Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony
Prologue part 3- Opportunity
{Queen Chrysalis}
Not many creatures seemed able to stand the cold. Evolution had not allowed many species to be able to walk through it comfortably, let alone live in it.
For the life of her Chrysalis couldn’t imagine why.
Here in these misty, wet caves leading underground, the changeling race had made their hive. A series of tunnels stretching miles underground. All hidden by what the ponies called the Neighagra Falls.
Since the days of the so called Blessed Mother, these tunnels had been the changeling race’s home. These tunnels held so much of their species’ history. The walls were littered with paintings, depicting many key moments of their development.
The so called Blessed Mother’s deal with the so called demigod Dez’Cared, Azalea’s lost daughters following her to the great hive bellow, the reign of Queen Antirrhinum. Naturally, there were not many paintings of the time of the cursed Queen Oleander’s rule, as it should be. It was better if that failure of a queen be forgotten entirely.
Then there were depictions of Queen Metamorphis, the previous queen of the hive and Chrysalis’s own mother.
A wave of nostalgia hit Chrysalis as she glanced over at one such painting. She still remembered when her mother would hold her in her forearms while they both sat on the throne. All of her mother’s perioci and spartiates would come up to them and nuzzle their future queen. Many did not live to see her finally inherit the throne. By the time she had started giving birth to her own brood, many of her mother’s own children were already dead. While the queens of the hive were capable of living for three centuries at most, perioci and spartiates only lived about twenty five years give or take.
Looking over the paintings of her mother, Chrysalis could only wonder. Her mother was always depicted as being a good and beloved queen. It hadn’t ever mattered that Queen Metamorphis was the daughter of Queen Oleander. She had done well leading the hive and as such, was remembered fondly.
How would she be remembered though? Chrysalis closed her eyes in thought. Just two weeks ago, she not only exposed her race for all to see, she had also failed to lead her people to victory causing the deaths of five hundred and seventy eight of her children. Queen Oleander may have experimented on her subjects, but at least she never put their people in danger from outside sources. That and Oleander had been capable of giving the hive another queen when the time had come.
“Mother”?
Chrysalis opened her eyes to find several perioci and a spartiate nuzzling her legs. Apparently they had sensed her distress and were trying to comfort her. She smiled down at her children, lowering her head to their level. They immediately moved from her leg and pressed their faces to hers.
She and her children remained silent and just stood there. For a minute? Or for several? She did not know for how long. She just stood there, her precious children nuzzling her face, trying to chase the thoughts of her shortcomings from her.
Eventually, she rose her head. As tempting as it was to remain just a little longer, she still had to talk to their ‘guest’.
“Nexus” Chrysalis addressed the sole spariate of the group. “Come with me. The rest of you, go back to your duties.”
With her word given, her children dispersed, off to attend their various jobs to keep their hive running smoothly. Once she was alone with the spartiate she had named Nexus when it had been promoted four years ago, she began to walk towards her own destination.
As she walked through the misty tunnels, her wondering thoughts turned back to the legends of the so called Demigod. The legend went that a thousand years ago, the demigod Dez’Cared had come to the earth pony Azalea. He then offered her a deal. In exchange for her loyalty, he would grant her the power to transcend her race and become something great. Dez’Cared crafted her into the first of the changelings.
Chrysalis snorted to herself. When she had discovered her…. Inadequacies, she had lost all faith she had in any sort of Goddesses and such.
Meeting the real Dez’Cared had not proven that to be a mistake.
{Queen Chrysalis}-Two weeks prior
What did one say in this kind of situation?
What did one say when face to face with a creature whose appearance challenged all that one thought was possible?
Queen Chrysalis had never seen a creature like the one that stood before her. It was a mix and matched collection of various creatures and life form. Its main body was not dissimilar to that of a snake or other kind of serpent. That part of its body that was, had a brown colored coat. While its left arm looked to be from a different creature, the right arm seemed to be of the same kind of creature the body came from. Only it wasn’t. The arm seemed to be from a griffon. Its hand was very much talon like, but it arm seemed to match the color fur that its body had. Its other arm was that of a manticore, the yellow coat covering it starting from the shoulder.
