101 - Demon Spawn
On the way to the church ship, Gregor walked to the side of Bon Bon. "You are something of a mystery, one so grown in a world filled with infant minds. It was their innocence that convinced me they needed protection, but you..." He glanced aside at her. "You prove there are those among them that could serve as their protector."
Bon Bon tensed subtly, well, subtly for a pony. Her display was painfully obvious to a human, especially one trained in the art of reading body language. "I've--"
"--Please do not tarnish my view of your people with falsehoods," he interjected, cutting her off before she could say the truth or a lie, though he felt certain which way she was leaning.
Her teeth clenched, considering her options and questioning the life choices that led her to that point. "I understand hard choices must be made at times."
"This is a sad truth." As they began the ascend the ramp to his ship, he looked back towards his men and their cargo. "I will see her to an examination, you know what must be done."
The corpse did not agree, declaring its lack of consent by bursting into bright green flame, gone in an instant, consumed by the strange green fire. The guards drew their swords and looked around wildly for the demon.
Gregor was less panicked, though even he was mildly shaken. "Is this a normal thing?" He was looking towards Bon Bon.
Bon Bon was busy shaking her head. "That was the first dead changeling I ever saw, so I couldn't tell you with certainty."
A tiny voice whispered in her ear, "Normal, totally normal... If you... wretched ponies... are half as nice as you... claim... go with it."
Her ear twitched softly at the little voice coming from almost inside it. "But it does make sense," she continued. "I suppose you don't have to worry about cleansing the body."
"Then we are finished with that." Gregor led Bon Bon inside to have her examination and blessings.
Starlight appeared with a bright flash just beside Twilight, tackling the alicorn to the ground. "The humans are crazy!"
Twilight's floating book and quill flopped to the ground, surprise getting the better of it. "Wha? I know they're unusual and don't think the way we do, but calling them crazy isn't nice." She gently pushed at Starlight, but the unicorn wasn't letting go easily. "What's wrong?"
"They killed a creature," she hissed. "And not even an angry animal or something. C-Chrysalis had given up and hadn't even tried to run away and suddenly they were stabbing her, cutting her..." She broke into open sobs, burying her face into Twilight's chest. "It was awful! So much blood..."
Twilight sat up, bringing Starlight along as one hoof reached around to gently rub at Starlight's back. "There there... Let's start from the top. You captured her then?"
"Yes!" she blurted in almost a yelp, sitting herself up and finally giving Twilight an inch of room. "We had her, in a box, a big metal box." She moved her hooves, pantomiming the box. "We let her out when she promised to talk to Thorax, then they k-killed her, just like that." She made a sudden chop downwards with her hoof. "With their swords! It was... so fast. She was alive, then she wasn't. I should have done something."
Trembling, she hugged herself, shaking her head. "A shield spell would have bought some time. A quick teleport, I could have whisked her away. Mind control! I know you don't like when I do that, but making them stop hurting somecreature like that, you would have forgiven me, right?" She smiled at Twilight, a manic light in her eyes, shaking and desperate.
Twilight reached out, placing a hoof on Starlight's chest. "To save a life, I wouldn't have been angry. We can't beat ourselves up over what we could--"
"--That is literally your specialty," interrupted Starlight with an acidic tone before her ears fell. "That... I'm sorry..."
"You're going through a lot right now." The patting hoof moved up to Starlight's shoulder. "Let's have some tea, and just... relax a moment. You're not wrong. This is my specialty, and I know the cure." She rose with a smile. "Spike!"
"I need to use the little filly's room." Bon Bon glanced around. "Where would that be?" She followed the pointing finger and found a room with a suspiciously normal looking toilet in it. She closed and locked the door behind herself. "Alright... Care to explain?"
"Is it not obvious?" asked the little voice. "Those creatures tried to kill me! They got far too close to succeeding for my liking. Timid fools, my mere presence sent them into a panic." A pained grunt interrupted things. "I don't... like this... but my options are slimmer than... usual. I am hurt, badly." A tiny hoof prodded Bon Bon's ear. "Don't bring it up ever again."
"Your secret rides along with you," assured Bon Bon as she hopped up onto the toilet. She did have need for it, so that wasn't a lie. "I am... glad you're alive, but our promise stands. You will talk to your son, and I'll get you out of here without them knowing."
"You were already preparing to cover up my death," hissed the little voice. "I heard you! What a wicked pony."
"And yet, here you are, in my ear. I must not be that wicked."
"Did I not mention my options are limited," huffed the tiny voice. "As horrible as you are, at least you are a pony. I know ponies..."
"And you know how tasty they are," finished Bon Bon with a roll of her eyes. She spotted a roll of paper and cleaned herself before hopping down to the ground. "Just stay quiet."
Faint grumbling was heard, but the voice offered no further objection.
