Ilustration by F-NAR
The cloaked figure moved their sitting place and looked up at the stained glass window of Duchess Chrysalis the Loving.
“Not everypony begins life a saint, just as not every warrior begins life as athletic and powerful,” he explained, taking a look at Gilda's window before returning his gaze to the Duchess's. “Sometimes it's a long road to that finish line. And we may be tempted to stray from the path.”
Duchess Chrysalis stared off the balcony of the castle overlooking Equestria's southern lands that she was presently stood as guardian of. Her true palace was a bit further east, but temporarily (fate permitting) relocating to the center of Equestria's southern half allowed her to react faster to threats throughout it. Given she, Sombra, and Captain Good Guy were the only three currently active heroes that could face the dreaded Princesses when they struck, she had to be quick.
Unfortunately, despite her best efforts, Southern Equestria had suffered no less than the rest of the land. She could save cities and lives, but all the pegasus cities had been destroyed and she couldn't make Celestia stop her sun's scorching heat. Bravery Blue (Chrysalis being one of a handful of beings who knew he actually existed) had managed to protect the basin he lived in with a magical shield and other shielding was somewhat possible, but that still only created 'safe spots.' “...All this devastation...” she muttered with a sigh. “And I just can't bring an end to it...”
Fight after fight with those two. Even when she managed to gain a decisive advantage over either of them, she just couldn't finish the job. Only drive them away to wreak havoc on her country another day.
“Maybe if I was the mare I once was...”
The Changeling matriarch shook her head to clear that frightening thought away. “I'll...I'll just keep fighting...eventually we'll send them to Tartarus or...or maybe actually fix what happened...”
Before the Duchess could think further on that subject, she felt something on her leg. Looking down, she found a Changeling larva climbing on her leg. The infant gave a whimper, the Changeling Royal sensing its concern. She gave a motherly smile and floated the larva up to nuzzle them. “It's okay, my child. I was just thinking some things over...”
She hummed a lullaby to the infant until they fell asleep, at which point she sat them down in a cradle with several others. One of many such cradles. They weren't ALL her own, though her insect queen status wasn't just for show. This was the hive daycare which was under the matriarch's personal care. But even if they weren't all her biological children, that didn't mean she didn't treat them.
Chrysalis looked over the rows of sleeping larvae with a warm, motherly smile...until one of her Changelings rushed in, panting heavily. “Your Majesty!” While Chrysalis was a Duchess of Equestria, her own people still saw her as their Queen and referred to her as such. That and regardless of title, she was an insect queen.
Unfortunately, the yell for her attention also caused the multiple cradles of larvae to startle awake and begin crying loudly, resulting in a glare from the matriarch and a sheepish look from the drone. However, Chrysalis then noted the distress on his face and motioned for the drones and ponies that worked there under her to help calm the infants (as much as she loved this, the Duchess was still only one pony) and gently rocked one of the cradles to sooth the larvae back to sleep while keeping her eyes on the drone. “Is it the Princesses?”
The changelings had received word of something involving those two Sombra was currently caught up in. Something about a mirror portal and a second Celestia. But beyond that, she knew nothing about the situation.
“No...something else...”
A unicorn mare with white fur and a silver mane and tail trotted over to the matriarch, her Cutie Mark was a heart with a bottle over it. “I'll handle things here, don't worry,” she said with a smile.
Chrysalis returned a motherly smile. “Alright, Nurturing Heart.”
Chrysalis sat at a desk, looking at not only her Changeling guard, but several members of the Royal Guard and various policeponies. The one currently briefing her was a blue earth pony mare with a gray mane and tail dressed in a detective's uniform, a diamond for her cutie mark. On a board behind the detective were a distressingly high number of pictures, each of another pony looking drained, emotionless. Almost emaciated in some ways. The Duchess shuddered.
“So far twenty ponies were found in this state. At first we thought it might be some of Luna's vampires, but then we realized no blood had been taken...” the mare explained, giving sigh. “We did some digging and well...”
Chrysalis looked down at her hooves. “...Changeling love drain...it has thankfully been a very long time since I've seen this, Detective Diamond.”
Rough Diamond was a police detective, one of the best on the force. Something only Chrysalis and a select few knew, however, was she was one of their best undercover operatives inside Celestia and Luna's operations.
One of the guards shuddered at the picture of the drained ponies. “Why would a Changeling do this?”
Duchess Chrysalis gave a sigh, pinning her ears. “...It's in our nature the same as eating meat is in that of a griffon, even if we've grown beyond the more grisly ways we used to do it...”
3,000 Years Ago
Perhaps it was the location of some horrible disaster. Perhaps it was simply the result of a large deal of natural magic congealing together into a pool of eldritch power. Even she and her brood did not know. What they did know, however, was the first sight of her species was that dark pool filled with bones as they tore their way out of the hideous, dark magic-mutated tree that was their point of genesis.
First came the swarm of hissing, growling insectiod beasts with tattered wings that burst forth fully grown. The newborn hive snarling and hissing at each other, beginning to fight amongst themselves within moments of their existence...at least until they heard a deep hiss resound from within the tree.
Ripping her way forth from her womb, the Changeling Queen's appearance would have shocked all who knew the form she wore today. She was animalistic and feral in her mannerisms, her horn long, viscous, and curved. Beautiful butterfly wings nowhere in sight, instead being simply a bigger looking version of her hive's. The chitin composing her exoskeleton onyx black rather than the lighter gray she'd one day be clad in. As she emerged, lightning seemed drawn down from the sky, striking the tree and lighting it ablaze with green flames that imploded inward in tandem with her exit until the tree was consumed and vanished as she cleared the place of her birth.
The newborn Changeling Royal looked down at the pool in front of her the tree that had spawned them had grown from, at first recoiling and giving a frightened, feral hiss at what she saw...then slowly looking back down, finding another queen looking back. She carefully raised a hoof. The other queen did the same. She moved her head. The other queen did the same. She walked around the pool. The other queen did the same. This was not another queen. This was her. Her face.
The newborn, feral matriarch looked at her hive, not having enough knowledge or mental growth to speak a word. Or even knowing what words were. Her world was one ruled by instinct and animalistic urges.
The most basic was a hunger...a bottomless hunger. Not for meat, plants, or anything else material. This was a stranger hunger. One for something she had not yet tasted or even smelled but knew she needed like plants needed water and sunlight..
Another instinct was cold. Apathetic. The law of the jungle incarnate. The strong thrive, the weak die. She was the strongest of the hive without question. This instinct demanded she grab those reigns that strength presented and dominate the hive. To see them as only a means to ensure her own survival above all else.
But a second instinct battled this one. A warm instinct. Loving. The law of the mother. Of a mother or older sister to her children or younger sibling. The elder takes care of their young until they could care for themselves. The duty of the stronger Alpha to protect the rest of their...herd? Swarm? This instinct demanded a mother, not simply a controlling, dominating force.
While her mind was still simple, it was developed enough to tell these two instincts were mutually exclusive. One could not feel nothing and feel compassion at the same time. That was simply impossible.
And thus, the Queen did something that showed that even in this primitive state, showed she was no mere beast.
She chose.
The Changeling Royal gave a commanding screech for her hive to gather around her...and put her wings over the closest, giving them a motherly nuzzle.
Chrysalis put a hoof to one of the pictures, looking into the drained eyes of the poor husks. She finally broke eye contact and began looking at the map marking the locations where the victims had been found. The attacker's feeding ground seemed to be Manehattan, and any outside it had been on a line towards that location. They had a hunting ground, now they just needed a pattern... “Changelings can't just rip love out of a nonchangeling, it has to be...offered so to speak. They have to pretend to be somepony the person loves to get their opening...”
“So in other words, he's not going to be running around draining homeless ponies?” Detective Diamond commented, looking at the board next to the monarch.
“Unless they take their time, but ones like this normally don't have the...patience for that...they're always hungry,” the Duchess explained, her tone one of pity.
The police detective nodded. “Got it...well, all the targets are female, so does that mean we're looking for a male Changeling?”
Chrysalis rubbed her head sheepishly. “Maybe but...well, Changelings aren't very...self-conscious about the gender of our alternate forms. We don't particularly care. I myself have been male plenty of times for many reasons...” she explained...then blushed green at the looks that got her. “Be that as it may...it could simply be like a serial killer having a particular target.”
“Like how Empress Cadenza likes kidnapping ponies with loved ones?” one of the guards asked, causing Chrysalis to give a rare snarl.
“Yes...” Changeling monarch said flatly at the mention of her archenemy. She and the 'Empress of Broken Hearts' had a history. All of it bad. Though given Cadenza's backstory, Chrysalis couldn't hate her. Just really really dislike her. “The point is, yes, they are targeting mares with love interests, so that is a good place to start.”
Rough Diamond nodded. “As good a place to start as any. The sooner we stop this maniac the better.”
The matriarch nodded, then looked back to the board. ''Stop this maniac'...I remember when I could very well have been the target of those words...'
