//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: It trolls for thee // Story: Queen's Vengeance // by Zervziel //------------------------------// Celestia was a pony of many names and titles. The Solar Diarch, Princess of the Sun, the Lady of Canterlot, Night’s End, and many other titles, many sounding even sillier and pretentious than the last in her ears. Princess was the only title she’d ever wanted or even needed and even then Celestia found that more often than not it got in the way a lot whenever she conversed with her little ponies. This morning however the majestic white alicorn wished to lay claim to one more title: She Who Would Not Rise From Bed. Celestia was credited with many things, some ponies even going as far as calling her a goddess. However one of the few things she knew she could not be credited with is being a fast riser. This early sunless morning found the Solar Diarch wrapped up in the sheets of her bed like a great silken burrito, her mane and tail flowing languidly from both ends. With a heartfelt groan, the princess unwrapped herself from her lovely cocoon of blessed warmth and squirmed to the side of her bed so her long legs could get the leverage she needed to get up. It was so hard leaving that warm bed, that Celestia briefly envied her sister’s longer coat. Luna wasn’t a shaggy pony, but her coat was long and full enough that she stayed warm on even the coldest nights. It was even harder rising this particular morning due to a certain sister’s one pony polka band playing and dancing in her dreams for the night. As much as she didn’t want to, Celestia knew it was justified considering how much she had hounded Luna ever since the Night Princess return from her mysterious nightly sojourn a week ago. No matter what the Solar Diarch did, no matter how much she asked, wheedled, or begged, the blue alicorn simply evaded her questions and inquiries with a smug smile and a maddeningly vague “You’ll see.” It was almost enough to make a pony throw her hooves in the air in exasperation. However due to her station, the solar princess refrained from doing so, satisfying herself with an enormous and not particularly lady-like yawn that felt as it was going to unhinge her jaw. It irked her to no end, not knowing, but Celestia knew she would simply have to trust her sister’s judgment and be patient. “Guards,” she called. “Have my pre-breakfast brought to my room.” A muffled “yes, your majesty” could barely be heard through the thick oak door. With a snack on the way, Princess Celestia concentrated on the spell that had earned her the very mark that now adorned her flank so long ago. Celestia felt the familiar surge of power and the fierce, fiery presence of the sun as she reached out to it. Enveloping the celestial orb with her magic, Celestia drew it slowly over the horizon. Faintly, she felt the retreat of the moon as Luna pulled her namesake across the sky. In unison, the two sisters brought about a new day. As the last traces of golden magic ceased swirling about her, a knock came on the door. “Come in, please.” Called the princess as she settled herself at the small reading table. Wordlessly, a unicorn mare dressed in a maid’s outfit entered, carrying a fairly empty tray in her magic. “Here’s your…. bagel, your majesty. Are you sure that you don’t want anything else to eat?” the maid asked, her head low. Already spreading cream cheese on her bagel, Celestia shook her head. “No thank you, my dear. I just wanted something to hold me until breakfast time.” The Princess munched on her bagel reflectively until she noticed the maid was still there. “Is there something else?” The maid flushed. “I-I was just wondering if the rumors about Captain Armor appearing magically during the night court last week were true?” She asked, bowing so low her nose almost touched the ground.” Celesta paused. As much as she liked to tease her ponies, she was wary of going too far in teasing them. Still lying wasn’t something she made a habit of, especially for something as minor as this. “It is true. He….dropped by unexpectedly one night.” The Princess chuckled quietly at her own joke. “O-oh!” Celestia’s eyes suddenly took on a stern look. “There’s more to that rumor isn’t there?” The maid was practically shaking at this point. “Y-y-yes, ma’am! Not a whole lot, just…..that Duke Armor was….indecent.” The maid’s voice fell off as Her Majesty, Princess Celestia, rubbed her eyes hard with her hooves. “Ugh. I knew I should have sworn those two to silence. My dear, if you would be so kind as to run damage control on that rumor, it’d be a big favor to me. Also have last week's night court guard rotation brought by my quarters tonight.” The maid nodded before bolting for the door, eager to be away from annoyed royalty. Breakfast or any other given meal in the Royal Palace was an extremely complicated affair for many ponies. For servants and chefs, timing and quality of food were of grave importance. After all, having a foreign dignitary or nobility waiting too long for their food or even worse having the meals be inadequate would certainly spell the end of their employment! Said nobles, dignitaries, and politicians had to think of just what to say to the Princesses over their meals in the hopes of improving the odds in their favor. The Princesses themselves had keep their minds open and sharp to avoid saying the wrong thing and accidentally insulting anyone. For a successful meal, every thing had to be just perfect; perfect food and manners. This particular morning was no different, no matter what was in store. *** The herald, a deep-chested member of the Solar pegasus guard glanced at the clock preparing to announce the latest dignitary. Twenty minutes until his job here was done. Personally, he couldn’t wait until his shift ended. Listening to nobility and politicians