One For The Archives

by ArtaFactia

Chapter Four - A,B,Ch

Arta looked down at the cute, colourful book, the letters of each word extremely large. A few words accompanied each picture, describing what was happening in the scene. She gaped at the book, then frowned, looking back up at Chalcedony. "It's a picture book, isn't it?" Chalcedony nodded, unable to hide her smirk. Arta huffed, and Chalcedony reach out to lay a hoof on the mare's shoulder.

"You've got to start somewhere. You've done well with memorizing the script so far, so you can sound out the words now. Nymphs intuitively understand Xzchth and learn quickly. But you're not a changeling, so...this will take some time."

"I know," Arta said with a sigh, looking bleakly at the picture book. She flipped through it, stopping at a picture that showed a group of changelings drawing energy from a large heart. "P...Pi...Pirir...Chn...Chniz...Z...Zlo? I'm guessing this says something along the lines of 'changelings feed on love'?"

"Pirir Chniz Zlo. 'We feed upon love'. So yes, you're quite close." Arta beamed from the praise. "But that was an easy one to figure out, given the accompanying image." Arta slumped, Chalcedony immediately taking the wind out of her sails. Chalcedony sniggered quietly, her wings buzzing on her back. "Arta Sourpuss, we should call you."

"I am not a sourpuss!" She shot back, frowning once more. Then she realized she was frowning and composed herself. "You are merciless in your teasing." The drone merely laughed some more, not bothering to deny the charge. "Speaking of Xzchth...our queen gave me a phrase to practice, but she refused to tell me what it meant."

"Oh?"

"I'm guessing from the leer and the pleased buzzing purr she made when I repeated it back to her that it was something...licentious."

"Say it to me, then, and I'll tell you what it means."

"All right, well...the phrase is 'Prarr Zthm Zo." Chalcedony let out a click-filled laugh, the clicks being the changeling version of amused snorts. The drone's response to the phrase was none too encouraging, and Arta huffed again. Arta Sourpuss indeed. "Well, come on, spit it out! What does it mean?"

"It means...heehee*click*hee...'I want to obey'."

A riotous blush bloomed across Arta's cheeks and snout, and she was rendered momentarily speechless. She knew that Chrysalis was dominant; she couldn't really picture the queen in a submissive role. But herself? That was another matter entirely. There wasn't a dominant bone in her body. "Oh...s-so that's what it means..." If there was anything she'd learned so far about changelings, it was that you could not lie to them; they saw right through you. Chalcedony made good use of her advantage to tease Arta some more.

"You want to obeyyyyy." She trilled, dancing from hoof to hoof. "Yes you doooo!"

"St-stop! That's...that's not true!" Arta denied the charge, but there was no certainty in her voice. Her denial was weak. She did want to obey her queen. The thought excited her. Even now she wondered if the archival work was really the motivating factor for her abduction. Arta felt more like some morsel to be chewed up than anything else. Her tail began to flag and she had to force it to behave. B-bad tail, bad!

"What isn't true?" Arta let out a squeak of surprise, whipping her head around to see Chrysalis walk into the bedchamber. "Are lies being told? I'll have no untruths in my hive." She spared a friendly glance and a nod to Chalcedony, then focused her attention on her pony child. "You're not telling any lies, are you, my dear?"

"N-no! I'm..." She faltered, Chrysalis raising her brow skeptically. Arta moved her mouth soundlessly like a goldfish, looking for the words to say. Chrysalis, as ever, waited patiently for Arta to own up to her denial. "...o-okay! Okay! I am lying! I'm sorry! I just..." She looked away, not wanting to see the expression on her queen's face.

"Chalcedony, leave us, please."

"Of course, my queen." The drone jumped off of the bed and left the room, Arta listening to the sound of her hooves retreating down the tunnels.

"Arta, look at me." Arta didn't respond. She then felt Chrysalis' hoof on her chin, gently turning her face so that the pegasus would look her in the eye. "Arta. I'm not mad at you."

"You're...you're not?"

"No. No I'm not. If anything, I'm just concerned." A slight frown creased Chrysalis' brow. "It seems I have been remiss in not discussing this with you earlier."

"Discussing what, exactly?"

"Your desires." Again, Arta blushed. "You are a pony and I am a changeling. Our races don't quite see eye-to-eye, obviously. But now that you're part of my hive, you will need to overcome some of your pony sensibilities, unfortunately. Else you will not be happy." She hopped up onto the bed and curled up beside Arta, pressing close to her. Arta leaned in, snuggling up to Chrysalis, and the queen chittered softly. "Chalcedony told you what the phrase meant, didn't she?" Arta nodded. "So...do you?"

"I...y-yes, my queen, I do want to. Prarr Zthm Zo." Arta felt the warmth focused on her cheeks spread out across her body at her admittance. "I want to obey. It...I like the idea of it. It feels...right."

