//------------------------------// // 150- Ragnarök: The Fate Of The Gods // Story: Changing Expectations // by KKSlider //------------------------------// Thorax kept up a brisk pace, dodging around the changelings and ponies that were choking the corridor. The mess outside had… Thorax shook his head and focused on moving forward. Lace and Coxa were following him as he picked his way across the aftermath of another battle. Thankfully, it was considerably less bloody and fatal than the massacre outside. The bloodbath had taken place in a long hallway and had spread like wildfire into many of the adjacent rooms. The changelings, almost exclusively Praetorians, were left in a bad way. Thorax tried hard to not think about the specifics. Ponies and R.R.H. members had taken some injuries, but by and large it was the Fourth Hive's soldiers on the ground, bound up and being treated. From what Thorax could gather, this offensive was spearheaded by Phasma himself. Some helpful ponies had directed the First Fang the right way, towards the far end of the battlefield. Apparently, after having rendezvoused with Princess Luna and Captain Katydid, they barreled straight through the Praetorians. It was a distressingly similar sight to the one right outside the Palace's doors. Thorax stepped through a giant mess of gore; the remains of a single Uttu spider had been painted across the floor in an ugly fashion, with the blood and guts still steaming heat from its recent death. 'Keep calm, and keep moving. Your friends need you. Phas needs you. Oh, Panar!' Thorax doubled his pace as he skirted around a changeling whose head was a full three hooves length away from his body. 'That wasn't real. And if it was real, it wasn't that bad. I'm sure it was no one I know. No, that's a terrible way to think about it… It's okay. I'm going to be okay. Everyone is going to be okay. Oh Panar, another one! No! Eyes forward, Thorax! Don't look at the way the blood splattered on the… oh fuck it, this is really bad.' "Halt!" An R.R.H. soldier stepped out in front of Thorax, forcing him to skid to a halt. He shifted about and pawed at the ground, too nervous and scared to stand completely still. "Please–" He cleared his throat when his voice cracked. "Please step aside." "No one gets past without clearance," the guard said. Coxa and Lace caught up and stopped on either side of Thorax. "Step aside, soldier," Coxa said in a strained tone. The armored changeling stared at Coxa, ".... Oh. Yes sir, right away, sir. I apologize for not recognizing you right away." "Move aside, now," Coxa stressed, getting angry at the delay. The soldier reluctantly stepped aside, revealing the final stretch of the battle. Several dozen changelings and ponies were standing around, either helping the wounded or preparing new defenses. There was no one past them, no one but a closed set of golden double doors. "Where's Phas?" Thorax asked, looking around at everyone. "Where is he?" ‘I need to find him before he fights Queen Chrysalis. If I don’t, then he could end up lying on the ground, jaw open and tongue– no! Stop thinking about them, Thorax! Focus on saving your friend!’ One pony gestured to the doors, "They all went in there, and ordered us to guard the exit and prepare for the worst." Immediately, Thorax started marching to the doors. Before he could pass by all of the people around them, one called out to him. His voice made Thorax stop in his tracks, and set loose another swarm of butterflies in his stomach. “Thorax?” Slowly, so slowly, Thorax turned. “It’s really you?” Pharynx was staring at him, eyes wide and jaw dropped. “Pharynx,” Thorax whispered. In an instant, his brother had closed the distance between them and wrapped Thorax up in a hug so tight he swore he could hear his chitin cracking. Thorax felt flushed as he noticed that Lace and Coxa were watching. “Don’t you ever leave me again, you hear?” Pharynx croaked through gritted teeth. “I thought you… I thought… Gods above, I’m so happy to see you again.” Thorax grinned widely, “You too, Pharynx! I’ve missed you, but I’m so glad to see you’re all okay. What have you been up to since I left?” “Since you left?!” Pharynx pulled away and looked Thorax in the eyes. Thorax noticed that Pharynx was crying. It was an unsettling sight, one Thorax had only seen four times before. “You… I thought you were dead, Thorax!” “.... Oh. Oh. I– I’m okay, Pharynx. I’m okay.” Pharynx pulled Thorax back into a hug, which Thorax gladly returned. “I’m okay, really, Pharynx. I’ve been up to a lot. Even found a new way to harvest love.” “So I’ve heard,” Pharynx replied quietly. “I’ve even got a coltfriend.” “... Okay.” Thorax cleared his throat, “But, uh… Pharynx? I need to go help Phasma. We have to go help Phasma. We can talk later, okay?” “What?! Are you insane, Thorax?!” Pharynx nearly yelled into his ear. Noticing Thorax cringe, he lowered his voice, “It’s out of our hooves; there’s nothing more us lowly mortals can do.” Thorax broke away from the hug, “What are you talking about, Pharynx?” Pharynx nodded towards the closed doors, “They’re all in there. All of them. We would only get in the way of things.” “Who’s in there?” Thorax asked, figuring that there was something being left unsaid. “Your friend Prince Phasma, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, Captain Shining Armor, Princess Celestia, and… Queen Chrysalis.” Thorax started to move, but Pharynx blocked him with a hoof. “You’re not going in there, Thorax. I’m not going to lose you again!” “With respect,” Coxa said, stepping forward, “you don’t have a choice. We’re going in there.” “And we are going to save the day,” Lace finished. “It’s pure suicide,” Captain Katydid interrupted. “The fight that’s going to happen… there’s nothing we can do but make sure the Palace doesn’t come down around us.” Thorax’s smile dropped, “Nothing stands between me and saving my friends.” Emotions. I was definitely feeling them, as were my pony allies. Cadence and Shining were a matching cocktail of anger and fear. Luna was like a shot of pure, concentrated hatred.  