Ch.21 "One Hoof at a Time"
phew, took a little longer to get this chapter cause, its another long one. And Disney land is kind of an all day distraction 
anyway, here's a piece of orchestral music, it's got a real nice cello piece in it. wink wink, -psst look for the pony it relates to in this chapter-
Chrysalis Wins
Ch. 21 “One hoof at a time”
A green comet soared through the air, leaving a smoky emerald trail in it’s wake. The Queen of the changelings flew as fast as she could towards the mountain. Even as she approached, hundreds of changelings were already crawling all over its rocky surface, pouring out of the entrance of the complex.
Chrysalis’s magically empowered flight ceased, slowing to a more manageable speed when she came near. The chatter and buzz of hundreds of drones, vanguards, and sentinels was an indistinguishable cacophony. In a fit of frustration she lashed a mental wave across the agitated swarm before her.
“SILENCE!”
The effect was immediate, with many of the changelings cringing at the force with which the queen shouted in their minds. The mountainside became eerily quiet, and the royal changeling hovered to the entrance of the recently dug mountain complex. The sea of dark grey chitin parted to make space for her to land.
Once her hooves touched the ground she turned to the nearest changeling and pointed a hoof. Her lime rimmed eyes were a source of stern stability for the otherwise agitated and nervous crowd.
“You, tell me what happened.”
The indicated sentinel gulped and stepped forward, bowing low as he answered.
“The prisoners my queen, they’re gone, all gone, ort least at the section I personally guarded. There was a flash of red light, and when I turned to inspect it the cocoon I was guarding, it was gone. I heard some kind of laughter as I searched in vain, and the others here have similar stories.”
Chrysalis heaved up and down, her composure threatened to fall apart. Sombra… Surely he wouldn’t, as addled as his brain might be, would not be so idiotic as to release Celestia and Luna. Those two would just fight him, even if he claimed he was there to help.
The Queen quickly rushed into the tunnels, she would need to see this for herself. Her wings buzzed at a furious pace, and she passed through the myriad of twists and turns of the tunnels. She would see if Celestia was there first, Luna was in a poor enough condition, so she wouldn’t be an immediate threat.
Close to the bottom of the complex, Chrysalis rounded the corner and entered the chamber that was supposed to contain the Solar Princess. Her fears were confirmed when she saw no cocoon in the earthy cavern.
“SOMBRA!”
Her voice shook the base of the mountain and echoed throughout the tunnels. That shady buffoon had taken them… Chrysalis slumped down onto her haunches, and stared blankly into the empty space. Her mind ran blank instead of going through the possible scenarios. Celestia on the loose would be terrible, the princess could plot some scheme to blindside her off the throne, all while in hidden.
Then an even more terrifying thought crossed her mind, “I beat and drained Luna to the point of near death and Celestia knows this….And she’s free now.” Having seen her anger first hand in the dream realm, an image of the Sun Alicorn pulsing with magic, with the searing sun mere feet away burned it’s way into her mind.
As her mind went numb, a drone buzzed in and landed next to her, who at a quick glance was shown to be Colony. She looked up to the queen, who seemed locked away in her own mind at the moment. So the head drone looked down into the empty chamber.
Something small was folded neatly in the center of the room, which Colony was quick to try and identify. The queen didn’t respond to the drone’s movement at all, so she took that as permission. When she was close enough, she picked up the small object with her magic.
“My Queen, there is some kind of note left behind.”
“What? Let me see!”
Chrysalis quickly jumped out of her murky mill of thoughts and grabbed the note from Colony’s magical grasp. It was a folded piece of parchment, a small line labeled who it was addressed to.
- To the “Queen of the Horse Flies”
The writing was very neat and stylized, the queen was actually impressed despite her frustration. The crystal king’s calligraphy wasn’t bad, in fact it was very good, but she was not fond of the title he gave her. She unfolded the parchment and started to scan through it’s contents.
My dear love spitter,
It appears you were keeping some ponies I actually know, when did your take over happen? Given our last little scuffle, I am surprised you were able to accomplish what you did, so you have my compliments. You need not worry about Celestia, I will keep her good and safe…
I know the danger she would pose to me as much as you. Though the rest of these sealed up ponies will probably have nice things to say about you. I can only imagine they would have nice things to say. Only nice things….Yes just because I’m full of love doesn’t mean I can’t be sarcastic, which I also love very much, so thanks for that.
Sincerely your dearest King,
Sombra
The letter ignited in a burst of green flames and Chrysalis snarled as she tossed it to the side. Colony lifting an eyebrow as the queen growled.
“What is going on?”
“That Crystal King I handled a few days ago is going out of his way to prove I didn’t handle him well enough.”
“Crystal King?”
“He goes by Sombra, a nuisance of a unicorn.”
The drone blinked several times, unsure what to make of the new information. It was a slightly disturbing matter that a single unicorn could empty the complex in a single day and do so so effortlessly.
Another drone entered the chamber, interrupting the conversation between the queen and her Head Drone. It was that same drone Chrysalis had put that mind brand on.
“My Queen! I found a note in Princess Luna’s empty chambers!”
The drone jumped up and down, his eyes blinked rapidly and independently of each other. Another piece of parchment floated in his magical grip, and the queen quickly grabbed it.
She also removed the mind brand from the drone. It would be impossible for him to follow through the order she had placed. The drone would only go insane if she left it there. Once it was removed the spastic drone collapsed on the ground and panted, letting out a relieved sigh. The energy behind his eyes disappeared and his body was finally able to relax.
The next piece of parchment was unfolded and read.
My dear Chryssasiss,
My, my, my, poor little Night Princess, what did she do to deserve this? That is a tale I would so enjoy hearing. Also why did you not keep her in one of those goo cages? You made this task only slightly more difficult, though only slightly.
She is still in a wasted state, which I suppose will give me time to plan something appropriate. Did you plan on Celestia getting royally mad at you or do you secretly enjoy torturing yourself? The fact I am tending some other ponies wounds right now would make me royally mad, except that every time I want to feel mad I can’t. More thanks I owe to you…Again just loving sarcasm, isn’t it wonderful.
