The Legion Of Hope

by Discombobulated Soul

The Life Of Harmony

A dark night sky, filled with ashes and embers from homes and lives burnt to cinders and crushed under countless merciless hooves.

Ex-Queen Chrysalis wove through the fallen bodies of her brave subjects, the living of which were even now being imprisoned and carted off to be the subjects of sick and twisted experiments. Countless hooves echoed all around her in pursuit, and she could hear wingbeats giving chase as well, eager to catch and erase her from existence.

Her breathing was heavy, her hooves leaden, and her heart all but lost to the deepest depths of sorrow as she fled the scene of her defeat. Just get to the hideout. She leapt over a fallen foe, leaving the pony there to rot as its allies abandoned him, her tan legs pumping with adrenaline.

Suddenly, Chrysalis emerged in a clearing, likely what was once a park or market square, and came to a halt as armored ponies circled the area, effectively trapping her inside. She scanned the clearing frantically, desperately searching for a way out through the heavy ash, but found nothing. The changeling scrambled backward as her assailants closed in from all sides, trying to keep track of everything at once. It's no use, my reserves are shot, I've got nothing left.

Just as she was about to accept her defeat, however, a deep-throated battle cry sounded to her left and several enemies were sent flying as a large and heavily muscled centaur began tearing through their ranks.

"Chryssie! This way! HURRY!" Her aching legs protested as she turned and followed her friend, who gave one last parting punch before thundering away, greatly outnumbered.

They were allotted a sizable head start as the ponies reoriented themselves, consequently slowing down and both breathing heavily.

"Where's Cozy?!" The changeling demanded, causing the centaur to raise his hands in a placating gesture.

"She's back at the hideout, completely safe, I swear. I made sure all the wards were in place before I left to find you. Now come on! There's no time to lose!" The pair surged forth once more, their small break over. They continued down the blazing streets, ignoring the heat and sneaking around in the shadows of what buildings hadn't yet been set aflame. As they crept around a pair of such buildings, however, something glinted in the alcove between them, causing Chrysalis to pause.

"Pharynx?"

She ignored her friend's urgent beckoning in favor of dashing into the alley, struggling to light her horn with what pitiful reserves she had left. Forest green chitin glinted faintly in the light, heavily damaged and oozing a dark purple ichor. Shredded, crimson wings lay in pieces around the fallen creature, who coughed and spluttered weakly, turning to face her and opening his heliotrope purple compound eyes.

"Hey, your highness. Turns out those ponies know their stuff, the bastards." Tears filled the ex-queen's vision as she lunged forward and cradled her subject's head in her legs.

"Oh, Pharynx, my child. I'm s-so sorry." She could feel what little pulse he had left fading away and knew that the end for him was soon approaching. Between her exhausted magic supply and his near-dead state, there was nothing to be done. All she could do was be there for him in his last moments, like she couldn't be for so many of her children.

"M-mom? I did good, didn't I?" Chrysalis whimpered and clutched Pharynx's head tighter, nodding into it as she rubbed their cheeks together.

"Yes, my ever-loyal child. You did the absolute best you could." She kissed his broken stub of a horn with all the tenderness she was able to, tears flooding her face as she felt his breaths cease and his pulse fade away. "Rest now. May the Eternal Hive receive you with open hooves, my son." Chrysalis lay there, sobbing softly, for an unknown length of time before feeling her friend's consoling hand on her furred shoulder.

"Come on, Chryssie. We can mourn later, when we're safe in our bunker." The changeling nodded, wiping her baby blue eyes with a hoof as she did her best to compose herself.

"You're right, Tirek. Of course you're right." She stood resolutely, though her features were still pained. "We'll have a proper funeral once we're out of danger." Chrysalis cast but one sorrowful glance at the cooling corpse behind her before she took several steps forward, nodding once more to her long-time companion. "Lead on, then."

They resumed their clandestine journey, narrowly avoiding detection on numerous occasions as the vile ponies victoriously tramples the once-city to dust, vigorously searching for any escapees to take captive. Luckily, the buildings that had once served her indirectly now found use as ashen smog to provide a constant cover. This, combined with Tirek's memorization of the layout of the city, made them effectively invisible, and they soon reached the smoldering ruins of the castle without confrontations of any kind.

Chrysalis took the lead then, her knowledge of her home's layout surpassing Tirek's comparatively low familiarity with the place. Finally, they found themselves in what was left of the basement scullery, and the centaur wordlessly places his fingers on the wall, activating the concealing rune and revealing a dark stairwell heading down into the depths of the earth. He gestured politely, checking behind them for pursuers and activating the rune that would trigger the cave-in.

