//------------------------------// // Chapter 44 // Story: Beyond the Portal // by Firestar463 //------------------------------// The sound of hoofsteps echoed through the cavernous throne room, unheard by any save for the one who made them. Besides her, the throne room was empty. As usual. Very few ever came to seek her advice. They rarely sought her counsel, or looked to her for justice or wisdom. Not since the Crystal Empire. Chrysalis hissed in frustration. Despite her status as Empress, despite the thousands of Changelings that answered to her - despite everything - never before had she felt so powerless. Not even after Canterlot the year before. Her Empire was slowly dying. Her Changelings hungered constantly, a sharp, growling pain in their stomachs. No longer could she afford to feed any better than the rest - She too felt the effects slowly setting in. And there was nothing she could do to save them. Changelings had already begun to die of starvation. Though only a few had succumbed thus far, she knew it was only the beginning. Only a dozen infiltrators - the absolute best of the best - had remained undetected in Equestria after the strike on Canterlot to retrieve the Sha Crystals. A dozen infiltrators to feed an Empire of over twenty thousand. Circumstances had become so dire that the Changelings had taken to hunting in the Everfree Forest, consuming their prey’s flesh like ravenous dogs. But it simply was not enough. The flesh sustained them, but it did not empower as love did. And the hunting parties could not possibly bring back enough food to satisfy the entire Empire. It had become a survival of the fittest system in every hive. The strongest fed, while the weakest… Did not. Chrysalis knew. She knew in the pit of her painfully empty stomach. The Sha, who had promised them everything, had instead taken everything and given nothing but empty promises in return. Their taint had reduced her empire to ruin. But what could she do now? The damage was already done, and nothing could undo it. Certainly not anything she had any control over. Her hooves were tied. She had no choice but to continue down this path, and though she prayed and hoped that she was wrong, deep down she already knew what lay at the end of this road. Perhaps Toxxys was not such a idiot. Maybe I am the fool…  The doors to the throne room opened with a loud creak, causing Chrysalis to turn her head towards the sound. A lone Changeling stood in the doorway, slowly moving into the room. Though few non-Changelings would be able to tell that he hungered, Chrysalis could. He was smaller than a normal Changeling would be, his exoskeleton having shrunk to conserve energy. His wings drooped, his walking was reserved. But worst of all were his eyes. They had faded horribly from their normal rich, light blue, becoming almost milky. “Empress.” Chrysalis couldn’t help but notice the hint of anger in his voice as he addressed her. “The party from Ponyville has returned. The mission was a success. The target was retrieved.” “Some good news for a change,” Chrysalis sighed. Not that a single, small success would have any impact on the situation at hoof. “Have it brought in. I will take care of it.” “There is more, Empress,” the Changeling continued. “A large army has been seen exiting the Everfree Forest. It appears to be the Alliance from the Crystal Empire. Rough estimates put their forces at over two thousand, and they are reinforced with Royal Guards and ShadowGuard. They were last seen headed directly towards the Hive.” “So Equestria finally retaliates,” Chrysalis murmured under her breath, looking down at her hooves. “It was only a matter of time really…” At least this ending would be quicker than the slow suffering of starvation. “Empress?” Chrysalis glanced back up at the Changeling. “Well go on!” she ordered. “Tell the commanders to get the army ready. All available Changelings must defend this hive.” “Very well,” The Changeling nodded solemnly as it backed out of the room. It closed the door, leaving Chrysalis alone in the throne room once more. But not for long. A chill ran up her spine as the door to the throne room opened once more. Two terribly familiar shapes stepped into the room, and what little warmth there was in the room vanished with their arrival. “Empress.” Treachery’s voice was as smug as ever, laced with pride and self-confidence that Chrysalis could normally ignore, or even admire at times. But now, in her people’s final hours, it drew an angry hiss from her lips. “What do you want?” she hissed. “Don’t you have better things to be doing than bothering me?” She could feel her anger welling up inside her. The pent-up frustration, the hatred for these two… things… that had led her to this damnable point. It was all she could do to not attack them on the spot. “Do you mean to tell us that you are not concerned about the army that marches to your very doorstep?” Hatred asked coolly. “Your enemies come to see your end, and ours as well, but instead they will find only their own ruin.” And just as suddenly, her fire was gone. Her shoulders slumped, and her head drooped towards the ground. “I care not for ruin or conquest. Not anymore,” she said quietly. “I just wanted my Changelings to prosper. To lead them to the glorious future that you promised us. That you have failed to deliver,” she added, her voice filled with venom once more. “Everything that has