*Vegeta's P.O.V.*
“So, you’re the first queen of the orange hive?” I asked, sitting across from the young war-like queen, who shifted in her chitinish seat uncomfortably, not looking me in the eye. The chamber we were in had a fantastic view of the desert plain far below, the hive being built within the innards of a mesa, and the queen’s chamber being located at the top, so while waiting for my response I stared out across the moon lit plane and pondered how I’d came here. As soon as our little “quarrel” had ended I was taken back to her hive so that we could talk… I don’t see why we had to walk all the way to her hive to “talk”, it would've made no difference because she refused to respond to anything I said anyways.
First I’d asked her about Kaylis… nothing
Then Iblis… nothing
And finally her hive…
“Y-yes?”
“Good God woman! Do you know how to use that daisy grinder you call a mouth!? I’ve been sitting here for a little over half an hour and all I’ve gotten from you is ‘yes?’ And what’s with the question? Do I need to draw your own family tree? Give me a straight answer!” I bellowed, causing the little changeling to shrink into her seat.
“I’msosorry!” she sputtered, barely managing to spit it out, though…
“You are Kaylis’s daughter, aren’t you?” I said, remembering my first conversation with the blue Changeling queen, identical. She took a deep breath in, and let it out slowly, bending her head down to stare at the ground, seemingly disheartened.
“Yes…” she said, after what may have been considered a long time, but my temper had worn its welcome, grief was a spirit I knew well, and in this form sympathy was only reserved for those who had lost more than many could imagine, this pitiable kid made the cut.
“Where is she?” I asked, not daring to hope for a second.
“Below us,” She answered, despite my best efforts, I could not sit there I needed to know for sure. I shot up, looking the Changeling dead in the eye:
“How far?” She looked at me, for the first time since we’d met. I could not register what she may have been thinking, but I knew she was confused.
“What?”
“How far below?”
“Two hundred feet, wha-?” She didn’t get to finish her sentence, as I pushed my palm onto her head, and concentrated, thinking of the world as a giant grid, and pulling myself from one place to another, the world fading out as I did, replaced with darkness. I could hear her fall to the ground, but the dimness shrouded her from my sight, I would have to wait till my eyes adapted… oh.
I looked on as light filled the large alien catacomb, stepping over the incapacitated daughter of the first friend I had ever made on this colorful rock, the one I now found before me…
Eyes closed, never to open again, I had hoped that It was simply this hive’s strange jamming that had kept me from sensing her, or maybe she was in a deep sleep. But, the sleep I’d found her in… was one she would never again wake from. Kaylis, The fifth, and last, queen of the blue hive now lay before me, encased in a great floating cobalt crystal in the way of the ancient burial rites preformed of her kind.
“I-I… I didn’t ever want you to see this…” The young queen said, having apparently shaken the stars from her sight and coming to stand next to me. “I want you to think… that maybe…”
“She survived…” I looked over my shoulder, my heart yearning to incase itself in stone to flee the pain, but I knew what the cost of that was already, and right now, I would not let myself alienate the last piece of Kaylis I had left. “I knew from the start that what I found, if anything, wouldn’t be pretty… I’m a fool to let myself feel all this pain, but I know that letting it haunt me forever won’t help ether.” I fell to my knees, a rush of heart stopping despair shooting through my system like electricity, frying my insides. My hands caught me as my façade of calm crumbled along with my back, tears hitting the dust covered ground, Memories of her, Iblis, their love… their strength rushing through my mind like an avalanche.
“Ha! You think you can best me at martial arts!? I’ll have you know I’m the world’s greatest fighter! I’ve fought monsters the likes of which you’ve never seen!” The cocky, afro wearing, moustache bearing young earth pony boasted, standing on two legs and pumping his forelegs in a series of fairly fast punches, He might have been impressive, if not for the fact I was the one he was trying to impress.
“Oh? Really? You think you could stop trying to demonstrate your battle prowess on your imaginary friends and back up your claims with a real fight?” I stared at him from across the camp fire, long since put out. We had met on the road during one of my many long walks through the surrounding forest, chance had ensured our meeting by letting me stumble upon a road, on which I had found young Iblis. I was yearning for a fight, and while the young warrior didn’t seem like that much (not to mention he was a pony, creatures not exactly known for their fighting spirit) I was willing to give him a shot.
“Ha! We’ll see about that porcupine!” What did he say? That’s it, no mercy!
