Withering Burdens
In the safety of the narrow tunnel, Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the group waited as per Scootaloo’s request. Sweetie Belle and Rarity were off to one end of the wall, talking and catching up with one another, as were Applejack and Apple Bloom. Pinkie Pie was busy attempting to humour Fluttershy to keep her calm.
Rainbow Dash peered out into the opening where the river was. She turned her neck to view both up and downstream, not finding any signs of the Changeling King.
“Twilight.” She waved her over. “Where do you think he would’ve gone?”
Twilight trot over to see for herself. As Rainbow Dash implied, the coast appeared to be clear. “I don’t know, but I don’t think it would be wise to go looking for him.”
Rainbow sighed and stepped away from the opening back inside the narrow cavern. She sat on her flank and lowered her head. “What are we gonna do? Did you see the way he just vaporized Chrysalis like she was nothing?!” She turned to look at Twilight with concerns. “We’re clearly going to wind up confronting him again. Something that big doesn’t just go hiding. How can we beat something that powerful??”
Twilight sighed and tilted her head. “We haven’t gone this far to fail now.”
“Twilight, I’m serious!!” Rainbow’s shouting caught the attention of the others as well. Looking up at her, they all listened in to what she was fussing about. “You and Chrysalis were fighting that thing together, and couldn’t even scratch the surface! He is invulnerable to your alicorn magic!” She began speaking quicker, as if she was on the verge of a panic attack. “Not even I was fast enough; he still managed to knock me out of the air!”
There was then a moment of silence. The ponies were all deep in thought, and saw the dangers Rainbow Dash was concerned about.
“What Chrysalis did, though…” Fluttershy murmured, looking up. “She saved Scootaloo’s life.”
The others nodded, taking a short moment to share their respects for the queen's final actions.
“I know it seems hopeless, but we can’t give up yet,” Twilight exclaimed, turning back to Rainbow Dash. “Everything has a weakness. We will not allow the Queen’s death to be in vain. Not after what she did.”
Rainbow Dash sighed and sat down. “What can we even do? How can we complete what we started?? We have yet to confront the hive without their Queen, which I am very certain the changelings have noticed she has gone missing by now! In addition, we have this gigantic Changeling King to deal with. How?! How can we keep going knowing the dangers ahead?!”
A voice echoed through to them from within the cave, “By having faith.”
The ponies all looked up, and saw that Scootaloo had returned. She had a very solemn expression on her face.
“Scootaloo, you’re back,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, quickly flying over to her to greet her.
“We were beginning to get worried,” Fluttershy said in a soothing voice, trotting to her as well.
“You doing okay, kiddo?” Rainbow asked.
Scootaloo nodded. “Fine, Rainbow Dash,” she replied calmly. “I paid a visit to Flake’s grave.”
“Oh…” Rainbow nibbled her bottom lip, unsure how to respond. “How uh… how did that go?”
“His body wasn’t there,” said the dumbfounded pegasus.
Rainbow Dash blinked a few times, shaking her head in question to what she had just heard. “Wait… what?”
“Yeah, I dunno, Rainbow…” Scootaloo turned her neck to look behind her. “I went to properly give him a burial, and… he wasn’t even there.” Turning back to Rainbow with a hopeful expression. “You think he might still be alive?”
Rainbow shrugged. “Hard to say. That changeling has certainly surprised me quite a lot, though.”
Scootaloo nodded. Then she opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated. The others knew she had something else she wanted to say, but found it difficult. “I-I, um…” She paused briefly, and the others waited for her to finish. “I know what I have to do,” she finally managed.
“Huh?” Rainbow questioned her and felt nervous toward the way Scootaloo said that. “What are you talking about?”
“I spoke to the King,” she solemnly said.
“What, that giant monster we just fought??”
“No.” Scootaloo shook her head. “The Alicorn King of Equestria.”
The others all exchanged looks with one another, wide-eyed and confused.
“Wait,” Twilight muttered, gesturing with a hoof to express her questioning. “You mean to tell me you spoke to Celestia’s father?”
Scootaloo nodded. “I went into a lucid sleep, and met him in this big open world, where everything was built up of stars and magic…”
Twilight’s eyes slowly widened, and she stepped forward. “The void between Heaven and Equestria,” she determined. “I know where you are talking about. I’ve been there, too, where Celestia had turned me into a Princess. Not many ponies see that place…”
Rainbow Dash raised a brow and turned to Twilight. “What does it mean that she did?”
Twilight’s eyes wandered, and she put it together as if it were prophecy. “The only ponies who can reach that void… are those who have a great destiny. A destiny in which only the royalty can fulfil... ”
With what she said, everypony else looked straight at Twilight in awe. Nopony knew how to react to such an explanation.
“Royalty…?” Scootaloo murmured, then she stepped back with widened eyes. “Wait, wait, you’re not telling me I’m a Princess, are you?”
