Prologue: Deposed
The arid landscape, usually devoid of any sensible living thing, had become a haven in years past for those that did not wish to be found, and many had come. Creatures of all shapes and sizes, all tough and hardy survivors, had flocked in droves to the harsh desert of the Badlands in an effort to escape the ever extending reach of civilization. Out here, the competition was survival, and victory meant another day of living, while loss, more often than not, resulted in death.
Midday in these lands was a time for all, even the strongest of creatures, to flee for cover, as the sun became too hot for any of them to endure.
Despite this, there was one creature traversing the plains, slowly roasting alive in her carapace as she struggled to stay airborne.
Queen Chrysalis, ruler of the changeling hive for years beyond counting, was burning inside her own skin, the thick plates that had protected her from vicious magics and brutal physical attack now weighed her down and served as a pot in which her flesh would boil.
She would normally be safe from this heat, sitting atop her cold, black throne in the depths of her impenetrable hive stronghold. Today, however, she had been defeated. Worse, she had been utterly ruined.
Chrysalis growled at the thought of her children, her own, precious children, bowing and taking orders from that treacherous grub who had stolen her rightful position as their leader. Without a throne, or a kingdom, or even a people to rule, as she had for the last thousand or so years… she couldn’t even say for sure how long it had been, but her leadership had kept them all alive for longer than any changeling in the world could even remember, including herself.
Her wings, overheated and pushed to their limits as they were, continually whirred in an expression of her unrestrained fury for the monstrous betrayal she had suffered. Oh how much she wished she could have killed the annoying little pair of pests responsible for her children’s turncoat behavior! This was why she ignored the oppressive sun and the ache in her muscles. Her anger and rage drove her to seek revenge as soon as she could, to make up for her failure to do so at the hive. It boiled inside the pit of her stomach, a raging inferno that made the burning sun look like a candle flame next to a roaring bonfire.
Her hive had vanished into the distance behind her some time ago, but still she flew on, intent on at least reaching the border of the Everfree forest before she let herself rest. She couldn’t enact her revenge half dead, after all.
The sun continued its steady descent, spurred on by the magic of the Alicorn who commanded it. To think that she had had Celestia, Luna, Cadence and even Twilight Sparkle at her mercy, unable to do anything but what she allowed… The memory of her power over them was sweet, but turned bitter at the memory that came after it.
Starlight Glimmer… that meddlesome foal should have been easy to defeat, and indeed she had, but even in defeat, Glimmer had still turned the situation into a victory, and swayed her children’s minds. Starlight Glimmer, the unicorn responsible for the end of Chrysalis’s reign… she would be the one to suffer the longest. That was a promise. Chrysalis would make sure that every single one of those the Unicorn cared about, starting with her precious mentor, would die screaming! Either that, or wish they could die that way.
The Everfree forest came into sight as Chrysalis cleared a particularly high ridge line, and she gave a fanged grin. Beyond that forest lay the Castle of Friendship, where she would exact her vengeance. The very fact that the miscreant, Princess Sparkle, had a castle while she, a Queen beyond measure, had nothing, was more than enough to set her eyes ablaze with unmatched furor.
Despite her tumultuous emotional state, the Queen was more than capable of recognizing the telltale signs that she was nearing the end of her endurance. Her entire body felt nearly drained, so much so that her wings were now only buzzing in little bursts. Her elevation dropping fast, the dethroned Queen cast her eyes to her surroundings looking for somewhere safe to rest, and perhaps find some delicious love to devour in order to speed up her recovery.
Spotting a hidden alcove in a small gorge, Chrysalis held her wings steady, gliding down to the ledge that jutted just beyond the opening, landing without her usual finesse due to her nearly total burnout.
Nursing her sore joints, Chrysalis carefully moved into the alcove, which revealed itself to be a proper cave, one that had been hidden from above.
Continuing on into the cave, Chrysalis noted its rugged, natural appearance as one notices an ant, largely ignoring the aesthetics of the place, instead following the cave wall around to where the stalactites and stalagmites gave way to a tunnel leading deeper below ground. The Queen started down, her eyes perfectly adapted to seeing clearly in the deep and dark places of the world, letting her see the corridor down which her hoof steps now echoed.
She was surprised to see a carved door at the end of the hallway, taking a moment to register that fact with her beleaguered brain before proper intrigue could even start to take hold. When it did though, the Queen followed the path down until the stone walls had truly boxed her in, the only way out the way behind her, and the only way onward through the stone door before her.
