Chrysalis used her magic to conjure a shield around herself, deflecting the barrage of magical attacks thrown at her by Celestia. She kept the barrier up for a while in order to catch her breath and survey her surroundings.

“That barrier looks rather weak,” Celestia said, taking a few steps towards it. “Could it be that you’re getting tired?”

“Silence!” Chrysalis shouted, glaring daggers at the princess mocking her.

“Your troops are starting to fall into disarray,” Celestia pointed out. “It seems those weapons aren’t quite as effective in close-quarters combat, not to mention that they seem rather temperamental.”

“Don’t get too full of yourself, Princess! My troops will make a comeback just as soon as I’m finished with you!”

“It’s too bad. As long as you’re preoccupied with me, you can’t relay orders to your troops, and if you fall to the backlines, your troops will surely fall at my hooves.”

“That’s why I’ll finish you quickly, you damned Equestrian!”

Celestia sighed and fired a blast of magic at Chrysalis’ barrier, shattering it with an explosion. Chrysalis screamed as the light from the impact blinded her and quickly worked her magic to prepare herself for a sudden attack.

Celestia took flight and glared down at her opponent as she built up magic into her horn. Before she could release her spell, however, her eyes were blinded by the intense light of her sun and she had to dispel her built-up magic and land back onto the ground.

“That’s strange,” Celestia muttered to herself. “By my calculations, the sun should be in a lower position by now. The moon hasn’t arisen yet, either. Luna, what are you doing?”

“Damnit!” Chrysalis shouted. She stomped a hoof and became engulfed in green flames. “You’ll regret not finishing me off when you had the chance, Celestia!”

Celestia quickly readied herself for whatever the changeling queen had planned next. The flames roared for a while before slowly settling down. A soft chuckle filled the air.

“My, my… I’ve heard the stories, but I never thought it would actually be so painful…” Chrysalis stepped forward with light hoofsteps and looked up at Celestia, who lowered her head with a look of surprise as the changeling queen grinned. “What do you think? Cute, no?”

Celestia was at a complete loss for words. Before her stood not the tall, majestic figure of the queen that she was fighting earlier, but instead a small youngling with blood pouring down its forehead from the base of its horn.

“I know I’m cute, but there’s no need to stare,” Chrysalis teased. Her horn lit up and a fraction of a second later, she was behind Princess Celestia, firing her spell into the back of the princess’ neck. Princess Celestia screamed and teleported away quickly, panting as she tried to regain her composure.

Celestia glared at the youngling in front of her, who was laughing at the sight of the Princess’ out-of-breath state. “You… What kind of magic is that?” she asked, bringing a hoof up to pull back a part of her mane that was dangling in front of her eye.

“A forbidden one,” Chrysalis said. “If my subjects were to figure out I used this, I’d be dethroned, so let’s keep this between us, shall we?” Chrysalis chuckled and her horn lit up again. “Well, not that it’ll matter, so long as I kill you, right?”

Celestia hated the sight of her opponent saying such things with such an innocent-looking face. Furthermore, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that something really bad was right around the corner. That something far worse than the changeling queen demanded her immediate attention at that time.

Deciding to end things before they could drag on any longer, Celestia began to cast a spell… but was interrupted by Chrysalis suddenly appearing before her.

“Too slow,” Chrysalis said as she delivered a kick to Princess Celestia’s abdomen. Celestia attempted to kick back, but Chrysalis was already back where she was moments ago.

“How is she doing that?” Celestia asked herself, panting heavily as she clutched her stomach. “She moves so quickly… Is this a result of the spell?”

“It is,” Chrysalis said, suddenly behind Celestia. The princess quickly turned around, startled by another sudden appearance from the queen. “This spell is one that was discovered by the first changeling king, many thousands of years ago. It has been forbidden since then, but it is the duty of our kings and queens to know such spells in the event that the knowledge ever reaches the wrong hooves.

“This spell… is a peculiar one, to say the least. It shrinks to the body to this tiny state and draws energy from ground. With the user’s body so compressed, it is easier to distribute my energy throughout it, and the body itself consumes less energy through generating heat and moving about.

“This allows me to move at much higher speeds and to attack with much greater force.” Chrysalis grinned as her horn started to glow a very bright green. “Naturally, I can also focus more energy into my magic, too.”

Chrysalis proved her point by unleashing a torrent of green flames towards Celestia, who quickly took to the sky to avoid them. A green beam shot past her, forcing her to stop her ascent and teleport a short distance away. “Where did she go?” she thought aloud as she looked for her opponent.

