Chrysalis Wins
Ch.48 “Unexpected Reception”
-Embassy luncheon hall, Canterlot
“I’m sorry your ladiness!”
Lethal the lightning dragon quickly righted himself off of the floor and scooped up the changeling he had fallen on. As soon as he got up she let out a loud gasp and her eyes bulged.
With a nimble motion he seized her by the wings with one set of claws, before he took his other paw and started to dust her off. When the large scaly appendage started to pat her down, Chrysalis made a furious growl.
“Put me down! NOW!”
The dragon immediately obeyed while he smiled with embarrassment.
“Didn’t mean to come in quite like that, still finessing my bolt jumping and all. Good thing you’re a tough cookie though! Sorry again…”
Chrysalis buzzed her wings to clear some dust before she shot Lethal a lethal glare.
“I don’t want your apologies!”
She all but screeched. The fire in her voice caused a dead silence in the hall. The royal changeling felt the silence creep around her, and she started to feel a little self conscious. Her mane and tail were thoroughly disheveled and full of rubble, one of her wings had a bad kink in it, and soot dirtied her entire body. All of this right infront of more dignitaries than she had ever seen in one room before… To say she was burned up inside would put it mildly.
So, to escape the humiliation she turned tail for the exit and galloped away. When she came to the doors she blasted them off their hinges and ran on as if nothing was in her way. All the while her jaw was clenched, and she screamed muffled obscenities.
Shifty the vanguard stood there at a loss of what to do. Luckily the queen sent her a quick message.
Stay there and finish what we intended to do.
The anger was still clear in the mental message.
When the queen had presumably left ear shot hushed whispers flurried about the hall.
---
( Germane Table )
“She’s an unstable wench!”
SMACK!
“Ow! What was that for Malleable?”
“The first thing you have to say is insults! Prism, she just had a slagging dragon fall on her!”
“And she ran away screeching like a filly…”
“I’ve half a mind to ask that scaly beast to sit on you! Just do me a favor and weld that mouth shut.”
“I’ll do no such thing when we’re talking amongst ourselves. I’ll be honest as what my eyes see.”
“You’ll be tactful or I’ll drop the anvil!”
“Both of you calm down, let’s not start a brawl at the lunch table.”
Another stallion tried to interrupt the two, and for his efforts he got two mugs of silvered cider tossed in his golden face.
“Brawl it is then.”
The golden stallion flipped over the table, and tackled both Prism and Malleable. Loud ‘clang’ noises rang across the hall as metal hooves connected with iron hard bodies.
The remaining three Germane ponies looked at each other, then the brawl next to them. All three of them shrugged, and one of them muttered.
“A good ol’ fight would help me forget that awkward queen.”
“Aye!”
“Aye!”
Two mares and a stallion knocked mugs together before they chugged down the rest of their respective drafts. As soon as each mug hit the table formalities we put aside, and the knockin’ fun began!
It was quite musical really, as each of the germane ponies beat each other senseless they rang like a symphony of brass in orchestra.
(A Prench table)
“Ooo lala. She’s even more unstable and immature than I thought weehehe. This is going to be easy!”
“My my and uglier than the contents of a month old sink. Hahaha! And conscious about it too! HA!”
Fromage and Salete put hooves over their mouths to keep from a violent bout of laughter. Meanwhile Mignon backed up and away in fear.
“Eeee! There is too much dirt in the air! My beauty can’t handle it!”
“Oh quiet Mignon, you can clean up after lunch.”
“But Ziss took hours!”
The tragically beautiful mare started to fan herself to keep from fainting. Unfortunately the condition only got worse, because the large lightning drake decided to sit down. Without a look to where his rump actually went. It happened to be right on top of Fromage’s and Salete’s table, which included Fromage and Salete as well. Mignon was barely missed, but something worse than being mushed by dragon rump happened to her.
Lethal shook himself to get the residual dirt and flexed his wings. The collective dirt and dust was launched all around. Mignon became dirtier than kitchen maid who had a bag of flower dumped on her.
“I, I, my beauty…”
She fainted, her beauty having been slain.
(Minotaur table)
“Wow…”
Tall, Chipper and Midgy watched the changeling queen as she sprinted out of the dining hall. None of them even noticed that their playing cards and chips had caught fire.
“Um…”
Talltoll made in dumbstruck observance.
“That’s slightly troubling…”
Chipper mused.
“This changes some terms…”
When each of them had a moment to think about it, each eventually noticed the pile of ashes in front of them. They looked at each other and back to the charcoaled game, and back to each other again.
“Well, how are we supposed to make deals if she gets irrationally flustered so quickly?”
Tall formulated his thoughts first.