I smiled fondly at the memory, if not outward, than inward. But it was nothing compared what happened next:
“Come back when you’re older Q-tip and you might learn something.” I said, the earth pony lying on the ground on the ground groaning in response, his response muffled by the dirt, “Hmm? What that? I couldn’t hear you with all the ground you have in your face.” I smiled and turned to walk away, But He spit out the dirt, and said something I’d never forget…
“I… said…” He muttered, slowly rising from the dirt, his eyes narrowing, resolve steeled, “I will… NEVER GIVE UP! I will never lie in the dirt like a pig… while I could be fighting, I will never surrender, because that is not my name!” He finished, and by pure will alone, stood, surprising me and reminding me of the greatest trait of the earth ponies, I don’t care about that life magic crap, this was their true power, the will of the earth. I turned back around, as he brought his hooves up to bare in the zebra fighting style, his face grave.
“So, what is your name?” I asked my look of surprise fading and replaced with an even larger smile, as he too brought his fuzzy lips up into a half-smirk.
“Iblis,” as he charged forward, pulling his hoof back for a strike that would even to this day make me wonder how he got in. *Smack!*
Soon after, I decided to train him, his power growing to unforeseen levels, nowhere near mine, but strong enough to blow an entire mountain to smithereens and extend his life dramatically, though he was not the first I’d given lessons to, the first held a special place in my heart. Her name was Kaylis, queen of the blue hive, though her training under me was considerably shorter that Iblis’s, she was someone of great potential, but far too kind to be a fighter like me. We met while she was grieving the loss of a dear friend, a filly from a nearby village that had been raided by minotaur pillagers. And our first talk had played out almost exactly like the one I would one day have with her daughter, when she eventually found out I was a fighter, she wished for me to train her, not knowing her true heart, I agreed. As she trained, she began to realize what she was training to do was wrong (Annihilate the whole of the minotaur race), coming to me to confess her motive, and while I had no real problem with it, I realized that she wasn’t strong enough to hold the power I was about to bestow upon her. Her life revolved around responsibility, and the power she would gain, would in her mind, hold too much. Needless to say, I gave the minotaur nations one hell of a thrashing, leaving my mark on their culture for decades to come, and came to be a close friend to Kay.
Decades had passed between her and Iblis, she came to be known as a kind and good hearted leader, he a warrior of truth and honor, prideful, but wise minded. The story of how they met… Is one I’d rather not tell now, but I can tell you that once they saw the good in each other, they held on, and never let go. Throughout all this, memories of their voices shifted through my mind like the water from a swelling river…
“Will you train me?”
“Wait, you want me to do what now?”
“Oh! Did you see that!? I just blew up a mountain!”
“You know, your boasting can get quite annoying. Like I am to believe that you blew up a mountain.”
“By my stars, you blew up a mountain… Vegeta, what on earth have you created!?”
“Thank you…. You saved me.”
“Vegeta, Vegeta!” tears flowing freely, I sat back up slowly coming back up to stand. I looked around to find the walls and ground slightly singed, evidence of inner pain. I found the little changeling kneeling before me head down and shaking hard enough for me to hear her teeth chatter.
“Are you okay?” I asked, picking her up and setting her down so that she was standing on her hooves. I got down on one knee, grabbing her by the chin and gazing into her eye.
“No, I… I knew it be hard on you, I… just…”
“Never thought I loved her that much?” I finished, letting go of her chin, “And it’s because I love her so much that I am going to do what I’m about to…” I patted her on the cheek, letting a bit of energy fly from my palm into her face, sending her flying into a wall. “She needs to rest in peace, and that will never happen if you continue to think as you do!” I said, watching the little changeling stumble from the rubble, “If you continue to think you are her.” She got up, and let the tears fall, her breath unsteady.
“But she is all I am!” She shouted, looking at me, not an ounce of anger showing through, despite this, we both knew she was gone.
“No she’s not, the ritual that she used did nothing but make you think you where her.” I said, I now knew what had happened, and I didn’t like it, all I needed to know now is why, “Though I will say this to the small part of your mind that is Kaylis, why? You knew the truth of this spell, why did you do it!?”
“Because I was scared!” She said, now sobbing, confirming my suspicions with every word she spoke, “I didn’t want to our child alone and frightened, but at the same time… I didn’t want to live in a world without Iblis, I was dying, and I didn’t have time to find a memory spell, So, I used the old rites…”
“She used the old rites,” I corrected, “Who you are, is not what she was.”
“THEN WHO AM I!?”
