Roses are Red: Chapter 11
Lilo and Carbon hastily galloped through the streets of Canterlot, whipping past ponies that were meandering along the streets and market stalls that had been set up outside of the market square. A huge throng of ponies lay before them, all huddled around a large platform that had been brought into the market square overnight. Tense chatter rolled throughout the crowd that had gathered to watch the trial.
Royal guards patrolled the outer ring of the crowd, occasionally glancing in and scanning their eyes over the tops of the heads of each pony. The pegasi guards each had one of their wings wrapped around a massive spear, and each of the unicorn guards had their horns completely lit up in uniform yellow hues. Their armor clanked noisily as they walked, barely audible above the wurr of voices from the ponies they circled.
Lilo eyed the guards nervously as she and Carbon neared the edge of the crowd, clenching her pegasus wings tightly against her sides. One of the guards passed behind her, his eyes piercing into the back of her head, before he casually moved passed her to glare at another pony who was jumping up and down in the crowd. Lilo’s heart was racing in her chest.
“Hey, are you alright?” Carbon asked, casting his gaze from the stage at the center of the crowd.
“Y-yeah,” Lilo said, rubbing one of her forehooves against the other, “it’s just that the guards are making me a little nervous. I didn’t know there would be this many.”
Carbon looked around himself, noting that there were, indeed, a couple dozen guards standing on the stage in the center or patrolling around the ring of ponies. He exhaled and ruffled the feathers of his wings.
“It’ll be fine,” Carbon said, bumping his flank against Lilo’s. “From the looks of it, the guards are practically allowing anypony to come and watch the trial. And from what I can see, they haven’t devised some spell that can detect changelings, contrary to the rumors that have been floating around.”
Lilo’s wings relaxed slightly when she felt Carbon’s touch, but she could still hear her heartbeat thumping inside of her ears. Her gaze shifted wearily around the crowd, shooting glances at each of the guards as they made their rounds. As her eyes finally landed on the guards were standing on the stage, a bright light filled the market square. Lilo shielded her eyes.
When her eyes opened again, her breath caught in her throat when she saw Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadence standing on the stage. They all wore their full regalia, and they all stood perfectly at attention. The guards that were patrolling the outer circle of ponies stopped and turned, saluting the princesses and standing in their respective positions. Celestia nodded, allowing for the guards to stand at ease. She cleared her throat, causing everypony in attendance to fall completely silent.
“Greetings, my little ponies.” Many of the ponies in the crowd bowed. Lilo noticed that Celestia’s lips curled into a small frown. “Please rise, there is no need to bow before us. Not today.” Ponies all rose and glanced at each other, causing a small murmur to travel through the crowd. Celestia once again cleared her throat.
“I can see that many of you have gathered here today to witness the trial of the crimes committed by the one who led the attack on Canterlot just a little over two weeks ago. I cannot say that I am surprised, and was actually expecting more to arrive. She led an army onto the city, using her minions to rain down hellish fire onto many of your homes and businesses.” Celestia paused, unfurling her wings and walking to the other side of the stage. “Reports say that much of Canterlot is still damaged, and a few parts left in total ruin, even with all of our constructions crews working around the clock.”
A few more murmurs ran through the crowd. Lilo looked down at her hooves and pressed her side into Carbon slightly.
“Many of you have probably been witness to those same minions that have been carted through the streets towards the castle.” Celestia’s gaze slowly drifted the entire crowd in front of her. “I have heard from a few anonymous sources that threats and insults have been said and food has been thrown towards these prisoners of ours. I have seen with my own eyes the fear upon these creatures eyes when they are finally beyond the castle gates.”
There was another flash of light, and sitting on the stage were three cages that held changelings in each one. When the changelings looked around them, they immediately curled into tight balls in the center of the cages and covered their eyes with their hooves. One of Lilo’s hooves went up to her mouth, suppressing a gasp.
“To say that I am disappointed is an understatement,” Celestia continued. Her horn lit up, her yellow magical aura surrounding the cages and teleporting them away from the stage. Out of the corner of her eye, Lilo saw Princess Cadence’s eyes narrow. “We bring prisoners—no, not prisoners—hostages of war, and we treat them like they are some sort of vile demon from Tartarus.”
Celestia stopped, allowing for a rumble of conversation to sweep the crowd. A mix of angry, defensive shouts and apologetic statements rose up from the crowd towards the center stage. Celestia folded her wings back against her sides again and closed her eyes. Luna stepped up next to her sister.
“Silence!” she roared, bringing the entire throng to silence. The only sound the echoed through the market square was the occasional rattle from a guard’s armor or the dull thrum of city activities from beyond the trial.