The alicorn didn’t know how to answer that; she could only shrug. “I don’t know what the Equestrian King has planned for you, Scootaloo. But the purpose you have been chosen for is certainly not a small one. And even with as far as you’ve gone, I have my doubts that he is done with you yet.”
Scootaloo’s wide eyes wandered, and she put it deep into thought. She knew her role here to save Equestria was big enough, but how much bigger could it possibly be?
“You said when you came here, that you knew what you had to do,” Twilight reminded the pegasus. “What was it you were trying to tell us?”
Nibbling her bottom lip, Scootaloo lowered her head, and her eyes wandered some more. She wasn’t sure how to answer without making it sound like a death wish. But after some courage, she looked back up, and replied, “I need to return to the core… The cocoon dome, where I first woke.”
With her declaration, there was an absolute silence. What she had said sounded absolutely absurd. Such an act would be downright suicidal, but the way she made the announcement, they knew she was serious.
“Uh… kay?” Applejack muttered, raising a brow toward her intentions. “And what exactly do ya plan to do when ya get there?”
“Did you hear what the Changeling King said to Chrysalis before he struck her down?”
The others looked to each other with uncertainty.
“His obvious intentions are to rule the hive in Chrysalis’ place. With that in mind, there’s no doubt he is digging his way to their core… That can’t happen.”
“Huh?” Rainbow was confused. “Well… what happens then?”
“That is where all of the cocoons are; all the ponies,” the younger pegasus explained. “Chrysalis has made it pretty clear that the reason he has gotten so big is because he has been consuming the love from them all. Now that he is powerful enough, I imagine that his intention is to bring it upon the other changelings to do the same, and lead an army of changelings strong like himself.” Her ears fell back, and she gnashed her teeth. “I fear that if we don’t stop this from happening, there won’t be anypony to save. He’ll consume every ounce of love the ponies possess, and within the hour, the ponies will all be drained completely… and every single pony in a cocoon will die.”
“Ohhh, this is all happening so fast…” Fluttershy whimpered.
“There is something else that didn’t make sense,” Rarity exclaimed, lifting a hoof to gesture her concern. “The Changeling King looked straight at you and called you that fictional pony’s name from Rainbow Dash’s book collection.”
“Daring Do,” Rainbow corrected the unicorn. “But yeah, why? I know you used the name to cover up your true identity from the beginning, but that would mean he knows you.”
“Kinda creepy if you ask me!” Pinkie spoke out uneasily.
“I don’t know,” Scootaloo murmured, then her eyes wandered as she put it together. “Do you… think it might be Dozer?”
“Dozer?” Pinkie wondered.
Scootaloo nodded and shrugged. “I dunno, it seems to only make sense. Dozer betrayed us in the caves earlier; he was working for Chitin to capture us.”
Rainbow lowered her head and nodded, remembering Trek’s bravery in saving their lives. “Yeah, he lead us right into a trap and bailed.” She frowned. “It’s gotta be him!”
“It just… doesn’t make sense,” Scootaloo determined, sitting on her flank and puzzling it with a hoof to her forehead. “But he’s the only other live changeling who knew me from their wasteland hunts when going after me.”
“Well, whoever it is, we’ve gotta stop him if what you predict is going to happen comes true,” Twilight declared, making her order heard clear.
“Just… what is going to happen when we get there?” Apple Bloom wondered.
“How can we possibly do anything? We’re just a few little ponies…” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
Scootaloo exhaled a long sigh, and she shrugged. “I don’t know what will happen. Nor do I know what we can do when we get there… All I know is, we have to try. And we have to have faith that we can do something to save all of ponykind before it’s too late.”
The ponies all exchanged looks with each other. The situation was certainly an urgent one, and they had to decide and act now.
“Well, what do you believe in?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Scootaloo nodded, and she stood taller. “I believe we can make a difference. I believe it will work. Yes, I am afraid, but I am not in doubt. The magic of our friendships will see us through until the end.” The others perked with grins as she continued speaking. “After everything I’ve gone through, there is one thing I no longer believe in… and that, is failure.” Her words moved them. They could feel the power coming from her motivation. It was like they were being spoken to by a royal guardian. “When all is said and done, there will be a joyous reunion with all the ponies still alive in those cocoons. I don’t know how, and I don’t know when, but Equestria will become how it once was again. And the only way that can happen, is if we do something about it. Right now.” Once she had finished what she had to say, she looked to the others solemnly. “So, who’s with me?”
There was a short pause, and the others exchanged looks with each other.
“That depends,” Rainbow Dash grinned. “You got a plan?”
Scootaloo shrugged, and grinned along with her. “Nope.”
“Well, then. Count me in,” the agile pegasus exclaimed.
“Weee! I’m in!” Pinkie Pie skipped around.
