//------------------------------// // Chapter Thirteen // Story: A New Home II: A Queen's Revenge // by APoeticHeart //------------------------------// Nightfall arrived in Equestria as Princess Luna’s casted a warm, yet ominous glow upon the land. Queen Chrysalis stood outside on the balcony of Canterlot Castle with a wide, sinister grin etched upon her face, and rejoiced in the fact the she had gained control of the throne. She let out a low, spine chilling chuckle as she turned to trot back inside. She reveled in the image before her; Princess Celestia and Princess Luna chained, and helpless to the palace floor. She trotted to the throne where the small child was, shackled and chained on his knees shuddering with fear mixed with heavy sobs. Chrysalis smiled at the pain Toby was in, and stroked from the back of his head down his back roughly. “Well my little pet, I think it is time for us to go to bed,” she chuckled lowly, and looked at the royal sisters. “It looks like your precious elements are not coming after all princess.” She lit her horn up, unhooked the chain of Toby’s metal collar from the throne, and levitated him in front of her as he whimpered in pain. Celestia stood up fighting against her restraints “Where are you going with him Chrysalis?” Her lips pursed in anger as she snarled, and her brows furrowed with rage. Chrysalis snickered at her “Oh Celestia, do you think I would really leave my little pet here for you to try and save him.” She cackled as she opened the palace doors with her magic, and exited shutting them with force. Chrysalis trotted through the many corridors of the palace until she came to Celestia’s palace bedroom. She smiled evilly as she looked at the shackled child in front of her “Well my little morsel, I think this room will be good for us to sleep in. What do you think?” She squeezed him with her magic, causing him to cry out in pain. “Aah… huh… huh… huh… huh...” He was unable to speak through the sorrow he expressed through his shuddering of heavy sobs, and fear. Chrysalis levitated him over onto the royal purple rug of Celestia’s bedroom, and created a hook to connect the collar’s chain to. She chained the collar to the hook forcing child onto his knees, causing the chain on his wrist cuffs to clang. He kept his head lowered, looking at the ground, and trembling with fear. Chrysalis slowly trotted over to the rug to lie down, and stroked the top of Toby’s head with a hoof, causing him to shudder under her touch. She smiled mischievously at the terrified child “Well my little pet, you have been such an obedient, and might I add a very tasty little morsel ever since we met.” She let out a lowly chuckle “It is all thanks to you that I have control of the throne, and soon all of Equestria will bow down to their true ruler.” She leaned her head forward to him, breathing heavily against his tear stained face “Now you go to sleep my little pet, because tomorrow, we have more conquering to do.” She let out a soft cackle, and curled around the frightened cold, surrounding his small form with hers. He cried himself to sleep, tears trickling down his cheeks. An eerie silence roamed along the streets of Canterlot as midnight struck. Suddenly there was a flash of light that appeared in the center of the city. After the light dissipated, Princess Cadence, Twilight, the other Elements of Harmony, and their new allies appeared. Twilight and the other girls bared their elements. “Okay every pony, we got to be real careful so not to get caught by Chrysalis or any of her changelings if there are any around.” Twilight looked at them, and all nodded firmly in agreement. The group started their trek toward the castle. “Ah don’t like this one bit yall. It feels creepy with no lights being on in any of the houses.” Applejack swallowed deeply as she looked around at the darkened homes. “Well Applejack darling, that ruffian of a queen must have struck fear into the citizens, and they are afraid to come out,” Rarity sighed deeply as her teeth started chattering. “Honestly, who could blame them?” While the ponies were talking amongst each other up ahead, Nikolai and Riley decided to trail behind with Kevin. Kevin looked around sadly at the deserted-like town, and felt his heart break a little as he trotted along the path. He sighed deeply, but heard faint whistling coming from Nikolai as they walked. He looked over at him, and noticed a tear threatening to escape. Kevin looked at him "Is something the matter Nikolai?" He gave the human a look of concern. Nikolai looked over at him with a quirked eyebrow "Oh no kid. I am fine. I just whistle this tune just to keep my nerves calmed, so I don't become consumed with anger." He let out a soft chuckle as he folded his hands behind his head. "Why? What happens when you get