Chapter Twenty Nine
The throbbing in her horn from when that accursed snow white unicorn had bit her was no longer excruciating to the point of her vision being blurry, having calmed down considerably to simply being miserable in nature. She still couldn't perform any feats of her magic, as it would just reignite the pain, and start throbbing all over again. However it was a moot point as she couldn't perform any magic while confined in this dimly lit cell anyway. The entire area was blanketed in a magic cancelling field, and there was nothing she could do in response to it.
She'd been bitten, stomped on, spat on, sat on, kicked, her horn bitten and threatened with cutting off, effortlessly played for a foal, sucker punched and left with a busted muzzle, the back of her head nearly broken, and now locked in a cage. And on top of that, she'd been tricked into involving her entire hive, the entirety of the current generation of changelings. She'd so easily fallen for the words of a stranger she'd just met, promising to assist her in retaking Equestria for her hive, and this is how things turned out.
And now here she was. Locked in a poorly lit cage, her loyal drones on another floor entirely, left alone to wait out their fate. What Celestia had in mind for them was truly heinous in nature, and made her wish she'd actually been killed instead of simply imprisoned.
She'd found out from Luna that she and her entire hive would be exiled from Equestria proper, to a facility that had the dubious honor of being referred to as "the waiting room to Tartarus." A penal colony located deep inside gryphon territory, and known for the unusual magical qualities of the area it was built in; simultaneously able to magically sustain whatever or however many inmates were sentenced there, while at the same time negating any attempts at magic carried out inside the facility to prevent escape. A facility that was rarely used, except for when dealing with the most violent of all violent criminals, who presented a true risk to society, and couldn't be placed anywhere else; even the gryphons, who were known for the penchant at hostility, rarely encountered a criminal severe enough to be sentenced there.
And unfortunately, she and her hive had drawn a life sentence at the facility for their actions here on this day.
"Chrysalis you foal," she said to herself as she rested her forehead against the bars of her cell, her voice sounding distorted from earlier, mentally kicking herself for everything that'd happened. Why had she allowed herself to trust a being she'd never seen before, when he came promising to help her retake Equestria for herself? Why had she allowed herself to be so gullible and let her guard down?
Then again what could she have done to the contrary? He'd thrown her across the throne room without even trying, it wasn't like she could've actually stood up to him and fought him off. He'd slapped her on the back of the head, and nearly broke her jaw against the marble flooring from the force of the impact of landing. She couldn't have resisted even if she'd tried. Even her attempts at mind control had been futile.
She'd been flankbucked once again it seemed. Fate was so, so cruel at times.
Her thoughts on self pity, and how unfair life in general was, were interrupted by the sounds of hoofbeats coming down the hallway. Perhaps guards carrying out searches to ensure none of them had escaped? Maybe there was a unicorn she could sweet talk into assisting her? Unfortunately no such luck in this case, the source of the hoofbeats entering her view, and she saw that it was Celestia's little annoying sister Luna, and the even more annoying stone faced Ulquiorra. This truly couldn't be good for her.
"Two of the three responsible for my situation. Such an unfortunate meeting," Chrysalis commented as she rested her forelegs against the bars and used them to support her weight in a lean. She scowled particularly at the sight of Ulquiorra. "I have nothing to say to you, biped."
"I have questions," Ulquiorra stated simply.
"That doesn't concern me," Chrysalis replied and stepped back from her perch, and walked over to the far wall of her cell consisting of stone rather than metal. She had no desire to talk to the one who'd betrayed her and tricked her into her current position.
"These bars will offer you no protection should I choose to come in there and demand answers," Ulquiorra explained, taking his left hand out of his pocket to give a demonstration, showing as he began bending one of the bars out of shape as if it was nothing, causing Chrysalis' jaw to drop at the sight of it. Perhaps he should go ahead and rip the entire section of bars from the masonry that held them, to prove to her that he was not to be trifled with.
"We doth advice thee not to anger him Chrysalis, when Ulquiorra Cifer doth get like this, we cannot control him. We hath seen him angered before, and 'tis not a pretty sight. One time before, he didst become like this, and we did bear witness to him jerk a being's spine out of their back, and show it to them. There was nothing we could do about the unfortunate incident, as we were forced to go vomit at the sight of what we didst see," Princess Luna explained.
