//------------------------------// // The Meeting // Story: Long Live the Queen // by QueenChrysalisForever //------------------------------// Hoofville- Shiny Whistle Many ponies were still on the dance floor or eating as I finished my plate, patting my full stomach. A few of the older couples and many of the younger couples had retired to the Griffon’s Talon Inn, just a few buildings down from Amethyst’s shop. Chryssy sat next to me, eyes a little unfocused as she gazed up at the stars, the moon nearly full above us. I joined her in looking up, ears flicking slightly as a bat pony flew across the moon. Dancing with her had been amazing. I was glad for those lessons my mother had forced on me as a young stallion now. She had been right that it would impress the mares. I doubt she thought it would be for a changeling mare though, let alone their Queen! The slight tang of sweat clung to both of our bodies, and a light breeze tickled against my neck. I just wondered, what was Chryssy going to do? She had said earlier she planned on eating later. Was she finally going to feed on me, or one of the other party goers? Could probably get quite the potent dose from any of the young couples. I was sure most of them hadn’t left for their rooms early because of exhaustion after all. “You ready to grab our bags and get a room?” Chryssy asked, looking down from the sky. “If we time it right, we might be able to get to Dodge Junction tomorrow night.” “Sure,” I stood and trotted toward Amethyst’s shop, Chryssy right beside me. It would be nice to get back into the main part of Equestria. The badlands, not nearly as bad as I had always been led to believe, were nice but I missed my family. I hoped there would be time for at least a quick visit with them while we were in Canterlot. “Ah welcome back,” Amethyst said, smiling as we trotted inside. The shop was only dimly lit now, and Amethyst wore a pale blue robe around her. “Your bags are still by the door. Did you have a good time?” she asked, letting out a yawn. “Thank you, yes it was a lovely wedding reception,” I said and levitated my bags onto my back while Chryssy did the same. “We’ll let you get some sleep, you look exhausted,” Chryssy said, and Amethyst let out a tired chuckle. “You have no idea dearie. Been up since dawn working on outfits for the wedding reception! Many were done before then, but there are always last-minute adjustments to make. I’m glad you had a good time. Feel free to come back anytime.” “Thank you,” Chryssy said and led the way to the door as Amethyst pulled aside the curtain to the back part of the shop and slipped behind it. As we entered the inn, an old cherry-red earth pony mare, mane and tail greying but with faint hints of pink still peeking through, cutie mark a quilt with a threaded needle going through it walked over to us. “Hello, youngins. Can I get you a room?” “Yes please,” I said. “Well, I hope you are a couple then, as we only have a single room left. This wedding has us nearly booked.” I blushed, but Chryssy nodded to the old mare with a chuckle. “We are indeed, nothing I love more than my little Shiny,” she crooned and nuzzled my mane, which just made me blush even more. “Well then, here is your key.” The mare handed over a long brass key with the number 102 emblazoned on its bow. “Main floor, first door to the left. Sleep well dears.” She said and nodding goodbye to us, walked back behind the counter. “Well lovercolt, shall we go to our room?” I sighed, and Chryssy just grinned slyly. She sure was enjoying this. We entered our room a few minutes later, dropping our bags by the door as we closed it. The room was nice, small but cozy. The bed was the largest thing in the room, easily able to fit two ponies on it, with a thick red and white patterned quilt spread out on it and two fluffy pillows. I changed out of my tux and placed it carefully in my saddlebag, while Chryssy did the same with her dress. With a light of green fire, Chryssy transformed back into her own form and locked the bedroom door. Her eyes glowed in the darkness of the room, lit by the moonlight shining through the window. Letting out a deep sigh she relaxed back onto the bed, mane billowing out around her. My Celestia was she looking beautiful! I looked away, ears lowered slightly. Why did this have to feel so awkward? “Get over here you silly pony,” Chryssy purred, licking her lips. “I think things here are going well enough that we’d be okay with me feeding off you if you are still willing?” “What?” I gasped and gulped. Oh, so we were doing this then. The fur on my neck prickled and I bit my lip. Was I ready for her