Chapter 123
“Sumac, wake up, can you hear me?”
It was difficult to pull himself up from the depths. There was so much pain, so much horrible pain, and Sumac wanted to drift through the void of unconsciousness for just a little while longer. He felt a gentle shake and somepony was breathing on him. It took a while to make anything out, because it was dark and he didn’t have his eyeglasses.
“Sumac, it’s me, Olive. Wake up. Please?”
Inside of his mouth, his tongue felt like a fat, squirming caterpillar. The inside of his cheek was scabbed over and the taste of blood lingered on his tongue. One of his nostrils was caked over, with snot or blood he did not know, but it made it difficult to breathe. He became aware of the fact that somepony was holding him, and he assumed that it had to be Olive.
With a great deal of effort, he lifted his head and began to peer around. Wherever they were, it was dark and there wasn’t much to see. Something on the walls glowed with a pale green light, but Sumac couldn’t see well enough to make out what it was. The smell of vinegar was strong in the air, and other more unpleasant smells.
“She took us, Sumac, Queen Chrysalis took us and she wants to sell you to the highest bidder,” Olive said as Sumac sat up on his own. “Sumac, there is something I need to tell you, Sumac.”
“What?” Sumac didn’t recognise his own voice because it was so dry and scratchy.
“Sumac, Moondancer is here with us—”
“Oh, good,” Sumac gasped, feeling relieved.
“—and she doesn’t know any of us. She’s never met any of us before.”
It took a few seconds for Olive’s words to sink in and Sumac was certain that he was going to be sick. Fear and terror welled up inside of him as his mind began to race, thinking about what that meant, exactly. A thousand different thoughts all lept into Sumac’s mind and he had trouble not screaming or throwing up.
“It’s true,” a raspy voice said from a short distance away. “I don’t know any of you. I’ve been here for a very long time now.”
Shuddering, Sumac began thinking of Moondancer’s skill with mind magic. Her ability to grow wings and fly. Her knowledge of dark magic and just how much she knew of it. He thought about how she had pressed into his mind, how she knew his thoughts, it was all too much for him. With a strangled gurgle, Sumac puked all over the floor and would have fallen into his own vomit puddle had Olive not caught him.
He felt like crying.
His stomach lurched again and his mouth filled with bile, but he didn’t throw up. He gagged though, and had to spit and sputter to expectorate the stringy, clingy bile that refused to leave his mouth. Olive gave him a good hard whack on his back, which hurt quite a bit, but also helped.
Moondancer had been his friend, a trusted adult, somepony that he cared about a great deal, and this revelation filled him with a horrible pain that he had never known before, a powerful feeling of grief and loss. He had lost a friend that had never really existed. A powerful spasm overtook Sumac’s body, one born of fear, of revulsion, and the little colt was overwhelmed by the sheer horror of this new knowledge.
Never in his life had Sumac ever felt more alone, and he wanted his mother. No, his mothers. Trixie, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine. They would keep him safe and make him feel better. But then, Sumac had a dreadful thought. What if they weren’t who they were supposed to be? He thought about Pebble’s feeling of danger, how it had been all around them in Twilight’s castle, above them, below them, surrounding them in every direction.
Faced with the horror of his own existence, Sumac screamed.
The three foals and Moondancer huddled together as the door began to open. There was a sound, like a faucet running—Sumac could hear water pouring—and then the stink of urine wafted up to Sumac’s nose. Moondancer fell away from them, crying, gibbering with fear, and she curled into a little ball on the floor as an ever growing puddle flowed around her.
Snarling, Sumac jerked himself away from Olive and Strawberry Hearts and rose to his hooves, ready to fight. The changeling queen was long, tall, and scary, but none of that mattered to Sumac. He looked up at her while she approached, and she looked down at him as though she was examining her food.
“Such bold defiance,” Queen Chrysalis said. “My agents told me that you were brave, but I don’t believe that. I think that you are incredibly stupid. The problem, as I see it, is that Trixie has protected you a little too well from the consequences of your own stupidity.”
“I know stupid when I see it.” Sumac’s words carried the sting of magic and he felt a deep, equinal sense of satisfaction when he saw Chrysalis wince. “You think you’ll be able to sell me.”
“And you think I won’t?” Chrysalis asked, and then she began to shake with laughter.
“No, I think you’re stupid enough to try,” Sumac replied.
The changeling queen looked ever so irritated, so Sumac pressed his advantage.
“The sorts of monsters that want me, they’re not going to pay you.” Sumac held his head high and stood with stiff-legged defiance. “Catrina will rip you apart and kill all of your changelings. You’re not going to get anything for me, except dead.”
Hissing, Queen Chrysalis recoiled and shook her head. “What do you know, you’re just a stupid foal with delusions of intelligence!”
