I felt a cold sensation of paralysis as my whole body refused to budge. My breaths became silent as cold sweat began to douse my head.

Neither Chrysalis nor I moved. The only thing giving away motion were the fluttering ashes falling from the blackened trees, only to be caught in the crimson color of the puddles of blood below. There was a continual sound of whistling. It was annoying at best--but if one was to investigate further, it would be revealed that the whistling was emanated from the several skulls laying on the ground.

My mouth was completely still in an open position, even after what seems to be about a whole minute. 'How the hell- How is she alive?' A flashback suddenly shot in my mind, replaying the scene in which I shot her just below her muzzle!

Regaining a portion of my composure, my eyes darted to Chrysalis. Her jaw too was open, revealing clenched teeth. She held a firm stance on the ground, but despite that, she was still faltering--shaking slightly.

"Well?" spoke out the red queen as she trudged ever so slowly towards us, casually flicking her hair with her hoof. "Aren't you glad that I'm here?" Suddenly, a chilling smile etches on her face. In response, we simply gave her cold glares.

Uncertain by her words, I questioned, "And why would we?! You tried to kill us not mere days ago!" Almost instantly after those words left my mouth, she shot a glare at me. Her glowing red eyes, coupled with her predatory grin, made it much more intimidating.

She held her mouth with her hoof in order to stifle a chuckle. "Ah. Well then, apologies. A mare has to get her pay, you know?" I heard Chrysalis snarl as she said those. I simply continued to stare at her, daring not to just lunge at her. She continued, "Anyways, I managed to overhear your conversation a while back. So you're looking for that fetid necromancer, huh?"

Chrysalis slowly nods. "So you know of him?"

She replied, "Of course! After all, he was sort of famous with us mercenaries. Well, that was before he got imprisoned by Miss Sunny, but whatever."

"I appreciate the offer," Chrysalis said, taking a few steps towards the other queen, "but I think we'll be much better off with you dead." I felt a bead of sweat form around my head. Threatening? That's not uncommon for Chrysalis, but it's still quite disturbing, no matter how many times you hear her. "You can't be trusted. Nothing personal. So I recommend that you leave."

"Right. Right," the Red Queen waved her hoof dismissively, "You see, I don't have much of a choice. With you," she points towards to me with her hoof, "killing every single one of my children. I can't exactly get back to Gryphon territory without... Well, you know, starving, or getting mauled by the wildlife. Or you know, getting shot down by the guards. So I might need your... help."

I arched one of my eyebrows. "So, you'll let us in Canterlot in exchange for... escort services?" I asked, a mixture of doubt and skepticism tied in my tone. "I'd rather take the chances of just barging into that place with an army," I said with a disgruntled huff.

She chuckles once more, only this time, much harder. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but was interrupted by wave after wave of laughter. After a few seconds, she wiped a figurative tear from her face with her hoof. "Yeah. That's really funny. You know, it would be great if you took up the job of a jester-" she looks towards me, noticing my stern face being devoid of any humor.

Seeing this, her jaw widens once more and soon enough, jolly laughter was bellowed from her. After several more moments of laughter, she paused to take a breath. Looking towards me, she spoke, "Are you a madman? The only reason why you won this battle with those two royal pricks is because they were on the aggressive position." she shook her head slowly, "Do you have the slightest idea on how fortified that place is? I swear, I must have seen at least twenty watchtowers."

Chrysalis went up to me to whisper, "Despite her notoriety, I must agree with her. That place- I've never seen it when its defenses are taken seriously, but I've heard old tales. I do not know how accurate these tales are, but they claim that Canterlot is basically impenetrable during times of urgent conflict. Still, I do not trust her. We should leave her."

I flinched slightly at the suddenness. "N-no. I think she can prove to be quite an asset. After all, she might know where that... necromancer is located at. That'll save us a lot of time." I closed my eyes as I delved into contemplation.

"Whispering? That's quite rude, you know?" she said, suddenly appearing just inches away from where I stood. Startled, I take a few steps back. "Oh, and that's also futile. We changelings have a keen sense of hearing. Did you forget about that Chrysalis?" Before I even had the time to react, she was already mere inches away from us!

Eyes widening, I thought to myself, 'The hell!? How'd she sneak up on us like that?'

She continued, "Oh well. I'll have to overlook that for now. You have to make a choice; either let me die and lose your only chance of finding this necromancer." She walks around, raising her hoof, "Or, you can allow me to guide you."

I gulp down the nervousness accumulating in my throat. I hastily looked around as I attempted to make an answer. Finally, I faced her, coming up with a decision. "I-I'll let you come with us then."

"You best be jesting! Not only did she betray us, she nearly killed you!" Chrysalis said aloud, not even bothering to tone down her voice, causing me to shrink back slightly in uncertainty.

"I know..." I hesitated as I began to ponder what I'm going to say next frantically. "Everybody makes mistakes, right?" I say with a sheepish grin, to which my companion replies with a cold leer. The cold glare that I received from Chrysalis was colder than the bodies scattered around this place. "It's not like we have much of a choice, anyways. We can't just leave this magician of yours to rot in Canterlot, for his and my sake."

