The Queen of the Dark Ch. I

by Forcalor

Step 13 — "Far above" — Princess Celestia — Day 2, midday

𒄈 The little creature was wearing the appearance of one of her guards like a suit. Being wary of her presence, he couldn't contain a nervous smile. It didn't help that he fumbled the papers while he was preparing for his bit, but Celestia wasn't in any hurry right now. She was observing.

He finished collecting the props from the stone floor, stood before her, squeaked, "Uh, do you have an appointment?" and tried to sneak a hopeful glance.

Celestia wasn't playing along. She was remembering for whom the form of this pony belonged. If she wasn't mistaken, it was a young sergeant who joined in marriage with his sweetheart just as recently as in the past month or so. To her, it was something that happened in passing and was barely worth a glance from a distance, coupled with a warm feeling of happiness for others. Must've been around that time changelings began to sink teeth into her city, while she remained none the wiser.

"Let's see, let's see, are you, uh... Princess Twilight Sparkle?" the fake guard stupidly giggled, looking at her, and then tossed a sheet of paper away. "No, she was scheduled for the last night and already left."

Celestia creased her brow. Is this going somewhere?

"You must be Princess Luna?... No-o," he drawled, "that was the last week, right?"

"You are a clever little donkey, parroting after your mistress, aren't you?" Celestia's eyes blazed up with suppressed flames.

"Please," he gulped and giggled again, sweating. "All my act is my own! I only want to know how to present you before the Queen of Equestria, s'all."

"I see."

She quickly pressed forward, and the little changeling was forced to back up, until he fell through the portal of the Throne Room, losing half of the papers in the process. The fake guard picked himself up and ran through the half-destroyed hall.

Celestia flared her wings and steadied her step, taking in the familiar sight.

Everything looked like an explosion went off here recently, and it wasn't that far from the truth. The floor remained cracked and charred, and nothing was left in place of murals and banners, not to speak of other splendor with which the Princess wrapped herself before.

The velvet carpet that extended across the room had been burned away completely.

The Queen was sprawled on the half-melted throne, not bothered by its sharp edges or the lack of an appropriate seat. At her side, one of two changelings was working with a rasp, trimming her outstretched hindleg, while another one was standing on a stool and fiddling with a giant harp. Surprisingly, he was pulling off not a half-bad job with it.

Lying among scattered sweets, Chrysalis was dozing off, or at least pretending to. She was wearing a midnight blue bathrobe, belonging to Luna.

"My mistress! The pony Princess has arrived!" the former guard exclaimed in a submissive tone.

Chrysalis opened one eye. "I can see that, fool." After a mighty yawn, she ignited her horn, and a dish with half-eaten cupcakes had been tossed to the messenger, who began to greedily devour what felled from it.

She shoved the drone at her hooves, and fluidly sat on the throne to greet Celestia. Her eyes glistened with mirth. "My S-s-sun," she hissed, pulling on a wide toothy smile, quickly sobering up. "How is our Canterlot, dearest? Did you have fun out there?"

Celestia ignored the provocation. "So you were busy raiding my pantry and wardrobes?" she asked back, slightly amused.

"Well, I had to do something while you weren't around, aren't I?" the Queen lamented, playfully pretending to be hurt. "You know, it's rude to keep your wife waiting... What if I was worrying? It's just too disrespectful to my feelings..."

One of the lesser changelings made an abrasive giggle.

"To earn respect you'd better learn how to show it, first," The Princess replied steely, regarding the monster in front of her. In the broad daylight Queen Chrysalis was looking especially lanky and ugly, like an equine skeleton with a messy cobweb of silken hair.

Chrysalis' muzzle was full of teeth. "My, you're so strict... Am I ruffling your feathers, Celestia?" She moved her head down as if trying to cover her features in shadow and to leave only green shimmering eyes to be seen. "Maybe you'd better show me my place? Force me to quiver under you..."

Celestia traced her eyes aside. The drones seemed to be surprised by their Queen's behavior. "You're irredeemable, Chrysalis. If I knew that you're brazenly torturing your prey with bad flirting, I would've destroyed you ages ago just to spare the others."

