Chrysalis returned to her room with a tired sigh, her disguise still held despite it. Closing the door behind her, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
The day had been a long one, and she wanted nothing more than to lie down in bed alongside Shining Armour. He would be sure to tend to her needs this night, though it wasn’t like he could object. Though she had to wonder why he wasn't already within the room awaiting her. He was typically off duty before she returned, so to find him missing was a minor surprise.
At the same time, however, it brought a small amount of relief with it. She didn’t particularly want to talk to anyone at the moment. Of course, she could simply command the fool to leave her be, but that required her to enact upon that which she wished not to. He would arrive at a later time, and that suited her better on this night.
The day had been a long one after her confrontation with that damned elf. His resilience against her mental magic had resulted in her needing to convince Celestia and Luna that he was abducted. Thankfully she had already altered their minds, as slight as it is, so she was never suspected of anything. The true issue was getting them to ask the wrong questions. They would rule her out of being their enemy, but that didn’t protect her soldiers from being discovered.
It was becoming more and more clear to her that mental magic would not solve all of her problems, a fact that irritated her to no end. What use was her talent if she couldn’t rely on it as such?
A sigh escaped her once more as she stepped towards the window. She had to admit that the night sky was truly beautiful. One of the only compliments she would grant to the lunar princess was her craftsmanship. Each night was something to behold, and whilst she held some disdain for the creator, she couldn’t begrudge the work she produced.
It was such a sight that brought a small amount of calm to the changeling queen. The day had been stressful, yes, but she had endured. As she always had, and she always will, as tomorrow will be yet another day. Simply four more of them and her plans will come together. All the pieces will fall in place, and she’ll begin her take over.
Before anyone even knows what’s happening, she’ll have a hoof in every aspect of Equestria. Then abducting ponies for food would be a simple task. If they even needed to at that point. Should she stick Celestia and Luna in a pod as well, she had no doubt that she could sustain the hive for many years to come.
Everything was going according to plan, and nothing could stop her now.
Suddenly, the door opened behind her, revealing Shining Armour. She had to admit that Cadence had truly snagged a good stallion. The colt was built of muscle, rippling just beneath his brilliant white coat. His mane was a shock of dark and light blue that neatly cropped his handsome face. All that on top of what he could to to her…
That, however, didn’t seem to be why he entered the room, much to her chagrin. The stallion had a serious look on his face, and his breath was heavy. A faint green light glowed in his eyes, showing her that his actions were a result of her domination.
“Mistress,” He started out after a moment to catch his breath, “I bring news of Ashwyn’s actions.” Chrysalis couldn’t help but raise a brow. She had commanded the guard under her control to keep an eye on the chimera, sure that she would not take her master’s disappearance lightly. In all honesty, she had anticipated news much sooner than this.
“Tell me, Armour, what has this chimera been up to?” She asked, the magic within Shining Armour’s mind forcing him to answer.
“She has left Canterlot, Mistress. We do not know why, but she was headed east. I had a guard tailing her, but she was too fast for him.” The stallion bowed his head, looking ashamed. Chrysalis paid him no mind as she once more looked out the window, her face twisted in confusion.
What could this chimera possibly be thinking? Why leave Canterlot? Why head east? There was nothing out there of importance besides… Her eyes widened in shock as a thought came upon her.
No, no. This couldn’t be possible! How could she possibly know! But… there’s no other explanation. She couldn’t risk that beast releasing her prisoners!
She quickly rounded on the stallion that had informed her of this, her magic forcing his head up to look at her. “Bring me, Ironhide!” She commanded. The captain of the guard instantly saluted her and retreated out the door, leaving Chrysalis alone to stew in her thoughts.
Thankfully she didn’t have to wait for long, as a large earth pony stallion stepped through the door. The moment the door closed behind him, his disguise faded, revealing a heavily scared changeling. He fell into a bow once he was revealed, staying as such until directed otherwise.
“Stand, Aldrin. We do not have the time for such trivialities.” She growled at him, her magic forcing him into a standing position. Her soldier didn’t even blink as her magic moved him.
“Of course, my Queen. What would you have of me?” The soldier asked obediently.
“You must take some of our best and return to the hive. I have reason to believe they will be under attack soon.” Chrysalis informed him, the soldier showing an ounce of emotion once he heard the news. His lips curled downwards slightly, and his eyes grew ever slightly more narrow.
“I will endeavor to do so post-haste, my Queen. Is there anything I should know of the assailant?”
“We do not know her capabilities, but she is a Chimera with a more beastial appearance than the rest of these ponies. Though the extent she can use these monstrous parts are unknown. Caution is advised.” Chrysalis informed him quickly. “Now go, she is flying faster than the guard. She might reach the hive before you should you not hurry.”
“Understood, my Queen. I will not disappoint you.” With nothing more to say, the changeling dipped his head in respect and left the room, intent to carry out her orders.
For the third time that night, she looked out the window of the room. The sky outside no longer brought a sense of calm to her. In fact, it only furthered her anxiety. Her heart began to pound faster as she stared out. Within the periphery of her vision, she could see a series of dark shapes move out into the sky, blending in with the darkness above.
She could only hope that her fears were baseless, for if they weren’t… she did not wish to think of that.
Chrysalis done messed up.
Yeah... I hope you don't value too much the ones there. Or the ones you sent after her. Or, you know, anyling that doesn't run and hide or even worse, tries to stop her.
Whiskey. my friend. I feel like there's something missing
9588223
I haven't a clue what you could be referring to, my dear.
9588228
I'm seeing a large amount of no maid outfit here. I feel this needs to be fixed.
9588231
Clearly you must have misread, there are maid outfits everywhere. Have you tried turning it off and back on again?
