//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: The Ending of the End - Love and Tolerance Edition // by StarlightisVERYcute //------------------------------// Chrysalis buzzed through the cold, humid air. Dew covered the few dry patches of ground below her. Grogar had ordered her to be back by nightfall. Naturally, she had ignored him. That insolent ram has no idea how to properly treat a Queen! Soon, he’ll be sorry he ever dared to talk to me as if I were a common servant. She ducked her head and entered his hideout. Cozy looked up from a chessboard at her as she entered. “Golly, you’re back late. What kept you?” the demon filly asked, her voice dripping with honey. “Dinner was a bit harder to catch than I had expected,” Chrysalis answered. Cozy put a hoof to her mouth as her face warped with nausea. She has such a weak stomach, Chrysalis thought idly. Will she be able to handle tomorrow’s war? Tirek pushed a pawn forward. “Have you fed well, Chrysalis?” “I have,” she replied with a smile. “Ah, young love is so delicious.” Cozy gagged as she moved her rook. “Uhgrp, so gross.” As Chrysalis composed a reply, a shout rang out through the room. “Chrysalis!” bellowed Grogar. “Why did you disobey my orders?” “I was hungry,” she answered with a defiant cross of her forelegs. “I need to be well-fed for tomorrow’s invasion. And someram doesn’t keep around a healthy supply of cocooned ponies!” Grogar walked to right in front of her. “If you disobey orders tomorrow,” he said slowly and clearly, as if explaining to a foal, “the invasion will likely be ruined. We will all be put in Tartarus because of your failure. Understood?” “…Understood,” she growled resentfully. “Good. Now, all of you, get some sleep,” he instructed. “You will need your wits about you tomorrow.” Chrysalis slinked away without another word. Grogar has some nerve talking to me like that. With a hiss, she slipped into her cocoon, and closed her eyes. Chrysalis opened her eyes. It was another warm, sticky day in the swamp. She closed her eyes, and almost drifted back off to sleep, when an idle thought welled its way up from her subconscious. Today’s the day. She jolted upright, barely suppressing a maniacal laugh. Today’s the day! Today, Grogar will lead Tirek, Cozy, and I to conquer Equestria. Oh, I’ve been waiting a long time for this. A cold smile slipped across her lips. But Grogar has no idea that the rest of our little cabal have acquired his Bewitching Bell, or that we’re going to betray him. Equestria divided three ways instead of four means more territory for each of us, after all. Besides, Grogar has never shown me the proper respect, never included me in his full plans. Banishing him won’t just be smart, it’ll even be fun. Chrysalis’s horn flared with emerald lightning, and her cocoon cracked open. She dropped downward out of it, landing with a precise roll. She strolled into the planning room, to see Cozy already up and examining maps of Canterlot with Tirek. “Good, you’re up,” Tirek said in his booming voice. “Are you ready?” “I was hatched ready,” Chrysalis replied with a smirk. But further small talk was cut off by the arrival of their leader himself. Grogar sat down at the table. “Alright, listen closely. The plan is as follows: Cozy Glow, you will stir up hatred between earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. Chrysalis, you will shapeshift into different leaders, such as Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, and whoever else you deem to be prudent, giving orders to the guards that will cause more chaos. Tirek, you will feed opportunistically on the magic of all that you can. Once Twilight Sparkle and her friends have arrived to deal with the situation, I will reveal myself, and together we shall obliterate Twilight, her friends, the other princesses, and all others who stand in our way. By evening, we shall rule Equestria!” “Golly, that sounds like a pretty great plan!” Cozy said with a big smile. “You’re such a great leader, Mister Grogar!” “Save your flattery for your marks,” Grogar retorted. “I am here to organize the lot of you into an effective force! Remember, each of you is powerful alone, but only when we work together can we defeat Twilight Sparkle and her friends!” “What about Discord?” Tirek asked suspiciously. “Won’t he just snap his talons and teleport us back to