Devoran Chronicles: Fire of the Phoenix

Cold, hungry, and exhausted, I wandered through the eerie forest.  I heard my father talk about this place many times.  He did travel through here far before I was born, when he was a travelling salesman, to get to Ponyville.  This forest was even spookier than the stories that used to give me nightmares, though.  Owls hooted in the distance, leaves rustled with what little wind made it through the dense trees, and I could swear something was watching me.  As much as I didn’t like this place, my body refused to continue.  After gathering up some leaves with a magic spell, I cast a sound dampening charm to drown out the sounds from the forest.  I had always found that sounds through the dampening spell were soothing, sort of sounding like waves on a beach.  I laid down my body on the makeshift bed, and drifted off into a restless sleep.

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Fire raining from the ceiling on me and my parents at home, Princess Celestia banishing me to the dungeon of Canterlot Castle, and much more haunted my dreams.  I wondered if I’d ever get a good night sleep ever again that wasn’t plagued by distorted memories and panicked screams.  However, it wasn’t until I heard a sudden sound leaves crinkling that I awoke with a start.  Something had entered my bubble of sound proofing, making it sound normal.  A Canterlot Guard, maybe?  Perhaps the train attendants had given the tip to them and they’d come looking for me.  How long had I been out anyway?  Another crinkling of a footstep on the dried leaves was heard to my right.  Slinking down, I peered around the tree and saw a blurry black figure in the shape of a pony.  It looked up, examining the bubble and no doubt noticing its presence.

“Alright,” a cool, buzzing voice said aloud. “I know someone is here.  Come out”.

Unclear as what to do, I remained still.  The figure sounded like a mare, but its voice was very strange, with a hint of hissing, as if talking with a bee stuck in her throat.

“Whoever you are you’d had better reveal yourself,” the voice continued to demand. “Spells don’t just create themselves.  If I have to start this forest on fire to drive you out, so be it”.

The creature’s horn began to glow and she cast a spell of revealing light.  The area immediately illuminated to almost daytime levels, and the figure became clear to me.  Tall, black, wearing a blue crown-like object, and filled full of holes in her legs and wings.  It was like nothing I’d ever seen before.  And those green eyes.  They were the most startling of all.  Emerald and fiery.  For some reason, as the impatience on her face became more and more obvious, I decided I had nothing to lose and stood up from my hiding place.

“Hello,” I said, awkwardly and unsure of how to greet such a creature.  Her eyes snapped to me immediately upon hearing my voice, locking on in a piercing stare.

“I....uhm......sorry I was hiding, but I was sleeping and.....well.....” I stammered out, trying to explain myself for some reason to this person I’d never met before.

“Who is with you?” the creature said impatiently.

“Uhm.....no one.  I’m alone.”

She huffed in disbelief.

“You expect me to believe a small child, barely old enough to walk without tripping on his own feet, is out in the Everfree forest by himself?” she pressed with that same intense stare, while slowly walking closer.

“I.....well.....yes.  I’m sorta on my own now.”

Her head tilted slightly in confusion as she continued to walk closer and began to circle around.  It was like a lion circling its prey, and it was unnerving.

“On your own?” she mimicked with a tone that implied she wanted more of an explanation.

“Yes.....my parents are.....gone.”

“Gone?”

“Yes....they’re....” I could feel my throat tighten up before I could get out the next word, but I managed to finish the sentence with “dead”.

“I see.  And why are you out here, exactly?”

“Because the Royal Guards are, well, looking for me.”

“And why would Royal Guards be after you, child?”

“Because......’cause........” I started, because my throat tightened up and my eyes began to water again.  Allowing my eyes to shift down with my head, staring at the ground, I gathered myself and forced out “because I was the one that killed my parents”.  Tears fell on the crunchy leaves on the ground from the corners of my eyes.  I fought hard to try and keep my composure in front of this stranger, but it was with little success.  Suddenly, a cold and rough hoof touched my shoulder that made me jump a little.  The creature was right in front of me and her emerald eyes were looking straight into mine.