“Our sister is right, but now is not the time to scold you all like foals,” Luna added, glancing at her sister. “There is one who must be brought before you all to be judged for the crimes she has committed against the state. Prince Shining Armor, please bring forth the prisoner.”
Another flash of light emit from the side of the stage, revealing a large, white unicorn. However, Lilo hardly noticed him, her eyes instead focused on the changeling that stood behind him. Queen Chrysalis stood proudly behind Shining Armor, her head held eye and her posture as straight as it could be. She wore manacles around her hooves, chained together tightly. Another pair of manacles were cuffed around her wings, and around Chrysalis’ horn was a circular device that prevented her from using her magic. In Shining Armor’s teeth was a chain leash that connected to a metal collar attached to Chrysalis’ neck.
The captain tugged on the chain, forcing Chrysalis to follow him onto the stage. He stopped before Celestia, Luna, and Cadence, and then stepped to the side so that Chrysalis was the one who stood before the three princesses. The queen’s posture faltered slightly when she came under Luna and Cadence’s hard glares. Celestia stepped forward.
“Queen Chrysalis,” she started, “you stand before the princesses of Equestria and the citizens of Canterlot to participate in your trial for your misgivings. You are accused of threatening the safety of the Equestrian nation and its citizens, destroying much of Canterlot city in the process and killing eight hundred and fifty seven ponies. You will be given a chance so that we may hear your defense. How do you plead?”
“Guilty,” Chrysalis curtly said.
Celestia sat back on her haunches, shortly followed by Cadence and Luna.
“Very well,” Celestia said. “Please present your case.”
Chrysalis took a deep breath, staying her gaze on the three princesses in front of her. Lilo held her breath.
“What is better?” Chrysalis asked quietly. “To be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?” The crowd fell silent. “Once upon a time there was a beautiful race of mystical ponies who carried with them the very magics of nature and life itself. They were regarded with the utmost respect and love throughout every nation that surrounded them, and in turn, they shared the same respect.”
Lilo’s eyes widened. This story...
“Each citizen—each pony—of this race was beautiful beyond comparison, and they all sported a compassionate and wise personality on top of that.” Chrysalis paused, looking down at her hooves. “These ponies had a wonderful queen, whose love and beauty was known to even the creatures who existed in the distance reaches of the furthest leylands. It seemed as they had everything anypony could ever want.
“However, they had one weakness.” Chrysalis looked up, staring at Cadence. “The ponies gave the land that they lived on love to survive, and in turn, the land gave the ponies the energy needed to sustain themselves.” She flipped her mane out of her eyes. “As you can guess, it was only a matter of time before something fed off of that weakness.
“A creature of immense power tore into the land that these ponies lived upon, twisting the magics that were present until there no longer existed a connection between the land and these ponies. The queen was mortified by what the creature had done, and she pleaded with him to give her and her race their land back.”
Chrysalis sighed, finally turning to face the crowd. She took another breath, and continued, “The beast promised to give them the land’s magic if they would serve under him as their slaves for as long as he remained alive. In desperation, the queen complied with the beast, but to her horror, his treachery didn’t stop there. He took the magic of the land, twisted it some more, and infused it with every citizen of the nation, changing the ponies forever into horrid manifestations of their former selves.
“Well, not long after that the beast was defeated, freeing the ponies from their enslavement. However, for the atrocities the ponies committed under the rule of the beast, they were no longer welcome amongst the world that they had come to know, and so they fled to the distant reaches if the world in order to find a new life.”
Everypony stared on at Chrysalis in silence. The queen shut her eyes.
“For centuries since then, these new... ponies had to make a new life for themselves,” Chrysalis continued. “They were hunted, they were starved, they were captured, and most of all, they were unloved by all those that they met. They were chased across the far reaches of Equestria until they came upon the Broken Leylands, the remnants of their home.
“Unfortunately, they were no longer welcomed there as other ponies had made settlements scattered across the barren, arid land. Again, these ponies were chased across the wastes until they came upon Equestria, and then upon this very city, Canterlot.”
The queen sat down, looking down at her hooves.
“In a last ditch effort, these ponies attacked the city to gain the love that they had been deprived of for centuries. The city had more love to feed the entire nation of ponies than they had ever felt before, and it sat there at the very edges of their hooves. They plotted, they conspired, they infiltrated, but in the end, it still wasn’t enough and they were defeated by the very thing they had sought to consume. Love had defeated and condemned them to the fate that was so eagerly awaiting them since they first lost their connection with their homeland.”
Princess Cadence stepped forward, her face contorted into a snarl. Neither Luna nor Celestia made to stop her as she stood before Chrysalis.
“You sit here and spin this tale,” Cadence said, lowering her face to be level with Chrysalis’, “yet the actions you have committed here in Canterlot still stand. Have you really stooped so low, Chrysalis, to try to pass a sob story as your defense?”
