Souls Apart

by GnollReader


Chapter 27: Queen of the changelings

"Would you like some sugar with your tea?" the necromancer asked with a grin as he went about setting up the cups.

Chrysalis eyed him with a skeptical look, "We changelings don't..."

"I know, I know..." he waved a dismissive hand as he interrupted her, "But still, would you like some sugar with your tea?"

"A bit." Chrysalis replied with a raised eyebrow. She couldn't help but feel slightly amused by his behavior, he seemed to be not the slightest bit intimidated by her presence... If anything at all, he even seemed to be joyous about her being here, "What did you really invite me here for?"

"Well..." he sighed as he placed two cups of tea on the small table, "I always thought that trades should be done face to face... so why not have a good cup of tea while we are at it?" he chuckled.

Again, Chrysalis eyed him with scepticism, "And what kind of trade do you wish to conduct with me?"

He clapped his hands, "Tea first..." he pulled out a small flask, "You are going to love this!"

She watched him unscrew the lid with an almost playful motion, and her confusion grew as he poured some of the liquid into both of their cups. Chrysalis watched the cups with distrust, "What is that?"

A smile crossed Aergad's lips as he picked up his cup and took a sip, "Try it... Like I said, you'll love it!"

Seeing as it had no effect on him, Chrysalis hesitated for a moment but then brought the cup up to her lips and ever so tentatively, she took a sip.

The moment the tea had entered her mouth, Chrysalis' eyes widened in surprise. She watched the cup before her in utter disbelief, but then she downed the whole cup in one fluid motion with a happy sigh.

"See?" the necromancer chuckled as he watched her wanton display, "You love it."

"I don't believe this..." Chrysalis whispered as she watched the now empty cup before her with wonder, "How is this possible?" she eyed his grinning face with amazement, "There are emotions in this tea!"

"Not so much in tea, directly..." he chuckled as he showed her the flask again, "But in here, there is the gathered-up joy of a full pony party graciously provided by Pinkie Pie... I figured that as long as I was there I could gather some up."

"You can turn emotions liquid?" Chrysalis asked, her voice shaking with excitement.

"Not exactly..." he explained, "This is actually just water. But with a little enchantment on the bottle, it acts as storage and filters out the emotions around it." he placed the bottle on the small table with a sinister grin, "Interested?"

Chrysalis watched the bottle before her like a child staring at an unknown, beautiful toy. Did he realize what he had just done? What it could mean for their entire race? Her gaze traveled over his face and in spite of his idiotic grin one look at his eyes was enough to tell her... he did.

Her eyes narrowed and she carefully asked, "What do you want?"

---

Several minutes later, Chrysalis still wasn't sure what to think of his offer. Was he really serious about this? She pushed aside her doubt, this was a chance to free her race of their hunger and a road to a better future, so she would run along... for now at least.

What he was about to do next still served to unnerve her though, "Are you really sure this is necessary?"

"Of course it is, my dear." he replied with a chuckle as the floating hand prepared a piece of paper. Chrysalis frowned at his choice of words... no one had ever dared called her 'dear' before but she quickly got a hold of her temper. The next step would require her to be as cool-tempered as possible.

"Alright, alright..." he scratched his chin in thought, "Let's see now. How should we go about this?" he snapped his fingers, "Okay. Got it." Aergad turned to his hand, "You ready?"

The hand showed him its quill and hovered over the piece of parchment, waiting for his words.

"Dear princess Celestia..." he started, "First off, a big sorry for blowing up Twilight..." he turned to Chrysalis, "What was her full name again? I always forget..."

"Twilight Sparkle." Chrysalis commented with a sour voice.

"Thanks. Now... picking up where we left." he coughed, "A big sorry for blowing up Twilight Sparkle." the hand scribbled away furiously, "I know she's your student and all, but she did challenge me to a duel and I am sure she will be completely recovered by tomorrow." he started to walk around the chamber as the hand continued to write.

"Anyway, to the matter at hand." he grinned, "Right at this moment, I have the lovely queen of changelings, Chrysalis herself, over for tea."

"She is going to go insane when she reads this..." Chrysalis mumbled as she put another shot from the little flask into her tea, "I can't believe he isn't already standing next to that prattling old fool in her garden..."

"As it is, the two of us have come to the startling realization that there is the possibility of a trade that all of us could profit from." he paused as he waited for the hand to catch up, "Please, be so kind as to join us for a cup of tea and to discuss the terms of our business at your earliest convenience... but seriously, you should come within the next five minutes as I am running out of tea. Love, the necromancer."

Aergad put his hands behind his back with a satisfied grin as the hand finished its work, "Finished? Let's see it!" he picked up the paper and let his eyes wander over it, "NO!" his shout made Chrysalis jump in surprise and the hand cringed, "These are all cocks! Why would you even..." he paused, "Actually... these are pretty good." he turned the paper so Chrysalis could see it, "What do you think? The little guy even drew in shadows to add depth."

Chrysalis' cheeks turned a crimson red before she tore her eyes away from the grotesque display, "Are you insane?" she shouted at him.

"I see..." he scratched his chin as he observed the drawings, "They are a bit out of proportion, aren't they?" he turned to the hand, "Alright, B+ for effort, we'll send it to Luna along with the real letter for Celestia. Now get on that letter and send it out once you're done..." he looked outside his window and into the night outside, "I'm finally going to be able to continue my work!"

Behind him, the hand wrote down his earlier words with a furious pace, delighted that it would get to send Luna its gift.