//------------------------------// // Chapter XVIII // Story: I, Chrysalis // by Scarheart //------------------------------// Edited by Chapter 13 and TuxOKC.         My first war not as a slave of Taalia was a short and brutal one. Changelings were not the only ones in the Savannah who sought to put other races under their hooves. Hyenas, terrible, unwashed, and carnivorous beasts who were a mockery of intelligence and civilization. Those barbaric creatures roamed the outskirts of changeling territories, taking those who could not protect themselves. There were always those who would risk a chance of freedom from the powerful changeling queens and flee the borders. The hyenas would be there, waiting. Few escaped and even fewer survived. Those that did were sold off to distant lands or worse.         I was just coming to understand my own power when my small hive encountered a roving band of hyenas. I knew of them. I had seen Taalia consort with several tribal chiefs. They could be used to extend a queen’s reach beyond her boundaries in ways that brought horror and fear. She was aware of what they were capable of and she readily paid whatever price they demanded for their services. It made it easy for her to deny if they failed.         We were a day beyond the known reaches of the largest hives when we encountered one of the hyena tribes. It was a small group, led by a young female. She was determined to make a name for herself. Her tribe appeared along the ridge line of a sun blasted hill, not bothering to conceal themselves as we traveled along a dry river basin. We could not fly because we had changelings in our group who had no means of flight.         I moved myself and what few fighters we had between the hyenas and the changelings who could not defend themselves. We had the advantage of being able to fly, but hyenas were notorious for countering our flight with leaping abilities and sonic cries that could disrupt the nerves in our wings, causing partial paralysis.         I did not understand exactly how powerful I had become under my hated teacher’s guidance. That day, my rage boiled over as the hyenas approached. I knew their intentions. I could hear their laughter. I had many changelings who could not defend themselves. They were too weak and many were broken spirits, no thanks to their former slave owners.         As the hyenas came, the air around me crackled with power. My power. The guards who were with me were too few to stand against the hundred or so slavers coming at us. They were confident. They had shadowed us for days. They thought they knew how weak my hive was.         They did not take into account me.         This cackle of hyenas was unaware of the rage I had in my heart. The frustration of all my years under the cruel shadow of Queen Taalia came to a boiling point. They came, they laughed, savoring the victory they believed was theirs. My own laughter joined theirs. They were confused. My own changelings fell back at my command, my laughter becoming madder and louder. My changelings were afraid, but not of me. I had worked hard to assure their faith and loyalty. My power, however, was bristling and was beyond anything they had ever comprehended. My rage was immeasurable and those poor, foolish hyenas were about to experience the culmination of my life to that point in the worst possible way.         “No more,” I hissed. I had stopped my laughing abruptly, my eyesight falling into shades of crimson. “No more will I be a victim!” The very earth shook beneath my hooves. My wings resonated through the air, shimmering it all around my body. “No more will I suffer at the whims of those who think themselves my betters!” My horn raged with the emerald aura of my magic to the point where it was becoming far too painful to bear. “I will bear the burdens of those who have turned to me to be their guide!” My heart thundered in my chest, my blood sang in my ears. “I WILL NOT BE DENIED FREEDOM!”         The hyenas had stopped laughing. They had ceased their approach. That cocksure confidence they had melted as surely as wax melts before a raging flame. They spun on their heels and tried to run away. Their fear was far more noticeable than the stench of urine they left in their wakes.         I screamed. There were no words. Just the primal urge to cut loose everything I had forced myself to endure for the sake of the fading memories of my mother. The cry of anguish followed me as I gave chase. Oh, no, there would be no escape for them. “I AM CHRYSALIS! I AM QUEEN OF THE CHANGELINGS! I AM DEATH IN LIVING FORM!” I was the very thing I had been made to be and I despised myself for it, even as I crushed the life from the slavers who had thought my hive to be easy prey. I hated myself, even as I relished the blood spilling to the earth. I wept. I sang. I laughed. I cried. I raged. I would never be a slave again. The setting sun was obscured by the black smoke rising up from the devastated town. Around the smoke and near the burning building was an undulating mass gathering. The dull sound of thousands of buzzing wings filled the air with dread. The steady winds slanted the smoke away from the keep, guided by the efforts of the pegasi in the air. A wall of the flying ponies had established a perimeter. They constantly adjusted their positions, never remaining in one spot for too long. They were lightly armored, if armored at all. It was a skirmish line and most of the pegasi in their ranks were scouts. The heavy air power lay within the wall of clouds behind them, ready to strike on command. This was the quick and deadly arm of Equestria, with speed unmatched the world over.         