Chapter 10
A few weeks ago…
“Sisters!” Phasmi called, running into the large common room the princesses used for relaxing. “Sisters! Mother has fallen! The reports just came back.”
Acari and Arachne looked up with wide eyes. “But-but how?!” Arachne jumped to her hooves, trotting up to the panting Phasmi. “She took most of the army with her!”
“Sh-she was blasted off of Canterlot by a magical shield last night!” Phasmi elaborated after taking a deep breath. “Our scouts have been rescuing survivors, but mother’s fate… it doesn’t look good. She was at the center of it.”
“But… without mother, what are we going to do?” Thysa said after a moment of silence. “She hasn’t finished our Quests. We’re all still here.”
Acari stepped next to Thysa, and glanced at the others.
Arachne’s wings buzzed, her eyes shifting from one sister to the next. “Traditionally… we are to fight until one of us remains.”
Phasmi and Acari took a calculating step back, while Thysa looked around, wide-eyed. “B-but—”
The sisters glanced warily at each other, holding their ground. Arachne’s eyes measured the others. Thysa was ignored, Phasmi and Acari would be the biggest challenge. Phasmi was less physical, but good with magic…
Arachne lowered her head, her sharp horn glinting in the light. “I-I surrender.” She closed her eyes. “I won’t stop whichever of you deals the killing blow but I can’t bring myself to—” she inhaled, cringing. “Just make it quick. Don’t let me know who it was. Please.”
She felt one of her sisters walk up to her, and surprisingly stand next to her. “I too, surrender.” Phasmi said in a soft voice. Almost a whisper. “I have no wish to fight any of you.”
“But tradition—” Thysa spoke up.
“Means nothing!” Acari snapped, making both Phasmi and Arachne look up in surprise. “Tradition has torn our Hive. Tradition has killed hundreds of our aunts. Tradition dictates that we ignore the suffering of lesser changelings.” She snorted. “Mother was the last of that tradition.”
She walked to stand at Arachne’s right and looked at Thysa. “I will not be a part of that. I don’t want any of you to die at my hoof or horn. I want to live, and I want to live with my family intact.”
“Mother would have wanted us t—”
“Do you really hate us, Thysa?” Arachne spoke up. “That much? That you would want to kill us?”
Thysa stepped back. “I-I, no! I don’t!” she cried. “B-but this is all I know! All we know!”
“No,” Phasmi sighed. “We know better.”
Thysa looked at her in confusion.
“On our last Quest…” Phasmi smiled at Arachne. “I hadn’t found any iron trouts, and I just so happened to find one, the same size as Arachne’s on my way out. What a coincidence.”
Arachne chuckled, leaning playfully against her sister. “Well, let’s not forget that suddenly sleepy dragon that soon forgot about keeping me as a chess piece.”
“Or the extra potions of Zebra Herbs that were conspicuously packed together on your route back from the wastelands to the Hive, Thysa, you never told me how you got them.” Acari smiled.
“T-that was you?!” Thysa asked. “But why?”
Acari leaned forward, looking directly into Thysa’s eyes. “Because you’re my younger sister.” She turned and pointed at Arachne and Phasmi. “And they are my sisters.” She smiled at Thysa. “And we are all sisters. That alone is more important than ruling a kingdom on my own.”
Arachne stepped forward. “So we are agreed… we’ll rule together, as sisters?”
Phasmi nodded. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Acari smiled, nodding herself and joining the others to look at Thysa.
Thysa nodded her head emphatically. “Yes! I don’t want to hurt you!” She smiled sheepishly when Arachne raised an eyebrow. “Or you to hurt me!”
“Well then, I suggest we start organizing ourselves…”
“Princesses!” The doors to the room slammed open, allowing a pair of guards in. “Your mother, our Queen has returned! And she’s safe and at full power!”
“WHAT?!”
“She’s in the courtyard, talking to the troops!” The guard informed them, turning to leave. “She’ll be here soon.”
They closed the doors behind them, leaving a shocked group behind.
The princesses looked at each other.
“Sisters… I will not go back to Fetch-Questing.” Arachne started pacing. “This is not right!”
“We have to do something!” Phasmi insisted.
“Remain calm!” Acari ordered. “We need to plan. We need to organize, but also not allow mother to know that we will act against her.”
“But she’s—” Thysa began.
“We’ll meet here, after she’s gone to rest…” Arachne nodded. “We’ll bring all our considerable skills to bringing her down.”