Chrysalis. The middle stage of an insect were it formed a hard cocoon to protect itself as it grew into adulthood. A mother protected her young until they grew to adulthood. The Changeling Queen felt that word was perfect for her 'name.' It was a long time before her kind had even heard the word 'name,' let alone decided to take them for themselves.
The young Chrysalis knew her duty was to provide for her people. And that duty included food. Food that, as she soon discovered, was not as easily acquired as grabbing fruit from a tree or hunting game. Love, her kind's lifeblood, could only be acquired from those that felt it and no where else.
She'd started off targeting highwaystallions and other wrongdoers. Then moved on up to despots and warmongers. Those that no one would miss if they disappeared or left emotionless husks. Like Tibucktu and their cruel but cowardly King Orion, who's crown now set on her head, morphed into a shape more befitting her. The Queen was also currently clad in jade colored, insect themed armor, her helmet having tusks next to her mouth and the yellow lenses over her eyes. After claiming Orion's kingdom, she'd had it forged and made there from plunder. However, unfortunately those cruel hearts didn't exactly have a surplus of love for her kind to feed on. Plenty of narcissism, yes, but that was an acquired taste and not as powerful as other types. They needed hearts filled with love...if they didn't, they would starve.
It was for that reason that their latest target was Trot, lead by the all loving Emperor Incitatus. It was a simple plan: replace his bride (she was a gold digger anyway, her narcissism had been rather filling) and feed off the Emperor's love until they launched their attack on wedding day.
It went perfectly...but then, they hit a snag right as she and her drones had been feeding on the Emperor's generous supply of love...
Now the Changelings were stuck on the other side of a radiant shield of golden light, their intended prey safely inside.
“Cease these hostilities!” King Sombra of Equestria yelled, standing on top of a pillar of radiant blue crystal. “I do not want war!”
Chrysalis snarled, she and her swarm buzzing above the city like a plague of locusts about to descend.“Do you think I do?! This is the only way for my people to survive! And we will not be denied!” The Changeling swarm unleashed a collective blast upon the shield, but it held.
“I highly doubt that! There has got to be some other way!” the King of Equestria replied, keeping a kindly, but firm tone. “War is never the only solution!”
“Do not preach to me! You don't know what my people need!” the Changeling monarch yelled. “You don't know what it's like to be born with these instincts of ours! With this hunger we deal with every day!”
Sombra gave a frown, giving an oddly sympathetic look. “...Maybe I do...”
Chrysalis prepared to give a rebuke...when a thought occurred to her. “If he's here keeping my army away...that means...” she whispered. Did she dare do that? Attack THERE? She looked to her people, who had only gotten a small nibble of love from this venture. Who still starved day in and day out. She didn't want to, she HAD to.
“Children! Half of you with me! The other half remain here and keep the King busy!” Chrysalis called. If they went to Equestria and took all that glorious love and brought it back, her people would be well fed! At the very least for a longer time than they'd ever known before!
However, fate had other plans. Sombra had not ruled Equestria for so long despite the onslaught of his enemies by being stupid. He quickly caught on to the Changeling Queen's plans...and had but one choice.
“Citizens of Trot! Close your eyes!” the king called. The subjects did as they were told, having trust in the king who had come to their rescue. Chrysalis looked back as she felt something...something frightening. The king took a deep breath, closing his eyes. “I hoped I'd never have to use this power again...” he muttered, rising his crystal tower up high enough off the ground no one could see him clearly or hear his words. He put a hoof to the golden amulet on his cape, causing it to glow with magic.
The Changeling monarch's eyes went wide as Sombra opened his own, revealing slitted red eyes with green sclerae, a stream of purple magic rising from the sides of them. His shadow rose up around him, slinking like it was alive.
The barrier changed from one made of golden light to purple with streaks of green, spreading outwards. Chrysalis gasped as it went over the Changelings surrounding Trot.
The swarm's eyes turned to match the King's before they fell to the ground, curling into balls and looking too panicked and terrified to react to anything around them.
“What did yo-” Chrysalis started, a mother's rage now burning...before Sombra surged upwards on his crystal pillar, forcing the Changelings and their queen to fall back as the terrifying shield approached.
Sombra gave a sadistic, animal-like smirk, revealing razor sharp teeth filling his jaws. Chrysalis trembled, falling back in pure terror from the being before her. Sombra blinked...then it was his turn to look terrified. He put a hoof to the golden amulet and focused, causing the frightening magic to dissipate and his eyes to turn back to normal.
“W-What what that?” Chrysalis asked in a stupor.
“...I told you I might understand your plight better than you assumed...” the King of Equestria replied with a sorrowful look. “What you are...what your instincts say. Is not who you have to be. Trust me, I know from personal experience that is not true.”
Chrysalis watched as Sombra held out his hoof to the barrier.
“I'm sure we can find a better way for your people...just like I have found a better way for me.”
The Changeling monarch slowly put a hoof out to meet Sombra's...then her eye caught the Changelings still curled up in panic and fear on the ground. A snarl of fury crossed her face and she tried to blast straight through Sombra's shield with a mother's rage. “YOU HURT MY BABIES! WHY WOULD I EVER TRUST YOU?!”
Sombra sighed dejectedly. “...I'm sorry, but it was the only way I could get past them. They're not hurt, they'll be fine once the spell wears off...”
Chrysalis hammered away at the shield with beams and blows. Her fury and rage managing to force some cracks into the shield. “I DON'T CARE!”
The King of Equestria gasped in surprise as she blew a hole through his shield and blasted him in the chest, knocking him back across his crystal platform. The queen snarled in rage, charging up her horn for a follow up aimed directly at his head.
Suddenly, the sky glowed blue and the clouds began circling like a whirlpool. A trio of voices began singing long wordless notes.
“What?!” Chrysalis asked, looking up.
The singing continued as finally a single long note accompanied a blue magical shockwave blowing away the clouds. From the sky descended a trio of long, mermare-like beings. One was blue and wore glasses, another purple and had a flower attached to her head fin, and the middle one was yellow and wearing a holy looking necklace and tiara. In the chest of each one sat a blue jewel. While each had razor sharp teeth filling their maws, their peaceful and kind expressions gave them a calming presence. Just the way they carried themselves made them seem strangely beautiful rather than any physical attribute.
“Welcome to the Show...
This violence that you sow...
Let it end now...
Let anger's flame burn out...” the trio sang, causing the Changelings to suddenly feel calmer. Invisible to all watching but the trio, streams of green, smoke-like energy departed all presence, surging into the trio's gems.
“Adagio...I wondered when you and your sisters would get here...” Sombra said with a relieved sigh.
The yellow Muse Sister nodded, giving a humble bow. “My apologizes, King Sombra, we were in the North when we got word...”
The blue one adjusted her glasses. “They appear to be some form of insectiod/equine hybrid. If I am not mistaken, they are fellow emotovores, sisters.”
“Really, Sonata? Huh...I think they're kinda cute,” the purple one said, giving a somewhat girlish and excitable smile.
Chrysalis snarled, seeing red instead of reason even with her rage being siphoned off. “GET OUT OF HERE!” she yelled, firing her magic beam at them. The remaining active Changelings joined in, uniting in a massive blast. Calmed or not, she was their mother.
The Muse Sisters all sung one long note, effortlessly blowing their attacks back with a blue colored, magical sound wave.
Adagio and her sisters held their hooves close to their gems, channeling the green miasma only they could see into the space between their hooves. Chrysalis felt her rage being torn away and tried to hang onto it. She needed it to win!
“Your own negative energy will be your downfall...” Adagio said before the trio each threw a hoof up.
“Feel the wave of sound,
As it crashes down.
You won't win this day!
We'll wash evil away!” the Muse Sisters sung, a blue energy wave flying up, then crashing down on the Changelings like a tidal wave when they brought their hooves back down. Chrysalis' eyes went wide as it slammed into them and drove them into the ground with enough force to form a crater and shatter her armor. Everything went black...
”You may have hit her a little too hard, Adagio...” muttered Sombra's voice.
“In our defense, we got a bigger boost from her anger than we expected...” Adagio's replied, sounding apologetic. “...Though it was weird. It wasn't the anger of a bad guy being mad they're losing, trust me we've tasted plenty of that...it was more...motherly rage...”
“So I noticed...”
Chrysalis groaned, opening her eyes and looking up at Sombra.
“Good, you're awake...” the King replied, looking down at her with a concerned tone.
The Changeling Queen looked around, noting her swarm had been captured and put in chains, herself included. They'd lost...It was over.
“...You won...” she sighed, hanging her head in defeat. Tears started down her face. 'I'm sorry, my children...' “...Do whatever you want to me...turn me to stone...trap me in a volcano...do your worst...but don't hurt my children...they were just following their mother...”
The reaction was decidedly not what she expected. No declaration of anger or judgment. Only a kindly smile.
