//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - Trust Your Instincts // Story: Distorted Worlds // by Cryssy-miu //------------------------------// Fire. It's all that seemed to illuminate the land. It was everywhere he looked. Watery, mismatched eyes gazed with a strangely curious and mesmerized look, as if captivated by the flames. He couldn't really see much in the haze of smoke, and the typical dream impairments (such as being half blind), but he could see enough to know his body was moving. He could also tell that behind the choking smoke, it was really daylight despite the darkness. Birds chirped as the fire continued to rage. He didn't see his own feet and knew they weren't the ones moving. As he gazed down with wide eyes he saw a tiny, kitten paw; his own, golden and furry. He had an eagle chick's talon and knew immediately that he was a child again. Wide, infant eyes stared down at a much larger paw. It was matted with dirt and dried flecks of blood, but Discord could still tell it was white with gorgeous patterns. A snow leopard's paw. He stared up and realized that some creature had him by the scruff of the neck and they were running faster and faster, trying to avoid the flames. Discord watched as indistinguishable body shapes began to fall from the sky, followed by equine silhouettes. There was a sudden blast—he had no idea where it had come from. He could hear his own squeals and the next thing he knew he was in the sticky mud. His vision was going again, just as the creature picked him up once more. Everything was fuzzy now, and all Discord could see was a large, indistinguishable mass. He couldn't tell what color it was, or what it was for that matter. He felt himself suddenly be pushed in through what felt like leaves. At last his vision settled—just enough to focus on a pair of hauntingly ice blue, alluring eyes. He could see his own paw reaching out to touch the creature's face, but he felt something else take a hold of his scruff and begin to pull him away, from the creature. Even as he was being dragged further away, he could still see the lips part for a final time. “Live...” Then a crackling, white hot explosion shook the earth. xxxxxxxx The draconequus awoke with a loud, shaking gasp and bolted up in the bed, shuddering as the explosion dwindled in his mind a few moments longer, before everything faded off into the silence of the night – save for his panting and his frightened just-got-startled-awake wife beside him breathing heavily. “Darling, what is it?” Celestia rubbed her eyes and gazed up at him with bleary concern. “Did you have another nightmare?” He didn't need to say anything for that to be confirmed. His frozen, unblinking eyes said everything. Snapped out of his thoughts and the visions of explosions and fire, Discord stared up as Celestia gently, comfortingly pressed him against the bed and nuzzled up under his chin. She felt a pang in her heart when she felt his body tremble under her, and realized he was drenched in sweat. “More of those nightmares again? What did you dream about this time?” The spirit continued to stare blankly at the ceiling for a few moments and slowly draped a paw over Celestia's back. “I...” He moistened his dry lips and slowly shook his head. “I...have no idea.” xxxxxxxx There were very little resources in this land. Sure, there were berry bushes scattered here and there, and a few springs to hydrate. To be truthful, anypony could easily survive in this forest since it had the necessities they needed to survive. Keyword though: pony. “My Queen, we lost another.” Chrysalis mournfully turned around and gazed down at the fallen changeling. It was a young one, which only caused her normally icy, impenetrable heart to throb all the more. “How many are left?” she asked the soldier. “As of now, there are only thirty two of us left, my Queen.” Thirty two... How a colony of a hundred thousand plummeted to a mere two digit number was beyond her. There hadn't been much left after that blast. Only a couple hundred in fact. The colony didn't have time to repair itself. Whenever Chrysalis thought she had found a place to settle and breed again, they'd need to leave to avoid being spotted. They were always on the move and the hive had no time to regenerate. “Let's keep moving.” Moving was all they could do. That and pray to the Equestrian gods they'd find somewhere new to set up. Baby changelings yelped and hopped around at her hooves, buzzing about like a group of happy cicadas. Numerous times Chrysalis needed to stop to nudge them back onto course as they wandered off like all younglings were prone to do. The seven infants were the last of the