The Changelings Have a King

by Jade Ring

Chapter 15: Checkmate

Canterlot Castle

The bedroom of Princess Celestia was the closest thing to holy ground in the whole of Equestria. Few were the ponies who had seen it, let alone set hoof inside.

Never had the grand bedroom held more ponies than it held at that very moment.

Celestia and Luna lay prone on the bed, side by side, their heads propped up on the bed's plush pillows. Their normally flowing manes were still and lay like rolls of silk. Their royal ornamentation had been removed leaving them looking strangely nude and vulnerable.

And weak.

Their chests rose and fell as one, their breaths shallow but still there.

Twilight Sparkle sat at the foot of the bed, two beams of magic stretching from her horn to the horns of the sisters. She gently fed them magic, just enough to keep their hearts beating and their lungs pumping.

The royal physician, Dr. Swine Heart, busied himself between the alicorns, checking their blood pressure and recording their heart rates.

Shining Armor sat at his wife's side, cradling one of her hooves with his own. Moon Shadow had finally fallen asleep and been carried to bed by Trixie and now the unicorn could focus all of his worried attention on the sleeping mare.

Captain Golden Haze stood still as a statue, her face frozen with sternness. Not a muscle moved. She was at perfect attention, a sentry over her princess.

Dr. Swine Heart checked his last reading and sighed in relief. "They're starting to stabilize. Finally." He started gathering tools in his magic and looked to Twilight. "A few more minutes and they'll be able to breathe on their own. If you can give them an hour..."

"I can." Twilight shook off the first hints of weariness from her casting.

"Good. Then they should be up and about by then." His tools flew into his bag which followed him as he left the room.

"Sorry." Flash Sentry bumped into the doctor as he entered the room. "Your majesty?"

The siblings Sparkle each looked at him expectantly.

"Uh... Shining Armor, sir?"

The twice crowned prince shot a look at his escort that warned him not to waste his time.

"Prince Blueblood has just arrived in the castle. He inquired about the princesses and seemed quite upset when I told him they were indisposed. He demanded to see someone royal."

Shining Armor sighed and kissed his wife's hoof. "I guess since Twily's indisposed, that just leaves me." He stood and looked at his little sister, noticing the strain starting to show on her face. "Are you going to be alright?"

She managed a smile and a nod. "I've got this. You go see what Blueblood wants."

Shining Armor rolled his eyes. "Knowing him, he probably wants a royal warrant issued on a pony who splashed mud on his new shoes."

"Same old Blueblood." Twilight's smile faded as something occurred to her. "That's strange."

"What?"

"I don't think I've seen Blueblood since before you and Cadance's wedding. I mean... he wasn't at my coronation, was he?"

Shining smiled and pecked his sister on the top of her head, just as he'd done when she was a filly. "I'll make sure to chastise him for you."

Twilight shook off her confusion and returned her big brother's smile. "Go on. Luna will be here when you get back."

"Love you, sis."

"Love you too, BBBFF."

Twilight watched him leave and waited until the door clicked shut before she turned her attention to the only other conscious pony in the room. "It's alright to move now, you know?"

Golden Haze didn't move.

"Captain Haze." Twilight sighed. "If you're worried about some secret getting out..."

Haze's eye twitched the tiniest bit.

"Haze, I've seen the way you look at her. I've seen the way she looks at you."

Haze's lip trembled.

"Captain Haze!" Twilight barked. "At ease!"

Haze practically melted. She tossed her helmet to the side with a clatter and took a seat on the ground beside Celestia. She stroked the multicolored mane of the mare she loved and looked at her with worry and tender affection in equal measure.

Twilight could feel her lips tugging upwards into a smile at the display. "How long?"

"Since the Academy." Haze smiled at the memory. "I had a crush on your brother back then. She helped me get over that after I found out about Cadance. We were friends. At first I mean. And then it became more later on."

"She's a lucky mare."

