//------------------------------// // The Tenants are not amusing. // Story: The Godking is NOT Amused // by Zemez //------------------------------// Celestia was waiting for him after he had left the company of Cadence and Chrysalis. He stopped five steps away from her and they stared. More accurately, he stared, and she glared at him. This went on for a few minutes before she finally spoke. "What did you do?! I felt more magic than Discord ever used south of Equestria..." So that's what this was about. "I am no longer just the god of dragons... You may now add changelings to my list of domains." He said before resuming walking past the alicorn. He paused when he was beside her, and she turned her neck to look at him. "And I did what I do for all my followers Celestia... I give them hope." She didn't respond, so he resumed walking. The morning had just begun, and he had many ponies to watch before the night began. And after the night was spent with Luna in her court the morning came. Breakfast seemed tenser than usual, as Chrysalis had shown up alongside Cadence. While usually Luna was the icepick to crack the icy atmosphere Celestia created when he was around, today she was as cold as her sister. He silently sighed, not in the mood to taste more pony food out of curiosity for the taste of sustenance he didn't actually require. And neither did Chrysalis, as changelings required only the Love byproduct they harvested and water. He got up motioning chrysalis to follow him, she obliged. Corridor through corridor they went, after a month of exploring the castle he knew this place almost as well as the guards, which was why when they went a convoluted route to the front entrance, it was purposeful. Each pair of guards they passed by gave Chrysalis a hard stare, different from the stone-like behavior they were trained to use. Chrysalis lowered her withers, lowering her profile in guilt. Most likely she could sense the anger each and every pony they passed presented. She was visibly relieved when they had finally passed the castle gate and began to stretch out her insect-like wings. He just continued striding along on foot towards the train station. She looked at him pleadingly, but he ignored it. Through the city they trekked, and while not every pony looked at her with suspicion and fear or anger, many did, for the princesses had explained only the basics. At least until Cadence had grown tired of the two diarchs being obtuse and plainly said the facts. Her doing so had a polarizing effect, while many ponies sympathized, many more were angry that this scary creature had kidnapped and impersonated one of their princesses, let alone almost stole her husband. When they had reached the train station he put a hand on her withers and they were suddenly in front of Twilights library. Chrysalis looked at him angrily and opened her mouth, but shut it when the library's door opened. "Oh... Good morning Veretus..." Spike yawned as he rubbed his eye of morning crust he remembered getting as a mortal. "I'll be ready in five... and twilight too... Come inside I guess." Spike opened the door wider to let them in before wandering back upstairs, most likely to awaken Twilight Sparkle. He entered inside and took a seat in the kitchen he remembered he saw when he came here as Twilight was attempting to liquify magic. He could now claim to Twilight and her friends he'd been in a kitchen. Chrysalis followed, her anger had dissipated with the interruption to her thoughts, now she was back to being depressed. Refusing to take a seat in the home of the sister of the stallion she had nearly ruined the life of. In a few minutes, Twilight walked in, a toothbrush levitated in her magical grasp and was going back and forth with it in her mouth. The purple mare paused as her eyes finally alighted upon chrysalis's form. Her eyes narrowed as she continued trotting inside. Spike seemed to take Chrysalis's presence in stride, quickly grabbing a few bowls and a box made of some sort of sturdy fiber with a picture of a mare in skin-tight clothing with green hair-like tentacles. he placed one before himself and twilight before pausing and looking at their two guests. "Uh... Hungry?" he asked gesturing with the bowls. Chrysalis was about to say something before Veretus Interrupted her. "Never, but I'd like to try whatever that is, and Chrysalis would like the same." The mare in question seemed like she was going to argue, but just silently sat down at the table. Spike just shrugged before passing two bowls. He first poured what seemed like flakes of paper into his bowl before adding milk to it, also contained in an odd box made out of tough fibers. Twilight took the two boxes in her magic and poured herself some from each before she set them down in front of Veretus, despite Chrysalis being closer, and got up to spit out whatever the white foam in her mouth was. He followed both Spike's and Twilight's example, pouring the flake bits, which he now saw was some sort of grain-based food covered in sugar, which he found plainly decadent considering sugar was rare, and now extinct after the Godsfall in his world. He poured the milk from the carton, but not knowing how much was needed he poured until the bowl was nearly overflowing with the flaky bits. He then passed both boxes to Chrysalis. He looked down and wondered how he was supposed to eat it. His fingers would be cold and wet if he used them, and then he saw spike using a spoon, which he noticed was placed next to his bowl. He scooped up bits of the flakes mixed in the milk before putting them in his mouth. The texture was odd, a mixture between hard bread and soft loaves, mixed with the chill of the milk, and the sweetness of the sugar, it was like he was consuming an all-new form of pastry. He closed his eyes and savored it. Once he swallowed he took another spoonful, then another, Eventually, the texture turned from the half bread mix to soggy, the taste was still the same, but it was like he was eating flavored paper. He ate it regardless, as he had made the food and wasn't going to waste Spike's hospitality. When he ran out of flakes, he wondered what he was supposed to do, then he saw spike drinking from his bowl, so he mimicked him, and found an entirely new sensation to enjoy. There were still very small bits of the flakes inside the milk, and the