The creature’s right leg was that of a minotaur, only much smaller. Its fur was a brighter shade of brown then its body. Like that leg, its left leg was that of a dragon, only smaller. The leg was covered in lime green scales. A red scaled tail swung back and forth behind it, a tassel of white hair adjourning the tip. On his back, there were two wings resting against his side. But, like everything else on his body, they were contradictory to one another. On the right, there was the wing of a Pegasus.
Its feathers were a beautiful shade of teal, very much like Chrysalis’s mother’s hair and eyes had been. She allowed herself a moment to admire the color before continuing her analysis of this strange creature.
Chrysalis wasn’t sure what kind of creature had wings like the one on this oddity’s left. The closest comparison she could come up with were the wings of a bat, but the look was slightly off. She wasn’t sure what was off, it was just a feeling in her gut. The wings were the color of a dull, gray shade of purple.
Then there was this creature’s head. The coat of it was a very light shade of brown. The head and neck were clearly ponylike but they possessed an odd shape. It resembled the ponies that lived in Saddle Arabia, but like this Creature’s left wing, there was something off about it.
If she had to put it into words, Chrysalis would have said that this creature’s head closely resembled the shape of a Wendigo’s head.
The creature’s eyes contained red pupils and yellow sclera. Oddly, the pupil in its left eye was twice the size of the one in the right eye. Above its eyes, there were two white eyebrows. A single fang hung from the smirk on the creature’s mouth. Under that mouth, on the chin, was a white beard. In contrast with this, from the back of its head to the bottom of its neck, the creature possessed a black mane.
On the top of its head, there were two oddities bursting out. On the left was some kind of antler. It resembled ones that you found on a long extinct race that the ponies called deer. On the right was a deformed looking unicorn horn. Chrysalis had seen deformed unicorns before. The helot’s that the hive raised occasionally gave birth to unicorns with deformities, not that it stopped then from placing them with the others. Love was love after all. But the deformities on this creature’s horn were mind boggling. It looked like there were pockets of air inside the horn itself, giving the horn the appearance of growing and shrinking as you went up the horn.
“If you are quite done admiring this wonderful horn of mine,” The creature brought Chrysalis out of her examination of the creature, an amused grin on its face. “Perhaps we might leave your fantasies for later and get down to business, yes?”
“Do not flatter yourself creature,” Chrysalis responded, a snarl making its way onto her face. She glared at the creature, wary of any sudden moves it might make. “I was merely wondering what parent may have the misfortune to carry such a deformed spawn of Oleander.”
“Deformed spawn of what?” The creature asked, the smile never leaving its face. “You know, it doesn’t do much if your insult isn’t understood by the one you’re insulting.”
“True, but it helps gauge the level of intelligence of the one you’re targeting.” Chrysalis shot back, a smirk now growing on her face. “My advice to you. Step it up a little.”
The creature frowned for a split second before it returned to smiling. “Good, good. I believe you and I will get along just fine, descendent of Azalea.”
There it was again. The so called goddess’s name. The changeling culture had been guarded closely. They almost never left any trace of themselves throughout history. So, how in the stars did this creature have that knowledge?
“Chrysalis. My name is Queen Chrysalis.” She said, not wanting to hear this creature lump her and the false goddess in the same sentence.
“Chrysalis, hmm?” The creature responded completely ignoring the Queen part of her name. “Chrysalis, Chrysalis,” The creature said her name a few times, apparently trying out the name. “I suppose that will do, for now. As for me,” It performed an over exaggerated bow towards her. “You may call me Discord, the spirit of chaos and disharmony.”
Chrysalis glared at this creature named Discord, the gears in her mind turning rapidly.
‘Discord’
‘Dizcord’
‘Dezcord’
‘Dez’Cord’
‘Dez’Cared’
Chrysalis was brought out of her revelation by a feeling of utter shock. Turning her head towards the source, she found the perioeci that had come here with Discord staring in utter reverence at him. Apparently it had come to the same conclusion she had. It slowly turned to her, its pupiless eyes shining with excitement.
‘Mother?’ It’s voice ringing through her head. ‘Is he… This one wonders….Dez’Cared?!’
Despite the difference in beliefs between the two of them, Chrysalis couldn’t help but chuckle lightly at her child’s excitement. “Possibly, my little perioeci. But don’t jump to conclusions.”
