> Our Finest Hour > by RarityEQM > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Victory > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- My story starts out with a devastating defeat. The Battle of Canterlot was swift and brutal. Months and months of planning shattered in a single given day by Cadence and Shining Armor! Ponies, which are a race of creatures that are for all intents and purposes, our food. I had bested Celestia- a Goddess of the sun, and yet still my swarm was vanquished; cast out across the continent with only the jagged cliffs of a mountain to cushion our blow. And while my story begins with a harrowing defeat, it shall end in glorious victory. You see, the mountain was the home of an untold secret. A terrible secret no pony could have known existed, but with our exile there, in that place, lost to the looming misery of defeat and licking our wounds, we discovered it. A golden glowing gateway of a chance that pulled us away from the scorching beauty of Equestria, and threw us into a world we never knew existed. A world that never knew we existed. From there, we moved swiftly on the creatures we discovered. Strange beings, upright and without fur, nor horn, nor wing, nor strength. But they loved and on it we feasted. They loved with reckless abandon, opening hearts to immaterial things and objects. They loved technology. They loved their progress. Mostly, these creatures loved themselves, marveling at their own beauty and superiority. They flaunted their exploits like peacocks; brazenly wandering around with the newest toy that had come to market and parading about as if the world owed them some sense of acknowledgment for all their terrific feats. For all their science, and all their greatness, they acted as if they were a gift to the planet itself. Nothing could hope to bring even a scuffle to the blinding tower of light they were as a species. And so- we crushed them. It was slow at first- conquering a town here. A village there. Infiltration and stealth. Misdirection and subterfuge. It becomes difficult to launch a counter attack when the enemy could be sitting in on the meeting. We weaved our way into the town undetected taking forms and learning what we could. My swarm can be efficient when they are hungry and we were starved. Like a flourishing dance, our masquerade was the finest it had ever been, twisting and twirling through these creatures- sweeping them all into a dance of endless hunger. These creatures; humans could not pierce our veil of disguise and once they had figured out how it was far, far to late. With every victory, we fed off the hatred and the fear. We grew stronger and stronger. More and more we appeared, slowly working our way through town after town. City after city. With a language of lies and slinking through shadow, we struck. No survivors. No giving away the game, or warning others what was to come. It was the fatal surprise which we loved and worshiped. We tore the illusion of power these creature had to shreds. We quickly sundered the ever present sense of superiority these humans had prided themselves on and in one single vicious slash, tore populaces to ribbons. It was an apocalypse. Not one the humans were expecting, written in their books, or murmured in their prayers, but an apocalypse none the less; a furious calamity that burrowed up from the edges of nightmares and dragged its way into reality, leaving nothing by fiery screams in its wake. There was no salvation. There was no safety behind man’s great technology or shelter to be found in the bravado of the human spirit. We claimed every ounce of defiance they could muster, and still we were thirsted for more. When the time had arrived to take another town, we spilled into the city streets like rain. The masquerade over; we sprung our trap and spread like a raw, uncontested disease. We swooped from the skies and burst from the darkness of subways, devouring everyone with each encounter. It isn't just love we feed off of. Our numbers flourished, and soon we attacked without fear and without mercy; without souls and without pity. Man rebelled against the catastrophe, of course, with every inch of force he could muster. He did so with weapons, and speeches, chemistry, and hope, digging his heels into the grit and pushing forward to no end. He did not go peacefully into the darkness; he kicked and screamed, dragged into the pitch black, unforgiving night. It was a beautiful ballet of cruelty we performed every night, and every performance was a feast with a screaming ovation. Food. Glorious food! All of them; Man, woman and child. Dogs and cats, creatures great and small, all became our costumes and our masks and our meals. The great spinning ballroom of the world held its collective breath, waiting for the moment when the party faded away and we danced freely. And when our fangs weren't at work, the world fell victim to a sickness. A high pitched fever of paranoia and doubt weaved through them, sickly and devastating. Brothers turned on brothers, battles ended before bullets could be fired. Trust had become a long forgotten myth, and suspicion became the native tongue. The planet forgot about its petty wars and miserable battles. They had once squabbled amongst themselves, but now they couldn't afford the luxury of war between other humans. They had united to stop us with one single recognized goal. But we had already won. I write this, here and now atop my obsidian throne, watching my army prepare for the war. For future generations, and those generations to come, let them know my glorious feats! That I, Queen Chrysalis of the changelings, toppled this world. This is the start of our new history, and our saga. There are more than millions of us now- all eager and awaiting my grand command. At first light, we head for the portal and my endless army will ravage Equestria, and we will have revenge on Twilight Sparkle, Celestia, Cadence, Shining Armor, and all of ponykind! This day we shall feed. This day shall be ours. This day is going to be perfect.