"This is our three tribes' fault," Applejack said listlessly. "Now the blizzard's destroyin' this land."

"Cut!" Twilight exhaled through clenched teeth, her wings ruffling out, before leaping from her chair and flinging her forehooves wide. "Applejack, you know that's not how it goes! You skipped the whole middle part! 'We three tribes, we brought this blizzard to our home by fighting and not trusting each other.' Can you please focus!"

"Yeah, you're right," Applejack said, staring at the auditorium door. "Sorry."

"Do I have to remind you how important this pageant is?" Twilight started pacing in tight circles. "Everything has to be perfect—"

"I know. I—"

"—since it's the first pageant I'm officially sponsoring as a princess—"

"We know, Twilight," Rainbow Dash muttered, glancing out the window herself.

"and every single line will reflect on me personally—"

Applejack's ears flattened. "I said I'm sorry—"

"—not to mention it's Hearth's Warming Eve, and the pageant is tomorrow—"

"Twilight!" I said sharply, moving up to Applejack's side and touching a supportive hoof to her withers.

The alicorn blinked and refocused. "What?"

"Com-port-ment," I said, tilting my head just so and raising an eyebrow worthy of Celestia herself.

Guilt flashed through Twilight's eyes, and her expression immediately softened. She brought a hoof to her chest, then exhaled, extending her leg. When she continued, her voice was soft and controlled. "I'm sorry, Applejack. You didn't deserve that. I think the stress has been getting to me."

"'Salright," AJ mumbled.

"I'm glad I have you, Rarity, to help me keep acting like a princess," Twilight said, glancing straight into my eyes for a moment, "but even more than that, I need to remember to act like a friend. So…what's wrong? You've been distracted all night."

Applejack sighed and looked at the door again. "I got a different blizzard on my mind, Twi. I oughta be out with Big Mac coverin' the zap-apples. With all the crazy weather outta the Everfree lately and Dash stretched thin managing the Hearth's Warming snow, if an unscheduled storm adds anything to tonight's three inches, it could kill half the orchard."

"Hey now," Dash said, stepping forward with her own wings ruffling up. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to Sweet Apple Acres, okay? We talked about this."

"I'm not sayin' you are, but—"

"But nothing," Dash snapped. "You totally are. I can do my job, alright?"

"It's not you I don't trust," Applejack said. "It's that sod-blasted Everfree. You've gone above the call of duty and stopped five wildstorms outta six—"

"And I will stop number seven!"

"Girls!"

We all staggered back, ears twitching, as Twilight's royal voice interrupted all conversation, thoughts, and heartbeats in the room. As her royal duties increased, she had easily picked up how to augment her voice with her natural alicorn magic—but as most of the town could testify, she still needed quite a bit of work on volume control.

Twilight coughed, and her lips formed the words, "Errr, sorry."

"Um," Fluttershy said as our hearing slowly recovered. "Does anypony hear that?"

I squinted and turned my head back and forth. Indeed, a siren-like wail was becoming audible in the distance. "One of the Flower Sisters, I should imagine," I muttered. "Standing under the edge of a rooftop as Twilight's voice was unleashed."

Twilight frowned. "No…the pitch is too low."

Applejack flicked her ears several times, then tilted her head. "Come ta think of it, that sounds like…"

Mayor Mare burst through the auditorium door, red-faced and out of breath. Her eyes quickly locked in on ours, and she inhaled and shouted:

"Changelings!"

---

We galloped through the falling snow toward Town Square, where the Hearth's Warming Eve street fair was in full swing. Strings of colored lights limned the square, giving off a cheerful glow completely at odds with the chaos underneath. Ponies were scrambling for cover underneath market stalls and around corners; dashing inside the few open buildings; and pounding on the doors of the others. Every few seconds a pony would point up in the sky and scream, and the crowd near them would shift, looking over their shoulders and abandoning their cover for a heedless stampede away from the new threat.

Rainbow Dash shot ahead of us in a broad arc around the square and returned with eyes wide. "Oh, thunderheads, they're everywhere up there."

"I think they're herdin' ponies into the square!" Applejack shouted as we skidded to a halt at the edge of the chaos.

"What's the plan, Twilight?" I asked.

"First, protect everypony," Her horn flared to life with the brilliance of a star. "Cover me!"

The spell she was charging threw the square into sharp relief, turning the snow around us into a patchwork of zebra-stripe shadows as the five of us leapt into position surrounding her. I glanced up past Dash's flapping wings. Everywhere I looked, there were hints of motion amid the swirling snow and flashes of reflected light from cold green eyes.

Twilight's spell resolved with a firecracker bang, covering Town Square and its scores of ponies with a large lavender bubble. "Next," she said as a cheer came up from the crowd, "we do…something…about all of them."

"Such as what?" I asked, charging a hornbolt as my eyes flicked from hovering target to hovering target.

"I'm still figuring that out."

"Rainbow power ready!" Dash said, landing at Twilight's side and hoofing the snow.

"Wait," Fluttershy said, taking a step backward and bumping flanks with Twilight. "They're not attacking."

"It might be a trap. Looks like they're waitin' for something," Applejack said through the lasso in her teeth, pushing the brim of her hat down.

