Chrysalis was out of breath when she caught the trooper. The wounded spider was long gone and wouldn’t be returning anytime soon on only seven functional legs.
“Hey!”
The trooper spun around to face her just as she leaned into the air, hitting him and sending them both tumbleing down the cave. They came to a rolling stop, grunting and groaning as the engagement quickly turned into a struggle for dominance. Chrysalis got on top and pressed her hooves into the trooper’s armor, firmly pinning him to the ground. “Ha! I have you, now...” Lifting one hoof, she tapped his helmet a few time as her tongue snaked across her lips. “You’re not like the others... I don’t even think you’re a stormtrooper. Who are you, an enemy of Thrawn?”
Still on his back, the trooper raised his hands over his head. It was the universal sign of surrender. “Alright... Ya’ got me, commander. What do you want.”
Chrysalis narrowed her eyes at him and snorted. “I’ve told you what I want. I want to know who you are. Answer your queen!”
The trooper shrugged. “Eh... First off, you’re no queen of mine. Second, what if I don’t want to tell you who I am?”
Chrysalis was stunned by his response. No one had ever shown her so much defiance, not even the ponies. She knew she had to be strong and to assert herself. The upper hoof was hers, after all. “If you don’t, I’ll drag you back to Thrawn and let him deal with you. Either way is fine for me.”
The trooper let out a sigh and lowered his hands. “Fine... I’ll tell you what you want to know. Just get off of me.”
Chrysalis obliged, finding his shift in tone to be far more pleasant. After stepping off of him, he stood up and placed his hands on his helmet, pulling the protective hardware up and off. The changeling didn’t know what to expect, but the trooper’s appearance surprised her all the same.
He looked like Thrawn, but warmer with dark hair and light skin. “The name’s Ezra Bridger.”
Chrysalis’ eyes widened. “I know your name. Thrawn asked about you. You’re the one he’s searching for, the one who destroyed his ship and stranded him here.”
Ezra held up his hands. “Whoa, hold on. Thrawn crashed his own ship. I just had to get him as far away from my planet as possible. He was a threat to everyone I cared about.”
Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. “So you brought him to this world instead?”
His gaze fell. “Look, I didn’t mean to, alright? It all happened so fast. There was a flash of light, then my world was gone and we were here, falling through the sky until we crashed in the snow.”
The changeling took a step closer, looking the boy up and down and taking in as much as she could see. “If you’re an enemy of Thrawn, why are you dressed like one of his warriors?”
Ezra cracked a sly grin. “Disguise, isn’t it obvious? I needed a way to move around his ship undetected, so I stole this uniform after we crashed.” It might have been the cold or her exhaustion, but Chrysalis was beginning to like him. “So, what’s your story? Why are you helping Thrawn and the Empire? I think you know deep down that he’s not the kind of friend you want to have.”
She frowned at him, appalled that he would dare make such an assumption, but as she readied herself to protest, she realized that she had no reply. Chrysalis didn’t know why she was aiding Thrawn, someone who had made her feel uncomfortable from the very beginning. She could tell from that start that there was something sinister about the blue alien, but she didn’t want to give those thoughts any attention out of fear.
“Well?”
The changeling shut her eyes and turned away. “I don’t know!” Her outburst caused the walls of the cave to shake ever so slightly. “I... I don’t know... I’m afraid...”
Ezra took a step closer. “Afraid of ‘what’?”
Chrysalis opened her eyes. She could feel Thrawn breathing down her neck, governing her every move. There wasn’t a moment where she was in control. The very instant she woke him up, Thrawn held all of the cards. “I... I’m afraid of disobeying him...”
She felt something touch her chest. Looking down, she saw that Ezra had extended his arm and was pressing his hand into her. “You don’t have to be afraid. We can make this right, together.”
Chrysalis sniffled as she felt a sensation of warmth travel throughout her body. “I agree, Ezra, that we should do something... but how can we? The two of us cannot stop Thrawn and his army.”
Ezra grinned as he walked past her, heading back towards the entrance of the cave. “The odds have never been in my favor when it comes to Thrawn, but the playing field is even, now.” Ezra put his helmet back on and gestured to himself. “Look, he doesn’t know about us yet. I’m just another stormtrooper. Right, commander?”
Chrysalis frowned as she walked after him. “He will not be fooled for long, and when he finds out we are trying to undermine him, I fear the worst...”
Ezra waved a dismissive hand. “Thrawn’s too busy trying to fix his ship. If we’re lucky, we can sneak back onboard and disable the main reactor perminatly.”
The changeling cocked her head to the side. “What will that accomplish?”
He didn’t look back at her. Chrysalis had a twisting feeling in her stomach that she wasn’t going to like what he was about to say. “We’ll overload the reactor core, destroying the ship and Thrawn along with it. He’ll never be a threat to anybody ever again.”
They reached the mouth of the cave and found the entrance had been blasted open by the rest of the stormtroopers as they escaped. Stepping out into the snow, Chrysalis saw that the blizzard had lessened just a little, but a dark shadow had been cast across the Frozen North.
“No... It can’t be...”
Chrysalis looked up to see what Ezra was looking at, and her chest fell. The star destroyer was fully operational, soaring high overhead.
Thrawn was coming for them.
***Up Next: Choosing a Side***