//------------------------------// // 43: Lovely Lies // Story: Death of a Queen // by Arkane12 //------------------------------// “Sound off. Everyone alright?” Twilight lay on the wooden floor, briskly rubbing the throbbing pain in her neck as she turned toward the speaker. Captain Shield grabbed an arm of the ship’s helm, using it to pull himself back to his hooves. “That might have been a little much, Captain.” Glaze jumped up, testing his shoulder’s full range of motion as he stretched. “I’m going to remember this the next time you call me reckless,” Dusti growled from a heap on the other side of the room. Thorax appeared over Twilight, offering her a helping hoof. She took it gladly, allowing the changeling to pull her up. The tilted floor turned standing into a balancing act, but she adjusted quickly. “Princess?” “I’m alright, Captain Shield.” As if enraged by their stunt, the storm outside howled. Lightning struck against the mountainside, raining stones against the armored hull of the ship. Shards of hail embedded into the deck, chipping away at the wood. “I apologize for the rough landing, but we don’t really have time to talk right now.” “Right.” Twilight nodded. “Glaze. Diamond. Are you ready to move?” “We’re good,” Dusti reassured her, holding tight to Glaze as she made her way unsteadily toward the cabin door. “Thorax?” “Ready.” “Then let’s do this.” Twilight, Thorax, and Glaze formed a column behind Dusti. A blazing yellow aura engulfed the unicorn, stretching outward until it encompassed her entirely. With a solemn nod to the group gathered behind her, she turned the latch on the cabin door. In an instant, under the force of the wind, the gate burst open, sending the lieutenant sprawling backwards into the outstretched grasp of her underling. With a twirl of her horn, the shield expanded, blocking the doorway and sealing off the invading storm. “Line up behind me. Stay close. The less space I have to cover, the longer I can hold it,” Dusti explained. Without waiting for confirmation from her companions, she pressed forward. As she passed through, the shield bent outward, forming a bubble around her. Glaze was next, stepping carefully out behind her. She stepped aside, expanding the shield to cover them both from the elements hammering against the magic aegis. Twilight and Thorax followed side-by-side. “Send us a signal when you’re ready for pick-up. In the meantime, we’ll get this bucket back into the sky. Good luck to all of you.” Captain Shield looked to one of the stallions standing nearby, who closed the door behind them. With the ponies inside safe from nature’s wrath, Dusti’s shield shrank until it covered only the four figures standing outside. They huddled close, allowing the unicorn to tighten the shield. “After you, Princess,” Dusti said. “Right. Let’s do this.” Twilight clambered up onto the rail. The tilted angle of their landing left only a few feet of space between the edge of the deck and the ground. With a quiet grunt of exertion, Twilight hopped down into the mud. The rest of the team followed. The cave mouth opened less than a hundred feet in front of them. The mud gripped at their hooves as they journeyed forward, clinging to their fur and making each step heavier than the last. Lightning struck erratically around them. Each bolt pierced into the ground, leaving jagged glass sculptures centered in muddy craters. Rain and hail hammered at the shield, each one landing with a crash reminiscent of a cannonball. “You alright, Dusti?” Thorax asked. “Fantastic.” Her strained voice matched her gritted teeth. “I can try to help. I’m not great with shields, but—” “If you really want to help, pick up the pace. I won’t be able to hold this forever.” She pushed past him, eager to reach the mouth of the cave as quickly as possible. Twilight and Thorax shared a concerned glance before hurrying after her. Glaze, still at the front of the pack, hadn’t noticed. As they neared the cave, Twilight found her gaze drawn upward. The wind whistled through the hollow stone spires, creating a cry no creature in Equestria could match. Each shock of lightning created beastly shadows across the featureless cliffs. Though each step brought her closer to her destination, she couldn’t help but notice them growing heavier and hesitant. Eventually, the troupe reached the cave entrance. Glaze was the first inside, keeping a keen eye scanning the dark for any sign of movement. Dusti arrived second, the searing heat emitted from her horn enough to blur the air around it. Thorax and Twilight