“You are who you choose to be!”
“That does not answer my question,” she said, collapsing on the ground and putting her hooves atop her head, “Why can’t I just be her?”
“Because it will do nothing but cause us both pain!” I alleged, clinching my fists and narrowing my eyes, “I know that it’s difficult, but you need to understand, unless you wish to be a slave to a will that isn’t even Kaylis’s you need to LET THIS GO.”
“Oh!? AND HOW-“
“Bitch! Shut your mouth when I’m talking to you!” she just stopped, her mouth hanging in place as she fought to keep from trying to attack me outright.
“Your- … your just so… impossible!” she shouted, exasperated and exhausted. She rolled onto her back, letting the frigged air of the catacombs cool off.
“More than you know.” I said, “I nearly killed Chrysalis today,” At this she sat up and looked at me, her eyes wide.
“W-what?”
“But I didn’t.”
“Why not! It be a blessing to ponies and changelings alike!” she closed the distance between us coming up to my face and placing her hooves on my shoulders, “Please at least tell me you beat the living day lights out of her.”
“Oh, believe me, the potato did fly,” I said smiling (the author giggling to himself at an inside joke the reader doesn't understand), “But the reason she isn’t buried under a thousand feet of rubble, is because I thought that Kaylis wouldn’t want that.” My smile faded as I explained the reasons for my actions, “And you know she wouldn’t.” The last piece of defiance slipped from her eyes. Her hard expression once again melting, as she let go, her hold on who she was blown from her grasp like sand in a windstorm.
“Then, if that’s not what she would want… why would I?” She fell to sit before me, confusion and pain evident on her face, some may not understand what she was going through, some may not even understand what just happened, but I know an identity crisis when I see one, it will rip you apart if you let it, that’s why I was not going to let this poor kid become it’s next victim.
“Because you are not her,” I said “what is your name?”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I mean what did Kaylis intend to call you?”
“Well… we only had a name picked out incase it- … I was a boy, but-“
“Well, spit it out!” I twirled my hands, impatiently gesturing for her to continue.
“Iblis Jr” she said, giggling, “We were going to call me Iblis Jr, he was always so insistent on it…”
“Iblis Jr It is then,” I said, Crossing my arms and smirking.
“W-wait, really?” The newly dubbed Iblis Jr said, surprised by my instant decision.
“Of course,” My smile growing along with my sarcastic tone, “You were using one of his moves back there, ‘Falcon Kick?’.”
“Hehe,” she rubbed the back of her neck, looking up at me with a bashful expression, “Yes…”
“He loved that stupid move,” I reminisced, thinking back to the time when he had shown me the very familiar move, which I came to call Falcon Kick, in honor of the badass captain from home, The name stuck. I looked at little Iblis, her smile hopeful, but not without its own fair share of doubts. She was in a way, Kaylis, in memory and actions, but I knew she was gone, and having memories from another life does not mean that life was yours. “Now then, were you going to show me around? And perhaps call out your little changeling minions, I’d like to see the little hive you’ve built for yourself.”
“Of course…” She said, a genuine pride showed through her confused exterior, “Buggy!”
“Yes Queen!?” A small, orange eyed changeling replied in a voice that seemed rather familiar, or maybe it was how he looked, the big red clown’s nose he had on his face reminded me of someone…
“You can tell everyone that he’s in a good mood, and he’ll be staying for dinner,” wait,
“Hold up missy, I ne-“ Iblis raised her eyebrow, the half-smirk on her face reflecting her father’s cocky disposition.
“I did though,” I felt some pressure on my back and looked over my shoulder to find at least seven little changeling foals clinging to my back, trying to goad me into accepting with adorable little puppy dog faces.
“Fine, But if you try to make me the main course…” I cracked my knuckles, and smiled venomously, prompting buggy to gulp, and Iblis to snicker.
“Trust me, we couldn’t even if we wanted,” she said, trotting her way to the staircase, “You ether don’t love anyone, or you keep it so deep inside nobody can see it, I couldn’t even sense any when you where crying over m- Kaylis…” I put a hand to my chin as I followed her and the little clown up the stairs the little pupas still clinging to my back, no love, that can’t be right… I thought, smiling to myself, even the real Vegeta love people, again, I guess I better not dwell, After all this drama I need to find Celestia and give the old I told you so speech, then maybe… I can finally get some action.
Though I felt like something was on the horizon, just waiting to rear its ugly, spiky haired head,
And screw it, I was right.