Chrysalis leaned back in her seat, head resting on the small cushion at its back. At least her captors had allowed her that much. Now, if only she could reach the straps binding her hooves to the arms and legs of the chair...her magic was still bound under that accursed suppressor, so that was out. And the straps around her midsection kept her from bending down to undo it with her fangs. So...what did that leave?
…
It left her helpless and at the mercy of Equestria still, that’s what.
She sighed, settling deeper into her seat. A week ago, she’d been mistress of two nations, ready to make the biggest power play in her people’s history, with her own captive princess to display, even! Now, she and her people were just prisoners, their future at the mercy of the race they had preyed on for centuries. Now, all she could do was sit and wait. And think…that was the worst part, the thinking, thinking back to the past few weeks, the little moments shared with a certain princess, that final moment on the dais…
Luna…
Being so close to Luna…
Her breath heaved rapidly in and out, and she cursed herself for it, fighting to slow her rapidly-beating heart. Thankfully, a distraction came in the form of a door opening and closing in the darkness behind her. Her eyes slid shut, and she chuckled. “So, is the torture going to begin here?”
“Your majesty, what is about to come is only torture if the other participant is truly insufferable.” A voice scoffed as it approached. “We hoped you thought a bit more highly of us than that.”
Chrysalis’s eyes flew wide open and she sat up, drinking in Luna’s smirking face as the Night Princess stood before her. “Luna!?”
“We would certainly hope so,” Luna chuckled as she set a small wicker basket down on the floor beside the chair. “That would make this far too awkward, don’t you think?”
Chrysalis sat back in her chair, jaw working up and down. Then, she scoffed. She was the one bound now. Obviously, Luna could only be here for a bit of vengeance. “Let me guess...dinner?”
Luna chuckled. “Oh, it’s as if you read my mind.”
“Maybe,” she sighed. “Let’s get this over with...”
Unsurprisingly, Luna’s wicker basket contained the supplies for a picnic for two. Chrysalis chuckled back. It may have been a step back from the opulent dining table in the Crystal Palace, but considering the company, maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.
Ugh, did she really just think that? She really did have it bad, didn’t she?
“I was hoping we might start off with something simple.” Luna said, a bowl of strawberries hovering up in her magic.
“Ah, a classic of all picnics,” Chrysalis replied, trying as hard as she could to sound nonchalant. She gave a tug at one of the straps binding her hooves. “But, how do I...”
Luna’s midnight-blue magic lifted up a single strawberry and hovered it over to Chrysalis’s mouth. A sigh rattled Chrysalis’s frame. “Of course...” she said with a roll of her eyes. Her lips planted themselves firmly shut. Luna giggled, the strawberry hovering that much closer. Chrysalis just huffed and turned away. Finally, it traced along the corner of her mouth, running along her lips until it reached the end of her muzzle and sat there, its scent drifting into her nostrils. When it became clear Luna had no intention of moving it, Chrysalis rolled her eyes and parted her lips a few millimeters, just enough to allow the tip of it in.
“There,” Luna cooed, pulling it back with a little smile. “You just can’t stop playing hard to get, can you, your highness?”
Chrysalis grumbled, settling back in her seat. “I will never stop frustrating my captors, your highness.” She replied, adding sarcastic emphasis to “highness.”
“Well, don’t stop,” Luna giggled. “It’s endlessly adorable.”
Chrysalis shrank back even further, if only to hide the deep blush taking over her cheeks. “I...see you brought some wine?” She finally asked, desperate to change the subject.
“Ah, yes.” A bottle hovered up out of the basket, the cork popping out. Two glasses followed, filling with a splash of red. Chrysalis watched as one of the glasses hovered right up to her mouth. “Don’t fight this one, now. I’m likely to spill it.”
With a sigh, Chrysalis parted her lips to accept a sip, the glass rising just a bit with her head. And oh, would you look at that...a full-bodied red, maybe from the royal wine cellars themselves…
The glass jolted, and splashed wine against her muzzle. Chrysalis choked, sputtering the stuff up as Luna quickly pulled it away. She glared, hissing between her fangs. “You did that on purpose!”
“Was I so transparent?” Luna sighed, her smile fading as she stood and approached. “Verily well, yes. That was no accident.”
Chrysalis just glared, knowing she was at every disadvantage and hating it.
“But,” Luna raised a hoof, and a sultry, mischievous spark entered her eye that made Chrysalis’s loins heat up at the mere glance of it. “It was only so I could do this.”
A hoof rose to Chrysalis’s chin, raising her face up as Luna leaned in close. Before she could ask what was happening, Luna’s tongue darted out and lapped at Chrysalis’s face, racing over her, finding every trace of wine and licking it up. Licking her chitin. Licking just the scent of her. This wasn’t just care...with Luna this close, she could smell lust, and wanting, and...and…
...and love...