Haze snorted. "I'm the lucky one. All I ever wanted to be was a Royal Guard. Thanks to her, I'm the Captain... with the added bonus of having a space in the bed of the most incredible mare who ever lived."

"I won't tell anypony." Twilight flinched as a twinge of pain went down her horn, a common occurrence from long-form casting. "But for what it's worth, I think you two are great together."

Haze opened her mouth to reply but stopped short when Celestia shifted on the bed. The alicorn groaned and groggily opened her eyes. They met Haze's and the princess exhaled in relief. "Hey."

"Hey." Haze wiped her eyes. "You scared me back there."

"Forgive me. I didn't have my most trusted guard there to watch over me."

Haze leaned down and kissed one white hoof. "I'm watching over you now."

Celestia reciprocated the gesture on Haze's own hoof... and caught Twilight watching from the corner of her eye. She stiffened.

"It's okay." Haze soothed her lover-princess. "She guessed."

Celestia relaxed and rolled her eyes. "I should have known that she would eventually." She smiled at Twilight, asking silent approval.

Twilight granted it with a smile of her own. Her smile collapsed as a pulse of magic rattled her to her bones. She held a hoof out towards Haze, noticing that she was leaving the bed's side and starting towards her. "I'm okay."

But Golden Haze wasn't looking at Twilight. She was looking past her.

Out the window.

Twilight slowly turned... and saw the smoke.

Thick, black smoke billowed into the air off in the distance. The unicorn and the pegasus followed the trail downwards, looking for the source of the blaze.

Twilight's eyes widened as they focused on the little town on the edge of the Everfree Forest.

Celestia felt Twilight's magic withdrawing and knew already what her former student meant to do. "Twilight, wait..."

Too late. There was a flash of purple light and Twilight was gone.

Celestia fell back onto the pillows, suddenly exhausted. She was still so weak...

A crash came from downstairs.

Haze looked at the doorway. "That was the Throne Room."

"Go."

Haze looked at her lover like she was crazy. "I'm not leaving you."

Celestia swallowed hard. "I'm fine. Go see what's going on."

Haze begrudgingly saluted and ran out the door, kicking it shut behind her.

Celestia drew deep breaths and wrapped her left foreleg around the right one of her still sleeping sister. She watched with worried eyes as the black smoke from Ponyville smudged her beautiful blue sky.

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Shining Armor trotted into the throne room just behind Flash Sentry. He glared irritably at his cousin-by-marriage as he took his place on the raised dais and beside Celestia's throne. "What can I do for you, Blueblood?"

The white stallion returned the glare from the bottom of the stairs, two helmeted Royal Guards standing on either side of him. "I'm sorry. I thought I made it clear that I wanted to speak to the ranking pony with a crown. If Auntie Celestia and Auntie Luna are indisposed, then I believe that's my cousin Cadance."

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? Cadance hasn't set hoof in this castle since the secession."

Panic flashed in Blueblood's eyes for a moment but he seemed to recover quickly. "Of course. Forgive me, I've had a tiring day."

"Can we get to the point of this, Blueblood?" Shining Armor had never gotten along with Celestia's adopted nephew. He'd butted heads with the pompous stallion ever since he and Cadance had begun dating. "And please remind your guards that protocol calls for the removal of the helmet when standing at the base of the Princess' throne."

The guards flinched and looked at Blueblood.

Shining huffed, getting more irritated. One of the guards was a Sergent for pony's sake. She should know better. "Lieutenant?"

"GUARDS!" Flash snapped to attention and barked like a practiced drill major. "REMOVE YOUR HELMETS NOW!"

The guards hesitated but then carefully removed their ornate helmets. The stallion looked like a newbie, somepony who had come on board since Shining Armor had left the corps.

But the mare...

Shining Armor stared in confusion at the youthful and fiery sergeant. "Haze?"

Flash pointed a hoof back towards the way they'd come. "Weren't you just back there, Captain?"

Blueblood and Haze shared a mortified look. "Captain?!"

The stallion guard just shook his head and aimed his horn at Flash Sentry.