Your gleeful Overlord,
Sombra
Chrysalis chuckled at the last part, before she again igniting the letter and tossing aside the ashes. At least she wasn’t the only equine feeling severely annoyed, and from the sounds of it, Sombra kept enough of his rational thought to not to let Celestia and Luna go free.
Though that was only a partial relief, he could still be either stupid or ignorant enough to let the other Element Bearers free. Family relations be cursed, it was a double edge blade that was hurtful as much as it was helpful. Families were often emotional feasts, but they were also abominably stubborn and irrationally dangerous at times.
Another changeling entered the chamber, it was a tall sentinel. He had a red rim to his blue eyes and looked at the queen with a dedicated interest. There was a piece of parchment in his mouth, and after he stepped over the prone drone, he spat the paper at the queen’s feet.
“A letter for the queen, the cheeky fellow apparently likes to leave a calling card.”
Chrysalis didn’t give the sentinel a second look as she picked up the next piece of parchment. How many of these snarky letters did Sombra have time to leave behind, honestly if circumstances were different she’d be impressed with how efficient he was? In between all of the transports he had to do. There were over a thousand ponies in this complex, and now they were all gone. She shook her head in exasperation started to read.
Dear Queen Horsefly,
What kind of prisoners are you keeping here? Another alicorn? What kind of trickery is this? Why does she have a crystal heart on her flanks? A CRYSTAL HEART! Is this some kind of joke?
Does she make love and you eat it? Are you some kind of opposite cousins? I actually need more information out of you on this one. So don’t burn this letter up like you did the others.
Chrysalis blinked twice as she read through the last line. Just as she went to read it again, she noticed more letters started to appear on the parchment.
Yes I actually want you to reply to me, write something down please.
The Changeling queen blinked, this was certainly an interesting magic, though she was bothered he somehow knew she burned the other letters. One of her hooves became wreathed in green magical energy, causing it to transform into its clawed variation. She put the tip of one of the claws in her mouth, and fiddled with it. With a twinkle of some magic, and a slow lick, she coated the tip of the claw in an inky substance. She started to scratch down a response onto the parchment.
That pink princess is Cadance and she has very dangerous potential. If you don’t want to worry about the alicorns then just give them back.
There was still a lot of room on the parchment, it was quite a long piece of paper, and the queen waited for a response. It came within moments, and more words appeared slightly lower than where she had written.
Warning you of my coming was as much help as I feel inclined to give you. Also, you want the alicorns, so no, I’m keeping them. Now, are there any other ponies with particularly concerning attributes I may have taken?
Chrysalis grit her teeth, she wanted them back! They were a powerful source of food, and she needed them in her control to insure things didn’t get out of hand. She didn’t want to trust Sombra with anything, especially something like alicorn imprisonment, even if he didn’t plan on releasing them, for now atleast.
She also didn’t feel inclined to help this troublesome king anymore than she would have to, only as long as her own benefit was kept in mind. She scratched down another reply
She has a fiancé, who is also dangerous with his magic. He is a white unicorn with blue mane and a sparkly shield cutie mark. He goes by Shining Armor and luckily he’s an idiot. Even if you were dumb enough to release him already.
There are also a few ponies that are part of the Elements of Harmony. Orange and pink earth pony mares, and a purple unicorn mare. They are keys to a weapon that has imprisoned gods, and are more dangerous than any of the alicorns, if they are allowed to act together.
The response Sombra gave after that was quick and short
Oops…
Chrysalis face hoofed. After a drawn out sigh she thought about it some more. That was salvageable at least. Those ponies weren’t a true threat if they didn’t have access to the elements, which she had just tasked her head vanguard to grab for her. She could hide them, and then it would only be six ponies to handle, six ponies she had already captured once
She might as well let Sombra think he made a mistake. If the Crystal King recaptured them for her, then she had less to worry about. She folded the parchment back up and started to walk out of the chamber. The changelings that brought her the messages followed her out.
Before they made it that far, the red eyed sentinel voiced his matter with the queen.
“I have seen the condition of Vivisect my queen, you are need of a new head sentinel are you not?”
The queen rolled her eyes, she knew this was something she needed to acknowledge and work with. It wasn’t that this sentinel was apparently ambitious, but that Vivisect needed to be replaced at all. Inconvenience was the bane of a smooth rule.
“You know the process. Prove your worth if you desire to be the new head.”
“I do my queen, and I plan on seeing you more frequently.”
“What is your name, aspirant…”
“Carve.”
A few minutes later they exited the now empty prisoner complex, and when Chrysalis set hoof on the surface of the mountain again, a large chunk of the swarm was still there. Nervous chatter and clicks ceased once the royal changeling was spotted. She surveyed the quiet body of dark chitin, and flashed her eyes with a mental command.
“News of this goes nowhere; I want a pair of sentinels to stand guard here anyway.”
If Sombra had just released most of those thousand ponies, news would get around regardless, but she wouldn’t help it spread any faster. A familiar voice mentally touched hers.
“I have them my queen.”
Shade buzzed through the air, and held something small beside him in his magic. It was a brown box decorated in fine gold styling. The head of the vanguard landed close to the queen and gently set the box down in front of her.
“Very good Shade, you may go back to your other duties.”
Chrysalis’s audible voice was used, and other vanguards within ear shot snickered at the last part. News of their divisional leader’s punishment had gotten around fairly quickly, and many found it amusing. As Shade left several vanguards picked up the gall to fly right after him.
“Hey Shade, scrub me down next, hahaha!”
The head vanguard just shook his head and sighed, it was going to be a long couple of days before he lived down that indignity
A large green portal was opened on the mountain side, and the queen stepped through the dimensional rift she just created.
---
A grand dark cavern was illuminated by a wreath of green fire. The regal changeling stepped out of the thin abyssal conjuration, and next to her was the small box that levitated in magic. Once her last leg was out, the portal faded away.