I, however, was feeling ninety-nine different emotions at the same time. I was angry. Angry that the despicable thug that called itself my mother dare stand before me. I was happy. Happy that finally I would get a chance to end this once and for all, avenging everyone who had died. I was scared. No, I was terrified. If I was reduced to the flight or fight mental state that apparently happens when you're terrified, then I was most certainly in the fight category. I was positively vibrating from fear, to the point where I was finding it hard to keep still. And I was ready to expend that energy on one of the most important fights of my life. If I won, I got to cuddle with Luna. If I lost, I would be reduced to spending an eternity trapped within my own body. So, I was very nervous. Hence me tapping my hammer idly. “Queen Chrysalis, surrender at once!” Luna ordered. “Surrender, and you will be looked upon more favorably during your trial.” Chrysalis cackled, breaking our staring contest to throw her head back in laughter, “Nyahahaha haaa! There isn’t going to be a trial, stupid pony! This is the part where I win! The part where Equestria ceases to be! Look at your praised sun princess! See how she lies broken at my hooves. I’ll tell you what; surrender, and I’ll give you a kinder fate. Marginally more kind, at least.” “Be careful,” Celestia whispered to us, unable to muster the strength to do anything more. “I’ll tell you what,” I started, straightening God-Splitter and tapping the ground with the bottom of its hilt. “How about you don’t surrender, so I can paint the walls an ugly shade of pink using the insides of your head?” Chrysalis’s stare returned to me, and she drank in the details. Her eyes noticeably lingered on my armor, which considering that it was the largest single piece of Adamantium she had ever seen, wasn’t surprising. “Lightning and proximity, hmm?” She cooed. “Interesting theory, Commander Scorpion. It was Scorpion, was it not? You arrived so soon after the message was sent, it could be noling else. Ah, it doesn’t matter. You’re back, Prince Phasma! You have returned to the fold at last!” “I have come to kill you,” I replied, making Chrysalis only grin wider. “It doesn’t have to come to bloodshed,” Cadence pleaded. “Please, Queen Chrysalis, see reason! Changelings can have a place in Equestria– they will have a place! No more hunger. No more war. No more suffering. If you would just listen to us–” “Silence!” Chrysalis snarled, her smile dropped in an instant. “I’ve heard enough begging from the likes of you quivering ponies! You’ll pay for what you did to my son, rest assured, so it would be wise to not rush your own fate! For setting him against me, you’ll–” “They did nothing to me,” I growled. “You did that all on your own. Did you really think I wouldn’t find out? That I wouldn’t figure out your plans to get rid of me once I had done all of the hard work? I won’t lay down and die. This will not be my end, but yours instead!” “Phasma, wait!” Cadence pleaded. “Now’s not the time to be escalating the situation. Maybe, just maybe we can talk through this.” “It is worth a try,” Luna agreed. ‘It will fail. Then, I will kill the monster.’ “There’s nothing to discuss,” Chrysalis said. “You will surrender, and I may forgive you for everything you’ve done. Then, I will fix Prince Phasmatodea, and everything will be perfect.” “Just keep shooting down peaceful solutions,” I smiled. “Make my day.” “Thorax has found a way to gather love without hurting ponies,” Cadence said. “We can work together. There doesn’t have to be any more fighting!” “Ha!” Chrysalis barked a laugh. “Thorax?! That miserable excuse for a Praetorian? I find it highly likely that he is your puppet, yes, but actually discovering anything new? I’d sooner believe that Panarthropo ascended him into a prince.” “More talk of Ascension,” I shook my head. “The connection is intentional, I’m sure, between the Ascension process and drones reaching godhood,” Chrysalis remarked. “It’s just the kind of thing our ancestors would have referenced heavily. Do not fret, Phasma, I have nothing of the sort planned. I will break whatever control they have over you, and we can be a family again. Just as soon as I get dear Eucharis back…” “You butchered my brothers and sisters,” I said, now pointing God-Splitter at her. “You slaughtered them, then lobotomized them and stuck them in jars. A closet filled with literal skeletons. There is nothing you can say to excuse that. There is nothing you can say to convince me that Ascension isn't your plan for me!” She frowned, “.... It cannot be that simple, can it? Fear is what sets you against me? Only fear? Perhaps… Phasma.” She stared at me, “I did not Ascend– ah, well, it’s true. I did Ascend your brother and sister. Just two. The other two royals in that room were my siblings. The last tank was originally for me. That was one of the reasons why I killed your grandmother. Your two siblings replaced two of mine who had… perished. One cannot be Ascended forever, as the Fourth Hive chooses dying changelings for the process. It does not halt death, but only slows it.” I was surprised that she was being so forthcoming with so much information. Then again, I couldn’t be sure how much of it was lies, and how much was the truth. However, I did not lower my guard, not for a single second. “Don’t you see?” Cadence stepped forward. “There are two sides to every story. If you’re afraid that we’re lying, that we’re harboring grudges against you… You will be put on trial, true, but you won’t die. You won’t suffer. You’ll be fed, housed, and everything else that comes with the responsibility of taking you as a prisoner.” The bug-queen shook her head, “More honeyed words. That’s the allure, isn’t it? That’s how you persuaded so many changelings to defect from our one true cause? You paint the picture that your way helps the Hive Eternal, so they don’t feel guilty about abandoning all that they stand for. No matter, I will find out how much of all of this is true when I sift through your shattered pieces. Even if every word is true, we must finish our work. That was always the plan.” ‘Yes.’ “Panar guide my blade,” She brought her sword up. ‘Yes!’ “And let my aim be true!” She plunged the blade downwards, towards Celestia. 'Not on my watch!' Within the span of a heartbeat, I was there, parrying the strike using God-Splitter’s head, with a manic grin across my face. Cadence and Shining gasped in surprise, while Luna’s reaction was just a fraction of a second behind my own; a blue shield phased into existence above Celestia, sheltering her from the blocked attack. “At last, back to war!" I growled like an animal. “Now that we’re done talking, let’s get to the part where I rip you apart, piece by bloody piece!” “So it is woven,” Chrysalis sighed. “So it shall be!” I roared. I pushed upwards with God-Splitter, intent on shattering her before she landed her first blow. Luna appeared at my side, just as determined as I was– though lacking the glee and enthusiasm, springing forth with her own purplish-blue spear. At the same moment as we attacked, Cadence and Shining Armor swooped in to rescue Celestia. Cadence used her wings to dart underneath us, scoop up Celestia, and glide right back out. Shining Armor covered her with his famous shield, protecting the alicorns while they were vulnerable. Chrysalis reacted by dodging to the side, so close that God-Splitter scraped against her mane. Her wings buzzed at a thousand beats a minute, struggling to give her the agility and speed she needed. She blocked Luna’s