Chapter 7
Sponsorship
Gaia trained the girls ruthlessly as the games came closer. All the girls truly had a rigorous training schedule to follow but noponies schedule was harder than Trixies. Not only was she to learn the more powerful and very complicated spells from Gaia and her own elements abilities, but she also had to learn how to fly with her new wings. Trixie knew when she first agreed to be Gaia’s apprentice that the training would be tough but she never knew just how tough it would be especially when she became an alicorn. The magnitude of the spells that she was learning were immense and some so strong that Gaia had to teach them to her in deserted parts of Equestria in case she messed them up. One such spell was the same one that Gaia and Luna battled with not too long ago, yes that would be the spell to become your true element or what a common pony might call, their mist form. As one may recall Luna during the fight became a dark shadow mist much like the night, for that was her element, the night. Gaia however became a green mist like the blades of grass growing on the Earth, for the Earth was his true element. Gaia told her that Celestia when they fought was a bright warm hazy gold mist and as much as he hated to admit it, was quite beautiful to behold. This magic was one of the most powerful spells for it used the pure form of an element which also made it the most dangerous to learn, but learn it Trixie did. It took a while and a few large craters where she messed up but finally she managed to fade away into her element and melt into a sparkling silver dust of magic. Her form glided over the prairie like a glistening ghost which Luna’s stars would even be jealous of. At first Trixie could barely move herself in her new form but as Gaia directed her to flow as one with magic instead of trying to move it as a separate being she became swifter. Trixie quickly realized how Luna had moved so fast compared to her in their last encounter.
“Feel it with not just your mind but also your heart, you and the magic are one let it wash over you, become one with it” Gaia coached her as they trained on top of a snowy mountain. Gaia was very pleased with Trixie’s progression; her abilities were progressing at a very reasonable rate. “Feel the magic; it is now a limb to your body flex it to your will Trixie!”
“Yes, I feel it” Trixie replied as she reached out into the magic around her. The energy and amount were immeasurable and threatened to overwhelm all of her senses which was exactly what Gaia wanted. She pressed on and then all at once all she could feel was magic as it completely engulfed her entire being. She understood now that she was the magic; it and she were the same. If magic had a will or mind of its own they would have been melded together into one. Magic obeyed her whim and just as a head will turn when the brain told it to, so did the magic around her. This is the best that the relationship can be explained between an alicorn and its element but let me tell you it is so much more than can be written down. Trixies body flashed and started to glow as her power grew then in a sudden moment she was washed away by her own magic. Mind you her body wasn’t literally washed away but it was her mind which couldn’t cope with the intense power and not being prepared for it was brushed aside.
Trixie had no clue as to how long she stood there numb engulfed in pure magic but as she started to come too she became aware of another force that was hard at work pulling her mind back into focus. That was of course Gaia for he knew what happened and how to fix it. Trixie finally came back still engulfed in her full power but her mind now knowing how strong it was had begun placing barriers against its overwhelming nature.
“Good, very good Trixie” Gaia stated as she began to get a hold of herself. “Now you know what your true power is.”
“What happened?” she asked a little afraid.
“Sometimes the mind cannot cope with the sheer power of a element and if an alicorn is pushed to fast in their training they will be overwhelmed by it.”
“Why did you force me to go so fast then?” she asked.
“I am forcing you to learn at a faster pace because you need to defeat Twilight, and she has had more time to figure out her power. Don’t worry though, as long as I was here you were in no danger of losing yourself. I had a powerful spell to keep your mind from being hurt from the training.”
“I guess that makes sense, what shall we work on now that I found my true power” Trixie asked almost afraid of his next lesson.
Gaia shook his head “You must explore your element now on your own, I can’t help you there for I cannot see what you see just as you cannot see what I see through my element. But for now rest, and start your exploring tomorrow.”
Trixie cocked her head questionably “but master Gaia, there’s still so many spells that I need to learn…”
Gaia held up his hoof to stop her “Yes there is and I will teach you them in time. But for now you must learn more about yourself before you learn anything else.” Trixie nodded to his statement. “You should…” Gaia then frowned and looked beyond the horizon towards Everfree which was hundreds of miles away. “It seems that Gilda has come back with the Griffin Kingdoms reply.” It still amazed Trixie that Gaia knew so much that was happening around them, he would truly make the perfect secret agent. “Can you teleport back to the castle?” he asked.