Pinkie Pie gasped, and her eyes narrowed. "Like Queen Meanie," she said, pointing.

We all turned as a familiar black figure floated out of the sky toward us, gossamer wings outstretched, a smug grin on her muzzle. Dash stepped forward, teeth bared. Twilight stopped her with an outstretched leg.

"Chrysalis," Twilight said in a voice colder than the snow underhoof.

The queen landed. "Good evening, Twilight Sparkle," she purred. "I must say, the wings suit you."

"Don't even start. I'll never forgive you for what you did to Shining Armor and Cadance, but I will give you a better chance than you deserve. If you leave right now and never come back, I won't blast you where you stand."

"Leave?" Chrysalis' eyes went wide, and her fangs gleamed as her grin widened into a smirk. "Why, I'd be happy to, my dear little Element of Magic. Of course, the moment I'm too far away to control them—or, I should note, if anything were to happen to me—you might discover that a hiveful of hungry, mindless drones can do…unpleasant things to all the defenseless ponies outside your shield. I do hope that your growth spurt came along with the ability to be everywhere in town at once?"

Twilight's lips curled back in a snarl. "What. Do. You. Want."

The smile fell away from Chrysalis' muzzle as she stepped forward, looming over Twilight. "Believe it or not," she hissed, "the same thing you do. For me to leave this accursed land of ponies behind like a bad dream. I've had my eye on Minotaurial Guinea for a while, but unfortunately, your spoiled brat of a brother's little stunt means I'm short my best infiltrators. So you are going to fix what you broke when you uncovered my wedding plans."

"That's not going to happen," Twilight said flatly.

Chrysalis backed away and shrugged. "Suit yourself. Really, it's all for the best—you'll be able to build something much nicer in the ruins here."

I winced. "Twilight," I murmured, but she cut me off with a glance and a nod.

"And what, exactly, did you expect to get out of this?" Twilight said, straightening up and speaking in clipped, level tones. "If our only choices are getting fed on, we're going to choose the option that lets us take you down with us."

Chrysalis' muzzle spread back into its predatory smile. "Ah, now you're asking reasonable questions. There are other ways ponykind can support me than emotions. Military intelligence. Gold. Formal diplomatic recognition of my new empire. This doesn't have to end with anypony getting hurt."

"You make a good point. I think," Twilight said with deliberate slowness, "maybe we should sit down and talk this out."

Chrysalis shrugged easily. "That works for me." She put a hole-ridden hoof to her muzzle, as if entertaining an afterthought. "Of course, since it's getting late and the negotiations might drag on overnight, you won't mind quartering my changelings until we're done, will you? About two per house should do it."

"What?!" Applejack exploded. "Ain't no way we're gonna let 'em right into our houses where they can attack us while we're sleepin'!"

Twilight stomped, hoof crunching into the snow. "She's right. That's ridiculous."

"It's only ridiculous if you were planning on negotiating in bad faith," Chrysalis snapped. "Please don't insult my intelligence by pretending not to understand the concept of an insurance policy."

I held up a hoof, mind racing. "Wait, girls. As distateful as it is to say, she does have a point. If her true intentions were to attack us, she could simply have struck from ambush."

"Thank you," Chrysalis said. "Listen to your marshmallow."

"Of course, lodging might be more efficient if—what did you call me?!"

As I sputtered, Twilight shook her head. "No deal. You're asking me to give every changeling here a chance to observe targets to imitate, so you can replace the whole town before anypony outside realizes something's wrong."

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "Then impose your own conditions. That's how negotiation is supposed to work, if you weren't aware. I'll even give you this one for free: All the drones will stay in their true form, and they're confined to a single room of the house, so you can enter any home at a glance and see whether I'm keeping my end of the deal. At least one pony stays in each house, too, but they can be anywhere within it."

"That doesn't stop the replacement Twilight mentioned," Dash said.

"Oh, please. As if you're not going to inform your precious royal sisters what's going on here the instant my back is turned. If I did that, I'd have your entire army swarming down on me within a day. I can't fool Equestria any more—that's why I want to leave." She pointed a hoof at Twilight. "Speaking of which, another condition. No outside troop movements, and no other princesses. I have no delusions that I can stop you from telling Sunflanks and Moon Moon about this, but make clear to them that if they set up anything to keep me from leaving, I'll take the town down with me."

Twilight frowned. "If you're making new conditions, then I get to add one. None of your drones will feed while you're in Ponyville. Period."

Chrysalis blinked. "Hm."

I made a strangled little noise at Twilight. That was a great idea in theory, but too dangerous. Even if Chrysalis accepted, that would put our solution on a timetable. Twilight glanced back at me. I did my best to shake my head discreetly. Twilight raised an eyebrow and frowned. I looked at her intently. She shook her head and turned back to Chrysalis.

"I've got to give you credit—I actually had to think about that one," Chrysalis said. "I accept. Let's send everyone back to their houses and go to your home to talk this out."

"I think Twilight needs to speak with her friends first," I said levelly.

"Fine, whatever," Chrysalis said, turning around and staring into the sky at her army. They began to descend. "I'll go wait for you.…Where is this library of yours, anyway?"