Ulquiorra stopped his demonstration of strength, but failed to remove his hand from the bar, as he turned his attention to Princess Luna at her words. What nonsense was she speaking of? He hadn't ripped anyone's spine out of their back in his time here. Nor was he particularly motivated to do such, as it was an entirely wasteful manner at killing, when impalement through the chest was so much more effective and straightforward.
Then there was the practicality issue of actually trying to separate the spinal column from where it joined to the pelvic bones and ribcage; the spinal cord that the individual vertebrae were designed to provide protection to, as well as the tissue that linked them together, would never withstand the amount of force necessarily to rip that particular section of the skeletal structure out of the body. Even if he would engage in such a tasteless manner of execution, there was the distinct possibility that should everything go right, and the entire spinal column come free without a hitch, the skull would come along with it, thus ripping the victims eyes out, while in the process of turning the remains of the head inside out from where the tissue connected to the bone structure. In such a case there would be nothing left to show the spine to as the eyes would see nothing but the collapsed fleshy remnants of the head and face.
Such a procedure could indeed be performed, but only through significant surgical effort, and only after the individual it was performed on had died. If the victim was still living, they would've died from the traumatic shock long before they were able to see their own innards being displayed, in a morbid and ultimately redundant manner of telling them they were soon to die.
Princess Luna appeared to catch his gaze in her direction, laughing nervously as her serious look faded and gave way to one of far less professionalism. "We didst believe some degree of levity would assist thee," she said in her own defense.
Ulquiorra ignored her and turned back to face Chrysalis, who appeared equally dumbfounded. "When did you decide to launch a second attack on Equestria?" he asked simply.
"And what concern is it to you?" Chrysalis asked defensively. Why did he care after all he'd done to her already?
"I possess questions. You possess answers. And the dragon from earlier is in no position to speak, so my options are limited to you," Ulquiorra explained evenly despite her obstructiveness. Right now he had to put up with her, as she was the only link they currently had access to that could communicate intelligently. At present time she was too valuable to risk losing.
"Dragon?" Chrysalis asked and blinked in confusion. What dragon was he talking about? When?
"Thou doth not want to know," Princess Luna replied in a low tone. This wasn't getting them anywhere. "Queen Chrysalis," she spoke up, "as one member of royalty to another, we ask that thee answer the questions presented. We suspect that thou hath been made into an unwitting pawn, and art innocent of the charges against thee. If thou doth help us with this mystery, we shalt speak to our sister about thee's sentence. But thou must be honest with us, if thou art deceitful thee's fate will be most unpleasant as a result."
Much to their surprise Chrysalis began cackling madly at Princess Luna's words, her head thrown back as she howled with laughter.
"A most unpleasant fate you say? My entire species is being shipped off to some remote penal colony, far beyond the bounds of what's come to be our home, stored away from the light of day for what's going to prove to be a very long time. Do you know what the average lifespan for changeling drones amounts to? Fifteen years. While I'll live considerably longer than that, my children most certainly won't, and without any available males to enable repopulation, my entire species will go extinct in Tartarus' waiting room! And because of my long lifespan I'll have the dubious honor of experiencing all my children dying around me, and knowing that once the current generation is gone, there won't be any others. The only option I'll have to spare myself this suffering, will be to end my own life, and traumatize them in the process by depriving all those hundreds of changelings of their mother, and them realizing that there's no hope for their species!" Chrysalis stated as she directed her gaze in Luna's direction. "So tell me, Nightmare Moon, what can you possibly do to me, that will be a more unpleasant fate than spending every day of the rest of my life, knowing that my race has been sentenced to extinction, and forced to watch it occur?" she asked, her tone indicating a challenge.
Ulquiorra observed as Princess Luna sputtered at the taunt and the title of her past self, likely a severe insult to be hurled at her. The fluctuations in her detectable reiatsu were considerable, and he half expected to see her reiryoku arcing off her body like lightning at some point.
"I've already been sentence to a lifetime of misery, sadness, and death. Nothing you could possibly do could be any worse than that," Chrysalis taunted.