“I think so” Trixie replied.
“Let’s see it.”
Trixie worked her magic and teleported herself. She had never attempted to teleport so far before and if it wasn’t for Gaia correcting her as he teleported next to her she would have materialized miles from the castle. As it was, they materialized at the front gate right in front of Gilda who jumped with an ear piercing scream that only an eagle could make as they popped into existence in front of her.
“Gaia one of these days you’re going to do that and be meet by some griffins talons!” Gilda yelled while trying to calm herself down.
“You’re probably right” Gaia replied shrugging off her warning. “What news from your father?”
“That’s the clan chief to you buddy.”
Gaia gave a grin “What does he have to say, is anything wrong with our arrangement?”
“I am afraid that there is” Gilda replied.
“Oh, and what is that?”
“Celestia has made a decoration that anypony or creature that supports the one named Gaia which is of course you, will be punished severely. She claims that you are a great threat and will bring calamity upon Equestria if given the chance.”
“I guess that the chief had decided to not upset Celestia even though he is not under her rule?” Gaia replied not too surprised by this news.
“He believes that something as trivial as sponsoring you for the games is not worth straining the Griffins relationship with Celestia.” Gilda then made a tight fist with her claw “I think it a disgrace for our clan to back down so easily, just because Celestia said to.”
Gaia shook his head “Your father is doing what he thinks is best for your clan and he is right, it is not worth straining their relations with Celestia. You must respect his wishes.”
“Your right” Gilda nodded “it is for the best.”
“Give my best wishes to the chief and my apologies for putting him in such a situation.”
“I will, goodbye Gaia” Gilda then spread her wings and flew off.
They watched her go then to Trixies amazement she heard Gaia mutter to himself “I knew it” he then went inside the castle in a sour mood.
“So what does this mean?” she asked trotting next to him “will we still get to play in the Equestrian games?”
“Were not going to play in the games?” Lyra asked disappointed overhearing Trixie’s question. This of course brought the rest of the girls into the room from their training wondering what happened. Gaia quickly told them the Griffins response.
“We need a sponsor though to play and I don’t think that you will count Gaia, especially since Celestia will oppose anypony in connection to you” Lightningdust replied.
“Your right” Gaia affirmed her statement. “The group to sponsor us must not be under her direct rule and be strong enough so she will not oppose their candidates.”
“Who is there then if not the griffins? Certainly not the dragons or Tartarus?” Wildfire asked.
“No, the dragons think that such things are beneath their notice and there is nopony that I can think of that would care to sponsor anypony for the games from Tartarus.” Gaia then bit his lip as a slight flash of dread crossed his face “the only other creature that I can think of is her.”
“Who’s her?” Trixie asked.
“Somepony I would rather forget” Gaia replied. He then quickly went up to his study looked at an old map while he put on his cloak then came back down. “I will be back” he told the girls then teleported away.
Lightningdust looked at Lyra “Did you put it on him?”
“Yep” Lyra proudly replied.
You see, while Gaia was up in his study the girls decided to find out who had him so worried and took a vote to have Trixie cast a quick tracking spell on a sticker which Lyra placed on Gaia’s cloak when he came down. Trixie after Gaia left worked her magic and focusing on her tracking spell teleported them all too where Gaia went. The girls landed in a tall black bush in a very rocky dark forest. Gaia who was fully focused on his mission didn’t even sense them following him but went on through the dark deep woods.”
“Owww, get off!” Wildfire moaned to the three girls on top of her.
Lightningdust looked at Trixie very annoyed “Worst…landing… ever.”
