God Rest Ye, Merry Stallions
"God rest ye, merry stallions,
Let nothing you dismay.
And keep in mind our savior,
Was born upon this day,
To save us all from Satan's power,
When we were gone astray,
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and Joy,
O tidings of comfort and joy."
The slow, solemn verse was sang low in the dark caverns beneath the mountains.
A lone creature, with a coat as black as night, and wings as thin as film, sat in the darkness, singing the popular Equestrian Hearth's Warming Eve carol. She was alone in the cavernous deep, almost 2,000 feet below the surface. All around her, the dark-faced rocks seemed to even weep at her loneliness. It was two evenings before Hearth's Warming Eve, and the betrayed matriarch sat in a prison of stone.
How could they? How could they betray and shun their own queen? Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings thought just this as she lay in exile. The whole event flashed past her eyes as she shed a single tear onto the rocky ground.
"NO!" Chrysalis shouted at the changeling before her. She was not outraged by his actions, only scared, "You can't do this to me! I'm your Queen!"
"Not anymore!" the changeling stallion said, a group of about eight changelings at his back, "You promised us enough love to live off of for lifetimes! Yet you bring us cruel, starving exile!" He pushed Chrysalis back further and further, to the point where she was leaning over the edge of the bottomless pit that led to the cavernous deep that she now called home.
"No!" she repeated again, "I tried to help, I really did, but those-"
"Shut up!" Said the stallion. "You failed us, and we have deciced not to let that action go without concequence. You are hereby exiled to the cavernous deep, by the four fifths majority of the Changeling congress!" The stallion gave one final shove, and Chrysalis, with a bloodcurtling half scream, half plea, fell into the dark abyss known as the Cavernous Deep.
The changeling responsible for the Queen's demise now turned, and faced the entiety of the changeling hive, sitting in pleasure across the cavern. They were cheering and hurrah-ing with the thought of their tyrannical quenn exiled to 3,000 feet below. "CHANGELINGS OF DEEP HIVE!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, which got the attention of the rowdy changelings, and calmed them down, "I, Magistrate Chang, have banished our old queen to the depths of the Cavernous Deep! I now take upon myself the role of king! I am King Chang the First! The people's whim is my order! I will listen to your pleas, and carry them out, no matter the concequences, only in return for your sworn loyalty!"
The changelings howled and cheered in agreement at the sight of the new King Chang the First.
Chrysalis now knew not what was happening above her, but from the echose coming down the massive silo to her head, she could safely assume they were preparing for war. The thought filled her with guilt. She knew why she had belayed war for so long: It was because the Changelings were weak without love. The entire Canterlot Wedding attempt was to prepare them for a greater war, and now they will have to face it starving and weak.
She knew that she, and she alone, would be responsible for the Changelings inevitable defeat. Oh, how she wished she could fly up, out of this dark cage, and help them, but that was impossible. Her immense force upon hitting the cold stone immobiliozed her. She could barely move. Even if she could, her right wing had snagged on a rock coming down, and flight was no longer a luxury she could aford.
She had managed to prop herself against a wall to sing the carol with her still working mouth. It gave her a symbolisation that the loved. Of the life she left behind...
********
King Chang the first stood on his balcony, overlooking the massive corridor that led to the only exit of Deep Hive: a huge hole in the side of the mountain. To his right stood his advisor, Jazar, and to his left, stood his highest general, Bjorn Greenblood. In front of them was a long bridge, connecting the back wall, to the bottom of the exit, and about 50 feet across. The changelings swarmed around in a mess, collecting armor, and magical stones to put in their crevices, increasing their magical potential.
The changelings of Deep Hive were preparing for war. They lined up in rows and columns, military formation. Two evenings from now, on the Equestrian holiday of Hearth's Warming Eve, They would attack. Chang was hoping for a quick battle, but judging by the malnutrition of his soldiers, he was counting on luck. He couldn't call off the attack now, not when they're already prepared. He would have to go through with it.