“But—”
“I… have considered some possible scenarios,” Phasmi admitted. “I never thought I-we would use them.”
“Good, bring them tonight.” Acari nodded. “I too have some ideas.”
“But she’s our mother!” Thysa blurted out, making the others stop.
“Well, yes but—”
“Giiiirls!” Chrysalis slammed the doors open, grinning like a maniac. “Guess who’s back! Oh, good! You haven’t done each other in, yet! Well… that’s…” she paused. “It doesn’t matter. I have much to think about, so I will talk to all of you later.”
She looked at her flabbergasted daughters. “What, you look like you expected me to be dead!” She grinned. “I’m not that easy to kill! Especially now that I—” she stopped and gave them an odd look. “Well, I’ll tell you later. I have an idea of what to do about you lot and who should run things when I’m finally done for in a couple of thousand years.”
With that said, Chrysalis trotted out of the room, leaving the four sisters relatively confused.
Arachne looked at Acari. “So… plan and act before she chooses one and kills the others?”
o.0.o
“Sisters,” Phasmi sighed, walking into Acari’s room and closing the door behind her. “I fear we might have to act sooner rather than later.”
That instantly got Arachne’s and Acari’s attention.
“What do you mean?” Arachne asked.
“I saw mother conferring with Thysa… I think she’s betrayed us.”
“Thysa always seemed… hesitant.” Acari looked away. “I found her playing with some of my papers and burning some of her own… I think this is getting to her.”
“We must act now then,” Arachne said, standing up. “If Thysa has informed mother of our plans…”
Phasmi nodded. “At least now I am glad she only attended a couple of our meetings.”
“I’ll drug mother’s food…” Acari said, heading towards the doors. “You make sure the guards are kept unaware until we have everything under control.”
o.0.o
“And the rest,” Arachne growled. “Is history. We captured you, but Thysa escaped like you ordered to in order to get help from a pony.” She snorted. “Why did she think a Princess would help you is beyond me, but I dared not let her contact them… so I captured Twilight Sparkle and this little filly and brought them both here. We were going to keep you incarcerated until you capitulated and left the throne to us to do as we wished. And then we would have exiled you.”
Sweetie made a face.
“What?” Arachne spat. “You don’t believe me?”
“No,” Sweetie shook her head. “It’s not that I don’t believe you… it’s just that gooey stuff sis Chrysy used on you to glue you to the wall… ew.”
“Mom, she’s calling you sis, can you stop her, please?”
“Now, now,” Chrysalis chuckled. “Don’t make auntie Sweetie Belle send you to your room early, Arachne.”
“But I’m older than her!”
“I’m still your aunt!”
“No, you’re not!”
“Yes, she is.” Chrysalis shook her head. “It still baffles me that you would attack me like that, especially considering what was about to happen.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry we didn’t want you to choose which one of us was going to survive, mom.”
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “If it makes you feel better, Thysa did not tell me anything about your plans. I found out about them all by myself.”
Arachne opened and closed her mouth several times before gasping out. “What?! How did—” she sputtered. “That’s impossible! We were very careful!”
“And yet, I know everything,” Chrysalis pointed out. She ignored Arachne and turned to look at Twilight Sparkle, sleeping peacefully inside the cocoon. “I think it’s time Twily here woke up, I think she will be very amused by this.”
Her horn lit up with green energy and the cocoon soon followed suit, glowing for a moment before opening up and allowing Twilight to slide out and onto the floor.
Sweetie skittered away from the goo.
“That’s one thing I never managed to understand,” Arachne finally admitted, glancing from her mother to Twilight. “How did you convince Twilight Sparkle of all ponies to join your cause?”
Chrysalis was about to respond when a blast of red energy sent her flying until she crashed onto the wall. She coughed, slowly getting up and glaring at Twilight, who glared right back, standing defiantly in the pool of goo. “That’s the thing, I never said Twilight was my ally.”
“Chrysalis!” Twilight snapped. “What have you done? Where am I?”
A deep rumbling laugh emerged from the Changeling Queen as she glared down at Twilight. “I have committed the ultimate crime against Celestia! I have turned you into a changeling, Twilight Sparkle!”
“What?!” Twilight looked around in horror, at the goo, at the pod and back to the queen. “No! I don’t feel any different!”
“Oh, but you do!” Chrysalis chuckled. “And you know it… that sense of lethargy, the feeling of cold inside you… the hunger that you cannot place…”
Twilight cringed. “I-I feel all of that but—”
“Really, sis?” Sweetie poked her head from behind the pod. “Really? You’re going to prank Twilight now?”
