Chapter 1
I am going to die out here. That was the last thought the former changeling queen had as she collapsed in the knee deep snow at the bottom of Mount Rainier. She was exhausted from her travel across the Frozen North, the late winter blizzard making the journey all the more difficult.
In all honest she didn’t know why she had decided to make such a dangerous journey, nor why she was journeying towards the home of the ponies she hated more than any other. She just felt this drawing need to come to this place, a need that had been lingering in her mind since the day of her defeat. The part that confused her the most was that she felt like she was returning to this place, though she swore that she had never been here in her entire life.
She slowly lifted her head, her hooves making minimal effort no matter how hard she struggled to move them. She could see it from where she was, no less than a few hundred meters from the shimmering crystal buildings that cast sunlight, nearly invisible to her through the storm, in all directions. She saw the green grass and the clear sky on the outside of the barrier that blocked the huge city from the harsh winds that now began to bury Chrysalis under the heavy snow.
Why? She cursed to herself as she felt her eyelids starting to droop. Why did I have to come here just to die? I could have just been happy sitting back in the hive after a defeat such as that but…to have disbanded my hive, just to come looking for a stupid answer. Once again I have truly failed.
Chrysalis’ head slowly lowered back into the snow, the stinging cold replaced with empty numbness as inch after inch of snow fell onto her. She opened her eyes fully one last time, just enough to see a slowly approaching figure, before her body shut down in time with a bright blue flash of light.
Princess Cadence couldn’t believe her eyes as the doctor lead her past a heavily guarded door and into the room where a nearly dead Chrysalis was silently sleeping. When she first heard that a patrol unit had found the changeling queen fighting for her life out in the year’s worst blizzard, she thought it was her husband playing a cruel joke or one of the cadets crying wolf, and yet here she was staring at the motionless form of the changeling.
“The patrol found her almost completely buried under a good 2 feet of snow.” The doctor, a unicorn of average build said as he levitated over her charts, the tip of his quill tapping slowly against the side of his cheek. “She was barely holding on but we were able to get her body to a stable temperature and we found no signs of permanent tissue damage.”
“Was there anyone else brought in with her? Another changeling, perhaps?” Cadence asked cautiously as she moved over to the edge of the bed.
“No one else was brought in with the patrols, so if they were there they either fled to find shelter or didn’t fare as well in the cold.” He said as he grabbed a bag of fluids from underneath a nearby sink and started to replace the bag on her IV. “We were lucky enough that she didn’t die from being out there so long, so if there was anyone else they would more than likely be dead.”
“I see.” She said as she turned away from the bed and looked to a small sack sitting in a nearby chair. “And I take it this is what she was carrying with her?”
“Some of it anyways. The guards picked through it before you came and took a couple of weapons from it.” He said as she started digging through the bag, pulling out what looked to be a canteen, three travel journals, an inkwell quill, a bag of bits, and a few barely edible bits of food. “The rest of it seems harmless enough.”
Cadence nodded and began to slowly return everything to the sack just as the queen began to stir. She turned to face the sick mare, not too happy with anyone being shackled to a hospital bed in this condition, but mindful of the risk involved.
Chrysalis’ eyes slowly fluttered open as she winced when the bright lights stung her eyes. Am I dead? She thought to herself as she tried to sit up, looking to her hoof when it pulled tightly against the leather binders holding her to the frame of the hospital bed. “What in Tartarus-”
“Glad to see that you are finally awake.” Cadence said as she turned to face her, her eyes going wide as she watched the mare standing over slowly blocking the light from her eyes. “Because you have a lot of explaining to do.”
“So this is Tartarus, huh?” Chrysalis sighed. “I guess it really isn't the worst possible thing ever. Still better gigs than that idiot Sombra.”
“Sorry to inform you but you are very much alive, Queen Chrysalis, and I would really love to know why you were found so close to my empire.”
Chrysalis winced at the princess’ voice, but was more concerned by the spike of anger inside of her at hearing her own name, like it was nothing more than a curse to her. “You are just as bad as Luna at controlling your voice, you know. Shrill as ever.” She sighed as she was met with Cadence’s cold glare. “I’m not sure why I decided to come here Cadenza, but I need answers.”
