Children of the Night

Chapter 14

Diamond - Ponyfriend

Diamond rushed through the halls of Canterlot castle. The changeling drones she met on her way, all bowed respectfully as she passed. She couldn't have cared less about it at that moment. Just this morning a report, including some of her mothers new "laws", had been brought to her. It was just outrageous! That was going against everything in their bargain. She didn't help her plan this invasion, for things like... THAT!

Her white mane flying in the wind of her own speed, Diamond shoved open the throneroom doors. Her mother was standing at the far end of the room, watching Canterlot from one of the windows. She didn't even turn around when her daughter rushed in without knocking.

"Good morning to you, Diamond. How are you today?"

"Oh mother, don't you dare faking, that you don't know what I am here for."

"The decree?"

"Yes."

Chrysalis turned around to look at her daughter. Her face was cut a little thinner and she had to admit, that even by pony standarts, her daughter could be considered beatiful. She sighed. There had been so many upcoming queens in the hive over the years, but she had killed them all to ensure her rule. Why in the world, had she let Diamond live? She would never know....

"So, what about it?"

Chrysalis inquired, as she sat down on the throne that Celestia had used only a month before. She already knew what was coming... She already had anticipated this meeting, ever since she had laid down the new laws. Her daughter always had been too soft, for her taste.

"Mother, this is wrong! You want to confine Ponies in camps, and have them live a lie through your mindcontrol, and our drones powers, so you can harvest their emotions! This isn't what we agreed on!"

"What we.... Oh!.... Diamond, you must be aware of your situation. I am the acting queen. YOU on the other hoof are only alive, because I felt like it."

"And I have served you well over the years, have I not mother? This whole invasion would have been an utter failure, had it not been for my plan to infiltrate all towns with our agents. Replacing officals and guard captains.... As I know you, you would have just charged in as you tried so often in the past!"

Chrysalis's eye twitched a little at her daughters words. The implication was easy to understand. Diamond was telling her, that she was more intelligent then her. That moment, Chrysalis would have loved nothing more, then to just rip Diamonds head of, and be done with it, but she couldn't do that... There were those amongst her generals who agreed with her, and that could verry well come back to bite her flank. All she was now worried about was, if it would be able to take a piece out of her.

Chrysalis inhaled deeply, to calm herself. No, there would be a time and place to get rid of Diamond, but for the time being, she still needed the intelligent little brat. She hated to admit it to herself, but her daughter was right... she was more intelligent then her.... and in a way, that made her both valuable, and dangerous to Chysalis...

"So what would you say I should do, my daughter? Release the mindcontrol and try to get the Ponies to love us, while thousands of us may starve?"

"We do not starve that quickly and you, out of everychangeling else, should know that it's doable! We wouldn't have to suffer casualties, since we queens can go for years without absorbing feelings, while our drones can survive several months!"

"In a state of hibernation, Diamond. We'd have to hibernate to do something like that, or atleast most of our forces would have to. With Celestia still on the run, and the elements of harmony still alive, I can NOT even consider such a thing. They would slaughter us in our cocoons, while Equestria is taken from us once again."

"But that wasn't...."

"What we agreed upon, I know Diamond!"

Chrysalis's tone was now just a growl, since she was already loosing her cool again. What was Diamond thinking? This discussion felt WRONG! It would be something the royal pony sisters might have done, but SHE was the sole ruler. Diamond, while being a queen in status, didn't rule side by side with her. Her daughter was a mere consultant! She should teach that larva a lesson, just so she knew her place...

"And what about the elements? Their bearers are still missing! Their cells have vanished, and you even stopped having that Alicorn raped, mother. She may be in a bad shape, but you can STILL set things right! She IS the Princess of love, for the hives sake! If we could persuade her...."

"That MULE is of no use to us. I didn't stop her punishment out of mercy, Diamond. I stopped it, because her healer was killed. She has killed one of my chosen and it is to dangerous for anychangeling, to go near her. She has lost it, and even somehow managed to break her chains. The only ones safe to go in there right now, would be you or me. But that is out of the question. She will recieve her meals, and that is it. Shall the "Princess of love" rot away in the dungeons...."

"But mother... We are..."

"ENOUGH!"

Chrysalis finally snapped. She wouldn't take any more of this.