"No, I don't do it that often. And what do you mean by bad, anyway?..." The Queen cackled. She propped her chin on a forehoof; her eyes narrowed into the burning, laughing slits. "Usually I just take what I want. I thought I have made that clear."

The alicorn frowned, not entirely grasping why she was even entertaining this conversation. "So am I to consider myself an exception right now?"

Chrysalis gave her a strangest look.

For a long moment Celestia stared back, trying to determine the meaning of the Queen's candidness. She was a paradoxical beast, a deceiver and a manipulator, a servant of the Darkness against which Celestia waged war for hundreds of years, and yet her bluntness felt refreshing. Was this a part of her game? Did Chrysalis even cared about it at this point?

What was on her mind?

Visibly flustered, Chrysalis was the first to break eye contact, as if she needed to remember herself.

"You're so irritable. So smug." She rolled on her back and stretched, reaching with forelegs in the alicorn's direction, and then relaxed, letting her limbs flail. "So full of yourself, of this beauty and holiness. How do ponies even tolerate having you around? How can one look at you and do not want to twist your long, precious neck?"

Celestia's eyes flashed in anger, but she quickly composed herself. "You must be projecting. Your insolence and blasphemy have gone on long enough. I am here to discuss the current situation in Equestria, not to be personally attacked by some spoiled brat who has nothing better to do than torment those around her."

Chrysalis was enjoying this greatly. "A spoiled brat, am I?" Her voice dropped to a creeping, quiet malicious whisper. "What's wrong with chasing your dreams? And I'm being serious—what's wrong with that? What's wrong with having desires and ambitions? So what if I need to break decorum, and a few necks along the way?"

"You are thinking you're breaking decorum!?" Celestia could hardly believe that. "You abolish balance! You're an invading force that's terrorizing and murdering my ponies!"

"Again with this whining about ponies..." Chrysalis sat straight and sized up Celestia with a glare. "What is it about your appearance and your docile, servile nature? It pisses me off. It really is. You're a slave to them, to your fears, and to your precious destiny as well. You..." She jerked her head upwards, giving an indignant look. "How can you be so powerful, you pathetic, broken mare?"

Celestia's muzzle darkened. "Your words speak of a broken mare, but only you could possibly know what that feels like. I know what you are, you dark, scarred creature. How many times did you need to betray those who trusted you in order to rise to power? How long did you have to struggle to gain the strength that you now greedily hold to yourself, too afraid to spend? I can see right through your empty words, and I know the truth about you. You are the slave to your malignant nature, and the one who is broken is you."

Chrysalis made a strange guttural sound and then burst out in laughter. The alicorn felt uneasy, watching how she was rocking in completely unrestrained bouts of it. Finally finishing, Chrysalis made a sharp gasp, thoroughly satisfied. "Pr-r-recious..." she growled like a beast, with a sly gleam in her eyes. "You are so serious about all this... I like it. I like it a lot. What fun we'll have with me as your Queen..."

Celestia snorted. "You are a misguided egoistical savage. Don't tell me that you actually entertain the idea that you can be a ruler equal to me."

Chrysalis kept grinning. "Please. If even a subservient gullible creature like you can lead, I would certainly manage even better. Some demigoddess you are..."

Celestia exhaled, trying to compose herself again. "You are struggling even with a simple hornwriting," she offered with a vague, thin smile.

"I'll have those who can write for me, isn't that what a ruler is supposed to do? Besides, all I need is to be better than you. It can't be that tough... Oh, I definitely can become a better Celestia, yes-s-s..." Her eyes happily lit up at this idea. "Just imagine: more perfect you, more driven you, more bold -"

"Your boldness only serves to mask your weakness," Celestia interrupted, listening to the Queen's fantasies calmly.

"- more superior," Chrysalis laughed, "more beautiful, more divine! Our little ponies would be ecstatic to have me! Why, with all the vast power of the Sun at my hooftips I'll shine brighter than you ever did, and they would come to their doom like moths to a flame..."

"A creature of the dark such as you would never comprehend the power of the Sun, let alone wield it. This is abhorrent to your nature." Celestia winced.

"Power is power." Chrysalis grinned voraciously. "It is simple as that."