"Look out!" Shining Armor watched as the blast of familiar green magic hit his escort dead in the chest and sent him flying back into the far wall. He slid down to the ground, stunned.

Shining Armor's shield spell was up before the emerald fire had finished revealing the three ponies as they truly were. He glared at one in particular, the one who had blasted Flash Sentry.

The one who had nearly stolen his sanity just a few years ago.

"You." He growled.

"Hello... lover." Chrysalis tried to smile but there was no joy behind her eyes. Just an awful deadness. A lack of caring.

"This is why intelligence reports would have been of use, your majesty." Molt hissed at Carapace, his anger and revulsion apparent to all.

Carapace rolled his eyes and looked instead to Shining Armor. "Before you ask; yes, you are all alone. I took the liberty of hypnotizing the Guards outside and ordered them to not allow anypony inside."

Shining Armor faltered a bit at the still familiar voice. "Blueblood? Is that really you?"

"THAT'S NOT MY NAME!" Carapace stomped the ground. "Blueblood is dead, do you hear me?! The Prince is dead!" His horn charged with magic. "Long live the King!"

Shining Armor braced himself for the attack...

Another shield materialized over his own, doubling the strength just as the Changeling King's blast struck. The attack bounced off the dome and went flying back towards Carapace. He ducked, just narrowly dodging and letting the energy burn the carpet behind him.

Trixie stepped out from behind Luna's throne and tossed back her hood. "The little Prince is down for his nap, your highness." She glared at the three intruders. "Is there anything else I could assist with? Pest control, perhaps?"

Carapace recovered quickly. He laughed as haughtily as he could manage. "You two think you stand a chance against the likes of us? What a poor day for the Princess' to be ill."

"True, their majesties are indisposed at the moment." The real Golden Haze lifted herself into the air from behind Celestia's throne. She started unbuckling and removing the unnecessary, ornamental pieces of her armor. "But make no mistake; they are defended."

Molt examined the three ponies standing in the way of their victory. "Orders, your highness?"

"I..."

"I wasn't talking to you!" Molt snapped at Carapace. He felt a small tug of satisfaction at the shocked looked on the King's face. He looked instead to his queen. "Your majesty? We can still run. Most of the hive is still alive. We..."

"Kill them." Chrysalis' new tail slid out, and coiled over her head. Dangerous fluid leaked from the dangerously barbed needle at the end. "Kill them all. Nothing matters. Not anymore."

Carapace smirked. "That's the spirit, my love." He locked eyes with Shining Armor. "I've waited a long time for this, you buffoon."

"Are you kidding?" Shining Armor pawed at the ground. "I've been dying to beat some humility into you for years now."

The two sides charged at each other.

Golden Haze and Molt collided in mid-air. They promptly fell to the carpet and began rolling about, kicking and biting at anything they could reach. Haze's teeth found the membrane that was Molt's beard and she yanked as hard as she could. Molt cried out in pain but the membrane did not give.

Haze smirked as an idea popped into her head.

With a burst of her wings she was airborne, the Changeling still beating at her as he dangled from the membrane clutched in her teeth.

She started to spin. Around and around and around she went...

Molt cried out again as she let him fly. He shot across the room and quickly popped out his wings to stop himself. He glared in her direction. "That's rather unorthodox, don't you thi...?" The air was driven from his lungs as she crashed into him, hooves first, and smashed him into the far wall.

Carapace and Shining Armor circled each other, their horns lowered dangerously.

"Why don't we settle this like gentlestallions?" Carapace asked with a snap of his teeth.

"Why start now?" Shining Armor returned.

Carapace rolled his eyes and let his magic coat his horn. "As a Guard, I imagine you were trained in horn-to-horn combat?"

"Fencing?" Shining Armor's own magic flowed along his own horn. "I was the best in my class."

"Why lie, Shining Armor?" Carapace assumed the position. "Surely you recall the masked stallion who bested you? The champion of the Equestria Games?"

Shining Armor's jaw dropped. "That was...?"