“I’m in, too,” Fluttershy gently said with a smile.
Simultaneously, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom jumped up with glee. “Cutie Mark Crusaders: Equestria Saviours! YEAH!!”
Applejack raised a brow at them. “I dunno if I could allow my lil’ sister to join in.”
“Nor mine,” said Rarity, squinting at Sweetie Belle.
“Applejack, ye know ya can’t keep us from followin’ you guys,” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “We’re in this, too, whether you like it or not.”
The stubborn earth pony sighed. “I dunno. It’ll be dangerous.”
“Soooo, you’re just gonna leave us here then?” Sweetie Belle grinned, putting them on the spot.
“I, well, uh, jba, ehf, behl, iev... “ Rarity paused after her vocabulary got mixed up, being outwitted by her sister.
“We’re not little fillies anymore,” Apple Bloom exclaimed with a tall posture. “We’re grown mares like you, now. And we can make decisions, too.”
Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement to that. “I know we don’t have our cutie marks yet. That just means we haven’t had time to discover our true talents. We can’t help it that we’ve been in cocoons for ten years, and that certainly does not make us any less important than the rest of you!”
“So, we’re in,” Apple Bloom declared, making the final say.
Applejack and Rarity’s jaws were both hanging open. They looked to each other, dumbfounded. At this point, they didn’t know how to react.
“Hmm, I dunno.” Twilight grinned, nudging Applejack and Rarity by the shoulders. “They sound pretty mature to me. You sure they can’t handle it?”
“Are you out of yer mind, Twilight?” Applejack muttered.
“Perhaps, but with a mission like this, aren’t we all?” The alicorn pointed to the two Cutie Mark Crusaders. “They have a point. We can’t leave them here. I mean where are they going to go, hm?”
Rarity rolled her eyes and groaned. “Oh, Celestia, she does have a point.”
“Alright, fine,” Applejack muttered, turning back to their younger siblings. “But we stick t’gether then, ya hear?”
“So, Scootaloo… You said you know the way to the core?” Twilight asked.
“From here, yes,” she replied. “We’re actually very close... I’ve been in these same caves during my escape.”
“Alright… So, whenever you’re ready to lead the way, Scootaloo, we’re right behind you,” Rainbow Dash loyally exclaimed.
Scootaloo turned to look at everyone who smiled and nodded with her. She expressed her gratitude and grinned. “Thank you for having faith in me, guys… I know we can do this.”
“Right. Now let’s go!” Applejack suggested, as time was running short.
Scootaloo nodded and made her way back to the river. “This way!”
In a herd, the ponies all followed her. With determination to complete what they had started, they ran together as one.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Returning to the river, they entered into the open with caution. There was no giant changeling in the vicinity. Stepping out onto the stone and mesh bridge so familiar to Scootaloo, they trot onward toward the cave on the other side of the river.
As they crossed the bridge, something caught the corner of Scootaloo’s eye. She turned to look downstream, where she saw a changeling washed up on the riverbed. Her jaw hung low, and she stopped where she was. The others all turned to look at what had caught her eye, and they were surprised to see Queen Chrysalis in the distance. Based on where she was and her condition in which they saw her in, she was easy to spot… but very hard to look at.
Her left ear was singed off, and her wings were burnt to the shoulders. Most of her limbs were missing, aside from her front left hoof, which she was using to desperately pull herself out of the water. There were scarring holes down her back, her right eye was blinded, and her horn was broken off inches from her forehead.
“Oh my goddess!” Scootaloo was the first to dive off the bridge and fly to her aid. The others all found their own route to the Queen as well—those with wings flew, and the others took paths down the sides of the caves. Fluttershy joined Pinkie Pie as she couldn’t fly in her current state, and eventually they all met up with Chrysalis.
Scootaloo landed in front of Chrysalis. The Queen’s weak, limp head slowly looked up to her. The pegasus saw the pain when she looked into her single eye, and she felt her heart sink at the sight of her. Reaching down to the Queen, she took the downed changeling’s hoof, and dragged her the rest of the way out of the water.
The others finally caught up to them, and there was only silence. Nothing could be said, there was only guilt, sympathy and pain to see her like this. Broken beyond repair, Chrysalis’ eye leaked a tear, and she began to hiccup. Scootaloo’s ears fell back, and she nibbled her bottom lip, as the Queen began to helplessly, and breathlessly cry.
Her sobbing was so quiet and hoarse, it was evident that there wasn’t much left in her to carry on. Externally destroyed, and internally corrupted, her body was noticeably withering away. Bit by bit, at a very slow rate, the surface of her body was dissolving away, like dust that spilled onto the floor and slid toward the river.
It was purely a miracle to have even found her alive like this. However, even so, it was clear that in moments, she was going to die anyway. She was too far gone for even Twilight’s magic to do anything at all. The full force of the Red Death spell that the Changeling King had struck her down with had taken a toll on her, and it was eating away at her, fast.