babies there were. Chrysalis ignored the twinges of pains in her limbs from the lack of nutrition, and forced herself on through the hungry haze. She needed to stay strong for the sake of her colony after all. Continuing up the forest path, she could see a strange, lumpy mass on its side, in a small puddle of blood. Getting closer to the creature she immediately noted it was a stallion. He had been hacked at something fierce judging by the gashes on him. It was probably some forest pony that wandered too far out and got attacked by a monster. This forest was one of the most dangerous ones that existed in Equestria, from what she had heard. She turned the dying stallion towards her. He dimly looked up at her and attempted to reach out a hoof, emerald eyes owlish and pleading. “Help me” formed on his cracked, blood dribbling lips. Chrysalis only gave a cruel smirk and walked over him. “Feed, my children,” she told the malnourished colony. “There is enough life in it to sustain you all for a little while longer.” Hopefully at least until she could formulate a plan to keep her species from becoming extinct completely. A few of the changelings approached the half dead creature, but they only shrunk back and laid weakly against a tree trunk. Only five changelings settled by the stallion to feast. It wasn't too much of a surprise. Most of her hive had fallen ill from malnutrition and couldn't force themselves to eat or even drag themselves over to the body. Ears falling flat against her head, resisting the meal, Chrysalis's weak legs forced her to curl up in the shade of a tree. A few of the babies trotted up to her and buzzed questionably. Glaring, Chrysalis only gave their little behinds a hard thump towards the meal, and they yelped and quickly scurried away from her. Now alone, she lay her head in the grass. What a sight. I certainly never expected to see the mighty Queen Bee at the bottom of the food chain in such a short time. Such a shame. Instantly, the queen's head jerked up in shock as she searched for the source of the voice, almost suspecting it to be one of her soldiers (who would certainly get a beating). There was no one talking. Most of the changelings were eating, sleeping...or dying. Paranoid, she lay down again. You aren't in the best part of the forest, you know. A civilization isn't far from here—a native pony tribe to be exact. They could find you easily. “Who are you?” Chrysalis snarled, standing and whirling in different directions to search. “Answer me!” Who I am is not important. What I can do for you and what I need you to do for me is. A furious sneer twisted over her lips, and she felt her insides boil with hatred. “What in Tartarus's name made you think I would help you?” Oh believe me, I didn't think you would help me, but perhaps when you learn what I have to offer you just might change your mind. “I don't take offers from ponies.” You're in luck then! You see, I'm not a pony. A flicker of surprise crossed her face, but it quickly went away when she realized there was no possible way a simple pony—unicorn or not, could use this type of magic. It had to be some kind of god, or at least not a mortal being. I can help you, provided you help me. You don't want your entire race to become extinct, now, do you? Slowly, Chrysalis's eyes roved over to her colony. They seemed to have shriveled up like prunes, and looked even thinner now than they did an hour ago, despite the meager portion of food they had just eaten. They weren't going to last very long and she knew it. All thirty two of them had a day at best, and it was very unlikely they'd find food until then. They were far too weak to attack the native tribes. It's your choice, Chrysalis. Either you take a chance and heed my word, or you wait for Celestia and Discord to come after you with a giant can of bug spray. It's only a matter of time. The queen was silent for a few moments, but after a long pause, she growled, “Where are you?” Why, not even a half hour away from here. It's just past the Decaying Mountains. You know, right by the volcanoes and steam, and past the large gates and three headed dog... “Tartarus...” Bingo. See you in a bit! xxxxxxxx Fluttershy couldn't wait for the train to stop, and in fact found herself bouncing excitedly as she looked out the window. It was something more akin for Pinkie Pie to do. The moment the car screeched to a halt, the pegasus flew out the window. Bolting through the sky at a speed she wasn't usually capable of unless it was to dive down and save one of her animals, she landed gracefully at the palace doors. Exuberantly, she galloped down the corridors, whizzing past the guards and reaching