For a good moment, nobody said anything. Nobody did anything. They all just... hovered there. You could feel yourself awash with shame as Chrysalis glared, her gaze shifting between you and Ap, the emotions of her face changing as she struggled with herself. And who could blame her? After all, there you were, the one being in all the world that she had allowed herself to truly love, to put all her hopes and trust into... and you'd been professing how much you actually loved Ap.
Sure, Chrysalis was a mean, vindictive, tyrannical bitch who ruled over her minions with an iron hoof and planned much, much worse for the ponies that stood in her way of total domination. However, since she'd come to look to you for love, to see what someone giving love of their own free will was like, she was changing. Yes, obviously she had changed physically, but internally she'd begun to show affection for others, primarily you... almost exclusively you, but her children, which she had already loved in the path, she now showed more devotion. You knew this all too well, because... well, she was you.
Before you'd come to Equestria, you knew the stinging, bitter loneliness of being a man who had all but isolated himself emotionally from others because you felt nobody could show you love in kind. Family, girlfriends, and even friends failed to give you the emotional connection you needed to properly consider yourself a healthy individual. Your path had been growing increasingly self-destructive, when you ended up in ponyland, where you were quickly a creature of interest. From there, you met more people in mere weeks capable of drawing emotional responses out of you than you had in your world in... well, your whole life. And as much as you hated admitting it, you feared losing them, because they meant so very much to you.
And that's why it was so heartbreaking to see Chrysalis, with only one such connection, and to you no less, feeling like it was absolutely nothing. A lie. A betrayal. A mockery. All things that would tell her that she should have stayed the bitter, self-absorbed queen tyrant of the Changelings and simply stuck to her sinister plans for you. It hurt just to see her like that, because you knew how you'd feel. It hurt worse, because you really did care for her now, even if she thought otherwise.
"Chrysalis, this isn't what you think it is," you stated, breaking the silence despite the inexplicably dry mouth you now had.
Her eyes focusing solely on you, Chrysalis gave a choked sob. "Oh really? Is it now? I'm so relieved that this scene of you and Apocrita confessing you love for one another is just a mistake! That the guard I entrusted to look after you didn't stab me in the back by stealing you from me, so that she could rise against me! And you, the one being I have ever, EVER, felt any love for that was not simply that of a mother for her children, have not simply been playing me this entire time!" Chrysalis snapped, each word feeling like a weight on your heart until you were almost positive it was going to drop out your ass.
"Anon and I fell in love with each other before you truly had, he never betrayed you. If anything, he betrayed me," Ap stated, looking at you in a sidelong glance. You were worried where that was going to go, but then she continued "But then again, he'd have been betraying himself if he didn't acknowledge his feelings for you. I don't hold it against him, and neither should you."
"She's right, you know I do love you. That's how you got to where you are right now, with your crazy, tricked out body. Just as I fucked Ap into becoming a queen, I fucked you into becoming... a better queen than you were before," you pointed out, earning you a sidelong glance of irritation from Ap.
"You really need to work on your wording, Anon," Ap whispered out the corner of her mouth. Yeah, maybe the repeated mentions of fucking the both of them wasn't the best path for you to have taken.
"Anon... Anon's right. He loves me, I can feel it. I can taste it, even in this very moment, I can sense his love, his very concern for me," Chrysalis acknowledged, her features relaxing a bit, the consideration of what you meant to each other. What she meant to you most importantly.
"Right? I can love you both. We already confirmed that I have an unlimited amount of love. I could love every Changeling in the hive equally and not take away from either of you. We can all be together. You, me, her, our kids, and so many more. You've been changing, I've been helping change things, maybe we can change the hive together," you offered, giving her the warmest smile you could muster, even if you felt part of it wavering a bit with uncertainty.
For a moment, Chrysalis just stared at you, the fury in her eyes slowly dissipating as the green orbs seem to be drowned in her tears, the queen trying to hold them back. She seemed so afraid, so very scared of what could be another lie. As you held a hand out to invite her forward, she seemed to shut her eyes tight, tears escaping down her cheeks, her jaw clenched tight to hold back the sobs she clearly wanted to let free.
