra. Coruscating bolts of green energy slashed through the air and detonated against the hydra’s scales. It flinched, and then retreated backwards in confusion under the onslaught.

Her brow streaming sweat, Chrysalis managed to force the hydra to retreat back into the forest. It hid itself in the trees, screaming at her as parts of its body smoked from her assault. But it was only one horror out of the many.

Thunder. Chrysalis looked up, panting. The sky was dark. It was midday, but the sky was dark. Why was it dark?

A shape blocked the heavens. It loomed taller than hills, tall as mountains. Something blotted out the sun and when it opened its mouth, the sound was terror given flesh.

Changelings were strong. They had evolved with tooth and hoof to fight monsters of all kinds, to absorb their enemy’s shapes, to become predator rather than prey. But mortals were not meant to fight legends.

It loomed over the battlefield. Then it stood up. The sky became night, and the stars appeared. It could destroy cities. Alicorn had not the might to stand against it. The race of dragons avoided it. It would not cease. It could not be stopped. It was doom and glory and the harbinger of ruin.

Ursa Major.

One paw came down. The ranks of changelings flew apart as the shockwave sent them flying. The Ursa Major hadn’t even hit them; it had struck the ground, yet the earth rippled and sent her forces flying.

Fluttershy’s army flowed around the gaps cause by the massive constellation bear, overwhelming changeling positions and burying her warriors by sheer weight of numbers. Chrysalis saw a changeling warrior go down under the weight of sixty squirrels and eighty smaller rodents. She didn’t see if he died. The Swarm’s consciousness was full of screaming, panicked reports and urgent requests for orders.

She didn’t panic. She didn’t panic despite the fear in her breast. She did not panic. She had planned for this.

“Fall back!” Chrysalis pitched her voice, but even her loudest roar – a match for the Canterlot Voice – wasn’t enough to be heard over the din of battle. But she issued her commands to the minds of her changelings as well.

The changelings flew back in disarray. They abandoned their engagements, some taking wounds in the process and flew in one great mass towards Chrysalis. But even that was costly.

Lightning ripped through their ranks. Fluttershy flew at the army, firing bolts of lightning that fried changelings where they flew. So packed together were they that each bolt struck a dozen changelings.

The warriors fell to the ground, stunned. The lightning didn’t kill them; they were not grounded so the bolts weren’t lethal. But Fluttershy’s army waited below, and they covered the fallen changelings as they fell.

So many casualties. Chrysalis’s horn raged against the invaders. She sent blast after blast of her most deadly spells towards Fluttershy, at the monsters of the Everfree, against the Ursa Major. It was no good.

The monsters fell back against her magic, and Fluttershy was forced to retreat back behind her army or be struck. But the Ursa Major? Even Chrysalis’ deadliest spells only singed its coat.

It roared at Chrysalis and she felt the wind change. It deafened her, but she would not fall back. She could not. She could not lose here.

Not again.

Her changelings were behind her now. Chrysalis dared not spare her attention for them, but she knew what they were doing.

The small bundles they had dropped at the start of the battle were unwrapped, their contents assembled. Each changeling had a match and a tube. Despite their losses, the changelings still numbered over six hundred. Enough for two volleys.

The Ursa Major advanced. It was not part of Fluttershy’s army, not entirely. It was clearly angry at Chrysalis, but it paid little attention to Fluttershy, her animals, and even the lesser creatures of the Everfree. They were beneath its notice. Wisely, they stayed well behind the Ursa, letting its thunderous footsteps precede their advance.

How in the hells had Fluttershy woken that monster? When Chrysalis had been advancing through the Everfree she had been extremely careful not to enter the areas where the larger creatures made their lairs, and she had given the Ursa’s den a ten-mile berth at all times. It couldn’t be controlled, reasoned with, or defeated. Except that this…pegasus had managed to wake it.

Not even dragons would fight an Ursa Major. Nothing had defeated one in the Swarm’s collective memory. Chrysalis gritted her teeth. Well, that would change today. She’d prepared to fight Discord if need be, but her weapons would work just as well on an oversized bear.

Each changeling was now ready. Chrysalis looked down the ranks of her army and saw row upon row of pointed cylinders aimed towards Fluttershy’s army. The animals had clearly seen what the changelings were doing and had retreated behind the Ursa. But the bear lumbered on, oblivious.

Chrysalis saw Fluttershy flying around the Ursa Major’s head. The pegasus was shouting desperately, trying to warn the constellation bear of the danger. But the bear had never known fear, and besides which, it was already too late.

The Ursa Major swatted irritably at Fluttershy. The draft of wind from its paw moving sent the pegasus crashing out of the air. Pity. Chrysalis let her changelings adjust their aim, although they couldn’t miss. The Ursa Major was five hundred feet away, but it still filled the sky.

