Queen Chrysalis’ Burden
On the outskirts of the Changeling Hive, a number of Debt Collector soldiers surrounded the giant structure. They were armed with batons and tridents. Powerful cannons were pointed at the hive containing giant pods filled with Fire Nag Miasma. Standing by was Grand Philosopher the alchemist. Immediately, Gold Banks emerged from a nearby portal with several Debt Collector guards by her side. Grand Philosopher turned to Gold Banks and bowed to her presence.
“Pitiful fools,” Gold Banks said. “I gave them an hour to decide to surrender. And yet, I have no intention of letting them live.”
“And I take it you gave them a demonstration of the miasma just to scare them straight,” Grand Philosopher asked.
“Oh I did,” Gold Banks explained. “But I had more fun torturing a changeling to death than I did seeing the reactions on their faces. A shame that they’re all going to be dead by the end of today.”
“Then shall we launch our attack on the hive of the changelings?” Grand Philosopher asked.
Gold Banks turned towards the hive tower and said “Make it so.”
Grand Philosopher turned towards the other soldiers and said “FIRE WHEN READY!”
With its first loud boom, a cannon fired a shot of a pod containing Fire Nag Miasma towards the giant structure of the Changeling Hive.
Inside, Queen Chrysalis dashed down the staircase towards the basement of the hive. Next to her were Princess Chrysalis II, Coldnelius Snap, Crystal Snow, Locust, and the Predacon Brothers. Behind her, every changeling and cultist followed frantically for their lives. Princess Chrysalis II held the corpse of a changeling next to her with her magic.
“Keep running,” Queen Chrysalis commanded. “The sooner we get down to the secret exit, the better.”
“Blast that Gold Banks,” Quickstrike yelled. “I’ll lasso that snake and send her down the river.”
“Patience, Quickstrike,” Chrysalis said. “You’ll get your chance at revenge when we get out of this mess.”
“Waspinator knows that all of us will desire revenge against Gold Banks,” Waspinator said. “Waspinator especially wants revenge against Gold Banks…IN SPADES!”
“You think?” Princess Chrysalis II yelled. “We’ve already lost one of our own to that nasty witch. I’m not in the mood to lose any more.”
Suddenly, the tower shook violently, causing everyone to lose their footing and collapse on the staircase.
“What in tarnation?” Quickstrike yelled.
“They’ve launched an attack on us,” Queen Chrysalis stated. “Just as I expected from that coward.”
As everyone got themselves up, they continued to make a mad sprint down the staircase, running as fast as they could. But they came to a stop when they noticed the side of the wall cracking rapidly.
“What in the world is going on, my queen?” Inferno asked.
“The walls of this place were designed to withstand a ton of kinetic force,” Queen Chrysalis explained. “It’s impossible for them to smash it in one shot.”
“There’s only one thing that could smash through it,” Coldnelius Snap said. “Fire Nag Miasma.”
With a loud boom, the cracked walls shattered completely, exposing the staircase to the outside light and unleashing a cloud of Fire Nag Miasma. Everyone backed off as the red-orange fog inched closer to them.
“Now those sickos have gone too far,” Quickstrike said.
“They’re very persistent with desiring our eradication,” Coldnelius Snap said. “They should know never to mess with a Windigo.”
Coldnelius Snap took in a deep breath and blew a cold mist of ice right into the fog of Fire Nag Miasma. Despite the power of the miasma, the cold ice was able to absorb the heated fog and nullify it completely.
“Well I’ll be,” Quickstrike said. “You’ve got some power within you, Coldnelius.”
“But I’m not the only one to have that kind of power,” Coldnelius Snap explained. “My daughter possesses the same amount of power as I do. She’ll lead you down. I’ll hold off Gold Banks’ attack.”
“FATHER, NO!” Crystal Snow yelled.
“I’ll be alright,” Coldnelius Snap said. “Get them down to safety.”
