Queens
Queens
Grand Ruler Celesto took a moment to adjust the lie of his cape as he sat upon his iron throne. All the officers and luminaries of the court gazed up at him in reverential silence, waiting expectantly for his next masterpiece.
He took a moment to savour their expectation, as he would shortly be savouring their accolades.
Slowly, so softly to begin with, he began to pluck the strings on his harp as he started to warble.
“And who are you, the proud lord said-“
“What is the meaning of this?” Celestia demanded as she threw open the doors to the throne room and strode through them with a tread so determined that she might almost have been a hostile army making a forced march to surprise the foe and catch them off their guard. Oblivious to the murmurs and the gasps of shock of the assembled courtiers and Starfleet officers as she made her way down the centre of the room, blind to the shocked and hostile gazes upon her, deaf to the whispers that followed her and to the way that Captain Shaina tried without success to waylay her in her progress, Celestia marched towards the Grand Ruler and the dual thrones with an expression that mingled grimness and fury in equal measure.
Behind her, Captain Emerald Shaina looked like a mare who had been made to suck on a lemon until she could not get rid of the sour taste. Celesto decided that he would deal with her, and her manifest failure to do her job, later. Right now, his own troubles seemed too immediate for him to spare any wrath for an incompetent guard captain.
He cleared his throat and adopted what he hoped was an affectionate yet official tone. “Ah, my dearly beloved queen and wife. This is an unexpected-“
“I asked you a question, Celesto,” Celestia yelled, her body trembling with anger as a line of guards finally brought a halt to her onward progress. “What is the meaning of this?”
Some of the whispering in the throne room was directed towards him now, ordinarily none dared to address him by his given name. Celesto felt his face begin to redden. Cursed this wretched mare, can she give me no peace? Has she no regard for her duty? It was too late now to order the room cleared, the damage had been done already. He would have to brazen things out as they were.
His grip upon the arms of the throne tightened. And why should he not? He who was Grand Ruler, god and king, supreme lord of United Equestria and master of the Starfleet. This realm was his, and across the stars hundreds of thousands lived and died according to his will. Why, then, should he fear the petulance of one foolish and ungrateful mare? Why should a husband cower before his wife? Why should he allow the proper order of the universe to be overturned?
He was Grand Ruler, master of a hundred worlds, and he would master his wife also, here in the sight of all.
“Perhaps you should calm yourself, my dear?” he suggested, keeping his own tone as even as possible even as he planted the suggestion of hysterics in the mind of those listening. “And then you can explain to me exactly what is troubling you?”
“I suspect that you are well aware of what is troubling me, my lord,” Celestia growled, her own tone becoming less outrage in response to his own. She still shook with anger, but her words conveyed a colder fury now, as inexorable as an avalanche of ice. “Perhaps I should send away all those you care about to desperate or perilous fates and then we may see how calm you can remain when first you learn of it.”
Ah, yes. That. “I see that you have heard the news regarding the disbandment of Friendship is Magic and the reassignment of its personnel to other positions.”
“I have been made aware that you have sent Rarity into space, despatched Applejack and Spike into the maw of combat and ordered Pinkie Pie to Zebrica,” Celestia snapped. “And how long before Rainbow Dash’s unit is deployed into the thick of the fighting?”
Yesterday, if I could have my way, the Grand Ruler thought. But it would seem strange to order a fresh company to the front lines so soon, his generals and admirals would ask questions, and ultimately he would spend a good many Unicornicopian lives just to bring down Rainbow Dash. Better to have her assassinated at a later date.
But first, of course, he would need to deal with this nagging harpy of a wife. The Grand Ruler forced himself to restrain his anger and contorted his words into a semblance of love and affection. “My dear beloved, you have a gentle heart, but you are but a mare and know little of the ways of war. Every military must from time to time evaluate the proper uses and employment of its personnel-“
“Spare me, my lord,” Celestia said sharply. “Spare me your justifications, spare me your fabrications. Be honest with me, if for the first time, and tell me why.”
