//------------------------------// // Ch. 7: Last Warning // Story: Her Next Life As a Bug's Big Brother // by TundraStanza //------------------------------// Chrysalis was many things. She was an egg-hatcher, a manipulator, a deceiver, and a power-hungry creature. Negotiable was never one of them. At Cadance's statement, the changeling queen laughed loudly. She slowly looked up and her neck released a cracking noise every half-second. There was a pause. Then, she looked at her uninvited guest with cold eyes. "You're in no position to demand anything, Princess." Chrysalis's wings flared. "You barge into my hive, slaughter my subjects, and you have the gall to tell me what my rights are?" "Your Majesty," interrupted a soldier drone. "We kind of did that stuff to them too." "Don't interrupt me!" Chrysalis blasted the soldier away with a sporadic ray of magic. The soldier inhaled sharply before his body turned to ashes. His helmet clanged against the ground. The rest of the changelings present let out a screech in fear. The exceptions were Thorax, who was still hiding with Starlight, and Pharynx, who was still feeling burning pains from his earlier punishment. "Anyway, you're far from home, Pony!" Chrysalis stomped the ground. "In my domain, you have no power! You have no magic! You have nothing to bargain with that I cannot simply take for myself!" She channeled a green light to her horn. "Unless your last words are, 'I surrender and you are the superior leader of Equestria,' I don't want to hear anything you say." "Mommy?" Ocellus shakily raised a hoof. "Permission to say something?" "Oh, for Fae's sake, what?!" Chrysalis stared metaphorical daggers at her 'daughter'. The little changeling shook but managed to take a few steps forward. She cleared her throat and pulled out a small, greenish orb. "I, Princess Ocellus of the changeling pack, hereby and forevermore recognize Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of the Crystal Empire, an honorary guest." She tapped the orb against the alicorn's left wing. When Cadance had first entered the changeling territory, she had felt severely dampened. Her magic was there, she just couldn't bring it out without it slipping away to the absorption throne. But the moment the orb touched her wing, her emptiness left and every one of her limbs felt full of life. Chrysalis gasped and launched a beam. "No!" Cadance closed her eyes and lifted her hoof. At the same time, her horn lit up and a transparent, sky blue field appeared in front of her. The queen's spell bounced around the shield and dissolved. Cadance blinked twice and looked over at Ocellus. "You may cast your magic at will." Ocellus smiled gently. The little changeling was suddenly lifted up by a sickly green aura. Chrysalis willed Ocellus to float eye-to-eye. Ocellus gulped. Chrysalis growled before tossing the small changeling away like a rag doll. Cadance spread her wings and soared. Chrysalis mirrored the princess's flight path. Zigzagging beams of green and focused spirals of light blue filled the throne room. Most of Chrysalis's changeling drones scurried away to avoid getting zapped. Meanwhile, Thorax ran over to his brother's side. Starlight galloped over to check on Ocellus. There was a sound imitating two buzz saws as Cadance and Chrysalis crossed horns in the air. An explosion of blue and green lights forced both royals to the ground. Chrysalis was huffing for breath. Cadance stared at her, preparing for anything. "I've had enough of you!" Chrysalis shouted. "I was going to lock you up in a nice cocoon with forcibly sweet dreams, but forget it! You'll never see the light of another day!" Starlight muttered while helping Ocellus onto her hooves. "Pretty sure that's Nightmare Moon's line." Chrysalis either didn't hear or didn't care. Sparks of black and green were flashing out of her horn with little focus. She fired as many of those as she could straight in front of her. Cadance grit her teeth and cast a wide ray of light blue magic. It looked like the spells were fighting for space... and the green static was gaining ground. Cadance grunted. "Chrysalis! Don't push anymore! If you do, it'll mean death!" Chrysalis hissed as she continued to cast. "You think I care? I've already made peace with you dying!" Cadance held a hoof to her chest and calmly exhaled. She opened her eyes fully. "Aloha Amore." Her teacher's clamp made itself visible on her horn. It was just long enough for the shackle to crack and dissolve into the aether. Her current spell resembled a faucet being turned to full blast. Her eyes turned white as the magic rushed forth, destroying all of the green and black bolts in its