• Published 28th Jan 2013
  • 15,572 Views, 512 Comments

I guess it could be worse... - Mekapix



New worlds are just a thing of fantasy. That's what we have been told since our birth, that reality is only what we can see, hear, taste, feel and smell. Could anyone handle it if that golden rule was broken?

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Chapter 9

“Well this is better than that dingy old cell.” Sam said as he looked round the room. The walls were like the inside of a cave with sparkling green emeralds embedded in the walls, the gems were emitting a glow bright enough to light to the room. Two beds were at either end of the room along with a table and four chairs in the centre of the room, both Josh and Sam were sitting at the table, eating some fruit.

“I know right? This place isn't half bad once you get used to it.” Josh replied.

“Yeah, we still gotta get the hell out of here before we both get stuffed and mounted as trophies for the King.” Sam said, earning a nod from Josh.

“For sure.”

Two hours earlier

Josh and Sam stared slack-jawed at the changeling Queen. She smirked at the two with a feeling of pride growing inside her, pride due to the fact that she had captured two mighty warriors to help her.

“Now, I understand that you two must be confused as to why I brought you here.” Chrysalis said.

“Confused is definitely the right word...” Sam whispered.

“You see, around a year ago I attempted to take control of the city of Canterlot.” Chrysalis began to explain while pacing back and forth in front of them. “Unfortunately I was unsuccessful in my attempt at taking over and my army was driven back to the hive. Me and my army have been staying here and gathering our strength for some time, our only problem is that we don't have the right opportunity.”

“What do you mean?” Josh asked.

“Opportunity, my dear jedi. Last year I was able to infiltrate Canterlot by posing as Princess Mi Amore Candenza while she was getting ready to be wed. My army was waiting outside Canterlot ready for the signal and once it was given, they attacked. As I have said before however, the plan failed in the end and now we lack another such opportunity to restart our attack. At leaest, this is what we thought...” With a green glow around her horn and a snap of her fingers, the cuffs around the boys wrists and ankles opened, allowing the two to rub their sore wrists.

“We detected a large surge of magical energy, one we were unable to identify. We immediately set out to find whatever this energy was and we found you two. It can only be a blessing from Abraxas herself that we were to find two powerful warriors.” She continued.

“Abraxas?” Sam asked.

“Abraxas was the first Queen. It is said that she was an ancient alicorn, dating back to the dawn of Equis' creation and that it was she who created the wildlife that roam the world now.” Chrysalis' proud smile started to harden into a frown. “However she was cursed for creating creatures that could do harm to others. They say that the other ancient alicorns thought her evil and that if she created creatures that could only feel hate and never love, then she herself deserved no love. They cursed her, turning her into a changeling so that she could only feed on love, love that she could never get while she was seen as a monster.” Chrysalis spat on the ground and snarled.

“Sounds a bit harsh...” Josh said.

“Yeah, everything can feel love, regardless of the possibility of harm they could possess.” Sam added. Chrysalis looked at the two with surprise before smiling a little.

“Precisely, no one has ever said such nice things about Abraxas before.” The two just shrugged and smiled. Chrysalis made her way towards the door of the cell and motioned the boys to follow through the tunnels of the cave. “After she was cast away from society, it is said she combined her magic with her own DNA, cloning lesser versions of herself. This is the birth of the swarm, the army of changelings... My subjects...” Chrysalis let out a soft sigh as she entered a room that looked more like a small town.

The three stood on a stone balcony over looking the room. The cove had domes covering the floor, a few holes worked as windows while larger ones were used as doors. Changelings buzzed in and out of their homes and travelled to other, slightly larger domes with different sets of produce outside, showing they must have been shops. The humans could clearly see the resemblance between this cove and the town of Ponyville.

“So why do you want to take over Canterlot? Revenge?” Sam asked.

“No, that is my husbands desire but not mine.”

“A husband?” Josh quizzed.

