//------------------------------// // Ch.5 "Orientation includes angry subjects" // Story: Chrysalis Wins // by Arkolo //------------------------------// Chrysalis Wins Ch.5 “Orientation includes angry subjects” After ‘breakfast’ was eaten, Chrysalis spent most of the day exploring the various facilities of the castle. One of her first stops, was the kitchens, where she gleefully decided to partake in some of Celestia’s fancy dishes. Hey, even changelings like to eat physical food every once and awhile, even though they don’t need it. Besides, that’s how changelings know how to compare what love tastes like. At least this was the explanation given to some dumbfounded chefs. Then she took a walk through Celestia’s fabulous gardens. After that she admired the jewelry in Celestia’s royal treasury, and she looked through the books of the former ruler’s personal library. Chrysalis’s favorite thing to explore was the vault of ancient and powerful artifacts, which Celestia kept restricted to all but a select few, the sign merely made the queen smirk. Periodically Chrysalis had returned to the royal throne room, for ‘lunch’ and ‘dinner’. She sampled the love of other princesses and Elements of Harmony. The collective passion between those groups of ponies fueled her sense of power even more. The queen was now confident she was even stronger than when she had defeated Celestia. Otherwise things didn’t really get interesting until that night. --- Two changeling sentinels stood guard outside of Chrysalis’s recently acquired bedroom. Neither of them noticed a shadow, which jumped from one dark corner to the next. The form was flat against the walls and floors it traveled along. One sentinel sneezed, a distraction which the ethereal figure took advantage of. Within the blink of an eye the shadow entity passed between the sliver of space between the doors and the floor, and entered the royal bedchamber. Chrysalis was buried under her usual pile of plush comforts, her horn poked out, and was the only indication she was there. Other than the soft snores, that emanated from the pillow mound. Slowly, the shadow on the floor coalesced. A tall dark Pegasus with bat wings, and slit pupils, emerged from the dark spot. A long shafted spear was gripped in his hoof. The lunar guard stalked forward, the large purple and blue plated armor he wore was deceptively quiet. A grimace soured his face and his eyes furrowed furiously. The lunar pegasus grit his teeth, and raised his spear, ready to plunge it down on this usurper and down it came. The silver spear tip disappeared into the mound of pillows with a swish and thud as it impacted something solid beneath them. A yelp of pain came from the pillows, and the lunar guard cursed under his breath, he didn't hit anything vital enough to silence her immediately. In the next moment the mound of pillows exploded in a wave of green magic. Soft things suddenly flew of deadly speeds. One of the pillows struck the bat pony with all the force a nearly sonic pillow could strike with, right in the face… Chrysalis stood and snarled in the midst of her wind blasted bed. The spear had punctured right through the base of one wing, which left a large unsightly gash. Clear fluid dripped from the injured appendage. She seized the spear with her magic and pulled it out, this caused the gash to widen and tear the injury, to which the Queen cringed in searing pain but thankfully it was out. The queen glanced about the room to look for the perpetrator; against the opposite wall was a stunned Lunar pegasus. In one long bound, Chrysalis leapt from the bed and landed noisily in front of her assailant. “What fool dares to attack me!” Her large front hoof came down and stomped on the bat ponies front leg, making a sickening pop. The armored guard gasped at the new and unpleasant sensation of having his leg dislocated. At this point the changeling sentinels had opened the doors to the bed chamber and rushed inside. “My queen, what has-” Both sentinels saw their queen standing over a fallen Lunar Guard. They immediately activated their combat magic. Each had a long, green, ghostly blade form around their horns, and their front hooves reshaped themselves into lethal claws. Before the sentinels pounced on the intruder the queen held up her hoof to stop them. She growled at her would be murderer. “Tell me why you even thought you could succeed, you pathetic excuse of a soldier. I am more powerful than any alicorn who ever ruled these lands!” The cornered Lunar pegasus grunted as he shook his head. After his vision cleared he looked up at the queen with gaze that conveyed utter loathing. “You can still bleed, you monster!” The giant changeling knocked the defiant bat pony on his back, then pressed a heavy hoof down on his chest. The air was forced out of his lungs and he gasped for breath. Chrysalis lowered her head close to the bat pony, and sniffed for emotions. What she found surprised her. “You had no hope for succeeding, just a misguided sense of loyalty. ‘sniff’ and a passionate vengeance for loss. ‘sniff’ loss for a very specific pony.” She released the pressure of her hoof on the lunar pegasus’s chest, and let him gulp in some air. He panted several times before he angrily wheezed at her. “Y-you, imprisoned Luna. She is why I joined the Nightwatch, she was… my inspiration, a beacon to all Bat Ponies ! And you just stuffed her in one of those disgusting prisons!” “Would you like to see her?” Chrysalis’s angry snarl had transformed into a malevolent grin. The bat pony blinked unsure of what to make of it, but fear started to creep down