//------------------------------//
// Dialogue: Sunburn 
// Story: A Circle Has No End: Volume I 
// by Gladi Writes 
//------------------------------//

	Princess Celestia had come in the night, stealthily as could be, and anxiously trotted down the stone stairs of the Changeling mausoleum. Every noise by her hooves seemed loud enough to wake the dead in the still night, and that she had been forced to come alone added to the tension. She knew it was vain to try and talk sense into the changeling commander, but by the Sun she had to try. At the very least maybe she could give him some disinformation, or drag some information out of him.

It was risky of course, incredibly risky, to be out here like this. Celestia could hold her own, but she was still made of flesh and blood. If the changelings had prepared a trap, they could overwhelm her. It would not be easy, but it was possible. 

Celestia blinked, trying to force her eyes to adjust to the dark, and felt dirt below her hooves as she entered the bottom of the depression. A few dozen short stone objects- tombstones- lay ahead of her. She shuddered at the creepy vibe of this place. To think that Chrysalis cared to little for her "people" that she had abandoned the gravesite of her original followers, and her lover, said a lot about the mare.

There was a sound, from somewhere, and Celestia immediately flapped her wings out and surrounded herself with a golden force-field. It's light spread through the deep pit, and the tombstones created long shadows along the walls. Between two shadows, looking right at her, was a single figure. 

The black coat of a changeling, except with red eyes. They looked back at her, and he smirked. "Startled you did I? You're easily scared Princess, but what on this Earth could possibly harm a god?" he asked, and slowly trotted to the side, vanishing into the dark again.

"I am not god, Medulla, and neither is your "queen". This madness of hers will lead you all to your deaths, can't you see it?" Celestia pleaded.

"Not a god?" Medulla asked, and walked back into the light. "Really? I think you underestimate myself. Is a god not defined by those that worship them? You, Celestia, are a god to a great many ponies. They would die for you as quickly as take a breath, and they would kill for you quicker. You could rule the world if you chose to. You could end this war in minutes, and save thousands of lives. You're a fool not to."

"I... I can't. I can't use my powers like that, not even if it means losing Equestria." 

"Why?"

"It would be wrong! I have no right to judge the fate of the world!"

Medulla snorted, "And we do? Why not? Take over, rule the world, judge as you see fit. It would be a better world than the chaos currently. Now, I suppose you're here to try and convince me to turn against Chrysalis, aren't you?"

Celestia squinted at him, the answer was obvious.

"I refuse, and I will always refuse, because unlike you- Chrysalis knows what she is. She is a god, and she will rule the world. Us changelings, as her chosen people, will remake it in her image! There will be peace, and there will be equality! We will be all the same, we will all be her servants. Unlike you, Chrysalis isn't a coward.

Celestia flinched slightly at the bite of the changelings tongue. "You're not even a changeling, you're a pony! Deep down inside you know that!" 

"I know!" Medulla yelled, in a surprising display of emotion. "I know I am! I live with this disfigurement every day of my life!" he continued, and strode back into the light- staring up at Celestia with his eyes.

"I am less for it, and yet Chrysalis is kind enough to allow me to serve her. What would I be in pony society? An outcast? A fiend? She raised me as her own, while you turned a blind eye when I was kidnapped! I never met my father, I never will meet my father! You condemmed me the day I was born by refusing to rescue me, and that says all I need to know about your great Equestria. If it isn't a pony, Equestria hates it. The Thestrals cower in the mountain, the few zebras live as hermits, and the Griffons live in slums. All of it is ruled by tyrant alicorns, above and blind. I would die for Chrysalis, if it means ending your reign!"

Celestia paused, somewhat in shock. She was clearly losing this argument, but she pressed on anyway. "No, she's lied! You would have been accepted into our society as a friend!"

Medulla snorted again. "Friends are not equals, Celestia. Friendship is just another way for you to rule. Oh you're all friends, and friends are loyal to each other, but some friends are the ones giving orders. Friends are tools, to be used and discarded when they stop being useful. Friendship is just a trading alliance between two people. It's just a way for you to enforce your reign.  Your friendship is slavery."

Celestia blinked.

"You're either evil, or too dumb to see what you've built for what it really is. Equestria is an insular, hateful, slave colony. You are the slavemaster, and Luna is your whip. This is why I hate you Celestia, this is really why. You think you're better than Chrysalis, you think you have some sort of moral right to lead, but do you really? You lead because you have power over the sun, not because you are any better. You lead through force, yet you are too stupid to even see it, and too shameful to admit it. You lead in the same way Chrysalis does, you're just worse at it, and better at hiding it."

Celestia blinked.

"No answer? Exactly. Perhaps I have taught you something," he said, and strode forward in the light, his own shadow growing behind him. "If you come to the hive, you will either die, or you will be forced to kill us all. We will not surrender, we will not give up, and we will not give in. I will force you to see how evil you really are if it takes my own blood to do it!" 

With that, the changeling darted up into the air, and vanished into the night sky before Celestia could react. She stood there for a time, thinking.