“OH THAT”S JUST GREAT!” Chrysalis yelled.
Her peaceful quest to get back to her kingdom, obtain her crown, save her children from extinction, and calmly gather her armies, strike into the heart of Equestria, AND SLAUGHTER THE WHOLE LOT OF THEM HAS BEEN HALTED BY A BUCKING RIVER! WHAT A LOAD OF HORSEAPPLES! I mean, she knew she’d have problems, but a river. A river is what gets her. BULLFEATHERS! This is unconceivable. No task could ever defeat her. She was far too cultured, powerful, and all around sexy to be beaten now.
The changeling queen unhooked the carriage and walked forwards until she came to the edge of the river. She examined the distance. In truth, it was quite wide but she could easily fly over. She then looked over her shoulder at the wagon. She couldn’t carry that, with or without magic. She was far too weak. Even with the child’s abundant food source, she had used a majority of it to pull the wagon and sustain her appetite. Her love in storage was unsurprisingly low.
She huffed. “Great. This is just great. I’ve been stopped by a river. It’ll be days before I build up enough magic for this. Probably even longer to find a way around.” She covered her face and whimpered. The images of her hive crumbling to the ground came to mind. And could you blame her. She’d never been without contact of her hive. EVER! Her children needed her support. They needed someone to guide them, to show them the way. ‘They’re probably chasing their own tails by now.’ She thought, pitifully.
She felt something nuzzling her side, but she didn’t take her hooves off her face. “It’ll be okay, mommy. A big, bad river can’t stop you. You’re the greatest unicorn ever.”
Chrysalis couldn’t help but smile.‘I am great, aren’t I.’ She removed her hooves and looked down at the small pony. “Yes child, I am the greatest, but this task is beyond me at the moment.”
“But can’t you just poof us to the other side?” Sugar Rush asked.
“It’s not that simple, my daughter.” Chrysalis explained. “Magic is a fickle thing, even for us born with an innate magic control. One cannot simply will something by just thinking of an action. You must channel your life energy into the thought to make the thought become reality.” The great queen sighed. “Sadly, I do not possess the needed life force for this task.”
“But you’ve got the greatest life force, mommy.” Sugar Rush stated.
Chrysalis chuckled. “That I do.”‘I’m starting to like this foal….I’m going to forget I thought that.’ “But mommy’s tired from pulling the wagon for several days without stop.” Boy, talk about endurance.
“Oh.” Sugar Rush looked at the ground and scoffed a hoof across the dirt. She then looked up at her. “Why don’t I pull the wagon?”
Chrysalis stared at the little filly for a moment, before a snicker escaped her lips. She quickly stopped herself. “You’re too small for that.”
“Then, why don’t I just use my own life force and move the wagon to the other side?” Sugar Rush, the little EARTH pony filly, stated.
Okay, now she didn’t stop herself. Chrysalis fell over laughing. She rolled about, clutching her sides. Her laughter went to a whole new level, when she pictured Sugar actually pulling off the feat. ‘This filly is hilarious. I swear, if she somehow makes it through this adventure, I’m keeping her as a comedian.’
“Apologies for interrupting, but who might you two be?” A strange voice asked. Chrysalis stopped laughing and looked upwards. Her vision encompassed a large purple serpent, which oddly sported orange hair and a moustache. Chrysalis and Sugar Rush stared up at the creature. “Are you two alright?” Silence was his answer. “Oh, I see. You’ve never seen a sea serpent this fabulous before.”
“SERPENT!” Chrysalis screamed and quickly grabbed the filly by the scruff of her neck, with her mouth, and ran inside, closing the door. The queen of the changelings had a reason for running. Serpents, like their dragon cousins, hated changelings. Her coastal hives were constantly harassed by serpents, and often they made a snack of her children.
“Mommy,” Sugar Rush asked, from within Chrysalis’s tight grip. “What was that?”
“A sea serpent.” She hissed. She held the earth pony filly closer at the mention of the monster. ‘She is mine, not some serpents.’ “They are slimy, vile, dangerous water dwelling creatures.”
“He didn’t look slimy, vile, and dangerous.” Sugar stated. “He looked funny.”
Chrysalis stared at the filly. “Funny? There is nothing funny about them, my little filly. They would gladly gobble you up for a late night snack.”
“You-hoo.” The serpent called out to them. “Can you hear me?” Chrysalis didn’t answer him. “I’d like to say, I’m sorry for spooking you like that. It was wrong of me to sneak up on you. Could you come out so I can make this apology face to face?”
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. ‘Oh please. As if I’m going to fall for that. He’s just going to eat me the moment I step out of this wagon….Come to think of it, why doesn’t he just crush this wagon? Is he just polite or is he planning on looting. ‘Course, what would a sea serpent do with a wagon?’
“Maybe we should listen to him, mommy.” Sugar Rush said, breaking the queen of the changelings out of her inner musings.