Diamond didn't flich, when Chrysalis advanced on her. They were both queens, and therefore equally matched. The reason her mother had reigned for as long as she had, was simply because there had been nochangeling to challenge her, since she killed the newborn queens, once they had hatched.

"This has gone on long enough... You will go and complete the tasks I gave you, or do you maybe want to try and take the control over the hive from me?"

Diamond hung her head and left the room. She COULD have fought Chrysalis, but she didn't want to, if she was honest to herself. She had been the one to form the plan for the invasion, even so her mother had NOT heeded the plan to the word. In her version, it would have been a swift one, with no pony or Changeling or Pony getting hurt, but her mother had changed ever since her defeat during the Canterlot wedding. Back then, every drone had been important to her. She had mourned every single one that got hurt, or killed. Only other queens, had ever felt her wrath... But ever since the mass breeding, for this invasion had begun, she only cared for a few chosen ones of her underlings. Those ones she called her "chosen".... Differntly from the better times in the hive, she remembered, all of those had names, while the normal drone didn't have that luxery. Diamond looked out of one of the windows on her way to the dungeons.

Memories rained down on her. Memories of a loving mother... every drone bearing a name....

"What has happend to you.... mother?"

Diamond broke her gaze away from the window and shook her head. She had made up her mind. This had gone on long enough. Taking revenge on those who hurt you, was all well and good, but there was a thing as going too far.

Cadence was sitting in her cell, just having finished her breakfast. Her thoughts were a haze of different emotions, and this was one of the few times she was able to think clearly, keeping her emotions under control. She suspected that it had to do with the other changes she had gone through. Her pink furr had almost completly fallen out... her skin beneat was now turning grey and black in places. Cadence just didn't know what was going on anymore. Over the last few weeks, she had suffered greatly, and she had chalked those physical changes to her stress at first, until she had the oportunity to speak with the Changeling coming to her every evening. He had told her what these changes were... He had tried to help her... but she had, somehow, killed him. She didn't know what had happend herself. One moment, she was talking calmly to him, the next he lay on the floor, his head split in two. Her chains had been gone, and she could feel lingering magic in the air, but her horn was still silenced, so... it couldn't been her, could it?

Besides... the magical aura she had felt was twisted, and insane.... even so there had been small traces of her own magic in it, she couldn't bring herself to believe she had killed somepony that had wanted to help her get better.

The door to her cell swung open, and Cadence looked up, a little confused. For almost a week now, nopony had come into her cell. Only the food was delivered through a small catdoor, on the bottom of the door. As her eyes adjusted to the bright light shining into her cell, she saw the outline of...

"CHRYSALIS!"

Weak and sick as she felt, Cadence sprung to her hooves, holding her head down while charging at the Changeling Queen. She might not be able to use any magic, but her horn would still be able to impale her opponent. But before she could reach her, she was enveloped in a gentle aura of pale white magic. The feelings she sensed in this magic, where not agressive in the slightest. It was... pitty? Regret? Sympathy?

"Wait! I am not here to hurt you."

Cadence stopped struggeling in the telekinetic grip. Now that her eyes had adjusted to the light, she inspected her visitor a little closer. It surely was a fully grown Changeling queen, but it wasn't Chrysalis, as she had thought at first. Her chitine coate was a lighter shade of black, her mane and tail pure white like winter snow. Also her features where a little different. She almost looked... beautiful.

"Who are you?"

"My name, is Diamond, and I have come to talk to you. Can I trust, that you will not try to hurt me, when I release my magic?"

Cadence thought for a moment, her emotions already welling up again, but she did her best to supress them. If Diamond wanted to talk, she might be able to get usefull information out of her. She couldn't pass that chance. Cadence nodded.

Gently, she was put back on the ground, before the magic around her fizzled away.

"So what does a Changeling queen, want to talk to me about? Do you want to offer me your conditionless surrender?"

Cadences words had been ment to mock the queen, but to he disappointment, she didn't take the bait. Diamond thought for a moment, before she nodded, which left Cadence in utter shock. Her eyes were wide as saucers, and her muzzle hang open.

"What? You can't be serious!"

"Oh, but I am serious, but please hear me out before we get out of here. There are alot of things you must know."

Cadence nodded, still a little in shock that Diamond wanted to surrender to her.

"My name, you already know.", Diamond started as she settled down and gestured for Cadence do the same. The Cell door standing wide open all the while. As the Alicorn settled down on the floor, oposite of her, she continued.

