Silk tossed her heavy saddlebag unceremoniously onto the nearest chair as she strode into the cottage with a loud, exhausted groan. "Sweet Chrys, that was the longest day... night... whatever," she whined, walking over to the couch and collapsing there, her face sandwiching between the cushions. Not for the first time, she made a mental note to try to avoid that turn of phrase. She owed that tyrant no deference anymore.
Fluttershy quietly shuffled in silently behind her and gently closed the door with a soft click. She hadn't said a word since Princess Luna had revealed herself, but now, safe at home again, she finally felt like this ordeal was over. "Silky? Are you... are you okay?" she asked, certain her worry was plainly obvious to the empath.
Silk didn't budge. "In the last twenty-four hours I've been nauseated, sleep deprived, teleported, caught by the stallion that broke my wings, put on trial by the mare that banished everypony I knew to Tartarus, given what seemed like death sentence, locked in a blindingly white cell, hit by a supreme magic, given two more royal sentences, and nauseated again. Am I okay?" She paused. She turned her head and looked at Fluttershy out of her right eye. "Surprisingly... yeah, actually. All things considered, I'm fine. I'm just... fine. And Fluttershy?"
"Y-yes?"
The changeling wearily smiled at her friend. "Thank you. For everything."
Fluttershy's eyes began to water as a wave of relief washed over her and all her tension finally melted away. She sniffled, bringing her hooves up to her eyes. "I-I'm just so, so glad you're okay," she choked out. "I was so scared and worried. I can't i-imagine if anything had h-happened to you. I couldn't bear it!" she softly sobbed, tears running down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, I'm crying again and you're the one who... Silky?"
Fluttershy opened her eyes, futilely wiping away tears which quickly replaced themselves. The only reply Silk made was slow, deep breathing. She had fallen asleep. Still misty eyed, Fluttershy smiled. She fetched a blanket, draping it over her friend, who had more than earned her rest. She began walking up to her room, but turned around at the foot of the stairs. "You're welcome. Sleep tight, Silky."
As Fluttershy climbed the steps, Angel looked up from his morning paper. Ponies could be such drama queens sometimes. Still, maybe that's what he liked about them. With a shrug, he returned to his news.
Silk was surrounded by darkness once more. One by one, those she had once known disappeared into an emerald inferno, as if they had transformed into nothingness.
It was a dream: the same dream she'd had so often since that fateful day and, as ever, she was a mere spectator within it.
Once more she saw the queen, Chrysalis, looking at her disdainfully. "Useless," she whispered, as ever beginning to turn to dust and blow away
This dream again, Silk thought. A moment later, something clicked. Wait, dream? I'm dreaming. This is a dream, "which means...-"
Silk was lucid.
With this sudden realization, within this personal realm within her mind, she became infinitely powerful. This dreamscape, herself, and all she could see were hers to command in any way she could imagine. And she did.
"No." With a word and a thought, the image of Chrysalis solidified. She may have been queen once, but within one's own dream, one is as mighty as a god. Silk rounded on the mental image of her former ruler, the one who she had once been willing to die for. The one she almost had died for. Her expression was livid, as if she was going to make the wicked creature explode just with a look which, given the circumstances, was a distinct possibility.
"I've learned a lot in the last few weeks," Silk said. "I know how cold you are, how you, our own queen, didn't care about us."
Silk strode forward as Chrysalis backed up, her face wracked with fear, growing ever smaller as Silk gained ground. "I've tasted how much love and kindness the ponies have, the ones you and your ancestors accused of being our enemies. Even without you, I've seen that I'm not alone. I've found the good in feeling the warmth of those around me and the value I have on my own beyond being a cog in a machine. I know how to forgive others, and how others forgive me. I know how friends accept others for who they are, and despite my failings, I can forgive myself."
Silk now towered over Chrysalis, who had now shrunk to the size of a golf ball. She placed her hoof on the tiny queen and growled, "I'm not worthless. YOU are." Silk pressed down and, with a crunch and a puff of dust, the image of Chrysalis was no more.
Silk imagined herself taking a deep breath. It was over, and yet, she didn't feel it was complete. It wasn't time to wake up. Not yet.