the throne room in record time. “Is there anything else you need, your majesty?” a servant asked Celestia as she prepared to depart the throne room with a duster in her mouth. The queen gave her loyal worker a gentle smile and shook her head. “No, that's quite alright, Dusty. You did a wonderful job cleaning up the throne--” her response tapered off into a large yawn, and she flushed in embarrassment. Dusty, however, only looked concerned. “Haven't been getting much sleep lately, your majesty?” Celestia shook her head. “Quite the opposite, actually. I've been sleeping just fine...” She cursed herself again as she yawned, and sunk back against the throne. Dusty kept a concerned eye on the regal alicorn, and began trotting from the room. “I'm going to make you a cup of warm tea anyway. You do look rather pale, dear.” Just then a large, gust of wind and dust blew into the throne room as the doors were darn well burst open by a certain pegasus now standing in the middle of the floor and grinning excitedly. “...Right after I dust this room again,” the mare griped, flashing the oblivious pegasus a glare as she picked up the dusting equipment for a second time. Celestia blinked in surprise and stared as the normally quiet pegasus stood up on her hind legs and rested her forelegs on the arms of the throne. “Fluttershy, dear! What has you so excited?” “Hello, your highness.” The pegasus briefly remembered her manners and bowed. That was short lived as she instantly perked up once more, her tail wagging like a puppy. “Is he here?” Celestia gave a silent nod of understanding. In the past couple weeks both she and Discord had been so busy that they hadn't had time for any visits. Fluttershy hadn't seen Discord since the wedding fifteen days ago. Since his escape from prison for a third time this was the longest the two had been separated. “Come with me.” She walked down the hall with the curious pony trailing at her side. Fluttershy gazed around the large room in wonderment. It was different than any other room she had seen in the palace. Old oil paintings were scattered over the walls, and at the very back of the room was a twenty foot long, burgundy curtain that spilled onto the floor. “He's in there.” Fluttershy stared at where Celestia's hoof was pointing: directly behind the curtain. Was he hiding behind the curtain? Well, he did love hide and seek... Fluttershy gasped as Celestia whisked back the curtain, revealing a multicolored vortex spinning counter-clockwise. It was almost hypnotizing the way it looked. “He's in...there? What is that thing?” “A portal,” Celestia answered. “It's a portal leading to Disarray, the realm of chaos. It's where Discord spends most of his time now.” She smiles. “He rules it, as he co-rules Equestria.” She gave the pony an encouraging push. “Believe me, it's completely safe—just a little wacky.” She grinned. “What else do you expect from a world ruled entirely by Discord?” Fluttershy was about to respond, but only found herself abruptly shoved through the large vortex. She squeaked in fear and shut her eyes tightly from the brief flash of blinding colors. Cowering against the ground, the pegasus timidly opened her eyes, and gaped in bewilderment. The realm was topsy-turvy land times a hundred. The luscious grass was a sky blue tone, and the bubblegum sky was decorated with purple clouds. Rows of cookie brick houses were turned on their sides and not one of them looked normal. Popping out of the flowerbeds lining the sides of the house were large lollipop flowers, and even a few candy apple sticks. “Oh my,” Fluttershy said quietly. She trotted timidly through the strange land and carefully studied the inhabitants. For ponies living in a land of utter madness, they looked very content. The pegasus timidly trotted up a rising chessboard patterned hill, staring at a few very large and towering chess pieces as she timidly made her way around them. It was then the pawns snapped into action, accompanied by a bishop and knight as they charged towards vulnerable Fluttershy. The pony gave a shrill squeak of horror as they hopped towards her, their bodies impacting the earth with a solid boom as they cornered her. "Halt! Who dares to intrude the distorted realm?!" The pawns each formed a circle on the terrified girl, closing in on her and pressing her against the cold base of a bishop behind her. "Look at her appearance; no spots, no swirls, nothing! She's a mortal pegasus from the world of order! What should we do with her?" "Stop!" A sharp, slicing command silenced the game pieces, making them whirl around to face their seething master. There stood the king of chaos, his burgundy robe