“Yes. My husband, King Japyx, is away currently but believes that we should be dominant. That our right was taken away and that we should take it back by force. He is away currently but left myself and our three children in charge of the Canterlot invasion.” Chrysalis looked around at the small town and cringed slightly. “He is not one who should be angered and he despises failure. He will not be happy when he hears of our failure...”

“You said that revenge was his desire but not yours. What is it you want Queen Chrysalis?” Josh asked.

“I simply wish for my subjects to be free like everypony should be but I do believe my husband is right. The ponies look at our kind as monsters. A creature lurking in the dark, waiting for any prey to come close so that we may latch onto them and drag them away into the dark of the night. Tell me jedi...” Chrysalis said as she turned to look at the two. “Do we not deserve freedom? We act out of desperation. I understand that the Princesses could never forgive me for attacking them nut I could never forgive myself for letting my own subjects stay deprived of a right that should belong to them...”

Josh and Sam never expected such a deep question from their kidnapper. They glanced at each other and knew what the other was thinking.

'Sam, are we really supposed to answer that or was it rhetorical?'

'She's still looking at us so I think we are supposed to answer.'

'Then what do we say? Our kidnapper is saying they deserve freedom, I can't help but feel there's some hypocrisy going on here, should we say that?'

'Are you insane? Forget that she is a Queen or has an army, she has a magical spear on her forehead. One wrong move and we could end up looking like one of her legs! I say we stick with plan S.A.N.'

'Good call.' And so, they both smiled and nodded.

“You're right Queen Chrysalis, everyone should be free.” Sam said. The Queen smiled, clapping her hands with glee.

“That's wonderful to hear, I understand that we may not have gotten off to the best start but I really think that this could work out for us all. You jedi will be a great ally, your powers will be an irreplaceable asset to our cause.”

“Yeah... About that...” Josh began to mention.

“And it's a good thing too. Were you just a powerless creature then my husband would have you both gutted on the spot for knowing of our plans and potentially knowing the location of our home.” Chrysalis chuckled, not noticing the two boys go pale. “Come on, allow me to take you to your chambers.”

Present time

“You know, I wouldn't mind staying here if the King wasn't the offspring of Scar and Chuckie. It's only a matter of time before we have to go marching off into battle and they'll realise we aren't jedi.” Sam said.

“Don't you think I know that? We don't even know if we're underground, in a cave, a mountain or in a giant beehive of some kind, let alone where the way out of here is.” Josh explained.

“Well we can look for a way out or maybe get it from one of the changelings but first.” Sam said as he got up from the table. “We have to attend another royal dinner.”

“At least it saves us buying food, gotta save up that money for the debt.” Josh stated as he got up too.

XXX

Twilight sat at her desk, trying to read a book however a certain blue pegasus was pacing back and forth across the room behind her.

“Rainbow, would you just sit down? I know you're excited about the new Daring Do book but you're starting to wear a hole in the floor.”

“But it feels like it's taking forever!” Rainbow exclaimed as she slumped onto a chair. “Why is it taking so long?”

“Unfortunately I'm not in charge of the postal system, if you want to ask anyone then you should ask-” The door knocked and Rainbow shot out of her chair, so excited that she flew through the room and smacked into the door. She ignored the small dribble of blood leaking from her snout and threw the door open, greeted by a mare in a mailmare uniform with grey fur and a blonde mane.

“Hey Rainbow Dash.” She greeted. “I got a package for Twilight.”

“Thanks Ditzy!” Rainbow said as she grabbed the box from Ditzy and Twilight came over. Twilight signed for the box as Rainbow removed some of the tape from it. The moment the tape was removed, a familiar pink pony burst out of the box and landed on the floor next to it.

“Hey guys!” Pinkie said as she adjusted a party hat on her head. “I got all the invites here.” She said as she pulled invitations seemingly out of nowhere. She placed an invitation in each ponies hands, a few in Ditzy's hands. “These are all for Josh and Sam's welcome party, you're all invited.”

