Chrysalis tried pouring more magical power into her mental defense, but it was degrading faster than she could shore it up. Mirage grinned, fangs showing, as she pressed her advantage.
Then she was swatted on the head with a corn straw broom. “Stop right there!” shouted a shrill, male voice.
The unexpected attack ruined Mirage’s concentration and disrupted her spell on Chrysalis. She whirled and snarled, “WHO DARES?!?”
Clutching the broom handle was a furred, bipedal creature — a skunk, judging by its black and white coloration and its huge, fuzzy tail. The creature was garbed in a bright crimson robe, cummerbund and capelet, and wide-brimmed hat, and a large, golden amulet (depicting a horseshoe) dangled from a chain around his neck. He barked a laugh, “Haha! Nobody expects the Skunkish Inquisition!” Then he swatted her again, knocking her crown askew.
Also present — inexplicably — were two other skunk-creatures, dressed alike save that one had a red hood upon its head and the other a leather aviator’s helmet and goggles. Vigorously they began swatting the Al Quetib with their brooms. Chaos erupted in the chamber, as Mirage’s monsters seemed unable to fight back, and they blundered into one another as they scrambled to get away, fleeing to the same shadows they’d emerged from.
Chrysalis watched, too dumbfounded to even think of making her own escape.
Mirage swiped at the one who’d assaulted her, and streaks of bright green magic trailed from her claws. The skunk yelped as its body ripped apart like tissue paper, but then dissolved into a cloud of smoke — which quickly re-formed nearby, apparently uninjured, and joined in the attack on Mirage’s minions. “Stop that!” she shrieked. “You’re ruining everything!”
Another male voice sounded out, saying, “What’s that, Mirage? Am I unwelcome in your little gathering?” Looking up, they saw a winged cat — of the four legged sort, unlike Mirage — flapping lazily as he descended and came to a landing on the high back of Mirage’s throne. His fur was sky blue, save for his cream colored belly and face, and the little black goatee that curled beneath his chin. Golden cuffs adorned his front legs, and he wore a golden collar with a red horseshoe marked on it.
Mirage’s eyes went wide, and she stammered. “No, no… no, not at all! I’m, uh… delighted to have you.” She dropped to her knees.
“I’m dreaming again, aren’t I?” Chrysalis wondered aloud.
“Kneel down, you fool!” Mirage hissed to her. Then, with a gesture, indicated the smaller feline and said, “This is Lord Chaos!”
He stared back at Mirage expectantly. “Aaaand…?” he prompted.
She gritted her teeth and added, “Lord Chaos, Master of the Surprise. Instigator of Anarchy. Maximum disruptor. Juggler of fortune and fame.” Then she muttered, “Fruit of the Loops.”
Lord Chaos cocked an ear. “What was that?”
Mirage forced a smile and answered, “It’s a term of endearment.” She stood, which Chrysalis took as her cue to do likewise.
Lounging on the throne, Chaos shook his head. “Oh, Mirage, Mirage, Mirage… What will I ever do with you? You’ve been naughty — which, I’m sad to say, is not surprising at all.”
Feigning astonishment, Mirage drew a hand to her bosom. “Me, naughty? Here I am merely recruiting a new minion to help me spread misery and despair, yet I can only wonder what I might possibly have done to displease you, the veritable paragon of disharmony and strife?”
Chaos frowned and furrowed his brow. “Did I, or did I not, expressly forbid you from returning to Morbia?”
Mirage laughed nervously. “Ahaha! Oh, this place? It’s not Morbia at all! Tis merely an illusion I created to befuddle this changeling.” With a wave of her hand she cast away the illusion, revealing the desert oasis with her cottage nearby and empty walls of abandoned buildings looming on all sides, remnants of a forgotten village or desert trading post. The throne Lord Chaos sprawled upon was revealed as merely part of a broken adobe wall.
Chrysalis stumbled back, wings raised, and exclaimed, “What?! None of this was real?”
Mirage admitted, “None of it! We never left the oasis, and we certainly never went to Morbia.” She looked to Chaos. “So you see, I never defied your dictum.”
Chaos shook his head. “Tisk tisk. Mirage, your attempt to worm your way around the spirit of my decree is all too predictable. I banished you from Morbia for your own benefit. You were stuck in a rut, always obsessing over evil plans and schemes. Destroy this, despair that! I hoped this would force you to think outside the box, try something different.”
