The sun was rising agonizingly slow. All around, the valley was stirring to life – dark figures were descending down the vertical walls, buzzing and sneering in an insectish manner.
Silverline was hanging upside down in a well shaded chamber, surrounded by his unconscious troops. This mission was the biggest disaster he has ever witnessed. What was supposed to be a quick recon mission turned into a last stand against literally thousands of changelings, creatures that were faster and stronger than anything he had ever seen. Now he cursed his boldness and the faith he put in his training – they all should have legged it the second they heard the first rock tumble down from one of the holes in the walls.
The battle itself lasted maybe a few seconds. Silverline and his ponies shot volley after volley of multi-hued subdue spells. To no effect. Before the first of the beasts lunged at them, it got shot in the face with a potent piercing spell, one that could rend and shred a thick safe door. To no effect.
Now that he thought about it, it was a mistake to try and use magic against a foe that had both wings and a horn. They should have ran.
“Oh, I see one of the little pony spies woke up,” sounded a voice below. It was a horrible sound, haunted by a reverb that made Silverline flinch in his green goo prison. ”Good, good. We can finally get down to business.”
“I have no business with you, changeling,” calmly replied the stallion. “You won’t get anything from me. No amount of torture will make me betray my country!”
Chrysalis merely chuckled at the statement and licked her fangs. “Dear pony, why would I want to hurt you? Don’t you know that changelings choose love over war? Lots and lots of love. Come, let me show you just how...loveable, I am.”
The last thing Silverline thought before a green light enveloped his mind was:
We should have ran.
* * *
Chip was silently pacing around Twilight’s room. Conflicting feelings kept popping up in his head, buzzing around and pestering him with stupid questions that came out of nowhere.
Is it okay to be here? Should I leave? Can I wait till she wakes up? Can I flick that rogue hair from her face? Why am I even here? thought Chip, glancing at the sleeping mare. She sure looks pretty. Why does she look pretty? Since when can a changeling be a ponyphile? Is it even possible to- hold up! The changeling stopped dead in his tracks. These thoughts were getting dangerously out of hoof.
He silently smacked himself on the face, suppressing a whimper as his own hoof left a burning sensation on his cheek. This was no time for these kinds of questions. He had to help the Princess get whatever information she needed. Maybe then, once it all has been done, he would be given the luxury to debate such questions. Preferably with Twilight. Here, in Ponyville.
The morning light shone through the bedroom curtains, surprising Chip. He barely noticed he stayed up all night long in the room of his friend. A smirk found its way onto his face as he remembered the very first time they both met – she was screaming, he was falling. Reliving that would be fun…but maybe another time.
With a silent pop, the changeling vanished. The gust of air that his disappearance caused moved the note he set next to Twilight. The piece of paper gently flew down the bed and slid under it.
* * *
For the next few days, Chip was bored out of his sane mind. The Princess seemed very distracted during her visits, most of the time asking the same questions over and over again or spacing out, staring into the ceiling, apparently heavy with thought. The changeling could feel the scent of worry and fear all over her, but asking questions about it only earned him dead silence.
Slowly, his face was healing, and quite soon the stallion could talk properly. When it finally stopped hurting, he kept rattling on about how strange his voice sounded now that it was back. Celestia patiently listened to the stallion. Her mind was thousands of miles away anyway, in a not so safe place.
“And you know what the strangest thing is? I can hear myself talking,” said Chip, a note of awe in his voice. “I mean, you usually can hear yourself talk all the time. But you don’t pay attention to the sounds your mouth makes, right? Now that I can hear them, they sound so strange! Is my voice really this hoarse all the time? And what’s with that strange echo all the time? Do I have something in my throat, or was it like that all along? Oh Sun! What if there’s something in my throat? I can choke!”
As Chip kept spiraling down the panic path (complemented by various regurgitation sounds), Celestia had her own worry spiral started.
Silverline should have been back a week ago. Where is he? Did he get captured by the enemy? Is he dead, alive? Under their control? Will he ever come back? Can he come back? thought the Princess, oblivious to the Chip who was now trying to shove his hoof down his throat to find the object that kept making his voice “sound weird”.
* * *
Silverline gave out a sigh of relief as Chrysalis’ hoof ran along his chin and neck. His green eyes were focused on the changeling queen, unblinking and full of devotion. For the last week the stallion had the best time of his life.
At first, he totally unreasonably shouted blasphemy at the mare he now loved and adored. He was stubborn, unwilling to cooperate. But in her infinite wisdom and love, she gave him a chance, over and over again. Every time he remembered how he treated her wrong made him feel bad. Thankfully, in the end, her true love and affection, care and attention helped him see. Made him understand the changelings, their ways.