With that, Coldnelius Snap jumped out of the hive tower through the hole in the wall and transformed into a Windigo. Immediately, he flew upwards into the air and called out to the skies above.
“Father,” Crystal Snow said, reaching out.
Queen Chrysalis placed her hoof on Crystal Snow’s arm and said “Don’t let your father’s action be wasted in vain. Come with us if you want to live.”
“But I…,” Crystal Snow said before Queen Chrysalis hushed her.
“Your father nearly lost you back in Winteris,” Queen Chrysalis explained. “If you were to die, his rage would reach across the entire world and doom all life. For his sake, join us.”
“Very well,” Crystal Snow said, reluctantly.
Crystal Snow ran down the staircase with the rest of the changelings and cultists following right behind her. Though her mind was focused on Coldnelius Snap, she kept her eyes on the stairs with both Queen Chrysalis and Princess Chrysalis II right beside her, while the latter still held the corpse of the changeling that was killed by Gold Banks.
“I’ll say that it’s an honor to meet you, daughter of King Glaceious,” Princess Chrysalis II said.
“Right now, the greetings can wait,” Crystal Snow said. “Our focus is on the secret exit, and should anyone get in our way, I’ll freeze them cold.”
Back outside, Windigos from the far north flew over to Windigo Coldnelius. They directed their attention at the soldiers, who had their sights on the tower.
“Take no prisoners,” Coldnelius Snap yelled. “Show them that the Windigos are not to be trifled with.”
Immediately, the Windigos fired off beams of ice at the Debt Collectors. The impact froze some of them, along with their cannons, solid. Some soldiers were able to pull back from the Windigo’s wrath.
But nearby, Gold Banks looked up at Coldnelius Snap and the Windigos with a pair of binoculars.
“TAKE YOUR AIM AT THE WINDIGOS!” Gold Banks yelled. “Pepper them down with Fire Nag Miasma.”
Immediately, the Debt Collectors pointed their cannon up at the Windigos and fired sacs full of Fire Nag Miasma at them. The Windigos relented by freezing the pods with beams of ice, sending them falling helplessly towards the ground.
“Very resilient,” Gold Banks said. “But even they have their limits.”
“My lady,” Grand Philosopher said. “What shall we do about the changelings?”
“Do not worry,” Gold Banks said. “I know what to do.”
Gold Banks turned to a squad of Debt Collectors, who held their tridents at the ready.
“I want you to sneak into the tower and eliminate them with extreme prejudice,” Gold Banks commanded. “Show them no mercy.”
“AT ONCE, MY LADY!” The head of the squad saluted.
Immediately, the Debt Collector squad marched towards the Hive, eager to make their way inside and eliminate everyone.
“By the way, Grand Philosopher,” Gold Banks asked. “What did you say those tridents were enchanted with?”
“The very same Fire Nag Miasma,” Grand Philosopher explained. “On command, the wielder of the trident can fire a blast of pure fire magic to neutralize a changeling or a cultist.”
“Excellent,” Gold Banks laughed. “Soon, it will be as if they never existed at all.”
Gold Banks laughed into the air as the Windigos defended themselves against the Fire Nag Miasma, all while squads of soldiers made their way towards the tower, preparing for a fight.
Inside, the changelings and the cultists made their way to the bottom of the stairs, where they immediately paused at the number of tunnels that surrounded them. Crystal Snow turned her attention towards Queen Chrysalis.
“Your Majesty,” Crystal Snow asked. “Where is the location of the secret exit?”
“Follow me,” Queen Chrysalis commanded.
Queen Chrysalis ran down a hallway with Crystal Snow and Princess Chrysalis II by her side, and the rest of the changelings and cultists following from behind.
“It won’t be long now,” Locust said. “Once we’re out of here, we should be home free.”
“Don’t get incompetent, Locust,” Queen Chrysalis said. “Those fools will ambush us the moment we let our guard down.”
“The Royalty is right,” Inferno said. “They want nothing more than to wipe us out from the face of the planet.”
