//------------------------------// // Old Enemies whom still taste the bitterness of life, Old Friends whom have met death's sweet grasp Pt. I // Story: Too Epic for Arrogance // by NetherWalker //------------------------------// *Vegeta’s P.O.V.* Well that was one of the more interesting experiences of my life, I smiled as I landed in a clearing, not far from the edge of the Everfree. I stood there for a few seconds thinking about how to release all the pent up excitement I was currently feeling without making a scene… Oh to hell with it, “Scootaloo was freaking adorable!!” I sqeed out as I did a little happy dance, no doubt that somewhere in the multiverse, Vegeta was feeling an unexplainable disappointment in himself. My little dance continued for about half a minute before I collapsed in on myself from the sear amount of moe, it was almost as bad as when I had seen Luna (in her Woona state) playing with stuffed animals. I had never in my life been so glad for deciding to stalk someone! Although I was still in Luna’s “kill on sight” list, she was apparently adept at holding grudges. I hoped that a thousand years on the moon might have cooled her down, but that was unlikely. I got up from the ground, and started taking deep breaths, when a stray thought happened to cross my mind: Have ponies gotten… louder?I stood there rubbing my chin, The CMC certainly did a lot of yelling back there, eh better not think too hard on it. I mean, I had a life here that some poor bastards on earth would die to- huh, ironic. But then of course, in their daydreams, they didn’t have to deal with my nightmares. But again, best not to dwell on things, I had some trolling to do before I got back to business, some old enemies I needed to catch up with. Speaking of which, I needed to find some potatoes. The New Green Hive: *3rd P.O.V.* Chrysalis had done it, finally, after a thousand years or espionage, assassinations, and hostile take over’s, her new hive was back to full military might! And with the arrival of the Chaos Dragon, Equestria was weak, like a grape ripened on the vine, the prospects of plucking it were too good to pass up. She laughed, a long winding chuckle that echoed through-out her hive, as she meandered through the halls and into her throne room. And the best part, she thought, the monkey God isn’t here to stop me! That fool Celestia put an end to a friend, not a foe when she turned those elements on him. She smirked as she ascended the steps to her throne, the drones around her busily scuttling from the circular room without so much as a hint, they knew better than to disturb their queen when she was in a good mood. Her head held high and her eyes closed, she turned around, backed up and sat down with a content sm- Egh! Her eyes flew open as she felt a foreign object violate her, ahem, posterior. Her mouth pulled back into a grimace as she shifted in her seat, succeeding in pulling out the… Potato. Her pupils shrunk as her breathing quickened, her made to call for her guards but stopped when she heard him. “What, you didn’t like it?” the gravelly voice questioned, prompting the now mortified queen to shift her head in the direction of the intruder, “I thought you be used to things being shoved up your ass.” V-v-Vegeta!? H-how!?” she stuttered, as the bipedal creature tossed another one of those infernal dirt-clods continually with one of his hands, the other placed up against the wall, “How in the name of tartarus did you-“ “Escape?” He smirked, “How does everyone escape? Simple answer would be field trip. The complex answer… well let just say you don’t deserve it,” His smile vanished, and in its place, a deep foreboding frown, “Where is Kaylis? “ Chrysalis stumbled off her throne, rolling to the ground and speedily rushed the doorway closest to her, if she could get to the- she came to a grinding, skidding across the floor and into Vegeta’s chest, “I forgot you could do that.” “Do what? Teleport or stop murdering Cockroaches from escaping my judgment?” She gasped, backing up and attempting to regain her composer. “Murder? Veget- agh!?” He grabbed her by her throat and lifted, her hooves dangling off the floor. “First, address me as Prince Vegeta, only those who are worthy call me ‘Vegeta’,” he took his fist and slammed it into the pillar to their right. It warped around the impact and the vegetable in his grasp exploding in a thick mist. “Second, I cannot sense Iblis, which means that ether you killed them both, or only him, which makes you a murderer,” his grip tightened as his frown continued to contort his face with rage. “So, I will ask you again, WHERE IS KAYLIS!?” as he yelled, cracks began to form, webbing their way across the surfaces of the structure. Chrysalis was not panicking before; she was now, her eyes darted around as her throne room began to collapse around her, no choice. “banished.” she barely managed to whisper, as the lack of oxygen began to take effect, the world around her starting to darken as she pounded her hooves weakly against his hand. And then, the world was bright again. She meekly got to her hooves, slowly looking up to find Vegeta, face shrouded in darkness, expression unreadable. “Where.” She put her head down, how could she be merely a play thing for him? How could he be so strong? “I left her just east of the badlands, near the Joar.” He turned to leave, but Chrysalis would not let this end on a low note. She would not be his play thing. “It’s your fault you know.” He stopped, not turning to face her, instead standing as still as stone. She brought herself up, standing to her full height, and raising her voice: “He had to die!” Still, nothing. “A queen could not