The room shivered in her presence, a vortex of spite and malice that soured every changeling's tongue. She barred her fangs, framed by cat eyes as sharp as needles and an imposing, war-ready helmet. She spoke, and a touch of frostbite caressed every shell in the room, drawing attention like cold draws warmth.

"What have we here?" the alicorn cooed, batting her eyes. With an insult behind her every eye movement, she sized up the thin, gaunt creature before her. "Just who, namely what might you be?"

An unpleasant respite followed, ended by a sharp, escalating series of laughs. Irises just as dark as the alicorn's stared back, ones of cunning and pride.

"Someone without an invitation to the local costume fair, apparently," came the retort. "You readying for a grand war against kitchen confections, or did you dress up just for little old me?"

Her grin decomposing, the dark alicorn ignited her horn. Rigid black with a deep blue aura, it pierced the air with a commanding presence, illuminating the sneer still assaulting her from across the room.

"Very well, we'll skip the pleasantries. I am Equestria's ruler, changeling, I know what you are," the alicorn hissed. Crackling in a storm of prickled energy, she motioned her head towards the intruder, a threatening stance with even grimmer intent. "You should know that vermin are not allowed in my kingdom. Take your hordes and leave, or I shall dismantle you all where you stand."

From yards away, a half-dozen bug ponies watched the thrilling altercation as it unfolded, transfixed. Huddled together as one mass of large, expressive eyes, their attention was as a leaf caught on the breeze, flowing from one speaker to the other. In the pitch black portion of the room was the dark alicorn of pony legend, Nightmare Moon, accentuating the darkness with her horrid light. On the room's other end, the changeling tyrant, Chrysalis, her lithe, charcoal frame equally illuminated by the fireplace's eerie glow.

"Oh my, pretty and pompous," Chrysalis jeered, sparking her own horn to life. The sickly green appeared a rich olive in the embrace of the fire. "All you princess types are the same, regardless of your allegiances. And here I thought I might come to offer an alliance of sorts, one driven queen to another."

Nightmare Moon scoffed. A particularly bold zap of her magic grazed along the stone floor, singeing it. "'An alliance'? How foalish do you take me to be, witch? You are parasites, abominations of nature. Any relationship with your kind is a detrimental one. Besides, as a queen, I do not need the assistance of anyone. I will bring glory to the eternal night, and rule Equestria, myself, and I will do so without your kind in it."

It was Chrysalis's turn to scoff. "Oh well, have it your way. The fewer rulers there are to overthrow, the sooner the kingdom will be mine," she sang, the laughs between her words charged with insanity. The olive hue of her magic darkened even in the firelight, and soon her magic, too, raked and scarred the floor in aimless charred lines. "I really must thank you, your highness. One arrogant alicorn is so much easier to dispose of than two!"

The weight of magic and intention in the air came to a point, and both menacing bodies charged forward. In a decisive moment that lit the whole chamber, horns of blue and green collided at their hilt, sending sparks and streams of electric energy spiraling all around. Collected anger met unfiltered madness in a portrait of cyan light.

"Yeah, get her, Nightmare Moon!" came an enthused bug pony voice from among the onlookers.

"Eternal night sounds way better than starving all the time," another voice chimed in, his voice projected by cupped hooves around his mouth. "We live in a hive, anyway, we don't even see the light that much!"

In a sudden moment of distraction, Chrysalis's slit irises peered to the crowd, her output of ferocious magic dwindling to nothing. With a raise of her hoof she addressed them, leaving a mildly confused, but more so entertained Nightmare Moon behind her.

"Hang on, you guys aren't even rooting for me?" she asked, her voice noticeably altered. The confidence in her tone and eyes had dwindled along with her magic. "You were all begging me to do this with Princess Luna just a few minutes ago."

"Uh, yeah, because we wanted to see Nightmare Moon blast the stuffing out of Chrysalis!" Xenica proclaimed, peeling herself from the layered ball of clung bugs. "Did you not hear how awesome Luna made her sound? And how she looks and acts even more awesome!?"

"Well, thank you all," Nightmare Moon chuckled from afar, placing an elongated hoof to her chest armor and bowing. "I'm not the greatest actress, but I like to think I can play myself fairly well, even if a past version."

Chrysalis slumped dejectedly, her ratty mane obscuring her face. "Well, what about my acting?" she probed. "I was doing pretty well, right?"

"Of course, Thorax, we hated you!" came Cimex, fluttering up to the evil queen and patting her head. The mane whipped back as Chrysalis cast utter despondence upon the drone.

"What he means is, you were a great villain, Thorax," Apidae encouraged, fluttering to the queen's other side. "A hero is a hero, but everybody loves to hate a good villain."

