Rarity awoke in a musty cell, a door of crystal barring the entrance. Her saddlebags were hastily thrown into the corner, with all of its contents stolen. Except Opalescence who was still sleeping, apparently oblivious to their current predicament. She pushed herself up off the dirty and slightly damp floor, looking around for anything she could possibly use to escape. But the cell was completely bare, besides the chain fastened around her neck. She could feel the sharpened points pointing up towards her, so she couldn't dare use her horn without some serious injury. She instead turned around and kicked the wall.

"I'm really sorry for this, Opal. I wasn't expecting those slimy shapeshifters to be here." Rarity kept herself from crying and instead began petting her pet.  Opalescence opened her eyes and purred contentedly. The two of them continued to bond until some time later, when the sounds of a shifting door drew their attention.

The door dragged against the floor with a terrible grinding screech. slamming loudly against the wall. Two very burly changelings stepped into the cell, large bladed tails sweeping the ground behind them. They were very different to the ones Rarity was familiar with. They seemed much more naturally armoured and insectoid. Their bright blues eyes seemed to shift every so often, not quite focusing on her. They grunted in unison and a single chiming knock replied. The nearest one shoved Rarity against the wall.

"Step back, the Queen demands your presence!" He held his tail at her throat. "Understood pony?"

Rarity muttered out a simple. "Crystal clearly."

A familiar changeling stepped through the door, her crown a lot bigger then their last encounter. Her long thin body betrayed her power and ugliness, the holes in her body looking much more gouged then they were last. Her eyes fell onto Rarity. With a scoff she waved her guards away. "I can handle this one, leave us!"

They both saluted and clambered their way out the door, tails smacking against the wall. "Rarity, such a fine little specimen of a pony. And what's this? She's got a little dragon crush? Excellent, the more love, the better. Tell me, how is Cadence?"

Rarity tried to spit at her but realized she was way too thirsty to do so. "You're looking very dated, Chrysalis. I think Cadence is a dream compared to whatever you stepped out of."

Chrysalis raised a clawed hoof and slapped her across the face. "Cheeky aren't we? Haven't you noticed you're a bit, chained up? Hahahahue!"

"You can't beat the elements, darling. Especially not without the power of Shining's love." Rarity smiled despite her cracked lips.

"I don't need it, not anymore. I've got access to much better things. And a few new allies, though one less thanks to you." Chrysalis began pacing back and forth. Her mane shimmered like a green rainbow behind her. Rarity simply watched, unable to do much else. Eventually she stopped, slamming both legs against the wall.

"I was SO close! But Twilight, oh she just had to notice something about her babysitter. That new little princess thinks she's so smug in her crystal tree, while I toil away down her, ready to exact my revenge! Soon we shall return and with the love drifting down from Canterlot, we will be unstoppable. No pink, poncy princess will stop me now!" Chrysalis grinned and clasped her hooves together.

"Do you just tell everyone your plans?" Rarity smirked and poked the Queens chest. "You're underestimating our new Harmony powers. We defeated Tirek and we can defeat you!"

"You're right, enough talking. It's time to meet my finest tailor. Hahaha!" Chrysalis rubbed Rarity's chin and stepped back. She clapped her hooves together, both guards returned almost immediately with a long length of chain. "Take her to Carapace, she needs to be... fitted."

"It will be done, My Queen!"

Rarity was released from the spiked collar, much to her necks relief. Another crystal collar was fitted around her, this time around her middle. The guard yanked the chain as hard as he could dragging Rarity along with him. Opalescence watched with sadness as her master was dragged off. She held her hoof to her lips, beckoning for her to stay there. She was yanked out the door and dragged out of the tiny prison. The guard however left the door open, allowing the cat to escape.

Rarity turned herself around and trotted after the guard, not wanting to end up with a broken back. The cavern was clearly carved into a small city, though much more bug-like then any pony one. Down below, spires, towers and massive beehive structures took up this incredible cave system. At the far end was a castle that very much resembled that of the princesses, except green, black and clearly gooey. All of this was covered in a fine green mist that seemed to glow. Thousands of changelings ran to and from, busy as ants.

"That is, The Emerald Hive, the greatest changeling city ever constructed under Equestrian soil." The guard beside her whispered, he seemed quite pleased as he spoke.

"It's no Crystal Empire-" Her captor squeezed the chain slightly. "-but... it's... quite... beautiful." Rarity said between gasps of air. Pleased, he relaxed the chain.

The guard beside her was giggling. "Be careful, pretty one. Rufus is very fond of the Revered Mother. But I prefer a lady with less power." The changeling gave her a wink.

'Now that's my escape route...' Rarity thought to herself, keeping her smile hidden.

Up the thin bridge they travelled, so high that even the changelings who could actually fly, were absolutely terrified. The guard dragging her slowly came to a stop before a black door, hidden by the black rock covering the cavern. He slammed his hooked hoof against the door and calmly waited. Eventually the clattering sounds of bottles and vials were followed by a timid voice. "R-Rufus? Is that you?"