“You and me both.” A cold and angry voice called out from the doorway. “You've got a lot of nerve showing your ugly mug around here.”
“Shining Armor, it’s so nice to see you again.” She said in a sarcastic drawl. “Still as warm and welcoming as ever.”
“Enough of the crap, what are you planning? Another invasion? Locking my wife up in some far away cavern again?” He said as he stomped over to the bed, the sound of his armor clattering and scrapping together echoing through the whole room and out into the hallway. He raised his hoof mounted dagger up to her neck. “Well whatever the reason is I am putting a stop to it early this time and I will make sure you rot in the dungeons.”
“SHINING ARMOR!” Cadence snapped, causing him to snap to attention, not as a soldier in trouble but as a husband about to be put in his place. “How dare you walk into an injured mare’s quarters and put a dagger to her throat. Are you out of your mind!?”
“Are you seriously scolding me for doing my job, especially with what she has done to us in the past? I just want to put a stop to whatever she is up to before we end up having another all-out war.”
“And I am fine with that,” She said calmly, “but I am not ok with you barging in here and putting a knife to her throat like she was a common street thug. There is this thing called diplomacy that you really have to learn instead of jumping straight to your guard training, Prince Armor. She’s already bound up so what good does it do to be cutting throats? This is just like that little incident last night.”
“I am just doing my job, she is a criminal and I am treating her like a criminal. This isn't like that whole incident last night, and I told Diamond Standard that I was sorry for the misunderstanding.”
“Yes, saying sorry is enough to make up for tackling our maid when she was trying to give me back my diamond necklace because you thought she stole it. I am having to look for a new maid and pay out of pocket for her spine realignment.” She huffed. “You jump to conclusions to fast and it makes you look like a paranoid idiot!”
“I am a paranoid idiot fo-.” His sentence was cut short by the changeling in the bed slowly starting to laugh. His brow furrowed as his eyes lowered to a glare. “Oh you think this is funny?”
“A little. It’s always fun to watch two young lovers fighting like they were an old married couple.” She said between laughs before a pitcher of water exploded on the wall behind her and the stallion was on her faster than she could react.
“Enough games, Queen! What are you planning?!” He snapped at her as her eyes narrowed.
“I am not planning anything. Nothing. I just came here because, well, I don’t know why!” She snapped back, nearly spitting in his face. “And it is former queen. I disbanded the hive.”
“Oh sure, you just came here with no real purpose and just happened to “disband” your hive. Yeah right.” Shining snorted as he climbed off of her. “Now tell me what you are really up too, Chrysalis!”
“My name isn’t Chrysalis!” She yelled, snapping forward and screaming in pain as her shoulder dislocated. She fell back onto the bed, her hoof limply lying in its binding as her screams of agony turned slowly into cries of sadness. She was shocked at herself that her once proud name felt like an insult to her, as if it were a word that should never be spoken. “That isn’t my name!”
Cadence and Shining Armor exchanged glances of shock as they watched the once strong and cocky changeling queen reduced to a sad broken shell of who she used to be. Cadence glared at his as several doctors and nurses rushed in to wheel the mare off to surgery, and for the first time in a while he actually felt ashamed of himself. He watched as she was wheeled out of the room and off down the hall, his wife following close behind.
“Expect to be sleeping on the couch this evening,” She said as she looked away from him and started towards the door, “and send word to my aunts and your sister, we have a lot to things to discuss with them in private.”
Shining Armor winced as he heard the door slam, a shiver of regret running up his spine as the first few drops of liquid pride fell to the floor.
Chrysalis was crying for different reasons as she watched the lights rush past her and breathed in the sweet smell and taste of the anesthetic gas now flowing through her mask. She didn’t know why she knew her own name was wrong. It had been her name for hundreds of years, but it didn’t feel right.
I am not Chrysalis. She thought silently to herself as she slowly drifted off from the anesthesia. That isn’t my name.