//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: A Long Discussion // Story: Changeling Mine // by Futile Task //------------------------------// “…No…no no no no…” Chrysalis almost made a move to try and comfort the young alicorn, but she managed stay herself, though not before this action was noticed by Celestia. “Twilight,” said Chrysalis, “I know you may not want to believe it, but I checked with my own magic, and you are the one who is carrying our new queen.” “…G…get it out, I don’t want it!” Chrysalis had known she was going to say this, but it still hurt to hear it; however she knew she had to stay calm. “I am afraid I cannot do that, the embryo has by now already bonded with you, and has already begun to grow.” Twilight looked like she wanted to scream at this, and it hurt Chrysalis in a lot of ways, for she knew she could do nothing to comfort her. “But…but there is magic that can help get her out without killing her right, I mean I’ve seen it done before, and your own magic did it to put it in me, so don’t you tell me it’s too late!” “But it is,” said Chrysalis. “One, the embryo was not bound to me when it was sent into you, and as I said before, changelings work different, especially changeling queens. Twilight even now the embryo is linked to you in ways no pony child is ever linked to their parent, feeding on not only the food you eat, but the excess magic that you produce every day of your life. If we remove her now, she will not be able to get the nutrients she needs, nutrients which are unique to you, and she will die.” “But…but can’t we…” “I know what you’re going to ask, but no, we cannot do that. We tried before, but it always ended in failure, I am afraid the only way for that child to live…is if she stays inside you.” Again, Twilight looked like she wanted to scream, but she managed to remain calm, Cadance walking over to her and draping a comforting wing upon her shoulder, much to the discomfort of Chrysalis. “…I…what do you want me to do,” asked Twilight finally. “Nothing you don’t want to do,” said Chrysalis kindly, “but I do hope you will consider…carrying the child to full term, for she is our last hope…otherwise…we all die.” “…I…I need some time…too think about this…” “Take all the time you need,” said Chrysalis, before watching the young mare be escorted out of the room by Cadance. “You need to be careful,” said Celestia behind her, causing the young changeling queen to look at her in confusion. “What do you mean?” “I mean you will have to be careful of how…affectionate you are around Twilight, as I know you will become, after all, I had to suffer the same thing with your grandmother all those years ago.” Chrysalis had not expected Celestia to acknowledge this fact before her, but it warmed her heart to hear her say that, causing her to walk up and nuzzle her affectionately before speaking. “I remember the stories she used to tell me about my dear old “Grandma Tia,” she said, before giggling as Celestia frowned. “Who are you calling Grandma miss, “hey long time no see, let me nearly kill you with my love filled energy beam.” “I said I was sorry,” said Chrysalis, “I wasn’t myself when I did that.” Celestia nodded her head, “I know, but we can talk about that later. For now I need you to heed to my warning, for you need to be careful with her.” “And here I thought you were going to tell me not to try and pursue anything.” Celestia gave her an amused smirk, “I’m not that stupid Chrysalis, and I know how you changelings work, mostly because your grandmother and mother still visit me from time to time.” “They’re still alive, but…but they took the long walk several years ago when they became sterile, how did they survive?” “Did you really think I was going to let two beings I cared about die like that?” Chrysalis shook her head, then hugged Celestia close, before parting as she wiped a tear from her eye. “That is good; it will be wonderful to see them again. But as to what you were saying, I will broach the matter of my…affections toward her at a later date, for now my prime concern is the child growing in her womb.” Celestia nodded at this, and then looked up along with Chrysalis as the doors opened, Cadance peeking her head in, before opening her mouth to speak. “Um…Twilight has thought it over, but she wants to talk to Chrysalis before…before making her final decision.” Chrysalis nodded, getting up and following Cadance out of the room, falling into step beside her as she spoke. “Are you sure there is no way to…” “Princess Cadance I am sure…it has been tried before hundreds of times, even I tried a couple, but it never ends well. I also wish there was another way to do this, but sadly there isn’t; I just hope Twilight will agree to this.” “Is it really that important?” “It is, we are dead without that child.” Cadance nodded, then grabbed the door handle to the room Twilight was currently inside of, opening it and then motioning for Chrysalis to go inside. “She wants you to speak with you alone, but if you try anything, I will kill you.” “I have no doubt of that,” said Chrysalis, before walking inside and closing the door behind her. Twilight looked up as the door closed, spotting the changeling queen standing before her and cringing a bit, but she knew she could not back down from this. “Hello Twilight,” said Chrysalis. “Hello…” said Twilight uncertainly, “I…I suppose Cadance told you I wanted to talk to you?” “Yes she did,” said Chrysalis, “but she did not state as to why, so I figured you might enlighten me.” Twilight nodded, “I…before I give you my answer, I need to know some things. Things about you, how you got to the point you were at which caused your attack on Equestria, and anything else you can tell me about the changelings.” “That sounds reasonable,” said Chrysalis, before sitting down next to Twilight and getting comfortable. “I shall begin with a brief overview of changeling history, for I know it is not well known anymore due to all that has happened these last thousand years. Long ago, the changelings used to be a thriving civilization, thriving alongside the ponies. In