“Umm, what did you call me now?” Discord asked, his eyebrows raised in light confusion. “And what conclusions am I jumping to? Did I completely black out or something, because we’re clearly having a different conversation here.”
“I wasn’t talking to you.” Chrysalis snapped at Discord.
“You weren’t? Then who-“ Discord began to ask before his eyes fell on the perioeci at his side. He then quickly snapped his head back to Chrysalis, an annoyed expression on his face. “Wait a second, he said he couldn’t speak. Well said as in-“
“Not a he.” Chrysalis interjected.
Discord paused, and then looked at the perioeci for a long ten seconds. “You’re a girl?”
Before Chrysalis could respond, Discord grabbed the smaller changeling, turning it upside down. He then began to scrutinize the changeling’s underside.
“What are you-“ Chrysalis began to ask, only to be swiftly hushed by Discord.
“She’s a girl right? I’m looking for her- AHA!” Discord loudly declared. “So you are a girl. So sorry deary. Seriously it’s right there. How in Tarturaus did I miss that when I was questioning you?”
“How did you miss what?” Chrysalis asked, feeling annoyed at this bizarre creature’s behavior.
“You know, her girl part.” Discord answered. “True, it’s on her barrel, a little higher then it would normally be, but it’s still there.” As he spoke he began to lower one of his fingers towards towards the changeling in his grasp’s barrel.
“It’s barrel?” Chrysalis wondered aloud. “What did you find on its-“ Suddenly, as she thought of what Discord had been saying, she finally pieced together what it was that he had found. “Wait! Don’t touch that! That’s it’s-“
It was too late though. As Discord’s finger made contact with the small slit on the changeling’s stomach, a sharp stinger shot out of the slit, piercing the finger. Discord jumped back, dropping the changeling and sucking his finger.
“OW!” Discord cried out. “What was that?!”
“That was its stinger.” Chrysalis answered. “What you perceived as it’s ‘girl part’ as you so eliquitely put it was actually its venom sheath. It’s a chamber in our bodies that contains our stingers. The venom in our stingers is harmless to other changelings, although it does have an effect on me. However the venom is a powerful poison to any other species, so, unless you want to spend the next few hours in pain and unable to move, I suggest you suck the venom out quickly.”
“My my. That does sound quite unpleasant.” Discord responded, his voice very casual and unconcerned as he continued to suck on his finger. “It would quite the problem if I had any veins for blood to be flowing through.”
“What? You don’t have any veins?” Chrysalis asked, her eyes wide. “You’re lying. That’s impossible.”
“Heh he he he he.” Discord chuckled. He slowly turned towards Chrysalis. “I think you’ll find that as you get to know me, your view of what is and isn’t possible will change drastically.”
Chrysalis just stared at the draconequus for a few moments before asking, “And what makes you think that I’ll be getting to know you at all?”
“Wait, did I not tell you what I wanted?” Discord asked, chuckling to himself. “Where are my manners? Auntie Hurricane would have a fit if she was still around.” For the briefest of seconds, Discord’s face seemed to reflect melancholy before resuming the smirk that seemed to permantly grace his face.
“Well, allow me to elaborate. You see, I had just broken free from my prison of stone.” Discord then put his face less than an inch from Chrysalis’s own face. “Have you ever tried being encased in stone?”
Chrysalis shook her head. “No.”
“Well lucky you. Here’s a fabulous piece of advice. No, seriously. Burn these words of wisdom in your soul. You ready?” Discord, if it was possible, seemed to lean in closer.
“Don’t… ever… leave your sandwich unattended or somepony will eat it.”
A full three seconds passed before Chrysalis was able to respond. “What?”
“Never leave your sandwich unattended.” Discord repeated.
“What in the stars does that have to do with being encased in stone?” Chrysalis snapped, her annoyance at Discord’s mannerisms getting the better of her.
“My dear, I must admit that you lose me when you say strange things like that.” Discord said, completely ignoring the question. “Is there some kind of dictionary I can read to at least partially understand your langue.”
“Do not ignore my question, creature!” Chrysalis snapped, closing the distance between her and Discord’s face. “What relevance does a sandwich have with being encased in stone?”