lower herself to love a pony, much less a PEASANT! He was disgrace to all hives, and most of all to the honor of the Blue Hive! And after you destroyed mine… WHAT WAS I TO DO!?” “Live.” She stopped, taken back by this. Live? What… what could he mean? No, nothing. This is an insult! “LIVE!?” she screamed, hot fire burning in her soul. “I COULD NOT LIVE! You decimated my hive! And expected me to simply live my life in some mud hut deep in Everfree? You Expected me to give up!” she was seething now, not with pure rage or hate, but something that felt… good. “Do you know how many you killed in your attack!? Did you count the children? Do you know how many died that day? How many YOU KILLED!?” “Thirteen thousand.” “And yet you come here accusing me of-“ What? “W-what?” “Thirteen thousand four hundred fifty two,” That… was right. “And yet, you somehow managed to let their deaths be in vain.” She… she had to say something, shouldn’t she? But what… what could she say? How had it have been in vain? What did he mean, the answer was obvious, but why didn’t she know… “I…” “Now, as for your revived plans to invade Canterlot,” Now he was just being mean, “I will not interfere, on only one condition.” Huh!? He… what!? “You’re… going to let me?” Her eyes sparkled, the fury she had felt only moments ago melted away, Allowing new feelings in. First, surprise. Second, joy. Third… “As long as you don’t kill anyone.” … oh bugger. “Now you’re trying to get bitchslapped-” she paused, some sweat accumulating on her brow, best not to push him anymore, “I mean… surely you’re joking.” “I’m not, and don’t call me Shirley.” She stared at him. “You cannot win a war with no casualties!” He turned around and smiled. “Well, I guess you’re just going to have to learn how then. Tiber Septum did it.” She sighed, putting her head down. “Very well.” “Excellent, I look forward to seeing you fail.” AH! Screw caution! She stomped her hoof down, about to scream at him again, but when she jerked her head up, he was already gone. She sat down on her haunches, and looked up at the sky through the now broken ceiling; the traces of sundown were on the scattered clouds. She didn’t know why he hadn’t just killed her there, what was his infatuation with making her life a living Tartarus, what did he see when he looked at her? Why would a God stoop to look a mere queen in the eye, why would he meddle in her affairs? She shivered, as thoughts of what he could have done to her because of her outburst; she had even threatened to slap him. She was sure he could take on Celestia even in his most weakened state, someone she would have to consume the equivalent of an entire cities worth of love to even scratch. Why did he continue to spare her, she was no God like him or Celestia, or Father, so why did he spare her! Wait, is he trying to… to teach me? … Is he trying to… change me? She hung her head low, is he… no, he couldn’t, wouldn’t! Her eyes grew large, and she started to grow hot, sweat dripped from her snout, and her face grew the color of a beet. A God, Loving a Queen? *Vegeta’s P.O.V.* Why!? Why couldn’t she just stop being such a b$%&#! I flung a fist into the object nearest to me, which just so happened to be a towering rock formation. Pieces of it began to fall in a smothering cloud of ruble and debris, the butte collapsing in on itself. “Seriously!?” I coughed, bits of stone now imbedded in my throat and eyes, “Could my day get any worse.” I couldn’t sense her, the whole damned desert felt like a wasteland, which in all honesty, it was. No way Kaylis could have survived out here; she would have died, mourning her beloved, cursing me for letting Chrysalis live. I’m a failure! I couldn’t stop Discord from going insane, couldn’t change Chrysalis, couldn’t keep Kaylis and Iblis alive. Couldn’t even control my anger, I almost killed her, Chrysalis was almost toad feed. I honestly wish I was like the real Vegeta, then I wouldn’t feel this… Regret. But perhaps I am more like him than I know, I only knew about the children because I read Chrysalis’s mind. Was my entire life here going to be one big lie? “Falcon Kick!” what? I turned around just in time to see a black Swiss cheese hoof smack me in the face. It was actually a good kick, well timed too, though whomever attacked me would never get the chance to hear me say it, it hit me hard enough to send me flying backwards, that’s for sure. I skidded on my back for a while before back flipping to my feet mid-skip, and bringing my forearms to my face, what followed was a flurry of savage blows, kick, punch, left, right. I couldn’t get a good look at my opponent, I did however, get a good read on her height, She stood roughly the same height as Luna, though perhaps a bit shorter, all her blows were concentrated in a single area, and whenever she would stray from that area, there would be a short delay before the strike. I also picked up on her pattern, Left, right, double kick, left, right, single kick, followed by round house, Left, right, left leg crotch shot, and so on. Although, it seemed similar… wait, Falcon Kick? “waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwaitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait!?” the attacks slowed, and finally came to a stop, as I lower my guard and raised an eyebrow, “Falcon kick?” “Yeah? Got a prob- lem with that…?” We stared each other down for a bit, and we knew, we knew we’d met before. but, we also knew, that this was not the same. Before me, was Kaylis, and yet, not. I knew the differences immediately though, orange mane and eyes instead of blue, a shorter stature, an aggressive attitude. This was not Kaylis, this… this was her daughter.