A Heart of Crystal and Glass

by Mani-Roar

Chapter 21

I remembered my Changeling magic. I had dawned this disguise a year ago, and because of my unique Queen anatomy and terrible power, I could hold this form indefinitely if I needed to. The spell wouldn’t run out, unless I commanded it so.

I commanded it now. I dropped my false image, as my pink fur evaporated off of me, replaced by black greasy hooves filled with holes. My beautiful feathered alicorn wings exploded into transparent insect-like wings. I felt my smooth and elegant unicorn horn twist and contort into a long bent and mangled monstrosity. My herbivore pony teeth stretched and sharpened in my mouth as my cuspids extended into the long pointy fangs of a predator. My beautiful symmetric hair and body, the body I had been accustomed to for a year, the only body I knew, twisted into something horrible and corrupt.

Except it wasn’t new. This was my real body. As the life I had forgotten invaded my mind, taking back its home, everything about me that was clean and comfortable became borrowed. The me that I thought I was turned out to be fake. My biggest fear was true. I was a fraud. Everything I had been and done in my previous life was all that I had come to hate. I was something else. Something wicked.

The Crystal Heart was wrong about me.

I levitated myself up above the slab. I stood on my real hooves for the first time in a year. I was taller than before. I looked down at the faces of the ponies in the cave with me. Twilight’s face was full of righteous indignation. Cadance, the real Cadance, looked upon me with disgust. Yet, she also had a satisfied smugness to her. She had finally won, and gotten her revenge.

I think it can get much worse than you can possibly imagine. She had told me during the raid on the Crystal Capital. I couldn’t see her at the time through the magical darkness. A darkness she had cast. An assault she had commanded against her own ponies. She had kept my secret, waiting for the biggest possible moment to hurt me the most.

And hurt me she did. My eyes glanced over to Shining Armor. The betrayal on his face was a dagger in my heart. I had fooled him. Lied to him. Even after my memories went missing, I was still carrying out my original mission. I had used him, and his eyes told me he knew.

“You!” he hissed at me.

“Shining, I…”

What could I say? What could I do? There was no explanation for what I had done. No rationalization that would make it ok.

“You were Queen Chrysalis the whole time?” He leaped up onto the raised platform, joining Twilight and the real Cadance’s side. “Everything you said. Everything you’ve done. It was just an act. I believed you. I trusted you!” He screamed as his voice echoed down the cave halls.

“Shining.” I looked down at my husband. The stallion I had fallen in love with. “It wasn’t like that. Not since I woke up. Not after I lost my memories. This last year, it was all real. I meant every word. I lo-”

“Don’t you dare say it!” Shining interrupted me, and I could feel an ever gaping hole in my essence. “You have no right to say that. What kind of creature are you? What sort of monster would pretend like that for so long? You make me sick!” He cursed, sapping the strength out of my legs. I wobbled on all fours as I pleaded with him.

“You loved me a minute ago. I’m still the same person. I may look different, but nothing has changed…” He cut in to deal a death blow.

“I never loved you. I love Cadance. You’re Chrysalis. You’ve tried to ruin my life, and here you are doing it again. I hate you!”

My legs failed me and I was no longer able to stand. I collapsed on the slab, awkwardly splayed out on my front hooves, as if wounded in battle. I had no energy to move. No strength to fight.

“Shining…” I said aloud to no one. I had never felt so empty and alone.

“Please.”

“Shining.” I heard my voice repeat. Except it wasn’t my voice. Not anymore. My voice was deeper now. Much more resonate.

Cadance swooped in on Shining as he regarded me with shock and horror on his face. Her gleeful, toothy smile boiled the bile in my gut. I wished I could knock those teeth out of her mouth.

“Shining, it's me.” She whispered in his ear. “I’m here. I’m alive. Everything is going to be ok.”

I could hear the greed and perverted joy in her voice. Had she no empathy for what he was going through?

She tried to put her hoof around him. “I need a moment.” Shining said, taking a step away from her touch. She looked surprised, but let him stand off by himself.

“Look what you did to him!” Cadance barked at me. “You made him like this. He can’t even trust his real wife because of your lies.”

I couldn’t argue. I didn’t think what she was saying was right, but I had no defense for myself. I was trying to replace her. I was trying to use him. The fact that I lost my memory was all too convenient. It didn’t change who I was or what I had done. Did it even matter if I ever loved him? Was the person I was this last year even real? Would I go back to the way I was?

The rage was swimming in my mind. All of the resentment and hatred of the evil Queen was still in me. Was it a matter of time before I turned back into the person I was before? Maybe my guilt was the last vestige of the pony I tried to be. A fleeting memory of someone I might have been if given the chance. I didn’t deserve love or happiness. I didn’t deserve him. I deserved to-

Chrysalis. A kind male voice spoke in my mind.

Crystal Heart! I cried down my mental connection to him. So I could still talk to him. Did he have to initiate it?

Did you know? I demanded of him.

Of course I knew. He admitted. There was none of the usual play or banter in his voice.

