The Black Knight

Chapter 5

The Taste of Victory

[Changeling Empire, Meeting Room]

The sun was beginning to fall upon the wasteland as the changelings that were living in the castle quickly began to cover the entrances to the castle up with a green hardening substance, lit the lights within the hallways of the castle, and began their usual night patrol around and inside of the palace. Mainly the fifteen guards that could work, while the rest would be tending to those who were malnourished due to starvation. While the drones were busy tending to their friends and families by giving them the love potions that were taken by the border patrollers, Chrysalis, Jurrita, Lotus, Sapphire, Thorax, and Pharynx were in the war room discussing what had happened earlier this afternoon.

“I can’t believe it.” Chrysalis said fidgeting in her seat a bit. “The plan actually worked...I should be happy about this, but this is the first time we actually had a victory.”

“Given our track record, this is pretty much a victory in my book.” Thorax said just as he was writing it down in a book. “We should celebrate this most epic event.”

“You’re welcome by the way.” Jurrita said as the queen turned her attention at the lalafell. “But I wouldn’t celebrate just yet.”

“And why not?” Pharynx asked as he leaned back in his seat with a smug expression. “We have three of the equestrians' greatest warriors. Why not celebrate our victory?”

“Because dumbass. Now that we have our bargaining chips, they’re going to send an army to get them back. Which will prove a problem seeing how we’re not ready for that.” Sapphire answered. “Even though we have gotten the love potions, we still don’t have enough soldiers to withstand their assault.”

“And even with the traps we set outside and the anti-magic field around the castle, what’s to stop the pegasi from flying into the castle?” Lotus asked.

“Could be the fact that you all know your own home inside and out and you’ll be able to out-think them.” Jurrita answered before jumping onto the table and made her way towards the center. “From what I’m looking at, the border is a good distance away from the castle. They’ll have to end up having to stop in the town to try and resupply on water or food-wise.”

“Food-wise we don’t have much, but we do have plenty of water.” Chrysalis said before pointing at different towns on a map with water supplies. “Three of the small towns have water wells. But the one that the Equestrians might take, would be the one that leads to the path of the hive castle.”

“Have that town evacuated, burn the crops, and pollute the water supply.” Jurrite said as four of the changelings in the room stared at her in disbelief. “I know it’s a bit extreme.”

“A bit!? You’re asking us to destroy a town’s food and water supply! Do you know how much of a set back this will cause for us?” Sapphire asked as she looked over at Chrysalis. “You can’t actually go along with-”

“I’ll allow it.” She said which took Sapphire by surprise. “We already have three of their ponies here. You think they would let this slide?”

“No, I don’t. But this is really risky.”

“That’s war bug girl. There will be risks involved with it. And so far we have an advantage over them.” Jurrita said before kneeling down on the map. “We’re going to have to set traps within the town as well and along the path that leads to the castle. We may not be able to get the pegasi, but we can cripple some of the soldiers on land. Remember to lace the spike traps and your weapons with waste from the sewer. If not waste from the sewer, then poison will have to do.”

“Making them sick would be helpful in delaying their assault.” Thorax said before placing a hand to his chin. “We still need to train some of the changelings in the ways of the magic from what Jurrita introduced to us. And with an enemy army crippled by sickness, then it will give us time to recover and increase our strength.”

“So it’s agreed then?” Chrysalis asked as the four changelings nodded. “Alright then, have a messenger send a message to the village and have them move back into the hive. We’ll have to regrow the lost crops here in the hive.” She said before leaning back on her throne. “On to the next topic. The ponies from Equestria. Two are in the infirmary, while the other is in a holding cell. What do we do with them in the meantime?”

“For now we can let them roam around the castle, but with certain limitations.” Jurrita answered as the queen raised her eyebrow. “Hear me out. If they were to see how things are, mainly how malnourished the citizens are. Then they might change their minds. But bear in mind, we can’t let them escape or think of plans of escaping. Keep an eye on them at all times, and make sure the soldiers won’t get distracted by their attempts to try and get seduced by them.”

“You think they can do that?” Thorax asked as the females in the room deadpanned at him.

“You’re surprised at how well females can fool men that aren’t that smart...to some degree.” Sapphire responded before looking back at Jurrita. “We should possibly go check on the unicorn if that’s the case.”

“Who do you have guarding her anyway?” Jurrita asked.