As the changelings and cultists made their way through the hallway, the ground shook once more and they collapsed on the ground. Queen Chrysalis got herself back up as Princess Chrysalis II picked up the corpse of the dead changeling.
“They’re not slowing down on the attacks that’s for sure,” Quickstrike yelled.
“You’re right on that,” Queen Chrysalis said as the rest of the changelings and cultists got themselves up. “Brace yourselves. We’re about to be hit hard.”
As everyone stood in place, bracing for an attack, the wall on the left began to spark brightly. Chrysalis covered her eyes with her left hoof as the spark formed a circle shape on the wall.
“There,” Queen Chrysalis said. “They’re about to launch an attack. Get ready.”
Princess Chrysalis II set the fallen changeling corpse next to her as she pointed her horn at the sparking wall and charged up her horn. Queen Chrysalis, Crystal Snow, and the rest of the changelings and cultists followed suit, keeping their focus on the spark on the wall.
“The moment that wall bursts open,” Queen Chrysalis ordered, “Hold nothing back.”
Immediately, the wall exploded, leaving a dust cloud in its wake. Not long after, Debt Collectors poured into the hive, firing at the changelings and cultists with the tridents. Queen Chrysalis used her magic to swat aside the blasts, knocking them to the walls.
“Don’t give them any quarter,” The captain of the Debt Collectors shouted. “Show no mercy.”
As the Debt Collectors fired right at the escaping group, each changeling and cultist fired back with their own magic, canceling out the Fire Nag energy coming from the tridents. One of Locust’s magic spells hits a Debt Collector, knocking his trident out of his hooves and sending him falling to the ground.
“Quickly,” Queen Chrysalis shouted. “Grab any tridents that fell and turn the tables on them.”
Crystal Snow quickly surrounded the fallen trident with her magic and pulled it up to her. She pointed the tips of the trident at one of the incoming soldiers and fired. The magic hit directly at the soldier, causing his body’s color to disappear and his cosmic core to eject from his body before he collapsed onto the ground.
“One soldier goes down and more come this way,” Crystal Snow said, firing off more Fire Nag magic at the Debt Collectors.
“Does that bad boy have anything that could clear a path through?” Princess Chrysalis II asked.
But before Crystal Snow could say anything, her eyes caught the attention of a Fire Nag sac being sent towards the changeling and cultist group. With a powerful swing, Crystal Snow sent the Fire Nag sac forward before it detonated, releasing a cloud of Fire Nag Miasma.
“Let’s see what happens when my magic combines with THAT,” Crystal Snow yelled as her horn glowed brightly.
Crystal Snow fired a blast of cold magic at the Fire Nag Miasma. Instead of absorbing the fog, the ice mixed in with the fire, creating a powerful explosion, knocking everyone down.
“Are you crazy?” Queen Chrysalis yelled. “You could have gotten us killed.”
“We weren’t the only ones to be knocked out,” Crystal Snow shouted, pointing to the Debt Collectors. “Look.”
Queen Chrysalis looked forward, where she saw the Debt Collectors struggling to get back up. She immediately got up and walked towards one of their members.
“Nice weapons you got there,” Queen Chrysalis said before she pulled a couple of the tridents away. “Too bad you won’t be needing these.”
“You give that back this instant, witch,” One of the soldiers shouted.
Queen Chrysalis smacked the soldier with the blunt portion of the trident, knocking him out cold. She turned to the others and shouted “Come with me. We will make our escape soon.”
Queen Chrysalis ran down the hallway with every changeling and cultist following from behind. But as Inferno was about to make his way done, something was pulling on his hind leg. He turned around to see a Debt Collector grunt hold his leg down while pointing his trident at the Predacon.
“You’re not going to live through this you weak insect,” The Debt Collector said in a smug tone.
Immediately, Inferno pulled the trident from the grunt and pointed it at him.
“So you wish to play with fire, do ya?” Inferno said.
