When the crying was done, Cheval expected the guards to take her to the dungeon. It didn’t even occur to her that they might do otherwise. Her shell was deformed by the darkness in her heart and splattered with the blood of her victims.

She held out her legs for them to put her back in irons. Instead, her family brought her to her room.

Cadence and Shining didn’t want to spoil their children, but it was a room not unfit for a princess. Instead of a metal bunk, she had a spacious bed carved from hardwood and topped with a down mattress. Bookshelves covered the walls. Her window offered a spectacular view of the Crystal Empire, and all the pristine lands within its protective dome. The whole thing smelled faintly of lilac. There was no concrete.

It hadn’t been touched since she left. The stuffed animal aunt Twilight had given her still sat on her desk, along with a blank thank-you note she’d meant to fill out.

She fell into bed and hugged a pillow like a lover. Her parents asked her questions, so she ignored them until they went away.

Flurry Heart didn’t ask any questions. She sat across from the bed with all four hooves folded under her, and pulled out a book to pass the time.

Hours passed that way. It was dark before Cheval spoke. Through the window, the lights of the Crystal Empire sparkled like the night sky.

“Hey,” Cheval said, her voice so soft Flurry heart could barely hear her. She was still in Flurry Heart’s form, though she’d offered no explanation as to why.

“Hey.” Flurry closed her book and walked over to the bedside. “How you holding up?”

“Would you love me no matter what?” Cheval asked. Her eyes searched Flurry’s face. “No matter what I did?”

“Don’t think like that.” She reached out to rub Cheval’s hoof with her own. “I know, things happened at school. But we’re your family and—”

“I’m not fishing for emotional support.” Cheval raised her voice just loud enough to cut Flurry off. “I know how you feel about me better than you do. I’m asking… I can feel that you love me. But I’m asking why you love me. And it’s not rhetorical. Please, please answer honestly. This is important.”

Flurry drew her head back and frowned. For several seconds, she considered Cheval’s question in silence. Reluctantly, she nodded. “No. There are things you could do that would make me stop loving you.”

“Good.” Cheval hugged her pillow tighter. Her eyes watered, and her voice cracked. “I don’t think mom and dad are like that. I think they actually do love me unconditionally. And I hate it. I know it’s what makes mom divine, but it feels cheap.”

“Mom’s love is not cheap.” Flurry’s tone was firm, but not angry. She reached out to hold Cheval’s shoulder. “She loves everypony because she can see the good in everypony. She finds the thing inside them that is worthy of love and loves them for that.”

“And she gets taken advantage of over and over again.” Cheval wet her lips. “She’s just like Twilight. It’s less obvious because she’s not a teenager, but she’s frozen at that one moment in time. Cadence at thirty-five knows how to beat Amaryllis, but she can’t learn that lesson because she’ll never be thirty-five. She will always be the mare who lost the first war.”

“Come on.” Flurry tried to laugh, but it came out stiff and artificial. “Let’s not have the alicorn aging talk again.”

“No. It matters.” Cheval folded back her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t think reformed changelings actually exist. It’s a lie. It always was a lie. Thorax made it up because he wanted peace with Equestria after he overthrew Chrysalis. And Amaryllis riffed on it. It’s a two-changeling con.”

“You know Thorax. He’s not smart enough to come up with something like that.”

“You think I can’t pretend to be dumb?”

Flurry snorted. “You think aunt Twilight can’t tell the difference between the real magic of friendship and ‘acting super nice’?”

“No, I…” She sniffled. “It’s not like that.”

“Then tell me what it is like.” Flurry poked Cheval with a hoof until her eyes opened. “Amaryllis didn’t tell us anything about what happened at school. Just that there was some kind of incident, the griffons caught you, and they said you had to leave.”

“She didn’t tell you because she wants to hold it over me. Blackmail.” Cheval lowered her head. “It’s bad.”

“Bad enough…” Flurry hesitated. “You think I’d stop loving you if I knew?”

“Yeah. That bad.” Cheval’s outline blurred, and she returned to her natural form. The bed that had moments ago been spacious fit her snugly. The holes in her legs tore the fine sheets. Her grimace showed her fangs.