"Behind the times, much? Tirek blew it up," Dash said.

Chrysalis froze. It was only for a fraction of a second, but my practiced eye caught it. Even across the racial divide, some signals were unmistakeable.

She covered it up with a snort and a toss of her head. "Then you know how I felt after the wedding. What sort of book fort is Canterlot's biggest nerd living in now?"

"Very funny," Twilight said flatly. "I'm in the Friendship Palace."

Chrysalis paused for another moment, and I found myself wishing that I knew enough about changelings to decipher whatever tells she was displaying. "That's a dealbreaker," she said. "No negotiating inside palaces. I learned enough as Cadance to know all the magical traps and spyholes they're constructed with. We can hold our talks in the new library."

"We don't have one. There's been no time to catalogue all the destroyed books and order replacements."

Chrysalis responded with a deliberate roll of the eyes that told me I wouldn't be reading any more off of her body language. "Alright. Then we talk in Marshmallow's house."

"Listen," Twilight said, "you can't just order us around like—"

"Actually," I cut in, "that sounds like a marvelous idea. I am certain you will find Carousel Boutique's accommodations suitably luxurious for one of your station." I studied a hoof-edge briefly. "Of course, it would be inappropriate for myself and my family to remain there and disrupt delicate negotiations. We shall find other lodging for the duration."

Chrysalis turned to stare into my eyes. I stared back, giving her my best bland I-know-something-you-don't-know smile.

"Deal," she said, smiling back just as insincerely. "I'll see you all soon."

---

"What was that about, Rarity?" Twilight asked as the six of us rejoined Spike in the Friendship Palace and huddled in an out-of-the-way drawing room. "You're okay with her being alone in Carousel Boutique?"

"Twilight, darling," I said, reclining in the chaise longue I had insisted upon when I was helping her order the furnishings, "you are the most brilliant pony I know in the fields of both friendship and magic, but I have studied more about the upper classes than any pony outside Canterlot. Their intrigues are about layers within layers, pretenses within pretenses, and so it is too with changelings."

"That doesn't answer my question."

I curled one side of my mouth up in an enigmatic smile.

"So, wait," Applejack interrupted. "You're sayin' she's not actually here because she's taking over the minotaurs? 'Cause I don't know changelings, but I know honesty, and her story's fishier than the back half of a seapony."

Twilight frowned. "That's true. Even if she gets all the concessions she wants, we know her next target, and can warn them. It makes no sense."

"Seriously, it's obvious," Dash said. "We're the invasion. After what happened at the wedding she's smarting for revenge."

"Or maybe," Fluttershy said faintly, "she's really really sorry about what she did, but she doesn't know enough about ponies to know how to apologize."

"What if she's trying to learn about us?" Spike said. "Don't negotiations usually take, like, forever? She could observe ponies a lot."

"I bet this whole shebang's a distraction," Applejack said. "She's actually strikin' somewhere else and needs us pinned down here."

"Maybe all of those are true," Pinkie Pie said with a spooky waver in her voice.

"Fortunately," I said, studying a hoof, "the truth is far simpler than that."

Six heads swiveled toward me. "Oh?" Twilight asked.

"Changelings are consummate liars, and we cannot take her at her word on anything she says; but even the best will blow their cover if taken by surprise. Did you notice, Twilight, her mistake in referring to you as the 'Element of Magic', even though the Elements of Harmony were reunited with the Tree? Clearly, she has been unable to stay informed of current events. And when you mentioned the destruction of the library…" I give the others a significant look. "She could not wholly cover up her shock. She pressed for information on the nonexistent new library, as well."

"Yer sayin' she's here to read?" Applejack asked, one eyebrow raised. "No offense, Rare, but that's silly. She could shapeshift her way into most any library in Equestria."

"Ut-ut!" I say. "But also look at her immediate reaction after being informed of her mistake. She requested to stay in the home of moi, the one who correctly assessed her motive for placing her drones in homes. I proved myself the one most likely to be knowledgeable and well-read after Twilight—and she arranged to wait for us not in the place where I would be, as I explicitly denied I would be in residence, but in the place where my books would be."

The room was silent as the others digested that.

"That does kinda make sense," Twilight said. "But why is she here to read?"

"That is, indeed, the question."

Dash shook her head with a snort. "I'm not buying it. This is way too much trouble to check out a library book."

Recognition flitted across Applejack's muzzle. She blinked several times.

"Hold up," she said. "The wildstorms. If the hive's in the Everfree, she's at ground zero."

"That's right!" Twilight said. "If there's some new threat moving into the area that she doesn't know how to defend herself from…" She gasped. "Windigoes."

Fluttershy scuffed a hoof on the ground and looked away. "Everypony has been awfully tense lately."

"Like they're magnifying our normal holiday stress," I said, and glanced at Applejack. "Six storms, you say?"

"So far."

"Then we need to deal with that, like, yesterday," Dash said, her mouth flat with determination. "Or we're gonna have bigger problems than changelings in town."

"Alright, girls," Twilight said, standing up, spreading her wings, and unconsciously lifting a hoof in imitation of Celestia. "Here's our plan. But first, our password is 'Jewelbox,' and the response is 'Plundervine.' Make sure you use those each time we meet back up."