Trixie slunk down embarrassed by what happened. Once they managed to get up and clear the brush which unfortunately for them was not soft but instead a thorny and very painful bush, the four girls began to explore the area. The scenery to say the least was very intimidating, the plants and trees were black and sickly looking very much like a bad omen for those unfortunate enough to be in the land. Even the ground was different and glowed a light green in spots which Trixie thought at first was some kind of slime. As they viewed the many dark black rocky hills of the area they saw that many went up into great spirals with an impressive amount of cave entrances. The entrances were illuminated from the inside by the same soft green glow.
“Look there are ponies moving on that hill” Lightningdust said pointing to a partially nasty looking hill which clearly had dark ponies flying in and out of the caves. It only took a moment for them to realize what they were seeing, the creatures were changelings and the giant hills were their hives.
“Why would Gaia come here?” Lightningdust asked. “Nopony is foolish enough to mess with a changeling no matter who they are.”
“I agree with Lightningdust” Wildfire replied “Gaia’s over his head if he thinks that they can help us.”
“Maybe he is a changeling” Lyra stated in which none of them really wanted to believe.
“No, he can’t be” Trixie replied. “He doesn’t use the same energies that changelings do.”
“Um did Gaia ever teach you that invisibility spell trixie?” Lightningdust asked.
“Yes, why?”
“You might want to use it” she said pointing to a cluster of changelings moving in their direction.
Trixie immediately racked her brain for the spell and cast it just as the changelings were coming around into view. The changelings not knowing that the girls were there almost smacked into Lyra as they flew past them to another hive. “”Whew, that was close” Wildfire stated as they watched the swarm past. “I knew that I should have packed my bug spray.”
The girls laughed at her comment and started on their way again all the time following the tracking spell on Gaia which lead them into a very nasty looking hive. Down and down they went walking down slimy crusted stairs which followed dimly lit halls of glowing green rock. When they finally reached the bottom it opened into a huge cavern which was brightly lit by deep magic. Magic that Trixie didn’t recognize, it was similar too hers but at one time it was twisted in such a way that it was now unrecognizable as magic. They moved further into the cavern which was comprised of tall pillars with bright green lanterns hanging from them all the while keeping next to the walls in the shadows. Even though Trixies spells kept them invisible they did not want to chance bumping into one of the many changelings that moved throughout the cavern. They spent much time sneaking around the labyrinth following the tracking spell until at last they were face to face with two big black heavy doors with a multitude of changelings guarding it.
“Now what?” Lyra asked as they stared at the impenetrable defenses.
“Gaia is in there” Trixie replied. “We just need to find a way in.”
“Let’s just take out the guards” Wildfire commented. The girls just stared at her “or maybe not.”
“I got it!” Lightningdust replied.
“What?!” the girls all asked her at once.
She just pointed above the door where there were small decretive cracks above it some just big enough for a pony to squeeze through. “You are a genius Lightningdust” Trixie replied.
“I know” she smirked back “you take Wildfire and I will fly Lyra up there.” They did and to the girls amazement none of the changelings noticed a thing. As they squeezed through the cracks they found themselves on a dark ledge overlooking a beautiful throne room. Along the throne room walls were five large pillars on each side which were draped with fine cloth. The whole room seemed to be made of jade which came to a platform where a single stone chair stood magnificently carved in ancient art. However resting upon the throne was the dreaded foul enemy of Celestia Queen Chrysalis who was busy in council with her five changeling generals.
“You mean to tell me that out of all the ponies that I told you to switch places with that you only managed to capture Prince Blueblood?!” the queen rebuked the poor changelings who cowered at her words.
“I’m sorry my queen but since our initial attack the ponies had increased their defenses against us. The Prince was the only one we could capture; actually he surrendered as soon as he saw us.”
“He also groveled for us to spare him” another changeling replied.
“And there was some crying involved” another chimed in.
“Enough!” the queen screamed and started to rebuke her general’s incompetence in full force.
“Trixie” Lyra whispered poking her on the shoulder.
“What?” she replied.
“Over there.”
She looked at where Lyra was pointing and on the other side of the ledge was the distant shape of Gaia still cloaked. He was listening the queen’s conversation intensely as if still unsure he wanted to be there. They watched him as he seemed to ponder what to do.
