Of Tales and Myths
“Twilight! Twilight! Stop! This is nuts!” Shining ran in front of her looking like he was going to have a seizure any second. “You can’t just accuse Princess Celestia like that!”
The walk to Chrysalis’ quarters was uncomfortable, and that was probably an understatement. Thorax’s presence ensured that it would be a quick one, though, and for that Twilight was very thankful. She really didn’t think herself capable of explaining to anypony what exactly was going through her mind. She didn’t know for sure if she, herself, believed it entirely. Not that it kept the others from bothering her.
“I know, Shinning! That is why I need to talk to Chrysalis!”
“But why Twilight?!” Rarity whined at her side, frantically trying to make her stop. “Why Chrysalis?! She’s… Not very friendly or trustworthy!”
“She’s likely old enough, Rarity.” Twilight was getting angry. “And who else can I talk to? Discord? Princess Celestia?!”
“YES!” Rarity shrieked, but then got her nerves under control again. “I mean, not Discord… But definitively Princess Celestia!”
“No, Rarity.” Cadance walked along, on Twilight’s other side. “She’s just going to dismiss the whole thing… And if she knows of it, she’ll try to make the whole thing disappear before we can investigate. Or even make us stop, permanently. Especially if she is to blame!”
“What about Princess Luna, Twilight?” Fluttershy skipped along, trying to keep up, following them up one of the Changeling Rock’s spires.
The princess shook her head, looking down. “She won’t do either, Fluttershy. She’s too close to Princess Celestia and she also benefitted from whatever happened.”
“Will you listen to yourselves?!” Spike pulled at Twilight’s tail, but all he got was it yanked from his hands and an angry stare from the princess. He was angry though and stopped, opening his arms. “Princess Celestia! We’re talking about Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!”
“I know!!” Twilight snapped at him, turning around. “Do you think you’re angry? She’s my second mother! But you know what else? She’s also made me what I am today! I have to know the truth! It’s my job as a Princess of Equestria! We protect it! From the Princess if we have to!”
Cadance looked angry too, as she stopped and stared at the others. “Princess Celestia taught me everything! She’s made us sit for six hours classes on statecraft! Twilight doesn’t even need to manage public assets and she sat there with me because she knew that she would enjoy it! It was like three friends talking about the job, not a course on some of the most boring things known to ponykind! That is how much we like her! We’re supposed to be family and she lied to us!”
Twilight faced the others too. “Princess Celestia commands a ridiculous amount of assets and she must answer to, literally, everything that is alive in Equestria! Not to mention she taught us that a ruler must be held to higher standards than their people and now we’re seeing that her rule might not even be legitimate!”
Finally, Cadance pointed an accusatory hoof at the others. “You think you’re angry! She’s literally the closest thing I have for a mother! And she lied to me! She’s done the exact opposite of all she’s ever taught me!”
Starlight Glimmer angrily stomped her hoof among the others. “Will you two stop acting like this is personal?!”
“It is personal!” The two yelled together.
What stopped the whole discussion was the baby crying. Cadance had to take Flurry Heart in her wings, close to her chest and reassure her while they climbed the rest of the way in silence.
That was good. Twilight had to mentally prepare for her conversation with Chrysalis. It occurred to her that Chrysalis might have a vested interest in protecting Equestria’s version of the facts. She would have to be as careful as possible not to raise any flags about what she had discovered and speculated. It would probably be best to get her to start talking and let her expose as much as possible by herself.
Twilight only hoped she could keep up to the changeling queen. And none of the others spoke too much or too soon. Yes, she would have to take the lead.
Another thing that worried her was the presence of the black changelings. The whole thing could be even worse than she thought if Chrysalis, not only was doing things behind Princess Celestia’s back, but if the princess was doing things behind everypony’s back. It was like a double problem.
Calming her thoughts, Twilight reminded herself that the colorful changelings still overwhelmed the black ones… If Chrysalis had plans for some sort of schism, she’d have trouble with it. Of course, she was also getting new changelings, exactly now.
Twilight really hoped that through all that she’s been finding out, Princess Celestia really knew what she was doing… She remembered she had suffered the same stress when the princess ordered Discord released, and that turned out to be for the best. Maybe the others are right and Princess Celestia had very good reasons to do whatever is it that she did or, even better, Twilight had got something wrong and was overreacting.
She chuckled darkly to herself. She, overreacting… Like that ever happened.
Was she in the wrong here? Even if the princess had hidden something in their past, she may have done it with a good and noble goal in mind. It was Princess Celestia… The very symbol of all a pony could look up to.
Of course, Twilight knew that Celestia had her shortcomings, but the important thing was that she was the big guardian of Harmony… The one that unified all and turned their world into what ponies more knowable in statecraft than Twilight called a utopia. Yes, it was an exaggeration… But…
Maybe, whatever she hid away, was necessary for the greater good of Equestria? That made sense, right? Well, Twilight couldn’t see how hiding a past emperor and his empire would help Equestria when everypony knew of King Sombra. Or this whole mess about the unicorns, the sun and herself… What if she stole the sun from the unicorns? Used it to reach for power.
They still lived in a near utopia…
Was it still a utopia if it was founded on a lie? On illegitimate rule?
She wished she could simply command her conflicting thoughts out of her head for a while.
When they arrived, they saw themselves in an atrium with large windows, balconies, sofas, chairs, a table. It looked like the changeling version of a luxurious living area. All sorts of spells kept the area comfortable, despite the winds outside and provided security to the area, including powerful spells on the door itself.
It was a black, wooden double door, adorned in green metallic embroidery and guarded by two of the tall, double sword-wielding black changelings. They looked stoic, but seemed to be ready to spring into action, while two more converged towards them from behind the group and four more stood by the balconies.