"And here it is." Celestia's smile grew into a smirk, as she bobbed her head in accordance with her suspicions. "Exactly the monster that I expected to hear, spewing the words of a dirty lowlife thug that you are, a glutton, that is incapable of building and creating, only to mercilessly devour and to have power for the sake of power. Your ways disgust me, Chrysalis."

Chrysalis' gossamer wings rattled in agitation, and she scoffed wickedly. "You, equines, always tend to overcomplicate... For all your talk, it was mine hooves that brought me Equestria with all of its riches, including yourself!" She cocked her head, and giggled. "Obviously you are not impressed enough. Do you require more demonstration of what I am capable of?"

A demonstration?... Was it all about a demonstration to her? A performance?

"After all you've said and done, you still dare to speak such words in my presence. No." Celestia raised her head with her horn alight, and saw her enemy startled. "I think I've heard and seen enough."

The Sun moved a dozen inches across the sky.

The mechanism, that was installed into a circular window far above them, was set in motion with three quick clicks.

The rays raced through the lenses of an amplifier, towards the focal point, which was not unlike a unicorn's horn.

And the Queen burned.

Most of this room, in fact, in an instant became like an oven, as under Celestia's direction the light reflected through panels, placed beneath the walls. The changeling drones screamed in pain and terror, but their voices were abruptly cut off when Celestia waved her horn. Her gaze was focused solely on the Queen.

Chrysalis tried to flee from the burning light, this heated trap that the throne became to her. The prism shifted its focus, the sunbeam followed, and the floor, equally hot, met her with more scorching pain. Celestia caught Chrysalis with an aura, bringing down the weight of her magic.

The Queen cried a bestial scream, trying to push against the golden glow, but it was for naught. Celestia reached her and pressed down on the skull with a hoof. Her wings burst open in a towering display of dominance.

"𝐼'𝓁𝓁 𝓅𝓊𝓃𝒾𝓈𝒽 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓁𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓅𝑒𝒸𝓉, 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓈𝑒𝓃𝓉, 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝑜𝓁𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝑜𝒷𝑒𝒹𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝓂𝑒."

The Queen writhed like a snake. The gut-wrenching smell of her burnt flesh hit Celestia's nostrils. The green eye widened in agony and fear.

"𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓃 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝒾𝒹𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝒸𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽 𝓂𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒷𝑒 𝑒𝓍𝒸𝒾𝓈𝑒𝒹."

She grabbed the Queen's head with aura, and Chrysalis's scream grew into a defiant roar. With a sickening crunch, black blood spluttered over the floor, and the Princess tossed away the broken horn of the changeling.

"𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒶 𝓋𝒾𝓁𝑒, 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝑔𝓊𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒, 𝓊𝓃𝒻𝒾𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝒶 𝓈𝒶𝓅𝒾𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔. 𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒷𝑒 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒𝓃 𝒶𝒹𝓋𝒶𝓃𝓉𝒶𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝒷𝓎 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝑒𝒸𝓉 𝒬𝓊𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓃𝒶𝓁 𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃, 𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻𝒾𝓈𝒽, 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓊𝓈, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝓇𝓊𝑒𝓁, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓊𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝒾𝓈."

The Queen wrestled from underneath the hoof, rolled, trying to shield herself from the heat and light. Celestia did not let her, circling and knocking back in the center of the beam. Chrysalis kept screaming, but now there was mad laughter as well. She kept threatening even now, being powerless. "I will drag you... across all the cities..."

Celestia sneered, looking down at the delusional insectoid, this gnarled beaten mess consisting of nothing but sharp angles, that for some reason crawled up to her and decided she could have her. "𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝑒𝑔𝑜, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝓅𝓇𝒾𝒹𝑒, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝒶𝓁𝒾𝒸𝑒. 𝐹𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓅𝓇𝒾𝒹𝑒, 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓈𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝑒𝒹𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈? 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓃𝑜 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒!"

Chrysalis was consumed by utterly psychopathic and deranged laughter. Celestia could see the charred bone showing up from flesh, but even now and in pain, the creature was still refusing to concede or even to lose her consciousness. "I hate..." she spewed, "hate..."

