rp A Royal Wedding {and after} -Open-

[Blueblood]

It was true, Chrysalis had let her guard down.  Blueblood would never know why; perhaps it was an oversight with everything else that she had to plan for d-day, or h-hour, as the day of invasion was likely today, just not quite yet.  Perhaps she was also drunk on Shining Armor's love.  Either way, she completely neglected to ensorcel Blueblood before having Hope escort him to the dungeons.  A fatal oversight?  Or would the Prince prove to be too ultimately unimportant for it to matter either way?

 

No doubt it was encouraging to Cadence for her to see her cousin in good, unenchanted health.  "Keep your spirits up, Cadence.  We'll get her, and get Shining back too."  Hopefully without too much damage.  His reassuring smile faded, however, upon seeing a familiar face.  "Valen, no, she got you too?"  The Queen had gotten him, alright, and badly to judge from the cute maid's eyes.  The leash just added to his sense of humiliation and degredation (though it had to be said he wouldn't necessarily mind in other circumstances).  

 

And thus was the Prince put in his cell, suddenly finding himself alone... or perhaps not quite alone, to judge by the magical eyes on him.  But perhaps this was a good thing; if he put on a show, that might give enough of a distraction to help Hope do her thing!  "Well, it's not bad accommodations, but I was hoping to be able to prepare your boudoir.  I'm no bad maid myself, as you'd see if you let me have a go."  He addressed the room, as if Chrysalis were there, taking on his best nonchalant attitude.  No reply was as yet forthcoming, though...

[HopeGoldy]

Before she went out, something caught her eye; a sad looking Changeling was sitting near a rock. They had the same eyes as she had. It was a male too. She thought about them being her dad, but shook her head no and kept flying. she was now flying above Chrysalis. "have you ever heard the tale of the lost Changeling princess? Well guess who!?" even though she didn't want to, she took form of her Changeling self. Her eyes were that same Minty blue and her wings were the lightest blue. She hadn't been feeding, she had been given love. The thing that stood out most, was her beautiful horn. Horns of Changelings were broken, holes everywhere, but hers was smooth and long like that of Celestia. She decided to say her full name that her parents had given. "Hope Golden Daisy! Nice to meet ya." (i just made that name up...just for plots sake)

[SteelEagle]

"Got me? Oh yes, the Queen has certainly 'got' me. She got me, the rest of your staff, and soon all of your friends and family will either join you, be replaced, or be used for feeding. What a fate for the goodly 'Prince'," Valen said viciously and with an uncharacteristic laugh, his tail swirling around excitedly. Chrysalis loved playing with her food. It only exacerbated the power differential between her and her prey and made it more than known that whatever fate awaited hem was in her very capable hooves. Though the idea of mocking him with an inferior role was enticing, she had others for that. "Dear Blueblood, why have you clean when she has a stock of able servants? Besides, why use you when after dear-old auntie Celestia has been drained of all her love and all her magic she can be made to be so deliciously subservient for the rest of her long, long life?" Valen tittered again before twirling in place to slap the bars with his well-coiffed tail, sending a cloud of dust towards Blueblood.

[Blueblood]

Chrysalis was no slouch when it came to psychological undermining; there were few things that could unsettle Blueblood than hearing those words coming out of Valen's mouth.  The pony in front of him was in every appearance his maid, but it wasn't really Valencia behind the eyes... But he couldn't falter, couldn't let the brave face slip.  If he broke, Chrysalis wouldn't find him fun to toy with, and his value as a decoy would be lost.  Gathering his scattered wits with a snort, he put as much scorn as he could muster into his voice.

 

"Really now?  How dreadfully inefficient.  You could make a half-decent case for our need of new management, but not if you waste energy by not channeling natural inclinations."  Underneath his disdainful expression, he wondered if letting slip the fairly large amount of repressed subservience within him was wise.  No matter, larger things than his dignity were at stake.  *I hope Hope is living up to her name...*

 

~***~

 

Blueblood's efforts were not in vain, insofar as his erstwhile ally was not in any way accosted until she reached Chrysalis' chamber.  The Bug Queen was currently indulging herself with spying upon her prisoners as she toyed with them, until she whirled around to confront the intruder.  "What!?"  She uttered in a voice halfway between a scream and a hiss.   "You... I should have known there was something off about you."  She apparently recognized the errant changeling as the one she encountered from  her venture as 'Cadence' this morning, and seethed at herself for letting her pass as one of her own.