“I can’t say my composure would maintain under such circumstances. I’ll give her a chance if we get something more formal going. In fact, building her confidence may be a tool we can use to get her to do what we want.”
Chipper rocked his head side to side as he debated with himself.
“You’ve got the right idea Chipper, some simple sweet talk and a smile will get us much further than what I planned. Oh I do love vanity, especially when it’s possessed on the other side of the table.”
The midget minotaur tapped his fingers together in a repeated and orderly fashion.
(Griffin pads)
“My bits!”
The Griffonstone ambassador scurried around in a panic to try and pick up what he had dropped.
The Wunduree griffons just sat there with wide eyes and didn’t utter a word. The saddle Arabians on the other hand began a hushed conversation. Delta first voiced her shock.
“Oh my… the poor dear.”
“I must agree, that wasn’t a fair way to market her dignity.”
Crescent narrowed his brow in pity as he reminisced of their last encounter with the queen. She had been curt, but respectable at Fancy’s luncheon. There was clearly plenty on the queen’s plate, and the last thing she needed was some oaf to trip her up infront of every party. Delta continued to voice her thoughts.
“Frankly I’m surprised she didn’t just blast him in the face for that.”
“I give her credit for not starting something. The wrong action in this room could start a war, one she really wouldn’t want right now. I don’t think she even has the rest of the country unified, let alone preparation for a serious ordeal.”
“Hmm, this certainly doesn’t project her confidence.”
(Hippocampus pond)
Jade almost immediately leapt out of the water when the queen disappeared down the hall. Her magical nature allowed her to float along in the air as she neared the lightning dragon. Her crimson companion was not far behind, and neither of them was amused.
“LETHAL!”
“I already said I was sorry, what more do you want?”
“By the kraken’s abyss why’d you have to crash in?”
“I meant to finish a few miles away from here and glide in, but something pinched me. I don’t even know what it was.”
The dragon squirmed a little where he sat, which pushed a certain prench table further into the ground. The crimson hippocampus sighed as he kept his voice level.
“Did Lord Golden Spoon even give you a gift to deliver?”
“Oh right! Thanks Chorus! Oh… but her ladiness probably won’t want to talk to me right now.”
“You think…”
“Hey, being an awesome lightning dragon is harder than it looks, ok?”
“Whatever, you should probably just leave Golden Spoon’s gift with us, we’ll see it delivered.”
“Alright, I can see I’m too much for this crowd. See ya round, Jade, Chorus.”
Lethal pulled off a satchel that was attached to one of his wings and pawed it over to the hippocampi. It was of moderate size, and easily handled by the aqueous equines. When it was secured the dragon stood up and shook himself off one more time.
A flattened Fromage and Salete flopped off his backside before he jumped up through the hole he had made in the roof. The flattened prench ponies slowly re-inflated while they were in a state of wide-eyed paralysis. Meanwhile Jade floated over to Chorus’s side.
“Well, what did Golden Spoon prepare?”
“We shouldn’t be so invasive Jade.”
“We might save the queen further embarrassment if we get some stupid gag out of the way.”
“Fair point…”
Chorus opened up the satchel and peered inside.
“Huh… that’s interesting.”
“What is it?”
( Dragon table )
Ebony’s herald observed the changeling royalty dash out in fit. His face was level until the door was blasted away, then he cracked a smile.
“This is going to be even better than I thought, Perhaps this will be worth looking forward too. Do you agree Ebony?”
The large obsidian pendant about his neck hummed and swirled.
“Hmm, I will catch her at the earliest convenience.”
The grey drake roused himself, and emptied both bowls of gems into his mouth, and swallowed without chewing. A broad smile cracked itself over his pearly fangs.
---
Goff saw the stormy pace the queen ran with, and raised an eyebrow at her aggressive exit. He shot a quick glance at Ebony’s herald, and saw that he smiled.
This made Goff frown, what could he do to get Raker ahead in this situation? Probably talk to the queen before that other fat drake could. The predatory glint in his rival’s eyes made the intention obvious.
“Shove it grey snake, she’s going hate you if I get the first word.”
Raker was strong, but if Ebony’s position was ever to be challenged he would need help.
(Zebzeb table)
“Dat be some bad juju mon.”
Bobway the hippo scratched at his muzzle as he leaned back. The giraffe at the table finished another coconut drink before she chipped in.
“She was a bit shorter than I thought she’d be.”
“Everybody be short to ya Hemra…”
“That’s not true, da dragon over there is tall. Haven’t seen one of his size indoors before.”
“Oi, and he shouldn’t be in doors, let alone crashin’ in like that. Coulda killed somebody.”