"We shalt see about that," Princess Luna stated in a vicious tone, malice and ill intent practically dripping from her lips with each word uttered.
"Princess Luna," Ulquiorra spoke in an even tone. He could see what Chrysalis was doing, and how the alicorn was taking the bait being dangled in front of her. “Now is not the time for pettiness,” he explained in a calm manner.
He waited until Princess Luna turned her attention to him, and nodded her understanding that he was right, before finally turning his attention and focus back on Chrysalis. “I make no claim of knowing what this facility is like that you will be departing to. But I’m quite certain your presence there will be rendered far more intolerable, if your hind legs are paralyzed and you must drag yourself along the floor by a single functioning limb in order to be mobile. How long do you believe it would take for your exoskeleton to erode away against a rough stone structure, and leave the soft tissues underneath exposed?” he asked her. "I've heard that septicemia is a truly insufferable condition to contract and leave untreated..."
The nervous gulp that came from Chrysalis was quite audible in nature, the changeling queen understanding exactly what he was saying, and believing that he had no qualms with doing such; after what he’d done to so many of her changelings, she had no reason to doubt him, and the way his voice remained so neutral and even just made it all the worse.
“What is it you wanted to know again?” Chrysalis finally asked.
“When did you decide to launch a second attack against Equestria? Ulquiorra asked.
Chrysalis sighed something unintelligible, before sitting down on her carapaced haunches to get into a semi-comfortable position. She cleared her throat before speaking again. “The decision to make a second grab for Equestria had been in the planning process for months before actually being carried out. It started off slowly, a drone here, a drone there, nothing too major that might alert anyone’s attention. We started by targeting isolated and lonely ponies who wouldn’t raise much concern if they didn’t talk much, didn’t interact with others on a significant level, or seemed a bit strange. We even targeted old ponies that'd died previously and hadn't been discovered yet. From there, we began looking for other targets of opportunity who could be safely replaced, to aid us in our gathering of reconnaissance of Ponyville and Canterlot to determine the best course of action,” Chrysalis explained.
“How did you come to the idea of targeting the holders of the Elements of Harmony and replacing them?” Ulquiorra asked.
“Isn’t it obvious? The Elements of Harmony are the most powerful force to be found in all of Equestria. If we could separate them then even if we were found out it wouldn’t make any difference as they couldn’t be used,” Chrysalis stated. It was a fairly obvious solution to the conundrum; six individual ponies, six different targets to pick apart, six easy ways to render the Elements of Harmony useless. It was amazing how nopony had thought of such before.
“Why was Fluttershy specifically targeted?” Ulquiorra asked.
“Out of all of the Elements of Harmony, Fluttershy was the easiest to secure. Quite, isolated, meek, and often left to her own devices while other ponies go about their daily lives, completely unaware of the presence of the meek yellow pegasus who can’t even be heard talking, even when she’s surrounded. It was the most logical choice, to focus our attempts on her than any of the others. And once we had the Elements of Harmony separated, it was easy to engage in the next part of the plan, increasing the number of changelings in each of the cities, targeting and replacing other ponies who could either directly or indirectly affect the other Elements of Harmony. Friends, family members, loved ones, anypony that could prove to be disruptive to them, and beneficial to our goal,” Chrysalis explained, a grin crossing her features as she thought back to the elegance of it all.
“A rather pragmatic approach to the situation,” Ulquiorra commented. Subterfuge and destabilization could indeed lead to devastating developments if not stopped immediately. It was quite fortunate he’d been so quick to discover what was up; even more fortunate that Princess Celestia had allowed him to depart when she had. “Had I not become involved, how long would it have been before you launched a full scaled attempt?” he asked.
“If everything had gone according to plan,” she paused to scowl directly at him, “another three days would’ve been more than enough to allow us to have sufficiently secured both cities. Not that it makes any difference now,” she grumbled.
“What was the significance of your timing?” Ulquiorra asked. Chrysalis responded with a confused look at the question. “Why did you wait until you did in order to replace Fluttershy with a changeling? What was the significance of the three days before the planned assault?”
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. You’re asking why we chose to perform on a specific day?” Chrysalis asked.
“Correct. It has been estimated Fluttershy was replaced two days ago. What was the significance of waiting until then instead of choosing any other day? Why didn’t you choose to make such a move last week?” Ulquiorra asked.