“Thanks Pinkie, I take it these are for my herd?” Ditzy asked, earning a nod from the party pony.

“Yup! Oh! Have you seen Josh and Sam by the way?” Pinkie asked.

“They're at their home aren't they?” Twilight asked.

“No, I checked and they weren't anywhere inside.”

“Pinkie, what did I tell you before? You can't break into someponies house.”

“But I didn't Twilight! I went in through the front door.”

“That's still breaking in.”

“How was I supposed to know Twilight? The door was wide open.” Twilight tilted her head and furrowed her brow.

“What do you mean it was wide open?”

“The door was unlocked and open, there was nopony - nohuman inside. You know, it's really weird, it looked a little like the lock had scorch marks on it and their house was a mess.”

Ditzy was tapping her chin in thought. “Are these 'humans' a little like us but less fur and no tails?” Twilight looked at the mailmare and nodded slowly.

“Yeah... How did you know that?”

“I was working late at the office last night, had some packages to make sure were sent off. Anyway, while I was flying home last night I saw a few hooded figures flying away, carrying these 'humans'. I thought it was a little weird but I just assumed two ponies had gotten sick and were being carried away.” All three ponies immediately looked at the mailmare, even the pegasus with her still, slightly bloody nose in a book tore her attention away from it to look at the grey mare.

“Oh sweet Celestia... Ditzy, is there anything you can tell us about these figures.” Twilight asked.

“Actually there was one weird thing. I thought it was just me seeing things but I couldn't see their wings and there was this weird buzzing sound as they flew away.” Ditzy explained.

“No wings? Then how could they have flown away without wings?” Rainbow asked as she folded a page on the book and placed it down on the table.

“Buzzing? What makes a buzzing sound? Were they playing a kazoo? Oh I do love the kazoo, it makes such a weird sound though it isn't the best instrument to play in a band, I once tried it back when-...” Pinkie carried on while Twilight was pondering about the abductors.

“Let's see... Invisible wings? No, that can't be. Could they be playing an instrument? I highly doubt that... Wings we can't see? Maybe just at night... Wings we can see through and a buzzing sound... Oh no, it can't be! How could they have known? That doesn't matter, we have to help them! Girls!” The pink pony stopped and both her and Rainbow looked at Twilight. “I know who took them...”

XXX

Josh and Sam sat awkwardly at the side of a long table. Queen Chrysalis sat at the end of the table while three changelings on the other side of the table. Unlike the other changelings that had been seen before, these three had more distinctive features just like their mother. The one closest to the Queen was the tallest, and eldest, of the siblings, Noctua. She was tall and slender with some curves on her waist, her pelt was pitch black however her long, sleek, indigo mane flowed down her back and across her shoulders. She had eyes and a tail to match her mane while she wore a dark green tank top and blue jeans.

The next seat down was a male. He had a black pelt and bright, spiky green hair. His eyes were red and his tail matched his mane, he was wearing a grey t-shirt and baggy trousers. From what they had been told earlier, he went by the name of Zabrus. The youngest child was sitting next to him. Her name was Deraeocoris, her eyes were green, her mane was slightly messy and travelled down her back while the bangs framed her face. Both her mane and tail were a fiery orange while she wore a red tank top that showed her stomach and a black skirt.

As they all ate the meals in front of them, Josh and Sam couldn't help but feel that these three weren't as... refined as much as the royals in Canterlot. This was confirmed when Deraeocoris finished her meal with a loud belch.

“So then, my dear jedi, the documentary that was seen at your home has been copied with our magic and shown to our officers as well as my three children. Would you like to inform us on how your world fairs now?” Chrysalis asked. The three across the table looked up at Sam and Josh, awaiting their tale.

“Ah, yes, well...” Josh started.