“She’s still wrapped up in the cocoon I wrapped her in...fair warning, she has a bit of a black eye.” Chrysalis said as the lalafell raised her eyebrow. “Not my fault. I did warn her not to move around, less she ends up hitting something.”

“...Welp, guess this is going to be somewhat of a hassle.” The lalafell hopped off of the table as she motions Chrysalis to lead her to Rarity.

“I do hope you’re not planning on doing anything that might kill her?” Chrysalis asked as she quickly followed after Jurrita, only to pause and looked over at Thorax, Sapphire, Lotus, and Pharynx. “Meeting adjourned. Return to your station and relay the message to the others.” She said before going back to following the dark knight.

“Not going to kill her. But it all depends on her attitude on how I react to her.”

“So basically roughing her up?”

“If she acts unreasonable, then yes. I’ll rough her up a bit if need be.”

[Canterlot Castle, Throne Room]

After being informed about the confrontation with the changelings and the equestrians, a sigh of annoyance escaped from Celestia’s mouth as she looked down at Twilight and the rest of the group in disappointment. Not because of their failed attempt to investigate what happened, but more of what happened during the investigation. Mainly from the information given to her by Twilight from the lalafell.

“This….This is not good.” Celestia said as she looked down at Luna. “Who was in charge of the border station?”

“Wasn’t it one of your ponies from the royal guard. Buckle Shield, if I’m not mistaken.” Luna answered as the solar princes facepalmed herself.

“Great, not only did we lose three of the elements of harmony. But now they have evidence on how they were treated.”

“So the image on that crystal wasn’t fake?” Fluttershy asked as the solar princess nodded, causing the pegasus to gasp. “Oh dear, how can somepony be so cruel.”

“Let’s not forget that they’re the enemy, Fluttershy. Need I remind you about what happened at the royal wedding?” Luna asked, only for Twilight to respond.

“That may be true, but even we shouldn't treat our enemies like this. Did you not see how they were treating the foals or how malnourished they look?”

“No, I saw. And as much as I feel sorry for what had happened on my sister’s watch. We can’t forget that they are the invaders that attacked us not once, but twice. Not to mention that they stole one of our books to summon that creature. Such actions like this should not be tolerated.
But in this case, both sides are at fault in this case.”

“Which means that we’ll have to go to them to try and make some kind of peace agreement with them.” Celestia said as she leaned back in her throne. “Which might go one-sided seeing how they have Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack as their prisoners.”

“We have an army at our beck and call. Given the information we received from the crystal, it looks like they might not have much of an army on their side.” Luna said as it caused everyone to look at Luna in disbelief.

“You aren’t suggesting that we...force them to surrender our friends do you?” Pinkie Pie asked as Luna went silent. “You are suggesting it!”

“Only as a last resort. It will only depend on how negotiations with Chrysalis goes.”

“And given how this has been going on for the past seven months...this might not go in either favor.” Celestia said before sighing once again. “How is Shining Armor doing?”

“He’s currently being treated in the Canterlot hospital the moment we got here. Hence why we were late in reporting what happened.” Twilight answered. “Why do you ask?”

“I was hoping he was okay and only suffered minor injuries. But seeing how he’s in the hospital, I’ll have to go and see if I can make some kind of peace treaty or something where both sides can benefit each other.”

“You can’t expect to go there alone, do you? What makes you think she wouldn’t try to hold you for ransom as well!?” Luna asked, as the solar alicorn pulled herself up from the throne and began to make her way down towards the group.

“Because if they wanted to do that, they would’ve taken you while you were fighting with them.” She said while walking past them. “I will go alone. Whatever happens, while I’m there, happens.” Just as she walks out of the throne room and the doors close behind her. Twilight turns her attention to Luna with a worried expression on her face.

“You don’t think that they’ll try anything to Princess Celestia, do you?”

“Hard to say, but I’m not taking any chances with them.”

“What do you suggest we do?” Fluttershy asked. “Who knows what they’re doing to our friends as we speak.”

“For now, you all head back to Ponyville and get some rest. Celestia or I will call you all if anything changes.” Twilight and her friends nodded upon hearing this as they soon left the throne room. As they left, a bat pony soon appeared behind Princess Luna as she turned her attention towards him. “Follow after my sister and report to me if they try to attack her and hold her for ransom. Got it?” She asked as the bat pony nodded before vanishing into thin air. As the bat pony left, Princess Luna let out a sigh as she began to make her way out of the throne room and off to her chambers. “Things can’t get any worse then they are now...can they?”

