One Last Letter

by Black Hailstorm

To: A Queen and Her Subjects

Eyes narrowed, carefully watching, the changeling queen eyed the little dusty metal box that sat in front of her royal throne. With a flicker of her long, narrow tongue in the air, she sensed strange yet familiar magic.

Magic that made her oddly think of one individual before she pushed that thought out of her mind.

With a suspicious eye she looked at Hunter 1-9-8-8-2-5 who had dragged the box out of a pit from some forgotten region of the old abandoned diamond dog tunnels under the nest. She looked around at her gathered subjects and with a mental inquiry prodded for answers at the suspicious object before her.

All the minds of her various changelings came up with nothing. Not a clue what the box was or why it was there. The only one that knew of it was Hunter 1-9-8-8-2-5 and when the queen locked eyes with her servant and pitched another inquiry that would trickle signs of knowledge or subterfuge through the shared mental link, she found that Hunter 1-9-8-8-2-5, known as Silk, had nothing to give.

And so Chrysalis eyed the stange dusty metal box with a curious eye, finding herself oddly intrigued at opening, a feeling that was only multiplied by the impulse of her changelings begging her to open it.

"What is this you have brought to me?" the two-toned voice demanded. "What is this Silk?"

"It's...a letter, Your Highness." Silk hesitantly replied. "I'm not sure how I know this, but he made this...as a thanks."

Eyes narrowing, lips curling back in a snarl, the queen hissed and her hiss was echoed by several changelings around her, their fangs barred. Mandibles surfacing from their mouths and twitching in aggression.

"Who made this?" the queen asked with no trace of patience.

"I--" Silk bowed her head. "I don't know. I awoke to it calling me, and it said you would listen."

That urge to open the box was getting dangerously stronger. Chrysalis scowled, her horn ignited and purple sparkles flew from her horn. "I won't."

As if on cue, the moment those words left her lips the box exploded from the impact of her spell.

Only for the smoke to fade with it unmarred. Not a second later, the latch fell off. The lid lifted open. The scroll floated out, light emitting from it as it flew into the air, glowing with such lumination it was almost blinding--

Chrysalis lashed out with a blast of green fire, the room alive with the fearful hissing of thousands as she answered their cries of fear and concern.

The hive was filled with warmth and the walls were bathed in a ominous emerald green glow as the scroll was eaten by emerald fire, licking and lapping at the cursed object with vengeance--

A message to a lovely queen. From your dubious ally, the unicorn you would have killed.

Light emitting from it at every word.

And then Chrysalis' ire fled her, as did the hissing die one by one, the room filled with cold silence as they realized the voice of who spoke.

The letter did not burn, even as the cursed fire tried to devour it.

I am not surprised you would resort to such methods, then again you should know from our dealings I am not normal, these flames of yours will do nothing till my message is done.

"How?" one changeling echoed the question that filled the minds of their brothers and sisters and ruler. "How are you--"

Alive? I should probably clarify-- I am but a piece of the original's soul. Whatever fate became of the real me, I have no way of knowing. I am nothing but a record, a message given life through his will; bonded with parchment, written in a mixture of ink and his own blood, infused with his magic. I am not the one you allowed into your hive, my lovely. I share but a piece of his memories, and also hold only his intentions.

Jaw set, face neutral, Chrysalis looked upon the floating scroll and asked: "what exactly would those be" she said with impatience. "Here to destory us for fleeing when you failed?"

The talking scroll ignored this and instead said:

To a Lovely Queen and her Subjects,

To the outlaws, the stragglers, the survivors. To the hive. I promised you when I asked for your aide against the storm king, that you would be rewarded and that Equestria's heroes would not intervene in those rewards. When the time came and you acted as my ears and eyes, mindful of Miss Brittle and her changelings, you gave me the support I needed to aim for Tempest Shadow and the growing dissonance among some of Amadeus soldiers and the high command.

For that, I thanked you. I gave you my love. You doubted I would be able to support a hive of hundreds of thousands, and you accepted so you could use a diplomatic chip against me. Blackmail me into your clutches so you could influence the crown through me.

And I proved you wrong, didn't I, my sweet Chrysi?