They made Twilight nervous. Now more than before and Shining eyed them distrustingly too.
“Your majesty?” One of the two by the door talked to Thorax. “Do you wish to see the Queen?”
“Twilight needs to talk to her for a while.” Thorax said calmly. “It’s important. Please tell Chrysalis that I would personally consider it a favor if she talked to Twilight and her friends.”
The guard nodded calmly, looking at the group, and then said nothing. Instead, knocked twice on the door and went inside, only opening the door enough to pass through, and closing it immediately after.
Again, the group found itself passing time, waiting for things to happen. This time, the ponies grouped together tightly. Maybe the tall changelings made them feel threatened as well, or maybe it was the things Twilight said earlier. Like Twilight, they all seemed uncomfortable in that room and the stares from the guards didn’t help.
Fortunately, Thorax stood alone, somewhat isolated in the middle of the room, uncomfortably staring into the floor and rubbing his forelegs together, probably still thinking about the things they found in the Archives.
Cadance approached him with a small smile and this provided Twilight with an opportunity that she took, casually approaching the two, however, careful not to make any sudden movements. He looked at them and smiled back.
“Sorry we blew this on you… This was meant to be a special day.” Cadance said, legitimately apologetically.
“Ah… It’s okay, Princess Cadance.” He said in a shy smile. “You didn’t know it was going to turn like it did. And this sounds very serious.”
He made a small pause and Twilight waited, feeling he wanted to say something else. “Do you think… That you’re right about what you said?”
“I don’t know.” She admitted. “That is why I want to talk to Chrysalis, and quickly… I need to understand what those things mean… I need to figure out what to do next. And she lived through that time… I think. How old is she, Thorax?”
He shook his head lightly. “I don’t know.”
Twilight frowned for a second. In a way, this was a good thing, but it rubbed her in the wrong way to think that Thorax didn’t know how old Chrysalis was, despite being… Married? Whatever he was to her. But then again, Thorax was very nice and might not have asked out of politeness. Twilight would have to not be as polite…
“What about these tall changelings?” The older alicorn asked in a particularly low voice. Fortunately, Thorax took the hint and did the same.
“Chrysalis calls them ‘Praetorians’.” His eyes shifted between the two ponies and the one guard that remained by the door. “They were born in the last brood.”
“Impossible!” Twilight kept her voice low. “They would be two years old!”
“Twilight, it’s the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life!” He barely kept from shrieking. “The others are still growing normally, but these guys… They looked adult in seven days. Our armorer gave them these swords and they simply started sparring like they spent a lifetime learning those things. They know combat spells I can’t figure out! They look at Chrysalis like she’s… Well, their mother. Normal changelings don’t do that… Sure, we all know and understand what she is, but they will stare evilly at you for so much suggesting something bad about her! They stare at us while we sleep, and I could swear I saw one of them trying to cut a lock of her mane! They freak me out!”
Great! Twilight was having second thoughts about the legitimacy of Celestia’s rule and now there’s an evil queen rising an army of crazy super changelings… Possibly with her leave. Just great.
“How many?” Cadance asked, discreetly looking at the guard by the door.
“Seventy-two changelings in the last brood.” Thorax said, slightly sad for a second. “Eight were inviable… But there were fifty okay… Half military, half civilian. And the rest were these creepy tall guys! Though, you couldn’t say when they hatched. Only Chrysalis and her eggmaidens knew and they took them away from the others. They just appeared out of nowhere a week later.”
Twilight and Cadance were a bit confused. Those were small numbers and they immediately remembered what the changeling doctor told them about their failing magic. Maybe Twilight was overreacting. The pink one decided she wanted to know more. “Are these black changelings supposed to be around? I was under the impression that all changelings had changed when Chrysalis was ousted.”
“They changed back when she returned.” He said, curiously. “Chrysalis said some creepy thing like she does when she’s making fun of you, and that was it.”
“Thorax, is it possible that they had disguised themselves to be with you?” Twilight asked.
He shook his head. “No… We’re very empathic. We’d know if another changeling was lying. The fact is that not everyling was happy when she was forced to leave.”
Then Twilight took a deep breath and watched curiously as Cadance talked to him again. “I… Thorax… Is… Everything… Alright? You know… With the changelings… Chrysalis?”
“Actually, yes. Chrysalis is a bit rough, but I’m sure she has the good of the Swarm in mind. All of the Swarm.” He said, worried, even though he had a low voice. “What worries me is that you just said that Princess Celestia may be hiding things… Like… She’s… Done something really bad!”
That, at least, put Twilight’s mind more at ease. She would trust Thorax to keep Chrysalis in check.
Finally, the door opened, and the tall changeling guard returned. “The Queen will see you and your friends, Princesses.”
“Thank you.” Twilight smiled, as she started walking towards the door the guard held open and her friends followed, along with Thorax.
Twilight didn’t know what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t what she saw thought the door…
A large open room, with enough room to park Twilight’s airship in it, with evenly spaced black obsidian pillars and walls. It had large glassed windows, a high ceiling and the floor was entirely made of a very beautiful and shiny, dark green marble. Each slab that combined to form the floor was framed in a gleaming green metal.
The giant room had different areas combined into a single, large room, and those included an office with a giant black wooden table, complete with rolled up scrolls piled, and assorted materials related. The room also had a big and luxurious sitting area, with large and comfortable sofas, a fluffy carpet and a giant painting of Chrysalis hanging from the wall, framed in gold. She smiled. Like she knew something. Secure in the knowledge that she was at the top. Like there was no one else above her and there would never be.
The room also had a giant bed, secluded close to the back, protected by green, gold embroidered curtains. It was big enough to comfortably hold some twenty ponies and its sheets were a deep jet-black satin.
