//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Kings and Queens // Story: The Changelings Have a King // by Jade Ring //------------------------------// The Bad Lands Present Day She found him standing atop the highest peak in their kingdom. The harsh desert winds blew against his face but he did not blink. The years had done him well in the form department. While he bore the same thin shape and membranous legs as his fellow Changelings, he had retained more of his equine musculature. It gave him a more swollen, full appearance. As a result, he looked stronger than the average Changeling. Chrysalis made her way to his side and rubbed her cheek against his, thrilling once again at having someone that shared her height for the first time in centuries. “Does something trouble you, my love?” He shook his head but did not look away from the direction in which he stared. Chrysalis did her best to follow his gaze. “What are you looking at?” “Ponyville.” His voice was deep and strong, no trace remaining of the petulant whiner he had once been. “Why?” “I dreamed of her again.” Chrysalis nodded. “The unicorn. The one who embarrassed you.” King Carapace’s eyes narrowed, not from irritation but from rage. “That was the last night I could show my face in Canterlot without at least one pony laughing at me. I spent months planning some form of revenge. The little wench finally did set foot in Canterlot, and I was actually forced to swallow my pride and stand beside her at a social gathering thanks to that damnable Fancy Pants. I swore the next time I saw that ugly face of hers, I would make my move. And then…” “I claimed you.” She pouted. “Are you upset with me, my king?” Carapace found himself starting to smile. “Not at all, my queen. You’ve given me a great gift. In fact, this may all turn out better than I had hoped.” Her lips pulled up into a smirk. “You say that like you’re planning something.” “Oh, I am. I have been these past few years. It’s one of the things that drives me most, that keeps me alive in this wasteland.” Chrysalis closed her eyes. “Not the only thing, I hope.” Carapace froze as a strange new odor filled his nostrils. A tingling sensation flooded his body, spreading from his hooves up to the point of his new jagged horn. He turned his blazing green eyes and finally focused on his queen. “You smell… divine today.” “Only today?” Chrysalis let out a sound akin to a giggle. Carapace’s driving need for vengeance was forced from his mind as Chrysalis’ pheromones did their work. “It’s different, I mean. It’s not a normal scent. You smell, I don’t know how to put this, but… ready.” Chrysalis’ wings buzzed with anticipation. “Yes. That’s exactly what I am.” Carapace’s eyes widened, a smirk of his own crossing his lips. “Ah. After all these years?” “It’s been a hard wait for me as well.” She brought her lips to his in a rough kiss. “Fulfill your role, my love.” She hissed when they parted. Instincts he had not been born with sent signals to various parts of Carapace’s body. “What do I do?” She looked upward. “Fly with me.” Synchronized, the rulers of the Changelings took flight. Down below, Molt and the hundred or so remaining Changeling drones looked up and watched as their mother began the ancient, airborne mating dance of their kind with her kingly husband. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Caverns beneath Canterlot Castle “Wait here.” The unicorn guard called Flail froze and looked back at his princess. “Ma’am?” “You will wait here.” Celestia repeated. “I will proceed alone.” “But your highness…” The goddess looked down at him and offered a gentle smile. “You are certain this is the last place Joust led them?” Flail nodded. “Then, as he has not returned, it is clear that whatever lays ahead is beyond even the most elite of my guards.” She placed a hoof on his shoulder when they dipped in defeat. “You will go back one thousand paces and face the cavern entrance. You will not turn, no matter what you hear, until I call for you. Is that clear?” Flail nodded. “What is in there, your majesty?” Celestia looked towards the darkness, lighting her horn to illuminate the path. “Something that should have remained undiscovered.” She nodded at him and he dutifully headed back the way they came. Once his hoof-steps had faded entirely, she moved deeper into the caverns. She felt the earth beneath her feet begin to slope downward and listened to the echoing drips of water on the stone walls. She hadn’t gone very far when she heard it moving in front of her. She lessened her light until it was hardly light at all and braced her hooves, ready for anything. “I know you’re there.” She stared straight ahead, trying to see the beast. “Step into the light.” Something hissed at her, a ghastly