Why didn’t you tell me? I asked. If a person can cry in their mind, then I was crying in front of him.

Would you have believed me if I did? He asked, and I didn’t want to answer him.

I’m sorry. Was all I could think to say.

Sorry for what?

For everything I’ve done. For the person I was. For all the pain I’ve caused. I can’t be forgiven. I don’t deserve-” He interrupted.

I told you, when you doubt yourself, you doubt me.

But how can I possibly be forgiven? What could I ever do to make it right? He thought for a moment. Or at least, he was quiet in my mind.

Forgiveness doesn’t come easy. Sometimes not at all. When I made the decision to bond with you, I knew who you were. I knew what you had done in the past. I did not make that decision lightly.

Why did you make it at all? I couldn’t stop doubting myself. Now I was openly doubting him.

Worthiness is not a resume, or a list of deeds. It is who you are now, and who you are willing to be. You said that you wanted to save everyone. The Crystal Ponies and the Changelings. You are uniquely equipped to do exactly that. That’s why I made the decision I did. Did I make the right decision, Chrysalis? Are you willing to do whatever it takes?

The world darkened around me as I spoke with the Crystal Heart. I was aware of the other ponies in the cave, but they seemed so distant. It was a small comfort considering the circumstances. I knew they were talking to each other, maybe even to me, but all I could think about was what the Crystal Heart was trying to tell me.

What do I have to do to save them?

I have no answers. I knew he was going to say that. What do you think needs to be done? I knew he was going to ask that. Everything was up to me. Somehow I had to figure it out.

I must pay the price for the terrible things I have done. Saying that filled me with dread, yet it was also a relief. I couldn’t run from my past. All I could do was own up to it. I am the evil Queen of the Changelings. I can’t undo that.

You’ve been Chrysalis. You’ve been Cadance. Who you are now is up to you. Good luck my friend. I could sense his presence slinking out of the recesses of my mind. He was going silent again.

Wait! How do I-? I started to ask, but the conversation in the cave caught my attention again.

“She’s too dangerous to be allowed to leave.” Twilight pointed at me. They were talking about me as if I wasn’t there.

“We should have her turned to stone and placed in the Canterlot Gardens as a statue.” Cadance suggested. It wasn’t an idle threat. Other beings who had attacked Equestria suffered the same fate, and were now permanent stone residents of Canterlot. A fate much crueler than a prison cell. Maybe crueler than death.

“Chrysalis.” Twilight said through gritted teeth. “There’s three of us and one of you. If you try to resist we’ll-”

“I’ll go with you.” I surrendered before she could threaten me. The pony who once called me sister. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Oh…” Twilight’s eyes went wide in surprise. “Very well.” Her eyes darted. She was clearly not expecting it to be so easy.

“My only request, if you’d grant it, Princess? I’d like to stand trial before I’m punished.” I said directly to Twilight. A glimmer of softness broke through her expression before suspicion furrowed her brow again.

“Hah!” Cadance scoffed. “You think you can somehow prove your innocence?”

“Why?” Twilight asked, although her tone wasn’t malicious.

“I want to hear my crimes spoken out loud. Each and every one of them. However long it takes. I need to know, so that I can admit to them.” My eyes skipped over Cadance and landed on Shining Armor. He looked away from me, trying to hide some sort of realization on his face.

“I-if that’s what you want.” Twilight looked downright confused as she spoke. “That can certainly be arranged. A trial would be more proper anyway.”

“It’s a trick!” Cadance startled Twilight with her outburst. “Whatever you’re planning, Chrysalis, it’s not going to work. And I’ll be sure to make you regret whatever stunt you try and pull.” She walked right up to the edge of the slab. I hadn’t left it since I transformed. Since I was revealed for who I truly was. “In fact, you’re gonna be regretting a lot more than that.”

“Cadance.” Twilight moved next to Cadance and placed her hoof on her sister in law’s shoulder. Her real sister. “There’s no need to be nasty if she’s going to cooperate.” Twilight turned to look at me with a cold, neutral face. After all the glaring I had received, it was practically a smile by comparison.

“Queen Chrysalis.” Twilight took in a breath. “You’re under arrest for crimes against Equestria, and the Crystal Empire. I’m going to place a restraining spell around you so that-”

“Miss Cadance?” A familiar voice interrupted from down the cave corridor. The path that led to the outside. “Miss Cadance, are you in here? We’ve been looking everywhere for-”

Two Changelings burst into the chamber. They stopped in their tracks as soon as they saw me. I knew both of them. They were my boys. My precious sons.

“Thorax, Pharynx.” I turned my back to Twilight and the others. Thorax’s jaw dropped to the floor. Pharynx was still, but his face looked conflicted.

“M-mother?” Thorax’s mouth quivered as he spoke. “Is it really you?”

I smiled for the first time since I entered this cave. I nodded at him, too emotional to properly express my thoughts. He cautiously approached my slab on the raised platform.

“Do you…” He swallowed, afraid to ask his question. “Do you remember me? Are you-”

“Yes Thorax, I remember everything. My poor brave youngling.” I reached my hoof out in his direction, and he leaped at the invitation.