This was the throne cavern in the Badlands, and her large double iris eyes roamed the room for a familiar passage way. She approached the smaller tunnel and passed through, her hooves made noisy clops as she advanced.
A smaller chamber was intruded upon by the queen, a chamber she had been in not so long ago. Her eyes scanned the wall, and found an old form. The giant changeling smirked, and pulled a skeleton off the wall.
“You always wanted to play things defensively…”
As the skeleton floated forward, so did the box which contained the elements, in a smooth gesture the box slid up into the rib cage of the old cadaver. With a hack and some spit, the box was sealed up in it’s calcium container.
Chrysalis put the skeleton back onto the wall, and chuckled.
“So now, you can protect this Shellish and actually be of some worth for once.”
Another flash of green flames and ebony distortion heralded the living queen’s departure. With a few steps and a swish of her blue green tale, she vanished into the portal.
After Chrysalis was gone, there was a glint of light within the small room. A slight twinkle flashed amongst the old bones. Then darkness returned the place to pitch black.
---
When she exited the fiery magical doorway she stepped out into one of the castle courtyards. The sun was near the edge of the horizon, and Chrysalis flashed her eyes and activated her horn to cast a spell to finish the day.
Stars dotted the sky’s indigo hue, and were bright enough to cast shadows. The queen walked towards the castle, almost ready to retire. She pulled out the note she used to communicate with Sombra, to see if that facetious king had written anything else. There wasn’t only the last line, “oops”.
Even though it was evening Chrysalis didn’t feel like she wanted to retire quite yet, though she also didn’t want to deal with anything official either. Enough serious matters had gone askew for one day, it was time to take a walk.
The queen turned away from the castle proper, and walked towards the gates. As she walked she took on a fresh disguise, which caused her body to become wreathed in emerald light.
The new form the queen walked in was a very tall unicorn mare. She didn’t bother to shrink into something with a less conspicuous physique because it was convenient. The larger the difference in size between the changeling and their disguise, the more difficult it was to maintain. When she had taken the shorter form of Cadance, it had become quite uncomfortable after several days, and she was greatly relieved to be able to cast it aside.
This new unicorn mare had a dark brown coat, and a dirty blonde mane. She turned her head about to look at the mark-less flanks. She gave a critical stare, and mulled over how creative she felt.
POP!
The new mark was… a question mark. She grunted, at least she could think of a few ways to deflect unwanted queries. When she neared the gates two Sentinels jumped at her approach, surprised at this unfamiliar pony that approached from the castle side.
“Stop there pony!”
“How did you get over here?”
Chrysalis simply flashed her eyes green at them. Both of the sentinels instantly recognized the gesture and backed down. Even more than the simple flash, the presence they felt let them know who it was. Both of them lowered their stances into a bow, and remained silent.
The giant brown unicorn tapped the cobble stone with a hoof. The light clop brought both of the sentinels’ eyes up. The disguised queen wore a bored expression, her drooping eyelids conveyed a sense of impatience.
“Would the two tall changeling guards be so kind as to let one pony through?”
It wasn’t so much a question as a command, and the two thickly scaled changelings hopped to the gates and opened them. The massive metal bars slid on silent hinges, it was quite an impressive design to function so seamlessly,or perhaps was it magic?
Another moment passed before Chrysalis had exited into the city proper. It took a while to pass the ritzy mansions which housed the nobles, as each property stretched wide with spacious yards and gardens. A few prim and proper ponies dressed in fine wares trotted their way around, some were followed by attendants, and all wore snooty expressions.
The giant brown mare chuckled at how serious they took themselves, she could easily throw any of their lives upside down at a whim. Why should they bicker and be petty, when they couldn’t possibly win a contest of superiority with real power.
As she thought this a dragonfly buzzed past her head, and snatched a smaller fly out of the air. The larger insect landed on a nearby bush, while it kept the smaller bug in its grasp. Colorful mandibles bit down and started to chew hungrily. The disguised changeling’s sensitive ears perked forward, and she swore she could hear a few noises.
“Help me! Help m-”
“Omnomnomnom.”
Chrysalis blinked once, then laughed. “Of course… it doesn’t matter if you’re the most superior, so long as you’re better than something else.” A suave baritone voice approached her from the side.
“Excuse me, but I don’t believe I’ve seen you around before.”
Chrysalis turned her head, and instantly frowned when she saw who it was. Her current form easily looked down on the alabaster unicorn. The self assured noble was slightly taken aback by the rather sour expression shot his way. His own faint smile turned into a displeased purse of the lips.
“Believe me, I don’t simply go around greeting ponies, but I noticed you walked right out of the castle gates. Even nobles don’t venture into the castle willy nilly now, so I assume you have some level of importance. I haven’t seen changelings respectfully bow to a pony yet…”
The giant earth toned unicorn rolled her eyes, why did it have to be this pony that wanted to come talk to her? She mulled over her response, and tried to think of a way to make this a little more interesting. She glanced back at the mark on her leg, then returned her gaze to Blueblood.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
She smirked when Blueblood narrowed his eyes indignantly. The white stallion responded with no humor in his voice.
“Yes I would, I don’t recall ever seeing a pony taller than a saddle arabian, besides Aunt Celestia.”
“Oh, want to make fun of my size do you?”
She lifted one of her very large hooves to tap the white unicorn on the chest. She pressed hard enough that it made him take a step backwards. The austere noble looked down to his chest and grimaced, her hoof had left a dusty mark. As he brushed it off he looked back up into the tall mare’s eyes, her light brown eyes.
“Don’t deflect my question with pretended indignity. I would have no issue reporting a pony like you to the new changeling queen, and you don’t want that. I’ve seen what she’s willing to do to ponies up close.”
Chrysalis shot a hoof over her mouth to muffle an outburst of laughter. It was too delightfully ironic, though it also showed Bluebood knew his place in the food chain. The sudden quieted laughter made Blueblood cock an eyebrow at her. Was that threat not taken seriously? With a few loud coughs, the disguised queen decided it was time to practice some kind of back story.