grub about the Princesses for favors wasn’t exactly his idea of a good time. Hell, he spent most of his time and discipline just trying to keep himself from yawning. It was during his latest clock check that the little slip of paper was hoofed to him. Turning back, he scanned the piece of paper without really thinking. It was only after he started did he realize who this was. “Now announcing Queen Chrysalis…Of the Southern Changeling Kingdom!” Everything in the room froze. Members of the Noble Court of Canterlot knew that name too well and a few started to panic. “She’s come back to finish us off!” One mare screamed as she ran in circles. “Call the guard!” A dark stallion with a monocle and top hat cried as he leapt behind his fellow nobles for cover. “Mommy!” Shrieked a large unicorn wearing the armor of an officer as he tried to make himself look smaller, his loosely fitted armor rattling as he shook. “SILENCE, YOU IMBECILES!” A strong male voice called. Many eyes stopped and stared at the source, a handsome white unicorn stallion with an immaculate blonde mane. “Sit down and act your station. Running and screaming will only incite more panic in the lesser classes.” The young stallion said in a more reasonable tone. Princess Celestia gave a thankful smile to her nephew. “Very well said, Prince Blueblood. Though be careful about calling other ponies “lesser classes” in the future.” Blueblood merely nodded back with a faint smile on his face before turning to face the newest arrival. Suddenly a dark face with large jade eyes and a sharp, twisted, and jagged horn dominated his vision. Almost as a humorous after thought, a tiny black crown perched atop the creature’s dark green/blue mane. “Hi.” “Yaaah!” The young prince yelped, his voice sounding a bit higher-pitched than normal for a stallion. The Changeling Queen cackled as she drew her head back out of his personal space. Turning to the largest figure at the table she bowed her head briefly in greeting. “You have my greetings, fair Celestia.” “And you have mine, Chrysalis.” Intoned the Princess in a no-nonsense voice. “Please come and join us.” “Thank you.” The Queen turned and promptly took the empty chair directly across from the Princess, one specifically reserved for the leaders of other nations. At that moment several servants entered the room bearing dishes for the guests. The sight of the Changeling Queen was enough to unnerve even the most stoic of them. However they steeled their nerves and pressed on. As the rest served the other guests, one waiter sidled up to the Queen. “What would you like to have for breakfast, your majesty?” He waited in silence as the Queen’s great emerald eyes swept over him as if judging if he was a morsel even worth draining the love from. “A chocolate doughnut and any unrequited love you might have lying around would be lovely. Perhaps some of your own.” The pony waiter gulped as he scribbled down the order before fleeing as fast as possible, the Queen’s eyes following his every movement. Chrysalis snuck a peek at the Princess from the corner of her eye. Yes! The regal Princess of Equestria, commonly referred to as one of the most beautiful ponies of the world was shooting her a cross look, quite unaware that the royal snout had scrunched up with her frustration. “You should see the look on your face, Celestia! It’s priceless!” Chrysalis teased, airily waving a hoof in the Princess's direction. Eyes widening, Celestia quickly composed herself, her royal visage quickly resuming it’s famously serene look before any pony could look. The Changeling Queen put on a playful pout. “A shame. It was a nice change from your usual look. Don’t you agree my little ponies?” As she spoke, green flame engulfed her head in its fiery embrace briefly before dissipating with a flourish, revealing a perfect copy of Princess Celestia’s head perched a top a slender black neck. The copy Celestia’s face was scrunched up ridiculously, Chrysalis even going as far as to cause her eyes to wander in separate directions. It was painful to do but the response was worth it as several nobles including young Prince Blueblood suddenly found them selves simultaneously suffering fits of coughing. Chrysalis checked the guard by the door for similar signs of mirth. No such luck. In fact the guard seemed rather livid to her. Curious, she looked to the Princess, who simply stared at her coolly. “If you are done making me look like a fool, Queen Chrysalis, I’d like to move on to the matter of why you are here. I can only guess that you are who my sister spoke to a week ago.” With a puff of green fire, the changeling’s head was back to normal. Chrysalis thought hard. “Luna. Luna. The name seems familiar but I can’t quite place it.” She pondered aloud, tapping her chin thoughtfully with a perforated hoof. Disbelief shot across Celestia’s face. “Yes, my sister. Princess Luna. Raises the moon. Is currently the second oldest alicorn?” “Aha!” Chrysalis cried. “blue coat, stars in her mane and tail? Cutie mark is a patch of dark blue with the moon? Meets in the middle with the other side, by the way. Nice flank and great kisser?” Celestia’s smile, which had been growing wider as Chrysalis listed her little sister’s traits suddenly, fell at the last three descriptions. Instead a new reaction came to dominate her face Chrysalis cursed. “Damn it! I knew I got that expression wrong!” “Got what expression wrong?” Asked Princess Luna as she strode through the door. Behind her the herald tried to discreetly ascertain as to whether the Changeling Queen was correct about his other Princess’s cutie mark before a pegasus in dark armor bopped him over the head with a hoof. Chrysalis met the Princess of the Night with a quick hug and a kiss. “Nothing much, darling. An expression your sister made earlier that I tried and failed to