Celestia's aura kept pushing the Queen down on the sizzling floor. "𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒽𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒹𝑒𝑔𝑒𝓃𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓉𝑒, 𝒶 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝒶𝓈𝒾𝓉𝑒, 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒸𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝒮𝑜𝓁𝒶𝓇 𝒹𝑒𝓂𝒾𝑔𝑜𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝓇𝑜𝑔𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓊𝓂𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝑒𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝓊𝓃 𝒾𝓉𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻. 𝐻𝑜𝓌 𝒹𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝐻𝑜𝓌 𝒹𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝑜𝓁𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝑒𝒸𝓉." Feeling that she is losing herself, Celestia lowered her horn, flaring her wings in a battle stance. "𝐻𝑜𝓌 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝒹𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓃𝑔𝑒 𝒫𝓇𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒞𝑒𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝒶, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒱𝒶𝓃𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓈𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝒯𝑒𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓇𝓈, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒫𝑜𝓃𝓎 𝒬𝓊𝑒𝑒𝓃?"

Chrysalis kept laughing, as even in such a condition, she kept trying to stand. "You..." One of her hooves became melded to the floor, and in an enormous effort, the Queen tore it clean away. She limply stepped closer, bearing a manic, distorted look. "Y-you..."

"I am not afraid of you, nor your threats." Celestia's horn flared. "All you dark creatures, conniving and devious, are strong only when you're preying on the weak. You only know how to strike from shadows and revel in the wanton cruelty, as well as the misery of others. You have no strength in my dominion and no advantage over me. Not anymore! For every pony you've killed, you and your kind will repay tenfold!"

The Queen's voice was sonorous and raspy. "I know what you fear..." She mustered a snide grin, almost crawling now. Celestia had no intention to back down. "Your ponies... I could've slain them all at any second, just to see pain in your eyes... To savor this pain... To see it, to feel it. I wanted to crush them and to get a glimpse of your rage. This... this fire..." Chrysalis bared her fangs. "I should've smothered it years ago."

Celestia grasped Chrysalis' jaw and, with controlled telekinetic force, dislodged her teeth down her throat. Chrysalis made a muffled protesting cry, jerking back. When Celestia released the changeling in a moment, the Queen moved her head down, throwing up blood and white fragments of her teeth from a broken jaw, which was almost torn apart. She was in shock, shaking with all her body.

"Why the spell of my student didn't fix this?" Celestia growled, narrowing her eyes. "Why? Why!? Why were you allowed to continue this discrepancy? Why had it gone this far!?" Her voice was becoming more and more loud. "Why were you deemed in the right to commit all those atrocities? Isn't a life of kindness better than a life of hatred and evil? Is love not better than hate? Is peace and harmony not better than suffering and fighting? How can it be that your hateful ideology that revels in sin can be equal to any ideal that seeks to do good? Is it because your ideology gives you pleasure? Is it because you enjoy hating? Is it because you enjoy the suffering of others? How can your sins be equal to that of good? Is it? Is it!?"

A deafening silence hung over them, and the alicorn recognized that she was screaming at the top of her lungs. All her feelings of betrayal poured out, almost bringing her to tears. It was not how it was supposed to be... It was unfair to her.

But the universal laws never were something fair...

Chrysalis sharply exhaled. All this time she kept pushing towards her, and her sudden touch sent treacherous shiver down Celestia's spine.

"Fine." The Queen murmured with bloody squirts from her mouth. Despite her broken jaw, she still was able to speak coherently. "Fine. Fine. I've no use for your ponies... I do not care about them anymore." She grasped Celestia's neck, looking deep, hateful, and longing, into her eyes, bleeding all over her fur. Their chests pushed against one another. "Only you."

"What exactly do you mean?" Celestia spoke guarded and stunned.

Chrysalis' torn lips twisted in contempt, and she slowly uttered, giving an impression like this action was bringing her more pain than any of the torture beforehoof. "I won't be hurting them any longer. I promise."

"What are you trying to tell me? That you won't feed on them? Why?" The moment she said it, Celestia realized what the answers were. She was freefalling into a deep chasm with no control over it. She needed to ask it. She needed to hear it.

"I've reached deep inside of you..." Chrysalis' voice slithered. "I... I... Can you even imagine how much love I took from you? You can't. I didn't want to leave you unmolested. I wanted to enslave you. I wanted to win, and I was so close, so close! I've reached deeper and deeper, and it was like a well that was still going, and going, and going... Like a cavern... An endless brilliance, full of succulent, magnificent power." Celestia never expected to see Chrysalis being this enchanted. Her gaze wandered beyond the alicorn to something that filled her with reverent awe. "So I've took and took, and I was sated for the first time in my existence, and you... all you did was keep looking at me with those love-stricken eyes... I've drained more than I would ever be able to, and you didn't even notice. You... the Sun..." She laughed bitterly and pushed muzzles with hers'. "You are the most precious and cherished thing to me, demigoddess... I hate it." Her eye flared with baleful green fire. "I hate it. You've bound me to yourself, and I hate it! I hate it!!"