In front of the walls of the mighty keep stood ten rows of earth ponies, bearing heavy armor and their great rectangular shields. Above them gleamed the steel of a thousand spearheads. Magnificent crests sported the prized thick manes of the stallions who owned them. No other nation could boast to have their strength and steadfast resolve.         Upon the ramparts and mixed evenly among the earth pony soldiers were the unicorns. They were battlemages, each one trained in a variety of deadly spells. Many had graduated from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns and chose to pursue a career in Equestria’s military. Most of the nation’s officer corps came from these ponies. They prided themselves in their craft and often served with distinction. They were crafty and they were clever.         Three thousand ponies stood against a horde proving to be far larger than believed.         Chrysalis could feel the presence of more changelings, her acute senses telling her Taalia had seemingly brought all of the Savannah with her. As she flew next to Princess Luna, she scanned the enemy’s lines as more and more dark figures took up positions along the outskirts of the town she did not even know the name of.         An indistinguishable pegasi with a roan coat and white mane gave a brief, but polite, bow to Princess Luna as she approached. He gave Chrysalis a suspicious look, but nothing else. “We’ve sent an envoy to the enemy with a request for parlay, Highness,” he said in a gruff voice.         “Very good, commander,” Luna replied, casting her attention towards the center of the enemy lines. “Casualties?”         “Could be better, could be worse,” the pegasus sniffed. “Moral is good. My flyers are ready to shove those monsters out of Equestria and chase them back to whatever Tartarus pit they spawned from.” His wings bore blades concealed with his primary feathers. “I am cautiously optimistic about our chances. We can hold.”         Luna nodded and made a ghost of a smile. “Do not underestimate your foes. They were probing for weaknesses. They want to see where we are weakest, our reaction to their attacks. Be on guard. The dark host before us may be more vast than we know.”         “Perish the thought that we might underestimate them,” the pegasus commander harrumphed. “If they have enough numbers, they’ll overwhelm us for sure.”         “Pray it does not come to that. Let us speak with them so we might discern their purpose.” Luna propelled herself forward at a slow pace before stopping to hover. She narrowed her eyes as the straps of her armor creaked in rhythm with her movements. Chrysalis was watching as a small group of pegasi had already surged ahead towards the changeling lines with a large white bed sheet festooned to a long slender pole. It flapped in the stiff breeze, unmistakable in its meaning. The changeling queen quirked an eyebrow in bemusement as Taalia sent an equal sized group of her own changelings from her lines to meet the approaching pegasi. They carried no flag.         They stopped about ten yards from each other. The changelings were narrow creatures, deerlike in appearance. Their antlers were twisted and jagged. Their lower jaws jutted forward and their mouths were fanged.         Unable to ignore the questioning look from Luna, Chrysalis offered, “Antelopes. That hive takes after the Savannah antelope. Bovidalings, if you want to be specific. The fangs you see are retractable. They only show them to make themselves look fierce. Quite docile, really. Easy to defeat in combat. Queen Taalia rarely had use for them beyond slaves doing menial tasks. They do have a gift for being difficult to anger. It can give them an edge in negotiations. More than likely my old teacher is just using them to figure out your intent.”         Luna swiveled her head towards the groups. “I see.”         Chrysalis was paying partial attention to the report. As Luna listened to the pegasus commander prattle off deployments and preparations, the changeling queen was scanning her eyes up and down the enemy lines. It was absurd to think her foe might be airborne, yet her gaze did once or twice flicker and sweep up into the skies.         Queen Taalia had yet to make an appearance. This worried Chrysalis. Taalia was one to gloat if the odds were heavily in her favor. Flaring her nostrils, she inhaled and flicked out her tongue to taste the air. The numbers before her were innumerable, yet she did not feel afraid. She was anxious and her legs fidgeted beneath her as she hovered.         “I will not be a slave, Luna,” she growled. “My hive, my daughter, they will never be slaves to her. I am a free queen. My changelings are a free hive. I will not allow Taalia to take them from me. I would rather die.”         