Queen Nightmare Moon

by Makitk

Chapter 19

After Darkstar's poor choice of words, Chrysalis looked about ready to explode again. The threat of having a giant orb of fire smashed down on top of oneself would make anyone upset, and Eclipse thought it spoke to the other matriarch that she did not call forth her 'drones' and instead just protested verbally. It showed the Pony Queen that the ice between the two nations was broken enough for there to be the possibility for negotiations in the future.

She patiently waited for Chrysalis' to cease her string of sputtering the most vile suggestions of what Darkstar could do with her blue sun, silently loving the fact she was not the only one who had qualms with her sister for once.

As the Changeling Queen finally calmed down enough to be open for Crescent Eclipse to interject, she gave her a warm smile. "It's good to get things out in the open," the pony matriarch stated calmly. "Please forgive my sister, she has a temper which she has yet to learn to control."

"She's not the only one here with a temper," Sunmane commented idly, looking away from her Queen as Chrysalis' eyes glared at the smaller Changeling.

"If there's nothing left to discuss," Crescent started again, peering at the other before her, "I would like to suggest we all return to our respective groups and go on our way; you back to your lands, pending a more positive return trip, and we have a wedding to attend to ourselves."

"A... wedding?" Chrysalis repeated, looking interested.

"Ah, yes, something to look forward to after the monotony of palace life," Eclipse chuckled merrily. "And it will aid us to assert our rule over the Easternmost cities and townships. They have been a tad unruly."

"My scouts have told me of these weddings," Chrysalis mused. "They said the ambient love there is almost tangible - a good source of nutrition to us."

An idea sprang to mind, and the Pony Queen thought it over long and hard before bringing it to her lips; "Would you care to join us, perhaps? If you are like your subjects, you could take on the form of one of our guardsponies and be witness to the event. If you can truly feed on such energies as love, then you would not need to harm my subjects while getting your fill? It would allow us to further discuss the details of our agreement and to explore what else we can do for each other? I would have to ask you to come alone, but you shall have full diplomatic immunity while you are our guest."

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes at the suggestion, which was obviously both tempting and off-putting to her. Crescent Eclipse had taken a leap here which was an extension of her earlier bluffing; Chrysalis would have to take her on faith that nothing would happen during her visit, putting herself in a very vulnerable position. If something did go wrong, the Changeling matriarch would be deep within enemy territory with only Sunmane as her potential ally.

On the other hoof, she would have the ability to get a proper look at Equestrian society and take part in the wedding festivities. If her talk of ambient energy and how her species may absorb such had any truth in it, she could get her fill of love and return home to her subjects with renewed energy. She would then no longer have to feed herself until that was consumed, which would take some of the pressure off of her.

Crescent gently patted Sunmane on the head with her right wing, giving the small one a glance and a smile. "I am still buzzing with the energy of a recent transformation myself," she explained to no-one in particular. "My brain is in high gear and I'm... 'winging it', so to speak. I'm not too forward with this, am I?"

"No, no," Chrysalis mumbled, shaking her head. "I would take two of my subjects as my personal guards if I am to accept this proposal."

Eclipse set her pink eyes upon the Changeling Queen again. "I could shift my guards around and assign one of my captains to you as a personal aide, allowing you and your guards to merge into their ranks without raising suspicion? I have a scout who requires medical attention after Sunmane's group jumped them, and know of two others who could use a vacation. Yes, I would allow you your guards."

"I will not be bossed around," the Changeling matriarch warned. "I shall take the role of your captain."

"I can't allow you to do that, sorry," Crescent Eclipse disagreed. "There is a synergy between them which I doubt you could emulate, even if your species can take on their form as Sunmane has. We are going to face a situation I need to diffuse and I will require all my captains for it."

"I will not subject myself to the commands of some pony," Chrysalis repeated in clear objection to the idea, her large wings trembling as she grew more agitated again.

"I have no other roles to offer you which would allow you to stay in close proximity of my advisor and myself," Eclipse explained calmly. "My guards are able to move within my lands without being questioned, which would be different for even my royal physicians. I know my captains; if I tell them to keep you off the active roster, they will be able to plan around you while still making you appear to be a part of the squad to a casual observer."

