A story of Queen Chrysalis and her journey of atonement with a creature strange even by Equestrian standards.
Queen Chrysalis is the ruler of the changeling race. She has led an invasion against Equestria, bested Celestia, and ruined the wedding of two innocent lovers, but is she really evil? Or did she have good intentions all along? And if so, how will she make it up to everyone she's wronged?
Two weeks had passed before I finally returned to Canterlot. The people of Equestria were still wary but since the only thing found after the events of the invasion were the craters we had left in the forest where we had landed the people of Equestria assumed we had retreated and they easily went back to their peaceful lives. So you can imagine how suprised the Royal Guards were when a seemingly average pony stepped up to the castle gates wanting to turn herself in for something and it turned out to be queen of the changelings herself. The expression of their faces was so priceless I couldn't help but laugh. After that I was immediately arrested without a struggle and thrown in chains. I waited in the castle dungeon for most of that day before I was finally brought to see Celestia herself. "My apolgies for the delay in our little meeting but thanks to you I've been bed-ridden with an injured horn for the last two weeks." Celestia's words still held an air of benevolence but you could feel the anger in her voice despite her attempts to hide it. It was completely justified too. "I apologize for that but in my defense I did not expect to survive that blast if it hit me directly and I had merely intended to minimize the damage with a blast of my own. The fact I was able to actually overpower you shocked me just as much as everyone else." "And what of the invasion of my country? Or ruining my niece's wedding? Or the endangerment of my own people? How do you intend to justify these actions?" "You know just as well as I that changelings feed on love and we were desperate. By the time the full scope of our predicament had become apparent to us we had no other alternative. Your niece was getting married to the Captain of your Royal Guard who I knew you would entrust with defending Canterlot once we announced ourselves. It was never personal, they were just part of the plan and I would sincerely apologize to them given the chance. As for your citizens we never intended to harm them. Most changelings bear no grudge against any of your people and would also be against the idea of harming any of you to begin with. Contrary to what many may think we are not heartless monsters, but we will do what we must to survive and we would expect no less from anyone else. And while I may have been... WAS drunk with power after our little confrontation the invasion was never intended to succede in conquering Equestria; merely to gather enough love to hold us over until a more viable solution could be made. That's why I started all this in the first place and then gave myself up; to try and help my people. My intention now is to negotiate with you for just that purpose; to apologize for my actions, to atone for how I've wronged you and your people, and atone for how the carelessness under my watch led to this problem in the first place. Until then I have placed myself in exile from my own people and will not return." Celestia paused to consider what I had said. Then she let out a deep sigh. "As hesitant as I am to forgive you for what you've done I do believe you did act for the benefit of your people and that you are genuinely sorry for what you've done. And from what you've just said I would assume your people are well enough that you could afford to take the risk to make these gestures, correct?" I simply nodded to confirm her assumptions. "Then here are my terms. I will do all within my power to see that your people are pardoned for their actions, are well taken care of and also make them citizens of Equestria; you included. In return they will be expected to work for the betterment of Equestria and it's people and you will be expected to continue to stay in exile from you people indefinitely under the supervision of someone of my choosing. Once you have proven that you can be trusted you may return as the leader of your people if they are willing to accept you, in which case you will lead the changelings in my name." "I graciously accept your terms, your Majesty." "Very good then. We will have to work out the more exact details and officialize this agreement later on but I am glad we have reached an agreement, Lady Chrysalis." The next day Celestia appeared before her subjects and announced our intentions and I did the same to mine. My people were hesitant to accept Celestia's offer but they trusted my judgement. The real trouble was not knowing if, when the moment of truth came, we'd be able to coexist with the citizen's of Equestria. There was initial distrust of course but Celestia's subjects proved to be far more trusting than I had expected and as they interacted more and more with the changelings they realized we meant them no harm and they even accepted us, almost like familiy. It was almost disturbing how forgiving they were. Over the course of te next few months changelings became a common sight all over Equestria and they worked hard to earn their place. The changelings finally had a home where they would not go hungry or be persecuted. Celestia had pulled off a miracle and held up her end of the bargain. I owed her and her people so much I could never hope to repay them, but I still had to do what I could. On the day before my sentence was set to begin Celestia allowed me to say goodbye to my people. They were sad to know that I would be leaving them and didn't know when I'd be allowed to return. It saddened me a great deal as well. In the end we all agreed that the home we had gained was well worth the heartache. I suppose that this was Celestia's way of punishing us for what we'd done, and it was a just punishment. As I left with Celestia questions raced through my mind. "Where would I be exiled to?" "Would it be somewhere far away and dangerous?" "Who did Celestia pick to watch over me during my sentence?" "Why did Celestia pick him?" "How long would it take for me to convince him I was trustworthy?" "What if I couldn't convince him?" Her refusal to answer these questions was almost terrifying.