flaring up behind him as a powerful and ethereal golden glow encased his body, threatening to transform those insufferable pawns into pebbles and the bishops and knights into ice cubes for the soda his butler pony held on a tray. "What the hay is the matter with you? Get away from her!" The game pieces exchanged looks and reluctantly stepped away from the cowering pegasus's side. Fluttershy currently had the ridiculously ludicrous appearance of a dead fly as she lay on her back, legs straight up in the air and twitching every now and then. She slowly rolled over onto her side and peered up at her savior, eyes alighting with a joyous sparkle when she saw who it was. "Discord!" She charged and tackled the prepared draconequus, tightly nuzzling his face. It was so wonderful to finally see him after three weeks! "Oh thank goodness! I've missed you so much!" "Likewise." The spirit returned the embrace—before promptly shoving the butler's tray of custard and pies at her, howling with laughter as she released him to furiously scrub the muck off her saffron body. "Ohohoho, that just does not get old!" The pegasus exhaled sharply as she tried to wipe off the rest of the gooey glop dripping off her, to no avail. "What...is this place?" Discord blinked down at her, mouth agape in horror by her words. "Ah...that's right, you've never been here before, have you, dear?" He cleared his throat, rising into the air and spreading his arms out to gesture to the madness at hand. "Welcome to the realm of Disarray, my dear! Where the ponies meow and moo, the houses dance the tango, and the weather is as unpredictable as a box of chocolates~!" "So I see," the pegasus said uncertainly, watching as its inhabitants – the many ponies with swirls instead of eyes – went about their lives under storm clouds of chocolate milk and soda, seeming almost oblivious to the way their houses seemed to dance in tune to a never ending beat echoing across the vast land. "Isn't this the kind of thing that got you imprisoned in Equestria?" "Ah, yes!" The spirit swooped towards her, wagging a finger in front of her face with a playful grin. "That's because I unleashed chaos on the realm of order. Here in the realm of disorder it's just the way things go! To the living creatures here nothing is even slightly amiss as this is the world they live in and the world they know. Now, it's if I took them to a world where grass is green and clouds rain water that they'd be terrified." Fluttershy's eyes slowly roved over the land of chaos, watching as ponies indeed went about their daily routines as if the beverages being poured on them, their houses with legs, and their gardens of lollipops were completely normal. She glanced back at the spirit, blinking when she saw he had a small pony cradled in the crook of his arm like a baby. She was an interesting little thing, with a swirly lavender and white mane, and a spinning propeller cap on her head. Her eyes were simply purple swirls that stared up goofily at the Pegasus, before lazily rolling up to look at her creator. "Allow me to introduce my most precious creation," Discord said with an inkling of affection as he gently tugged on the pony's ear. "This is Screwball, and I've had her since my take over eons ago. Isn't she adorable~?" Fluttershy smiled fondly and fluttered up to the pony, petting her poofy mane. An interesting and whacky looking thing she was. "It's nice to meet you, Screwball." The pony turned to her, smiled, and promptly blew a wet raspberry right into the disgusted Fluttershy's face. Discord burst into laughter, giving his little creation a fond pet and watching as Fluttershy tried to wipe off the droplets of spit. "Apologies, Fluttershy. She can't speak English and communicates through sound effects." He leaned down and blew a raspberry back into the pony's face. She blinked up and smiled at him, responding with one of her own. Pretty soon the two were engaged in their own conversation. “I don't understand it though,” Fluttershy said as she fell into step beside Discord on the peanut brittle pathway. “If there was always a realm of chaos than why weren't you just exiled here instead of being imprisoned? It seems to be like this is the kind of home you've always wanted.” “We both know that being imprisoned was not what Celestia and Luna aimed to do to me.” He fell silent after that, his tone shifting slightly. Fluttershy dropped the subject. She knew talking about his past, about his time in stone, in utter loneliness was very painful for him to deal with, and something he wished to keep in the past. “Is this where you've been the past two weeks? I haven't seen you at all. You never invited