Celestia shoved her away, and Chrysalis weakly stumbled, as if in an instant all determination was gone from her. Clutching her disfigured head, she wailed through the bouts of nervous mad laughter, intermingled with crying from her sole remaining eye.

"I can use it," a callous thought found its way into Celestia's mind, and she feared the possibility.

What had happened didn't change anything. The Queen was still a threat, and any kind of deal with her is bound to end in disaster.

In fact, the Queen became only more unstable now.

It needed to end soon.

"You're delusional," said Celestia. "You lie. You just want me. You're developing an obsession. You want to leech my divine essence to satisfy your hunger without care for anything else."

Taking hold of herself, Chrysalis spat a blob of blood on the ground, and snorted. "You'd expect me to lie, would you, my hateful nemesis? You pathetic mare... You certainly seem like a type that would appreciate a sweet fantasy more than any truth." She suddenly engaged in pondering. "Maybe I should've lied. It's what everyone does all the time, after all. Small lies, big lies, self-serving lies, white lies—yes, I could've pretended to being changed to trick you and to play along, to hide mine intentions behind pretty words and then worm into your heart..." She cackled, sweeping the destruction around them with a satisfied look. "It would've been so much easier..."

"I will not be a meal for you to enjoy!" Celestia growled, her ears pulling back.

Chrysalis fixed her eyes on Celestia and hissed, pronouncing with crystal clarity, "I will burn the whole world for your love, Celestia." She paused, seemingly surprised by her own words, and gave a devious and bloody grin. "...Oh, wife, my dear, believe me!... I'd absolutely would. After all, I want to."

She took a shaking step closer.

"I want it to burn," she repeated. "I want this. I want us, burning with it. I want to feel alive, to challenge, to conquer and be conquered. No half-measures. Don't you want the same?" The Queen stared with an inquisitive glare.

If only for a while, but Celestia bated breath and listened to how her heart was thumping madly in the ribcage. In some regard, this astute monster was right. The desire to let go of restraints was tempting her again. Will it now forever be like this?

Ancient memories emerged, and an impossibly long life flashed before her eyes in an instant.

Celestia exhaled, letting the fumes go through the corner of her mouth, and raised her stark gaze back to the Queen. "Show me your power," she demanded. "I want to see what drives you."

"As you wish, -" Chrysalis giggled, and lowered her head down in an exaggerated, scornful bow. "- my Princess."

It surged from her, and Celestia was forced to shield herself with a wing. She looked down, noticing her hooves scraping against the floor. It was pushing her. The raging magical power bellowed like fire from a furnace, and at the center of it, Celestia saw a figure enveloped in the cloak of all bright colors.

"Where is the Darkness?" she thought to herself, squinting and trying to withstand the surge. "Why—what is this, blinding me? How dare she blind me!?"

"Ah, how I love this..." Chrysalis whispered with malice. "How I hate this... You have no idea how filled I am... how... how fed up I am... by this... by you... and all this power, all along, was all here, in this realm!" The Queen was becoming more maddened by the minute. "This love had blinded you, didn't it, Celestia!? It had made you weaker... It had made me stronger!" Her laughter was truly unhinged. "You've become so careless, my ancient nemesis, and now, now, for everything that I've caused it is you to blame, you hear me!? How does it f—"

Wide-eyed, Celestia launched a ray of magic at her. The figure stumbled, clutching her abdomen, and her light swiftly began to recede. With the deceitful visage gone, a painfully familiar beast bared her fractured teeth in a savage, gory grin. "The truth hurts, doesn't it?"

"Stop this nonsense." Celestia frowned. "You are getting carried away. You are at fault for your wrongdoings, and no one else!"

Chrysalis cackled, still holding her wound. "It was worth a shot."

So that was the power of the Queen? That was something that she had stolen? It was overwhelming. It was truly dangerous.