“I am Enigma Maze, and you wouldn’t have heard of me. Though I’m on a private errand for the queen, so I suggest you keep any threats to yourself. I think she would take my word over yours.”
At that Blueblood huffed, puffed, and blew out an unintelligible garble of words. The disguised changeling took up a smug smile at the stallion’s flustered response. She waited as he turned to leave and took several steps away. He only made a small distance before he stopped and turned around.
“Then why didn’t I see you at the important ponies meeting. I thought the queen was just getting to know ponies…”
This caused a slight pause in Chrysalis’s smugness, but she recovered quickly.
“She didn’t meet every pony with useful talents there, and most ponies’ that went to that meeting weren’t useful either. Beg your pardon, but why haven’t I seen you around the castle? If you’re so important?”
A slick slimy emphasis made that “important” a most distasteful word to Blueblood’s offended ears. The stallion huffed, and puffed, and blew a raspberry before he walked away. The undignified manner with which Blueblood left made the giant brown unicorn smile widely.
She turned to continue her walk deeper into the city. Lights had come on all over the place, with street lamps keeping things very well lit. Eventually the mansions gave way to smaller housing, along with various shops.
When she entered an open square in the city block she heard music. The peaceful notes of a small band of classical instruments graced the ears of many ponies within the small area.
There was a central podium the musicians performed on, and it was slightly elevated. The individual members looked intensely focused on their craft. Many of the Canterlot ponies watched quietly and appreciatively, while others continued on with their evening business.
The giant brown mare saw a bench with an empty space and decided to take a seat. Once she rested comfortably on it, she resolved to listen to the rest of the piece the small band played. It was a pleasant enough atmosphere, one would almost think the city hadn’t been invaded just a week ago.
The disguised queen nodded with approval, the ponies appeared to enjoy themselves, and seemed to otherwise function as normal. Such at sight seemed like a warehouse of ripened food to her changeling eyes.
A few drones and sentinels buzzed over heard, and the sight didn’t cause any panic, maybe a few uncomfortable looks, but nothing disorderly. It made Chrysalis smile, changelings could roam free amongst ponies, and not worry about open hostility. Here at least, though she still had the rest of Equestria to subdue.
In a dramatic climb to the climax, the band finished their piece with passionate crescendo. One mare in particular played her cello with a particularly impressive flourish that caught they queen’s attention. She looked closer and noticed it was a grey earth pony, who wore a neat pink bowtie. Chrysalis mentally noted that she would like a performance from this band in her castle sometime. She looked at the other members and noted their appearance.
When they finished there was a moment of quiet then a polite stomping of hooves. The Canterlot method was to tap one fore hoof softly over the cobble stones, rather than the common applause, which simply involved the stomp of all four hooves freely.
Chrysalis got up from the bench and continued her stroll through the streets. The band had started another piece, but she was in the mood to move on.
A sweet smell in the air grabbed her attention after she had traveled a few more blocks. The aroma of fresh dough caked with sugar tickled her nose; she peered around for the source. A store titled “Donut Joe’s” was nearby, and was the undeniable source of the savory scents.
When she walked up to the door, she had to duck her head slightly; the long horn on her head would otherwise tap the frame. As she entered the shop a little bell tingle heralded her arrival. A few eyes glanced in her direction, and went wider as they noticed her peculiar size.
She ignored them as she walked closer to the bar. A cream colored stallion with light brown mane tended it, and was dressed in slightly dirty baking attire. He looked up at the giant new mare that approached his bar. The stallion spoke up in a gruff voice.
“Hi there, welcome to Donut Joe’s, is there something I can get you?”
The giant chocolate colored mare put a hoof to her chin thoughtfully, and scanned through the contents that lined the walls behind the bar. A rainbow of dazzling treats filled every glass container, and each one appealed to her as much as the last. Then she remembered something.
“I left my bits at home, but do you offer any samples I can taste for now?”
“Samples? Sure, I have a tray of prepared samples right over there.”
He pointed towards a tray that sat on a lower counter, so she nodded and walked over to it. She lowered her face to the tray, and sniffed the array of choices. A little card-sized sign said “Please limit yourself to three per visit.”
The samples themselves were little slices of different donut flavors. She picked up three that looked particularly delectable in her magic and levitated them to her mouth. As she chewed them over she rolled her tongue critically. They were fantastic, why wasn’t this pony one of the castle chefs? She would need to correct that.
There was a soft click as the door behind the counter opened, and a small purple dragon walked out, he held a tray of more sample size donut slices. When he reached the low counter which held the main tray of samples he started to replace the missing flavors. The dragon had taken no apparent notice of the giant mare, which stared at him with scrutinized eyes. She had stopped mid chew.
He paused in the midst of his little restocking job, as he didn’t need to turn around to feel the eyes that bored into the back of his head.
“Um, is there something you need miss, because Joe is right over there?”
The little purple dragon turned around, and had to crank his neck back to look up at the giant unicorn. She had narrowed eyes and a slight frown; this made the scaly little creatures nervous. It wasn’t the common, “oh a dragon, that’s interesting” kind of look. He ventured to speak.
“Do I know you?”
“No…”
This was followed by painfully awkward silence, and the lavender dragon with greens spines found himself closer to the counter, he inched towards it slowly as the giant mare stared him down.
“Well, it was nice meeting you, see you around!”
His tail bumped into the counter door, which caused him to spin around and disappear behind it. Disguised Chrysalis resumed her chewing, and turned to leave the store. A fun little idea had popped into her head, and she would enact it in just a moment.
There were a few changelings off in a corner of the shop, as well as a few other ponies. The corner occupied by the chitinous creatures was a little noisy, and their chatter was pretty loud. A big box of donuts was scattered around in the midst of their table. Several drinks also decked the surface, one of them had been spilled and wasn’t cleaned up yet.