'Who am I?' That's a question I've had trouble answering for a long time. I may never be able to. Great, I'm talking to myself again. I guess it's an old habit of mine; killing my boredom by thinking that some kind of higher power would have an interest in my life as I think out loud. Oh well. I'm not sure who I am, or to be more accurate who I was. I can remember pieces, fragments of who I was and where I came from. Most of it seems like junk but there are a few things that catch my eye. I remember faces. Were they friends? Relatives? Whoever they are I can't shake the feeling that, for whatever reason, they're gone and I'll never see them again. I remember that I'm not from here; this place called Equestria. Where I came from was not so kind but I can't recall enough to tell if everything was that way. A few pleasent memories creep into my mind now and again but I guess the pain left a more lasting impression. I know that I'm not like them; the creatures who I've lived alongside for so long. There are memories of my kind, of a word. 'Human.' Memories filled with promise but tainted with evil. Then there are memories of animals. Primal and innocent, not wanting for anything beyond the means to exist. What I see when I look at these creatures is odd. In their forms I see people that look like animals, or maybe animals that look like people, but in their hearts I see my people and all their promise with the evil all but gone. I guess I don't want to remember where I came from anymore or who I was, but the memories make me wonder and doubt sometimes. I've lived my new life and I'm happy with it. I know who I am now and I wouldn't change it for anything. The memories I've made, not the memories of someone I used to be, are the ones I want to keep. It began more than a thousand years ago. Funny how many things that have come to pass as of late started from around that time. The memory was still as vivid to me now as it was the day it happened. One day I awoke in a field with no memory as to how I'd gotten there or who I was. I was confused and I wandered around, aimlessly looking for someone who could tell me what had happened. I came across two people who I would later come to know as Celestia and Luna. They were suprised by me and wanted to know who or what I was. I told them that I wasn't sure but I didn't want to hurt them. Celestia moved herself between me and Luna and warned me to keep my distance. I pleaded with her to help me as I took a step closer. She acted on instinct and blasted me with her magic. Her sudden reaction had caught me off guard and the force of the blast knocked me down and Celestia had thought for sure she had killed me. Celestia panicked and her and Luna ran over to help me. They were shocked to find that not only was I still breathing but the blast hadn't so much as scratched me. Before they could back away I grabbed hold of both of them. They struggled but they couldn't break free from my grasp and for some reason they couldn't use magic either. I didn't notice it at the time and I told them I'd let go of them after they calmed down and heard me out. When they finally calmed down and when we finally got a chance to talk they explained everything they could to me. They told me of themselves, of Equestria and it's inahbitants, and how they'd never seen a creature like me before even in the long time that they had been alive. Then they spoke of the ruler of Equestria: Discord, and how he used his tremendous power toy with the fabric of reality for his own amusement, regardless of how it affected others. The thought occured to me that maybe his tampering with reality had brought me here from somewhere else and they agreed that was the most likely answer. I asked them to bring me to him to find out the truth as to how I got here or who I was and if it could be undone. They didn't want to at first but they wanted to help me and agreed that this was the only way they could of. When we finally arrived at Discord's palace, if you could even call it that, I saw a creature very much befitting the Lord of Chaos they had described. He looked a great deal like Celestia and Luna, at least as far as his basic shape was concerned, but he looked as if he was made of pieces of creatures thrown together at random. "Celestia! Luna! What made you two decide to come to see me? I thought you didn't like me?" "We don't." There was an air of contempt in Celestia's voice. "You're still so harsh Celestia. You've got to learn how to relax and enjoy the insanity once in a while. Anyways, whose this you've brought here with you?" "I'm not sure myself." "Huh?" Discord had a look on his face like he couldn't make sense of what I'd just said. "That's what we came here to ask you. He can't remember where he's from or who he is, or what he is