I smiled. "Commendably clever."

"Dash, I need you to scout the Everfree and find those windigoes."

She saluted. "I can have my best weather team ready in fifteen minutes."

"Applejack, go home and cover your orchard."

"Thank you, Twi," Applejack said with obvious relief.

"Fluttershy, you should make sure all of your animals are prepared for the cold."

"They'll be fine. They know to come inside when the storms get too bad. I can help Applejack."

"Alright," Twilight said. "Pinkie Pie, you go around town. Make sure that Chrysalis is keeping her word — and cheer everypony up."

She broke into a wide grin. "I'm gonna have so many parties to throw tonight!"

"Spike, I need you to update Princess Celestia with the whole story, then stick with me so you can take notes."

"Got it."

"And Rarity, you stick with me, too, for two reasons. My job…" She took a deep breath. "Is to stall Chrysalis with negotiations. I need your help with that—and I also need you to find out more about her by keeping an eye on her reactions like you did earlier."

I tapped a hoof slowly to my chin, calculating.

"In that case," I said, "I believe I have a plan."

---

Noteworthy's door creaked open. He peeked around the edge at me. His eyes shot open.

"M-miss Rarity," he said. "Sh-shouldn't you be out saving Ponyville?"

I gave him a sweet smile. "I assure you that everything is under control. However—" I heaved a dramatic sigh—"I find that these unique circumstances have left my family temporarily dispossessed. Might I beg a neighborly favor…?" I trailed off, tilting my head at Sweetie Belle by my side.

He opened his door. "S-sure, you're welcome here. S-scootaloo will be happy to see Sweetie—" he lowered his voice—"b-but if you're looking to keep her away from the b-bugs, you won't have much luck here."

I glanced past him to the living room, where two hulking black figures were sitting with their back to the fire, staring at us in uncomfortable silence. Their armor gleamed in the reflected light. One of them noticed my gaze and looked away with poorly feigned nonchalance.

"We're all in this together, darling," I said brightly. "I merely want Sweetie to have an element of familiarity for the Hearth's Warming holiday while I'm occupied with the resolution of this inconvenience." I gave Sweetie a hug and ushered her inside. "I'll return later. Do pass on my best wishes to Cloud Kicker when she returns from patrol, mmmm?"

"W-will do. You take c-care of yourself."

I gave him a precise curtsey—an inclined head and a small bend of the knees. "I always do."

---

Next was Carousel Boutique, where Twilight and Chrysalis were sitting at a table by my crackling fireplace. Spike was fidgeting in a chair to one side. Twilight appeared to be arranging several stacks of scrolls alphabetically. Chrysalis was idly sipping at a glass of Marelot she had undoubtedly liberated from my cabinet.

Twilight leapt to her hooves at my arrival. "Rarity! Thank goodness. Now we can get started."

"In a moment. A word in private, please, Twilight?"

"Uh, sure."

We walked upstairs to my bedroom, closed the door, and exchanged passwords. "Start without me," I said. "I have some errands to run."

Twilight's eyes shot wide. "What?!"

"You'll be fine, darling," I said, opening one of my dresser drawers and taking out my makeup kit. Several tubes of lipstick, a compact, a selection of eye-pencils, and a pocket mirror went into my saddlebags. "Remember, she's actually here to read."

"But that's because her home's in danger, and these talks are distracting her from dealing with it!"

"Be wary of assumptions. She does have a reason to negotiate, as well, or she would simply have sought to invade the library and steal what she needed. It will become clearer what else she's after as we proceed." I took a dusky indigo overcoat from my closet and tugged it on.

"But how am I going to get us the time we need?"

"Stalling a negotiation is so simple that it takes the most experienced diplomats to do anything but. Merely quibble over everything. Meet every one of her conditions with one of your own. Begin from impossible positions and allow yourself to be argued down to the merely unreasonable. I recommend beginning with an offer to recognize her new empire if she turns herself in to Equestria for prosecution of her war crimes."

Twilight's eyes, already the size of dinner plates, grew even further. "But," she sputtered, "that's ridiculous! She'd never go for that!"

"Exactly. If you only offered suggestions you thought she would accept, it wouldn't be much of a negotiation, now, would it?"

"Rarity, she's got changelings in every house in Ponyville! I can't make a suggestion like that—she'll think I'm arguing in bad faith!"

"And if she attacks with them, she loses too." I turned to Twilight, who was on the edge of hyperventilation, and put both forehooves on her shoulders, staring intently into her eyes. "Trust me, Twilight. She will propose something equally unacceptable, and you will find some bizarrely insignificant point upon which there might be room to compromise, and from there you will slowly circle toward a plan."

Twilight took several deep breaths, visibly swallowed, and nodded at me. "Okay. Okay…I can do that. But what about you? How are you going to find out her motives if you're not here to stay in the loop?"

"Trust me," I said.

"Okay," she said uncertainly, but allowed me to lead her back downstairs.

I quietly let myself out into the silent flurries of snow as the princess and the queen began to argue. Once the door clicked shut behind me, I pulled out the pocket mirror and brought it up to my face, tilting it slightly and smiling at the reflection on its surface. Perfect.