In the center of the room was a table covered in sweets and jars filled with juices. Next to it, two of the ‘Praetorians' kept watch over the visitors and the whole room was littered by works of art, from creepy sculptures of dissected creatures to bladed weapons, paintings and a few richly adorned cups and plates, including painted porcelain, but also gold and gemstones.
And, next to the bed, was a standing piano. Made from black wood and adorned with beautiful green metal embroidery that made one think of the former changeling aesthetic, with its jagged forms and dangerous looking sharp edges.
Chrysalis sat next to it, and her black hooves touched the keys with a lightness and precision that supplemented the magic she used to hit the keys.
Twilight was full of questions, and some anger, in her head, but listening to the queen playing the piano, she was completely at a loss for what to ask her.
The queen wore a stunningly beautiful royal cape of dark-green velvet. It looked so pure it should be put in a museum instead of worn. It added a surreal sheen to the queen’s already shinny carapace and her strong frame didn’t seem capable of such elegance. She looked a little too rigid in her posture, with a rigid neck and back, but it didn’t get in the way of her art.
The ponies simply stared while she played her song and it entered their ears. It wasn’t particularly beautiful, but as all music, it spoke to their souls. Of peace, of a nice rhythm as life went on peacefully and, day in and day out, nothing much changed. It was a fancy march, that repeated its phrases. A dance of acute, happy notes that went up and down, eventually becoming deeper, as the song descended into a more melodramatic tone that sustained its notes, keeping its tempo and phrases. More mature, like growing up, becoming more complex.
Finally, her song concluded with sustained notes, which implied whatever it spoke about would endure, returning again to the higher notes, still sustained, until she left the keyboard.
The ponies simply stared surprised. Of all the things they expected, this was closer to the least ones. It was rarity that first started applauding, stomping her hooves on the marble, but the others soon followed. Not only because it was polite, but even the least musically inclined ones could see the value of what they had heard.
“Wow! Queen Chrysalis!” Spike applauded enthusiastically. “I didn’t think that you, of all the creatures I’ve met in my life would play the piano!”
“Spike!” Twilight called, shocked at him. “What a rude thing to say!”
She looked apologetically at the queen, who stood, carrying an open paper folder. Her green magical telekinesis floated it to the dragon and he held it curiously.
“It’s a pale imitation…” She said as she walked towards the central table. “It was composed by a true master… She invented the piano and then wrote a song with it.”
The dragon hummed and looked at the top of the sheet, and it was titled ‘Cuore’. Then he closed the folder and the cover had a painting of a beautiful prairie under a sunny sky. Its title was written in white ink, at the top: ‘Vivissimo’.
“I’ve never heard of it.” Rarity looked at the folder the dragon held and then looked at the queen.
“She mostly plays different things now. Though it’s still something to behold.” Chrysalis reached for a white éclair with her magic. “Make yourselves comfortable since you’re here to talk…”
The gears in Twilight’s head were spinning again, but she didn’t notice something Chrysalis said. Cadance did. It didn’t make any sense. The inventor of the piano never played it. She was speaking in metaphors, though Cadance didn’t think she knew why they were there and shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Chrysalis was talking about something different, incidentally.
“Well, just because somepony invented the piano, and then wrote a song for it…” Rarity said, holding the sheets in her magic. “It doesn’t mean that another can’t do something worthwhile with it.”
“Quite right.” Chrysalis agreed and her magic floated a cookie to Rarity. “Here…”
In her defense, Rarity did her utmost best not to show how annoyed she was, beyond her ears turned back and unfriendly look, but almost regretted the compliment. Meanwhile, the queen sat behind her large desk and stared at the ponies and dragon who congregated before her.
But before Twilight could say anything, Rainbow spoke as she looked around. “You know… You look like you’re doing very well for yourself, with all this luxury.”
“Changelings are made in this room, Rainbow Dash.” The queen grinned, flashing her sharp teeth, staring at the pegasus over the desk. “This is hallowed ground.”
“Sheesh…” The pegasus grimaced, her ears thrown back.
“Thank you for receiving us, Chrysalis.” Cadance said in a diplomatic tone.
“Thank Thorax.” She said. “If it wasn’t for him asking, I’d have you all thrown off the Rock.”
Then, Chrysalis made herself comfortable at her large chair. “I hope you didn’t see anything too disturbing in your way through the laboratory, though.”
‘Bitch…’ was what Twilight thought, but she stared at the queen innocently enough. “We did our best not to intrude.”
“And did you find what you were looking for?” The queen’s grin was starting to unnerve Twilight. Why in Tartarus was it so hard to simply talk to her? “Since you’re here, I suppose that you found exactly what you were looking for.”
The young alicorn almost panicked. Chrysalis knew! She might even have already warned Princess Celestia that her former student was poking at forbidden knowledge. Her eyes strayed to the stack of scrolls over the desk and her heart raced like it wanted to explode… A simple letter would’ve sufficed, and she wasted so much time… Celestia could be on her way right now!
She needed to think of something, fast!
Her friends stared at her and Twilight drew a blank under the queen’s gaze. Finally, Cadance came to her rescue, taking a step forward. “Chrissy, did you see the letter?”
“No.”
Twilight’s ears perked up. Did she hear it right? “You… Haven’t seen the letter?”
“No!” The queen said again. “I don’t care about it. I was worried that Celestia had sent you to spy and to sabotage, you dummy. We thought that the letter was fabricated, precisely because we know that you ponies follow the story as told by the griffons! Not, in a million years, would I care about some griffon monarch with a generic name. Do you have any idea how many of them existed and the griffons never bothered to mention because they all thought of themselves like their gods walking the earth because they owned a small fiefdom?!”
What in Equestria was this cursed mare talking about then?! Did she really fear so much that Twilight would poke around in that creepy laboratory of hers? She almost regretted not looking under those damn sheets!