“Mother!” He charged the slab I was sitting on, and dove into my arms as I wrapped his head into my bosom. Tears of joy streamed down his face before he started babbling on and on. “Oh mother, I missed you so much. Miss Cadance said you lost your memories, and that’s why you left us. I wanted to tell you when I first saw you here, but she said it would just confuse you and make things worse. So I didn’t say anything, and I didn’t know what to do and…” He caught his breath for a second as I rubbed my hole ridden hoof through his greasy mane.

“Please don’t ever leave us again.” He squeezed me tighter. “We didn’t know what to do without you, and Miss Cadance tried to help us but…”

“Princess Cadance helped you?” I raised my eyebrow, as I looked over at the pony trio. They had backed away when Thorax rushed the platform. Twilight and Shining both looked at Cadance. She was standing between the two of them as she took a defensive step back.

Changelings began pouring into the room. Soon a good portion of my hive was here with me. This time they appeared to be on my side.

"You knew who I was when we spoke before? After we fought..." As soon as the words left my lips I gasped. I had battled against my own children. Oh my god, what had I done?

“What do you mean the Princess helped you?” I asked Thorax gently, trying to cleanse the memory of attacking my own children from my mind.

“I-it’s not true.” Cadance’s head rapidly went back and forth between Twilight and Shining. She summoned tears that I was sure were fake. “They kidnapped me! I was their prisoner.”

She wrapped her hooves around Shining’s shoulder, causing my eye to involuntarily twitch. “Oh Shining, I was so terrified. I finally got away from them. They were horrible and mistreated me.”

Shining stared at the mare attached to his arm. His brow wrinkled as he seemed to be unsure of what was going on. Good. He was no fool. He had to realize that something was off about her.

“Cadance, I’m so sorry we-” Twilight began when Pharynx of all people jumped in.

“Liar!” He flew next to my slab, pointing at Cadance. “You were no prisoner. We welcomed you into our hive when our Queen abandoned us.”

“Pharynx…” I didn’t realize he felt that way, but I suppose it made sense. I left them alone for over a year. I had abandoned them to go and steal a new family, and risked losing them both in the process.

“Your own kind cast you aside.” Pharynx continued. Twilight looked away in shame. Shining stood like an unreadable statue with a lying harlot on his arm.

“Just as we had been cast aside, we fed you, gave you a home, and protected you. We needed a Queen, a leader. Thorax and I were too young, too inexperienced to lead the hive. So we let you lead us. You were our hive Queen. Our surrogate mother. And this is how you repay our kindness? After a year, you disappeared without a word to rejoin your kin. Now you dare deny us with your wicked tongue?”

“Cadance?” Twilight’s eyes looked at Cadance in horror, as her mouth dropped. “You were acting as their… their…” She couldn’t bring herself to say it. Her fragile little sister demeanor had surfaced.

“I-it’s not true.” Cadance, seeing that Shining was a dead end at the moment, turned her attention to schmooze Twilight instead. “They kept me locked up. They threatened me, they… they… tortured me!”

Twilight gasped at the torture cherry on top of Cadance’s sundae of lies. Shining narrowed his eyes in anger as he looked over at Pharynx. I could almost read his thoughts. He wanted to believe that Pharynx tortured his poor wife. It was easier to hate him. To crave revenge on the Changelings. Because the alternative was too painful for Shining to consider.

Cadance began crying a little too loudly.

“You monsters!” Twilight turned her rage filled expression onto Pharynx. He was about to rebut Twilight, when I decided it was time to be a Queen to my hive once more.

“Tortured you say?” Confidence returned to my deep and resonant voice, with perhaps a tinge of amusement. This was going to take some getting used to. “You don’t appear to have been tortured.” I looked up and down her immaculate pony figure.

“Don’t listen to them, Twilight.” Cadance grabbed Twilight’s hoof with her own, and she cautiously accepted. “They’re trying to trick us again. She played the role of Princess for a year. All they know is deceit and lies.”

“There are no visible injuries on you.” I continued before Cadance could say anything else banal. “If you had been their prisoner, they would have kept you in a stasis cocoon. Periodically cracking you open to feed on your love energy. You clearly haven’t been drained anytime recently, not to mention your mane and fur are in pristine shape. Which the cocoon fluid would have absolutely ruined. Did Pell fix you up before kidnapping my newborn foal?” I raised my brow at her, not afraid to let the sarcasm drip from my voice.

I no longer dreaded my own past sins. I was ready and willing to face them, and I’d be damned if I didn’t make sure Cadance faced hers as well.

“I didn’t kidnap your halfling brat!” She spit out with venom. Her true nature leaked into the persona she was trying to present.

“Sorry.” I held up my hoof in apology. “I meant lie about kidnaping my child to black mail us into meeting you here. But let’s not argue about semantics.” I grimaced at her.

“No I’m sorry, Chrysalis.” Twilight stomped her hoof in protest on the crystal cave floor. “But I believe Cadance. I made the mistake of not believing her last year when you actually kidnapped her. I’m not about to make the same mistake all over again.”