[Changeling Empire, Dungeon]

“If you don’t mind me asking. What was your world like before coming here?” Chrysalis asked as the two made their way down into the dungeon with the lalafell riding on the queen’s shoulders.

“Eorzea? Well, it’s not a bad place to live in. Lushish land, an abundance of magic flowing in almost everything, everyone is friendly depending on the place you want to go to, and it has some amazing places that are almost as breathtaking as my real home.”

“Real home? What, Eorzea isn’t your real home?” The lalafell paused for a moment before letting out a breath of air, indicating that it was a touchy subject. “You don’t have to answer if you’re not up for it.”

“Amaurot...that is the name of the city I used to live in.” Jurrita answered as she pulled out a crystal from her bag. Chrysalis took notice of this as she saw an image of a city appearing in front of them as they walked. “Time for a little bit of a history lesson seeing how we’re going to be walking down these stairs for a while. This is what I can remember from my memories of the city."

“....Mother of the Hive. This city makes Canterlot look like a before picture of this.”

“Yeah, beautiful isn’t it? The city of Amaurot. A once peaceful city that I used to live in before coming to the source. During the day it looks pretty but at night. The city would be glowing like the stars in the night sky.”

“You might want to fill me in a bit on certain things from your world. Mainly because a lot of this stuff is going over my head.”

“Right, sorry.” Jurrita said before getting comfortable on Chrysalis’s shoulders like a child before speaking. “I’m only telling you this because you’re not from my world and it’s a sign of me giving you a piece of my trust. Do not tell anyone else.”

“My lips are sealed.”

“Good. Before I came to the source, Eorzea. I used to live in the city of Amaurot as I showed. This was not on the same planet as Eorzea, and was before there were thirteen worlds.” Jurrita said as Chrysalis saw strange hooded robed figures with masks on walking. “The figures with the robes. That’s what I used to look like.”

“.....Don’t take this the wrong way, but your kind, the...um….”

“The Ancients...but that name has been lost to history. Now we go by the name Ascians.”

“That's an odd name. But you all look like a bunch of plague doctors.” Chrysalis said as the lalafell couldn’t help but laugh at her comment.

“Yeah, I kinda notice. Especially when I woke up and saw some of the changelings wearing similar clothes like that. I never did like the way that I looked if I was being honest.”

“Well if I looked like that, I wouldn’t like the way that I looked either.”

“Pretty much. I didn't know why I didn’t like the way I looked. Even though my friends and family told me that I looked okay...I just didn’t like the way that I looked. I mean, thinking about it afterwards, I looked like death incarnate. So that might’ve been the issue.”

“Okay, so how did you end up going from a tall Plague doctor like creature to a small cute adorable murder machine?”

“The calamity came.” Jurrita said in a saddened tone as she made the image disappear. “It was told that in the final days that the world was going to end. And so it did.” She said before putting the crystal back into her bag. “Everything burned. The sky turned red like fire, the streets ran red with the blood of my kind. Ungodly abominations created from the chaotic magick. There wasn’t a place to hide, nor could we fight it on our own. One by one, I watch my friends and family die in front of me. And I was powerless to stop it.” She said as Chrysalis felt the lalafell hold onto tightly.

“You can stop if you-”

“That’s when my race summoned two primals into the world. Or in your terms, higher beings, Gods and Goddesses...what is the term here for that anyway?”

“Gods and Goddesses will do for me. Please continue if you would?”

“Right, so anyway. In order to try and save the world. A plan was made by my uncle Emet Selch, and the Convocation of the Fourteen. The Convocation of the Fourteen is a group that served as guardians of the city of Amaurot and the world. Falling into despair from seeing the world besieged by the calamity, he joined his fellow Convocation members and devised a plan to halt the calamity by summoning the will of the planet, the primal Zodiark.”

“...Wait.” Chrysalis paused from walking as she looked up at the lalafell with a raised eyebrow. “A calamity of that size to be stopped would need a huge amount of energy. What was the source of energy required to make that happen?”

“The price to accomplish this feat of summoning, however, would be grave. About half of the people were sacrificed to offer up the necessary aether or in this world's term, magical energy to complete the ritual.” She answered as the queen’s mouth dropped open upon hearing that. “I know. It's hard to believe, but what did you expect when your world is about to come to an end.”