But, right then. Twilight was worried about something she thought was much more important.
“Are you kidding me?” She cried angrily at the queen. “This Gregor was just some nobody that happened to talk to King Sombra? What about their conversation about the sun and the night sky? The temperature? The unicorns?”
“What are you talking about?” The queen repeated. “Like I said, I thought it was a ruse and didn’t even pay attention to any of this talk. What temperature?”
While the ponies generally stared with profoundly annoyed expressions, and ostensive irritation, Cadance actually talked to her. “Chrysalis, we discovered that Equestria’s records are wrong when compared to yours. Temperatures and sunrise, etcetera. We think somepony may have changed our records.”
With that Twilight growled and magically grabbed the briefcase with the letter and all of their notes, slamming it open on Chrysalis’ desk. “For pony’s sake! Look at this letter and our notes!”
Nonchalantly, the queen grabbed the preserved letter in her hooves and quickly scanned it, before stopping and staring at Twilight, next to Cadance with a small scowl.
“Put your hooves up.” She told them, and the both of them obeyed innocently before the queen grabbed a beating stick from her desk and promptly hit their legs, while scowling fiercely, and causing both to yelp painfully.
“It’s pronounced ‘Grigor’, you simpletons!” She yelled at them while the others did their best not to laugh. “Celestia ought to put the both of you kneeling on corn until you can read this thing right!”
The two princesses massaged their sore legs, whining and staring angrily at the queen and Cadance replied thoroughly offended. “It’s a dead language, you know?”
“Quiet. I’m reading. This guy actually was important.” She snapped back at her, focusing on the letter
A few minutes passed as the queen scowled again, but she looked curious. Twilight and Cadance waited as she seemed to check and re-check their notes, more than she worried about the letter. She then stared thoughtfully at the two princesses and then back at the letter. Finally, she let it rest on the desk and stared at nothing in particular.
The others could practically hear the spinning gears in her head.
Finally, her thoughtful scowl turned softer and she started to giggle, then to laugh and within seconds she had surrendered to one of the most heartfelt laughter they had ever seen. It sounded weird in her voice, but at least it wasn’t the typical evil laughter.
“What is so funny?” Rainbow asked, feeling like the queen was making fun of them.
“Millenia later, it had to be her own students to happen upon a random letter that happened to mention this mess. And of all of Celestia’s students, it had to be The Twilight Sparkle!”
Her audience didn’t seem particularly amused, but she surrendered to laughter again, trying to regain her breath. “Through the millennia, I’ve seen Celestia spinning schemes and planning centuries ahead before her efforts bore fruit. I’ve witnessed as she forged her great empire of rosy-colored sugary friendships and I’ve watched as she either struck down her enemies or formed alliances with her faithful, shifting her pieces all over the gameboard, until she had all under her sun. I have, myself, surrendered to her and felt like a child before that ageless gaze of hers… And one tinny letter escaped the grasp of the mighty Matriarch.”
Twilight wasn’t amused. Not one bit.
“Well, it is kinda funny.” Pinkie chuckled.
“Then again…” Chrysalis stared at the two princesses. “Perhaps it was only right that you two would be the ones to find this tiny crack and explore it. Oh, thank you, Twilight Sparkle. Thank you so much for this moment.”
“Will you stop making fun of us and start talking?” Cadance stared angrily at the queen. “This is serious!”
“Fine.” She still sounded like she was having too much fun. “I see what happened. You found this letter and it told you some things that didn’t seem right. Then you poked around and figured out that what didn’t make much sense was the story you’ve believed your whole lives. Now, from the start… Make yourselves comfortable. It’s story time.”
They did. Chrysalis guards politely brought them pillows and chairs. And as they did, Chrysalis started talking.
“You are wondering who was this Grigor fellow and why he didn’t seem to exist. It’s because the griffons hated him enough to erase him and all his… Let’s call those ‘achievements’ from their history. And they had help from a certain pony with a lot of power in that time, that also had a lot of interest in that period vanishing from history. So, they helped each other, even if said pony still wasn’t as loved by the griffons.”
“What did he do?” Twilight rolled her eyes at avoiding saying Celestia’s name but was actually surprised. In her world there just wasn’t anything anyone could do to earn so much hatred from their own people.
“Before you understand Grigor, you must understand the kind of world he was born on.” Chrysalis relaxed into her chair again. “Do you remember the Windigos?”
“Of course!” They said in unison.
“Some believe that, in a similar way the ponies summoned the Windigos, they summoned Discord into Equestria. Some say it was because their leaders had become corrupt, which led to more in-fighting. Others think that it was because ponies got bored with their easy life and started messing with magic they shouldn’t. A few think it simply was inevitable, like a random monster. The fact is that Equestria was a beautiful republic, founded on the principles of Friendship, by some nice ponies you know about.”
Twilight nodded and Cadance grinned as she spoke. “Yes. Princess Platinum, Clover The Clever, Smart Cookie, Puddinghead, General Hurricane and Private Pansy.”
Chrysalis grinned. “Except Platinum was not a princess, and was a vicious viper, Hurricane was a megalomaniacal plothole, Pansy was a tool, and Smart Cookie was incredibly dim-witted. The only ones worth a damn were Puddinghead and Clover. And… Star Swirl. Still, Puddinghead kept to the business of his family, Clover only cared for his studies and Star Swirl… He was the mighty, the great and powerful Archmage. Full of himself.”
“I don’t understand.” Twilight looked dejected.
“Ponies change, Twilight Sparkle.” Chrysalis said plainly. “Their journey looking for a place to run from the Windigos changed them. Well, Star Swirl wasn’t with them, but they influenced him. They became friends and changed each other. Then, the Fire of Friendship banished the Windigos and they brought the others to the new land. They founded Equestria and for three hundred years, it flourished so fast and so brilliantly even other nations wanted to be a part of it. They founded the Senate of Equestria and it was composed of representatives from all provinces of the republic, all races that composed it, yadda, yadda... Meanwhile, the Archmage governed the Mage’s Guild and they cared for the sun and the moon.”