were last, only barely slipping inside before Dusti dropped her shield. “That sucked,” Dusti muttered, leaning against the cave wall to catch her breath. “You did well.” Twilight offered an assuring smile, but the lieutenant didn’t seem to notice. “We should keep moving.” Thorax interrupted. “Relax. I only need a second,” Dusti defended herself. “Just . . . make it quick, please. Chrysalis has enough of a head start as it is. We need to be as quick as possible.” Dusti scowled. “You really think a few seconds will make a difference? You don’t even know if she’s here.” “Guys, we might have a problem.” Glaze said, his voice pitching up an octave. “Chrysalis could topple empires in the span of a few seconds. So yes, every second is important. Dusti waited for the changeling to turn his back before rolling her eyes, prompting a disapproving glare from the princess. “Hey!” Glaze called, louder this time. The trio turned toward him. He journeyed deeper into the cave, muzzle to the ground while he searched for any signs of their quarry. “Did you find something?” Thorax asked eagerly. “Yeah . . . I think.” Glaze pointed a hoof into the dark. “I need a light.” Dusti obliged, igniting the tip of her horn with a soft yellow glow. A puddle of dark liquid shimmered in the light. “What is that?” Twilight asked, wrinkling her muzzle in disgust. “Blood.” Glaze knelt against the solid stone, examining the crimson stream. It flowed from beyond the range of Dusti’s light. Thorax paled at the discovery. “I’m guessing from that.” He motioned to the massive form laying against the cave wall. “Is it Chrysalis?” Dusti asked, her voice utterly devoid of sympathy. “No.” Glaze stepped forward toward the body. Neither the size nor the shaggy fur was reminiscent of their target. “It looks like . . . a bear?” Dusti focused her light onto the limp form. “An Ursa?” Glaze questioned. “What happened here?” Twilight scanned the scene. Blood soaked the ground in dark puddles. Several deep gouges in the stone matched the brutal strike of an oversized bear. She traced the red streams to a wound in the beast’s neck. “Is this Chrysalis’ handiwork?” Dusti frowned. “Could be.” Thorax nodded. “It might have been seeking shelter from the storm. If Chrysalis came through here and woke it up . . .” “It wouldn’t have been happy,” Twilight figured. “And neither would Chrysalis.” “Assuming it was her,” Dusti pointed out. “Either way, we should hurry. Whatever fought this thing, it didn’t make it out unscathed.” Glaze directed their focus to a trail of crimson leading deeper into the mountain. They didn’t match the pools from the Ursa, appearing more as spattering drops than fatal blood loss. “Well, at least she’ll be easy to track.” Dusti shrugged, earning a glare from Thorax. “Come on. I’ll take the lead,” Glaze offered. Even with the trail to follow, their journey hit its fair share of snags. Sudden shifts in direction combined with wide gaps between each clue often turned them in the wrong direction. More than once, their path took them up sheer vertical inclines, forcing them to carry Dusti through the rather cramped passages. The green gems protruding from the wall had finally lost their charge, leaving the only bit of visibility from Dusti’s light. As they passed through the black crystalline décor common throughout the changeling architecture, her light cast strange shadows that didn’t quite match up with where they should be. The claustrophobic atmosphere pressed in on them. Each shade that passed curled like a twisted talon, reaching out to snag them. “Thorax, there is something definitely wrong with your kind,” Dusti piped up. “Thanks?” Thorax replied, offended. “How did you live in a place like this?” “What do you mean?” “This place is creepy. It feels like something’s in here with us, watching us.” “Because I’m a changeling. I’m one of those things that sits in the dark, watching you.” “You’ve never seen a changeling hive before?” Twilight asked. Dusti shook her head. “No. Not a big hive like this, at least. During the invasion, a few buildings were . . . converted to be more like a hive, though. You know, the sticky green ooze and black strands. That kind of stuff. Those weren’t quite as . . . empty, though.” Thorax cleared his throat clumsily. “That sounds like storage areas. Get everything into one place before . . . sending it back to the hive. It’s a pretty common tactic—” “Hey!” Dusti interrupted. “I’d rather not be thinking about the terrible things that happen to beautiful young mares like me in places like this. Save