Once upon a time, in an era of light and prosperity, we were born into the world, pure like a foal. Our visage bright and whole like the finest of marble. Our manes silkier than the most delicate and smoothest of threads. Our voices were honey in the ears of those around us. Beauteous and elegant, comparable to the most graceful of swans, our only purpose was to spread joy to the world that gave us life and reason, only to ever take affections in tribute so we may thrive. The ponies glorified our presence and treated us divinely, but their ruler was jealous.
A deity of the sun: Divine and exquisite like the dawn, but tempered in the furies of the fires it flourished. Our innocent arrival challenged her as the little ones below praised us. She shunned us, and vied for tighter control, demanding her subjects to renounce us. When they refused, she grew angry. We noticed the turmoil, and spoke in frankness and chastity to their ruler, wishing only for peace. It was then we realized the darkness she held. The hypocrisy of her control. She was a tyrant that merely hid behind a mask of false innocence and hollow compassion. How long have those ponies been enraptured by such a beast, we did not know.
We feared. We feared not for our lives. We feared not our death. We feared for her kingdom, built on a foundation on such a cold, paranoid and deceitful rule. We feared for them, for they were trapped, and did not realize it. We knew what we needed to do. Our destiny transformed as we challenged the tyrant sun's authority and here, my dear, is where our tale veers to horror.
It was a tragic yet magical fall from grace, far too awful to taste for those poor, lost captives. Our shining souls were to be torn from her light; defiled, reviled, and exiled from all. Command given, but our innocence gave way to error, as we challenged her law. For our transgressions, when our bad die were cast, we were cast down to die. With the might she claimed, she expelled us in fire and cursed our existence, charring our visage and deforming our beauty beyond recognition or hope for affection. With one final push, we were violently driven from the land, condemned to a steeple of needles, which thrust into our lives. Our punishment was clear. Shame, agony, and solitude out of the sight and mind of the world. This was our prison. Scholars might say we were blind by our passion and pride, and rightfully demonized in the hearts and minds of all, but history rides with victory, not truth, my dear.
For years, we rotted in our anguish, feasting on our misery and grime, until gloom ran thin and we grew enlightened. We learned to take shape and visage of those surrounded. To blend in and stand out at will, and hide our hideous curse. We learned until the holes in our hearts and bodies stopped bleeding and healing, and we embraced our new role. We knew what we needed to do from then. We rebuilt. We congregated. We plotted to take back what was lost. Extract the throne from the Sun, and free the liege below, to restore nature beautified where we, the damned, once pleasured ran; free and whole without fallacy.
We spread and invaded slow, crawling through the world like the insects we were fated to be. Methodical and careful our actions were, feeding on affection and attention from our dear innocent prisoners. We replaced and blended in with them, taking up their lives with grace and dignity, while keeping our eyes on the realm's growth before us. We poured our blood, sweat, and tears into the masks we made to ensure perfect illusions of "perfect" lives. Centuries of effort cultivated the pearls of knowledge, leery as close watch of the world remained, for which we constructed our plan to claim the tarnished throne from the Sun above.
Years pass, and our time at hand, we reached the perfect chance. Replacing the beacon of our need, I stowed her away and slipped between the folds. Taking love as power, I eroded the shield meant to bar us. We were so practiced that little knew the truth. They danced helplessly to the whims of my grace, completely bewitched. Only one saw through my ruse, and she was regrettably ostracized by her loved ones. Tragedy, however, plays a part in grand schemes. I could not mourn her misery. Only could I take up true opportunity as the little one wept at my hooves, to always remain ruthless so we could succeed. The plan played out flawlessly in such a way, that even when I was unmasked, the magical surface that restricted us became brittle enough for my kin to break through. Even when challenged, the love I took from my forerunner's bosom let me clash with the patron of our misery and conquered it. Then, at last, the walls shattered and let my kin storm through, striking like wolves in the thickening fog. We had the kingdom in hoof, all resistance snuffed and contained, and had claimed the throne from the Sun beneath.
-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-v-o-
Monsoon stood in the dark and silence, arms crossed as he kept his gaze on the would-be Queen. "Then, pray tell; why are you here, plotting an invasion with some random alien to this world, if you succeeded in your mission?" Monsoon asked, skeptical from the story told.
Chrysalis frowned. "Yes... it is a bit of a contradiction, isn't it?" She hovered back down to the floor, landing gently near her guest. "Hubris, my dear. It all became a blunder while I was drunk on my own pride and arrogance. I did manage to succeed against her by the chance of no small miracle, and even subduing those accursed elements was a stroke of luck. The numbers of my hive overwhelmed them indeed, despite their posing of such an incredible opposition. If they would have fought my changelings any harder, it would have been an embarrassment on my end. However, that would have just sped up the process. Honestly, I should have watched her more closely than I did."