"En garde, idiot." Carapace lunged.

Shining Armor parried and crossed his horn with the King's. Sparks flew from the colliding magical fields as the two stallions pushed for the advantage.

Carapace pulled back and lunged once again.

Shining blocked.

Lunge.

Block.

Lunge.

Block.

Feint.

Shining Armor cried out as the tip of Carapace's horn pierced his shoulder. He pulled away and shook out the pain.

Carapace smirked as he made ready to attack once again. "I believe that's a point in my favor."

Shining Armor growled and swung wide.

Carapace yawned as he blocked lazily... and staggered backwards after Shining Armor's hoof collided with his face.

Shining Armor grinned savagely. "How many points is that worth?"

His lip rolling back in a viscous sneer, Carapace resumed the attack.

Trixie was busy firing off every offensive spell she could think of. The Changeling Queen was as slippery as a serpent, dodging her blasts and castings with split second precision. Trixie noticed she was favoring her right side, her left wing folded down over something...

The green eyes of Queen Chrysalis were suddenly inches in front of her own. "Boo."

Trixie's magic flashed and she winked backwards, cursing herself for being so easily distracted...

She felt something wrap around her mid-section before she could even register the trap. She gasped in agony as Chrysalis' stinger jabbed into her back. She felt the coiled tail flexing as something terrible and burning was pumped into her body. She felt herself suddenly become very woozy.

"I really didn't think it could reach that far." Chrysalis regarded the pony caught in her tail with cold disinterest. "I can taste it, you know? The love you have for her. The Moon Princess. And for..." She lapped at the air with her forked tongue. "Her son." Chrysalis retracted her tail until the poisoned pony was at eye-level. "She's like the mother who abandoned you, isn't she? It's funny. I've experienced the start and end of motherhood, all in the same day. Do you know how that feels?"

Trixie gurgled, foam appearing in the corner of her mouth.

"I don't imagine you do. I don't imagine you'll feel much of anything once this poison is done liquefying your insides. You should know that she loves you as well. Both her and the colt love you dearly." Chrysalis put herself nose to nose with the dying mare. "Perhaps I'll take your form when I go to finish them. What do you think of that?"

Trixie whispered something.

"I'm sorry. What was that?" The Changeling Queen put her ear to Trixie's lips.

Trixie grinned a rictus grin through the pain. "Luna nobis providet."

Chrysalis felt the burning heat from the unicorn's horn the instant before the mare exploded into a blast of energy. Her tail was obliterated by the suicide attack and her right leg was blown clean off. Her shell caught fire briefly as the shock-wave of Trixie's final spell blew her backwards to the ground where she lay, writhing and protecting her left side.

"TRIXIE!" A recovered Flash Sentry screamed, flying towards the injured Queen.

"YOUR MAJESTY!" Molt kicked Haze off of his chest and into a nearby standing suit of armor. Ensuring the troublesome pegasus was dazed, he flew towards his queen's side as quick as he was able.

"You monster! I'll kill yoAH!" A random blast from Shining Armor and Carapace's dual sent Flash spiraling backwards. The pegasus hit the ground, groaning in pain from new injuries.

Molt slid to a stop by Chrysalis' side. He took quick stock of her injuries and placed his forehead to her now chipped horn. "Feed, my Queen." He begged. "Forgive me for holding my love from you. Take as much as you need..."

Chrysalis spasmed from the pain and grabbed Molt around the neck with her remaining foreleg. She pulled him close and whispered something in his ear.

The drone's eyes widened as Chrysalis revealed her left side. "Your majesty... I...." Molt screamed as a blast of green energy tossed him away from his queen. He rolled onto his side, carefully handling what Chrysalis had passed to him.

Carapace approached his injured wife with a cold look on his face. He cast his eyes back for a moment to ensure Shining Armor was still nursing the cut the King of the Changelings had just lain upon his face before returning his full attention to the hurt creature at his feet.

"My...my King..." Chrysalis whispered. She reached for him as dark green blood continued to pool around her. "Please... help me..."