copy.” Celestia’s face promptly morphed from being disgusted to horror and then finally settled on anger. Prince Blueblood suddenly stood up. “I suddenly remembered! I left my servants on fire! Come everypony, let’s go put them out!” Taking the Prince’s less than subtle hint, all the other nobles, dignitaries, and politicians very quickly found themselves rushing to rescue Blueblood’s servants. After the stampede out the door ceased, Celestia finally found her voice. Standing up to her full height, her tail and mane whipping about her as if suddenly caught in hurricane force winds. Celestia’s face twisted into an ugly expression that unsettled everypony looking at it save two. “YOU! YOU HAVE ALREADY TRIED YOUR WILES ON SHINING ARMOR AND FAILED. I WILL NOT LET YOU HAVE MY SISTER, DEMON! Golden energy started to surround her horn as Celestia started channeling copious amounts of magic through it. Chrysalis found herself momentarily in awe at the show of magical force before flash of magc followed shortly by a loud slap caused every thing to stop. The guards could only stare in awe as Celestia’s head rocked back from the force of the blow. Recovering quickly, she looked around. “Who dares interrupt me?!” she growled. Another flash of magical light, distinctly blue, strobed throughout the room before another telekinetic slap landed on Celestia’s other cheek. “L-Luna!” cried Celestia, her voice hurt and disbelieving as she instinctively backed away. Princess Luna stood tall as she stared her big sister down. Celestia’s eyes focused on the dark figure behind her sister. “That beast clearly has you under her power! Fight it, Luna!” “Fight what?” came the unexpectedly bored reply. Celestia blinked several times. “Why the Changeling Queen’s influence. She’s clearly got you under her spell.” The Regent of the Night simply laughed at her sister prompting Chrysalis to chuckle a bit at the older pony's expense. Her laughter dying down, Princess Luna leveled her stare at her sister. “I’m sorry, you must be mistaken me for the pony who hasn’t studied and practiced intensively to prevent mental possessions like Nightmare Moon from ever happening again. Not too mention we alicorns are resistant to spells over all.” The solar princess’s face fell. “What?” Princess Luna stared her sister down. "It's simple. I'm not under anypony's control. I did this under my own free will." "But why would you do that?! You know that Changelings feed off love. This changeling is no better than a leech!" "And who's fault is that?" exclaimed Luna accusingly. "It's not like changelings choose to eat love. The only choice they have is in how they get it. And admit it, our ponies are too xenophobic to just accept them." Frustrated, Celestia switched tactics fixing her glare on the changeling queen. "You've certainly convinced Luna of this, but I'm not falling for it. What is it you want from this?" The queen simply gave her a sardonic look. "Oh what a shame. However it's not like I need your permission. The only pony whose opinion matters has already agreed to this new project." With that she leaned forward to nuzzle Luna who promptly returned the gesture. Celestia did not know what to do. What Luna said about her not being under the changeling's control was likely true. Ever since her return, the Night Princess had worked tirelessly to ensure the Mare in the Moon would never return. But still there had to be something that the changeling had done, but what was it? Chrysalis chanced sauntering over to the white alicorn and hooking a hoof around the confused pony’s neck. “Oh don’t tell me you can’t guess from what I said earlier.” The alicorn growled in a very unpony manner and tried to squirm away from the hug, but the changeling held on like a lamprey. “It’s simply really. Changelings are like any creature and thus need food to survive. We changelings were unfortunate enough to need to eat love as Luna said before, but thankfully your sister was kind enough to volunteer for a new method of feeding that shouldn't put as much of a strain on ponies.” The white alicorn quickly found herself sandwiched between Chrysalis and Luna as the latter gave her a reassuring hug. After a moment of confusion where Celestia's mind battled with her heart, she simply gave up and turned back to the changeling. “So you’re just using my sister as food?” The pleading tone in Celestia's voice just begged that to be it and nothing more. “There….might be a few additional benefits in it for me, sister.” Said Luna with a sheepish smile before giggling at some obscene tongue gestures Chrysalis was making at the back of her sister's head. The Changeling on the other hoof had a mile-wide grin. With a wiggle of her flank and a sly wink, she stepped away from Celestia to stand next to the Night Princess. “Oh yes, 'benefits' indeed! Not too mention a....'healthy' working relationship!” Princess Celestia grimaced as she put a hoof to her head, trying her best to expunge the images that tried to intrude upon her thoughts. Unbidden, the changeling's earlier comment about her sister's cutie mark came to the front of her mind, causing the alicorn to silently retch. Chrysalis’s hoof bopped the Princess on the shoulder. “Don’t worry so much! After all this is all simply leading into my plan to start having ponies and changelings interbreed with one another!" “Ewwww!” With a squeal of disgust and a golden flash of light, the sun princess teleported away. Silence fell over the dining room. "Soooooo........ how long until your sister realizes that I was messing with her and that Changelings can’t breed with ponies.” Settling her royal posterior in her sister’s plush seat, Luna leaned forward and helped herself to Celestia's untouched pastries. “Give her a day or two. For all her experience and age, sometimes Celestia just isn’t very bright.”