“Here in death, remember our strength!”
I dropped God-Splitter out of shock and my eyes darted around the training room. Katydid stopped the lesson and trotted over to me, his hooffalls echoing through the empty room.
There was no one here besides me and Katydid. And Katydid definitely could not speak through the Weave.
“Everything alright, Phasma?”
“You didn't hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“Someone just spoke through the Weave. It… sounded female.”
“Queen Chrysalis is talking through the Weave? And you can hear her from so far away?”
“Maybe? It sounded like she was saying a motto or rallying call or something.”
“What was it?”
“Here in death, remember our strength. Familiar?”
He shook his head, “Better just ask Queen Chrysalis.”
‘I’d prefer not to. Last time I talked to her she gave me an ominous threat and I’d rather not stir the pot at the moment with strange questions she won’t answer.’
“At any rate, that’s enough for today Phasma.”
“You sure Katydid? We barely did anything with the disguises.”
We were finally just getting to integrating transformation to combat. The very slow pace my lessons crawled at due to my own inability to stop being shit meant that only now did we use one of the most versatile tools in our arsenal.
“You know that it won’t be used extensively in the invasion.”
It wasn’t any good against unicorns, so its use during the invasion would be severely limited. You might turn into a giant enemy crab, but the unicorn you’re facing can just pick you up with his magic and flip you onto your back. Or puncture your shell with sharpened will spells. Or in case your legs in mud or stone. There are plenty of ways to disable a non-magic combatant.
Point is against unicorns it’s as powerful as a wet paper bag. Unless you have changelings covering you with spells, but at that point unless you are extremely skilled at transforming and have a skilled casting team at your back, it’s simply more energy efficient as well as tactically sound to be casting spells too. Against pegasi, changelings already have wings, so casting spells while flying already puts us at an advantage that pegasi don’t ever train to counter. It is only against earth ponies that transformation magic becomes useful.
Similar rules for the rest of the species, from yaks to griffons.
Then, there were also the consequences of transforming while injured.
I rolled my right shoulder. The aching pain when it got hit by a blunt force spell was intensified when I tried to transform into a tiger to claw through Katydid’s anti-magic shield. Disguising changes your body up to a certain depth from the surface of your chitin, but magic can only account for so much. Injuries and imperfections make changing your body more difficult, and pre-existing damage is only exacerbated by transforming.
The entire process also uses more magic if you want to create something that’s not there, like claws, extra limbs, extra size, and so on. Not that creating extra limbs and eyes is a good idea. It’s practically a wasted effort since changelings can’t mess with neural pathways within the body, meaning the only way to get functionality out of extra limbs is to duplicate nerves and ‘pair’ them with existing ones.
That’s the culmination of many in-depth biology lessons that Praetorians and Infiltrators have to take. I had a crash course, with my human knowledge being the only reason why I have a chance at pulling off those complexities.
“Another lesson wasted. Apparently all I’m good for is planning to hurt others, not actually carrying through with it.”
“You did well enough Phasma, but maintaining enough concentration to transform through extreme pain is a skill that takes a long time to learn, far longer than what we have. No, you’ll be sticking to combat spells, along with most other changelings.”
‘Praetorians won’t be. One thing the changelings did well over the centuries, I suppose.’
Those guys actually did use transformation spells in combat. Sparingly, but still used them all the same.
The door closest to us slammed open and Pharynx stomped up to me.
‘Not often I see him without his armor. Oh, he does not look like he’s in a good mood. Instead of his usually grumpy self, he’s grumpy and angry.’
“Hello Praeto–”
“Shut the fuck up.”
I blinked.
“Exc–”
“I didn’t care what you’re up to, but now you messed up. You better fix your fucking mess!”
“Am… I missing something here?”
“Thorax was arrested under charges of treason! Treason!”
‘She didn’t. She did. Of course she did. Damn, Chrysalis works fast.’
“Treason?”
