A Glimmer of Truth: Book One

by NightmareTRXY32

The Revenge I'll Exact

Author's Note:

Five months. Five months of searching and she was no closer to her target. Starlight Glimmer wasn't the type of pony that was just going to let herself be assaulted and captured. Her friends were always with her, which made it difficult for the figure in question to get close enough to assail her at all. She wasn't going to let this go. She just couldn't. Glimmer had taken her empire away from her, and of all things sought to co opt it with "friendship". That kind of sentiment was always for the weak minded.

It wasn't always like that for Chrysalis. She used to be a much more kind and beloved leader, but that was centuries ago. Her current mindset was due to decades of having a poisoned and disrupted spirit. Her soul had suffered for the longest time and only after losing her empire did she completely snap. She'd get Starlight back if it meant the end of her. As time went on, she started to calm down to an extent. She wasn't really that mad at Starlight,she thought to herself. She was only doing what Twilight had taught her.

The more the queen thought about it, the more it circled back to another pony that had disrupted her life. The greatest mage in Equestria's history was also the biggest liar as far as she was concerned. Starswirl had done more damage to her then Starlight ever could have. Chrysalis wanted to get back at him despite knowing that he was no longer alive. She'd have to settle for harming his heirs instead. If he hadn't cursed her she'd be raising her daughters right now. The three of them would be ruling Equestria together.

"I'll get that bastard back for lying to them," she told herself as she traversed the path leading out of the badlands. Chrysalis could barely contain her rage but she knew she had to if she wanted to make it out of here alive. The Badlands may seem desolate, but just like the Everfree Forest there were parts that were largely unexplored. She knew of rumors that there was an underground bunker belonging to an extinct race that was somewhere in the area. She had seen the inside of this place before planning her invasion of Canterlot.

She had watched the security recordings of that cursed facility. There was still a part of her that wished she could have saved some of these "humans" if she had been there. Some type of experiment had rampaged through the building and killed most of the researchers there. That was when she saw it. The hatch that she had remembered from her previous trip there. Chrysalis decided to investigate the bunker again before tracking down Starlight Glimmer and her friends.

"Gods these humans really were stupid for not setting up better Security measures," she thought as she traveled down the darkened hallway. As she rounded the corner she thought she saw something duck down the hall and into another corridor. Against her better judgement she decided to check it out. With her magic skills she contain whatever it might be and force it to serve her if she needed.

She pushed the door open to find what looked like a security station filled with monitors. As a precaution Chrysalis closed the door behind and pulled an office chair over to sit on. It felt comfortable to be able to sit on something that wasn't a rock again. Her eyes parsed over the computer screens until she saw what she was looking for down here. A mare in security armor was walking past the security camera on the other side of the hallway where the Queen had been.

Chrysalis noticed that this pony was walking strangely. That was when she saw the gash on the mare's leg and blood that was dried and stained on the side of it. As the Camera panned again the mare was now approaching the security room. Chrysalis used a cloaking spell and moved herself to the corner away from the doorway. As she did so the mare came in and tapped a few buttons on the security camera's keyboard.

"So, you're the one that's been evading me," Chrysalis mused as she revealed herself to this pony. There was something off about her though. Chrysalis noticed that upon first view. Since when could a pegasus used unicorn magic? The two of them just stood there staring at each other before the other one spoke.

"I was tasked with keeping an eye on this place by my goddess, Nightmare Moon," the mare spoke. Chrysalis wanted to take a step back when she heard that name uttered. Then she thought of something. Was this mare even aware that Nightmare Moon had been restored to being Princess Luna? She decided to test out a theory that was just now forming in her mind.

"Really now," the Queen said aloud," Then you don't know do you?" She said coyly. " Your Goddess was defeated the student of her sister. A Mare named Twilight Sparkle and her new friends at the time defeated her." For now she left out the part where the Elements of Harmony had purged Luna of the Darkness that had consumed her. Regardless of what she just said there was still a coldness in this mare's eyes that didnt seem to go away.

"Then its up to me to make sure she's restored to power then," The mare said with a coldness that drove fear into Chrysalis' severed heart. Even she wasn't that cold hearted. Bitter yes. But not cold enough to start a coup. Thats what she had told herself repeatedly when making her plans to overthrow Celestia's rule and feed her subjects. Chrysalis never really considered herself a despot. Just somepony that thought she was doing what was best for those around her.

Lately she had been having a change of heart when she thought about Starlight had told her back then. It had taken her this long to realize just how alone she was, and how much she hated it to be honest. She wanted to be in the company of others. She wanted her family back. And no not her Changeling hive. Her daughters. She wanted to learn about all the things she missed out on when they were growing up. And make up for missing it all.

"Good luck with those plans," Chrysalis said before turning and walking out the doorway. She put some distance between the two of them before heading back to the surface. Let that mare stew in her own misery she thought to herself. Who knows, Chrysalis thought out loud, maybe she'll have a change of heart as well. Chrysalis decided to make a course correction in her travels.