“Well, child, it looks like you and I have a bit of something in common.  We both are hiding from Celestia and her guards”.

What did she mean?  Was she a wanted criminal of the state?  Had I just stumbled into the company of a dangerous and wanted fugitive?

“Who.....who are you?” I asked, weakly.

“Me?” She replied.  “I am Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings”.

It was at the word “Changeling” that my chest jumped into my throat.  I knew that name.  Canterlot, my home town, had been attacked by them when My family and I had been away.  I had never seen one, but I was told they were vicious creatures who fed on love until they drained you dry.  For a while, Canterlot had posters up informing the public about them, but no one had seen one since the day they tried to take over, so over time they just became old news.

I couldn’t help but continue to stare in terror right into the Changeling Queen’s eyes.  She continued to survey me up and down silently for a few minutes before she spoke again.

“You seem to be quite unlucky, I’m afraid, little one.  You see, you are the first meal I’ve had in a long time and although I don’t need love to survive like my underlings do, my magic is fueled by it and I’m rather low at the moment, so do try and not struggle.  OK?”

“Wha.....what do you mean?” I asked, my voice stammering out a rather obviously stupid question.

“I mean I’m going to have to drain you of your love, child.  No hard feelings”.  And with that, she lowered her head, opened her mouth, and began to cast a strange aura that misted the air around her with a hue of pale green.  I felt the air growing even colder than it already was and my head hurt slightly.  It was as if whatever energy that was left inside me began to wither even more than it already was.  The world around me began to seem gray as a red smoke-like something seemed to drain out of me.

“No!” I shouted rather suddenly, that even startled myself.  I cast a fire spell that burst forth instinctively from my horn, shooting straight at her with deadly precision.  Her face went from cool collection to shocked recoil.  At the last moment, she dodged, breaking her spell.  The spell skimmed her left side, singeing her slightly as she fell into a pile of gathered leaves.  The spell, still spiralling past, hit a tree, knocking it straight to the ground and directly on top of the Changeling Queen, pinning her to the ground.

“Gahhh!!” she left out with a sickening cry.  Her legs struggled from under the branches holding her to the ground.  I cautiously crept toward her, unsure what to do.  Her head was sticking out of the side and she was laboring to breathe with the heavy object pressing agaist the side of her chest.

“You little.......*cough*....... cretin!” she gasped.  “Why couldn’t you just let me overtake you?  Oh the shame I.....*cough*....must endure already.  My kingdom....*cough*....ruined.  My underlings scattered and now this?  Being beaten by a....*cough*.... meer filly”.

I stared at her, feeling pity on such a broken and battered soul.  Not unlike myself in some ways, she had been dealt a serious blow.  Somewhat self inflicted, of course, but I still couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.  She looked like she had given up all hope and wished for nothing more than death.  It was then that I decided what I must do.

I grabbed the tree with my mind, casting a spell of levitation on it.  The tree was extremely heavy.  Much heavier than anything I’d ever lifted before, and it barely shook with my weakly, sickly excuse of a spell.  I gritted my teeth, dug my front hooves into the moist, spongy loam of dirt beneath me, and mustered up all of the strength I could. To my delight, the tree began to shake violently and lift slightly into the air.  I could only lift one half of it reliably, however, and I began to spin it on the base of its trunk break, moving it away from Chrysalis so that it didn’t fall on her again.  Once it was safely a few inches away, I released it.  The resounding boom made an echoing sound throughout the forest for some time before all was once again quiet.  I trotted over to Chrysalis, who was still laboring to breathe, but seemed to be able to inhale much more easily.  Her eyes were shut and she seemed to be unconscious.  I cast another levitation spell on her, trying to be as careful as possible, and moved her to a clearing next to the tree I had just moved.  She didn’t move at all, except for the inhaling and exhaling of her breathe and an occasional shiver at the cold.  I began to break off some small pieces from the tree and placed them in a pile about two feet away from her after digging out a small hole.  Then, I placed rocks around the pit of sticks and twigs and cast a very small fire spell once again to light them ablaze.