Not sure if taking the time to explore this place was the best idea, Chrysalis resolved to go through with it, if only to find some end to this little misadventure that wasn’t giving up. She didn’t want to give up anything else right now, not so soon after losing the Hive.
Stretching forth a hoof, Chrysalis gave the door a brief, but firm shove, and the slab of rock moved open slightly, just enough for her to peer inside.
Shoving her muzzle through the doorway, her dark carapace scraping against the grains of rock, Chrysalis peered through. The room beyond the doorway seemed to be some kind of amphitheater, the stone carved into tiered seats that inclined slowly up in a jagged curve, reminiscent of a bowl. Scattered around was the detritus of what appeared to have been a thaumatology expedition, tables once stacked high with reports were overturned and the pages scattered, many of them appeared to be missing, but her view was still too obscured for her to make out any details.
Fangs bared, Chrysalis pushed the door open completely, and walked in, the frog’s of her hooves feeling the cold of the stone through their protective armour, making her feel uncomfortable for the first time in quite a while.
While she would have continued to survey the room Chrysalis’s eyes were drawn to a pool of water so still that the water acted as a perfect mirror, the features of the opposite wall perfectly replicated in it’s reflection. It seemed so odd to see something so tranquil amid the turmoil of a room so full of chaos. She walked right up to it, the edges of her hooves over the edge of the rim, the water just a millimeter away from the bottom of her hooves. The Queen stared into her own piercing green eyes, the slits narrowing in anger as her hatred found a face to vent at.
Chrysalis started to scream at the reflection in the pool.
“YOU LET THAT PATHETIC LITTLE PUPA TAKE YOUR KINGDOM! LET THAT PONY WALTZ INTO YOUR KINGDOM AND TURN YOUR CHILDREN ON YOU!! YOU ARE PATHETIC FOR LOSING TO SUCH WEAKLINGS!!! YOU ARE LESS THAN NOTHING!!!!! YOU ARE LOWER THAN DIRT!!!!! WORTHLESS!!!!!”
In her rage, Chrysalis did not feel the tears that trailed from her eldritch eyes, but she did feel her jaw drop when she threw a stone at her using her magic.
Instead of shattering the peaceful surface of the water, the rock vanished beyond its crystalline surface, the water brightening in a sudden and unexpected display of power. The Changeling Queen fell back from the sudden flare of energy, but she felt the same wonder she had once felt the first time she tasted love, when her own mother had ruled the hive.
The flare of magic died away, and Chrysalis decided that it was safe for her to approach. Stepping back up to the water’s edge, she lowered her head to the glassy surface, her green hair dangling into it, setting the water aglow once more. Chrysalis felt a gentle tug on the filmy strands, and slowly stood back up.
Whatever this thing was, apparently somepony, or some-one had studied this place, and this....for want of a better explanation, glowing-pool. Chrysalis brought the papers scattered throughout the room together, all swirling about her in a flurry of information that she studied for several minutes before singling out any all references to the pool.
One particular bundle of pages seemed to be different from the rest, some kind of journal that described the tests done on the peculiar pool. Pouring over it, Chrysalis read each passage and committed it to memory:
“.... the pool seems to react to physical contact, emitting a peculiar glow that appears to be magical in nature, and the pool itself doesn’t, to any visual inspection, go any further than a few centimeters deep, but none of the objects that have been dropped within are visible on the bottom, and none are ever too big to sink fully beneath the surface, despite the size of several of the test items…..” The journal page below that section had become either too faded or smudged after that, leaving a large portion blank, forcing the impatient Queen on to the next page she had found. “.... items successfully retrieved by the first pony to attempt to pass through what we now know to be a portal of some description. Strangely enough, the pony in question, True Bolt, reported sightings of civilization not far from the emergence point of the portal, and was even able to deliver a good description of the native species. They walk upright on two legs, and have appendages similar to the paws of a Diamond dog, only fur-less and without claws. They appear similar in physicality to monkeys and apes, only, like the aforementioned hand-paws, they lack hair on most portions of their body, save their heads….” Another smudged section. Chrysalis growled in annoyance. “.....in an almost catastrophic turn of events, one of the natives discovered the portal, and came through, discovering our expedition and making quite a mess of things.” Chrysalis felt her ears perk up in interest. “Thankfully, the native was forced by the portal, and the magic that permeates Equestria, to undergo a severe case of polymorphism, completely rewriting his genetic code and rendering him entirely pony when he passed through the gate. He has since divulged a rather large amount of information about himself and his fellows, and appears to be suffering from an existential crisis that is driving him into a depressive fugue. As much as it pains us to see a fellow sentient being in such a