Chapter 1
Was this the first time? Or was this the second time? She couldn't remember anymore. Not that she cared as she lied in the impact crater her body had made after being ejected from Canterlot. The impact alone had been brutal. It felt like she had been a meteor crashing into the planet, at least that's how she described it in her own mind. It was a truly terrifying experience, one she hoped to never relive again. That is, if she actually lived through the mess she was in now.
In a pool of her own blood, she rested at the very center of the crater. Pain was the only thing she could feel, even her emotions took a back seat to it. She had never been so glad to be a changeling, as her outer shell had saved her life. While the shell had spared her life, it didn't spare her of injury. In fact, she was even surprised she was still conscious through the agony and injuries she had suffered.
Cracks could be seen across most of her chitin now, and blood seeped out from them. This was just the beginning of it though. She knew that with the agony, it also meant her injuries were very extensive. What made it all worse though, was the fact she knew she couldn't heal herself. Even though she actually had the power, she simply couldn't. A cross-eyed glance up at her horn revealed the fact to her. With that many cracks in her horn, it was useless. If she dared use magic now, it might speed up her death even faster.
She didn't even dare move due to the agony, as even a single twitch could cause even more harm. That was, until she thought about her wings. This brought a bit of light back to her eyes, that was, until she actually tried moving them. Right there, she realized her wings were in no condition to even fly. Tattered and torn from the impact, she was now stuck. What could she do? She felt hopeless.
The light in her eyes began to fade again as the last bit of hope left her. With it, her eyes slowly began to close as well. Perhaps she should simply surrender to it? Give in to the inevitable? She couldn't even move now. How could she help any of her Changelings, if she couldn't even help herself now?
She could hear their cries of agony throughout every part of her mind. She even felt it throughout every inch of her body, the torment that her people felt. Tears began to form in her eyes the longer she listened to her people cry out for help, even through the telepathic connection. It broke her heart to hear such a thing and she even wished she could help them. However as it stood, she couldn't do a single thing.
'Don't give up...' a voice called out in her mind. While it was nothing more than a faint whisper, she could still hear it as if it was as plain as day. This voice seemed familiar and while it was very hushed, it seemed encouraging. 'The choice you make here...will determine the fate of your people...' the voice whispered again. 'If you give up now, Chrysalis...then your people will all die...'
Chrysalis' eyes snapped open the very instant she heard that last sentence. The green in her eyes seemed brighter than before as she began to struggle to move. Each muscle twitch felt like someone had taken a hot iron to her body, yet even as the tears of agony streamed down her face she pressed on. Not here, not now. She wasn't about to just give up.
Yet, as she struggled to her feet it became clear just how severe her injuries really were. If the pain wasn't bad enough, the instant she had begun to pull herself to her hooves, a wave of nausea washed over her. Not more than five seconds later, the contents of her stomach forced its way up. Even if it consisted mostly of blood and bile. The violent reaction almost brought her back down to the ground. It caused her to actually clutch her stomach as she continued to force herself back to her hooves.
Chrysalis' hope was renewed as she stood upright, even with her legs wobbling a little she couldn't help but smile. The real challenge was next, walking. Or more like shuffling in her case, as she dared not lift her legs further than she needed to, to get around. Instead, she opted more to slide them along the ground. While not good for her hooves, she didn't care. She knew deep within, she couldn't let herself die, not now, not yet. Not with her people in great need of her.
The question remained though, what could she do with her present position? She could barely move! Even worse, she knew that what strength she had stored away from her most recent target was all that was keeping her alive at this point. As she struggled to stay upright, she tried to think. She worked past the pain, as her mind began to formulate an idea. The smile on her face began to grow wide when everything in her mind began to click.
'That's it!' she thought, before her eyes shifted around. 'But first...I have to find shelter...' It was truly the first time she had actually taken in her surroundings. Judging by them, she could only figure her location. Mountains all around, with dead and crumbling trees. The only plant life even in the area were just small patches of grass and even then, the grass was yellowing. Showing that it hadn't rained in this area in quite a long time. Just by a few simple signs, she knew she wasn't as lucky as her other changelings.
As she crawled and shuffled forward, her mind became clearer. With it, her senses began to resurface. This allowed her to begin picking up on the locations of her people. It became disheartening the moment she sensed it, as the closest one was more than fifty miles away. Yet, at the same time it was also a relief to her to learn of this. As none of the others would have to endure the area she was in. At least, that's what she hoped for.
With each shuffle of her hooves, the pain seemed to lessen a bit. As it did she began to actually take very small steps. Even though they brought greater agony, it made movement far easier and far quicker. By the time she had regained most of her mobility, she had put quite a bit of distance between herself and her impact crater. It seemed pointless though as she pressed on through the pain, not a single hint of shelter yet.
Time seemed to drag on forever as she continued to press forward, occasionally pausing to cough up another glob of blood. It was quite disgusting really, especially the aftertaste in her mouth as it added to the taste of the bile and blood from before. Which reminded her of something she also needed, even just a little bit of. However, this wasn't as important as finding a place to actually take shelter in for the time being.
While the day went on and Chrysalis' search for shelter the sun only seemed to grow brighter and hotter with each passing second. This caused her to glance up on several occasions. It felt as if even the sun itself knew who she was and it made her trek even more agonizing. Given her chitin was pure black and while it did have a semi-reflective surface, it did not block out all of the heat. If she had been a pony, she might've passed out by now. She didn't however, as she was determined to fight on.
