//------------------------------// // 9 The Queen's Sacrifice // Story: Alternate Beginnings: Year Five // by Doug Graves //------------------------------// March 5th, 997 Queen Chrysalis strides out of her hive, looking up at the noon day sun. No sense in scheduling a meeting someplace else, and having to fortify two locations. Two of her changelings failed to report back their receipt of Operation Cough. The integrator in Ponyville had instead sent a message, informing her not of the receipt of the plan but that she, and any other changeling with foal, would be 'encouraged' to stay out of the fight and in their current location no matter how the meeting went. Thus, her hive's location is likely compromised already. The rest acknowledged her plan, and she has a few tricks laid. If it comes to that; though who knows how many of her traps Celestia found out. The sun directly overhead is shining brightly. Too brightly. Not for spring. The dry heat is already hotter than the Badlands summer. Queen Chrysalis sneers; a show of force already? Who does she think she is trying to intimidate? Though, if the sun princess is that low on cards that she is already playing one, Queen Chrysalis may not escape this unscathed. Nor her hive. Should she send her forces away now? Order them to disperse, flee the coming firestorm? She mentally shakes her head; she doesn't want to appear weak and unsure in front of her forces, not that any would desert her. But, they would merely have nowhere to run, not in time. Not when Daybreaker could turn the sand of the Badlands to glass at no repercussions to her precious little ponies. No, she will need to lead with her hardest hitters. Immediate threats against random ponies. The threat against the 'innocents' would be expected, and would taint their entire meeting, but must be done. Celestia already knows the card is in the game, and has already been played. Queen Chrysalis utters a brief prayer to Faust as she spots, out of the corner of her eye, a shadow growing larger. Not two feet away from her, directly in front. She glances up, the blazing sun making it hard to look straight up, but there are no clouds in the sky. Only one being that would attempt such theatricality. Well, a being that isn't a statue, that is. Queen Chrysalis stares straight ahead as Sol Invictus silently descends in front of her. The alicorn is naked, not even adorned with her golden peytral or horseshoes. Her mane and tail are completely pink, her horn shining a brilliant orange as she descends, wings fully extended and immobile. Celestia lands, a small cloud of dust scattering from her bare hooves as she stares at Queen Chrysalis. The two leaders stand for long seconds, silently regarding the other. Celestia has a stern look, eyes slowly blinking as she looks at the face that has caused so much destruction in other lands. Queen Chrysalis stares back, her face slowly turning to a smirk, relishing the heat from the Dawn Blazer's glare. Celestia breaks the silence first, "Queen Chrysalis, I have better things to do than engaging in a contest of wills with you." "Please. I know you value nothing more than the lives of your little ponies." Celestia stares back for several seconds before giving a slow nod, "Then you also know the lengths I am willing to go to protect them. Especially from creatures such as yourself." Queen Chrysalis holds a hoof to her chest, "From creatures like me? Surely you jest, Celestia; why would I harm such a verdant and vibrant land?" She holds her hoof out, the desolate wasteland of the Badlands spreading for miles in all directions. "Do not take me for a foal, Queen Chrysalis. My demands are simple: you and your kind will leave Equestria. You will harm no ponies, you will take nothing that is not yours, and you will never return. I do not wish to eradicate your kind, but you leave me little choice." A high pitched laugh comes from Queen Chrysalis, "And my demands are simple as well: your total surrender. Don't worry, Princess, I will take good care of your little ponies. Just a sample of love here, a nibble there, nothing too draining." "If that is all you have to offer, then I will be on my way. I have until moonrise to restrain all of your kind, do I not?" Celestia looks up, regarding the sun, "I suppose that means I have as long as I need." She turns, bending her legs as if to jump away, the heat against Chrysalis' chitin becoming uncomfortable. Queen Chrysalis stomps a hoof, "You are bluffing. You do not know of all of my infiltrators, you are not able to capture them in time, and you do not wish for your little ponies to bear the consequences of your failure." "And were I not?" Celestia asks, turning back, eyeing Queen Chrysalis with a steely gaze. "They are prepared to accept the worst that you can bring, if it means getting rid of you. And I will ensure that it is nothing." "I am shocked you have so little faith in your little ponies, Celestia, that you take it solely upon yourself to defend them." Queen Chrysalis shakes her head as she feels the sweltering heat around her increasing again; a few of her forces glance nervously at each other, their wings trying to form a breeze, something to cool them down. Queen Chrysalis gives a mockingly forced frown and pitiful gaze at Celestia, "Were it not for you, your precious little ponies would be defenseless and weak, not just from me but from all Equus!" "My little ponies are better than you give them credit, Queen Chrysalis." The Sun Tyrant raises to her full height, staring down on Queen Chrysalis. Her horn flares as heat radiates, scorching the sand she is standing on. "Even without me they would succeed against you." Queen Chrysalis lets out a loud laugh, piercing guffaws that continue for several seconds. She relents, spotting Celestia's glare, "Oh, you are serious?" She lets out another snicker, "You truly believe in them?" Celestia nods, her face neutral. "Then, I propose a wager. The rules are simple, Celestia," Queen Chrysalis states, mind whirring as she fabricates her plan, "I will attempt to infiltrate and capture, hmm, one town or city. My choice of when and where." "And why should I agree to such a wager?" "Because, Celestia, if I am able to do such to one town, I can do it to every city. If your precious ponies are unable to stop me once, then how will the next go any differently? When I have more changelings under my control, and a city full of hostages, and nothing has changed on your side of things? Besides, of course, the panic and destruction that your side inflicts on