"Help you?" Carapace knelt so that his face was inches from hers. "And why would I do that? Why should I help a queen so weak that her first brood is dispatched in a matter of hours?" His lips curled into a sneer. "You promised me the greatest spawn who ever lived."

Chrysalis was desperate now. "Please... my king... my love..."

"Love?" Carapace touched his horn to hers. "You never loved me. I was a means to an end. I was both battery and donor. But I'll tell you a secret; I loved you, Chrysalis. I loved that you could help me achieve everything I ever wanted and more. I loved that you could hide that hideous, chitinous form in the body of any mare I desired. I loved that you were so very easy to manipulate... my Queen."

A small spark of love flickered between the horns. Chrysalis lunged for it hungrily.

"Yes, I loved you... but I'm afraid that I'm going to need that love back."

Chrysalis' mouth opened in a silent scream as Carapace drew the love he had poured into her over the years back into his own being. Only now did it occur to her how subtly he had worked, how easily he'd moved the pieces of her hive around so that he had been her only source of sustenance.

The Queen of the Changelings began to shrink. She withered away into a frail mockery of everything she had once been. Her membranous mane fell from her head and lay like dead skin on the floor. Her wings followed suit, sliding to the stone with the softest of rustlings. She curled into herself and lay there, gasping like a fish pulled from the water.

"FIGLIO DI PUTTANA!" Molt launched himself at Carapace, blinded by tears. In his anguish he cried out in the language of his old life, the language of his father. "TI UCCIDERO!"

Carapace caught the drone in his magic and hurled him backwards over his head. He smirked at the sound of the impact as Molt struck Shining Armor. He turned and cocked his head at the two stunned males. "I think this little game has gone on long enough."

Shining Armor pushed the stunned and weeping Molt off of his body and stood tall. "I agree. So why don't you just surrender?"

Carapace laughed. "What? No 'thank you?' I did just finish off the monster that took over your mind, didn't I?"

Golden Haze landed in front of Celestia's throne. "I'm focused on the only monster still standing."

Carapace winked at the mare. "My lady, the stallions are talking. Why don't you tend to the wounded or something?"

Haze lifted into the air with a snarl, ready to fire herself at Carapace like a bullet...

Her eyes widened when she saw his horn alight with magic.

The stained glass windows on either side of the throne's dais exploded inward. Haze flinched in a futile attempt to block the shrapnel. She cried out, not in pain but surprise, as a heavy form knocked her to the floor. She gasped as her wing bent too far back as she tumbled down the carpeted stairs. She opened her eyes just in time to see her savior; Shining Armor.

They realized in the same instant that the windows had been a distraction.

Shining Armor had barely gotten his shield spell up when Carapace's blast struck head on. The stallion flew backwards, smashing through Celestia's throne and hitting the stone wall behind it with a terrible breaking sound. Before he could recover, the King's magic took hold of the pillars holding the ceiling up and yanked them inward. A whole section of the roof came crashing down on the stallion's form. The dais cracked in half and collapsed.

"No..." Golden Haze whispered as the dust settled around the rubble that had been the heart of the Equestrian monarchy.

Of Shining Armor, there was no sign.

King Carapace threw back his head and laughed.

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Shining Armor wiped the blood from his eyes and took stock of his situation.

His shield spell was cast around him, the bubble holding the debris back from crushing him. His horn ached from the duel with the Changeling King and already he could feel the weight of the stone pressing down on him. He winced with each breath, reckoning that he could probably count on several bruised or broken ribs from his trip through Celestia's throne. He reached a hoof back to check his injuries and almost screamed when he felt something large and sharp in his side.

Dreading what he was about to see, Shining Armor turned his head.

Sticking out of his barrel were several long, jagged pieces of stained glass. They had pierced him deeply and blood was already seeping out, staining his white coat red. "I'm..."

"Quite dead, yes."