Chrysalis recalled vividly the conversation with Fluttershy back when she had been Fake Fluttershy. Even then, the pegasus had annoyed her. But she had been passionate in her defense of one particular pony, even when Chrysalis had been set on killing her.

Why let a worthless unicorn live? Even if she begged for her life, she was useless. Not worth living. But what if she could make something? What if she had a talent, even if that talent wasn’t magic?

Chrysalis had never seen stage magic, but she hadn’t been surprised to find out even that wasn’t all magic. An incompetent unicorn like Trixie would get tired making too many special effects with her horn, so she used miniature explosives in her displays.

Explosives. Colored lights. Ponies used them for recreation and entertainment. Chrysalis had used them against Sombra, but they had failed. There hadn’t been enough, then. Only a few ponies knew how to make them, but coincidence upon coincidence, Chrysalis happened to know one of the best fireworks makers in all of Equestria.

The ranks of changelings aimed their fireworks at the Ursa Major as it closed the remaining space. Fireworks were hard to create. You needed lots of sulphur, charcoal, and bat crap for some reason. It was a dangerous; time consuming process. Even an entire industry would have been pressed to make enough fireworks for an entire army.

It turned out that a single unicorn could make a lot of fireworks if you threatened to cut her horn off.

“Fire!”

A six hundred changelings struck a match in unison. They touched their flaming sticks to the bottom of the fireworks.

The sky caught on fire. The Ursa Major blinked in surprise as hundreds of projectiles filled the air. The fireworks exploded before the bear could even react, and then there was sound and light.

Chrysalis stood behind the magical shield she had erected, but even she flinched. The sound was deafening. Fireworks weren’t ever meant to detonate at such close proximity; and these had been designed for destruction, not appearance. Not for the first time Chrysalis wondered why Trixie had ever lost to Twilight if she could make weapons such as these.

The Ursa Major was still standing when the smoke cleared. With a sinking heart Chrysalis saw it hadn’t been injured badly; the fireworks had barely done more that scorch parts of its fur off. Still, the explosions had done more than mere physical damage. The Ursa was shaking its head furiously and seemed disoriented; it tried to put one paw down and slipped to the ground with a crash that made the earth shake.

“Reload.” Chrysalis’s had to pitch her voice to make it past to ringing in her ears. “Prepare the second volley.”

The changelings fumbled with the cardboard tubes at their hooves. With extreme care they placed the still-smoking canisters of the first fireworks to one side and mounted the second round of fireworks once more.

The Ursa Major focused on the changelings in front of it with one dizzy eye. It saw the changelings reloading the fireworks and put two and two together.

The constellation bear got to its feet and roared. It lumbered forwards as the changelings desperately sought to reload their fireworks.

Chrysalis blasted the earth beneath the Ursa’s paws, tripping up the bear as it advanced. They just needed time for another volley. If a full-spread didn’t work, they’d blow the damn bear’s head clean off with a focused strike.

But the Ursa was approaching so fast. For a monster of such size, it could cross the ground like lightning. Even a grizzly bear could reach up to 35 miles per hour; a bear as large as the Ursa could hit speeds far beyond that.

They weren’t going to make it. Chrysalis saw her changelings fumbling with the fireworks, dropping matches, trying to aim the tubes at the Ursa. Even if they hit, they needed to strike the Ursa’s face. Time to order the retreat—

A flash of blue. Chrysalis’s turning head froze and whipped back. Something was hiding behind the Ursa Major. Compared to the massive purple Ursa Major the smaller shape was barely visible, hidden behind it as it was, but—

Chrysalis launched herself into the air and buzzed the Ursa Major. It paused to swat at her, but Chrysalis dove and made it around to the Ursa’s back. There.

Hidden behind the Ursa Major’s back the Ursa Minor galloped after its mother, mouth panting with exertion. It looked up at Chrysalis and flinched back from the changeling queen’s smile.

The Ursa Major was about to hit the changeling army. It raised one paw large enough to smash Canterlot castle in a single blow and prepare to destroy the insects with the effrontery to attack it. The Ursa only stopped when it heard the cough.

Chrysalis hovered right next to the Ursa, horn glowing with green magic. She saw one massive eye larger than her swivel to glare at her. The Ursa’s muscles tensed; Chrysalis sensed the bear deciding to swat her out of the air first.

Raising one hoof to her mouth, Chrysalis coughed theatrically again. She had to really project her cough to make sure the bear heard it. She gestured with her head, and the Ursa its head to look.

The Ursa Minor was quivering behind its mother. The smaller bear was trying to hide behind its parents legs, but it was still far too large to conceal itself. It was staring up at Chrysalis with fear, and Chrysalis’s horn was glowing with magical energy.