me down...” A somewhat somber look crossed Discord's grinning face and Fluttershy cringed. What had she said now? “Apologies dear, but I had some business to take care of. Disarray had been without government for nearly a thousand years, and the entire land had fallen into utter destruction, and carnage. Ponies were killing each other and destroying houses and land. The realm was at war with each other because they had no way to solve their issues and didn't understand why no one was helping them.” He gestured a paw towards a distant hill. Fluttershy could easily see the granite stones popping up from the blue grass and squeaked out a sob. Discord absently smoothed his talon through her rosette mane.“It was a grim sight when I finally got back here. I had a lot to clean up—buildings and bodies alike. Disarray is a thin line between Equestia and Tartarus. It can be a happy, chaotic realm but without proper guidance it could be a realm of suffering and true evil. Inhabitants of Disarray border between normal minded ponies and savages.” It was safe to tell he had effectively freaked out the poor pegasus, who had seemed to have gone as stiff as a wooden plank, especially as a pony trotted over to sniff her tail curiously. Discord only laughed. “S...so what about Screwball then? Do the same rules apply to her?” “No, not at all.” Discord fondly turned his little abomination upside down in his arms and played with her hooves. “Screwball isn't from Disarray. She's created by moi, and therefore is rather insane and adorably kooky, but I don't think she can succumb to the same evil Disarray ponies can.” Just then Screwball let off a loud chirping noise, prompting Discord to glance down questionably at her, until he nodded and grinned in understanding. “Ah yes, I almost forgot about that. Fluttershy, I want to introduce you to the kazoobies.” “The...the what?” She squeaked as Discord grabbed her and tucked her under an arm as he flew towards what resembled some kind of forest. A forest of...mint. The familiar, zingy scent was undeniable and very much welcomed. Everything in this land smelled like some kind of food. “Oh, kazoobies~!” Discord called up a mint stalk. “Come down here a moment! There's somepony I want to introduce you to!” Other than typical forest ambiance there wasn't a sound that greeted him back. “Screwy, call them.” The pinkish pony scrunched up her face in concentration and her chest swelled. Fluttershy hopped back as a loud, kazoo sound rang from her throat, and echoed up into the trees. Within moments a flock of distorted looking birds circled around their heads excitedly. Fluttershy stared at the bizarre appearances of the multicolored, fluffy birds. She squinted hard when she realized the shapes of their beaks seemed familiar. Oh dear Equestria, they were kazoos. Their beaks were kazoos! “My word!” Fluttershy giggled, smoothing a hoof over a kazoobie's beak and giggling as it vibrated with the wacky, musical sound and nuzzled her face. “Are these your creations?” “Yep!” Discord chuckled, giving a kazoobie a fond pet on it's spiky, mohawk head. “I did indeed. A good portion of this world is created by me, and some creatures and lands were created before I took the reins.” He reached up onto a branch and picked up a giant yellow, kidney bean shaped fruit. “Try feeding them bananzabanoonzabononza berries~! It's their favorite!” Blinking a little, Fluttershy timidly held out a berry to one of the kazoobies. She squealed as the litter monster latched itself to the berry and pecked it clean within three seconds flat. “So taking care of and restoring Disarray is where you've been all this time,” Fluttershy said understandingly. “But what's kept Celestia and Luna so busy as well? I...well, I haven't seen them since the wedding, and when Twilight goes to write to one of them it takes them hours, if not an entire day to get back to her.” “Oh, I didn't say I was the only one that's been preoccupied with things the past few weeks,” Discord pointed out. An unsettled look came to his face as he spoke. “Celestia and Luna have been keeping vigilant, because apparently they're having 'bad feelings'.” Fluttershy felt her heart begin to pound and she stared at him. “What kind of bad feelings? Er...tummy-sick bad feelings, or Chrysalis-invading bad feelings that they had a while ago?” “Heh. Chrysalis-invading bad feelings.” Discord lounged on one of the mint trees, griping as a kazoobie pecked at his crown. “Beat it, bird breath! Uh, anyway, yeah... I'd like to say Tia is just paranoid, but the last time she had a feeling like this we were invaded by the queen of black swiss cheese.” “Oh dear,” the pegasus said