With tension dying down, Chrysalis' broken horn fruitlessly sizzled, as she tried to pull one of the dead changelings, still strewn around, closer to her. She even bit down her lip in an effort.

Celestia glanced at the bodies. "You've been replacing my ponies. What have you done to the originals?"

"Why, I don't know, care to manage a guess?" Chrysalis scoffed. "Don't you worry, dearest, none of them were wasted. Their essence helped in my ascension to the throne. You might say, they died for the cause. What virtue can be higher than that?"

Celestia pursed her lips for a moment, and then wordlessly blasted Chrysalis again. The Changeling Queen screamed in anguish, but then quickly recovered, throwing a vengeful glare.

Chrysalis crawled to the body of her deceased spawn and widened her maw, filled with blood and broken teeth. She tore into the soft flesh of the stomach of the creature.

It must've been quite an arduous effort, judging by animalistic growling noises from the Queen, while she was failing to get a strong grip with the damaged jaw. It was painful to watch. This savagery had no place in the Throne Room, and yet Celestia didn't intervene, keeping wondering about the nature of this macabre display.

After Chrysalis managed to wolf down a few bites, she proceeded to tear a hoof from the changeling, gnawing on it while keeping her single eye trained on Celestia.

The alicorn cleared her throat, and her calm voice filled the room with a ringing echo: "This is what's going to happen. You will drop any notion of hostility, and I will find a use for you and your minions in my Equestria. Maybe, in time, when I will break the bind between us, I will come to tolerate your presence, if you manage to prove that there is any worth in it. You will cease calling me your wife, it disgusts me. The engagement arrangement you've dragged me into is a fictive one, as it was made under duress. I null it."

Chrysalis chuckled. She opened her maw, and the thick saliva with a strong natural scent leaked down on the stump on her foreleg. Celestia noticed that the fangs of the Queen almost fully grew anew. "Aren't you a morbid one..." Chrysalis gave a derisive look, sticking the torn hoof in place of her own. "This is what your idea of negotiating looks like? Threats and ultimatums?"

"I am amazed that you are even aware of such words," Celestia stared stonily. "You do not deserve anything else."

"And I am amazed that you presumed your moronic propositions would be acted upon," Chrysalis scoffed. "So you think that you can just geld me and then boss me around? No, you will never bend me that easily... I refuse, my Celestia. This will never work."

Silence fell again between them. For nearly a minute Celestia watched how her enemy was replacing her horn next, which then began to transform to accommodate the size—all just as twisted as this insectile pegacorn was. There was no doubt that the shapeshifter could regain the lost limbs by other means... It was again a mere performance, intended for the only witness.

With the sole fact of her existence, this creature was already asking to be beaten down to a pulp.

Celestia felt an unwavering resolve inside and embraced it. "There is no choice..." She ruefully smirked. "I challenge you. We will settle our differences in battle. You against me, one against one, no intermediaries and no distractions."

"Yes! Yes!" In a rush, Chrysalis abruptly stood up, and flinched, almost falling—the loss of blood must've got to her. "You get it, do you? You know that you're not like those ponies, you understand this drive, the desire, the push!"

"The fire..." Celestia became quiet, feeling it under her coat, how it was stirring her and driving her thoughts. "This demand to stand your ground, whatever the odds... You might be an outsider, but you share it."

"This is where the life is..." Chrysalis whispered. "This is where the Dark lies. The elation, the power, the struggle... It's like sex. You can't pull away from it, and if you do, all you are left with are your own thoughts, your emptiness. Or worse, you'll just get devoured, and we all need to fill ourselves with something, don't we?..."

Celestia felt a sharp pain inside, a sensation of longing. The feeling of being alive, of being free to move on one's own terms. The chase... "You will pull no tricks on me," she warned, wrestling the control over herself.

"And where is the fun in that? No, dearest, we will come at each other with full force. I want to see everything that you have to offer, all the fire that you have, and I'll give all of mine in return!" Chrysalis scowled, as arrogant as ever. "Promise me that you won't be holding back like you did in all past years!"

"Oh?..." The thrill was getting to Celestia. Evidently, this changeling creature could take the heat, couldn't she? Celestia didn't want to pacify herself anymore. Didn't she already done the worst she could? Weren't her ponies hurt? Wasn't the situation dire?... In sheer spite, she put her hoof down. "No harm shall come to others!"