The Princess of the Night gave the changeling a terse smile. “Nor would I allow it, friend Chrysalis.”         The changeling gave her a sour look at the mention of the word ‘friend’. Stupid pony. Why did she insist on being a friend? “Oh?”         Luna snorted. “Friendship will take time,” the alicorn noted, allowing a nod without breaking eye contact with the enemy lines. “All things worth having take time.” Her horn flared and magical weapons appeared, aetherial in nature. A trio of khopeshes, heavy short swords with curved blades. Luna examined them with a scrutinizing eye before flaring her horn again, making the magical weapons disappear.         Chrysalis snorted. “No scythe?”         Luna arched a brow and gave the queen an irritated glance. “A farmer’s instrument? I think not. All before me is chaff, as far as I am concerned.” Luna gave a derisive snort. “Ah, I do believe Taalia approaches! Look yonder at the center of the enemy’s ranks,” she cried, pointing with a hoof. As she spoke, the small group of pegasi broke from the changelings halfway between the armies and returned straightaway to the princess. They moved with urgent speed. Their counterparts, the Bovidalings also departed, heading straight for what Luna assumed was Queen Taalia.         Chrysalis squinted, ignoring the ponies as she tried to see her hated tormenter. No, she wasn’t— wait… there! A spiteful hiss came unbidden from her throat, passing through her fangs like a remembered holocaust. Her past rode upon her breath and fear raised its ugly head, unwanted but not unexpected. The feline head adorned with a jagged crown emerged above the throng of Ravagers pushing their way to the front lines. They spread out, their bloodthirsty eyes scanning the ponies and snapped their jaws in anticipation.         Taalia, the dreaded nightmare in Chrysalis’ life, strode forward. Her stride was graceful and powerful, her chitin flowing with her movements. The tigress was two shades of dark gray, her stripes shifting with the light and her own movements. She was hornless, her sharp crimson eyes glowing, noticeable even from the hundred yards separating the two forces. Her holed legs each ended in wide paws. It was not at all hard to imagine the claws tearing furrows into the earth. Behind her swished a long tail.  The tigress changeling had sabre fangs hanging from her upper jaw. Each one had to be at least nine inches long, thick and heavy. No fur covered her body, making her appear grotesque as every scar upon her body was worn proudly. Like Chrysalis, she had an odd banded waist. Her back was covered in layers of natural armor, like a beetle. It clacked and shivered, with a pair of spikes jutting from each of Taalia’s shoulders.         She was massive, yet sleek. The confidence in her walk was echoed by the bloody smile she wore upon her soaked muzzle. The tigress had been feeding and she wanted the ponies before her to know it.         Had she gotten bigger? Chrysalis knew it was an absurd thought and she brushed it aside, irritated with herself for having such weakness.         “Shall we escort y—”         “Nay, good commander,” Luna interrupted the pegasus commander coolly. “We shall go upon the field Ourselves and with Queen Chrysalis at our side. There is nothing to fear from the likes of that,” she spat. Chrysalis felt the show of barbarism from Taalia had somehow vexed the Princess of the Night.         “But—”         “Commander, do as thou art commanded.” Luna did not bother to look at him as she pushed herself forward with mighty strokes of her wings. “Come, Chrysalis. There is a reckoning to be had.”         “And if she attacks you during a parlay?” questioned the worried commander.         “Pray she is that stupid,” replied Luna with a cold grin. “We do hope she is.”         Speak for yourself. Chrysalis grumbled to herself, but followed the alicorn. She took upon herself the airs of a queen who had no fear, putting such unbecoming emotions as far away from this moment as possible. “Talk is useless,” she told Luna in irritation. "My soldiers, take up positions upon the ramparts. You'll simply add to the confusion down here. Go." The dozen changelings who had volunteered to stay behind and fight did as they were told, though their worry was evident.         The alicorn stared as the changelings did as they were told in silence. She readdressed Chrysalis. “I hardly noticed their presence. Remarkable. I would speak with her,” insisted Luna as she turned to stare at the enemy lines. “I must sate my own curiosity.”         “You’re doing it again.”         “Doing what?” They landed and began walking past the front lines.         “You can’t seem to decide on the royal ‘we’ or just speaking like most modern ponies.” Chrysalis wore a sour expression and huffed in irritation. “It’s annoying.”         “We know.” Luna doffed her helmet and winked it away with a flick and flash of her horn. “Come. We must not tarry.”         The changeling moved up and glared with suspicion at the pony. “What are you going to do?”         “Discern her frame of mind. Perhaps pick a fight. I shall challenge her in combat after she decides to reject my demands.”         “And if she refuses your challenge?”         “Then our armies battle. Simple.”         