happened - everything - is because of you. You did this. You brought us to this… the end of my kind.” “Not the end. A new beginning,” Hatred corrected. “Empty words and hollow promises, as usual,” Chrysalis hissed. “You have taken everything you wanted, sent my Changelings to die by the thousands, and given nothing in return!” Her gaze hardened, and she spread her wings. “But no more. I am done with you! With your whole damn plan! You -” “Silence, Chrysalis.” Though Hatred did not raise its voice, its tone was enough to stop the Empress’s words instantly. “You doubt us now, on the eve of our triumph? Perhaps you need a taste of the power you have been promised.” Without warning, arcs of black energy lashed out from Treachery’s claws into Chrysalis’s body. She had endured much pain in her years, including being hurled a hundred miles by the spell that Cadence and Shining Armor had used to defeat her. But that had been nothing compared to the agony that tore at every nerve in her body. She could not even scream as she collapsed to the ground, paralyzed by the unbearable pain that wracked her body. Each second felt like the passing of an age. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head. And suddenly, it stopped. The pain was gone, as if she had never been subjected to Treachery’s power. Her legs trembled as she rose shakily to her hooves, the agony a mere memory now. “What… what did you do?” she demanded. “A mere sample of what you have been promised for your services,” Treachery replied. “You will find yourself stronger, faster, more agile. You will see things you did not before. You will command magics that even your darkest nightmares could not summon. And above all, you will find yourself able to summon my minions to your aid with a mere thought.” Chrysalis stared down at her hoof and flexed it. She didn’t feel any stronger. She certainly didn’t feel more agile. And she was not about to go summoning Sha. Not with those two around. She glanced off to her side, towards the wall of her throne room. Resting against the wall was a small, ornate statue carved of solid amber. Normally, the amber was nigh-indestructible. A half-inch thick sheet of it could withstand a blow from a Manticore charging at full speed. After a moments hesitation, she raised her hoof and struck out at the amber statue. Chrysalis’s hoof shattered it like a cheap mirror. She quickly withdrew her hoof as shards of amber fell to the floor, filling the room with a sound very akin to broken glass. The Sha watched as she stared at her hoof in wonder. “And this is a mere shadow of the full power that you and your Changelings will receive,” Hatred continued. “By the third sundown from now, all of Equestria will bow at your hooves, or lie there as corpses.” Chrysalis flexed her hoof once more. It still felt no different from before, but the shattered statue at her hooves told a different story. She stared down at the statue, still trying to comprehend how she had broken it so easily. Maybe it was her imagination, but the pieces looked like they had fallen to form an image of her sitting on the throne in Canterlot. “And you will feed for eternity.” Chrysalis glanced back up at the Sha. Though the Sha had yet to come through on any of their promises, she had had a taste. A glimpse, a glimmer of what was to come. They just needed to last a few more days. “Fine,” she growled. “Three days. That is what you have. Now, begone. You still have a Crystal Heart to corrupt.” “It will be broken by sunrise tomorrow,” Hatred assured her. The two Sha backed out of the room, leaving Chrysalis alone once more. Alone with her new strength. Her new power… Can I really summon them? she wondered. She glance back at the door, where Hatred and Treachery had left. When they did not return, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She willed the Sha to come to her, to obey her commands. Less than a second later, another cold chill ran down her spine as dark energy surged through her. Her horn lit up of its own accord, crackling with black energy. Swirls of energy formed on the ground, and from these pools they arose - half a dozen lesser Sha, all awaiting her commands. Chrysalis couldn’t help but grin. Treachery’s words had been true - the lesser Sha answered to her as well now. With them at her direct command… Who knew what she could do. The door creaked open, and Chrysalis’s head whipped towards the noise. On instinct, she willed the Sha to leave. The monsters’ bodies disappeared into a fine, black mist that quickly dissipated, vanishing from view. By the time the Changeling who was entering the throne room had stuck his head through, there was no trace that she had ever summoned the Sha. “Empress,” The Changeling saluted. “The prisoner, as you requested.” His horn lit up and a small, metal cage floated from behind him into the throne room. The cage fell to the ground at Chrysalis’s hooves with a loud clang. Chrysalis grinned once more. “Good work. Now, go and prepare for battle. Equestria marches on our home, and we will not let them win without giving as good as we get!” The Changeling saluted once more and backed out, closing the throne room door behind him as he exited. But Chrysalis had already forgotten about him. Instead, she was squarely focused on the cage in front of her. Or more specifically, its occupant. “So… We meet again.