A mare walked through the streets of Manehattan late at night, a stallion trotting beside her. It was dark and few ponies were walking were around them to see at the moment, the normally busy streets of the city lonely and still. The nights were brutality cold, but Manehattan was a large city and still had unicorns to shield it...for now. Who knew how long that would last.
A pair of predatory, compound eyes watched from the shadows, moving from bush to bush. Object to object. Moving fast like a hungry wolf chasing its prey.
The two stopped beneath a street light and shared a kiss. Their mysterious stalker licked his lips. “I'll be right back, my sweet,” the stallion said, before heading off with a wave.
“Don't take too long, my love!” called the mare, waving.
The hunter moved to the alleyway behind her, giving a low, feral growl.
The mare sat down on a bench there for buses and began checking some things in her saddle bags, not noticing the predator creeping up slowly behind her. Its form flickered with blue flame, twisting and morphing with each step.
“I'm back, my sweet,” said the creature, now in the form of her husband.
The woman jumped up and hugged him. “Sweetie, you're back! Tax office not have any lines for once?”
“...Yes...that's right...” said the 'stallion' with a disarming smile.
The two leaned in and prepared to kiss...the hunter's smile becoming predatory and exposing sharp fangs as he opened his mouth in preparation for his next meal.
Then screamed in pain as a taser was shoved into his chest by the mare. As he was still stunned, she kicked him and did several backflips to gain distance. As his apparent prey came to a landing, she removed a wig to reveal Rough Diamond as she produced a crossbow from her saddle bags and pointed it at her would-be attacker.
“What?!” the predator asked...then found unicorns leveling floodlight-like beams at him from all directions.
“We have you surrounded! Give up!” Rough Diamond ordered, showing her badge.
The predator shed his disguise and took a stance like a wolf about to pounce. His horn was more jagged and holes filled his wings, but the biggest difference between himself and his fellow Changelings was the turquoise wing casing adorning his back. His exoskeleton also itself looked slightly duller, as if he was about to molt, and he was slightly larger.
Chrysalis flew down and her eyes met the rogue member of her species. “...My child...please...stop this foolishness...” she pleaded, her tone motherly and desperate.
The Changeling gave a cold, predatory glare in the matriarch's direction. “This isn't foolishness. It's the truth. The true and only way of our kind. The only way this nightmare will ever end. And if you won't do what must be done, 'your majesty,' then I will!” he replied, voice confident and charismatic despite the animalistic smirk that graced his face.
Chrysalis prepared to reply...then saw the turquoise portions of his exoskeleton.
Chrysalis stared down at a small Changeling nymph with Turquoise wing casings. “...Thorax, what am I going to do with you? This is the third time this week you've hurt another Changeling in a play fight...”
“...It's not my fault everyone else is so weak...” the little Changeling said, looking angry and bitter. “Maybe if they were stronger the bad queen would be gone by now!”
“...Thorax?”
The changeling's eyes narrowed, before he gathered magic into his horn. “You lead us away from the true path! The one that can stop all this suffering! And I'll take us back to it, mother!” he replied, before letting off a shockwave of green fire.
Chrysalis raised a shield to protect herself and those near her, but found herself straining slightly against the power of the attack as the officers and Rough Diamond were sent flying back. When the dust cleared, Thorax was running for it. “...Oh Thorax...you've got it all wrong...”
“And then the friendly giant took back his stolen possessions back to his castle in the sky and lived happily ever after,” Chrysalis explained, now closer to her current appearance. The only exceptions were her wings were still in their more dragonfly-like state and her carapace still onyx black chitin. Otherwise, she looked like the warm, kindly 'grandmother' she was in the present.
The small foals gathered around her looked up at her in amazement, excitement, and admiration. Chrysalis smelled their love. Tasted their love. Felt their love. That tantalizing thing that was her kind's life blood so abundant before her.
When Sombra had forced her to do community service (under heavy watch with a magic suppressor on her horn 24/7 and being taken back to jail cell afterward as soon as she was finished), she'd believed he was being an idiot. Not that she would tell him that. Any punishment that was easier on her babies was welcome to her at the time.
But then one day she realized something.
That gnawing, perpetual hunger she had known from the moment of her genesis. The thing that until now had defined her people's every action and deed. The thing that had been their world in every sense of the world as long as they had known.
It was gone.
And so long as she continued to do this, it didn't return. She even had enough to feed a great many of her babies and still have enough left for her just from doing this.
The explanation came from a very unlikely place all things considered.
“So, you figured it out?” Adagio asked, swimming through the air up to her cell with a smile.
“...Figured what out?” Chrysalis asked, giving a glare at the one who defeated her and her people. “All I know is I haven't been hungry...”
“Since you started your community service?”
The Changeling monarch blinked as the Muse gave a knowing smile. “That...that's right...”
“Let me explain something about emotions. Emotovore to emotovore,” Adagio explained, giving a warm smile. “You don't need to be a parasite.”
“...I don't understand...”
“Well my sisters and I feed off of negative emotions, but encouraging those impulses tends to...shorten the lives of ponies. Ripping those emotions OUT means they can't feel them anymore...but when we take 'small bites,' the ponies just calm down. They stop being bitter, angry, hateful, stressed out, you know the drill. Not forever, just for the moment...and that means their minds aren't clouded anymore. They can think CLEARLY without being blinded,” the muse explained with a smile. “Win win. They get a reality check or free stress relief care, we get a meal...”
Sonata 'swam' up. “In other words, parasitism, that is all take and no give, versus mutualism, that is a symbiotic relationship where both parties benefit.”
Mutualism. Symbiosis. Those were words she'd never heard before. Predator. Prey. Those were words she had known. It'd been her WORLD. And such views were hard to shake all at once.
But she couldn't argue with the results. Especially with results that just kept coming, day after day. Week after week. Month after month. Year after year...And overtime...
The changeling monarch allowed the children to hug her (or in some cases climb on her) with a warm smile.
What could she say? When others opened their hearts to you...
Chrysalis gave a smile as the foals' teacher called them to come so their parents could pick them up. “See you tomorrow, my little ponies...”
Just being here, with them, made her feel satisfied. Content. Happy. And the same was true of her Changelings, all of whom had found somewhere to experience the same contentedness and belonging. If children were happy, mother was happy.
“Miss Chrysalis?”
The Changeling matriarch turned to find a white unicorn stallion. His mane and tail were silver and he wore guard armor. His Cutie Mark was not visible due to his meticulously polished silver armor, and she'd never seen him without it to know what was hidden beneath.“Hello, Chivalrous Heart.”
The stallion gave an honorable tip of his helmet. “I simply wanted to stop by and thank you for entertaining Noble Heart. Your visits have become a highlight to her,” he explained, referring to a young, blank flank filly with the same color scheme as him.
“I love story time!” Noble Heart exclaimed with a child's excitement as she hugged her father. She'd had a crayon in her mouth from having drawn some pictures from the story and, as children often do, accidentally got a smudge on his armor.
Chrysalis smiled and nodded. “You're quite welcome...It's become a highlight of my day too.”
Chivalrous nodded, then looked to his young daughter. “Noble, please go play with your friends while I talk to Miss Chrysalis a little further dear.”
The little filly nodded and dashed off to do just that. Once she was out of earshot, her father turned back to Chrysalis with a more serious expression. “...I admit, when I first heard of Sombra's plans for you I was...not pleased.”
The Royal Changeling frowned. “I'm aware...many were the same way...considering I invaded and conquered multiple cities, I cannot blame them. Even I admit that magic suppressor was a very wise move on King Sombra's part. I might have been compelled to eat their love out of instincts I'd neglected learning control over...but a mother has to feed her children, and it was all I knew at the time. Now I've learned better.”
“So I see...But...” Chivalrous said, looking over to his daughter playing with her friends. “...My daughter has been so much happier since these book readings...”
Chrysalis nodded, watching the little filly. “...She was so glum when I first started reading here...”
“Yes...Now she's more like her old self again...” the guard explained, looking sad before catching himself. The two stood their awkwardly for a few moments. The stallion noticed the crayon smudge his daughter had put on his armor and compulsively cleaned it off with his hoof. “...By the way...I do admit, reading your report on your defeat of King Orion was rather enlightening. Your war tactics are fantastic. Especially for one who's self taught.”
Chrysalis gave a chuckle. “Well, Orion's ego was matched only by his cowardice. A false retreat made exploiting his relief at danger being passed so easy...”
“Indeed...You only targeted tyrants at first for the beginning...” Chivalrous explained, his voice becoming more serious. “...That was another reason I began to gain an open mind about you...you targeted those who deserved justice first and foremost.”
“Thank you...I never wanted to hurt anypony...but my species by nature required it, or so I thought...so I tried to split the difference: target the 'evil' none would miss if they were left emotionless husks, not the innocent. Unfortunately, there were only so many wicked ponies in the world... We would've targeted Celestia next, but she is a beacon of hatred and fear, not love...and those who do like her have no room in their hearts for love...”