“I’m so sorry, Cadance.” Twilight caught her eye. “I- we really messed up. I’m so sorry about what happened to you. You’re my sister in…” Twilight caught herself. “...My sister. And I failed you.” She hung her head in shame.

Cadance placed her hoof under Twilight’s chin and brought her eyes back to meet her smiling face.

“Oh, Twilight.” Cadance looked down at Twilight with all of the love and tenderness she could muster. “You know I forgive you. I just want to go home. I want to go back to my life, my kingdom, my family.”

Twilight and Cadance hugged each other, and I could feel the incalculable rage surface up the back and sides of my head.

“This is nonsense!” I pointed at the pretty pink faker. “You attacked your own ponies. You turned on the Crystal Empire, and sacked the castle you claim to call home.” Twilight and Cadance wanted to argue back, but I didn’t let them interrupt me. I was too full of rage to not be heard.

“If I’ve been at the Crystal Capital for a year, then who led the attack on the Capital on the night of the Crystal Fair, or on all those unsuspecting villages? It was you!” I hissed and Cadance wrinkled her nose in disgust. She started to bare her teeth at me, but brought her face back to normal when Twilight took notice of her expression.

“You may have been acting as Princess during the attack.” Twilight’s Princess voice returned with her confidence. Defending the ones she loved brought her courage out. “But that doesn’t mean that Cadance led the attack.” She gestured to Pharynx. “He may say that the hive required a Queen, but that doesn’t make it true. There’s no evidence she was there.”

“Which is why you cast magical darkness before the attack.” I looked behind me at all of my children watching quietly and obediently. One word from me and they would envelop these three ponies. They looked like a wave of black shadows in the low light. The pony trio had enough power to put up a fight, but our overwhelming forces would be too much. Even for Twilight.

“You needed to make sure there was no evidence of your betrayal.” I looked back at Cadance and Twilight. Shining Armor’s ears perked up, as he glanced over at me for the first time since he told me he hated me. Those words were still an open wound on my heart.

“I was there in the Crystal Heart chamber.” I spoke through gritted teeth. “I couldn’t see you, but I heard your taunts. You gloated over your victory. You spoke of getting your revenge on me, the Crystal Empire, and Shining Armor.”

Shining looked over at Cadance, and then back to me. The confusion and hesitation on his face was palpable. The air was dead as we sat in awkward silence for a moment.

“It’s your word versus mine.” Cadance finally said with a twisted, crooked grin. “And everypony knows what the word of the Queen of the Changeling’s is worth.”

“You were there.” Shining finally spoke up. “You were at the Capital during the assault.” Cadance’s eyes bulged with fear. She had made a mistake. There was a witness besides me in the Crystal Heart chamber. She was the reason he was up there at all. She made the Changelings carry him up there.

“Shining, what are you saying?” Twilight demanded, looking hurt by her brother’s words.

“I remember everything.” Shining rubbed his mane as he stared at the gravelly floor. “I was laying in the Crystal Heart chamber. I was blind and drained. I couldn’t feel anything.” He looked up and glared at Cadance. His eyes narrowed as he stared down his dear old wife. Emphasis on ‘old.’

“But I could hear two voices. They were the same voice. I didn’t think about it at the time, because I was emotionless. Empty. Nothing mattered to me.” His bottom lip quivered as an awful realization dawned on him.

“I heard you.” He said so quietly, he could barely be heard. Cadance’s shocked expression said she heard him loud and clear. “I heard everything you said to…” his eyes darted to me, then back to Cadance. “...Chrysalis. She’s telling the truth, Twilight.”

“No!” Cadance screamed as her face contorted.

“What?” Twilight looked like she might break into tears.

“Cadance lead the attack on the Capital.” Shining pointed at Cadance, cementing his accusation. “Cadance has been acting as the Changeling Queen for a year.”

“Shining.” Twilight’s voice cracked. “Think about what you’re saying. That can’t be true. This is Cadance we’re talking about. She would never betray her own family. Her kingdom. This all must be just Changeling deceit and lies. It has to be. There…”

“Twilie.” Shining interrupted her thoughts. “I was there. I heard her declare her revenge. She did this.” His words turned to Cadance. “You did this.”

Cadance stood in silence as she stewed in frustration. I was surprised steam wasn’t coming out of her ears.

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked Shining, praying for some doubt. Something to let her keep believing. He simply nodded, and Twilight took a step away from Cadance. She regarded her sister in law with suspicion for the first time.

“Why?” Twilight's voice sounded like a crying child.

“What happened to you?” Shining asked.

“What happened to me?” Cadance backed away from them both, creating a triangle in the way they were positioned. “You…” Her hooves shook as she tried to find the words, and control her anger. “You’re supposed to be a stupid, but lovable meat headed stallion. Why did you have to pick right now to start thinking for yourself?”

“Excuse me?” Shining cocked his head back, thoroughly offended.