“Heh.” Flurry looked at her sister, then at the floor, then out the window. It was a few seconds before she could look at Cheval again. “That’s just from hunger. Changelings' shells turn black when they’re hungry, right? And the holes are from malnutrition.”

Cheval said nothing, so Flurry added: “And hey. You’ve got hair now. That’s good. You should grow it out though. With your tail that short ponies will think you’re into girls. I mean, unless you are, I guess. Then it’s a good length.”

Still, Cheval said nothing. Flurry swallowed. “Mom told me why you left. Why she agreed to ‘exile’ you. You know it would have been worse if you said nothing, right? I screwed up again when you were away and there was nopony to catch it. It made the papers. I think I destroyed our alliance with Griffonstone.”

“What is mom doing about the ultimatum?”

“Oh.” Flurry cleared her throat. “She’s taking the title of duchess.”

“Celestia refused to help us again?”

“No, actually. Celestia, Twilight, and Luna all said that they absolutely will come to our aid.” She circled a hoof. “They’ll mobilize the army and everything. Have a good knock-down war. Save us and the yak and the diamond dogs. Liberate the north from the changeling menace.”

Cheval’s eyes flicked over her sister’s face. Then she frowned and sat up halfway in bed. “I don’t understand.”

“You know sometimes mom and I have family talks without you, right? Like I don’t get to tag along for your and aunt Double Time’s special lessons?” A small smile appeared on Flurry’s face, and she laughed. “It’s um… it’s good news though. It’s actually good news.”

“I’m going to need you to explain how this is good news.”

“Oh, come on.” Flurry circled a hoof on the floor. “What’s my destiny?”

Cheval’s eyes went to Flurry’s flank, which as yet did not bear a mark. “We don’t know. I thought…” Her frown deepened. “I mean, you haven’t found your destiny yet.”

“Yeah, but, let’s pretend you’re not stupid.” Flurry rolled her eyes. “I’m mom’s heir. Her super-special-magical-destiny heir that was born an alicorn. Even though mom and dad were married for months first, I wasn’t conceived until after the Crystal Empire returned. Other than her, I’m the only creature that can control the Crystal Heart. And my name is Flurry Heart.”

She gestured at the window. “Like a… heart. Surrounded by a blizzard. Remind you of anything?”

Cheval said nothing, and when it became clear she did not intend to speak, Flurry finished the thought for her. “My destiny is to rule the Crystal Empire.”

“Well… yeah.” Cheval pulled her legs in under her. “I mean, maybe. We don’t—”

“Don’t tell me we don’t know.” Flurry drew in a deep breath. “Earlier, you asked, are there things you could do that would make me stop loving you? And I knew the answer was yes. And I knew that because I’ve thought about it. I never thought you’d… I was never afraid of you. I really never was and I’m still not. But I’ve thought about what I would do if you killed mom.”

She laughed again, casting a hoof about them to take in the palace. “I mean, come on. I’m very obviously destined to have a job I can only get after mom dies. And then there’s you. A creature literally created by evil to end her reign. And I…”

Her eyes went to the floor. “I always assumed that it was your destiny to kill mom and my destiny to kill you.”

“You…” Cheval stared. “Always? Since when is always?”

“I don’t know. Since I was like, fourteen?”

Cheval’s stare hardened into something angrier, and her voice rose. “You spent the last four years thinking it was my destiny to kill mom?”

“It fits.”

Flurry’s casual tone set Cheval off, and her voice rose to a shout: “Then why didn’t you kill me first?”

Without hesitation, Flurry answered: “Because you’re my sister and I love you.”

“Well that’s!” Cheval wasn’t sure what it was, and her furious gesticulating did nothing to clarify the matter. “Stupid. It’s stupid.”

“Yeah.” Flurry’s voice was tight in her throat. “But now I don’t have to. Congratulations, you’ve ended mom’s rule. The prophecy is fulfilled. I mean, metaphorically — there wasn’t an actual prophecy. But you know what I mean. And Amaryllis is spiteful enough that I’m sure she’ll eventually force mom to abdicate entirely, whereupon I will become ruler of the Crystal Empire.”