My hooves hurt from the long amounts of walking and uncomfortable conditions throughout the evening.  I peeled off the strapping for my cloak and laid it down for a moment.  The fire provided enough heat for myself, but she seemed to still be shivering.  Walking over to her, I looked over her body to see if she was seriously hurt.  From the look of it, she only seemed bruised and scraped up from branches cutting at her.  Of course, I was no doctor, and could only hope that the damage was as slight as it seemed.  I placed the cloak around her and tucked it in.  It was then that her eyes shot open and her left hoof shot up, grabbing me by the cloak.

“Just WHAT do you think you’re doing?”

“I...uhm....I’m sorry, but you seemed cold and I just wanted to make you comfortable”.

Her eyes blinked a few times and her face softened in a slightly confused-seeming manner.  Her hoof released from its iron grip into a slightly less dire one.  Her head turned slightly as she peered around our impromptu camp site and examined the cloak she was now wearing.

“I don’t understand.  What is this?”

“Its a camp site....” I said, uncertain as to how she could be confused.

“I know *cough* what THIS is!  I mean, why are you helping me?  Do you plan to take me back to Canterlot as a trophy so that you can pawn me off for your redemption?”

Now I was confused.  What in the world was she talking about?

“Pawn you off?  What do you mean?  I just felt bad because you and I are sort of.....uhm.....well, unlucky together”.

She stared at me again, but differently than before.  One of her eyebrows was cocked in an inquisitive manner.

“But, I tried to kill you......why would you help me?  You don’t owe me anything”.

“Well....I don’t know.  I guess.......well.......my dad always said to help those in need and you needed me.  Plus, I sorta, well, knocked the tree over that fell on top of you,” I admittedly stated.

“Hmph.  That you did,” she said, sounding impressed.  “And you lifted a tree of me probably 20 times your own size.  That right there is impressive too.  Makes me wonder if you won’t kill me by accident like you did your parents”.

Just as the final word slipped off her tongue, it once again felt as if someone had driven a dagger through my heart, and the memories flowed through my mind, freshened up once again.  I stepped back slightly from her and looked down as my eyes once again began to overflow and blur my vision.

“I......I didn’t mean to.  It was an accident.  I didn’t want to hurt them!  I swear!  I just.....it just happened!  I don’t.......” and I could speak no more.  My throat began to catch and the stammering sobs destroyed any semblance of sanity.  Just as I was ready to collapse from my emotional overload, I felt the Queen’s cold hoof touch my neck.  Not in a harsh or violent manner, but a light grazing.  The surprise made me pause for a minute and look up.  She was standing again, directly in front of me, and looking hard into my eyes with her hypnotic gaze she had.  They were hard as always, but somehow different this time.  They seemed to be sympathetic in a way, which I had not expected.  She pulled me slightly and sat me down next to her and said only a few words.

“Tell me what happened”.  Her voice sounded much softer than before, and I began to recount everything to her as she locked her eyes to my face.  From the failure of my testing, to the letter, to my parents death and my fleeing.  The story poured out of me like a pitcher of emotional pain that had built up and was being tipped, until the story was done, and my eyes and throat could take no more crying.

When the story was done, she simply continued to lock her gaze on me.  Oddly, though, her staring didn’t make me feel uncomfortable around her anymore.  After all, if she had still wanted to kill me, she would have been more than capable of doing it while my emotions had been overriding my body’s ability to function.  She simply shifted a little and started to speak to me in the same softer voice.

“So, Princess Celestia killed your parents”.

I looked back at her, blinking confusedly.  Had she not just heard my story?

“No.  I did.  Weren’t you listening?”

“Oh, I was listening, child.  And I heard exactly what I just said.  Princess Celestia killed your parents”.

I was hearing what she was saying, but I wasn’t sure exactly what she was getting at.

“But.....Princess Celestia wasn’t even there.....”

“Exactly”.