“There’s a lot I know,” Sumac said as his hackles stood up. “I know that you are a venereal disease with four legs! You’re what ponies catch when they have careless love!”
The changeling queen stood there, her mouth hanging open in a perfect round ‘O’ of shock. Her green eyes glowed with hatred and malice as she stood frozen in place, unable to move or respond. Sumac took this opportunity to strike, and he unloaded everything he had on her, lashing out with as much telekinetic force as he could muster.
Queen Chrysalis’ head snapped off to one side and she stood there, her cheek smoking from the impact. With a slow turn of her head, she returned her baleful gaze to Sumac. Her horn glowed an awful shade of green, and she lifted Sumac from the floor. A thin band of pale green telekinetic force wrapped itself around Sumac’s neck, and his tongue lolled out as she began to strangle him.
“Just like Moondancer, you are going to learn to fear me…”
Helpless, Olive watched as Sumac was being choked right before her eyes. She had already tried fighting once, but her magic fizzled out before anything had even happened. Fear, fear was her undoing, just as Starlight had said it would be. But now, something else welled up inside of her, something awful, something she was supposed to channel into something more positive.
Rage.
Bravery had failed her and she had been unable to act.
But rage, rage gave her strength. Pushing Strawberry Hearts aside, Olive got up on her hooves, unnoticed by Chrysalis, who was choking Sumac into submission. Gritting her teeth together, she channeled her rage into her horn, and she could feel static all along her hide. The chubby green filly’s lip curled back from her teeth, and she let go of the single largest telekinetic burst of her life.
Unlike Sumac’s telekinetic tap, Chrysalis felt this one. It struck her in the neck and sent her flying. Sumac tumbled to the floor, coughing and gasping, his eyes bulging. Chrysalis slammed into the wall behind her with terrific force, causing her chitin to crack all over her body. She bounced, hit the ground with a thud, and green ichor began to spill out all over the floor.
The changeling queen was up in seconds though, and Olive hadn’t quite charged up again. Taking aim, Chrysalis gave Olive a taste of her own medicine. The blast of horrid green light struck Olive and sent her flying. She too, hit the wall, slamming into it with terrific, spine rattling force, and Olive saw a million stars in her vision.
She had no memory of hitting the floor, but she found herself there now, trying to make her legs work. Everything felt distant, as though her body was yards away from her head. She could hear her master’s voice inside of her head, telling her that now was the best time to strike, right now, when your enemy least expected it. Somehow, Olive focused through the haze of pain, picked one of the many Queen Chrysalises that she saw in her vision, and fired.
KERPOW!
Caught unawares, not expecting it at all, Queen Chrysalis caught this blast in the face. She somersaulted backwards, going end over end, and it was Sumac that added insult to injury when he unleashed a torrent of lightning from his horn, hitting the bug queen in the backside. It didn’t do much in the way of damage, but it stung and there was something fitting about frying a bug with lightning.
“I’m not like Sumac,” Olive said, spitting out the words. “I’m not brave, I’m just angry! Whatever you got, I can take it!” The rotund little filly barreled forwards, closing the distance between her and Chrysalis, determined to do as much harm as possible before she went down.
“ENOUGH!” Chrysalis roared as she lept up to her hooves. There was a flash of bright green light that filled the room, blinding Olive.
When Olive could see again, she saw Queen Chrysalis standing on Sumac’s head, crushing down upon his skull with her hoof. She quailed, not knowing what to do, and she glared at Queen Chrysalis with seething hatred. As she watched, Chrysalis applied pressure to Sumac’s head, and the little colt kicked and flailed around, helpless.
“I need him alive,” Chrysalis said in a cold voice devoid of any feeling whatsoever. “But I think he’d be a lot more desireable if he was made a bit more compliant, don’t you think?” As she spoke, she leaned a bit more of her weight against Sumac’s skull, causing the colt to squeal in pain and his whining squeals became a keening wail of agony.
On the floor, Moondancer continued to gibber and sob in terror.
Olive didn’t know what to do, this didn’t seem like a fight she could win. Her ears twitched as Sumac’s pained shrieks tore their way into her brain, and she felt a torrent of shame when she thought about what she had done to him.
“Make her kill me!” Sumac screamed at Olive. “Make her kill me! I don’t want to be given to Catrina!”
A cold prickle could be felt in Olive’s dock and she thought about what to do. Perhaps sensing Olive’s intentions to be defiant, Chrysalis ground her hoof against Sumac’s head, grating his skull over the rough floor. Her tongue went dry as she made the most difficult decision of her young life, and she hoped that everypony would understand, she hoped that they would forgive her.
They forgave Starlight, hadn’t they?
