Tales of Apple Scratch: The rise of the Queen

by Mariacheat-Brony

The girl inside the chrysalis

Changeling Hive, somewhere deep in the jungle of the Grand Duchy of Maretonia, Thirteen years and a half before the Royal Wedding …

Moving from a slave’s life with a relative comfort to the life of a newborn larva in the Hive had been quite hard for the once Concubine. During her five years in Nadira, she had been forced to stay fit to remain in the Sultan’s good graces, but it had only been a matter of a healthy diet. In the Hive, she had to actually do something to keep up with the others. Under Vigil’s recommendation, the Swarm Lady, Red Carnation, had been put in charge of the girl’s formation, along with the other larvas she had been tutoring before the former Concubine’s arrival. It had been hard, but after a few weeks she found a pace similar to the one she had had in the slums of Maredrid. She was still behind others physically, but she was slowly but surely catching up to them.

The crimson-haired instructor was also in charge of her magical training, being a Titanian herself as well. Those weren’t the best for the former concubine. Adolescence was an important period for Titanians, for it was during that time that their inner magic core would finish its development properly. Spending nearly whole of hers with lead, which is known as a natural magic-inhibitor, shackled around her wrists had already done some serious damage according to Carnation.

Carnation had told her that her core, which had only started to grow back when the lead shackles had been pulled off, had already slowed down its growth. Her instructor had also informed the girl that it would most likely come to a full stop a bit after her eighteenth birthday. She would still be able to do magic, but Carnation had clearly informed her that she would unlikely become a Drone, and would probably have to resort being a Worker. Vigil had briefly explained to the girl how things worked in the Hive on their way to the hidden temple, and, while she hadn’t fully understood the origin, or the meaning behind of the various appellations, she knew one thing for sure: Workers never left the Hive’s vicinity.

If she wanted take her revenge on the masked man, she’d have to become a drone, and for that she had to find a way to drastically speed her core’s growth up, or find a way for it to last much longer. And, that was why she spend most of her free time, which basically meant the night, in the vast library of the Hive. Sadly, while the library was more than well stocked, most of the scrolls, or books around were about Countries customs, manners of speaking, protocols, and so on. Under many aliases, the Hive accepted contracts from all over the continent, so its members had be aware of all those. It was what determined the success of their missions after all.

One night, the green-haired Larva was going through the shelves of the more secluded part of the Hive’s library, where she had found books about Titanian Magic, even if they weren’t really useful to her. She went deeper into the library until the shelves let place to a large alcove hidden by a set of thick, dark curtains. She examined the curtains curiously while wondering how she hadn’t noticed that alcove before now, considering it was taller, and larger than any shelf of the library. She put her lantern on a nearby table before parting the curtains open, revealing what stood behind them.

She was startled a bit when the huge painting came into light, as the creatures represented on it almost seemed about to jump on her. She shook her head, chuckling at herself for her brief fear which she blamed on the advanced hour, and the poor lighting given by her lantern.

“.... I wonder what those things are...” she let out softly, picking up her lantern to bring it closer to golden caption of the painting. “....Workers and Drone defending the Hive,” she read out loud before her eyes traced up to the larger monster, which seemed to be called a Drone according to the caption, depicted before her. “... So, a drone is really a big deal here, huh?” she asked herself mirthfully.

“Not really,” Vigil replied in a casual whisper, his mouth millimeters away from the girl’s ear.

“GAAAAH!” the green-haired girl jumped in surprise, almost dropping her lantern on the floor. “Vigil, you scared the crap out of me!” she nearly yelled in reproach, slamming her free hand on her savior’s chest, right where his black protective plate were less thick.

“I figured as much,” Vigil chuckled, unfazed by the hit on his chest. “You hit a bit harder than before. That’s good,” he added with an approving nod, before his, and her gaze travelled back to the painting.

“What are they?” she asked curiously. “I mean, I realized that they are connected to the Hive, but other than that…”

“Those were the real Changelings,” Vigil explained slowly. “Creatures blessed with a very particular kind of magic. A magic that brought them on the top of the food-chain of this continent.”

