//------------------------------// // 22. Chrysanthemum // Story: The Halfling // by Scarheart //------------------------------// Edited by TuxOKC. Reign Cloud awoke in his bed with his parents on either side of him. Momma was sitting on her haunches, leaning into the bed. A pink hoof rested on one of the colt’s own hooves. Shining Armor was trying his best to look calm, but Reign could feel his worry. It was as keen as his momma’s. Poppa smiled at his son. Cadence offered one of her own through puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks. At the foot of his bed was the castle’s doctor and the entirety of his staff keeping a respectful distance. Doctor Strangehoof was speaking quietly with one of his nurses. He had the appearance of having been hurried and harried to come. Strangehoof was an elderly powder blue unicorn stallion who wore a rumpled blue suit and an undone tie dangled from around his neck. His crimson mane was disheveled and his eyes had bags beneath his horn rimmed glasses. In the shadowed corner sat the dark and tall figure of Zeala upon the very overstuffed chair Momma used to read stories to Reign when he was very little. The priestess was watching everything from beneath her large hood. Her eyes glowed softly from within the shadow it cast over her muzzle. The tip of her snout could be clearly seen and her fangs reflected as dull blades in the muted light of the bedroom. A storm had settled over her face. Her scowl would have frozen the sun. Reign hated her. He hated the way she seemed to have control over his life. He hated it when she approached with that medicine, that wretched stuff! Her words, they were honeyed poison, yet they enticed his mind. He could not break his gaze from the priestess and the stare she returned was both impassive and intense. Her orbs flared for a brief moment before going dim as she dipped her eyes beneath the edge of her cowl. Zeala’s lips moved in silence, uttering words Reign could not understand. “Reign?” Momma’s voice reached him like a soft and worried song. “Reign, sweetie, how are you feeling?” It ached to move his neck. His body felt so sore! Still, his mother’s voice compelled him and Reign turned to the sound of her voice. Her muzzle touched the side of his head. It was a gentle touch, one only a mother could do. “I hurt, Momma,” Reign whined, fighting back his tears. “I hurt real bad.” “Shh, it’ll be all right,” Cadence whispered into one of his tufted ears. Her worry washed over Reign, making him feel even more uncomfortable. “I’m here. Doctor Strangelove, could you and your staff kindly give me time alone with my son, please?” “Of course, Your Majesty,” bowed the stallion. He turned and quietly ushered his group from the room. The whispers were full of worry and carried little hope with them. “Your worry is hurting me,” he mumbled, sorry he said it and feeling guilty. “I can feel your love. I can feel everypony’s love.” This was not true. There was one in the room who had no love for him. She had lied to him. The corner of the room was cold indifference, but it flinched at his words. A hiss issued from it and Zeala shifted in her seat. The cold faded away and the tip of her horn lit up in a sickly green sheen. Love came from her, though it felt… wrong. Reign could not study it more as his pain dulled his senses. He whimpered in his suffering. Cadence nuzzled him, her love pouring from her like Neighagra Falls. Poppa’s presence was suddenly there, on the other side of him, offering his own love. Basking in his parent’s affections, Reign felt a little better, but the pain was still there. The pain had always been there. This was his life. Pain was his life. Unable to do so much, unable to be like other foals and nymphs. “I want it to end,” he said to no one in particular. Or maybe he directed his words at Zeala? Their last conversation rang loud and clear from his memory. “This isn’t living. This is Tartarus.” Cadence froze. “Oh, Reign,” she said in a broken voice. “Oh, my foal, don’t say such things. There’s hope. There’s always hope!” “Son, you shouldn’t think like that,” Shining chided. There was a hitch in his voice. Reign Cloud blinked and forced his eyes open. It was very painful to do. “Where’s Maggie?” “She is with her family,” Momma replied. “They are here in the castle. Would you like for me to send for her? Would that make you feel better?” “It would be wise,” offered Zeala, speaking for the first time. “It would be my pleasure to bring the nymph here.” A wan smile could be seen on her muzzle. She rose from her seat, her robes spilling over her slender frame as she shifted. “That is most kind of