“You wanna know what happened to me?” Cadance began shouting and now there was no closing the floodgates. “You happened to me!” She pointed at him as her face contorted.

“I was taken from my home. Dragged to this forsaken cave, and experimented on. I was filled with her disgusting essence. It assaulted me with all of her spite and anger. I didn’t know how to handle it. I was broken, and scared. And you, both of you…” She pointed to Twilight as well.

“You said I was false. You called me a liar. You called me Chrysalis. You said I was evil. You threatened me.” Tears welled up in her eyes. They seemed much more real to me this time. “You said that if I didn’t leave you would attack me. What was I supposed to do? I was cast out. I was replaced. I had nowhere to go, and then I ran into Thorax and the rest of the Changelings. I thought I was finished, but they were so broken up about their own mother that they let me take over. I couldn’t go home. You wouldn’t believe me. You believed that memory deficient twit instead. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair, and I hated you.”

The tears flowed like a waterfall at this point. Shining looked hurt and shocked to hear his wife say ‘I hate you.’

Now you know what that feels like. I couldn’t help but think.

“For the first time in my life, I hated you. I was a prisoner out here. Maybe not the Changeling’s prisoner, but I was trapped. You want to know why I betrayed you? Because you betrayed me!”

Her voice echoed off the cave walls as she screamed her last word at the top of her lungs.

“You left me for dead, and then you took this whore into your bed.” I shook for a moment at her insult. “You went on without me as if nothing had ever happened. So I went after you in the only way I had left. I would make you notice me. I would make you care again. Even if I had to drag the whole Crystal Empire down, I would make you pay for what you did.”

Twilight was stunned. She didn’t know how to process an emotional cut this deep. However, Shining and I were veterans at it by now. He held her gaze as she dressed him down like he was a misbehaving recruit.

“And then you had a child with her.” Her voice dropped so low, it sent chills down my spine. “You contributed your seed to the spawn of evil. She cannot be allowed to claim the throne one day. I swear I will wipe this tainted bloodline from the face of the earth.”

“What?” Shining shouted with pure anguish on his face.

“But first.” Cadence’s wrath swapped over to me. I saw the violent purpose in her eyes too late.

“You!” her horn lit up with blinding hot blue light. Her beam was in the air and right in my face before I could react. I should have been ready. I knew a fight was brewing, and she still caught me off guard.

“Mother!” Thorax cried as my vision was eclipsed by a black body leaping in front of me. I heard a miserable singing noise as the blast hit Thorax in his soft underbelly.

His painful, weeping cry filled my ears. It would fill my nightmares for years to come. I was helpless to save him as Cadance’s powerful attack wreaked havoc on my poor baby boy.

“Thorax!” I screamed out as my shrill voice cracked in its upper register. Cadance’s attack mercifully ceased. I was about to throw him out of the way if she decided to persist.

“Ugh, Stupid boy.” Cadance flipped her hair back as if commenting on petty school drama.

“Traitor!” Pharynx’s voice shouted, as he leaped and flew over to Cadance. His jagged hoof landed squarely on her left cheek. The blows sent her careening back, and tore a gash into her soft furry face. He was about to go for another blow when a magenta magic aura enveloped him, freezing him in place.

“Let go of me!” He demanded, as Twilight maintained her restraining spell on him.

I heard the buzzing sound of my hive taking to the air. I craned my head around to see them hissing and jumping to action. They took Pharynx’s charge as a call to battle. They advanced forward, and I knew this was about to turn into a massive brawl. My family, both of my families, were about to be locked in mortal combat.

“Wait!” I commanded my Changelings and they reluctantly settled back down, although now much closer to what was potentially a battle ground.

“We don’t want to fight.” Twilight and I said in unison. Our eyes met for a tense and awkward second. The battle was delayed for at least another moment. I wanted to ask her to let Pharynx down, but with how much he was struggling in her magical grip, it was probably for the best that he was restrained.

“Mo…ther…” Thorax’s weak and hoarse voice cried as he reached out with his hoof to grab me. I wrapped him up into my arms, and forced myself to look at the damage. My heart collapsed as I looked at his burnt middle section.

“Radiant burns!” I shouted as my hateful gaze landed on Cadance. Because of the Changeling curse, our bodies were weak to radiant spells. She had intended to kill me with her attack.

“It burns…” Thorax coughed, causing him to convulse in yet more pain. “Please… make it stop burning.” He looked like he was on the verge of losing consciousness. I held his head in my left hoof and gently placed my jagged right hoof on his burnt chest. He reeled slightly at my touch on his delicate and damaged skin.

“Does anyone know healing magic?” I certainly didn’t. It wasn’t something we had access to at our hive. We used birthing pods as healing chambers when needed, but there was no time to do that now. Thorax was fading in my arms.

“Please…” I watched as my tears dripped onto Thorax’s shoulder. “I’ll do anything. I’ll go face trial, turn me to stone, whatever you want. But please, someone. Somepony save him. I-I don’t know how.” I looked into his fading eyes as guilt riddled my useless Queen mind and body. We were a species catered to make war and terror. Not peace and healing.

