//------------------------------//
// Chapter 11 
// Story: From The Gates 
// by Dirty Bit 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 11


New Beginnings


Around the barren wastelands where the former homunculi escaped from Tartarus, a lone pony trotted along his own path with his head hung down and buried in his pale yellow mane.
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A demon opened a cell door and made his way inside, then sighed to himself "I shoulda just went with the others to handle the escapees. Why do I miss out on all the fun?" A collision sounded followed by a tremor that agitated the demon "And just what in Equestria is that racket!?" He then groaned in defeat "Nevermind. Let's just see who's in here..." In one of the cell's corners, the demon looked at one of the newest additions to the pits.

It was a very rare sight to behold. A shriveled up alicorn with a light grey coat. The pony was so wrinkled, the cutie mark could not be distinguished easily. His face was buried in his pale yellow mane as he trembled in weakness. The demon was amazed for a moment before chuckling to himself "So they send some old pony in here? Talk about hilarious! Hope you can handle some torture, buddy, cuz I'm not holding back!" He walked forward while cracking his knuckles. When he got close, the pony murmured something in a withering tone "Huh? What did you say?"

The alicorn murmured again, and unbeknownst to the demon, there was a faint sense of red static coming from his horn.

The demon scratched his head, confused for a moment. Then he spoke once more "Didn't quite catch that, old man! Are you begging for mercy oooooor are you just dealing with arthritis? If it's the latter, then it sucks to be you! No special treatment here!"

"S-...Stones..."

At that, the demon leaned in, curious "Say that again?"

The alicorn, his face still hidden, procuded more red static in his horn as he found more strength in his voice "Stones..."

The demon walked up and knelt beside the alicorn "Stones? Are you dense or something?" He then shrugged "Doesn't matter. You're gonna deal with your punishment anywa-Huh?" He saw the static on his horn and glared "Oh no you don't!" He then grabbed his horn with the intention on snapping it. But when the demon touched it, the red static from the horn coursed into his hand and along his body "Wha-What the!?" He tried to release his hand, but it was as if it were glued to the horn. Soon, the demon gradually found his body covered in a glowing red light, and then screamed in fright before the light reached his head.

The light that covered the demon then shrunk down to the size of a gumball, and subsided to reveal a glowing red liquid substance on the floor. The wrinkled alicorn stared at the droplet through his long mane and slowly leaned his head down. He then weakly lapped the substance into his mouth and gulped it down.

For a moment, nothing happened, but then the alicorn grunted when red static enveloped his being. While he was wrapped in the red energy, some of his wrinkles slowly vanished.
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The alicorn managed to trot out of the wasteland, but then found himself in a much more mangled territory. Everything around him seemed more lifeless and threatening. Up ahead, he noticed what seemed like some kind of giant insect hive. Curious, the pony gathered his strength and continued onward.
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Another stray demon was turned into the strange liquid like before and devoured by the alicorn while he casually trotted along a trail with most of his wrinkles gone. He noticed a trail of blood and body parts and stopped to sniff at them. The alicorn then craned his head back and grunted in disgust as he carried on.

When he thought he was near the entrance of his newest prison, he noticed a pile of bruised demons groaning and moaning in pain. He heard them managing words while he trotted close.

One demon moaned "How can one pony manage to take on all of us like this?"

Another spoke "Not to mention how was it so fast when it was born huge? It's like the guy wasn't even trying!" He grunted in pain while he laid on the pile.

The alicorn managed a smile on his muzzle while his face remained hidden in his mane. He lit up his horn while the group was unaware.
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He did not forget how easy it was to leave when he noticed a three-headed dog lay unconscious near the entrance of the gate. It was best not to question good fortune. What mattered now was his location. He couldn't care less about his form knowing he was still able to make 'stones' out of whomever he chose. When he neared the hive structure, he noticed groups of creatures that resembled ponies and insects.

The creatures noticed the strange pony and assumed the presence of agitated beasts as they hissed and snarled at the alicorn.

One part of the alicorn wanted to do away with the approaching creatures, but another part wanted to know who they served. He decided to let the creatures 'capture' him so they would take him to their leader. While he was forcefully escorted, he could not help but chuckle to himself.

Some of the creatures were confused towards his laughter, but more confused when they noticed his strange cutie mark. It was a black spot with faded edges that paled in comparison to his light grey coat. In the middle of the black spot was an ominous eye staring out at the world, as if a figure resided in his flank. The creatures that paid attention to his cutie mark shuddered to themselves, but carried on for the sake of revealing a prisoner to their leader.

The alicorn was lead into a room that had egg sacks and cocoons sticking out of the walls and ceiling. At the end of the room sat a larger and more regal versions of the creatures that captured him. She leered at her captive with seductive but cold green eyes. Unlike the others, this one had flowing but holed turquoise hair and what seemed to be a growth resembling a crown resting behind her jagged horn. Her tone betrayed no malevolence after she chuckled "Well done, my pretties...Begone now. I'll summon you when I'm through with this one!"

The creatures then left the room while the alicorn remained with his head hung and buried in his mane. The head creature raised an eyebrow "What? Are you not going to beg for mercy or is your old age catching up to you, alicorn?"

The alicorn, after he heard the remark, could not help but laugh "I haven't heard that since I left my previous destination...But no, I'm below such petty actions." His tone was cold and arrogant.

The head creature nodded her head at the alicorn, impressed with his audacity "You DO realize you are in the heart of my domain, don't you? Do you honestly think yourself powerful when you're surrounded by my children??" She rose from her crooked seat and snapped at her prisoner "Do you know who you're dealing with, old fool!?"

She expected her prisoner to tremble, but the head creature succeeded in eliciting another laugh from the alicorn when he replied "Not exactly. I'm rather new to this whole world...Your 'domain'..." he added the word with a condescending tone "seemed to pique my interest, so I decided to see what was there. Now I know..."

The head creature hummed in irritation and thought. She glided from her seat and approached the alicorn and began to circle him. He was surely a rare sight to be seen around Equestria. Was he serious about being new here? What made her all the more curious was that she detected no feeling to feed off of him other than his coldheartedness and arrogance 'What kind of alicorn is he?' With her examination over, the head creature flew back to her seat "What is your name, alicorn? I've not seen anypony like you around Canterlot before..."

The alicorn only replied "Ladies first..."

This impressed the head creature even further "An arrogant prisoner with manners? How utterly divine..." She flashed a smirk.

The alicorn held a smirk of his own "Divinity is a goal of mine, actually...Now, your name?"

The head creature nodded "Very well." She rose to a proud stance "I am Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings! You have such admirable gall to trespass onto my territory. Who are you to do this exactly?"

The alicorn was silent for a moment "Nothing of dire concern to you..." He lifted his head and his pale yellow mane flew back to reveal a handsome stallion's face with his eyes shut. He then opened them to reveal that the pupils in his eyes were a threatening red. He leered at Chrysalis with a vicious smile.

"Just a father searching for his lost children..."


End of Chapter 11