the stories until I’m not around, please.” “Oh. Sorry.” “For that, or for the kidnapping?” “That’s enough,” Twilight chimed in. “Both of you stay focused on the task at hand.” The two fell silent, eager to avoid Twilight’s disapproving gaze. Eventually, Thorax spoke up. “We should be approaching one of the main chambers. From there, it’s a straight shot to the throne room. I think we should start our search there.” “Sounds good,” Glaze agreed. True to Thorax’s instincts, the cave opened into a gargantuan hollow chamber. Smaller openings branched off in every direction, leading to the farthest ends of the tunnels. They followed Chrysalis’ trail down one of the larger offshoots. And soon enough, they reached a heavy oak door that looked out of place against the rough stone of the rest of the hive. Several drops of blood had dried just before the doorway. Glaze and Dusti each took a side, opening the way for the rest of the group to funnel inside. The hall looked almost identical to how Twilight remembered it. The storm raged outside, visible through the collapsed sections of the room. Waterfalls of rain formed at the edges of the damage, pouring down into small oceans around the room. The two soldiers kept low, ready to spring into action. Thorax approached the stone stairs that once led to his mother’s throne. The red carpet had been torn to tatters by the elements. The throne no longer resembled any symbol of authority, but merely a pile of rubble. Twilight’s gaze followed the bloody trail. It passed over a darker, older stain on the floor. The sight of this stain, darkened with age and darker magics, filled Twilight with a cold dread. Glaze appeared at her side, curious at the sight that turned the princess pale. “Something the matter, Princess?” he asked. “I’m just . . . remembering.” She sighed, wiping the beginning of a tear from her eye. “Glaze, do you think things will ever just be . . . normal again?” The soldier looked from the princess to the stained stone tile. “I’m not even sure what normal would be at this point.” “Sometimes, I wonder if this is all just a bad dream. Maybe I never escaped the Nightmare, you know? Like this is just some crazy, messed up fever dream.” “Princess?” Twilight blinked, snapping herself out of her trance. “Sorry. I think I . . . drifted off for a second there.” He nodded. “I get it. Things are crazy. And I know you’re worried about Chrysalis--” “I’m not talking about Chrysalis. Glaze, this is where this all started. Right here.” She nodded toward the stain. “This is where I found the two of them. Celestia and Chrysalis. Both just barely clinging to life. It feels strange to be back here. It . . . it feels like it happened in another lifetime. To another Twilight.” “If anyone can handle this, Princess—” “I can. Yeah. You’re not the first to tell me that.” “It’s true, though. We’ve all heard the stories of the great Twilight Sparkle. The Element of Magic. The newest Princess of Equestria. Vanquisher of—” “Sometimes, I miss just being Twilight.” Realization struck brighter than any lightning from the storm outside. Twilight pressed forward, past the old blood, following Chrysalis’ trail deeper into the hall, to another grand set of doors. “Glaze?” “Yeah, Princess?” “Thank you.” “For what?” “For helping me realize what I need to do.” “Oh . . . you’re welcome, I guess.” He scratched the nape of his neck, just below his helmet. “Stay with the others. I need to speak with her privately.” “Of course, Princess.” As she approached the chamber doors, Twilight’s heartbeat thudded in her ears. Her legs threatened to buckle out from beneath her. But she didn’t stop. With a determined push, the doors cracked open, releasing a hiss of warm steam. She offered one last smile to her companion before disappearing through the gap, allowing the passageway to swing shut behind her. The room beyond the doors felt far smaller than the vast emptiness of the throne room. Of course, Twilight had no evidence for that claim. The heavy bank of mist blocked out anything beyond a few feet in front of her. Somewhere in the haze, she could hear the babbling of a stream. Beads of sweat had already started to form on her brow, a consequence of the thick steam that enveloped her. Her breathing felt heavier, though not harder. The stone floor gave way to a shallow stretch of water. A thick cloud of steam rose from the surface of the crystal-clear pool. Before stepping in, she tested the temperature. Far from soothing, but not quite a burning heat, either. With a deep breath, she