//------------------------------// // Memories // Story: Darkness Rising // by Nurarihyon //------------------------------// Queen Chrysalis tapped her hoof while the drone in front of her cowered. “So. What you’re telling me, is that Midnight has agreed to a bet with one of the most insufferable nobles in Canterlot, and if he loses this bet, he will no longer be coming to our hive?” The drone winced at the barely contained annoyance in Chysalis's voice. “Y-yes, my queen.” Chrysalis’s eyes narrowed. “And if he wins, he drags that miserable pile of wasted space to our hive on his next visit?” “T-that is what was reported, my queen.” Chrysalis growled and slammed her hoof on her throne, causing the drone to jump. “If this was anyone else I’d have him assassinated just for thinking about doing something this brash.” Chrysalis ground her teeth and gave her command. “We will continue to watch Canterlot for any other unusual developments. Be sure to report to me immediately if anything of note happens.” “Of course, my queen.” After the drone had left the room, Chrysalis stood up and walked towards the wall behind her throne. She paused briefly while her magic flared, causing the organic wall to open up to allow her through, closing again once she had passed. “Of all the stupid, idiotic, half-witted things he could do, he chose this? Why? It’s not like him. If he was this stupid I would never have let him survive past his first diplomatic mission.” Chrysalis continued to mull over her spy’s report as she entered her own personal chamber, the one place in the hive where the walls featured something other than the pulsing green veins and glossy black patches that made up the rest of it. Here was where Chrysalis allowed herself to be relaxed. Here Chrysalis didn’t have to worry about providing for and protecting her hive. The walls were sculpted in such a way that the glowing green pods that provided light throughout the hive served as a backdrop to the mementos that Chrysalis had accumulated over her long life. Chrysalis laid her hoof on each of these as she passed, making a circuit around the room. Every now and then she would pause and gaze at a particular item. “Ah, I remember this one like it was yesterday. That darling stallion’s horn still shines just like a pearl in candlelight. Too bad it was the only thing that shined about him. Perhaps if his love hadn’t been so tainted by hubris I would have let him keep it, or at least I might have waited until he had died before I took it.” As Chrysalis passed each item her predatory grin only grew, each piece a memento of some sort of conquest. However, her grin vanished as she came upon one last item. Unlike the others, which sat on pedestals that could be considered works of art themselves, this one sat on an unadorned pedestal. Chrysalis hadn’t wanted anything to draw the viewers’ attention from the item itself, for unlike the other items, this one didn’t represent a conquest, but rather it served to remind her of something she didn’t understand. Sitting on the pedestal was the head of a very large timberwolf. The visage of the beast was marred by large burns and it filled the room with the smell of burning wood whenever it was moved. Chrysalis frowned as she recalled the event that lead to her acquiring this particular item. ===================================================================== It was a quiet night. Nothing was moving in the vicinity of the hive, most of the larger predators of the Everfree had already learned that the changelings were too difficult to get at to make decent prey, and the smaller animals knew to stay away to avoid the hunter drones. Chrysalis had been deep within the hive, sharing a dinner with several of her higher ranking drones and one particularly irksome pony. She was currently glaring at the offending equine, a stallion named Midnight Silver, as he ate his meal. The infuriating pony was supposed to have been offended at the meal offered him, not to mention she had fully expected him to ask why the changelings ate food at all since they lived off love. But no. This pony not only refused to ask the question that any non-changeling would, and thereby create an incident she could use to her advantage, but he actually sat down and ate the food she had had prepared for him! Ponies weren’t supposed to eat meat! Chysalis's angry musings were interrupted by an alarm over the hive mind. Her eyes widened and she leapt up while giving commands. “Gather the warrior drones, I want squads one through ten on the surface now! The rest of the warriors need to get to the hatchery and make sure that the nymphs and eggs are safe, the hive is under attack!” She was just about to rush to the surface to direct her warriors when she heard Midnight begin to rise. She gritted her teeth as she turned to face him. Of course he would demand that she see to his personal safety before anything else, just like any self-entitled pony. “Follow the drones to the nursery, they will keep you safe there, now I have to go defend my home, so stay out of my way.” What Midnight said next shocked her into speechlessness. “Why would I do that? I’m going to my chambers to get my armor, and then I’m going with you.” Chrysalis couldn’t help but stare at this pony in her surprise. She shook her head after a moment and was about to reply when Midnight interrupted her. “What are you waiting for? You’re under attack, go!” While Chrysalis would have liked to strangle him for daring to tell her what to do, she didn’t have time, so she just turned and ran towards the commotion, certain that Midnight would either get lost, or if he managed to get to the fight, would just turn tail and run back into the hive. As she ran through the tunnels that lead towards the surface, she forced herself to push the annoying stallion from her mind, and by the time she burst through the hives entrance she had managed to restore her focus entirely. Unfortunately, what she saw happening before her threatened to shatter that concentration. The forest had been thrown into chaos, everywhere she looked there were timberwolves fighting her warriors, and they were winning. For every dead timberwolf she saw, there were three mauled corpses that looked vaguely like