“What have you been putting him up to, Prince Phasma?!” He asked accusingly while jabbing me with a hoof. “Do you know how hard I’ve been working to keep him safe? How many changelings I’ve spurned to protect him? Now you’ve gone and thrown him to the wolves!”
‘If she thinks harming my closest friend will inspire loyalty… No, there’s something more to this.’
“I’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“Damn right you will,” he hissed. “I don’t care if you’re wearing a crown or not, you will regret it if something happens to my brother.”
“Thorax trusts me, Pharynx. I can’t ask you to trust me too, but be calm about this. Whatever Chrysalis is up to, I will get Thorax out of this. Take care Katydid, I have to see to this immediately.”
“You too, My Prince.”
Pharynx glared at me as I passed him. I was heading to the throne room, and drones didn't enter without reason, so he knew he had to stay here.
‘If Thorax was my brother, I’d be pissed too. Actually, he’s probably as close to one as I can get.’
The walk back to the main hive spire was brisk. There were the usual sights of changelings moving aside and bowing as we passed, something I had come accustomed to over the months of walking around the hive. As accustomed as possible, at least.
When we arrived at the big ol’ doors in front of Chrysalis’s fancy big chair room, the Praetorians on guard duty pushed the door open, revealing something that made my heart drop and the blood drain from my face.
Thorax out of his armor.
With gel-binding on his hooves and his muzzle.
In front of Chrysalis.
‘They fucking muzzled him?! Breathe, Phasma. Breathe.’
I slowly walked forward. There were many Praetorians in the room, and everyone from Chrysalis on her throne to Thorax in his bindings were all staring at me.
‘Chrysalis really fucking knows how to hit where it hurts. This is what I get for underestimating her.’
When the doors shut behind me with a loud thunk, the flinch I had was not manufactured. This time, I was scared for real.
My hooffalls echoed loudly in my ears and I approached the throne. Chamberlain Eucharis had a trained neutral look, but Chrysalis had hints of malice in her eyes.
“Prince Phasmatodea.”
“Queen Chrysalis.”
I didn’t dare turn to look at Thorax, not three hooves away from me. Looking would be a sign of weakness, I knew.
‘If she tries to hurt him– No! Breathe in, breathe out. Losing my calm here will only hurt Thorax.’
“Your… underling. Thorax. He has been found empty love pots underneath his bed, ones that were marked as missing from storage. In addition, we found books. One such book was written by none other than Princess Cadence herself. A memoir of her pony-life, and about her feelings.”
That made me glance at Thorax. He was staring at me, eyes wide.
‘Fear.’
His muffled breathing was the only sound he could make, but I knew what wanted to say.
‘Help me. Please.’
I gave him a single, small nod.
“That is an act of treason against the hive, Prince Phasmatodea.”
I tore my gaze away to meet Chrysalis’s.
‘There’s no empty pots. There’s no books. You simply picked one of my subordinates, one known for treasonous thoughts, and put the blame on them. So what’s your deal, here? You know someone stole love, yet you pin it on a random subordinate of mine?’
At my silence, she continued, “You remember your lessons, I’m sure. Pass judgement on this traitor.”
‘And there it is.’
I looked back at Thorax. He was shaking.
‘The punishment is normally death. Execution. We all know it, so why is she asking me? Does she want me to swing the axe? Kill my own friend? No, no. Think!’
I kept my breathing steady, though I could do nothing about my heartbeat. It was deafening. The throne room was quiet, but I could only assume that.
‘Why? Why is she asking me to pass judgement when it’s obvious what the penalty normally is. What does she gain? She’s clearly clever enough to know this won’t make me loyal, so there’s got to be a spin on this. She knows I won’t kill him.’
Like stepping back and viewing a collage of pieces from afar, everything fell into place.
‘She knows I won’t kill him. If I passed judgement and gave him a less harsh sentence, she would accept it. She would appear merciful. Even if I knew exactly what her moves were, she would still come off as willing to bend the rules for me. After all, she’s willing to accept that I have a weakness, one very exploitable. It also serves as a reminder to stay in line. Stay very in line.’
