Chapter XXII
“Ow, ow, ow, ow,” Twilight Sparkle said as she continued to follow her mother, still being pulled along painfully by the grip on her ear. She had lost track of where they were going, mainly because she was too busy focusing on the pain, as well as Spike’s unending giggles.
Suddenly, without warning, the trio came to a complete stop, and Twilight’s mother relinquished her hold on her daughter. “Ow… what was that for, Mom?” Twilight asked as she painfully rubbed the side of her head.
“Hey, if I was taller, I would have done it myself,” Spike said, his voice barely restraining his glee at what he saw.
Twilight Velvet didn’t answer at first, choosing to instead fix her daughter with that glare that Twilight was more than acquainted with. “Seriously, honey, you’re just as bad as your brother. I thought you had gotten over the whole ‘overworking yourself’ thing when you were fourteen, but apparently not.” Twilight Sparkle opened her mouth to argue, but was interrupted before she managed to get a single word out. “Do you remember what happened to make you stop then?”
This stopped Twilight in her tracks, causing her to look down in shame. “...yes.”
“Now, get into bed, and I don’t want to hear any lip from you, young lady. You may be an adult now, but you're still my child, and you’ll never be too old for that, understand?”
For the first time since this conversation had begun, Twilight Sparkle took in the room that Twilight Velvet had dragged her and Spike to. It wasn’t a large room, at least, it wasn’t large in comparison to many of the other rooms found in the castle, but it was still quite spacious. The bed and other furnishings served to give the room a cozy, warm feeling, and the window (which Twilight Velvet was busy drawing the curtain over) overlooked the castle garden.
“Mom, I really don’t think I’ll be able to sleep, at least, not right now,” Twilight said with a sigh. “Besides, whose room is this?”
Twilight Velvet just gave her daughter a ‘no nonsense’ glare again, then got back to what she was doing. “I thought as much. You’ve been so busy that you haven’t even been to your own room yet.”
Twilight just gave a shrug at that as she watched her mother pull back the covers. “I’ve been busy. I really haven’t had time to- Woah!”
Twilight’s argument was cut short when her mother suddenly scooped her daughter up with her levitation and, without much ceremony, deposited her in the bed; all while ensuring that Spike didn’t take a sudden plummet to the floor. “Now, you stay right there, young lady, and don’t move until you get a good eight hours of sleep. More, if I have anything to say about it.”
Spike shook his head in disbelief as he approached the bed. “Do you really think that’ll work? She’ll just wait until you leave, then teleport the instant you’re out of hearing range.”
“Do you really think so, Spike? Because it looks to me that she’s already asleep,” Twilight Velvet answered smugly.
Spike pulled himself up to the edge of the bed, not quite believing the matriarch, but astonished when he found that she was right. Twilight Sparkle was already fast asleep.
* * *
The Canterlot Gardens were absolutely lovely this time of year. Many of its flowers were in bloom, not to mention that the various animals that populated the gardens were happily chattering and singing, going about their business without a care in the world.
It was a sight that was so serene, so perfect, that one could almost forget the terrible horror that was on its way.
Almost.
“How was your press conference, my princess?” Captain Star Blaze asked as Celestia approached the group in front of the statue of Discord.
“It went as well as could be expected,” Celestia answered with a sigh. She then let her gaze sweep over the six foreign equines that were in attendance, along with the delegation from the Alliance. Her sister had gotten there before she had, though Celestia personally blamed Blueblood; his need to whine about the smallest rumor he had heard around town about the aliens was really starting to grate on her nerves.
Three of the foreign equines were known to her, they being Sultan Malik and his Sashali, or royal guard. The Sultan himself was a dark blue stallion, whose mane and tail were a deep black color. Strangely enough, he wasn't dressed in his usual royal robes and crown, instead opting for a much more simple white robe.
The other three ponies were all pegasi, though she had never seen any of them before in her life. However, knowing why they were there in the first place, she could easily guess their identities.
“I take it that these ponies here are our guests of honor?” she asked sardonically.