took her first step into the shallow end. The pond only grew deeper as she continued. As the water finally rose to her knees, she noticed strange stone fragments dotting the floor of the pool. Though sharp, their brittleness crumbled beneath her hooves. Eventually, her journey rewarded her effort. The mist thinned enough for her to see a dark figure lying in the water. “Chrysalis?” Twilight gasped. The changeling lifted her head, glancing over her shoulder to observe the newcomer. A vibrant green eye pierced through the mist, rooting Twilight in place. Her soaked mane stuck to her cheek, trickling a small stream down her chin. “What are you doing here?” “What am I . . .” Twilight furrowed her brow. “What kind of question is that? I came here looking for you.” “You found me.” Despite her warm surroundings, the words sent a chill crawling up Twilight’s spine. “A-Are you okay? I followed a trail of blood to get here. Was it serious? We can get you patched up on the way home.” “I am home.” Twilight bowed her head, staring at her own reflection in the glassy surface. “I-I know I messed up. I’m sorry. You were my friend, too. I shouldn’t have ignored you like I did. I won’t do it again. So, please give me another chance?” Chrysalis made a noise somewhere between a chuckle and a sob. “Quit toying with me.” “I’m not toying with you. I feel awful for what I did.” “You really intend on making this difficult, don’t you?” “I . . .” Twilight let her mouth hang open, praying that the right words would find their way out. “Go home, Twilight.” “N-No.” “Go home, Twilight,” she repeated, her voice growing more desperate with each syllable. “Not without you. I . . . I thought we were friends.” “We were.” Twilight’s body quaked. Her voice grew loud and shaky. “Then what do I do? How do I fix this?” she cried. “There’s nothing to fix.” The two fell silent, allowing the sound of a babbling brook to fill the air. Twilight was the first to speak. “This . . . isn’t about me, is it?” “No,” Chrysalis admitted. Twilight kept her distance from the changeling but circled around until she could see her face. In response, Chrysalis turned away, trying not to meet her gaze. “Talk to me. Please?” “Go home, Twilight,” she whispered. Twilight lowered herself into the water, mimicking Chrysalis’ pose as she soaked. “Do you remember the question you asked me before you left? About what I would do once all of this trouble with Celestia was over? I can’t go home until my work is done. And I don’t want to go home without you.” “But you will.” Chrysalis’ voice shattered. “Why do you sound so sure about that?” “We both knew this could never work, Twilight. Maybe you don’t get it yet, but you will. Someday.” “What couldn’t work?” “Us. Me and you. A princess of Equestria and a changeling queen. It sounds like a bad joke.” Twilight bit her lip. “It kind of sounds like a fairy tale, I think.” Chrysalis scoffed. “Yeah. You’re the princess, locked in her tower. I’ll be the wicked beast that guards you, waiting for the day Prince Charming cuts me down and sweeps you off your hooves. Quit kidding yourself, Twilight. Deep down, you had to know this couldn’t work.” “That’s why you left?” Twilight asked. “That was a part of it. I saw the way you were with your friends. The moment you saw them . . . you looked so happy. You looked . . . normal. Like you finally had someone to help hold you together. You didn’t need me anymore. So, I left.” “I didn’t need you?” “You told me you loved me. Do you remember that?” “I do.” “Why? Why do you love me? I did nothing but terrorize you for years. I hurt so many ponies. I nearly killed your brother. I nearly killed your mentor. I nearly killed you. And you told me you loved me.” “I . . . did.” “Why?” Twilight played back their interactions in her head. Every moment they spent together. She never understood why herself. She told Cadence as much. “I don’t know.” “I do.” “And why do you think I love you?” “Because I was your only choice.” They let the words sink in. “How so?” Twilight asked, almost offended. “That night when I woke up in the hospital, I saw the truth of things. Celestia was . . . gone. Luna didn’t seem to care for you. You’d been pulled away from your life and left drifting all on your own. I was awake all those nights when you would sit at Celestia’s side and cry.” “You heard that?” “It’s why I agreed to help you. I know what it’s like to lose a child. I imagine it’s rather similar to how it feels for you to lose a motherly figure like Celestia. It broke my heart to hear that.” “I didn’t