//------------------------------// // Light Chapter 4: The Queen's Return // Story: Fate of the Legion: Light and Dark // by SamSwordsman123 //------------------------------// Chrysalis flew back to her old kingdom but found it had changed a great deal. The hive had been covered with moss and other plants. That gave it a much better appeal to visitors, and her. Chrysalis hummed uncertainly. “I probably would have hated looking at this if I’d come here any other time.” She flew to the top which was still wide open from when Starlight had defeated her and stolen… no… enlightened her hive. Yet Chrysalis had just been too stubborn to change and listen to a better way. She landed and found the place empty. There was a throne here as well, one made of a still alive tree surrounded by vegetation. They didn’t have any need for an ancient rock that prevented non changelings from using their magic. Chrysalis vaguely wondered what happened to the remains of her throne in this day and age? Maybe they were still at Canterlot? Ah well, it didn’t matter. They would probably rarely ever be used now. She looked around and found the top empty for the moment. Where were everyone of her… subjects? No that wasn’t the right word now. They might be subjects in the future, but only if they would elect her as leader, and Chrysalis knew that would be a long shot. But she would try her best, and become a leader that would lead the changelings proudly if they accepted her. For a moment everything seemed quiet, there were just a bunch of rocks and vegetation around. Then suddenly the rocks sprang to life as a bunch of cragadiles! They weren’t extremely big ones but they were still good sized. Chrysalis screamed for a moment as she saw the predators surrounding her! Once she’d considered herself scarier than most of the monstrous creatures, except for Grogar and very few others. But now she wasn’t sure what she was anymore. A pathetic ex-queen who kept losing to ponies, that’s what she was. Suddenly there were flashes of light from the cragadiles who all transformed into changelings. “Whoops!” Thorax said as he appeared directly in front of her. “Sorry Chrysalis, didn’t mean to scare you there! We just needed to blend in with the environment to surprise you!” Two changelings held up a banner that read Welcome Back Chrysalis! The former queen took a few deep breaths as she recovered from her fear and surprise. “Well, this is certainly a- warm welcome,” Chrysalis said. “In spite of the momentary scare.” She looked down for a moment, pondering what to say. “Well, this place is certainly prettier than when I last saw it,” she said. Cricilinas stepped forward now. “We no longer have to take love from plants or anything that grows here now.” Chrysalis didn’t reply right away. She looked around and saw the beauty of the hive, the flowers and other vegetation. Such a beautiful thing that she’d not been here for. Thinking back to that day when Starlight had extended her hoof in friendship, and she stubbornly refused and chose to run away and seek revenge. She could have stayed and presided over the growth this place had gone through. Before it had been so barren and ugly, just like Chrysalis’s heart. She then gulped. It was time. Chrysalis sighed. “I’m… sorry for everything. I know I was queen but I was… wrong. I abused you all as my subjects when I ruled and scared you into doing whatever I wanted.” A black and red changeling came forward. Pharynx “You were taught to be that way, as you taught us. Some of us took our time. But we came around.” “You were the one that was the toughest, Pharynx,” Thorax said to his brother. “But you became the protector of the hive once you did.” “Yeah, I was stubborn, not unlike Chrysalis here,” Pharynx said. Chrysalis nodded. “Yes, I was stubborn. Too stubborn and trapped in the ways that we had adhered to for thousands of years since our former queen’s time. I suppose my age makes it even harder to change when one may require to.” Of course, being a changeling, and a chosen royal one at that, Chrysalis had the immense magic power which allowed her to live for many millennia. She was currently over three thousand years old. Someone younger might have had an easier time opening up to new possibilities. Chrysalis sighed, there was no point in dwelling on the past. “I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I never thought there could have been another way. But I see now that this world can be full of possibilities and it doesn’t have to be just one way. I made all of you do terrible things when I was ruler. I know you’ll probably never want me as ruler again. But if you are still willing to accept me back into the hive, I would do my best to be a good changeling, ruler or not, that will work to share love with you… and other creatures.” Her former subjects looked at her and Thorax stepped forward. “Of course, we’ll accept you back into the hive Chrysalis. I admit it wasn’t easy, but I think that everycreature deserves one last chance,” the current leader said. “And you might have heard but I’m planning to step down as leader and let someone else have a turn ruling.” “I heard, Twilight told me when she let me and the other two out of Tartarus,” Chrysalis said. “I know I have a lot to make up for in a short time, but- “We know you’ve changed Chrysalis,” Pharynx said. “You’ve transformed just like the rest of us. That’s like a mark around here that shows every changeling that you’ve changed.” Chrysalis smiled at them with tears in her eyes. She knew it would not be an easy thing to do, but she would work to redeem herself in not only the changelings eyes but the rest of Equestria as well. She looked out across the land that was her old kingdom, if she did well, it could be again, for a time at least. She might only be a temporary queen with this new system, but just being back with her hive… that was good enough for her.