With a flash of green fire, all three ponies disappeared, only to be replaced by Queen Chrysalis and her changeling guards. There was a sharp intake of breath from Zelgius's advisers, though the admiral himself remained unfazed by the sudden transformation.
“Are you okay, Tergus?” Zelgius asked as he raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, I just wasn't expecting... that... as their transformation. I was kind of expecting something similar from the movies, where they transform slowly,” the lieutenant said shakily.
“That would be both useless and wasteful. A changeling needs to be able to adapt quickly, or risk discovery,” Chrysalis said haughtily. “Transformations need to be made at a moment's notice, often when pursued, to lose those who would catch us. A slow transformation would defeat this purpose, leaving us vulnerable to discovery.”
“Um... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause offense,” Tergus said, a little confused.
The Changeling Queen just sighed at this, then rubbed her head with her hoof. “No, you need not apologize. I am on edge right now, and just a little nervous at what I have to reveal.”
“Before we begin, I would know why you attacked my nation, and ruined my niece's wedding,” Celestia asked, raising a single eyebrow and giving the changeling her best 'this had better be good' glare.
It was quite good, seeing as how she had perfected it over several centuries.
Chrysalis just sighed at that, rubbing her forehead with her hoof. “I would tell you all, but some explanation would be in order first. Some explanation about the origin of the changeling race, and a promise that we made, oh so long ago,” she said as she straightened herself a little bit. “I must tell you now, though, that my reasons and my actions were inexcusable; I will gladly accept whatever punishment you deem necessary, but only after this war is finished. I only ask that you are merciful to my people. They had nothing to do with my choices, and were only following my instructions.”
Celestia and Luna just looked at her for the longest time, their faces unreadable masks as they thought about what she had said.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Celestia spoke. “Let's first hear of this, 'promise,' that your ancestors have made, as well as your connection to the Dridune. After all of this is over, and Equis is safe from invasion, then we'll decide upon a fitting reparation for your attempted coup.”
“That is the very reason why I come to you today,” she said, turning towards the statue of Discord. She then reached out and gently put a hoof upon his stony exterior, almost in apology. “I would explain the reason why we changelings must feed upon your emotions, why we hunt you, kidnap you, brainwash you, and return you emotionally drained and mentally scarred.”
Admiral Zelgius shook his head at this, folding his arms in disgust. “I don't think any story that you spin is going to make us see you and your people as anything other than monsters. Those are some pretty hefty crimes you've just admitted to. Even if you don't count the coup, you'd be looking at jail time from some cultures, and execution from others.”
Chrysalis nodded her head. “I know. What we have done to the people of this planet is deplorable, yet necessary. You may not believe me now, but please, all I ask is that you hear me out.”
Princess Celestia narrowed her gaze at this. “I already said that I would hear your side of the story, so please, continue with what you have to say.”
The Changeling Queen took in a breath, then exhaled as she attempted to steady her nerves. “It all began with a race of beings called The Watchers. At least, that is what they called themselves. Much of what I know about them has been forgotten, lost to the ages as the memories of my hive waned, but I still know some of what they were,” Chrysalis said as she sat down in front of the statue of Discord. “According to legend, they were a people with great power, possessing the ability to not only see into the hearts and minds of others, but also to change what they found there. However, they saw this power as a curse, one to never use under any circumstances. They decided that, instead of using this power to rule, they would simply watch the unveiling of the universe. Hence the name, The Watchers.”
Admiral Zelgius just shook his head at that. “I find it hard to believe that an entire race would feel this way about this power of theirs, and simply stand by and 'watch'. At least one would try to abuse it,” he said in disbelief.
“You are correct. I do not know his motivations, whether he thought he knew better, if he just craved power, or if he suddenly went mad,” Chrysalis said with a wave of her hoof. “Whatever the reason, there was one among The Watchers who was not satisfied with his place in the grand scheme of things. He sought more, and to do this, he began to use his power to conquer those he deemed as 'the lesser races'. He traveled far and wide, bringing more and more under his banner, making them happy slaves to his will as he amassed his army. Finally, after he had gathered a sizable force, he struck out against his kin, burning their entire world to the ground, slaughtering them all without mercy.”