Mirage narrowed her eyes. “By stranding me in this worthless, pony-infested land?”
“Yes! And it was working.” He gestured at Chrysalis with his forepaws. “Look, you’ve already made a friend! Who would ever have expected that?” He noted the expression on her face, and he winced. “Ooooh… And it looks like you’ve already lost one too. How much more innnnteresting can this get?”
Mirage growled, “What do you want from me, Lord Chaos?”
He flexed his claws on one forepaw and casually examined them for a moment before responding. “Well. Since you technically didn’t defy me, I’m technically not going to turn you into the world’s most evil kumquat. However… Your new recruit might have some ideas of her own. I think I’ll just leave the two of you to work things out among yourselves — and without illusions this time.” He flapped his wings and lifted off from his perch, and he grinned and waved. “Toodeloo!” Then, with a puff of magic, he was gone.
Mirage turned to face Chrysalis, who was already taking to the air with a scowl on her muzzle. Mirage was once again garbed in humble brown cloth — her golden regalia had been an illusion as well. Seeing this, the changeling queen hissed, “You’re nothing but a fraud.”
Mirage growled back at her, “I’m a deceiver just like you, youngster. But don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m powerless outside of Morbia.”
“We’ll see!” came the retort. Emerald light bloomed from Chrysalis’s gnarled horn, and an instant later flared out in an etherial bolt.
That instant was just enough warning for Mirage, with feline reflexes, to leap away from the attack and come to rest upon a broken pillar. A gout of sandy earth kicked up where the spell impacted. A sudden realization flashed through Chrysalis’s mind: “She must have been dodging all along. Her illusions made it look like my spells couldn’t touch her.”
Chrysalis’s horn flared again to follow up the attack, but this time her magic took the form of a glowing net that spread wide in the air as it flew toward Mirage. The feline snarled and slashed at the air with her claws extended, and her own green magic trailed out from them to cut the net open before it reached her.
Another slash followed, directed toward Chrysalis. She tried to duck under, but the magical attack clipped her wings, then impacted the ruined wall behind her — and brought it tumbling down in a cloud of dust.
Mirage narrowed her eyes, peering into the dust while holding her claws extended, ready to strike again. A slab of stone was pushed aside, and Chrysalis clambered out of the rubble. Her insectile wings were clipped and mangled, her body filthy with pale dust, and anger plainly painted upon her face.
Again hostile magic lashed out from Mirage, and Chrysalis lunged to avoid it, though she was pelted with gravel flung up from the spot where the blast landed. Another blast followed, and another, but now she’d figured out the timing and how to dodge them as she worked her way closer to her foe.
The changeling’s horn flashed as she cast her own attack — not at Mirage, but at the pillar she stood atop. Mirage leapt away gracefully, but a black pit opened below her. Her eyes went wide, ears pinned back as she twisted her body in mid-air. With an ugly thump she hit the edge of the pit; her claws flexed and dug into the earth to keep her from going in.
A black hoof came down on Mirage’s hand. Chrysalis leered at the feline below and leaned weight onto the hand, twisting and grinding. Mirage’s muzzle screwed with pain, but feline agility once again saved her as she flipped her body up and out of the pit, and her claws raked a furrow red across Chrysalis’s face. She tumbled acrobatically across the changeling’s back and landed on her feet, only to be slammed with the reflexive kick of a hind-hoof.
Chrysalis whirled around as her horn charged up a spell. Mirage heaved, the breath knocked out of her, and barely managed to lift her arm and choke out a word: “aegis.” A round shield flashed into existence upon her arm just in time to deflect the attack back toward Chrysalis. The ether bolt grazed her shoulder, making her stumble.
Mirage took advantage to scramble away, take shelter behind a broken adobe wall, and catch her breath. Chrysalis snorted and backed away, likewise taking a moment to ponder her next move.
When she could once again speak freely, Mirage called out: “You are powerful, but your magic will run out. You’ll find no love here to replenish it. Then, when your strength fades and despair takes root, I’ll only become stronger.”
Chrysalis muttered to herself, “Then I’ll have to finish this quickly.” Her horn glowed once more, and part of a broken stone column silently levitated behind her foe’s hiding place. It floated over Mirage’s head — but the feline’s whiskers twitched, and she glanced upward, then jumped aside as the boulder crashed down.