"Yes, open up Carapace. It's a special favour from the Queen herself. Don't make me come in there!"

The door creaked open ever so slightly, a single hoof shot out. "Give me the chain and you can go!"

Rufus grabbed his leg and twisted it backwards. "Hehe, nerd!"He put it back into place and gave him the chain. "My work here is done." He said, flying off towards the castle. Carapace whimpered from behind the door but pulled Rarity through the slight gap. The other guard followed swiftly, right before the door squashed them.

Carapace turned around and saw the guard still standing beside her. "Vesper, you can go now, I don't need a guard! Especially not a female one. There's no royal jelly here."

"With all due respect, Carapace. You can kiss my shapeshifting behind." She said, rather rudely.

"Fine, just stay out of the way!"

Rarity watched the exchange and couldn't help but smile. This escape wouldn't be hard with a changeling without any manners or loyalty. She quickly stopped when she noticed the seat lying beneath a giant emerald. The spiky, black metal surrounding it wasn't exactly a welcome sight either. She watched as Carapace shuffled over to a large lever and yanked it back. The seat was now engulfed in a ray of green light. He turned towards her, smiling like a maniac.

"What's wong pony? Scared of my, Essence Extractor? Bwahahaha! You should be!" He prodded her towards the beam with a large, pointy stick. Rarity fought against it but soon felt her hooves sliding. The guard was watching with a sad look on her face. Rarity was just inches away now, she could feel it draining her emotions slowly. It looked like the end of her journey.

But then an explosion erupted from the machine and the lever retracted. Looking partially fried, frazzled by electricity and mad as a wolverine, Opalescence was standing over the machine with the cords hanging loose from her mouth. Carapace looked up just in time as a large piece of metal smushed him. Rarity was mortified.

"Relax, he gets squished all the time. But if you wanna escape, best go now, he'll pop back up again in a minute. He's like a cockroach." Vesper said, pulling the chain off her stomach. Rarity turned around and hugged her.

"Thanks for not being a mean changeling! But I should be going..." She looked at the bug remains crawling back together and looked back. "...right now!" She pecked her saviour's cheek, threw her collar off and grabbed the very angry Opalescence from the machine.

Vesper watched her leave and sighed. "Chrysalis isn't gonna be happy about this..." The machine part shifted to the side as Carapace stood back up, completely intact.

"VESPER!"

Rarity heard the scream and felt a slight twinge of guilt. "I know, she's just a changeling but she was just lovely, Opal." The cat meowed in response, a cloud of soot escaping her mouth. "Yes, and you're my hero." She smiled and coughed some more.

Rarity ran further up the stairs, fairly positive it led to an exit. Without the heavy collar weighing her down it was a lot easier galloping up the terribly designed bridge. The smell of fresh air filled her nose as she got closer and closer. From behind her came a magical scream of rage, Chrysalis was definitely aware of her escape now. Buzzing wings echoed up the bridge, gaining rather quickly. Rarity finally found the exit and leapt through it. She heard a stone door close and lock, followed by several hundred groans of pain as the changelings collided with it.

Rarity dusted off the soot, pushed herself to her hooves and took a deep breath of fresh air. "We're finally out, Opal! Forget the diamond we're going ho-" She looked up to see another black cavern overhead. "Oh..."

She looked around curiously, trying to work out where the breeze was coming from. She sniffed the air and headed in whichever direction it took her. All around her were weird giant mushrooms, taller then any tree she'd ever seen. They covered every part of this unusual cave she now found herself in. Rarity put Opalescence in a makeshift bag and continued to follow the smell of fresh air. The mushrooms kept changing colours every couple of minutes as if constantly tired of their appearance.

"Now this, is definitely something Fluttershy would love." Rarity wandered aimlessly through this underground, mushroom forest,  certain the smell would lead her somewhere much more helpful. At one point she thought she saw a streak of purple sky, but it seemed to be nothing but wishful thinking.

The changeling door had opened up at some point but Rarity had yet to see any changelings hunting her down. Perhaps they to were lost in this fungus maze. Rarity noticed a few spider-webs strewn across the trees, but none of them had any spiders. There was also the strange feeling of being watched, by what she couldn't tell. The eerie silence and colour-changing mushrooms was enough to freak anypony out. The smell finally lead her to a house, in the middle of a weird forest, underground.

"It's a house? Not some changeling one but an actual pony house!" Rarity grabbed the door knob but stopped when she noticed something familiar. "It's a replica of Fluttershy's cottage! Why is it here?" She noticed a note pinned do the door and tore it off.

"Gon' Fishing. BBL. Discord." She read it over and over again, but each time she was more confused. "Did Discord do this? No it's too ordered, too obvious. Clearly somepony wanted me to find this, but who?"

Unbeknownst to Rarity, several pairs of eyes watched her from the shadows. "Soon, darling, very soon."

Next Chapter: Along Came A Sapphire Estimated time remaining: 16 Minutes