 

Still, those rumors had been troubling, and this was a perfect opportunity to clear them up once and for all.  The Queen's glare split into an evil grin, as laughter bubbled up from the festering cauldron of her soul.  "BWAHAHA, but now you've come to confront me, at the height of my power and triumph!?"  Her horn glowed with all the magic she'd siphoned from Equestrian royalty.  "Thank you for sparing me the effort to hunt you down, I shall squash you right here!"

[HopeGoldy]

She laughed even harder. "OH NO YOU DON'T!!!" her horn glowed golden, which meant she had been given all the love she'd need to defeat Chrysalis. "i will take revenge for my parents, who never deserved to have me disappear from their lives. I, Princess Hope Golden Daisy, banish you from this hive!!!" she used all of her magic to get her sent away, however, everypony knew only Twilight and the real Cadence could defeat her. Out of nowhere, a bright blue spirit appeared next to her, giving her enough power to actually weaken Chrysalis for long enough to get Cadence back. (I'm trying to stay in the episode as long and much as possible..am i allowed to defeat Chrysalis?)

[HopeGoldy]

(Soooo...did i cause you two a writer's block? I can change it up if you want me to)

[Blueblood]

The Queen was in a right properly sour mood; of all the things that could happen, on today of all days, some random princess from out of nowhere wanted to ruin her plans!  Just when she thought she had them all under her control, too.  No matter, there was a reason she held her power in reserve.  Overconfident she may have been, but stupid she was not.  Once she saw the blue spirit appear, she aimed her blast at it rather than Hope.  After all, she knew that all the power Hope had at her personal disposal wouldn't be enough to defeat her, so backup would be coming from somewhere.  And now she knew where!

 

"Oh no you don't, my dear!"  She called out in a mockingly condescending tone as she aimed to blast away the apparition.  "You won't get across me that easy-ugh!"  The blast, though far from debilitating, knocked the Hive Queen back a few dozen feet, leaving her pressed against the wall.  "Hmph, that scuffed my chitin!  After I spent an hour polishing it, too; you shall pay for that!"

[HopeGoldy]

(Yo steel. I'll just post this reply. Feel free to reply any time you can)

 

"oh? How many bits?" she laughed slightly as the spirit merged into her. Not Chrysalis wouldn't be able to strike it without killing her. "i can go up to one thousand, but not any more." her eyes turned golden, just a golden light that practically engulfed her body. For one second there was a glimpse of some creature nopony knew. It was gone within a fraction of a second and a galaxy like dress that looked like Luna's mane had appeared on her. It was the dress her mother would give her when she would be old enough. 

 

-----------------------------flashback

the baby pony smiled at her mother from her crib. "Mama." She said, giggling the most adorable giggle in equestria. "now sweety. I've got a beautiful dress for you that you can knly have when you've turned into an adult mare, or when you remember who you are and accept it. I know your life will be a living hay in the future, but i want you to stay strong. Please, my little hope. I love you" at that time, she didn't understand what it meant. 

---------end of flashback

 

But now, she knew what it meant. And she knew she'd have to defeat this queen and defeat many more to meet her parents again. Her horn began glowing again. "please come back later. Right now i don't have time." she then teleported Chrysalis back to the cave of the hive. She didn't want to hurt her yet, because maybe, just maybe, the queen would change. Perhaps not now, maybe mot ever, but she had hope. She was Hope itself.

 

(Oooooh deep. Now i wanna make that glimpse. Y'know what? I will. It is a small reference to equestria girls, though.)

[Blueblood]

Chrysalis snarled.  "I will take your life, your soul, with interest!"  This cocky little buzzer, who did she think she was?  A rival queen?  That may well have been the case, the way she bore herself, throwing magic around like it wasn't anything to her.  It was this rage that blinded her to Hope's next tactic, a forced teleportation.  One easily countered, of course; as soon as Chryssie realized what had happened, she snapped herself right back into Canterlot Palace, as Shining's shield over the city had long since disintegrated.

 

"Oh, clever girl...."  The Queen murmured as she stalked her new enemy, having come back some rooms away from where the first confrontation had been.  "I'll admit you're good, but that won't work again..."  While still running hot with magic and anger, Chrysalis was calmer in mind now, realizing that Hope was a genuine threat she had to take seriously, if her plans were not to be ruined.  To this end, she pulled back every extraneous enchantment to have the power free for round 2 of the fight.  