“You’ll become the puppet ruler of the Crystal Empire. Amaryllis’s lackey. You’ll wave at crowds and whitewash her atrocities. You’re giving up everything.”

“No. I’m deciding I care about having a happy, loving family more than I care about…” Flurry waved a hoof. “Where some border gets drawn on a map.”

Cheval stared into her sister’s eyes. “Did you decide that or did mom decide it?”

Flurry hesitated for a fraction of a second. “It’s the right decision.”

“It’s not the decision you’d make.” Cheval’s gaze bored into her sister, her slitted eyes matching Flurry’s gentler gaze. “Mom is the physical embodiment of love, not rulership. Of course she’ll pick her family over a kingdom.”

“Well,” Flurry scoffed, looking off into a corner of the room. “I should try to be more like her.”

Cheval's brow furrowed. She stared at her sister with an expression of intense focus. Slowly she spoke: “You said, ‘Our treaty with Griffonstone is just a piece of paper.’ To a reporter.”

“Yup.” Flurry’s voice tightened again. “I really screwed that up.”

“Did you?” Cheval’s tone turned pointed. “I assumed you were making mistakes because you hate politics. You’re only half-there. But that’s pretty bad even if you were distracted.”

“I had an off day.”

“Did you? Or did you intentionally drop the ball?” Under Cheval’s intense stare, Flurry retreated, taking two quick steps away from the bed. “Are you… are you actively trying to be a bad leader because you don’t want to replace mom?”

Flurry let out a snort. “Given what ‘replacing mom’ means in this context, yeah. I think that’s kind of important.”

“You being destined to rule the Crystal Empire doesn’t mean mom is definitely going to die. She could abdicate or… or get turned to stone.” Cheval lashed her tail. “Or something.”

“I know you’re trying to put a good spin on this, but come on. It’s…” She sighed. “It’s what I was made for. I’m just trying not to destroy our family.”

“Your…” Cheval pointed at Flurry. Then at herself.

“Ugh. Yes.” Flurry rolled her eyes. “It’s not always about you, you know. You always make it more complicated than it needs to be. Dramabug. That’s what you are. Big stupid dramabug who need to go rebel against mom in Griffonstone for some reason and comes back with holes in her legs.”

“This isn’t funny.” Cheval sat up the rest of the way in bed, looking at her sister head-on. “Flurry, cutie mark magic is literally powered by friendship and harmony. If it really is your destiny to rule the Crystal Empire, it means that needs to happen. It means the world will be a worse place if it doesn’t happen.”

“Then the world can kiss my blank flanks,” she snapped. “You and mom and dad have been nothing but kind to me and I won’t be the reason you get hurt.”

Cheval gestured at Flurry. Her mouth opened as though to speak, and no words came out. She covered her mouth.

“What?” Flurry asked. “I don’t know what you’re trying to say here.”

“I screwed up.”

“Yeah, I knew that part.”

“No, I mean…” Cheval pointed at herself. “I’m a changeling queen.”

“I knew that too.” Flurry sighed, then softened her tone, stepping back over to her sister. “Mom and dad thought this might happen. When you were younger, you looked like you were developing like a normal drone, so we thought maybe not. But the hair is a dead giveaway. It’s okay though. It doesn’t change how we feel about you, and you have plenty of time to—”

“I’m pregnant.”

Flurry froze. Her jaw fell open half an inch. On a sudden reflex, she reached out to hold Cheval’s hoof with her own, the motion so sudden it was like she was stung. “I’m… sorry. Or, I’m happy for you? I don’t know. What emotion should I be feeling right now?” She swallowed. “Who's the father?”

“A griffon. A cadet in the secret police. His name was Gideon. He’s… dead, now.” Cheval held her sister’s hoof tight, but couldn’t meet her gaze. “He’s dead. And now I’m going to lay about a thousand little eggs and I have no idea what to do.”

Cheval struggled for words, but in the end all she could say was: “Help.”

