//------------------------------// // A Princess's Coronation and a Queen's Lament // Story: Guardians of Light: A Shadow Forms // by Alphadude007 //------------------------------// Guardians of Light: A Shadow Forms Chapter 1-A Princess's Coronation and a Queen's Lament -Canterlot Castle courtyard- Canterlot was normally bustling at this time of the day. Ponies would travel to and fro doing their daily affairs, the social elite would be relaxing and enjoying the privileges of society, and children would be learning Equestrian geography in school. But today was not a normal day. Crowds filled the Canterlot Castle courtyard as cheers and shouts of happiness and praise rose up at the pony that made herself present. Just a day ago, she was a simple unicorn that worked as a local librarian in the small village of Ponyville. Today, she was a princess. Twilight was exuberant as her chariot was pulled down the happy streets of Canterlot. Everything she could have hoped for was happening. She had faced multiple trials that had tested both herself and her friends. In the end, Twilight and her friends had come out on top every time. She had taken tests and passed them all with flying colors. She had proven that she was capable of handling the duties of a princess. And now here she was, surrounded by loyal subjects and her closest friends. To think that in only a few short years, she would go from a socially awkward egghead to an amiable pony that would be a close friend to everypony she knew. The lavender pony knew better than to credit herself. Twilight knew it was because of the ponies she met on that first day in Ponyville that she would become what she was today. She looked down at her friends on the street. The loyal Rainbow Dash, the honest Applejack, the glamorous Rarity, the jubilant Pinkie Pie, and the mild Fluttershy. Each of them helped Twilight along the way to becoming a princess. And now here they were, trotting down Canterlot in a parade to celebrate Twilight's coronation. Twilight smiled as she began to wave to her subjects and sing joyously. "Life in Equestria shimmers, life in Equestria shines!" She sung as she caught a bouquet of colorful flowers. As her chariot neared her friends, she leapt off and joined them in a trot down the streets. She glanced at her dear friends and resumed singing. "And I know for absolute certain…" She sung, allowing her friends to help her in singing the joyous tune. Twilight and her friends continued singing as they passed the celebrating citizens of Canterlot. "That everything... yes everything... yes everything is certainly fine!" They sang as the song reached a crescendo. From the top of the castle overlooking the coronation parade, Princesses Celestia and Luna looked upon the ceremony with great happiness. The princess of the sun was proud to see the pony Twilight had become as years of teaching and studying had paid off. Luna looked at all the elation and looked at Celestia thoughtfully, feeling the same delight emanating from her sister. Down on the streets, Twilight and her friends reached a balcony that overlooked the lands of Equestria. As they finished singing, Twilight spread her wings and took off into the friends watched from the balcony as their new princess flew away. "Yes! Everything is going to be just fine!" Twilight exclaimed joyously as she flew over the cheering crowds and into the sky. -Changeling Hive- She looked over her kingdom. All she saw was sadness. Normally the hive was bustling with activity as drones extracted love from the pods, but not in recent months. Her drones buzzed about, looking for some love to feed on. The hive had never been the same since the failed Canterlot attack. She looked at the empty green pods, her hungry subjects, and the lack of activity she was seeing in the hive. She exited her chamber's balcony and went inside. Chrysalis felt a strange mix of emotions. The ones she felt would not normally be associated with one another. These included anger, sadness, desperation and, strangely, contentment. She felt anger towards herself and her subjects for failing to obtain love to feed on. They had come so close to taking Canterlot and being able to feed for months on the love they would have harvested, but it was not meant to be. Who did Chrysalis blame? Herself? The drones of her hive? Or fate itself? Whatever the case, her changelings were still starving regardless of where the fault lay. The changeling queen felt sadness towards what her precious hive had become in recent weeks. Before the Canterlot invasion, the hive was busy with activity. The big green love pods that dotted the ground of the hive would be full of creatures big and small. From those creatures they could extract love to feed on for days depending on the creature. The mood of the hive was generally upbeat and its dwellers felt confident in the strength of the hive. However, after the failed assault on the Equestrian capital, all that changed. Drones no longer had motivation to go out and seek creatures to feed off of. As a result, the state of the hive began to stagnate. Pods were less and less filled and changelings continued living a starving existence. Chrysalis felt desperation for what she would do to help her children be restored to their pre-invasion state. Her drones were the most important beings in the world to her. She felt their pain as well as their happiness. If it meant giving herself to the hive for love, she would do it if no other option remained. And finally, she felt an odd feeling of contentment, a poisonous serenity that weighed heavily in her chest. It was the feeling that the state of her hive couldn't get any worse and it wouldn't be getting better any time soon. If that were the case, why bother trying to make it better? Chrysalis knew that line of thought was a dangerous one to follow, yet she had felt an unusual feeling of demotivation in the past few days. It was more of a lingering thought in the back of her mind than an actual attitude she carried with her during the day. Whether she carried out the thought or not, it