‘But Chrysalis will always be suspicious of me. She will have me watched at all hours, meaning I can’t coordinate with the Lodges. The rebellion will be smothered in its infancy. And after the invasion, she might just do away with me. I will have proven that I’m loyal to my friends first, hive second. If I didn’t...’
I kept a straight face and my heart rate climbed down from its spot near the top of the vaulted ceiling.
‘If I didn’t have that backup plan, I would have no choice but to bend the knee here and acquiesce to her clever plan. Fuck you, Chrysalis. You’ve gotten rusty, and now I’m one step ahead.’
I made my decision.
‘This will go one of two ways. Either you think I am cold and will not change your suspicions of disloyalty, or you think that I truly am utterly loyal to the hive. I’ve got a plan for that first one though. I underestimated you, but not as much as you underestimated me!’
“Exile.”
I heard a muted whimper next to me, but I kept my focus on Chrysalis. I didn’t back down. I couldn’t.
‘Take the bait. Thorax means nothing to me compared to the hive. I am loyal. Believe me.’
She crooked an eyebrow.
“Exile?”
‘Believe me.’
“That is more generous than the normal punishment, but… I cannot kill my friend.”
‘I understand what you’re doing. I will pay the price for my actions. I am loyal to you.’
She leaned back. Eucharis stared at me with his jaw open, but slowly closed it. Queen Chrysalis nodded, and thus judgement was passed.
‘I understand that you are being generous and being light with punishment against me. I am loyal to the hive, not to my friends.’
“I… Would like to say goodbye to him before he is sent out.”
‘But I’m not heartless. I do care for those beneath me. I will not betray you out of lack of compassion for those close to me. I am loyal to my Mother.’
Chrysalis slowly nodded, and the Praetorians next to Thorax backed off. I leaned in close and gave him a tight hug. Then, I whispered into his ear, covered up by pats on his solid chitin back. I moved my lips as little as possible.
“Plateau, one mile north of the hive. Look for the rock shaped like a triangle on the north face.”
“I’m sorry it came to this.”
"Take what you need and get to Equestria.”
“I wish I could turn back time and… I’m sorry. I should have tried harder to stop you.”
Thorax nodded slowly and rested his head on my shoulder.
‘Fuck you Chrysalis. Use my friends as bargaining chips for my loyalty? I will kowtow and prove my utter devotion to the cause. But you, you will pay in blood.’
There was a reason exile existed. It was seen as a humane (or whatever the changeling equivalent word is) alternative to execution. In addition, there was always the slimmest of slim chances that the exile survived. But only if Panar judged them worthy of redemption.
"May Panar forgive you and deem you worthy of redemption. Goodbye, Thorax."
‘This isn’t enough. There’s still too much room for doubt. I need something more. Something irrefutable.’
“No. May Panar forgive us both.”
I broke the hug and faced Chrysalis.
“I am his commanding officer, and I failed to report this. I betrayed the hive’s trust. I am as guilty as he is, so I must suffer the same judgement.”
“No. From the day you were hatched, you have been loyal to the hive. We have entrusted to you a great deal, and you will prove worthy of that trust by bringing us The Promised Day. You will not redeem yourself through exile, but instead through securing our future.”
‘So if the invasion fails, I am to blame. Not that it matters, if it fails we’re all doomed.
“I… am unworthy of a second chance, My Queen.”
“Do you doubt my judgement? I deem it so, and thus it is.”
I just silently nodded then stared at the floor.
‘I’ll find you once this is all over, Thorax. Once Chrysalis has been subdued. And now I have to work tirelessly to ensure the loyalty of the organizations that I created and empowered.’
Huh. So, Chrysalis did a frame-job? Because I thought Coxa was responsible for that.
Im looking forward to the day Chrysalis is exiled with the treat that she get executed should she ever be spotted on Phasmas hive territory.