“Indeed...which is what shows you have it in your own. Even at your worst, you tried to minimize the harm you did.”
Chrysalis blushed green. “Thank you, Mr. Heart...”
“You're welcome, Miss Chrysalis.”
Another day, Chivalrous came to pick up her daughter...and this time arrived earlier to listen with a smile as Chrysalis told the story. She smiled back.
Another day, a snow storm (to counter a heatwave of Celestia's) made it difficult for either of them to go home right away. So Chrysalis pulled out a game on military strategy and the two played it together, engaging in a heated, back and forth battle of wits, both sharing respectful looks to a worthy opponent...
Until Noble Heart got too bored of that and they decided Monopony with her instead.
Chivalrous Heart walked up to the Changeling matriarch with his daughter and motioned for his daughter...who handed her a stuffed animal she'd won at a fair.
Chrysalis teared up a little...then hugged the cute little plush toy. The knight merely covered his mouth and chuckled at her excited enjoyment of the toy.
One day, Chivalrous Heart simply offered to walk her to the palace and the group took a detour through the wishing garden to allow little Noble to put one of her wishes on the trees. The little filly's wish was for her father to be happy.
Chrysalis did one too, asking that her children would grow and be happy.
Chivalrous Heart merely wished for peace in Equestria one day.
Chrysalis told Chivalrous to close his eyes one day when he came to pick up his daughter...and opened them to a golden heart with angel wings on his daughter's flank, having been earned by protecting another student from bullies.
The father's normally more serious personality dissolved into an excited parent who wanted to know everything about his daughter's achievement. Chrysalis couldn't lie, she had reacted the exact same way when it happened herself. And promptly did so again, leading to the two adults hugging without thinking...then blushing when they noticed.
The filly insisted Chrysalis come to her cute-ceañera, and her father agreed (her probation was long since fulfilled). So the Changeling matriarch attended a little girl's party...and when the clown didn't show up, shapeshifted into one for the little filly's shake, getting the chuckle out of her knightly parent.
She also found out that the Heart house hold was as meticulously kept as their patriarch's armor...and a picture above the fire place that revealed a third member of the family she'd never met...and never would.
On another occasion, Chrysalis offered for the two to stay for the school's Hearth's Warming Party. Mainly so they could hear her read “Hearth's Warming Tales” by Snowfall Frost to the teacher's kids.
Chivalrous had to help her home when she got drunk. Not off salt or cider, mind you, but off the love during the season. He didn't mind carrying her home. Though he did blush and give a small smile when she nuzzled him in her sleep...
Chrysalis blinked, finding Chivalrous meeting her at the usual time, after the reading to pick up Noble. However, there was a major difference this time: his armor was gone, revealing his Cutie Mark to be a red heart in front of a blue shield.. “Chivalrous...you're not wearing your armor...”
“Oh, yes...just Noble thought with what I had planned it'd be rude...” the knight replied, shaking slightly and blushing.
The Changeling monarch cocked her head.“And what is that?”
“Well...we've gotten along for awhile now...and done a lot of things...and I think my daughter already thinks it...so...”
Chrysalis cocked her head naively. “I sincerely have no idea what you're talking about.”
“Well...what I'm saying is...well...”
“Will you go on a date with daddy?!” Noble asked, popping out of nowhere and looking Chrysalis in the eye with the most excited smile Chrysalis had ever seen on her.
The Duchess flew through Manehattan's streets, trying to not loose the trail. Having spent the first few hundred years of her existence in the wild had its advantages, but keeping track of a Changeling was never easy. She had to think like a Changeling ruled by instinct...it scared her how well she could do that.
Chrysalis knew she might lose her back up, but the longer Thorax was allowed to run free, the more damage he would cause. He'd already caused enough of it as it was, and she knew from firsthoof experience just how much more he could cause.
Finally, she slid to a stop in front of an alley...and frozen in horror at what she saw..
Thorax held a mare like he'd been kissing her, a stream of pink energy being pulled out of her mouth and into his own, a sadistic, predatory smirk on his face as she merely stood into space wide-eyed.
He let the drained, emaciated pony fall motionless to the ground and turned towards the Changeling matriarch. He ran his tongue along his lips as blue energy pulsed inside him, causing the openings in his armor to emit an eery glow. “Hello, mother...” he said, his voice like a prince but his posture and movements like a prowling wolf.
“Thorax...how...why?! Why are you doing this?!” Chrysalis asked, staring with wide eyes and feeling sick to her stomach. As horrifying as it was to learn he'd done it many times before now, seeing it firsthoof was a completely different story.
The rogue Changeling trotted forwards with a frown. “...Why? That's something I should be asking you, mother,” he asked, his gaze sending a chill down the matriarch’s spine while his tone remained cordial and in control. “Why did YOU make us turn our backs on who we really are? Why did YOU choose to side with the cattle and weaken us? Why did YOU take this...” he said, looking at his hoof, the chitin beginning to crack like it was about to burst off. Chrysalis' eyes went wide. Just how many had he actually drained?! “This POWER from us? If we had THIS power then Celestia and Luna would be dust beneath our hooves!”
Chrysalis's expression became one of disappointment. “You've got it all wrong, Thorax! When it comes to love, the more you take the less you have! All you're doing is slowly starving yourself!”
The matriarch wouldn't admit it...but she felt her blood run cold recalling a similar thought as her wayward son's had crossed her mind that morning. That idea of reverting back to the conqueror she once was who would leave those she saw as wicked laying as emotionless wrecks.
“No!” growled the predatory changeling, circling her like a shark hunting its prey. “No! What I'm doing is what you NEVER had the guts to do! What YOU are too SCARED to do! What YOU have been trying and failing to do for close to a thousand years!”
Thorax's exoskeleton began to crack all over, blue light erupting forth. Chrysalis had to shield her eyes as the Changeling floated into the air.
“YOU lead us away from what we should be! And I'm going to lead us back!” the rogue Changeling accused. He then screamed out in pain and agony as the cracks continued to spread before his entire body practically exploded, sending shed bits of chitin flying in all directions. The energy formed into glowing blue energy cocoon around him, lighting up the alley like a neon sign. Chrysalis quickly grabbed his drained victim in her telekinesis and huddled over them with a shield in place before Thorax's cocoon exploded, blowing a sphere of destruction in the buildings around them and the ground below.
Chrysalis shook her head to clear it as the smoke cleared...revealing the area was now a crater, blue flames crackling in the rubble as ponies fled in terror.
Thorax emerged through the smoke, razorsharp teeth glimmering the light of the flames as his lips parted in a predatory grin. He was now a head taller than the Changeling matriarch, and considerably bulkier and more monstrous. Two massive, serrated antlers or pincers extended upwards off the sides of his head. His eyes had turned from their previous blue to crimson red, and blue energy pulsed between the openings in his chitin at uneven intervals. “I'm stronger than you now, mother. And the law of the jungle says the strongest rules,” said the mutated Changeling, chuckling as he approached. “And the weak dies.
Chrysalis stared up and only held her ground in defense of the drained pony, eyes wide. “...How many...how many ponies did you have drain to get that form?!”
Thorax chuckled, shiny new onyx carapace glimmering in the fire light. “Enough.” The mutant's horns crackled with magic and he let loose a powerful beam at the matriarch. Chrysalis just barely dodged and tossed the drained victim to a rescuer, a crater soon being where she'd just stood.
“RUN! EVERYPONY, RUN!” yelled Chrysalis at the top of her lungs to the civilians in the area. They listened.
“Always carrying for cattle, huh?” the viscous Changeling hissed in mockery, charging up again.
“Thorax, stop this madness! Please!” Chrysalis pleaded, dodging another beam before Thorax flew up and punched her into the ground with enough force to crack it.
“I told you. This isn't madness. It's truth...” the Changeling abomination snarled, trying to land and crush Chrysalis, who just barely dodged. “And soon it will be the truth we ALL embrace, mother!”
The Changeling Matriarch took a deep breath and did her best not to be squashed or blasted. She considered calling for Sombra or Good Guy's help...but with whatever the situation with the Princesses was, they had their own problems to deal with and might not even make it in time. “...But it ISN'T truth...”
”What?!” asked King Sombra and Equestria's greatest hero, Captain Good Guy.
“Yes, he asked me out on a date!” Chrysalis replied, in quite the tizzy to say the least. “I said yes, but I don't know what a date is other than it involves love!”
King Sombra raised an eyebrow. “Then whyever did you accept it, Chrysalis?”
“Because Noble Heart looked like she'd be so disappointed if I didn't!” Chrysalis exclaimed, looking like that thought was unbearable.
“Oh, it can't be that bad,” Goodguy replied, crossing his arms.
The matriarch gave a flat look and turned into Noble Heart to gave her best impression of the filly's excited face.
“...Okay, it was...”
The Changeling matriarch turned back to her true form and sighed. “What do I do?! I don't know how dates work!...I've never been in a relationship before...”
