//------------------------------// // Chapter 55 // Story: The Monster of Canterlot // by drnkntst //------------------------------// Chapter 55 “Why me?” Iron Hammer asked as he walked with me into the dungeons, his voice so deep it didn’t even echo. “Simple, I needed somepony scary. Every creature in Equestria knows that our guards abide by a strict set of orders and policies that would stop them from harming a bound prisoner, even the queen of the changelings. However, you, a civilian, scratch that, a massive civilian, has no such orders.” “The hammers?” Iron was always a stallion of very few words. Like his hammer blows, he believed the key was precision over style. The hammers he mentioned were the smaller ones on the bandoliers he wore the night Luna returned, and his large sledge hammer he used for larger jobs, i.e. shaping a plow shield in a half-dozen blows. “Same reason. You may not like to admit it, big guy, but you are quite intimidating.” I saw the look of apprehension on his face. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to do anything but show off a little, I’ll handle everything else.” I received a grunt in reply, but I knew the stallion long enough to know the difference between an affirmative grunt and a ‘kiss my flanks’ grunt. The two could be surprisingly similar. As we walked, I couldn’t help but think about the similarities between Iron Hammer and Big Macintosh. Both stallions are absolutely massive, nearly as tall as Luna and thicker than even Shining Armor. However, neither would ever hurt anypony without an extreme need that it be done. I actually felt a little guilty about what I was doing to this humble blacksmith, but I saw this as the most efficient way to get what I wanted. I only hope Dust Bunny would forgive me for using her husband and taking advantage of his intimidating size. After walking through the grand halls and down many stone stairways, we came to the dungeons. The cold caverns dug out of the mountain and lit by enchanted crystals were filled with guards at all times. More importantly, it was filled with attentive guards. Normally, palace guards stand at their post and hardly ever move, but that only works for places where danger isn’t likely. This dungeon, however, was filled with one of the most dangerous species known to Equestria, literally filled with danger. No, these guards needed to be mobile and vigilant. Therefore, we were greeted almost instantly by the sergeant on duty. “Your highness? To what do we owe this pleasure?” she asked with a crisp salute. I returned the salute and tried to fight the smirk at this female guard changed to male by her enchanted armor. “At ease, Sergeant Spadroon. I’m not here to inspect your squad or anything like that. In fact, I’m hoping to lighten their load in the not too distant future. For today though, I’m here simply to speak with the queen.” I was about to walk away when I remembered something. “I almost forgot, how is your little filly?” “Oh, thank you for asking, my prince. Little Thunderhead is turning out to be a very strong flier, just like her father.” “Heh, you should bring her to Ponyville some day. I’m sure she’d get a kick out of meeting Rainbow Dash, and Rainbow would love a new fan.” “I wouldn’t wish to be impose, sir.” “Don’t worry about it, Sergeant. Like I said, Rainbow loves the attention. For now though, let’s see about our little infestation.” “Yes, your highness. Please, follow me this way.” Iron Hammer and I were led down the corridor lined on one side with cells, and on the other, guards. We were passed by several pairs of guards patrolling the way in overlapping patterns, none of this blind spot business. The security had been greatly heightened since I came down before in the spring. The reason was very simple, Chrysalis had healed from her wounds. “She’s in here, sir, but please, be careful. She’s a tricky little bug.” “Thank you, Sergeant. Have your guards continue their patrols and do not disturb us unless it is necessary to do so. I’ll trust your judgment on that.” The sergeant bowed to me, opened the door, and took up station across from the cell. I stepped inside and was followed closely by Iron. Once inside, the enchanted crystals brightened up. “Oh…” the voice was weak, but it still chilled me to my core, “it seems I have a visitor. Tell me, Son of the Sun, how is my traitorous minion doing on her own out there in the world?” “If you’re talking about Desert Willow, she’s doing very well. You’d be surprised to know that she’s actually made a few friends and is currently working with Princess Twilight on a plan to give you and your kind freedom. All you have to do is work with us. She laughed. This witch actually laughed at me. “Freedom? Are you seriously stupid enough to try to