"Yeah, Thorax, all the time you spend in the theatre troupe with me and Apidae is really paying off," said Calor. The azure drone trotted over, plopped his flank upon the floor and hugged a lithe, hole-filled leg. "Remember when you couldn't even play a rock correctly? And how the show had to be put on hold because Pharynx couldn't stop laughing, and changelings were afraid he'd choke? He definitely wouldn't be laughing, now!"

"Thank you, Calor, for reminding me of that," Chrysalis muttered, enveloping herself in a flashy teal fire. The colorful form of Thorax took her place, and the remainder of bug ponies amassed around him.

Walking up from behind the group, Nightmare Moon's features faded in a silhouette of white light, giving way to the more petite form of Luna. She pulled a pair of novelty vampire teeth from her mouth and gave Thorax a sweet look.

"I must say, Thorax," she began, dismissing the fangs in a quick spell, "never have I had the opportunity to face the she-demon one on one, but through you, I've found an experience that even my own dreams could not muster. Changelings truly are fascinating. My mind knew better, but the adrenaline coursing through me did not. That was a splendid performance."

Splitting his attention among his six pining drones, Thorax patted heads while casting friendly smiles all around. Upon the princess's words, his expression softened even further.

"Thanks, princess," he replied. "I do think I've gotten better at it. My brother believes that all changelings have an innate talent for acting, and that you just have to develop it. I'm probably the best example of that he's got, now."

"I really do need to make a point of meeting this fabled brother of yours," Luna mused, commanding the torches of the room to light. The dining room doors wrapped in her aura and flew open, flooding the chamber with the bright afternoon that gleamed through the hallway windows. A few bug ponies hissed.

"But for the moment, it's about time we check in with Celestia," she continued. "The museum opening draws near. I've taken some time, perhaps selfishly, to get to know you all a bit better, myself, but truth be told, I'd expected an interruption at the hooves of my sister, or our returning lieutenant, by now. Evidently, I am still the only one who knows where you are, and so it is up to me to deliver you all to the next step of your visit."

"Oh, before we do, can we go back to the gardens, Thorax?"

Eyes turned to Cimex, who, having ceased his assailing hugs against the alpha's neck, took to sitting closer to the now extinguished fire. His hopeful grin flowered even without it.

"There's something I gotta do before we go to the pony museum!"

"You should know better than to believe everything will go well, Celestia. You've been at this for how many centuries, now?"

Celestia curled her lip, her eyes blasting skyward in the same motion. She was her own ear to vent to, flying alone along the city skyline like this, but that would suffice. Unlike other ponies, the clouds would not tell Luna of her returning foalhood habit, and that was all that really mattered.

Wide and commanding in their muffled flaps, her wings parted air and cloud moisture alike, the dew sliding off her water-resistant feathers. Her eyes fell to the miniature world below, and a sigh became a self-reflective hum. Part of her drew remorse, the guilt-ridden face of her lieutenant returning to her mind. But then she remembered Thorax, and his easily influenced changelings, and her stiff upper lip resumed.

She drew a sharp breath and calmed herself. No, there was no time for her maternal tendencies. She had guests to welcome, and to help feel at home. No excuses.

"Of course, you forgot to ask the lieutenant how long he'd been searching, already," she chided in realization, a flexed brow her own scolding. "With any luck, Luna's made headway of her own in the meantime."

Equestria's heart, with its magnificent golden trim towers drew closer, and so Celestia descended from the cloud cover. Her thoughts buzzed, a static that pulled and pushed her attention in an array of directions. The changelings were bad enough, but Twilight as well? What in Equestria had the power to keep even her former star pupil from sending scroll of potential tardiness? Should she be concerned?

The matriarch bit her lip again. Nonsense, she was concerned, the real question was, of what. Twilight's safety? The ramifications of whatever could be holding her up? Heavens, both? She'd dispatched the lieutenant to send his very best pegasi to check up with Twilight in Ponyville, surely that would be more than enough.

Right? Right.

"I'm sure everything is fine," Celestia reiterated aloud, her words smoothing her breaths. The lush castle gardens scrolled along below her, now, quiet and pristine in a preserved perfection. The greenery never failed to tug a smile from her cheeks.

"I'll aide Luna in locating the changelings, and we'll grant Thorax a relaxing museum visit," she concluded confidently, curling her front hooves tighter in a whim of excitement. "Should Twilight require us in any way, I'll see to her while Luna stays with Thorax. I certainly don't mind giving her a little more time to spend with the changelings, if need be."

Her tirade of optimism was abruptly cut short. As the solar monarch touched down on the rear balcony of Luna's bed chambers, a familiar laugh pinged her ear, and from the direction in which she had just come, no less.

"Honestly, Cimex, do you really need to say goodbye to the fountain? And do you need to do it right now? We could have just stopped by before returning to the hive, later on."

"But we're already right here, Thorax. What if we forget? I wanna do it now so I know it gets done!"