Chrysalis huffed, ignoring the bewildered unicorn and turning to face Sweetie. “I was going to, until somepony spoiled the fun.”
“Sweetie Belle?!” Twilight shook her head and stepped out of the goo. “What’s happening? Where am I?”
“The short version is that my dear daughter, Arachne...” Chrysalis pointed behind her at the snarling changeling princess. “Was under the mistaken impression that Thysa went looking for you, instead of dear Purity.”
Twilight shook her head. “Puri—” she blinked. “Oh, I get it! You made an amalgam of the names!” She laughed. “That’s pretty smart!”
“At last!” Chrysalis roared, rearing onto her hind legs and holding her hooves to the heavens. “Somepony that understands my genius!”
“Who the hell did Thysa try to get instead of Twilight, then?!” Arachne growled, trying to break free. “Who else other than the princesses did you need to get here!?”
The doors to the pod chambers opened and three changelings stepped in, with the male stopping and closing the doors behind them.
One of the changelings gasped and trotted forward, flashing as it turned into a white unicorn. “Sweetie Belle! You’re okay!”
“Rarity!” Sweetie Belle gasped, running to hug her sister. “You came to find me!”
“Of course I did,” Rarity nuzzled Sweetie. “I was so worried! Why, I couldn’t stay home! I needed to come and get you!”
Chrysalis lowered herself to all fours and blinked when the other female changeling transformed into Princess Luna. “Well… that’s unexpected.”
She glanced at the changeling next to the door.
He looked back at her.
Chrysalis tilted her head.
He tilted his in the opposite direction.
Chrysalis narrowed her eyes.
He blinked.
“Aha! Hidden Tale!” Chrysalis laughed. “I thought you were dead, you little bastard!”
Hidden Tale rolled his eyes, but said nothing.
“What. Is. Going. On. Here.” Arachne hissed.
Chrysalis smirked, motioning for Sweetie and Rarity to join her. “Oh, not much. Just a family reunion.”
Arachne rolled her eyes. “Right. Again with the sister thing.”
Chrysalis laughed. “Yes, but this time you get to meet your other auntie.”
Rarity gave her a bemused expression before shrugging.
Arachne’s eyes widened when the white unicorn turned, not into a normal female changeling, but rather…
“A Queen!?” Arachne gasped. “But… how?!”
“Meet your auntie Purity,” Chrysalis chuckled. “Purity, this bug on the wall is your niece, Arachne.”
“A pleasure,” Rarity said dubiously. “I’m sure.”
Arachne looked from the Queens to Sweetie to Luna. “And who’s her? Another sister?” Her eyes went to Hidden Tale. “And he’s my uncle? My father?”
Chrysalis shrugged. “Nah, she’s an alicorn that was trapped in the moon for a thousand years, was cleansed of evil and controls the Moon and the stars once more, and he’s a traitor that betrayed my mother when I was younger. We dated. He might, or not, be your father. They’re not important.”
She ignored their glares.
“What’s important,” Chrysalis continued, leaning in to whisper onto Arachne’s ear. “Is what I am going to do with you little rascals.”
End Chapter
Stats
Page generated in 0.094 seconds
Total duration
1,001 users online
66,500 hits today, 2,814,898 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
God I loved this chapter.
Well, I can't really fault them for not wanting to kill each other.
Well, that was amusing.
Wow, now we just need a few more chapters like this.
ACK! It went by too quickly.
Yes, fly by the seat of your pants, D! Just throw that chapter out there!
Another'd be nice, too.
And now for the big fight... Oh... Still neat and I love the twist. However this turns out I feal that it will create better options for slice of life side stories/sequels if you want to got that way. I like it.
Loved it! But it seems like Thysa tried to play everypony against each other, I thought she was the only good one! Unless she had some other motive for letting Chrysalis in on their plan. Did she perhaps know that Chrissy had a change of heart about how the hive would be inherited? I must know more!
4080385 Sure you can. Little shits need to remember tradition.
Such good. Much surprise. So clever.
And suddenly all the pieces are falling together...
This story, and to a larger extent, your genious doesn't cease to amaze me. Bravo on another amazingly written rough draft.
4080443 ah yes, tradition. We've been doing it for generations. After all, thousands of dead people can't be wrong!
—mangled Terry Pratchett quote.
Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Need moar Thishas given me such a rush, I need so much moar of this, please oh please oh please don't make me wait as long again, I am going bold from the stress of cliff hangers
...I enjoyed this. A lot. Especially:
I just feel like that just exemplifies Chrysalis. xD
He might, or not,
I would definitely say "or might not," but do not feel I can say with 100% confidence that no vernacular version of the phrase exists the way you wrote it.
Oh Arachne, Acari and Phasme... you so silly. Chrysalis going to troll you so hard
4080565 chrysalis best mother 2014
Conclusion coming soon?
So Arachne, Acari, and Phasmi all just wanted to get along, and they thought Chrysalis would force them against each other on her return, so they jumped her the first chance they got.
And nobody actually wants to hurt each other. Which is good. But the daughters didn't want to talk openly about how they felt, because they feared it would be seen as weakness and they'd be sent off to die. Which is sorta reasonable, considering their 'traditions'.
---
Now I can't decide if Thysa's secretly an evil genius, or just a ditz and a tattletale who may be afraid of change. (lol)
I'm starting to lean towards ditz.
---
There's still the question of those guards rounding up the daughters, but I'm pretty certain now that's just Chrysalis scaring them for kicks. Ditto for the changelings running through Ponyville looking for 'the one' (probably Thysa).
---
Well, if Chrysalis actually does feel like kicking them out, they can just live with
RaPurity.Incidentally,
RaPurity needs to take a cookbook back home with her. Especially because Sweetie Belle likes fruit bats now.Ouch.
Menacing...
Glad to see the other side of things but can't wait to read the rest.
Okay, the fic is perfect. And this all stemmed from a simple one shot?
4080668
No, I'm afraid that prize goes to the world-famous DiscoMILF.
I've spent like five minutes picturing Hidden Tale's face after that last comment and it keeps getting more and more perfect.
Hahaa! The Big Reveal chapter. Wow. Okay. Was quite a twist to see the daughters already had rather far-reaching plans against the whole Quest thing.
lol
Small correction:
> “And who’s her? Another sister?”
Shouldn't that be "who's [she]"?
I think that Chrysalis may decide to make Thysa her heir and exile the other two to Ponyville to live or die according "Purity's" whim. Naturally, Arachne and Plasmi will be expecting to live as slaves; they won't be expecting the Mane Six to attempt to be their friends.
Hidden Tale got frisky with Chryssy, did he? Naughty bastard.
4080979 depends how you talk
Yeah, they're totally grounded. No TV for the rest of the week.
4080497
What's wrong with going bold? It's a vital part of the ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE!
4080428 according to Chrysalis, Thysa never said anything about their plan.
on an unrelated note: "they're not important" is by far the best.... whatever it is you call a sequence of 3 words, in this chapter XD
4081130 you punny bastard hahahahaha Love it
4081146
Ah, True. I suppose I should've said she tried to foil their plan then. Still though, it makes me wonder about her motivations.
Hah! Your Chryssie is such a magnificent ass, then again, i alway had a weakness to old school villains with style.
I'm loving the way you write chrysalis more and more with each new chapter. She's such a delightful Ham.
4081106
don't you mean "lucky" 
loved the chapter, this just keeps getting better and better
BOO on Sweetie on messing with Chrissy funning with Twilight
3753874 Called it
Ok, maybe Thysa hasn't been revealed to be an evil mastermind... yet... but I still don't trust the little squirt
Well than, awsome chapter update, boo in prakbuster sweeetie, and i ask that you pleas beat arachni with a wooden and holled spanker. And if purity could make the other a bit mor closeminded ill be happy.
Sweetie! You ruined the prank!
I guessing that that we're about to see a kinder gentler hive
It's always so long between updates, but they are always so worth it.
If only it could have gone a bit further with making fun of the "Twilight gets turned into a changeling" fics. lol.
Haha, I love the dialog even if the chapter seems a little short and rushed.
Ah "Tradition"
To me, Tradition is just an option. There are hundreds of "traditions" out there. Chose whatever feels right to you, not what your parents think is right. Their situation is different from yours. It might be time for a change. Or not.
Who knows?
You, good sir, You're a fakking genius.
Lol dat ending. I LOVED the chapter. Thanks for a great update to enjoy, I can hardly wait for the next chapter!
4081910 Normally I would agree with you on the chapter length, because while I would prefer a longer evenly placed chapter to a short rushed one. This time however I think that the chapter while some what short for my taste, wasn't hurt by the pacing of the chapter.
Nice chapter, I liked finally seeing pieces of the puzzle coming together.
Adorable.
Arachne is screwed, me'thinks.
~Skeeter The Lurker
Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.