grant me freedom? *Hahaha* I’m going to have so much fun killing you!” There was deafening thud as Iron Hammer dropped his iron hammer. The effect was instant silence. “Tell me, Queen, how did that work out for you last time?” I steeled myself and approached the very restrained form of the large changeling. I don’t believe you’ve met my friend here, though you are familiar with his handiwork. Remember that little blade I left in your side?” Chrysalis’s eyes widened as realization dawned, then they got very small and filled with rage. “You came down here with only a blacksmith and you expect to scare me? You must have lost your mind.” Her growl told me everything I needed to know. I was getting to her. “I came down here with this blacksmith because I trust him. Fun fact, that hammer of his is too heavy for most earth ponies to lift, and he doesn’t use any magic while he’s working either. The other reason he’s here is to make sure you listen to me.” For emphasis, Iron plucked his hammer up from the ground and spun it theatrically in his hooves before turning a large section of the stone floor to a fine powder. Chrysalis growled once more, “Very well, you have my attention.” “Believe it or not, we discovered a way to feed your kind without any anypony being put at risk. Well, as long as the changeling doesn’t get too close to source that is. Poor Willow was bedridden for days after we discovered this. Also, we’re working on a way to detect a disguised changeling. In short, you can have a home on the map and we can feel safe about that. Chrysalis considered this for a moment. “And what do you think this will accomplish? Do you think I will bow down and kiss your paws in thanks? You expect me to just roll over and play the docile pet in my new jail? *Hehe* Never.” “Hey, that’s fine. Stay down here for as long you want. Willow proved that the citizens of this nation can learn to accept something they were once afraid of. Hay, I’m proof of that too.” I squatted down in front of the bound queen. “For all anyone cares, you can spend the rest of your life down here, which I’ve been led to believe is a very, very long time. I’ll just go into the next cell over and offer the first minion I see a chance to be the new king or queen of the changelings. How does that strike you?” She stared into my eyes for a moment longer, and then she looked away. “Fine, what do you want from me?” I stood up and walked back over to Iron. “For now, nothing. We will continue working with Desert Willow, who will be your new ambassador. Once we have found the right spot to set up your new settlement, making sure the ground is fertile and a mine would be yielding. If you are able to produce and trade goods, the nations of this world might just see as something more than a threat.” “It would seem that not only have you thought of everything, but that also have no choice in the matter.” She turned to look at me again. “I shall play your little game, for now.” “That’ll work. Once we’ve got the details in order, I’ll be back to speak with you.” I turned and walked out of the cell which was closed and locked behind me and Iron Hammer. We were then escorted out by the Sgt. Spadroon. “Is what you told the queen true, my prince?” “Indeed it is, Sergeant. If all goes according to plan, there will soon be a changeling city. That doesn’t worry you, does it, Sergeant?” “No, sir, I trust your judgment,” she said with a smirk. Her smirk disappeared the moment we closed the door to the dungeon. The reason being that I collapsed to me knees and started shivering uncontrollably. “Chris!” Iron called out. “Your highness!” Sgt. Spadroon whipped her helmet off, instantly turning back into a slim but well-muscled unicorn mare. She then placed the helmet on the floor and magically encouraged me to sit on the stone and lean against the helmet. “Guard, go fetch a medic!” “B-belay th-that order. I’ll… I’ll be f-fine. I still get the creeps around the queen.” “Understandable, she did put a spear through your chest.” Iron’s hammer thudded to the floor again. “You’re lucky the Princesses weren’t here to hear your foalish comment, Private,” the sergeant chastised. “Be happy I’m only going to assign you one extra shift.” “Aww, Sarge…” “Without pay! Now go get the prince a cold drink.” The guard galloped off toward the kitchen, leaving just me, Iron Hammer, and Sgt. Spadroon. “I apologize for my subordinates comment, your highness. Please forgive him.” “It’s alright, Sergeant. He was right after all.” “Right and in the right are two different things. After what that creature did to you, the fact that you can even stand to be in the same structure as her is no small wonder. I’d like to see the private be so sturdy.” “Sturdy? Nah. Truth is I’m terrified. I’m just more