//------------------------------// // Red Bug. // Story: Chrysalis' unexpected Life // by coto616 //------------------------------// --------------------------------- Red Bug. --------------------------------- Red Bug after saying goodbye to the still princess Celestia had to return to her office in the hive to pick up some things she would need for the therapy sessions with Celestia, she needed a couple of psychology books, some books on the history of the changelings and Equestria, she needed to bring Mr. Cuddles, some clothes, her plant, along with some more things like her notebooks and her office ornament, but first of all, she had to talk to Princess Luna so she could provide her with a residence in Canterlot. The changeling asked a couple of guards of Celestia's army, for the location of Princess Luna, who answered her in a very bad way for being one of those responsible for Celestia's imprisonment, and even though all the guards had been informed about the reasons for Celestia's imprisonment, they still saw with annoyed eyes a changeling wandering freely through the castle and its surroundings, sometimes following her very closely waiting for her to do something illegal, arguing that they were only 'strolling' during their free time. Luna had left express and very clear orders that the changelings would no longer be considered enemies and that they would slowly integrate into the society of Equestria openly, and even though everyone had to accept the new orders of Princess Luna, the vast majority of Celestia's guards did not like the news and many of them who were completely loyal to Celestia, simply could not accept that order, causing some desertions and quarrels between Celestia's and Luna's guards. The Thestral had no problem seeing a changeling in the castle, for centuries they were pariahs of the society where Celestia did little or nothing to improve their integration generating much ignorance about their race and almost turning them into a legend, but the princess allowed them to remain in the ranks by simple tradition but above all, because they were the only ones who could fulfill the work of night watch efficiently, so they felt a certain level of empathy for the new group that wanted to open up and belong to Equestria, they also had a lot of sympathy for the changelings because thanks to them their princess of the night was the new regent of Equestria, of course, this last part was not spread openly but they heard rumors and hallway conversations that heated the tempers quickly between the two groups of guards. Red Bug was losing her patience because for every guard that gave her the correct location of Princess Luna, there were three or four that told her the opposite with the simple interest of making it as difficult as possible for the changeling to find the princess of the night, and Red Bug had no way of knowing which guard was telling her the truth and which was not, and after wasting all day going from one place to another of the castle she had no other options but to wait for the change shift and ask one of the thestral for the location of Princess Luna. But what Celestia's guards didn't know was that Red Bug had a positive attitude, it was always easy for her to find the good side of every situation, and she never let frustration get the better of her. The changeling after eating something was enjoying the castle garden when she saw that the stars were moving, meaning that Luna was on her balcony using her magic to move the sun and the moon, Red Bug flew in the direction of Luna's balcony and waited patiently for the princess to finish moving the stars before talking to her, The changeling could tell that Luna had to work a little harder to move the sun than the moon, after the princess finished her work she noticed the changeling flying near the balcony and went into her room leaving the window open so that Red Bug could enter. "It seems like a very difficult job to move the sun and moon on a daily basis." Said the changeling landing. "Not many times have I moved the sun, it is of a larger volume and that consumed me a little more magic than anticipated but it won't be anything that in a couple of weeks I will get used to perform, even though I would like Twilight or Cadance to assist me from time to time so that they also learn the basics of this spell since I being the only one who can do it at the moment it is a very high risk if something were to happen to me and no one else could move the stars." "And haven't you thought of some magical object that would make that job easier?, something like a talisman or a magic stone?" "A talisman would require to be made of a special material of very high resistance to withstand the magical pressure required for the work and the same would be true if I used some magic stone, even though it is an interesting approach and worth doing some research, but what brings you here?" "I would like to know if you could provide me with accommodations in Canterlot so I can work with your sister more directly and not have to travel from the hive to Canterlot so many times, at least for the first few weeks while I do a psychological profile on her." "Of course, you can stay at the castle as long as you wish and I can assign a couple of guards to assist you in your work, do you need anything else?" "I prefer a dwelling in the City, today when I was looking for you I took advantage of an unexpected tour of the castle and your rooms are not... personally they are too big for my tastes but thank you for the offer, and I need something else, if you could provide me with a medical record of Celestia, it is simply to know if at any time she had any important injury during a combat, either with Chrysalis or any other villain, it is to take notes in case it is necessary when I talk to her." Luna thought about it for a moment. "Celestia's medical records are relatively new as are mine, at best a hundred years old and I don't think they would be of much use to you for what you need, but I remember our fights very well and with what she told me after I returned, I imagine I would be a more complete source for what you need." "That would serve me well for what I need, when do you think you have time to talk?." "It would have to be next week because these days I'm going to have too much bureaucratic work here at the castle, I have to talk to a lot of nobles, businessmen, farmers, ambassadors, and anyone else I need to explain to that they shouldn't worry about the change in power or that I'm not going