“Sounds… Great.” Starlight was confused, as were the others. “Why did you say that corruption might’ve summoned Discord?”
“Because they changed again. By the time Discord arrived, they were back the way they used to be. You will notice they lived far longer than any of the ponies today. Huh…Platinum was over five centuries when she died.”
“They didn’t want to let go of their power…” Twilight mused. “They used life extension spells. But why would that have summoned Discord?”
“Like I said, nobody knows why Discord appeared. But I wonder, because any creature that is drunk with power don’t usually simply hoard it: they use it.”
“You think they abused their stations and became corrupt?” Applejack asked.
Again, Chrysalis nodded. “Regardless, Discord came and he… I don’t know what exactly he did, but he knew very well what he was doing. The Republic fell within days. Nations worldwide crumbled. He… He messed with our heads. Ponies, griffons, yaks, dragons, changelings, everything became… Corrupted, for lack of a better word. Insanity reigned and all he touched would laugh without stop and destroy everything they could. I don’t understand the process of what he did, but it was like he could flick a switch and turn creatures to vicious monsters. Ponies were particularly vulnerable, but all would fall to this madness. Everything died by the millions and nothing could stop him.”
Twilight frowned distrustingly and her voice carried a very derisive tone. “Discord… Caused a ‘zompony apocalypse’?”
“Well, despite your unfaithful way of speaking, this analogy isn’t very distant from the truth.” The queen sneered at her, then breathed in. “Then one day, everything stopped. We didn’t hear him in our heads anymore. The survivors were freed but our world was consumed by destruction. You never realized Discord was that bad because you caught him early, and most important: before your time, somepony had sanitized the whole story.”
“It was along the following century that the sun started acting up.” Chrysalis smiled creepily. “Stars vanished. The moon grew dark and the days grew hotter and hotter. We felt it in our magic, even the earth ponies, the yaks and all the less obviously magic creatures. Magic itself was damaged. The answer was obvious… Discord must have caused some sort of lasting damage.”
The queen stared out a window. “By that time, the Swarm had begun to reorganize its spy network and we found that, like us, the whole world felt something was wrong, and worse: there was no trace of his magic left. The new conclusion soon came: our world was dying. Things were spiraling out of control because the sun was on the fritz.”
“Did Discord damage the sun?” Pinkie asked with a confused frown. “This sounds so weird.”
“No…” Twilight answered, thoughtfully looking downwards. “They didn’t find his magic anymore. How did the ponies defeat him? It sounds as though they wouldn’t be able to summon the Fire of Friendship, nor did they have the Elements of Harmony. What happened?”
“I don’t know.” Chrysalis shook her head. “Whatever happened, happened at the worst of Discord, no one, even the equestrians, could spare the resources to record what was happening. But I do know that Equestria’s founders had survived. They lived in a small town called Everfree, near the ruins of the capital. Yes, that Everfree. It was then a small fiefdom ruled by two families… The Bluebloods and the Brightmanes. A few other noble families shared their little town, but the gist of it was that the Bluebloods and Brightmanes owned the town. Star Swirl still headed the Mage’s Guild and he was responsible for the sun and moon, along with his colleagues. And doing a bad job of it. We found records of members of the guild going insane from so much as touching that thing with their magic and losing all of it within months in the beginning, and days near the end.”
“Wait… The Bluebloods?” Cadance asked surprised.
“The very same.” She took a sip of a glass with a red juice before continuing. “Star Swirl seemed to know what he was talking about so everyone took him seriously when he said that our world was indeed sick. The problem was that the ponies were its disease. I don’t know what happened, but he was convinced that what summoned Discord was some evil within ponies. Something very wrong with ponies, specifically. Of course, that part bothered the rich ponies in charge, and they tried to keep him down. But Star Swirl was desperate, like a madpony. Desperately looking for the ‘Goddesses Reborn’. Because they would take the power away from the ‘bad ponies’ and would be able to fix the sun, control the day and the moon.”
“It was amid that madness that Grigor was born.” Chrysalis nodded once, speaking slowly. “The griffons love a big bully and in a dying world, they flocked to him like he was made of candy. He united the griffon kingdoms, but that wasn’t enough for him. He called himself a descendant of the griffon Patriarchs, the creators of his race and he might’ve been right… He was able to cast spells by speaking enchantments, like they were. He also said it was their divine mandate that he ruled the world and demanded to be called a god. He was the kind of guy that when Celestia would offer you a friendly hoof, he would nail your hoof to the wall of your house and rob it, then leave you to die. Griffons of his time actually liked that… ‘If you can’t defend, it isn’t yours.’”
“Giant prick…” She concluded with a sneer.
“Griffons can do that?” Rainbow asked curiously. “Do magic, I mean?”
“Today, only one can…” She answered. “It’s in their blood. Their heritage. That is why the Lion can claim to be a descendant of the Patriarchs and amass the support he has. The thing is: while he could have found out about the Patriarchs easily, he would need training for his spells At least the right words of power.”
Cadance hummed thoughtfully and Twilight intruded. “Of course, it doesn’t help that the current chancellor is being accused of embezzlement.”
“Ha!” The queen laughed. “In the dark corners of Griffonstone, today, agents of the Lion whisper of secession, armed rebellion if the Lion is not made their king. But some of them also point claws and say that their proud race was ‘defanged’, ‘castrated’, ‘demoralized’… ‘Subjugated’.”
