Spring would come, and there was no time to wait. The letter’s contents were firm in her mind, and before she left she was sure to handle the meeting with her advisors and leave the hive in the best hooves she could. The worker that had been sent to deliver the message to the ponies had done so regardless of the terror that she could feel trembling through his smaller body. She had promised him a reward on his safe return, an unspoken order that he survive to be able to have such delivered to him. She thought on what might work as she stepped out into the world beyond the caves.
The kingdom, her Hive, had been freezing cold. It was a constant reminder of what was worse beyond the safety of the underground. The expanse of white that was otherwise a vast, almost bleak expanse of muted browns and grays the rest of the year, was much worse outside. Under the layers of wrapped cloth that made up an almost entirely covering suit of layers that barely let the Queen see, let alone walk, she still trembled at the drop of temperature. Her eyes squinted against the bite of the wind, letting her feel the slight relief that the day was only cloudy and no snow was falling.
Not yet at least.
She could feel another tender spot itching to open as she stepped into the crisp white, the feeling of eyes on her back fueling the determination that made her hooves move. Each step was hard, but the weight of the eyes at her back pushed her to move faster forward.
She never really reached a gallop, energy was needed for movement and while it was low and the moment was urgent, she was now smart enough to know what had to be done to make sure everything would go well.
The first thing she knew she would need to do was make it to the ocean. With the power she’d gained before the invasion, that hadn’t been the path. They’d gone north and crossed the warmer waters to the West of Griffonstone. The Celestial Sea was kinder than the frigid waters here, and making the distance a bit longer through the Forbidden Jungle was undesirable, but the threats of that path were not worth the future of her people. If she did not make it alive, neither would they.
That one thought kept her legs moving, even as the temperature rose to a lesser cold degree. Here, the white of the beach and the snow coated ice at it’s closest waters seemed to be… waiting for something. She’d never liked this place, the way ice danced on waves in a lazy manner, clacking like some kind of lifeless moving beast. Yes there was some kind of magic here, there was magic all over their world, but this…
She stepped onto some of the ice that had merged with the sand and snow, careful in her movements. Here there was potential death in every step. To fall through and into the water without shifting was to lose what little kept her moving, breathing, thinking. She had a plan, a simple one at this point, but simple was effective. She would reach a point where the floats no longer met in an easy to pass manner, and from there she would take the form of something to let her swim the icy waters and make it to the edge of the Forbidden Jungle, and if she navigated properly she would likely bypass the whole of the Jungle, instead landing nearer to the Hayseed Swamps.
From there she could either follow the river into Everfree and from there get to Canterlot by way of following the tracks from Ponyville, or she could don her disguise early and use up more of the precious magic and strength she had tried to store before leaving, insisting to her advisors that she wanted no further Changelings to drain themselves on her behalf.
If she could make it to the edge of the capital herself with as little use of magic as she could… There was further hope yet.
Freezing water gave way to warm in a slow manner, but with the change came a shudder in the changed queen as fins pushed her forward. To rest out in the ice and snow would have been death, and even here in the ocean she saw no reason to stop. While it was important, she knew time was passing and quickness was everything. That meant shifting back once she was within the relative safety of the trees and spinning just enough hive material to make a quick out of the way hut for rest was the plan she had settled on before diving deep into the water.
Thankfully, changing could sometimes afford benefits. Travel packs, not just in pony culture but most others, tended to have some form of protection magic cast on them to keep the contents safe from whatever might accost the owner of the pack and its held items. That meant the rations, so precious and little to spare, were safe from the swim. Her cold weather clothes, however, were very much not. Upon shifting back to her regular form, she’d removed the clothing and hung it carefully where it might be dried in the lingering heat of the jungle’s afternoon. Here she would rest the night and continue on, ears perked as she closed her eyes to listen for the danger that usually a Drone would be in charge of guarding against.
Oh how she missed her changelings in this moment. The silence and unfamiliar smells were… uncomfortable. They usually were less so, but only because of her family, her subjects…
Chrysalis sighed as she drifted off into restlessness, ears twitching and alert as her focus was on what she could spare with what energy she had left for the day. The jungle was a new trial, and the fact it was a humid and warm place was only the slightest of comforts to her otherwise split and sore natural armor. While it wasn’t too much warmer, it was still much better than the ice and snow she had braved, and the ocean after that. Sure the pain came up here and there, but it was a different pain. Not too preferred of course, but it came with less of a sting that she might go to sleep and simply not wake up.
She tried not to think of her changelings as she finally found rest in the night.
Of course her waking was not a kind one, a large boar being the alert with an angry threatening squeal and snort that had her springing to her hooves and hissing with bared fangs at the threat. It wasn’t a thing that could use magic, which was a small relief as she didn’t need to use her own to protect herself. Her wings buzzed slightly, feeling having returned somewhere during the swim, but not really moving until now. They felt sluggish, but that was not of importance. Not as she made sure she lept over the first charge, wincing as the landing jarred one of the cracks that had appeared before the ocean.
Careful. She needed to remember the effects of the weather thus far, her body slowly reminding her of the aches and wounds that had appeared with the first of the cold months. She was quick to turn, horn lowered to make the beast perhaps think twice. She wouldn’t be able to use it, not as it was. The use of magic and the recovering state from the cold were enough to snap it if force was used. She hissed again, watching as the boar sized her up. It was intelligent, but she knew only how much. While smart, they were more resilient than anything. She recalled stories of young dragons that lost due to hubris, of pony exploration teams that could barely win and only because of numbers.