Sombra put a hoof on her shoulder. “Well, in my experience, the best thing to do is be yourself.”
“I AM myself!”
'Oh, right, still working on learning figures of speech,' Sombra thought with a sigh. “No, I mean don't put on a mask or act. Just act like you. In my experience, ponies normally fall in love with the real person, not a facade.”
“Oh...that makes a lot more sense...” The matriarch looked down, then turned her head to look in a mirror. “...Sombra...do I have to...”
Sombra put a hoof on her shoulder and shook his head. “...Maybe eventually, but not on the first date. I'm talking about showing who you are inside.”
“Oh...okay, I think I can do that...”
“Also, in MY experience...which mainly involves one reporter, a supervillain that wears a cat outfit, three eldritch abominations, and a dragon,” Goodguy interjected. “...I was in my 'Dark Age' phase. Or is it the Iron Age? I just know I was kind of overpowered in the Silver Age. Anyway, it's customary for females to wear a dress.”
“...Dresses?”
Chivalrous and Chrysalis sat at a restaurant. As both were nobility in their own ways, it was a fancy one at that. The knight was wearing a normal, every day suit, while the Changeling matriarch wore a green dress with a plant theme and a necklace made of animal fangs...and a heart necklace.
The two warriors who'd seen many battles simply sat there, looking uncertain and at a loss for words.
Chivalrous compulsively rearranged and aligned the silverware in front of him, as if by nervous habit more than conscious choice.
“...So...um...nice dress...” the knight finally said, giving a smile.
“T-Thank you. I had one of my Changelings, Orb Weaver, make it...I heard they were customary for dates...”
More awkward silence followed.
“...So...we should probably order...” the knight said.
Chrysalis nodded and both picked up the menu. While her kind didn't need food for sustenance, they could eat it for disguise purposes, or simply for pleasure.
“...I have absolutely no idea what most of this stuff is...” the Changeling matriarch said, scratching her head.
“...Neither do I...” Chivalrous admitted, rubbing his head.
Chrysalis blinked, looking up at the knight. “You don't?”
He shook his head. “No, I'm normally too much of a workaholic or too busy raising Noble...I kind of thought you'd know something...Being a queen and all...”
“I'm an insect queen, not quite the same thing...But the same...raising an entire species is a bit of a handful...plus the whole 'on probation' thing that only recently ran out, at least from my perspective...I thought you'd know something...being a noble and all...”
The two blinked.
“So...we both thought the other would know what to order so neither of us do?” Chivalrous asked.
“Looks like it...” Chrysalis replied.
The two sat staring at the menus for another moment...then laughed at the sheer strangeness of it and the realization the other was just as lost as they were.
“Sorry...I've never had a date before...” Chrysalis said, giving a green blush.
“And I haven't had one in decades...” Chivalrous said, allowing a hint of sorrow to cross his face for a moment. “...How about the garden salad? We know what THAT is.”
“Hehe...yes...”
With the ice broken the two began to talk. To listen. About the trials of being a single parent. About tactics. About battles. Cute things. About beautiful things.
About everything.
Chrysalis and Thorax darted and weaved through the sky, the former desperately dodging beams and punches as best she could.
“You can't dodge forever, mother!” Thorax mocked, firing his beam at the Duchess, hitting her shield...then following through with a powerful punch to shatter the shield and quickly landed a clothesline, slamming into her neck and sending her flying into a building.
The matriarch cringed and shook off the impact...then gasped, seeing the mutated Changeling's next charge coming JUST in time to avoid it and allow Thorax to ram straight through the top of the building. “Thorax...please...don't make me do this...” she muttered, looking down at the smoke from the impact and waiting for Thorax to make his move. “We're Changelings! Dividing the hive between us will only give the Princesses the advantage!”
The Duchess gasped as the smoke cleared and nothing but rubble was shown.
Thorax flew out of nowhere, now in the form of a dragon, and slammed his claws into her back, sending her launching towards the ground. Before she could fall, he launched his tail out, grabbed her, and pulled her back into his grasp. “Now now, mother. A divide implies there will be two rulers for them to be divided between, and what did I say to give you the idea that was my intention?”
Chrysalis cried out as Thorax slammed his tail into her chest several times. Tears started down her face. “Thorax...surely you don't mean...you intend to...”
Thorax grabbed her face in his claw and turned her around to face him. “Kill you? Indeed. That is the law of the jungle, isn't it? This is the entire reason I didn't face you until I gained enough love to metamorphosis! Only a royal can challenge a royal for the throne!”
The mutated Changeling tossed Chrysalis with enough force that she went through an office building, straight through tables and cubicles, and out the other side before catching herself.
Thorax landed on top of the building and chuckled. “After all. A lion who cannot defend his title as king soon loses it. So, what shall it be, mother? Stand on your pathetic principles and die or face me like a royal and at least TRY to protect your title as Queen?!”
Chrysalis groaned, chitin cracked in several places and oozing green blood. “...My child...please...it doesn't have to be thi-”
Thorax sped forwards and punched Chrysalis in the stomach with enough force to send her crashing through the roof of a building and through several floors. “Enough talk, mother. The world doesn't give a flying feather about talk. It cares about action. And if you cannot act, you will DIE. Not that I care either way. I'd just prefer to have this be an actual challenge.”
The duchess groaned, getting back to her hooves. Tears rolled down her face. “...”
Thorax smirked like a coyote preparing to feast and dove down at his mother, sharp horn ready to run her through.
Only to run into an old style round shield Chrysalis summoned from a circle of green flames around her hooves, a red heart in front of a blue shield the symbol on the front.
“...My child...you misjudge me...fighting? Fighting is something I have never feared doing, even if I dislike it...” the Changeling duchess said, fire continuing to burn as she produced a sheathed Romare Gladius sword from the portal.
Thorax was pushed back as Chrysalis lowered her head so that her eyes were not visible. A suit of golden armor with green accents floated up in her telekinesis and was donned. “...But hurting my children?”
Chrysalis was surrounded by a pillar of green flame, emerging looking near identical to when she originally left that tree so many years ago. The one exception was her gray colored chitin, smooth and straight horn, and butterfly wings. “...But if it's the only way to save our kind from you...then let's do this, my child...”
“So, you finally show your true face and nature to me, mother?” Thorax asked, forming his own fire teleportation spell and producing a pair of curved, black bladed swords. “You are just like me after all!”
“No...I show you this face because it's proof WHAT we are does not define us as you believe.”
It had been six months since their first date, so Chrysalis hadn't thought much of it when Chivalrous wanted for them to stop by the wishing garden on their way back. As time went on, their dates had become far less awkward and forced. Though the visit to the Hive had been a bit awkward, particularly when the larvae had decided Chivalrous looked like he'd be a good jungle gym (though Chrysalis did get a laugh out of it). It'd also been the time where Chrysalis had to explain how Changeling reproduction worked. She still found it weird how ponies and other mammals reproduced by having live, single digit offspring. Or that equine babies were miniature versions of their full grown selves instead of larva with only two limbs. Though both were types of infant were equally loud.
Over these six months, her wings had also gained a crystal glimmer and sheen to them she could not explain.
What did surprise her about her meeting with her knight, however, was what happened when they got there.
Namely Chivalrous kneeling down and producing a small case that opened to reveal a ring surrounded by red velvet.
“Will you marry me?”
Chrysalis stared for a few moments, her words getting caught in her throat whenever she tried to speak. “Chivalrous...I...I...” she said, shaking a bit.
The knight frowned. “Oh...sorry...is it too soon? I suppose that makes sense considering you're so long lived...”
“No!” the matriarch yelled...then calmed down. “No...that's not it...It's...”
“No, I mean don't put on a mask or act. Just act like you. In my experience, ponies normally fall in love with the real person, not a facade.”
“...” the Changeling ruler walked over to a small pond and looked into it. “...It's just that...while living among you ponies...I've learned how you react...how you see things...how you judge things...and...w-well” she stuttered. Her heart was running a mile a minute. The two were alone (likely other events going on)...but others' eyes didn't mean as much to her than the eyes that were on her now. “...Chivalrous...This isn't my true face...It's a form ponies won't be afraid to be around...One so I don't frighten children...A mask...If...if you want to do this...If we're going to do this...I don't want you to love a mask...”
“...Show me...”
Chrysalis nodded, turning and assuming her true form, no different at all from her original one.
Chivalrous Heart took a step back, eyes wide.
No words were spoken for a few moments. The two merely standing in silence.
The matriarch's eyes teared up. “I knew it...” she muttered, turning and looking into the water at her own visage. “...Even I was SCARED of this face when I first saw it...why wouldn't you be?”
Silence again. Hoof steps...then Chrysalis saw Chivalrous' reflection appear beside her in the water.
The knight rose his hoof up and moved her face to face with his. “I wasn't scared. I was just surprised is all...” he said. Then gave a small smile. “...Chryssy. Have you ever noticed the difference between a husky and a tundra wolf?”