Nice chapter
That bitch!
Nice... she's onto him isn't she
She is pushing hard for a revolt. No wonder her other chikdren had to be recycled.
10601007
He did admit he ordered one of his underlings to steal love, so that's why she doing this.
Perhaps Chrysalis has a deathwish? All loyalty she fostered in Phasma is used up. After that chapter all she do is reaping her own doom in.
If she will not stand down ones Canterlot is taken the Hive will have her head. Figuratively or literally!
Why he is even trying to spare her after they win after the invasion?
He knows her enough to know that she won't step back and will attack. He probably knows that and is reading up but still.
It's better to kill her off when the invasion is almost over, when all alicorns are taken care off.
But she needs to be surprised for it to work.
The best option is to use something that no other species used before and knows about.
Mustard gas or a lot of the explosion material.
Blowing up the Cantelrot throneroom after she will start using it will work too.
It will give him time to prepare the trap.
There is a lot of ways to explode something and materials for it.
I won't google the materials thought............at least not without a VPN
Chrysalis must be supremely confident that Phas won't try to kill her the second he gets the chance. Does she still think that Phas views her as an irreplaceable mother figure?
Because those pots are still full, to save whichever of the First Fang ends up getting exiled by exactly the ploy Chrysalis attempted here.
10601040
See above. If she had anything more than suspicions, she'd have done something he hadn't planned for.
Are former heirs not truly dead? Oooo spicy
Fffff well I kinda figured that would happen
10601141
Maybe all of them transferred their conscience,mind into the thread?
The experiments of Chrysalis changed them to make them closer to it.
So maybe,when they died they didn't transfer to the thread on purpose but their connection to it did it for them
10601090
It's not about killing her, it's about how it's done. If he just kills her, he would lose much of the support from the lodges, and continue the vicious cycle. But with a formal decloration beforehand of what they want, no, need to change to survive, everyling will see that it is for their benefit if she falls to him, because they know exactly what he's doing it for.
10601194
He can always blame it as an "accident" or an assassination by ponies
I know that this has almost certainly been pointed out before, but I have to say this. His plan is stupid. Even if he get's the support of the military, even if he successfully brings her to the negotiations table, what then? He struggles to run the military, and if he succeeds, he will have to run the entire Hive, sure he can delegate, but he will still be in charge. And he knows that the others children of Chrysalis that she killed, she killed because they rebelled against her, but he plans to do so anyway? I understand the reasoning, but he is hoping a bit too much on the fact that he can subdue or kill her. Even if the military fully supports him in that endeavor, she is a very old and powerful Queen who would probably curb stomp him in a fight. And does he not believe that her past children haven't tried to be sneaky and clever with undermining her? They are Changelings! Also, he should stop to think about why she keeps secrets from the Hive. Sure it is wrong not to tell them how bad their love supply is, but imagine what kind of panic would ensue if they found out! And as for not letting it get this bad? Who's to say she hasn't tried? She probably had to wait for an opportunity to make a change that would end the crisis, one which didn't come until Phasma was born. And as for her keeping things from him? Has he looked at his own actions lately? Because he is sus as F***! She can tell he most definitely is not trustworthy to a certain extent, so why tell him sensitive and dangerous information such as how she had to kill some of her children because they rebelled. If she had willingly told him that, he might have become afraid for his life and rebelled to prevent her from killing him once he was no longer usable. Many of her actions have reasonable explanations that excuse why she does many of the things she does. And as for this whole thing she just did, this is her way of warning him against acting against her, like he has been doing and she certainly knows he's been doing! Maybe he is the biggest threat to her, but she tried to garner as much loyalty form him as possible in order to prevent her from needing to kill him, and since that clearly hasn't worked, she is trying to force him to remain loyal.