A few of the changelings in that group noticed the giant mare that walked towards the exit, several picked up mischievous grins. One of them, a vanguard, called out to her.
“Hey, long legs! Wanna join our table?”
Her casual stride stopped, and her head slowly turned to the table of lively changelings. They all looked at her with stupid grins. Her eyes narrowed and flashed a shade of emerald, this was accompanied with a sharp mental message.
“You want the queen to join your table?”
The small group had equally shocked, but different reactions. One had been eating a donut, and let it fall from his mouth as his jaw dropped. Another spit out his drink which he was in the middle of slurping. Yet another hiccupped, and with a blur of green magic turned into a giant black donut, with purple frosting and light blue sprinkles.
The one that had called her out simply gasped, and threw his head and front hooves down on the table in a make-shift bow.
“Forgive me! I-I didn’t know!”
Chrysalis sent out another annoyed mental message.
“Compose yourselves!”
Verbally she said,
“You are in Canterlot little changelings, it would be polite to learn some manners.”
The group of rambunctious equines straightened out their postures and appeared much more sober. Except for the one that turned into a donut, he stayed a donut.
Several of the other ponies in the shop gave curious glances, which included Joe and a little purple dragon, but they went back to their own business quickly. The giant mare appeared to be a pony one shouldn’t mess with, not if she could instill fear in a group of changelings with a look.
In another few steps she was outside, and continued her walk until she was in the alley between buildings. A ripple of magical green flames peeled over her form. The giant mare shrank down, until she was average size, her chocolate coat became lavender, her brown eyes became purple, and her mane and tail went from blonde to dark violet with a pink stripe. The question mark on her flank shifted into a star, surrounded by five smaller stars. The straight line of her expression morphed into a grin.
The form of Twilight Sparkle emerged from the alleyway, she picked up a brown cloak some pony had conveniently left in the alley, and used it to obscure her form.
A ring of the bell signaled her return to the donut shop, though none of the ponies in the store would be the wiser. She tried to stealthily sneak towards the counter the little dragon hid behind. When she neared the sample tray, she picked up three more samples, different flavors of course… “what? it said three flavors per visit.” She mentally argued with the sign, besides she was queen, rules were hers. Even in a donut shop.
“Psst.”
A little dragon perked his green ears, but didn’t turn around.
“Psst.”
He perked his ears and turned around, and he saw some pony who covered her face in a hood.
“Psst, come here.”
There was something familiar about that voice, he knew that voice, but it couldn’t be…
“TWI-”
His shout of surprise and excitement was cut off as a purple hoof was shoved over his mouth. The hood had shuffled about enough for the little dragon to get a good look at her face. It definitely appeared to be who he thought it was. She nodded her head slightly towards the table of changelings. He pushed hoof away from his snout and bashfully kicked at the ground.
“Hehe, sorry, I’m just glad to see you. I thought you were captured.”
“I’ll explain in a bit, but first we need to get out of here.”
“Sure just a sec, I’ll tell Joe that I’m leaving.”
“No, we’ve got to go now Spike.”
The urgency in her voice made the little dragon nervous.
“Ok…”
When fake Twilight turned to go, Spike shuffled out behind her. Donut Joe was in an enthusiastic discussion with some particularly flamboyant customer at the moment, and didn’t notice them make their exit.
Once they were outside, Spike climbed onto her back, and she started to gallop through the streets. She would occasionally be dodgy and weave through buildings when it would help her go faster. Soon they were by the noble mansions, and approached the castle gates.
Spike had gotten more and more nervous the closer they got to the castle.
“Twi! Where are we going? How did you escape in the first place? Why are we going towards the castle? That changeling queen is in there!”
“Don’t worry Spike, some other friends helped me and others escape. We have a place we’re hiding at under the castle, and we’re coming up with a plan.”
They approached the castle gates and two sentinels which stood guard. The little dragon tugged on her mane to try and get her to stop, fear took hold despite her words. Though as they approached Fake Twilight flashed her eyes and horn briefly, and the changeling sentinels moved to the side, and opened up the gates.
“What the…”
“I learned a spell that makes illusions to changelings, we’ll be able to make it past the guards.”
She casually said to the little dragon on her back. He scratched the top of his head with a claw, he supposed that made sense. That smug smile she wore was familiar, it was the look she had when she beat a particularly difficult question.
The gates closed behind them, and fake Twilight’s gallop slowed to a trot. There was a stretch of silence as they took their time to approach the castle proper. More changelings stood guard at the castle doors, but another flash of magic from the purple unicorn mare, and they were let through. It was still difficult for Spike to take this all in stride, and he cringed as they passed by the large aggressive looking sentinels.
Once the castle doors closed behind them, fake Twilight eased Spike off her back. She turned to look at him, and the small dragon held an agitated, but hopeful look up to her. She smiled at him, and started to chuckle. He chuckled too, but nervously and had no idea why he joined her in a moment that wasn’t really funny.
“What’s going on?”
He couldn’t help but ask, something felt terribly off.
“Oh, nothing you need to worry about.”
Twilight’s voice was a little too happy.
“No, I think I do need to worry about what’s going on. Why aren’t we moving anymore?”
“Because we don’t need to.”
The purple unicorn disappeared in a flash of green that stunned the little dragon, and when the bright light dimmed the queen of the changelings sat there.
“NOOOOO!”
Spike jumped away in horror and tried to scurry for the castle doors, Chrysalis laughed as she picked up the terrified creature in her magic. He still flailed in the air, as his little claws desperately reached out to grab onto something, anything!
The queen began a slow walk through the castle, tiny dragon held in tow. When Spike had finished his fearful fits, and resigned to float helplessly through the air, the royal changeling saw fit to speak again.
“I’m surprised you’ve stayed hidden for so long, and in plain sight. I suppose I didn’t stress the importance of finding you all that much. Only one baby dragon after all, and you seemed to enjoy your time there in the donut shop.”
The sad purple dragon didn’t say anything, he just kept silent as he floated along in the green aura. The queen listened for a moment more, and when there was no response she continued.