The grunt immediately pulls another trident out and uses it to push Inferno’s Trident out of the way before pointing it at the Predacon.
“Oh I know how to play with fire,” The grunt said. “And I intend to put it to good use.”
“I beg to differ,” Inferno said as his mouth glowed brightly. “You play with fire, you get burned.
With that, Inferno breathed fire right at the grunt, setting him ablaze. The grunt screamed loudly in agony as he lost his grip on Inferno’s leg. The Predacon ran off after the Queen, leaving the Debt Collector on fire.
But as the soldier collapsed from the flames, water splashed right on top of him. His fur and mane lost all of its color before his cosmic core flew out of his body and into the stratosphere.
“You’re very clever to turn the tables on us,” The Captain said. “But it won’t matter once we wipe your kind to extinction.”
The Captain of the Debt Collectors turned towards his other soldiers, who followed the changelings and the cultists down the hallway.
Further down, the changelings and the cultists came across a huge chasm in front of them. Ahead was another tunnel that led downwards.
“When we reach the other side, that tunnel will lead to a secret exit,” Queen Chrysalis explained. “That is our way out.”
“We changelings are capable of flight,” Locust explained. “And I take it you cultists have a means of flight as well.”
“We do,” Crystal Snow explained. “Because of the Winterians’ connection to the Windigos, we can take on their form at will. Observe.”
Crystal Snow held her hooves out as she transformed into a Windigo. She flew across the chasm and landed on the other side before she transformed back into her former self.
“Now, soldiers of my father,” Crystal Snow commanded. “Come to me.”
Immediately, the members of the Windigo’s Guild transformed into Windigos before they flew over the gap and towards Crystal Snow. Before they touched the ground, they transformed back into their former pony selves.
“Fascinating,” Queen Chrysalis said. “I underestimate the power of the Windigo’s Guild.”
Quickstrike turned around and looked down the tunnel behind them. He immediately turned to Queen Chrysalis and shouted “Boss bug. We’ve got company.”
“Then hurry,” Queen Chrysalis shouted. “Fly above the chasm and get to safety.”
The changelings nodded at Queen Chrysalis before they jumped into the air and flapped their wings as fast as possible. Queen Chrysalis fired a blast of magic at the top of the tunnel, collapsing the way forward.
“Good riddance to bad rubbish,” Queen Chrysalis snorted.
Queen Chrysalis jumped into the air and flew above the chasm, joining Princess Chrysalis II in the process, who still carried the corpse of the fallen changeling.
“I take it you plan on giving the fallen one his proper funeral rites,” Queen Chrysalis asked.
“I am,” Princess Chrysalis II replied. “He was one of us until that monster Gold Banks suffocated him with that miasma.”
As Queen Chrysalis and Princess Chrysalis II landed on the other side, she looked down at the dead changeling before placing her hoof on his head.
“Poor fallen bug,” Chrysalis lamented. “To have suffered for his loyalty to me by Gold Banks. No doubt Banks will pay in spades.”
Suddenly, the blocked tunnel from which the changelings and cultists came from exploded. Seeing the Debt Collectors emerge from the tunnel, Queen Chrysalis turned her attention to her minions and the cultsits.
“GET TO SAFETY!” Chrysalis commanded. “I’ll hold them off.”
Crystal Snow led Locust, Inferno, Quickstrike, along with a number of changelings and cultists through the entrance and up the tunnel. But before Chrysalis II and Waspinator could step towards the entrance, a blast of Fire Nag Magic hit the archway of the door, sealing it in a cave-in.
“We’re blocked off,” Princess Chrysalis II yelled.
As the Debt Collectors fired at the changelings and cultists still in the vicinity, Queen Chrysalis blocked their shots off with her magic, deflecting them towards the walls in the vicinity. Once they connected, they exploded, leaving behind gaping holes in the wall.
“You’re very good,” The captain of the Debt Collector Squad said. “But it won’t save your expendable army.”