“Lethal be a bit of an odd name too.”
The hippo sighed as he brushed a little dust and rubble off his shoulder.
“Hmm, ya sure that was the boss lady though? Coulda been a smaller boss just pokin’ her face in. This only be lunch after all.”
“I think so, we didn’t see any creecha else like dat on the way in.”
“That be too bad then, bit more temperamental than I woulda liked. Guess we’ll just have to be careful on our toes.”
“I’m always careful on my toes Bobway, can’t say the same for you, or Zorro.”
“Speakin’ of Zorro, where be dat zebra?”
With a grunt the hippo righted himself and peered around for their black and white companion. Hemra made a dismissive wave.
“He was probably spooked by the noise, we’ll catch him later.”
“If ya say so…”
Bobway started to scoop up all the empty coconuts Hemra left on the table, and plop them into his mouth.
(Embassy hallway)
Once Chrysalis rounded a corner down the hallway her pace slowed down, and she looked into the adjacent rooms. She wanted to wash up before she exposed her face to the public again. Just after her eyes spotted the room she desired a Zebzeban voice called out to her.
“Wait there boss-lady!”
She instantly tensed and rounded on the individual who dared to call out to her in this state. It turned out to be that Zebra with the ridiculous afro. She gave a dismissive sneer and turned back towards the bathrooms.
“I’m not interested in talking right now.”
“If you’re interested in stayin’ alive, then ya want to be talkin’ to me…”
“What!”
Anger flared in the queen and she rounded on the smaller equine, her fangs bared and wings spread. The zebra didn’t flinch in the slightest, and continued toward her. When he got too close she knocked him down and placed a hoof over his chest.
“Are you making a threat!”
“-cough- nah boss-lady, -wheeze- a warnin’ about other parties.”
“Then spit it out…”
“I can’t trust any creecha to overhear this, ya got some where private?”
“Gaw! If this is a joke I will personally package you back to Zebzeb!”
“Ya can wrap me up all ya like if I’m wrong. But I’m not wrong lady.”
The queen scrutinized the flat and serious expression on the zebra’s face. She gave a sniff to scout out his emotions. What disturbed her was that she got absolutely nothing… Not a single emotion could be discerned. The way his lips were pursed and how he shifted uncomfortably made it look like he felt things. But in her changeling senses he was a ghost.
She looked over and saw a nearby unoccupied room, so she seized the zebra in her magic, and trotted in to the room and shut the door behind. When it was closed she turned back to her quarry.
“Well?”
“Not quite enough.”
Chrysalis became very startled when a flash of purple magic encompassed the door, and turned into incandescent flames. It spread across the room and over to the windows. Curiously the fire didn’t destroy what it touched but remained in a hazy wave.
“Now, let’s discuss some real business, shall we… Queen Chrysalis.”
The voice startled her even more than the magical fire. It was a strong baritone, and possessed none of the accent of Zebzeb.
The zebra looked up at her with his afro pulled back, two rings of light shone from his eyes, and his pupils became thin slits.
“Who are you?”
“That isn’t terribly important right now. See, what I have to ask you is… Are you suicidal?”
“What? No!”
“THEN WHAT INFERNAL PIT FIEND CONVINCED YOU THAT COMING IN THE OPEN WAS A GOOD IDEA!”
The volume and intensity of his shout took her aback. She hadn’t expected the zebra was capable of it, or the magic for that matter… but still. She shook her head before she processed what was shouted at her exactly. She still had trouble getting over the Zebra’s eyes of all things.
“What are you?”
“You can’t guess already?”
“If you are what I think you are… I would be incredibly frustrated.”
The Zebra rolled his eyes a bit and clenched his jaw, before purple flames rolled over his form, and melted away the disguise. His short limbs lengthen, his mane went from black to light lavender, and his skin greyed, and morphed into chitin.
When the change was complete he stood there with a critical frown, and he remained silent while she examined him. He was a deal taller than her, perhaps a little taller than Crone. Long spines protruded out of his mane, and followed like a pattern behind his long curved horn.
He let her ogle for a while longer, but when she reached out a hoof to touch, he backed away. With a stamp of his hoof he recaptured her attention, in a different way. When he spoke next, her eyes were brought back up to his.
“I have to question. How long have you been queen of your swarm?”
“Thirty years.”
“Only thirty?”
She didn’t like the tone he questioned her with, and her muzzle slanted. She growled back and took offence.
“Thirty is an extremely respectable time for what I’ve had to put up with!”
“No doubt, I am as fascinated as I am appalled at what you’ve done.”
“Care to explain?”
“Well, where to start… By the way you looked at me it appears you had doubts other royals existed.”