“Why?” the Grand Ruler replied. “Better, surely, to ask why not? They are officers all, commissioned by myself, commissions that they sought with eagerness once. Why should they not, then, serve as officers? Would you have Applejack be spared to stay behind while other good ponies go off to war because she is your friend?”
He thought that he would have her for sure with that argument, but unfortunately his hopes were misplaced as Celestia answered him in a voice that echoed across the throne room. “I would sooner that no good ponies, nor any bad ones for that matter, should have to go to war for any cause. And what is our cause? What has Rangiveria done to anger us? Why are we sending young ponies out by the battalion to destroy the home of a people who have done us no wrong?”
“Our cause is just!” the Grand Ruler shouted.
“I hope so, for your sake, for if it is not just it will be a black thing for the monarch who led so many to a cruel fate to answer for the ends they met in an unjust cause,” Celestia said.
“I am no more responsible for the deaths of my soldiers than a father is responsible for the misfortunes of his children!” the Grand Ruler yelled, his face turning red as he leaned forward, while his hands gripped the arms of his throne so tight that it was painful to him.
Celestia’s gaze was still full of anger, but now even worse there was a hint of pity in it also. “I suspect that you do not believe a word of that.”
The Grand Ruler wanted nothing more than to leap from his throne and strangle her. Only the number of eyes upon him stayed his hand, that and the words of Colonel Starlight Glimmer. As obnoxious as she was only his marriage to Celestia maintained law and order in this land and ensured the continued loyalty of these querulous, ungrateful ponies. Therefore, he attempted to calm himself as best he could as he said, “The former members of Friendship is Magic have already undertaken their assignments. These orders will not be rescinded.”
“I see,” Celestia replied, with melancholy in her voice. “Tell me, my lord, do you truly hate me so much that you would stoop to hurt me in so petty a manner? Was it not enough that my most beloved student was taken from me, but you must now do further injury? What did I do, that so many good and virtuous ponies must suffer for my sake?”
The Grand Ruler glared at her. “I have no idea what you mean, my lady.”
Celestia took a deep breath, drawing herself up regally. “I…see. Thank you, my lord, for clarifying your position.” She turned around.
“I do not give you leave to go, beloved,” Grand Ruler said.
Celestia glanced behind her. “I am your queen, perhaps your wife, perhaps some other things, all yours. But my body, heart and soul remain all mine. My will is not yet yours.”
“Not yet,” the Grand Ruler muttered beneath his breath.
Celestia turned away, turning her back upon him – more gasps at this grave breach of protocol – and strode away, the click of her heels echoing upon the floor.
As she departed, neither Celestia nor the Grand Ruler but silence itself reigned within the throne room, holding officers and notables alike in awe beneath its power.
Its spell was shattered only by the bellow of the Grand Ruler. “Get out!” he yelled so loudly that the nearest windows began to crack. “All of you, get out! Captain Shaina, kill anyone who does not clear the room immediately!”
A cry of alarm went up as everyone began to stampede towards the door, pushing and shoving, frantic to be the first out, or at any rate to not be the last. Captain Shaina made no move to escape, or to enforce the Grand Ruler’s lethal order. Rather she stayed where she was in the middle of the throne room, her spear held loosely by her side, her shield upon her arm, her head downcast. She looked like a mare about to go to her own execution, which was not so very far from the truth.
The Grand Ruler waited until the room had been cleared and the doors shut to speak again. “Captain Emerald Shaina, would you care to explain yourself?”
Emerald Shaina dropped to one knee. “Majesty, I thought that the queen-“
“What if she had been an enemy assassin, some new Raven bent on taking my life?” the Grand Ruler demanded. “Would you have been so ineffectual?”
Shaina’s head snapped up. “Your Majesty knows that I would not.”
“Do I? After what I have just witnessed I am not so sure. Have you anything to say for yourself.”
Shaina was silent for a moment. “No, Your Majesty. Please forgive me.”
“Forgiveness must be earned,” the Grand Ruler said coldly. “Come to my chambers, at once. And we shall discuss your penance.”