The matriarch blinked, cocking her head. “...One's a dog and one's a wolf.”
“That's one difference...but the biggest one?” Chivalrous asked. “A wolf's eyes are wild...hungry...dangerous. A husky's eyes are loyal, noble. Friendly. Because both of them are those things...And you're the same. You might look different...but you're still Chryssy.”
Chrysalis could only stare. “You...you mean that?”
Chivalrous nodded. “I do...Now, let's try this again” he said, and knelt with the ring held up. “Chrysalis...will you marry me?”
Again, the matriarch cried. But this time, the meaning was very different. “Yes...yes I will!”
The two hugged. And then they kissed for the first time. All doubt removed, only trust remaining. Chrysalis, with no uncertainty holding her back anymore, shared her love with her love.
Chivalrous' eyes went wide as Chrysalis lifted into the air, glowing with a pink light. It emerged from her chest in several rings of light and flew back around, engulfing her and forming a cocoon of light. “C-Chryssy?!”
A few moments later, the glowing cocoon erupted in a massive blast of light, blowing the trees and hanging wishes like a strong breeze. Lowering to the ground as the glow faded, Chrysalis opened her eyes...and blinked as beautiful butterfly wings spread from her back in place of her dragonfly-like ones, her chitin taking on a gray hue, and over all looking much more healthy. She looked down into the water...and found her face unchanged. And found that she didn't care.
The two merely stared at her body in shock...before resuming exactly where they'd left off.
Thorax and Chrysalis flew at one another, twin swords clashing against sword and shield. Thorax did an overhead slash that the Duchess blocked with her shield and a good deal of effort before countering with a sword slash the mutant blocked. Pushing off one another, they landed on a pair of skyscrapers standing next to each other. “Come on, mother! If you don't try harder, I'm going to devour you like a lion does a gazelle!”
“Don't bite off what you can't chew, my wayward child,” Chrysalis replied, the two jumping forwards and clashing blades as they let themselves fall. They blocked and parried mid fall, using every limb available to them in their duel.
They pushed off at the same time, both landing on all fours on their respective building and grinding down, sending glass shattering and flying. The two leapt at one another again, engaging in another brief clash before pushing off.
This continued until the two spun around each other in the air and Chrysalis managed to knock aside her son's blades with a well placed slash strike and did a front flip slash with enough force that his next block sent him flying back. The feral Changeling charged back in return and threw a trust. The matriarch dodged, catching the hilt of the sword underneath her right leg to lock it and slammed the hilt of her sword into her enemy's chest with enough force to draw some green blood. Thorax countered by nailing her with a headbutt to the face, knocking her backwards and bloodying her nose. Switching his swords around in his telekinesis as if they were being held in a reverse grip, the feral Changeling dove forwards, planting his hooves in his mother's chest and driving her back into the building behind her.
The two continued to fall, Chrysalis's body proving more durable and Thorax's strength greater than the building's construction and creating a trench in its side with the former. Chrysalis blocked or moved to evade her son's slashes before she reached out and got enough leverage to swung Thorax around to free herself, having folded up her wings to protect them. She used her shield to block an overhead swing, driving her further down the building from the force of the impact as the two continued to fight in free fall. Chrysalis slammed her hooves into the side of the building, tearing two new fissures in the glass and concrete as she tried to slow herself down. She was forced the quickly use her front hooves to brace her shield to defend against a trust from Thorax. His sword still pierced through the shield, but it was stopped in time so that it only grazed the side of her leg. Chrysalis lept up and mule kicked Thorax, knocking him backwards. He quickly flew back forwards, the two exchanging blows and parries as they went until Thorax flipped back and kicked Chrysalis in the chest with his hind legs, knocking the matriarch back and forcing her to fold her wings up again to avoid damage as she ground through the side of the building from the impact.
Looking up, the Duchess saw Thorax flying down at her for a slash of both swords...and took her sword between her front hooves and drove it into the building beside her (after her emotion sense told her it was safe to do so) as a break. She slowed herself down until finally she did a back flip right as Thorax would've struck her, leaping off the building enough that he went underneath her instead.
“What?!” Thorax asked, looking up just in time for his mother to finish breaking and spit changeling slime into his wings to prevent him from flying.
Chrysalis dove down at her wayward son and delivered a slash across his chest, sending green blood flying, before doing a spin and mule kicking him away.
Thorax screamed as he finally came to a stop, slamming into the side of a truck with enough force to dent it inward and shatter the glass.
The mutated Changeling panted, getting back to his hooves as Chrysalis flew down and landed nearby. Changeling armor was known to be hard to break, so the fall wasn't as damaging as it would've otherwise been. He touched his hoof to the bleeding wound on his chest and looked at the blood with a smirk. “Hehe...you really can't do it, can you, mother?”
Chrysalis's face didn't betray anything as she kept her head lowered so her eyes remained in shadow. “I will defeat you if I NEED to, Thorax.”
“Yes...defeat...but not kill...” the mad Changeling replied, smirking like a wolf. “If you could do it, you had the perfect chance to right there...you really are weak.”
“You mistake compassion for weakness,” the Duchess replied as Thorax took his swords back up in his telekinesis.
“No, you mistake food for a virtue,” replied the mutant. The two had a stare down in the now evacuated streets. Chrysalis's primary reason for keeping the fight high about Manehattan for so long had been to give time for the civilians to get away, something she was proud to say had happened.
Thorax charged first, the two colliding and clashing weapons with sparks flying. The two locked blades, Chrysalis using leverage to counter the sheer strength advantage Thorax possessed. Chrysalis stared into the feral eyes of her son until the two leapt back. Thorax fired an energy beam that the Duchess blocked with her shield and countered by firing back, which Thorax dodged and countered in turn, forcing Chrysalis to roll under his beam. Thorax, despite his bulk, managed to likewise roll under the one that his mother replied with.
The mutant waited for Chrysalis to block his next beam before leaping through the air and coming down with a charged up blast with intent of firing it point blank...but Chrysalis charged her shield with magic to bat it away and countered with a beam to his chest that sent him flying back and slamming into the ground. As the matriarch approached, Thorax waited...and threw dirt from the ground in her eyes with a swipe of his leg to blind her. Quickly rising, Thorax kicked her backwards and slashed, colliding with his mother's shield with enough force to send it flying from her telekinesis to the ground out of her reach. The half blinded queen was barely able to get back far enough from his follow up slash to only receive a shallow, but painful cut to the chest before being blasted to the ground.
Thorax leapt up and came down with both swords, Chrysalis having to brace her sword with not only her telekinesis but both front legs to block it. And still could only keep his blades out an inch from her face with all her might. “You've always said a mother's purpose is to sacrifice and give everything for her children,” the mutated Changeling spat, giving a wolfish grin. “Then make your last sacrifice for me and die so our kind can prosper!” Chrysalis cringed as he pushed down further. “Then I'll raise a new hive! One free from the poisoned thinking you brought to us!”
“Will...will you just kill every Changeling that thinks as I do?” Chrysalis asked, struggling to push her powerful, wayward son back but remained pinned.
“If that's what it takes, then yes!”
The matriarch gasped, eyes going wide as the mutant's expression made it clear he wasn't kidding...then Thorax swore looking like they were ablaze. “Thorax...” she snarled, throwing his swords off and slashing him across the chest twice, driving him back with bleeding cuts. “I WON'T LET YOU NEAR THEM!”
Thorax charged up his horn and fired several beams, but Chrysalis flew and weaved through them. Thorax countered her charge and the two leapt past each other. Chrysalis lost some of her mane, Thorax lost more blood from his midsection and went crashing to the ground.
The mutant gasped, raising his swords to block as his mother came down, swinging with powerful and precise strikes. The Matriarch's eyes as furious as they were back in Trot against Sombra. Strike after strike hammered Thorax's blades until they were sent flying from his telekinesis, leaving him completely exposed.
Chrysalis raised her sword and brought it down in a slash directly at her child's neck.
Right before the blade could land...she saw a newborn larva's face instead of the mutant traitor before her. Her sword stopped an inch from it's intended target.
Thorax's eyes widened in surprise...before he charged up his horn and blasted her in the chest point blank. Chrysalis screamed as she was sent flying back, slamming hard into a wall.
Before she could get back up, the mutated Changeling grabbed his swords and linked them together, forming a giant pair of scissors he slammed into the ground on both sides of her neck and pulled together until the blades were touching her neck.
As his mother squirmed and tried to free herself, Thorax loomed over her. “Pathetic...you really don't have a killer instinct any more, do you? No wonder we're losing ground to the Princesses every day...”
Thorax put a hoof on her chest to further pin her down...and looked frowned. “...Don't worry, mom...it will all be over soon. Then I'll make the bad queen go away forever...”
Chrysalis's eyes went wide as Thorax opened his mouth and began pulling pink energy straight out of her chest. The queen panicked, screaming in agony as she felt her love slipping away. Being TORN away.
