Author's Note

And that's the rest of the chapters I've got on hand. I will resume writing soon and will post when I have more written. If it's not much trouble, please tell me what you liked and did not like. I need to know this so I don't make repeat the same mistakes.
I hope you've enjoyed though!

The Mother

Chapter: The Mother

There was so much disbelief on her face.

“I’ll help,” I repeated for clarification. Chrysalis continued looking at me exasperated as I appeared to visibly relax, replacing my intimidating stature with a more slack stance.

She looked almost stupor at my sudden appearance change. “You will?” she stated in an even tone.

“I will,” I instantaneously replied back. I didn’t like seeing the weak stepped on. That was all there was to it. “But before I assist, I need to know the full situation of your subjects.” I pointed to the hive off in the distance. “I need you to take me to your base of operations so I can evaluate.”

She blinked at the lack of subtlety to my words. It was a little trait I picked up over the years from my mentors. Some of them anyways.

She still looked indecisive. “I’m not sure about that,” she managed out. I wasn’t surprised. The look on her face told me she was still indefinite about this entire thing. She should just make up her mind though. She said she’d do anything just a minute ago. Now she’s being indecisive.

It was understandable. She did not fully trust me. I don’t blame her. I don’t trust myself.

After having an internal debate with herself for a good three minutes, she’d at last sighed out in content. Her horn began to glow a ghastly green. The next thing I knew, I was feeling light, weightless like swimming without the pressure of water over your head.

It was similar to the way it felt when I used the mirror portal on myself.

The feeling lasted for no more a second before dissipating. We appeared to be teleported to the base of the hive in one of the many outer tunnels. There were several Changelings surrounding us. They eyed me with their queen, but said nothing. I could hear loud buzzing even from here.

“Come,” she motioned to me down the tunnel. I checked where I was first. The ground beneath me was strange in texture. It was rubbery with a waxy like surface, much like a beehive would be. The walls were several feet high and several feet apart, mostly covered in slime. I was happy to say I could stand my full height without being able to touch the ceiling. Then again, the queen and me were roughly the same size.

I began to follow the queen. “Nice place you got here,” I said casually with no grace. She didn’t know whether it was sarcasm or not, so she chose to ignore my comment.

She kept her eyes forward, paying no mind to the passerby Changelings. “The strongest Changelings normally remain stationed around the outer walls. They keep the hive protected from unwanted visitors.”

I noticed she’d reverted back to her regal voice in the presence of her subjects.

Wait.

There’s Changelings walking on the ceiling. Their hooves were coated in that green slime, probably what was allowing them such interesting feats. That’s quite interesting. I started thinking of all the ways the slime alone could be used as a weapon and in current weapons.

I heard Chrysalis giggle at my reaction. I realized I was staring and quickly caught up to her.

“So what do they keep out? What would be stupid enough to walk right up to a hive this size?” I saw a smile appear on her face before quickly fading away.

“You’d be surprised how many would attack us.” I did a double take on her. Her voice became monotone, almost dead. “Other’s know we are in a vulnerable state. It’s why they have the gall to attack us on our own grounds.”

That’s still idiotic. Weak or not, walking into this place seems like the equivalent of sticking your hand in a beehive. That’s just stupid.

The tunnel we proceed down gradually grew darker. Some of the goo on the walls and beneath our feet and hooves started to become luminescent. The slime was a brighter green that glowed, lighting the walls. Multiple caverns broke off in all directions of this one tunnel alone. I had to pay close attention to where I was. This place was a maze of little differentiation. It may be difficult for even me to escape from here. A normal person would’ve been lost in a heartbeat though. I cracked a red glowstick and held it in my hand for extra light.

“Because you brought it up, explain to me something.” I gave her a chastising look. “You keep mentioning you are all weak. How did you get so weak and how does everyone knows it?”

I heard her give a deep sigh, visibly slouching and pausing. She shook her head and began walking, “It is a long story.”

I smell knowledge.

“I’ve got a few hours.”

She grimaced and sighed again, no doubt recounting horrible things.

“Desperation has driven me to hasty actions,” she said in a defeated voice, shaking her head. “My subjects...My dear subjects grew weak. There just isn’t enough substance, not enough love, to feed all of us.” She breathed in sharp breaths. The sounds of buzzing got louder. Changelings walking through the tunnels didn’t seem to acknowledge our presence, instead making wide detours around us.

“I managed to find a place,” she continued on, “a place with more love than anywhere I’d ever encountered. This place was Equestria. There was so much love, so much food that I couldn’t believe it was real. It was so...delicious.” She licked her lips before shaking her head. “For the first time in a long time I fed and felt full. It was such an incredible, such a satisfying feeling. I wanted all of my subjects to feel it as well. To not hunger. To not worry if they would die of starvation when they fell asleep. To be able to feel full.”