Spike flew just above the table, pouring steaming tea into two little teacups. "The destresser special. Just the thing for getting frizz out of a mane."
Twilight laughed nervously. "Not that I'd know anything about that."
Starlight cocked a brow at that, a little smirk on her face. "I already feel a little better." Her magic grabbed one of the cups, a small bit of the tea spilling from the rough movement. "I just... I never saw violence quite like that. Just... it was so fast, so brutal..." She sipped loudly from the cup, ignoring how hot it clearly was. "That's... not bad." If she could taste it past a likely scalded tongue.
"Little sips," advised Spike, setting the kettle down nearby and landing on the edge of the table, sitting on it. "So, they got Chrysalis?"
"It's alright." Twilight brought her cup over more gently and took a little sip. "Mmm... I...never saw a creature die before," she admitted. "It's almost strange, thinking back on it. For all the dangerous exploits I've been on, with my friends, that never happened... I mean, sure, you tried to rip us apart with magic."
"You blocked it!" almost screeched Starlight.
"That wasn't an accusation," gently assured Twilight. "We've been close to... that... but never... all the way."
Spike held up two fingers close together. "What if it was that all over again?" Both mares looking at him quizzically. "Well, what if she isn't dead?"
"I saw her get cut!" Starlight clopped a hoof down. "And not just once. So much blood... They were... It was horrible!"
Twilight nodded softly as she took a fresh sip. "While it would be nice to hope for that, let's try to take this--"
"--If you are about to say calmly, don't." Starlight set her mostly-untouched tea aside. "Look... I know I must sound like a little filly. We've faced worse things, right?"
Twilight reached for Starlight, but the unicorn backed away. She sighed softly. "Starlight, I did see it, once."
Starlight blinked rapidly. "Wait, you did?"
"The Storm King." She pointed up towards Canterlot. "He was turned to stone, mid air. He came crashing down, pulverized on contact."
Spike raised a little hand. "Speaking of him, there were the soldiers I kinda set on fire... They didn't do so well."
Starlight looked between the two of them with her jaw hanging open. "I've been living with two killers and I didn't even know it... Huh..." She flopped to her haunches bonelessly, rolling onwards to be lying on her side. "I'm the only one losing their marbles over this. You must think I'm pathetic."
Spike hopped down from the table and scampered over to Starlight's side. "Nocreature's saying that, Starlight. Neither of ours had... blood everywhere." He cringed as he said it, his tongue poking out a little. "Sounds awful. We're here for you." He reached for her and gently petted her shoulder. "That's what friends are for."
"Yeah..." She looked up at Spike. "I think I'm going to lie here a moment longer, but... putting my stupid feelings aside a moment, something has to be done! Those humans are as dangerous as they are fragile. I can imagine now how the fight between them and the dragons went." She shuddered from her snout back to her tail. "How did Ember forgive it?"
Twilight shook her head softly. "Laud is recovering in the hospital, which leaves me as the standing pony in charge of these negotiations. I will speak to them about this." She began towards the door. "Spike, take care of Starlight, please."
He snapped a sharp salute, not that he had been moving to leave his friend.
His prayers were softly spoken, beseeching Amalthea in his own tongue, alien to Bon Bon, even as she tried to pick out words from it, caught between relaxing and analyzing the curious words being used.
His tone was gentle, caring even. One could be forgiven perhaps for forgiving what had happened so recently. The gentle light pouring from his hands that warmed her belly didn't help with keeping angry at him either. She felt relaxed. She felt cared for. She was in good hands, which made sense, he had those.
"You are healthy," he announced, the glow dimming. "As is the life inside you, as unknowable as it is. I predict no trouble ahead of you as you begin your labor of life."
"Thank you." She rolled onto her belly, tail curled behind her. "This must be so odd for you. In your world, your universe, there are humans, and not." She raised a hoof. "And I am obviously not. Did you imagine playing midwife to someone with a built-in fur coat?"
He laughed, a release of pressure in some ways. "I will confess, that was not what I had envisioned my life leading towards. You have the body of what, without knowing better, we would call an animal."
"Animals rarely argue philosophy." She rose to her hooves. "Thank you, again. Just to repeat, attacking Chrysalis was wrong. She had surrendered and hadn't made a move in bad faith." An ear twitched. "There's a pun. I didn't mean it."
"A pun that strikes cruelly." He sighed as he stood up as well. "We, servants of the almighty, acted in bad faith. It was a demon, a devil. Still... you have shown you can lead even the foulest towards the light, given a chance, and we were the ones to remove that chance." He dipped his head towards Bon Bon. "I was not the one who dealt the blow, but they were my swords. I may as well have. I can offer apologies--"
"--But they mean nothing." Bon Bon started for the door. "I would rather hear how you plan to ensure this never happens again, under any condition. No creature on this planet should meet an end not given to them by another creature of this planet."