for that matter. We've never seen anything like him before and we've been around almost as long as you have. We think that you may have wound up bringing him here by accident." "Probably. Even I can't predict everything that will result from my little games. That said I've never managed to bring something here from another world or anything like that, not that I'd have any interest in doing so anyways. I'm happy enough just messing around with this one." "So can you help him or not?" "I can't, not that I would offer to anyways." "What?!" Celestia was practiacally in shock at his words. "Even my powers, great as they are, have their limits and I don't know everything, nor do I claim to. Your friend here doesn't know where he came from, or who he is, and I wouldn't know either. My guess is that when I brought him here it made him lose his memory and since even he doesn't know what he is there's no telling how the ordeal may have changed him from what he was." "That might explain why my magic didn't affect him." "Hmm? What are you talking about?" Discord seemed to show genuine curiosity at what Celestia had just said. "When me and Luna first met him I thought he might attack us so I panicked and blasted him with magic. It must have suprised him because it knocked him to the ground and I thought I'd hurt him. When we rushed over to help him he was perfectly fine. Not only that, but when he grabbed hold of us neither of us could use our magic. In fact it felt like he was draining it away from us." "How strange. Even creatures resistant to magic like Dragons aren't completely immune to it and I've never heard of a creature who could naturally drain magic from others or negate it, even me. I need to see this for myself." "Wait don't-" Celestia tried to protest but Discord ignored her. With that Discord created a massive ball of magical energy and launched it at me. Remembering how Celestia's blast earlier had knocked me down, I raised my arms up to try and block it. When it made contact with me it had tremendous force behind it but it vanished instantly. When I looked up I saw everyone's jaws drop with Discord's actually hitting the ground. I had to admit it was pretty funny. "Huh. Let's try something else then." Discord conjured a large sword out of nowhere and before any of us could react he ran it through my chest, pinning me to a wall. I could feel the sword's edge cutting me even more as I tried to move and the pain was so intense it nearly made me black out. I grabbed hold of the sword's hilt and I tensed up as Discord tried to pull it out. He couldn't get it to budge and after a few more attempts he let go of it. After a few moments I pulled myself together and walked forward, pulling the sword out of the wall as I went. Then I began to pull the sword out of my chest. When I finally pulled it all the way out I expected to see a massive wound with blood everywhere. There wasn't so much as a mark on my chest or a drop of blood on the sword. Then they all spoke up at once and asked the same question: "What in Tartarus are you?" The looks on their faces were a blend of fear and suprise, and mine probably didn't look too much different. I could only think of one thing to say to answer their question: "I don't know."
Completely out of nowhere, Discord began to laugh like he had just heard the funniest joke he had heard in years. "Well that was definitely interesting! The truth of the matter is I wasn't trying to kill you but from the look of things I couldn't, even if I wanted to! And I'm Discord: The Lord of Chaos for crying out loud! I have to thank you for showing me something so entertaining, Celestia. And as for you, my unusual friend, I'm glad to have met you. You've truly given me quite a bit of amusement today." "Aside from the pain of having a sword plunged into my chest, I think I could say the same to you." "I would apologize for that but then I'd have to start apologizing to everyone. Appearances and all. You understand right?" "Of course. When Celestia spoke of you the image of a heartless tormentor popped into my mind but know that I've actually gotten a chance to know you a bit I can already tell quite a bit about you." "Really? Like what?" "Well for one thing it's obvious that you aren't really evil. You may not care what happens to others, I mean you did just run a sword through my chest just to see what would happen, but you mean them no real harm. The reality of the matter is that your just trying to have fun and stave off your own boredom." Discord burst out laughing again. I guess I hit the nail on head. "I've been around for centuries and you're the first one to ever suggest that, and you just met me! Keep your eye on this one Celestia; you might learn something!" "No kidding. That reminds me; What should we call you?"