"Anon... I-... I forgive you," she stated at last, allowing your body to relax, a tension easing out that you swear took with it a few years of your life. "You're a different creature than us. Your boundless love tells us how much you can give. Expecting you to confine yourself, especially when I had treated you as less than you ever deserved in the first place. Clearly you saw in Apocrita something that I was not giving to you. I couldn't blame you for having fallen in love with Apocrita first, because I'm the one that put you in this position. I even assigned her to be your personal guard in the first place, and so I cannot blame you for what is my own fault," she stated, her jaw still tense, but the rest of her body relaxing.
"No, Chrysalis, don't blame yourself. We all made a few mistakes, but we can fix them together... except for Thorax and Pharynx, they're stuck looking like that," you stated, trying to help break the sorrow rolling off the queen with some humor.
A garbled laugh escaped Chrysalis, but you had the feeling it wasn't from the joke. "No, I've made many mistakes Anon, but I'm going to fix them. I'm going to show you how much I love you. I'm going to fix the biggest mistake I've made... the mistake of every letting this traitorous upstart get close to you."
"Wait, what?" you asked, dumbfounded by what Chrysalis had just stated.
"Shit. Mom, hold my Anon," Ap declared, levitating you over to Vespa like she was handing off a pair of Oakleys.
Turning her head up, eyes opened with a renewed sense of rage, one that burned through the absolute sorrow she had been feeling a moment ago, Chrysalis glared at Apocrita. "You, who I had entrusted with the safety of Anon, and only with his safety, betrayed me! Without knowing what effects his love would have, or the depths that he could possibly produce, you defied me! You knowingly took his love before I could! You, who I had put my greatest trust with this most important of tasks, what was most vital for our hive, acted out against me, its queen! For that, I have no forgiveness!"
Hearing how Chrysalis was now placing all the blame solely on Ap, which felt like an even bigger punch to the gut than if she had placed it on you, you felt your stomach fill with bile. If she had blamed you, you'd have gladly accepted all of her rage, just to make things right and protect Ap. But now... now she was dead set on blaming Ap. Now she wanted to fight, not as a queen defending her throne, but a woman who felt betrayed.
Before you had a chance to protest against Chrysalis' way of thinking, the queen already flew forward with surprising speed, her horn directed to impale Ap, glowing green with a malicious magic. It was only through the short period of time that Ap had to know where things were going that she was able to construct a golden shield around her body, repelling the attack direct impact of the otherwise piercing appendage, but not the full force of the blow, as she was sent hurdling through the air. The attack was quickly followed up with a swing of Chrysalis head, the tip of her horn leaving an arc of green magic that followed after Ap. You wanted to demand this stop right here and now, but you'd be damned if this wasn't some Dragon Ball Z bullshit that had you in awe.
Thankfully for your heart, Ap gave one gallant flap of her beautiful moth wings, increasing her elevation to avoid the arc as it came at her, behind a light shower of glimmering scales. Narrowing her eyes at Chrysalis, Ap's antennae emanated a gentle light, which seemed to take hold of the scales she left, shooting them forward. They pelted Chrysalis, making her wince as she turned away, but didn't seem to do any lasting damage.
"You're going to have to do better than that to-" Chrysalis hissed, turning back to face Ap, only to find that the moth-pony had flown in with surprising speed for other otherwise slow, graceful movements. In a decidedly graceless act though, Ap shot her foreleg forward, clocking Chrysalis in the face with enough force that you had to wince from the sound it made.
"Just give it up Chrysalis! Even if I wasn't stronger than you from the love Anon and I share with each other, I've been in active combat far more frequently than you have in recent years, or did you forget why you promoted me to the rank of elite guard?" Ap stated, her antennae glowing once more as she concentrated an orb of magic between them.
Despite the challenging words, Chrysalis seemed to laugh, a sinister sound usually, it seemed... broken compared to the sound you were used to. "You might be a skilled combatant, but you've never fought on my level before. I've already fought alicorn opponents before!" she declared, her horn glowing with her magic, quickly charging up her own attack to match Ap's.