A couple of Debt Collectors fired a few shots from their Fire Nag trident at the group. Chrysalis attempted to deflect the shots with her magic, only for them to fly over and hit two changelings dead-on.
“NOOOO!” Queen Chrysalis shouted.
The two changelings fell down onto the ground as the color in their bodies disappeared and their cosmic cores emerged from their bodies before departing upwards.
“You sick little puppy,” Chrysalis snarled. “I’ll kill you for this.”
Queen Chrysalis fired off a few shots from her horn towards the Debt Collectors. The captain just yawned as he conjured up a fire shield to block off the shots from the Changeling Queen.
“How pathetic,” The Captain said. “But why just bother to fire shots at these miserable bugs when we can take it up a notch.”
The Captain of the squad twirled his trident before pointing it at Princess Chrysalis II. Before the changeling filly had time to react, the trident fired off a stream of Fire Nag energy, grabbing the princess and pulling her to the Debt Collectors.
“MOTHER HEEEEEELP!” Princess Chrysalis II yelled.
Queen Chrysalis fired her own magic at Princess Chrysalis II. She struggled to pull her daughter back while the Captain slowly tugged at her.
“A valiant effort,” The Captain said with a laugh. “But futile.”
As the Captain pulled Princess Chrysalis II, his soldiers fired right at the changelings and cultists. A few of them got hit, sapping the color away from them before they fell into the chasm. Moments later, their cosmic cores emerged and flew off.
“NOO!” A helpless Queen Chrysalis yelled.
“Face it,” The Captain shouted. “You cannot escape from us. Extinction is your own way out of here. Face your death in the name of Gold Banks, the future Empress of all of Equestria.”
As the Captain’s laughed out loud, Waspinator looked at the Captain square in the eye and his blood began to boil.
“You hurt Waspinator’s friends and Queen Chrysalis’s daughter,” Waspinator yelled. “Now you pay DEARLY!”
Waspinator flew up to the side and fired a number of blasts directly at the Captain. Before the leader of the group could react, the shots hit him directly, one at a time. Stunned by the impact of the shots, the Captain dropped the trident, causing the magic around Princess Chrysalis II to disappear before Queen Chrysalis pulled in her. Every Debt Collector paused in horror as the Captain struggled to keep himself up.
“To die…in battle…was my greatest dream,” The Captain said, holding his chest. “And now…I die.”
With that, the Captain fell down the abyss and disappeared into the dark void. Sometime later, a loud thud echoed through the chamber, followed by a cosmic core that flew from the abyss and towards the stratosphere.
Waspinator flew downward next to Queen Chrysalis, who held her daughter close. He eyed the trident that the late Captain held and pulled it over to him with his magic.
“You’ve done well, Waspinator,” Queen Chrysalis said.
“Anyone would have done what Waspinator has done,” Waspinator said as the trident flew into his arm. “Consider brothers and sisters avenged.”
Waspinator pointed the trident at the blocked off tunnel entrance and fired a shot of Fire Nag magic right at it. The impact caused the blockage to shatter to pieces, opening the way forward.
“Come,” Queen Chrysalis commanded. “We must leave.”
Queen Chrysalis held Princess Chrysalis II close as she walked her through the tunnel. Changelings and Cultists followed their queen from behind, with Waspinator blocking the shots of the Debt Collector’s blasts with a shield of fire from the trident he took.
“Waspinator despises Debt Collectors,” Waspinator said in a harsh tone. “Now Debt Collectors face Waspinator’s WRATH!”
Waspinator quickly charged up the trident in his hooves and fired off a beam of magic on the cliff below the Debt Collector troops. The cliff exploded on impact, sending a number of Debt Collectors falling into the abyss, screaming in fear. Moments later, cosmic cores flew upwards into the stratosphere as the surviving members turned tail and ran in the opposite direction.
“Good-bye, home sweet home,” Waspinator said before he turned tail and ran down the tunnel.
To Be Continued in…
Gold Banks’ Victory