those days, we numbered in the thousands, and were ruled over by what we changelings call “The Thirteen Queens.” “Thirteen Queens…but I always thought that number was unlucky?” “In your culture it is, but in mine it is seen as a very lucky number, but we can talk about that later. As I was saying, The Thirteen Queens where at the very heart of the changeling world, six queens to bear young, six queens to guard us, and the final queen to rule us all.” “Wait, one queen to rule…that makes absolutely no sense for a stable ruling body.” “For you unbound ponies maybe, but in a changeling hive, all of us are connected through our hive mind, and none are more connected to each other than the hives queens. But again, that will be explained later, for now, let us get back to history. Back then, we did not rely on the ponies love for sustenance, due to the fact the energies produced by the Crystal Empire provided more than enough food for us, though in those days we often traded our goods for more…potent forms of love. However, our problems began when the entity Discord appeared, who began wreaking havoc across Equestria. We knew if we didn’t stop him, he would eventually turn his sites on the Crystal Empire, which would ruin our food supply. But…we underestimated his power, and in the end…only one queen and a handful of drones were left, before the princesses appeared and took down the menace.” Chrysalis looked saddened by this, and while it was still hard for Twilight to see her as anything from a monster, she lifted her hoof and put it on her shoulder in comfort, causing her to smile. “Thank you for your concern, but this was all before my time, though it still hurts. Anyways, after that, the only queen left was my grandmother, a changeling who goes by the name of Anthra. She was able to bring up the population of changelings, but she ran into a slight snag, for while she could produce queen embryos, she could not carry them to full term. No normally, we would go out and find a willing pony to help carry the new queen to term, but due to what happened with Discord, ponies had become rather distrusting of those that were different from them. So, out of desperation, she went to princess Celestia…to ask her if she would be willing to carry the embryo.” Twilight’s eyes widened, for she had not expected her to say this, especially considering how much she knew about her beloved mentor. “What…but she never told me this, though I doubt she would have said yes…” Chrysalis giggled at that, “Actually she did, Princess Celestia is my second grandmother.” Twilight’s jaw dropped, “N…no bucking way, she would have told me of that, it would have been in the history books!” “Not if said history books were destroyed during the fall of the Crystal Empire.” That got Twilight’s attention, “I…I forgot about that, I guess a lot of history was lost during that time, but if you can, can you tell me about it.” Chrysalis nodded, “Well, during her pregnancy with my mother, she managed to repair some of the weakened bonds that had begun to fracture between the changelings and the ponies, and for a time, it looked like things were going to return to normal. My mother was eventually born, and fifty years later, I was as well, and the changelings began to flourish again. But…but then twenty years after my birth, Sombra took over the Crystal Empire, and our food supply was cut off.” Again Chrysalis looked hurt by this, and Twilight again tried to comfort her, actually moving up closer to her and draping a wing over her back, causing her to smile again. “Thank you, it must be hard for you to comfort me so, knowing what I’ve done.” “Well…I know I am having problems overlooking what you have done, but that is because I never knew the reasons why beyond you simply beginning evil, but the more you talk, the more I am starting wonder behind your reasons, though I can tell we are close to those answers.” “Indeed we are,” said Chrysalis, “so I shall continue. After the Crystal Empire disappeared, things only went from bad, to worse, for both my mother and my grandmother lost the ability to produce both drones and queen embryos, leaving me as the only queen able to produce drones, though I had to keep myself from doing that.” “Why,” asked Twilight curiously. “To protect you ponies, for I knew if I let the hive grow beyond one queen, the intake of love would have been too much for you ponies, and would have forced us to begin…forcing love out of them. It was a tricky business, for a long time we could not eat, we could not venture out, and then, several months ago, it finally got to the point where the starvation finally had took its toll on me, and I attacked the capital of my grandmother’s kingdom. The rest you pretty much know, I was sent away from this place and lost my ability to bear children, the Crystal Empire has returned and whipped away our madness, and you have been left with a choice. You can either choose to keep the child, and help us to rebuild our glorious civilization, or you can give it up, and doom us to extinction, but as I said before, the choice…is yours.” Twilight said nothing for a long moment, for the weight of this new responsibility was a staggering one at that. She held the fate of an entire species in her womb, and that terrified her beyond belief. Oh sure, she could fight every manner of creature that came after her and her friends, but choosing whether or not to let a race live or die…not even Celestia had ever been faced with such a choice. “This…this is…” “World altering, I know,” said Chrysalis, “and I shall give you the time you need to make the decision. I shall go now, but I will be sending my grandmother in to talk to you…I am sure you have many questions for her.” She then got up, and, much to Twilight’s surprise, she leaned over and kissed her on the forehead before walking away and leaving Twilight both confused and, though she would never admit it, a little thankful for the kind gesture. However, she would look over her own emotions later, for now, she had to go over the questions she would be asking Celestia when she arrived.