Sunmane moved under her wing, and Crescent Eclipse used the motion as an excuse to fold it to her side again. There was a tension in the air, and she was sure the Changeling drone was feeling it. They had found solutions for the most pressing issues in the past hour since they started their conversation, and the Pony Queen was sure the Changeling Queen could find peace with her suggestions if she could get past her ego.

"It's a free meal," Sunmane spoke up to Chrysalis directly. "I think these ponies are too generous given what we've done to them recently."

"Nobody asked you," Chrysalis bit back to her subject with an angry snarl, but then fell silent again and her facial expression softened slowly but surely. "It is a generous offer, though."

"I am known for my kindness," Eclipse chuckled lightly.

"Only recently," Darkstar commented dryly. "I'm still trying to figure out what you are now."

"My offer is genuine, and it truly is the best I can make it," Crescent offered to Chrysalis, ignoring her sister for now.

"I would not have made such an offer were I in your place," Chrysalis returned with a frown. "You are far different from the ponies I was warned about. I'm having some difficulty with it."

"Take your time, please," the Pony Queen suggested. "The offer has been made and will remain available until you are ready to make a decision on it."

"This is far removed from how I expected my first encounter with one of you," Chrysalis spoke again.

"I thought you had captives?" Darkstar queried with a raised eyebrow. "In cocoons, no less."

"They're food to us; they don't talk," Sunmane explained. "They're just suspended from the ceiling and squirm a little when fed upon."

Crescent Eclipse forced herself to remain silent on the issue, and gave her sister a sideways glance in the hope she would get the hint. Chrysalis was still debating with herself on whether she could take the offer before her and any negative comments would sway her away from accepting it. A discussion of how Chrysalis should treat the ponies she received was due at a later date, once the threat of invasion had been fully warded off.

Darkstar opened her mouth to respond to Sunmane, but caught the Queen's glance in time to close it just as quickly again. It was good to see she still had her wit and intuition alongside the anger issues she had obtained from her transformation.

Chrysalis' wings fluttered excitedly a moment, while she exhaled sharply, then she stuck the flimsy things under the chitin plating on her back and gave a decisive nod forward. "The offer intrigues me. As Ocellus said; it is a generous offer. A free meal for someone you have only just met, and met in the process of invading your lands no less."

There was a flash of doubt passing over her features, but she pushed it away with a barely noticeable shake of her head.

"I'm not sure why I'm not pushing that," the Changeling matriarch muttered under her breath, then spoke up louder again, "but am seeing the benefit of your 'long term planning' and the agreements we made so far. A steady supply of food is something I've been trying to ensure for years now."

"I'm happy to help provide it, in return for peace between us," Crescent remarked with a growing smile.

"Yes, peace... it's something I could have never thought of myself; peace between ponies and us," Chrysalis let out in a snort. "I have never before entertained that thought; you are food. It's difficult to comprehend to me how we ended up in this position."

Eclipse waited patiently for the other to finish, giving slow nods to show she listened. The Changeling Queen struggled to extents which Crescent Eclipse could only guess at. What had happened in these Changelings' history to make them so distrustful of others? Just their feeding habits should not have warranted the kind of exclusion that was hinted at?

Their appearance was somewhat shocking; the unsightly holes in their legs, wings, and the Queen's horn, or even in the fins they had instead of a mane and tail. But even that was something that others could grow used to in time.

Chrysalis hid a pain within her which was clearly deeply rooted. Through her new bond with the Element of Kindness, Crescent Eclipse felt a strong desire to find out what had caused it, and perhaps help the Changelings as a species to work past it.

The first step was for Chrysalis to accept her invitation and for the details of their agreements to be worked out fully. Once there was a regular contact between them, they could figure out how to work out the remaining issues in their own time.

Chrysalis finally stood up with a sudden start, and took two resolute paces to the treeline. "Labrum, Cubitus!" she shouted, and there was a rush of movement as two of the quadruped insects ran up to her, their grey forms barely distinguishable in the shadow cast on them by the trees.