“What sort of magic?”

“The same magic we use here,” Vigil stated mysteriously as he closed the curtains of the alcove.

“What do you mean?” she asked in confusion. “You mean that those creatures were able to use Equestrian Magic?!”

“Not exactly,” Vigil explained matter-of-factly. “Our order managed to find a way to use a glimpse of those super-predators’ powers.” He pointed at the chitinous, black breastplate he was wearing. “The Black Exoskeleton given to every Drone of our Order.”

“That’s actually the name of those armors?” the girl asked with a cocked eyebrow. “That’s a bit cheesy,”

“We’re a thousand-year-old secret order of spies, and assassins that is active in about every country of Equis,” Vigil reminded slowly. “You should have expected a lot more cheesy than that,” he added, winking playfully.

“Fair enough,” the girl chuckled softly as Vigil invited her to sit at a nearby table. “So, what does your Exoskeleton actually do?”

“It does this,” Vigil stated before turning into the perfect copy of the girl across him in a flash of green light.

“...” the girl blinked in confusion. “How is it different than this?” she asked before she waved her glowing hand before her.

A few seconds later, it looked exactly like Vigil and the girl had simply switched place around the table. Vigil tilted his now womanly face to the right, examining his protegée’s spell with interest. He ended up nodding slowly with a satisfied expression on the girl’s face he was sporting, causing his own face to smile proudly in his direction.

“Pretty good spell,” Vigil commented softly. “How long can you hold it now?”

“Close to thirty, thirty-five minutes,” the girl replied matter-of-factly. “The Swarm-Lady said that my illusions are the best among the Larvas’….” she wanted to add something else, but she ended closing her mouth after a few seconds.

“What about the voice?” Vigil asked casually.

“That’s another story,” the girl explained with a sigh. “Sound magic is apparently a vast and untamed territory of magic according to Red Carnation,” she added with a shrug.

“She’s right,” Vigil agreed with a nod. “Luckily, it never stopped us before,” he added in a voice that made the girl-turned-into-man snapped her head in his direction: her own voice that had come out of Vigil’s throat.

“Wow,” she let out in awe. “... Should have known that you, and the other Swarm-Lords would be able to change your voice with your magic.”

“It’s not our magic,” Vigil explained in the girl’s voice before waving at the disguised girl to come closer. “It’s one of the Exoskeleton’s many proprieties.”

“What do you mean?” the girl asked curiously as she stood up to go to his right side.

“Well, your illusion is just that. An Illusion,” Vigil explained, proving his point by waving his hand at the girl’s disguise face. “Since you’re smaller than me, I can do this...” he added as his hand went through the illusion’s face. “..and, thus blowing your cover. Now try to do that with me.”

The girl nodded slowly before bringing her hand just above the disguised Vigil’s head. Since she was smaller than him, she should be able to touch his head, or another part of his upper body that was hidden by the spell. She let out a confused ‘Huh’ when her hand didn’t reach anything but air above the disguise of herself.

“That’s the difference,” Vigil explained softly. “You simply put a mask of my body around your own whereas I changed mine into yours.” he paused for second before continuing in the girl’s own voice. “And that includes the voice as well.”

“Wow,” she let in awe before stopping her illusion before Vigil changed back to his real self. “How is that possible?”

“The changelings had this affinity with the magic around them,” Vigil started, scratching his chin as he remembered what he knew on the matter. “They could sense it, absorb it, and then mimic it. That’s why they were among the top predators this land has ever known. They would change into any animal they encountered before infiltrating it to feed on their nest, and at each new species they consume, they would change their own bodies, making them stronger, faster, or reinforcing their magic.”

“How come I’ve never heard of such creatures before?” the former-concubine asked.

“They’ve been extinct for centuries now,” Vigil replied laconically. “They started to hunt in some place they weren’t ready for…”

“Which place?”