spear, letting the strike glance off her stone blade with a shower of sparks. Meanwhile, she reached out with telekinesis to grip God-Splitter. Chrysalis’s magic sputtered and sparked away, unable to get a hold of the weapon. At the same moment, Shining tried the same thing with Chrysalis' strange sword, only to get the same result. I pulled backward on God-Splitter’s tether to strike her in the back while I began to cast a summoning spell. Chains of magical energy wrapped themselves into being from my horn and shot towards Chrysalis. Luna switched tactics, diving low right as Shining’s shield dropped away, and lanced upwards with a focused will blast. Like the pincers of a scorpion’s claw, we attacked Chrysalis from different angles, forcing her to react. Chrysalis blocked the lower attack with a green shield, and let herself get hit by my spell. The magical chain quickly wrapped itself around her long neck, and I poured energy into the spell. The energy traveled along the chain like a lightning bolt, errant orange sparks flying around the surge as it crackled with power. God-Splitter hit her right in the back, but she spun with the momentum, further wrapping herself up in the chains but lessening the blow. Chrysalis cringed when the energy flowed into and around her, but her mouth, twisted in frustration, warped into a grin when that same energy shot back with a loud crack. She had managed to cast a spell while holding her own blade in telekinesis, a feat reserved for all but the luckiest and most skilled war mages. I would have been greatly concerned and terrified at the sight, but I had more pressing matters to deal with. I dropped the spell, but the connection held for more than I wanted it to, and a wave of energy three times larger than the one I sent out hit me right in the horn. It took many tries for my mind to restart itself. I was lying prone against a wall. Again. My mind played back the last few seconds as I tried desperately to make sense of what had to be a simple event. As seconds ticked by, my mind slowly caught itself up and I shook away stars in my vision. While attempting to stun Chrysalis, I had opened myself up to my own weakness, like some kind of crappy video game boss. 'What a stupid, stupid thing to do,' was the only thought to echo in my vacant mind. I struggled to get up, only to realize that I wasn't prone against the wall but instead partially in the wall. I had been blown back so hard that I had left a Phasma-sized hole, which proved to be a minor nuisance to struggle out of. As I extracted myself, I refocused on the battle. Cadence and Luna had picked up the slack from my absence, and were working in tandem with Shining to keep the pressure on Chrysalis. Celestia was close to me, not quite looking at me, but instead through me. She was holding one of the black helmets that had been scattered around her hooves. 'What a stupid, stupid thing to do…. Chrysalis must've executed those ponies,' I thought as my mind finally began moving again. "She killed them," Celestia said sadly. "Sorry," I mumbled as I got up to my hooves and shook off the last bit of cobwebs in my head. 'If I had stayed, they would probably be alive. But my changelings wouldn't be, so it's a choice I had to make.' I felt tingly and a bit sore, but overall, I was feeling alright. Unbroken Radiance took the entirety of the hit pretty well. I was down a good chunk of my energy, maybe about a third, but that was still a huge amount left. It was just unfortunate that Chrysalis had more left. She had almost certainly gorged herself on the podded ponies before the invasion. Chrysalis had just landed a brutal kick to Cadence's chest, sending her stumbling away. Shining had more or less relegated himself to keeping Chrysalis’s sword occupied, using shields and lasers to keep it occupied or knocked away. 'The bastard is doing a good job of removing us from the fight,' I noted with a growing sense of frustration. I felt Unbroken Radiance heat up around me as it restarted its protective shield. Quickly, I located God-Splitter and retrieved it from its abandoned position nearby, and readied myself to jump back into the action. Luna was doing an effective job of keeping Chrysalis focused on her, rather than following up on any opportunities the tyrant made. So, I flew back into the action, arriving at Luna's side to replace Cadence. 'Elemental spells only, I'm not making that foolish mistake twice!' I arrived just as Chrysalis parried one of Luna's conjured weapons. Before she could capitalize on the maneuver, I finished casting a spell I had started before I flew over. A storm of ice shards, each about nine inches, shot forth with a series of whip-cracks. The attacks did little to Chrysalis. They scored her chitin, even drawing blood in some cases, but such superficial wounds would never end the fight. She took the attack instead of dodging or blocking in order to keep attacking Luna. With a furious roar, she body-checked my marefriend, swinging her head to gouge Luna with her fangs. The enlarged teeth scraped loudly against Luna's silver armor, then tore into Luna's exposed blue fur on her right foreleg. Chrysalis’s sword, which was previously keeping Shining occupied, was pulled back and used against Luna. The obsidian edge swished past Luna's defenses and sliced her in the neck, drawing blood from a decently sized cut. As Chrysalis separated herself from Luna, Luna bounced harshly off the ground with a grunt and slid away from the fight. "You piece of shit!" I growled. Chrysalis was holding her own pretty well, dishing out more than she was taking. But with four of us, she would have to keep up this pace in order to win. Or, I could keep making stupid mistakes and shorten the battle considerably. I swung God-Splitter as I came up with a plan. Deciding to give her a taste of her own brute-force-medicine, I rapidly casted shockwaves. The heavily compressed airwaves battered Chrysalis as she weaved around my hammer. The blasts echoed impressively through the tiny room, going so far as to blast out the tall glass windows on the far side.  