“You mean other then the fact that I had a serious craving for one after being encased in stone for a thousand years? Absolutely none.” Discord answered. “Just seemed like good advice. I mean, what did you expect me to say? Don’t be encased in stone? My dear, if I have to tell you that, perhaps I would be better off looking to other sources to align with.”
“Then do so!” Chrysalis backed away, fury etched on her face. “Because frankly, you’ve wasted too much of my time already, and I don’t intend to waste one second longer on you. I don’t care if you are possibly Dez’Cared,” Discord’s eyes widened the second that name left her tongue. “You’ve evaded my questions, you borderline assaulted one of my children, and you’ve been nothing but an annoyance since you arrived! I see no reason that I should tolerate one more second of your presence.”
“Dez’Cared.” Discord muttered to himself. “Dez’Cared. Wow, it has been a long, long time since anypony has called me that. Azalea was the last one to call me that.” Discord closed his eyes in thought, a somber expression making its way onto his face. It was strange seeing such a look on a face that was almost always smiling.
“The fact that you know me by that name, probably means she told you about me, am I right?” He asked.
Chrysalis answered, “Yes, there are stories passed down, that you gave the so called Goddess-“ Chrysalis was stopped by a twinge of hurt coming from the perioeci. Looking over at it, she saw that sorrow was etched clearly on its face. It was upset and sad at her declaration of Azalea as a false god.
“Don’t look at me like at me like that child.” She said firmly, but her tone lacked any trace of anger. She then turned back to Discord, beginning her statement anew. “There are stories passed down, that you gave Azalea her power in exchange for her loyalty.”
At this, a smile returned to Discord’s face. “I’m sorry, did you say Goddess?” Discord tilted his head back in laugher. “Oh, she would have loved that. Azalea the Goddess.”
Discord’s smirk seemed to take a sinister undertone. “So, I guess from that little ‘don’t look at me’ bit just a second ago, you and your daughter have conflicting views on what Azalea was, hm?”
Chrysalis flinched at the word daughter, wondering if he had dropped the word on purpose. No, that was unlikely. There was no he knew that part about her already. “It isn’t a girl.”
Discord ignored her statement. “I’ll take that as a yes then.” Discord began examining his fingers. “You know, if it pleases you, I could tell you about her.”
That got both Chrysalis’s and the perioeci’s attention. “You would tell us of Azalea?”
“Well, that depends.” Discord said. “I’m feeling a little tired at the moment, and I need somewhere to rest and regain my power over the course of a few days. Somewhere far away from pony eyes.” Discord gazed over at her, the smirk never leaving his face. “Know of anyplace like that?”
Chrysalis snarled once, and turned her head away from Discord’s gaze. She had been trapped in a figurative corner. He wanted to come back with them to the hive. And she wasn’t in a very good position to refuse him.
This was without a doubt the so called demigod, Dez’Cared. He was something of a second minor deity to her children. There was less worship devoted to him then Azalea, but it was still there. If she refused him sanctuary in the Hive, her children would most likely see it as an affront to their so called gods. She was their mother and queen. They followed her faithfully despite her lack of faith in the so called gods. As long as she acted in the best interests of the hive and left them alone to their worship, there was almost nothing that they would not do for her.
This recent failure of an invasion would put the hive in a difficult spot. Her children would see the return of the demigod Dez’Cared during these troubled times as a sign from the so called goddess below that things would get better soon. If Chrysalis refused him however, they would feel as if she had spat in the face of their savior. This coupled with their failed invasion would lead to her likely death at their hoofs. Or at the very least, her expulsion from the hive.
She was trapped. How had she been outplayed like this? She snarled to herself before turning back to Discord. “I may have an ideal spot.”
“Oh, wonderful.” He said, his smirk growing into a wide grin. “And here I was worrying I might have to head to the Dragon’s Kingdom, and that wouldn’t have been a lot of fun for me.” He then turned to the smaller changeling who had been sitting on the sidelines for most of the verbal confrontation. “Hear that little Menyanthes. You and I will be staying together for a lot longer.
‘Menyanthes’ seemed torn between smiling at the fact that the Demigod Dez’Cared would be staying at the Hive and worrying about its mother, who looked about three seconds away from killing something
“Menyanthes?” Chrysalis questioned the draconequus.