Now I was really confused, but she continued, “Princess Celestia smashed all of your dreams.  She let you spend your entire life planning and preparing to gain entry into her school with all of your waking hours and even though you performed extremely powerful, yet unrefined magic, she denied you entry and crushed your life’s dreams and drove you into a world with your dangerous magic untrained and unstable.  Then, in your distraught, emotional state, you unleashed a dangerous magical artifact, which she gave your father herself, knowing full well how dangerous it was.  And then, you’re parents died as a result.  Something that never would have happened had she simply recognized your potential and admitted you into her school to train you properly.  So, I say again, child, Celestia killed your parents”.

I sat there, processing what she was saying.  Everything she was saying made sense, but seemed unfair to pin on the Princess.  After all, she hadn’t conducted the test.

“But.....Princess Celestia wasn’t even at my test”.

“So?  She still sent you the letter after reviewing what the testers sent her, right?”

“Well......yeah”.

“Then, not only did she not, in her royal highness, not bother to even show up to assess you herself before she wrote you off, but she also signed off on your dismissal.  And that, my child, means that regardless, she was responsible for denying you.  One way or another”.

And with this, her logic struck a cord inside me.  All this time I thought that it was my fault alone that my parents had died.  To hear that someone else was responsible for it, even though I had committed the act was, to say the least, relieving.  It made me feel not so horrible inside.  However, I still had more questions.

“But, why would Princess Celestia do that?  Everyone says such good things about her...”

“Because, my child, you only hear the good things about her.  Look at me.  Princess Celestia, using her niece Princess Cadence, destroyed my entire kingdom without batting an eye”.

“But you tried to enslave everypony in Canterlot so that you could harvest their love”.

With that comment, she stomped her hoof slightly, startling me.  She quickly, however, recovered from her anger and her look softened again.

“Sorry......I didn’t mean to startle you.  Anyway, its not my fault that we need love to feed on.  Canterlot had lots of love to give and I needed to feed my army.  We were made this way and I can’t change that”.

That made sense.  Even though we ponies were their source of food, I guess she didn’t really want to feed on us.

Chrysalis’ eyes stopped suddenly on something. Following her eyes, I noticed it was my wings.

“And how did you get those?” she asked, pointing at my side.

I turned my head to try and determine to what she was referring.

“What?” I asked, unable to discern the nature of her question.

“That,” she said, poking my side.  Or rather, my wings.

“Oh”.

I stood up and let them spread out.  Her face was awed and her jaw wide open.

“My, my.  Isn’t this interesting.  Wings of a Pegasus and a Horn of a Unicorn”.

“I wasn’t always like this,” I replied.

“Oh?  You weren’t born this way?”

“No.  It happened a few days ago when my parents died.  After the accident, I had these”.  I had forgotten to mention that part of the story.

“Well, it seems fate has smiled on the unfortunate”.

“Huh?” I said, unclear again what she was referring to.

“Nevermind that, child.  Get some sleep.  You can lay next to me.  I will keep you safe”.

Safe.  That was an inviting word.  I didn’t hesitate to curl up next to her and lay down.  Her body was cold, but it didn’t take long for my own body heat to begin to reflect back on me.  She extended one of her legs to allow me to use as a pillow.  It was hard and gave very little, but after such a long day, I would have taken a rock.

“Get some sleep, my child.  No one will get you,” she cooed softly.  Her words were like honey and I soon was slipping off into a deep sleep.  As I began to drift, a thought entered my mind that began to build until I said it out loud to Chrysalis.

“Queen Chrysalis?”

“Yes, my child?”

“I think I hate Princess Celestia”.

“Good, child.  Good.  We will do great things together.  One day, we will get back at her for all she’s done to both of us.  With your help, we will fix the wrongs she’s dealt us and make things right”.

And with that, the world went dark as I drifted into a deep and restful sleep.  From that day

on, I drept of how much I hated Princess Celestia and how one day I would show her how much of a mistake it was to ever have sent me that letter.

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