The feeling was awkward; Princess staring slightly shocked, slightly confused at a group of black robed ponies who held the same gaze towards I.
Nopony moved for a few moments before I gently took a step forward, causing the ponies in the room to dash around, some grabbing weapons while others simply hid behind furniture.
I took a moment to note the location of these ponies, should they intend to sneak up on me while fighting the braver ponies.
In an instant, I suddenly felt a weight upon my shoulders, which I bucked off quickly.
"Release us and stand down! Thou art all under arrest by decree of her royal majesty- Princess Luna! To strike us again will forfeit thy trial and result in thy immediate death!"
My command went unheard, however, as a notched arrow suddenly found itself brushing mere centimeters from my snout.
I spat in disgust and charged forward towards the Unicorn who had dared to attack me.
"Then pay with thy blood, criminal scum!" I shouted, impaling the foalish Unicorn on my horn and flinging her bleeding body towards an approaching Earth pony.
He leapt over his fallen comrade in time to slash my cheek open with a blade he gripped in his mouth.
I was astounded!
I was a pony who had fought in countless wars, winning the final battle in most of them myself. And yet, here was a mere earth pony, managing to cut my cheek open with a simple turn of his head.
Either these ponies were trained to kill, or my skills were lacking after years of inactivity.
I prayed it was not the latter.
Using my magic to knock the bladed stallion away from me, I turned just in time to deliver a swift kick to the jaw on an approaching Pegasus, who thought it wise to sneak up on me.
As his body crashed into the wall and he slid down, stirring slightly, I felt a cold blade press against my throat.
Thinking on mere instinct, I gripped the blade in my magic and shattered it before repeatedly tossing the bothersome Earth Pony stallion into the wall, over and over again.
The weight from before returned to my shoulders, announcing that the Pegasus had recovered from his toss.
No longer holding back, I grabbed all three ponies in my magic, the bleeding Unicorn included, and flung them all to the center of the room; where their heads smashed together, painting my face with a bit of their blood.
Tossing their lifeless bodies aside as I felt my rage subside, I wiped away the blood on my face before speaking again.
"If thou dareth try to resist arrest, we will not hesitate to slay thee as we hath slayed thy brethren! Now, Unicorns, come from thy cowardly places with thy heads down! Pegasi- if we see even a feather up, thou shalt nary fly again! And Earth Ponies..." I paused, spitting the name out in disgust as I remembered the bothersome, blade wielding stallion from naught a few moments ago. "If thou lifts a hoof even a full apple length from the ground, we shan't waste a single moment in ending thy pitiful existence."
As the few ponies who hid began to crawl from their hiding places, I noticed that they all wore the same robes as the others, as well as the young Pegasus who currently slept within Stalliongrad Castle's dungeon.
The ponies, six in all, all pressed themselves against the hard, wooden floor before my hooves- shaking profoundly and some even crying a bit.
It was a pitiful sight indeed.
"Come now, Lunarias," a soft, slightly mocking voice called out. "Is that how you treat all your friends?"
Looking around the room, I saw nothing- save for the many bookshelves lined with literature.
"Who dares hide from us? Reveal thyself!"
"This again? I've already told you who I am, Lunarias. Now, why don't you tell me what's gotten you so worked up, hm?"
Having pinpointed the source of the voice, I cautiously turned my head towards ceiling, only to reel back in shock.
There, about two yards directly above me, hung the nightmare from my dreams- clinging to a stalactite and grinning down at me. The ceiling seemed to take over the entire room but, upon closer inspection, I realized that hundreds of beings- smaller version of the one that had called herself 'Chrysalis, but without a mane -were slowly crawling down.
I backed myself up towards the door slowly, only to find that it wasn't a door anymore; just a barrier of bug-eyed, nightmarish ponies.
I do believe I screamed.
ῼ
"Back! S-Stay back, thou foul beasts!" I shouted, flaring up my horn with raw magic as I prepared to lash out at the slowly advancing creatures.
But before I could attack, a soft chittering sounded from above me and the monsters halted their progress, some looking up at the bigger creature expectantly while the others eyed me intensely, as if studying my form.
"Now then, where were we, hm?" Chrysalis teased as she flipped over and flittered her wings, landing gently in front of me.
"Who art thou- what art thou?!" I demanded, raising my voice slightly higher than I intended due to my current state.
"I have already introduced myself, Lunarias. But, if I must do so again, my name is Chrysalis, and I am Queen of the Changelings; a race of shape-shifting insectoid ponies. And what about you? Just who are you? I know of you, and I know about you...But just who am I speaking with, right now?" the creature replied, staring at me boredly with its head tilted slightly; a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she twitched her wings.
"We are Princess Luna, Daughter of the Night and ruler of Equestria!" I announced loudly, hoping to intimidate the Changeling.
My attempt, however, had no effect whatsoever on the Queen- who just held a hoof to her snout and giggled.
"My, so loud! Do you always use such volume when speaking?" the Queen teased, beginning to circle me.
I held her gaze as she rounded, glaring slightly. "What is thy purpose here, underneath Stalliongrad?"
"Oh, I'm so glad you asked! You see, we're here to kill your sister."