Olive fired off a massive blast, but not at Queen Chrysalis. No, she fired at Sumac, hoping to spare him of a lifetime of torture. Queen Chrysalis was big, tough, and armored. Sumac was little, small, and helpless. One good telekinetic burst would tear him apart. Tears rolled down her cheeks as the bolt of magic flew from her horn and skimmed over the floor.
She hoped that Sumac would understand.
She was certain that he would.
Queen Chrysalis reacted with supernatural speed, flinging Sumac away, slamming him into a wall with her carelessness, and she moved to punish Olive, to strike the fear of the changelings into the flippant filly that had dared to defy her. Olive felt a crushing force seize her, and that was okay, because she knew that she deserved this.
The world became a blur all around her, and she was slammed into the wall with terrific force. Again and again, she was flung into the wall, swung by her hind legs, which Chrysalis held in her magic. After the first few hits, Olive began to drift away and she became oblivious to the savage beating that she was getting.
Over and over, Chrysalis hurled her against the stone wall, and a dark red stain began to form around the place of impact. Strawberry Hearts clung to Moondancer, who lay on the floor, gibbering incoherent words, and the little filly shrieked with every breath as she listened to the wet, muffled whump of Olive being slammed into the rough stone wall.
With her rage spent, Queen Chrysalis tossed Olive’s limp, unresponsive form down to the floor, kicked her once more for good measure, and then loomed over Strawberry Hearts with a menacing gleam in her eyes.
“Tell me, little filly, do you want to be brave?”
Clinging to Moondancer, the frightened filly shook her head and bawled in terror.
Hissing, Queen Chrysalis’ eyes burned with baleful green fire as she stormed out of the room, having established her dominance over the inferiour lifeforms that plagued her. “Never, ever be brave… Moondancer had to learn that lesson!” Satisfied, getting the last word, having the last laugh, she left, pulling the door shut with a soft click.
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IT WAS MOONDANCER THE WHOLE TIME!
Well, a changeling pretending to be Moondancer but close enough right?
Also, I imagine this happening things are said and done with Chryssy.
First off...you are on fire today.
Secondly, wow! Did not see the whole Moondancer thing coming. One thing I'm forced to wonder, though. How was it that the lantern had an affect on a changeling? Is that just something it can do? Or did the changeling (Chrysalis?) simply shape-shift into a pegasus and use its knowledge of pony physiology to fake it? I'll accept either one, really. If I ever re-read this story, I'll have to keep my eyes open for foreshadowing that I missed.
HOLY SHIT I WAS NOT EXPECTING THAT
Really, Sumac never leaves a bitch unslapped.
OH FUCK.
Also I motion that Chrysalis be sodomized with a rusty shovel.
Holy shit...
So the Moondancer that Sumac had known was an imposter the whole time? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
7943428
A Rusty Shovel is too good for her. However she has a recently powered up Trixie, a pissed off Nice guy, aka Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine who has a giant fuck off axe to worry about... and as Doctor Who has shown, you DO NOT piss off the nice guys. And even worse, she will likely have Tarnished after her once Pebble learns her Special Somepony has been taken. I am sure Tarnished is the kind of Pony who would destroy anyone who hurts his daughter... and taking Sumac will hurt her. And lets not forget how many other ponies and beings all care about Sumac.
In Short. Chryssy is DOOMED!
Edit: And here is why you do not piss off someone who is nice, who is kind...
#1 Holy FUCK things are bucked up real good!! T_____T
#2 I am surprised that Sumac didn't have more strength. Now sees like the time that he could have used some Dark Magic or SOMETHING to really screw Queen Chrysalis over. That or Olive using Dark Magic, though I can't remember if she knows any, but I could see her tapping into it with her rage.
#3 Holy shit, just what is going ON right now??? O.O
Poor Moondancer, being held for months, tortured, broken... I hope when this is all over, she'll get the help she needs, and that she'll be okay. I hope that she and Sumac can be friends as well.
As for Queen Bitchalis, I REALLY hope she gets what's coming to her...
7941943 Actually, that's not entirely true; during the Canterlot Wedding invasion, Twilight actually used her magic to strip the disguise off of a Changeling during combat. It's not a normal spell she could teach others, but it seems possible at least.
All I have to say is... FUCK YOU CHRYSALIS!
Was waiting for a verbal obscenity tirade from Sumac, maybe still working up to it. Don't think it would take much now.
I am certain that Trixie, Lemon hearts and Twinkleshine will all be right pissed off, but they are not who Chrysalis should be worried about.
Twilight Sparkle is not who Chrysalis should be worried about.
Celestia, Luna and even Cadance are not who Chrysalis should be worried about.
Even Catrina, Grogar, et al. are not who she should be concerned about.
She should be concerned about Sumac Apple, for while it's true that his mastery of dark magic isn't terribly impressive, we have yet to see another pony in the modern era who can match his aptitude for it.