"Then why fight that desire? Will indulging it hurt you?" Arta shook her head. "Will it hurt me?" Again, another head shake. "Will it hurt your other brothers and sisters here in the hive?" Head shake. "Will giving into it make you happy? Will it make me happy?" Nod. Nod. "Then it is a good desire. We all have desires, Arta. True, not all desires are good. But completely ignoring a desire is not healthy. Confront the desire, examine it. If after careful scrutiny you can deem it good, then do not fear it. But if it is bad, then, and only then, should you deny it. Let the bad desires die, and let the good ones live." Chrysalis fell silent, letting the words sink in. She would not speak until Arta did. The silence reigned for several minutes, and then Arta finally spoke.

"Forgive me for asking, my queen, but...what of your attack on Canterlot? Was that a good desire?" It was a bold thing to ask, and Chrysalis visibly winced at the question. She grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut, taking a deep breath.

"No. No it was not," she admitted with a heavy sigh. "I am not perfect, Arta. Nor do I claim to be. What I did was a mistake, a huge mistake, and it hurt me and my people very grievously. I have made changelings even more into outcasts than we were before." She looked down at Arta. "I did not scrutinize the desire, and thus I courted pain. My defeat at the hooves of Cadence and Shining Armor taught me a valuable lesson that day, and I will not make that mistake again. I will never attempt an invasion again."

"I forgive you." Arta whispered, nuzzling Chrysalis, and a smile once more found its way onto the queen's face. Chrysalis nibbled softly on Arta's ear and the pegasus giggled, her wings fluttering softly at her sides. "Will you ever sue for peace with Celestia?" That brought Chrysalis' nibbling up short.

"I...I am not sure. I do not know if showing my face is a good idea. I got lucky, getting as far as I did before being defeated. Showing up now, I would not stand a chance."

"But maybe it's worth a try? Maybe you can explain to Celestia why you did what you did, and tentatively work to smooth things over?" Arta looked at her, the pleading visible in her eyes. Chrysalis chewed on her lip, looking none too sure.

"I...will give it some consideration. Yes, I will think about it." Arta's eyes lit up. Chrysalis held up her hoof. "But I will not promise that I will do it." Arta deflated slightly, but still looked hopeful. "I will think about it, though..." She lifted her head up to look at the stalact-light glowing on the ceiling, staring at it, deep in thought. Arta contented herself with cuddling up to her queen, and Chrysalis smiled faintly, gently petting her little pony. "You're a good girl, Arta."

Arta's tail began to flag again. This time, she didn't stop it.

Author's Note:

So, I experimented a bit with conlanging for this chapter. I'm not going to go full out Tolkien on you with this. In future chapters I'll just have it be implicit that she has learned more, and won't be throwing out a bunch of Xzchth phrases (maybe some oaths, perhaps?). Anywho, I thought you might like to see my initial outline of the Xzchth language:

Xzchth - 'tongue' -Kz-ch-th

Vowels (always short, clipped)
A - Ah
E - Eh
I - Ee
O - Oh
U - Oo

CH G H J K L M N P R TH V X Y Z
Y is always a consonant, never a vowel

Tenses
Present & Infinitive --- no affix
Past --- Jal'- (prefix)
Future --- Vyz'- (prefix)
Conditional --- Xma'- (prefix)
Imperative --- -'Nl (suffix)

Pronouns
I - Zo
You (s) - Kju
He/She/It - An

We - Zlo
You (pl) - Kja
Them - Azn

Possessives

Mine/My - 'Zou (suffix)
Your(s) (s) - 'Kjy (suffix)
His/Hers/Its - 'Anu (suffix)

Our(s) - 'Zlou (suffix)
Your(s) (pl) - 'Kjyj (suffix)
Their(s) - 'Aznu (suffix)

Some Verbs

Go - Lla ((Long) L-Ah)
Jal'Lla - went
Vyz'Lla - will go
Xma'Lla - may/might go
Lla'Nl - Go!

Eat/Feed Upon- Chniz
Jal'Chniz - ate/fed upon
Vyz'Chniz - will eat/feed upon
Xma'Chniz - may/might eat/feed upon
Chniz'Nl - Eat!/Feed (Upon)!

Love - Pirir (Peer-eer)
Jal'Pirir - loved
Vyz'Pirir - will love
Xma'Pirir - may/might love
Pirir'Nl - Love!

Obey - Zthm
Jal'Zthm - Obeyed
Vyz'Zthm - will obey
Xma'Zthm - may/might obey
Zthm'Nl - Obey!

Want/Desire - Prarr
Jal'Prarr - wanted/desired
Vyz'Prarr - will want/will desire
Xma'Prarr - may/might want/desire
Prarr'Nl - Want!/Desire!

Sample sentences

Vyz'Zthm Zo (I will obey - literally 'Future-Obey I')
Prarr Zthm Zo (I want to obey - literally 'want obey I')
Pirir Chniz Zlo (We eat/feed upon love - literally 'love eat we')
Pirir'Zou Chniz'Nl (Feed on my love! - literally 'love-mine eat!')

Comments

[kalash93]

I like the linguistics. The use of prefixes makes me think of Swahili and bantu languages.

[Razzy]

Nice idea for a language, though I think you may actually need to have mandibles to say since of those words.

I like this Chryssie, she's not afraid to admit mistakes and doesn't seem to be vengeful, or at least not irrationally vengeful.