There was a shiver in Emerald Shaina’s voice as she murmured, “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Rainbow Dash strolled onto the parade ground that formed the centre of the sprawling military complex known as the Campus Martial. Fully one third of New Canterlot was taken up with an interlocking web of barracks, supply depots, defence turrets, hangars, runways, armouries and parade grounds. Everything needed to supply an army and some kind of air force was here, a place from where New Canterlot could be defended or else expeditions mounted off world.
Rainbow didn’t find it nearly as impressive as Starfleet seemed to think it was.
For one thing, she had no idea what the point of Starfleet’s aircraft was. Yeah, they looked cool, but Rainbow could break one of the one man flying machines with her bare hands just by punching through the fuselage, and they flew slower than she did, too. True, she was extremely fast and extremely strong, but that didn’t mean that the aircraft didn’t suck. And who wanted to spend their days in a flying bathtub when you could feel the air through your wings, anyway? The only reason they needed them was because Starfleet had no idea how to use the skies properly.
Rainbow had given it some thought, and had concluded that the reason that Starfleet fell to pieces in the skies was that they hated freedom. It would certainly fit with what she’d seen of them, their drive to control everyone and regulate everything. It would make sense, then, that they would be lost amidst the open blue and the perfect, incontrovertible freedom that flight represented.
No wonder they preferred to encase themselves in metal, and sacrifice the very freedom that made flying so joyous. And for what? Reduced speed, reduced manoeuvrability, no advantages that she could make out.
She could just about accept the need for starships, maybe even the little one pony starfliers, but even then Rainbow couldn’t see that it compared to the thrill of space walking. To be able to reach out and touch the stars…who’d want to give that up?
As for the rest of it, well, if they were so awesome as all that then how come they got thrown on the ropes so often, huh?
The question was sufficient to put a scowl on Rainbow’s face as she walked onto the parade ground, her boots slamming into the tarmac. She was wearing her field uniform, which meant the awful padded spandex armour. It was too heavy and too stiff around the shoulders, didn’t offer hardly any protection anywhere else, and the blue visor was tinting her vision and making it hard to see. Not to mention the HUD displays that took up half her field of eyesight. Rainbow Dash irritably turned it off and ripped the visor off her eyes, clipping it onto her belt. She had no idea why regulations said it had to be worn at all times, or even what the point of wearing it was in the first place. It was too fragile to protect the eyes, and did she really need to know if the bad guy’s power level was over 9000? She didn’t need a computer to tell her when her opponent was pretty tough.
A large number of ponies were idling about on the parade ground, a mixture of space ponies and Equestrians, who clumped together in very distinct groups.
This isn’t good. We’ve got a long way to go.
She looked around for Major Cerise Wonder, but couldn’t see her anywhere. Now who’s tardy?
Deciding that she had better get this started, Rainbow was about to open her mouth and tell everyone to form up – wouldn’t everypony laugh to see her now, about to give orders like a real officer, all responsible like – when she was interrupted by a wolf whistle, and the smooth, liquid voice of a space pony sergeant as he sauntered over to her.
“Hi there,” he said, in what was probably intended to sound charming but came off more sleazy instead.
Rainbow Dash looked him up and down. Blue eyes, long blond mane, long snout too. Cocky, she could tell that by the way he carried himself. Clearly he had no idea who she was. “Well hello, sergeant-“
“Thorn,” he said. He gestured to a half-dozen space ponies standing around behind him, watching him with expressions that ranged from interested to bemused to disgusted. “I, uh, lead Squad Bravo.”
“A whole squad, huh, that’s impressive,” Rainbow said, with dripping sarcasm that nevertheless passed over the head of Sergeant Thorn.
“I, uh, didn’t catch your name.”
Rainbow Dash smiled. “Rainbow Dash. Executive Captain Rainbow Dash. I’m the new airborne commander, sergeant.”
Thorn’s eyes bulged for a moment, before he took a hasty step backwards, slamming his feet hard into the tarmac. “Officer on deck, ten-hut!”
Across the parade ground the troops came to attention and saluted her.
“Well, that backfired horribly didn’t it, sergeant?”
Rainbow frowned. That voice. She turned in the direction from which the mocking tone had come. “Lightning Dust?”