“Looking for someone?” Celestia turned to be greeted by a hoof to her face, the powerful blow enough to send her flying and falling down onto her back. “Well, it seems even the great Princess Celestia has her limits. So you are mortal, after all.”

“Of course I’m mortal,” Celestia said, shakily raising to her hooves. Her horn lit up and her wounds started to disappear. “That’s interesting. I do believe I’ve seen this fighting style before.”

“So you noticed? My late sister taught me how to fight. My sister who you betrayed.”

“Your sister? … Could you possibly mean-”

“Don’t you dare say her name!” Chrysalis shouted, her grin turning to a sneer. “You have no right! My sister loved you. She once called you ‘friend’, but then you…”

“Chrysalis, I-”

“I will drag your corpse to my sister’s grave!” Chrysalis charged forward, preparing to unleash a fatal blow on her enemy,

“… It’s a good thing we’re in this barren wasteland,” Celestia said, closing her eyes and focusing. “I would hate to destroy any beautiful scenery.”

Chrysalis jumped up and delivered a kick towards Celestia’s throat. Celestia snapped her eyes open and dodged to her left, surprising the queen. She didn’t stop, though; she delivered another kick to the side of Celestia’s head, but this was also dodged.

“How are you dodging?!” Chrysalis demanded.

“Haven’t you noticed?” Celestia asked, teleporting behind Chrysalis and quickly blasting her with magic. “You said that you didn’t want your subjects to see this technique of yours… but there’s more to it than that.”

“What are you saying?!” Chrysalis teleported a short distance away and fired a beam of magic at Celestia. The princess fired her own and the two energies collided in midair.

“This technique comes at a horrible cost to your own health, doesn’t it?” Celestia’s eyes glowed white and her beam grew bigger. It started to overpower the queen’s. “I know, because I too fear using my full power. Because if I did, it would burn me along with my opponent.”

“DAMN! I WON’T FALL!” Chrysalis shouted, putting more energy into her attack. It was no use, though, as Celestia’s magic completely overpowered Chrysalis’. Chrysalis, seeing her doom approaching, quickly used her increased speed to move aside, narrowly avoiding a huge explosion as Celestia’s attack impacted the ground.

“You may be powerful,” Celestia said, startling Chrysalis as she suddenly stood over her, “But you’re still three thousand years too young to face me. And just so you know, this is only fifty percent of my full power.”

“Damn… BITCH!” Chrysalis jumped up, her body now a little taller than it was moments ago, and attempted to kick Celestia with a roundhouse kick. Celestia pushed the queen back with a shockwave of magic. “Damn… Damn damn DAMN DAAAAAMN!”

“You’re coughing up blood,” Celestia noted. “You should stop, before your body burns up.”

“To hell with that!” Chrysalis jumped up to her hooves and charged forward, her body now half the size of what it normally was. There was a crazed look in her bloodshot eyes and steam was coming from her nostrils. “I’ll never surrender to you! You killed my ancestors! You banished us from your land and left us for dead in this cold world! And then, you killed my children, who had done nothing to you!

“I’ll die before I give in to you!”

“Then so be it!” Celestia answered, her horn glowing and sparkling and she charged up a fearsome spell. Chrysalis took to the air and charged her own magic into her horn. They both fired simultaneously, but Chrysalis’ power was no match for Celestia’s and she was once more completely overwhelmed by the princess’ magic.

“NOOOOOO!”

Celestia used her wings to fly up into the air, the flapping of her wings also clearing the dust away at the same time. She looked down into the huge crater that resulted from her final magical clash with Chrysalis, and at the body of the changeling that lay within.

“So you still live,” Celestia whispered. “You are indeed powerful. But for the sake of my subjects, I cannot lose to you.” A tear rolled down Celestia’s face and she spared a moment to wipe it away with her wing. “I’m so sorry. Really, I am. I wish there was more that I could do, but I-”

“Save it,” Chrysalis said, taking Celestia by surprise as she saw the queen flying before her. The queen’s body was back to its normal size, but it was worse for wear to say the least; her wings were tattered, her body was leaking blood from many wounds and she was clearly struggling to stay afloat. “No excuses…” Chrysalis spat through ragged, uneven breathing. “You can’t wipe away the past with a simple apology.”

“… What now?” Celestia asked, descending to the flat ground just outside of the crater with Chrysalis following her. “You know that you can no longer fight in that body, and your subjects can’t last much longer.”