Shining Armor whirled to find a stallion standing before him. He was jet black and bald, his body seeming almost to shift and congeal. His hooves grew talons for an instant and were suddenly hooves again. His eyes almost seemed to burn, like a flickering campfire was set just beyond his pupils.

A hissing snake coiled about his neck.

"Who are you?" Shining Armor was too taken aback by the stallion's strange appearance to ask where he had come from.

The stallion rolled his eyes. "Oh, I have so many names. But in this form, I've grown quite fond of Belial."

"Belial?" Shining Armor winced again from the pain. "You said... I'm dead?"

"Not yet, but you will be very soon. That's as mortal a wound as any I've ever seen, o Prince of Sinners."

"...why did you call me that?"

"Because I don't like games." Belial snorted. "Not anymore, anyway. Not since your sister and her merry band of friends beat me so handily."

"I... I don't understand." Shining Armor began to feel lightheaded.

"That's the blood loss." Belial grinned at the snake around his neck. "You don't have long now. I wonder, if you had the chance, what would your dying wish be?" The dark stallion walked the perimeter of the bubble shield. "Would you go to Cadance and beg her forgiveness? Would you fly to Luna instead and forsake all others but her?"

Shining's strength began to fade. One of his forelegs buckled and he knelt before the King of Lies. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because you are damned, Shining Armor. Your actions, your sins, drew me here and now I cannot leave until I have claimed the souls of those who called to me from across the aether." Belial pushed his face against Shining Armor's. "Look into my eyes, o Prince, and see the fate that awaits you."

Shining Armor looked... and he saw...

And he screamed.

Belial cackled as he drew back. "Long have I waited to taste the torment your soul will feel! And yet..." Belial's good mood faded. "And yet things have become complicated."

Shining Armor, dazed and reeling from both his injuries and from what he'd just seen, followed along so he could stay focused on something. "C-complicated?"

"As I said, I cannot leave Equestria until I have taken the souls of the sinners who brought me here. That is to say you and the Princess Luna. Sadly, it would appear that Luna is beyond my reach. Her soul is more than just a soul, it seems. When she dies, she is out of my reach forever." Something occurred to the King of Lies. "I could claim your son. Such darkness lies in his future..."

"No!" Shining Armor cried desperately. "Leave Moon Shadow out of this. Take me and be done with it!"

Belial's eyes flashed. "Don't you think I would if I could, you fool? Normally I would sit here, watch you bleed out until your shield gives out, and swallow your essence as the stones crush your bones. But then where would I be? Stuck in this world of sunshine and happiness forever, barely subsisting on the few sinners your kind manages to produce." Belial smirked. "No, I think I'll backdoor my way out of this one." He shrugged. "And, as a bonus, I'll have squared my debt with your sister for teaching me that little lesson about faith."

"What?" Shining Armor realized his mouth was now bone dry.

"Redemption, dear boy. A redeemed soul is out of my reach. If you redeem yourself with your dying breath, then the original sin that drew me here should become null and void." He shivered with pleasure, an action mimicked by the snake. "If this works, then I might finally be able to move on to another world."

Shining Armor's other leg buckled and his face struck the cracked marble floor. "How... how can I redeem myself?" He started to weep. "I betrayed the mare I loved! I was greedy and claimed the hearts of two mares I never deserved! I had the chance to end things and I didn't!"

Belial regarded the stallion with open contempt. "You accept that you've done those things. That's the first step. But tell me, o Prince; what of your sons?"

"My sons?"

"Do you regret their existence?"

"No." Shining Armor thought of Morning Dew and Moon Shadow and had to smile. "I love them both."

"The smallest light in the darkness can be a guiding star, Shining Armor. Think of your sons. Let your memories of them be your strength."

He did. Shining Armor turned his back on the pain and focused on thoughts of his little colts. He thought of Morning Dew's artistic talent. He thought of Moon Shadow's unending and imaginative stories. He thought back on the day where they had come face to face for the very first time. He remembered Moon Shadow's shyness in the presence of the colt he didn't know was his own brother. He remembered Morning Dew's wide smile and extended hoof. He remembered their smiles as they raced off to play together.