Lightning Dust saluted, even as she had a smirk on her face. “Private First Class Lightning Dust reporting for duty, sir!”
Rainbow scowled as she strode across the parade ground. Soldiers made way for her, until she and Lightning dust were standing so close that their muzzles were practically.
“Do you want to explain what you’re doing here?” Rainbow demanded.
“My patriotic duty, captain,” Lightning replied.
“Don’t play games with me,” Rainbow snapped.
“I don’t think either of us are playing games any more, ma’am,” Lightning said softly. “But after you got me washed out of the Wonderbolts I had to find somewhere to put my skills to use. Seems Starfleet doesn’t care about my record except in as much as it bars me from officer candidacy. Looks like you’re the lead pony on this one.”
“Yeah, that’s right, and you’d better remember it,” Rainbow said. “You pull any stupid stunts around here-“
“Wow, you really drank what Starfleet is selling didn’t you?” Lightning Dust said. “Guess that’s why you’re an executive captain, and I’m just a PFC.”
Rainbow’s mouth hang open. Did I…did I really…oh, sweet Celestia I did, didn’t I? I mean, I just wanted to let her know…last time she almost got my friends…but I sounded like one of them!
Oh no.
She wheeled away quickly, hoping that her shock and stunned surprise did not show up on her face. “All squads fall in-“
“Three ranks, thank you, captain,” Major Wonder declared as she strode onto the parade ground, Lieutenant Havoc trailing at her heels. “I apologise for the slight delay.”
Rainbow permitted herself a smirk. “Don’t let it happen again, major.”
Havoc snorted, but Rainbow could have sworn that Cerise smiled, if only thinly, and only for a moment.
“Alright, people,” Cerise Wonder declared when the company had formed up facing her. “You’re all here because you’ve been assigned to the 101st Special Service Company under my command. Starting today we will be trialling new combined arms tactics utilising the strengths of all pony races. Of particular interest is the airborne element, to be commanded by Executive Captain Rainbow Dash, whom some of you may know already.
“In two weeks time we’ll be participating in an exercise against Tango Company of the 212. I don’t expect to have all the kinks straightened out by then but I expect this unit not to disgrace itself. And so, without further ado, over to Captain Rainbow Dash, to explain her theories on the proper use of the sky.”
Rainbow’s eyebrows rose. “Seriously?”
Cerise nodded. “The floor is yours.”
“Come on, Major, you could have told me you wanted me to give a speech.”
“If you don’t know what to say then you’re not who I thought you were,” Cerise said.
Was that supposed to sound like a statement of faith or something? Rainbow wondered. But there was no time to think of that now, not with everyone staring at her like she was naked. Lightning Dust’s expression made it clear that she was waiting for Rainbow to screw up.
Well bite me, wash-out, I’m not screwing up anything where you can see me.
Rainbow cleared her throat and turned to face the parade, clasping her hands behind her back. “Okay, everybody, listen up. This is how we’re going to play things in the skies from now on…”
Sunset stood in the deserted throne room, the light shining down upon her through the stained-glass windows, utterly alone.
The Grand Ruler had departed the room in a rage, and the courtiers and dignitaries had fled in terror at the Grand Ruler’s wrath. Even the guards had decamped, some having followed the Grand Ruler, others having been given other duties for the day.
The throne room was hers and hers alone.
She stood at the foot of the royal dais, looking at the cushioned, crimson, gilded throne of Celestia, and at the square, brutish, ugly iron throne of the Grand Ruler. It did not escape Sunset’s gaze that it sat some twenty feet up in the air, reachable only by a set of iron steps, with even more tangled iron-mongery looming above it, so as to place the Grand Ruler so high up above the run of common ponies that he might as well have been flying above them.
It also did not escape Sunset’s eyes that Celestia herself received no comparable elevation.
“Seductive, aren’t they?”
Sunset glanced behind her, to see Starlight Glimmer stalking towards her, her black longcoat flapping, an inscrutable look upon her face.
Sunset turned away, looking towards the thrones once more. “I wouldn’t say so. One of them, in particular… let’s just say it doesn’t have much aesthetic appeal and leave it at that.”