They were not evil creatures. Everything Celestia ever said was a lie, propaganda of the worst kind. Changelings were in fact a gentle and emphatic kind of pony. They lived in perfect harmony, without starvation, wars or politics. It was utopia, one that everypony should strive for. One that could be given to the Equestrians.
“Now, my dear Silverline, are you sure you’ll be okay?” asked Chrysalis, worry plain in her eyes. Her deep emerald eyes were set on him, making the stallion’s heart flutter and spirit lift towards the heavens.
“Of course, my love! I am the best of the best, and I shall not fail you!” fervently replied Silverline, earning himself a kiss on the cheek.
“Good boy. Now, go. Make me proud,” smiled the love of his life, watching as the stallion vanished wrapped in a red nova of magical energy.
“Go, and tell me exactly how to reach your pony brothers. So we can all ‘share the love’.”
Chrysalis’ cackling spread far and wide across the canyon, where thousands of changelings were practicing more intensely than ever for the upcoming invasion.
Short chapter is short
Short chapter better than none chapter.
I think the abbreviation of this story's name should be milk, cause it's MLC, lol milk
Chrysalis
Moar plz
Hiatus? And another conveniently moved note...
Oh dear, this shall be smashing!
good chapter and this isnt gonna be good another invasion
Oh my... a new chapter *SQUEE*
Propaganda/mindcontrol...
"We have been playing with forces we can only begin to comprehend." - some movie or book
Seriously though, I think it would be cool to see this story delve further into it. Brainwashing is one of my biggest fears. And we all know what pinkie pie says, "Sometimes it's just REALLY fun to be scared."
i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/143/149/30523%20-%20celestia%20scared%20scaredy.jpg
You know you're screwed when god's scared.
Chip, why do you bring such joy to us?
1625717 I believe an update of any kind is all we ask for
On hiatus? Post chapter anyways
so THAT'S how Chrysalis replaced Cadence! That actually makes sense.
1626613>>1625825
The reason for hiatus is that I am not sure when and how I will update this Ever since I started development of the game 'Derpy the Mailmare' I've been too anxious to write anything coherent.
Still, maybe another chapter will rear its ugly head soon.
1626713 No rush, my one story has been on hiatus almost longer than it was out... I have absolutely no leg to stand on for this.
1625717 Your stories helped inspired me to write...
And taught me how long the admins on the site take to post a story
Love the chapter, albeit short. Hate the waiting for approval, although it keeps out spam stories.
1626955
I know that feel. My new story will be out soon too
funny, just yesterday i was talking to a friend about this story, mentioning my sadness that it hadn't been updated in a while.
well, despite the Hiatus status, i'm just glad to see a new chapter!
i.imgur.com/cbE9a.gif
awwww yeah, feels good.
dear god yes i found it!!!
i have been searching for this story forever!!!
i read the first 3 chapters when i first started reading on fim fiction!!!
its been forever and its only gotten better!!!!!
!!! for everyone!
you get a
and you get a
everypony gets a !!!
hoozah!!!
Hey, welcome back! Always good to see you again. Good to see Chip being Chip as usual, haha.
just one minor grammatical error I noticed:
What was supposed to be a quick reckon mission turned into a last stand against literally thousands of changelings, creatures that were faster and stronger than anything he has ever seen.
"Reckon should be "recon"
Things aren't looking good for Equestria at the moment, I must say.
I'm smacking the Favorite button as much as I can but it still only registers once, darn it!
The dread of an upcoming all-out war leads me to believe the "Love Bomb" as featured in MLP cannon will not be the easy and quick solution.
Then again, Luna, who was so suspiciously absent during that 2-part story, might make up for her no-show in this alternate setting-- here's to some wish fulfillment (cheers!) and Nightmare Moon's unrestrained wraith of the goddess. (You all remember she's pretty good at meteor showers, right? Look what happened to the dinosaurs, yikes)
>>>The battle itself lasted maybe a few seconds. Silverline and his ponies shot volley after volley of multi-hued subdue spells. To no effect. Before the first of the beasts lunged at them, it got shot in the face with a potent piercing spell, one that could rend and shred a thick safe door. To no effect.>>>
Uhm... Twilight's magical blasts were rather effective. And she wasn't even trying to kill them.
Every time I thing of Chip's swollen head I always imagine it being like a giant black and read tomato sitting on his neck....Good going brain!
P.s. I have a huge urge to draw what I imagine him looking like.
Someone's getting a little twitterpated!