Tartarus?” “You leave Discord to me,” Grogar answered. “I have acquired an artifact of great magical power that will allow me to defeat him.” Chrysalis felt a potent mixture of fear and excitement. If only there were a word to describe this peculiar feeling. Excitinervous? “Well, I’m just a kid, but I know that it’s important to have contingency plans,” Cozy said with a lilting giggle. “What if Twilight and her friends don’t come to Canterlot?” “Then we’ll make them come,” Grogar said with a voice like cold stone. “When they are aware that their beloved princesses are in our hooves, they’ll run right to their own destruction.” He gave a smile that chilled Chrysalis to her gooey innards. “They are heroes, and they will behave heroically. We can exploit this to gain victory!” Tirek hunched down atop of a Canterlot plaza, watching the action with a pair of binoculars Chrysalis had stolen. It really is amazing just how much hatred Cozy could inspire in ponies’ hearts. And I shouldn’t forget how expertly Chrysalis wore the appearances of other royalty. He licked his lips in anticipation of his turn in the mission. For far too long, I’ve been weak, powerless, and small. Soon, I will have a body as powerful as my mind! He received a whisper from thousands of feet away. “It’s time. Begin your feeding upon pegasi and unicorns, but keep hidden! We don’t want the guard to know of our involvement yet.” Grogar had bewitched his minions—oh, how Tirek loathed that word—so he could communicate with them and synchronize their activities. Even he had to admit it was an impressive piece of magic. “With pleasure,” Tirek whispered back. He opened his mouth wide, and devoured the magic of a nearby upper-class unicorn. The stallion stumbled, and then collapsed weakly to the ground. Tirek repeated this well-practiced procedure several times more on other pegasi and unicorns, but never earth ponies. With each vat of magic devoured, his musculature built and grew. A few moments later, Cozy fluttered over to a drained unicorn mare. “Oh no, no, no, no! Something bad must’ve been in the food. If the earth ponies did a better job making sure their food was safe, this never would’ve happened!” The other unicorns and pegasi nearby nodded. One shouted, “We should go give ‘em a piece of our mind!” “Yeah! This is all their fault!” “Earth ponies have been selling low-quality food for years! My uncle got sick when I was a filly!” Luna flew down to the discontented pegasi and unicorns. “Citizens, please. What are you fighting about?” “The earth ponies are selling low-quality food, and it’s getting us sick!” The outraged mare pointed to the semiconscious ponies strewn about. Luna rolled her eyes. “They look fine to me. Maybe you need to toughen up, like earth ponies do.” Cozy gasped. “Princess Luna must be an Earth sympathizer!” The ponies surrounding Cozy Glow nodded angrily, and moved closer to Luna. “You should care for all your subjects!” “Pegasi will not be mistreated!” “Unicorns are a proud and ancient race. We will not be treated like this!” Luna—or Chrysalis, as she surely had to be—snorted. “Unicorns, a proud race? You couldn’t even hold your own against the incursions of the Pegasus Imperium. You’re a bunch of weak-willed fops. I guess it makes sense you have such weak stomachs too.” The unicorns gasped in horror, while the pegasi nodded. The martial tradition of the pegasi is legendary, Tirek recalled from his own history lessons. “You know, I think Princess Luna’s right about that,” Cozy said. “The pegasi are really the only tribe that has ever managed to stand up for itself. Doesn’t it seem fair that we should rule?” The unicorns whirled on the pegasi they had just been standing beside. “Never trust a pegasus! Backstabbing birdbrains!” Cozy snuck off, and Chrysalis likewise vacated the area. The argument seemed to be heading towards a riot now. Tirek allowed himself a grin. We only need rinse and repeat, and Canterlot will be ours. My Little Pony, My Little Pony Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahhhhh… My Little Pony I used to wonder what friendship could be My Little Pony Until you all shared its magic with me! Big adventure, tons of fun A beautiful heart, faithful and strong Sharing kindness, it’s an easy feat And magic makes it all complete! My Little Ponies Do you know you’re all my very best friends?