his spine. A green aura surrounded the armored assassin, and he was pulled across the floor. The queen exited her bed chamber, and dragged the bat pony behind her in her magic. He flailed about like a rag doll. Her two sentinels trailed behind her; they had since deactivated their fighting magic. One sentinel nervously piped up a question. “Are we not going to execute this scum, my queen?” “Why would I do that? He obviously has great love for his ex leaders and country. He will be most nutritious as a prisoner.” The group traveled their way up to the throne room. Chrysalis had taken to bouncing the bat pony up and down like a ball. Each time he collided with the floor his armor made a loud clang and clatter, which was followed up by a groan of discomfort. To the new prisoner’s relief the queen stopped when they entered the throne room. She knew where she wanted to go, and she lifted the guard high in the air to face a specific cocoon. There was the princess of the night, sleeping peacefully, suspended in her organic prison. The sight caused a well of emotions for the lunar guard. He bit his lower lip and his eyes started to water. There was nothing he could do; his only attempt at some justice had failed, miserably. Chrysalis caught the look. “Don’t worry, little bat. You will get to join her, and live out any fantasy you have in your twisted little dreams.” The lunar guard gritted his teeth, and his voice turned bitter. “Nopony will love you like the princesses, you vile insect.  Who could love somepony as cruel as you.” “Coming from the one who tried to impale me with a spear… Tsk, tsk, I don’t need you or anypony to love me. I just need them to respect their queen!” A fresh cocoon was conjured up, and the failed assassin was unceremoniously shoved in it. The two sentinels, who had followed the queen, took the time to attach the newest prisoner to the ceiling. Chrysalis let out a long weary sigh, and put a hoof to her temple, she began to rub it slowly in circles. Once the two large changelings finished their task, they waited patiently for their queen’s next order. She was simply content to sit in silence for a short while, her mind had settled from its excited rush and was going foggy, thanks to the lack of sleep and pain she was still experiencing. Her horn ignited as she mentally called for her lead vanguard. While she waited, Chrysalis set her body down on the floor and crossed her front hooves. The two sentinels at her side busied themselves with scanning the area; they didn't want any more surprise shadow attacks. Shade entered the throne, and immediately hovered over to his queen. Once he landed he lowered himself into a low bow. The vanguard appeared fully alert, and apprehensive. “What is it you require my queen?” “I need you to search out the pony population. Look for any with violent tendencies, and imprison them. One of them got uncomfortably close this night. I’m certain there are more straggling guards and rebels somewhere.” Chrysalis pointed to the bat pony, who was being sedated in his new slimy container. Shade’s eyes flicked up to lunar guard, and noticed they didn't even bother with taking his armor off before imprisoning him. That was going to rust nastily. “Then Colony will monitor the swarm while I investigate the ponies?” “No, she is busy planning with a pony official. I’ll assign Vivisect to it.” The vanguard grumbled quietly at his queen’s decision, Vivisect wasn't exactly subtle enough to catch sneaky, disobedient changelings. Before Shade could formulate plans for filtering the pony populace his eyes flashed a bright purple. Lucid images flashed into his field of view. One of his vanguards stationed far north was sending him a message. Short phrases, and brief experiences could be communicated through this method. It was the primary way vanguard kept in contact with each other while exploring new regions. What Shade saw brought a wave of surprise. Through this northern vanguard he could see a massive city. Despite the snow blanketing the lands, the city appeared to be in the middle of spring, complete with green fields of grass. A massive opaque tower resided at its center, and all the structures branching out where of some kind of shiny stone. “A Crystal city just appeared, we don’t know what this means.” The toneless voice echoed in Shade's head, and the borrowed sight ended. The head of the vanguard turned to the queen. “There is a surprising development in the north, my queen.” “Oh?” “A large crystalline city has just appeared. Some kind of magic is keeping it in a state of spring despite the land around it being covered in ice.” “What? There is no large city in Equestria in that region. Is your vanguard delusional?” Shade put a hoof to his head, and his eyes flashed purple again. “No, I’m seeing it clearly. The city is inhabited as well, and it’s even larger than Canterlot! I have no idea what this means.” Chrysalis growled in frustration at this new revelation. “Celestia! What secrets are you hiding?” The queen’s horn burned with green energy as she attempted to fly up to Celestia’s cocoon. She stopped before she even left the ground, as her injured wing refused to function. “Gah, stupid bat pony!” With heavy irritation Chrysalis burned a large amount of love energy to rapidly fix the injured base of her wing. There was a slight zipping noise as the gash sealed over in seconds. She tested a few experimental flaps, and found her wing usable. Though it still hurt to use it, the flesh ached deeply for being mended so fast. This time Chrysalis successfully climbed up to the sun princess’s prison.