The Curse Of Chrysalis

Chapter 11

Cory and Kris were out on another hunting trip as their meat supply was getting low with a different changeling to keep an eye on them, Firefly. She was a bit more friendly than some and wanted to get to know the two better, especially since the Maulwurf incident. Little did they know they were being watched as they went through the forest. “So, know any good jokes to lighten the mood?” Kris asked Cory.

Cory rubbed his chin before smirking. “I know a few from my time in the military. Tit for Tat? I tell one then you and back and forth?”

“Sure. Sounds good. Though I don’t know too many. I do remember one I recently heard though before we were brought here.” Kris replied.

“Alright then. Why do the french have their own military?”

“Well since this is a joke I’m guessing the answer isn’t for the obvious reason. So why?” Kris asked.

“So they can bitch, call for help and surrender before the war even begins.”

“HA HA HA HA HA! Good one!”

“I don’t get it.” Firefly commented.

Cory chuckled. “It’s just a joke about how France, a country in our world, are such pathetic fighters. It got started because in every major war they were part of, while they did put up a fight, they more than often called for help or surrendered.”

“It’s even funnier because most people from France or the French government like to think themselves better than most countries and try to come off as proud.” Kris informed.

“Now, your turn Kris.” Cory said.

“All right. Hope you like this one. If Dr. Pepper could be an actual doctor, what kind would he be?”

Cory rubbed his chin before shaking his head. “I’m afraid to ask. What?”

“A Fizzician. Get it?” Kris said, holding back a chuckle.

Cory managed to hold back a laugh, reducing it to a loud snort. “Okay, I was NOT expecting that. I honestly thought you would have been literal and said he would specialize in sneezes.”

“Not sure I get it. All right, your turn.”

“What happens when a drill sergeant that’s thrown into war runs out of ammunition?” Cory asked.

Kris shrugged. “What?”

Cory smirked. “He switches to the stick up his ass as a backup weapon.”

That got a good laugh out of Kris. “Nice...very nice. Ha hah. Okay, I got one more. How many cops does it take to screw in a light bulb?”

“Oh dear, I know this one, but I can’t remember how it went. How many?”

“None, they would just beat the room for being so dark.”

Cory groaned with a grin. “That is so wrong, but so spot on.”

“Do you guys know any jokes I might get?” Firefly asked.

“Ah, sorry about that Firefly. Let’s see.” Cory said.

Kris cut in. “I got one. It’s kind of an old joke though. What did one horse say to the other horse?”

“What?” Firefly asked.

Kris grinned. “Why the long face?”

Cory looked at Kris. “I’m pretty sure there are actual sentient horses in this world.”

It was enough to get a little chuckle out of Firefly after she thought about it. “I get it. Long face. Nice one.”

Kris smiled triumphantly.

Cory smiled. “Alright. This one I actually thought up, but it might touch a sore spot, so you’ll have to forgive me if it does. How many ponies does it take to hold a wedding?”

“How many?” Firefly asked.

“610. 600 to set it up, one to accuse the bride of being an imposter, eight to not believe them, and one to be hypnotized by a changeling.”

Firefly’s mood seemed to drop. “Oh, hah hah...good one.” She said a bit weakly.

Cory winced. “Yeah, never was good with making jokes, only telling them. My bad. Sorry Firefly.”

Firefly sighed. “It’s fine. Really. But thanks for trying anyway.”

Cory ruffed his short hair. “Ah, now I feel like a prick. Kris, kick the mood back up.”

“Knock knock!” Kris said quickly.

Cory smiled. “Who’s there?”

“Change.”

“Change who?”

Kris frowned. “Change that frown…” He then hovered and flipped himself upside down. “Upside down.”

Firefly giggled at that.

Cory sighed. “Mission accomplished. It’s never pleasant to see a lady looking sad.”

“Hee ha ha ha ha!” Another voice was heard laughing.

“Pinkie, keep it down! We’re supposed to be hiding, remember?” Another familiar voice said that sounded like Rainbow Dash.

“Wait...is that who I think it is?” Kris asked.

“Well, cats out of the bag now.” Applejack’s voice sounded.

Firefly got on full alert and held her spear out. “Who’s there!? Show yourself!”

Cory looked about. “Kris, when I tell you, grab Firefly and bolt.”

df“Ready.” Kris said.

“NOW!” Twilight’s voice called as she and her friends sprang up from a nearby bush. They acted so quickly there was hardly any time to counteract. Twilight launched a spell at Firefly that knocked her back and unconscious while Rainbow Dash zoomed in and managed to pick both of them up and took off like a shot back towards Ponyville.

Cory, through all of this, was barely able to throw a white flame orb at Firefly, which once it hit her made her look like she teleported, but made her invisible to the eye for a short while.

“Hey! What’s going on here?!” Kris exclaimed.