Shining Armor tried to lift himself.

Belial could not help but smile. He nodded to the serpent on his shoulder. "Redeem yourself, Shining Armor. Not for yourself, not for your wives, but for your sons. There is a monster out there that will not stop until he has destroyed everypony and everything that you hold dear. Are you just going to lay here and die while he does it?"

Shining Armor tensed and tried to push himself up again. "No." His wounds began to bleed once again.

The snake slithered down Belial's body and wrapped itself around Shining Armor's neck. It hissed in him ear, its breath shockingly cold. "Are you a ssssssinner?"

"Yes."

"But will you die a ssssssinner?"

"...no."

"Will you die a hero then?"

Shining Armor's eyes closed. "No."

"Then how shall you die? How will your ssssssonsssssss remember you?"

Shining Armor, the Twice Crowned Prince, the Prince of Sinners, felt his heart beating like the drums marching a condemned stallion to his fate. "...a warrior."

Belial leaned close to Shining Armor's other ear. "Then rise, warrior. Rise... and go out with a lion's roar."

The snake bit Shining Armor's neck but he did not wince. The poison that flooded his veins only increased his will, his strength. He pushed up and stood once again on all four hooves. He focused every fiber of his being into his horn, no longer fearing the stones that began to shift under his dying shield.

As the poison reached his heart, Shining Armor spared a final thought for those he loved.

Mom...

Dad...

Twily...

Haze...

Luna...

Cadance...

Moon Shadow... Morning Dew... my sons...

...

I love you all.

Belial smirked as Sin returned to his place about his shoulders. "Consider my favor settled, Twilight Sparkle." He chuckled as Shining Armor's shield faded into thin air and the rubble came crashing down.

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What happened next happened quickly.

Carapace and Golden Haze turned as one as the rubble collapsed. From the dust came Shining Armor, bellowing a cry of bloody war. His horn was encased in his shield spell... and pointed right at the King of the Changelings.

Carapace fired a blast at the charging stallion as he took a flying leap off the ruined dais. It bounced harmlessly off the shielded horn that now was flying towards Carapace like a hurled javelin. The King spread his wings, intending to fly but already knowing there was no way to escape...

Queen Chrysalis, who had been using the last of her physical strength to drag herself towards her husband, used the last bit of her magic to launch herself off the floor. Her wrinkled and shrunken body flew into the air right in front of Carapace...

...just in time for Shining Armor's horn to pierce her chest.

Golden Haze screamed as the two landed on the floor right at Carapace's hooves.

No one moved.

Carapace knelt by his wife's side and used his magic to remove Shining Armor's horn from her body. He barely noticed the stallion was now quite dead as he carelessly tossed him to the side. He stared at Chrysalis in wonder. "You... you saved me? After everything I said to you?"

Chrysalis looked at him with clouded eyes and found the strength for one last smirk. "I... saved... my kind."

"What?"

"Queen sacrifices to take King. Wipe the... board." She seized up, her last breath caught in her chest. "We... we..." She went limp, her last words a whisper on her final breath. "We begin again..."

Carapace had barely begun processing her words when he screamed in agony. This was pain beyond pain, beyond any definition of pain he could ever fathom. It felt as if his every atom was on fire. He couldn't breathe, couldn't think. His eyes rolled into the back of his head from the torture. He collapsed to the floor, his body bending and shaking violently.

Molt forced himself to laugh even as his body went through the same thing. "Enjoying the experience, your majesty?! Enjoying my Queen's final gift?!"

Golden Haze watched in stunned horror as the two Changelings writhed in agony. She nursed her injured wing and made her way over to Flash Sentry. She helped him to his hooves and together they watched.

They watched as the King of the Changelings ceased to be.

His black exoskeleton cracked at first and then began to flake off. Larger and larger pieces came crumbling from the whole, revealing white fur and blonde mane beneath. The stallion choked on his own vomit as his organs destroyed themselves and built themselves anew into their original shapes.