know that.” “The night you came to ask for my help . . . the way you were willing to beg me. You were like a child, crying out for your mother. Every ounce of loss I’d ever felt just came flooding back. It was all my fault. I couldn’t just leave you.” “You know, that doesn’t sound like a monster to me.” Chrysalis wiped a tear from her cheek. To Twilight’s amazement, she thought she spied the barest hint of a smile on the changeling’s lips. “That night, I decided that I would support you for as long as you needed me. I would be your port in the storm, so to speak. Over the time I spent working with you, I forgot my promise. I . . . I really started to care for you. I think I actually might have fallen in love with you. “Then I saw you with Shining and Cadence. You finally reconciled with them. Then I saw you with your friends. You were happy. You weren’t alone anymore.” “And you thought I didn’t need you anymore . . .” Twilight finished. “You didn’t. You had picked yourself back up. You pulled your life back together. I knew you would be okay. And then I realized . . . you didn’t need me anymore. Your life would go back to normal. You’d forget about me. It was the plan from the start, but when the time finally came, I . . . I didn’t want to go.” “Then why did you?” “Because it was easier this way. A clean break. No messy goodbyes. No waiting around for you to realize the mistake you made. You would forget about me eventually, and I would forget about you, eventually.” “After everything we’ve been through, you really think I would have just abandoned you?” Twilight asked, insulted. “Not at first. But I thought about it quite a bit. The idea terrified me. We probably would be happy for a while. But somewhere down the line, maybe years, maybe centuries, I knew you would wake up beside me and realize I was the worst mistake you ever made.” “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you felt that way.” “So, tell me, am I right?” Chrysalis watched Twilight from the corner of her eye. Twilight took a moment to grasp the weight of their conversation. It brought a grin to her face. “Not completely.” “Then would you care to correct me?” “At first, yeah. I felt so alone. And when I needed comfort, you were there for me. You were one of my greatest rivals and a villain that terrorized Equestria. But you were there for me. All the time we spent together; I saw a side of you I never thought existed.” Twilight laughed. “You asked why I thought I loved you? Well, I think I figured it out.” “Do tell.” “When you laugh, you sometimes snort.” Chrysalis hung her head in shame. “That’s why you think you love me?” “I can never quite figure you out. You’ve always got some sort of trick or joke up your sleeve that I have to be constantly on the lookout for. You’re able to make me laugh surprisingly easily. I do think you were right, though. All of these things make you so much like Celestia, that maybe I did use you as a surrogate for her while she was gone. But most importantly, you have the same kind of passion that she does.” “Passion?” “Thorax told me why he left. He told me what happened to your hive and why you invaded Canterlot. He also told me about a lot of the terrible things you had to do to survive. You made a lot of difficult choices.” “And I would make those choices again, if I had to.” “Because you had no other choice. You think that someday I’ll start to hate you because you did terrible things. You’re wrong. I almost admire you for it. Maybe not your methods, per se, but the lengths you were willing to go to fight for your loved ones. I found myself wanting to be like you a little, in that regard. I’m always scared that someday I’ll have to make a difficult choice, and I don’t know if I’ll have the stomach for it.” “It’s not easy.” “That’s why I love you. Maybe everyone else sees you as a monster. Even you yourself think that way. But that’s not what I see. I look at you and see a beautiful mare that’s spent her life struggling to do the best she can. I see a lonely mare who no one understands. And I want to understand.” “Twilight . . . that’s . . .” The alicorn rose from the bath, shaking off her wings. “So, let me say this. I won’t force you to come back to Canterlot with me, if you don’t want to. I’ll just tell the others that you had already left by the time I got here. You can go wherever you want. Or, you can come home with me, and let me prove to you that you were wrong about us.” “Twilight?” “Yes?” “You win. I’m ready.” Chrysalis let the tears rain down her face. “Take me home.”