She closed her eyes, and imagined. She opened them to see her thought come to life, at least as much as possible in a dream. She stood in the center of ponyville with her friends. Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Spike, Applejack, and Fluttershy all smiled at her. She smiled back and beat her wings, fly to them and hugging each of them.
Suddenly, she heard the sounds of water and birdsong coming from the north. Confused, she beat her wings and took off, flying toward the disturbance at a speed even Rainbow Dash couldn't achieve in the waking world. In mere seconds she saw it.
There, where the marsh should have been, was a serene lake of crystal clear waters. Despite its depth she could see all the way to the sandy bottom, where she could see fish swimming among the the seaweed. Off in the distance, in the very center, she could see a vast collection of leafy green trees, unlike any others in the world, and at the center of these stood one taller and grander than any other, holding a great many of the lesser trees beneath its branches.
Silk hovered there, eyes wide and mouth agape. She was awestruck. What's more, she didn't even know why she was awestruck. She'd never seen this before, but was as if something about this sight spoke to her, pulling at a memory she didn't know she had, like she'd found a memento of long forgotten friend.
She turned around and saw her friends behind her, but then noticed someone else. High above the dreamscape of Ponyville flew a dark blue pony. The pony offered a sad smile. She gave a tilt of her head, then disappeared. After that moment, Silk was no longer lucid.
Until she awoke, she only saw her friends, now flying alongside her or floating in Pinkie's balloon, and the unknown homeland before her.
Luna opened her eyes with a groan. It was early. Too early. "Ugh, what time is it?" she muttered to herself. To her surprise, she got an answer.
"One thirty-four in the afternoon, Luna!"
Princess Luna sat up in bed and looked in the direction of the chipper voice. Unsurprisingly, she saw nopony. She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Maria Breeze, I know. My sister and I govern something the rest of you use to tell time. It was rhetorical," she reminded. "And I thought I told you not to actually perform guard duty in my bedroom."
"Yeah, and Targe HATES that rule! Besides, I'm not intruding if you can't see me, right?"
I cannot help but feel talking whilst invisible defeats the purpose.
"If we are to be literal?" the royal asked as she got up, grabbing her sheets telekinetically as she did, as most of the canterlot staff was still too nervous around her. No, nervous wasn't the right word. They were scared.
The same, however, could not be said of Maria, who dropped out of invisibility mere inches from the princess, staring directly at her chest. "What's that?" she asked, poking with her hoof.
Luna looked down at her front and saw the same mark she'd seen since the founding of Equestria. "This is why I wear a peytral," she hissed in a whisper, grabbing her armored regalia and snapping it on over her neck.
"Sorry, Luna!" Maria giggled, never having seen Luna fret about her appearance before. "So, what are you doing up so early? Early for you, anyway."
"I had been following up on Miss Sheets in her dreams. I helped her face her nightmares and, after a token gesture, decided to leave before I overstayed my welcome, if I was welcome at all." The alicorn rubbed her right eye and flew over to her desk. She took her seat and magically opened one of the many books that sat in front of her. "And whilst I am awake, I should resume my investigation on what, if anything, was the cause of this."
The thief frowned. "You've been using all your free time to study those dusty old books," she criticized, snatching one of the oldest looking tomes off the bottom and causing those above to topple. "Look at this one, 'Vires Antiquis,'" the thief slowly sounded out before flipping through the first couple pages. "Okay, I can't even read this, but from the pictures I can still tell this was written by a cult," she commented.
If Luna took offense, she did not show it. "The Syndicate of the Immortal Eye, yes, they had some... odd beliefs. They were a group of earth ponies, the foremost experts on ritual magic circa the Three Tribes Era 1810's. Their expertise provided their tribe a powerful safeguard against magical attacks. It was a pointless read, though. I thought that book had a lead, but they just say the darkest magic comes from no one."
"Earth pony experts on magic, huh? Neat! I didn't... wait what do you mean 'Three Tribes Era'?"