"I did say I won't hurt them, didn't I?" Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "But I want everyone to see how I destroy you, mare, so don't you dare run from this city! It all will happen here."

"They will all see how you are defeated this time, Queen of the Changelings," Celestia slowly, graciously nodded. "Your threat will end forever, one way or another. You will surrender to me, or die."

The insectoid gritted her teeth in an ardent snarl. A pair of thin wings sprouted from her back, sending across the heated floor droplets of glistening fluid. "When? Now!?"

Yet again, Celestia caught herself almost submitting to the fervor. No, she was not going to be led by these basic, primal compulsions... As painful as it was, she restrained herself. "The dusk. Let it all commence at the dusk."

It was funny how genuinely displeased she sounded.

But It all was just like in the ages of old.

It all felt fitting.

"I will see that my ponies remain safe, and if you touch them again..." Celestia's voice deepened, becoming laced with menace. "If I see that you ever going back on your word... Nothing will stop me. You won't be saved from me by anything. I vow this."

"Responsibilities are such a bore." Chrysalis nervously grinned. "Oh, but I can understand... Fine! Lets meet in the evening and resolve this once and for all. And don't you dare be too late this time..."

Celestia exhaled. Is this really what they are doing right now? Is this a proper challenge and threat from another ancient creature, from someone who regarded her as a warrior? "Good." The Princess was silent for a moment, and then smiled. "Come with me now, Queen. We have time, so let's take a walk for a while."

"...Just walk? That's it?" Chrysalis cocked her eyebrow, amused. Even her voice somehow became more mundane.

"Yes. You aren't afraid of just walking with me, do you?"

Comments

[Carbon]

All hands for Celestia. I hope she win in duel! But she must save selfcontrol, its hard in this situation.

[Forcalor]

11736346
Place your bets!

Possible dramatic reenactment sorry, I've discovered it and couldn't resist, it's charmingly ridiculous

[Myrkin]

I guess this is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. At least they can take some joy out of kicking each other's flank without holding back. ^^

[Blood Rarity]

[Heavy Mole]

I really like the idea of Celestia and Chrysalis being changed by their vicious encounter with one another. Chrys's burgeoning attachment adds weight to the transformation which is taking place in the Sun Queen. My prediction is that we will see the fall of Celestia--not physically, but psychologically. She will reach a point of abomination where she will truly be bound with the changeling queen. Chrysalis, in turn, will become an ingress to the monster Celestia's inner workings, and a path for Cadance or Twilight or Sunset to restore sovereign peace.

[TheVirtuousOne]

You know, I can't see either of them winning this, this will be a battle of perpetual agony. But then, you see these small glimpses of Celly and her inner desires, she enjoys the challenge and embraces the pain willingly.

[Forcalor]

11742907
Comments like these keep me going
Thank you for this, because I really want to finish this story and do it justice. Next chapter should drop on the weekend

[Hoofprintz]

Well, I suppose we're not getting an update soon so I'll... Ugh, catch up. I hate catching up. Makes me HAVE to wait.

I'm expecting much from this chapter considering you just replied to my last comment with the chapter itself.

She was wearing a midnight blue bathrobe, belonging to Luna.

...

"So you were busy raiding my pantry and wardrobes?" she asked back, slightly amused."

Slightly amused? SLIGHTLY AMUSED!?

But the universal laws never were something fair...

Then the universe doesn't deserve to exist, particularly if there's a creator.

"Why—what is this, blinding me? How dare she blind me!?"

OH F-... Okay sure.

"This is what's going to happen. You will drop any notion of hostility, and I will find a use for you and your minions in my Equestria."

Goodness C is a blithering idiot here.

"And I am amazed that you presumed your moronic propositions would be acted upon," Chrysalis scoffed."

Uh yeah, exactly Chrys. It's a literal universe between their intelligence levels. If Chrysalis had any semblance of power approaching C's, the bug would've won immediately.

"Come with me now, Queen. We have time, so let's take a walk for a while."

Yeah, so nothing happened?

C beat up on Chrys for a bit and Chrys recovered and then they agreed to fight later.