“True...but still. A sacrifice like that...even I’m not that crazy to do that if it means the end of the world.”

“Sadly, the deity succeeded in its primary purpose, but then my uncle and the others became devout followers. The Convocation resolved to sacrifice another half of their people to replenish their ruined world. Next, in order for my uncle and the Convocation to restore the lives of those originally sacrificed, Zodiark would require even more aether; aether that would come from the new life being born into the world. This disturbed the dissenting member of the Convocation, who felt that the sacrificial costs were already too great and that the world now belonged to the lives birthed in it. The dissenting Convocation member, in turn, summoned Hydaelyn in opposition to Zodiark, and the resulting conflict ended with Hydaelyn's final attack shattering reality, sundering the world and nearly all life on it into the Source and its thirteen shards. Or worlds in this case. And how I ended up in the source, aka Eorzea.”

“Wow...all this, and you remember all that?”

“Originally, I didn’t. What with the whole being reborn into the body that you see now. My uncle pretty much helped me remember it thanks to his magick breaking down the mental blocks my brain put in to help cope with the situation. He was kind enough to at least tell me the whole story about what happened from his point of view.”

“So are you a Lalafell or an Ascian?”

“Body of a lalafell, but sadly the soul of an Ascian.” She said before looking down at her. “Don’t get the wrong idea. Just because I am one, doesn’t mean I can do the stuff that they can do.”

“Meaning?”

“Ascians are able to travel through different worlds via crystal. Meaning that they don’t need a physical form or connection to travel from one world to another. Me, on the other hand. I would have to find a connection or a means to travel from world to world, I can’t take over a person’s body as the others can, nor can I manipulate people to do what I want with my powers. The only thing I can do is fly around like I’m a bird, but I can’t fly fast. And my body is weaker to light then to darkness seeing how Zodiark was the one that revived me with the body of darkness .”

“....Wow, you’re like a defective changeling only different. It makes sense why you compensate for having that godly strength.”

“Zodiark’s “chosen” champion.” She said with air quotes. “Not that I would be that bastard’s follower after what he did to my world. Nor will I follow my fellow Ascians into bringing back our world by the means of sacrificing other worlds.”

“They’re still sacrificing!? Even after what happened to their world!?”

“They’re enthralled by Zodiark. Primals have the tendency to do that...well not Hydaelyn from what I saw when she made my sister her chosen champion of the light. But yeah, they’re still doing that. By destroying each world, they want to work with the other Paragons and their Ascian followers to orchestrate the Rejoining of the shards with the Source to restore both their god and their home.”

“.....I… don’t have any words to say then how stupid they are in attempting to do something like that.”

“Yeah, why do you think I’m helping my sister and our friends out as best I can.” Jurrita said before letting out a sigh. “Much as I would like to see my world back, I won’t allow it if it’s going to require something like this, I rather have it be a memory then have it reborn because of the blood they spill.”

“Understandable, then again I have no right to judge somepony on desperate actions. I mean look what I did? Trying to take over Canterlot just so that I can give my changelings a means for survival.”

“Give yourself credit. At least you’re not on the level of killing an entire world. All you did was try to make your kingdom survive. Though the way you went about it is maybe wrong, at least you learned from your mistake. Hence why I am helping you with the whole war effort thing that we’re going to be in for a while.” She said before feeling Chrysalis starting back to walking down the very long stairways down to the dungeon.

“If you need anypony to talk to...f-feel free to come to me if need be.”

“Thanks for the offer. I’ll be sure to take you up on that.” Jurrita said before looking down at the staircase they were walking down on. “How long is this?”

“...Not going to lie, I made it this way so that my enemies would hear me taking my time down into the dungeon.” She said as the lalafell pulled her head up a bit as the changeling noticed a deadpan expression on the lalafell’s face. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“....We’re going to have to do a bit of remodeling once we have some materials to do so. But for now, just keep walking.”

“You don’t want me to teleport?”

“I’m going to enjoy the ride, and I’m tired from today. So I’ll be riding you like a horse until tomorrow.”

“That’s racist you know that?”

“And so is calling a lalafell short, a child, or a potato, but you don’t see me complaining.”

“No, but you do throw stuff and possibly will bite at a pony’s ankle like an ankle biter. If they call you that like Pharynx did~” Chrysalis said with a smirk on her face. The lalafell wanted to say a witty remark, but couldn’t due to how right she was.

“J-Just keep walking asshole!”