Renaissance

Act III: Luminescence
Chapter IX: Medusa

After packing up camp, the four ponies began the rest of their journey in the early morning sun. A group of changelings waited for them on the other side of the border, but as they got closer they split into two groups on the sides of the road. Fleur hummed as they walked past, the changeling squadron watching them with judging eyes. "I guess word about our journey to the capital spread fast." A few of the changelings hissed, they were the three from the night before. The changelings regrouped once the group of ponies were past them, watching the ponies with scorn in their eyes, which made Fluttershy tremble until Fleur held her hand, making her blush. The shy pegasus blushed even deeper when Fleur gave her a smile. "After what I said last night, I don't think they'll be bothering us."

The Changeling Lands were almost barren as they made their way to the capital. What plants there were were dead from the cold, the snowflakes that slowly fell from the sky lightly misted the ponies' manes as they trekked on. The only places that weren't covered in snow were large areas where the ground was warmer than it should have been, a few eternal fires burning nearby, the scorched trees that once called the land home slowly turning to ash piece by piece. Daybreaker's immense power was quite evident to them all at that point, the warm parts of the land so unnaturally devoid of snow, and the eternal fires still burning like bushes made of flames. Ash replaced the snow in those places, slowly falling from the sky and trees, before being blown away in the wind.

It was a longer trek from the border to Vesalipolis than it was from the border to the Crystal City, nearly the whole day going by and Lunar Twilight about to begin once again before they saw the changeling capital in the distance. Fleur, Fluttershy, and Trixie were less exhausted from the trek than Starlight was, but it had still taken a little toll on the three ponies who were more experienced with traveling such distances. The group hadn't stopped for anything, none of them wanting to stay in the inhospitable Changeling Lands any longer than they absolutely had to. But an hour after Lunar Twilight began, they finally arrived.

Vesalipolis towered above them, the different buildings of whatever city the changeling capital used to be were covered in chitinous walls, the snow not seeming to fall upon the city at all, a couple of what used to be skyscrapers were slowly burning down, some of Daybreaker's eternal flames lit atop them like they were matchsticks. But the plant life around and within the city curiously seemed to grow and bloom unlike it did in any other part of the land, the parts of the buildings that weren't covered in chitin instead covered by moss and vines, and flowers of all kinds grew from the lively grass. It was almost surreal to look at as they approached the gates, the ten changeling guards posted in front of them each gave the ponies different kinds of scowls before they opened the gates and let the ponies through.

As they made their way through the city, the different changelings that walked and guarded the streets were either whispering amongst themselves and pointing at the ponies, or pointing the group in the direction of the Changeling Palace. Which, it turned out, was a coliseum that had been converted into an almost arena-like structure, one made of chitin, moss, and vines. Fleur could see a pair of glowing green eyes piercing the darkness of one of the Palace's uppermost windows, staring down at them until they got a few yards away from the coliseum-turned-Palace. Fleur grit her teeth for a second, swallowing hard. "This is getting pretty intense... You girls stay close and alert, especially you Fluttershy. The three of us will protect you."

The three unicorns got into a tight triangle-like formation around he Director of the Peace Corps, Fleur at the front, Trixie and Starlight in the back, all four moving in unison as they passed through the gates and into the halls of the coliseum, changeling guards walking the halls looked at them in disgust as they walked by, but the unicorns only scowled back, Fluttershy staying silent and focusing on Fleur, trusting her guidance and protection fully. She's so brave and confident, and the way she jumped in front of me last night... I just know she'll do whatever she has to, to keep me safe... The shy pegasus smiled a little bit, looking at the ex-model with admiration, blushing lightly.

They finally walked out into the center of the Palace, the wide open area allowing them to see that the slightly different-looking chitin that covered the top of the coliseum was halfway transparent, allowing them to see the twilit sky above them. There was a cavern made of chitin in the middle of the wide open area, which seemed to descend below the coliseum, thirteen changeling guards standing outside. The guard with the bow growled as he nocked an arrow, aiming it at them. "That's close enough!" The ponies stopped in place, and a gigantic spider in changeling armor crawled out from behind the cavern to stand atop it, it's fangs drooling venom. The changeling with the bow snickered as he let forth his arrow while the ponies were distracted.

Fleur shuddered but yelled as she jumped in the way of Fluttershy the same way she had the night before, pulling out her glaive and spinning it, cutting the arrow in half and changing it's direction, but getting the half with the arrowhead stuck in the tip her right ear. "Fuck!" She hissed, baring the pain as she stood still, glaive at the ready and brow furrowed. "What the fuck was that for?! You didn't hear that we come in peace?" She growled under her breath, gritting her teeth once again at the pain of her ear. The changeling with the bow was hit across the head by the one in the middle of them, and hissed.