“Her.” Discord answered, pointing at the changeling.
“It’s not a boy. It’s not a girl. And it does not have a name. It’s a perioeci.” Chrysalis snarled.
“Perioeci?” Discord raised an eyebrow. “Okay, is there some kinda translation book at…. Wherever it is that we’re going. Because quite frankly, I’m getting just a touch sick of you saying words, and me not understanding said words.” Discord said with a slight pout.
“Let’s clarify a few things shall we?” Chrysalis said, walking forward until she was face to face with Discord. “We’re going to My home, in which you’re a guest. Therefore, you are expected to follow a few rules.”
“Rules? Oh, are those really necessary?” Discord asked with a light mock whine.
“Rule number one,” Chrysalis said, taking a page from Discord’s book and ignoring his question. “Do not do anything that reveals anything about my people to the other species of the world. Do not do anything that draws attention to the hive.”
“Um, considering that you just launched an invasion against the capital of Equstia, Is there anything that I could do to draw more attention then you already have?”
“Do you think you’re a wise mule, creature?” Chrysalis questioned.
“Nah, I’m not all that wise. I’m more of a…. Smart cookie.” Discord replied, an unusual smirk adjourning his face. The smirk possessed a level of amusement that suggested he was making some kind of inside joke.
“Whatever you say, creature. Rule number two. Do not go bothering my children in the same manner that you treated that one.” Chrysalis continued, pointing her hoof at ‘Menyanthes’.
“Got it.” Discord answered, making a mock salute. “Find an entirely new way to bother your children. Easy.”
“Shut up!” Chrysalis ground out. “Rule number three. Do not bother Me in the same manner you bother that one.” Again, Chrysalis pointed at ‘Menyanthes’.
“As if I need to bother, my dear.” Discord said. “I’m quite confident that I can identify your sex without looking. You’re a guy, right?”
Resisting the urge to bash Discord’s head into the nearest rock solid surface, Chrysalis turned from him. “I am sure that I will add to this list as things come to me. But for now, we’ve wasted too much time already talking out in the open like this. I’m quite surprised we haven’t been discovered yet.” Chrysalis tilted her head to the northeast. “Come. I don’t want to waste this stroke of luck. We must head to the Hive immediately.” And with that, she began to walk.
She heard the sounds of her child and Discord following her. She wasn’t happy with the current situation. She didn’t like the idea of another creature worming its way into her hive. Particularly, one as annoying as Discord was.
And yet there was a flip side to it as well. If he knew as much about Azalea as claimed to, he no doubt possessed knowledge that would prove the she wasn’t a goddess. If he confirmed it, more of her children would see the truth as she did. While a few of her children had joined her in her beliefs when she first threw away her faith, they were only a few dozen at most.
This would prove to be an interesting few days.
Present
{Queen Chrysalis}
It seemed as though she had been too optimistic. Those few days had promptly become two weeks. They had been interesting, though not in the way that she had wanted them to be.
When they had arrived at the Hive, he had promptly requested somewhere that he could sleep and be to himself. It hadn’t been outside of her expectations of what he would want while he was in their home, so she had given him a small cavern, roughly the size of her chambers in the palace while she had pretended to be the princess of love.
He then spent the next three days sleeping. To her knowledge, he hadn’t woken up once in those three days. It had been frustrating to her. She had wanted to start questioning him about the so called goddess as soon as he was able.
Then, when he had woken up, he promptly left for another two days, saying that he would be back shortly. When he returned, he went to his chambers and slept for another two days. When he woke up, she demanded to know where he had been. The only thing he had said was that he had been in Canterlot erecting a statue, and that it had been more exhausting then he thought it was going to be.
Discord had then spent most of the next week, laying about, doing almost nothing. He claimed that he was waiting until a good chunk of his power to return until he made his next move, though he refused to clarify what that was. All he would say was that he would tell her when the time came.
He also refused to divulge the details of Azalea’s nature. That was the very reason that she had allowed him entrance into the Hive. Now he was refusing to keep his end of the bargain. He just said that he would tell her everything when the proper time came.
She was getting quite sick of having that sentence tossed in her face. She was also getting sick of the subtle implications that Discord seemed to have a plan for her. She was the Queen of this Hive and she would not be used in any matter.