"Excuse me, sir?" "Hmm?" A young pegasus girl had walked up to me and I was so wrapped up in my little trip down memory lane I hadn't noticed her until just now. "I'm sorry to bother you sir, but your name wouldn't happen to be 'Jack-of-All-Trades' would it?" "It is, actually. Why do you ask? Do you need something?" "I have a letter for you Mr. Jack. Straight from Celestia herself." "Celestia? It's been ages since I've heard from her. Thank you very much for bringing this to me." "No problem Mr. Jack, I'm just doing my job. Have a pleasant day now." "Same to you, my dear." And with that the little messenger girl took off with a bag still full of letters. Such a sweet girl. I should have asked her for her name. Her eyes did seem rather unusual though, so I guess I won't have too much trouble narrowing down who she is. Now what is this letter all about, I wonder?
"Dearest Jack, I apologize for not writing you in so long as I've been busy recently and haven't had much time to do so. The former leader of the changelings, Queen Chrysalis, has given herself up in for the oppurtunity to open negotiations. I don't wish to bore you with the details but know that we have already reached an agreement. The terms of this agreement promise that in exchange for the protection and well-being of her people she will submit to whatever punishment I deem neccesary. The punishment I have chosen is to send her into exile until such time as I believe she has atoned for her crimes as well as to determine whether or not she can be trusted. So I have chosen to have her spend her exile with you because you are the only person who I could trust to keep an eye on her as well as the only person who would judge her fairly. I apologize for the inconvenience, especially after being out of contact for so long, but I feel this course of action is for the best. Please come to see us at the castle as soon as you are able.
Sincerely,
Celestia
P.S. Luna and Cadence say hi."
Still can't get a thing done without me, eh Tia? Well, I guess I should quit talking to myself and go and see her like she as- Wait a second... She sent a messenger this far out just to tell me that she wanted me to babysit someone for a while? That's not like her at all. She wouldn't bother me with something like this if she thought it was a trivial matter, but if it was that important she would have come and seen me herself instead of sending a messenger. Even if she was busy she could simply teleport here and tell me what she wanted and be back at the castle in a few minutes. What could be so important that she couldn't afford to be away from the castle for only a few minutes? This could be very interesting.
It was early in the morning and all seemed rather peaceful. Then, without warning, there was a massive ruckus in the courtyard outside. From what I could gather there was an intruder and the guards outside the room I was staying in would not permit me to leave. When everything had calmed down and I was allowed to leave my room I asked the guards what had happened. They told me that the intruder had apparently walked right up to the front of the castle, knocked out the guards, and forced the gates open by himself. Once inside he went on a rampage, destroying everything he could get his hands on and attacking every guard he came across. It took several hours to finally subdue him and by then he had managed to take down more than thirty guards and practically turned the courtyard into a war-zone. I went to go see for myself who would be so bold as to attack Celestia's own castle on his own. What I saw was a man chained up to a large cross in the middle of the ruined courtyard with a line of archers aiming directly at him. Despite his situation there was an almost amused grin on the man's face. I walked over and stood next to the officer in charge. He paid me no mind and started to speak. "You are charged with the crime of assaulting this castle, its personnel, and threatening Celestia herself. These charges are severe and will be treated as an act of war against Equestria and its people. Princess Celestia has already determined your sentence and given me the authority to carry it out. However, in light of the fact that no one was killed or severely wounded during your assault she has given you the privilege of being able to choose your sentence. Your choices are immediate execution or imprisonment for the rest of your days. Which do you chose?" "Execution." "As you wish then. Do you have any last words?" "None that you need to hear." "Then may you rest in peace. READY! AIM! FIRE!" On his order a volley of arrows flew through the air, each one of them finding their mark. His entire body tensed up in pain then went limp, his face still