She spotted a nearby town and took the form of a small grey unicorn before entering the townsquare. She'd tell the local mayor that she had information on the location of Queen Chrysalis and that one of the Princesses should be alerted. She prayed that it was Luna that would be spoken to. And she was right.

A dark blue alicorn approached the location of where she had said the Queen would be. As Luna approached she let her guard down and dropped the disguise. Luna looked as if she were going to take a battle stance, Chrysalis told her she didnt need to.

"Im the one that sent that message Luna," The queen sounded tired when she said that. Princess Luna had to keep her guard up. She stared at Chrysalis before speaking.

"So, you decided to surrender finally." That felt a bit backhoofed, even for Luna. She had no idea who Chrysalis really was. She would soon. After she had spoken those words Luna saw the wounded look in Chrysalis eyes. Right then she knew the Queen wasn't lying to her.

"Do you have any idea of what I've been through?" the pain in her voice was strong. " Luna, I've done things that I'm not proud of. I committed crimes that would get most locked away in Tartarus. And all in the name of defending the Changelings." She had to pause before continuing. " The one thing I regret the most is not being there.. for my Daughters." The way she said that cut through the air like ice. What did she mean by daughters Luna thought. Was there an heir to the Hive that they were aware of?

"What do you mean by Daughters," Luna found herself asking the Queen. She wasn't ready for the answer. That's the way it seemed anyway. Chrysalis stance softened when she said that. She sat on the ground for a moment to collect her thoughts.

"I wasn't always a changeling Luna, I was once the Queen of the Crystal Empire along with King Sombra. That was before my husband had been taken over and consumed by Dark Magic," She wanted to sob as she said this. It was hard for her to remember those days without wanting to break down at all. By the way Luna was staring at her now, it seemed like a good time to finish her story.

"The King and I had sired two Daughters," Chrysalis continued," Before we were struck down by that backstabbing advisor under our noses. I swore id get revenge on him and his lineage no matter what. It was too much to bear." Without cause, Luna walked over and sat down in front of her.

"He cursed me into this form and took my daughters from me to raise himself." Chrysalis extended a hoof and put it to Luna's cheek. This was the first time in her life she could reach out and connect with another. Luna started to understand just who she was really speaking with.

" You cant be," the Princess found herself choking on the words. The Queen finished them for her. It was the least she felt she could do right now. She finally had the calm to reveal the truth to Luna.

"Yes, Luna, Its' me." From here on out things in Equestria were going to change and it all started with a revelation that no pony had expected.

"I'll get her back somehow," Chrysalis thought to herself. It was only thing that had kept her going. That and getting back her real enemy. The one that she had hated for all this time before Starlight came along. He was long dead, but that didn't stop her from obsessing over it. She also hated him for keeping her away from her own daughters. They didn't even know that their mother was still alive. He had told them she died during there birth. And she was the only one left that knew this.

That question plagued her for so many years. She had been a Queen after all, and not just a Changeling Queen. She had been the original Queen of the Crystal Empire. They all thought that Princess Amore was the sole ruler over a thousand years ago. But no, she wasn't. She had kept power through the only means that had been left to her. The only one that she thought would work. And it did for the longest time.

Fear. Fear of death was the only way I was able to control them. She thought about this long and hard. She was one of the most vicious creatures to walk Equestria, at least in her current form anyway. She had used fear and intimidation to control her changeling subjects. Now she was a Queen without an army. And all because of Starlight and Thorax.

Chrysalis had gone by a different name back then, one that was nearly forgotten with the passing of time. But it was one that was still ingrained in her memory. So was the fact that her Empire was taken from her not only by her only ally at the time of historical record but the Alicorn sisters as well. Two beings that would come to know that they shared more in common with Chrysalis than both were lead to believe.

Starswirl had been the one to spread most of the 'lies' about the changeling race and their true origins. They had, in fact, had a residence within the borders of the Crystal Empire, but that was a time of strife for their race. Chrysalis and Amore had been confused for one another a few times back then because they looked so similar that they could have been twins. And they knew each other well enough that they did use camouflage magic to trade places when one of them needed a rest.

But Amore knew that Chrysalis wasn't a Changeling Queen herself, but kept that truth to herself right up until the end. Amore was, in fact, the one that was the first Changeling Queen to rule the Empire, and it helped that she was just different enough that she could pass herself off as a high-born alicorn. Of course, there was a time where she was one of the few Changeling Queens that possessed colors that were lighter than that of most of the Changeling race.

Flash forward a few centuries and Chrysalis found herself once again in a naive situation. She wasn't sure what was worse. Living in the past, or living in an era of uncertainty like she was currently. Then again, things didn't go as she had planned during the Canterlot Wedding. She didn't count on that Twilight Sparkle being so suspicious of her motives that it lead to her being forced to reveal her current form in front of all those wedding guests.