to feed off me? What did a pony do while they were being fed on? I shook my head and walked over to the bed. This is what I was here for after all. Well and getting Celestia to let Chryssy’s friend go. “So what do I need to do? Is there a position that is best? Or something I should think about or…” Chryssy put a hoof to my muzzle, grinning slyly. “You really overthink things sometimes Shiny. Just stretch out here next to me, and it does help if you think of somepony you love, but it is not required.” I nodded, getting up into the bed and stretching out on my back, tail draped over the side of the bed. “There see, now was that so hard?” she asked, rolling over onto her belly and draping one forehoof around my own belly. My breathing quickened at her touch, and all I could do was smile at her in reply. I could feel my heartbeat increase and raised my eyes to look into her own, lit up with amusement. A lock of her mane fell against me and my skin tingled at its touch. “Calm down, I’m not going to hurt you, my silly pony.” Chryssy said, lowering her head until we were nearly muzzle to muzzle. “Thinking of that special somepony?” “Uh huh,” I said nodding my head as I stared into those big green eyes of hers, almost getting lost in their beauty. But I couldn’t take my mind off her. The way she laughed, her small, smooth ears, her delicate muzzle, the way her carapace shone in the light of the moon pooling in from the window. Her horn lit up with green light above me and I closed my eyes as she brought it down to my neck. It felt warm against my neck, a pleasant warmth like relaxing into a hot bath, steam drifting through the air around you. There was a slight tugging sensation, and then it felt like a thin string was being pulled through and out of my neck, tickling but not enough to make me wiggle. I opened my eyes, to see Chryssy had closed her own, concentrating. One of her ears twitched, and I sighed, taking in her beauty. I couldn’t deny it anymore, no, I had fallen in love with her, the real her. “I love you,” I whispered, and was startled when she pulled away, sitting up and losing her balance, tumbling onto the floor. I sat up, watching as she disentangled herself from the heap she had fallen in and stared at me wide-eyed, pupil’s dilated, as she stood. Breathing heavily, she looked around the room for a moment then with her magic opened the window and jumped outside. I leaped out of bed and looked out the window, watching as her wings flittered into a buzz as she lifted off and flew towards the trees ahead of us, leading into the small copse of woods. “Did I do something wrong?” I said, ears lowered, hanging down. Why had she run away? She seemed terrified. Did the idea of me loving her repulse her that much? Here I thought we were getting along so well. I sat back down on the bed, watching the skies where she had disappeared into the trees. There was no way I could catch up to her on hoof. But what could I do? Oh, why didn’t I do what she said and think of somepony I loved? But then I had, I loved her, even if that is not what she had meant. I put both forehooves to my forehead and groaned. Why did love have to be so hard? I wiggled my nose, something in the air making it itch. I rose my head, curling my upper lip, and took in a slow, deep breath. With a snort, I blew out the acrid stench of smoke whispering in through the open window. “It’s too late in the year for anypony to have a fire going,” I mumbled as I stood up and walked over to the window. “FIRE!” A pastel green earth pony stallion yelled, galloping past my window, ash caked in his otherwise blue mane. I jumped, startled, watching him until he turned a corner and disappeared. I perked up my ears and looked in the direction he had run from. My eyes widened and my ears fell flat to my head upon seeing flames engulfing the buildings on the far side of town, dark billowing smoke pouring into the air. “That is not good.” Somewhere in the woods- Queen Chrysalis I buzzed down onto a dirt path, kicking up dust as I landed and paced back and forth. I bit my lip, ears swiveling back and forth, my nostrils flaring as I breathed in and out. “What just happened back there?” I said, shaking my head and barrel, still pacing. “Well, it can’t be what it looks like. No, it must be some side effect. Yes, that’s it!” Chrys said, easily as tense as I was feeling. “He’s become too attached to us, or something. He doesn’t really- we don’t really, we can’t!” “Can’t fall in love?” “Yes! No , no we can’t! Platonically yes, maybe, but romantically no. Ugh!” Chrys groaned. “What does he think he is doing? Saying things like