“Don’t worry guys, we’re here to rescue you!” Pinkie exclaimed as they were running.

“Rescuing?!” Cory cried out.

“Like she said, so just calm down! We’ll get you away from the hive and back to our place.” Rainbow said.

“We’re here to help so don’t worry.” Twilight said. “Pinkie told us everything.”

“Oh boy.” Kris sighed.

Cory groaned. “Chrysalis is gonna be on the warpath if she hears about this.”

They eventually arrived at Ponyville and in Twilight’s library home. “Whew...we made it.” Rarity sighed out tiredly.

“That went easier than I thought it would.” Fluttershy commented.

Kris was doing everything he could to hold in his geek fan self from exploding outward. It was slightly easier for Cory due to his military training, but not by much.

“So, you two are Cory and Kris right?” Twilight asked.

“Yes. That’s us.” Kris said. “I’m Kris, and this is Cory.”

“I’m glad we were able to help. You two do seem nice. My name is Twilight and these are our other friends. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity.

“Charmed.” Rarity greeted.

“Nice ta meetcha.” Applejack said with a smile.

“Hey there.” Rainbow greeted.

“Nice to meet you all.” Kris said.

“Same here.” Cory added.

“Well, now that introductions are out of the way. Let’s get to what to do next. First, how did you two end up in this world in the first place, and in the changeling hive of all places?” Twilight asked.

Cory sighed. “To answer both, Queen Chrysalis summoned us.”

“Summoned you? How? Why?” Twilight asked.

“Well….she was wanting to try and bring forth stronger warriors to help her hive. The changelings are rather low on love energy and we were helping to provide that.” Kris stated. He figured it would probably be best not to mention the planned invasion.

“So...just for love energy?” Twilight asked. “I’m surprised you two still look so….healthy. You two are healthy for your species right?” Twilight asked.

“Oh definitely.” Kris replied.

“I’m former military and he’s a martial artist. And it was speculated that since we gave our love willingly, we weren’t affected negatively. They made sure we were fed and comfortable.” Cory added.

“Wait seriously? Comfortable?” Rainbow asked. “And you gave your love willingly?”

“We did.” Kris replied.

“They were one the edge of starvation. They had used nearly the last stores of love energy just to summon us. So we spent several days making sure they were all well fed.” Cory said.

“You….do know they’re bad right?” Rarity asked.

Kris narrowed his eyes while Cory growled. “Bad or not, they were on the verge of dying. We couldn’t just sit by and do nothing. Despite what you might think, they aren’t as bad as you might make them out to be. There’s still children in that hive and babies who haven’t even had a chance yet.” Kris stated. “Chrysalis may come off as mean or harsh, but she’s doing what she can the only way she knows how or can think of to help her subjects. That’s what she cares about. We are well aware of the invasion she and her subjects attempted some time ago on your capitol during a wedding but that was out of desperation.”

Hearing this, the girls actually lowered their heads. “R...really?” Fluttershy asked.

“Really.” Cory said, his growl still in his voice. “I’ve been in war, it’s not pretty. And wars in my world are nothing like you can imagine. Wars here are like a minor disagreement in a sandbox for foals. I have seen when hunger and desperation hit its peak and Chrysalis was close to that. I saw people die of hunger and thirst in droves, willing to eat anything even it would poison them, just to have something in their stomaches. I wasn’t willing to let that happen again when the price was so easy to pay that we didn’t even have to pay it.” Cory closed his eyes. “You never forget the eyes of the dead from hunger, especially the children and infants. It’s worse than the ones you kill yourself.”

The girls lowered their heads in sadness. “But...Chrysalis brainwashed my brother and tried to replace my sister in law.” Twilight argued.

“Because it was part of her plan for the invasion. She could have just as easily killed your sister in law, but she didn’t, did she?” Kris asked.

Twilight was silent for a moment. “No...she didn’t.”

“Exactly. LIke we said, Chrysalis isn’t as bad as you make her out to be. What she’s done, she’s done out of desperation to SAVE her subjects from starving.” Kris stated. “Sometimes desperation can make us make decisions that would cause others to see us as the bad guy, despite the good intentions.”

Cory nodded. “‘Good intentions often pave the way to Hell’. That’s a saying from our world that fits perfectly. And before you ask, Hell is where all the sinners go when they die, whether their hearts were in the right place or not. And while we appreciate your compassion to ‘save’ us, you might have just screwed everything up.”

“Chrysalis is going to be VERY upset when she learns we were taken like this.” Kris stated.

“So….what should we do then?” Rarity asked.

“Simple, let us go back to the hive and we can try to smooth things over with Chrysalis.” Kris stated.