still scared her that the thought even existed in her mind. Chrysalis gave a defeated sigh. "So close to victory…" The queen said to herself, her perforated wings buzzing in irritation. They were so close to victory and so far from defeat. She had even defeated Princess Celestia herself for buck's sake! And yet in the blink of an eye, she and her subjects were blasted out of the Equestrian capital. In the changelings' hour of victory, they only tasted defeat. Never had they found more love than in the land of Equestria, and yet they were denied it. "…but here we stand in this pit of ruin." Don't they realize that we need to feed on love to survive? She thought, thinking about the physical state of her subjects. Changelings were naturally skinny, but recently her drones had become so malnourished that even the most starved creatures of the forest would look well fed compared to the changelings of her hive. Just to survive, the strongest of the hive would have to feed on the weaker ones. Chrysalis cringed at the memories of seeing her children feeding off each other. When the unfortunate changeling's love was sucked out completely, the empty husk would be thrown out of the hive for the animals to devour. She hated it, but if that is what it would take to survive, then necessary evils had to be done. Chrysalis paced in her chamber. The changeling queen tried to think of how to find love to feed on without risking the safety of her subjects, but nothing came to mind. The queen of the changelings heaved a sigh of resignation. Hoofsteps behind her drew her attention from her thoughts. Chrysalis looked behind her to see Raspian, her captain of the guard, standing in the entryway to her chambers. By changeling standards, Raspian usually stood tall and strong, but the lack of food was certainly taking a toll on his figure. At first glance, he looked like any other changeling, save for the lack of perforating holes in his front left leg. "Milady, permission to enter?" The captain requested. "I bring urgent news." "You may enter, Raspian." Chrysalis addressed the changeling captain. Raspian responded by stepping past her chamber's doorway and entering her chambers. "What news is it that you bring me?" Chrysalis asked. Right now, any kind of news was something she could use. "Your highness, our scout drones have located a strong concentration of love not far from here." Raspian said with a hiss. "How strong was the concentration?" the changeling queen asked, her eyes lighting up at the sound of food. Depending on the strength of the love source, the love source's presence could be felt anywhere from a meter away to a mile by any changeling. "One of the scouts said that they felt the source's power almost two miles away." Raspian said, earning a shocked look from his queen. That can't be. It's too good to be true. Chrysalis thought as a large smile found its way onto her face. "Is it another band of ponies?" She asked eagerly. The last time a small pony caravan dared to venture into her domain, the changelings had love to last a few months. And if it was a group of ponies, then Chrysalis would be able to take some form of vengeance on ponykind. "We do not believe so, your Majesty. This love source was felt in the mountainous region south of the Crystal Empire. Pony caravans would have considerable difficulty moving through that kind of terrain." Raspian responded. Chrysalis pondered this. While slightly disappointed that it wasn't a group of ponies, it aroused new suspicions as to what the love source could be. "And you said that it is south of the Crystal Empire?" Chrysalis asked, raising an eyebrow. "The northern part of the mountainous region to the south, yes. Just outside of Princess Cadence's jurisdiction." Raspian said. How convenient. Perhaps too convenient. Chrysalis thought as she began walking under the cave arch that exited her quarters. Could the love source be a trap set up by some creature of the mountains? Maybe. Not knowing what could be the origin of the love source both interested and terrified the changeling queen. The source of love could have been anything from a population of cute snow rabbits to a ferocious yeti. Chrysalis made up her mind and began walking through the exit of her chambers and into the exit tunnel of the cave. The possible outcomes to help her children outweighed the possible risks of the journey. "My lady, where are you going?" Raspian asked, concerned for his queen. Having participated in the Canterlot battle, he knew he couldn't risk her going by herself so close to pony-controlled territory again. He followed her as she continued down the cave. "To find this love source. My people need sustenance, Raspian. My intention is to find it and bring it back." She said as she strolled towards the cave entrance. Sunlight filled the entryway, causing the changeling queen and her guard to squint at the bright light. "Begging your pardon, majesty, but I cannot let you go alone." Raspian said, giving his queen a stern look. Chrysalis looked behind her and gave the changeling captain a thoughtful look. "Then come with me on this search. If you insist on protecting me, then your only option is to escort me on this endeavor. Let the administrators handle the day-to-day affairs." Chrysalis said, spreading her wings. "Besides, if there is two of us, the more ground we will be able to cover." Raspian unfurled his green transparent wings. "Very well, your majesty. I will accompany you to this source." Raspian complied. As soon as the words left his mouth, Chrysalis took off into the air, her wings buzzing as they flapped. Hesitantly, her captain began flying close behind her. Chrysalis began thinking about what Raspian had reported. A love source felt from two miles away? With a love source that strong, we will have enough food to last us until the end of next year! Chrysalis thought as she began to fly faster towards the northern mountains, her captain trying to keep pace. Should there be pony intervention, monsters, or demons from Tartarus, it would not stop her from feeding her people.