"I am a Changeling Queen, which you also already know, but what you DON'T know is, that I have no real power within the hive. All power I wield, is given to me by Chrysalis. Usually there can be only one queen in a hive, so they have to fight each other to determine who is the fittest... Chrysalis has always feared that a queen more powerfull then her might hatch, so she killed the larvas that turned out to be queens, before they were fully grown. I on the other hoof was spared for some reason, and until now I have never made her regret it. It was me who forged the invasion plans on Equestria...."

Cadence opend her mouth to say something, but Diamond just continued over her...

"But Chrysalis has not followed my plan completly. If she had, you wouldn't be in here, nor would you be in a state like this. In MY plan, nopony nor Changeling was supposed to be hurt or killed. But Chrysalis has changed recently. I think it might be the power that went to her head.... I can sense a simliar insanity in you aswell, but for you I can do something, for her I can't, unless I was willing to strike her down.... Which might be for the best for the hive...."

Cadence continued to listen, devouering every word.

"So... you know what is wrong with me?", she finall asked.

"Ofcourse... it is a phenomenan that is rarely observed, since Changelings usually don't mate with other races. Usually, you would be dead by now, if I am honest. Our bodyfluids are pure poison for ponies. But you are an Alicorn. You might not be a full Alicorn, like Celestia and Luna, but that still makes your body more resistant to poisons and sickness. Celestia and Luna can't get sick, while your immunity is raised considerably by you being a half Alicorn."

Cadence blinked. "Half Alicorn? What do you mean? I AM an Alicorn!"

Diamond sighed...

"I could explain you now how I broke into Celestias private study, and found some verry interesting documents, but I can sense the mistrust in you. Unless she herself confirms what I say, you won't believe me, one way or another."

"So... you said you could do something for me?"

"You are currently experiencing a turmoil of emotions. It's hard for you to control them. I, as a queen, can steal those emotions from you, and with them the painfull memories that cause them. I can not however, revert the change your body is going through... That is beyond my powers."

"Wait... what change?"

"Your a half Alicorn. Since it can't "fight" the poison in your system, it is trying to absorb it. You are slowly turning into a Changeling yourself, in appearance atleast. I can't tell what that change will do to you otherwise, but once it is completed, you will look like a Changeling queen, just like I am one."

"So... you were once a PONY?"

"No way... I was hatched in the hive. I told you, you will LOOK like one, you won't actually be one. So do you want me to take away your memories of your painfull experiences, or do you continue to suffer until you get over them?"

Cadence was hesitant, and didn't trust Diamond completly yet, but thous far, she could have killed or tortured her several times over, so she decided to give her a chance to proove herself to her. She nodded.

Diamond was reliefed when the Alicorn Princess gave her the permission, to take away all the painfull memories she had made during these last few weeks. Relucantly, she let her horn flash with her pale white magic, scanning and extracting the memories from the Alicorns mind. Her digestive system would have a hard time with those, which is why she hated doing it, but this time she would endure the pain that came with it. What she hadn't told the Princess was, that she would have to relive all of those memories, while her body processed them.... A reason queens usually only took pleasurable memories...

After a few minutes, Cadance opend her eyes, and could think clearly again. Strange enough, she felt much better then before. She didn't even remember why she had been so angry and hurt in the first place. But there were... gaps in her memories, she couldn't explain.

"You will get used to it. Extracting memories is hard on the mind. Just don't try to recall them, and you'll be fine."

Diamond said, panting heavily. Cadence, who was finally able to think straight without having to control her emotions, blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.

"What about Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle, Celestia, Luna and the elements of harmony?"

"They... Actually I don't know... I know Luna has been captured, but there is nothing I can do to help her. Chrysalis has put up a barrier around her prison, that only lets her through."

"But..."

"Listen, Princess. I can bring you out of here. The guards have left the dungeon on my order. I can tell you the rest on the way to safety."

"Safety?"

"There is a resistance movement, led by Celestia and the children of the night. I will bring you to them. What you do with me afterwards, is up to you."

The queen pressed forward between gasps for air. The procedure had clearly taken alot from her.

"Alright. Let's get out of here, but you will explain, what I want to know!"