Recognizing the mounting danger, Ap flew backward, creating some distance between the two before she released the magic orb, letting it shoot forward. In turn, Chrysalis jutted her head forward as if she was trying to stab at Ap with it, the magic in her horn firing like an arrow. Chrysalis' attack pierced Ap's, causing the two opposing magics to mix before they exploded outward, a shock wave shooting out in all directions that sent the two flying backward, but otherwise upright. The shock wave continued out, striking other Changelings who, even at a further distance, could not stand the force of it, being pushed back like they'd been struck head on by the attacks. Even Vespa had to buzz her wings harder, her legs digging into your body to keep her hold on you, and even then she was propelled far higher than you had been before.
You had been forced to close your eyes, lest your eyelids rip apart from the force. By the time you could open them properly, Ap and Chrysalis were in motion, flying through the sky with bolts being sent back and forth, the two enveloping themselves in their own magic so they could both increase their speed, as well as protect against the bolts coming their way. You were starting to wonder when you stepped into an anime, when you felt Vespa's legs tighten on you again, hurting you with her serrations, but as you looked back to her, you got the feeling she wasn't doing it intentionally.
Vespa's face was as stoic as ever, her sole working eye focused on the movement of the two queens, but not betraying any emotion in her expression. However, the presence of sweat indicated she was worried... and also raising the question as to how the fuck she could sweat? She was a bug, with an exoskeleton!
Ignoring the question, you said "They're going to be fine. Ap's going to win and we'll convince Chrysalis that we can all work it out."
Her eye flicking to you, Vespa gave a slight frown. "You're so confident in her... but you're wrong," Vespa declared, finding a new way to piss you off, even after she had gone and admitted she had actually cared for her daughter. You opened your mouth, but she cut you off. "You've made my daughter weak. If she had reached this stage in life on her own, I'm positive she would be able to defeat Queen Chrysalis. She'd have the ruthlessness needed to fight my queen to the death, but because of you, she's grown soft. She'll pull her punches, avoid anything that might be fatal, all for your demented ambition of a hive that has not and will not ever exist. Meanwhile, my queen will fight with every intention of killing. She won't stop until either my daughter is dead or she is."
Vespa's statement hit you harder than you would have liked. As you looked back to the fighting Changelings, watching as a stray bolt of magic struck a dragon that slammed its head into the ground from the force, you realized that Ap had been on defense. She was definitely working hard to fight, but didn't seemed to be throwing back as many attacks as Chrysalis was. Considering the attack with the scales, you doubted she was really trying to hurt Chrysalis. However, while she was either avoiding the attacks or blocking them, she wasn't able to stop Chrysalis' near endless barrage. You knew just how powerful she was right now. She'd taken out Pharynx and Thorax like a couple of bitches, and now she was firing off bolts that made that Godzilla-looking dragon eat dirt.
"Well that... that doesn't matter. Ap will beat her. She's just wearing her out is all," you argued, trying to convince yourself more than Vespa on the matter. It didn't help that Chrysalis had flown in closer, deciding that she wasn't going to win with long range attacks, now swinging her head wildly as she tried to slice Ap apart, coming closer more than a couple of times.
"Maybe she will, but with how things are going now, it'll take far too long for my daughter to wear out Queen Chrysalis. She'll get hit eventually, and thanks to your love flowing through my queen... well, there is no room for error, as you can clearly see," Vespa stated solemnly, nearly wincing as she saw the tip of Chrysalis glide across one of Ap's legs, sending fur flying free.
"I... you're right... this is my fault, so I need to fix it," you stated, sighing as you thought out your plan. "Quickly, fly me in range of them, I need to have sex with Chrysalis, right now!" you ordered Vespa.
"... no."
Looking back at her, you scowled. "Seriously Vespa, now's not the time to give me shit. I need to stop the fighting. Once I've fucked Chrysalis into submission, we can work out our feelings like my therapist always told me I should!... wow, now I feel bad for pissing all over his office when he told me that I may or may not have potential sociopathic tendencies," you admitted, feeling a slight twinge of guilt for that situation, only for it to go away. Yay for weak consciences!