Her words spoke volumes to me. I knew exactly what she felt. I’d been starved before by my father. I’d felt hunger pains. I’d wondered that if I fell asleep, whether or not I would wake back up. Or rather, if I wanted to wake up, to spend more time in pain from hunger. I could relate in ways I almost wish I couldn’t.

“I was rash.”

The fact that she just admitted her mistake was much more than most others could do. She seems as competent as a ruler would need to be.

She shook her head again, much more fiercely this time. “The thought of food...The feelings...They drove me to a convoluted plan. A plan to take place the place of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.” Now that part really got my attention, and it wasn’t just the really long name.

I didn’t interrupt the story though.

“I learned that she was going to be wedded soon. Wedded to the captain of the royal guard, a stallion named Shining Armor.”

Hmm… A royal wedding? That would be a good of time as any. If it’s anything like from my world, a wedding like that would no doubt be big. There’d be a lot of people, or in this case ponies, to blend into. There’d likely be a lot of guards to watch over the whole affair, but everyone’s attention would primarily be focused on the wedding plan. For a rash convoluted plan, it was thought out, though still flawed.

“Everything had been perfect...Everything until that pony, Princess Twilight Sparkle stuck her nose where it didn’t belong.” She scowled at the name. I’d heard that name before as well. Celestia mentioned her back at the theater. Something about ‘the magic of friendship.’

...This world had weird cultures, but then again, it was an entirely different world from mine, and thus evolved differently.

“Twilight had gotten suspicious of me. She’d realized I wasn’t Cadenza. So, in secrecy, I’d threw her away into the Crystal Caverns. I was going to use her as a bargaining chip alongside the real Cadenza and captain Shining Armor to overthrow the princesses. I had underestimated her competency though. If it weren’t for her…! If...it weren’t for her...” Her tone went from dark to defeated in an instant. No one could really blame her. She was defeated.

I’d noticed that more and more Changelings were hanging around the walls, huddled into small groups. Others laid curled up into small carved chambers in the walls, ones that acted as beds, distinctively reminding me of honeycombs. Most of them were barely moving and utterly responseless. The most reaction any of them would give is a small shift in their eyes, a buzz from their antenna ears, or a quick buzz from their wings.

The queen walked over to an unresponsive Changeling. Others surrounding us looked away as their queen nuzzled the bug, shedding a small tear. It was dead.

Chrysalis’s horn glowed green as she engulfed the poor subject in an aura of green before continuing walking, the corpse following. Other Changelings either looked on with tears or turned away, trying to stop theirs from falling. We started moving deeper into the hive, down deeper by a sloping tunnel. The only sounds were that of a colony moaning and mourning insects.

As we continued in silence, I observed a Changeling sprawled on the tunnel floor. I blinked as I passed the motionless bug. More were on the floor, each on in the same state. The tunnel we walked through opened up into a large chamber. In this chamber were hundreds if not thousands of Changelings. They were piled together in large clusters and groups, each one silent and motionless. None of these Changelings had those bright blue eyes that all of them shared. None had those rare pink eyes I’d seen either. Everyone of their carapaces were hollow.

They were nothing but shells.

I would’ve followed her into the chamber, but there was no way I would be able to walk forward without stepping on a body. I don’t think she would’ve minded though. She walked over them.

Chrysalis laid the dead Changeling gently atop a pile of corpses, tears flowing from her face like rain, sniffles and whines escaping her throat. Her magic stopped, the body shifting slightly before settling with its equals. The queen was broke. She’d been through more pain than any mother ever has. She watched as thousands of her children starved to death before her.

I wasn’t fazed at the scene like a normal person would’ve been. I was just surprised. I didn’t think their situation would be this bad.

I dropped the glowstick to the ground, my eyes shifting over the scene. I crouched to one knee and ran a hand over the empty head of a former Changeling. The exoskeleton was icy cold to the touch. I looked up to see Chrysalis laying atop the shells while weeping. She was running a hoof over a carapace, uttering empty apologies to the equally empty husks. I entered the graveyard and walked to her, trying my best to avoid stepping on the exoskeletons.

I effortlessly picked up the queen, her light body going limp at my touch. I allowed her to cry into my shoulder, her head tucked under my chin in a way that her horn did not impale my head. I didn’t bother saying anything to her. No amount of comfort would tape her shattered will back together. No amount of empty words would fill the shells of her dead children.

That didn’t stop me from making another vow of course.

'I swear on my name as a Jack of Trades, I will right these wrongs no matter the cost.'