“…” Chrysalis glared at Celestia in silence, not sure how she should proceed next. She had to kill the princess. She had to, not just for her ancestors, but for her children that she had lost. But if she continued to fight in the state that she was in, she would die for certain. If she retreated, would she have a chance in the future? What would her subjects think if she had returned to her kingdom with only news of failure? Her entire reign would be threatened, and if news of their defeat reached enemy nations…

“Chrysalis, just now, you said that I ‘killed your children’.” Chrysalis gritted her teeth together and growled. “What did you mean by that?”

“What do you think?” Chrysalis spat. “My daughter, Princess Aura, and my sons, Princes Alexander and Odysseus… you murdered them in cold blood!” Celestia’s gasped. “Aura was only a youngling! She had nothing but peace on her mind at all times! Your spy should have known of her intentions of uniting our two countries, but you still ordered her death! You don’t care about peace at all! You’re nothing but a cold, heartless tyrant!”

“Chrysalis, what are you talking about?” Celestia asked, her shock clear on her face. “I haven’t ordered the deaths of any changelings since that decree was signed all of those years ago! And as for Odysseus, he’s not dead!”

“What?!” Chrysalis gave her a disbelieving look. “Oh, that’s right… You mentioned that earlier, didn’t you? You’re torturing him for information.”

“Chrysalis, I have not tortured your son! He came to me and supplied us information, all of his own free will!”

“Do you honestly think that such a pathetic lie would work on-”

“NOW!”

The queen and princess both turned their heads to the side in unison, finding seven new faces standing nearby on the edge of the crater. Six of them were faces that Chrysalis had seen personally before. Two unicorns, two pegasi, and two earth ponies. The seventh was one that she had only seen in photographs: Princess Luna.

“Elements of Harmony: take aim, and fire!”

Two hours earlier:

A fleet of chariots soared through the sky, led by Princess Luna’s personal chariot. Two other chariots flanked Luna’s on both sides. Princess Cadance, Princess Luna and Prince Alexander rode the lead chariot, with Trixie, Princess Aura and Shining Armor in the chariot to Luna’s right, and Chill and Mystic in the chariot to Luna’s left.

“Really?” Trixie asked Luna after the princess had finished explaining the story of how changelings first started living in Equestria. “That’s strange. All the history books said that the changelings tried to invade Equestria about three hundred years ago.”

“Yes,” Luna answered. “That is the false history that our sister set up. I was quite curious about it upon my return, so I asked her myself about what had happened during my absence. I did not form an alliance with the changelings one thousand years ago just to come back to a mockery of my efforts being taught in our schools.”

“So? What did she say?”

“… About three hundred years ago, the changelings had a king who wished to take over Equestria. He defected, taking with him many important figureheads within the changeling community, and retreated to a far away land, which today is known as the Changeling Kingdom.

“His daughter, the current queen’s sister, became queen at that point, though she was still young and inexperienced. Ponies were afraid of the changelings already and there were many laws in place regarding the changelings’ ability to shape shift, but there were still those who abused their powers. And misunderstandings of how exactly they ‘feed off of love’ did nothing to sway the ponies’ fears.”

“That’s when Celestia decided ta purge all of the changelings,” Alexander said.

“Princess Celestia would never-” Shining started, but was cut off by Princess Luna.

“He speaks the truth,” she said, causing Shining Armor to stare at her with his mouth agape. Cadance remained silent as she listened, sensing that there was more to say. “My sister was left with little choice… After all, the majority of Equestria had decided that the changelings couldn’t be trusted, and were demanding that she either banish or kill them, the latter being the more popular option.”

“So she just went along with it?” Trixie asked, tightening her hold on Aura as she felt the youngling shaking in her forelegs. “Seems even the ‘great Princess Celestia’ succumbs to pressure, huh?”

“Of course,” Luna said, glaring at Trixie out of the corner of her eye. “After all, she is a mere mortal. Just as you are, Miss Trixie Lulamoon.”

“But even so,” Cadance started, “To order the death of an entire race…”

“Back then,” Luna continued, “Equestria was in a rather sensitive state. The Griffon Empire was on my sister’s back all the time, and the economy was suffering from the effects of a recent dragon raid on many farms and villages throughout the land. My sister had to do all that she could to keep her subjects happy… and there were many in the government that were just waiting for the opportunity to take her crown.

“And whilst some may not have been such bad rulers, many were clearly not up to the task of leading an entire country. Worse yet, many more were at risk of becoming corrupt or abusing any power that they could get. She couldn’t afford to hand over her crown at that time.”