“Why would he do that to his own kin?” Celestia said with a gasp. “The very thought of it is monstrous to the extreme!”
“It is indeed. As to the why, he did it because they could resist his will. Even if they had sworn allegiance to him, they could still have plotted an uprising and have dethroned him. His only choice, if he were to forever retain his power, was to ensure that there was no one who could challenge his rule,” Chrysalis explained.
“What... what did he do then?” Luna asked faintly.
“According to lore, he established himself Master of All. He then created servants to relay his message of dominance. These creatures, who had a fraction of his power, were bearers of his will, incapable of disobeying their master. These he sent to other worlds, slowly corrupting others to his will.”
“And these are the Dridune, I take it?” Zelgius asked, raising an eyebrow.
“They were, but not as you know them. They were far different than the ones you know now. From what my agent has told me, the Dridune that you fight now resemble bipedal octopi, they being both disgusting in form, and tyrannical in nature,” Chrysalis said with a nod. “The Dridune in the past, however, were far more lovely, yet far less powerful, at least at first. They were creatures of seduction, both in body and mind, possessing the power to appear as whatever their victims desired most. They craved the minds of others, and would consume their entire psyche, taking everything that their victims were, and giving nothing in return. This in turn made them more powerful, until they had the strength to dominate entire planets.”
Celestia's mind froze as she heard this. Those traits combined sounded awfully familiar to her, but she decided to refrain in her judgement until after Chrysalis had finished her story.
“Well, since the universe isn't under the thumb of this madman, and you said that this took place a long time ago, I assume that his plan was foiled in some way?” Admiral Petran asked curiously.
“It was. In his arrogance, Lord Tyranny overlooked one thing. During the battle to destroy all who could oppose him, he made a minor, yet crucial mistake,” Chrysalis said, her voice rising with pride. “He let one of his countrymen escape.”
* * *
I was wondering when you’d get here.
Oh? You have something to say? I’m sorry, but not only do we not have time for that, but you can’t exactly talk to me in your current state. Besides, there is more for me to show you than questions you need to ask.
Look, and see what… wait, what’s this? You’ve already seen this? Well, this changes a few things…
Oh, don’t give me that look, the things you’ve seen? It just means that you’re a bit ahead of schedule. We can skip past the dull, boring, mass murdery bits that my brother was responsible for, and skip right to the important bits.
Namely, me.
Yes, hold your applause, you knew I was… wait, you haven’t figured it out yet? Really? But… my brother gave you all those hints!
Agh! Whatever! We’ll start from where you last left off, then: My escape.
* * *
“Psychic controls offline. Sublight engines offline. Switching to auxiliary controls. Switching to- Error. Auxiliary engines damaged. Running diagnostics on plasma nicelle. Please wait.”
“Grah! Belay that! Instead, activate the ship’s self destruct, and redirect all available power to the cockpit’s inertia dampeners. Prepare to eject the cockpit on my mark!”
Freedom started to count under his breath as the blue orb on his monitor swiftly filled the whole screen. There was obviously going to be life on that planet, and he would be daft to allow his ship to cause any more death today.
“Ship to self destruct in five, four, three-”
“MARK!”
With a sizable jerk, the entire room around him shot forward, leaving his crumbling ship behind. Suddenly, without warning, the entire cockpit pitched forward as the ship it left behind detonated into a thousand, tiny, easily burned up in the atmosphere pieces.
As Freedom looked out the window at the quickly approaching planet, he reached into his coat pocket with his lower right hand. He had been saving the wine for a special occasion, but it looked like such a time was never coming.
“Here’s to you, mysterious planet,” he said, toasting the rapidly approaching rock. As he started to down the bottle, warning lights started flashing all across the cockpit, alerting him to the coming danger, and warning him to do something about it.
He ignored them, however. After all, what could he do at this point to stop any of it? Even if he survived this crash, Tyranny would find him anyway. Freedom knew he was living on stolen time, paid for with the lives of his countrymen as they had thrown themselves at Tyranny’s forces.
While he had fled like a coward.