to remove some treaty or contract made with my sister, everything will stay exactly the same, just with Twilight and I at the lead." "Then I will go back to the hive for some things I need to start as soon as possible the therapy with Celestia, I was planning to start tomorrow but... it wasn't possible." "Have a safe trip, I'm going to get you housing near the castle for when you get back and I'll schedule a free afternoon for us to talk calmly." Red Bug said goodbye to Luna and retreated from the castle to the train station to head to Appleloosa, and then walk or fly to The Badlands and get to the hive, she didn't know the city but she knew that following the main road she would get to the station and even though it was night and few ponies were wandering around at that hour, she preferred to hurry the pace for safety, most were still afraid and very distrustful to see a changeling wandering the streets, even knowing that they were no longer enemies. Even though Red Bug was not afraid she felt insecure walking around Canterlot at that time of the night, the gazes of the ponies that crossed her path chased her from the moment they saw her until they disappeared around a corner, and every time she passed near a group of ponies she could hear the murmurs referring to her or her race, making her more nervous and instead of walking she started to trot through the streets. "Hey you." Shouted a pony that was leaning against the wall of a building approaching the changeling and cutting her off. "Umm.. hello." Replied Red Bug a little nervously having to look up to see the face of the pony in front of her. He was a large stallion, white in color, tail, and mane short and very well groomed, he had somewhat red eyes and reeked of alcohol, something that does little to help his unfriendly face, and Red Bug even though she was an adult changeling looked like a mere teenager in comparison. "You don't... you shouldn't be here." Said the stallion wobbling a bit but managing to stay on all four legs. "Sorry, I'm just going to the train station, it's in this direction right?". Red Bug asked with a smile hiding her nervousness as best she could. "Yes, it's at the end of the street in that direction." Replied the stallion indicating the way with his hoof. "Thanks, have a good night." Replied Red Bug lowering her head clearly nervous and walking as fast as she could but colliding head-on with a hoof that blocked her path. "Where do you think you're going?" Said the stallion. "I'm going to the train station." "You're not going anywhere, because of you Princess Celestia is in prison and we don't like that, do we boys." The stallion grimaced as he looked over at the changeling. Red Bug raised her gaze to look behind her and was surrounded by several ponies, stallions, and mares, some with and some without armor, there were easily about ten of them, all having had too much to drink and all showing the same grimace as the stallion in front of Red Bug. "Your race has always been a nuisance to all of us and thanks to you and that bug you call a queen our princess is in prison, and we're going to make you pay for it." Said the pony very annoyed looking Red Bug straight in the eye. "But-but she was the one who attacked us fir-." The stallion pushed Red Bug very hard into the center of the group causing her to stumble and fall to the ground dropping her glasses, all the ponies around started laughing as they saw the changeling fall with fear in their eyes. "Captain you shouldn't be so rude to Equestria's newest citizen." Said one of the mares stepping forward and offering a hoof in friendship to Red Bug to get up. "Are you all right dear?" Asked the mare with a smile to the changeling. "Yes... thank you." Replied Red Bug getting up from the ground, wiping off the dirt, and looking for her glasses with her eyes. "Well, that's too bad." Said the mare with a grimace before pushing Red Bug to the ground and laughing again. Red Bug panicked and tried to escape in any direction but every time she tried to stand up one of the ponies around her pushed her to the ground again and laughed loudly, at that moment her mind locked up and her survival instinct took over making her take a fetal position to protect her vital organs while a barrage of laughter and kicks assaulted her body. The changeling did not notice when her attackers stopped as she was still in a fetal position but when she looked up she could see some dark figures that were face to face with her aggressors and from her position she could only hear some things. "Captain... take detained...aggression." Said the dark figure in armor. "I don't...for defending... bugs." Replied the stallion. Red Bug took the moment to stand up and quickly step out of the circle of ponies surrounding her and stand behind the dark figure next to a pair of guards who nodded to her and quickly stepped in front of her intending to protect her. "You and your squad attacked a changeling directly, even after hearing directly from Princess Luna about them no longer being our enemies and now being considered citizens of Equestria." "We are not going to accept a stupid order and allow those things to live among us." Said the captain of Celestia's guard, to which some who accompanied him also said similar things. "Not only are you disobeying a direct order from Princess Luna, you also performed a racist attack against a citizen of Equestria and incited your squad to participate." "She is not my princess, our princess is in prison because of that monster and his entire race." Shouted the guard bumping his head against the thestral's but the latter did not flinch. "Captain I ask you for the last time to desist and accompany us peacefully, I don't want to have to use violence against a fellow soldier." "Don't try to intimidate me night rat and look behind me, we outnumber you -." Said the stallion with a malicious grimace as his comrades approached and slowly surrounded the small group of thestrals and Red Bug. "- I'm no math expert but I think twelve is greater than three." The group laughed as they slowly closed the circle on their next victims, the thestral and his two companions closed their formation preparing to fight leaving Red Bug at their center to protect her. "THEN HOW GOOD OF THEE TO ARRIVE TO EVEN THE SCALES." Said a winged figure that descended from the sky and landed behind the captain of Celestia's guard, along with her came a dozen night guards. "Prin-princess Luna?." Said a guard surprised to see the night regent herself. "Captain, would