"My king," said Jazar in his slick, snake-like voice, hissing as he did, "The Changelings are underfed. They cannot hope to overcome the target without a ready amount of love. Unless," He strayed off for a few seconds, knowing Chang would be unhappy with his suggestion. He lowly hissed out, "He get help-"
"NO!" shouted Chang, not even looking at his advisor, "Where were the other hives when our people were suffering? Where were the other hives to help us recover? They were sitting comfortably in their hives, feeding off of loving stockpiles, and not giving a hoot about what happens to their blood brothers! We will show them the same courtesy.
"But King," General Greenblood spoke, "Jazar is right. Without reinforcements, our troops will be slaughtered."
"I said no, Bjorn. That is my answer. You cannot talk me out of it." With that, King Chang turned, and exited back into the executive quartering of Deep Hive.
INVASION DAY
"Hurry up, Bjorn!" shouted Chang to the armory. General Bjorn Greenblood was to lead the immense army of Changelings to their target today. It was invasion day. The military was in formation, and all they needed was their General to move out. While the ponies of Equestria celebrated and sang, the changelings stood at the ready to attack.
Bjorn exited the armory in a suit that reminded Chang of the Stallion of War, a legendary fighter who defended the capitol city of Canterlot from the Cyclops of the Everfree Forest. Shining silver armor covered every inch of his body, almost doubling the size of his shoulders, hooves, and head. His horn was also clad in metal, and the only way the general could see, was through a slit in his shining helm.
Without a word to the king, Bjorn took his place at the head of the pack. Chang could see no wings on his armor, and was wondering how Bjorn could fly without them. Regardless, the king took his place beside his general. Bjorn raised his hooves in a blood-chilling war cry. The changelings, and Chang, responded with a mimic. The general then fell upon the ground again, bending his hooves forward. As if by will, four slits appeared on the side of Bjorn's armor, and huge tendrils of white light spouted from them.
With this, Bjorn catapaulted himself out of the hole in the mountain, folloiwed by the king, and the rest of the 20,000 changelings who would attack their enemies that day. The general soared through the skies at speeds Chang would have doubted, had he not seen them for himself. Whatever was spouting from Bjorn, it was more powerful than any magic Chang could think up. A smile ran up through his cheeks as he thought to himself, Even the Elements of Harmony.
Within a few minutes, the changelings were flying in a huge line, 100 soldiers across, and 200 down the back. Jazar was not there. He was overlooking Deep Hive. They were just topping the last mountain, and could see the focal point of their attack. Chang shouted something, but with the speed of the wind, it was silence. Only Bjorn could hear him, and shouted it himself, careful not to let anything not withing a five-mile radius to hear
The words broke the wind as they were carried to the soldiers: "WE'RE APPROACHING CANTERLOT! READY YOURSELVES, SOLDIERS! DROP SPEED!" The massive line of changelings slowed down considerably as they approached the capitol of Canterlot. They swooped down, as to rise up for the attack, and continued for only a few moments. Then, they sharply pulled up, and grazed the edge of the castle walls. The War had begun the second they crossed into the city. All that was left was to end it.
********
The ponies were re-enacting the founding of Equestria when they first heard the signs. A loud bang, a crash, and a blood-curtling screech. The play was interrupted by the noise, and many ponies looked to the window. Most of them only had time to see a tower to one side of the hall split in half, and come crashing through the roof. The rest were divided. One half immediately took off down the hall, trying to escape with their lives, and the other half was trapped on the stage and in the dressing rooms.
General Bjorn and a few soldiers were atop the fallen spire soon. They looked down at the terrified ponies, cowring in the corner of the stage, and the two guards who would protect them to the end. One guard tried to fire a beam of light at Bjorn, but it was deflected by the armor, and sent into a window, shattering it, and sending the cold breeze of December in. Bjorn made quick work of the guards, slicing down with his wings, and thusting up with his horn. They were dead within moments. But the civilians were to important-not to mention, passive-to give the same fate. They, instead, were locked up in the green, gooish substanse that changelings use to capture their prey for later harvesting.
King Chang and his men were in luck. Using the special abilities that come with being a mimic, Chang, and three of his finest soldiers, turned themselves into Royal Canterlot Guards. They walked down the silent hall, ready to capture any pony in their way. But it was desolate. Empty. Not a love-rich soul in sight. Chang continued though, aware of the possibilities. Then, as they turned the corner into the kitchens, they finally found somepony.