Gaia actually had decided many times to interrupt the queen but every time he was about to he would learn some new piece of information such as Prince Bluebloods capture. The queen was planning to attempt another takeover to get revenge for her last defeat but was having a hard time about it.
“What of your forces training?” the queen asked. “Their lack of ability cost us the last battle.”
“Going well my queen but they are simply no match for the royal guards” he replied to the queens question. “The royal guard’s magic is stronger than ours.”
“Surely our sheer numbers will break them.”
“My queen if I may?” another one of her generals who was braver than the others spoke up.
“Yes?”
“Last time we had the element of surprise, your power being feed by Prince Shining Armor, and the elements of Harmony in our possession.”
“Your point is?”
“We were still beaten by Princess Cadance and Prince Shinning Armor, and now they have another alicorn Princess Twilight and Discord on their side. We cannot win if we attack again surely you know this.”
The queen hated to admit it but her general was right, any chance she had of expanding her territory disappeared long ago. “I just can’t leave Celestia thinking that she won” she finally replied. “Thousands of years of scheming against each other and this is how it ends? No! Even a manitcore will strike the ground in furry before it is finally brought down. I must deal a blow against the Princess and show her that we are still strong!”
“What are we to do then my queen?” the commander asked.
The queen stood still for a few minutes “What about a sleeping spell in the palaces water?”
“That still will not solve our Discord problem.”
“Augghhh, why did he have to turn? How did Celestia ever manage to manipulate him like that?” the queen fumed. She saw now that any plan that she may had come up with would not work. “In all these centenaries that Celestia and I fought, I never truly beat her, do you know that? Sure, I captured her last time but she still won!” The generals stood still afraid to say anything “What I would give to beat her once, just once and show that smug alicorn that she is not the smartest creature in Equestria.”
Gaia knew that this was the opening he was waiting for and summoned a giant dark cloud in the center of the chamber. The cloud quickly took shape into an exact image of himself fully cloaked with face wrapped in shadow. The five generals immediately pounced upon the projection but simply collided with each other as they passed through. “Chrysalis Queen of the Changelings, if you truly wish that, I can grant your request.”
“Who are you?” The queen stood up stretching out her wings in anticipation of a sudden attack the changelings on the other side of the door burst through and were now waiting for the queen’s orders to attack.
“Have you forgotten me already, you old fart?” Gaia’s image replied.
“Old fart?! When I get my hooves on you! I will…”
“Miss me entirely, slip on a banana peel, and fall into the water hole” Gaia replied smugly.
The queen stood there wide eyed and shell shocked “Wha…the only pony….no, it can’t be, Gaia?”
“Not a bad memory for being so long ago Chrysalis” Gaia replied right in the queen’s ear making her jump. During the distraction with the magic image Gaia glided directly behind the queen and her first intimation of his presence was when he spoke to her not even a few inches away. “I see that age has not dulled your memory, can’t say the same for you looks.”
She turned around and frowned at him as he lowered his hood to reveal his face “Gaia dear, you’re looking good for roasting in the sun for all those millennium” she squinted her eyes at him in slight aggravation “Shame you’re not still there.”
“I missed you too” Gaia replied with a grin of satisfaction. “However you are mistaken though, I was never trapped in that accursed sun.”
“You mean to say that you have been wondering this world for so many years and never even gave me the decency of a visit?”
“Would you?”
“Jerk.”
“Lunatic” Gaia quickly replied back in defense.
Chrysalis waved her minions out of the room and sat back upon her throne. “So what’s the game Gaia, why are you here?”
Gaia walked over to her “I want your sponsorship for the Equestrian games.”
Chrysalis sat there perplexed from his request “why? I don’t see what you have to gain from such a thing.”
“I have everything to gain. Celestia as you know is the undisputed ruler of this land.”
“Because you failed to defeat her” Chrysalis pointed out.
“It is true, Luna took me completely by surprise, but that is in the past. I will bring about my democracy by more peaceful means than random destruction of war.”
“And these games will help you accomplish that, how?