There were some secrets, after all, that it was best for a lady to keep even from her friends.

---

"Good evening," I sang as Big Macintosh threw a tarp over a tree. Fluttershy caught it in midair and pulled it over a tree and down the far side, and Applejack and Apple Bloom ran around the tarp, pulling the corners taut and staking them to the ground. "How goes the orchard preservation?"

"Rarity?" Applejack said, pausing for a moment to squint at me. "What're you doing here?"

"I came to help," I said. "After all, many hooves make light work."

We leaned in and exchanged passwords. She nodded. "Well," she said, "if that's really the best use of your time, I can't say it wouldn't be welcome."

We covered trees for several hours, until Applejack stepped back for a break. "Sure wish Dash was back with news," Applejack said. "It's gettin' awful late."

"Indeed," I said, checking a pocket watch. "Past Apple Bloom's bedtime, I would wager."

"It is, at that, but we can make exceptions for helpin' out the family."

"Actually," I said, "that reminds me. I ought to be getting back to Cloud Kicker's to check on Sweetie."

Apple Bloom's eyes, tired as they were, lit up. "There's a sleepover at Scootaloo's?"

Applejack frowned. "Not with the bugs in town, there ain't."

"Awwwww! But it's Hearth's Warming Eve!"

"Actually," I said, "I'm planning to sleep there myself. I'd be happy to keep an eye on Apple Bloom as well…and it might do them well, to be with their friends for the holiday."

Apple Bloom wheeled on her big sister, eyes wide and lower lip quivering. "Pleeeeeease?"

"Oh, alright," Applejack sighed. "Thanks for all your help, Rare."

"I assure you it's no problem." I put a hoof around Apple Bloom's shoulder. "We've all got to do our part."

---

After checking in on Twilight—who had managed to sidetrack their debate entirely into a rousing argument over the economics of Minotaurian Guinea's export base, until both had agreed to sleep on it and calm down—I settled in on Cloud Kicker's couch with a thick blanket and the copy of Withering Heights that I'd taken from my room. I glanced over at the two changelings as I settled in to read. Neither appeared to have moved from their post by the fireplace. A fresh log had been added to the fire, and it snapped and crackled quietly in the background, giving the room a warm red glow.

"Aren't you going to bed?" I asked. "I'm certain you've had a long day."

They glanced at each other. One covered his mouth with a leg and coughed.

I checked my pocket mirror, nudging the curls of my mane slightly sideways before sitting up straighter and giving them a shyly coquettish smile. "Your queen went to sleep ten minutes ago, you know," I confided. "I was over at Carousel Boutique when they finished their negotiations for the night."

The two changelings glanced at each other, their expressions undecipherable. One leaned toward the other. The second shook its head almost imperceptibly. The first looked back away in a quick motion, and they both started staring at fixed points on the far wall.

Interesting, I thought. "What I mean to say is, I'd have thought that would have made you fall asleep as well."

They glanced at each other again. The second one eyed me suspiciously.

I made a show of setting down my book. "It truly is well past bedtime. Please, come take the couch and blanket. I'd feel so much better."

The first changeling shifted its weight, bringing its hooves underneath it. The second made a sharp clicking noise. The first snapped back to attention, and froze in position.

I sighed. "Suit yourself." I rolled over, listening to the fire, and gradually sank into sleep.

---

Hearth's Warming morning dawned cold and sullen; at least snow was no longer falling. The changelings, at some point, had fallen asleep right where they'd stood, sprawling out by the fire. When I awoke, the two of them were huddled up by the embers, still clad in their armor.

The bang of the front door jolted them awake, and they scrambled upright. Cloud Kicker plodded in, too exhausted to make any attempt at stealth, and trudged upstairs without a word.

That meant Dash was back, so I slid out from under the covers and slipped on my overcoat. After a brief touch-up, I returned to the Friendship Palace.

"Not a one," Dash said, rubbing the bags under her eyes, after the seven of us had regathered in the drawing room. "Not a single windigo. We flew overflight on the whole freakin' forest before seeing the wildstorm sweep in. We spent the rest of the night bucking it apart—and if there were any windigoes around, I guarantee you that would've brought 'em right to us. I hate to say it, Twilight, but this is plain ol' stupid Everfree weather."

"Great!" Twilight shouted, not pausing in her frantic pacing. "And now we're back to square one!"

"Com-port-ment," I sang, tilting my head reproachfully at Twilight, and she gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand still. "What's bothering you, darling?"

"Only that Princess Celestia wrote back and said she suspected Chrysalis was testing me! Testing! What if I fail? I don't even know how to pass this one!"

"Part of that is to see how you hold up under pressure," I said, "so I can guarantee you that the situation will not be improved by undue worry."

"How can you call this undue? This is very, very due! Ponyville's been invaded by changelings, today's supposed to be our Hearth's Warming pageant, and now I've got a test to take!"

Applejack put a hoof around Twilight's withers. "She's right, sugarcube. Chrysalis is makin' a mistake, tryin' to test the Princess of Friendship. You've got all your friends right by your side, and we ain't gonna let you down."

Twilight let out a slow breath. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Does this mean we were wrong about the library?" Fluttershy asked as we pulled back away from the ensuing group hug.