It was a stallion, with a grey coat, and a chef's hat. He seemed unaware of what was around him, and only looked forward. Chang heard some voices talking, then the chef nodded his head. Afterward, there was the smashing of rock, and silence again. The stallion looked away from the four, then at them. His expression turned from cautios, to aggresive. enveloping his hat in a green glow, the stallion levitated it off his head, revealing a Unicorn horn. Then, as he put the hat aside, cast a fiery spell upon Chang and his associates.
The four changelings reared in surprise at the flames, but could not quickly recover. They heard the stallion shout, "Changeling scum!" before blasting a bolt of green energy at one of Chang's elite soldiers. The victim fell backward, and converted into his original, jet-black state. The stallion did this again and again, shooting bolts of energy at Chang. another was hit, but the king and the last Elite were still sound. They ducked behind a corner, and heard the chef say, "You're entire race is nothing but a slimey, lying, unloveable excuse for a living creature! The breaths you take are coated with tender lies! I can see right through your ruses!" He went silent, and Chang heard the sound of magic chargin up. "I'll be happy when you're all dead as my sympathy!" he shouted one last time before the wall behind the two changelings exploded into a shower of rocks.
Chang still was in his guard disguise, laying next to his cold dead counterpart. He stood again to face his opponent. He said, "Forget the luxury of living, you murdering scum! You'll get the very same fate my elite soldiers here got!" He fired a beam of magic just as the chef fired one. The two beams met in the middle, in an explosion of cinders and lightning. neither one was dominant, until the middle of the beams began inching toward the kitchens. It picked up it's pace, until Chang hhad nearly overpowered the grey cook. Then, there was an explosion from behind the pony, and both beams were cut off. Both the king, and the chef looked to the direction of the explosion.
the wall that used to be there was gone, and behind the dust and smoke, there stood an immense figure, shillouetted against the sunlight now flowing into the dark room. Chang could make out the shadow of massive shoulders and hooves, and a horn jutting from the head. He shouted out, "Bjorn!" The general looked his king's way, then turned to the chef. The stallion was backing away slowly, in fear, hoping that what he saw was not real. But when Geberal Bjorn Greenblood stepped into the kitchens, the chef could not argue. He lowered his horn, ready to fight the behemoth.
Chang took his chance. Soon after, the grey stallion reared back, and shouted in pain, before falling forward, a cinged splotch staining his coat on his back. Bjorn looked up from the dead stallion, and narrowed his eyes at his king, "What was that?" he asked, angry, "We need all the love we can get. Why kill the love-rich, my king?"
Chang wiped the green blood of his comrades off his face, then said, "He was hostile. He killed three elite soldiers. He diserved to die."
Bjorn said, "Fine. Where do we got next? The observatory, ballroom, and lowlands courtyard are in custody. Minor casualties."
Chang looked to the wall the stallion was looking at. He said, "Bjorn, do you think you can break down this wall?"
Bjorn Greenblood scoffed at his king's underestimation of his powers, and turned to the stone wall, regardless of the fact that he had no idea why. He reared back, and thrust his hooves into the stone. The wall came crumbling down, echoeing down the dark tunnel that the rubble revealed. "Well done, general. I think we've found our next objective." he chuckled as he and Bjorn walked down the tunnel, wherever it may lead.
There was a grey stallion left in the room. He was sprawled on the ground, as if dead, a splotch of burned fur on his back. A hoof extended from his body. It twitched a few times, then curled down, pushing on the ground. Two eyes opened.
God Rest Ye, Merry Stallions
King Chang the first of Deep Hive, and General Bjorn Greenblood of Deep hive, were walking down the dark tunnel. there was nothing in sight, save jegged rocks and darkness. The only lights came from Bjorn's tendrils, and even those could not light very far. The general was doubting the legitimacy of this tunnel, but he assumed that if it was there, it must lead somewhere. Chang knew that there were ponies beyond here. They were talking to the grey chef, then there was the smashing of rocks as the door closed. There had to be something, if not somepony down this way.