"I think it's rather adorable," came a third, familiar voice. "About as adorable as these plush forms of yourselves. Quite a sneaky way of getting free rides and hugs from ponies, I must admit. I cannot wait to show Celestia, she absolutely melts in the presence of stuffed animals."

"You can thank Calor for that," came Thorax. "He loves stuffed animals, too. He brought some back to the hive once, and they were a huge hit. Most changelings don't even make or buy them, though, they just take turns being plushies for each other. I think it's innocent fun, though Pharynx says it's nightmare-inducing."

"All hail our fluffy overlords!" came a changeling that could only have been Calor.

Becoming airborne once again, Celestia scanned the expanse of grass, hedges and statues. There, sticking out like a sore hoof was her deep blue sister, accompanied by a small pack of changelings. Identifiable by his antlers, Thorax walked alongside Luna, and together they seemed to chaperon the group through the gardens. One drone eagerly fluttered to the water-spouting vase of the Aquarius Unicorn memorial upon reaching it, and, after lapping at the water stream for a few moments, tenderly embraced the statue's leg.

That curious conversation drew her gaze, and so Celestia gasped, so loudly and so shrill that colorful eyes turned to spy her.

Set upon Luna's back were a pair of changeling-sized plushies, their hooves curled around her barrel in an anchoring hug. Before Celestia's eyes one of them returned to their live form in a flash of magic, repositioned themselves to something more comfortable, and resumed plushie form. Their big, adorable eyes and smiles seemed even bigger when built from string and fluff.

The group's voices now reached out to her, but they did not breach Celestia's attention. Hers had long since been claimed by fluffy, huggable bug ponies. Her eyes twinkled. She took it all back. There would be no further sharing of changelings, and Twilight would have to fend for herself.

"Do you think she'll actually be here?"

"I hope so. Don't think either of the princesses can handle any more bad news, today."

"It's the lieutenant's flank on the line, not yours. I wouldn't worry too much."

"Reprimands have a trickle down effect, you know that. Everypony's flank is going to get cooked in this fire."

"She's gotta be at her school, no two ways about it. You checked the castle, yourself," was the last thought to graze the air. A racket, faint but powerful rippled in their ears, and so the guard pegasi wheeled about.

"-in Tartarus is that?"

"Singing, I think."

"Singing?"

"...it's Ponyville, random singing seems pretty common, if our escorts for Celestia are anything to go by."

"Excellent point. Lead the way."

In an arc they flew past the outskirts of Ponyville, its bridges connecting it to the expanse of rolling hills, small forests and fields of flowers that lay beyond.

The pegasi rounded a bend in the treeline, and at last a commotion could be matched to the tsunami of sound. In the cradle of green fields sat before the School of Friendship, something inexplicable was underway. The spirit of chaos, Discord, seemed to be at war with Princess Twilight.

Brilliant flares of fuchsia magic sheared the air in bursts, targeting an obscure pile of picnic decor and schoolyard items. Before the fierce projectiles could reach their mark, they were each of them dispelled, slashed in half by an elongated glowstick wielded by the draconequus. Turned to harmless confetti, the laser blasts fell to the grass at Discord's claw and hoof. He snapped and cracked his staff, and it became a vivid amethyst.

Just beyond the duel was a grandiose stage, lined top to bottom with rows of choir singers. In perfect harmony they graced the clearing with a tune of power and lament, following the decisive hand motions of their conductor. Though wigged and sporting a caped black suit, it was quite obviously another Discord.

"Discord! The event is over," Twilight yelled, the depths of annoyance in her voice muffled by the sheer volume of the background choir. "If you outright refuse to put things back the way they're supposed to be, then I will, instead! And, for Celestia's sake, what is with the chorus!?"

"The oppression of the fun police shall never return," Discord said cooly, whipping his staff about behind his back before striking down another blow of incoming magic. "You sank so low as to tattle on me to Fluttershy, Twilight, really. Now I'm sure to get a scolding later this week, and for what? A few benches, banners and a statue? You simply couldn't allow me to have my fun, could you?"

"Don't turn this on me, you could have chosen to play cards with us, to chat and laugh with us," Twilight defended, each denial of her magic a more powerful command to continue firing, to continue trying in her efforts to dismantle the irreverent throne. "But no, instead you chose to rudely take all of the decor in a selfish stunt to show off. You don't think Fluttershy will have something to say about that?"

From the sidelines, the retrieval pegasi came to a landing. Dumbfounded by way of their slack jaws and unfocused eyes, the pair exchanged glances, quite uncertain of what to do with themselves before the symphony of chaos.

"...let me guess, you two are here to check up on Twilight."

Mildly startled, the guard ponies turned to find a lavender mare approaching them. Though not the mare they sought, her mane was equally unmistakeable.