"I don't think so," Twilight said. "Just about what she was here to research."

"Or maybe," Pinkie Pie said, tilting forward the deerstalker hat she hadn't been wearing a few moments earlier, "what one of the changelings was here to research."

"What?" Twilight said. "Pinkie, that makes no sense. Her drones are just mind-controlled pieces of meat. She made that abundantly clear in our negotiations."

"Did she now," I murmured.

"I thought so too at first," Pinkie said, "but when I was going around throwing all the Unexpected Hearth's Warming Guest parties, I asked Queen Meanie how it felt to be invited to a dozenteen parties in a row, and the changeling just gave me this confused look! So I asked every single changeling in town if they were Chrysalis, and none of them said yes." She looked down thoughtfully. "Not even Queen Chrysalis. She just asked what I was talking about."

"They didn't seem mindless last night after she fell asleep, either," I said. "Interesting."

"If they ain't under her control," Applejack said, "maybe we can use that. Bring 'em down one by one and get everypony safe."

Twilight paced across the room—in slow, measured steps, this time—and shook her head. "This certainly seems like a fact we could exploit…but she wouldn't act like she's acting unless they were linked in some way. We can't take any actions that dangerous until we know what's going on."

"I agree," I said. "Stall her until lunchtime, Twilight. Rainbow Dash needs sleep…and I need to check in on my little research project."

---

When I returned to Cloud Kicker's, none of the three would look at me.

"I'm sorry, Rarity," Sweetie Belle mumbled, shuffling her hooves. "We really didn't mean to burn a hole in your overcoat."

"We were just tryin' ta get the fire started back up—"

"—and we figured we could bring a burning log back from the Town Square bonfire—"

"—and I got one of mom's stew pots to hold it, but it was too hot—"

"Girls, girls," I interrupted, patting them on the heads. "No harm done. You never did get that fire restarted, did you? Take the rest of the coat and finish that up—I'd hate to think its sacrifice was in vain."

Sweetie Belle's head snapped up. She locked eyes with me, leveled a hoof, and inhaled sharply.

"And if you call me a changeling, I'll just have to prove I'm not by telling everypony what happened that April when we went camping with mom and dad. at Canter Springs."

Sweetie's face reddened. "You wouldn't."

"Not when there's important work to do. Hop to it!"

I settled back in on the couch with my novel as the three of them scrambled off to take advantage of their reprieve. Sweetie Belle was right—it was quite unlike me to take such a desecration of fashion so calmly—but sometimes a plan requires sacrifices.

As the house fell into silence—Cloud Kicker was sleeping the sleep of the departed, and Noteworthy had long since left for the office—I took a discreet sideways glance at the changelings. They were wide-eyed and shivering, and I couldn't quite tell if it was from the chill of the room or the close brush with the force of nature known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

So it was, when they dashed back in the door to get the fire relit—setting off the fire alarm and the ceiling sprinklers in the process, and drenching everything in the room that wasn't under my personal barrier—that I merely flipped a page and continued reading. "I'm sorry!" Sweetie wailed, tears gathering in her eyes beneath her sopping mane, lower jaw trembling.

"Ut!" I snapped, holding up a hoof. "Don't distract me, Sweetie, this is the good part."

"Sorry!"

Scootaloo poked at the drenched ashes and sighed. "Well, that didn't work."

"You know, girls," Apple Bloom said, wringing out her bow, "maybe we oughta get some help."

"Read-ing," I sang, with a cheerful tone reminiscent of a snake shaking its tail. Sweetie Belle took an involuntary step backward.

"Well, we can't ask mom, she's asleep," Scootaloo said in a hushed tone that equally brooked no argument.

The three of them turned as one toward the wet, shivering guards at the fireplace.

"'Scuse me," Apple Bloom said to Changeling Number Two. "You wanna help us light the fire?"

It looked around wildly, the chitin of its face paling into a sickly gray. Its head swiveled toward the clock, and it leapt to its hooves. "Meeting!" the changeling squeaked, and bolted out the front door, leaving it swinging on its hinges.

I stifled a smile. Ponies 1, invaders 0.

The Crusaders turned to Changeling Number One. "What about you?"

"Um," it started, in an oddly light voice for its bulky, ferocious form. "I really shouldn't. She's gonna get mad."

"But if we don't get the fire—" Scootaloo said as I lit my horn. A fresh log floated into the fireplace and burst into flames. "…Never mind."

The four of them huddled up next to the flames, wringing out their manes and brushing down their chitin, respectively. "What now?" Sweetie Belle said.

"Well, we've still gotta get our Cutie Marks," Apple Bloom said. "We've tried almost everything that anypony could think of…"

"Any pony," Scootaloo said, buzzing her wings in sudden excitement, sending a spray of new water around the room. "Hey, have you got any ideas for Cutie Marks?"

"What's a Cutie Mark?" the changeling said.

"You know. The thing on your flank that tells you what you're most awesome at." She peered around the side of the changeling, trying to pry its armor off and look underneath. "What's yours?"

It—the voice was high, but ambiguously so, not enough for me to place it as feminine—yelped and spun around. "I…uh…I don't think I have one."

