//------------------------------// // 4: Alone // Story: Death of a Queen, V2. // by Arkane12 //------------------------------// Doctor Heart hadn’t been joking yesterday. Alicorns had a powerful set of lungs.  From the moment Luna stepped into the building, Chrysalis could hear her voice, shaking the building as she cursed and threatened all the way up to the hospital room. Perhaps the doctor’s generosity the previous night had more to do with disturbing his other patients than it did with her. She was certainly loud enough. The door glowed with an ethereal light before swinging open hard enough to leave a hole in the wall. Luna marched in, wings flared. Twilight followed behind like her shadow. The moment they crossed the threshold, the lights started to flicker. The blinds snapped shut, leaving the only source of light the glowing horn atop the princess’s head. It shone against her mane like the moon amidst a sea of stars. Chrysalis already had a snide comment at the ready. But before she could speak, Luna’s magic wrapped around her restraints. With a tilt of Luna's head, the chains pulled tight. Chrysalis bit her tongue, unwilling to give the princess the pleasure of hearing her scream as the cuff constricted around her wounded leg. “Speak, creature.” The room shook at Luna’s command.  When she received no response, she pulled the chains tighter, cracking the changeling’s carapace. Chrysalis bit down on her tongue and drilled her head back into her pillow. Her mind split, as though the Nightmare herself was crushing it underhoof. As her vision faded to black, a scream finally erupted from Chrysalis’ throat. “Luna, I think you’re hurting her.” Twilight took a half-step forward but didn’t intervene. “Good.” Luna growled. One of the stars in her mane blinked away. “What is the meaning of this?” Doctor Heart appeared in the doorway, the clipboard flailed behind him as his magic struggled to keep up.  “Doctor, I am ordering this thing to be taken to the Canterlot dungeon, where she will remain until her trial.” “No.” Heart stepped between the angry goddess and his patient’s bed. “I won’t allow that. Chrysalis is still recovering. It’s not safe for her to leave this hospital.”  “Stand aside, Doctor.” Luna stomped forward, her eyes glowing as she glared down her muzzle at the Doctor. “I would hate for you to have to join her.”             “Princess Luna, that’s enough,” Twilight said.             Luna’s head snapped toward her. “You would let her get away with such a thing? Look at what she’s done.” She motioned toward her sister. “Look at what she’s done to my sister and tell me she does not deserve a worse fate.”  The doctor shook his head.             “I get that you’re upset, Princess. But she’s still a patient in my care. And if you continue to cause trouble, I’ll have no choice but to have you removed from this hospital and banned from visiting your sister.” Luna growled. She glanced back and forth between the doctor and Twilight, then turned away. The lights flickered back on as she released her spell. Chrysalis didn’t relax, though. Luna’s tantrum had stripped a decent stretch of flesh from her already bloodied leg. The muscle burned like hot coals as it touched the open air. A red stain spread slowly across the snow-white bed sheets. Chrysalis licked her lips, smearing them with blood from her tongue.             “It’s a pleasure to see you as well, Luna,” she gasped.              “Tell me what you have done to my sister and how to fix it, or I will do far worse than just re-break your leg,” Luna exclaimed, nostrils flaring.              “Fine. Listen closely,” Chrysalis began. Luna leaned in close while Twilight braced herself. Both reactions amused the changeling. “Your sister’s going to die, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” She cackled.             Luna snarled, but she kept her magic restrained.  “Tell me how to save my sister, or you will spend the rest of eternity as a statue in my garden, wishing for the sweet release of death.” “My dear Luna, I’m afraid you’re too late.” Chrysalis turned to the bedridden princess. “She can’t be saved. It’s already over.”             “You lying little . . .” Luna released a frustrated groan. “Tell me how to fix her. Now.” The royal voice had returned, much to the dismay of every patient in the building.             “Luna . . . ” Twilight started.             “Tell me.” Luna stepped forward, losing patience. Twilight raised a hoof toward the princess.             “Luna, that’s enough.”              