A New Era

A New Era

Story 7

Chapter 4: Allies

By: SleeplessScribe

Life in my kingdom was getting worse by the day. My hunters would be gone for days in search of enough love to feed my Changelings, and even then it would only serve to quite a roaring hunger in their shrinking stomachs. Some days I wondered if it was my love for my subjects that was giving them just enough strength to hang on. In hindsight, my attempt to take over Equestria was not my greatest idea, and looking back I found myself wishing I had at least tried to make some kind of diplomatic deal. I guess I was so used to being met with fear and hatred that I expected Celestia to decline my requests.

In recent days, I had made a habit of stepping outside of the hive and spend a few minutes just watching the horizons beyond my dying kingdom. Today, however, was very far out of the ordinary. As I walked towards my normal resting place in the rocky hills of my kingdom, a gravelly, deep voice rang out from behind me.

“I feel your pain.”

I froze the instant I heard it, my eyes darting from side to side as I looked around. “Who are you, and where are you? If you’re here to attack me, know that I am queen of the Changelings, not some everyday plebian.”

“Yes. I know who you are, dear Chrysalis. Please, relax, I am not here to hurt you, but to offer my assistance.”

“If you’re truly here to do as you claim, then why do you hide?”

After a short pause, I began to hear what sounded like crumbling stone. “Oh, forgive me, dear queen.”

I nearly jumped when I turned around. On one of the taller stones was a face more equine than I cared for, though its features and coloring were just as stony as the rock it was in. A horn about as long as my own protruded from his head, poking through a jagged mess of something I couldn’t make out, though I assumed it to be his mane.

“Did I startle you? I do apologize. I also hope you’ll forgive me for not mincing words.”

“Mincing words?”

The face cocked a brow, a grin appearing on the muzzle and revealing jagged, sharp teeth unlike anything I’d seen on a normal pony. “We’re not that different, you and I. You are feared and hated just as I am, and we both were dealt humiliating defeats by the royal sisters of Equestria.”

My ears perked when I heard this. I didn’t trust this talking rock as far as I could throw it, but at least it had my attention now.

“I understand your struggle. As a queen, you were just trying to feed your poor, starving subjects. Those ponies were blinded by their desires for self-preservation, with tunnel vision so severe they couldn’t see the blatant pain you and your Changelings were in. Pain that you still experience even now. I, too, know the pain of being unable to provide for your subjects.”

Now I was actually facing him. He knew he had me, but I still did my best to seem uninterested. “Big whoop, you know how I feel. Why have you gone so far just to tell me all this? Why do you want to ‘help’ us?”

His grin faded, turning into a rather menacing scowl. “Because it’s not fair! Equestria basks in comfort and harmony, while you and your people scrape by with barely anything! Why are you hated and feared by them? Did it never occur to them that your methods were your only means of survival? No! They prosper while you die! Why is this gift not the Changelings’ to claim as well? My desire is to help bring that prosperity to you, and show the ponies of Equestria what it’s to be on the paper thin line between life and death.”

My eyes widened as I stared at the face. “What do you stand to gain from all this?”

“I have my own issues with the royal sisters. Since I’d love nothing more than to see them brought down, I thought ‘Why not help a people in need while I’m at it?’ and chose to help the Changelings flourish again.”

I furrowed my brows, my own scowl starting to form. “I see, so you just want to use us to achieve your own goals.”

“Oh, not at all! I don’t need the Changelings, believe me. I am weak now, but if you can do your best to hold out for three more months, I will return completely renewed. My army will rise, and when they do, there will be no power in Equestria that can stop them.”

I rolled my eyes. I’d heard enough, and I did all I could to make that obvious. “You’re not making a very good case for yourself.”

“Oh, by all means, have a seat and allow me to rectify that.”

Before I could respond, a thick, tall tuft of grass bursts forth from beneath me, forming an admittedly soft seat. “What? How did you?”

“I have more power than you realize, dear Chrysalis, and I want to use it to help you. I’ve been around longer than you know, and I’ve seen your life from the start. I remember when the Changeling Kingdom flourished just as much as Equestria did. Alas, as time went on, sources of love began to shrink. Then came the famine, and a cold wind blew in this land. All the while, the winds in Equestria brought comfort and warmth in place of the horrid scent of death. Chrysalis, my friend, how can you seem so content knowing a land and its people a thriving so close by while yours are fighting to live?”

I could do nothing apart from look away. Whoever this creature was, he was starting make valid points. “It doesn’t matter. We’ve already tried attacking Canterlot once, and my plans were foiled.”

“Ah, but all would have been yours had it not been for one Twilight Sparkle, yes? Trust me, my dear, nuisances like her will not be an issue with me at your side. I can promise you that.”

I could no longer take it. In fact, I should have asked him right from the start, but admittedly I was kind of sidetracked with listening to him. “Just who exactly are you?”

He let out a loud, sinister laugh that echoed through the rocky hills loudly enough to scare away the few buzzard that were around. “Who am I? I am that which rots and destroys. I am the force that none can fight, and none can resist. I cause even the tallest of trees to fall and the greatest of stone fortresses to crumble. I am what greets all life at its end. I am natural, I am eternal, I am inevitable.”

Before my very eyes, the face in the stone began to come forward, and as it did, more and more of an actual body began to show. Once he was fully exposed, he broke off from the rock entirely. His mane and tail went from the stony grey to varying shades of grey and brown, and his coat took on a new brown as well. He was wearing similar attire to that of Celestia, though it was chipped and cracked in various places as well. A part of me wondered just for a moment if he could fly with all the tatters in his wings, as well as how he was even still standing with all the scars and burns that covered his body, and lastly my eyes rested on his, solid black with bright red irises that looked more like rings in empty holes.