Chrysalis bared her fangs, but remained seated.
“I would like to see you stand before the ashes of two hundred thousand dead souls,” Chrysalis said, her eyes watering, “and ask the ghosts if honor matters. What else could I have done? I had no other choice. We had no other choice.”
“You could have asked!” Cadence shouted. Her breaths were ragged. “You could have asked Princess Celestia for aid for your ponies. You could have asked Princess Luna. You could have asked anypony, but instead you decided to take the most brute course of action.”
“Don’t you think I would have tried?” Chrysalis asked, rising to her hooves. Tears were streaming freely down her face. “Princess Celestia, your little aunt, still regards the changelings as a brutish and insufferable race who are relics of an age from a millennia ago.”
Cadence’s face scrunched up in rage. Lilo glanced up at Carbon, worry etched across her face. The wurr of ponies voices echoed through the crowd once again.
“Carbon, Queen Chrysalis doesn’t stand a chance in this trial,” Lilo said, nudging her muzzle against Carbon’s neck. “We have to do something, now. Cadence only grows more agitated the longer this trial drags on.”
Carbon grimaced, looking back down at Lilo. “I’m not sure there is anything we can do, Lilo.”
“You and your minions have brought suffering upon this city with your invasion,” Cadence said coldly. “You talk of walking among the ashes of your fallen subjects, yet you turn my own subjects to ashes in their stead. Your hypocrisy will be the end of you, Queen Chrysalis.”
“There is something that I can do,” Lilo said, taking a step forward. She looked back. “Please, Carbon, stay here.”
Before Carbon had a chance to lift a hoof, Lilo darted into the crowd and began to push herself towards the stage. A few ponies shouted out in displeasure, and in a moment, the pegasi guards had noticed the disturbance and began to take to the air to capture the crème colored pegasus pony who made for the stage.
Chrysalis remained unaware of the approaching pegasus. “Have you known what it is to feel loss—true loss? You sit upon your throne and help with the relief effort of this city, taking tallies on the dead and the decrepit, yet you have not had the pleasure of witnessing everything you have ever loved be taken away from you within an instant.”
Cadence opened her mouth, but before she could reply, Lilo jumped and spread her wings, giving one powerful flap and landing on the stage in front of Chrysalis with a heavy thud. Pegasi guards landed all around the queen and the pegasus, lowering their spears around the two. Princess Luna stood, walking up next to Cadence.
“Stand down, citizen,” Luna said, her horn glowing. “Remove thyself from the stage at once.”
Lilo growled. “I am not your citizen,” she spat.
A roar of conversation erupted from the crowd. Cadence furrowed her brow and Luna unfurled her wings, dissipating the magic around her horn.
“You are not?” Luna asked. “What makes you imply such a thing, pegasus?”
Lilo closed her eyes and slowly encased her body in a wave of green flames. Her pegasus disguise dropped, revealing her changeling form in front of the entire crowd, the guards, and the three princesses. A few screams rang out.
“Seize that changeling!”
Lilo’s eyes widened, but before one of the guards could move in and apprehend her, Carbon swooped in and landed between her and the guards in front of her. His wings were fully extended, and he lowered his head to be level with one of the spears in front of him.
“Get away from her,” he said, a chill creeping into his voice.
The guards tensed, and the crowd around the stage fell silent and watched on in awe as Carbon and Lilo stood between the guards and Chrysalis. Lilo sidled up next to Carbon and bared her fangs.
“At ease, guard,” Celestia said from behind Luna and Cadence. The two other princesses and the guards parted, allowing from the large, white alicorn to walk up before Carbon and Lilo. Her face remained stoic. “This is something that I would never have expected to see, not now. A pony standing united with a changeling under the premiss of love. I can see it.
“But you have interrupted an ongoing trial for the crimes of one who has brought much suffering upon this city. Regardless of what race you are, this does not excuse your intrusion, so, please, explain yourselves before I have you two removed from the stage.”
Lilo gave Carbon a nuzzle on his neck, and then she stepped forward in front of Celestia. The pony princess towered over the changeling, but Lilo stood as tall as she could and stared into the princess’s eyes.
“For my entire life I have trailed behind my queen,” Lilo said. “I have followed her across the barren wastes of the Broken Leylands, and then into the dark and dangerous forests of the Everfree. She led us to each potential food source in hopes that we would be forever sustained, but each time we were driven away because of our queer dietary habits and strange complexions.”
Lilo paused, clicking her tongue together. “For however long I have know Queen Chrysalis, I have never seen the monster that you ponies make her out to be. When I was a part of our swarm, I had the job of taking care of the foals that had been orphaned by their parents. One day while I was feeding them, the queen herself stopped by and asked if she could see all of the foals, and I warily complied as I led her to them.”