They finally came across a dead end. It was bad news for Bjorn, but wonderful for Chang. This meant that there was some sort of safehouse, somewhere chock-full of loving ponies. He pressed his eye against the crack between the sliding rock, and the wall. He could see ponies running, stampeding, even, and a royal guard motioning them toward a glorified golden gate. Chang has found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow: The throne room. "Bjorn!" he shouted, standing back from the wall, "Knock it down."
General Greenblood reared again, and smashed his hooves into the rock, shattering it apart, and sending chunks across the Throne path. The guard stopped motioning, and fired a bolt at Chang, who had returned to his natural state. Chang easily dodged, and Bjorn stepped forward, firing a huge green bolt at the guard, shattering him, and the wall behind him. The ponies continued their terrified stampede toward the throne room doors, slowly closing. Behind the herd of ponies was an equally as large mass of changelings, constraining them to the ground. Bjorn and Chang did the same, firind their gooey constraints onto the paniced crowd. Almost none of that group safely made it to the throne room. They were under a trarmac of green. The guards were dead, as they were hostile, and the changelings met up for their final storming of Canterlot Castle.
Victory was almost within grasp, despite the changelings being weak and malnurished. They marched up to the throne room dorrs, now finally connecting, with the help of a few guards, trapping about five ponies _not including the two guards - out of the safehouse. They turned, terrified, and cowered closer to the door, dreading what may come next. The two guards redied themselves for a fight, but were cut down before the feroscious general of Deep Hive. The changelings dragged the ponies away from the door, and stuck them to the ground. Then, the two leaders of the chengelings stood before the biggest stockpile of love in the city.
Bjorn pounded on the doors with his hooves, slowly but steadily making dents and crack. Until eventually. . .
. . . The door exploded into a shower of golden shards, falling down upon the terrified ponies with nowhere to go. Behind the crowd, on a stage-like balcony, stood four ponies. Chang remembered them from the Canterlot attack. They were the elements of Harmony. The ones who could have defeated Chrysalis if needed. Behind them were two more ponies. One, a pink alicorn, the one Chysalis took the form of, and a white Unicorn, the one who ruined it all. And behind them, the two ponies who held the most love in Equestria. Love for every creature and love for every pony in their kingdom. The two princesses: Celestia and Luna.
Bjorn let out the changeling war cry, abnd the entirety of Deep Hive swarmed in, bombarding the ponies with their green goo. Twilight Sparckle cast a spell around the balcony, along with Shining Armor's help, and the changeling's could not attack them.
The king and general both stayed back, and watched their handiwork. Suddenly, Bjorn let out a shout, and began swaying. He fell forward, a spear sticking out of the chinks in his armor. Chang turned around to see a very weak, very wounded pony. His coat was grey, and his horn glowed a familiar green. It was the chef.
There was no way he could have survived their last encounter, was there? Chang was too occupied with how this could have happened that he wasn't aware of the stallion's next move. As he began to cast a spell, he shouted, "This better teach you a lesson, you black hearted, insympathetic, ruthless, lying, worm!" He fired a bolt the size of a full grown pony's head at Chang, who was aware enough of the situation to dodge. He replied with a constraining beam, but it was disintegrated by the chef's fire beam.
Again? What does it take to kill one measly pony? Chang was becoming weaker by the second, and the middle where the beams met was getting closer to the king. He had to step up his game. He forced the last of his will to the beam, and it bought him a few seconds, before his beam backfired into his own horn, coating Chang in the sticky substance they use to trap their prey. He was immobilized as the chef came closer and closer.
"Finally! One step closer to killing every last one of you pathetic, idiotic-" the stallions words were cut off by Bjorn, as he shoved him aside. The general was noticeably weak after that spear wound. The chef was laying on his side, a few feet away, as Bjorn cut the constraints on his king.
He helped him up and said, "This sin't over yet, king. We can finish this together."
Chang accepted his help but was concerned, "But Bjorn, you're wounded."
"It's nothing. I can recover. But this nusciance has to be taken care of."
"Agreed, Bjorn."
The two turned to face the stallion, now on his feet and laughing, "How emotional. Too bad that you're too incompotent and stupid to match me!" Bjorn refutted with a beam of green magig.