itself. It would be catastrophic, and that is without me even lifting a hoof. Merely the threat of one's neighbors, ponies they have known for years, the possibility that they could be changelings. And that will certainly happen if you do not agree to this. This little wager will save you from all that." Celestia raises one eyebrow, the air around them starting to cool, "Well, what you are proposing hardly seems like a good test of my little ponies. The town must be larger than, say, Ponyville. When you start your infiltration, you must give one weeks' warning of the invasion." "Then I have your permission to forcibly imprison one pony, of my choice; interrogate them in order to impersonate them, taking their place for the week. And you are not to inform anypony, and by that I mean any creature, of our deal or the coming attack. Anypony who already knows of our existence is to be put under a similar restriction. You will use none of your, granted, prodigious abilities to oppose me; should a confrontation be required by circumstance, you will throw the fight." "The pony that you impersonate is not to be harmed, save for the capturing and the restraints you place on them." Queen Chrysalis smirks, "Naturally." Celestia adds, "And, should the pony you choose to impersonate break free, they are free to oppose you to the full extent of their abilities." Queen Chrysalis laughs, "Oh, are you so afraid I would impersonate you, Celestia? I'm not nearly that conceited; plus, you have already agreed to not impede me." "And after you give your one weeks notice of the impending attack, my guards will be ordered to capture, not kill; your drones will be under a similar restriction. Any breach will be regarded as intentional." The queen's eyes roll, "Of course." Celestia pauses before gazing at Queen Chrysalis, "Very well. And the stakes?" Queen Chrysalis ponders for a few seconds, "Should I win, then I join you as ruler of Equestria. I integrate my changelings into every herd; they passively draw love from the ponies around them, and within reason are able to actively draw more; of course, no more than what would permanently injure one of your ponies. My kind never goes hungry again!" "And I suppose I would serve you?" Queen Chrysalis smirks, "Well, a queen is greater than a princess, is she not?" Celestia rolls her eyes, "And then?" "Hmm. I suppose, after Equestria is fully saturated with changelings, I will move to subjugate the neighboring lands. Then, I don't know, whatever you wish, I suppose. We rule the land together, bringing harmony to everyling and everypony?" Celestia snorts, "And, what if my little ponies win?" "Hmm; if my disguise is noticed, and I am exposed, and the invasion halted, then you win, and I and my changelings will leave Equestria, never to return." "On one condition; any changeling who wishes to stay, may; they are given clemency, they will no longer be under your rule, and you will not hunt them down. Those with foal must stay until the foal is born, then may make their choice; if they choose to leave, the foal stays. Even you, Queen Chrysalis, may stay, but under my command and following my orders." Queen Chrysalis laughs, "You seriously think any of my changelings would take such an offer?" She motions behind her with a hoof, a sea of stony faces staring back, "My changelings are loyal to me and only to me." "If you say. Anything else you wish to add?" "Let's see; a third outcome. If I am able to capture anypony who finds out, and I hold them until the week is up without alerting the general populace; that is, until the invasion commences and is halted. Or, if I am discovered, but the invasion proceeds and I successfully take the city. One or the other, of the two conditions. If I only succeed at one, then you allow me and my changelings to remain in Equestria, gathering the minimum love my hive needs to survive, at the number at the start of the invasion. You do not expose any of my infiltrators, and should any be exposed later on you suppress the knowledge to the general population and allow the changeling to return to my hive." "And then?" "Then... then we meet again, to determine where to go from there. Whether it is a peaceful exit, or integration, or another scenario." "Very well. You have a deal, Queen Chrysalis. I expect you to hold to the spirit of your end of the bargain, and none of my ponies are to be injured. Well, more than is necessary, I suppose. You are allowed to draw enough love for five hundred changelings. Including yourself." "You dare insult me? Two thousand changelings." "Six gross, and no more, Queen Chrysalis. Do not push your good fortune." Queen Chrysalis stands up straight. "Do not think I will just allow such an insult to my honor, Celestia." Celestia turns, a smile flickering over her face, "Oh, it was no insult; I just hope my mail carriers are up to the task. Dusk tonight, correct? I would hate for one missed letter to bring your whole plan crashing down. Or would it be burning up?" She puts a hoof to her chin, "Hmm, I suppose it is all the same in the end. Unless you would like me to deliver the letters for you." Princess Celestia glances upwards, "I suppose it could take an extra long time for the day to end." She glances down as an image of the sun rapidly ticks towards the horizon, "Or an abruptly short amount." Queen Chrysalis glares at the alicorn before motioning to one of her changelings. She comes over, carrying a stack of letters already addressed and stamped, the edges curling under the heat. Celestia takes them with a nod to the changeling, then to Queen Chrysalis. As she suspected; just P.O. boxes, likely dead drops, under a false name. Worth a shot. The light around them returns to normal, the sun still just after noon, "Oh, Queen Chrysalis, one other thing. We will need an arbiter, a neutral party of sorts to referee, if you will. They will be given the authority to determine who wins on each of your two conditions, and determine if a breach has occurred and the penalties." "Well, I am not picking one of your little ponies." Queen Chrysalis pauses as she considers, "And I do not think you would allow one of my changelings that spot." A smile slowly creeps over her face, "I know just the creature. And, I believe, so do you. He got us into this mess, after all." "Doug Apple?" At Queen Chrysalis' nod, Celestia nods, "Agreed." Celestia blinks out of existence, leaving Queen Chrysalis breathing a sigh of relief as the temperature rapidly drops. A cool spring breeze blows by, a rarity out in the Badlands.