"You two are coming with me," the Changeling Queen spoke to them directly, shouting over their heads immediately afterwards; "Return to the Hive, all of you; Release the captives from the town we passed through and await my return!" She then turned to face the pony alicorns again. "I accept your invitation, Crescent Eclipse."

Crescent pushed up onto her hooves and smiled in the other's direction. "I had hoped you would. If I heard that correctly you are releasing my subjects from the nearby town?"

"I am worth more than those ponies combined," Chrysalis spoke in a huff. "I can be just as generous as you ponies, in case you doubted that?"

As Darkstar and Sunmane got up on their hooves as well, Crescent Eclipse shook her head to the other matriarch.

"I don't doubt in your ability to make decisions which benefit your subjects as well as our newly formed relationship, Chrysalis," she stated. "Would you grant me the honour of walking beside you as we return to my encampment?"

Chrysalis dared a smile at the suggestion that the Pony Queen, who had completely sidetracked her plans for invasion, was somehow honoured by her presence. "Yes, I think I will allow that," she spoke with her ego clearly bolstered, turning onto the paved road Crescent Eclipse had laid through the forest by her magic earlier on.

The Pony Queen moved up to the Changeling Queen's left side, noticing Chrysalis tensing up for a moment. As they strode forward along the path and Crescent Eclipse did little other than walk with her, that tension slowly subsided again. Darkstar and Sunmane fell in line behind them, with the two other Changelings pulling the rear.

Crescent's horn glowed a soft silver tone as she removed the paved road from behind their little group, allowing the trees of the forest to grow together again, and she noted Chrysalis' eyes settle upon it.

"Just restoring nature," Eclipse suggested in a soft tone of voice, trying to reassure her. "I only put this path here to reach you in time to talk, and we have done that so it's served its purpose."

Chrysalis turned her head to look back at the forest regrowing behind them, spotted the curious glances from her drones, and quickly turned to face front again with a huff. Her pace quickened as if she was trying to flee from having to explain herself to the Changelings at the rear, and Eclipse felt forced to follow suit in order to stay next to the other Queen.

"I don't see the point," Chrysalis decided angrily, staunchly staring forward.

"It's part of that long term planning we talked about earlier," Crescent explained. "If I don't move the trees back to their original position, they will stand too close to their neighbours. This will cause them to rot or wither and will do more damage to the forest. They will have to slowly regrow over the path, which takes a long time during which this strip of bare space remains."

"I didn't know she paid this much attention in school," Darkstar whispered to Sunmane behind her. "I'm sure Celestia would have delegated more tasks to Luna if she had been aware."

"Er... what?" Sunmane responded carefully, not knowing the Alicorns' background.

Crescent Eclipse focused on the trees up ahead, moving them aside temporarily so as to connect the path they were on to the road the caravan was still camped around. Some Timberwolf remains were littered about, but the fight had clearly finished in the ponies' victory.

Three guards were standing near the remains, looking up as the group approached them. Crescent immediately identified them. "Cirrus, Brownleaf, Star Twinkle, where are your captains?" she asked, continuing her approach.

"They left us to inform the others of your transformation, my Queen," Brownleaf answered, the brown Earthpony stallion with dark red mane and tail answered. "We were left here to ensure the wolves would not find a weak spot in our defense."

"From the looks of things you've held your own in our absence," Crescent Eclipse suggested with a smile, focusing her eyes on the light-blue Pegasus guard with a silver mane and tail among them. "Cirrus, please go inform Starstruck I have need of him?"

"Yes, my Queen," they responded, darting away.

"You recognize these ponies by their names, just like I do my drones," Chrysalis remarked.

"They're not food to me," Crescent replied, smiling at the Lunar Unicorn guard next to Brownleaf. "Star Twinkle here was transformed by me personally, and I consider her to be among my children."

The dark blue mare flushed lightly and turned her yellow slitted eyes downward. "Thank you, my Queen," she spoke, clearly touched by the sentiment.