With that, the Princess and her "prisoner" made their way out of the dungeons. They didn't meet any Changeling guards, nor any mindcontrolled Ponies on the way. Leaving Canterlot itself, was easy, once they had left the dungeon, since Diamond removed the silencer on Cadences horn. After a quick discussion on what to do, they decided that Cadence would teleport them as close to their destination, as she could. She was a little surised when Diamond asked her to bring them to the borders of Ponyville, but she didn't complain. The Changeling had freed her, and was clearly enduring a great amount of pain from having absorbed her own insanity....  She owed her atleast that much trust.

Coming out of the teleport spell, Cadence had to support Diamond, who had gotten worse by the second. Seeing her condition, she suddenly doubted that it really was something the queen did regulary. Absorbing memories instead of feelings... She had actually never heard of something like it.

"Cadence?"

A sudden call from the other side of a multicolored barrier, snapped Cadence out of her thoughts. There stood Celestia, her pastel mane flowing in a non-existent breeze, with a Unicorn mare standing next to her.

Celestia could not believe her eyes. It had been four days, since she and Moonsinger had arrived in Ponyville, and had made preparations for the next attack, when the mayor had asked the princess to inspect the barrier. She and Moonsinger had set out to do just that, but only moments after reaching it's edges, she saw the bright pink light of a teleportation spell being completed. The magical aura she felt, also felt familiar. A glance in it's direction had revealed... Princess Cadence, or atleast what was left of her. She looked like she was in a bad shape, but Celestia instantly knew what was going on. She had seen such a thing before.... What utterly suprised her however, was the other figure, that Cadence was supporting, by having it wrap one of it's forelegs around her shoulder. It was a Changeling queen....

Celestias eyes began to burn with anger, as she charged right through the barrier, momentarily loosing control over herself, she wanted to make this creature pay for what it's kin had done... surely on IT'S orders...

She never reached her target though. Something slammed into her side and knocked her to the ground.

Moonsinger recognized the Changeling queen, that other Alicorn had brought with her. It was Diamond. Once... A few hundred years ago, she had tried to establish peacefull connections with the garden. It had almost worked too, but Chrysalis had interfered, rendering all their negotiations pointless. Sometimes Moonsinger thought, it would have been best, if Diamond led the swarm. They would be much more peacefull if she did....

"What are you doing Moonsinger? Let me go! It's a queen!"

"Calm down Celestia! I know her!"

Now Cadence also postioned herself between Celestia and Diamond.

"Celestia, this is Diamond. Had it not been for her, I wouldn't be free. She helped me escape, and she surrendered to me. Chrystal Empire law says, that NOPONY is to be harmed if he or she surrenders."

"But... But...."

Celestia stammered, her anger being overwhelmed by confusion and relief of seeing Cadence was relativly unharmed.

"Celestia, she has surrenderd to ME. Which means, to the Chrystal Empire. You have no right to harm a prisoner of war, made by another country."

Celestia sighed in defeat.

"Alright... have it you way."

She got up, and freed herself from Moonsinger, who had bitten down on her tail, to make sure her aunt wouldn't hurt Diamond. After a few seconds, in which both Princesses gave each other a stern look, they hugged and cried in relief. Both were glad to see each other again.

After a while, a hole in the barrier was opened, so Diamond could be brought in. Cadence ordered, that she was not to be harmed, and not to be imprisoned. Instead a room in the Hay an oats hotel, was to be prepared for her, with two guards standing watch. Not so much as to keep her confined, but to keep her prisoner from being harmed by others.

Two hours later

Celestia and Cadence sat in the libraries reading room, while Moonsinger had returned to the garden, to organize things there. Spike had prepared both of them a mug of hot herbal tea, before returning to his room.

"So what do you plan now? You can't possibly trust that Changeling. I mean, I am the first one to give anypony a second chance, but..."

"She hasn't even had a first chance with you yet Celestia. You judge her by the experiences you made when dealing with Chrysalis. Diamond is nothing like her."

"So what will you do now?"

"I will return to the Chrystal empire, taking Diamond with me. I leave the search for Shining Armor and the elements of harmony to you, and aunt Lunas children."

"So you are abandoning Equestria? And besides, what if your Empire is also overrum by them? What will you do then?"

"Diamond has assured me, that the invasion of the Chrystal Empire failed. There have been great casulties though, so they will need me to reorganize and rebuild everything."

"So you ARE abandoning us..."

