My Little Carmines

Chapter 10: Confrontation

Benjamin quickly found himself dashing with Shining Armor and some other guards as they scurried towards the location of the Changeling Queen. He had know idea why all of the guards were rushing so quickly, but he questioned himself even more as he wondered why he was running with them and not going on with his own business. But a part of the young Gear actually wanted to know who 'Queen Chrysalis 'was and why she had spooked Princess Celestia, Shining Armor and the guards so easily. A small part of Carmine actually felt excited for what he was going to see. What did she look like? Was she hideous and ugly like the old rumours that the gears had formerly passed down from generation of Gears about how filthy and disgusting Queen Myrrah must have looked like. Nevertheless, Benjamin continued to follow the guards until they made it outside and immediately began following the guard who had informed them of Chrysalis's presence. From what he could tell, more guards were ahead and loud shouting was more notable to Benjamin, and he noticed how Shining Armor's face had changed into that which was filled with pure rage and anger. Meeting the large crowd of guards who had their spears sharpened and aggressively pointing in a single direction, Shining Armor barged through the crowded guards along with the baffled rook.

You," Shining Armor retorted with a hiss as the Queen came into view," What do you want? You have no right in being here; not after your intrusion of my wedding and false identity of my wife!" He stated harshly at Queen Chrysalis. There was a silence from the Queen as she did not reflect any sort of emotion from her face or lips. Benjamin didn't know whether to draw his weapon at this point because he didn't know how dangerous Chrysalis was, but he was too fascinated with the fact that all the attention that was being endured with Chrysalis. What he was fascinated with most was the holes, big and small, that patched around her body.

"Relax your guards, captain, for I come in peace!" Queen Chrysalis stated almost desperately as she raised her hoof as a sign of peace towards the hardened captain. The hardened captain's eyes didn't move an inch as he continued to watch closely in case the Queen attempted to pull a fast move over them. Benjamin stood quietly behind a couple guards that stood behind Shining Armor which, for the short while, blocked any clear sightings for the Queen. However, Benjamin could just about make out her appearance through the shoulders of the guards and their wings. If there was any sort of sighting that could have been made by the Queen, then it would have been noticeable from the two specs of glowing blue eyes from his helmet in between the shoulders of the guards.

"How can we trust you? For all we could know, this could be nothing but a pathetic attempt of yours to try and take over Canterlot and Equestria! Do you really think that we're that foolish? We won't fall for your tricks a second time, Chrysalis!" Shining Armor's voice was loud, strong, heroic and brave as he had taken a small step further in front of his guards to show his position as a step higher than his guards, and it also showed his bravery and courage in standing up to seeming tyrant like Chrysalis.

"Please, you do not understand, Shining Armor, we have come here in need of-"The Queen tried to explain to the strict captain, but the sound of stirring and movement interrupted her speech. From Shining Armor and Benjamin's left, Princess Celestia, Luna and Cadance were walking through the crowd of guards whilst they quickly and hastily tried to create enough room for their rulers to walk through. Princess Celestia had quickly informed her sister and niece of Queen Chrysalis's presence and had been quick to arrive at her side.

"What is going on here?" Princess Celestia demanded in a tone that could frighten the very soul out of a pony.

"Your majesty, Queen Chrysalis has returned to Canterlot," Shining Armor responded as he walked over and stood slightly in front of his wife in fear that Queen Chrysalis would try and extract revenge on him and Cadance.

Princess Celestia turned her eyes towards the Queen as she stood seemingly unbalanced in front of her. A stare down issued between the two contrasting royalties as neither seemed to break their eye contact. Recalling the events that had happened between the first encounters when they had first met eye to eye, hostility was inevitable between the Changelings and the Royal Guards and Princess Celestia and Queen Chrysalis. The sharpness of the guards' spears already sent a message to Queen Chrysalis that they weren't willing to negotiate so easily and the misguiding looks that were shot by the three princesses and the captain didn't support her chances either. The air suddenly felt incredibly tight for the Queen as she reconsidered if traveling back to Canterlot, where their morality and status wasn't exactly friendly and welcoming, was actually a good idea; but she remembered that going to Canterlot was their only option since Princess Celestia was the one with power over all the decisions in Equestria. She had to explain her situation, and what she found in the Everfree forest fast if she was ever going to possibly be forgiven or helped. Recalling back to when her Changeling army ravaged over Canterlot and fed on the love of the innocent ponies, Queen Chrysalis was starting to lose her words. It was as if a labyrinth had evolved inside her mind and replaced her thoughts all over the maze. Acquiring the right words at such a crucial moment was vital if Chrysalis was ever going to save her race. One wrong word, one wrong move and everything that she was trying to possess in order to survive would be lost. And the very thing she wanted was refuge in Canterlot and protection of her Changelings!