you, Zeala,” Poppa said with a nod. Reign thought he looked frightful. The colt wondered how much he had inconvenienced other ponies from their duties. He inhaled a deep breath and broke out into a coughing fit. Zeala nodded once and swept on out the door. “I’ve ruined everything,” Reign said after Zeala left in silence. His lungs felt as though they were on fire. “My birth mother is coming and I had a seizure at the worse possible time.” “It’s not your fault, dear,” Momma assured, giving him a gentle nuzzle. “Zeala says she has a cure,” he blurted. “She told me she has a cure! She says she has been afraid to tell you because she uses black magic!” Why did everything have to hurt? Tears welled up in his eyes again. They spilled out even though he tried to keep them in. Even as his tears spilled, so did every detail of his last talk with the priestess. The mood in the room fell into absolute chaos. Rage mingled with love, creating a cauldron of confusion. Shining and Cadence looked at each other, eyes wide. They then looked at their son, filled with disbelief. It was as though they had been broken from a spell. “When did you find this out? When did you have this talk with Zeala?” demanded Poppa. He was upset. Shining turned his head to Momma. “You’d better get word to Celestia. It’s happening again. It’s happening again!” he fumed, rising to his hooves. “It’s just like when she took over me! It’s happening again, dammit!” Shining Armor started for the door, his steps like angry thunder. “Where are you going?” Cadence asked, clutching Reign to her. She was afraid, so very afraid! Reign was reeling from the shifting emotions in the room. “I’m going to deal with this!” he snapped, turning to face his family. His anger was palpable and it morphed for a moment into helplessness. “How long has she influenced us, Cady? Dark magic? In our home? Used around our ponies? Why is it every time we turn around, there’s a changeling trying to take from us?” “Shining Armor, do not abandon your son for the sake of revenge!” commanded Mi Amore Cadenza, using her full authoritative tone. “Summon the Guard. Have them deal with her. You are needed here, in this room, with our son.” Poppa’s eyes became sad as his gaze drifted from Momma to Reign. Those eyes hovered upon him and anger welled up from deep within the stallion. “I can’t, Cady. I have to do this myself. Stay here. I won’t do anything stupid. I’m prepared for dealing with a powerful changeling. I do this for our family.” He turned and stormed out the door. “Zeala!” he roared. “Momma!” Reign cringed into his mother’s chest. “I shouldn’t have said anything! She’ll hurt him bad!” A startled cry erupted from just outside the door. It opened and Shining Armor was caught up in a bubble of magic. He raged from within, but no sound could be heard. The sphere had a green hue to it, barely able to squeeze through the threshold as it floated into the room. Behind it was an imposing dark figure, slender and tall. A crooked horn, massive and intimidating was the most obvious feature of its owner. “Shining Armor,” cooed a layered voice, “I had thought you had learned some wisdom since last we met.” Poppa raged on, pounding his hooves against the inside of the sphere. It was shifted aside, revealing the powerful figure of a changeling queen looking upon the bed with a critical eye. Reign noted she did indeed have one eye. He recognized her on the spot. She strode in, adjusting her diaphanous wings, letting them buzz and making light sounds tingeing on what seemed amusement. Her teal mane hung, almost straight, over her right shoulder with strands dancing over her left. Her crown, a tall, crooked adornment just behind her horn was lifted by her magic and set down on a nearby table with an almost careless indifference. Behind her trailed her long tail, sweeping the floor from side to side with each elegant stride. “Not exactly how I had wished to come into your home, Mi Amore Cadenza, but your husband was about to do something rash. We can’t have that now, can we?” Reign noted how her right eye was like a pearl, and familiar to him. “Now that your enemy is exposed, you must plan carefully before moving. The game must be played correctly, lest you lose the pieces that will cost you dearly.” She plopped Shining down into the very chair Zeala had been in before, her lone eye focused on Reign Cloud. “We can’t have that now, can we?” “How did you get in?” demanded Cadence, trying to use an authority in her voice that was not there. “How did you get past the guards?” The queen rolled her one good eye. “It’s not that hard, Cadenza. I’m a changeling. I adapt. Your defenses