that? No, no he lusts after us, Yes, yes that is it. He is one of those rare ponies that get turned on by being fed upon.” “Why can’t he possibly love us?” I said. “He has a good heart. Probably totally crushed by us running off. Did you know you could do that?” “Do what?” “Control our body still, to an extent at least. All those emotions flowing in the room, then his declaration, kind of startled both of us, and you took control and sped us out of there.” “No, I didn’t know I still could. As far as I can remember, the previous Chrysalis never could to me. Curious…” I stopped in the middle of the path, shifting from hoof to hoof. Our heartbeat was still erratic, my ears swiveling back and forth. Chrys’s mind was whirling inside of mine, and at times I couldn’t even connect to her. “Calm down Chrys, we need to figure out what to do.” “Go on alone, that is the only answer. We could get to Dodge Junction by morning if we fly, then take the train to Canterlot. If I have to I’ll take control of our body again and…” “NO! We can’t leave him behind.” I yelled, stomping a hoof down on the hard ground. Bushes moved and I heard pawsteps fleeing from us out of the bushes. Probably some rabbit or something. ‘I’ was the Queen now, and even though I respected her, this was one thing I would not agree on. “Why are you so against thinking you can’t love? You love your changelings, you love your daughter, so why not a pony?” “Because a changeling Queen does NOT fall in love with a pony. My love for my hive is different, nowhere near the same. You haven’t been one of us long enough to understand.” She practically hissed at me, if she had had control of our mouth. “Nothing good comes from it, and so we never have and never will. Manipulate them yes, make them think we love them sure, but in the end, all they are is food.” “I can’t believe you really feel that way. After all, I’ve seen, which I admit isn’t much, just, ugh!” I stomped my hoof again, nostrils flaring, shaking my head. Great, now she was making me angry. “Fine, you don’t have to love him. But we are continuing this mission together.” “Very well,” she growled. “But once the mission is over, he STAYS in Canterlot. He’s not coming back with us. We need to figure out how to beat this threat to us. I don’t see him being much help for that. We’ll get him back to his family and then… back home, where everything will be as it always has.” I sighed, and looked up to the sky, watching the moon. No one had ever confessed their love to me like that before. My parents and siblings sure I knew they loved me, even my friends had told me such as well, but a guy? Never. And now she wanted us to leave behind the only one who ever had? I perked my ears up as a scream filled the night air. My hooves trotted over the dirt path as I followed the sound of the scream, coming to a cliff overlooking Hoofville. “Oh my,” Chrys said. The town was burning, a good portion of the far end already covered in flames and smoke. “We couldn’t have been gone for more than a few minutes! How did this happen?” I said, mouth gaping open as I watched ponies running around in panic. A shiver ran through me as a shadow rippled along beside the ponies, then more and more of them appeared. Screams turned shrill as ponies began to notice the shadows amongst them. My ears dropped flat as I watched one wrap itself around a dark red pegasus’s neck, and the two of them went down, the other ponies and shadows continuing on around them. The pegasus screamed, but only for a moment before it was cut off. “Look, it’s the changeling queen,” a voice hissed behind me. I jumped, turning around to see three of the shadows slithering closer. They were vaguely in the shape of ponies, two beady eyes shining a bright white, a magical white aura trailing out behind them. The one in the middle grinned, revealing misshapen, uneven teeth. “Umbrum!” Chrys said, and we took a step back, ears pinned to the side of our head and nostrils flaring. “As if this night wasn’t bad enough! Fly! This is an enemy we can’t beat alone.” I held my wings down to my side, refusing to go. I took a quick glance down toward the inn, still intact, but the fire was growing closer. “Aw look, she develops feelings for that unicorn,” the middle Umbrum said. “Too bad he will die,” the one to the left said, floating over to my left side. “As will all the ponies of this town.” “She has ordered us to leave none alive,” the one on the right said, eyes narrowed as it moved in on my right. “She?” I asked, gulping. Who was this leader of theirs, and why was she destroying this town? “You have no need to know her name,” the