“So it was side with the changelings and hand her crown to somepony who may not have been worthy, or sacrifice the changelings in order to keep her crown, and save Equestria from the state it was in,” Trixie summarised. “Well, when you put it that way…”

Luna sighed. “I cannot say that I am entirely pleased with her decision… but it was the more logical one, and she still did whatever she could to ensure that at least some of the changelings had managed to escape.” Luna turned back to face Alexander. “If it is any consolation, she was not happy with her decision, either. At the end of every week, she takes an hour of her time to mourn the loss of her friend – your aunt – and begs your fallen ancestors for forgiveness.”

Alexander scoffed and turned his face away from Luna. “You think you can just wash away the past like that? I don’t care what her reasons were! She killed my ancestors, so I’ll never forgive her! It’s as simple as that!”

“But,” Trixie cut in, “That doesn’t explain why she lied about the history of the changelings.”

Luna turned to Trixie and acknowledged her question with a nod. “It’s quite simple, if you think about it.” Trixie looked annoyed at that, but allowed the princess to continue. “Whilst back then her actions would have made her out to be a hero, how do you think such actions would be seen by ponies in this modern age, where open-mindedness and acceptance of others are quickly becoming commonplace?”

Trixie didn’t have to think about it for long. “Trixie would imagine that many would be quite disgusted, and support for Princess Celestia would quickly decline.”

“Exactly. My sister anticipated – or rather, she wished for – an age such as the one we have today. One where ponies would become more accepting of others and not be so judgemental based off of first appearances. If such a thing were to occur, she would have to hide her shameful past.”

“So in other words,” Chill said, “She was protecting her crown for future years. Very clever of her…”

“There are still those who seek to take her rule,” Luna added. “And they would use it for immoral purposes.” She turned to Alexander. “We are sorry for what happened in the past. But, we are ponies first and foremost. If the situation arose again, we would have no choice. Our first duties are to our subjects, and if we must play the villains in order to protect our little ponies, then so be it.”

Luna and Alexander shared hard glares with each other for a tense few seconds, which seemed like an eternity to Cadance, who had the misfortune of sitting in-between them. Finally, Alexander smirked. “I see,” he said, grinning at the Princess of the Night. “No wonder our great grandfather liked you so much… For a pony, you aren’t half-bad.”

The three groups sat in a very awkward silence for a few minutes, before Trixie finally couldn’t take it any longer. “So…” she started, gaining the attention of everyone else in the three chariots. “What exactly happened after Celestia signed that decree?”

“That’s Princess Celestia,” Luna corrected, but Trixie took no notice of it.

“Our aunt led whatever survivors she found to the small hideout set up by our grandfather,” Alexander explained. “It was there that the Changeling Kingdom was founded. Our grandfather was appointed king. After all, after Equestria betrayed them all the way they did, his views of overthrowing Celestia were suddenly a lot more popular.”

“He was a great ruler,” Aura said, reciting what she had learned in school. “A little mad with power, which ultimately led to his downfall, but he revived our race and protected it from enemy nations.”

“Yeah. A brilliant mind,” Alexander agreed. “If it was anyone else, I don’t think our race would have been able to make the comeback that it did.”

“You said ‘grandfather’, right?” Trixie asked, receiving a nod from both royal siblings. “Three hundred years ago…” she mumbled to herself. She then looked down at the youngling that she was holding in her forelegs. “… Aura, just how old are you, exactly?”

Aura tilted her head to the side. “Two hundred years old. Why?” Trixie’s eyes widened and all was silent for a few seconds… before the sounds of laughter from Aura, Chill and Mystic rang through the air. Trixie found herself turning red and her ears folded down as she glared at the two older changelings across Luna’s chariot. “W-What?! Trixie is just curious, that’s all!”

“Actually,” Alexander said, “There’s an interesting story there… These days, a changeling’s lifespan is roughly the same as a pony’s; about eighty years.”

“‘These days’?” Shining Armor asked.

“Back then,” Aura started as her laughter calmed down, “Changelings lived for about eight hundred years.”

“Really?” Cadance asked, leaning over to listen more carefully.

“No one knows for sure what happened,” Aura said. “Many scholars theorise that there’s something in Equestria that gave our ancestors their longer lifespans. The same thing that gives alicorns, like you and your aunts, their long lifespans.”

“That is correct,” Luna confirmed. “Any alicorn born in Equestria has a lifespan of about ten times that of any other type of pony, but I had not even considered that it was the same for changelings… How interesting…”

Cadance clapped her hooves together and smiled. “I always did wonder about that! Of course, I still seem to age the same as before, so I guess that’s because I wasn’t born a-” Shining Armor’s hoof quickly found its way over Cadance’s mouth, muffling her final words.