“Mother?”
A voice brought Chrysalis out of her musing. Turning towards the source of the voice, she found that it had been the spariate that was accompanying her. When it had been promoted to the rank of spariate, she had given it the name, Nexus.
Physically, it looked like any other perioeci. The only difference was the dark blue armor that this child wore. The armor came in two pieces, a chest guard and a helmet. The armor wasn’t crafted through the crude methods that the ponies used. The weak minerals of iron or steel weren’t used in this armor. No, this armor was crafted from the chitins of the fallen.
It had been a tradition spanning back to the days of the cursed queen, Oleander. She had originally been experimenting to discover their race’s strengths and weaknesses. She'd apparently been interested in performing raids against ponies, to enslave them. A shiver ran through Chrysalis as she again realized how close her and Oleander’s motivations resembled each other.
Oleander had begun to study their species, particularly the chitins that had started to emerge on their backs, a result of evolution. The chitin was an armored shell that covered their backs all the way to their docks. Underneath was a large patch of exposed muscle. Nerves exited from the muscle and held the chitin down. Apparently, it was possible to rip the chitin away, but doing so would cause an enormous amount of pain for the victim. While Chrysalis didn’t understand the specifics, their species magic interacted with the love that they fed on and, somehow took physical shape.
When Oleander discovered the defensive properties of the shell, she ripped them from seven hundred of her children and crafted them through magic, into armor for herself and her loyalist warriors.
When Chrysalis had first heard that story from her mother, she had been livid. Chrysalis had just given birth to her first set of broods. She had just become a mother. She was horrified and sickened at the fact that a queen could use her children as sacrifices so casually. It was no wonder that the hive remembered her as the Cursed Queen.
After Oleander had died and Chrysalis’s mother, Queen Metamorphis had stepped up to take charge of the Hive. Most of the armor crafted in those cursed times were destroyed, though a few were kept in the hopes that if the Hive ever had to defend themselves, they could use the armor for the front line warriors.
There was no thought put forth as to destroy Queen Oleander’s armor or not. It was a symbol of Changeling suffering. It covered every inch of her body and was made from the chitins of one hundred and fifty changelings. A sick artifact like that shouldn’t even exist.
Over time however, Queen Metamorphis began granting strong warriors the ability to speak. These became the template of spariates, the strongest warriors. Eventually, it became a burden to tell which of her children were spariates and which were perioeci. This led to the tradition of gifting the spariates the armor, so that the Queen could tell them apart on sight.
Chrysalis was still not completely comfortable with the armor. Every time she looked at it, she was reminded of the story. The story of a queen that would willingly harm her subjects.
“Did you want something, Nexus?” Chrysalis questioned her companion.
“No, this one did not require anything, dear queen.” Nexus spoke, its tone carrying a touch of concern. “This one just thought that you seemed to be lost in thought, and was worried you were unwell.”
“Your concern is unneeded, but appreciated.” Chrysalis responded. “I was merely thinking about Dez’Cared.”
“The so called demigod?” Nexus asked. “He gives this one an uneasy feeling. How long is he staying here? Not that it is questioning your decision dear queen.”
“That… is one of the many things I intend to ask, dear Nexus.” Chrysalis said, looking up at the arch leading to the chambers that Chrysalis provided Discord.
As she entered the chambers, she was greeted by an unusual sight. Discord was sitting cross legged in the middle of the room, his eyes closed, and his arms holding each other in his lap.
She walked towards him warily, Nexus following, staying close to her, ready to jump forward to defend its queen if Discord made any threatening moves.
“Dez’Cared? I want to have a word with you.” Chrysalis sternly declared.
He didn’t respond. He just sat there, doing whatever it was that he was doing.
“Dez’Cared!” Chrysalis repeated.
Discord’s head seemed to twitch. Chrysalis took this as a sign that he was listening.
“You’ve been here two weeks now, Dez’Cared.” Chrysalis began. “In that time, you have refused to tell me anything about Azalea. I am here to tell you that that is no longer acceptable. I have been more then patient with you, but my patience has its limits. Now, I want to-“
Her words were cut short by Discord. He had lurched his head forward, grabbing his chest. He then started dry heaving. It had been so sudden that Chrysalis had been momentarily startled and had leaped back. After a few seconds, Discord raised his head again.