There was a part of her that saw herself in Twilight. "That Twilight,"Chrysalis thought to herself,"I can see so much of who I used to be inside of her,". The Queen mused. Chrysalis silently praised Celestia for teaching her so well. She had to keep up with her "plans" though. She had purposely let her guard down when Cadence and Shining Armor ignited their love spell. What she was doing wasn't just for her "subjects". There was something else that she needed to do. But that would take more time than she realized.

The time that she couldn't get unless she allowed herself to be "defeated". She left it up to fate. She doubted that Celestia would have openly believed her if she had told her during their fight of who she really was. She had to make it look like her vanity had gotten to her. Even after boasting about how the power of Shining Armor's love for Cadence had given her the power to beat Celestia, a part of her heart almost broke when Celestia screamed out in a pain from that blast and hit the ground hard. IN her mind she wanted to rush over and cradle her. To tell her things would be ok. But she had to maintain her appearance and restrain herself from doing what would seem out of character.

Or the fact that during the Canterlot invasion Celestia tried to challenge her. There was still a part of her that just wanted to let Celestia win if only for a chance to explain her real intentions. That she wasn't just trying to feed her subjects, but that she was there to see Celestia and Luna. To reveal a truth that Starswirl had hidden from them for all these centuries. She also realized that out of the two of them, Luna might be the easier one to reach. But that was decided to be best left for the next time they crossed paths.

She had only sought to take what was needed to feed her subjects. Even after feeding off of Shining Armor's love, she still allowed herself to become over confident. That had always been her one and fatal short coming. Even her husband at the time had commented on it during numerous state functions. She had been as beautiful as she had been naive then.

She had gained a second skin during those kinds of meetings. She became duplicitous, and it became apparent even more when her husband and king had discovered that she had made him fall for her through use of a love potion, or what later became known as the Love Poison. The same love poison that would be used by three certain fillies during what was now known as Hearts And Hooves day. He saw through this in the end and allowed his own true nature to reveal itself. He repaid her for her treachery by usurping the Throne and stealing her kingdom out from under her hooves. But not before crafting a spell that would forever alter her appearance. He also expelled any that he knew were still loyal to her.

And for his own transgressions, he was turned to shadow and banished to the frozen North by Celestia and her sister Luna. As she lay next to the pond she was drinking out of, Chrysalis couldnt help but take notice of how tired she looked. She had drained the love of a way ward ponies here and there, but it wasn't enough to stop her from looking like this. Then she came up with an ingenious idea. Turn the Princess of Friendship into her lover. For some reason Twilight reminded of herself when she was still a pony all those centuries ago. Twilight would of made a decent lover Chrysalis thought. She still could. The Queen had to find a way to convince Twilight to turn on the others and join her.

She realized she still had some of the Royal Jelly stored inside a special part of her carapace. That would be all she needed to make her proposal to Twilight. Offer her an Entire Kingdom to co-rule as Chrysalis lover in return for turning on Starlight and the others. Chrysalis was such a master of deception that there were times she deceived even herself.

Something about Twilight reminded her of herself before the curse. She had been so blindly loyal to others, especially her husband when he was sane. Even now she was fighting against herself for even considering a plan like this. It wasn't something that would be easy to execute given the target. She realized she'd have to abandon it like so many other schemes she had concocted over the many centuries of her life. The scars she also carried was enough to overwhelm most ponies sanity. She still remembered what it was like to be loved by her subjects, with no showing of fear from them at all.

Chrsyalis realized that there was one plan that she could successfully enact. One that would require help from an unlikely source. As much as she had become a monster over the years, there was one instinct that never changed. That of a mother. For one of the few times in her life since she had been cursed, the Queen openly cried. As twisted as the curse had made her, she still felt the need to seek out of her daughters.

She had already sought out the youngest of the two and now they just needed to find a way to convince elestia to let them speak to her. It wasn't going to be easy. Celestia was a strict and benevolent ruler most of the time. She was also isolated. Starswirl had always told them that there was no time for relationships given that they had to act like rulers and all. What they didnt know was that Celestia wanted Twilight to herself despite teaching her about the value of making friends. She wanted to shield the mare and to care for her.

She knew that she'd have to let her go and form her own bonds with others if she really cared for her. Celestia kept telling herself that she'd tell Twilight how she really felt about her when the time was right. And that moment was coming soon then she had hoped. she hoped that their search would help them with understanding the history of Equestria. And that she would pull Twilight aside when they got back and show her student how the Princess of the Sun truly felt.

There was a fit of jealousy forming in Celestia's heart every time she had heard that Twilight and Rainbow Dash were dating each other. It was getting harder for her to hide it from Luna and the royal guard. After they had defeated Discord Celestia saw Rainbow give Twilight a kiss on the cheek. It was making her extremely bitter that it wasn't her that was leaning down and kissing Twilight. A bitterness she couldn't get rid of.

Comments

[NightmareTRXY32]

7464162 Starswirl was a Time Traveler according to some, Remember? Its safe to say he could of traveled to the future, met a mare , and thus produce a foreseeable heir and hopped back to the past.

[Cozybro]

Turn the Princess of Friendship into her lover.

That came completely out of left field.

What the fuck.