her drones. Any attempts at communication were drowned out by the howling of the timberwolves. Chrysalis silently cursed her hive’s inability to communicate anything more complicated than vague impressions over their hive mind before she jumped into the fight. Immediately she was attacked by three of the wolves, but she made short work of them, her magic tearing through their wooden skin as if it were paper. Unfortunately this drew the attention of several more wolves who quickly figured out that if they took her out, then they would be able to take the hive and all of the prey inside. In seconds they were on her, attacking her with all of their fury. Chrysalis fought back with just as much ferocity, ripping through her attackers with reckless abandon. Her drones took advantage of the wolves’ distraction to make a counterattack, forcing the beasts that weren’t focused on Chrysalis back towards the tree line. The minutes seemed like hours as Chrysalis fought timberwolf after timberwolf, and while she was still unharmed, her strength was quickly waning. She had just knocked the last of her attackers to the ground, breaking its spine, when she heard a deep growl behind her. She whirled to face the wolf, and stepped back, her jaw dropping at the thing that she saw. Standing before her was an alpha, twice the size as the rest of the wolves in his pack. A timberwolf alpha was a terrifying sight. She jumped back as the beast snapped at her, caustic sap slinging from its jaws to burn away at anything it landed on. Chrysalis tried to fire a bolt of magic at it, but her spell fizzled. She had used up too much strength fighting the horde of wolves that had already attacked her. The wolf noticed her sparking magic, and let out a deep, stuttering growl. After a few seconds Chrysalis realized that the sound was actually laughter. This beast actually dared to laugh at her! Chysalis's outrage gave her one last surge of energy, and she let loose a beam of green magic at the wolf. The bolt tore through its shoulder and bark exploded from the wound. Several of the pieces actually managed to embed themselves in Chysalis's chitin, but she didn’t even notice. That last blast had taken the last of her energy, and it was all she could do to remain standing. The beast howled in pain, then leveled its eyes on Chrysalis, the glowing red of its animating magic flickering in anger. It let out a low growl, one that could never be mistaken for laughter, and leaped at Chrysalis, claws reaching out to rend her limbs, and mouth gaping to crush her skull. Chrysalis closed her eyes as she waited for the impact, but her eyes snapped back open when she heard a crash and the crackling of roaring flames, followed by the beast snarling in anger and pain. When she opened her eyes she saw the beast struggling back to it's feet, one of it's legs completely covered in black and red flames that burned away at both the wood of it's body and the magic that gave it life. Standing at the entrance to the hive was Midnight Silver, but instead of a unicorn with a midnight blue coat and a black mane with streaks of silver, Chrysalis saw a demon. Midnight’s armor was black with silver linings, and the amethysts embedded into the breastplate glinted in the shape of the crescent moon. Every joint seemed to flare out into razor sharp edges, and greaves glinted wickedly at his fetlocks. His face was hidden by a helmet shaped to resemble the head of a raging dragon. The great beast’s howl of pain ripped Chysalis's attention back to reality, and using a reserve of strength she didn’t know she had, she began to direct her warriors. “Squads two and four, focus on starting fires to drive the timberwolves away! Squads five and six, tend to the wounded! Squads three, seven, eight, nine, and ten, focus on keeping them away from squads two and four until they get their fires up! Squad one go he-“ Chrysalis was cut off as she was slammed into a nearby tree by the flying body of Midnight Silver. The two scrambled to their hooves and turned back to the battle, only to have their vision blocked by the burning mass that was the alpha. Chrysalis began to shout at Midnight. “Typical! I expect a pony to actually be useful and they fail miserably. I thought that you had that beast restrained!” Midnight coughed and spat out a glob of blood before he replied. “Well, I’m sorry for not being able to keep a beast four times my size occupied by myself! Though considering that you were about to become its dinner before I showed up, I don’t think that you really have room to complain!” “Listen here, you pathetic excuse for a fighter, I will not tolerate your speaking—“ Chrysalis was cut off mid-rant by the enraged snarling of the alpha as it leapt at the two. Chrysalis and Midnight jumped out of the way, but were unable to completely avoid the beast. Chrysalis was flung away by the impact of the beast, but Midnight was not so lucky. Once her vision had cleared, Chrysalis saw him backing away from the alpha, blood leaking out of the armor covering a leg he was obviously favoring. Despite the pain, he was still fighting, bolts of black fire shooting from his horn to strike the approaching alpha, which by now was covered in black flames, and lashing out with one bladed foreleg whenever the beast got to close. The alpha’s muzzle was quickly gathering a collection of slowly oozing gashes, but they still weren’t enough to deter it. Chrysalis cursed under her breath, “Squad one, provide assistance to the Equestrian diplomat!” Chysalis's drones attempted to follow her orders, but by then the heat coming from the blazing form of the alpha was too overwhelming, and it forced them back. Midnight saw this and called out to Chrysalis, “Don’t waste troops on me!” Chrysalis spared only a second to look at Midnight, and in that second she could see that his situation was dire. His movements were becoming sluggish, and it was obvious that he had lost more blood than was healthy, but if he wanted to commit suicide, then it was his business. Chrysalis turned towards her drones and once again began shouting orders, pushing the diplomat from her mind to focus on the other wolves. Chysalis's drones fought with a new ferocity now that their queen was in the battle