are so last month.” An almost playful grin danced over her muzzle. It disappeared, replaced with a frown. “I am disappointed in you, Princess. I gave you my heart, my most important possession, and you let a power mongering whorse of a priestess lay her grubby hooves upon him. Even worse, you allowed dark magics to be used upon your family. I did not catch it myself until it was far too late, but even then, I had no means to counter it. At least, not at the time.” “Hello, Reign Cloud, my Pale Shadow,” The colt suddenly felt her eye on him, even as he could not stop staring at her imposing figure. She was as tall as Aunt Celestia. The Black Queen softened her expression a little as she presented him with her full attention. “Do you know who I am?” His voice was little more than a squeak, but he was able to nod in the affirmative. “I am sorry this has come to happen,” she told him, her ears drooping and swinging behind her. Her neck bent as she tilted her head towards him, a moment of pain wincing over her features. “I had to protect you and Zeala was my only contact. I had to use her to put you in the most protected place I could think of. If I could have taken you with me, I would have.” “Why are you here?” Momma demanded, pulling Reign close to her chest and glaring up at the changeling queen. “I’ve been in your fair city for quite a while, Cadenza,” replied the changeling with an innocent expression. She lifted her head and helped herself to a spot near the bed. “I’ve had agents watching. I have been watching. Needless to say, I have not been impressed. If I could have acted against Zeala, I would have. However, I found myself in the same dilemma you no doubt have unwittingly allowed yourself to be drawn into. Zeala has the answer to my son’s cure. I do not care if the magic she used in the past is forbidden. My son must live. My son must be made whole. The priestess has secrets and only she will reveal them. She is the only one who can. The magic at her disposal is ancient and all but forgotten. Her magic is that of Sombra’s,” she smirked, “and no one wants to even think of using it without turning into a pile of spineless goo.” Shining Armor was still pounding on the inside of his spherical prison. “I will release him if he promises to be a good boy. I am not here to wage a petty battle over revenge and past wrongs. I meant every word with the peace terms I offered. I have an investment to protect.” She turned her head slightly towards the sphere before flicking her eye back upon Reign. “Will you be a good boy for the sake of our son, Shiny?” Her grin was fanged and perfect. Reign was a little more than afraid of that smile. Poppa had stopped pounding on the magic ball. He appeared to be breathing hard and looked exhausted. He looked away from the queen, glaring hard at the wall. “Good.” The queen released her spell and the stallion was dropped onto the chair with an unceremonious plop. “We can still have all the pomp and pageantry on the day of my official arrival, but for the moment, I propose a mutual alliance against that little tart of a priestess, hmm? I promise if you like, we can resort to name calling and accusations later, but let us first deal with—” The door opened and Maggie bounded in, half buzzing in flight on her wings and half pronking on her hooves. “Reigny!” she cried happily. Behind her came Zeala, still with her hood up. She sniffed the air with caution. “I smell strange magic,” she announced, uncertain. “—Priestess Zeala,” the queen greeted with a polite tilt of her head. Her smile was that of a predator. “I am so pleased to see you are in fine health.” Maggie paused in mid bounce, her wings catching her as she hovered, near eye level with the queen. “Whoa,” she said in awe. “Oh, child, don’t let my appearance keep you from your Intended,” she told her, reaching out a hoof and booping her on the end of her muzzle. “Go. He needs you and it would please me if you were with him.” Maggie beamed. “Okay!” Her mass of mane bounced with her bobbing head. It seemed to have a life of its own. Landing on the edge of the bed, she scooted right up to Reign and was pulled into a pink embrace. Zeala blinked and caught her breath. Surprised, she croaked, “Queen Chrysalis?” An ear flicked and the pearly eye seemed to fixate on the priestess. The smile morphed from something genuine to one more meant for annoying company. “Ah, so you have taken to the pony name for me. How… modern.” “There has been much to learn since the city was freed from King Sombra’s magic,” Zeala said, having recovered from her shock. “You were not due here for a few more days.” The queen lifted a hoof