And given what's happened in this chapter, he may have run out of reasons to restrain himself, and will finally release his control art restrictions.
0.o
7943581
* popcorn munch intensifies *
7943590
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Yay Chrysalis!
YEs inferior being, so inferior 2 of them snogging kicked you and your army out of the city without any further harm to themselves..
Inferior beings you can't live without that doesn't make them inferior that makes you inferior. Yuo are at worst a parasite at best a symbiotic life form but the ponies don't need you
Eh i am not sure what to think of this honestly. It is an intersting twist of course. And moondancer is a pony withdrawn enough that she would be more easy to replace.'
At the end of the day though Chrsyalis has a massive ass weakness.....
Her plans are incredibly flawed and she has an immense lack in longterm thinking and planning.
So yeah i have a hard time seeing chrysalis otherwise after the recent finale. It is an intersting way to have her and it makes her dangerous, but in the end she can never be a ruler, only a disruptor. ....................
That owuld make an interesting stor.y Showing the ponies of equestria easily seeing through the plan and then preparing to strick against the changelings......
Most plausible scenario for ponyville is applebloom getting zecora's help and exposing the changelings with that truth paint she would likely know, and then kicking all half the asses.
then five minutes later maud comes through the door with a bloodied and battered changeling who was imitating pinkie pie before. turns out she had not received the ninteen daily letters she gets from her and was worried. and immediately saw through the changeling.... and even more immediately sent it through three buildings XD
7943725
The ending for this story was planned out in detail from the very beginning. All of this planning took place before the finale. There are even people who knew how this would end.
That finale did sort of sour it for me though.
Finally Chrysalis has a chance to be badass
7943729 Many fanfics likely died that day :P.
Though suspecting chrysalis little plan here is gonna fall apart right quick here. So that will be in character XD
For me it kinda sorta confirmed something i sorta suspected. Changelings were cursed. Least i think that was it. Their tattered form always screamed 'cursed' to me. Old thorax managed to either cure or at least surpress the curse..... though chrysalis is still cursed and at large.
A lot of people have a lot ideas about how changelings works so it is good for creative thinking. hell one can even presume there are other hives out there still.
...HOLY SHIT!
This is intense.
This thing still rated E?
And once more, HOLY SHIT!
7941943 dude it was more that the writers had not thought of it...... though more so it was the crystal empire. not many unicorns
I wonder if Night Light or Twilight Velvet will be involved in the rescue? I personally doubt it, it's been ages since they were mentioned, and I doubt they're anywhere nearby. Still seeing them risk themselves for Trixie's kid would go a long ways towards making me like them again.
This rather random comment has been brought to you by me-being-tired.
So what happens if Sumac surges without any regard for his own safety?
7943787
He could talk himself into trouble?
7943428 I second that motion.
7943653
Damnit, Scarheart!
There are some seriously pissed off ponies out there right now and I have no idea what's going to happen but it ain't gonna be good. And I'm really not sure who it's going to be not good for.
7943831
He's a big fan of the bughorse waifu. What can you do?
Well, um... Pretty sure that Olive is dead.
Wait, I might be wrong.
She's just unconscious, right?
Yeeeah...'limp, unresponsive, dark red stain' yeah she's dead. Well I can say that Chrysalis certainly threw Olive, oliver the place.
7943840
Toast to their happiness with a can of RAID?
Well, we can add the gore tag now. . .
I'm just going to give up entirely on the idea that FimFiction has a consistent rating system for stories. This is E, The Weed was M, and all manner of nasty stuff is rated T.
Eh, good stories is good stories anyway.
And wow, I didn't even consider that Moondancer might have been replaced. I'm less observant about this stuff than I'd like sometimes.
7943777 Nightlight has been mentioned recently in " The Mask Makes the Pony" and "Skyreach" . The Mask mention is probably close to this in terms of timeline. Velvet is probably battling bureaucracy reforming Children Services probably "A Basket, A Blanket, and a Bundle of Bills" and " When Consequences Come Home" are happening around this time frame
7943887 And a lighter.
I think Crysalis just hit the murder the world button... you don't go threw something like that, combined with his past trama, without some serious mental problems.
I think that we're going to see first hand what a sorcerer with the power of magical speech can do.
7943962
According to the timeline, at least three of those stories happen before or after this one. Not sure about the basket one. Don't feel like checking right now. Either way, I still don't expect to see either of them, nor do I expect to start liking them before this story is over.
I am ready to be proven wrong on that last one, though.
I messed up man. I read 124 before this.
And as the Moon Dances, Twilight falls.
Wait... Was Moondancer mindraped to submission that she didn't even remember who Sumac is or was the "Moondancer" that was with Sumac from the very start wasn't Moondancer and it was Chrysalis or one of her changelings?