afraid of letting my mother down than anything else.” Iron snorted. “Hey, not all fears are logical.” “Hey, I wouldn’t want to upset your mother either.” Spatroon held her hoof out to help me up. “Thanks, Sergeant. Now if you’ll excuse us, there is a certain fluffy filly that we need to collect from her classes.” ***** “Higher, Chris! Higher!” “No, We’re plenty high enough, Fluffy Butt. Now, calm down before we find out if you can fly on your own.” I flew over to and sat down upon a small cloud, sitting Cotton down in my lap. “Alright, can you point out the different important places in Equestria?” “Yeah, that’s the Everfree Forrest, the Castle of the Two Pony Sisters, the Whitetail Wood,” she said as she pointed out each place respectively. “And what’s that over there?” “That’s the badlands.” “And that?” “Cloudsdale! Oh, and the Ghastly Gorge!” “What about down there?” “Ooh, ooh, that’s where Miss Fluttershy lives.” “That’s right. How’d you get so smart?” “My teacher’s real good.” “You like your teacher, huh?” Fluffy nodded enthusiastically. “You’re lucky then. I just had tutors who didn’t even want to be in the same room as me. But I showed them.” “You mean ‘cause you’re the prince now?” “Now, I was the prince then too. What I meant was that had to deal with me, but I get you,” I said as I tickled her poofy little tummy, thus causing her to laugh outrageously. I then lifted the little filly over my head, “You ready to go se your mommy now?” “Yeah! Filly-pult! Filly-pult!” I chuckled as I stood on my cloud and held Cotton Tail out at arm’s length. “Ready? Filly! -Pult!” I tossed the little filly in an arc toward the palace, squealing in delight the whole way. I took off after her the instant she left my grip, though she never left my magical grasp, I’m not a monster… wait. I tracked her the entire time and got ready to catch her. “Christopher Sol!” “Huh? Oh, Bunny, it’s you.” “We need to talk, mister!” “Sure, but give me a second first.” I spun back around just in time to pluck a squealing Cotton Tail out of the air before she… wasn’t plucked out of the air. “Nice flight, Fluffy Butt?” “Yeah! Do it again!” “Sorry, Fluffy, but your mommy and I need to talk.” “Aww…” “I know, but it seems important. She used my whole name.” “Uh-oh.” I tickled her tummy and set her down on the floor. I watched her trot off on her tiny little legs before addressing Dust Bunny. “You know, not many creatures on this planet can get away with yelling at me like that.” “Not many creatures wash your underwear either. Now, where the heck do you get off dragging my husband down to that monster’s cell?” “Ah, that. I’m sorry about doing that, especially with how much Iron hates it when ponies see him as some musclebound brute, but I needed him.” “For what? Your little bug town plot? You could have brought any guard with you and you still could have scared her. Heck, if you had brought your mother down with you, Chrysalis would have done anything you asked just to get the princess away from her. Why did you need my Iron?” “I needed him because I was scared.” “Huh? If you were scared, then your mother would definitely been a better choice.” “That wouldn’t have worked. Mother would have far more likely to crush Chrysalis instead of simply scaring her. Any of the guards would have been either too scared of her, or looking for any excuse to simply kill her. Only Iron Hammer was the proper balance intimidating and controlled. I hate that I took him with me, but I had to. I’m sorry. “Well, I guess I can see your logic. I will accept your apology this once, but the next time you endanger one of my family members, you and I will have words.” “So… does that mean no more Filly-pult?” “No, the Filly-pult is fine. I could tell that you had a firm grip on her the whole time. Besides, I think Cotton might never talk to me again if I took her fun away.” “Good.” I was about to start on my way to gardens to find Cotton Tail, when I thought of something. “Hey, you wouldn’t want to try the Filly-pult, would you?” “Tempting, but I think I’ll have to pass.” “You don’t know what you’re missing out on. Alright, I’ll see you later.” I left there and went to Celestia’s chambers to tell her of my interaction with Chrysalis as well as simply spend some time with her. She seemed genuinely impressed with my results, but she seemed more pleased with the simple fact that I was spending time with her. Sadly, I could only think of what Bunny had said to me. It may be true that Iron was never really placed in any real danger, I still used him as a tool to achieve my goals. That wasn’t who I was and it wasn’t the type of ruler I wanted to be. I had to make some more changes if I wanted to be happy with who I was. For today, however, I would just settle for being successful.