“I am Decay.”

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t just a tad bit impressed, but there was no way I’d actually let him know that. “That’s quite a sales pitch you have. Did you write it yourself?”

He just chuckled and began to circle around my grassy cushion. “I speak from the heart, not from a script. Think about it, my dear; nothing I’ve said is false. In the end, everything falls prey to decay and eventually rots away. Some things are just better at staving it off than others.”

As I watched him, I rolled my eyes and stood back up. “That’s all well and good, but let me be blunt: what do we gain out of working with each other? You haven’t given me very convincing answers on either side.”

Decay grinned and inched closer to my face. “Sweet, sweet Chrysalis… if I must gain something from this… then I guess it would be peace of mind. The royal sisters of Equestria have wronged me, and seeing them brought to their knees would put me at ease.”

He continued to close in even as I straightened up and started snarling. “You, however, are gaining tremendously. Not only would you have a new land to call your kingdom, but my army, even now as they slowly rise again, is very, very loyal. When I say fight, they fight. When I say run, they run. When I say love,” my eyes widened, prompting him to smirk, “they love. My soldiers would be ready and willing to feed your starving subjects long after the citizens of Equestria have been drained. Your people would never go hungry again, and you would have all the power you could dream of.”

By now I could feel his breath against my muzzle. I readied myself to bite him, but he suddenly stopped. Decay raised his brows, grinning as he backed away. “In fact, why don’t I give you a free sample? I realize that my proposal is rather heavy, so I shouldn’t have expected an answer right away. Please forgive me and return to your home. I’ve prepared a little surprise for you, and I’m sure decision making will be much easier once you’ve had a chance to… feed.”

Decay slowly opened his wings, and he took off as soon as I rushed towards him. “Wait!”

“Farewell for now, my queen. We will speak again soon.”

It was a wonder he could even fly with such tattered feathers, but then again, I could walk with at least four holes in each leg. Even after he faded out of my sight, I still sat there staring at the sky. I think I sat there for a good ten minutes trying to figure out what exactly had just happened.

My trip back to the hive was long, lonely, and noticeably colder than it was earlier. I began to think of my subjects and how many parents were having to tell their children there would be no dinner that night. I thought of how many of my dear Changelings would be shivering even through thick blankets, as we were very sensitive to the cold. Feeding made us stronger, but even I was starting to feel the effects of our lack of sustenance.

“Is something troubling you, Your Highness?”

I looked up quickly the minute I heard the voice. Changeling voices were very distinct, and this was far too… equine to be one of my guards. Instead, I was met with a very odd looking creature. It was most certainly a pegasus pony, but rather than feathered wings or a mane and tail, thick tree branches protruded from its sides with large leaves extending out of them, and two more large leaves sprouted out of its head and rear. I immediately lowered myself and pointed my horn at him, but he simply bowed to me.

“I’ve been instructed to serve you, my queen. What would you have me do?”

As I stared him down, I felt a power resonating from him. Love came in many forms, some stronger than others, but this… “protect you with my life” variant was good enough. He hadn’t moved since he posed his question, so I lifted his head with a smile.

“Just hold still.”

It wasn’t often that I had the chance to feed on a willing source, so just taking in the power without changing my appearance felt a little odd. He never even flinched as I fed, and when I was finished he just shook a few times. I had to admit, while it was nothing like what I had experience during my time in Canterlot, those few seconds of feeding left me more satisfied than I had felt in months.

“You may rise.” When he did, I smirked at him. “I trust it is not only me you wish to keep safe, correct?”

He slowly shook his head. “I was told to protect all Changelings. Their safety and comfort is my only concern.”

My smirk grew into a grin as I began rubbing my hooves together. “Wonderful… is there any chance there are others like you?”

“My brethren sprout one by one, but in time they will return by the tens, then hundreds, then thousands. We have all been ordered to serve you.”

“I see. Well then, my friend, I assume you know that I have just… fed off of you, correct?”

“It is my honor and pleasure to nourish you and your people, Your Highness.”

If I could feed on him, then I knew my subjects could as well. I still had my doubts about Decay, but I decided to wait and see if he really had thousands of these living feeding troughs for me. “Find your king and give him my thanks, then return to me.”

He just nodded and spread his branch… leaf… wing… things. “As you wish.”

I watched him take off with a grin. The possibility that Decay was simply trying to earn my trust so he could act out a greater plan was a thought that would never leave my mind, but for now his gift seemed genuine, and very, very welcome.

My people would starve no more, and that, in all honesty, was all I really wanted. Everything else I was promised was just icing on the cake.

I looked down to the ground I was standing on. Call me crazy, but something told me he could hear my just because I was standing on stone. “You’ve convinced me… for now. Only time will tell if I can truly trust you or not. If I receive what I’ve been promised, you’ll have yourself an ally.”

After a very long pause, I almost walked away. However, as I took my first few steps, I heard that raspy voice echo through the air.

“Excellent. I will see you again soon, my dear, and we can discuss how to begin our coup… with significantly less hunger. Until then, enjoy my gift to you.”

As his voice faded, I heard hoof steps behind me and turned to find not one, not two, not three, but seven of those ponies behind me, all bowing their heads. The mere sight sent a chill up my spine, and I couldn’t help but laugh when I realized just how powerful we were about to become.