Chrysalis made a gesture over the table. “The thing is, griffons rallied to him. Maybe they hoped he had a solution because the sun was baking everyone alive. Despair and panic spread throughout the world and we felt like we had a countdown over our heads. But for the griffons, that didn’t see what happened in Equestria, it could easily be that Grigor actually did solve something. All he would have to do is sit his ass atop a mountain and shout a few impressive words nobody else could understand.”
“What happened in Equestria?” Cadance asked. In her head, she was beginning to put the pieces together.
“Something curious happened then…” The queen said mysteriously. “Get this: a cult of ponies appeared. They worshiped the creator deities of Equestria and called themselves Children of the Sun. They spoke of an ancient pact the ponies had broken and that was the problem. Ponies were supposed to uphold six virtues that their leadership had forsaken and thus had forsaken Harmony itself. They cried that the salvation would come, through the Goddesses Reborn. The same ones Star Swirl seemed to be looking for.”
“You see where this is going…” Chrysalis grinned a little more. “They claimed that their goddesses came from the sun and the moon and that they destroyed Discord and would return, eventually, to bend the evil ponies and would restore the purity of their souls through freezing night or searing day and relight the Fire of Friendship.”
“Wow…” Starlight Glimmer said sarcastically. “And I thought Twilight was overbearing with the friendship thing.”
“Excuse me?” Twilight looked at her and the others laughed for a while. “Also, what creator deities of Equestria?”
“Beats me.” The queen shrugged. “Anyway… Finally, it came to a point where the sun simply refused to set. It had grown as big as a quarter of the sky and so bright it blinded anyone who went outside. We had no idea why, but not only that, magic had become corrupt… It wouldn’t work. I had made my peace and was ready to die, surrounded by my children.”
Ponies, dragons, and changelings stared comically at her while she made silence for a few moments. “Then…”
“The sun exploded!” Pinkie cried in anxiety.
“It did explode.” The queen said looking at her and causing her to gasp in shock. “It made infernally hot winds and what remained turned darker than the night. All light vanished and it made a terrible sound, like a crying ghost. Reality began to break down around us and I felt like that thing in the sky was trying to swallow us whole.”
“Chrysalis, are you telling us the truth?” Twilight looked annoyed among her entranced audience. Cadance was annoyed Twilight interrupted her and stared but said nothing.
“Of course, I am!” The queen said, surprised.
“Really?” Twilight was now angry. “The sun exploded? And then turned black?”
“Oh, I’m sorry Sparkle. I would’ve taken a picture for you, but cameras hadn’t been invented and I was too busy trying not to piss myself while the universe broke down around me.”
“The sun cannot turn black!” The purple alicorn shouted. “That thing generates energy. How can it turn black?”
Chrysalis shrugged. “I don’t know. Go ask your mentor… She’s the one that understands that freakish thing up there.”
“I can’t believe this! The only pony I could always trust, can’t be trusted anymore and I’m sitting here listening to a pathological liar telling me about goddesses and the sun exploding!” Twilight screamed in frustration, making angry gestures with her hooves.
“Twilight…” Applejack’s voice calmed Twilight a little and she looked at her. “I think you may be judging Princess Celestia a tad too harshly.”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe…She did tell some lies. Maybe the story we have is a romanticized one, where our founders were great and stand-up ponies, where the princesses were received with a party and they simply decided the Sisters should rule Equestria because they have the characteristics of the three tribes and all that, and that one day Celestia simply rose the sun and returned everypony their magic….”
“Your point?” She stared at her friend’s green eyes almost like she wanted to intimidate her.
But Applejack wasn’t impressed. “What good will it bring if we keep pushing and find some ugly truth?”
“Who are you and what have you done to Applejack?” Pinkie eyed her suspiciously. “Did you miss your element jewel or something?”
“Pinkie, honesty is important, good and all. But we’re at a point where if we keep digging, we’ll break the dam.”
“Applejack!” Twilight yelled. “Chrysalis mentioned the Bluebloods! They are still alive! Archduke Blueblood could have a legitimate claim to the throne of Equestria!”
“What the hay?!” Applejack shook her head. “Twilight! Listen to yourself!”
“I find it extremely difficult to believe that the archduke could maintain the confederacy in the same way the Princess does.” Rarity said as though the mere mention of the name was offensive. “I believe that the throne is in good hooves with Celestia and Luna.”
“Yeah!” Rainbow gained the air, flapping her wings excitedly. “But we should do it! I mean, Chrysalis might be telling us horseapples, but imagine if the Princesses kicked some butt to protect Equestria from the evil ponies!”
Pinkie immediately stood up and started kicking the air with her forelegs. “Like… Princess Celestia had to fix the sun! And then they had to take control of Equestria from some evil king and Star Swirl helped them! And then she fought the evil griffon emperor! And then ponies started following her because they were so awesome! And then…”
“Or maybe Princess Celestia thinks herself some angry goddess that decided to punish the whole world because of some stupid thing!” Cadance said angrily, bringing down the excitement level in the room to glacial levels. “Or perhaps she killed somepony and stole the crown for her! Or even, she held Equestria hostage with the sun, along with the whole world!”
The ponies, the dragon, and the changelings present stared at the teary-eyed princess, but she went on before they could say anything. “I don’t want to live in a world were the closest pony I have for a mother has done something awful! Like, like… Conquering the entire world in a giant war just because it was her divine right or something like that. But if that is what happened, she needs punishment! For lying! To all of us!”
Twilight understood their points. She lowered her eyes and took in Cadance’s words too. Now that she was calmer. The fact was… The world already belonged to them. Twilight included herself in it because she was a Princess of Equestria. She was the same Celestia was… Given the adequate proportions… When Twilight traveled to distant lands, griffons, yaks… And changelings… They all saw a Princess of Equestria in her. A justiciar trusted by what they recognized as the very magic that made their world work, to right the wrongs. To protect.