“But you wanted one once, didn’t you?” Starlight asked, a smile playing on her face.
Sunset felt her face begin to heat up. “A different time. I was a different mare back then.”
“Yes, you walked on two legs then, as I understand,” Starlight said. “Now you walk on four legs, and all the rest of us are become bipeds.”
“Destiny has a sense of humour, it seems,” Sunset muttered.
Starlight said nothing, the two of them watching the thrones in a silence that sat somewhere between cordial and uncomfortable.
“Why did you want it?” Starlight asked. “The throne, I mean?”
“I wanted to prove myself.”
“To who?”
“To everyone,” Sunset said sharply. She hesitated. “I wanted the power.”
Starlight nodded. “Power. Yes. The thing that everyone wants but hardly anyone has.”
“I wouldn’t say that everyone wants it,” Sunset replied.
“Wouldn’t you?” Starlight chuckled, as though Sunset’s reply had amused her. “Tell me, Sunset Shimmer, who is to be trusted with power?”
“That’s easy,” Sunset said. “Those who do not want it.”
“And where will you find these paragons of humility?” Starlight asked. “Do you think even Twilight Sparkle herself never felt a frisson of excitement when people bowed before her?”
“Then what is your answer?” Sunset demanded. “Who is to be trusted with power?”
“No one,” Starlight said. “And yet everyone. For if no one is to be trusted with power then the only solution is to share power equally, between all.”
“That doesn’t seem a very Starfleet philosophy.”
“We’re not a monolith; we’re allowed our own opinions.”
“Are you? Are you really?”
“Yes, so long as we’re discrete about it,” Starlight said. “How is Princess Leilani?”
Sunset’s eyes narrowed at the change in subject. “She’s fine. We’re having a sleepover tonight. Why?”
“If you are going to have an alibi for tonight,” Starlight said. “Then perhaps some of your friends could help me with a delicate situation I’m in.”
Sunset’s eyes narrowed further. “You had plenty of friends of your own when last I looked.”
“And I want to keep it that way, that’s why I need your help,” Starlight said. “An old…acquaintance of mine has unfortunately found his way into the custody of Starfleet Intelligence. I need your help to get him out, and to help him disappear once he’s out.”
“Do you?” Sunset asked, her tone full of scepticism. “And you can’t just order him freed because…?”
“Doing so would cost me too many friends.”
“I see,” Sunset muttered. “An acquaintance isn’t worth losing friends over.”
“I’m not asking you to like me,” Starlight replied. “I’m merely asking you to help an innocent.”
Sunset smiled. “The truth is, Colonel, that assuming that this isn’t a trap you’ve actually impressed me.”
“Really?”
“I didn’t think you’d bother to even go this far to protect someone, not when it meant putting yourself at risk. Who is he to you really, this old acquaintance?”
Starlight glanced away, and her tone was almost wistful as she said, “Who is he? A last link to a world long past.”
Sunset nodded. “I think we’ve all got one of those somewhere. Is he being transferred somewhere, this acquaintance?”
“He is, by me.”
“What escort?”
“No escort.”
Sunset nodded again. I suppose if it does turn out to be a trap, it should be fairly obvious if she’s lying about that. “Where?”
“I’ll be taking him to New Baltimare along the East River Turnpike.”
“Then leave the rest to me,” Sunset said.
“Just make sure it looks real.”
Sunset grinned. “Oh trust me, it’ll be real alright.”
The Grand Ruler’s hand moved with the speed of a whip, striking Captain Emerald Shaina across the face hard enough to knock her to the ground, and leave an angry red mark on her cheek besides.
But she did not cry out.
“Get up,” the Grand Ruler snapped.
Shaina said nothing as she resumed her prior position, kneeling at his feet, while the Grand Ruler himself sat upon his bed in his lavish quarters, glaring down at her like an angry god.
And then he hit her again.
Again, he knocked her sideways – he was a strong pony, the strongest that had ever lived, and he was not holding back – but once again Captain Shaina did not cry out.
She did not even look at him.