It charged again, and this had her lunge after a leap over. The beast tossed its head, tusks dangerously close to her body, but barely grazing the more recovered of her natural armor. On landing, she shoved her head into the makeshift hut to grab her pack and wasted no time in leaping again, this time to the lowest hanging branch she could reach. A small boost from sore wings allowed her to reach, and she shifted closer to the tree trunk, hissing all the while as her eyes stayed on the snorting boar below.
Thankfully, they were not creatures that would fight too hard for a thing they could not reach. Seeing her able to get up there in the first place, and be smart enough to move away seemed to allow it to look elsewhere. Her hut was soon nothing, the beast breaking it apart and snuffling through what came down, chomping through a number of the leaves and ‘hive glue’ that held it all together. With it distracted she simply sat and waited, daring only to check her pack for her rations when it turned its back to her and moved just a bit more away.
The movement had made her a bit tired, but she was not worried. She would recover with a couple moments more of rest before making her way to the high hung cold weather clothes to pack away and get herself moving on her journey again.
One week was left. She had been paying attention to the time ever since she had left that day. The first of the month, back then so soon, was now gnawing at her mind each step she took. Each glimpse of the sun above hastened her steps with new energy that died off moments later. The edge of the jungle had given way hours ago to the swamps, her ear flicking as she recalled the route options. The voices of her advisors rang clear, some worried and others stern. Each had given some form of option for her travel, and from those options, she had made sure that a route was at least feasible. At first, she had almost completely dismissed Baltimare’s city limits as too dangerous. She couldn’t be discovered before she made it to Canterlot, but between Baltimare and Canterlot… there was nothing. No small towns, a river to one side, and a large flat plains looking space that might at most hold Buffalo Tribes.
The Ponyville route, on the other hoof… To get there she had to at least reach Doge Town, which left her either to use the train or split off through the hazardous Everfree forest. At that point, it was Ponyville and the tracks, and if she used the train tracks to get there she would need to worry of Appleoosa. Remembering the map after resting for just one night…
What a wonder could proper rest do to one’s mind.
As it was, the comfort and relative peace of the Hayseed Swamp was allowing her to think ever clearer. She had to think on what to say, remember what the captain uniforms looked like on the guards, remember mannerisms of the common pony opposed to nobility… And all this time while pushing away those intrusive thoughts. The lingering hiss of a powerdrunk fool that lurked in her mind.
She was much better at ignoring those words. Tempting as they were to hear and so promising, she was not going to let her people down. Each whisper only set her forth with more determination. The creatures that moved out of her way, more confused than afraid at this point at her lack of attack, were left alone. That hiss urged her to suck out the love they held, even if it was only a bit, and use it to gain a disguise. To hide in the large city she was not going to enter and take what love she could herself to make up for the eleven lost changeling love thieves.
And oh how tempting it was, passing a nest that almost instantly gained a guard. A lone phoenix flaring wings and posturing with an open beak, embers lighting in an aggressive display across its feathers as the Changeling Queen passed by with only a startled glance. It was a creature filled with magic and love, her mind supplied how many it might feed, but she only bit her lip and pressed on a bit faster. Her hooves and the natural holes gained the muck from the rather damp ground, and every so often she would need to stop to shake free debris, but she would not stop. Not when she could sense how close she was to one more day past.
A forest to walk through and a mountain on one side. She’d changed her travel pattern, aiming to go through the night when any ponies moving by train would likely be sleeping. At least once she had passed through most of the nearby forest. She’d found rather quickly the part of the swamp that the Pony Weather Team had likely been designated to cover in the edges of winter, taking the moment to don her cold weather clothing once again, it had made it more bearable to move in what was snow once again, though far less harsh than that of which plagued her Hive’s home.
Upon waking, she stared for a moment at the night sky, the moon obstructed only with wisps of clouds that threatened no further snow. At least not at the moment. It brought memory of days before, when the weather was good enough for workers to attempt to cultivate something in the ground above, covering plants when the sky would be clear that night. To see the moon was to lose the warmth brought by the sun after all, and now it seemed the moon was the one that was willing to lend aid. Cold as it was, the body in the sky lit her path, the tracks clear from a recent train run.
A frown of determination set to her face before she shoved a portion of a ration into her mouth and set to a gallop. The ride from Baltimare to Canterlot by train was a number of hours, which meant by walking it was likely days. If she set to a brisk pace when not running she would likely make it to the capital before or even on the day she was meant to be there, but only barely. There were other factors, the wind from the mountains, a stray predator, dodging the sightline of the train as it passed on its scheduled runs… She had days to make it. The crunch of snow underhoof and the bite of cold air as she ran only spurred her actions. Longer legs meant more distance covered, and that was now vital in these last few days. The remaining love in her body was keeping her alive and the excess stored away for when she would need to use her transformation.
That one night turned into two, and then rest was forgone to make the final stretch through the mountain that held Canterlot itself.
By now her mind recognized large dark cave openings to mean something like home, but the relief and joy of home was replaced with the thought of hope for her home. Of changelings that would not be found motionless in the middle of some task they were to carry out, nor those struggling to figure out how to fairly divide an even amount of food between an uneven set of bellies. Her eyes looked up to the sky, settling on the open view of a half moon to send forth a plea before it winked out of sight as her hooves carried her into the tunnel.
Please. Let this work, for their sakes.
Author's Note
Gunna at least apologize for how long it took me to get this out. Life gets a little... crazy sometimes and it's a bad/overly used excuse but that's what happened.
I'm seriously working on this, though I'm not as attached to FIMFiction as I used to be, I'm going to do my best to at LEAST get through this story. I am responsible for it, and man if that doesn't make me think about what I need to do at the VERY LEAST.