Sure, some insisted that Celestia made her an alicorn, but they were wrong, the dragons didn’t care about ponies and their laws and the buffaloes had their own thing going… They were friends. They were listened if anything happened and they would listen to Princess Celestia. Especially Ember, nowadays. They welcomed the decisions of the princesses.
Wasn’t that exactly what Princess Celestia was? An alicorn, like Twilight. Twilight didn’t choose to become a princess. Neither had Cadance. It happened. Whatever power actually ruled the magic of their world, it decided that she ought to be one. As it did with Celestia. With Luna… Even if Luna became Nightmare Moon, she was chosen too.
Twilight frowned a little as it dawned on her… Princess Luna did something wrong, but she was still made an alicorn. Rather than thinking that this magic would make a mistake, Twilight would think that she was made an alicorn despite that. Whatever happened was part of some greater plan. And that made sense, considering Princess Celestia might have done something wrong… She was still the ‘north’ Equestria followed. She was nothing short of their sun.
Whatever she did, it ought to be celebrated, or remembered, like Nightmare Moon. Not pushed under the rug and forgotten. Especially because, thinking clearly, and remembering the old pony she knew, her old mentor probably did something amazing. Legendary. Maybe she weaponized the sun, or, maybe… Just maybe… She fixed the sun. It didn’t make much sense that an evil pony would become what Celestia had become.
With a renewed purpose, she turned to her friends again. “We have to find out the truth. Not because Princess Celestia must have done something wrong; but because whatever happened must be made known so that all can judge for themselves. And knowing her… It probably was something outstanding she didn’t want to take credit for.”
Cadance seemed convinced enough, and as her ‘partner’ Twilight was too.
“What’s our next step, them?” Starlight asked, stepping next to Twilight. “We know for sure that things happened we didn’t know. We know the sun got all screwed, that Discord arrived sooner than we thought, in relation to the arrival of the Royal Sisters and that things may not have been very friendly. We also know that Grigor, the griffon Emperor, did exist and was a threat.”
“Well, Chrysalis didn’t know much more about what actually happened when the princesses arrived or how did the ponies deal with Discord.” Applejack said with her accent. “I reckon we need to figure out what happened to the griffon army?”
“Good one, Applejack!” Twilight grinned excitedly, and the changeling queen talked behind her, from her desk.
“It did arrive in Equestria. They certainly sent letters back to Grigor. We never caught one of them, however. They used good messengers… Griffons can fly far.”
“They were probably destroyed…” Twilight caressed her chin. “The griffons certainly would’ve destroyed everything they got their paws on when they sanitized their history.”
“What about what they didn’t get their paws on?” Spike offered with a raised finger. “I bet this Grigor guy knew when things started going south for him and took precautions.”
Twilight agreed with a nod, and then looked back to Chrysalis. “How did he end?”
The queen grinned mischievously. “Celestia offered him friendship. When he didn’t accept it, she beat him to death with it.”
Twilight turned around and looked more directly at her. “Wasn’t she busy fixing Equestria?”
“The griffons called for help. The nicer griffons that would rather live in peace. After Celestia and Luna did become the rulers, news of them spread far and fast.” The queen said calmly. “How did you think that things started with the griffons? But their nobility didn’t like it one bit. Then she offered them friendship, and most were smart enough to accept it. For the time.”
“Well, small wonder the griffons thought ill of the princess!” Applejack looked at the princesses. “Up to this day and with the Princess Meddling Accord…”
“The Alicorn Concordat, Applejack…” Cadance frowned.
Twilight nodded. That much she knew: the part the griffons omitted was about Grigor. It probably was around that time King Grover did his thing. Maybe he united the kingdoms did join the confederacy, in a similar way to their told story. Yes… That made sense.
“If the Lion knows how to use their speaking magic…” Cadance said. “He certainly found other documents of that time.”
Applejack smiled. “Five Bits say he has a bunch of letters and, I reckon, a scroll or two.”
“Nice!” Rainbow grinned. “We have our next destination! Griffonia!”
“Yes!” Twilight said “All the way to his fortress in the north.”
“Uh… Yeah, Twilly…” Shining said coming closer to her. “You’re not taking my wife and child to a place ready to burst in civil war.”
Cadance raised an eyebrow at that and Flurry Heart seemed ready for a fight!
“Aw, come on, Shinny. You’ll be there to protect us.” Starlight Glimmer giggled, drawing the same from the others. “Not to mention… Have you forgotten who you’re taking to?”
“Yeah!” Rainbow jumped excitedly. “We’re Equestria’s flank kicking squad! We’re escorting Princess Twilight Sparkle to talk to local leader.”
Shinning wasn’t amused. “Dash, we’re not talking about ‘chasing off monster adventure’. It’s going to be griffons. With combat barding. Muskets, swords, pikes. And not necessarily nice town militias: gruff and violent mercenaries commanding scared conscripted griffons. Far from Equestria’s heartland and the eyes of the Princess.”
“Oooh… Bad griffon boys.” Pinkie elbowed at Rarity who giggled more than she would like to admit.
Twilight did her best not to giggle. “It’s going to be fine, Shining Armor. We can watch for ourselves.”
“Twilight, you have never been shot at. No one ever tried to murder you with a mace. You have never killed another being that wasn’t a monster.” He argued and she got a little angry.
“I have dealt with dragons, Shining Armor. They don’t shoot: they rip you apart and breath fire on you.”
She stared for a second. “No offense, Spike.”
“None taken.” He waved a hand casually.
“Shining…” Cadance used her ‘not angry yet but you better wise up tone’ “We routinely fight monsters, train hard and do pretty well in our weekly sparring sessions. Specially Twilight and her friends.”
Shinning Armor sighed in defeat. “Fine. Can we, at least take your guards with us?”