“We were already working on getting her to open up more, and she’s attached to us to some degree. I’d rather not see what would happen if we don’t return to her safe and sound. Now, we are also going to try and get her to see reason to seek an alliance with Equestria, but that will take time that we need to get her to fully open up.” Cory said.

“I’m sorry. This is all my fault.” Pinkie said lowering her head. “I just wanted to help my new friends cause I thought they were in trouble.”

Kris sighed before smiling. “It’s fine Pinkie. We get it. You wanted to help but you didn’t know the full story, which Cory tried to explain before. As long as we can get back to Chrysalis, we should be able to get her to cool down.” It was hard for him to be mad at the pink party pony.

“Though Firefly will take some talking to to keep her cool.” Cory said with a groan.

“Who’s Firelyf?” Twilight asked.

“The changeling you blasted with your magic.” Kris stated.

“Oh...oops. Sorry about that.” Twilight said with a bit of embarrassment.

“Don’t apologize to me, apologize to her.” Kris stated.

“In any case, we need to leave and gather up food for the next month. The changeling chefs are rather interested in my Strogonoff.” Cory said.

“Don’t suppose we could make it up ta ya’ll fer this little misunderstandin is there?” Applejack asked.

Kris gave a serious expression. “There is but one thing I can think of that would make me forgive you all.”

Cory groaned as he shook his head. “Oh boy.”

“And that is?” Twilight asked.

Silence filled the room for what felt like hours. “I want….A hug from each of you.” Kris finally stated.

“Huh!?” Most of the girls asked except for Pinkie who smiled.

“A hug?” Rainbow asked with a raised brow.

“A hug.” Kris replied.

Cory sighed. “I do apologize for Kris. He’s as random as Pinkie at times. Though without being able to fit into dresser drawers like a sponge.”

“No problem.” Pinkie said with a smile and came up to Kris. “Come here you!” The two then shared a hug smiling.

Pinkie’s chest being pressed against Kris’s did give him some lewd thoughts involving the pony but now wasn’t the time. He simply enjoyed the hug and the warm feeling he got from Pinkie.

One by one they each gave Kris a hug. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were a bit awkward with it though.

Cory chuckled as he waited for the hug fest to end.

Fluttershy was the last to give a hug and Kris sighed after. “Okay, I’m good. Thank you all for that.”

“No problem.” Twilight replied.

Cory sighed. “Alright, we better get a move on then. I placed an invisibility spell on Firefly to hide her from any of the beasties of the forest, so I’d rather get to her before that wears off.”

Pinkie slid up to Cory with a smile. “Would YOU like hugs from us too to help you forgive us?”

Cory raised his hands in defense. “I’m an easy to forgive type of guy. Besides, I’m worried about Firefly, so the sooner we get back to her, the sooner I can breathe easy.”

“Alright then. Sorry again fer the trouble.” Applejack said.

“Maybe then to help things, we can talk to Celestia on our end and see about trying to work on a peace. If taking love energy from a willing pony doesn’t drain them, there’s no reason for us to fight one another if that’s all they want.” Twilight said.

Cory nodded. “Please do, but, and no offense, make sure Shining Armor doesn’t find out about this until it’s too late to change anything. I don’t think he would be rational. Princess Cadence…..I’m not sure about. I’ll leave that to your judgement.”

“After that incident, Shining would be adamantly against it.” Twilight said. “I do care about him and I would hate to keep secrets, but...I promise I won’t tell him about this.”

Cory smiled. “Thank you.” He then bowed to them at the waist, giving a gentleman’s bow. “Then, adieu mademoiselles.”

“Oh my, how gentlemanly of you.” Rarity commented with a smile. “I do hope we’ll meet again soon.”

“As do I madam.” Kris said bowing the same as well. They said their final goodbyes before leaving the library and started heading back where Firefly was.

However, just as they left the treebrary, dark mist formed under them as black tendrils shot up and began restraining the two.

The girls gasped seeing this. “CORY! KRIS!” Twilight exclaimed.

Rainbow zipped in to try and help but was knocked away by one of the tendrils. Twilight tried to use her magic but to no avail. Applejack even tried to use her rope to rope them and pull them out only for the tendrils to cut her rope.

"I am SO not into this tentatcle stuff!" Kris exclaimed as he struggled.

The two fought back, trying to break free, even using their magic to free themselves, but it did little to slow it down. They were sinking into the pits of mist. Cory looked at Twilight. “FIND FIREFLY WHERE YOU GOT US! TELL HER EVERYTHING!! ENSURE THE QUEEN KNOWS!! WE’LL FIND A WAY BACK!!” He called out just before the two humans were finally sucked under, the mist fading away to nothing.

The ponies stared in shock and fear for a moment at the spot the two disappeared. “Come on, we need to get to the changeling hive. We have to meet with Chrysalis.” Twilight said before they left and went to find Firefly to meet with the changeling queen.