softly. “So if Canterlot is being threatened again how come security hasn't increased?” “Well, it isn't entirely certain yet. Celestia and Luna are keeping watch, but until they know what's going on there isn't much they can do.” Noticing the worried look on the pegasus's face, Discord abruptly, light heartedly swooped her up under an arm. “Come on, I'll show you more of Disarray!” Sitting in a puddle of soda-rain, Screwball looked excitedly up at Discord and made questioning bubble sounds. “Oh yes, yes of course we'll show her the hot sugar bubble springs!” xxxxxxxx Chrysalis grit her teeth and tried to ignore the babies nibbling on her mane and tearing at it as if it were a piece of blue taffy. She glanced back at her colony and a rare, mournful look came to her face when she realized that at this point her children couldn't even move. They were like shriveled, black prunes, cracked and looking like they had aged about a hundred years in just a few hours. A rare pang stabbed at her. Feeling genuine sadness was such a rare occurrence that she often needed to do a double take to remember what it felt like. Of course, being that she slipped into so many ponies' skin all the time, she needed to do some acting and could put on a believable show of tears. It was rare she felt the sadness herself. Watching her colony slowly die and being able to do nothing left her feeling as weak as a foal. Her black ears pinned back, but she hardened her heart to the bodies collapsing and continued the trek onward. The skies seemed to have blackened the closer they got to the opening of the crater. Lava bubbled around the sizzling pathway and Chrysalis latched her mouth around the infants' necks to keep them from going off to explore the lava. Chrysalis stopped dead at the towering gates to the realm. Despite her will to always remain calm and cold, she felt her insides melting into a puddle of goo as she stared up in horror at Cerberus. The changeling queen prepared for a battle she knew she'd lose in her condition, but the three headed beast only calmly stepped aside and allowed her to enter. A blast of smouldering wind beyond the heat in any part of the Equestrian deserts roared into her face as she entered. The black and red sky and crackling flames seemed reminiscent to the kind of atmosphere she usually enjoyed. Holding the babies in her mouth and over her back, Chrysalis calmly trotted in. For the most terrible realm to ever exist, they really blow this place out of proportion. Equestria is so much worse. The queen's walk was instantly halted by a pair of mismatched feet, and she stared up at the towering demon in shock. When was the last time she had seen a- “Welcome...” Maelstrom's mouth turned up in a wicked grin as he eagerly eyed his large group of guests and flicked his long, pointed tongue out of his mouth. “My, you all certainly look exhausted,” he commented, feigning concern as he examined the dying changeling army and hid his pleasure in a purposeful gasp. “How long has it been since you've all eaten?” “A true meal? A while.” Chrysalis wanted to snarl at the entity as she did with anyone she met, but she needed to sound as polite as possible if this monster was really going to feed them. “Where is the food? You said you would look after us.” “That I did,” Maelstrom agreed. He gestured to the realm, where there were large handfuls of squirming uncomfortable ponies, each having fallen into some sort of trap. A few mares were wriggling in a literal spider's webs while the furry, arachnids eyed them hungrily. Another group of ponies flailed helplessly in a sea of red tar and feebly cried out for help or some kind of mercy. Chrysalis grinned wildly, her wings flapping eagerly. Helpless ponies were everywhere. A few of the more-alive changelings had wandered their way to the tar pit and had begun to feast. Chrysalis could already see the life returning to them and watched as their shriveled bodies gradually began to take a better, more distinguishable shape. She turned her own attention to where a mule was uselessly flailing in a large thorn bush. Realization she would finally eat after so long spurring her on, Chrysalis eagerly tore the screeching mortal from the bush's grasp. The mule protested and whined weakly as she pinned him with a hoof, but it was silenced by the weak stream of green magic, his eyes taking on a glow in the dark tint as the life was sucked from them. There was no time for a gradual, slow draining process; Chrysalis needed to suck him up like a vacuum. She eagerly devoured the mortal's fear and helplessness, and fed on his lost hope as his life quickly drained away to nothing. Instantly, Chrysalis