"Oh, hello, Esteemed Pupil Starlight Glimmer," the first guard pony greeted, nodding his head in a brief bow. "Yes, we're here on behalf of Princess Celestia, who requested we be sent to locate Princess Twilight. She never appeared for her rendezvous with King Thorax in the capital, today. It...sort of evolved into a whole thing."

"Things seem to be evolving into 'whole things' all over Equestria, today," the second said.

Starlight floated an eye to the choir. An entire second platform had flashed into existence by the first, staffed with wind and string instruments, which took to a dramatic performance in one wrist motion of the conductor.

"I told her it wasn't worth it, but here we are," the unicorn monotoned, darting the guards a coy smile. "I guess she's just gonna relearn the hard way how Discord behaves when he's feeling patronized."

"A common occurrence, I take it?"

"You have no idea," Starlight sighed, laying her head in hoof. "Twilight has dealt with Discord more than me, but I'm probably the most recent example of invoking his...'wrath', I guess? But the funny part is she even referenced the time I belittled his behaviors, today, and she still let him get the better of her."

"He's done this exact thing before?" a guard put in, firing off both brows.

"Sort of," Starlight replied. "Involved a lot of poor decisions, a scavenger hunt and a replacement running track. Long story short, it was inevitable, like I'm sure this will be."

"Really now, this behavior is most unbecoming of a headmare, Twilight," Discord bellowed, carelessly tossing his glowstick into the air, allowing it to spawn into a second, and catching each one in a paw or claw in midst of a pirouette. "One might even call it uncivilized!"

"If you would just clean up your mess, we could all go back to being civilized!" Twilight shot back, her form whisking to a blurr. She assaulted the throne from the rear, only to have Discord's hand stretch and twist in order to deflect the attempt. "And I could go on with my day, helping Thorax with his visit in Canterlot!"

The entropy continued, as did the blasts, deflections, and amassing of resulting confetti on the school's lawn.

From their only mildly calmer corner of the event, Starlight and pals wore brave faces before the madness.

"Gotta admit, this brings back memories," a guard said suddenly. "I was doing patrol work when the last Chaos Plague happened. Countryside flipped into some sorta chessboard with trees using themselves as giant pieces in a game."

"I've seen it before, but not up close," the second added. "Ground zero seemed to be Ponyville for that last one, and I was a cadet in Canterlot basic training. Worst we got was cola storms and dancing training equipment."

"I didn't even know about Discord before his reformation," Starlight expressed. The guards snorted upon her final word. "This may not be large scale, but it's certainly impressive. More impressive than anything I've seen him do, so far."

"Isn't it, though? So kind of you to notice. I think it's my greatest composition, yet."

Stupefied, Starlight and pals turned to find a tall, thin creature dressed head to toe in archaic wig and suit, standing where no one had stood just moments before. They glanced to the ongoing choir, which was now being conducted by a floating, self-aware conductor's wand.

"Such a shame she's grown so hard to rial up, though," Ludwig van Discord went on, stroking an eagle claw across his chin while longingly observing Twilight. "I mean just look at this display, I had to resort to some Grade A chaos, here. How I mourn for days long past, where resident book horses could be triggered by a gentle prod towards self-doubt or by an open-ended question. Character development is such a fickle thing."

"Seemed pretty effortless from over here," Starlight said insipidly. With a demanding stare she stepped before the draconequus, eyeing him skeptically. "What's your end game here, Discord? There's no reward for you, this time, no sought after title or position of respect. Are you...are you trying to delay Twilight on purpose? You're not deliberately trying to sabotage Thorax's visit, are you?"

Collected and still, Discord fiddled his paws and claws behind his back, smugly watching Twilight continue to engage with his doppleganger.

"Au contraire, mon petit poney," he said in a tone of silk. His beady eyes peered at last to Starlight, and his smug grin grew more crooked. "Our good boy Thorax is a big changeling, now. He has no need for escorts to political tea parties and the like, anymore."

Starlight scowled. "So you are delaying Twilight on purpose. I bet you don't even care about this throne you're defending."

"In a word," Discord replied, a halo flashing into existence above his head, "I am, once again, providing Thorax an opportunity to grow. That is what good friends do, no? That is what the princesses are after, is it not? To fill our dear bugmoose with courage?" The goat chimera ogled the observing guards. "I'm simply helping the development along, and giving Professor Friendship her daily exercise, to boot."

Starlight returned her hoof to her face in an attempt to curb her onsetting headache. From over the curve of her hoof she found lavishly decorated memorabilia now adorning the draconequus, most notably, a brown foam hand reading 'Chaos for Classes! Discord for Headmare!'. Before Starlight could form words, again Discord spoke, this time with bubbly investment.

"Besides, Starlight, there's still so much bonding to be done between Thorax and the Humdrum Sisters. We can't have Twilight getting in the way, perish the thought! Every princess to her time, my dear."

Author's Notes:

You like Krabby Patties stuffed animals, don't you, Celestia.