The changeling in the middle bared the most cuts on his armor and the most scars on his body, and his voice was gruff. "My subordinate simply acted like an idiot." He ignored the glare he got from the archer. "The Queen wants to see only you, not the others. We were ordered to just keep them under watch while you converse with her." He could see the distrust in Fleur's eyes and continued. "The Queen anticipated your distrust, and that is why she told me to tell you of a name: Nightshade." Fleur's expression changed instantly, looking almost like she had seen a ghost. The ex-model had to take a deep breath before she spoke.

"How... How does she know that name? Did she tell you more?" The three other ponies looked at Fleur in confusion, Fluttershy backing up to stand behind Starlight and Trixie, who were both looking at each other. Trixie silently asked Starlight for an answer to what the whole 'Nightshade' thing was about with a nod of her head, and Starlight held her hands up a little, shaking her head to silently say that she didn't know. The changeling general had shook his head at Fleur's question, and the ex-model finally continued speaking after thinking for a moment. "...Fine." She emphasized the word by stabbing her blade into the sand, and the changelings separated a little, Fleur looking to her right at the changeling general and nodding at him with respect as she walked past him.

Trixie was the first to speak, and finally spoke her mind. "What the fuck is she doing? ...What the hell did you get us into, Starlight? Trixie told you the stupid pretty girl would get us in more trouble than Trixie could handle!" Starlight face-palmed, letting out a long and annoyed sigh. "Just because you have the hots for her, that doesn't mean you can let her drag you and Trixie around! Especially to places like the Changeling Empire! - No offense." She said the last part to the changelings, most of them hissing in anger. Starlight blushed vividly and groaned before covering her face with both hands. The general however, surprisingly laughed. He apparently found the arguing ponies amusing, and Starlight, having an idea, looked at Trixie desperately. Trixie blinked a few times in confusion and annoyance, but eventually rolled her eyes. She looked back at the changeling general. "So... Wanna see Trixie do a magic trick?"

The general actually smiled. "Finally, someone with talent! You wouldn't believe how unbelievably boring my underlings are. ...Do you know the one where you somehow end up with the same card I chose?" Trixie looked astonished, and Starlight started to snicker, covering her mouth. Even Fluttershy let out a quiet giggle, hiding behind Starlight and peeking out from behind her hip. Trixie however, was not amused.

Fleur simply shook her head and tried not to giggle before continuing deeper within the cavern.

⚜⚜⚜

Fleur pulled the arrow half out of her ear eventually, taking a small healing potion off of her belt. She looked at it for a second, before putting it back on her hip. "I've always wanted to get an ear piercing anyways." She did however pull out some water and a small rag, cleaning off the blood and helping her ear naturally start to heal. She put the water back in her satchel, before quickly drying the rag off with a warming spell that also shook it around, and then putting it away as well. "Gotta look my best when meeting royalty." She wasn't vain, she just simply knew how to make a good first impression.

She fixed her mane as best as she could without a brush, before she came out of the cavern into... an underground garden. There were even trees growing in the almost peaceful cavern, glowing plants upon the ceiling giving the area light. She began to walk amongst the trees and other beautiful plant life, the sight of it all both astounding her and putting her in slight awe. It was then that a voice echoed throughout the lush underground garden. "How did I know it was going to be you? That you would be the one to walk into my Empire, and dare to approach me alone, speaking of peace?" The voice was undeniably that of the Changeling Queen, but Fleur couldn't tell what direction it was coming from.

Fleur responded however, wanting an answer to her question. "I just thought that a Queen wouldn't want the complete destruction of her hive. If you attacked the Crystal Empire, Daybreaker would be there to fight against you and claim the land as hers, and I don't want the war to cause any more casualties than it currently does every day. ...But the only thing I want to know right now is... how... how do you know that name? How do you know her name? I've never told anypony about her, I never spoke about her again after..." She went silent, coming upon a small clearing full of flowers, looking around her and trying to stay calm. Her mind was going a million miles an hour trying to figure out how the queen of the changelings knew about the first mare she ever loved.

The voice echoed throughout the garden once again, but this time the ex-model was able to tell which direction it was coming from. "I figured you wouldn't know. The connection is obvious to me, but I suppose you were more oblivious to it than I thought... And here I thought you were something more than just another idiot." Fleur swallowed hard at the last sentence the Queen said, it's familiarity sending a chill down her spine. The ex-model was now as shocked as she was frustrated, but took a deep breath, keeping her cool. The voice eventually continued, and Fleur was sure of its direction. "You still don't get it, do you... Fleur de Lis."