The Grand Ruler snorted in annoyance. He was doing this in lieu of hitting the mare he really wanted to punish for today’s humiliation, because Emerald Shaina had also displeased him and because she bore some slight resemblance to his wife. But it grated on him to sit here and go through this play of just deserts, and it grated on him even more that his victim did not seem overly affected by taking his best shots. Why didn’t she cry out? Why wouldn’t she give him the satisfaction of seeing her pain? Why did she keep getting up again and again?
“Answer me, Captain,” he growled. “Why do you not moan when you are struck?”
Emerald Shaina did not get up this time, presumably because he had not ordered her too. “I did not want to disturb your majesty.”
The Grand Ruler snorted. “Get up. And this time, squeal.”
“As your majesty commands,” Emerald Shaina murmured, resuming her kneeling supplicant position, ready for the next blow.
She looked up into his eyes, and the Grand Ruler feared he saw contempt within her orbs. The thought, and the rage that it inspired him, made him hit her even harder than before; he put everything he had into a blow so potent that she rolled along the bedroom floor. And yet her cry of pain was so theatrical as to be obviously fake.
“Am I not hurting you, captain?” he demanded.
Emerald Shaina remained where she lay on the floor. “As a soldier, majesty, I am trained to ignore pain. The modifications with which you, in your infinite wisdom, have endowed me, also mean that I do not feel your strength as lesser creatures do.”
The Grand Ruler stared at her. “You are saying that I have made you too well? Made you too strong, too tough? You are saying that, such is my own brilliance that my own strength is insufficient to punish the fruits of my blood and body?”
Shaina nodded. “Truly, majesty, you are the wisest and the greatest of all creatures.”
“That I knew,” the Grand Ruler said, but preened a little at the compliment nonetheless. He waved one hand at her airily. “Get up and get out, captain, our session is concluded.”
Shaina scrambled to her feet and saluted. “As you command, majesty.”
“Wait,” the Grand Ruler said, stopping her before she could leave. A thought had struck him. A wonderful thought, the most marvellous idea that had ever been thought of. He could not punish Celestia, and punishing ponies who looked a little like Celestia scarcely satisfied him even when it worked as intended. And yet…he had it in his power to punish someone who looked exactly like Celestia…a member of an inferior species, who would be far more likely to succumb to his powers than a member of his chosen race, the Unicornicopians, and an officer of Starfleet besides.
“Captain Shaina, we still have Queen Chrysalis in storage in the vaults below, correct?”
“I believe so, Majesty.”
“Bring her to me.”
“Majesty?”
“At once, captain,” the Grand Ruler said, allowing his testiness to show through his voice. “Diligent service in this matter will repay your earlier transgression.”
Shaina saluted once again, even more crisply than before. “Right away, Majesty.”
The captain returned with commendable haste – the expression of profound unease upon her face was a little less commendable, but the Grand Ruler was too deep in imagining the pleasure that this would bring him to care about the fact that she dared to doubt his omniscience at this time – bearing with her the magical orb in which Chrysalis was bound for stasis and confinement. It was distinguished by being red, while the orbs in which the rest of the changeling army were held down in the vaults below were blue. The colour pulsed, as though the orb were alive, though more likely it was Chrysalis’ own life force that was causing it to act that way.
Ah, Chrysalis. The Queen of the Changelings had been the first to rise in challenge to him after the destruction of Equestria and Unicornicopia, and the union of the two worlds under his august majesty. She had sent her changeling hordes against him, and then when that had failed she had resorted to infiltrators in a pathetic attempt to destabilise his empire. Any rumours that seditious people might have spread that she would have destroyed the entire planet had it not been for Twilight Sparkle and Cadance were absolutely false, the sort of lies that could earn one a lengthy spell in a re-education facility. In time, Chrysalis – deserted by all her power and betrayed by her chief captain, actually Fratello – had surrendered to the power of Starfleet, on condition that Starfleet would attempt to find a way to cure her dependence on love forcibly taken, and find a way for Chrysalis and all the changelings to live peacefully with other ponies. Fool. The Grand Ruler would have let her rot in the vaults for all eternity had not his marriage been driving him insane. He would use her as he had need of her, and then he would put her back in her orb and never spare her another thought.