and swept it over Reign and his mother, “How could I put off a chance to meet my son? Ten years is a long time to wait. I’m afraid I was a bit too impatient. I apologize, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, if I was a touch too forward in my presumptions. I had thought with you being the Princess of Love, you would fully understand a mother’s love for her nymph. Especially after such a long separation.” “I—, of course,” Momma stuttered, narrowing her eyes at the imposing figure. As if by magic, her face shifted and became warm and welcoming. “I could never keep you from Reign. It wouldn’t be right, after all.” The Queen known among the ponies as Chrysalis smiled. Cadence chose her words carefully. “It is completely up to Reign if he decides to accept you, so I think you do have your work cut out for you.” The colt could feel the battle she was having with her own fear. “Momma?” She responded by holding him tighter. Chrysalis, this stranger he knew to be the one who birthed him, was feeling his fear. Her expression became pained and she winced from him. Despite his pain, Reign was awed being in the presence of his birth mother. She seemed more majestic than he had imagined. She was also scary. Maggie by now was snuggling, not bothered at all by the presence of Queen Chrysalis. His emotions were mixed, confusing him. His pain did not help. Maggie purred, as she liked to do when she went through her process of cheering up Reign Cloud. Her emotions suggested his birth mother was not a changeling he should be afraid of. He was not afraid of her hurting him. Chrysalis ignored all in the room, her focus solely upon the huddled mass of miserable. The nymph Maggie was clutching him, while staring up at the slow approach of the queen. Cadence shifted back, wary of her old antagonist. The princess appeared ready to lash out against the changeling, should the queen decide to do something foolhardy. “You have nothing to fear from me, Cadenza,” Chrysalis sighed, curling the corner of her mouth downward. “I swear to you there will be no harm brought upon you and yours by me or my changelings. I will have peace. I will have the time I need to rebuild and prosper. I bear a gift.” Her eye rolled upward, held, then shifted its focus upon her offspring. “I have something for you, Prince Reign Cloud,” the queen said in a whispering voice. Her ears swiveled forward, perked up, her mane bouncing with each step forward. She brought her head forward, bending her neck, assuming an almost submissive posture. “Something I have always wanted to give you, but never could. I would give you my love. A queen’s love. A mother’s love. It has always been my gift to you, waiting for this day so I might bestow upon you what has always been rightfully yours. Accept my love, my son, for I have ached for a decade for not having you there for me to give this love to.” “No!” hissed Zeala, darting forward. The priestess struck an invisible wall and was quickly enveloped in a bright green aura. Chrysalis shot a glare at her with her one good eye, baring her fangs and hissing like a cobra. The priestess gasped and crumpled to the floor and was held there by sheer force of will. “You’ll ruin everything!” she managed, gasping. “And what would I ruin?” snarled Chrysalis as she glowered at Zeala. “You wanted me separated from my son. This was your plan from the beginning all those years ago. Cleverly done, but I am curious.” Her eye lifted, shifting to Shining Armor. “Do be a dear and hold her in place. I am going to give my son my love. Watch her closely.” A numb Prince Consort could only nod at her request. “Thank you,” she said. Her horn flared a brilliant emerald, her expression becoming tender. The changeling hummed, her voice soft and gentle. She became for a moment nothing more than a mother, reunited with her long-separated child. Sitting across from Cadence, the queen bent her neck again, turning so she could focus her one good eye upon Reign and Maggie. She smiled at them both, having taken a moment to take stock of the little nymph. An approving smile formed. Her horn flared even brighter, its magic flowing like a cascading waterfall and spilling over Reign’s small form. She could feel her magic invigorate, the power of a mother’s love pushing back much of the poison ravaging his little body. Her humming went on. It was the same song she had hummed to him the night she left him all those years ago. A tear rolled down her cheek as she took his pain as her own, drawing it from him. More love came from her and his pallor improved. It was a slow change and there was an almost immediate improvement to Reign’s