“I’m no expert.” Twilight said as I looked up at her. “But I can cast some healing spells.”

“Name your price.” I pleaded with her. “Tell me your terms. Anything you want, for his life.” Thorax’s painful moans filled me with dread. Twilight was my only hope. Thorax’s only chance. These burns would resist natural healing. His body would need help.

“No price.” Twilight shook her head. “I’ll do it, but uh…” She gestured her head at the floating Pharynx who was still bound in her spell.

“Pharynx.” My calm yet stern maternal voice shot out of me. “Be a good boy and stay still so that Auntie Twilight can heal your brother. No fighting.” I demanded.

Shining rose an eyebrow when I called Twilight ‘auntie.’

“Y-yes mother.” He obediently replied and stopped resisting the spell. Twilight gently set him down as she released him. He calmly walked over to us until he was in Thorax’s field of vision.

“I…” Thorax struggled to speak. “I’m sorry for being… weak.” He said to his red maned sibling. The hair color was the only discernible difference between the two of them.

“No.” Pharynx shook his head. “You were quicker than me, and you saved mother when I was too slow. I… I’m proud of you little brother.” Thorax grinned in response, too weak to speak anymore.

“Um… excuse me… Pharynx was it?” Twilight shuffled her hooves as she spoke. She was still a socially awkward nerd. “I need to um… I need space so I can…”

Pharynx’s eyes regarded her with suspicion as he shuffled out of the way to make room for Twilight.

“T-thank you.” She nodded to him.

“Why did you stop me?” He asked her point blank.

“Pardon?” Twilight looked confused.

“Why didn’t you let me finish her?” Pharynx bared his fangs as he spoke. “She betrayed you. She attacked her own kind, and you dare deny me my vengeance on her?”

“She’s my sister.” Twilight replied unapologetically. “I had to save her. Even if she hurt me.”

Pharynx didn’t agree, but he let the matter drop. Twilight inspected Thorax’s burns. Her face looked more and more grim the longer she looked.

“You’re right. It’s radiant damage. Which is especially potent against… uh…” Twilight paused as she wasn’t sure how to look at me.

“Say it.” I ordered in a severe tone.

“It’s especially potent against evil creatures.” Twilight swallowed.

“Debatable.” I replied with a sly grin. “It threatens our bodies because of our curse, not our deeds.”

“His body can’t heal on its own.” She continued dodging the issue. “The radiant energy prevents cells from reprod-” I felt my eyes roll as I interrupted her.

“I know how radiant damage works, Twilight.”

She nodded softly. There was still something she didn’t want to say.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. It felt like the first real conversation we’d had now that I was her enemy.

“It’s just that…” She looked between Thorax and myself. “I can cast the healing spell, but if there’s evil in his heart. It will only… damage him further.” Twilight avoided the word ‘death.’

I suddenly took her hoof into mine, and she nearly jumped back away from me. Instead she tolerated my touch with suspicion in her eyes.

“We’re not evil Twilight. If this is what it takes to show you that, then so be it.” I held her gaze for a moment as she considered my words. To my surprise, she briefly squeezed my hoof back. Twilight activated her magic as a purple haze enveloped Thorax’s body.

“Mo…ther…” Thorax’s semi conscious voice spoke. “What’s… what’s happening?”

“It’s ok, darling.” I petted his mane as Twilight’s healing spell started pulsing. “Everything is going to be alright, I promise.”

I watched as Thorax’s crisp and burnt flesh mended back into new young skin. I let myself hope again, as I watched the color return to his eyes. He was getting better. Twilight may not be a healing expert, but when it came to magic, her capable horn could be trusted. Her eyes looked surprised as she watched the healing spell work as intended on Thorax’s body.

Twilight’s spell ended and she took a moment to catch her breath.

“Ok, that’s about all I can do.” Twilight shook her head. “Anything more will require a professional. However, he should be out of any immediate danger.”

Twilight cried out as I took her into my embrace. Her horn lit for a second, ready to defend herself. She finally relaxed herself as I said,

“Thank you, Twilight.” Tears were flowing down my cheeks again. “I know you hate me. I know we’ve been enemies for so long, but thank you. Thank you for saving his life.”

I let go of her, and she regarded me with a conflicted expression.

“You’re welcome… Chrysalis.” She nodded with a slight grin on her cheek.

“Thorax, how do you feel?” I focused my attention back to my son.

“It still hurts, but…” He struggled to turn himself over. “I think I can move.” He managed to get onto his knees and elbows and started to stand up.

“Don’t overdo it.” I advised. “Rest if you need to.”

“I’m ok, mother.” He smiled at me. “I’ve had worse.”

“Thorax, what have I told you about lying to me?” I said sternly.

“I know. I just wanted to sound cool.” He looked deflated. Pharynx bursted out laughing.

“We’ll work on your image, little brother.” Pharynx patted his brother on the back.

“Ow!” Thorax cried out, staring daggers at Pharynx.

“Sorry, sorry.” Pharynx put his hooves up in apology.