"Really? Don't changelings get Cutie Marks? My sister says you can look like ponies if you want. How do you know what your Cutie Mark is when you do?"

"I…I dunno," the changeling stammered. "I…maybe I'm not old enough yet?"

My ears perked up. I deliberately flipped a page and kept my eyes on the book.

"How old are you?" Scootaloo asked.

"Twelve."

I dropped my book in shock.

Fortunately, the noise was lost amid the Crusaders' voices exploding like a box of fireworks left too close to the burning log. "Oooh, awesome!" "Me too!" "You should totally join our club!" "You could be the first non-pony member!" "We could try all sorts of things to get our Marks together!" "Do you think we could get Cutie Marks in shapeshifting?" "Show us how! Show us!"

"I, uh," the changeling stammered in an oddly subdued voice as it glanced up at the clock. "I'm sorry. I…I really do have to go. I'm gonna be late."

"Late for what?" Sweetie asked as the changeling backed toward the door, whirled, and galloped away. I leapt up from the couch—oh, no, you don't—but when I got to the door, I froze in shock.

The streets were full of changelings trotting toward the center of Ponyville.

---

I galloped as fast as my hooves would take me toward the chaos, fearing the worst. Even before I rounded the corner to Town Square, I could hear Roseluck's high-pitched shrieking, which resolved into words as I closed in: "—looked just like me, and was feeding on Daisy, and now they're going to eat us all!"

Two groups were clustered at opposite ends of the square. One was multicolored, with Roseluck shrieking in a miserable-looking Twilight Sparkle's face and a number of Royal Guards trying to hold back a crowd whose muttering was turning ugly. The other was almost entirely black, with Roseluck cowering at the hooves of Queen Chrysalis and a row of soldiers standing in silent threat in loose formation.

"Please," Twilight begged. "Just calm down. We're going to deal with this."

Chrysalis loudly cleared her throat and spread her wings. The row of changeling soldiers stood at attention. The pony Roseluck fainted. The square went dead silent.

"No, Twilight Sparkle," she said with a voice as icy as the nearby stream. "I am going to deal with this. The swarm had quite explicit orders." She raised her voice to a shout. "I will repeat them for the benefit of the ponies, and for the stupid! I don't give a flying fewmet how hungry you are, there is to be no feeding until my negotiations are over!" She picked up the false Roseluck in her horngrip; the startled changeling flailed its legs and wriggled around. "And if you think you can cross me on this—"

There was a sickening crack, followed by pandemonium.

The false Roseluck writhed on the ground, emitting an unearthly, ear-piercing shriek, holding one leg to her chest. Ponies were backing away, shoving and galloping in an undirected stampede away from Chrysalis. Even the changelings were breaking ranks, scrambling away in undiluted panic. "You. Will. Stay!" Chrysalis screamed, face drained of color to a pale grey.

She took a step back toward the injured changeling—then stopped dead in her tracks, staring down at a yellow-and-pink figure in her way.

"No," Fluttershy said.

"Get out of—"

"No."

They locked eyes, the unmoving center of the storm. Ponies and changelings alike scattered into cover, peering at the scene with unblinking eyes. The other five of us closed ranks around Fluttershy, a living wall between Chrysalis and her prey.

Chrysalis took one step back, posture straight and haughty. The ashen grey on her face, I noted, was starting to spread to her neck…

…and her whole plan unfolded, in one sickening moment of clarity.

So I did the only thing I could have done.

I stepped forward with an innocent smile. "You're not looking so well, Chrysalis," I said, my raised voice carefully level and pleasant. "Did you enjoy your wine last night?"

Her eyes widened in a perfect imitation of surprise as she swiveled her head to me. "Kk-k-kk," she said, stumbling sideways and sitting down hard in a snowbank. She bared her fangs, wheezing loudly.

"You weren't expecting the disease you came here to research to be so far along, were you?" I asked, prowling like a cat to one side of her so that I could project toward our audience better. "Of course, that infusion of iced ironweed didn't help…"

My friends were looking a little green at the gills themselves, so I improvised. "It's not poisonous," I said, "it merely dampens magic for a few days. Which means that it completed the process her illness started." I turned straight to the watching ponies. "She can't control them any longer. The changelings are free."

"Rarity," Twilight whispered in horror, "what have you done? They'll go crazy and attack the town!"

I shook my head. "Trust me just one more moment," I whispered, then cleared my throat and turned toward the black-chitined section of our crowd.

"Yoo-hoo," I called. "Changelings? Can you stand up, please?" They looked around among themselves uncertainly. Then, one by one, they trotted halfway out from their various pieces of cover.

"Please raise a hoof if you're colder than you've ever been in your life," I said. Every single hoof shot up.

"Thank you. Please raise a hoof if you're hungry," I said. After several seconds of milling around, during which I held my breath and silently prayed, every leg save three or four meekly lowered.

I turned back around and gave Pinkie Pie a broad smile. "I believe you'll find our party-loving friend was spreading more than good cheer last night."

Chrysalis struggled back to her hooves. "Y-you'll never get away with this," she wheezed, backing away, her horn sputtering to life and then spewing out a few ineffectual sparks. "I'll come back—"

"I don't think so," I said, nodding to Dash and Applejack. "Get her, girls."