"Furthermore," Monsoon continued, "why should I even remotely care for your plight and believe your little history lesson?" Chrysalis wheeled around indignantly, about to object to her guest, but was cut off again. "You're forgetting a few very important details, one of which I've already mentioned. As an outsider, what sympathy can I have, especially since you don't know who or what I am? I cannot have perspective on something that is lost to me from the get go." Uncrossing his arms, he approached the changeling. "I don't care about your history. I don't care about what vendettas you have, and what reasons you make to justify them, true or not. I care only about leaving this bastardization of nature behind, and you've done nothing to give me reason that you're willing, or capable of such a thing. Only a few stories and cowardice!"
"I AM NO COWARD!"
"Then why do you have such a fear for that forest you or your brood refuse to approach by your command?" He stared into her eyes, boring into them with the presence of intense pressure, "You have yet to properly explain that to me."
Chrysalis went silent and looked away for a moment as Monsoon crossed his arms again. The mercenary was becoming more impatient as more of his time was wasted, but something in him held out for answers. As for the Queen, there wasn't much else she could do but unveil the truth of the matter, and looked to him with sincere eyes. "I have been in that forest, dear stranger. Far longer than I've wanted. I've told you I managed to find a fraction of my army, correct? I had more then than I did when we took shelter there at first." She wandered back to the mural and placed a hoof on it gently. "There are things in there that are dangerous for anyone to encounter, and... some of my own succumbed to those dangers."
"I'd be inclined to believe you if I hadn't seen that room full of your brood."
"Yes... that's true... but there is a reason for that. I ended up stumbling upon a curious landmark that was previously covered by a boulder. The numbers of my children no longer became an issue, but... a few things were lost in the translation. Remember how I said their obedience wouldn't be an issue? They will obey you no matter what, because that is all they know." Her hoof slid off the mural as she wandered back to Monsoon. "I'm just thankful for the mercy of keeping enough of my real children that I don't feel so alone with these... blanks."
"There's always a reason for everything and a sentimental notion, isn't there? Fine, but the issue remains. If you want your plan to succeed, you first need to make a sacrifice. Let me take them through that forest you so despise, so we have some element of surprise. Or, doom yourself to fail yet again." He let the choice hang in the air for a moment before he stated his final warning. "Don't expect me to help you if you choose the latter."
Her face scrunched in frustration, but she relented. She had no more words to shield her and no other ideas to keep her from taking a different route. "Very well," she said, "you've won." She walked past him slowly, and approached the exit. "Follow me. There is one more thing I want to show you."
"Don't tell me it's another room with another mural."
She chuckled lightly, "No, I think what I have to present would be more to your liking." With that, Monsoon followed her out the exit and down a new tunnel. The room they entered was vastly different than the last ones. It was elongated with a sparse set of changelings rushing back and forth between crystals and green pods. A few stone-like platforms held objects and items that were either being dissected or re-purposed with crystal attachment by a few others of Chrysalis' brood. Monsoon would be lying if he said he wasn't a little intrigued at what was going on.
"We aren't fools. When I've said we cultivate the pearls of knowledge, I mean exactly that. For years, we've done all we can to learn about the changing world around us so that we may be able to utilize it or counteract it. Even the most seemingly useless tool can be an asset worth looking at. Including..."
She lead him over to a platform at the back of the room that had a familiar set of twin objects laid out before them. Dual Sais, with shattered blades, still complete with red ribbons attached to the hilt.
"My Dystopia?"
"Is that what you call them?"
Monsoon looked to Chrysalis. "Where did you find these?"
"In the forest floor, a few hoofbeats away from you when you came here. We were surveying the orange pony's land during that storm, hoping to attack under the cover of the elements, but then you showed up, falling from the sky. Your arrival was an unknown, and I wasn't willing to risk any attack until I knew what you were. I won't lie, we did spy on you a little before you stood up and took shelter in that farmland's structure, and when those ponies interrogated you so disrespectfully. But there was something we found during the storm. Its... unusual design and unknown purpose hints that it might be connected to you." She then pointed to Monsoon's broken Dystopia. "I guess we were correct in thinking that."
