//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 - The Underground 
// Story: Metamorphosis 
// by PonyThunder 
//------------------------------//



Recommended Ambience





The changelings waited patiently as Chrysalis tried to navigate through the complex cave system ahead of them, whispering to one another.

"Do you think she knows what she's doing?"

"I don't think I can walk for much longer."

"Are we ever going to get to wherever we're going?"

"I'm tired of all this."

"I'd rather be back in Equestria."

"Does she even know where we're going?"

"I think we might be lost..."

Chrysalis continued leading the trek further into darkness as she overheard whispered snippets of conversation echoing off the cave walls behind her. It was becoming evident that her support was quickly waning, and that there wasn't much she could do about it, short of finding something to lift their spirits. Anything to give them reassurance about her leadership. But for the past several hours, all they'd encountered was more darkness, their trek seemingly aimless. She began wondering how far they'd actually traveled into the depths, but a more pressing concern immediately followed: how much further could they go and still make it back out? What if these caves led to nothing? In the state she was currently in though, Chrysalis wondered if she could even make it out herself.

Tarsus trotted forward alongside the march of changelings behind Chrysalis, trying to gauge their reactions as he strode toward her at the front of the pack. All he could sense were feelings of exhaustion, though.

"Queen Chrysalis," he asked, matching her pace, "how much longer do you think it will be until we reach our next resting point?" He phrased the question as innocently as possible, but with intent to cause a stir.

Chrysalis considered her response carefully, slowing briefly for a moment. The rest would be waiting with anticipation for what she had to say. "Soon," she replied flatly, slightly increasing her pace.

Tarsus trotted back up to her. "But...some of us in the back are having trouble keeping up. Can't we rest again for the night?"

She cursed inwardly at the gall of this changeling, resisting the urge to make an example of him in front of the others. Had showing them weakness made them more willing to speak out against her? "I told you -- we will begin resting soon enough," she replied, feeling annoyance beginning to boil, but quickly calmed herself. "I'm sure we can make it just a little while longer."

"But..."

"Return to your position, soldier," she snapped lightly.

"Yes, my queen," Tarsus replied softly, a devilish smile curling from his fangs as he slowed his speed and returned back to the end of the line.

"I don't think it's going to work," whispered Poison Fang as Tarsus joined him.

"It will work. Just trust me," he replied.

"Nothing happened," Poison Fang sighed. "Just give it up before she makes an example of you. Or worse." He shuddered as a gruesome thought entered his mind.

Tarsus rolled his eyes. "What could be worse than living the rest of our lives as her slaves?"

Poison Fang slowed his pace and chose his words carefully. "If we don't find a source of essence, I'm afraid of what the Queen might do to keep this troop alive...most of the troop."

Tarsus slowed for a second as the realization hit him. "The Queen wouldn't," his voice trailed for several moments until he resumed his pace. "No. You're right. She might, and if things get to that point, I'll make sure I'm not the one she chooses as a sacrifice."

Poison Fang considered asking how Tarsus planned on doing so, but realized that asking him questions was becoming less desirable by the minute. Instead, he allowed his mind to wander about the possibilities himself. If the Queen chose to sacrifice one of her own, how would she choose? And if Tarsus was chosen, how would he ensure it was someone else? Who would that someone else be?

Before Poison Fang could begin to try answering those questions to himself, however, the troop stopped abruptly.

A cold, powerful breeze swept over them as they stood atop a precipice overlooking a large cavern below. But it wasn't just a cavern. Rather, it appeared to be a deliberately hollowed-out space, roughly cylindrical in shape and several hundred hoofs in height. At its bottom was a central plaza of sorts, with smooth stone surrounding a fountain structure at the center, and a spiral staircase ascending upwards along the exterior towards several upper rings that overlooked the structures below.

Small cheers and sighs of relief echoed off the walls as they lined the precipice looking below, having finally reached someplace that they could rest and call a home, but Chrysalis felt differently. This was obviously the home of some other creatures, which could mean two things: a source of essence, or their easy defeat from being in such a state of weakness. But after getting a better look, she started to doubt that these creatures would be anywhere nearby. Large chunks of crumbling buildings and rubble dotted the central plaza, and the whole place seemed to have been untouched for quite some time.

She allowed herself to breath a sigh of relief. "It appears we've found our new hive," she said, receiving a few more cheers shortly thereafter.