“You happen to know six very important ponies quite well though, and I would like some advice about them. Aside from the obvious ones, like where you think they would hide, if they somehow got away from me...”
“Fat chance.”
Spike crossed his arms and looked away.
“Is that so?”
Chrysalis stopped her walk and lifted a hoof to jab the scaly creature in his pudgy little belly. She did this repeatedly and the lavender dragon helplessly kicked about in the air.
“H-hey, stop that! It tickles!”
The queen kept doing it, and looked about lazily on the walls, she saw some ornate decoration that involved a lot of feathers, she plucked one with magic. This was used to replace her hoof, and the feather kept tickling his scaly belly.
“Please, stop! That tickles so much!”
With the dragon and feather in her magical grip she continued her walk through the halls. The walk and relentless tickling lasted several minutes. She sent out a mental message for Shade, her casual strides led her to the base of the solar tower.
At this point Spike heaved his breaths in and out in between weak laughs, tears poured out the corners of his eyes, and his words begged for mercy.
“Please… it hurts, I can’t laugh –heave- anymore!”
She kept going.
When her head vanguard showed up, covered in soapy suds and looking utterly exhausted, the queen stopped the torturous tickles. The small dragon clutched his sides and groaned, and Shade looked at the situation with a cocked eyebrow.
“You need something my queen?”
“Yes, take care of this creature, I will interrogate him later. If he misbehaves use this.”
Chrysalis had the feather halfway held out for Shade to grab, but green fire burst in between them, and disintegrated the torture device. Spike growled at them, while he clutched his sore and tender sides.
“NO!”
“Do you want a muzzle little beast?”
“No.”
“Then be a good creature, and do what Shade tells you to. Shade, find another feather. Now be off.”
She passed over the dragon to her vanguard who in turn, grabbed him with his magic. When the two of them disappeared off into another hall, Chrysalis let out a loud yawn. It had been dark for some time and the weariness of the day finally got to her. Before she went back to the bedchamber she wanted to see one last thing.
She buzzed up to the Solar Tower’s balcony, and looked out over Equestria once more. The land was a beautiful thing in the night time. Faint starlight highlighted some of the details of the country side, and gave the distant clouds a silver lining.
When her eyes roamed down over to the nearest settlement, Ponyville if she recalled correctly, as curious sight graced her eyes.
What appeared to be a giant upside down fishbowl was over the town. Chrysalis blinked once, twice… and it was still there. What in the world?
A loud drawn out sigh exited her large maw of sharp teeth, she would deal with this tomorrow, there were only so many things she was willing to do in a day…
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........ and my frustration is peaking. soo now they are even further removed from the story cause sombra is going to basically make them disappear now. cause what else is he gonna do than that?
............. can you please explain what the heck is going on here now? eveyr second more story potential is removed. chrysalis can't try and make deals with celestia is she is forever lost to whatever the hell sombra is gonna do to her and luna. and there is no way for her to deal with discord, who would be far beyond either her or sombra, not without celestia's information.
i have no idea where this sotry is gong dude. and not in the good way. a good way would be sudden changes that create mores story potential. here it removes sotry potential.
Sombra is behaving very strangely.
Next chapter: Live in Ponyville! Clash of the Egos!
5975508 why would trixie do that? the only reason did that was because she beat twilight. if she couldn't find tiwlight there, its more than likely she would go elsewhere.
let me try to speak my mindagian.
i honestly do not know what is going on in this story. by all means sombra having the regal sisters would mean they would be forever imprisoned in some unknown area. its kinda hard to imagine him doing anything else even in this state.
this entire incident removes a very large amount of story potential. in fact all of it regarding celestia, luna, and the mane six. the mane six being taken makes sense and that creates some story potential in of itself. however with luna and celestia, you've removed all story potentail there because.......... well they are basically gone forever unless twilight amanges to overpower sombra. and if she overpowers somebra, then its the end of the story cause the regal sisters together would be far too great a threat for chrysalis to withstand.
not to mention that removing celestia ruins that entire dynamic i harped about before. chrysalis being forced to find council with celestia, who will try to undermine chrysalis if she can. also she is gonna be incapable, and completely so, of dealing with discord. and sombra is not gonna be of any use against discord even if he turns back to evil. even if they work together, they lack the power to subdue him.
put simply you've utterly change the game before there was even a game to play and remove a large majority of the potential story in doing so. this hwole sombra nonsense is far, far, far too early to occur. it breaks the mold before the mold even hardened.
5973000 I goofed on my last paragraph of my post, "All I can say is just follow your own pace, & you won't make everyone happy." is wrong.
I meant to write "All I can say is just follow your own pace, just remember you can't make everyone happy." And there was suppose to be something else after that, but I can't remember what it is. That' what happens when you copy and paste, moving around your words. Didn't catch it. Sorry for any misunderstanding I may have caused...
But I think you got what I tried to say. But still sorry.
5975442
then take a break, breathe. It's ok...
I can think of several things, Sombra has to work creatively with his "condition"
Besides if i wanted to quickly and easily toss Luna and Celestia out of the plot completely there's one simple way i could have done it.
Kill... Them...
but i didn't
/ real meaning/ do it my way or it's wrong... lol. You know what, I actually see more story potential from what just happened. I'm going to go write some extended perspective. Some sombra / royal sister interaction, and how each of them plan on dealing with their situation. (an author has his notes
) Stories gonna continue with Chrysalis's perspective, but I might release that later as a special... anyway
I don't feel like reminding you there are multiple correct ways to solve many problems. I especially look forward to Discord coming onto the scene
but i still have some time to build up to that.
Have fun bashing me with your head canon.
5975608
The direction is season 3 forward. The very end of the chapter hints towards episode 5 of season 3.
Though there are going to be deviations / not necessarily in perfect order, and a lot of things need to be addressed that aren't even in the episodes.