“The documentary you saw was about the near extinction of jedi that happened years ago you see.” Sam stated. “The jedi have been rebuilding and have started to teach once more but there are still still enemies of the jedi trying to beat us back, this is why we need to return home.” Josh smiled and nodded in agreement, it seemed like everything was going to be just fine.

“So why don't you demonstrate the power of the force to us?” Zabrus asked.

Or not.

Josh and Sam felt their hearts skip a beat, they should have realised that this was coming.

“Well we'd love to but we... can't...” Josh said.

“Why's that?” The male changeling asked with his smooth voice.

“You see, we jedi rely on a special kind of energy in order to use the force. The problem is that coming here has drained us of that energy, we are currently unable to use our powers as a result.” Josh explained, hoping they would buy it. Zabrus raised an eyebrow in thought while Chrysalis eyes widened and she began to cough slightly.

“Really? That sounds pretty lame.” Deraeocoris moaned.

“Then how will you be able to assist us? You lack your weapon and you are unable to use these powers of yours.” Noctua added.

“Ah, well it's not permanent, it will return in time.” Sam replied with a slightly nervous grin.

“You see my children?” Chrysalis said. “They may be without weapons but their powers will return in time and then we will be able to enact our plan.”

“This is your revenge plan, right?” Josh asked.

“That's correct, our king believes it to be the correct course of action.”

“Doesn't that seem rather redundant in the end?” Sam asked. All members of the table stopped eating and looked up at the human. “It just seems like the start of a violent circle to me.”

“You question our kings plan?” Chrysalis asked.

“N-Not so much question it, more like thinking ahead.” Sam replied. “You get what I mean right Josh?” Josh looked at Sam and nodded.

“Are you saying that our father's plan has a flaw? I see no problem with it, the plan to take Canterlot seems foolproof.” Noctua said.

“Well yes, for now.” Josh replied. “But think about it, you aren't allowed in Canterlot and you all need to feed off of love. Your plan is to take Canterlot and rule over it instead of being stuck here. While your plan to take Canterlot, with the help of jedi, could work, I just can't see why you'd do it.”

“To get our own back on those damn ponies! What else is there to think about?” Deraeocoris replied.

“Then what?” Sam retorted, catching all the changelings off-guard. “You have Canterlot, what does that give you? You can't steal love from the ponies because you've ruled over them and scared the crap out of them, they'll eventually get re-enforcements from another pony town and rebel against you, that's still considering that you have to beat two goddesses and even if you managed to take care of all of those issues, you will now have two collections of species to take care of. I can see your reason for fighting but the after events of your plan haven't been thought through.” Sam finished. All four changelings sat there slack jawed at what they just heard.

“B-But... our freedom...” Zabras stuttered.

“Will be short lived. What you guys are trying to pull off isn't gaining your freedom, it's forcing a tyrannical rule onto your enemies.” Josh said. “You're just doing what they did to you. You don't want to copy them, you want to prove that you're worth trusting.” Chrysalis shot up out of her seat and furrowed her brow in frustration.

“Enough, while you are guests in our home and are willing to help us with our future plan, you must realise your place. You have been assigned separate rooms and I suggest you return to them now, it is getting late.” Chrysalis said. The two boys got up, said their good nights then left to be escorted to their room. “My children, you are excused to do as you wish, I... need to think on something.”

XXX

Noctua was sitting down on a chair, flipping through a book while Zabrus did the same on the opposite side of the small table they were at. Deraeocoris was pacing back and force next to the table.

“What is it about those two? There's something niggling at the back of my mind about them but I just can't seem to figure it out...” Deraeocoris muttered.

“Is it the fact that they supposedly have powers?” Zabrus asked. Deraeocoris shook her head.

“Is it simply that they are different species?” Noctua asked. Deraeocoris shook her head again.

“It is something about them being different but I just can't put my finger on it...”

“I think they seem rather interesting Dera, so unlike from our kind yet so accepting. We kidnapped them from their home and they are willing to help us within the day.” Zabrus explained.