"This- this is just the wrong choice. I swear, you're more of a threat to yourself than the ones that are trying to actually kill you." Chrysalis rubs her forehead with her hoof as if to alleviate a headache. "Who knows when she might stab us in the back... again."

Suddenly, the Red Queen approaches us with a chuckle. "No worries. I have no intentions of killing you. I don't like doing the same thing over and over again, you know?" she asked, causing me to falter in hesitation.

Chrysalis looks at her with a cold, grim face. "Just because you exploited this idiot's leniency," Chrysalis points her hoof at me, "that doesn't mean I won't try to kill you when your guard isn't up."

The Scarlet Queen apparently heard this as she feigned an offended. "I am taken aback. What did I ever do to you, Chrysalis?" Without giving time for Chrysalis to reply, she quickly added, "Other than 'that' incident."

Chrysalis sighed. She averted her head away, as if trying to avoid replying. However, she answered nonetheless. "She was asking for half of my hive to be converted to her hive. As a changeling ruler, I can't allow my children to defect like that."

"Oh come on. In time, your numbers would've replenished. Hmph, I guess it was just a matter of pride for you," the red queen said, pointing her hoof at Chrysalis accusingly. "Well then, after you declined me, you attacked."

My eyes widen. Right now, I feel as if was more dead than the corpses surrounding this ruined forest. "Chrysalis? You were the one who started the conflict?"

Chrysalis let out an agitated, prolonged sigh. "Really? Do you think I'm the only one to blame for this whole conflict? You were quite oppressive, harassing me and my changelings everyday until you could get what was yours. At first, your harassment was nothing but pestering. Gradually, you resorted into stealing from us, and even denied us from going out of our own homes. At the height of it all, you starved quite a large portion of my children to death. In retaliation, I attacked you and fled here."

"Yes. I guess I did get a bit... unreasonable on my actions, but as of today, let us be comrades, yes?" she said, extending her hoof towards Chrysalis.

"Fine. As for the moment, we are allies," Chrysalis said, shaking the hoof of the other queen with her own.

"Well then, shall we continue? We'll see nothing but dead trees, dead bodies, dead plants, and a dead atmosphere here if we linger here. I suggest that we go to- what's that establishment called again? Something-ville?"

"Ponyville?" I answered.

"Ah yes. That's the one. Come. I heard the pastries there are excellent," she said, turning over to the ruins of the aforementioned Ponyvilles.

Chrysalis felt an urge to plant her hoof into her face. "That was before it was reduced to ruins..."

Sighing, she retorted, "I know. That was an attempt at making a joke."

As I walked into the town filled with ghastly streets and demolished buildings. I couldn't help but avert my eyes away from the homes that I've long since ruined. Still, even up until now, I'm still dreaded by the deaths of the innocents that I'm responsible for.

Thankfully, the streets were cleared of the many decaying bodies left to rot here. I suppose that's a consolation.

Still, this place has gone through some reorganization. Some of the houses were coarsely repaired, planks of wood bar the exposed areas, and several missing patches of the wall was covered up with cement that stands out from the natural colors of the rest of the wall. Needless to say, this place still looks like a complete mess. Well, at least the atmosphere of death is gone...

Chrysalis noted, "Ah. I see that Celestia's band of idiots invested some of their efforts in making this a temporary camp."

"Yup. They must have stayed here for at least a few days in order to set these things up."

My face became pale at the sudden revelation. "Wait! That doesn't make much sense. They stayed here for days, and we haven't noticed them?"

"Beats me," the Red Queen said, approaching a rather unstable-looking door. She reached out for the door knob, but upon mere contact, the door fell to the floor, causing a loud thudding noise as well as shooting dust everywhere. With dust assaulting her, she went into a small fit of coughing. Recovering, she added, "You must not be observant enough."

Peeking into the now door-less building, she huffed as she pouted an annoyed face. Turning away from the apparently empty building, she made way deeper into the ravaged town. "Come on. I know that they keep their food around here somewhere... In the panic, I'm sure that they abandoned at least some."

Hesitant, I followed her. 'Idiotic for sure, but if she plans on leading us to a trap instead of guiding us to this necromancer fellow, maybe she'll change her mind if I open up to her a bit? Wishful thinking, I know, but it's still worth a shot...'

Suddenly, something tugged my robe. Turning back, I saw that it was Chrysalis. "If you value your life, I suggest that you don't allow yourself to be too comfortable with her."

I nodded as I turned to follow wherever the Red Queen went. "That's kinda of a given... but we still need her. So it wouldn't hurt to be a bit friendly towards her, right?"

Chrysalis, for what seems to be the hundredth time, glares at me coldly with her skeptical eyes.

Author's Notes:

December 15.

It was my birthday two days ago.

Pre-readers for this chapter:

TLSmokey