"No Celestia, I am NOT abandoning you, or anypony. I still have a score to settle with Chrysalis myself, and I intend to do just that. Once I am back in the empire, I will mobilize any willing pony for it's defense and Equestrias freedom. This is the land my husband and I grew up in, and I am not leaving it to suffer under Chrysalis's hooves!"

"So you will help us... that atleast is reassuring. But do you really have to take HER with you? What if she changes her mind, and decides to impersonate you instead? Then we will wait here for reinforcements, that will never come!"

"You do not have to worry about her, Celestia. She has surrenderd to me, and even has removed my hornlock. But tell me, she also told me, YOU could tell me something about the condition my body is in. She said you knew something, that nopony else does."

Invuluntarely, Celestia touched the necklace she wore, before looking up at Cadence.

"Yes... I do know something about it. But do you really want to hear it?"

"Yes."

"Ok... I seem to reveal my secrets more often then any time I can remember lately, anyway.... For what your condition is, you must understand how the Changelings came to be, and you must know about the fourth race..."

Celestia sighed, and looked out of a window before continuing.

"Thousands of years ago, there was a fourth tribe. The Alicorns... They were emotionally unstable and could eventually get corrupted, if they didn't keep their emotions under control. What happens when an Alicorn gets corrupted, is best explained by taking Nightmare Moon as an example... Luna was corrupted, by her jeaslousy and the fear for her children. That can happen to any full Alicorn. Anyhoof... Like Cutiemarks mark a ponies special talent, for Alicorns they marked what part of nature they were linked to. It was a peacefull tribe, until the first corruptions... They started to wage war against one another and other tribes aswell. Soon the non-corrupted Alicorns were a minority, and had to resort to desperate measures. They sacrificed themself, and created the elements of harmony, out of their souls. The last surviving six of them, then wielded them against the corrupted Alicorns. Their souls were sealed within the seventh element. Maybe it is unfair to call it that, but I still do..."

She pointed at her necklace.

"This is the Alicorn stone. When the Elements were discovered by Princess Platinum, back when I was a filly, this stone lay with them. The purpose of that had been, to let the elements of harmony seal the souls of the Alicorns for eternity, but it didn't work out.... The elements were used by Platinum once, even though I don't know for what purpose. Maybe she just did it for study, or out of curiosity, I wouldn't know... However... she used the seventh element together with the main six. It resulted in one single soul, being released out of the Alicorn element. It didn't find a host right away, and supposedly didn't want Platinum, so it merged with a bee... And that was the birth of Chrysalis... Chrysalis herself is nothing more, as one of the corrupted Alicorns of old, whos form and behaviour has changed due to her merging with a bee. How it came to be, that they feed of emotions, I can only theorize of. I guess she needs them to feed her corrupted self, while the creatures she spawns, actually need them to live."

"Platinum did never once warn anypony about it, since I think she didn't know what she had caused... She always was a bit naive when it came to magic.... However, when Luna and I used the elements, two more souls escaped. It was then that these souls changed us into Alicorns. Into FULL Alicorns. Different from a bee, who has no conciousness of it's own, we wrestled down the foreign wills that tried to overtake us. I discovered what had caused this invasion into our beings, and decided that, even so the elements are needed to defend Equestria, the Alicorn stone shall never be used along with them. That is why I still wear it. I want nopony to endure the same fate, as Luna and me."

"But why didn't MY ascention..."

"Because you are an ascendet Alicorn, not a full one. You are not immortal, and will never have to deal with the emotional hurricane, Luna and I have to deal with. However, your condition might change that. It might come the day when it will get hard to control your emotions. That is all thanks to your transformation. Are you a half Alicorn now, you will be three quarters one, once it is done... I am terribly sorry, but there is nothing I can do, to reverse the process, or halt it. Your body will continue to embrace the poison, and maybe at one point even start to ask for it...."

"What do you...?"

"It might overcome you to consume Changeling body fluids, that is what I mean. You might encounter symptoms, simliar to drug withdrawl..."

"Then it's good I take Diamond with me...."

Celestia sighed. She had hoped that the revelation of the elemets role in Chrysalis's birth, and the story about the Alicorns of old would make Cadence stay, so she could watch over her, but it was no use. Cadence really had grown into the role of a ruler, and was now not sitting there with her as part of her family, but as an embassador....