Flurry didn’t know anything about raising changeling eggs. Cadence didn’t either. Shining hugged his daughter and told her it would all be okay, and tried to ignore how much she looked like Chrysalis. All of them promised to help her. They all said they loved her.

Double Time was not in residence in the castle, but she wasn’t far away. Cadence summoned her back, and she made the journey with all speed. When she arrived barely a day later, Cheval asked to see her alone.

Both of them were in their true forms when they met. Double Time was the color of paint splotches and wild-flowers, and her little membrane tail flicked behind her. Cheval sat up straight, wings lifted in a posture that emphasized her height. Her horn came to a point like a curving knife.

“Don’t sit like you’re on a throne,” Double snapped.

Reflexively, Cheval slouched. Then she straightened again, hesitated, and flicked her wings up and down. “It was… the way it felt most comfortable to sit. I’m taller. My legs need to go somewhere.”

“Yup,” Double agreed. “You’re a queen. It’s instinctive. It’s natural. Your body wants to sit with authority. Do it again and I will slap the stupid right out of you.”

“Heh.” Cheval couldn’t help but laugh. She slid off the edge of her bed to sit on the floor. “Thanks.”

“I don’t know anything about caring for eggs. I’m not a nursery worker,” Double went on, her tone direct and authoritative. “Thorax’s hive is in a much better position to help you care for your children. They’re also in a better position to keep you safe from Amaryllis’s agents. You should go there as soon as possible.”

“Yes. I know. I didn’t need you to tell me that.” Cheval drew in a breath. “I also didn’t ask you here because I needed help…” She hesitated a moment and moved a hoof over her belly. “With biology. This isn’t a changeling biology question. This is a… ways of my people question. You’ve been my mentor on bug-stuff for a long time. I need your advice.”

“Okay.” Double paused. “Ask.”

“You um… you told me once, ‘you contain many ponies.’ And I didn’t really question it. Because it’s like, ancient fortune cookie wisdom or something, right? You accept that it’s deep and try to make peace with yourself. But Amaryllis said the same thing.” She stared at the ground. “What does it mean? Exactly. No metaphorical fluff.”

“It means that you, the person, are made of many parts. Part of you is selfish. I have seen that side of you. But you’re not selfish all the time. And many times you’re not selfish, it isn’t because you’ve consciously restrained the urge. It’s because you don’t feel the urge in those circumstances.”

Slowly, Double unfolded a leg and pointed a hoof at Cheval. “So if somepony asked me, ‘is Cheval selfish?’ I would have to say ‘sometimes.’ And if that pony asked me, ‘is Cheval kind?’ I would have to say ‘sometimes.’ Clever? Sometimes. Cruel? Sometimes. Mature? Dramatic? Self-aware? Vain? Sometimes. So depending on where you are, you will behave like a completely different creature. Your personality will change.”

“That’s not a changeling thing. Ponies do that too.”

“Yes, they do.” Double Time frowned. “Who told you it was a changelings-only thing?”

“Amaryllis.”

“She is an ignorant tool and you should not take her advice.” Double stepped up to Cheval’s side, tapping the hardest part of her shell with a hoof. “We’re not so different from ponies, in a lot of ways. The only difference is when we put on a character, we can change our faces to match.”

“So it’s acting.”

“No,” Double Time shook her head. “Novices act. Master infiltrators make themselves feel the character. The easiest way to act angry is to be angry. The easiest way to act kind is to be kind. Find the part of you that is those things and let it take control of your flesh. The mask becomes flawless because it isn’t a mask.”

“So when Amaryllis acts all sweet and loving and ‘look how reformed I am’ she’s actually being kind to the creatures she helps.” The bitterness in Cheval’s voice bit.

“Yes. I know it sucks to hear, but there is a reason she’s got half the north thinking she’s the pretty pretty princess of candy and gumdrops. It’s because sometimes she is. The act is not skin deep.”

“And when I…” She paused. Her hoof scraped on the floor like she was digging in the dirt. “R-word. A griffon. The father of my children. That wasn’t any different.”