Cadance is chillen
5975672
nah it's cool, i understand 10 were not satisfied with the story so far, but the other 60 give me reasons why i should continue
5975725 Thank your so kind. And thank you for taking care of Cadence.
5975678 i kinda reworked my thoughts and put it in a different comment dude.
its not 'my' way dude. there are rules to how you deal with a narrative. put simply, you pull a big twist, such as this, when you have a norm established. however you do not have a norm established yet at all. things happen too quickly.
when you just throw in twists like this you just confuse the readers. they become uncertain about where the story is going and might become unitnersted......
its called pacing. you need pacing in a story so your readers can follow along.
ironically enough dude, if you had chrysalis trying to deal with trixie BEFORE that sombra incident, then that would have vastly improved the pacing. .......
no. this hwole sombra incident in itself is wrong. this does not feel like sombra at all. this kinda shit is what Discord would do........ seriously why do you have sombra doing this right now? this is discord's schtick.
unless its actually discord in disguise that is.
5975678 seriously dude. this story NEEDS pacing. and it needs to utterly rewind on the whole sombra thing. you needed a lesser incident to occur BEFORE all of that happens. it is just gonna confuse people.
i am not saying my way is the right way, but think about it? your reasoning for sombra's behavior is that basically the sauronicorn has a case of the feel goods and it is somehow making him insane and a troll..............
that couldn't make any less sense if he suddenly had a gender swap and was spitting bits against his will. why in the World would you have sombra of all character do that when Discord is the most likely candidate to cause that much harm.?
...... i don't want to Tell you what to do with your story. but the way it is going right now, its a mess dude. seriously, you are going totally ooc to make a character play a part they couldn't, and you are putting two major incidents in a row when you had a minor incident, or least more minor, in mind to begin with. that is just halphazard.
worse, its not even necessarily BADLY written. that just makes it more infuriating because there is potential here.
5975466 i am wanting to think its actually discord fucking with everyone. then agian the guy made this whole chaotic mess happen when he had a minor incident planned to occur AFterwards. so....... i just don't know.
Fishbowl. Either The girls and Shining are in Ponyville or Trixie is in town. Discord though is in the castle garden. Chrysalis notes him a chapter or two ago. I am kind of glad Sombra saved everyone, gets the story moving toward Chrysalis being defeated and in a way redeems Sombra. I have a feeling this will end with the Changelings chased out of Equestria and taking over the Crystal Empire permanently with the lessons learned in Canterlot being implimenter there.
Well Sombra, you done goofed. Though I'm not sure with Spike. Yeah he's a baby, but he's a baby dragon. He can breath fire that melts through locks, he should be under much more security.
And hmm... is Shellish going to come back to life?
Also that fishbowl. Did Sombra perchance relocate Twilight there? Or did Trixie meet up with a Twilight imposter?
5975678 Just don't listen to lordofmyth, he's been trying to hijack your story to fit his headcanon and tastes since chapter one.
5977133 yeaaah i am trying to hijack a story i don't even believe could have happened.
seriously dude, can you look at this story and tell me that it has good pacing? cause we had two major incidents happen one after another, without a break between them. the trixie incident happening before all of this stuff would have improved the story's flow considerably. have the hwole situation with luna and all that to sit for a while longer rather than making luna being beaten half to death unrealistically utterly pointless by making her vanish the veyr next chapter.
also it makes no sense ot use sombra as the one who rescues the ponies and troll chrysalis. that is a Discord thign, 100%. not to mention the reasoning behind sombra being crazy is........ confused at best.
why would discord rescue the mane six and such? think partly he would pity em. mostly cause they would of course fight against chrysalis and make a big show for him to enjoy. he's discord.
also taking luna and celestia would make sense as well. it would be denying chrysalis any means of figuring out how to be rid of him.
5978486
Yes. She just took over a country, right before a 'season premier'. She has to deal with the effects of her conquering AND the season premier together; the shoe fits.
Right, unrealistically. Sure. In your world maybe, where Luna is the most powerful thing in the universe and can defeat everything with her eyes closed.
It's so nice to know you're psychic, and know for a fact that Luna will never be relevant again.
Really? Given what happened to him it's not that surprising.
Oooor maybe you just aren't smart enough to wrap your head around it? Ever consider that?
And this just has no relevance, because Discord isn't free.
5975877 If you actually bothered to think instead of complaining you would see that Sombra's current behavior makes a lot of sense.
His rewired emotions make him incapable of violence or even hate, which in turn makes him incapable of using black magic (if it is powered by negative emotions in this setting). Yet he still wants revenge. So he works by dismantling her queendom piece by piece, both to prove his superority to her and most importantly to himself (she has not only taken his kingdom from him, but also each of his means of active agression, and even his emotional refuge in simply hating her - a lesser pony would have given in to the trauma, yet he keeps fighting her with all he has left), and to provoke her in any way possible into fighting him again and draining him of love - so he can get out the big guns. He has seen despair, and has learned to overfill that well with hate, so draining will not stop him.
In regards to pacing: Real life has no pacing, so why should this story have one?
If you want to read a story that suits your tastes, how about you write one yourself?
You have studied literature. Seriously, quit your backseat driving and get your own car.
5978574 ..... this is the most obvious attempt. quite literally you edited several of those sentences to remove the points i was actually giving. seriously dude, you edited all my explanation of WHY it should be discord and why discord Would help the mane six. not only are you taking setnences out of context, you are removing the contexts of the sentences.
5978731 ... I shortened your speaking about Discord because it's irrelevant. It doesn't matter why or how Discord would mess with Chrysalis, because he's not free.
How you didn't grasp THAT is beyond me.