“Simple, when Celestia’s champions are defeated in the games the other kingdoms will start to realize that Celestia is not the all knowing being that they thought she was. She will lose some of her monarchy authority and the council will naturally make a power grab, the beginning of a democratic country.” Gaia then looked at her seriously “Celestia has also mentioned making deals with the creatures in Tartarus to expand her influence.”
The queen sat up at this news “That fool! Not even I mess with those creatures. The only one that could even understand them is maybe you.”
“Barely” Gaia replied. “I understand them enough to realize just how dangerous they are. But Celestia has been emboldened by her victory over Discord and is planning how to manipulate those creatures as well.”
“She will fail if she tries.”
“Exactly, that’s why I need to cut down her credibility. If she’s busy trying to piece back her reputation to retain her power then she will not do such a foolish thing.”
The queen became quiet as she thought about what Gaia said “your killing two birds with one stone” she finally spoke up.
“Exactly right.”
“You know that I do not support your ideas” the queen stated. “However, as you likely know the way that things are going now and the strength that Celestia has gained over the past few years cannot be ignored, else my land will be overwhelmed. I will sponsor you in the games but you better not lose Gaia, or I will make you wish that you were trapped in the sun.” Chrysalis looked up at the ledge above the door “are those girls with you are should I have them arrested for spying on our conversation?”
Gaia opened up his senses and found that the girls had somehow followed him, it didn’t take him long to find the tracking spell on his cloak. He was so focused on his confrontation with Chrysalis that he forgot to keep his senses open for others that might be following him. A strange sense of embarrassment that he was followed without his knowing and pride in Trixies accomplishment welded inside of him. “Come on down then girls” he called. The girls now knowing that their cover was blown decided to follow his direction and came down.
“So you are going to try to change the government after all” Trixie accused Gaia. “I thought that you said that you were not going to wage war again.”
“And I am not” Gaia responded. “The way that I am going is peaceful so as to hurt nopony.” Trixie not having response to this did not reply but she felt a little hurt that Gaia never told them this part of his plan. “I am sorry girls, but this is just something that I have to do. I believe too much in the good that will come from it.”
Chrysalis studied the girls and raised an eyebrow when she saw Trixie “Another alicorn?” she asked.
“Yes” Gaia replied “this is my apprentice Trixie. Next to her are Lightningdust, Lyra, and Wildfire. They will be the four you will be sponsoring.”
“Trixie? Oh, yes! You’re the one that defeated Princess Twilight” Chrysalis replied with some enthusiasm. “Gaia has done a good job for once in training you.”
“Um, thank you?” Trixie replied not sure how to respond.
Chrysalis looked back up at Gaia “Of course, with all his failures he is bound to do something right once in a while.”
“Better than failing all the time, antenna head” Gaia shot back. They gave each other cold looks before they both snubbed each other and continued the conversation.
“So you finally found all you needed to create an alicorn then?”
“Nope, we just glued wings onto her” Gaia replied.
“Oh, yes. The jokes and sarcasm, how I missed your abundance of wisdom” Chrysalis mocked.
“I would say that I missed yours but you never had them to begin with.”
“Insolent jerk!”
“Swiss cheese legs!”
“Control Freak!”
“Slimy bug!”
“Slimy bug?! At least I am not a Spineless worm Gaia dear.”
“No, you’re more like a crusty old cockroach” Gaia replied slanting his eyes.
“I don’t know why I bothered even talking to you, even after so many years you’re just the same immature stupid boy.”
“I wish that you didn’t, hearing that scratchy voice of yours will drive any pony insane.” Chrysalis looked like she had been slapped in the face by this comment. Gaia realizing what he said tried to take it back “Listen…I didn’t mean…”
“I hate you!” Chrysalis screamed and ran off down the hall to her private chambers slamming the doors behind her with such force that the chamber shook.
“Crap” Gaia said under his breath and teleported to the front of Chrysalis’s doors.
The girls just stood there dumbfounded at what they just witnessed. Not sure what to do they followed after Gaia who was already talking to Chrysalis through the doors.
“Chrysalis, I’m sorry” Gaia said through the doors to where Chrysalis was laying face first in a pillow on her bed. “I forgot that was a sore subject with you, but that singing competition was so long ago and I don’t care what those ponies said you have a beautiful voice.” Gaia knocked on the door “Chrysalis please open the door.”