“I hate to break up this tearful family reunion.” Cadance spoke up causing the four of us to look over at her. “Oh wait, no I don’t. Twilight, if you’re done fraternizing with Changelings, we have a Queen to prosecute.”

“You tried to kill her.” Twilight looked at her sister in law in a different light. “You almost killed him.”

“Nopony is perfect.” Cadance shrugged as her voice dropped. “I’ll aim better next time.” I heard the vitriol in her voice.

The collective hiss from my hivelings bounced off the cave walls and into our ears. I saw them stomping their hooves and baring their teeth. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to hold them back. They weren’t likely to let Cadance leave this cave alive.

Sounds like her problem to me. The thought was comforting, even funny to me, but I knew it wasn’t what I wanted. It wasn’t what was right.

Cadance rubbed her newly scarred cheek, and I saw fresh anger wrinkle her nose and cheeks.

“You dare mark my face, Changeling?” She glared at Pharynx. She wouldn’t even use his name. “By the time I’m through with you, you’re all going to be extinct.” She shouted, and my Changelings screeched back in disgust. It was impossible to hear anything but my hive’s war cry for a few moments.

“Cadance, shut up!” Shining yelled at her, catching everyone off guard. Especially Cadance.

“Shining?” She looked at him, genuinely concerned.

“We are trapped in this cave with a hive between us and the exit.” He gestured to the Changeling mob. You couldn’t even see the cave path as my children filled the floors and walls.

“And you’re screaming about exterminating them? Stop talking before you get us all killed.” He berated her. She wanted to say something, but Twilight beat her to it.

“Perhaps a truce is in order?” Twilight inched her way over to Shining, leaving Cadance standing off by herself.

“A truce?” Cadance scoffed. “You can’t make a truce with Changelings. At least, not forever.”

“You’re the one who broke our truce, Princess.” I hopped down from my slab, leaving Thorax alone to rest on it.

“It doesn’t matter what we agree to or what the terms are.” Cadance had to yell to be heard above the buzzing of my hive.

“And you know this, Chrysalis.” She pointed past me, gesturing to my noisy hive. “Look at your Changelings.”

I turned to see their faces, and I instantly understood what she was getting at.

“They’ve been starving for a year.” She said with joy in her voice. I turned back to face her, and saw the satisfaction on her face. “Look at their drooling fangs. Their overactive wings. The uncontrollable noises coming out of their hideous bodies. It’s hunger, Chrysalis. You can’t change what you are. You can make all the promises you want, but eventually the hive will disobey you and give in to their base nature.”

She boldly stepped forward to be face to face with me. I was taller, yet still felt like the smaller creature.

“You… you starved them? My children… for a whole year?”

Cadance’s shrug made my anger boil over. “For all my wrongs, I honored our truce, Cadance. We pulled back on the checkpoints. There has been peace. The crystal ponies are happy and prospering. And yet, you… you allowed this to happen? My children looked up to you, and this is what you did?”

Cadance tossed her mane and grinned. “I’m surprised they lasted as long as they have.”

I glared at her. “Of course they did. They didn’t ask for this curse driving their hunger and forcing them to feed. There is good in them.”

“So says their evil Queen.” Cadance shot back. “And soon.” She tapped her hoof on my shoulder, practically pushing me as I stood my ground. “You’ll give into it too. The hunger. You must feel it too.”

“No.” I said as the ravenous cry of my children filled my ears. She was right. I couldn’t stop them forever. Not when they’ve been starved. They had to feed, or they would…

What about me?

“You know it’s true.” Cadance taunted me. “Eventually you’d feed on Shining, and your baby, and anypony else you claim to love. It’s who you are, you’re nothing but a vile thing.” Her voice dropped so low, the vocal fry from her last words burned into me. “Queen of the monsters.”

“No…” My reply was weak.

Am I a monster? I questioned. Are we cursed to feel this way forever and feed until we are wiped out?

I believe you’re asking the wrong question. A familiar and kind voice said.

You’re still here? I asked the Crystal Heart.

Always. His simple response kept what little flame I had in my heart lit.

Ok, one more game I suppose. I relented and I could feel him chuckling. What is the right question?

You keep wondering why your hive must eat. But the answer is obvious.

They are cursed, and haven’t eaten in a year. I replied bluntly

Correct. He said as if he were my school teacher. Therefore, the question I have for you is, why aren’t you hungry, Queen Chrysalis?

The gears started turning in my head. I had been asleep for a year. Dreaming in someone else’s life. I hadn’t drained anyone the entire time, and yet…

I feel no desire to feed. I realized.

Indeed. He said as if it were obvious. So why are you full and they’re not?

“Mother.” Thorax’s soft voice took me out of my thoughts. I looked at my boy. His fangs were bared. Drool filled his mouth as his wings started beating like his brothers and sisters behind him.

“I’m so hungry.” He said as greedy desire filled his round eyes. I looked over at Pharynx. He looked like a rabid animal ready to pounce. I wasn’t fully sure he would hear me if I spoke. He was shaking, and veins were popping in his neck. I had mere moments, seconds to act.