"A tall request." Despite his words, she departed, leaving him with them. "Not entirely under my control to promise." He moved towards his personal shrine. Perhaps his higher ups would listen to this report.
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Feels odd saying this but I'm glad Chrysalis still has a few tricks up her sleeves.
And there is the rub of it. None of the parties on the equestrian side, even the "Insane Demon", ever intended to kill. Cold blooded murder is a foreign concept. Twilight and Spike understand going to far in the heat of the moment in the most desperate of times. But it never even occured to likes of Chrysalis that actual cold blooded execution was on the table.
Great chapter, but...
Yeah, I wouldn't bet my last Firebird on that...
Plot twist! I was really not expecting this.
10180528
Well Chrysalis has certainly done Equestria a great service by exploring this frontier, perhaps that will earn her a reduced sentence. Now everyone knows that the humans don't trust you just because you've surrendered, and they're rather touchy.
tried reading this a while ago, got bored
So, Bob Bon was ready to cover Chrysalis' death up, but...and correct me if I'm wrong, doesn't Laud have the greatest diplomatic authority of any off-worlder simply on principle? You don't cover up the death of a native by an alien, not from foreign authorities planetside, and certainly not from other natives. Even if no one else, Laud has to be informed, has to be, regardless of whether Chrysalis is dead or alive, since he is the sole and official liaison between Equestria and these crusade-hungry fanatics.
Oh yeah, and when does Celestia come to give this band of zealots the old 'ant under a magnifying glass' treatment? I feel like they've crossed at least one line that could very easily be interpreted as crossing Celestia herself in the short time they've been there. They're trying to be 'god's chosen few' without filling out the proper forms first. They have literally no jurisdiction that they haven't awarded themselves in their infinite arrogance, and that continues to be the biggest problem.
10180714
Bon Bon has not yet had a chance to walk off the ship, let alone consider informing Laud, Twilight, Celestia, or anyone else.
Starlight has already informed Twilight, the closest authority figure she could think of, knowing Laud was out of the picture at that instant.
10180714
Covering thinks up is kind of what Bon Bon does, S.M.I.L.E. acts in secret and covers up all it's activities. Heck the cover up the activities of the Main Six, or F.R.O.W.N. as they refer to them, all the time. She it trained to respond in just such a way, cover up anything that could cause panic. That Crysalisis is only going to be told to people who need to know, Laud, the Princesses', Starlight, and Throax, she is legally dead now.
But she wasn't intending to "cover up", as much as "help prevent a cross-world incident".
Maybe some forced humility will be good for the late Queen.
Poor Starlight. It's different considering death when it's so in-your-face, isn't it?
Keep going! ;)
I wonder if Laud is going to mention, if he has ever been high enough to know, about Chrysalis being very similar to Demonic incursions on worlds leading to Exterminatus?
10180957
Isn't that a WH40k thing?
10180959
The name is, the method is, but the results are pretty common no matter which mega intragalactic starfaring civilisation you use. Sometimes, the only way to stop a problem is to glass the planet.
10180962
Fading suns aren't that resourceful. Technology controlled sma;l clique, not a huge society of Adeptus Mechanicus, there are no forge world here.
Well I'm glad that worked out. Can everyling do that?
10181152
Become teeny tiny like a flea? I think so.
"a manic light in eyes"
"a manic light in her eyes"?
""Mmm... I...never saw a creature die before," she admitted."
""Starlight, I did see it, once.""
...Er. Was she... lying the first time, for some reason? This seems really odd.
"rolling onwards to be laying on her side."
"rolling onwards to be lying on her side."?
"I'm going to lay here a"
"I'm going to lie here a"?
"could be forgiven perhaps for forgiving what had"
Just checking: was that supposed to be "forgetting what had"? I could see either there.
10182008
Typos are like changelings, creeping into places they are not wanted.
10181025
well, maybe not glassing a planet. But simply making it unhabitable while killing eveything on it? That is a cakewalk. Just "grab" you nearest 20km diameter asteroid and send it on its merry way to meet his new friend.
Nice twist with Chrysalis.
10182447
On any other world, you'd be right. Here, however, Celestia or Luna could simply move another, far bigger celestial object in the asteroids way.
Chrysalis sacrificed irreversibly damaged biomass in order to transform into small creature? Nice move.
10182984
What if they launch three or four asteroids?
How quickly can Celestia or Luna move the sun and moon?
10205162
Seconds, if even that. We've seen both sun and moon zip around the world like fireflies on speed, sometimes by accident, sometimes even by someone using a proxy device.
10205173
My standing headcanon remains that their sun is actually a relatively small thing that is close to their world.
I mean there was that giant worm that Laud killed bloodily in front of her.
10271405
You are catching up right quickly.
Found it deeply suspicious that Chrysalis taken out that quickly, considering how this story is going.
So, Chryssie lives. I'm glad I didn't post the angry comment that I composed last chapter.