//------------------------------// // 244. The Loss of Faith - Epilogue // Story: Blaze the Pony Tale // by Wolven5 //------------------------------// Somewhere far away, deep within miles of murky and dangerous swamplands that stank worse than a cesspool, a tall and hooded figure was walking towards a very out-of-the-way destination. The figure walked not in the surrounding filth but upon platforms of green magic, as having to smell and look at this place was bad enough. The figure refused to get dirtied by it anymore than necessary. The figure’s destination was finally in sight beyond the boggy environment, and made steps of green magic onto… relatively dry land while gazing up at the structure ahead. It was castle-like with tall spires, with sharp edges like broken glass… and even from a distance the figure could see the structure changing and reshaping itself, moving almost as though it were a living thing! The land surrounding this ominous place was barren and desolate, as though all life within the immediate vicinity had been leeched away. The figure pressed on, walking closer to the structure until a patrol of changelings suddenly appeared! They’d been posing as rocks, their disguises burning away by their green magic, revealing themselves clad in their cobalt blue armor, armed with spears. “Halt, trespasser!” They all positioned themselves around the hooded figure, their barbed spears all mere inches away from skewering them. The leader hissed threateningly before saying, “I don’t know what’s going on in your head to so brazenly approach the Hive but-” “Greetings, changelings,” the figure spoke in clearly a female voice. “Please excuse my dropping in, but I come seeking an audience with your queen.” The patrol all shared looks… before they burst out in laughter! “Apparently you haven’t heard! Our queen‘s been captured, only her heads of patrols remain in charge, so why don’t you do yourself a favor and beat it befor-” “I am here to speak to your queen and I am not leaving until I do…” the figure spoke with a clear and definitive tone that told them she wasn’t going anywhere. “Didn’t you just hear what we said?!” the head of the patrol snarled, “The queen is- UH-UGHUH!!” The figure raised a limb covered by her cloak’s heavy sleeve, a smoky green magic pouring out and enveloping them all, causing each changeling to drop their spears and clutch their throats as they felt themselves choke! It was as though an invisible force was putting the squeeze on their windpipes, and the figure hissed back, “So let’s try this again – I have come to seek an audience with your queen…” “Okay, OK!” the patrol head choked out, “Cool it, cool it!” The smoky green magic quickly faded away and the changelings all collapsed and gasped for breath. The changelings all glared hatefully at the figure but the head of the patrol cleared his throat and growled, “Follow us…” The figure couldn’t help but chuckle to see the patrol enclose her as they escorted her to the entrance to the Hive. How adorable they were, believing they could stand a chance against her. But as the figure craned her neck to gaze up at the sinister Hive before her, she noticed the patrol stopped just shy of entering and the head of the patrol snarled, “Wait here.” The figure didn’t wait for long… when Chrysalis stepped out of the shadows of Hive entrance, flanked by the patrol. “Well, well, well, what have we here? My patrols informed me that-” *VISHLASH* The patrol gaped in shock, first at the sight of Chrysalis’s head rolling and then her headless body dropping to the ground. They looked to see the figure’s limb was still raised, having lashed it out as though she’d wielded a sword, but only green and black energy crackled around… her claws?! “Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear…” she purred from within the shadow of her hood before her eyes glowed a menacing green! “I come here seeking an audience with Queen Chrysalis!!” The patrol all shivered as they felt the figure’s lust for blood… when three more Chrysalises stepped out of the shadows, towering over their brethren as they glared at the figure who’d just murdered their sister. One of the Chrysalises’ horns vibrated and she gasped before sighing, “Come with us, Her Majesty will receive you… in the throne room.” “And hopefully the third time will be the charm… for you,” the figure blatantly threatened as she followed the Chrysalises inside. The inside of the Hive was even more confusing then the exterior. Several times the figure thought she was being led on a wild goose chase, as her Chrysalis escorts led her towards dead ends, only for them to open up passages, bridges extended from one ledge to another, and some hallways suddenly closed at their approach. The halls and chambers echoed with buzzing and hisses from hungry changelings, gew constructs of spikes or webbing lined random places, a few globes hung suspended from the ceilings providing an eerie glow for light, and there were holes big enough for