You’re the lorekeeper, Freedom. If we accomplish nothing else, you must escape this…
Freedom shook his head wistfully at the memory. It was a pointless one, now, seeing as how the data stores he had been guarding had been destroyed with the rest of the ship.
With one last look out the window, Freedom drunk the last of his alcohol as the planet rushed up to meet him.
* * *
Jalath Shadowfall blearily opened her eyes. The bright, white light above her was blinding, so she quickly shut them again.
“Ugh… why is everything trying to murder my eyes?” she asked, her voice cracking as her dry throat made speaking difficult.
“Oh, good, you’re awake. Give it a few hours for the drugs to work their way out of your system, and you should be ready for some physical therapy in no time,” a male voice said somewhere close by.
“...I take it the operation was successful?” Jaleth asked groggily.
“It was. You should be regaining full motor skills in a matter of days. Would you like a mirror? Patients who undergo this particular treatment-”
“That won’t be needed,” Jaleth interrupted him. “I wouldn’t be able to see it right now, anyway, since I’m effectively blind until my… eye… things, jive with my brain.” she was still quite light-headed from the drugs they gave her, so words and ideas were a bit difficult for her right now. “Where am I?”
“You’re on board The Jolly Roger, currently orbiting the world known as PTS-945. With any luck, we’ll be able to get the locals to give us a name more suiting than that.”
Jaleth thought about this for a second, but what she remembered didn’t match up with where she was. “...Why? Why am I on the admiral’s personal ship? What happened while I was out? I was kind of expecting-”
“Don’t worry about that, infiltrator, the admiral told me that he wished to explain things to you personally. All you have to worry about right now is making a full recovery.”
Jaleth groaned in frustration over that. The very least he could have done was left me with a little bit of a head’s up…
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I see how common updates are.
I am afraid to read this, because... I know real life is a thing but if I end up liking something I tend to get hyped for it, and that hype tends to fade with time. I just don't want to forgot the story by the time it updates again.
6971137 Sorry, man, it's mainly been writer's block, actually. I've been able to finally get past it, so expect a lot more updates soon.
TWO of my favorite fics that I thought were dead updating on the same day hours apart? Is this second Christmas?
Yippee!
6971144
That's reassuring! I'll definitely read this if that's the case.
Knight Breeze updated?
s2.quickmeme.com/img/02/0280432aac8b0a26013ed3488adba48017f03d7f93a33fa6a3803caa547c6d2d.jpg
First Rust, now you? We're having a sci-fi fic renaissance here. Nice to see you back.
6971137 I've noticed this author tends to update in spurts. There's a series of new chapters in rapid succession, followed by a fairly long dry spell. Eventually, writer's block moves on, and another series of chapters comes out. I'd say we've got at least two or three more chapters coming up in the near future based on past experience.
6971187
Well, based on 6971144, it sounds like the author has gotten over it. Although, writers block does tend to spring up on people.
6971216 Writer's block is cyclical.
6971228
All things cyclical imply hope.
6971245 Which is why I haven't abandoned this story
whose*
your*
I really love that you added that little bit of discord breaking the fourth wall! I feel like it is exactly what your first draft needed.
Please update this one more often! I need it!
6971617 Thanks, man! Already taken care of!
What's writers block? But anyways yay updates! Is it second Christmas?
Nice to see this updated, again. I hope to see more soon.
Freedom?... Hmmmm. (Ding!)
Calling it now, Discord is Freedom, and Changelings are his versions of Dridune, to battle against Tyranny's (Dridune Emperor) forces
6972586 Writer's block is similar to other types of blockage experienced throughout the body, except instead of blocking blood, sweat, hair or fecal matter, It's words that are being blocked. It can be caused by: Not wanting to disappoint your fans; not knowing how to continue a story; knowing how to continue a story, but not knowing how to word it properly; apathy; laziness; a sudden desire to wear a chicken suit; or any combination of the previous. There are several ways to work through this malady, but for me, the best seems to be going to a different writing project and working on that.
6973655 I ain't saying anything!
Heh heheh, find the whole mother-daughter interactions very amusing, especially with Spike snickering among the way. And it seems Chrysalis is finally explaining how they knew of the Dridune.