milk tasted extremely sweet, giving it a slightly grainy but enjoyable texture and taste. Before he knew it, his bowl was empty. He set it down and realized spike had finished before him, Twilight was munching on her's and trying her best not to make eye contact with Chrysalis, and Chrysalis was doing her best to eat her's while looking at it like it had just told her all of reality was simply a dream. He had followed spike to what he thought passed for a washbasin, where they had placed their bowls and spoons. They had then waited for the other two to finish before they all headed out to the field. Now both Spike and Chrysalis were in front of him instead of just Spike, with Twilight being at the side, she uncharacteristically didn't have her mass of parchment and quills with her. "Today, since Chrysalis will be joining us, and you've progressed well with your physique Spike, we will be doing something different. You will learn the Tenets of my faith. Since only Chrysalis is required to abide by these, you may merely take reference, Spike." Spike still had trouble with his stamina, but he assumed that was due to Spike's age and stature rather than any failure in muscle building, since spike could effortlessly go through the exercises now. He turns towards Chrysalis. "I have already begun teaching you the first tenet on our way here Chrysalis, what have you learned?" "That everycreature hates me, and that I should feel awful..." she spoke dejectedly. And Veretus admitted that despite Cadence's newfound want for leadership, she had screwed up being so candor. The ponies didn't care that Chrysalis had made up with cadence, that she had not gone through with the invasion, all they cared was that this creature so different from them almost cost them everything. Apparently, the ponies' capacity for forgiveness only extended to their own species. "Wrong," he spoke strongly and loudly. "You may not receive forgiveness, and you may not seek it, but always look to better yourself!" All three of them looked at him in surprise. "You took the actions of a desperate leader, with no visible recourse, and no allies or aid in sight. While you may feel guilt, while others may condemn you, still take solace in the fact that you did what you thought was right, and learn from it." His words resonated through the field they had taken as their practice spot. He did not ask that his followers follow some sort of moral code, he did not ask that they uphold some strict doctrine, all he asked was that they seek to grow, that they claw their way up from whatever background they started out in, and rose to the top of moral superiority. "This brings us to the second tenet, to believe evil is foolish, but to provide redemption is always admirable." "But, that makes no sense, how are you supposed to give a second chance if you don't trust them?" Spike spoke up. Chrysalis was in thought, and Twilight was looking at her hooves, an unreadable expression on her face. "You don't have to trust someone to believe in them Spike, through the ages, I have been betrayed and lied to... But still I have faith in the mortals, still I love them with everything I am made of." "And now to my third and final tenet, No height is too great to climb, no valley too low to sink in, temper yourself in your pursuit of justice, for while I will always forgive, Good and Evil are the same, and I will not abide atrocious acts." He paused to let the last one sink in. Many of them looked slightly confused, Twilight was still pensive, but Spike was in deep thought. "Very well," Chrysalis spoke up, standing. "Already I can see why you rose to rule your world. So I should be unapologetic in my pursual of your tenets, those who wrong me and others, while they may have hurt others, they have their own motives, and to not be overzealous?" He clapped once, Chrysalis seemed to come to her own understanding of his tenets. "With that, despite only taking a short time, I will let you all think on this. I will see you back at the castle Chrysalis, Spike, I trust you to continue with the regiment." He nodded to all three of them once before he was suddenly no longer there. While Spike began doing pushups, Chrysalis began walking away from the group back towards Canterlot. Before she had gotten far, Twilight called out. "Chrysalis." The Changeling in question took a deep breath, ready to receive the verbal abuse she expected from the sister of Shining Armor. "I'm sorry for today..." This gave chrysalis pause, her mouth open ready to agree with whatever terrible things the purple pony was going to say about her. "Why- What are you apologizing for?! I'm the one who nearly ruined your life!" "Because despite Cadence believing in you... I didn't. But Veretus..." She looked down at her hooves before smiling up at the Changeling. "He always hopes for the best in ponies, doesn't he?" "I think he hopes for the best in any creature he meets... because he has no hope in himself, Twilight." Chrysalis spoke slowly. "The Godking has too many troubles... and he doesn't like speaking about any of them despite his willingness to educate..." Twilight merely blinked. "I don't think we can actually do anything about it though... He always keeps everypony at tails length... well, except Spike." Twilight looked back at where Spike had finished his pushup and was now working on limbering his body for the true workout Veretus had put him on, at first it seemed to her ridiculous, putting Spike's childish body through so much was bound to strain it, but Spike had improved so much in a single month... "I don't know why, but despite him not smiling... I get the feeling that every time he visits Spike, he's smiling inside." "...It might be that he sees Spike as the son he lost," Chrysalis spoke up after a pause. Unsure if this was okay to share with the mare. "But... they aren't the same species." Twilight stated confused. "It does not matter when it comes to love... Besides, the Godking's son was a dragon." "Then... we can't do anything..." Twilight said, her eyes lowered and a sad expression on her face. Chrysalis thought about what would be appropriate to say. "There is one thing." She began, Twilight looking up at her with eagerness. Chrysalis looked towards the small dragon now seemingly using a stick as a fake sword, his stance atrocious. "We can believe in them..."