felt even more alert. She didn't even mind Maelstrom was circling her. Crimson eyes sharp and vigilant like a cat, Maelstrom kept his stare on her and grinned. “All that power...I bet it feel so good after all this time, and the many times it's been denied to you. You always did want to make your hive the most powerful species in all the realms.” As much as she loved the idea, as much as it filled her dark dreams at night, all Chrysalis cared about right now was feeding her subjects. The infants surrounded her and took what was left of the mule's life force. Within only a few moments, they were as bouncy as ever. Chyrsalis watched with a dark joy as her colony regained its strength and began to actively chase its prey rather than feebly crawl after it. “Tell me Chrysalis, do you still want to make your race reign supreme?” “Right now I just want to settle somewhere and rebuild the colony. We have no hope for gaining any kind of power with the number of changelings that are left.” “Well...” a twisted smile snaked over Maelstrom's lips and he held out his arms to the realm in a welcoming manner. “What's mine is yours...” Chrysalis emitted a quiet snarl and lowered her spiraled horn in warning. “What do you want?” “Why...the same thing you want, dear. I want power, I want to show this world just what I can really do.” “I mean what do you want in exchange for your hospitality?” “I want your help,” Maelstrom said simply, now dropping down to the ground in a nonchalant walk. “I can't do this all on my own, you know. The curse that sealed me here thousands of years ago has only weakened enough for me to remind the realms that I exist, but I can't leave Tartarus yet. You can.” “What am I supposed to do?” Chrysalis hissed angrily, “My colony is nearly extinct and I have almost no magic right now! I can't-” She was cut off as Maelstrom pressed a claw to her lips and smirked at her. “Shhh... Now, I never said it had to be right now. I have a lot to do before your role comes into play anyway. It will all be revealed eventually, dear. Don't fret~ For now, you do need to worry about repopulating your species. There's a cave just by the black forest that you can use as your breeding grounds, and to create a new hive. Why, the Black Forest is where many unsuspecting mortals tend to wander.” He smirked. “Perfect feeding spot.” The changeling's snake-like eyes roved over to the distant black trees and shrubbery and she smiled at the sight of ponies stuck in vines and bushes. “I will move the hive into the cave and start the process of rebuilding my colony.” “Try not to worry, dear,” Maelstrom said smoothly, turning to grin back at the queen. “Your colony won't starve under my supervision. I can't have that if you're going to assist me now, can I?” Chrysalis snorted and threw back her seaweed colored mane. “If it comes down to it I'll gladly take the lives of that pristine princess and her multi colored meat rug if that's what it takes to keep my colony safe.” She smirked. “And exact some revenge.” Maelstrom watched as the ebony mare began to retreat to her new chambers. He crossed his arms and chuckled. “Really, Chrysalis after all you've been through with them you're that eager to destroy them?” The queen stopped dead in her tracks. Slowly, she turned to the demon. “Those days don't matter to me anymore. I'm sure they don't matter to them either.” She paused. “How do you even know about what happened?” The entity sneered and laughed heartily, as if she had asked the most ridiculous question. “I've shadowed Discord all of his life, and therefore subsequently, Celestia as well. I saw it all. I guess you really are a force to be reckoned with if you're brave enough to try and take down the king and queen. Her eyes darkened. “I'll drain everyone in Equestria if that's what will keep my changelings healthy.” Maelstrom smirked. “Devoted mother. Go and get settled.” His claw glowed a deadly, black hue. “I have work to do...” Chrysalis walked on with the newly energized colony, and made her way into a distant black cave near the forest. The surroundings reminded her of home, in her black wastelands, the warm hives, and the scent of sulfur in the air. She settled in the reddened soil and laid down to rest. Chirping, squeaking bundles of baby changelings eagerly scurried up to their mother and nestled in at her side. Chrysalis dipped her head to give them each a slight nuzzle, and the infants swiveled in bliss and rolled over on her hooves so she could rub their bellies. The queen gazed out the mouth of the cave and her motherly expression melted into a feral grin. So this isn't exactly what her original plan was, and it