middle one said, “not yet.” I stiffened as they circled around me, rubbing up against my chitin, the smoky shadow of them cold and itchy. “She still plans on talking to you. We didn’t expect to find you here though.” “It was quite the pleasant surprise!” “Heh, we figured you would be with the rest of your changelings.” “Shut up!” the middle one hissed at the other two and stopped in front of me, floating up to wrap its body around my neck, staring into my eyes. “Now, just what to do with you.” “Run, fly, do something!” Chrys yelled, but I was frozen in fear. My eyes widened as I stared into the Umbrum’s eyes, feeling its shadowy coils tighten around me. “Leave her to me Rabia,” I flicked my eyes to the sound of hooves walking towards us from out of the trees. A black cloaked pony appeared as it stepped into the moonlight. As it looked up, all I could make out was a pair of glowing red eyes. Even with the bright moonlight, the rest of the face was in shadow. “Continue thy destruction of the town.” The Umbrum wrapped around my neck sighed and nodded. “Very well,” it unwrapped itself from around me and it and the other two jumped off the edge, a pair of moth-like wings extending from each of their backs and floating them down. I took a deep breath as they left. A hoof to my neck, still feeling that thing around it, even if it was now gone. I turned to look back at the pony and could feel Chrys practically growl at her in my head. A horn glowed red under her cloak, some type of amulet around her neck also glowing. “I told your minion I’d be watching,” she said. “Did you really think bringing all your changelings home would scare me? As you can see, I have my own destructive army.” Stepping closer, she beckoned me closer to the cliff edge and pointed a boot-covered hoof out on the town. The bottom half of a blue tail stuck out from under her cloak. “This is only a fraction of the power I possess. I’m sure you remember the power the Umbrum possesses.” I nodded, after all, I did read the comics for the show before I was brought here, and Chrys had filled me in on all she knew. The Umbrum were basically the opposite of the changelings, feeding on fear instead of love. Their powers focused largely on pyrotechnics. Which would explain how the town had burned so rapidly. They had nearly destroyed the Crystal Kingdom many years ago before the Princesses sealed them away. “What do you want pony? And how is it the Umbrum have come to follow you? How did you set them free?” “I’m not stupid Chrysalis, you are not going to get me monologuing,” she said and chuckled. “I have my secrets, and there is only one way you will learn them.” “Let me guess, you want my changelings and me on your side.” “My, my, and here I thought it would take time to get to that.” “Likely story,” Chrys snorted. “And what would make me want to do such a thing? We work alone.” “You almost won against those Princesses when you attacked Canterlot. Yet you underestimated the true power of pony love.” I rolled my eyes. “And you feel the need to tell me something I already know because?” “If we band together, that won’t happen again. With the fear, my Umbrum will instill in them, and your changelings stealing their love, they have no chance!” “Been there, done that,” I growled. “If everypony is filled with fear, there will be no love for my changelings.” She turned to look at me, and her eyes glowed red again for a moment. Then she took a deep breath, and let it out. “That can be solved easily enough after we have Equestria. You can have Canterlot, Ponyville and the towns and cities around there. I want the Crystal Empire.” I snorted. “Wouldn’t want that bone-chilling place anyway. Much too cold.” “So, we have a deal?” “I never said that!” I growled. “Right, we don’t even know who she is! Foolish pony wants us to work with her? We at least deserve to know that.” “Well then, there is still time,” she said and chuckled. “You better go check on your little lover pony. I’ll be around, but my offer won’t stay forever. I gain more power each day, soon I won’t even need you to beat those Princesses.” She took a deep breath and sighed. “But I thought I’d offer you a chance first. Don’t keep me waiting long for an answer, or you’ll regret it. Enjoy your trip to Canterlot.” With that, her eyes, horn, and amulet glowed a bright red again and with a pop, she vanished. “Well, that sure was… interesting.” Chrys said, and we looked down at the town. The flames were getting close to the inn, almost to Amethyst’s shop. Chrys sighed. “Come on then, let’s go rescue Shiny.” I nodded and lifted off the cliff, wings buzzing as I flew down.