“I… did.”
“So you’re an isolation case and utterly unaware of us.”
The royal male dragged a hoof over his face, and rolled his jaw about as if there was a nasty kink in it. The queen ignored his gestures, and focused on the ‘us’.
“Well if the rest of you… wait, how many royals are there? I’ve looked all over the place for other swarms but found nothing!”
“There are atleast three other living royals I know of, you make it four.”
Chrysalis fell back on her rump, and stared at nothing in particular. She felt utterly blindsided… why hadn’t Shellish taught her more? The kingly changeling noticed the bewilderment that had over taken her.
“Sorry to press on, but there is a lot at stake here. At least a lot at stake for you…”
“What are you talking about.”
“Well, you violated some pretty big rules, rules that our kind has kept rather unanimously for millennia. I say it lightly, when I say the rest of our peers are furious.”
“W-what?”
“Frankly I’m surprised you aren’t dead yet… The only reason I think you’re still breathing is pure hesitation. You acted with such gall as to reveal yourself and our kind to the world. Planted yourself on top of one of the most affluent nations, and put your own face on the flag no less… Queen More probably thinks you have some trap laid in place for the other swarms. Your revelation would be too fool hardy otherwise.”
“Queen More?”
“Since I am here, and unmolested, I’m afraid you’re as ignorant and blind as you appeared. Set yourself up for a nice tragedy you did.”
“Grr, stop speaking around the bush, you said you have a warning for me?”
When she growled at him, he just gave her a sad look.
“You’re compromised. As soon as the other royals figure that out they will tear you and your swarm to shreds. You’ve already directed your swarm to make itself even more vulnerable on top of that… Tell them all to breed? Seriously? What other handicaps do you want to instill on yourself?”
“What makes you so sure they can take me on? I have access to all the love I want here!”
“You’ve exposed yourself… I’m only blindsiding you with information, they’re going to blindside you with everything. They don’t need to fight you themselves. There’s already an upset nation that would not be difficult to manipulate and embolden against you. Also it’s a little late to go back into disguises. They know you’re here, and they’ll be looking for you.”
Chrysalis’s eyes widened further and further as her bravado deflated. The more the other royal spoke, the more, and more vulnerable she felt.
“If it’s true that you’ve only been queen for thirty years, then your unseen rivals out scale your experience by over a thousand years. Celestia you may have bested, but she didn’t spend all of her time in the dark, did she… No infact, Celestia was right where we wanted her… until you decided to piss in the well, and expose ALL OF US! Now every nation is going to be suspicious, and work on methods to discover us. We need to wipe all of their minds and make them forget we exist! A monumental task that hasn’t been accomplish since queen Sly. Otherwise they will discover our dependence on them, and destroy us with it. But wait… You went ahead and told them we feed on love… didn’t you…”
The queen’s eye developed a ferocious twitch, and she trembled head to hoof. Her breaths became stuttered and irregular, this all added up to more than she wanted to think about. She could barely keep herself from being over taken by panic. Her voice barely whispered out.
“What should I do?”
“Why are you asking me for advice? You really shouldn’t trust me either.”
“Then why did you tell me all of this?”
“I was curious about an unaccounted for royal, and wanted an understanding of your intentions. Now that I have acquired that, I’m satisfied.”
“And?”
“What?”
“What are you going to do? If all the other royals are as willing to end me as you say, then why haven’t you?”
The kingly changeling sighed, and set himself down on a cushion. He cracked a weak smile at her question.
“Perhaps I’m just a little tired of how things have worked over the last hundred years. To share an honest word, I hoped you were as unaware as you seemed.”
“…”
“It meant I had the chance to meet another royal that wasn’t an inherent enemy.”
A sniffle escaped her muzzle after she heard that, and she defensively raised a hoof to rub an itch that developed there. Her breath came out as a melancholy shudder, then something seemed to break in her expression.
“hehahhehohAHAHAHAHA!”
“What’s so amusing?”
“HAHAhheheh, after all this time thinking I was alone, when I finally discover there are others, I’m told they want me dead…”
“It wasn’t that way 150 years ago, there were hundreds of us.”
“Hundreds!?”
“Then King Hubris started something that went out of control, but I don’t think you have time to hear it all.”
“Time…”
“If you really want to hear my opinion, then it is this. Take inventory of you most important items, and retreat somewhere secure.”
“Where is secure?”
“Well, where ever you hid for the last thirty years could be a start.”
“NO!”
“Um, alright then, somewhere you absolutely know is not infiltrated.”
“Hmm… One other thing.”
"Yes?"
"You know my name..."
"Oh, well, the other royals know me as Specter."