“The realm of Equestria,” Vigil stated slowly. “Princesses Celestia and Luna wiped out all the hives after the Changelings started to attack their citizens. They basically erased their existence from the land. They’re still mentioned in various history books of old, but that’s all.”

“Then where do those Exoskeletons come from?” the girl asked in confusion, earning a curious look from her savior. “I mean, they’re made of Changelings shells or something like that?”

“Those are forged in the most common steel you could find at any blacksmith,” Vigil replied, poking at his Exoskeleton. ”But you’re right, Changelings are involved in the process of making them.” he stood up and picked up the girl’s lantern. “Come with me!”

“...Okay,” she let out after a few seconds, a bit surprised by his sudden departure.

She followed Vigil through the mazes of corridors that occupied the lower levels of the Hive. As they went deeper below the ground floor, the brick walls around them became roughly digged cave walls. Half an hour after they left the library, the pair stood in front of the a massive, steel made door. Vigil put his hand on the door lock before he turned the lantern off, plunging both of them in a nearly total darkness.

“Why did you do that for?” the girl asked as she heard Vigil unlock the door before her.

“Well, I’m giving you a good tip for once you’re a drone,” Vigil replied with a brief chuckle. “Theatricality is one of your best allies.”

After that, Vigil slowly pulled the door open. As the hinges complained at being put to use, a bright, green light pierced the darkness through the widening opening of the door. The girl had to cover her eyes once the door was fully opened for her, as the light was too bright after being in the dark. As soon as she recovered from being blinded by Vigil’s theatricality, she followed him past the door, and froze immediately after taking one step inside.

Her jaw dropped a couple of inches lower when she saw the inside of the hundred-feet wide cave. More accurately when she saw what was inside the cave, which was also the source of the green light. Said source occupied roughly two thirds of the cave’s total space. Gulping nervously, she approached the large, green, transparent rock, her gaze focused on what lied inside it. The large beast was curled in a ball inside of what seemed to be a cocoon. The twisted, holed horn on its forehead was as tall as Vigil, perhaps even taller. Its open maw was large enough to gobble her up, sporting white fangs that could easily rip her apart should the beast be awake. Her eyes travelled along the tower-sized body of the monster, which was covered in a thick layer of black chitin similar to what Vigil was wearing as an armor. After observing the wings of the creature, the girl finally found the source of the light.

“...Gods,” she let out in shock at the sight of the tiny, white flame line that seemed to consume what remained of the beast rear legs. “How is that possible?”

“It has been written that when facing a lethal wound, a changeling could secrete a rejuvenating cocoon around itself. Thus entering in some sort of stasis until the wound is completely healed.” Vigil explained slowly. “We think that this Behemoth did that after being wounded by Princess Celestia. Sadly for him, the Solar Fire never stops burning until its target is nothing but ashes. Even inside this cocoon. It condemned itself to an eternal slumber, during which its body can only heal itself as fast as it’s getting consumed by the fire.” he added slowly.

“Shouldn’t the fire have burned out inside the cocoon?” the girl asked in a meek, curious voice.

“Had it not been Celestia’s fire, probably,” Vigil supposed with a shrug.

“Why are you showing me this, Vigil?” the girl asked after a few seconds long silence. “I mean, it’s amazing, and everything but what does it have to do with what we’re talking about?”

Vigil replied by changing his right gauntlet into long, and thick black claws before he brought them in contact with the cocoon. With a faint screeching noise, he scratched the translucent green surface with them for a few seconds, making four long cut appear on the formerly smooth cocoon. Then he scraped each claw on the palm of his other hand while the cuts were regenerated in a blink of an eye. Once that was done, he extended his left palm to the girl, showing her a green, crystalline powder.