The Equestrian dating system was the standard in most of the known world, dividing history into four generally accepted eras. The current era, the Era of Night's Return, had begun at dawn on the summer solstice two years ago. Before that was the New Dawn Era, which lasted almost exactly one thousand years. Most had known that that era began when Princess Celestia took full control of the kingdom; only now did everypony know why. Before that was the Classical Era, spanning four thousand one hundred and thirty-three years, beginning when Equestria was founded. Anything before the classical era was referred as the "Preclassical Era" and counted in reverse. Some places, most notably in the gryphon kingdom, used the same Preclassical Era notation and called the Classical, New Dawn, and Night's Return eras the "Modern Era."
She doubted the princess would cite a completely nonsensical decade, but two things were clear. Luna's date was not a standard one, and this book predated Equestria itself.
"Oh yes, I have taught magic theory to half a dozen earth ponies myself," Luna answered, chosing not to answer Maria's second question. "One does not need a horn to perform a ritual spell, though the practice with magic does help with its casting."
"Ooh, soooo... what happened to the Syndicate thingy?" the guardsmare asked.
"They lost most of their members in a strafing attack from Pegasepolis and never really recovered."
Maria frowned again, tossing the book aside like a balled up newspaper page. As she did, one book caught her eye. And she caught another book's eye. "Look, Luna, I'm worried. I don't know as much about magic as you but this stuff can't lead you anywhere good. Lu- your- for crying out loud, that book just blinked at me!" she exclaimed, pointing at a book with what appeared to be moving eyes on the cover as she pulled a sleight of hoof, grabbing the relatively new copy of Equestria's Most Infamous for herself.
She needn't have bothered; Luna didn't even glance up from the book she was reading. "I am not reading the specifics on such magic, merely the nature of them; things a prepubescent donkey could see if he or she was at the right place and time. Should the proverbial abyss stare back at me, which seems likely given the enchantments on some of these books," she joked, gesturing to the blinking tome, "I gave standing contingent orders to Captain Cloak to... in how to deal with it."
"Yeah, I know about that."
The Princess' eyebrows rose, as did her gaze, staring straight forward for a moment with a blank expression. "What? How did you-"
"Uh, duh!" Maria remarked, disappearing from Luna's right and then reappearing on her left two seconds later.
"Oh." She should have known. Between Maria's invisibility, Fletch's vision, Targe's hearing, Midnight's connections, Shadowdancer's portals, and the stealth-oriented training she'd given them, she had assembled some of the most capable snoops in Equestria under her. There may have been better out there, including one potential prospect from Ponyville she might have an offer for in a few years' time, but unless she remembered to be wary she was less likely to keep a secret from them than Celestia was to have a photo of her terrible cake-eating manners.
Luna sighed. "I presume you do not approve."
"Psh, like that matters!" Maria said dismissively. "I don't care about some silly magic feeling, you know more about that than I ever will. What I'm worried about is you spending all your time on this. I mean, you got up in the middle of the day and went right back to reading this stuff. That'll make you loopy no matter what you're reading! Just relax a bit and I'm sure it'll never happen."
The princess put the book down. "So you are saying it's not what I am doing, it's how much I am doing it?"
"Well I'm not sure I'm happy about it, but if you think it's something you need to do, then it's something you need to do, right? I mean, if you can't figure out the dark, who can?" Maria asked. She shot Luna a smile. "All I'm saying is don't lock yourself in this drafty old room all day!"
"All night. I sleep most of the day."
Maria slyly looked out of the corner of her eye as she retorted in singsong. "Could've fooled me-e!"
Luna blinked twice. The unicorn had a point, and not just the one sprouting from her forehead. "Very well, Maria Breeze, I concede your point. I suppose I could... manage my time a bit better," she admitted.
"Good! Maybe you can start by getting back to bed?"
Luna raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "And perhaps you can assist me by staying out of my quarters whilst I sleep?" she hinted.
Maria laughed. "Haha! Okay, okay, sorry Luna." She turned around, but was stopped before she could walk away.
"Wait. Before you go, I..." Luna thought. "Even with what I have done in the past, you seem to... trust me."
Maria smiled widely. "Of course I do!"
"Why?"
"Because you're my best friend, Luna. That's what friends do! You said it yourself once, you know: you're never alone."