"Psst, bro," Benjamin whispered to a guard whose ears pricked at his hissed whispering. Clearly it had worked. "Who is that?" Not much the Benjamin's surprise, the guard shot a filthy glare and turned his attention back towards the current threat.

"State your business back here in Canterlot, now!" The princess of the sun demanded and stepping almost violently forward. From the look in her eyes, it was clear that some unnatural form of revenge had portrayed itself in her eyes. The possibility of it being the fact that Queen Chrysalis had humiliated her in front of her subjects by defeating her, impersonating her niece and ruining the Royal Wedding, and harming and terrorising and disrupting the peace that reigned throughout Canterlot. The chances of her being able to convince the princess to allow her subjects refuge was growing to its peak of denial. The Queen hesitated before replying…

"Princess Celestia, as I was trying to explain to your captain, I have comer here in need of…help." It was as she had expected, but yet she couldn't prepare herself for the uproar that suddenly erupted from the guards, the bystanders and the three princesses themselves. And from what else she could make out, there were symptoms of laughter just to add to her embarrassment and humiliation in front of her mutual enemies. Her ears spiked down as her face painted that of a weeping dog as she stared at the ground. However, the laughter died down when the serious Princess Celestia, who had refused to laugh at her need, raised her hoof in order to silence her guards and subjects.

"You come to Canterlot in seek of 'help'? Have you not forgotten what had happened the last time with the presence of you and your Changeling army? Just why should I help you when you had attempted to disrupt the peace and conquer Equestria?" The princess of the sun continued to stare with signs of obvious mistrust and hostility.

"Please, Celestia let me explain!" Queen Chrysalis forcefully demanded as her tone almost sounded desperate but at the same time forceful and assertive. Princess Celestia, and her niece and sister, were taken back in shock at how their enemy was speaking to them, but yet still wanted shelter and help from them. This further angered Princess Celestia. However, Princess Cadance interrupted the conversation as she pushed past her husband and aunt.

"You expect us to help you? You ruined my wedding, played with the heart of my husband and friends and pretended to be me! How dare you to even think that you could simply walk into here and think that we would accept you into Canterlot! Have you no shame?" Cadance's voice almost broke as she stared with undying hatred towards the Queen. Coming from the princess who was supposed to uphold the values of love, seeing such fierce manners pouring from her words and gestures had surprisingly made her look slightly more intimidating than what she was supposed to be. It came to much of a surprise to the Changeling Queen that Cadance had made herself out to be more intimidating as usual since her magic was only capable of dominating powers whenever her husband was present. But seeing such powerful emotions bloom from her was not what Queen Chrysalis had been expecting.

"Such actions that you and your Changelings have committed should have you and your Changelings banned from Equestria altogether and banished permanently into the dark depths of the Everfree forest!" Princess Luna had entered the conversation and showed no respect or acceptance for the Changeling Queen. Although her presence was absent during the invasion of the Changelings, Princess Luna was still informed of the actions made by the Changelings, but they were dealt with in her absence which allowed her to join the wedding just in time to see her niece and Shining Armor depart for their Honeymoon.

During the hostility between the Changelings and the ponies, Benjamin had never felt so lost in all his life. He had tried to keep up with what was being said, but his lack of knowledge on the rivalry between the two species only caused him to sink into further confusion whilst he idly watched on as the debate continued. His eyes continued to switch between the three princesses and the single Queen as they continued to argue and debate about the immigration of the Queen and her Changelings. So far, things had not been going well for the Queen and she was starting to lose any hopes of being accepted into Canterlot. She went for her final and probably most moral decision.

"Princess Celestia, you simply do not understand what my kind has been through in order to get to Canterlot. Just look at some of my Changelings!" The Changeling Queen side stepped and allowed a few of the injured Changelings to be visible to the three princesses.