Twilight grinned and offered him a hoof. “That, we can do BBBFF.”
He simply smiled and bumped her hoof.
“Cool!” Rainbow said, excited again and flapping her wings. “We fly to Ponyville and teleport to Griffonia?”
“Griffonstone, more precisely.” Twilight added. “From there, we charter a flight to Griffinsky. Or the next best thing.”
All agreed, except for Shining Armor, who was still worried. Finally, Twilight turned to Chrysalis again.
“Thank you, Queen Chrysalis. You were invaluable.” She said with a smile.
“I’ll drown you in chlorinated water next time I find you in my Spawning Pool.” The queen answered with a blank expression.
Cadance stared at her with a similar expression. “That reminds me… We are still Princesses of Equestria and I would really like to know what is it with the tall changeling soldiers?”
“Eye candy.” Chrysalis replied nonchalantly. “What queen doesn’t love strong, tall guys in uniform?”
Twilight kept staring at her, holding a very annoyed expression, and Cadance almost accepted that line of thought. Until the queen spoke again with a smug grin. “Surround yourself with some studs, Twilight. Celestia has about two thousand and an alicorn like a dream.”
“I think it’s about time we left…” Twilight said with an inkling of annoyance in her voice. The others simply agreed and followed her out, as did the others after Chrysalis guards opened the doors.
But then, Cadance stopped by the door and the others passed her. She turned around and looked at the queen sitting behind her desk. Each stared the other in the eyes for an instant. The princess didn’t really have much energy left on her after all that’s happened since they arrived in the Changeling Rock, but there was one other thing that kept bugging her from the back of her mind, like a small, infuriating pebble stuck under her horseshoe.
“Chrysalis… Are we… Friends?” She asked, cautious, but certain.
“I suppose we are.” The queen said, her own gaze falling. “I’m new to this friendship thing… But I haven’t killed you for intruding on my Spawning Pool. Why do you ask?”
Twilight was somewhat surprised… Maybe Cadance would’ve gotten better results if she had talked to the queen from the start.
Cadance sighed. “What about the legend?”
Twilight stared at Cadance with curiosity. She, likely, had been wondering the same things she had since they arrived.
“What legend?” Chrysalis Frowned.
“Of Mother Farfalla.” Cadance said.
“There is no legend of Mother Farfalla. It’s the Legend of Queen Chrysalis.” Chrysalis said plainly.
Cadence rolled her eyes impatiently. “Is it true, though?”
Chrysalis hummed and smiled, slowly flashing her sharp teeth. “The thing you want to know, and is afraid of asking is… ‘Did Night-Made-Flesh exist?’ And ‘Is she Princess Luna?’ After all, the Children of the Sun preached about the Goddesses Reborn. Star Swirl believed them and… What do you know... We have a princess to care for the day, and another to care for the night. Legends are dangerous things, though. They change over time and they often fit too well what the people who spread them wanted to believe. Particularly in times of great strife.”
“Is it true, though?” Cadance repeated herself letting her frustration slip into her voice. “Didn’t you just tell me to stop beating around the bush?”
“You are not listening, Cadance. There was a time I made changelings believe that Princess Celestia ate changeling larvae.” The princess simply stared at Chrysalis with a blank expression. “It’s propaganda. You demonize your enemy and sanctify your allies.”
Cadance nodded once and turned to leave after excusing herself. The others followed, including Twilight, but she was a little confused. Did Cadance believe that Luna was the goddess?
Herself, Twilight thought it was well within the realm of the reasonable that Luna was Night-Made-Flesh. Hold the ‘goddess’ thing… It made her think it was a thing of the time. The legend may have ‘retouched’ her appearance and gave it some more drama… At the same time, it seemed a little strange that Luna would do such a thing. But, if she really did resent ponies not liking her night enough, she might have been offended at the rejection, already in an unbalanced mental state.
Thought, it did make her think why is it that she wouldn’t reverse the curse now.
Finally, she grunted internally. This whole affair was a mess and she was tired. She wanted nothing more than to return to her airship and sleep. Even if it would be in its tight quarters.
As the doors closed, Chrysalis remained in her chair and Thorax approached her. She had an amused expression and tapped the table lightly with a hoof.
“Is that why you created the Praetorians?” She looked at Thorax and he sounded and looked like a lost puppy. “I though I looked well enough.”
She merely sighed. “I have to go to Canterlot… I was planning a trip, but I need to hurry… Celestia needs to catch up with them before they reach The Lion. You need to stay and make sure all the reporters that will flood in after they hear Twilight and Cadance were here can’t learn of what they found.”
“This sounds serious…” He said ominously, despite his earlier question.
“It’s not. Not right now. But remember that saying about the children playing with fire while the mother is away?” He nodded yes. “Cadance and Twilight are flailing around with a flamethrower.”
The queen paused for an instant and grinned mischievously. “Not to mention, I can’t wait to see the look on Celestia’s face when I tell her…”
***
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Maybe they should talk to Discord first...
9622369
Twilight and Cadance think he's unreliable.
But I agree that it wouldn't make any sense if they didn't, at least, try to talk to him. They'll cross paths in the following chapters. I also wanted to save his appearance for a specific scene.
Is Discord still a friend?
10027341
Yes. He shows up in a following chapter.
So, concurrent plotlines and a conspiracy centuries in the making. I like it.
10758212
I'm glad you enjoy!
This AU consumes my thoughts since season 2.
And Chrysie says this while playing both ends against the middle all the while she's setting her own flamethrower at all three points of the candle.
Gotta love Chrysie!!
10863884
She's one of the reasons I decided to go with an AU instead of following through after the cartoon's ending. I wanted to play around with her and the the alicorn princesses.
Just commenting that I like this Chrysalis. This was an awesome chapter.
11658799
Great! I'm glad you like her.