“You saved my life...” Scootaloo said to her with a calming tone.
Chrysalis gnashed her teeth painfully, and she reached upon her head with her only limb. She gripped onto the crown that was still barely placed upon her head, and with a shiver, she took it off and weakly dropped it to Scootaloo’s hooves. Scootaloo blinked to her gesture, and the queen pushed the crown closer to her.
“Th…… they need …. a queen….” she desperately whimpered with mere impossible crying breathes, “...F...find one….... Please……”
Scootaloo didn’t know how to answer her. Her request was simple, but how could she do that?
“Scootaloo…” Chrysalis whispered and tried to lift her head to speak clearer. “I am... … so…. sorry… for everything.” Tears trickled from the queen’s eyes—both her blind one and the one looking up at her. Soft hiccups and weeps escaped from between her clenching teeth. “...My changelings… they don’t know how to love…… I...didn’t know what else...to do…… Forgive my children…….”
Chrysalis was on her last few breaths, and at a great state of weakness. Her words felt powerful; they silenced everyone who heard them. Scootaloo slowly exhaled, and she knelt lower to Chrysalis in tears. “What was done, can’t be undone… But everypony has a purpose, and there is a reason for everything that happens.” She placed a hoof beneath her chin, and lifted it up with a solemn smile. “I forgive you…”
Chrysalis’ eyes slowly widened, and more tears trailed down her cheeks. Her good iris dilated, and her weeping began to amplify. Those words that came from Scootaloo’s mouth, they hit her in a spot in the heart that has been cold for a millenia. Then before the ponies’ eyes, her black, changeling coat glistened, and it became a beautiful shade of emerald green. Her one iris was clearer, and in a few moments, like magic, the holes in her one limb had sealed up.
She had turned into her original form from before they had become what the changelings are now. Everypony who saw it was in awe, and completely lost for words. With her burden lifted, and with nothing more to say, the queen placed her head back down into the ground, and she went silent and still.
“Chrysalis...?”
She remained unmoved, and the rest of her decaying body slowly began to wither away like dust in the wind. The spell the Changeling King had cast upon her had finally taken her, and the deceased queen’s body slowly disintegrated from the waist up. The ponies could do nothing for her, and they stood watching in silence until there was nothing left of her.
Scootaloo sat there, looking down where she last saw the Changeling Queen. Then with care, she gently picked up her crown. The other ponies didn’t say anything, they just remained quiet, waiting for Scootaloo’s orders.
The pegasus turned around, holding the crown in her hooves, and she nodded. “We’re going to fulfil her last wish and find her changelings a new queen.”
“What?” Rarity blinked and raised a brow. “How are we even going to do that?”
“With faith,” said the determined pegasus, holding the crown under her wing, and she trot past the others. “We’d better hurry, there’s not much time!”
The others exchanged looks with each other, confused and uncertain. Without further questioning the pegasus, they followed her. In a hurry, Scootaloo raced for the path to boldly return where her adventure had begun.
The core.
Stats
Page generated in 0.024 seconds
Total duration
1,007 users online
2,016,671 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
THE QUEEN IS DEAD! LONG LIVE THE QUEEN! HAIL ALL HAIL!
Damn that was sad :/ poor chrysalis recovered only to die from red death. That was harsh
Well, that was depressing. At least, she was able to regained her true self before she finally died.
But now, we got ourselves a race to the core. Let's hope the King goes down in a fiery blaze of pain and suffering before he dies.
C&Cs:
I’ve been there, too, where Celestia had turned me into a Princess.
> Not really a grammar error, but Celestia did not turned Twilight into a ‘Princess’. She was just there to help guided Twilight through the process, to explained a few things.
"... A destiny in which only the royalty can fulfil... ”
> Delete the extra space at the end.
Ok that happened last chapter so I have a question. How did they even have a conversation with Chrysalis in this chapter? She was basically vaporized! What is this suddenly about her being injured and not quite dead yet? I like the resolution but it makes absolutely no sense with the death we were given in the last chapter.
5566151
Initially Chrysalis was supposed to die during that attack, so I didn't really hold back on the OP visuals. But I had felt that it occurred too quickly, so I brought her back in the followup for a brief moment to give her one last chance to properly speak. Though, to keep true to what happened to her during the scene where she was attacked, I had her appearance in very rough shape. You could easily assume that the "powder and bones" was all that Scootaloo saw happen to her, because upon the attack, there was basically a cloud of dust (and the bones seen falling into the water were her limbs). I could also rephrase something during the attack or the reunion, if it would help. Either to have her fall into the water with less of a visual effect of dust, or change the aftermath, showing her by the river with more exposed bones, though it'd be creepier, haha.