miserable state, we must admit that his current predicament is keeping him from causing trouble.” Chrysalis beamed. The misery of the other-world native was amusing to her, and it’s situation was quite an intriguing one. “.......A month has passed since our new friend came across, and we have determined that the nature of his transformation was directly linked to the last of us to use the portal. Their thaumic signatures are very close to being perfect matches, and as such, our researcher friend who used the portal last, an earth pony who often refers to himself as the Doctor, has been put in charge of our new friend, who interacts with the Doctor far more easily than anypony else. We were able to determine that any other ‘humans’, that pass through the gate, shall suffer a similar polymorphic change that will be determined by the previous equestrian user of the portal, no matter what species…. I worry for our new friend, despite how interested he appears in learning about Equestria. He chose a new name yesterday, Deep Thought, though, I don’t know why……” Chrysalis skipped the next few entries, all of them about how ‘Deep Thought’ was adjusting to life in a new body and a new world. Chrysalis was not interested in the adjustment period of some idiotic alien creature who got his whole life taken away. Moving on, Chrysalis found something a little more useful. “No matter what Equestrian crosses over, they retain their original forms and all powers they may possess. The potential for the misuse of magic among an entirely magic-less people is extremely high, should any of Equestria’s foes ever find this place, they could wreak havoc on the planet Deep calls,‘Earth’.”
Chrysalis felt a stroke of genius hit her, and before she had even considered how good or bad a plan it was she was making, she had hurled the paper away from herself and stepped back up to the edge of the pool. Only then, as she was about to commit to an idea that she had only spent a few moments contemplating. Should she try? She could maybe escape from Equestria, establish herself on the other side, breed an army and return, triumphant… if she could survive there.
Thinking about it now made her question her plan. It had been a half baked plan by an emotionally compromised and physically exhausted Changeling Queen who had already made one too many mistakes.
After taking a minute to close the stone door, the Queen moved around the chamber for a while, before settling down amid a bunch of messed up bed sheets that had been left behind by the researchers who had come before her.
Before she had even settled into a comfortable sleeping pose, her eyelids closed, and she was snoring before her mind even registered the fact that her eyelids had firmly shut.
Chrysalis awoke to the sound of banging hooves on stone. Her eyes, having been completely shut moments before, were suddenly wide and fearful, though only for a moment.
“Chrysalis!” The voice of the newly crowned King Thorax, along with what sounded like a large contingency of Changeling warriors, came from beyond the stone doors. Chrysalis knew she was trapped. She had recovered a little from the previous day, but her power was still severely crippled from her earlier exertions, and as a result, she wouldn’t stand a chance against Thorax, no matter how inexperienced he would be with his newfound power and strength. “Chrysalis! Surrender! We know you’re in here!”
The Queen was by no means a fool. To try and fight would result in either death or capture, and she couldn’t have that. No, she had only one option left open to her.
Chrysalis gave one response before she made her move. “Never! I will never be finished with the like of you, insolent wretch!”
“Chrysalis! Enough!” Thorax cried. “We needn’t be enemies! You’ve seen what we can be together! Is it not worth the effort to truly change?” When no answer came from behind the door, the King lowered his gaze, magic gathering about the twin horns upon his head.
“Be ready for her. I couldn’t bear it if one of you was hurt.” The King cautioned his guards, who all nodded in agreement.
The door was flung open, and the glow of changeling magic, once having been putrid green or sickly blue, now glowing a cornucopia of new colors, bathed the room in light, revealing it’s emptiness, save for a slightly rippling pool of water, and a distinct lack of a Changeling Queen.
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why do I get the feeling that Chrissy is eventually going to get real friendly with an M16?
8028731
I COULD SEE NO WAY THAT THIS COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG!
That's a first
9057659
Never seen Eldritch used to describe eyes before?
I dont get why when one side goes thru they remain the same but the other gets affected by changing. Terrific.
Guess we'll just have to see where this goes.
Xd
9334720
Because Equestrians have their own magic signature, which affects the portal, and is too strong for the portal to affect them... Humans, though, have NO magic at all, so the portal easily affects them based on its current state (which was affected by the last Equestrian to use it).
No on else commenting on the reference to the named investigator?
I spent embarassingly long time just staring at this sentence. It occured to me eventually that those are supposed to be "its" and "as one".
10882257
Yeah, I need an editor. Half the times I look back through my work and just miss things like that ...