Chrysalis Wins
Ch. 10 “Crystalis”
“Did they just kiss?”
“I saw some of the changelings knock his teeth out earlier!”
“Why’s he writhing on the ground? Did she make him sick?!”
“So does this make him our King again?”
Crystal ponies had poked their heads out of their homes after the large shock wave had passed, and watched a curious scene as it unfolded before them.
The changeling queen leaned back, and promptly collapsed. She felt incredibly weak after she donated that vast quantity of love into her opponent. As she lay there on her side, she could hear the crystal king ramble.
“I… I… I…”
Sombra had not exploded. He was still breathing heavily, but he was otherwise alive. Whatever that queen had done to him, it hadn’t been lethal. If anything his body felt good, great in fact. His hooves released their hold upon his chest, and one of them moved to his skull.
“I…I…I…”
The contents of his mind swirled like a mess, and his heart burned with conflicted emotions. It felt as if something alien was inside him, and scrambled his innards. The king looked at the queen, who laid on the ground a few steps away, and tried to scowl at her, but he couldn’t. He tried to growl angrily at her, but he couldn’t. He tried to lift a hoof to strike her, but he didn’t have the will to. This new feeling infected him, and his perceptions felt altered. In a way, it was like he opened a new set of eyes.
“I… I… I kind of… like it!”
The crimson eyes of the king went starry. He put both front hooves to his cheeks and gasped. His mind was still well aware of the hate he had, and the memories that fueled them, but he could no longer bring himself to care. This new feeling, he just couldn’t describe. All meaning escaped him as the new sensation washed through him. The large gray unicorn had his eyes locked on the queen’s form.
“Why is he ogling at the queen?”
One of the sentinels turned to Vivisect and asked.
“Didn’t you sense the queen transfer all of that food? I don’t know what she was thinking.”
“The queen gave all that love… to him?! What would that even do to a pony?”
The soldier that stood next to Vivisect dropped his jaw.
“I don’t know, but we will keep him contained until the queen comes to a final decision.”
The head of the sentinels walked forward with a cautious approach. When she was close enough to do what she planned, a loud gargle noise came from her throat. A glob of disabling slime was shot at Sombra’s curved red horn.
Without looking, he lifted a hoof and caught the slime. Slowly, the mysteriously quiet king turned to face Vivisect. A red magical aura wiped the slime off of his hoof, and he strode towards the very alert sentinel. His face was unreadable.
Ready for anything, Vivisect activated her battle magic, large claws sprouted from her front hooves, and her horn became sheathed in a sharp ethereal blade. Before she could lash out, Sombra caught her in a tight embrace.
Vivisect’s clawed legs were pinned to her sides, so she tried to bite at his neck. The large metal neck brace kept her from doing any damage to him. She found herself lifted off of the ground, and twirled in a circle, while her hind legs dangled in the air. This was not something another equine had ever done to her, and she didn’t know how to react. She felt completely powerless in the giant unicorn’s unyielding grip.
Eventually Sombra stopped whirling in circles with the confused sentinel, who still struggled to get out of his tight hug. He nuzzled his snout into her neck, and she fidgeted.
“Get off of me!”
“Oh, I like you too.”
“Let me go!”
“That’s a beautiful shade of orange in your eyes.”
“Release me now!”
“But you smell so nice. Such a strong, bold scent.”
“Get your wretched hooves off me!”
“Quiet dear, don’t spoil the moment. Did I mention how lonely I’ve been after a thousand years locked away in ice?”
“You insane pony!”
“Don’t be a stranger to a little affection, hehehe, you seem as uncomfortable with the idea as I was a few moments ago.”
“Some changeling, get over here and hel---”
Vivisect was cut off by a big ol’ smooch. She pursed her lips tightly and screamed with her mouth shut. The sentinel attempted to kick his shins with her hind legs, but they were armored as well.
Shade had watched the whole time from the sidelines, and the vanguard rolled on the ground as he laughed his guts out. The last time he saw a scene like that was at a bar in Manehattan. This time was funnier because it was Vivisect. Something freaky had definitely changed about the king.
“Sombra.”
Chrysalis had called out, and the dark unicorn parted his face from Vivisect’s. He dropped the large sentinel, who was momentarily in complete shock, from his tyrannical grasp, and looked at the queen.
The traumatized changeling soldier buzzed her wings as soon as they were free and flew away. Even as Vivisect disappeared into the distance she hollered a myriad of vulgar curses. Chrysalis smiled with a seditious grin, her unconventional method had worked.
“I still hate you, but for some reason I can no longer bring myself to care… What did you do to me?”
Sombra gave the queen an unsure look, and his posture became tall and straight.
“Oh, you are conscious of your hate still? Hehehe, All I did was put some love in that dark soul of yours.”
She would have added -love I stole from ponies more powerful than you-, but she noticed several of the crystal ponies watched them at this point. She still needed them to believe she was perfectly benevolent, if she were to get any use out of them.
“A simple kiss would not disrupt my emotions so badly.”
“No it wouldn’t, I transferred the love I had previously collected from my other subjects in Canterlot into you. Apparently it has given you a change of heart?”
“No, it has just given me confusion.”
“Very well, you can sort your thoughts in the solitude of a dungeon.”
Sombra’s mind knew what he wanted to do, but his emotions ran rampantly unchecked. His mind wanted to take advantage of the situation; the queen had just severely weakened herself, and he was perfectly capable of defeating her now. But a crippling surge of overwhelmingly positive emotions kept him from enacting what his mind wanted to do. The pressure in his chest and throat bottled him up.
The king attempted to scowl, but ended up with a bright smile. It was a cheerful look that portrayed a very confused state of barely contained giddiness. Sombra tried his hardest not to grin in delight, but he couldn’t stop that either.
“As if a dungeon could contain me… I will find my own solitude, thank you.”
Before Chrysalis’s minions could restrain him, he teleported away. The lead sentinel had just flown off, and the queen was dead tired, so there was no real effort in the pursuit.
That didn’t stop the queen from muttering out a single phrase.
“Celestia, Damnit.”
---
Crystal ponies once more flooded the streets. Curious as to how things resolved. The primary street the fight had taken place on was badly damaged, but other than that the city was still in one piece. The monstrous crystal pillars placed throughout the city started to dissolve, while the light of the sun had broken apart the black clouds.
Chrysalis walked towards the palace, intending to find a place to rest. It had been a long night, and morning, and she was about ready to collapse. Shade flew down to stride alongside her.
“The ponies of the empire approach my queen, are you going to address them?”
“No, I’m going to find a bed.”
“Do you have any orders I should prepare for?”
“Just get the changelings ready to leave. I want a few vanguards to stay here, and help these ponies adapt to living in our time. I want them to be good and harvestable. They are the only ponies that don’t feel usurped by us at the moment, let’s keep it that way.”
“It will be done my queen. Oh, and what of Sombra?”
“He’s not a problem, for now… The vanguard remaining here will also be our warning system.”
The changeling infiltrator backed out and prepared to communicate the orders. The gentle buzz of his wings soon disappeared.
Chrysalis looked up at the crystal palace, the dead center of the empire. It was another territory she could claim, and another territory she would have to defend… Sombra’s emotional instability would most likely be a temporary condition, and she would have to deal with him again later.
For now that was good enough. Chrysalis had claimed her crystals.
Secondary Author's note.
At this time I'm looking retroactively at what has happened, and just for those questioning why things are happening the way they are.
When season 6 revealed Thorax's transformation because he "gave love", I was already on Ch.67 of this Story. I'd already been using that mechanic, but in a very different way from how show eventually showed it. Just thought I'd give a little heads up for those that may wonder.