"Since my rise to power, I have given them all the choice to join my children of the night," Eclipse continued. "Some, like Brownleaf, have not sought to be transformed yet, but I don't think of them any less. Or not anymore, I should say before my advisor reminds me."

Chrysalis peered at the pony Queen with a blank face, and Crescent shook her head at herself.

"Moments before I approached you, I underwent a transformation. Before it, I was known as Nightmare Moon, herself a transformation from the former princess Luna," Crescent Eclipse explained, motioning her left wing in the direction of the encampment. "Let us continue in this direction while I explain."

The last tiles of her improvised pathway through the forest disappeared as the group turned for the collection of carts and ponies, and the pony Queen's magic silver aura faded from around her horn.

"Luna and her sister Celestia were supposedly the former rulers of my nation, excepting that Celestia drew most of the power and admiration to herself. This caused Luna great grief, and she transformed into my predecessor, Nightmare Moon, to challenge Celestia's right to rule," Crescent continued, while Chrysalis listened with growing interest.

"Nightmare Moon has been attempting to enforce her own interests upon this land of Equestria for the past few months now. Where Celestia ruled the day, Luna and Nightmare Moon both ruled the night in their own unique ways. Enforcing longer nights upon this land caused Celestia to transform herself, and her sun, to better suit the new Queen's desire," the Pony Queen revealed as if she had read it from a history book.

"We did notice the odd changes in the sky," Chrysalis commented. "One moment it was day, the next it was night, then it was a strange twilight. I had wondered if the world would come to an end because of it, but then it stabilized."

"Yes, Darkstar and Nightmare Moon came to an agreement on the length of days and the way both blue sun and moon moved through the sky," Crescent agreed matter-of-factly.

"I was forced to agree with my dear sister," Darkstar added with a soft snort.

"Due to continued issues during her rule, Nightmare Moon was forced to transform anew. The pressure from the Timberwolf attack coupled with your impending invasion forced my hoof, and I emerged out of that," Crescent Eclipse continued unabated, again ignoring her sister's idle commenting. "Given we deflected the Timberwolves and managed to make peace with you and your subjects, Chrysalis, I would say it has been a successful outcome of my transformation."

"So you will transform back again to this Nightmare Moon, then?" Chrysalis inquired, to which Crescent shook her head.

"We don't usually have the ability to transform unless by magical intervention from another," she explained calmly, watching as three of her four captains approached from the encampment in order to meet them halfway. "Darkstar's transformation was triggered by myself, but my own were... incidental. I doubt I could force them to reverse on my own accord."

Chrysalis's face darkened. "To be stuck in a disguise," she mused with a shiver. "That sounds like a horrible thought to me. I don't envy you."

"Ah, it does have its upsides, I assure you," Crescent chuckled. "Evergreen, Starstruck, Starlit Meadow, meet queen Chrysalis of the Changelings. She will travel with us to the wedding party and back. Where's Merryweather?"

"In the doctor's cart, my Queen," Starstruck informed her with a thick voice. "She... is not doing well."

Crescent Eclipse's heart sank at hearing the news.

"A wolf caught her unawares," Starlit Meadow added, looking the Changelings over as she spoke, oblivious to the effect the news had on her Queen.

"It was quickly disposed of," Evergreen assured Crescent Eclipse. "You needn't worry about it, my Queen."

Comments

[redmar]

I like this story a lot but you should focus on being a bit more consistent with describing your characters. You should refer to them by name and for Crescent Ecplipse not awitch between Crescent, Eclipse and pony Queen for instance. I hope that Merryweather will recover from the attack.

[Makitk]

8190716
Using the same reference for a character makes the writing bland. I've only gotten comments that I need to diversify so far, but it's good to know I have now reached the other side of the spectrum. I will see if I can find a middleground.
Thank you for your constructive criticism.

[redmar]

8198535 I can understand that it could become bland if you refer to a character always in the same way but you should at least be consistent with the name you use in the narration. For Crescent Eclipse you shouldn't use both Crescent and Eclipse in the narration.