Chrysalis's sword spun away across the wood flooring, disappearing out of sight when it fell through the shattered window. Unfortunately, the spell was more bark than bite. Many of the blasts hit Chrysalis, spinning around and throwing her away like a toy being the subject of a fool's tantrum. There was little more damage than that, but I was playing for time; the longer I kept her occupied, the more time everyone else had to regroup and enter the fight. After one particularly overreaching swing with my hammer, she spun around and blasted it with her own shock wave, sending it spinning out the broken windows. "Enough!" She screamed. Cursing, I pulled God-Splitter back, but the action would take precious seconds. Chrysalis used those to her advantage; a laser blast forced me to put up my own shield to take the hit. Chrysalis had eked out a reprieve from my assault and looked to once again press the advantage. When it hit my shield, I got a terrible realization of how low my energy reserves had dropped. The shield shattered, and I flinched hard from the recoil, dropping a knee and staggering. However, Cadence, Shining Armor, and Luna had managed to recover enough to cover me. A hurricane of conjured arrows pelted past me, covering Chrysalis and the entire wall around her in multi-colored shafts of light. She screamed as she dispelled the arrows embedded in her chitin. The ponies lined up next to me as the battered changeling recovered, crouching low like a snarling, feral animal. "Surrender," Luna ordered. "It is the only way you can leave this battle alive. Or do not. You will find that I am reluctant to give you forgiveness for what you did to my sister." "It is my duty to assume the worst," Chrysalis literally spat as she cleared the blood from her mouth. "I will win or die here. The survival of the Hive Eternal demands it!" "Then perish," I said. "Oh, one of us will," Chrysalis said breathlessly before she launched her attack. The windows had not broken cleanly. There were many countless jagged pieces still clinging to the edges of the frames, and more glass shards than you can count lying around the windows. Chrysalis took full advantage of that. She conjured up a whirlwind centered around herself, pulling in all of the remaining glass chunks and even ripped off the floorboards to use as projectiles in her manufactured sandstorm. The ponies all brought up shields around themselves, while I let Unbroken Radiance protect me. Chrysalis stood triumphantly in the middle of her storm, perfectly open to an attack. Discarding the notion that it could be a trap, I charged her with God-Splitter at the ready. When all else failed, blunt force trauma would solve my problem. She spotted my advance long before I closed the distance between us. And, it was at that moment that I learned something extremely disconcerting. Along the way, Chrysalis had picked up a brand new trick: dual casting. I should have picked up on the fact that she might have been capable of it, given that she could hold a blade and cast spells, but the thought never crossed my mind.  The moment I let God-Splitter go in a lunge towards her, she finished casting a lightning spell. A blinding white light, centered on her horn, heralded the beginning of an actual lightning bolt. The electricity coursed through me and exited my body through my metal boots, but not before putting me through about twelve different metaphorical blenders, and one glass-filled literal one. I dropped like a puppet with my strings cut, my hearing completely gone once again. The first time I had been hit by an electrical attack had been merely the appetizer for her real attempt to fry me alive. My whole body hurt. Black spots filled my vision. Unbroken Radiance was glowing from the heat of trying to absorb the attack, making me thankful that I had an exoskeleton and not flesh that could burn. My chitin did its best attempt burning, however, and I coughed as I literally began smoking. I looked up, expecting to see Chrysalis glaring down at me, but I was surprised to see that she had also been knocked off her hooves. She had been hit by my hammer at full force and was now lying on the ground beneath it, as God-Splitter was now firmly embedded in the wall above her. She lifted her head off the ground to glare at me. "Do you yield?" I asked over the Weave, as my hearing was returning too slowly to talk out loud. "Never," Chrysalis grimaced as she slowly rose up from the ground. Her half-barrel plate was now dented inwards, with blood slowly leaking out from underneath the section covering her chest. I was even slower to rise. I had lost most of my feeling across my exoskeleton, and everything I felt inside was screaming in protest. Yet I still rose to the challenge. A pair of hooves helped me up as Luna arrived at my side. She was grimacing from the laceration on her neck and the myriad of small cuts she had received during the fight, but I was glad to see that she was still here, with me. 'At the end of it all, I'm glad you are at my side. If only I deserved your kindness.' Shining and Cadence stepped between us and Chrysalis. No doubt they were voicing their eleventh demand for her to surrender. Chrysalis ignored it, just as she ignored every one before. I saw them throw up a shield to block a firestorm that fully engulfed half of the room. Then, she was next to us. Chrysalis had dual casted a teleport spell with her fire one, and appeared right next to Luna and I. Luna gasped and started to turn to minimize her profile, but it was too late. Chrysalis plunged a conjured green blade right through Luna's side, with enough power behind it to cut through her protective armor. She fell, eyes wide. Her gasp was the first awful sound I heard as my hearing finally returned. Chrysalis followed the attack up with another blade, this one sent towards an unsuspecting Cadence. I screamed. My wings had been torn apart by the lightning attack, so I lurched forwards awkwardly, collapsing onto Chrysalis more than anything else. "Away!" I screamed. I felt a burning sensation inside my chest as I brought forth the last dregs of my mana. My teleport spell finished casting, and the amulet around my neck pulsed orange as it followed my command. An orange, swirling vortex opened up just behind Chrysalis as I pushed both of us through. The torn apart room of the Palace was replaced with the twilight of the setting sun, with the world far beneath us. We were in the sky above Canterlot, looking down upon the city. We hung there for a moment, suspended below a flat matching orange vortex that shrunk away. Just a fraction of a second, long enough to realize that we had teleported. Then we fell. I clung to Chrysalis, unwilling to let go. She tried desperately to pry me off, but failed. We fought. We fought gracelessly, bloodily, and without any plans. It wasn't a duel. There was no tactical maneuvering. There were no calculated risks or countermeasures enacted. In fact, there was really only one spell being cast by either of us: a simple strengthening spell. I was not the one casting it, but I was the one with the most armor. Armored hooves launched into each other. I groaned and hissed in pain as she battered my already bruised body. She grimaced and growled as I returned the favor, hitting her unarmored body. One uppercut knocked my helmet clean off, and a second broke my nose. A headbutt broke several of her teeth, and blood started to stream upwards as we twisted around and rolled during our descent. Blow for blow, we continued to beat each other