Eventually, that determination bared fruit for her, as in the distance she took notice of a cave. Without even a second thought and the last of the strength she could muster, she made a mad dash for the cave. She didn't care from that moment on what was before her, at least she knew she might actually have a chance at survival with it. Even if it was a slim chance, she had to take it. There was no other option.
Even though it had only taken minutes for her to reach the cave, it felt like hours to Chrysalis. This was once again due in part to the injuries she had sustained, which felt like they were getting worse. Upon reaching the mouth of the cave, she peered very carefully inside looking as far back as her eyes could possibly go. As far as she could tell, there was nothing there; not even the faintest trace of life. At least, that's what she hoped for as she took her first steps inside.
She thought this through very carefully; being sure to go in far enough to avoid the heat, but not far enough to disturb any native inhabitants of the cave. As she moved further in, her head shifted from left to right, as if she was searching for something and for the first time in a long time. Even though it wasn't a whole lot, it would still be enough to at least bring her some comfort. Without a second thought she immediately flopped down on the patch of moss before her, taking it as if it was a makeshift bed.
Chrysalis only took a few seconds to find a little bit of comfort, before she once again began to reflect on her plan. While it was a long shot even for her, she knew there wasn't a single option otherwise. She also knew that if she didn't do anything now, the few changelings that still survived would die.
she announced to them, It was here, where Chrysalis paused, hearing the voices of at least a few hundred of her changelings flooding her at once. Even over telepathy, it was quite overwhelming to her. Much of it consisted of anger and frustration at her, yet, even still, others stood up for her. Some even seemed relieved to just hear from her. She paused once again, taking another moment to collect her thoughts while she heard the rebuttals and arguments of many of her changelings.
This was particularly tough now, as they both knew they needed each other. Yet, she couldn't help but feel completely useless in the situation she was in. It was particularly hurtful when she even heard a changeling argue this. Shouting over everyone else just to wonder where she could possibly be. To this, she didn't respond at first, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. That moment of silence however, worked to the particular changeling's favor.
he snapped, This stung worse than she could've even imagined. Chrysalis cringed at his harsh words, but that was until another changeling's voice sprang up.
said another,
She called back, This was met with a flurry of responses, much of it consisted of a grave concern for their queen along with a barrage of questions regarding the plan. This only seemed to frustrate Chrysalis further as she attempted to sift through all of them in hopes to provide a few answers. Once she had though, the queen could only figure one way for the plan to work fully with everyone's confusion. she began,
Out of all the lies Chrysalis had ever told in her life, that one in particular was the worst one she had told. She knew very well that she couldn't handle staying awake for very much longer, but there wasn't another option for her. She wished there was an option, another way out. There wasn't though and she knew it yet again. Even though she was met with quite a bit of resistance to the suggestion, she ordered silence on the particular subject. It had been a tough call, even for her. Many of them even assumed she was lying, just so she could help them. They said nothing however, respecting the choice their queen had made.
After the controversy of her decision seemed to fade away, it was quickly replaced by a barrage of questions on what they should do individually in the case of changelings that were unable to walk. Here is where her first challenge came into play, she actually had to explain exactly what needed to happen and guide them from point A to point B. It was a true test of her intuitive nature as she had to guide them without actually seeing what was around them.
Instead though, she actually had them provide a bit of information on their surroundings, first and foremost. The second step was to have them describe the condition of the other changelings nearby, if there were any; as well as their own condition. Whether they had the strength to carry them or could even use magic. The situation varied greatly from changeling to changeling and with it she was even able to learn general locations of where many of her people had landed. It was a relief to know that they had been luckier than her or at least many of them had. Others weren't so lucky, even less lucky than herself as they ended up landing in even more vicious areas of the Badlands. It was saddening for her to hear of where the few unlucky ones were, but thankfully she was still able to coordinate them to secure locations.
Chrysalis spent the next twenty-four hours guiding every single survivor she could, not only encouraging them, but pointing them in the right directions. Even though she could feel the exhaustion beginning to catch up to her, she fought through it though. Knowing full well the end result if she gave in now. Eventually, though she had successfully guided many of her changelings to safety, some in large groups, while many others were on their own. It was difficult on all of them, but at least now many of them had a chance at survival.
It wasn't much longer after advising the last few changelings did it finally completely catch up with her. It began with a small yawn, before her eyelids began to grow heavy. On top of it all, the lightheadedness, which she assumed was from her own blood loss. Was she going to make it? Possibly not, but at least now her people had a chance.
She lowered her head onto the moss as her vision began to blur. Consciousness began to slip from her and the world began to fade. Blood loss on top of exhaustion wasn't a pleasant combination. Especially when she began to see things that weren't really there. She even had to force her own eyelids open at times, but it was to little avail as the world seemed to vanish around her.
However, just before consciousness faded and the darkness took her, something entered her field of vision. A figure and that figure was that of a pony, as she narrowed her eyes one last time in attempts to get a better glimpse. Unfortunately, she was left unable to make out quite a bit of the pony's features. She couldn't even tell which race they were, she couldn't even figure out the color of their coat because of the light at the entrance of the cave. Even with this though, she could still make out just two details before fading into the darkness, one of which was all too familiar to her.
“S-silver?” Chrysalis asked, glancing up with the last of her strength at the pony before she fell into unconscious.
“No, Chrysalis...” a voice whispered, it was gentle and peaceful, harboring absolutely no malice in it or even a single trace of anger. In fact, it felt soothing to actually hear it. She could clearly tell it was a mare too, at least, that was her final thought before she finally slipped into the darkness.