Chrysalis stayed in her room not answering him, she knew that Gaia probably did not mean it but it still hurt and she would not be seen crying, that she was determined of. After a while of silence she heard Gaia talking to the young girls that were with him.
“Umm Gaia, what was that just now?” Lightningdust asked.
Gaia who was now sitting leaning against the door looked up at the girls “Oh, I forgot you were here.”
“Obviously” she replied. “But I want to know what that was all about.”
“Oh, that? We fight all the time; it’s more like a second nature now.”
“But why?” Lightningdust pressed letting Gaia know that she was not going to drop the subject.
Gaia sighed to himself “Well, you see…Chrysalis and I, we used to be engaged.”
“WHAT!!!” all four girls shouted at once in pure shock and disbelief.
“It’s true; I first meet her at a meeting with many other powerful leaders of the different tribes of Equestria. That was of course before she became the Queen of the Changelings.” Gaia looked at the door “She used to be a beautiful alicorn princess. That was a long time ago though, before her father King Sombra went insane and did unspeakable experiments on the creatures in Equestria. He was actually the one that made the changelings with his dark magic. He wanted to make an army that could disguise themselves as anypony and find those who were plotting against him. The experiment was a success and he decided to make Chrysalis a changeling as well so she could take charge of his new army.” He looked at the door again “It is true that I meet her before that, but during that time Celestia, Discord, The Griffin king Mad Beak, the rouge tribes, and I were busy fighting for control of Equestria. I only really had the time to get to know Chrysalis after she was changed. Her father and I had a temporary alliance against Mad Beak. During that time Chrysalis and I fought together and I will admit, we fell in love. Every chance we had we would meet each other, fight our enemies together, and hold important council together in the wildflowers staring at the night sky. Then one day we even became engaged, it was a truly happy time.”
“But it didn’t last?” Lightningdust asked.
“No, the king found out and severed our truce by attacking my forces, catching us by complete surprise. I should have expected it, during that time it wasn’t uncommon for alliances to be made and broken, sometimes in the same day. I guess that I didn’t want to believe that it could happen. Eventually we beat them off but Chrysalis and I in that one move were forced to be enemies. Eventually the King was forced into a corner and defeated but not before he vanished along with the crystal kingdom. After that though Chrysalis and I never meet again.”
“So you two are enemies?”
“No, it’s complicated, really, really complicated.” Gaia looked at the girls “We just drifted apart.”
“Not to mention” Chrysalis shouted through the door “that he had a direct role in my father’s demise.”
“I thought that you hated your father for changing you into a changeling” Gaia replied through the door.
“I did, but he was still my father, besides I kind of like the way I am now.”
“I just wished that they could have seen what you looked like before, it would blow their minds.”
“They can” Chrysalis replied and opened her door. The pony that was standing there was not the buggy looking queen that they saw before but was instead a beautiful gold alicorn. Being from the Crystal Empire she had a crystal coat which shimmered in a radiant glow about her. Her main looked like it was made of rich deep blue sapphire which was mixed of all kinds of different shades. Chrysalis’s wings and horn though were the most amazing of all her features for they were clear but when light shown upon them they radiated with all the color’s known to ponykind and even some that were not. Her features and beauty were unmatched by nopony in Equestria. The one thing that remained though were her dark green eyes which were like jade.”
“You’re beautiful” Lyra commented.
“That she is” Gaia replied “always thought it a shame that your father didn’t think so though.”
“Yes, I believe that is one of the reasons that he changed me into a changeling. I reminded him too much of what used to be, the happy times, before he became mad” Chrysalis replied. “However I now can understand his actions better” she replied dropping the shape of her old self and becoming the changeling queen once again.
“She used to be called the most beautiful pony in Equestria, funny how ponies change their minds so quickly when a ponies looks change.”
“I still had callers even after I changed!” she protested.
“Really?”
“Of course, I remember one strong upstanding Stallion who had a particular fancy towards me. We even went out before I found out what an insignificant, scruffy, no good, contriving, deadbeat he was.”