Mirage made a lifting gesture with both hands, and the ground erupted in several places nearby, geysers shooting into the air — but these were not geysers of water or mud. They were countless thousands of flying insects, large black bees that zipped through the air like bullets. Grinning wickedly, Mirage gestured toward Chrysalis, and the insects surged toward her. A panicked shriek was heard as she disappeared in the dense swarm.
Mirage watched, poised and tense, as she awaited the outcome of her attack. The swirling mass of insects calmed, the tone of their angry buzz altering, then they flew higher like a cloud lifting to reveal Chrysalis, apparently unharmed. Her horn was glowing, and she fixed her eyes upon Mirage and said, “Really? You thought you could turn these against me? Let me introduce you to something we call the hive mind!”
The swarm surged back toward the one who’d summoned it. Mirage hissed and swiped at the air with her claws trailing emerald fire. Bees burst into flames and scattered across the ground, twitching and dying. There were still thousands coming at her. She swatted again and again, incinerating the bugs in great swaths. However, her magical fire was no use against those that reached her and clung to her body — and began biting and stinging.
Struggling to keep the bees away from her eyes, Mirage fled. She ran for the marshy edge of the small lake that anchored the oasis, and she dove into the water. There she thrashed about, knocking loose the biting insects. Out of their element, they were helpless in the water, though many more remained buzzing angrily above Mirage’s head. Every time she raised her head, some came after her. She swatted with magical fire again and again, further reducing their numbers until the few remaining finally gave up and dispersed.
Muddy and soaked, exhausted and stinging, Mirage crawled onto dry land — only to be greeted by the mocking laughter of Queen Chrysalis. As the changeling stifled her mirth she commented, “The irony cuts deep, doesn’t it?”
Mirage glowered and responded, “Just go! Leave me to my misery!”
Chrysalis stepped closer. “Oh, but it is not that easy. I can’t allow you to turn the world into a loveless wasteland where all of my kind will starve.”
Mirage spat, “Do you really think I’m in any position to do that? Cut off from Morbia, with no thralls to serve me and no illusions?” She growled and raised her golden shield — although dirty with mud and moss, the face of a lion embossed on it was still visible. “If you think you can destroy me, you’ll find I’m no easy meat. You’ll be weakened too. You’d better save your energy if you want to ever get out of this place alive.”
Chrysalis hesitated. She’d already spent a lot of power, and her memory of being lost in the desert was still fresh. After some moments she sat on the ground and muttered, “Where can I even go?”
Mirage lowered her shield and stood up. “It seems that our predicaments are not too different.” She looked around and then pointed toward the east. “Far across the ocean is Lopanga, from whence the zebras came. And still further, past their lands, is Kemet, the greatest of all civilizations. That is where you should go.”
Chrysalis quirked a skeptical eyebrow. “Because?”
“You have power, but your education is sorely lacking — especially for one who calls herself a queen. The wealth and knowledge of Kemet make Equestria seem like a squalid backwater.” She sighed and added, “I would go there myself. I could be there in a heartbeat, if I were able to pass through Morbia. With that path closed to me, the journey is very long and difficult.”
Chrysalis thought for a moment and gazed toward the east where Mirage had pointed. Equestria, a squalid backwater? Her imagination failed. Her hive was barely a dirt mound in the shadow of Equestria. It was why she’d launched her ill-fated invasion. It was unfair for her changelings to have nothing while the ponies lived in luxury. She’d thought she could just… take it all.
Mirage watched closely while Chrysalis pondered, sensing that she might be tempted. Then she offered, “We could travel to Kemet together.”
Chrysalis blinked, startled. “After you tried to enslave me?”
Mirage’s ears drooped. “Yes, I tried, and my gambit failed. And now I’m beaten. And before all that I did save your miserable life, in case you’ve forgotten.”
Chrysalis glanced down at the bandages remaining on her legs. She looked to Mirage again. “No plunging the world into despair?”
Mirage shrugged. “Not any time soon. And perhaps Lord Chaos was right after all, in his painfully annoying way. Perhaps I need to broaden my horizons.”
Chrysalis took a deep breath before saying, “You won’t catch me unawares again, you know that?”
A hint of a smile formed on Mirage’s muzzle. “So it seems. Shall we go clean ourselves up and begin to lay our travel plans?”
Chrysalis gestured toward the adobe cottage, inviting Mirage to go ahead.