The demigoddess of night sat silent for a moment. "Thank you. I... I am glad you're my friend, Maria."
"Wow! Was that a contraction, Luna?" Maria teased. "I didn't think you knew how to use those!"
"Oh, be quiet and get out of my room!" Luna demanded playfully.
The guard laughed as she turned around and walked through the exit. "Alright, good night, Luna!"
"Good day, Maria."
"Whatever!" the unicorn called back. The doors shut behind her. With a smirk, she opened the book and began searching for herself. "Daisy Dasher, no. The Demon of Shadows, no. Final Curtain, no. The Wishing Fountain Pilferer, no. Is this in alphabetical order or... oh, there I am!"
Back inside, Princess Luna shook her head. If she wanted to read the book, she could have asked. Oh well, I hope she enjoys it. she thought before returning to the problem at hoof. "A way to manage my time better," she thought aloud.
The first thing that came to mind wouldn't work. Personal time flow manipulation wouldn't help her with that. Even if she wasn't still recovering the vast well of magic she'd once had, such spells were far too tiring for such purposes. What's more, she needed help managing the fledgling second incarnation of the Lunar Guard. Her second idea was much more suited for that.
Sometimes the simplest solutions were the best. She summoned a quill, parchment, and inkwell, and wrote down a short order.
Midnight,
Your orders regarding our ongoing recruitment campaign for the Royal Lunar Guard are as follows
Continue to perform as you have been, but as of now your highest priority is to use our Black Book to locate and contact the foremost logistics expert in Equestria to offer an officer's position within our organization.
The princess read the orders she'd written down. She gave a short nod of approval, placed it into an envelope, applied her royal seal, and sent it to the officers' quarters with the cast of a spell. With that, Luna removed her regalia, slipped between the sheets, and fell asleep. If there was something out there for her to discover, it had lurked in the shadows for thousands of years, it would wait another few hours.
Or so she thought.
The swarm buzzed about in her mind, clear as a bell. It was unfathomable to her how any changeling should be unable to understand it all at once. She had once been unable to as well, of course, but clearly she had been nearly as dense as the rest of them.
The entire world was green and grey. The walls, the ceilings, the floors, the sands, the woods, the river and even the horizon past the river were grey. It seemed impossible, even with the many thousands of thoughts within the swarm, to find a spot without a view of the great flames of the gate without putting some object in the way. They were almost intimidating when she had come through. After a while, though, they lost their grandeur and became mundane.
Overall, a perfect place to set up her new kingdom, even if she had to crush every soul that lingered here.
Chrysalis smirked as Flit relayed a number of thoughts to her from a colossal distance away. Another territory added to her own, it seemed.
Distances were of no consequence to a queen. The only things that could sever the link between her and her changelings were death or, apparently, relegation to another realm. She suspected as much the moment that ancient freak had tossed her army into the chasm, but losing contact with scout she'd left behind confirmed it. Either that or it had died the moment she crossed the threshold. Oh well, no great loss, scouts were nearly as disposable as workers.
"Very well," Chrysalis thought, "I shall go at once to see this village."
She looked down upon the charmed creature beneath her. He was a lost soul, still afraid to take the ferry, licking her hooves with a smile on his wretched little gryphon face. A disgusting, worthless chimera. She smiled at him and he looked up, starstruck, as if she was the most perfect thing he'd ever seen. The love was positively oozing out of him. She reached out, put her hoof on his chin, and brought his gaze up to her.
She devoured his love.
Well, perhaps he was worth something after all. she thought as she shoved him on his back. The soul seemed to wither a bit as he collapsed. He, like most, certainly hadn't been much of a challenge. As of yet, only Shining Armor had put up any kind of resistance to her magic, and even then it was child's play; child's play she needn't have even bothered with if not for a mysterious tip off of her attack. If she hadn't needed Scarab to stay and fend off any opportunistic birdbrains that would dare cross into their territory, she wouldn't have even bothered.
Instead, she was now paying the consequences. She'd been careless and sloppy. When she figured out a way out of here, and she WOULD figure a way out, she'd certainly see him pay for it. She'd make him, and his goody two-shoes wife, and that damned sister of Celestia's... heck, she'd make all of them, love her. Make them adore her, right before she tore out their beating hearts.