condition. Cadence inhaled, catching her breath as her lips trembled. “It feels so good!” Maggie announced, turning her head and stretching her neck out towards Chrysalis. Reign Cloud would have stared, too if he did not have his eyes rolled back into his sockets. The pain was gone! All of it! “No!” wailed Zeala. All too soon, the love stopped and the queen withdrew. Her smile was addictive. “There we are!” she announced. “It’s nothing permanent. Whatever it was Zeala did has been pushed back for now. I tried to purge as much of the dark magic as I could. It is very old, very primal.” The smile vanished as she focused on the alicorn. “Thank you,” Cadence said in a trembling voice. “I am taking Reign,” Chrysalis told her. Cadence flared her wings, straightening herself as confused anger erupted from her. “What? No! I won’t let you!” Shining Armor rose from his seat, roaring in protest, only to be encased in another bubble at the tired sigh of the changeling queen. He pounded at it again, duplicating his entrance back into the room minutes earlier. “Oh, not now, not today,” the queen waved an offhand hoof. “I make my claim as a queen in need of her heir. I must prepare him for his future as king. That is my right.” “You can’t have him!” snarled Cadence. “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza,” the queen spoke her name, sounding weary, “I did not place my son in your care so you could claim him as yours permanently. I placed him in your care so I could deal with those who would see him dead. I have succeeded. You failed to keep him healthy. He became sickly under your care. That was your failure. Oh, I do not doubt he loves you and I know he adores his father, but your time as his caretaker has come to an end. You cannot keep me from my son. We will deal with this diplomatically when I make my official state visit. I will announce my desire to reclaim my son publicly and for all the world to witness.” Reign was still swimming in the magic flowing through his very being. He was hearing muffled voices, his body numb as it was still going through the process of healing. The colt felt wonderful, but his senses were dulled to the heartbreak his Momma was experiencing. He could not hear her wailing voice. “As for Zeala? I won’t kill her,” the queen promised, making a fluid shift of attention to the priestess. “She is your subject and therefore your responsibility. I will respect that, at least. Nor will I do violence in the presence of the little ones.” Her eye flicked to Reign and Maggie, who were both basking still in her love. Her demeanor faltered upon seeing the peace on Reign’s face and she became hesitant. “I am sorry, Reign. This was not how I had hoped to see you again. I had hoped—” She cut herself off with a sigh, hanging her head for a brief moment. When her head came back up, her face was stone. “I shall take my leave, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza,” her tone was crisp and rang with iron. “Until the official ceremony.” She turned and began to walk out of the room, which had several gawking ponies staring in. Wilda was there, having also been drawn by the commotion. They witnessed the queen pause next to Zeala, not bothering to even look at the quivering mass of frightened priestess next to her hooves. “If I ever see you near my son again,” she promised in a conversational tone, “I’ll string your innards over the altar of your beloved temple.” “As for my name,” she announced in a ringing voice, “It is High Queen Chrysanthemum. Remember it well and stop with all this Chrysalis nonsense!” She moved to and out the door, with the onlookers scrambling to get out of her path. Wilda looked upon the queen with swelling pride. “Your Majesty!” Queen Chrysanthemum gave her a polite nod and a warm smile. “Broodmother. I have a request.” Wilda nodded, “Of course.” “I should like to take my son’s Intended with me when I lay claim to him. May I take and add her to my family? She would be most welcome and needed, I should think.” Wilda smiled, revealing her long fangs. “I would be honored!” she gushed, blushing at such praise. She bowed low before the queen, more of a curtsey as her wings buzzed in her excitement. “Thank you,” Chrysanthemum said with another nod, this one with a smile. “Cadenza isn’t a bad sort. Merely incompetent. I am very disappointed she failed at such a simple task of keeping one child safe and secure. If I had known you were around, I would have left my Pale Shadow under your care.” From the room behind her, Cadence cried, “You will not take my son! He is mine, Chrysalis! Do you hear that? Mine!” Chrysanthemum snorted, “Alicorns.”