with them. Where once the wolves were ripping through changelings left and right, now they were finding themselves forced back into the forest. As Chrysalis continued to direct the battle, it became more and more apparent that the changelings would win, but it was also clear that the cost of that victory would be great. Even as they were forced back, the wolves continued to kill. By the end of this battle the forest floor would run green with changeling blood. Chrysalis was considering this when a loud crack echoed through the forest, causing every head to turn towards the battle that was being fought between Midnight and the pack alpha. Midnight was obviously worse for wear. He was at his knees, the armor on one of his forelegs bent at an angle that clearly showed that his leg was broken, blood leaking from the plates of his armor where large wooden fangs had punctured the metal, but the alpha was even worse off. The alpha was struggling weakly against the chain that ran from Midnights horn, through its throat, and into a nearby tree. The beast was clearly in its death throes, large chunks of its body crumbling into ash as the fires diminished. Finally the beast stopped struggling, and let loose one last defiant howl as its body crumbled away. The howl was punctuated by the thump of the beast’s head hitting the ground, somehow still intact after the fires that had destroyed the rest of its body had completely faded away. The timberwolves were the first to react, turning tail and running back into the forest with frightened yips. The changelings, seeing this, began to follow, only to be brought up short by the voice of their queen. “Don’t follow! They have lost their leader and we cannot gain anything from them, even if we were to capture them all.” The drones stared out at the forest for a few moments longer, still suspicious of the darkness, but eventually they began to return to the hive, only a few remaining as sentries. Chrysalis was watching her children when one of the drones walked up to her. “My queen, do you wish for me to retrieve the diplomat?“ Chrysalis looked down into the face of one of her drones, absently she noted that the markings on his chitin showed that he was a medical drone. “No, you go tend to the rest of the wounded. I will see to the diplomat myself.” The drone bowed low before she ran into the hive, impatient to start her work. Chrysalis watched her go, her gaze lingering on the entrance to the underground hive for a moment before she tore her gaze away and walked over to Midnight. As she stared at the now unconscious form of the equestrian diplomat, she considered what she should do. This pony perplexed her. She had never seen or heard of a pony who fought like that, or a pony who would willingly put in the effort to learn how to fight at all. As she lifted him in her returning magic she couldn’t help but speak to his unconscious form. “You are a horrible diplomat.” ===================================================================== Chrysalis blinked and shook her head before turning away from the wolf. That had been three years ago, and Midnight had only proved her point time and again. He made a horrible diplomat, he would only make token advances when it came to the treaties that they were supposed to be creating, and he didn’t even try to get in her good graces. Then again, if he had tried he’d probably be dead. “Of course, it’s probably because he’s not a good ambassador that he’s managed to become as accepted as he is.” Chrysalis climbed onto her bed, her frown turning into a slight smile. While Midnight hadn’t bothered too much with treaties, he had made it a personal objective to gain acceptance from not only Chrysalis, but from the entire hive, even going so far as to learn their language so well that he might as well have been born into it. He would throw himself into the work of the hive, and even though the changelings had been wary at first, he had proven that he was just as capable as any changeling. In the end, his efforts had paid off, and he was now seen by most as being as much a member of the hive as he was an Equestrian. Chrysalis’s thoughts were beginning to fade away as she drifted to sleep when an alarm rang through the hive mind. She was up and walking back towards the throne room in an instant, running through the possibilities in her mind. “It’s not as urgent as an alert caused by a major attack or a severe accident, but it’s more urgent than a minor incident, so that leaves the scouting parties.” Chrysalis entered the throne room, and was stopped by the sight of a drone standing before the throne, waiting for her to see to him. He tried to turn when Chrysalis entered, but he fell halfway through it. Chrysalis winced. One of his legs was obviously broken, and she could see blood oozing through cracks in his chitin, staining it green. Chrysalis rushed over to him, laying her hoof on his back when he tried to rise. “Don’t try to stand, just tell me what happened.” The drone struggled for a moment before he slumped back down. “I was guarding the corpse disposal team as they went to the burial grounds. We were about halfway there when—" The drone winced in pain and Chrysalis heard a creaking sound coming from his chest. “Slow down and try not to push yourself.” Chrysalis waited while her drone caught his breath. When his breathing became easier she spoke again. “Now, tell me what happened.” “Yes, my queen. We were nearly halfway to the burial grounds when we were attacked.” Chrysalis inhaled sharply at the news. Nothing had dared to attack her children on the path to the burial grounds for years, so why would there be an attack now? “What did this?” The drone sighed and lowered his head. “That’s the problem, my queen. We don’t know. We were simply walking down the path when—“ the changeling took a shuddering breath and shook his head, as if he didn’t want to speak. Unfortunately, Chrysalis couldn’t afford to let him stop. “When what? I need to know what happened.” The drone shuddered and continued. “We heard a bell. A single clear note that rang through the forest and resonated in our heads. As soon it had faded—“ The drone shuddered again, but continued. “As soon as it faded, the shadows themselves attacked.”