"And let you interfere with a queens' duel? I don't think so! I'd be dishonoring my family and destroy the true strength of our hive! I'll never let you interfere," Vespa declared, growling at you with the intent of letting you know your chances of getting any help in this.
Sighing at the apparent defeat, you answered "Fine, I won't be able to force you to help me... with my words."
"Wha-" Vespa started to ask, only for your elbow to quickly jab back into Vespa's ribs. Your move... actually failed to get her to let go of you, instead forcing her to squeeze you tighter. "Did you... did you just try to escape my hold?" Vespa asked, surprised by the rather shitty attempt.
"Um... yes?" you admitted weakly.
"... if it wasn't for the fact that regardless of which one of them wins, they'd be displeased with me for killing you, I'd let you drop right now," Vespa snarled.
"Yeah... so that's why I'm going to force you," you replied, throwing your head back into Vespa's face. You should have gone for that the first time, because clearly your headbutts, forward or backwards, were Vespa's weakness. As the back of your skull collided with Vespa's head, she couldn't stop from dropping you this time, letting you fall this time.
Spreading your arms out to try and create drag, you looked down to see the two still fighting, Ap now shooting more scales into Chrysalis face' to reduce her accuracy. You were going to have to make a joke later about being the only one allowed to shoot in Chrysalis' face, but now was not the time. Considering the near constant movement, you were going to have to get their attention for one of them to save you.
"I'M GOING TO DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!"
Nailed it.
Ap had just somersaulted through the air following a particularly nasty blow from Chrysalis, when she noticed you plummeting. "Anon, no!" she cried out, quickly enveloping you in a golden aura. You were guessing it was magic that also kept your neck from snapping from the sudden stop in the fall, because lord knows you'd seen how Gwen Stacy died.
"Awesome job Ap!" you shouted, giving her a thumbs up and a smile. Looking down, you said "Now Chrysalis, I've come to bar-GAH."
Your words caught in your mouth. Odd, they tasted very much like iron... and were very warm... and wet.
Looking down, you saw Chrysalis was now before you, her eyes shut, but you could see the lids flickering, trying to expel the scales that had gotten into her face. Something was also dripping down it, getting over her eyes. Dammit Ap, you were the only one that was supposed to shot it in Chrysalis' eyes... why was it so hard for you to make that joke right now? And why was Chrysalis' face getting progressively more red?
"Anon... no," you heard Ap cry out, but it seemed to be fighting to get through a lot of buzzing. Was it because of Chrysalis' wings beating?
At last, Chrysalis seemed to open her eyes, and while there was fury in them, they quickly seemed to turn into orbs of pure, abject fear. "A-Anon, n-no I... I didn't mean to," she whimpered, sounding more terrified than you'd ever seen in your life.
What was she so worried about? Everyone was making no sense... oh... wait... now you were seeing it. You'd say you were stupid for not making the connection earlier, but you'd say you were allowed a pass at that. After all, who else think so good... wait, that wasn't right. Who else was able to think very well (better) when they had a horn impaling them through the chest.
Ap's aura started to pull you up slowly, but the act made your wound agitated, coughing up blood that made her stop. Sucked for Chrysalis, because she got sprayed with it, only seeming to make her all the more horrified. This was... this was really fucked up. And what was worse, you needed to make a stupid joke. About how Chrysalis impaled you for a change? Nah, not good enough.
"Anon, d-don't move, please. We'll f-fix you. I'll fix you!" Chrysalis begged, her eyes desperate for something, anything, that would keep you from dying on her right now.
Smiling weakly, not that you would be able to anything with any real strength, you reached out and lightly patted her head. "S-stabbed through the heart," you groaned, making Chrysalis' ears twitch at what may be your last words. "And... I-I'm to blame."
"W-what?" she questioned, utterly confused.
Your eyelids grew heavy, so terribly so. You just needed to rest them, that was all. But before that, you had to finish. "I give love... a b-bad name."