Chrysalis took a moment to observe his eyes. They were different then they had been before. His pupils were still the red that they had been, but his scleras were now a bright shade of green. A strange purple mist seemed to flow from his eyes.
“Dez’Cared?” Chrysalis asked apprehensively.
Discord held up a finger as he breathed heavily. His eyes began to lose the unnatural color they had momentarily possessed. His breathing began to slow, to the point where he stopped altogether.
After he seemed to regain his composure, he looked up to Chrysalis with a smile. “Ah, my dear Chrisy. I didn’t hear you come in.”
Chrysalis snarled at the nickname he had given her, but said nothing of it, knowing how well that argument would go. “I had only entered this place just moments before your…fit. What was that?”
“Oh, that? Nothing to worry about, I assure you.” Discord answered. “Seems that Sombra is no longer among the living. A shame, I had wanted to use him just a touch more. Bah, but no matter.”
“And just who is Sombra?” Chrysalis asked. “And what does he have to do with that fit of yours just now?”
“Sombra is someone I ‘helped’,” As he said the word helped, Discord starting poking his index and middle finger with his thumb. “Rise to power, though I doubt he saw it that way. Other than that, he was a worthless shell of a unicorn that the world is just better off forgetting. Put him out of your mind, my dear.”
“I am not your ‘dear’, Dez’Cared! And surely there’s more to this Sombra then that. You looked like you were in pain. If he really was so worthless, why did his death cause you pain.”
“He and I are connected in more ways than one might imagine, Chrisy. That is all I will say on the matter for now. I promise that once I get back, I will tell you more.”
“Do not change the subject on me Dez’Cared! I will have no more of this- Wait?” Chrysalis stopped. “When you get back? Are you going somewhere?”
“Oh my, yes.” Discord replied. “Sombra’s death gives me an opportunity, a light window if you would. You see,” Discord paused examining his hand. “My powers are returning at a slower rate than I thought, so I’m fairly limited in what I can do right now. Sombra, in his death, left behind something that might boost my recovery somewhat. It will also allow me to bring her in sooner than I thought.”
“Her? Are you planning on bringing somepony into my home? I will not allow this.” Chrysalis growled at Discord anger building. How long had he been planning on bringing others here?
“Well, to be honest, I’ve been planning on bring two ponies here.” Discord said, a smirk on his face, his tone clearly telling Chrysalis that he was amused with himself. “Don’t worry, the one I’m planning on bringing here right now won’t be a threat. She’s merely coming here because she’s too much of a wild card.”
“Dez’Cared, I don’t want more unpredictable things in my Hive.” Chrysalis ground out.
“Even if she’s someone I'm sure you want to hurt?” Discord asked.
Chrysalis looked him in the eye, a spark of curiosity flowing through her mind. “And just who am I so excited to see suffer, that I’m willing to let them into my Hive.”
“Why don’t we make that a surprise, my dear?” Discord answered. He began walking towards the exit to his chambers.
Chrysalis followed. “That’s not how this works, Dez’Cared. You don’t just bring strangers into my home, into my species home with no information on whom these strangers are.”
“My dear,” Discord turned back to Chrysalis. “You sound as if you don’t trust me.”
“I don’t!” Chrysalis yelled.
“Good. That’s good.” Discord answered. “For now, know that I’m not going to bring threats into this place. Considering I’m staying here at the moment, it wouldn’t benefit me in the slightest.”
Chrysalis was silent for a moment. “If you expose me-“
“Calm yourself Chrysalis.” Discord raised his hands. “Trust me, you’ll love who I’m bringing. I imagine you’ll just be dying to spend some private time together when she gets here.” And with that, Discord left her and Nexus standing alone in the chambers.
For the next few moments, everything was silent. It was Nexus that broke it. “Mother?”
“Nexus.” Chrysalis spoke with an air of authority about her. “Please go to the guards at the entrance to tell them that if they see a single pony, let me know. I don’t care who it is, or what they’re doing, they let me know immediately.
“Yes, dear queen.” Nexus bowed and exited the room quickly, sensing that the queen was angry.
Chrysalis stood there for a moment fuming. She was tired of this creature having the upper hoof here. She would have to do something about that soon.