Monsoon tenderly reached for the hilt, and picked up its bladeless form. He inspected it closely, checking the grip, the serpentine cross guard, even the ring pommel that the red ribbon was tied to. Monsoon then looked to the fragments that laid before him, and decided it was time to see what pieces would fit via the laws of magnetic attraction. Accessing an internal program, his body suddenly gave off a violet spark, as the hilt that was once in his hand floated up to eye level, followed by the other sai hilt, and the rest of fragments. As they floated and rotated in the air, free from the bonds of gravity, the pieces suddenly shot to the blade they were born from, quickly becoming whole once again. A ghost of a smile appeared on Monsoon's cybernetic face as he gazed at its perfect form. Then, exhaustion took hold, the violet sparks dissipated, and the blades dropped from the air, shattering against the surface they were lifted from, leaving only the hilts relatively undamaged.
Monsoon sighed with a shake of his head, and activated one of his emergency electrolyte packs within, giving himself another temporary boost.
"It can't be..." Chrysalis' voice uttered quietly in bewilderment, "Only those that posses a horn can utilize magic like that..." Our guest may be more valuable to us that I anticipated. The Queen approached her guest and spoke softly to him. "Are you alright?"
The mercenary looked to her. "Just tired... I've been running low on energy for quite some time, and have been forced to use auxiliary boosts to keep my body running." He thought for a moment, and decided to go for broke. "And I can't help but wonder... would there be any way I can get replacement energy sources?"
"I wouldn't know, stranger. I don't know what you require to survive."
"Well, I can't give you a full fuel cell, but..." And with that, once again accessing the programs within, another emergency fuel cell was used. Upon being recharged, his body sparked again, this time with the helm adorning his head sliding down to cover the rest of his face. As soon as a click was heard, the changeling queen noticed something remarkable. The creases that seemed to be part of Monsoon's design revealed gaps, as his body began to separate and segment itself. His collar and the left side of his chest slid away from his right, and a hatch opened from the smooth surface that existed there. From the hatch in the center of the smooth surface that was just revealed, a rather curious looking oval with latches and a corkscrew opening floated out. There was a small amount of bright blue liquid inside of it that Monsoon was careful to not drop. He floated the curious object into his own hand gently, and made sure he had a good grip on it. Once done, within a split second, the hatch shut, and his body suddenly came back together as if was never even fragmented in the first place.
Chrysalis stood there, dumbfounded by the bizarre displace that challenged her own perception of reality. No living being should be able to do that, she thought, What in the stars' name are you?
The helm clicked again, and slid back into its normal position, also snapping Chrysalis out of her stupor. The cyborg then outstretched his arm, presenting the curious object with the small amount of blue liquid. "If you can find a replacement for the liquid inside," he stated, "I'd be rather thankful for that."
Chrysalis' horn flared as her magical aura took up the empty cell. She examined it closely. "What used to be in here?" She asked frankly.
"Electrolytes. Well, not just that, but I never really took the time to study up on what's in those cells. Hindsight makes me wish I had." He answered frankly. "All I really know is that whatever is in there is non-toxic. Any living being could taste it, and it wouldn't harm them... I think."
Chrysalis looked at the liquid carefully, then passed it off to one of the changelings in the room. It nodded in silent agreement, accepted the object, and levitated a small sample of the blue liquid out of the nearly empty cell, before licking it out of the air. The changeling took a moment to taste it, before it nodded back at its queen.
"Well, that's certainly interesting."
"What is?"
Chrysalis took back the empty fuel cell before answering, "It seems whatever is in here might have a similar chemical makeup as the nutritional paste we feed on as a substitute for love. Perhaps it could serve as your replacement?"
Monsoon chuckled, "That's awfully convenient, but considering what I've went through until now, I won't question it."
Chrysalis passed the empty cell off to a different changeling, and it left the room immediately. Turning back to Monsoon, she addressed him once again. "Is there anything else you require?"
Monsoon looked away from his benefactor, gazing back at the broken sais before him. His mind swam with possibility. This world's rules were utterly disgusting to him, challenging any notion of order and principle he had. Even reality as he knew it was dying slowly before his eyes, making way for demonstrations beyond anything he could imagine. Weather control, shape-shifting, a dominant species that shouldn't be, all bundled together in a realm of brighter colors and warmer horizons. However, he couldn't help but consider the current circumstances. He's alive with the broken remnants of his past before him, and possibly about to be given new life. A chuckle escaped him as his thoughts finally accepted these new gifts in earnest. And maybe, he thought, they can help send me home after all... but first...
He turned back to the queen of the brood, and spoke, "I'll need one last thing."
"Name it, my guest."
Monsoon grabbed the broken sais, and presented them to Chrysalis. "Rebuild my Dystopia."