Prominence felt liquid fire cover her as the image of the changeling mare standing on the edge of the cliff seared itself into her mind. Lazni, forever Prominence's sweetheart, had been the one to defeat her. Not Lalartu, not the swarm, not Pupae. In all of her own hubris, Prominence had never suspected that the one changeling she thought was incapable of hurting others would betray her. There were no other queens, no other princesses. Only Lazni. Queen Lazni, ruler of four hives.
Prominence felt her rage bubble over as this thought inflamed her from the inside out. She closed her eyes to protect them, feeling the heat from the chemicals in the lamp searing her chitin and threatening to burn her insides through her nostrils and ears. Prominence had to get out. She had to survive. She would survive.
Feeling under her, Prominence felt her chitin tap the bottom of biolamp glass. She hardly had time to think of the consequences as she let out a burst of magical energy, shattering the glass around her.
A great cascade of glass was drowned out by a torrent of chemical light and heat flooding the lower levels of the hive. All of the glass above Prominence shattered as the crown jewel of Lalartu's hive was undone. Prominence crawled free from the liquid death, heaving herself onto a ledge as it washed by, no doubt destroying any remnant Lalartu changelings that were unlucky enough to be in the lower parts of the hive. Prominence felt her chest heave as she willed herself to live. She could feel chemicals eating at the outer layers of muscle in her head. The worst part of it all was not that Prominence felt like she was dying, but that she knew she would force herself to live. She knew she would survive this pain for but one reason:
She would have her vengeance-- On changelings, on Lazni, on the world. Her chitin could be replaced. Her back, now devoid of wings from the burning chemicals, would grow back-- she'd done it many times before and it honestly wasn't painful at all. It happened every time she molted from her chitin.
These were small comforts to Prominence as she opened her eyes, gazing up at the darkness above her. There were no lights to let her see her old home. It was not unlike the night sky she had seen before her battle with the Lalartu army.
It was that night that she had alone with Lazni as friends for the last time. There were so many things she had wanted to say, that she still wanted to say, to Lazni. But she would never be able to say these things. Lazni, that beautiful infiltrator drone that she had grown to love was queened by Pupae. If it had not been for Pupae, Prominence reasoned, none of this ever would have happened.
No. Deep down Prominence knew that was a lie. It was nothing more than mental gymnastics to make her avoid facing the obvious. She had driven away Lazni, she had destroyed hundreds of families, and all of it for what? For the title of High Queen? The high queen of what?
Prominence dragged herself over to the ledge, watching the liquid heat settle into place. It would be very easy to throw herself back into it and drown herself in the dregs of the great cylinder-- a release from all of her suffering, self inflicted or otherwise, that she had endured all of her life. The alternative was a great climb out of the hive until she could locate an exit-- a journey that Prominence knew she did not have the strength for.
Coughing violently and expelling some of the liquid heat, Prominence rolled over and resigned herself to lay still. She would not climb, but she would not reduce herself to suicide. She would wait here for her body to begin regenerating, or for the end to take her. Princess Prominence would never climb out of this hole, although her body would. Princess Prominence would find her in remembering Lazni. These were moot thoughts for the Prominence that was dreaming of leaving this hole; dwelling on all the things that could have and should have been, and now never were and never could be. Despite this, all her mind could hope for was to dwell on this betrayal as she slipped into sleep. Whether she lived or died here, Prominence was determined to be stubborn to the end. Stubborn against the world, and every creature in it.
Prominence was not sure for how long she rested. She could hear the echo of some hooves, some figure approaching her from the steps above. Prominence considered calling out for help-- perhaps her drones had come to rescue her. However, when Prominence opened her mouth, she found that she had no ability to speak. Try as she might, this ability had been lost in the flames. Prominence opened her eyes, glad to see that she could still make out the world around her, at least for the moment. The hoofsteps grew closer, and Prominence felt her heart stop when she saw the figure.
Long blue-green hair that rushed like a algae filled cascade fell over the queen's shoulders. her body had a green carapace over the black chitin, with a blue underbelly. The eyes were absolutely stunning emeralds, the brightest that Prominence had ever seen. Prominence could do nothing but cower in fear as she watched this tall, dark queen approach her. She was extraordinarily thin, and a smirk covered her face as she leaned down and lifted up Prominence's chin with a hoof.
Pupae please forgive me. Pupae please forgive me. Pupae please forgive me. Prominence could feel herself starting to cry, sure judgement was upon her at last. The smirk on the queen's face grew, and to Prominence's surprise she laid down next to her, offering her shoulder for Prominence to climb onto her back.
"Given your acquaintance with Pupae and your current condition, you must be Princess Prominence." Prominence blinked at the splitting image of Pupae. Now that they were closer, it was much easier for her to make out the features of this queen. She was much too tall and thin to be Pupae.
"Do not try to speak. We will leave this place and treat your wounds. I've been told all about your abilities, and I am ecstatic to find that you are still alive." Queen Chrysalis reached forward, picking Prominence off of the ground and looking upwards as they began to ascend the pathway.