up. Neither of us had a plan. Neither could cast any spells- we were simply too close. The moment one of our horns glowed, the other would just land a solid blow, disrupting the spell and giving hell to the spell caster. Further and further we fell, breaking chitin, smashing teeth, and screaming obscenities that could not be heard over the howling wind. When the ground started getting close enough to worry about, we rolled around for the top position, for whoever had their back facing the ground would bear the brunt of the landing. My mind made a vague reference to the Balrog fight as we continued to pummel each other mercilessly, but the thought was lost in a cloud of hate, fear, and growing pain. Whereas I had no energy left, Chrysalis had plenty of reserves left to end my life– or worse, to make sure it never ended. The ground welcomed us both. It turned out that I teleported us pretty much directly up. We crash-landed in one of the plazas in the center of the Palace's gardens. In fact, we splashed down quite literally in a massive fountain. The four-tiered fountain disintegrated underneath us, solid stone fracturing into a hundred pieces as water sprayed wildly. As it so happened, neither of us was on the bottom when we landed. Instead, we were equally horizontal when we made the fountain into a pile of wet rubble. The landing split my already bruised and weak exoskeleton, ripping off my entire left elytra, blood oozing from the wound as my wing twitched erratically from the pain. The searing pain and I became close friends, whether I wanted it or not. When the dust cloud began to clear, I saw Chrysalis lying on the opposite side of the rubble, an exposed nozzle gently spraying water onto her back. Slowly, we staggered upright. Rock pieces fell from my shoulders and blood and water slowly flowed off my shattered carapace. I swayed uneasily but managed to stay up. Chrysalis mirrored my own actions. "So…" She wheezed. "So…" I grunted, my mouth tasting of dirt and blood. Instead of launching into a final duel, a last gamble for survival, we paused. Panting and dripping blood. Chrysalis conjured a ghostly form of her weapons. The green blade was held slanted at her side as she slowly straightened up. Rather than tip her off that I had nothing left, I didn’t summon a weapon. I kept up the appearance of being capable of fighting while I struggled to think of a way out. In the end, I decided that I had done my duty in wearing her down, and that all I had to do was survive long enough for someone to rescue me. I could maybe, maybe have enough energy to conjure up one single blade. That meant that I would have to bait her in, and take whatever hit she dished out and somehow take her down with one blow. I couldn't even charge her. The injuries I had received made me doubt the possibility of moving anywhere fast, except moving on to the afterlife. Chrysalis started to smile, as if tasting my blood in the water. She prowled straight through the rubble, leisurely taking her time to get to me. “It’s over, little Phasma. I can see it in your eyes; you have already lost. Just surrender, this is not where you are fated to die.” “Not gonna happen,” I huffed. “You think this is the end? It took this much to bring me low, how do you plan on taking down two full-strength alicorns?” “With your army,” Chrysalis smiled. “After your defeat, they will return to serving the Hive Eternal.” “They have standing orders to kill you, no matter what my fate is,” I revealed. She snarled, “You what?! You would leave the Hive Eternal leaderless?! Directionless?! You are a fool who would doom us all! I will make you order their cooperation, you imbecile–” "Wait!" Someone cried from above us. My ears flicked towards the sound, but I did not move my head. Chrysalis had paused momentarily, but then kept moving. "Waaait!" The person cried again, louder this time. The light buzzing of insect wings signaled the arrival of one, no, two changelings. Thorax and Pharynx lowered into view, setting down on the rubble between Chrysalis and I. "Stop fighting, please!" Thorax begged. "Are you suicidal?!" I said, coughing and spitting out more blood. "How are you here?! Why?! Thorax, do you have any idea of–" My gaze snapped back to Chrysalis, who had gaped and stalled, just as I did. Her blade was still by her side. But she was still entirely capable of ripping apart someone who got in her way, meaning everything so far had been for nothing if Thorax just threw his life away. I could try to cast a shield around Thorax, trading my chance to kill Chrysalis in exchange for saving Thorax's life. If it came to that, if she made any move to attack, then I would have no choice. I still hoped to get Thorax out before that happened. “Get out of my way, Thorax,” I snarled. “You don’t have to fight,” he pleaded. “This war can end right now! Both of you want the same thing! There’s no need to end this in death!” “There is a need,” I continued to snarl. “Now get out of my way!” “I’m here, too,” Pharynx waved. “Legate?” Chrysalis whispered. “What is the meaning of this?” “They’re telling the truth, Queen Chrysalis,” Pharynx explained. “About love, about ponies, about everything.” “.... Preposterous.” “I mean it, Thorax,” I said. “Move. Please, move!” ‘If he got hurt because of his own naivety… oh Panar, move your fat ass!’ “She’s telling the truth,” Thorax said, stepping down the rubble pile and towards me. “She never wanted to… to lobotomize you, Phas.” I flinched, “You don’t know that. You can’t know that.” “I do!” He pointed towards Pharynx, “Pharynx spent every day since the invasion by the Queen’s side. She missed you…. in her own way. She never wanted you to get hurt. Pharynx has no reason to lie to me about that!” “I’m not going to risk everything just on your word,” I shook my head. “Prince Phasma is right,” Chrysalis agreed. “I’m never going to trust the fate of our species on the word of two drones.” “You’re going to have to,” Pharynx started to walk down towards Chrysalis. “Keep your distance– better yet, remove yourself from my path, Legate,” Chrysalis ordered. “If you do not, I’ll have to add you to the growing pile of corpses this war has produced. “You don’t look to be quite capable of that,” Pharynx said, looking at Chrysalis. Thorax paused, turning to Chrysalis, “What will it take to convince you? What piece of evidence would I have to get to end this war, and save our species?” Chrysalis actually seemed to consider what Thorax was saying, “.... A sign from Panarthropo herself. Nothing less could suffice. Not while the stakes are so high.” Thorax sighed, “And you, Phasma? What would it take to convince you that Chrysalis never wanted to hurt you?” ‘What would it take? After everything I have seen? After everything she has done? How could I ever believe that bullshit to be true…? There’s nothing. Nothing that can be done, nothing that can be shown, nothing can prove her innocence.’ I shook my head– then grimaced as the action brought forth a spike of pain in my head. “There’s nothing, Thorax. Please… please move. Pharynx, get your brother out of here before something bad happens!” Chrysalis stepped forward, making my heart beat like a drum. ‘No! I’ve said too much!’ “Stop!” I yelled to her, stepping forward too. “Thorax, you have to go! Pharynx, get your brother under control! Now, damn it!” ‘Where the hell are Coxa and Lacewing?! They should have kept an eye on the bastard, now he’s in danger!’ “A miracle,” Thorax said, scrunching up his muzzle in frustration. “What I need is a miracle, then?” “What we need is a miracle,” Pharynx corrected him.  “Alright,” Chrysalis growled. “I’ve waited long enough. You two are in between me and getting my son back. It’s time to end this rebellion, for once and for all.” Her sword moved– and I lurched forwards, throwing a shield in front of Thorax. Within the orange globe I conjured up, I saw Pharynx conjure up a shield a moment before Thorax brought one up himself. Three layers to protect against her one blade. Chrysalis’s blade shattered upon the orange bulwark between her and Thorax. The crazed Queen gave a cry of dismay and frustration as her spell failed. Sparks flew from her horn, causing Chrysalis to instinctively reach up to the twisted appendage. "My turn," I growled. Dispelling the shield and gathering every last drop of mana into my horn, I created a spear. A fragile, cracked shaft of golden orange, tipped with a diamond of bright orange flaring magic. With a great heave, I opened my elytra, spread my wings, and took to the air. I wasn't sure if I had enough magic to use the portal talisman and cast an offensive spell, so I was going to kill my mother the old fashion way. The blood pounded in my ears as I lifted off Equus. I aimed my spear as I twisted through the air, leaping over the blinding green double-layered bubble that contained the brothers. 'Wait, blinding?!' The shield was glowing brighter than the sun, forcing me to look away. Then I noticed that I was being carried upwards– the shield wasn't just shining, it was growing! I gasped in surprise as the air was forced from my lungs when the shield hit me. I spun through the air and landed with a painful thud, skidding across the fountain's debris. when I came to a groaning stop, the bright light had ceased. I cursed under my breath as Chrysalis stammered from somewhere nearby, “W–what?!” “Thorax?!” Pharynx yelled. “What’s… happening?!” I slowly lifted my head and stared out at Thorax and Pharynx as I felt the power in the air. Something was happening. Something with Thorax and Pharynx right in the middle of it. Emotions and energy seemed to radiate out from the two of them. I shut my eyes as two bright lights briefly turned the world white. When I opened my eyes, Thorax disappeared into a light blue glow, and his brother Pharynx vanished into a dark red one. The glow receded after only a moment, and I fell to my knees. If I had any doubts that Panar had some tangible power on Equus, let alone existed, they were dispelled at that moment. I felt it– we felt it: a change. Not in the physical world, but beyond it. Underneath it. A change in the realm existing just below the physical, where our Weaves clashed. There was something happening there. “It can’t be,” Chrysalis muttered. I blinked tears away, “No. It’s not possible. It’s not possible!” ‘Panar’s faith is just supposed to be a… a… a religion! Nothing tangible! Nothing real!’ “A sign,” Chrysalis whispered reverently. Thorax and Pharynx the changeling drones were no more. In their stead stood two Princes of the Hive Eternal. They looked like Chrysalis, holes and mane and all, though with their own colors: one a warm cyan, and the other a deep burgundy. ‘He’s alive!’ “It’s not possible….” My eyes continued to water as I felt the weight of exhaustion press down upon me. “Thorax?” Chrysalis slowly sank down, too, “Legate Pharynx?” “.... I think it’s Prince Pharynx, now,” the maroon changeling royal said, rubbing his neck and looking around. “A sign from Panar,” the cyan royal said. “... I don’t think you’ll get any clearer evidence than that, Phas.” At first, I thought it was an illusion. Some cheap trick, conjured up to somehow stop me from exacting my revenge. But I felt their presence in the Weave; it was a nascent, small pair of Weaves. Compared to my Weave and Chrysalis’s, they might as well have been candles next to two great lighthouses. But they were there. It was undeniable that the two had something that no drone could ever have. They had ascended, in the old usage of the word, to princedom, to immortality. As divine of a right to rule as there could possibly be. “How?” I gasped. ‘I mean, if Harmony gets a rainbow laser, it makes sense that other supernatural forces have other tangible powers, but it still doesn’t make sense!’ I tried to rise, only to stumble, and swayed heavily on my hooves. Thorax hurried down to me and caught me before I fell on my side. He had cyan-slitted eyes now, and a cyan mane that hung low with bangs. His fangs were gone, replaced by smaller ones that fit inside his mouth. His horn twisted back in one solid notch, before tapering off in a point. His brother matched Thorax’s new appearance, save for the color scheme and the fact that his red mane was more in one of those swept-back hairstyles you’d see on a movie star or every single politician in existence. “You, uh, you don’t look so good, Phas,” he frowned. “... Already judging my appearance?” He smiled, “Heh, I’m glad you’re feeling fine enough to joke. But, uh…. Do you believe me now? Can we end this war?” I frowned, then shifted to look at Chrysalis. She was refusing help from Pharynx, instead choosing to gawk at him and slowly pull herself up. ‘Chrysalis? Not being the literal spawn of Satan?! I don’t… But it has to be true! If it wasn’t, Thorax and Pharynx wouldn’t have… I had her right where I wanted her, but then the brothers Ascended. It couldn't be a coincidence, The Great Weaver wanted to interfere...’ “.... Do I have a choice?” I mumbled. “If I say no, that means you’re done fighting, right?” It wasn't like I was capable of fighting anyways, so I took the out that was offered. ‘Figure this all out later. Right now, everyone is alive. Everyone is alive! Just accept the miracle and figure it out later, Phasma. Everyone is alive… aside from the hundreds of dead currently littering the square around the castle…’ “Okay. I… guess you’re right,” I admitted. “Can you give me some help?” Thorax helped me up, and I leaned on him heavily for support. “Oh gosh, you’re bleeding a lot,” he pointed out. “And you’re… smoking?” “So I went from not looking good to smoking?” I chuckled. “But it’s too late to make what we had permanent, Thorax. I’m with Luna now– ow!” Thorax had frozen, causing me to misstep. “Sorry!” He apologized. He readjusted how he supported me and continued walking with me,  “Just, uh… yeah.” “.... So you are a prince now? That can just… happen?” He shrugged with his free shoulder, “Apparently. I’m just as shocked as you are. It happened once before, according to the legends, so I guess why not again? I just… I can’t really believe it myself. What does this mean for us? For the changelings?” Thorax brought us in front of Pharynx and Chrysalis, who thought about the question. “Can’t argue with the Queen Above All,” Chrysalis sighed. “This… is happening. You really found a way to get love from ponies willingly, Prae– ahem…. Prince Thorax?” “Prince? Oh… I am one, aren’t I?” He smiled and pawed at the ground. “Bit slow today, aren’t we?” Pharynx said, but his awkward smile betrayed the fact that he was just as surprised as the rest of us. Thorax straightened up– nearly tossing me away in the process, “I mean, yes, I did! I found a way to save our species!” Chrysalis slowly nodded, “I… see. And you, Prince Pharynx? What… what did you do to earn your ascension?” Pharynx blinked, “... I ended the war, I guess? If it weren’t for me, Thorax wouldn’t have gotten past the ponies blocking his way. Though, if that was the case, then there should be two more royals up with the ponies, waiting for us, but I don’t feel any other Weaves…. Or maybe it has something to do with Panar that we don’t know about? There must always be two, or something…” he trailed off, looking between Chrysalis and me. “At any rate, I’m just happy to have my brother back. Anything more is… something I would have given up in a heartbeat to get him back.” “It is Panar’s will,” Chrysalis mused. “If… if you really are a prince now, then there is a reason. Or perhaps, will be a reason. Panar has a plan that we all follow. As it is woven, so it shall be.” Pharynx frowned, “I get eternal youth for something I’m going to do? Great. No pressure or anything…” “Let’s worry about all this later. Right now, we better get you two some help,” Thorax said. “You’re not looking so well.” Pharynx pointed above us, “Help is already on its way.” I followed his hoof and saw a group of Royal Guards peeking over the ledge of the shattered windows above us, ducking back to report what they saw to their superiors. In addition, I spied Coxa and Lacewing looking down at us. ‘Bastards just watched Thorax put his life on the line and did nothing! You’d better have a good explanation, Coxa and Lace, or I’ll be the first person to ever crucify someone on this world!’’ “Prince Phasma,” Chrysalis’s voice called me back to the ground. “I… Do you believe me now? That I never intended for there to be any conflict or misgivings between us?” “... I suppose I do,” I sighed. “You still hurt Luna, though. And you nearly murdered Celestia!” She merely laughed, “Yes, I did! You should thank me for that!” “Why would I ever do that?!” “.... I don’t know,” she admitted. “Give me a minute to come up with a reason.” She looked away, to the gardens around us, “I did what I had to. You must understand that. If I failed…” ‘Motivated by fear, just like I was... I’m nothing like her, though!’ “Hmph,” I grunted. “It’ll take me a while until I get used enough to ‘pony forgiveness’ to start having some of my own. But… the war is over now?” Chrysalis smiled, “How can it not be?” ‘Chrysalis isn’t evil…. No, it just doesn’t sound right. But it has to be true. But it can’t be. But it is. Ugh, my head is killing me…’ I rubbed my aching horn, “So, now what?” Her smile dropped, “Unfortunately, you’re the one with an army, still, so that is up to you. Or, perhaps that question is best directed towards the newly minted princes?” The brothers blinked, sharing a look of surprise. Chrysalis suddenly giving them such an important decision was unexpected at first, but upon consideration, her dogmatic stance on religion was probably the entirety of the motivation behind that. “Uh…” Pharynx mumbled, motioning to Thorax to come up with something. “Uh,” Thorax stammered, then motioned to me to say something. I rubbed my face with a free hoof, trying to think of a solution to a problem I never expected to have. ‘Right then. I’ll be seizing this opportunity and claiming it as a total victory.’ “... The Fourth Hive is no more,” I declared. “You are now just a Princess of the Hive Eternal, nothing more. Your title as Pontiff has already been lost, which I expect you’ll have no argument with.” “And which of us is the Pontiff, then?” Chrysalis shot back. “If it isn't me, then is it Prince Thorax, the one who saved our species?” “No!” Thorax shouted. “I mean, uh, no. It’s…. King Phasma. Without him, none of this would have ever happened…” ‘Same old Thorax, afraid of responsibility.’ “Sounds good to me,” Pharynx said, nodding. “.... I agree,” Chrysalis said. “What? Why are you looking at me like that? The plan was to always burden you with all the responsibilities following Equestria’s capitulation, while I retired and grew fat on love. If you have already found a way to save our species, then I don’t need to worry about that. It’s why we’re having this conversation at all, dimwits.” “I can’t believe Pharynx was right about that,” I sighed. “Very well then, I am the Pontiff by… unanimous vote. I have to admit, it will be useful to have your skills in the real war.” “Real war?” Chrysalis repeated. “The reason why every Hive prior to the Fourth fell; we are being hunted,” I revealed. “So… the Infiltrator was telling the truth?” The ponies decided to arrive at that moment. The changelings followed, too. In fact, they seemed to come in from all around us, whereas the ponies only descended from the Palace. Changelings flew over the Palace’s perimeter walls, exited the Palace through doorways and windows, and gathered at a distance around us four royals. ‘Us four royals. That is… quite something.’ Princess Cadence, Princess Luna, Captain Shining Armor, and Princess Celestia– being carried by Shining– dropped down around us with a massive contingent of guards. “Queen Chrysalis! What…. What?” Cadence sputtered out, looking at Thorax and Pharynx. “The war is over,” I announced. “Princess Chrysalis has surrendered to me…” The former queen cringed at her title, but offered no argument. “Stuff happened,” Thorax coughed awkwardly. “My brother and I are… royals now.” “That can happen?” Celestia asked, eyebrows raised. “That was my reaction, too,” I said quietly. The other three royals began to speak to a bandaged-up Cadence, Celestia, and Shining Armor. There was one pony who stood apart from them, who in fact landed right by my side. Luna was sporting some thick gauze and bandages around her wounds, but seemed far more concerned with my own health. Really, I was just relieved to see that she was alive. I knew that she was an alicorn and therefore was tougher than your average mortal, but the wounds she had received were pretty bad. Even now, her bandages were being soaked with blood. She frowned, “Do thee fare well?” “I should ask you the same,” I said. “We will live.” ‘Thank Panar for that.’ She looked like she was in a great deal of pain. Merely speaking was likely to be a painful experience, to say nothing of flying down to come to my unneeded rescue. I nodded, “So will I.” She nodded, too, “Good. That is… good…. good…” “Yeah– Ow!” She tackled me in a hug so tight it worsened my wounds, and my blood started to stain her fur. “Please don’t ever do that again,” she whispered in my ears. “Seeing you vanish into that vortex, we… I… feared the worst had come to pass.” “Please stop squeezing me!” I begged, and she relented a bit. “You are injured, we will order medical professionals over at once! You there, officer, send forth for medical personnel at once! Now!” “You seem to go a bit… ‘old-fashioned’ when you’re scared,” I pointed out. “I am scared, yes,” she admitted, looking down at my injuries. “What would I do if I had lost you?” “Whine and mope, and bring about the apocalypse?” I suggested. “That sounds like a solid plan of action. Thank Faust you are still okay, Phasma.” I winced, “Okay is perhaps too generous of a diagnosis…” “I’ve seen worse. In addition, you changelings do have those miracle pods for healing,” she mused. “In the meantime, you will not leave my side, not even for a second!” “What about when I have to go to the bathroom?” “Except for those seconds!” Her serious expression hid a grin that tried to form. “.... Is Celestia okay?” I asked, looking over at the small, dull alicorn. “She was drained of emotions. Like her size, it will be fixed in time. For now, she is… alright. The same cannot be said of her guards…” “Or the hundreds that died tonight,” I said, now looking around at the growing crowd of changelings around us. Coxa and Lacewing chose to show their cowardly faces at that moment. “Heya Phas,” Lace smiled. “Glad to see you’re not dead!” “Why was Thorax here?” I growled slowly. “And why didn’t you two stop him?” Coxa held up a hoof, “Before you rightfully get mad at us, we did what we could to stop him. What I mean by that is that we completely enabled his reckless behavior and followed a step behind him through Canterlot. If he was ever in danger before coming here, we would have had his back. We didn’t drop down in the end because we stopped to help out Princess Luna, and the brothers snuck off before we realized…” Lace picked up where he left off, “By the time we saw what was going on, we feared that intervening would only make things worse.” I found myself rubbing the base of my horn again, “Hmmm. Fine. Whatever. I can’t deal with all this right now. If you say you couldn’t help, then… I’ll choose to believe that. You’ve earned that much trust, to say the least. But you and I will have words about letting Thorax enact any of his crazy ideas, Coxa.” “Those crazy ideas saved our species and just ended the war,” he pointed out. “Do you have any idea how close Thorax came to dying?” I growled, finding it more and more difficult to stay focused on my anger, using my pain to ground the emotion. ‘Oh right, severe blood loss. That would explain why I’m feeling so dizzy and nauseous. I better wrap this up.’ “We’ll speak later,” I repeated. “Right now, I need medical attention. So I’d better get the required speech out of the way as soon as possible.” “Always hate these things,” Luna muttered under her breath. I leaned away from Luna, taking a step out, but stayed closed enough for Luna to catch me if I did faint from my injuries. “Changelings of the Hive Eternal,” I announced over the Weave, and out loud for the ponies’ convenience.  The conversations broke, and everyone, royals, alicorns, ponies, and drones, all looked at me. “I am King Phasmatodea of the Fifth Hive, Pontiff of the Hive Eternal. Princess Chrysalis, formerly Queen Chrysalis of the Fourth Hive, has surrendered. The war is over. The Fourth Hive is hereby dissolved, and all of you are now citizens of the Fifth Hive. Panarthropo has given us a miracle today; not only has the war ended, but two changeling drones have been chosen for the highest, most holiest honor there is; Prince Thorax and Prince Pharynx, formerly Praetorians both, have ascended to princedom. The Hive Eternal now has four royals, not two. “A celebration is an order. A feast is demanded. Commemoration for the ascension, and to honor the fallen today will be held. But for now, tend to the wounded. Tonight, we rest and sort out the mess left to us. The future is far from secure for our species, and for the ponies, too, but we have earned some respite. Let this be the first day of a new age, one marked not by hunger, but instead a golden age of resurgence. The First Hive is ours for the taking. Our species’ history and ancestral treasure will be ours. Our numbers will grow as we become closer to our new pony allies. We will be rich, not just in material wealth, but in food, company, and happiness. An age of gold. An age of love. But it will not all be feasting and merriment; another war lurks on the horizon. “The changeling civil war is over, but there is much that must be done. We must ready ourselves to fight against our species’ greatest rivals: the Nightmares from beyond the veil of our reality. For thousands of years, they have felled Hive after Hive. Now, we will have our chance to strike back, and claim our species’ future and rightful place in the sun, right alongside the ponies. “So rest tonight. Tomorrow, our work begins.” “As it is woven, so it shall be!” Chrysalis called out, adding her voice to the Weave. “As it is woven, so it shall be!” Thorax and Pharynx said as a chorus. “As it is woven!” The gathered changelings echoed. “So it shall be!” Around me, the First Fang gathered. Thorax was now joined by Coxa and Lacewing, and Pharynx was there in his honorary status. The rest of my friends drew close, too. Luna the closest, while Shining Armor, Cadence, Celestia, Quick Search, Bray Call, Warm Dew, and Katydid all gathered in their own little groups. Celestia put visible effort to raise her head higher than her shoulders, and gave an order to her guard “Spread the word across Equestria: the war is over. The war is finally over.” By noon the next day, every last city, town, village, and hamlet across Equestria had heard the news. By noon, every bell in Equestria rang in celebration– even in the empty ghost towns kept in good order by the Preservation Corps. Every last town crier, every last newspaper, every last pony was declaring that the war was finally over. If only for a while, peace returned to Equus.