He observed Chrysalis as she tried to formulate an answer. Changeling body language wasn’t too particularly different from that of ponies, and it became quite obvious that she had no idea what he was asking about. She lacked the answers he was looking for, that would lend credibility to his theory. This lead to three possibilities:
One: The changeling attack had no connection to the dragon, and was separate and not indicative of any discernible pattern of behavior, and it truly had been a matter of coincidence.
Two: While the changeling attack may have been planned out months in advance, the timing and decision to proceed could suggest that it was still directly related to the incident regarding the dragon, and was yet another attempt against the holders of the Elements of Harmony, and Equestria as a whole.
Three: If Chrysalis had been involved by an outside force, her lack of knowledge could be sufficient to suggest she wasn’t conscious of the fact she was to play a role. It would also suggest the outside force possessed a sentient nature, as well as enough intelligence to not leave behind any information that would constitute a loose end that could be traced back to a source of origin, and possibly unravel whatever operation was currently in the works.
Of the three possibilities these facts could be read to support, he favored possibilities two and three. The thought that two attacks on the holders of the Elements of Harmony within such a short amount of time, holding no connection to one another, didn’t seem logical to him.
“Then thou art of no use to us. Come, Ulquiorra Cifer, let us depart,” Princess Luna stated and turned to leave.
“There is still another question to ask,” Ulquiorra stated in response and made no effort to move from his spot, keeping his attention focused on Chrysalis. “When I arrived at your hive, you said something that didn’t make sense. At first I assumed it was some standard speech, similar to boastful concepts of conquering the world. Afterward, when I had time to rethink the structure of your statement, I came to inconsistencies between this assumption and your words. I need clarification,” he explained. Chrysalis said nothing so he continued speaking. “Your term of “devouring love” is most confusing. Your phrasing seeming to treat the notion of love as something of a real and physical nature, such as wood or stone, rather than an intangible emotional concept like hope or happiness. Your terminology didn’t suggest bringing despair to the optimistic, and crushing their will to live, but rather depriving them of something real. Can you elaborate on what you meant with your selected terminology?” he asked.
"Oh love is quite real in nature, quite real indeed, and very much physical in construction. Love is as real as the air we breathe, and it's just as vital to the existence of life; especially to those that feast upon it for nourishment, such as us. Equestria is surging with the most love to be found in any region of the land, and is a veritable paradise... a paradise that my kind seems unwelcome in," Chrysalis stated. When Ulquiorra said nothing in response she continued. "Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for a suitable location to live in? How many generations have been spent on the move from place to place, searching for any establishment of sentient life with enough love to sustain us like a civilized society? Equestria is the only place capable of doing that and so much more! But we've been rejected from this paradise because those who rule feel we're too parasitic for their perfect little world. Celestia and her like want to keep all of the love for themselves, and not share it with anyone they have no liking for. We've tried so many times to implement diplomatic negotiations over the years, but we've always been rejected. Time and again we've been given no consideration, our needs have gone ignored for so long," she moaned.
Princess Luna looked between Ulquiorra and Chrysalis, the look on her face one of confusion at what she was hearing. Her sister had been engaged in diplomatic discussions with the changelings in the past during her absence?
"'Tis a lie! Our sister wouldst not keep something of such from us!" she stated.
"You obviously don't know Celestia as well as you think you do. But then again you weren't around a hundred years ago, so you wouldn't know," Chrysalis stated in response. Her attention was no longer on Ulquiorra, but rather the younger of the two sisters. "My hive has slowly but surely been starving for years! Do you know what it's like, having to hide yourself from view, and surviving on scraps when others are free to feast to their heart's content? We've tried asking, we've tried begging, we've tried pleading! And each time we've been shot down and summarily rejected! We've grown desperate, and have been forced to take drastic measures to survive, because of the likes of Celestia and her greed! We had no other choice but to take the course of action we took if we were to survive! My own children are perishing, one by one, because we have no food for ourselves, and yet we're tortured by the delicate aromas in the air that just remind us of how hungry we are! The only reason I'm still alive and standing before you, in order to answer your questions, is because six of my own children decided to sacrifice themselves in order to sustain me, and allowed themselves to die instead! They loved their mother so dearly, that they couldn't bear the thought of continuing on without her. And now it would seem their sacrifice was meaningless as we'll all die soon enough..."