9588255
Ah you're right. I found them.
The entire hive is screwed
9587854
Yes, that Pinkie. The Pinkie who has only done things limited to her own body that should be impossible. She hasn't altered anything else, she hasn't conjured anything else. Hell, the things she pulls out of nowhere she admits herself she has stashed literally everywhere, so she doesn't just conjure them.
I wonder if there's some eggs in that hive for Ashwyn to make an omelette with.
The ultimate manufactured predator charging headlong into a Changeling hive.
...
...
...
I expect that this will be reminiscent of Krieg the Psycho, from Borderlands 2.
9588803
May Celestia save us from that catastrophic pun.
Ooooooooh snap
9588477
9588819
Weird, fimfic gave me zero notifications to these replies, yet other replies elsewhere appeared....
Regarding Pinkie, maybe the lightbulb popped out of her mane? She's pulled weirder things out of it! There's my last guess
Regarding the puns? I have a feline that you should expect more purrassment
9589098
While that could explain it given her mane’s prehensile nature and it not being said that it was lit, it wouldn’t explain her eating it.
9589351
The lightbulb was a cookie in disguise!
derpicdn.net/img/view/2017/10/16/1562611.gif
Elementary my dear WarriorKitten
9589030
Oh, any knuckle-dragging ape can use an enchanted item. Just look at Thor!
Meanwhile at the hive.
Drone: "Huh.. can anyone else hear that?"
9591131
This is TWILIGHT we're talking about. The pony that if you give her a Math problem, will solve it in a thousand different ways, and all of them will be correct.
She will Trial and Error it to the point that she will master it better than Aurick does, as she will experiment and find all the solutions and shortcuts and most effecient way possible to do it, while also having the biggest mana pool to draw from next to Celestia and Luna before she becomes an Alicorn.
9591311
You're talking about enchanting like it was making origami art: simple to get the basics of and then your creativity's the limit.
When it's clearly more akin to computer hardware design, with all the engraving and setting of gems in the proper channels and managing power flows.
The complexity of the craft is a few orders of magnitude above what you suggest, and no one pony is going to reinvent everything that an entire society spent centuries learning.
And that leaves aside the fact that no, Twilight won't just enchant everything anyone asks her for. She wouldn't have enough time in the day.
Or the fact that the market is far, far larger than what can be supplied by a single enchanter, no matter how masterful. Look at how long it took him to fulfill a small order for a half dozen enchanted armor suits for the princesses!
Heck, having Twilight increase the amount of enchanted goods flowing out of Ponyville may just have the effect of driving more business, due to word spreading farther and faster about this great new magic thing from Ponyville!
9591542
You assume the same thing other creators and authors assume, that Technology and Intellegence is Stagnant.
You forget that the world Aurick hails from is based on a DnD Campaign, so is medievel times at the most complex. A time where even kings couldn't count very high, let alone know advance math, science, and technology. The MLP Universe looks like Medievil times, but is far more advance, and we've seen just how smart Twilight is. Not only that, but how effecient she is, willing to try any and all combinations, while taking notes about each and every outcome.
She would find a solution that works, then tweak 1 thing and record the outcome. Tweak it again and record. Again, and again. Hundreds of Thousands of Combos, every possibly thing recorded, spending hours, days, weeks, and even months and years on it if needed.
The 'Issues' that Twilights run into, is not having a Control, having a Standard, a reset value. This is why she failed to understand Pinkie, cause there was no 'Control Group' for Pinkie to test her abilities. Aurick however will be teaching her how to Enchant, and will eventually teach her a few things to Enchant. With that, she will within days of working on it, master those enchanting spells better than he does, cause she will fine tune, experiment, test and trail, and work it all down to a science.
Where as Aurick will just cast the same spell he was taught/learned, the exact same way, never testing, experimenting, or changing the spell. As that is how spells work in DnD. A Fire Ball Spell, is the exact same, no matter who or what casts it, be it an object, a human, or an Elder God. MLP Magic, doesn't follow those rules most likely, so Twilight will be able to tweak the spell and expand onto it, where Aurick can't. The only thing it will take, is time.
9591842
Though I've been silent in throughout this conversation, I feel I must interject to make something clear, as a lot of readers still don't seem to understand this.
Aurick is not from a D&D campaign. His magic is not D&D magic, and he is not governed by D&D rules.
Yes, D&D was used as inspiration for his world, but it is the same for a variety of fantasy worlds. That does not necessarily mean that things work the same, merely that was where we got the idea.
Don't mean to be rude, but just wished for you to be better informed about how the character's world relates to D&D.
9591869
Ah, based/relations to DnD, but not exactly DnD world and ruleset. But still doesn't change my argument that Aurick made a mistake in agreeing to Train Twilight on how to enchant, and that with enough time, how long depending on how long you, the author, make her solely dedicated to studying it and testing it, Twilight will very quickly out pace Aurick's own skill and render his 'Job' kinda pointless.
Cause Twilight is kind, and if someone asks her, especially the princesses and her friends and the people in Ponyville, for her to enchant something and she can, she will agree to do it without even thinking of charging them, making Aurick lose money, especially if they tell people and those people start going to her for free enchanting instead.
Just look at Ponyville. There is only 1 Quill store, 1 Sofa store, 1 Clothing store, 1 hospital, 1 vet, 1 Library, and while many 'farmers', they each only grow 1 kinda food each. There is NOT 2 Carrot Farms, or 2 Apple Farms, and so on. Is there was suddenly 2 Enchanters, things would get messy money-wise very quickly.
I feel like it's a crime no ones pointing out the obvious namesake of Aldrin. Presumably named after....BUZZ Aldrin. You sneaky bastard.
9818098
Finally someone discovers the pun!