changelings to hide in all over the place. Finally… they came to a LARGE double door, two of the Chrysalises breaking away to stand guard at each side while the third gave the figure a narrowed look of contempt. “Tread with caution… You are about to meet a great power!” “Oh I know very well who I am about to meet,” the figure scoffed. “Now be a good girl, open the door.” The Chrysalis barely contained her irritation and her horn lit up, causing the doors to ever so slowly open inwards to what was the birthing chambers, the most private and sacred room in the entire hive. Under normal circumstances, any changeling that entered without any prior clearance found themselves either dead or on the most unpleasant duties possible. Without even waiting for the Chrysalis to give permission, the figure chuckled with satisfaction before venturing in… and the doors suddenly closed behind her, sealing her in darkness. The way sound reverberated hinted this place was vast. It was dark and damp, and the figure secretly hoped the puddles she was stepping through were water. “You are utterly foolish to dare come before me, after how you killed one of my daughters…” The voice spoke with a dissonant chord from the darkness, almost as though multiple voices were speaking the same thing but not in perfect synchronization. Were the figure anyone else she might have run screaming for her life. Were she someone else, that is. “And it’s the fact I was able to kill her with magic why you tread with caution,” the figure smirked within the hood of her cloak, “because, just so we’re clear… Your daughters didn’t lock me in here with you; they locked you in here with me…” A trail of blue-green bioluminescence lit up like a trail of lightning along a vast, bulbous and disgusting mound of pulsing flesh suspended to the walls of this vast chamber by changeling gew webbing. At one end, the figure actually cringed with disgust to see an ovipositor squeeze out a changeling egg among a brood of dozens! Then the wall behind the brood opened up and in walked a few changeling drones who gingerly gathered several eggs and took them away, the hole in the wall closing behind them. “And I take it those eggs are being transferred to the other Hives you have hidden here and there across the continent,” the figure chuckled knowingly as she followed the egg sac the other. It led to a large fleshy cord, which trailed towards the far end of the chamber as globes of green light revealed a vast and frightful looking throne composed entirely of dark stone. It looked like obsidian but only gave off a faint green sheen, and sitting atop the throne, the cord from the egg sac connecting to her barrel, was Chrysalis. This time, the figure was pretty sure this Chrysalis was the real deal, and found it amusing the way this inferior bug was looking down at her with eyes of contempt that couldn’t help but also waver with a little wariness. She was noticeably larger than her daughters, her form was strong and beautiful but also had a world-weary look not so different from that of Princess Celestia. “You seem to know rather much about my kind…” Queen Chrysalis was already pondering on how to deal with this incessant gnat for her impudence. “Well, when you travel the word like I do, you tend to pick up an interesting fact or two,” the figure chuckled with a casual shrug of her shoulders. “Like how you’re wondering ‘How did she kill one of my front mares with magic when my throne soaks up all magic in my kingdom except for changeling magic?’” Chrysalis froze, now starting to truly feel afraid – The power of her throne was one of her most closely guarded secrets, even more crucial than her daughters posing as her out in the world to lead her campaigns for her and extending the telepathic range of her Hive Mind! “Oh please, Your Majesty,” the figure curtsied, which felt more like an insult than a show of respect, “Despite how… uncivil I’ve been around your lackeys, I am really here to make friends!” “Friends? Pah! I am Queen Mother of all changelings,” Queen Chrysalis sneered at the very word. “What need have I for friends?” “Everyone needs friends, Your Grace,” the figure spoke with a subtle glee in her words, “as I have recently learned and so have started going about, seeking the right kind of friends, as I am now with you.” “To what end?” Chrysalis narrowed her eyes dangerously. “Why else? To make a… proposition,” the figure explained, “the kind of proposition that helps set into motion the machinations of which shall ultimately topple not merely the nation of Equestria nor their arrogant alicorn monarchs. The proposition of which that ends with the whole of ponykind put in their proper place – Under the heel of their conquerors.” “…Well, your proposition has admittedly piqued my interest, but…” Chrysalis raised a suspicious brow. “I would know the name and face of my new ‘friend’.” “My apologies, Your Highness,” the figure reached up with paw-like hands to lower her hood. “My name… is Catrina.”