What was she, after all, but a savage beast, a predator, a glorified insect? What right did she have to consideration from a god? What right did she have to hold him to his word? What right did she have to expect even life from him? She ought to be thankful he had not ordered her and all her disgusting kind destroyed.
Though it was a good thing he had not, or else he would not have been able to do this.
“Thank you, captain. Release the prisoner,” he commanded.
Shaina looked more uncertain than ever, but she did as she was commanded and pressed a button on the orb, which at once began to belch out smoke and steam like a house on fire. There was a fizzing sound, and a burst of yellow magic that temporarily blinded Celesto, and then…there stood Chrysalis, steaming ever so slightly, looking…surprisingly seductive, tall and lithe of limb with an elfin cast to her features. Yes, her transformation to a humanoid form had made her fae and seductive. The Grand Ruler felt his member begin to stiffen.
Chrysalis looked around, her green eyes wide in surprise. “Celesto…is this your bedroom?”
“You call me Grand Ruler, Chrysalis,” the Grand Ruler growled. “Captain Shaina, you may leave us.”
Shaina bowed. “As you command, Majesty.”
“It was nice to see you again, Captain Shaina,” Chrysalis said. “We must try and catch up, you and I.”
Emerald Shaina gave Chrysalis a look that said she would rather see the changeling queen’s head mounted on a pike than converse civilly with her, but said nothing as she walked, backwards, out of the room. The faux-wooden door closed behind her with a hydraulic hiss that revealed the metal beneath the panelling.
Chrysalis gave him an arch look. “Your servants remain as charming as ever, I see.” She glanced out of the window. “Luna has not yet raised the moon. Good. I prefer the sky in daylight. How long has it been, since I last saw the sky? Time…it is hard to gauge the passage of time when you are confined as I have been.”
“You are not here for me to answer your questions, Chrysalis,” Grand Ruler sneered.
“It is a simple question,” Chrysalis replied. “Do I not have the right an answer? It would be a simple courtesy for you to reply.”
The Grand Ruler snorted. “You have been a prisoner for nearly five years.”
“Five years,” Chrysalis said, her tone halfway between disbelief and relief. “It has taken you some time to find a cure for my nature, hasn’t it?” She glanced at the Grand Ruler. “Although, judging by the intimate setting I somehow doubt that you have released me to tell me that a cure has been found.”
Grand Ruler said nothing.
A smirk spread across Chrysalis’ face. “You haven’t even looked for a cure, have you? I knew you were a liar the moment I saw you.”
“Then why did you trust me?” the Grand Ruler asked.
“It was Twilight Sparkle in whom I trusted,” Chrysalis replied. “Much as I hated to lose to her again, I knew that her honour, her morality would not allow her to break her word to me. Or I thought so anyway…I confess that I am disappointed. I thought that she had higher standards.”
“Twilight Sparkle is dead,” Grand Ruler snapped. “These eighteen months past.”
Was that a gleam of triumph in Chrysalis’ eyes? No, that was impossible, what did she have to be triumphant about? “Oh, really? Oh, dear, I’m so sorry.”
“Enough of this,” Grand Ruler growled. “I have not brought you here to relate history to you, nor to have you console me upon a comrade’s death.”
“Then why am I here?”
“To please me.”
For a moment Chrysalis said nothing. It was hard to tell, but she might even have been surprised by his statement. Still, she managed to return the smirk – or at the least, a smile with more than a hint of a smirk on it, showing her fangs in way that was rather…cute to look upon – to her dark face. “And how will best please my lord? I have been told that I have a wonderful singing voice.”
“That is not the sort of pleasure that I require.”
“I see,” Chrysalis murmured. “Is something amiss in the fairytale romance? Has the spark gone out of your marriage? Is the treasury so depleted that you cannot afford a whore?”