Queen Chrysalis rose from her dark, wooden throne and breezed past past the fallen gryphon, not sparing a glance at it any more than it would a bone on its plate. "Pick that up," she commanded to a nearby worker.
The queen strode to the end of the dilapidated throne room and opened the door, which greeted her with a wall of flames. She scoffed as she walked through them, emerging exactly where she wanted.
She now stood at the edge of the river Styx. Which edge was questionable, as the gate never seemed to be more than five miles away. She had crossed in mere instants what had taken her fastest scout, her chevalier, several days of flight. If one knew where one was going, transportation was a simple matter of stepping through the native green fires and desiring to be there. Such was the bizarre geometry of the Infinite Crossroads of Limbo.
She almost felt grateful to that loathsome old nag; it was as if Limbo had been designed to be taken by the Swarm.
With the swarm feeding them information regardless of distance, she had all the reinforcements she could muster in any place, at any time, in a blitzkrieg that made Canterlot look like a casual march. When one saw someplace, she saw it. When she saw it, they all saw it. And when one saw it, they could get there. Despite already holding more territory than Equestria, her forces were nowhere near spread thin.
What's more, changelings' bolts were much more damaging to objects than living creatures, and apparently souls did not count as living. A single hit from even her weakest scouts would blast off a limb or splatter a head. A hit from herself or Scarab, well, not much would remain intact, and a damaged soul took seven long years to recover from any injury, large or small.
However, the souls that dwelt here were cowards, else they would have taken the ferry long ago. As such, they rarely put up much of a struggle.
The village she'd just acquired, made of drab grey wood and dull wrought metal, was half leveled, its populace brought to heel in mere minutes. What's more, they were already lined up to be placed into their pods for harvest.
Chrysalis grinned maliciously. "Perfect," she said. A blur flew out of the village directly towards her, only to stop on a dime just before reaching her. There, in midair, hovered Flit, her face expressionless. This was normal for many changelings. Those who could not master apathy, hatred or rage had been weeded out over the generations.
"Any difficulties?" the queen asked her, more for her own amusement than any real concern.
The chevalier's face remained stoic. "No, my queen," Flit reported robotically. "This village consisted primarily of donkeys and mules. The fighting lasted approximately three minutes and forty seconds. Zero casualties, one wounded. Population of eleven thousand and eighty eight."
"Excellent."
Chrysalis picked up on another one of her chevaliers' thoughts. "My queen, could you tell that moronic pushover there wouldn't be any wounded if she'd just eliminated their leadership first," Cocoon thought. The queen merely repeated the thought and directed it to the intended recipient, a privilege she granted to her chevaliers.
This elicited no emotion from Flit. "That may or may not be the case. It may have been more advantageous to aim for the population in general. Your failure to eliminate Princess Luna of Equestria led directly to our capture, evidencing-."
"OH no," Cocoon thought as he emerged nearby from a sudden flash of green flames, "If anything was directly responsible, it was your failure to catch those three circus clowns, little miss aerial ace."
"That was a contributing factor as well," the scout replied in a monotone. "You may have caught them yourself were you not trapped in the nightmare yourself at the time."
The worker class Chevalier snarled, accompanied by a flare of molten hot rage. "Why YOU-"
A cold chuckle emerged from behind them. "Such animosity," a large changeling stallion said aloud, emerging from the smoldering ruins of the town. A soldier class changeling, big and broad shouldered, with a shell thick enough to stop a halberd wielded by a typical earth pony without so much as a scratch. "If you're going to try to kill each other, figure out a way back to Earth first, you morons."
Flit didn't react to the insult, and merely replied "I do not hold animosity toward Cocoon, Scarab" apathetically.
The worker class chevalier just scoffed. "That makes ONE of us!"
Scarab sneered at the assassin's phrasing. "So you hold animosity toward yourself? Mor-on."
"You want to fight, exile?!" Coccoon snapped, baring his fangs as his horn lit up green.