felt degrading that she needed to rely on other's resources, but it could be worse. “And eventually, it will all be worth it,” she whispered. xxxxxxxx Celestia couldn't remember the last time lowering the sun was so exhausting. As the pale orange washed over her body and her horn sparked and sputtered to try and keep from dropping her hold on it completely, she had nearly collapsed by the time she had finished setting the sun. Luckily, her energy level kindly hovered at one percent at least until she fell onto her mattress. Then it dropped to a complete zero. Everything was calm now, and Celestia had done her job for the day. Luna was taking the next shift and she could relax—perhaps enough to rid herself of this terrible exhaustion and dizziness. A good night's sleep was all she needed. “Ding-dong.” Exhausted, Celestia shut her eyes, but found she had no way of fighting the grin that curled over her lips as she pretended to ignore him. “Ding-dong.” “......” “Dong-ding!” “Listen, you dummy,” Celestia laughed, “if you want in so bad then come in, otherwise get out if you're just going to be making sound effects all night!” A playful snort, and slowly mismatched feet slid in through the doorway, followed by his fluttering, mahogany cape. “Rude! Is that all you can say to your hubbie when we've been apart for a full eleven hours?” “It is when all you want to do is annoy your frankly exhausted wife.” She uttered a squeal as his warm arms scooped her up. There was that typical, insufferable amusement on his face, but Celestia could see it had a slightly concerned look to it. She puffed her cheeks out like a filly and glared at him. “Still having that tired feeling, darling? How long has that been going on now?” “Oh, not that long,” Celestia said quickly, trying to disguise the annoyance in her voice. She hated it when others pressed her on how she was feeling. “It's from trying to provide more eyes than usual to Canterlot. I told you about the bad feeling we had...” “More eyes? Oh silly Tia, you only have one telescope, and you each only have two eyes.” “Have you had any of these ominous feelings, Discord?” The draconequus scowled when he realized she wasn't going to indulge on his jokes and, as always, wanted to take things seriously. So he shrugged and fell on the bed beside her. “Not really, dearest. You see, bad feelings to me have always been good, because what others found bad I usually found good. You see~?” Well he could tell from her blinking, blank expression that he had lost her. “Er, honestly Celestia I haven't been in Equestria enough these past couple weeks to feel any...bad feelings. I think you're stressing yourself too much and that might be why you're feeling so sick.” He pressed a loving nuzzle against her face and laid her down. “Why don't we just get to sleep?” “I suppose so,” Celestia reluctantly agreed. Discord could tell by the way her beautiful violet flecks were moving about that she was still very unsettled. “But I still feel...uncomfortable, like something is going to-” She was cut off as Discord suddenly, abruptly shoved his finger against her lips and looked completely alert. “You know what, you're right,” Discord said, in a sharp tone, his ears up and listening intently. “I feel it, Tia. I feel that bad feeling you feel now.” Celestia had sat up so sharply that Discord desperately bit down his laughter, trying to keep his composure and remain serious. “Do you know what the bad feeling means?” “I think it means....RASPBERRY ATTACK!” the draconequus roared, claws playfully sheathed for effect as he leaped at the startled mare and pinned her, pushing his face against her vulnerable, white belly. “Discord—stop it! I'm serious! Watch the snaggle tooth—yeow! Wahahahaha! You're so going on the couch tonight!” The two continued to play and grapple like they were kids again, laughing and nibbling on each other's manes and tails well until the moon reached the peak of the sky. Celestia forgot all about the sinking feeling in her stomach, and was completely oblivious to the black, choking mist that sinisterly seeped out of the cracks of Tartarus and swept over the land. xxxxxxxx (It baffles me how they have character categories for dumb characters like Snips and Snails, and none for Screwball. I know she only showed up for five seconds, but so did Fleur De Lis! Screwball is a very important, supporting character in this fic and she needs a categoryyy! >< Anyway, Chrysalis is so much fun to write, ohmahgawd, and the changelings are just so darling~ Thank you all for waiting patiently and I hope you enjoy it. ^^ A big thanks to my editor Dave who went through this beforehand. LOVE YA, DAVE!)