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “Bulwark, Matthias.” Kyle glance back and forth between the Pegasus and Human who stood before him. “You two are in charge of the main assault on Hive Regali. You know what to do.” “Not an invasion, though we should not hesitate to push into the Hive should the opportunity present itself,” Matthias nodded. “We’re just trying to buy you some time.” “Right. You’ll know when we succeed because the Changelings will become disoriented. From our experience in the Crystal Empire, killing the Queen disrupts the hive-mind that the Hive shares, and leaves the common Changelings lost and confused. I assume killing the Empress will do this as well, but on a much larger scale. When this happens, and the Changelings become disoriented, do not kill them. Round them up and lock them away. We’ll leave it to Queen Yxia to determine their fates.” “Got it.” “The attack begins tomorrow, but we leave tonight. Celestials guide you, gentlemen.” “Good luck, bro.” Kyle saluted the two, and they returned the gesture. They turned away from each other, with Bulwark and Matthias headed back into the temporary camp they had set up. Kyle, on the other hand, was walking away from the camp towards the group that awaited him. Twilight and Rainbow Dash were waiting for him, as was Queen Yxia. Shade and her two fellow ShadowGuard waited silently behind them, alongside Amber and her two fellow SI:7 Assassins. Finally, the two Changelings flanked their Queen, visibly quivering with anticipation. No words were spoken. None were needed. As the last lingering rays of the sunset faded, the group turned away from the camp and began walking across the desert, out into the darkness. It was a new moon tonight - There would be no light save for the stars to guide them. Likewise, there would be no light for their enemies to use to observe them. Off to the south, Kyle could see the entrance to Hive Regali. While normally concealed to prevent passing observers from locating the hive, it was not so easy to hide the taint of the Sha. Large swaths of land, already barren, had been twisted by the Sha and scorched black by the horrific energies. While no Sha could be seen in the area, even in the dark of night their mark was unmistakable. Yxia refused to look at the damage that had been inflicted on her home. She kept her head facing firmly forward as they marched to the west, skirting around the main entrance to the hive. The other Changelings, however, could not help but stare. Kyle could hear a low growl come from one of them as they turned to the southwest, and he could not blame them. If Garrosh had done this to all of Azeroth… Eventually, the main entrance to the Hive was  behind them, and the damage out of sight. The group turned south and continued moving through the darkness, careful to avoid the mesas and rocky pillars that jutted from the ground periodically. Minutes dragged on into hours, though it was impossible to tell for certain how long they had been walking. With no moon in the sky, there was no way for them to tell the time. As the first vestiges of the sunrise could be seen tinting the eastern horizon with traces of light, Yxia finally stopped. “Here it is,” she said quietly, moving towards one of the rocky mesas. Kyle could not distinguish it from any of the other rock formations. But Yxia could. She walked up to the mesa and tappe against it twice with her horn, three times with her hoof, and once more with her horn. As she removed her horn for the final time, the rock where she had touched began to glow. Though the glow was very dim - it would have been impossible to see during the day - it looked like a beacon against the darkness around them. As Kyle watched, a faint outline began to appear. A section of the stone slid down into the ground, revealing a steeply sloping, narrow passage that quickly fell away into the darkness. “Inside, quickly now,” Yxia whispered hurriedly. “Let’s get this sealed back up before the Empire discovers what made that light. And careful on the other side,” she added as Twilight stepped into the breach. “Remember, we set up traps on our way out. Let me go first once we’re all in there.” The group swiftly made its way into the tunnel, with Yxia bringing up the rear. She pressed a button next to the hole, and the rock wall slowly slid back up. It closed with a loud crunch, plunging the group into darkness. True darkness this time - the starlight outside had provided just enough light to see by, but in here, Kyle couldn’t see his own hand as he pressed it against his nose. But the darkness did not last for long. Yxia and Twilight both lit up their horns, flooding the corridor with light. Their glow was soft, but slowly brightened as everyone’s eyes began adjusting to the light. Yxia made her way down the hallway to the front of the group, squeezing through the narrow gap between the group and the wall. She motioned for the group to follow her and set off, plunging down into the earth. The passage sloped down into earth, straight at first but quickly turning into a tight downward spiral. After a moment of walking downwards in circles, the passage leveled out and became relatively straight. The walls were solid stone, roughly cut and uneven like that of a cave. And though the path led roughly to the northeast, it twisted and turned on itself, sometimes sloping up or down. Multiple routes branched off of their path, and as Yxia