Chrysalis gaped for a moment at the alicorn. She then decided Luna was insane. “You don’t battle an army like what she has!” she hissed, aware they were drawing nearer to the approaching Queen Taalia.         “Yes I do. And I will. And I intend to win,” reassured Luna in a maddening tone. Chrysalis felt as though she were being corrected. She was jarred by the next question from the princess, “You wonder why I do this for you, yes?”         “The thought did occur to me,” Chrysalis conceded. She scrunched her brows together, keeping her eyes on the approaching monster. Taalia was boring holes into her former piece of property. “Why?”         “We ponies are more than what you have led yourself to believe, friend Chrysalis,” Luna explained, her own attention directed at the massive queen. “Equestria is a home to all and should always welcome those who would seek a better life. Mine sister believes in granting second chances. This is your second chance, Chrysalis. I would beg you consider it with all seriousness. Your pride is formidable, yet it blinds you. See past your pride and see past whatever it is that leads you to believe we ponies are nothing more than weak prey to you. Fight at my side and I will work at your side to make your changelings a part of Equestria, as equals in all things. Once this is settled, there will be time to settle things properly. Repay your debt and I would gladly have you like a sister to me.”         “That simple, huh?” Chrysalis was incredulous. “What debts?”         “Why must it be difficult?” Luna gave her an exasperated glare. “Your debts are trivial things in the face of what future awaits your hive. Do consider your actions carefully.”         “Little Chrysalis,” a voice the changeling had hoped never to hear again grated against her ears. Queen Taalia wore a terrifying mask of dripping blood and gore-stained fangs. “You have grown powerful. I can feel it. Impressive.”         “Queen Taalia,” Luna greeted with a formal voice coated in frost. “I am Princes Luna, Keeper of Dreams and the Diarch of Equestria. You will remove your armies from Equestria immediately. You will answer for the deaths of Our subjects. Your aggression is an act of war. If you so wish it, so shall it be brought down upon you.” The alicorn’s nostrils flared again and again.         Queen Taalia regarded Princess Luna. The pair sized each other up. Taalia slowly unsheathed the claws of her right paw and let them dig into the earth beneath her. “I am here to recover lost property, Princess Luna,” she began in a cheerful voice. “I have come a long way. I’m afraid I cannot return home empty-pawed. Besides,” she added with lofty airs, “I think I like this land. There’s so much love here. I can see why Little Chrysalis thought so highly of taking Equestria for herself. She could have hoarded all the power for herself and perhaps even challenged the Twin Queens for the dominion of the Savannah.”         “The terms are non-negotiable,” Luna said.         “Oh, come now, princess,” Taalia smiled. It was a terrible smile. “For you to be so stiff and unyielding. It gives the impression you don’t like me. Pity.” Her eyes narrowed. Her crimson eyes flicked momentarily towards Chrysalis before again locking with the azure orbs of Luna. “That was such an annoying thing you did in the dream realm. I had thought your prowess to be nothing more than a legend. I commend you for your skill. It would seem the ancient texts about you were true.”         “Remove yourself from Equestria,” Luna commanded. “This is the last warning. These words will not be repeated, monster.”         “Not until I have Chrysalis, her hive, and her daughter in my possession, and not necessarily in that order,” Taalia retorted in a bored tone. She was gazing down at her paw as she spoke, her claws twitching in and out in spasms. “Your subjects are tasty, by the way. Their blood is sweet. And the sounds they make! Oh, how it is such sweet music to my ears!”         Luna sucked in a deep breath, her temper at a breaking point. She then caught herself, exhaled, and spoke to the changeling tigress in a voice as still as the grave, “I challenge you in single combat, Queen Taalia. Here and now! You are an insult to life and harmony! I cannot let what you say be forgiven! I cannot let what you have done go unpunished!”         “You imply I would even consider fighting fairly,” Taalia snorted.         Chrysalis’ eyes widened. Instinctively, she grabbed Luna, her wings buzzing madly. “Fly! Up!” she screamed at the startled alicorn.         The ground beneath them exploded. Ravagers erupted from the earth, their jaws snapping at dirt and empty air where their intended victims had been. Claws reached for the rising pair. Chrysalis hissed down at them. Luna’s wings flared and pounded at the air without mercy, her horn erupting with magic.         “So be it!” the alicorn cried. “You have chosen your fate, Queen Taalia!”         Taalia watched as the pair rose, grinning with eager anticipation. She opened her great maw and roared. Her Ravagers pulled themselves from the earth and gathered around her, baying in their madness.         Behind her, the dark mass surged forward with a deafening cry that shook the air.