After what felt like hours but must have been only seconds, the pain finally stopped.

Prince Blueblood, panting heavily, stood on all four hooves. He looked around at the shattered pieces of what had been his body in stunned disbelief. "What...?"

Golden Haze galloped across the room and smashed her hoof against Blueblood's face with every bit of strength that remained in her. She watched as the stallion hit the floor like a ton of bricks, knocked out cold. She found enough saliva in her mouth to spit on him.

"Good riddance."

The voice sounded elderly and weak. Haze turned and saw that the drone called Molt had gone through a similar change. Surrounded by bits of Changeling armor was a stallion of faded beige, like old parchment. His mane was stark white and his beard was the same color. He still lay on his side, breathing heavily. He did not move even as Haze approached him. She looked him over and leaned close to him. "Who are you?"

The stallion looked at her and she was stunned by the blue of his eyes. "In another life, in another time, I had another name. Mio padre called me Mareco."

"Mareco?" She raised an eyebrow. "As in Mareco... Polo?"

The stallion nodded. "I forsook that name when I took on a great task. A task I must now pass to you."

"What are you talking about?"

Mareco Polo carefully rolled onto his back to reveal the precious cargo Queen Chrysalis had kept hidden since the first eggs came. The niyad's skin was still wet. The pieces of her egg lay cracked on the ground amidst broken pieces of exoskeleton. She yawned as she slept, exhausted from the act of being born.

Haze's jaw dropped. "Is that...?"

"She is the last now. Just as her mother was the last. But she will have no hive, however small, to help her as her mother did. She will only have you."

Haze tried to pull herself away but found she could not. "I... I can't. I don't know..."

"Nor did I, once upon a time." Mareco Polo raised his head to look sadly at the body of the Queen he had spent centuries protecting and raising. "But you will learn. Just as I did." He slumped to the ground, his breathing shallow. "I task you now, mare. I task you with the preservation of an entire species." He closed his eyes. "Do not fail this little Queen... as I... failed... mine..." A single tear rolled down his fur as he breathed his last.

Golden Haze reached for the tiny Changeling Queen and carefully lifted her from the body of Mareco Polo. Still so shocked, still so unsure, she did the only thing she could do.

She tucked the little hatchling under her wing, safely out of sight, and joined a weeping Flash Sentry by the cooling and bloody body of Shining Armor.

Comments

[Spiritus Arcane]

Yay, Blueblood's not dead...meaning Rarity gets the opportunity to rip him to shreds herself.

....Also I hate to be that guy...but maybe Haze should just squash the little grub and be done with it.

[Sabin]

7469340 As long as she saves some for Twilight. Losing Spike won't be easy for her either

[Triforce of Doom]

So Blueblood is back to being a regular unicorn. Alright then. Can't wait to see what happens next. I wonder how Twilight will react to both Shining & Spike.

[Yami Vizzini]

Man, that Haze thing comes out of almost nowhere if you haven't read the blogs.

Well...

...man...

So... Molt doesn't count those drones who fled into the Everfree? Either way, it's kind of a relief to see this threat ended... and then I remember the cost....

Honestly, I'm still wondering about the other changeling who carried out baby Chryssy and accompanied Mareco back in Mareco's journal entry. I half thought that might have been Molt, but I suppose he just died at some point, after he converted Mareco (unless Chryssy did that).

[Yami Vizzini]

Ah, just realized that any surviving drones- converts all- must have been converted back as well.

[Jade Ring]

7470698 The other Changeling was indeed a red herring. She was one of the first converts. When Chrysalis' mother died she became a normal pony again, something Mareco left out of his journal. The cocooned one died while still in metamorphosis.

She helped Mareco raise Chrysalis but was killed by Plunderseed Vines before she could be reconverted.

[Vic Fontaine]

Argh! Is anyone going to make it out of this story?!

[TheBritishAlicorn]

NOOOO!! I WANTED THE BAD GUYS TO WINN!!! WHY DO THEY NOT WIN!?