“That's most likely due to the fact that they realise that leaving is impossible since they've seen our home and our plans, they know we can't just let them go so they help to ensure their own survival.” Noctua explained.

“So you believe that they are sucking up to us like most subjects in this hive?” Zabrus asked.

“Not at all, they were willing to question our methods in front of us. They are either incredibly brave or amazingly stupid, I have to agree with you both either way, they intrigue me greatly.”

“That's it!” Deraeocoris exclaimed, catching her siblings attention. Before they could ask, she shot out of the room.

“Well then, I believe I'm going to have a one to one with one of the jedi.” Noctua said as she got up and placed her book on the table.

“Ok then, I'm going to discuss something with mother. I feel like there is something she should be aware of.” Zabrus replied. They both nodded to each other and left the room, heading separate ways.

It was around the same time that all three siblings arrived at their destinations. Deraeocoris knocked on a slightly large door. Sam opened the door and his eyes widened at the company.

“Hello there jedi~” Deraeocoris said slyly. “I came here because there was a certain matter of business I wished to discuss with you.” Before Sam could reply, she walked through the door into his room and sat down on the couch in his room. “Well? Close the door and come sit.” She said as she patted the seat next to her.

“What is it you wished to discuss Derac-... Deracor-... Princess?” Same asked as he closed the door and sat with her. Deraeocoris giggled and smiled.

“Please, you can call me Dera, I know my name's pretty long.” Sam sighed in relief and smiled back.

“Then to what do I owe the pleasure Dera?”

“Well you see Sam, there is something that has been bugging me since dinner. Something that I couldn't put my finger on about you until a few moments ago. The way you talked out of turn, the way you spoke to my mother and to us, the way you put down my fathers plan. The way you treated us made me so...”

'Damn it!' Sam thought. 'She's on to us! We haven't got time to play pretend now, we need to leave as quick as we can.'

“So... damned hot!”

'Crazy bug alien Princess say what?!'

Josh had also found himself in a rather similar predicament. He had opened the door to let in Noctua but didn't expect it when she suddenly used her magic to grab hold of him, strip him and tie his limbs to the bed in his room.

'Ok, this escalated quickly is a sheer understatement. The fuck is going on?!'

“Please forgive me jedi, I mean, Josh. You see, you humans fascinate me. You were so quick to speak your mind and when questioned on it, you did not shy away from what you thought but chose to calmly explain yourself. Most changelings would have denied everything and dropped it, you may not realise it but that was a great display of courage and idiocy. You must be wondering where I am going with all this.”

“Well yes, that and why every time I seem to get close to a bed, something seems to go weird.” Josh replied, earning a chuckle from Noctua.

“Well the reason that you are tied to the bed is simple, I am close to the marrying age of our kind and, to be honest, I'd prefer a brave idiot than to any of the suck ups that live in this kingdom.” She smirked and removed her top and jeans, leaving her in purple, lace underwear. “Now then, tonight I make you mine before anyone else can get you.”

Zabrus knocked on Chrysalis' door.

“Come in.” He heard from the other side. Zabrus opened the door and looked towards his mother, she was looking over various documents on her stone desk. “What is it you needed my boy?” She asked.

“Well mother, I have been thinking about the two jedi that are supposed to help us and there is something that I believe you already know to be true.” Chrysalis put down some papers and looked up towards Zabrus. “You know it already don't you mother? I got the same sensory abilities that you possess so if I'm able to tell then you must have too.”

Chrysalis let out a sigh and got up, moving over to her son and placing a hand on his shoulder. “Yes Zabrus, I realised during dinner but I'm unaware of how to deal with the situation right now. What those two said panics me even more. Your father has sent word of his return and I doubt he will be too pleased of two failures.” Zabrus sighed in response.

“So what do we do mother? They are fakes.”

“I know but we will figure this out, trust me on this.”