“Cadance betrayed us.” Thorax said with a wicked smile in his voice. “Can I eat her, mother? Just her. Just a little bit.”

“Thorax, wait.” I stood between him and Cadance who was wisely backing away at this point.

“Keep that monster off of me.” Cadance cried as she joined Twilight and Shining’s side again.

“Oh now you’re worried about that?” Shining chastised her.

“I’m too hungry, mother. I have to…” He started and I took his cheeks into my hooves, as I stared into his starving expression.

“Oh Thorax. Love must be given freely, not taken.” I rubbed his squishy cheeks.

“I don’t understand.” One tear dripped down his cheek and onto my hoof.

“I’ll show you.” I let him go, handing him back to his brother. With a growing resolve building in my gut, I levitated myself into the air, making sure I could see all of my children.

I know what I have to do. I told the Crystal Heart.

****

Author's Note:

Best song to pair with this chapter:

Dancin' With the Devil (ft. Alumx, Briakitten, Namii, & Sylver Stripe)

Comments

[FridayPie]

It's not a plot twist, it's entire corkscrew

[vectorVll]

I guess in the beginning of the first chapters that Chrysalis tried to do a body snatcher type thing but it seems like it was way worse and unintentional they switched moral essence chrysalis is a more nicer creature and cadence is now more of a vicious preacher I wonder how this is going to work out.

[vectorVll]

“For the first time in my life, I hated you. I was a prisoner out here. Maybe not the Changeling’s prisoner, but I was trapped. You want to know why I betrayed you? Because you betrayed me!”

I'm going to be honest see out here cooking.

[vectorVll]

"In my mind, there are two possibilities regarding Cadence's final reveal. Either she is 100% confident in her ability to defeat every single changeling, essentially stopping them one by one, or she has a deeper plan, which I hope is the case. It seems she might be strong enough to cast a darkness spell over the entire city, so I don't doubt her power. However, even then, she's acting too irrationally for someone who devised a successful plan to essentially take out the empire. Was able to trick both the changelings and her people.

[MooseWhisker]

inb4 next chapter reveals this whole thing was a plot hatched by Cadance and the Crystal heart to reform the changelings/heal the curse. I know it’s super unlikely, but I genuinely have an inkling that that’s where this is going to go.

[TronicsM]

Dios, esto es increible, aunque queria que cadance estuviera bien y no corrompida pero esto esta bien.

[Wooden Wheel]

This chapter is good, but it raises a narrative decision that I feel needs to be addressed.

What happened in that cave originally?

The line of events described suggests that Chrysalis kidnapped Cadance to do something, the 'what' is irrelevant. Shiny and Twilight stopped it.

So, at this point they have two Cadances in front of them, one unconscious, the other conscious, both unable to be identified as Changelings. The conscious assures that she is the real one and probably that she can prove it; They, however, decide that the unconscious is the true one. Instead of 'Chrysalis you're under arrest, come with us peacefully to stand trial', a decision that the real Cadance would gladly accept because it's the option that would allow her to prove that she's the real deal, Twilight and her brother go 'You're a wanted criminal, but you know what? Get out of here, we don't want you near us.' Instead of doing the sensible thing and following them or doing anything else to prove her identity like going with Celestia or better yet, with the Crystal Heart, an entity that has proven that it can and knows who is who, to stop this train of misunderstandings and stupidity, instead, Cadance decides to get on the train and not just become a passenger, no, she decides to go to the locomotive and add fuel to the fire, and she decides to listen to them and in fact she decides to go into exile...

Why?

[DarthMaul22]

11897380
I think the only missing info here is why they thought the conscious Cadance was Chrysalis. The only reason "You're under arrest, come with us" was an option this time was because Chrysalis specifically requested it. The mass of changelings was most likely present during the original "ritual", so I can kind of understand some hastiness. The only thing I can guess is that Cadance was already acting nasty due the part of Chrysalis's essence that she received.

“Oh Thorax. Love must be given freely, not taken.” I rubbed his squishy cheeks.

I levitated myself into the air, making sure I could see all of my children.

Rainbow gay moose time?

[Wooden Wheel]

11898823

Not only the 'Why' did they believe that the conscious Cadance was Chrysalis while the unconscious Cadance is the real one; also the 'Why' Cadance did nothing to prove her identity.

Also:

“You said I was false. You called me a liar. You called me Chrysalis. You said I was evil. You threatened me.” Tears welled up in her eyes. They seemed much more real to me this time. “You said that if I didn’t leave you would attack me. What was I supposed to do? I was cast out. I was replaced. I had nowhere to go, and then I ran into Thorax and the rest of the Changelings.

This doesn't present the situation as: "Twilight, we are surrounded by an army of Changelings, hurry up and pick up Cadance and let's escape as quickly as possible!!!"

This presents the situation as the 4 of them being alone and with enough time to belittle, insult and threaten the Cadance that was begging for understanding.

So also the 'Why' they shooed her, instead of taking them both to clean up the mess and arrest the real Chrysalis at the same time.