You've done Chrysalis perfectly. She's abhorrent and a monster that grinds on all positive senses.

On the other hand, I feel like your Celestia is just... pitiful. She's accomplished nothing. Her ponies have suffered and died. Her niece is devastated and her husband is possibly dead. Her student is stone. Her sister was on the border of death and is still not recovered. And a good bit of her ponies can't possibly trust her anymore and... she's going for a walk with the one who caused all of it.

At this point C is just an annoyance and I hope Chrysalis wins.

Oh and I got no answers addressing my issues from the last chapter.

[Forcalor]

11768096
I'd humbly disagree on several of those statements, but as a writer I am slightly biased
Celestia at least have a virtue of being a more complicate character than Chrysalis, ha-ha.

Next chapters should be out soon, I'm writing something constantly these days. There's a lot of dialogue, different moods that need to be properly conveyed, and all these goodies got me overwhelmed. But there's a part you might especially like.

"It is better to be a self-sacrificial fool than a self-serving cynic," Celestia growled, and the Queen finally shut her running mouth.

[Hoofprintz]

11768251

I'd humbly disagree on several of those statements, but as a writer I am slightly biased

Oh of course. Merely my perspective and nothing more. And if anyone is biased that'd be me and my "treat the sisters with the reverence deserving of goddesses or I'm pissed" mentality.

Celestia at least have a virtue of being a more complicate character than Chrysalis, ha-ha

True. Chrysalis may be one-note, but man, you've written that note effectively.

As for that last part, sacrifice is never foolish.

[Heavy Mole]

11768096
I have to take issue with you, Hoof. Much as I love the momentum and pace of Blooming Days, I think you're making the mistake of imposing your own stylistic imperatives on a different author. This story has a different intention. It is not about setting up equivalencies. The whole point of Celestia's characterization in this fic is to make her cavernous. She doesn't lose by force, but rather by some mechanical process which is befuddling to her, and yet which is given many outward signs. For all her splendor, there is something which she can't see into, just as, perhaps, a viewer might feel there's something they can't see into, but are given quick glimpses of, tucked away uncannily in the fairy tale setting of the canon show. Chrysalis is really an embodiment of the cracks which are inside Celestia. And I think that tension is where the story derives its psychology from, and which the author depicts so well.

[Hoofprintz]

11771518
Oh that's not an issue. You are 100 percent correct. I wouldn't even argue with you. I let For know this was merely my opinion as well here.

Oh of course. Merely my perspective and nothing more.

It goes back to my blog post...

Needless to say, I really can't handle Luna and Celestia being disrespected or killed.

See, it's my problem, and I acknowledge it. It really is one.

She doesn't lose by force,

See like this statement. My brain doesn't process it. Celestia doesn't lose. Like I can logic myself all I can and say, "she lost in show, she's not God, blah blah blah." But my mind just... Can't.

The issues I have here with this Celestia are all biased and unfair. I tend to avoid all Celestia and Luna media because I just get set off and angry. Hence why I said this as well...

And if anyone is biased that'd be me and my "treat the sisters with the reverence deserving of goddesses or I'm pissed" mentality.

It's me. All my fault. All my thoughts, but I can't betray them. They were too crucial to me when my life was at its bleakest.

For is doing an amazing job. I wouldn't be here if I didn't think so.

Also, I don't put many stories on my "The Best" shelf. Queen is one of only three stories that are more recently published and not one-shots. Another being Voice's Phoenix-Born which is legitimately probably the best fanfiction I've ever read. That shelf is not something I stock lightly so For is in good company.

[Heavy Mole]

11771534
These words, coming from a fanfiction writer/reader, make you sound like a phlebotomist who is afraid of blood and needles.

See, it's my problem, and I acknowledge it. It really is one.

I don't think you're alone. De-mythologization is difficult. I can't give advice. It happens in a less exaggerated way in geographic cultures (e.g. with dynastic cycles in East Asia). It's part of our humanity.

The best you can do is develop your own relationship with it, and to try and see the universal which is inside it. And, short of that, at least to avoid becoming a big Spaghetti Monster.

[Hoofprintz]

11771760

These words, coming from a fanfiction writer/reader, make you sound like a phlebotomist who is afraid of blood and needles.

You couldn't be more accurate.