Chapter: 13

by Chapter 13

[Crestfallen Soul] Freewrite

Author's Note:

Just a one am freewrite.

The sun hung high above the Equestrian horizon, casting golden rays down upon the home of its ruler. It brought with it warmth and comfort—a sense of security to all it enveloped. Almost all. There were some who fear the sun. Not its rays, but the one behind it’s golden visage. It was her sign of power, a warning to all who are taint it’s covering with darkness and evil.

Below the horizon, far south from the Capital of the Sun, a forest sat. It was warm, temperate. Birds chirped. Nature sung it's tune; babble of a brook, tussling of the leaves, gentle rumble of settling earth.

A single entity stood out in this symphony of nature. It was off, wrong. I corrupted the song, it's presence like the taint of a missed note.

“One last time, now...”

Chrysalis placed the stick between her teeth and bit down gently. The changeling muffled out a brief count, then yanked on the piece of twine. She hissed, biting strait through the stick. Pain radiated from where she had tightened the spint, but it was quickly retreating. She soon let out a pained breath.

“That should do it,” she briefly grit her teeth, “time to see if it was worth it.”

The Queen tentatively placed down her spinted led. She hesitated, then put her weight on it. She hissed once more, but the pain was at manageable. She took a few test steps. She had to rely heavily on her good front hoof, but she was walking. That was an improvement. She weaved her way through a few towering trees until a wrong step forced her to put more weight on her injured leg then she wanted. The resulting wave of pain caused the Queen to scream and stumble, falling onto her side, pulling the hurt leg close.

“By the Mother’s!” Chrysalis hissed, curling up into a ball. She wanted to say more, scream out her pain, but she held back, only letting out a toothed hissed. The changeling was doubtful she was alone in these woods.

Several minutes went by until the pain had faded enough to bear. Chrysalis rose to her flank and leaned her back against a neighboring tree. The bark was rough on her cracked carapace, but it was far more comfortable than the ground. Couldn’t she have landed someplace more comfortable? A swamp, perhaps?

The Queen rested her head back and gazed up at the low-hanging canopy. The leaves rustled in the gentle afternoon breeze; small slivers of golden light leaking through and spotting the ground. Chrysalis could feel the sun on her skin. She soaked up the warmth, but ignored where it came from. She had already been humiliated enough for one day.

Chrysalis shook her head, then weakly ignited her horn.

<Anyling there?>

Like the last time she had connected to the hive-mind, it was silent. She sighed as she disconnected, her face crestfallen. Usually it was abuzz with the collective chatter of all of her children. Opposed to common belief, her drones were more than empty husks. They had personality; they had soul. Each one was unique, and she treated them as such. They were her family, after all. But now, no voices graced her head. There was no chatter—on topic or otherwise. She would sometimes have to scold her children for using the mind for less than important reasons. Even if it was one of those stupid conversations, she wanted to hear it. She wanted to hear something!

Chrysalis gritted her teeth. She briefly brought a hoof up and wiped her face. It was wet… why was it wet? The source came from her eyes. Was she crying? She couldn't be crying! Tears were a sight of weakness! A queen wasn't weak! She wasn't weak. A sob escaped her lips; she growled soon after. Wiping her face once more, the queen rose to her hooves. Her broken one protested, but she pushed past the pain.

“I am not weak,” the changeling muttered to herself, steeling her features. “I am a queen—a queen is not weak.”