Gotta hate those writer blocks. Good luck with those, and hopefully, they won't bug you for too long.
C&Cs:
...Twilight Sparkle took in the room that Twilight Velvet had dragged her and Spike to; It wasn’t a large room...
> Either change the semi-colon to a period or lower the casing after the semi-colon (and remove the extra space after the semi-colon).
“Are you okay Tergus?” Zelgius asked as he raised an eyebrow.
> Comma after ‘okay’.
Chrysalis nodded at this, .
> Missing something here.
6974327 Thanks for the catch, man! Already taken care of!
I'm also extremely glad you liked the interaction I had going on there! I spent a long time working that out!
That was a really good chapter! Makes me even more excited now that the boring part is mostly ower and big revelations followed by the fight are about to hit! Hope the next chapter won't take as long :P
More!
7016086 Oh, that kind of spacing. Don't have time right now, have to get to work. I'll get to it in the morning.
Let me guess...
They made her into a pony
Just kiddiing
...unless you really did, then I'm like 
Nice chapter, but I think you forgot an italic code for the last line:
The very least he could have done was left me with a little bit of a head’s up…
Sounds like that character's thoughts.
7042426 Thanks, man. I did.
You know it is quite jarring to start reading an awesome story and then come to the end of the chapter it leaves off on and wanting to read more. Hope to see more soon and keep on keeping on
I can't wait to see an update for this. I have to say that all of your stories are on point. Great Reads!
7273256 true but im sure theres enough for a one shot at the least
Hasta ahora la historia va decentemente,un 5/10 .
En cada capítulo hay partes insufribles.
This story still alive, or nah?
7562740 It is, I'm just concentrating on my others before this one. I'll get back to it, I just want to finish What I Am before I do.
It was kind of funny to finally read this. So many familiar names. I think I really like the new Hazalk better.
You can really tell that this is more Space Opera than the relatively hard scifi your other story runs on. It all puts me very in mind of something by Alan Dean Foster, actually. Runs on a similar concept: the Amplitur are a race of mind-controlling cephalopods who are bent on conquering the entire galaxy on their crusade of unifying all life under the Purpose. Less sense of superiority and more of an honest well-meaning "we are but servants of a grand destiny" attitude, though. On the other side stands The Weave, a loose alliance of races and civilizations trying (and failing) to resist the expansion of the Amplitur for centuries.
Of course, in those books, it's humanity that gets accidentally discovered instead and turns out be violently immune to the mind control, not ponies, but still, it's a very interesting parallel. Somewhat different plot, but the setup is surprisingly similar.
7739013 hominid is the correct term when one has never seen a human before. And lions exist in equestria. We've seen tigers and panthers before, so why not lions?
7739013 Humanoid means human-like, hominid is the biological classification for great apes. (including humans) exact criteria are not clearly defined, but generally include a capability for culture and language. For a pony to think of something as "humanoid" they would have to know what a human is first.
Isn't her name spelled 'Jaleth'?
7739037
Where were the tigers and panthers? Sorry it took me so long to respond, but you didn't reply to my comment per se, comment in the same chapter, otherwise it messes stuff up.
7789574 daring do. They were the servers of auzotl. (Yes, I know I spelled that incorrectly. I'm typing this from my phone.)
7789577
Right, I remember now! Damn, easy to forget little details like that.
When are you going to continue this?
7821790 Once The Humanity Within (AKA What I've Become and all that) is finished. I really have too much going on to be able to continue multiple stories at once, so I'm finishing them one at a time.
Story tracking beacon activated.
Will be interesting to see when the
reapersKettinvaders finally arrive.8082394 Sorry, while I'm still working on this one, it's on hiatus at the moment. I'll get to it eventually, after I'm done with What I Am and The Humanity Within.
This story still updating?
8122244 Not at the moment. I haven't given up on it, it's just that I don't have time to work on it right now. I'm busy concentrating on my other stories, and will get back to this one once I've finished with those.
8123158
Glad it's not dead.
>notices it's been almost two years sinse any update.
Oof