10601370
He has repeatedly said prior to this chapter that his intention isn't to take Chrysalis' place, he has no ambition for ruling a people, he just doesn't want to see them live in squalor and be taken advantage of by his dictator mother. He wants her to be forced into agreeing with their demands and enforcing them, she can continue to rule with a stunted ego and he doesn't have the stress of running the entire hive on his own.
10601113
What a pussy...
R.i.p.
10601393
May he be known for his cowardice.
10601071
More amusingly, the only way she thinks it's happening is to feed the Prince's love addiction because he can never get enough.
10601370
The way i see it, she either knows and wants him to do it and succeed, or her own ego won't let her see it. We know she lives a lavish life compared to other changeling and that she is very harsh with them. Lastly in the end, let's be honest, she is essentially keeping a sword of damocles over the rest of her hive. This invasion needs to succeed without a hitch or the hive faces starvation and possibly extinction. It's why she is putting phasma in charge of military. It will be his head if he fails, and he, kind of, like being alive.
10601007
Yes and there could not be empty pots, they are full and hidden elsewhere
10601370
His plan based on historical account, which resulted in successful creation of next to kin of constitution, ever. Though there ruling king was put of position without protection, while Chrysalis got real power, not just a figurehead.
No plan survives first contact with the enemy... in this case Phasma's own mother.
I wonder if Thorax will give a warning to Equestria? He likely will, methinks.
Phasma is playing a dangerous, precarious game. He's got a house of cards, or a stack of dominoes. One small thing out of place, and the whole thing comes crashing down.
At least Thorax is safer out there than under Chrysalis scrutiny. It'll be lonely for him at first but at this point I feel it's the best thing for him, he never fit in anyway.
10601025
Bonus points if he has Thorax escort her out. You know, for extra pettiness.
Welp, saw this coming from a mile away. Not the actual arrest of Thorax. but Chrysalis curbing Phasma's power in general. Honestly it feels as if Phasma is attempting too much too fast for it to not be conspicuous, and its coming back to bite him in the ass. His urgency to ensure his place post-invasion is definitely sound, but he's predicated his plans and their pacing over a disposability that is purely hypothetical. Raising a passable heir is already resource-intensive enough, but as well he's clearly a prodigy. It's not as if its in Chrysalis's best interest to get rid of someone like that. If anything, he's jeopardized his own value by being too ambitious.
Especially in regards to trying to win over the military. He's in effect trying to set up a Caesar-esque powerbase when that took Caesar in real life almost a decade to pull off, and he's trying to do it in less than a year without any political backing like Caesar had. I'd really wish he'd just slow down and realize that even if he was going to be removed eventually, it would likely be well after the invasion; although with all of his machinations being not as inconspicuous as he thinks, that post-invasion grace period continues to shrink.
10602043
The alternative to rushing a plan is to trust Chrysalis to not kill him when convenient.
Yeah, hard to justify trusting her to not kill him while he is suffering PTSD from his own death.
Mastermind Chrysalis trying to hide her intensions and responsibility:
10602084
Right. His logic certainly makes a good bit of sense, and is rather valid for him considering his circumstances. I'd suppose my qualms about caution would be more of a case of projection
10602043
I agree and disagree.
Rush into getting a loyal powerbase? I 100% agree with him.
Making people disloyal to the Queen and distabilising the entire nation, based on a ¨What if¨ scenario, despite the fact that Chrysalis hadn't really done anything bad to him yet? That is dumb or even malicious.
And when he says ¨You will pay for this in blood¨. Fuck you, this is your fault, Thorax's exile is your responsibility, not hers.
Phasma needs to be careful with the rebellion, teach the changelings to rebel then someone will think and why do we need Prince Phasma can I do better and seize power (Et tu, Brute).
The same Farinx, seizing power does not plan but no one respect for the Prince, he must understand one word and he and his brother will be bad, Phasma how could the Prince after such treatment and change his mind to save Thorax or what is even worse to do, this is of course if you look from the side of Farinx. Phaze needs to make changelings loyal to him and prove that only he can lead them as their king, show his importance, greatness and power.. getting rid of Chrysalis is not his only problem, he is still going to live in a Hive and that the Hive does not fall apart needs a strong leader.