5978612 ......... this is a story, not real life dude. a narrative needs pacing.
and my issue is not that another issue popped up but it is something that changed everything before there was a status quo to change. the trixie incident would have been a good middling ground. not game changing unlike the prior one yet still something for chrysalis to deal with.
and it doesn't make sense. because he got filled with positive energy? a case of the feel goods would not make him incapable of hate. fuck, hatred is fueled by love in one way or the other; either aggression from it being spurned, or violence towards what would harm what you love.
it is a temporary scenario...... not to mention if he was soo blissed into submission he cannot even feel anger, what would compel him to do this out of spite? he can't feeel spite.
it also kinda reveals a massive plot hole. if sombra no longer has his shadow form, how did he sneak past the guards to find the prisoners? he has no means to secretly get information and get past others without his shadow form magic.
seriously, sombra's entire scene was written as if he was discord. from his ability to get information and sneak into places and just make things teleport, to his hwole sending chrysalis letters thing.
5978814 ........ considering equestria rulers has been replaced by a bug, we have a rogue sauronicorn on the loose, no one is able to deal with nightmares, and there is a general fear probably going on directed at the changelings, and that the mane six have been weakened, there seems to be enough chaos goin about for him to get loose.
in fact i know the writer of this story intends for him to pop up......... what better introduction than making ALLL of Chrysalis prisoners vanish?
also realized a massive plot hole here. there is no way for sombra to learn of their location to begin with, let alone sneak past the changelings to do it. because, as he stated himself, he no longer has his shadow form.
aka he no longer has a method that would allow him to so easily sneak in and locate everyone.
5978855
Except that the current Bearers are still linked to the Elements, and his prison's fresh.
5978870 ............ the element beares have been weakened. their connections are not severed but disrupted more than likely, considering their current situation.
like i said in my comment before you decided ot cherry pick one singular sentence and ignore any of the others.
5978905
Possible. Is it enough though? How long would it take? How weakened are their connections? How weak do the connections need to be, and for how long? Celestia and Luna had lost their connection for at minimum a thousand years, after all.
That actually wasn't cherry picked, I simply didn't see it.
5978915 luna did, celestia didn't. what bound discord did not actually break till the elements changed hands. then again she also probably kept her kingdom from collapsing into mayhem, kept things as stable as within reason.
there is also the possibility that rather than just breaking free, Discord could be set loose.
and you likely missed it because you were too picking trhough my comment rather than actually reading it.
5978985
Citation needed.
No, I missed it because I'm doing a bunch of other things and I've got a lot on my mind besides this.
5978844 You need anger in order to feel hate. The strongest negative emotion he is currently capable of (if any) is mild annoyance. And Schadenfreude. The latter allows him to keep up the motivation for his attacks bespite the alteration to his emotional spectrum. That and he will not give up on revenge on principle - Chrysalis has taken from him too much for that. It is a matter of self-image, that is why he is so (albeit passively) agressive about it.
His shadow form was also not particularly sneaky in the show. Besides, the story established that he can teleport, and he might have remembered where Equestria is (even if he did not connect Chrysalis with Equestria, it would be a place where he can hide and maybe recruit some mooks - his plan may even have been to alert the princesses, in disguise. And from there it is just a matter of asking some ponies about the latest news - and he is such a jolly fellow, why would they not tell him? Infiltration works via teleport, not even accounting for yet unrevealed spells in his repertoire.
5979159 the issue there is he wouldn't know the location of the cells. who would know besides the changelings?
and i am pretty sure he would be capable of being sneaky using his shadow form. meld into the dark and move through it.
Discord is a kind of character who has abilities to help him figure out secrets to his advantage. he can peak into the past and could transform himself into practically anything.
5979025 you citation demands are an obvious ploy to discredit, again! i ain't buying it at all.
besides you did this one already. and i told you that Celestia herself said it. seriously dude, i might be overtly critical of the story, but at least i am basing my critcisms on something rather than using cheap tactics to discredit.
5980124
... yes, how DARE I ask for proof to support your claims. How DARE I not just blindly believe what you say. It's this sort of thing that convinces me you're not that bright.
I doubt it.
Yeah, you're basing your criticisms on your headcanon which has no influence here. Also, cheap tactics to discredit, that's nice. Keep saying that, it might even become true.
So... Sombra is Discord now..?
Can't say I'm a fan of this approach. Even if he's still affected by the love Chrysalis spewed into him, I'm still trying to think of a good reason as to why he decided to travel all the way to Canterlot instead of using Chrysalis' absence to try and take over the Crystal Empire. Or how he was able to find all the captured ponies he probably had no idea where to look. Seeing as how there was no hints of some mysterious shadow spying on Chrysalis in the previous chapters, it's a little hard to read this.
Finally we get to know where Spike has been all this time.
...Hiding out in Donut Joe's Donut Shop
And now he's in the Queens clutches
Poor guy...
If it was pretty obvious that Chrysalis was disguised as Twilight, I don't think it was necessary to call her 'Fake Twilight'. Simply calling her 'Chrysalis' would've been fine, seeing as how you weren't trying to mislead your Readers.
And now Trixie has shown up (And again, the passage of time is in question). What will happen next? Will Trixie's alicorn amulet be too much for Chrysalis?
5988268 ...........those were basically all the problems i had brought up.
5988268
Eh, I guess he might seem similar for now, my goal for his emotionally disturbed state was to make his methods more indirect, for now...
And sombra still very much wants his empire back, he's already acted on it, but that will be revealed within a few chapters.
You are right though, I could have dropped a few more hints about sombra spying. I think ill go add a few paragraphs to the previous chapters to build up to that surprise.
Lol Spike
Yep and here come the tricks of trickery.
5989031
The difference is he comes across as respectful and constructive, while sharing his opinion.
Rather than demeaning and controlling.
Unfortunately mannerisms can do a lot to help or hurt the reception of your content. Even if it is quality material.
5989355 perhaps. still it is true that the way the story is going is rather haphazard. both in how stories have played out and how characters are used. its kinda hard to buy what has happened with sombra, and it removes a lot of story potential and character interactions. and has negative implications for celestia and luna's well being.
also there is the plot hole of him spying on the changelings. he said he did not even have his shadow form anymore. how could he spy on them? not to mention teleporting them all away without being noticed.
plot twists requires there to be some kind of norm to twist to begin with.
Gotta say, I am loving this new and improved Sombra!