'Maybe...maybe I was too soft...too soft to protect my subjects...too soft to protect my children...too soft to protect anypony...maybe if I really was the conqueror again...'
Suddenly, the planet shook...no, not the planet. Reality itself.
The two heard a resounding crack and looked up, finding black cracks filling the sky.
“What the Tartarus?!” Thorax asked, taking a step back as the cracks and tears continued to happen.
Chrysalis took the opportunity to blast the ground around her son's weapons and free herself. “I...I don't know...it's...it's like the world itself is being torn apart...”
The mutated Changeling turned...and saw a tear open with an icy cavern on the other side. He and his pre-mutation self blinked, looking at one another. The other Thorax screamed in terror and ran away. “Was...was that me?!”
Chrysalis blinked and looked around. Through one crack she saw Cadenza...but a loving, kind looking version of her, with a strong, confident Shining Armor at her side. Through another fissure in reality she saw Vinyl Scratch and Octavia, if they were into the opposite style of music...then she finally turned, finding herself looking into the eyes of another her. The other looking just like her when she was born. Their faces were presently identical...but not their eyes...
The knight rose his hoof up and moved her face to face with his. “I wasn't scared. I was just surprised is all...” he said. Then gave a small smile. “...Chryssy. Have you ever noticed the difference between a husky and a wolf?”
The matriarch blinked, cocking her head. “...One's a dog and one's a wolf.”
“That's one difference...but the biggest one?” Chivalrous asked. “A wolf's eyes are wild...hungry...dangerous. A husky's eyes are loyal, noble. Friendly. Because both of them are those things...And you're the same. You might look different...but you're still Chryssy.”
The other Chrysalis was decidedly a wolf. The matriarch’s blood ran cold.
“...I thought I told the drones not to take my form without permission,” the other Chrysalis said, giving a fierce snarl.
“You...you can't be...” the Duchess muttered, taking a step back.
“Can't be what?” asked the other Chrysalis asked, blinking.
“You're not me! You're not Chrysalis!” the Duchess yelled in horror.
“Me?! YOU'RE the fake!” Queen Chrysalis spat back. “Why would I ever trade these beautiful things for those gaudy wings?”
“...You...you've never shared love?” the matriarch asked, remember when she got these wings of hers.
The other Chrysalis looked like she was about to vomit. “SHARE love? We're CHANGELINGS! We don't share, we TAKE what we need to survive!”
Duchess Chrysalis felt cold as she again recalled her desire to be like her old self. And here's what she could be if she was. Maybe worse...It soured that thought rather quickly.
She then gave a gasp of realization as the other Chrysalis' words processed in her head. “...You're hungry, aren't you?”
The Queen chuckled. “Of course! A Changeling's hunger is without end! It's our NATURE!”
“...Hungry without end...” the Changeling matriarch said, a switch clicking in her head as she looked back to Thorax. She herself still had energy. She was fatigued and injured...but he was panting, chest heaving.
The Duchess's mirror image followed her gaze and wiggled her eyebrows seductively at what she saw. “My my, that's a handsome devil who knows what's what. Tell me, is he taken?”
The Duchess's reaction was to snap around and turn green in the face. “Him?! He's our son!”
“Oh...worthy heir from the looks of it. Looks more like me than YOU do, faker.”
Chrysalis stood there staring at herself for a few moments...until the cracks in reality suddenly began mending and closing.
In a few moments, all was back to how it should be.
“...What the Tartarus was that?!” Thorax roared, bewildered.
The matriarch made a mental note to question Sombra about that when all this was over. “I don't know...but seeing myself like that? Hearing that...it reminded me of something in all this I'd forgotten...”
Then she remembered...
Her heart racing as she stood at the alter with Chivalrous Heart for their wedding picture. The way her dress shown and how gallent her husband looked in his tux. The moment the picture was taken, she hugged her new husband and kissed him as little Noble giggle nearby, a cute little flower girl.
Then the roaring sound of Changelings in the crowd that packed their side of the church so full that many of them had to look in through the window cheered loudly while Chivalrous's platoon and family cheered on the other side.
Then she remembered...
Standing with her husband as they looked at a picture of the Heart household (a noble's house to be sure, but not Canterlot's most elaborate mansion) and a picture of the Changeling hive. The hive wasn't the most beautiful of places, but it'd been her home for so long. She remembered the twinge of pained in her heart to consider leaving it. But she respected living his family's ancestral home would cause her beloved similar heartache. While she needed to be with her hive, with her CHILDREN, Noble had only lived in this one place her entire life. It'd be unfair to move her away. Even if she could still visit her friends and go to school in the same place (teleportation and knowing a certain superhero came in handy), moving to a new house was hard on a child. Chrysalis remembered the image of a heartbroken filly that rushed through her mind at the thought.
She remembered gasping in inspiration, producing her sword from a portal and doing some cutting and pasting before showing it to her husband. Her heart rose recalling his smile as he slowly nodded in return.
She remembered...
Laughing when Captain Goodguy showed up, wearing a construction hat for this particular occasion. Together they stood outside the Heart household, looking at the plans until the superhero nodded with a thumbs up. She and her family walked inside, and the Draconequus snapping his fingers, causing hundreds of thousands of balloons to form on the roof and the house to float into the air.
She remembered watching little Noble giggle and cheer at the sight while Captain Goodguy tethered himself to their and flew them across Equestria, allowing the family to enjoy the sight of their country from high above. She remembered the three of them treating it as a road trip, pointing out sights and watching the clouds roll by as they soared through the sky.
This continued until they touched down at the Changeling hive, which the drones had already began to clear the top off of.
She remembered the excitement of seeing their completed home for the first time. Standing outside the hive, looking at the patchwork drawing Chrysalis had made of their house now forming the top of the hive. Lowering it to see the spitting image in real life.
Then she remembered...
Giggling along with Noble as the small filly hugged another Changeling as she was introduced to her fiftieth 'new brother'. Then laughing as she watched Chivalrous finding himself literally surrounded by Changeling nymphs, all looking up at their 'new daddy' with smiles. He gave a sigh and held his arms out for a hug...and promptly got dog piled by an entire swarm. Chrysalis remembered panicking a bit, until her husband finally emerged and gave her a smile to assure her. At which point she laughed. A lot. Especially because there was a nymph hanging onto the top of his head.
Then she remembered...
The simple pleasure of sitting with Chivalrous as the two sat in Canterlot park, having a picnic while Noble ran around with a doll (and several of her step siblings). The warmth of cuddling together with her husband...then the twinge of mischief as she produced two more plushies from her bag. Laughing out loud as she, her knight, and her little princess ran around the park, playing with dolls.
Then she remembered...
The thrill of battle as she and Chivalrous stood back to back, both armored up and wielding their weapons (the ones she still utilized till this day), fighting as one against a horde of shadowy monstrosities. Each movement like a dance where each knew exactly where the other would be, no wasted energy or effort. Trusting each other with their life, unwavering and unquestioning. Knowing that when the other needed them, they'd be there. The feeling of fighting almost as if they were one.
Then she remembered...
The pride as she and her husband stood in front of a crowd with a teenaged Noble watching from the seats. Bowing their heads as King Sombra gave them the title of Duchess and Duke of Equestria respectively for their heroism, prompting a bow and thunderous cheers from the crowd.
And then...and then she remembered...
Heartbreak as she and Noble, now grown into an adult, stood at a grave with Chivalrous's Cutie Mark on it. A medal floating in her telekinesis: a golden heart with a purple center with King Sombra's image on it.
She remembered sorrow overwhelming as she put flowers on the grave, her daughter hugging her tightly with tears of her own...She remembered warmth as the two comforted one another...loving each other still...
Then she remembered...
Her heart ablaze with pride and warmth as she walked Noble down the aisle at her own wedding, her own groom awaiting her.
And then she remembered...
Joy and warmth as she sat in the living room of her daughter's house, reading Hearth's Warming stories at the holiday to her young granddaughter, feeling their boundless love filling the room...
And years later, the same thing repeating with her great granddaughters...
And years later, her great great grandsons and daughters...
And still years later, her great great great grandsons and daughters...
Until finally, she remembered reading it to Nurturing Heart when she was a filly, and her many, many cousins. Surrounded by love. Surrounded by warmth.
Chrysalis's horn glowed as she pulled her shield to her side and produced a second one from the teleportation flame, this one a metal, triangle shaped shield the shape and color of Chivalrous Heart's Cutie Mark. “Love is infinite! Your selfishness is not!”
Thorax snarled. “Love is weak! Only the strong thrive!”
The duchess gave a knowing smirk. “Really, my child? Well why don't we test that theory?”
“This flame in me
Burns forever.
And our family will never bow before the likes of you,
Because I know much better.
Our crown will never belong to you, love stealer!” Chrysalis began to sing, floating her two shields around her.
Thorax raised an eyebrow in confusion, but lifted his swords and spun them around menacingly, a feral look on his face.