“This is what we call the Promethean Amber,” Vigil explained as the girl leaned closer to the green powder. “Our smiths have learned to apply it on everything they forged. The amber melt itself into the metal, and changed it over night, causing all the armors, or weapon to look like this.” With his free hand, he pointed at his Exoskeleton’s chest plate. “After that, one Exoskeleton is given to a newly promoted Drone so that it can get used to him or her. Once that step his done, it will obey his thoughts, and change everything its user wants: body shape, body size, voice, it can even be reshaped as weapons, or tools,” he added, nodding at his claw-like gauntlet before it took its original, and rather harmless shape.

“...The Exoskeleton gets used to the Drone?” the girl replied with a cocked eyebrow. “You made it sound like it’s alive…”

“As alive as a tree can be,” Vigil explained with a shrug. “It doesn’t have a conscience if that’s what you meant, but the amber in the metal reacts to the inner magic of the person wielding it, consuming a certain amount of it before it’s in sync with him or her.”

“...And… What happens if the person who tries the Exoskeleton has an underdeveloped inner core?” the girl asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. “Like a child for example…”

“The amber consume a certain amount of magic, some time less, some other more,” Vigil explained with a sigh. “If the wielder doesn’t have enough magic inside them to satiate the amber, the amber will take it all, and said wielder will surely die.”

“...That’s certain?”

“Yes,” Vigil replied softly. “It happened to a lot of our recruits back in the time when the magic-sight spell wasn’t invented yet. That was the ultimate trial to become a drone. Thankfully that was a long time ago, and now we don’t waste lives by giving an Exoskeleton to someone who can’t stand it.”

“...Someone like me in short,” the girl let out with sadness, causing Vigil to glance in her direction. “...Carnation said that there are little to no chances that I’m allowed to become a Drone… That I’ll probably spend the rest of my life in the Hive.”

As soon as those words went past her lips the girl leaned her back on a nearby wall, and let herself slide on the ground. Despite her will to find a way to expand her magic, to find a way to explore the world in the search of the Masked Man who had sold her to the Sultan of Nadira, hearing what would most likely happen if she tries had calmed her ardors. The fact that it was Vigil of all people who had told her that was even worse. After all, he had been the one to show her this was one path she could take to get back at the Masked Man. But now that path seemed impossible to walk through, and it was also impossible for her to head back to take a different one.

Sighing longly, the girl brought her palms against her forehead, pushing as hard as she could, almost as if it would make all her ruined hopes go away from her head. It obviously didn’t, and she stopped trying after she heard Vigil crouching next to her. Once she felt his hand gently resting against her shoulder. She felt him squeeze it softly in reassurance before she heard him pull something out from beneath his armor. As Vigil’s hand left her shoulder, something fell on her legs. She looked at it to see a leather-wrapped package the size of her palm on her lap.

“You see, little Concubine,” Vigil said as she examined what he had dropped on her legs, making her scowl by using the nickname Carnation and others used and that she hated more than anything. “You’re a lot like our friend here,” he added, poking at the green cocoon, thus pointing at the massive Changeling inside of it. “Like him you’ve been damaged beyond repair by someone a lot stronger than you. Like him you’ve built a cocoon around you to protect you from anything that might hurt you again. Like for him, your cocoon stops anyone from really learning about you.”

The girl looked at him in confusion before he faced her once again.

“But, what you failed to realize...,” Vigil kept going softly. “...is that, like him, when the time is right you’ll emerge from your chrysalis stronger than you ever thought it possible.” She was about retort, but he silenced her with a wave. “All you need is a little help from the outside.”

As Vigil pointed at the package, the girl opened it, revealing a small vial containing a pure black liquid inside it. She picked it up, and brought it up to her eyes.

“What’s that?” she asked softly.

“The secret of the strongest member our order ever had,” Vigil replied in a whisper. “The source of Thousands Faces Vespid’s fame, and power.”

“...I’ve read about him,” the girl commented slowly, remembering one of the oldest books she had read in her quest for a means to augment her magic. “It’s said that he took care of a warship from Gryffonia by assassinating each member of the crew in a different way over a couple of days.”