“Cadance! We can’t let them know you’re not a pureblood alicorn!” Shining’s eyes shifted to Alexander and then to Mystic.

Cadance rolled her eyes, but then saw Princess Luna giving her a nod with a stern look. With a sigh, she nodded her head, and Shining Armor removed his hoof. “Er… I-I guess that would make an interesting research paper for Twilight. I’ll have to mention it to her upon our return.”

“Naturally, it came as quite a shock to our ancestors,” Aura continued. “In the past, changelings would breed at two points in their lives: once in the final one hundred years of their lifespan and once the moment that they reached maturity. But thanks to our new, much shorter lifespans, it’s changed a lot.”

“Most changelings these days just have kids when they feel they’re ready,” Alexander explained. “Except for kings and queens. For them, it’s still the law to have at least one child during the first year of their reign. After all, ya never know when ya might die, and choosing an heir is easier if it follows the bloodline.”

“Momma and Uncle were both affected by the shortened lifespans,” Aura said. “They were born near the end of Grandfather’s reign, fifty-one years ago. Ten years later, Grandfather, who sought a dictatorship, was overthrown by our aunt.”

“He was executed, and our aunt became queen,” Alexander continued. “Fifteen years later, she fell victim to an illness, and then our mother took the crown.”

Trixie tilted her head to the side. “Wait. Didn’t you aunt have a child? You know, as per your laws?”

Alexander nodded. “Gem, our aunt’s son, fell victim to the same illness that took his mother, one year before she did. She bore another child, but died while she was still pregnant.”

“Wow,” was all that Shining Armor could say. “That must have been a scary time for your race.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Alexander said. “I wasn’t alive at the time.”

“Be alert, everyone,” Luna said suddenly. “We’re nearing the battlefield. We shall land here and walk the rest of the way.” She turned around, looking over everyone present in the three chariots. “Prince Alexander, Captain Armor, you shall lead our two groups.”

“Yes, sir!” Shining Armor said with a salute. Alexander simply waved a hoof in acknowledgment.

“Trixie, Mystic, you two will be in charge of infiltration. Trixie, how are you wounds?”

“Perfectly fine,” Trixie answered, wincing when Luna reached over and poked her experimentally. “… Does it matter? There’s no going back now.”

Luna stared at her for a second before nodding. “Very well. Chill, Mystic, Prince Alexander and I shall make up for the first group. We shall attempt to reach our sister before Odysseus does and stop the battle before it is too late.

“Trixie, Shining Armor and Princess Aura will form the second group. You will try to find Odysseus and the Spirits of Harmony before they reach the battlefield. Shining Armor should be able to track his sister using the scroll we have given him.”

Shining looked down at the scroll in his hooves, which detailed an advanced tracking spell, designed for finding a particular pony by using their DNA. The spell itself wasn’t too difficult for a unicorn of Shining Armor’s level, and since his DNA was similar to Twilight Sparkle’s, he could theoretically use it to find her. Theoretically.

“We shall distribute the troops we have brought with us upon landing. Princess Cadance, you will stay behind with our medical units and remain on standby.”

“Understood,” Cadance acknowledged, giving a worried look to her husband.

“I’ll be just fine, Cadie,” Shining assured his wife. “We’ll only be a small group and we won’t even be approaching the battlefield itself, so it’s likely that we won’t even engage the enemy at all until we reach Odysseus.”

Luna gave the order and the chariots started to descend. “Alexander, once this battle is over, do you think that your mother would be willing to speak with us?”

“… Who knows?” Alexander answered. “I wouldn’t hold my breath though.”

Luna nodded. The chariots slowed down as they touched the ground and soon came to a stop. Everyone exited the chariots and assembled into their groups. “Now then, we shall assign our troops evenly…” Luna stopped when she saw a figure standing in the distance. “Who goes there?!”

Everyone else turned and stood on their guards at the grinning figure in the distance, which began to approach them.

“What took ya so long?” It asked as it stopped a short distance away from the group. It was a changeling. A male changeling, with what appeared to be dried blood running down the left side of his face. His forehooves were equipped with steel claws, which also seemed to be stained with blood, the right one moreso than the left.

Trixie’s eyes widened as she recognised the changeling and she channelled magic into her horn, prompting Shining Armor to do the same. “… Why are you here, Shark?” she asked.

The changeling continued to grin as he came to a stop before the assembled group. “You’re here ta kill Odysseus, right? Ya think I’m gonna miss that?”