The changeling queen rose her head higher, maintaing a her regal posture as her remaining subjects huddled around her. Maintaining a look of defiance, just as they had throughout history.

Chrysalis did not speak, she would not dignify this floating horcrux with the truth. And so, after a pause the letter went on.

I gave you my love, I pushed the limits of my magic and fed your children, your soldiers, your subjects. And you doubted my sincerity, which for all honesty I do not blame you.

When the time of civil war threatened to derail everything, I asked for your support once more. You demanded something greater.

To ensure that I would not break my side of the deal I allowed you to bind me to a vow. The kiss of obedience, a vow impossible to break once cast.

And what a vow it was, wasn't it?

Chrysalis said nothing.

Several changelings however touched their muzzles, the memory of the kiss echoing in their minds.

I did not break that vow. For all your doubts, I did not have the power to nor could I if I did. This is why I, this letter, exist before you now.

I have brought you something, something to feed your kind in case my defeat has brought irreparable damage I had hoped to avoid. Look inside the box my love bug. Look inside and see...

The letter went silent yet the crackle and pop of fire continued as it still existed.

"My queen--" Chrysalis rose, not waiting for an answer. Wings popping out of her elytra she flapped on four silent wings, lifting from her throne and landing in front of the box feet below.

All eyes watched her.

And on some level, her superior senses felt that somehow, the letter, his eyes, also watched her as well.

It is a trap the words echoed across the line in her mind. Her servants and their concern, the ones who remained loyal to her, the reason she did not quit all this struggling and disappear with a new plan in mind. She looked around at the hundreds of thousands, somehow the room feeling not as full as it should be even with still so many, and then she marched forward. Horn glowing, eyes on the box.

Stopping her tongue flicked out and she searched the air for thauma particles of dark magic. Unstable energy that showed signs of hexes, jinxes, curses. When she found none, she leaned her head down, looked into the box--

And was hit with a wave of love.

Immediately Chrysalis snapped her head out of the box and then peered back in.

She felt another burst, hitting at her like a wave on a beach. And when she pulled it out, that sphere that pulsed with light like the beating of a heart and as she raised it high above her head for all to see, her eyes widened.

And every changeling in the hive watched the object with wide, hungry eyes, gaping jaws.

To a Lovely Queen and her Subjects,

I promised you I would reward you. Now, I hope that promise has been fulfilled. Use it wisely, oh sly and lovely queen--

The parchment began to burn, the light began to dim--

as this should feed you and your kind for more than a day-- several moons in fact. Use it wisely my sweet Chrysi. It will be my last letter, my last gift, and perhaps, the last time we meet. And so I say--

Eyes widening, gaze snapping to the scroll as it burned away- Chrysalis moved forwards, her eyes wide, a strange tension in her throat, doubt and suspicion yet some odd sense of appreciation tugging at her all at once.

"Why?" she whispered.

The scroll said nothing. The hive ignored it for now, many minds still shocked by the orb of light and emotion that pulsed in their queen's magical hold.

"Why would you do this?!" Chrysalis shouted with a snarl, suddenly overwhelmed by this strange feeling radiating through her, her field creating a shaky hold.

...I don't know, can't truly say as I am but a piece of the original--

"Overcast!" the queen snarled but was cut off as a pop filled and crackle showed the scroll was almost gone.

--but, I learned one thing from the princess of love. And that is love is a powerful emotion, it can cause you to do great and foolish things...so I see why you consume it. Why you crave it. Why you are forced to desire it.

I thought I'd take a page from kindness, and share it. In hopes that I could buy you time to figure something better out.

The queen sat down with a thump. Searching for the loophole where the beating orb in her magic would unleash some kind of curse to further their desperation, looking for some kind of twist where everything would blow up in their face.

But even as her tongue flicked out and she desperately searched the air, not a hint of dark magic lingered.

Save for the one she used to destroy the scroll.

goodbye oh sly love bug.

Your enigmatic companion,

Overcast.

And with a final pop, the scroll was gone.

The only light now filling the room, an orange and pink glow that pulsed every now and then. Filling the cold room with warm.

Chasing away the aching hunger that filled them all.

Comments

[Edguy0009]

Unexpected heartwarming chapter for the villain(s).

[Fallingraptor19]

wow i love it.