led them down path after path, Kyle realized that what she had said was true - this route was like a maze. After an hour or so of walking, all three Changelings let a simultaneous sigh. “It has begun,” One of them said. “Chrysalis has sent her forces against the army at her doorstep.” “So we have our opportunity,” Amber replied quietly. “Let’s get in there and get this done before we lose too many people.” The group continued along the path, often taking detours off of the road Yxia had used to escape. She explained that this was to avoid most of the traps that she had set. Even with the detours, there were still a few traps that they had to take care not to set off, or else disarm or trigger prematurely. This process seemed to repeat for hours as they continued to push forward. Suddenly, Yxia stopped. “Careful here,” she hissed. “This was the first trap we set, so the last one we have to deal with. There’s a tripwire here. Step carefully.” Twilight brightened the glow from her horn, allowing everyone to see the thin rope that stretched across the path near the ground. Yxia and the Changelings were the first ones to cross, stepping carefully over the trap. Shade and her Nightguard followed right behind, as well as Amber and the SI:7 Assassins. Twilight herself took the next turn, leaving only Kyle and Rainbow Dash on the other side. “Alright. Me next,” Rainbow Dash said, stepping forward. She eyes the tripwire nervously. Suddenly, she smiled. She spread her wings and flapped them once, pushing herself into the air. But she didn’t stay there for long - the pulled muscle in her wing from the Crystal Empire saw to that. She let out a loud grunt as she flew into the air, and quickly fell back to the ground. Right on top of the tripwire. The wire broke with a loud snap that echoed through the cavern. Almost instantly, a trapdoor above Rainbow Dash opened up, and the loud, telltale sound of rocks slamming against each other echoed through the passage. Everyone quickly backed up, but Rainbow Dash seemed paralyzed, unable to decide whether to move forward or backwards. Kyle decided for her. As soon as she landed on the tripwire, he ran forward, throwing an arm out. His arm hooked around Rainbow Dash’s midsection, and he dove forward, yanking her with him with a startled yelp. Together, they both dove towards the group, landing on the ground at their feet. An instant later, the thunder of collapsing stone filled the corridor as the rocks fell from the trapdoor. Dust flew from the rockslide, obscuring everyone’s vision. The stones continued to pile up, quickly blocking the passage and sealing them all inside. Finally, the rockslide ended, leaving the group trapped on the inside. “Th - *cough* - thanks for that,” Rainbow Dash coughed through the dust. “Sorry. I thought I could hover over it, but this… stupid wing still hurts,” she added, glaring at her injured wing. “We’re not getting back that way,” Amber commented as Kyle sneezed. “We’d better hope that Chrysalis and her Changelings didn’t hear that,” Shade added. “That was loud enough to wake a sleeping Ursa.” “We’re only a few minutes away now,” Yxia said. “Come on. We’re almost there,” The mood in the group quickly changed as they followed Yxia down the corridor once more. Before, it had been fairly calm, almost relaxed. It was as though they were just going exploring, or on a bit of a hike. But now… now that they were so close, mere moments away from the final confrontation, no one was relaxed or at ease. Kyle could practically taste the tension that surrounded the group. He could also feel the taint of the Sha growing closer and closer. Chrysalis lay before them, yes, but she was not their only target. After all, the Shas of Treachery and Hatred were the very reason that Twilight and Rainbow Dash were coming along. Only by destroying them and sealing them within their crystals forever could this maddening war ever truly end. But there was something else as well. A mass of Sha energy, swirling and roiling angrily. But inside this dark sphere was a core of light. A chi signature so strong, it was nearly blinding to Kyle’s senses. Whatever was inside that sphere of Sha energy, it was powerful. “This is it,” Yxia said suddenly. Kyle glanced up ahead. Sure enough, his eyes were met with an apparently dead end. Only the small button near the wall indicated that this was not in fact a dead end, but rather a secret passage. “Everypony ready?” Shade asked. There was a quiet murmur of confirmation. “Alright. Hit that button, and let’s roll. As Yxia reached for the button, Kyle stretched out with his senses back towards the strange sphere of Sha energy. That chi core was perplexing him - the presence of those two energies right next to each other should not have been possible. And oddly enough, that chi core almost felt… familiar somehow. Yxia’s hoof slapped the button. At once, the rock wall fell away, revealing a large, open throne room. But it was not empty, as he had been expecting. Instead, a good fifty or so Changelings stood guard. The closest ones had recoiled away as the secret passage was revealed, but already they were beginning to rush in the repel the invaders But it was too late. Most of the group was already out, battling the Changelings who stood guard. Kyle closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he drew his staff. He let out a fearsome battle cry… And charged in.