The perfect pronunciation of her name, which she hadn't even told the Queen yet, made Fleur shudder, and begin to run. But she didn't run for very long before coming upon another clearing, stopping just as she reached the edge of it. Rare but beautiful flowers grew amongst the perfect grass upon the ground. Fleur even recognized her favourite flowers - Bleeding Hearts. But what drew her attention, was the obscured form in the center, a silhouette of somepony familiar within it. Fleur stepped forward, and as she slowly got closer, her heart began to race. "How do you know her? How do you know- ...N-Nightshade Wallflower?" She couldn't believe her eyes, she was standing three feet away from a pony she hadn't seen in years.

The mare smiled at the ex-model, before something happened. Her form, her body, began to change. It slowly became bigger, and her horn became more wicked. But the colors of her fur, mane, and eyes, all stayed the same. Relaxing upon the garden floor, lifting a large leaning lily flower up and encouraging it to stand, was none other than Queen Chrysalis. Fleur collapsed to her knees, speechless. It all began to make sense. Princess Cadance, being an Alicorn, required a fair amount of power to defeat. The Changeling Queen simply smirked with pride. "I can see you finally understand. It was right before the Royal Wedding, and my disguise wasn't even that different from how I normally look."

Fleur was silent for a moment, but eventually, she spoke up. "I... You... You used me... Used me to get more powerful, powerful enough to defeat Princess Cadance..." She almost couldn't believe the heavy revelation that had just been bestowed upon her, but she knew it was true. "But you... You weren't anypony I knew... A-And... You were the pony that... that made me realise... Realise that I was into mares..." She shuddered, before swallowing hard and clenching her eyes for a moment, trying to regain at least an ounce of her composure. "Why...? Why did you choose me? Was it because I looked lonely and weak at the time? And... and all of those long chats we had in the forest, all of the times I listened to you and took your side, and truly showed that I cared... that really all meant nothing?"

Chrysalis spoke sharp. "Celestia and her sister aren't the only ones who have changed." Fleur looked up from the ground and at Changeling Queen. Her horn began to glow, and the flowers around the two of them started to bloom a little more. It was only then that Fleur noticed the large red lily in the left side of the Changeling Queen's mane, and that Chrysalis was only wearing a regal but revealing red dress and black floral pattern stockings with matching sleeves. Fleur blushed, something she couldn't believe she was actually doing in that moment. Chrysalis smirked, looking proud of herself for a moment, but looked at the lily next to her once again as she continued.

"I hate you, Fleur. But I... I don't. I hate... what you've done to me." The Changeling Queen looked deep into Fleur's eyes, and the ex-model felt her heart skip a beat. Chrysalis hummed for a second, leaning closer. "You... You were different, and I hate that you were... You liked when I acted more like myself, ...the real me. Not some pony that you knew or was tailored to your exact tastes. I... I was a fool. I was wearing a disguise that was practically me, but as a pony. And I made you like me, made you feed me. But that's the problem. You like... me. After I had a taste of your love, how pure it was, because it was practically truly for me, nothing ever tasted the same. Sure, I became even more powerful when disguised as that stupid pink slut, but... All the love I fed upon just tasted... bland."

The ex-model was confused, unsure as to exactly what the Changeling Queen was saying. Chrysalis became frustrated, vines growing swiftly out of the ground to wrap around Fleur's body, and almost squeeze her throat. "Do I really have to spell it out for you? It wasn't enough. Nothing was enough anymore!" The vines squeezed Fleur's neck more, making her unable to breathe for a few seconds, gritting her teeth, before Chrysalis calmed down a little, the vines allowing the ex-model to breathe once again. "Nothing could satisfy me, no amount of love could make me feel truly full, and alive... like your love did. I had become addicted to it. Like a fool, I let myself become addicted to the purest form of love a changeling can ever feed upon."

Fleur was starting to get the picture, but she nodded at the Changeling Queen attentively, as if telling her to go on. Chrysalis did just that. "Love for the true self..." She actually seemed to lightly blush, licking her lips with her bioluminescent green tongue, feeling the ex-model's gaze upon her whole body, different parts at a time. But the Changeling Queen went on. "It wasn't until that corrupted version of Celestia almost ended me and my changelings forever that I realised just how... how alone I felt. I realised that it was you that caused me to be unable to enjoy any other kind of love. Caused me to never feel satisfaction... Made me an addict. And whenever I thought about you, and how addicted I was to your love, I seemed to..."