“He was quite the assassin,” Vigil added with a nod. “But, he was also a master in alchemy, and his greatest achievement was the potion you’re holding. He used it to enhance his inner core, turning himself into the strongest Eponian of his time.”

“He also lived ages ago,” the girl retorted slowly. “Where did you get this?”

Vigil licked his lips before answering. “Carnation came to me after the first day she trained you,” he explained. “She told me of your growth problem, and that you’d probably not make it to the Drone rank.” He ignored her shocked stare before continuing. “So, I started looking for a solution, and I finally found in Vespid’s secret journal, in which he had written how to brew this potion.”

“.... Why did you start looking for this?” the girl asked in a trembling voice. “Why have you done all what you did for me?”

“Curiosity,” Vigil replied simply as his blue eyes met the green ones of the slightly emotional girl. “In Nadira, I found an intriguing little chrysalis that had nothing to do in this part of the continent… I’m curious of what the little chrysalis will free into this world.”

He heard her sniffing before she wiped her eyes with one arm. She was trying her best to not let him see the remains of her tears in her green gems. He pretended not having seen them, focusing his own eyes on the small vial before the girl did just like him.

“...Is it safe to drink?”

“I don’t know,” Vigil replied sincerely.

“You didn’t drink some yourself?”

“One of the ingredients is extremely rare, and I could brew only one dose, and you need it more than I do.”

“... Are you sure this will work on me?”

“I have no idea,” Vigil admitted slowly.

“...So it could be a powerful poison for all we know,” the girl let out worriedly. “After all, maybe Vespid never wrote down the recipe of his power potion… Or maybe he never needed one…”

“Both scenarios are possible,” Vigil agreed with a slow nod.

“But if I don’t drink it, I’ll never have enough magic power to become a drone, and would have to be a worker here for the rest of my life,” the girl reminded, earning another nod from Vigil. “So, it’s a matter of luck...”

“Basically, yes.”

“Lady Luck and I don’t really have the best track record,” the girl stated with a sigh. “But, I guess that sometimes the Lady’s hand must be forced.”

“Sometimes…”

“Well,” the girl said as she uncorked the vial. “Bottoms up!” she stated as she brought the potion to her lips, before leaning her backwards to swallow it in one gulp.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three years later, Pommel’s workshop in Maris, Prance

“Suri!” Gabrielle Pommel shouted loudly to her assistant as she was busy doing last minutes checks on her dresses before the models would show up for the fashion show. “Where’s my coffee!?”

“Right here, Mrs Pommel,” a nervous, purple haired assistant replied as she sheepishly held a sealed cup from the café across the workshop. “It’s still really hot,” she warned softly as her teal-haired boss violently snatched it out of her grip.

Gabrielle popped the seal off her cup with one flick of her thumb as she took a step back to glanced at the ten dresses on display before her. While taking a long sip of her jumbo-sized coffee, she observed the collection she would have to present in front of the most importants fashionistas of Prance before she turned to her assistant who was glancing at the eleventh dress of the collection with great interest.

“Did you adjust the straps on the dresses the new girl… What’s her name again?... Fleur Delice or something… will wear?” Gabrielle asked before gulping another large portion of her beverage.

“Not at all!” Suri replied with a shrug. “You should have done it yourself.”

“Excuse me?!” Gabrielle snapped after blinking in shock at what Suri had just said. “How dare you talk back to….”

Gabrielle’s scandalized yell died in her throat as she suddenly felt her larynx swelling rapidly. She let go of her cup, and brought her hands to her throat as she started to lack air. Her wedding band felt ten sizes too small, and her sight was partially blinded by her own skin.

“S...Su...Suri….”

Gabrielle tried to call for help by difficulty raising her head toward Suri, only to see another woman where her assistant stood a few seconds earlier.