"After you, Chrysalis." The ex-queen nodded and began her descent into the abyss, her tan legs wobbling with fatigue as she once more summoned what magic she had left and lit the way down, Tirek following shortly after.

They traveled in silence once more, both clueless as to what to say and too filled with despair to attempt to speak in the first place. Chrysalis' fuzzy ears had long ago lowered against her skull, muting the sound of clinking hooves on stone stairs. Finally, they arrived at a solid iron wall, all but barren except for the ancient, Xenbanian rune crudely scrawled across its surface. She stepped to the side, allowing her centaur friend past to set his hand on the image, allowing the stored arcane energies to activate once more, charging the air with their power and making her fur stand on end.

Chrysalis braced herself for the inevitable lurch of sickening vertigo that came with teleportation, and was vindicated when that sensation failed to cause her to vomit as it had every time before. She blinked the fuzz from her mind and opened her eyes to observe the familiar surroundings of their secret hideaway. A simple room, really, initially meant for private escapes from their busy, stressful lives, though it now served as their sanctuary.

"That's the last of the magic left in that rune." Tirek notified her, shaking out his hands to alleviate the cramps that were sure to follow the use of such power. "We won't be able to use it to get here again." Chrysalis nodded in acceptance and was about to respond when she was tackled to the ground by a salmon-pink bullet impacting her side.

"I'm so glad you're safe! I w-was so worried you w-wouldn't make it back!" The pegasus filly sobbed into her tan chitin, hugging her with a fierce strength she only wished she possessed at the moment. The changeling wrapped her exhausted forelegs around the filly, rubbing her back in a comforting, maternal gesture.

"Well, I did, and everything's going to be okay. Right, Cozy?" Her charge only gripped her tighter, nuzzling her orange chest fur and mumbling to herself. Chrysalis sighed wearily, tears springing up from her eyes as she comforted the last child she had left. She's so precious, it's hard to believe she's the same species as those demons. She watched as Tirek tiredly settled down on a nearby cushion, tearing into a strip of jerky he'd retrieved from a cabinet with starved gusto.

The trio sat in their bunker, protected from the outside world for a time, knowing that soon they'd run out of supplies and would have to relocate, facing the dangers of the universe and the wrath of the ponies. Chrysalis laid there, not bothering to move her spent body and starting to slip into what was sure to be a fitful, nightmarish sleep. She could already feel the harmonic energy from her companions' connection begin to restore her reserves, and knew that soon she'd be able to plan out their next move. We may have lost the war, but so long as Harmony lives in the three of us, we can persist. The ponies haven't defeated us yet.

There's still Hope.

Author's Note:

Just a rather interesting concept I've had in mind for a while. Expect infrequent updates with much time in between them, as this particular narrative is not high on my priority list.

Comments

[Doctor_Den]

If this is a universe where heroes are villains and villains are heroes, then I'm wondering what the status of characters who were originally villains in canon but later became heroes are.

[Demonabyss]

11382419
Options for this are: A) Captured / Imprisoned, B) Enslaved via magic, C) Corrupted to the ponies' side, or D) Dead.

If this truly a mirror to canon, the option B is most likely for any non-pony reformed such as the Changelings and option C for any reformed pony such as Starlight or Trixie. As for races such as the Dragons, Kirin, Griffins, etc. Any of the options could apply.

[Doctor_Den]

11384476
interesting then it turns out Thorax, who from the very beginning was originally good, does it turn out to be a villain and a traitor to his own people?

[Wild Stallion]

11384724
Or since Changelings turned good in cannon, is a mass corruption event incoming?

Or since Chrysalis won in cannon intially followed by a huge loss, is she set for a huge win here?

[Doctor_Den]

11387302
given the events of the first chapter in which almost all changelings seem to die in the war, I think this "mass corruption" is only possible if they rise as zombies.

[Wild Stallion]

11387618

I think this "mass corruption" is only possible if they rise as zombies.

If Discord is involved, I wouldn't bet against it.

[Xuf]

I look forward to continuing.

[AgentKorpsman]

11397595
Same

[NikoNotACat]

Straight into the action. I like it!

I also like how the evils are switched around, and not just ponies being a little bit more vile because the badguys did something. Seems like the ponies are truly ruthless and always has been, while everyone else was just trying to be left alone, or to change the world for the better. Being an AU this story got a lot more interesting for me.