As amusing as this was, Chrysalis couldn't have her most useful minions killing each other. "Enough, you three. We need to conquer a larger swath of land to use its inhabitants' power to pay those Equestrian princesses back. It would be much harder to do that with fewer competent changelings under me. If I was to punish you for failure?" she thought with a chuckle. "I would break each and every single one of you."
Another flash of flame, and the three chevaliers all turned their attention, preparing to strike first if need be. "Ugh," Chrysalis groaned in annoyance with a roll of her eyes. The one down side of this place was that she and those under her rule were not the only ones who could arrive somewhere without warning. Sometimes it turned into a veritable farce of uninvited guests crashing the parties of uninvited guests of uninvited guests. It was utterly vexing.
A stranger this time. A unicorn, and an unusual one at that; she was pristine white all around. It was as if no soil had ever clung to her, and yet she looked unkempt and restless. Her spotless alabaster mane was bedraggled, her bangs parted over one weary eye. "Magnificent," the interloper said in apparent ecstasy. Her cutie mark, that of a flying red banner, was obscured on her left side by a hairless, gem-shaped scar. "One day I've been free, and already I've come to find this! And from a changeling queen, no less! Oh how times have changed."
Chrysalis narrowed her eyes. "Who are you and what do you want?" she asked.
The pony adopted a devilish grin. "Oh, I'm just here to... subjugate." What came next happened in a flash.
A wave of magic surged from her, but this did not stop Flit from connecting with a flying roundhouse kick to the temple. The mare reeled a bit and Flit peeled off as a massive bolt of magic collided with her foe. The earth pony was sent hurtling backward at breakneck speed, flipping end over end, but managed to catch herself, sliding to a halt with her hooves, her eyes facing the ground.
Scarab raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Oho," he interjected, "we've got a live one. That would have reduced you to slush if you were a spirit. Ironic, the first living thing we come across is the first that doesn't look like it."
"I could say the same," the stranger chuckled as an amusing thought came to her. "Nice shot, by the way. I suppose you changelings with your bizarre physiology would be immune to that, wouldn't you? Let's try again," she said, looking up with a smile on her face.
Coccoon scoffed from above and behind his target. "Okay, to hell with this," he said. He wreathed himself in changeling magic, a neon green cloak of destruction only the magical versatility of the worker class could create. He took off like a rocket from the pitch black sky, careening toward his target.
He crashed into the ground like a meteor, sending sand flying in all directions as a huge shockwave washed over the assembled changeling elites. The buildings at the edge of the village, on the other hoof, had their nearest walls blown out.
Coccoon took off again. "That's done," he said aloud.
"Indeed it is," a voice said from beneath him. He turned around to see the target had not, in fact, been eliminated.
"You missed," Scarab mocked. "That how the pony princess disabled you? Pitiful."
Coccoon scowled. "I swear I will kill you one day," he declared. He meant it.
"By all means! Try it."
The white mare turned to Chrysallis, taking her eyes off the chevaliers. "Bishop takes rook, knight, and bishop. Garde."
"Tch," the assassin grunted. "What is she yammering on about now?" Coccoon thought bitterly. His peers responded at the same time.
"Chess."
"Chess, imbecile."
"Oh SCREW the both of you!" he cursed. He didn't need sass from a world-wandering ex-exile and a pony specialist. He prepared to strike again, but the swifter Flit beat him to the punch, closing the gap in the blink of an eye.
Before she could strike, Flit's eyes widened in surprise, if only for an instant. She coughed once and broke off, completely reversing her direction in a split second. She landed fifty meters away as she began struggling to breathe.
Chrysalis looked on with annoyed displeasure as Flit sputtered and wheezed. Coccoon too began to hack up a proverbial lung.
Scarab glared as well. His chest was on fire, but he didn't particularly care. He brought a hoof up to his muzzle and coughed but once, looking at his hoof and seeing it covered in jade fluid. "I see. Some sort of contamination spell, probably a different kind than what you used the first time, since you said we were immune to that one. You hid the second one with the screwup's impact."
"Go to hell," Coccoon objected with a scowl.