Chrysalis hadn’t appreciated what this really was until that moment. She hadn’t realized just how very real this was going to get. And now, there it was. Love. Real, actual love and care, aimed at her. Not at some disguise. Not for her power and status. She had nothing to offer this pony, and still, there it was. Real, honest love.
Tears raced from the corner her eyes before she had a chance to bite them back. Chrysalis swallowed hard as Luna’s powerful legs wrapped her into a hug. “No more of that,” the Princess whispered as her wingtips blotted at her cheeks. “There’s been enough of that.”
The straps on Chrysalis’s hooves slipped away, and she wrapped herself around Luna. Luna. The Princess who embraced a monster. The one who found love from captivity. The one who was suddenly making Chrysalis feel so lucky just to know.
“You’re a wonder, you know that?” She whispered, feeling the powerful hooves pull her in tighter. Her mind raced, reeling with what just happened, and what was happening. She had to be smart, for her people and for her kind. “So…there are a lot of details to work out…”
“Celestia and I have reached an agreement,” Luna announced robotically. “The changelings will work in Equestria as part of an exchange program to build trust and, hopefully, more. The idea will be that eventually, any real relationships built will substitute for any love required by the Swarm. Changelings will have to be monitored of course, but over time, it is hoped that trust will be built between the changelings and the ponies.”
Chrysalis’s wings buzzed against her carapace. “There are…significantly fewer details to work out than I imagined…” she coughed. “You…you’re…really, such a wonder.”
“Oh, no, you want to see a wonder, though?” Luna smirked, and dear Maker above if Chrysalis could kiss an expression off a face, it would be this one, right here and now. As it was, she barely managed a nod.
Luna whisked her out of the chair, the Queen barely able to focus as she was stood in the room’s balcony...and yes, this was not a prison cell, she could finally see she had been left in a cozy room with a massive, heart-shaped bed and little red pillows and dear sweet Maker there was even a chocolate on the pillow, it was so cute and perfect she wanted to retch but could only fall deeper against Luna’s chest.
The curtains parted, revealing a pristine night sky, allowing Chrysalis to finally get to her hooves without Luna simply whisking her off them. She swallowed, tried to regain some amount of composure. She managed to press herself to shaking hooves, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Lunar princess.
“Tell me, princess,” she started. “Are you always the hopeless roman--”
Luna raised a hoof, and despite herself, Chrysalis shut her mouth. A midnight-blue glow had engulfed the princess’s horn, her eyes shutting in concentration, and as Chrysalis turned to look up, her jaw dropped. Dozens of tiny pinpricks of light had appeared in the sky, twinkling amidst a growing tapestry of purples and blues in a growing cosmic display. Galaxies burst into light in her night sky as stars aligned themselves to her beck and call, all forming up into a gorgeous display that set the backdrop for a series of constellations, lining up to form the words:
“CHRYSSIE BE MINE”
Satisfied, Luna opened her eyes again, turning to the Queen, who just looked upwards, eyes wide, jaw working up and down. A fresh set of tears began in her eyes again.
“Chrysalis?” Luna looked in concern. “It’s...not too much, is it?”
“N-no,” Chrysalis laughed, dabbing at one of the tears with the edge of her hoof. “It’s just…”
“...like the stars were something they wove together just for you...
“...Something my mother used to say.” She choked out, dabbing at her tears.
Luna smiled understandingly, knowingly, taking her hole-filled hoof in her grasp. “And...do you have an answer?”
Chrysalis could only inhale and nod.
Luna shifted awkwardly. “Is that a yes you have an answer, or...”
Chrysalis stepped forward and kissed her. Their lips locked, long and passionate, chitin meeting soft flesh in a melding that would go down in history as one of the longest, deepest, most passionate kisses since Blueblood’s first mirror. This was a kiss of a love finally acknowledged, of barriers torn down, and of hearts finally opening after so long.
When they parted again, Chrysalis’s jaw worked up and down for a bit before she finally managed to squeak:
“Wow…”
Luna giggled. “That took way too long to get to.”
“Yeah…funny how this all worked out.”
“Hilarious. It’ll make a great book someday, I’m sure.”
“Think anyone will read it?”
Nuzzling to her chin, Luna sighed in contentment. “Does it matter?”
“Not even a little bit.” Chrysalis laughed, her fangs trailing through the princess’s mane. “Luna, you’re…you’re so…incredible.”
In response, Luna booped her snout. “It takes one to know one, dearie~”
Blushing, Chrysalis nuzzled her head. “And a wonderous sweet-talker.”
“I can do other things with my mouth, just so you know.”
“Oh?” Chrysalis’s heart raced in her thorax. “Care to demonstrate?”
And without another word, for the rest of the night, Luna did exactly that. Later, there would be negotiations, details, talk of nobles and what they would need to be appeased, but for right now, there was only eachother. At long last, there was eachother.