sound that made her teeth grind. “I know what you are. They call you the Smooze now.” Her eyes flashed at a shadow that quickly retreated. “I was afraid that somepony would release you one day. Where are they? The ponies who came down here?” It hissed again, but this time it sounded closer. “Can you not communicate with me? I know Hydia gave you some semblance of intelligence.” Another shadow darted and she lit her horn a little more. “What do you want?” “…food.” The sound was like a bursting swamp bubble. A foul, noxious odor accompanied the word. “Where are the ponies?” “Here.” Celestia opened her mouth to ask the beast to clarify when something flew at her from the darkness. She made ready to defend herself but froze at the last second when the object landed at her hooves and sent up a cloud of dust. It was a tan pith helmet, coated in a kind of acid that was slowly eating away at it. A slow burning anger began to flood Celestia’s heart, chasing away the sorrow that threatened her. “You ate them.” “Hungry.” “I had hoped to reason with you, to see if you could provide something to my land. But I see now that the pits of Tartarus are still too good for the likes of you. Monster.” “Feed.” The smell grew more powerful and she knew it was getting closer. “You leave me little choice.” The hairs of her coat stood on end as she tapped into a power she had long ago chased into her deepest being. “You have spilled Equestrian blood today, and for that I sentence you to burn.” “Don’t.” The air in the cavern began to heat exponentially. “Even.” Her mane and tail, their appearance similar to never-ending and flowing rainbows, began to spark and ignite. “Try.” Her pupils faded to white, her being full of raw energy. Her cutie mark flashed and began to shine with unbearable brightness. The light, the raw wave of energy that exploded from her, came not from her horn but from her very being. The cavern became as the surface of the sun and, for an instant, she saw an impossibly huge monstrosity, all eyes and gaping mouths. It's quivering mass trembled in fear, rage, and confusion. It shrieked as the power struck it, disintegrating it in a matter of seconds. The fire faded from her heart and she exhaled. Her mane returned to normal, the impossible heat and light faded, and her eyes again became their natural hue. She took several deep breaths to steady herself then lit her horn once again. A tiny purple blob, no bigger than a bit of pond scum, tried to scurry away. "Resilient little beast, aren't you?" Celestia caught it easily and conjured a glass bottle around it. “Corporal Flail?” He was at her side in an instant. He stared around at the cavern, puzzled at why some of the stones appeared to have recently been molten. “Yes ma’am?” She floated the vial before his eyes and found herself slightly amused, despite everything, when he recoiled at the tiny thing now throwing itself against the glass. “Take this to Brother Veritas post haste. He will know what to do with it.” “Yes ma’am.” He looked up at her as she tucked the vial into his saddle-bag. “Are you alright, your highness?” She nodded. “Yes. Just a little worn out. Come, let us…” she took a step. Celestia fell. Flail’s voice, crying out in panic and surprise, followed her into a darkness deeper than that of the caves. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Canterlot Castle “Mama?” The little Prince Moon Shadow poked his head out of the pillow fort he and his mother had just finished constructing. His mother, the Princess Luna, was sprawled across the covers of the large bed, her front half hanging off the edge. “Mama?” Moon Shadow asked again, trying to figure out what new game this was. He carefully made his way to her side and nudged at her wing. Nothing. He prodded at her side with both hooves, trying to rouse her. “Mama, you said no sleeping for a while.” Moon Shadow had no idea how long a ‘while’ was supposed to be, but even his toddler mind knew that nopony was supposed to sleep like that. “Mama, you said we could play.” Still nothing. Moon Shadow’s confusion became fear, and the little unicorn began to cry. “Mama? Mama, please wake up. Mama?” He didn’t like this game. Still, his mother didn’t budge. The frightened tears began in earnest now, and Moon Shadow began to try and shake her, his little horn sparking ineffectually. “MAMA!” He cried, louder and louder. “MAMA!” The doors burst open and Trixie, his mother’s student, ran in. She cast off her cloak’s hood and looked about worryingly. “Moon Shadow? Majesty? What’s…?” she saw Luna and ran to her side. “Moon Shadow? What happened?” But the little prince paid her no mind. He forced his way under the unconscious alicorn’s wing and sobbed into her fur. “Please wake up, Mama. Please wake up.”