There was a sudden gasp of surprise and horror as some of the Changelings stepped forward. They looked slightly younger than the ordinary sized Changelings which clearly meant that they were young Changelings. Not young as you would find a baby, nor toddler, but that of which they were Changelings that were just entering their final stages of being a teen before reaching adulthood. However, what shocked them the most was the monstrous and disgusting damage that had been done to their bodies and faces. One of these Changelings, pained in one simple eye, had his left eye completely missing and drenched in blood. There had been little effort at healing the wound as the magic of the Queen was weak from the struggling famine of lacking love for them to feed on. A second Changeling had multiple scratches over the face and body, and it was clear he had suffered the least from the shocking display of the third Changeling. So utterly damaged and broken, the third Changeling had to be carried on the back of another fit Changeling. The suffering Changeling's left wing had been totally ripped off as the core of the wing contained dried up blood and pieces of Changeling flesh hung from the core. And from the look of its right fore hoof, it appeared to have been twisted as if something had taken it and twisted it all the way around until it had completely disconnected from the other bone. The sight was totally unpleasant and the looks of mercy and help that projected from their face totally abolished any signs of hostility in the princesses and replaced it with sympathy.

An awkward silence suddenly entered the gap between the two races as they succumbed to their own minds and slowly absorbed everything that had happened. And after the long and eerie silence, Princess Celestia broke the silence with a gentle but hard to explain question.

"How…how did this happen?" Her voice had changed and was almost stuttering as if she was afraid that the wrong question would offend the broken Changelings. Queen Chrysalis seemed extremely hesitant in explaining, but she noticed her chance as soon as the tone Celestia's voice changed and believed that it could have been her only chance of actually convincing the princesses.

"We were attacked," the Queen started with clear reluctance at recalling the events since her response was distant," While my Changelings and I were searching for food and some place to call our new home, these creatures suddenly appeared from the depths of the darkness of the Everfree, and they…they…they started murdering my Changelings. There was no warning or negotiations involved. Most of them looked the same; they were big, scaly and bulky. Their voices were like nothing we had ever heard. They held devices that were loud and deadly, and were the very things that they used to murder my kind."

The description of the monsters that attacked Queen Chrysalis and the Changelings sparked Benjamin's attention. Big, scaly, bulky and devices in their hands, the description matched that rifles that the Locust Horde used perfectly. The only missing description was if a poisonous yellow illuminated from them. If it did then it was the same creatures responsible like the ones that had attacked him and the princesses back in Ponyville. But for some reason Princess Celestia had refused to ask any more questions as she had turned to have a debate with her sister, niece and Shining Armor about what their decision would be. Needing to know, Benjamin started to push through the guards, but they were resisting his barges as if they were purposely trying not to make him noticeable to Queen Chrysalis. However, Benjamin's strength, misjudged and miscalculated by the guards, allowed him to fiercely force his way through them until his strength lunged him into the front of the guards where Queen Chrysalis could see him fully.

Chrysalis gasped in fright as she saw Benjamin staring at her, and the fit and uninjured Changelings had instantly snapped forward to protect their Queen from the foreign Benjamin Carmine. All eyes suddenly guided their way towards the rookie, but he had not noticed since his focus was on the Queen of the Changelings. He took another step forward and the Changelings hissed in their response as they too violently stepped forward as a warning. The Royal Guards had also regained their strong posture as they poked their spear forwards in case the Changelings were to attempt anything. Benjamin, after realising the hint, stopped. He would have to ask his question from where he was.

"The Locust," He started," You're talking about the Locust, aren't you?" Chrysalis, beyond words, stared at the human with fear, uncertainty and confusion and completely found herself lost by Ben's sudden appearance to even answer the question.

"This isn't the best of times to be doing this, Benjamin," Luna called out which caught the Gear's attention. However, Benjamin chose to repeat his question to the Queen and it seemed to have worked, but the answer wasn't what Ben wanted.

"I do not know what you are talking about, creature," The Queen responded as her voice gained some sort of confidence in knowing that her Changelings were protecting her. Again, Benjamin tried to take another step forward, but the Changelings were quick and stepped in synchronisation in order to scare off Benjamin.

"For God's sake, fine, were they glowing yellow at least?" The strange question seemed to be confusing the Changeling Queen; but nevertheless, she replied to his question.

"No, they weren't," Queen Chrysalis started," But, as me and my surviving Changelings were fleeing, we heard a voice cry through the trees and shadows of the Everfree forest."

"What did it say?" Benjamin questioned.

"I think, if I am correct, that the voice hissed 'all hail the Locust Horde'!"