 

 

Down below in the basement, clouds would begin to lift from the minds of those enthralled....

[SteelEagle]

Valen was in the middle of an addled laugh, head held high in contempt of the pompous noble in front of him, when a mental fog started to roll from his mind. As it did he felt the energy start to leak out of him. First, it was his knees which wobbled and shook, then his breath was caught in his chest. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he felt lightheaded- then, finally, he collapsed onto the cold ground. A few moments later he woke up with a pounding headache, his body weary, and his mouth sucking on awful dungeon floor. He hacked a few times and then stood up on wobbly legs, holding his head with a low moan eeking out of him. Then a realization struck and he looked at Blueblood. "Oh...oh no! Your friend doesn't know- we need to get you out of here, Your Highness, she's in great danger- you're in- I-" he spoke rapidly as he meddled with the door, the gate, the key, the whatever was needed to ease his lord's escape.

[HopeGoldy]

She sighed. She knef Chrysalis wouldn't give up. "ok. We need Cadence here. She's in the caves under the castle. Can somepony go get her? I'll get Shining armor."  for some reason, she knew exactly what to do. She knew a lot, but didn't know that and how she was in danger. A tear escaped her minty blue eyes. She had been living without parents and just wanted them back. She laid down, her nuzzle in her forelegs. She cried softly. Even though some guards were Changelings, they still protected her like she was part of the hive. When she calmed down, she stood up and began searching for Shining Armor.

[Blueblood]

Blueblood sighed in relief as he saw his servant come to his senses, helping Valen up with a steadying hoof.  "Easy there, relax and you'll fumble a bit less, remember?"  The Prince had needed to coach his maid back when Valen had first come to work for him as repayment for a financial favor done for the Orange clan.  The poor colt had been so nervous at first that the unicorn feared for the integrity of every fragile thing in his house!  Fortunately, a few years had made Valencia a true natural at what they did.

 

"Princess Cadence is locked up in another cell; do you have a key for that one too?"  While not entirely certain of such things, the Prince not being the whole 'adventuring royal' trope, he had some suspicion that the Alicorn of Love would be key to defeating this impostor...

 

~

 

Chrysalis knew something was wrong.  A queen's connection to her Hive was a deep one, empathic and telepathic as well as political.  As such, she usually had a pretty good idea of where all her drones and soldiers were at any time, and could give commands without vocalizing them, with the expenditure of a little magic.  But now?  Those links were weakening; units positioned to await invasion orders were swarming in prematurely and anarchically, no doubt sending ponies into a panic, but any disciplined response would blow them away like the mooks they were.  Even more worrying, however, was the fact that some connections seemed turned off entirely.  Dead, or treasonous?  Either would prove fatal to her plans.

 

*It's all that pretender Princess' fault!  I should have just squished her when I had a chance.  No matter, once that bug is taken care of, I can just go to where I stashed Celestia and Luna to top off on power, then I can wrest victory back from the brink!*  Undeterred in confidence, she stalked onwards, up the stairs to the floor where Hope was...

 

~

 

Shining Armor groaned.  What day was it?  He couldn't remember, beyond a vague sense that it was something important.  Too important for him to be lying on the stone floor like this.  He couldn't get up though.  No energy.  But Cadence would come back for him.  Cadence would make him feel all better.  That's what she'd done for the past week, lovely alicorn...

[SteelEagle]

Valen's mind was still cloudy, fogged, snippets of memory in the ether only coming together in unusual fragments. He sat on his haunches for a brief moment and rubbed his head, halfway between an unrelenting migraine and flashes of importance leaking through the miasma that was his waking world. Lord Blueblood asked about Cadance, the youngest Alicorn and the bride to be in the upcoming wedding. A wedding which, it was looking like, was going to be less of a wonderful affair than he would have liked. Valen thought for a bit before replying. "I don't think she's...I don't think she is in the dungeons, Your Highness. I think she was...placed in the caverns below Canterlot. She's been there for some time, I believe. Chrysalis has been feeding on Captain Shining Armor's love and has grown very, very strong. We need to find a way into those caverns or warn somepony, but we need to get your friend to safety first. Chrysalis is arrogant and will probably be hurt, but she is intensely powerful now. I know nopony has been infected outside of Canterlot...doesn't Shining Armor have a sister?"