She lifted her hand, and the lily standing next to her seemed to bloom even grander, the one in her mane looking like it was constantly in the absolute perfect state to admire. "Make things grow..." She turned back to Fleur, her stomach beginning to feel warm. "I can feel it, ...right now. That love...! The one that gives me a high unlike anything else ever has! It's so filling...~! Could it really be that you... find my true form pleasing? ...Even after all that happened? After... what I did to you?" The look in the Queen's eyes was more than just hungry, it was almost... desperate, in a crazy way, something that both terrified Fleur and made her blush at the same time.

But the ex-model looked back down at the ground, clearing her throat politely. "I-I... I don't know what to say. If you really mean everything you just said, I... That means that I didn't just fall for Nightshade, I... I fell for you. I fell for the playful but badass babe who didn't take shit from anypony and was always fabulous as hell. I remember you got us kicked out of that one restaurant when you..." She blushed vividly, and her heart began to race from something much more pleasant than fear. "If that was you, if how Nightshade was, the way she talked, the way she held herself, and showed me that there was a somber beauty to be found in things dark and macabre... If that's truly you then..." She felt her heart pounding hard in her chest. "...I mean, I think you're even hotter like this, uhm, your true form? I- Uh- Y-Yeah. I..."

Chrysalis smirked once again, and the ex-model actually let out a swoon. "Fufu~" She had reduced the one pony she actually wanted to give her love into a nervous blushing mess. "I'll make a deal. You swear to always give me this... addicting love of yours, and I won't attack the Crystal Empire. I dare say I'll even join you sometimes in your adventures- not for the sake of that pink slut though. Don't expect me to be nice to her either. I won't fight her as I said, but that does not mean I have to be... ugh, nice." Just the thought of being nice to Cadance seemed to sicken her. "Either way, I demand you to take me with you when you leave."

Fleur was speechless. She'd been hoping the negotiations would go well, but she wasn't expecting them to take the turn that they did. "I... I can't say no to that, I... Would..." She shuddered, blushing vividly. She felt like she was dreaming. I have to be in a coma of some kind. Maybe a large magic blast hit me or something, and this is all some kind of fever dream I'm having while lying in a hospital bed. First Daybreaker wants me to have sex with her to help her give birth to a Solar Dynasty, and now the Changeling Queen wants to travel by my side and is obsessed with me? This has to be a dream, I have to be dreaming. She pinched herself on the arm, doing it hard. "Oww!" It was real. The arrow from earlier could have told her that. Chrysalis could only laugh wickedly, feeling so strong and powerful, and yet, ...content.

The Changeling Queen growled quietly, hating how weak she felt around the fabulous unicorn before her. ...And yet she couldn't get enough of it. That was before Fleur snapped her fingers. "I got it! I'd never be able to do this unless it was a dream!" She almost pounced upon Chrysalis, gently pinning her against the flowerbed of lilies that had grown beneath her. They stayed like that for a moment, and to Fleur's surprise, they both began to blush vividly. "Wow, a green blush, that's... R-Really cute. ...So, uhm. This... This isn't a dream, is it?" Chrysalis shook her head, before reaching up and grabbing Fleur's, shoving her lips against those of the Queen. "Mnh~"

Chrysalis rolled over, pinning Fleur down, both of them looking into each other's eyes and thinking the same thing, but Chrysalis smirked once again, the impish smirk that she'd fallen in love with all those years ago, but it was made even more wickedly adorable by the Queen's fangs. The ex-model swooned, and Chrysalis blushed, getting off of her. "Don't drown me in it... until we have more time to spend together. By ourselves. ...You do have those other stupid ponies waiting for you outside."

Fleur sighed. "Shadey, they're not stupid, they're my frie-..." She blushed pure scarlet then, but grinned and bared the embarrassment of what just happened, Chrysalis blushing lightly but snickering mischievously. Fleur cleared her throat politely. "I-I suppose..." She got up to stand beside the Queen, looking up at her, looking suspiciously confident. "I guess it would be ...Chryssie now, wouldn't it~?"

Chrysalis blushed pure green then. "Sh-Shut up and get going. ...I haven't had sex since the last time we were together, so..." She looked at Fleur with bedroom eyes, and the ex-model audibly gulped, before holding the Queen's hand tight and walking back towards the entrance of the garden with her following right behind. Chrysalis could only giggle.

"I knew that would get your attention~"