wearing the same content smile. The guards relaxed, confident the execution was succesful. All at once they turned back to face the officer. When they did so a look of immediate shock appeared across all of their faces. At first I thought it was me that had suprised them but as I looked to the officer I quickly discovered what had spooked them. The man that they had just turned into a pincushion was standing behind the officer with his hand over the officer's mouth. "Excellent work boys." He was speaking with the officer's voice. Confused we all looked back at the cross. The chains hung down loosely, the arrows were imbedded deeply into the wood, and the man who was supposed to have been dead and shackled to the cross was standing right beside me. "You are all perfectly trained to deal with a conventional threat. However I think you'll find I am nothing of the sort." As he spoke his voice shifted back to his own, or at least the voice he had used before. He took his hand off the officer's mouth and once he did so the officer dropped to the ground. We all gasped at the sight. "Relax. He's just unconscious." The archers all prepared to loose another volley. As they did so the man raised his hand. They all fired at roughly the same time and all the arrows flew towards him and would have surely hit, but they didn't. They hung in the air surrounded by a blue aura, the same as the aura around his hand. The aura faded and the arrows all simply dropped to the ground. "I thought I told you to relax." Seeing that the arrows were useless the guards all drew swords and charged in a very reckless manner. The blue aura appeared around his hand again and also around the guards. He made a downward-pointing gesture and in an instant all of the guards dropped to the ground and dug themselves into the dirt. "That was your last chance." The guards tried to get up but no matter how hard they struggled they could not even raise their heads. "Don't bother. I increased the weight of your armor by roughly ten times and Celestia herself couldn't undo that spell. Plus it will only last about three minutes anyways so there's no need to worry. Now then don't you think it's about time you stop enjoying the show and calm these boys down Tia?" Celestia's familiar chuckle came from nowhere. "You're right. I've had my fun. Guards, stand down" Then she appeared, seemingly out of thin air, and began to speak. "I suppose I should explain what's going on here. This man here is an old friend of mine. His name is Jack and around four-hundred years ago he gave me the idea for this prank." "PRANK!?" To be honest, having been around Celestia for a while, I'm amazed the guards were that suprised. "Yes, a prank. One we play on the guards every few decades." "I really wish you wouldn't insist on calling it that." "My apologies, but that's what it's become don't you think? Now where was I? Ah, yes. Jack here got the idea to see how well my guards reacted when presented with an emergency situation. Equestria had been in a state of peace and prosperity for several centuries and he wondered whether or not the Royal Guard had gotten soft in that time. So, after announcing his intentions to me and getting my approval, he did then what he did here today; staged a mock attack on the castle. He would do his best to cause mayhem, without severely hurting anyone, and see how long it would take for the guards to overpower him. And I must say you all did rather well. The first time we did this it took the guards nearly three days to restrain Jack and you did it in around three hours. A new record!" "That said none of the times we've done this have the guards ever assumed I could use magic. It's an easy mistake to make, due to my appearance, but that's no excuse." "You have a point but they did well and should be rewarded for it. In the meantime please return to your regular duties." "I believe you're forgetting something." "Oh right! Silly me." Celestia's horn began to glow and the aura spread over the entire courtyard and it began to revert to it's former appearance, as if time itself was being turned back. "That's not what I meant." "What else could you possibly-? OH! Please inform Lieutenant-Officer Lance of what has happened when he wakes up. In the meantime please take him to the infirmary." When the guards had taken the lieutenant away and it was just the three of us Celestia spoke again. "Jack, you do know we didn't plan on doing this for another year, right?" "It's been a while since we've seen each other so I figured I'd make our reunion a little more interesting." "It may be for the best actually, but that's another matter. Now then I think it's time we discuss why I called you here." I think I know where this is going.