“Really? I never knew that you had such a promising offer” Gaia joked. “What happened with you and this outstanding gentlecolt.”
“We got engaged” she replied with a smug grin. All the girls laughed at this comment even Gaia gave a slight chuckle; he had a feeling that was where she was going with that story. “However there was one particular Stallion Youngberch, do you remember him? He was the prince of the Island of Jade long before I was changed.”
“I remember him, he was a scrappy little fellow” Gaia replied.
“He once asked my hoof in marriage and when I refused, he locked himself in his tower for three years. When he finally came out he was completely mad and married himself to a piece of moss convinced that it was me.”
“A suitable substitute” Gaia replied getting back at her for the last crack she made about him.
“I walked right into that one didn’t I?”
“That you did, you’re out of practice.”
Chrysalis looked at the girls “You four must be starved.” She then called to one of her minions who came swiftly into the room “prepare a banquet for my guest” she ordered him. The changeling saluted and scurried off into the dark tunnel. “Come girls” she said and started to follow the same path that the changeling had taken. The feast that the queen had prepared was marvelous and the girls ate without any sort of table manners showing just how grateful they were for the food after a whole day of nothing to eat. The table was long and filled with all sorts of fruits and grasses which were soaked in soup broth. But two at the table didn’t seem to notice the splendor upon the table and was not lured to it although the smell was enough to beckon anypony to any of its juicy portions.
Gaia sat there and just poked his food not having any sort of appetite which could also be said of Chrysalis who spent most of her time at the table staring at a cup of grape juice thinking deep thoughts, some of which were from ancient times. When the meal was over it was getting very late indeed. Gaia looked at the four girls who having their stomachs filled were now on the verge of sleep and barely could keep themselves from nodding off. They went to the hives exit where Gaia instructed Trixie to teleport the girls back which she did. Once he saw them off he turned to Chrysalis.
“Thanks for the hospitality, dinner was quite satisfying” Gaia replied. “I see that your minions cooking have improved over the years. I still can’t get that gruel’s taste out of my mouth from the war.”
“That was one of the first things that I had to change once the war was over.”
“As you should, that in my opinion, out of all the evil powers that were used in the war was the most horrid of them all. I’m surprised that I ever survived it.” Chrysalis was quite unsure what to say and stood there her body shifting with uneasiness. “I should go” Gaia finally replied.
“Wait!” Gaia turned around to see Chrysalis walking over to him and to his surprise she embraced him in a hug not a hard or awkward hug but a soft and mellow one “I missed you” she began to silently cry. The changelings that were near enough to their queen to hear the conversation stared at her dumbfounded but she did not care what they thought. “Why didn’t you let me know you were not trapped in the sun?”
Now it was Gaia’s turn to shift uneasily “I couldn’t, not after what I did.”
“That’s in the past Gaia, I’m not mad about it anymore” she replied.
“You don’t understand Chrysalis, I caused your grief. It was I that defeated your father and his army and it was I that forced his exile. I even failed to save him when he came back, now he is in the ether, to mad to make it back, he is lost.”
“I know, by the time I heard of his return it was too late. The Crystal Empires stone eradicated him from existence. I had hoped that he would come back, but like you said I don’t think he knows how to anymore.” She then began to cry even louder “First father disappeared then I thought I lost you to Celestia, I couldn’t bear it and swore vengeance upon her. I was alone…so alone.”
Gaia hugged her close “I’m sorry, I didn’t think that you would want to see me again after what I did, but you’re not alone, not anymore.”
After a while she looked up at him “You still want to continue with your plan?”
“Of course, I have a promise to keep to those girls, after all; they have their own demons that they must face at the games.”
“Just like you” Chrysalis said drying her eyes “Stubborn as always.”
“Would you want it any other way?” he joked.
“No, I guess not.”
They ended their embrace and Gaia started his magic “See you later bug face” he smiled.
“Until then, lizard breath” Chrysalis smiled back as he teleported away.
The queen stared at the spot Gaia was long after he had teleported away then with a heavy sigh she headed back into the hive.