Chrysalis’ eyes widened and she turned away.
“For an hour she sat down and played with all of the foals,” Lilo continued. “She wrestled with them and played hide and seek. I had never seen a pony of such power display such affection before, and from that moment on I knew that Chrysalis was no leader. She’s not a monarch, she’s not a tyrant; she’s a mother who cares about every one of her children.” Celestia stared passed Lilo as she continued. “She’s not much different than you ponies. You pride yourselves on caring for each other and having loving princesses that are mothers to all of their subjects. The only difference between you and her are the ponies that she leads.” Lilo looked down at her hooves. “Our home is where we are. Our place of origin is not relevant, only where we choose to go together.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “You three stand together on this stage, defying those that would otherwise have you taken away. You, changeling, stand before me proudly as you vouch for the tenderness of your queen, and you, pegasus, stand next to that of whom you love. I know what it is that motivates you, but I wish to hear it from yourselves.”
Staring directly into Celestia’s eyes, Lilo said, “No matter what any other pony thinks, there is no other place I’d rather be. I love my queen, and I love Carbon. I have lost enough, and I would never be able to bear losing more of those that I love.”
“Sometimes ponies deserve second chances,” Carbon said, stepping forward. “In the short time that I have known Lilo, I have come to love her beyond any pony I have known before. The determination that I see in her now is something that I never want to lose.”
Celestia stared at Lilo for a moment, her eyes softening considerably. She stepped forward, walking past Lilo and Carbon and slowly lowering herself down in front of Chrysalis. The queen continued to look away, but she didn’t recoil when Celestia rested one pressed one of her metal clad hooves up against her own holed hooves.
“I think it’s time we forget what happened between us in ages past,” Celestia whispered. “Our ponies need us more than ever, and it wouldn’t do well for either of us to squabble over a conflict that should have been settled over a millennia ago.”
Before Chrysalis had a chance to respond, Celestia stood onto all four of her hooves and strode to the front of the stage. Most of the guard that had been on the stage returned to their posts, although a few remained who kept their eyes on Lilo and Carbon. Luna walked up next to Celestia, and Cadence looked away from the crowd of ponies, biting her lower lip.
“A verdict for this trial has been achieved,” Celestia announced, opening her wings. “By the royal decree of Princess Luna and I, Queen Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, will remain under house arrest at Canterlot Castle until a consensus has been made about what to do with the rest of the changelings.”
A roar of voices thundered in the market square. Ponies of all colors began to shout a mix of emotions towards the center stage, ranging from strongly worded speeches or displeasure to cheers and hollers of congratulations towards Chrysalis, Lilo, and Carbon. The sound was deafening, and Lilo immediately folded her ears back and pressed herself into Carbon’s side.
Princess Luna glanced at her sister, and after a moment she slammed her hoof onto the stage. A powerful thunderclap ripped through the air, immediately silencing everypony who had the pleasure of hearing it. She cleared her throat and opened her wings.
“If that is all,” she began, “this trial has come to a close. My sister and I will devise a royal pardon that you all may scrutinize to your heart’s content later. As for right now, we have more pressing matters to attend to. If you have any questions, please direct them towards the Day Court.”
Before another roar of voices could blast towards Celestia and Luna, the two alicorns ignited their horns and teleported away. Cadence remained a moment longer, shooting a glare towards Lilo and Carbon before igniting her own horn and teleporting away. Shining Armor appeared on stage next, flanked by two pegasi guards. He held a scroll in his magic, which he levitated in front of Lilo and Carbon and unraveled it.
“By the order of Princess Celestia,” he said. “you two are to meet with her and Princess Luna tonight to discuss your present situation. I will have one guard escort you back to your home and then to the castle later tonight.”
Lilo scanned the scroll and then glanced over at Carbon, who looked up at Shining Armor curiously. The prince looked to be agitated and impatient as he stared past them towards Chrysalis.
“Will I have time to speak to Queen Chrysalis?” Lilo asked.
“You will tonight,” Shining Armor replied. “As of right now, I have orders to take her back to the castle and given appropriate accommodations.” He leaned forward and whispered, “The crowd looks to be growing more upset, so I suggest that you leave now before things get out of hand. Besides, I have a job to do.”
Lilo and Carbon looked at each other, and after looking back at Chrysalis one last time, they both quickly departed the stage with one of Shining Armor’s guards in tow. Towards the back of the crowd, a grey unicorn eyed the party with a sinister glare. He nodded his head, and four other ponies that had surrounded him departed the market square, galloping through the streets towards the poorest districts of Canterlot.