“Enough!” Grand Ruler roared, striding across the room to grab Chrysalis by the throat and pick her up, slamming her into the wall so hard that she made a dent. He tightened his grip upon her neck. “You will do as I command. You will please me, or you will suffer for it. And then you will go back into your orb. And you will say nothing, but what I permit or command you to say. Do I make myself clear?”
The smile did not fade from Chrysalis’ face. “Perfectly, lord.”
Grand Ruler released her – she collapsed to one knee, gasping for breath – and stepped away.
”Assume the form of Celestia,” he barked.
A snort of laughter escaped Chrysalis’ lips.
“Do you need me to remind you of the way that this works?” Grand Ruler snapped, glaring at her.
Instantly, Chrysalis assumed a straight face. “No, lord, you do not.” Green fire began to spread across her body, engulfing and consuming her, and where the fire spread her black, holed and pitted body was transformed into something else, someone else with a coat of white and hair of many colours, someone whose outward beauty was matched only by the utter lack of inner beauty they possessed, someone with a fair face and an ugly soul, someone who was more adept at deception than Chrysalis could ever be: the harpy who had tricked him into marriage, Queen Celestia.
“Greetings, love,” Chrysalis said, and it was the voice of Celestia that spoke the words even as it was from Celestia’s lips that the words fell. “How may I serve you?”
The Grand Ruler hit her, backhanding her across the face so that she dropped to one knee.
Chrysalis wiped the blood from her lip. “I regret, my lord, that I am source of such disappointment to you.”
“My queen,” the Grand Ruler snarled. “You displease me. You disgust me. You offend me and insult me and you think yourself so safe from my reprisals. You fool.” He grabbed her by the throat as he whispered into her ear. “All of your friends will die, Twilight Sparkle’s precious gang. The order has been given. First Pinkie Pie, and then the rest, save only Fluttershy. Not even Sunset Shimmer will escape my wrath. And neither –“ he hit her again. “Will you.”
Chrysalis looked up at him, and it seemed that there was in those eyes of Celestia’s something that he did not recognise. She sounded almost eager as she said, “Very well, my lord, use me as you see fit.”
He did. He beat her, he scorned her, he berated her, he threatened to kill her, he kicked her, he beat her again and then he threw her roughly onto his bed and took her.
And it was the most pleasurable experience he had ever had in his life. The things that she knew how to do…Celestia had taken to lying under him, when he could coax her into bed at all, as stiff and unmoving as a corpse but this…where had she learned how to do that?
“Did I please my lord?” Chrysalis asked, and Celestia’s voice was full of innocence, as her wide eyes were full of naivete.
The Grand Ruler took a deep breath before he nodded. “You pleased me greatly. I shall summon you again, another time. Then you may please me more.”
Her eyes gleamed with anticipation. “I shall look forward to it, my lord. I shall think of nothing else.”
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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Celesto... just when I couldn't hate you more you pulls this out of your ass. Ok so Lightning Dust is in too.
Wait... I thought that you weren't writing stories anymore. Not that I'm complaining, I really do like your stories.
7162381 Ironically I would say this is the most in character portrayal of Mykan's character I have ever seen. Really embodiesthe true ugliness of DKM's writing skills and personal believes
7180289
True, so true. Sad thing is that Scorpio is doing a better job at fleshing out the characters, and keeping them in character, than Mykan.
Big mistake telling Chrysalis that, Celesto...
This line is so awesome. I love it. I also really love the way that Celestia and Grand Ruler are talking here, so formal and archaic, adds to the feel of the place.
Can't tell if this was just a normal reference, or a shot at Mykan's desire to keep DBZ as the hallmark of what it means to be strong and badass.
OH, that Chryalis scene was awesome for some reason. MAybe it's the fact that we're seeing a really good dicator at his harshest.
Also, on point for Rainbow and flutters.
7189733 I can only gleefully wait for this to backfire on him.
*Internal angry screeching, hopes this eventually backfires in the three-horned bastard*
Oh my gosh this celesto is evil pure evil!!!!
I know we're supposed to be disgusted by Grand Ruler using Queen Chrysalis as an alternative punching bag, but I'm more disturbed that Chrysalis didn't protest to this. Is she a sadomasochist in this story?