mad?" Kevin asked with a look of curiosity. He let out another light chuckle, and reached over to pat the satyr on his shoulder "Trust me kid, you don't want to know." He went back to his whistling, but looked at Kevin with a curious look of his own. "Hey kid, how come don't you want to tell any of us about yourself? I mean I spoke about mine and Riley's life, but you just say you are a traveler." "I am a traveler. Besides I just don't feel like talking about my life," a hint of sadness could be heard in his tone, and he felt tears of his own threatening to escape. Nikolai noticed this and place a hand gently on his shoulder "C'mon kid, spill it. There is something troubling you, and you need to let it out." He gave Kevin a stern look. Kevin stopped and turned to Nikolai letting out a deep, content sigh. "Alright, if I tell you my story, will you drop it?" Nikolai nodded as he stopped to listen, and Riley sat down. Kevin sighed heavily as he begun to tell his tale. "I remember it as clear as day when I last looked into the eyes of my father. I was very young, around the age of three when he died. He was a pony of the unicorn heritage, and he wanted to give me a life here in Equestria. He told me that my mother, who was a human passed away giving birth to me, and he wanted to bring me back here..." "However, I was too weak that he thought I would die, so being a unicorn, he used up all of his magic, and transferred into my heart to make me strong in order to live. Yet, in doing so, he got terribly ill, and died in just a few days..." A tear trickled down Kevin's cheek, and he let out a heavy sigh. "I was forced to make my home in an orphanage, where all the colts and fillies were all only ponies, except for me. There were some ponies who were genuinely caring toward me, such as the caretakers at the orphanage. However, there were some that looked at me, and deemed me an abomination of Equstrian society that deserved the casted out of it..." A few more fresh tears streamed down his cheek. "At the orphanage, there was one pony who was the local bully, and he always pushed around the smaller, weaker kids. I was his favorite to pick on, because of my what you may call, deformity. He always relished in the fact in calling me a freak, a sin to nature, and all that hurtful rubbish..." While Kevin was telling his story the ponies were quietly listening as they stopped trotting ahead, and turned to the three. "One day, I decided I had enough, and I ran away from that orphanage not to be seen or heard from again. From that moment, I decided to travel around Equestria, and explore they many countries, hoping to be accepted in society." He reached up with the back of his hand, wiping away his tears, and let out one last heavy sigh. "Was that a good enough story for you?" Nikolai swallowed deeply"Geez kid, I am sorry that you had to go through all of that." He looked at Kevin with a serious look "Listen here though Kevin, you are not an abomination, and you are definitely not a freak. You are a brave young satyr with a big heart who wants to help others. Never feel ashamed of that, do you understand?" Riley barked and nodded in agreement. Kevin sniffled and let out a light chuckle "Thank you Nikolai. That means a lot." Suddenly there was a buzzing sound echoing around the group, when out of nowhere the last three changeling drones surrounded them. Kevin shook his head free of his tears, and looked at the three with determination mixed with anger. He looked over at Nikolai "You think you can handle them?" "In my sleep," Nikolai chuckled as he looked down at Riley, who was standing with his teeth snarling "Are you ready boy?" Riley nodded up. He turned to the group "You all go on ahead, we got these three." The group hesitantly nodded, and turned to gallop toward the castle, except for Fluttershy. She looked worriedly at the three "Are you sure you three will be okay?" "Of course, now go!" Nikolai shouted yet with a soft tone. Kevin nodded his head to Fluttershy "Fluttershy, when you told me about your son being foal napped, it made me realize how important family, and how much I wish my mother and father was here with me. You go get your son back. I will be happy knowing that, if I die, I would have died letting your son live his life, just like my father did for me." He gave her a soft smile. Fluttershy allowed tears to escape her eyes, and roll down her cheeks. "Thank you. All three of you for helping us," she gave them all a sad smile, and turned to catch up with the others. While the three new allies were focused on holding off the three drones, the ponies were on their way to storm the castle, save the princesses, and especially rescue Toby. With pure determination in her hear Fluttershy thought to herself Hold on my baby boy, Momma's coming!