Ulquiorra stood silently and listened as Chrysalis talked, observing her reiatsu intensity as she shared her tale. His statement about her strength in comparison to Princess Luna's had been something of another falsehood, necessitated by carrying out Princess Celestia's orders. While Chrysalis' overall level of strength couldn't have truly competed with Princess Luna, it had been significantly greater than currently. Somewhere between now and their initial meeting Chrysalis' reiatsu had dropped considerably. It almost even had a different texture to it.
In her current state, the earth pony Applejack would've been able to go toe to toe -or perhaps hoof to hoof was more accurate under these circumstances- and come out victorious in a physical altercation. Twilight Sparkle was more powerful than Chrysalis was currently, even without resorting to her magic. If her hive was indeed starving as badly as she was suggesting, it would reasonably explain the utter desperation of her decision to invade Equestria, and make a grab for rule; it was a simple matter of preservation of the species, and no different from a pack of wild dogs attacking a herd of larger animals. It wasn't even much different from Hollows with insatiable hunger turning on their own and evolving into Gillians.
Still. The notion of an emotion actually being tangible in nature, and a source of sustenance, sounded ridiculous to him. But all things considered, it wasn't the most ridiculous thing he'd heard since arriving here.
"Oh please! Thou art attempting to tug at our heart strings!" Princess Luna replied, disgusted with the tale that was being weaved before them. How dare Chrysalis slander her sister's rule with such a disgraceful tale? She had half a mind to unlock the door and nag slap her where she sat.
"Believe whatever you wish to believe, because right now I don't have the energy to care. I'm tired, I'm defeated, and the only reason I have left to go on living, is to try and keep my children from panicking," Chrysalis replied and laid down on the floor of her cell, using her forelegs as a makeshift pillow. However it wasn't two seconds later before she brought her head back up. "Oh drat! I suppose it's too late now to ask for a final request while there's still time..."
"And what kind of request couldst thou have the nerve to make after insulting us in such a manner?" Princess Luna asked. She certainly had some nerve.
"I would like to negotiate for the release of my hive," Chrysalis replied simply.
Princess Luna quirked an eyebrow at this. "Surely thou doth jest. Our sister will not release thee no matter what thou might say," she stated.
"My hive, not myself. I don't deny that I'm responsible for what I did or that I did it. But my children are innocent of whatever charges they face, merely doing as their mother told them as that's how our species works. I can quietly resign myself to whatever fate I'm destined for, but they don't deserve to share it with me, for the duration of their lifetimes. Surely you and your sister have enough kindness in you to at least let me plead my case," Chrysalis explained.
"Really now? Thou doth expect us to believe such?" Princess Luna asked skeptically. Did Chrysalis take her for a foal?
"I don't really expect you to do anything. I'm just asking that you inform your sister, and let her deal with the matter. A mother has to try and do what she can for her children. Surely you'd do the same thing to protect your own subjects if faced with a similar situation," Chrysalis replied.
"Assuming the unlikely possibility of Princess Celestia granting your request what then?" Ulquiorra asked, interrupting the back and forth conversation between the two. The emotional drivel being traded right now was thick enough it could be cut with a knife. "You've already attested to the fact your hive is starving to death. Assuming you can secure their freedom, what will change this fact?"
Chrysalis chuckled to herself. This one was quite observant in nature. "I intend to make one last plea for my hive to be granted refugee status in Equestria. Surely there's somewhere Celestia will allow them to nest and live in peace with her subjects. There's got to be someplace in this vast land where my children can live, without suffering from constant starvation," she explained.
"And why doth thou believe this time will be different from any other time that thou hast mentioned?" Princess Luna asked.
"Because unlike all the previous times, I intend to offer Celestia something that's never been put on the table before; my life, in exchange for the freedom of my hive," Chrysalis replied simply.
The resulting silence in the dungeons was so stifling a pin could be heard dropping from the other end of the hall.
But that lead to the obvious question of who would be down there, and playing around with pins in the first place?