"Bjorn, no!" shouted Chang in hopes that the general would listen to him, and not do what he was bound to do. As Bjorn's beam shot forward, so did an identicle beam from the chef. They met in the middle, and considering Bjorn's already wounded state, the battle was over quickly. The general was thrown back in the explosion. He slammed into the wall, and lay still on his stomach. Bjorn tried to get up, but collapsed forward. Chang didn't see him move again.
The king turned to face the pony who had almost killed him twice, and would still not die. "Bjorn was an important character to the changeling army. I'm impressed that you could do such a thing. Who are you?"
The mystery stallion smiled and laughed, "Haha. My name is Ash. Ash the chef. Surely you've heard of me, no?"
Chang shook his head.
"That's a surprise. Me and your queen were very. . . close."
Chang let loose a bolt, deflected easily by Ash, who knew the king was too weak for another beam. So he fired one straight at him. Just as he predicted, the king held the beam, for a few seconds, before it came crashing upon him, throwing him into the throne room. That was when he noticed the silence. Chang stood up, and turned toward the balcony. There was still the shield, and everypony inside was safe. The rest were uinder a tarmac of green goo. A few changelings were still alive after the fight, but they were weak and underfed as ever.
They were trying to shoot the shield, but half the bolts died short, and the other half were too weak to even dent the shield. It was sad. He saw the lips of a pony move inside the shield, and he then noticed that each of the six ponies were wearing thweir elements. he dreaded what was coming. the lips said, :now!
The elements combined in a monumentous explosion that forced every living changeling back to the mountains. Chang saw the green tarmacs melt away, and Ash laughing victoriously at their departure. He could even see Bjorn being thrown towards them, but he hit a tower blocking their way, and was left in the city. Chang dreaded what was going to happen to him.
********
King Chang stood, forcing back the ravenous changelings. Only about 200 were left of the original 20,000, and they were enraged with their king. This time, he only had Jazar on his side."Jazar," pleaded the king, "I need your help! Try to talk some sense into them!"
"I'm sorry, my king, but they cannot be consoled."
"Then what do we do?"
Jazar got an evil grin upon his face as his dark plan began to unravel. King Chang had not noticed the entrance to the Cavernous deep behind him. "Now," he said, walking closer, and forcing the cautious King Chang backward, "You die!" he said, using his levitated spear to push Chang just far enough to fall into the Cavernous deep.
Jazar turned to the hord of Changelings, now cheering and chanting, "Long live King Jazar!" The advisor liked that.
********
Chrysalis was not expecting company, but when King Chang's screams could be heard, she became aware. She had control now, and stood, walking toward the center of her stone prison. King Chang fell flat upon the ground, with an impact so hard, that it could have killed somepony, had they been sitting underneath. Chrysalis pounded her hoof against the traitor's face.
Chang stood, obviously in better shape than the ex-queen was when she fell. He backed away, preparing for a fight, but he got none. "What?" he said, "Aren't you going to finish me? The one who exiled you here in the first place?"
"No." said Chrysalis, no expression in her face, or voice, "Being down here is punishment enough. The loneliness. The sorrow. The memories."
"Memories?" Chang asked, becoming less cautious, and more consufed, "What memories do you have down here?"
"Nothing!" Chrysalis quickly retorted, regretting her earlier comment. "Just. . .nothing." she turned, and sat back on her side of the wall. She was in the shadows.
After a few minutes of torturing silence, Chang asked, "My queen-"
"Ex-queen." Chrysalis corrected, "you, of all ponies, should know that."
"Yes. My apologies, but, mt Ex-queen,"
Chrysalis sighed, "Yes?"
"I met a pony in Canterlot. He said he was very close to you."
Chrysalis was surprised. She dreaded who she thought this pony could be, but the suspense of the moment tugged at her conscious like a twister tugging at a house. Finally, she had to ask, with a studdering voice, "W-who?"
"He said his name was Ash."
Silence.
"Queen?"
Nothing but silence.
The silence was ear-splitting, except for one noise: The sound of a tiny droplet of water hitting the cold stone ground.
"Q-queen?" Chang asked, worried for her, but now protective of himself.
"A-ash w-was. . ." Chrysalis choked out.
"Who was he, my queen? Who was Ash?"
A sob came from Chrysalis, as she said, "My father."