Chrysalis yelped, spun, and tried to gallop away, in an odd lurching gait. She got about five steps before Dash air-tackled her, and as they tumbled end-over-end, a lasso dropped in and cinched her hooves together.

The motion shocked Twilight into action. She stepped forward, wings flared. "Fluttershy, get that injured changeling to a hospital. Dash, go tell Spike to send a letter to Princess Celestia—she needs to get here now. Applejack and I will guard Chrysalis. Everypony else—" and her voice thundered forth in royal command—"get those changelings inside by a fire!"

---

The Friendship Palace, as it turned out, did have a dungeon. I tried not to think too hard about that.

I followed Princess Celestia to the end of the hallway, where a still-pale Chrysalis was lying flat on her back on a mattress. There were cold iron shackles on her hind legs, and she was covered by thick blankets and three magical disruption fields.

Chrysalis turned her head in my direction and scowled weakly. "Here to gloat?"

"Maybe a little," I said, and bowed to Celestia. "Thank you for understanding, Your Majesty."

"Just let me know when you're done," Celestia said, and nodded to the guards at each corner. They filed out of the room after her, leaving us alone. I heard the crystal cell door settle into place with a grinding whisper, and the noises from outside fell away.

Chrysalis cleared her throat. "I don't understand," she said, in a very not-sick voice.

"You never did," I said. "Ponies would have accepted the truth."

She laughed, long and low. "No, they wouldn't. You're smart, Marshmallow—the smartest pony in that dirtball of a village. You can't possibly believe that if Queen Chrysalis had walked in and told nothing but the truth, my swarm would have been welcomed into your homes."

"Oh, certainly, not at first. But honesty has power, darling. That's why ponies like you and I fight so hard to avoid it."

She was silent for a moment.

"Regardless," Chrysalis said, "I believe I owe you my thanks."

That was, I reflected, the very thing I had come in here hoping to hear. And yet I was still at a loss for how to respond.

"Okay, you know what," a voice said from behind me as I was thinking, "I can't stand here and listen to this any more."

I jumped and spun around. "Twilight?"

Her form wavered as the cloaking field dropped. Tears were brimming in the corners of her eyes. "The Princess told me there was a valuable lesson for me in this room, but all I'm seeing is a friend betraying me by helping one of the evilest creatures we've fought. I trusted you, Rarity—just like you asked me to. What did you do?"

"Twilight," I said urgently, "please understand that when I say 'comportment', it is a reminder that the greatest composure is required to understand the truths hardest to accept." I swallowed. "Chrysalis, there is a time and a place for complete and immediate honesty, and I assure you that this is it."

"Your friend prevented the extinction of the changeling race," Chrysalis said calmly.

Twilight stared at me for long seconds. "What," she finally managed.

"The ejection from Canterlot destroyed our entire warrior caste, and nearly killed me as well," Chrysalis said. "In my arrogance I staked our entire future on a plan I thought couldn't fail. When I limped back to the hive, it was to find a pony army closing in. I took the workers and children and fled to the Everfree. We've scraped out a subsistence living since."

"Until this season's storms hit," I said. "They're not ponies, with warm blood and thick coats. They were on the verge of literally freezing to death." I glanced over at Chrysalis. "Stop me if I get anything wrong."

"Sure."

"She had to swallow her pride and think of the survival of the hive. She thought," I emphasized, "that her only bargaining chip was herself. So she concocted a plan—which I see now had the advantage of being actually true—designed to paint her as a tyrant, and the changelings accompanying her as helpless victims. She would land in town and terrorize everypony, and we would gradually discover that her control was slipping and aid the 'rebel' drones. By developing bonds with them and helping them cast off their shackles, we would provide them a home after justice was served."

Twilight looked between us in horror. "You can't believe that! She's a monster! She broke one of her own drones' legs!"

"Every plan requires sacrifices," Chrysalis said.

I winced. "That's why I acted as I did, Twilight," I said quietly. "Her plan required her to be a monster. She was going to continue on that way until we had no choice but to act. Leaping to the play's conclusion saved a great deal of suffering."

"I…" Twilight sat down, emotions warring on her face. "I'm going to have to think about this." She glared at Chrysalis. "Don't think this means I'm going to forgive you."

"If you do," Chrysalis said calmly, "my plan failed. I'm at peace with that, as much as I'm ever going to be."

I put a hoof around Twilight's withers. "Come on, darling," I said. "Let's go home."

---

The pageant, naturally, was a success.

I stepped to the edge of the stage, facing the audience as the tragically misguided Princess Platinum, and snuck a glance at the audience as I took a bow. In the front row, three little fillies of different tribes, clustered together on a bench, stomped their hooves. In their midst, a fourth dark figure clopped its forehooves together—looking a great deal smaller, and less armored, than the last time I'd seen it. The changeling glanced back and forth between his new friends, embracing them delightedly in the warm glow of friendship.

A few seats away, I caught Princess Twilight Sparkle studying them, too. She glanced up at me, and as we shared a look, she chewed her lip and gave me an uncertain smile.

In time, I thought, smiling back.

After all, the morals were meant for those left behind after the play was over.