“Listen!” Chrysalis shrieked. “Did you not listen to me, you insolent brat. He is a sea serpent. A monster borne of the darkest womb.” The queen would have continued on and on about the vile creature, but she caught the fear and tears that lined
Sugar’s eyes. She was sniffling. The sadness carried over to Chrysalis and she felt sick.
“I’m sorry, mommy.” Sugar Rush sniffled.
Chrysalis felt like someone was crushing her heart. The changeling queen was annoyed by this. That some little filly was having such an effect on her was degrading. She is an immortal queen. No living being could dictate her actions. But here she was, being made guilty by a pony. She never felt so low. “Don’t cry, Sugar.” She kissed her forehead and wiped away a few tears. “Mommy’s just scared is all.”
Sugar Rush sniffled. “I’m scared too mommy.”
“Don’t be.” Chrysalis nuzzled her. “Mommy’s here and she’s going to keep you safe.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.” The changeling queen smiled. The filly was already perking up. Her positive emotion was filling the queen up and alleviating her previous sickness. “Now, let’s go outside and see what that big, bad serpent wants.”
Sugar Rush nodded. The queen squeezed her closer, before putting her on her back. That way, she could make a swift run for it with her love source, if things went rather bad. And so the two slowly made their out of the wagon.
Upon looking at the serpent, Chrysalis bared her teeth in an aggressive manner. Normally, this was threatening, but since she was a pony, she lacked carnivorous teeth. ‘Well, let’s just hope he’s scared of herbivores.’ The serpent himself looked quite distraught. “Thank you for coming out. I don’t know what I’d do if you didn’t. The guilt would eat me alive.”
Chrysalis laughed. “You? Feel guilty? That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.”
The serpent was taken aback by this. “Why ever would you find that funny?”
“You’re a sea serpent.” Chrysalis hissed. “You’re savage brutes that prey upon any creature that happens to cross your path or stream in your case.”
The serpent raised an eyebrow. “I think you’re mistaken. I’m a river serpent. Not one of those garish sea serpents.” The serpent laughed. “I can see why you reacted the way you did.”
“River serpent?” Chrysalis asked. She’d never heard of those…And she was thousands and thousands of years old.
“We’re the much kinder variety of serpent.” The serpent twiddled his moustache. “And we have such fabulous hair. Our sea cousins are rather jealous of us because of it.” He stroked his chin. “Why I remember this one time I took a trip to the beach. This overgrown brute of a serpent swam by and mocked my hair.” His brow furrowed. “What a brute. I mean, look at this hair. It is to die for.”
“It is pretty hair.” Sugar Rush spoke up.
“It is, isn’t it.” The serpent looked down at the small pony on Chrysalis’s back. “And who might you be?”
“I’m Sugar Rush,” She piped up. “And this is my mommy, Rove. She’s the bestest mommy ever.”
“Shhh.” Chrysalis looked back at her. “Don’t tell him anything.”
Sugar’s ear splayed back. “Sorry mommy.”
“Well, nice to meet you two.” The serpent placed a hand on his chest and struck a pose. “I, Am Steven Magnet. Local beautician serpent of the Everfree Forest.”
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “Charmed, I’m sure.” Her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“I know you are.” Steven nodded. “I dare say, it’s been a while since I’ve seen any pony folk in the Everfree. Are you from Ponyville, by any chance? I have a few friends there.”
Chrysalis shook her head. Of course, in hindsight, she should have asked the real Rove questions on her past life. But the whole ‘let her die and take her place’ was so sporadic. She had no time for that.
Steven sighed. “Pity. I would certainly love to meet that fantastically magnificent diva, known as Rarity, again. Her taste was so cultured. Oh, how I wished this river would take me closer to that town of hers.”
“Yes, yes,” Chrysalis said, growing tired of this serpent’s ramblings. ‘I would have preferred him trying to eat me. At least I’d have some fun then.’ “That’s all good, but that doesn’t help us now does it?”
“Sorry.” Steven smiled sheepishly. “By the way, what do you need help with?”
“I need to find a river crossing.” Chrysalis told him.
“Oh, a bridge.” Steven smiled. “Yes, there’s one just up the river, this way.” He pointed to her right.
“Thank you.” She croaked out. The words were still foreign to her lips, but she said them anyways. She went over to the wagon and hooked herself back up.
“Wait.” Steven said abruptly.
“What?” Chrysalis asked, wanting to get as far away as possible from the fashion orientated serpent. ‘Wow. My life is strange.’
“Can I come with you?” He asked. “I don’t often have company here in the forest.”
Before Chrysalis could respond, Sugar Rush piped up. “Sure, Mr. Magnet. The more friends, the merrier.” The queen glared at the filly, but Sugar didn’t see it. For that, she was glad. She didn’t want her sad again.
Steven gave a cry of joy. “That is so kind of you, I just don’t know what to say.”
“There’s nothing that needs to be said.” Chrysalis said, pulling the wagon along with her. Her face contorted in agitated rage. Again, life pushed unexpected, and hated, events onto her shoulders. She just prayed to Faust herself, that nothing happened like this again. “Now let’s get moving.”