Well, these are internal problems, external ones have even more
10601071
I thought he only admitted that someone under his command was responsible, and that he would investigate it. Just wanted to make sure I remembered correctly.
10601534
Wasn't sure if Coxa just removed the love and left the containers or took the containers entirely. I actually kinda prefer the latter one, as it means that Chrysalis knew that the missing containers weren't going to turn up again and decided to use a bunch of fakes to implicate Thorax. Which would mean that there are some skulduggery shenanigans about, and I love me some shenanigans.
10602412
He did, but its the fact he made the decision to do so that upset Mother Dearest. Plus someone pointed out either she knows what he's doing, or assumes the love is to feed his addiction, either way, its against her will and that's enough.
10601766
If Thorax will warn Equestria then even Phasma will agree to execute him.
Fuck that, even Pharynx will agree for punishment of this new level of stupidity by his brother.
The same for every changeling, even the First Fang
10602507
I think it will mainly depend if Thorax finds his "alternative" means if feeding. Remember he is a peaceful soul who wants nothing more than a peaceful/symbiotic co-existence with ponies.
If he didn't warn them, would he really be Thorax?
10602626
Thorax will remain himself, he knows what will happen, but he will understand exactly what he wants only when he sees the consequences of the attack embody, in the canon he still participated in the attack, albeit reluctantly.
10602653
10602626
He probably won't do it in this AU.
In the canon, he didn't have friends, only his brother.
So he didn't care that much and didn't have so much to lose.
He maybe did it in canon but here he should understand the stakes and care more about his hive.
Especially here,where he has a group of friends
By warning Equestria, he is risking the lives of his friends.
Clever use of Thorax as the scapegoat to send him off to the Empire so things remain generally in line with cannon. Assuming things go the course, I guess we'll see Phas and the rest of the horde get launched when that love-nuke goes off. Sadly, it'll be awhile before Phas learns of the alternative method to feed changelings.
Dang. We knew it might happen because of later finding Thorax alone. But that doesn't make it good in any regard.
The title is once again fitting.
-------
"Lustitia"
Lustitia is the goddess of Justice in Roman mythology. The origin of our depiction of Lady Justice today, she was shown to be blindfolded with a scale in one hand and a sword in the other; symbolizing that true justice was blind, and no matter who stood before it would be judged the same.
10602714
He won't warn them because here, he has a reason to care for the hive. He will probably still seek alternate methods, though. Especially with food to spare, a place to go, and a goal in mind.
Thorax, your mission, regardless if you accept it...
(╯°□°)╯Holly Cow He Mess Up!!!
First of all great stories and great characters I love this story and what's going so far but having him not learn shape shifting to the point that he can use it in battle is it complete and not a waste of potential if you cannot use it in better than what's the point of being a changeling and saying that shape-shifting is useless against unicorns is completed b******* ship shifting can be so used in battle why would you limit it in this way still a story though
There can be no peace with Chrysalis leading as mutch as clean up duty...
Aaand now Thorax is on the way to finding a better way. X) Interesting stuff.
Kinda hope Thorax goes and explains to the pones what's about to happen
11578164
Maybe he was the anonymous source of info about the changeling attack in the canon timeline, too? This timeline is at least paralleling the canon, if not just a bit out of synch with some of the major events.
I'm still wondering about what happened with "Termite" from the last chapter.
The main difference between this fanfic and canon timeline is that here Chrysalis for some reason attacks too early. NMM hasn't even escaped and is not scheduled to for half a year (s01e01). I wonder how it will pay out of she pops out in the middle of Equestria-Changeling war.
If this was 'Civilization V', than Chrysalis is a irrational state nation with delusion of winning the game.
Meanwhile Phasma is a new player joining the mid game from the conor of the unoccupied island in the world map.