"Wish I could, I'd fit right in, but Charon doesn't take the living, the damn thing," he replied before facing the pony. "Am I right, Miss...?" he asked, suppressing a veritable coughing fit as his lungs burned. He spat green on the ground as a bloody trickle ran down his lip. There was a distinct possibility he was screwed, but clearly whatever this was took time to work. The other two were neither as large as he, nor were their armored shells as thick. That might not have been the deciding factor here, though; the Soldier class had a certain tenacity to it, comparable to that of the Earth Ponies. It took a lot to put one down.
"Hm, tough and clever, huh?" the pony asked with a hoof on her chin. She turned her head, looking at him with one eye. "Cute, too, though the holes in the wings are new."
"Excuse me?"
She giggled. "I suppose I've always had a thing for 'bugs.' How about we get to 'know' each other after I'm done establishing my authority?"
Scarab couldn't hold back the coughing fit any longer. You've got to be kidding me, he thought to himself, but sure enough, there it was. That sickeningly sweet taste in the air. Absolutely disgusting. Even if he was still of the mindset to consume love, this creature's love tasted utterly foul, like spoilt mead made with too much honey. It was as revolting to him as the queen behind him. "Oh for Chrys' sake, spare me. I have no interest in 'love', let alone from the likes of you," he spat.
She sighed. "Oh very well, play hard to get. I'll just have to seize you another way," she said.
"Even were I interested I'd still want a name first."
"Names are so unimportant. Just call me..." she paused, glancing at the waters of the endless river lapping at the dark grey shore, the air snowing with ashes from the wrecked town, falling into the Styx. "... Quencher of Soots. Yes, I think that's fitting. Call me Quencher."
"And you're not so clever yourself, Quencher. 'Soot' is a mass noun," he said. "Hey, Chrysalis, mind giving the order already, or are you just going to sit on your queen-sized ass all day?"
Queen Chrysalis sneered. This disrespectful attitude of his was part of the reason she'd exiled him all those years ago. It was almost shame a changeling could not be exiled after being reinstated. "Watch your tongue, chevalier," she warned before issuing the command. "Now."
At her command, the surroundings lit up as, one by one, changelings emerged from all across Limbo. Dozens, then hundreds, then thousands appeared, surrounding Quencher with legions upon legions of Chrysalis' followers. The queen smiled maleficly. "Dispatching two of my chevaliers was quite impressive, but it looks like I win."
Quencher shook her head. "More of a stalemate, really. It would be a phyrric victory for either of us," she said. "I'd rather not kill of the vast majority of the army I'm trying to recruit. Besides, I doubt I've seen all of your chevaliers' tricks, and their affliction's already been nullified. They, uh, need a week or so to recover, though." Why others always assumed being cured meant an instant recovery she never knew.
"Oh? And you think to recruit MY army? What makes you think they would listen to you? A changeling obeys only the will of a queen."
"And a queen does well to listen to the advice of her generals," the alabaster mare replied. "I'll show you how to conquer Equestria once I get us out of here."
Queen Chrysalis was wary. However, the mare was either completely insane, or she was being truthful. Probably both. Her emotions matched what she was saying without a single slip. "Oh? So you're under me, are you?"
"In the short term that's what I'm offering, yeah!"
"And you think you can escape this boring realm?"
"I'll prove it. The cute one over there mentioned Charon wouldn't take the living," she began, earning a retch and a spit from the soldier, "and for the most part that's right. But you and me? We're the exceptions, one of the four on my end and seven or eight on yours. We'll take a little trip, the two of us; fortunately yours is the very first stop. It'll take some time, but I'll show you how I intend to do it. Call it my 'special talent.'"
"Interesting," Chrysalis admitted. It was a risk, but the rewards promised were just too good to pass up. "I'll take you up on your offer, for now, but make no mistake: we are not friends. The moment you outlive your usefulness in this, you'll be put to a very different use."
"Of course! Even assuming all goes according to plan, we'll still be on opposing sides at the end. Right now, though, I need an army, and you need power, strategy, and a way out. And maybe a little vengeance on the stallion who did this to you?"
The queen chuckled. "I take it you're no normal Equestrian pony, 'Quencher of Soots.' Are you some sort of demon?"
"Honestly you're actually not too far off, but I prefer to think of myself as... a horse."