The Ursa growled. It was like hearing thunder rumbling right next to her, but Chrysalis didn’t hesitate. She amped up the magic in her horn and felt the spell radiating energy. She didn’t know how smart the Ursa really was, but it could understand a threat.

Slowly, the Ursa Major lowered its paw. Chrysalis lowered the intensity of her horn’s glow, but she still kept it lit. She locked eyed with the Ursa Major, and she saw fear in the bear’s eyes.

The Ursa Major bent down and drew its child towards it. Then, without a backwards glance it lumbered away from the battlefield.

Fluttershy flew after it. Chrysalis grinned to see the pegasus pleading with the bear. It looked at her, back at Chrysalis, and then exhaled on the pegasus. Fluttershy blown out of the air in a literal sense. She would have smacked herself against a tree and hopefully dashed her brains out, but something caught her in midair.

Discord.

Chrysalis stopped smiling instantly.

The god of chaos floated in midair and released Fluttershy. The draconequus seemed exhausted. He was drenched in water and had what looked like dried cement on his horns, but he was still able to fly. He waved jauntily at Chrysalis and flew to the head of Fluttershy’s army with the pegasus.

“Well Chrysalis, your little trap was quite a surprise,” Discord called out. His voice was less booming, and Chrysalis detected the exhaustion in it. But still. Discord’s presence was wearing at her like a physical thing.

He was too powerful. Chrysalis glanced at her army. Six hundred changelings. She looked at Fluttershy’s army. They’d injured, captured, or incapacitated probably eight hundred of them. That left over a thousand, and now there were nearly a hundred Everfree monsters in their ranks. Plus Discord. And Fluttershy. And a ton of stormclouds.

They were going to lose.

So, it was time for plan B.

“I don’t mind telling you, building a dam with one paw and holding back all that water with the other isn’t too easy, but I consider myself a decent multi-tasker,” Discord was saying. “And now I’m sort of mad. But what say you and I let bygones be bygones? You surrender now, or I’ll pulp your insides and make soufflé out of your army, deal?”

Discord extended one paw to shake. It grew obscenely large until it was able to reach Chrysalis over the distance between them. Chrysalis looked at the paw, at Discord, and then at Fluttershy. The pegasus was watching her expectantly. She knew.

“Let me think about it.” Chrysalis turned her head to look over her shoulder at her army.

“Fire!”

Discord growled. “Oh you—”

Six hundred explosions consumed the air around the god of chaos. They burst against the magical barrier he created. Chrysalis saw Discord’s grit his teeth as he strove to keep the shield spell working.

The smoke faded and Discord lowered his paw, panting heavily. “Took care of your little fireworks,” he wheezed. “Now, put your hooves above your head and kiss your—”

“Charge!” Chrysalis howled.

Her changelings leapt into the air and dove at Discord and Fluttershy’s army, screaming savagely.

“Son of a—” Discord formed another magical barrier, but the changelings dove around it. They strafed the animals and Everfree monsters, a wave of flying blackness.

Lightning crackled. Fluttershy blasted the changelings out of the air, sending the stunned forms of changelings crashing down to the earth where the animals pounced on them. The birds harried the changelings as well, although they were ineffectual against such numbers.

No, it was Fluttershy alone who held back the swirling maelstrom of changeling warriors. Her thunderclouds knocked them down by the dozens with each bolt, and the pegasus flew alone in the sky, untouchable in the nimbus of crackling energy she commanded.

A dark form shot out of the mass of changelings. Fluttershy turned too late and saw Chrysalis bearing down upon her. She fired her thunderclouds – sixteen bolts struck the magical barrier around Chrysalis and shatter it, but the queen remained unharmed.

Chrysalis tackled Fluttershy out of the air in an explosion of magical energy and electricity that blinded the animals and changelings around them. When they were able to look up, both leaders had vanished.

Discord shot into the air and cast around wildly. “Fluttershy! Where are you?”

He looked around desperately, but the changelings were all around him. They flew at him, shrieking and biting, and Discord was forced downwards.

The animals on the ground covered their heads or braced as the swarm dove at them. Longfoot and Angel rallied them, forcing the changelings to pull back. The hydra and other Everfree creatures stuck at the changelings, and Discord used his waning power to launch giant cupcakes at them. The battle raged on, but of Chrysalis and Fluttershy, there was no sign.

They had vanished.

----

Chrysalis reappeared with a pop of displaced air and immediately threw up all over her hooves. Several feet away from her Fluttershy crashed into the ground with a thump that Chrysalis felt through her hooves.

