All was going according to plan. Twilight Sparkle was imprisoned in the caverns beneath Canterlot, right alongside the real Princess Cadance. Shining Armor was still under her control, the other ponies were still oblivious to her true identity, and her army was already undertaking steps to do away with that accursed shield. Soon, this great pony city would fall, and she, Queen Chrysalis, would stand triumphant over what remained of ponykind. Behind the guise of Cadance, the Changeling leader couldn't help but afford herself a quick cackle, and her eyes soon turned to the nearby dressing table, complete with oversized mirror. She smirked, trotting up to it and, in this moment of quiet victory, felt the undeniable need for a song.

"This day is going to be perfect. The kind of day of which I've dreamed since I was small..."

Sadly, she was denied the chance for an awesome villain musical number by the sudden "clicking" noise to her right, and so she snapped her head in that direction. There, looking more than a little exasperated, was her assistant, Kevin, who currently had his finger on the "stop" button" of the music system she'd set up here. The guy just stared at her for a bit, prompting an eye-roll on Chrysalis' part.

"Ugh! Yes, Kevin? What is it this time?"

Kevin shrugged.

"Oh, I dunno, how about the fact that you were about to just SING YOUR ENTIRE EVIL PLAN OUT IN THE OPEN WHERE ANY PONY CAN HEAR YOU?!?!"

Chrysalis gained a look of amusement, and began walking straight past him towards the door leading out into the hallway.

"Oh, you're worried about that? Here, let me show you."

Kevin watched as his employer opened the door to the chamber, poking her head out and glancing at the two members of the Royal Guard who'd been stationed there. She cleared her throat, gaining their attention before belting out a quick little rhyme.

"Roses are red, violets are blue..."

She pointed to one Guard.

"...I want to drain your love..."

She looked to the other.

"...and yours too."

The two smiled at her.

"Nice little number, Princess. Very pleasant."

Chrysalis forced a smile, then retreated back in, closing the door behind her and looking appropriately smug right now.

"See?"

Kevin rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Okay! Fine! I'll accept that the ponies are just somehow oblivious to obvious evil singing around them."

He pointed to her in an accusing way.

"But I will not accept just blatant poor planning on your part!"

Chrysalis was outright offended by this.

"How dare you speak to a Queen like that! My plan is flawless!"

Kevin folded his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Flawless, eh? Okay then, let's lay this one out. Your plan is to have your army break the shield defending the city, thus enabling them to rush in and conquer it, right?"

Chrysalis grinned wickedly.

"Indeed. And I cannot wait to see them tear this place to pieces when they do."

Kevin sighed.

"Except...you don't have to wait, do you? That shield is being kept up by only a single pony...and you control that pony."

Chrysalis glanced away.

"Well, yes, but I don't see how..."

Silence fell, and as Kevin's words sank in for her, her eyes widened. Realisation had struck, and she was understandably starting to feel a little embarrassed.

"Ooooooooooh...right. I can just make him drop the shield right here and now, can't I?"

Kevin nodded.

"Yep. Oh, and one more thing..."

Chrysalis sighed.

"Yes?"

Kevin paused for a moment, thinking how best to word this, then just came out and said it.

"When you drop the shields...don't have your army roll in for conquest."

Chrysalis' eyes widened with shock.

"Pardon me?!"

She stepped forward, bringing her now-angry face right up to his.

"Have you perchance forgotten that we're here to take over and steal the ponies' love, Kevin?!"

Kevin, utterly unfazed by her aggressiveness towards him, nodded.

"Oh, I haven't forgotten, but you certainly seem to have done."

Chrysalis blinked.

"...What?"

Kevin unleashed another sigh.

"Look, you and your Changelings need love, right?"

"Yes," Chrysalis answered, curious to see where he was going with this.

"And your plan is to just charge in with an invading army and take over?" Kevin continued.

"Yes, obviously," Chrysalis replied.

Kevin waited for her to put the pieces together, but when she didn't, he slapped his own forehead before explaining things.

"If you just invade, there won't be any love! There'll be fear, panic, probably a lot of anger too, but love? Nope, none of that. The one thing you came here for will be completely gone if you follow through with your plan!"

Chrysalis stared at him, not quite believing what she'd heard, and at first she tried dismissing the advice.

"Pfft! You're exaggerating! There'll be plenty of love here, because...because...um..."

Another silence, and as her situation truly sank in for her, a look of bewilderment arrived on her face.

"...Oh."

Kevin smiled smugly to her.

"Yeah, 'oh'. Your plan would have just left you with a city full of pony prisoners and nothing else."

Chrysalis, understandably embarrassed at having her supposedly well-thought-out plan torn to pieces like this, tapped her chin a few times, then looked over to her assistant.

"So...what should I do?"

Kevin shrugged.

"Simple. After getting your 'fiancé' to lower the shields, have your guys come in, a few at a time, in disguise. After a short while the entire army should be in here, and from there it'll be easy to kidnap and replace ponies and take the love of those who are left. You know, act like Changelings and all that?"

Hearing all that, Chrysalis nodded, then smiled evilly to him.

"Slow, but devious. I like the way you think."

Kevin, placing his hands upon his hips, took a moment of pride.

"Well, someone around here has to do the thinking."

Chrysalis frowned.

"Don't push it, human."

She walked away.

"It's decided then. I'll send word to my army to come in pony form, and no attacking."

Another nod from Kevin.

"Glad to hear it. Oh!"

He pointed to the ground.

"You should probably send a few down below to kill Twilight and the real Cadance."

Chrysalis whined at that.

"Awwwwwwwww! But I wanted to gloat about my victory! I had a big speech planned out and everything!"

Kevin shook his head.

"Gloating's all well and good, but there's too much to be risked by having that unicorn team up with an alicorn to try and stop you. You should probably get to it, by the way, they're probably on their way to stop you as we speak."

---

Twilight looked at Cadance, who was just sitting in that dark cave and staring at the ceiling.

"So...are we gonna try and escape, or...?" the unicorn enquired.

Cadance didn't budge, frowning as she continued looking upwards.

"I can't start my part of the duet until the other one starts it, and she's just not singing for some reason!"

Twilight slapped her own forehead, sighing deeply afterwards.

"Yep, this is definitely the worst day of my life!"

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