way. "What? That's impossi-" Chrysalis's whole world turned white. --- An explosion of white and blue appeared near the top of the hive mountain. All of the changelings and ponies out front paused to look at the damage. The changelings turned around flew inside base. Shining Armor felt a spark return to his whole body. He shot up a beacon spell that popped in the shape of his shield cutie mark. He gave the order to give chase to the fleeing changelings and what was left of his army galloped inside. --- Where there once stood an imposing stone throne, now there was a giant hole in the wall. Some shards of red and blue crystals were scattered along the circumference. The changeling drones that had been present in the chamber slowly crawled out from their hiding spaces and looked in awe. Cadance's eyes returned to their normal color. Her opponent was no more. In the queen's place stood a giant valentine statue made of several different crystals. "You've made your bed, Chrysalis." Cadance stared at the heart. "Rest in peace." Vibrations from the fight had dislodged the cocoons from the ceiling. Celestia, Luna, Discord, Trixie, and the encased crystal ponies that still drew breath pulled themselves out of the gunk. When the ponies saw the broken cocoons with corpse remains of Onyx and the others, they lowered their heads in grief. The changelings marched around the Crystal Princess. The other ponies readied actions for spells. But when the changelings took deep bows, the casters quickly halted. "The hive surrenders, Princess Cadance." One changeling soldier took off his helmet and laid it at her hooves. By this time, Shining Armor's force had made it up to the throne room. When he saw his wife glance at him with a knowing smile, he equipped his spear back to his belt. The guards took the hint and disarmed as well. Celestia finally raised the sun to where it was supposed to be at the midday hour. "Pharynx, wake up!" Thorax's voice broke the silence. "We won." Attention was turned by all occupants to the reformed changelings. Thorax had managed to pull his brother out of the goop, but he wasn't responding. Ocellus scurried over and placed her ear near Pharynx's chest. She frowned. She stepped back and slowly shook her head. "Chrysalis's fires must have cooked his lungs." She gave look of sorrow to the younger brother. "He doesn't have long." "No..." Thorax's eyes watered. "This isn't right. Pharynx, please. I need you! Stay with us and help us!" Trixie glanced at the currently slimy draconequus. "Hey, can't you mess around with your powers now?" "Oh, I can make a mess of many things!" Discord stated proudly before crossing his arms. "The Reaper's Scythe is not one of them." "Maybe I can try necromancy," Starlight suggested. "Absolutely not!" Luna shot her a death glare. Celestia shook her head. "A shambling ghoul would not replace the love that was lost in life." "Oh, right..." Starlight scratched her mane. "I forgot about the 'needs to feed on brains' part of the necromancer ritual. My bad." Discord looked around the room. "Not to diminish the lives that were lost today, but where's Fluttershy?" Almost every occupant stared at him with wide-eyes. The ponies looked around, seeing no sign of Fluttershy. For that matter, the other Bearers of Harmony weren't present either. One of the drone changelings piped up. "C-Can I speak without getting vaporized?" She asked. "That depends..." Discord's eyes glowed red. "Discord! / Discord! / Discord!" Cadance, Starlight, and Trixie called him out at once. "Oh, fine." Discord stuck his tongue out at the ponies before returning his attention to the changeling drone. "I won't vaporize you for talking. I might still glare at you angrily while wagging my claw at you." "Uh... okay." The drone twiddled her hooves. "The recon force in Ponyville stated that they were bringing the Bearers of Harmony and their pet dragon very soon. But they still haven't shown up." Pharynx coughed. "C-Cantrip..." "Pharynx!" Thorax exclaimed and wrapped his front hooves around him. Pharynx weakly pushed against him. "Just listen for a sec. Cantrip was the squad leader in Ponyville. She claimed she was going to make that group kings and queens in their own right." He breathed shakily. "She... really did... betray the hive... for her own greed." His eyes darted to the ponies in the room. "Get to Ponyville. Find... Cantrip..." The reformed, violet wings glinted one more time before going limp. The light left his eyes, leaving dull purple orbs. Thorax shook while hugging his brother tightly. The world gave him someone close to him, that had something in common with him... and it took him away. He cried out in anguish. ---