Teleportation. Chrysalis tried not to hurl again as she staggered upright. She wasn’t that good at it to begin with, and the burden of transporting two bodies such a long distance was intense. But she’d done it. She’d won.

The sun was lower in the sky, now. Chrysalis noticed that in the way one does, focusing on the tiny details while mind tries to restore balance. It was evening, and the sky was ablaze with golden orange and burning red. The battle had been raging for quite some time already.

The place Chrysalis had teleported to had less trees. They were more spaced out, and they were younger. This near the edge of the forest, they would muffle any sounds that might occur, but they were still far enough inside the Everfree that no one would ever find them. And where were they, exactly?

The graveyard. Chrysalis walked between the mounds of dirt and wooden figurines and tried not to look at them. She shouldn’t have brought war here, but it had been the only place she had known well enough to teleport to.

Fluttershy was moving, gasping for air. The air had been knocked out of her. Chrysalis saw her flailing on the ground, kicking gravestones in her panic. Yes, this was not the place for battle.

One hoof drew back. The pegasus only had time to see it flying at her before she herself was flying, into the air. Chrysalis punted Fluttershy out of the graveyard and into a tree fifty yards away and smiled in satisfaction. Far better.

One of the grave markers had been uprooted by Fluttershy’s careless hooves. Chrysalis propped it back upright and glanced around vaguely. It was a mess. She have to come back later and fix—

No. She shook her head. That wasn’t her job anymore. Chrysalis hesitated, and then took wing. She flew out of the graveyard and towards Fluttershy, who had barely begun to move again.

“Well, Fluttershy.” Chrysalis landed in front of the pegasus and watched her struggle to sit up. “Looks like it’s just you and me.”

“Chrysalis.” Fluttershy used one wing to roll herself to her hooves. She breathed out heavily and winced. She was favoring her side; Chrysalis guessed that even if she hadn’t broken her ribs, she’d certainly cracked a few.

“You’re seen better days.” Chrysalis smiled. “Need a moment?”

“Would you give me one?”

“No.” Chrysalis’s horn began to glow with magic. “I would never underestimate you like that. You’re within my range, by the way.”

“I can see that. Are you going to blast me, then? That seems quite cowardly, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Trying to trick me into a fair fight?” Chrysalis shook her head sadly “I don’t think so. Not that those knives under your wings would help you anyways.”

“Can I make one last plea for peace?”

“Again: no. I’m not giving you time for anything except a few last words. This ends now, Fluttershy. There are no more chances, no more ways to cheat, no places to run. You are alone.”

“I suppose so,” Fluttershy said calmly. “But it’s funny how life works like that.”

Chrysalis stared in horror. The pegasus in front of her coughed at her and wiped the blood on her mane. She grinned, weakly.

“I mean, what is being alone?” Fluttershy stepped forwards, and Chrysalis retreated, eyes suddenly wide. “You said it yourself. You can never be alone. As for me, I guess I could be by myself, but even then, magic can make friends.”

Fluttershy put one hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder as the other pegasus came to stand by her side. The two of them stared at Chrysalis.

“It’s hard being alone, isn’t it?” This time Fluttershy’s voice came from behind Chrysalis. The changeling queen whirled and saw another Fluttershy emerging from the Everfree forest. “Life without friends, well, a pony could go mad from that. Maybe, once upon a time, somepony did. There’s a legend about that, you know. Pinkie Pie told it to me.”

“First there was one pony.” Two more Fluttershy’s appeared through the trees. The spoke together in unison. “But she found a magical pond. And then there were two.”

“And then there were four.” Chrysalis heard the rustling, and saw more shapes emerging from out of the forest. Fluttershy, the Fluttershy that Chrysalis had injured stepped forwards. “Four, then eight, then sixteen. Lucky for us, Pinkie Pie never managed to double her numbers beyond more than about two hundred, but I’m patient.”

Chrysalis backed up, but the Fluttershy’s were everywhere. They flew out of the night and landed in trees, they walked out of the forest, and they all stared at Chrysalis. Smiling.

“It turns out that the maximum number of clones the pond can make is one thousand.” The injured Fluttershy stood right in front of Chrysalis, but her face was everywhere. She grinned, and the expression flickered on every Fluttershy’s face at the same time. “Or rather, nine hundred and ninety nine fakes and one original.”

Chrysalis couldn’t breathe. The sun was fading, and the evening light made the forest glow orange and red. The color of blood and battles. The rays of light caught Fluttershy’s fur, and she glowed with golden light.

“One way or another, it will end tonight.” Injured Fluttershy said. “I’m sorry, but it’s come to this. I had hoped you’d changed, but you still kill, you still hunger for war. If I can’t save you, at least I can give you peace, Chrysalis.”

Fluttershy smiled with a thousand faces. “Let’s finish this.”