“If you want to make them follow nature's cruel rule,
Come at me, my child, you will not win this duel!” the Duchess continued to sing as Thorax shattered her dried Changeling slime from his wings and charged her with both swords.
“Let's go, just me and you.
Let's see who's words ring true!”
Chrysalis spread her wings and flew straight upward, leaving her demented son to hit only air before he launched up to follow her.
“Go ahead and try to hit me if you're able.
Can't you see that this flame in my heart burns stable?” The matriarch sung, focusing every movement and action towards dodging or deflecting her wayward son's frenzied slashes.
Thorax blinked when after one slash, his mother had vanished...then looked up to find her standing on top of the blunt edge of his sword.
“I can see you think you've found power without end,
But it can only destroy, not defend!” Chrysalis continued to sing, doing a backflip and blocking several slashes from her enemy using both of her shields, never once launching an attack of her own.
Thorax's wolf-like grin began to turn into a snarl as he opened fire with his horn beam, his mother weaving nimbly through them or blocking them, never taking her eyes off him while using both shields to conceal her own movements. She came to a stop with both shields overlaping.
“You're not getting past this flame we made together,
It's gonna burn in my heart forever!
You think this new path you've found is older and better,
But my child, you don't know how wrong you are!” the matriarch continued, letting Thorax come to her, not the other way around.
“This flame made
O-o-o-o-of
Lo-o-o-o-ove.
O-o-o-o-of,”
Chrysalis blocked the mutant Changeling charge, being pushed back but holding until the momentum of his initial charge had passed before flipping over him and flying behind him.
“Lo-o-o-o-ove.
Lo-o-o-o-ove.
Lo-o-o-o-ove!” The matriarch continued dodging and weaving through Thorax's frenzied slashes as they became more and more furious with each moment.
“Stop running and fight, mother!” roared the Changeling, frustration plain on his face. Chrysalis noticed he was breathing heavier and the unstable light between his chitin plates growing more so with each second.
“Sorry Thorax, if you're going to be a lion, well, I'll just be a nimble gazelle and dodge your claws!” Chrysalis mocked with a smirk. 'Come on, my foolish child, take the bait.'
“Then I'll catch you and rip your throat out!” the feral changeling roared, charging forwards and slamming into her shields with enough force to drive her upwards, straight through the layer of dark magically charged clouds at covering the sky. Chrysalis managed to kick off him as they emerged into the sunny sky above.
The Queen took a moment's pause to notice the sun seemed much less harsh and warm than normal before returning her thoughts to the battle at hand.
“This is who we were,” Chrysalis sung, seeing Chivalrous floating beside her in her mind's eye, holding his shield for a brief moment.
“This is who I am!
If you think you're getting passed me, then you need to think again!
This flame is a feeling.
And it will never end!
And I won't let you hurt our family!
And I won't let you hurt my friends!”” The matriarch sung, giving her son a calm and in control look as he gave a feral, sadistic snarl.
“Go ahead and try to hit me if you're able,
Can't you see that this flame in my heart burns stable?
I know that you think it's not something you're afraid of,
But you don't know the true meaning of love!” Chrysalis waited for Thorax to combine his swords into their scissor mode and charge her, intending to slice her in half. She covered with her shields, letting the scissor weapon constrict and push them together...then pushed them out of the way just enough, revealing her horn had been charging the entire time. Thorax cringed in anticipation of a blast, but instead the beam was focused into the connecting point of his two weapons, blasting his swords in two.
Thorax flew back, looking at his destroyed weapons in disbelief while Chrysalis gave a confident smirk. The mutated Changeling roared like a wild animal, then threw aside what was left of his weapons and charged her in the form of a dragon.
“Even if he's gone, our fire still burns within!
The love we shared is what made me the mare I am!” Chrysalis continued to sing, dodging the feral charges, slashes, and fire breath of her son.
“Our flame of mercy.
Our flame of kindness.
Our love never-ending!” The Duchess sung, again imagining her love singing along side her as Thorax's magical fire began to burn low and flicker as she started blocking each of his charges and parrying him away instead of dodging no matter what form he took.
“Our flame made
O-o-o-o-of
Lo-o-o-o-ove.
O-o-o-o-of,
Lo-o-o-o-ove.
Lo-o-o-o-ove.
Lo-o-o-o-ove!
And it's stronger than you!” Chrysalis sang with a smirk, blocking his charge...and completely stopping her insane son in his tracks as he was no longer able to maintain a transformed form and reverted back to his mutated state.
Thorax's eyes went wide. He backed up and prepared another charge with the same result.
“L-o-o-o-ove!
O-o-o-o-of
L-o-o-o-ove!”
He backed up even further and flew at her with all his might.
“And it's stronger than you!”
Chrysalis didn't even raise her shields.
“Lo-o-o-o-ove.
O-o-o-o-of
Lo-o-o-o-ove.
And it's stronger than you...”
The Duchess blocked Thorax's forward momentum completely by simply holding out a hoof and letting him slam the top of his head into it without budging. Panting lightly while Thorax looked completely exhausted.
“Lo-o-o-o-ove...
O-o-o-o-of
Lo-o-o-o-ove...” Chrysalis finished, not singing it loudly...but softly, almost like a lullaby.
Thorax nearly fell out of the sky, his body so heavy he could hardly move. His chitin cracked and crumbled, blowing away like dust in the wind to reveal a Changeling King no bigger than Trixie was currently, his antlers now stubs. He looked himself over in shock and disbelief. “What...what did you do?!”
“I did nothing but let your madness run it's course, my child,” Chrysalis explained, flying over and grabbing her stunned child by the shoulders like a mother about to lecture a disobedient foal. “Tell me...are you hungry?”
Thorax looked up at her wide eyed. “Yes...”
“And were you ever hungry back at the hive?”
The traitor blinked...then looked thoughtful “...N-No...I-I wasn't...”
“...And that is why we abandoned this practice, my child...” the duchess explained, coming down to eye level with him. “...You're hungry because no matter how much you eat, no matter how many ponies you drain dry...you can NEVER be full. Never, EVER able to have enough...and what you do have? It burns out quickly, and leaves you wanting more than you took in the first time. It's like I told you: the more you take, the less you have.”
Thorax snarled. “But...but I FELT powerful! I WAS powerful! I was stronger than YOU!”
“Yes, physically...” the duchess replied. “In terms of brute strength, you couldn't be beat...but against me, Captain Goodguy, Sombra, the Muse Sisters, and so many others...do you think Celestia would still be around if brute strength was ALL she had? She'd have found out that flaw in your new form faster than you could kill her with it, and she would not have spared you.”
The wayward Changeling opened his mouth to respond...but his words died in his throat.
“I'm soft on many things, my child...maybe too soft in some...but it was never being soft that made me accept this life,” the Duchess explained, giving a small smile. “...It was love...love for my children...Love for the ones who gave me a chance. Love for my friends. And love for a stallion who I shared my life with. And that kind of love is infinite...even centuries later, the love I shared with him still grows and grows...bigger with each generation...And that, my son, is why I called your ambition madness: why trade being content and loved for being hungry and feared?”
Thorax...lowered his head...feral rage and predatory fury replaced by a broken, defeated expression. “...”
Chrysalis hugged her traitorous son. Punishment for his actions would come soon, but not right now. “...Come on, Thorax...we're going home...”
Later that day...Thorax and Chrysalis learned that the Princesses had finally been defeated. By mercy, not revenge. By a sacrifice of compassion, not an act of war. By kindness, not hatred.
Chrysalis wasn't sure if he'd ever recover...but she'd be ready to help him if...when he did.
Just as somepony was ready all those years ago.
And she had a dept she WOULD repay Sombra for...somehow, someday she would.
Chrysalis watched on as Princess Trixie, the pony she loved almost like another daughter, fight the mad Alicorn, having finally regained enough of her strength and calmed down the crowd enough to dare join it...and in the meantime had seen the truth...
The truth of a mare who only wanted acceptance and appreciation all her life..but constantly been denied it. Both as fault of her own, and no fault of her own at all...Who was lashing out at a world that seemed nothing but unfair.
Despite her nearly draining Trixie...nearly draining her...the damage she was causing...
Duchess Chrysalis the Loving found it in her heart to feel compassion for the mad goddess.
And her friends did too...five mares she'd heard nothing but bad things about until Sir Discord informed her of certain realities risking their lives to save their friend from herself...
When Derpy jumped in to brace Trixie against Nightmare Spotlight, Chrysalis joined in without hesitation.
Chrysalis looked up at the poor lost soul as a pink beam joined the beam. “I'm sorry, Miss Sparkle, I love you...and everything, but you have to be stopped!”
The cloaked pony closed his book again.
“And that was the story of Duchess Chrysalis the Loving. The one who went from a warrior queen who conquered empires to a loving wife and paragon of love and compassion. Who faced her wayward son and defeated him by proving loved taken in greed can never beat love shared...
But there are still many stories left to tell...want to hear another?”
To Be Continued...