Double Time froze for half a second, her face pulling into a neutral mask. “R-word?”

“Yeah. Amaryllis said. I mean. Don’t use the R-word.”

“Well.” Double drew in a breath and let it out. “I was wondering what you did to earn that black shell. And no. No. That was 100% you.”

“I had nesting instincts.”

“Cool.” Double’s tone turned caustic. “Did they physically possess your body, jerk you around like a puppet, and force you to abuse the ponies around you like they were tools that existed for your pleasure? Did they? After it was over, were you suddenly liberated from their terrible grasp? Did you cry ‘oh Celestia, what have I done’? Or did you try to rationalize why it wasn’t so bad, because you enjoyed it?”

Cheval squeezed her eyes shut and looked away. “I’m sorry.”

“Stuff your apologies.” Double Time got in her face, leaning in until they were muzzle to muzzle, physically stopping her from looking away. “You decided to embrace the old ways, you get to live with what that means. It means that earning your redemption takes years, if you ever earn it. It means that the ponies around you may forgive you for what you’ve done, but they will never forget, and you will always be a predator because you decided to make yourself one.”

“I know,” Cheval’s voice cracked.

“Do you? Do you really? Because when I walked in you were fantasizing about being the Changeling Queen of the Crystal Empire.”

“Yes!” she snapped, tail lashing behind her. “Yes, I really know.”

“Then why haven’t you told your family yet?”

“I will. I will. I swear I will. But there’s something I need to do, first.” She stiffened her spine and drew herself up. “You know mom, uh… Cadence. Is planning to surrender. Swear fealty to Amaryllis.”

“Yes.” Double Time pulled her head back and buzzed her wings. “I know.”

“It’s a huge mistake.”

“Yes, I know. I tried to talk her out of it.” Double shrugged. “A lot of ponies did too. But she’s made up her mind. She’s tired of politics and tired of war and I think she wants to go back to being a matchmaker.”

“We’re not beaten yet.”

“The Crystal Empire may not be beaten yet,” Double tapped the bedpost twice, “but your mother is.”

Cheval stared up at Double Time. It took her a moment to find the courage. “Flurry Heart would resist Amaryllis. If she was on the throne.”

Double Time drew her head back. Her face twisted down into a frown. “You don’t get to make those sorts of ‘idle comments’ about a reigning monarch. That’s treasonous talk.”

“Flurry is the heir and the—”

“No.” Double hissed. “This conversation is over. You’ve got until the end of the day to tell your family about what you did or I’m telling them for you.” She turned on her heels and marched towards the door.

“Wait, no, Double. Stop. Stop!” Cheval called. Double did not heed her, and grasped the door to leave.

Then, Cheval’s eyes glowed. “Stop.”

Double Time froze in place like she was a statue. Her eyes darted around in her skull, and her leg shook like it was holding back a tremendous force. Silence held over the room, as Cheval watched and Double Time struggled. But it soon became clear that Double could not break the hold upon her.

So Cheval sat like she was sitting on a throne. “Turn around,” she said, her voice taking on an unnatural multi-tonal harmony. Double Time turned in place, still stiff, her limbs still shaking with the force inside them.

“You will assist me,” Cheval told her, but Double Time didn’t move, except her continuing shaking. “Stop it. Stop it. You’re only making this hurt.” Cheval snapped. “Why are you resisting this? I’m trying to save the kingdom.”

Speaking through clenched teeth, Double snapped: “You’re trying to overthrow the two ponies who showed me mercy when I didn’t deserve it. Go screw yourself.”

“You’re a drone; I’m a queen. You can’t win.”

“You’re not my queen.”

For a few long moments, Cheval considered that. Then, in a flash of green, she turned into Amaryllis. Not Amaryllis as she was on the train—with the candy coat and the bright smile—but Amaryllis as she was, dark queen of the North, whose rule was terror and whose whims became lightning bolts to shatter the dwellings of ponykind.

Double’s breath caught in her throat.

Then, eyes still aglow, Cheval said: “Do you remember me?” Her impression was perfect.