“Suri’s not here,” the tanned woman with very long, dark green hair said softly as she crouched next to the choking fashion designer. “It’s four in the afternoon as you can see,” she added as she pulled Gabrielle’s swollen eyelids open before she turned her head to look at large clock of the workshop. “She’s probably at school to pick Coco up, as you asked her to this morning… Though, you’ve been so absorbed by tomorrow’s fashion show, which you thought was today, that you’ve spent your whole day here working, so you probably forgot…. Or, maybe I made you forget. I’m confused myself,” she added mirthfully, chuckling melodiously. “Now, you don’t have to worry about your fashion show anymore, since it has just been cancelled,” she added with a patronizing tap on Gabrielle’s puffy right cheek.

The green-haired woman watched the clothes-designer struggling to catch her breath for a good minute before she slowly stopped moving. She put two fingers on Gabrielle’s slightly swollen throat to check her pulse. When there was none, she stood up, and went back to the dress she was examining a few moments ago.

“You know? I think I’m past having you chaperoning me, Vigil. With me being a Swarm Lady, and all that,” the woman said casually, before a tall, muscular head-shaved man stepped out of the shadows at one corner of the workshop.

“Yet, as a Swarm Lady, you picked a job that could have been handled by a newly promoted Drone,” Vigil commented slowly as he walked to the dead body of Gabrielle Pommel. “You’re way too good for such basic contract.”

“And miss Maris’ Fashion Week?!” she asked, cocking an eyebrow at her mentor. “Let me remind you that there’s the word Lady in Swarm Lady.”

“Fair enough, Swarm Lady Chrysalis,” Vigil admitted with a brief chuckle. “How did she die?” he then asked curiously.

“The newspapers will probably write something along the line of: “Fashion Designer commits suicide with her coffee.”” Chrysalis replied casually. “Considering that, barely fifteen minutes ago, many patrons, and a few waiters of the cafe across the street saw Gabrielle Pommel order an extra-large coffee, cream, a double dose of hazelnut syrup with a topping of nut powder.”

“Nuts allergy?” Vigil let out with an appreciative nod.

“Bingo,” Chrysalis said before a faint green flash appeared around her clothing. “So, why are you here if not for checking on me?” she asked curiously as her Exoskeleton took the appearance of the dress on the mannequin before her.

“I came to invite you on a trip to Istalloña,” Vigil replied as Chrysalis watched herself in a nearby mirror. “I found two former sailors who remembered a masked man giving their captain a twelve year old girl to take to Nadira a couple of years ago.”

In the mirror, Vigil saw Chrysalis casual, and curious expression turned into one of pure shock, mixed with a small amount of fear. She turned around as her evening dress turned into the Exoskeleton’s usual appearance. The spikes on her gauntlets the grew to the size of short blades as her eyes radiated with fury, and the need for vengeance: the same radiance Vigil had spotted in them when she took care of Haakim of Nadira.

“Where are they?” Chrysalis asked in a whisper, her voice as cold as ice.

“Mendax, and Clarion are keeping a very close eye on those two men back in Maredrid,” Vigil added slowly as her armor took a more threatening appearance. “Both are waiting for you impatiently.”

Author's Note:

There's the next part of Chryssie's life travels.

And soon she'll get back where it all started..

Thanks to PinkieLunaShy, and Batmane of Equestria for their editing job.
Anyway, I hope you liked it, don't hesitate to comment.

Mariacheat-Brony

PS: Here's a thing so that you can estimate where is where: (Equestria is in the north, and the map needs a lot more work hehe )

PPS: source for the "painting"

Comments

[Sea_Swirl]

Not trying to be rude and your story is really good, but I'm confused on how this relates to AppleScratch....

[Mariacheat-Brony]

5252240
It's not exactly related to the adventures of Vinyl and AJ if that's what you mean, that's just me developing Human Chrysalis' past along with a bit of Cadence's (in later chapters) since Chryssie was the first villain the Apple Scratch Sisters fought.

Just like my Dracan War story was just me giving Celestia, Luna, and a few other characters of the fandom a chance to kick lots of dragon butts...

[Sea_Swirl]

5252326 Oh kkay! thanks!

[Putainnn]

ohhhmygodthisissocool