The three of us all stood in the courtyard; Celestia, me, and this man named Jack. "Well let's get the introductions out of the way. Jack, this is Chrysalis, the Changeling Queen. Chrysalis, this man is Jack-of-All-Trades, the person I chose to watch over you during your sentence." I felt uneasy around him but I decided to be polite "A pleasure to make your acquaintance Mr. Jack." "The pleasure is all mine, my dear. Do you mind if I call you Chrissi?" "Only if you don't mind me calling you Jackie." He burst out laughing at my remark. After that display of his earlier I was still a bit wary of him but he seemed like a nice enough person. After all he was taking the joke pretty well. "Jack, be serious now. This girl nearly managed to kill me after all. It's true that she's lost a large amount of power since then, but she is still a threat. While I am willing to give her and her people a second chance I won't rest easy until I'm sure she can be trusted. You have no history with her and you've always been a good judge of character. You're also the only one I could trust to handle her. So, I leave her to you." "You can on count me Tia." "I knew I could. Well, I hate to cut our reunion short but I have to go attend to something." "Tell Luna and Cadenza I said hello." "Of course. Be seeing you Jack." With that Celestia left us.
"Well let's get going then." "To where?" "To my place of course. That reminds me: Do you have everything you need?" "Yes." My exile hadn't exactly left me with much to pack anyways. "Right then. Follow me please." He led me over to a plain stone wall, pulled out what looked like a piece of chalk and began to draw something on the wall. "What are you doing?" "Making a door." Just as he said he drew a simple looking door. Then he started writing strange markings on it, mumbling to himself in some strange tongue while he did so. "That should do it. Now then, care to see a trick?" "Trick?" "Of course. There's a trick to everything." "Alright then, let's see your trick." "Good. Now to be honest, anyone can do this. There are many different ways of making a door and this is only one of them. The trick that most people don't get is getting the door to open. With a 'normal' door you turn the knob and that allows it to be opened. That's common logic. But when people see a door like this they think that there's no way to open it." "Of course. It's just a drawing." "You're only half right. It's a drawing AND a door. Just because you don't know how to open the door doesn't make it any less real." "So how do you open it then?" "That's the beauty of it: The door opens itself."
It's official; this man is out of his mind.
"You think I'm crazy, don't you?" Great. Is he a mind reader now too? "No, but I've gotten pretty good at reading people over the years, so I'm about as close as you can get." Right... Wait, what? "Well I'll prove it to you then. Knock on the door and it'll open." "There's no way it's that easy." "Humor me." "Fine." "Just make sure you knock three times" I went up and knocked on the wall. Once. Twice. Three times. Nothing happened. "See? Nothing." I looked back but Jack wasn't standing there anymore. Then I heard a noise, like a heavy door grinding against it's hinges. I turned. I couldn't believe my eyes. Jack was standing there motioning towards the newly opened door; a large slab of stone wall that was swung open, leaving behind a doorway filled with an abyss of light. "How did you-" "You're the one who opened the door, not me. Now then, I believe it's proper manners to let the lady go through the door first." If for nothing else than the fear of what he would do if I refused I walked towards the door. Jack stood there, holding the door open, gesturing me to go inside. He still had that smile on his face. That smile had never left his face. No. It was even wider than before. Like he was laughing to himself about a something. It was unsettling. I stepped into the light and felt nothing. Was it safe? 'Great time to be thinking of that now, isn't it Chrissi?' I continued in. I was completely inside the light-filled doorway now. I looked back and saw the courtyard. Jack was still standing there. As I turned and went farther in, something broke the silence, making me freeze up in terror. I heard Jack come inside, with the sound of heavy boots accompanying each step. After the first few steps I heard the 'creak' of the door again. When it closed the sound echoed, as if through a great, empty hall. Jack spoke again. "'Come into my Parlor' said the Spider to the Fly." The last thing I heard was Jack laughing to himself. Then darkness.