//------------------------------// // Lessons from our past... // Story: New Opportunities // by shenadri //------------------------------// CANTERLOT CASTLE, MEDICAL WING “ARE YOU COMPLETELY INSANE CELESTIA!” Twilight yells, rivaling Luna’s own royal canterlot voice, “I COMPLETELY UNDERSTANDS THAT SHE IS A DIPLOMAT AND SHE IS UNDER OUR PROTECTION, BUT I CANNOT FORGIVE HER FOR THE LIVING TARTARUS SHE MADE ME PASS THROUGH WHEN WE WERE PLANNING MY BROTHER’S WEDDING!!!” “So, are you saying that the Princess of Friendship refuses to take a wounded and emotionally hurt diplomat, also hindering the possible way of peace and friendship between two nations… because she can’t let it go from a petty grudge that happened like a year ago?” the alicorn of the sun says, looking straight back to the ex librarian, “also I am hearing this correctly, Twilight Sparkle, the most intelligent pony after Starswirl the bearded, letting go an opportunity to learn something new about a race lost in the story of the world’s nations?” Celestia adds, looking briefly to Princess Luna, who was doing her best for not break into a fit of giggles. All the other ponies in the room where silent, looking at the newest princess, all of them almost looking the tiny gears twist and turn inside the ex-librarian mind, with a defeated sigh, Twilight relented. “That’s not fair Tia” Luna telepathically says to Celestia, “you know exactly how to push her buttons to do your will, and your student has a valid point” the Lunar alicorn states, “anyhow we should have asked Chrysalis if she is alright with this agreement.” “Ok princess, I think it is fair to give her a second chance, we do it with Discord, so why not?” Twilight finally says, lowering her arms in defeat. “You rang?” a new voice says, and then the very same god of chaos appears with a flash of light, he has a hawaiian red and white shirt, a skirt made of grass on his hips and a coconut with a bending straw on it, however, nopony was expecting the reaction that comes after the chaos entity entrance, all of the sudden, the changelings in the room turn into different objects trying to hide from the new occupant in the room, and the queen that once stood defiantly over Celestia was now screaming bloody murder, pointing with one hoof to a bewildered discord and babbling incoherently, then unconsciousness claims Chrysalis again. “why I never” the chaos spirit says annoyed, then with a pop, he disappears again. “Ok… that happened, now somepony can explain me what the hay just happened here?” Rainbow Dash exclaims, frustration evident in her voice. “We were hiding from the chaosbringer” a muffled voice says, then one of the cupboards transform back into an insectoid pony, “he is the culprit of our… condition, and we learn to fear him because of what he do to our first ancestor.” “What do you mean?” Twilight says, looking towards the changeling intently, a quill and a parchment appearing from thin air, “wait, what is your name?” “My name is Cayo, I am one of the chroniclers of the hive and one of the chamber guardian’s” the changeling begin, “many eons ago, we were a far away little kingdom between the dracospire and one of the Griffon aeries, our little hole in the world better known as the Flutter Valley.” “It cannot be, Discord and the Smooze destroyed the valley when we try to stop them the first time” Celestia whispers, looking quite shocked by this news, Cayo turning around and looking at the solar diarch with an even look. “The valley was destroyed, yes, but we thrive in adversity, when Discord and the everlasting darkness took the valley we were hidden below the earth, however, the fel magic those two used to destroy the land and render it barren seeped through the soil, also tarnishing us, and turning into this” he says, pointing at himself, “however, Flutterheart, the kind monarch and matriarch of all Flutter Ponies, shielded us with her might, and we survived the contamination, as we called it, but our once empathetic ancestors turned into hungry beasts, our ability to sense emotions turned in our very doom; because you see ponies, we now were dependant on festing into emotions to survive and use magic.” “However not all was lost, Queen Harrow Heart the second changeling queen after the contamination, was a prophet of sorts, and she foresee that the thirteen queen in the thirteenth century after our fall will redeem us, joining with one of the descendants of the ones that unified the ponies, and that time is finally upon us, Chrysalis is that queen, and she almost failed us, but she shallow her own pride to seek aid after her… madness.” the changeling says, a look of pity and pride in his eyes, nuzzling her monarch. “fair Cayo, what do you mean by that?” Luna asks, looking the changelings in a new light, also tearing up a little, old memories resurfacing in the light of this new information. “let me finish then, maiden of the night” the changeling continues, bowing her head, “we were safe, but our hunger for emotions eventually degraded our minds, and the heir of the last queen was no exception, she was once a pony, but our last queen took it from her village and tried to forge her into her descendant, however, the alchemy needed for this feat kills our last queen and triggered the transformation of the pony, turning her into the new queen, Chrysalis.” shocked, all the ponies recoil from the changeling and all the others that finally were in her normal forms, “when she surged from the royal chambers, she told us that she finally understood why this had happened to us, and seizing all of our broken memories and minds, build the strongest hivemind last seen in two centuries and linked us permanently to her, obligating us to her will, but in exchange, she lost her memories, and she went down to a madness path, blaming the ponies of our ancestor’s fall, she thought that if we could conquer the golden city in the mountain, our heritage and our might will be rewarded by our redemption, she then proceed to breed a lot of drones, capture and convert any stray ponies, griffons or zebras that were on our lands, and build an army to try and take Canterlot, however, we all know how that ended.” the changeling finishes, looking forward, his cheeks moisten with fresh tears.