you be so kind as to explain the situation to me?". Asked the princess with a firm tone addressing the thestral. "The officer here physically attacked this changeling in the act of racism, incited his subordinates to participate, claims not to recognize your orders, and resists arrest." "I see, do you have anything to say in your defense captain?, those are very serious crimes." Luna asked now addressing Celestia's guard. The stallion turned and stood up as much as possible to be at the same height as Luna and look her in the eyes but he still had to raise his gaze a little. "We will not follow the orders of a traitor like you." Said the stallion with anger in front of the princess's face, raising one of his hooves and trying to push the princess, Luna took a step back but it wasn't because of the force of the push, it was because of the stinking stench of alcohol coming from the stallion's muzzle. "You dare to attack a princess?, do you know the gravity of what you just did?" Luna asked angrily to the stallion who stepped forward. "So what if I did?, what is your royal majesty going to-." The stallion disappeared in a flash of blue light that came from the horn of the princess of the night, leaving only emptiness in its place. "What-what did she do to him?" Asked a shocked mare. "The punishment for attacking a princess is exile, so I sent him to the moon." Luna replied emotionlessly as the group of rebel guards approached. "Anyone else wants to try his luck with me?, or are all of you going to go peacefully to prison." "But-but you can't do that, what's going to happen to his family." "You all know the law as well as I do and if you continue to resist arrest I'm going to have to be forced to intervene." Luna replied shining her horn brightly. The guards looked at each other and gnashed their teeth, lowered their heads, and began to walk slowly in the direction of the castle, one of the Thestral approached the princess. "Princess are you alright?, do you need anything?." "I'm fine, thank you for defending Red Bug, perhaps we would be mourning the worst if you hadn't shown up." "Tempers are very hot among the troops loyal to Celestia, they did not take the news of their princess being imprisoned very well, many of us have heard murmurings about the unfairness of Celestia's situation and if I may say so it is possible that soon a revolt will rise up to try to free your sister." "I know, but for the moment I can't do anything, I knew that things like this would happen and that's why I want to start the integration of the changelings to Equestria gradually and in focused places where problems like these will not arise, I just hope that eventually the mood will calm down and everyone will see that the war is in the past, but if a revolt with the flag of my sister arises, I will not hesitate to stop it and defend this nation." The thestral took his leave of the princess and joined his companions to escort the group of guards to the Canterlot prison, Red Bug approached Luna. "Thanks for the help princess Luna, I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't arrived." the changeling wiped off the dirt and began to search carefully for her glasses. "My job is to see to the safety of all my subjects and allies." Luna saw Red Bug's glasses and picked them up to pass them to the changeling. "I think you're looking for this, are you hurt?." "Just a couple of bumps but nothing serious, thanks anyway." Replied the changeling stretching out her hoof to grab her glasses but realized something. "Awww... my glasses broke." She ended up saying sadly. "Do you have another pair to replace them?." "I have another pair in my office at the hive, but now I don't know if I can make it to the station." "If you want I can walk you to the train station, or if you prefer I can transport us both to the hive." "To the station would be fine, I like to travel by train, plus I know some changelings who live near Appleloosa who can take me to the hive." "Then let's go." Luna replied starting to walk along with Red Bug in the direction of the train station, chatting pleasantly during the trip. "And what are you doing in this place, I thought you were at the castle." "I was on patrol dutyyy.... trotting, I was on trotting duty through the area, it's good exercise, improves circulation, and tones the body." "Oooookey..." Replied the changelings without believing the princess too much. "But did you really send that pony to the moon?, I'm no expert in biology but I don't think a normal stallion would live a thousand years." Luna opened her eyes wide and was silent for a moment before turning on her horn for a second. "I think... one year in prison will be enough for a pony.... from now on." Replied the princess turning her head to the side avoiding looking at the changeling as her horn lit up a couple more times. "Princess, did you send any more ponies to the moon?" The changeling asked with intrigue. "Nnnnoooo?." Luna replied trying to sound confident. "Are you sure?" Red Bug asked again. "Ohhhh look, it's the train station." Luna pointed her hoof into the distance before turning on her horn and in a flash of light they were both at the station. "It was nice talking to you Red Bug but I have a lot of work to do at the castle and I need to find a doctor for a completely unrelated issue of malnutrition from being in a sterile environment have a safe trip bye." "But Lu-." Red Bug was interrupted by a bright flash of blue light that completely blinded her and when she was able to open her eyes to see she realized that Princess Luna was flying quickly towards Canterlot castle, leaving the changeling with many questions she didn't know if she wanted to know the answers to. "Good evening miss... where are you headed?" Asked an elderly stallion, he was one of the ponies working at the station. "Hello, I'm going to Appleloosa, and you're not afraid of me?." Asked the changeling curiously. "Miss, I'm too old to be afraid." Replied the stallion with a laugh before looking at his watch. "The train to Appleloosa should be here in less than an hour." "Thanks, I'll rest for a moment while I wait, could you wake me up if I fall asleep?". Asked the changeling with a smile. "Of course, I'll be in my office if you need anything, have a good night." The stallion said goodbye and retreated to his small office leaving the changeling alone in the station, Red Bug yawned loudly and laid down on one of the benches to sleep, she had had a lot of emotions this day and really needed the rest.