Every pony in the room turned toward the younger princess. Even Chrysalis. Luna was the first to speak. “Are you going to stand there and defend her, Twilight?”             “No.” Twilight turned toward Celestia, worry etched in every line of her face. “But screaming and threats aren’t going to get us anywhere with her.”  Luna returned her attention to the changeling. “I am ordering that she be moved to the castle dungeon. My Lunar Guard will know how to get the information from her.” A chill coursed through the room. “Absolutely not,” The Doctor said. “Calm yourself, Doctor,” Luna whispered. “My guards know several painless techniques to extract the information. I promise she will be well cared for.”  The doctor sighed, stepping aside. “Do you feel the same, Princess Twilight?” “What?” She asked, glancing down at the doctor then back up to Luna.  “Princess Luna believes Chrysalis should be persuaded to give information. Given Princess Cadance’s past with the patient, I would place her firmly in the same camp. So, what about you, Princess Twilight? Should we lock her up? Throw away the key?”             “Why are you asking me?” “This is my hospital, and this is my patient. Legally speaking, I have the last say here.” The Doctor turned to Chrysalis. “But I won’t stand in the way of a unanimous decision from the princesses. So, what do you think? Should I have her hauled away to rot in the dungeons?”  “That seems a little . . . harsh,” Twilight admitted, her voice betraying nervousness. Still, she met Luna’s eyes, and the two stared at each other.  For a long moment, nopony spoke.Then, Luna sighed, turning toward the window, as if studying the cloudy streaks across the glass. Her posture looked resigned. Twilight continued, “I know this isn’t what you want to hear . . . but I think we should leave her be for now.”  Chrysalis struggled to understand the younger princess as Twilight stumbled over her words. But Chrysalis wasn’t really listening. A fog of blood loss and confusion muffled her thoughts, stealing the sense from the few words she could make out.             “I see.” Luna nodded. Her body trembled, but her voice remained soft. “There you are, Doctor. Twilight has made her opinion known.”             “Princess Luna . . .” Twilight started.             Doctor Heart quieted the alicorn with a hoof on her shoulder. “Princess Luna, if Twilight thinks the patient should stay here, then I think we should postpone the prisoner transfer. At least until I’m sure the patient will survive the process.” Twilight frowned. “I’m sorry, Princess Luna. I just thought . . . “  Luna silenced the other princess with a wave of her hoof. Without another word, she walked to the door and out into the hallway.  Twilight hung her head. “I didn’t . . . I don’t . . .” The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure that’s your final decision, Princess?”  Twilight curled inward. “Yes. I trust Princess Luna, but . . . there has to be a better way than that. If we resort to such methods, we’re no better than Chrysalis.”              The Doctor raised his hoof in surrender. “You made the decision you thought was right. There is no shame in that, Princess.” The doctor smiled. “If it makes you feel any better, I respect you for it. It can be difficult to go against your friends. Especially if your friends are important, like the princesses.”             “Thanks Doctor, but that doesn’t really make me feel any better.”              “I know, Princess. Now, I’d best go attend Princess Luna. I’d hate for her to get lost again.” He added with a chuckle. “Please, Princess Twilight, feel free to stay a little longer. I’ll be back later.” Twilight nodded as the doctor left, the door closing behind him. She used her magic to flip the light switch, leaving the room doused in sunlight. With a somber slowness, she moved to her mentor’s side, pressing her muzzle against Celestia’s neck. The flowing mane above her head brushed against the mare’s horn.            “Why did you defend me?” Chrysalis demanded. She wanted to be angry, but the throbbing pain kept her from expending the energy for it.  No.  That was a lie. It was her own curiosity that restrained her. She needed answers.  Twilight’s only reply was the curt drawing of the white curtain between the two beds.  “Fine,” Chrysalis scoffed. “Be that way, then.” While Chrysalis’ gaze struggled to focus on anything other than Celestia’s visitor, her mind held no such qualms. The image of Twilight formed in her mind, lying close to her princess, crying softly into her fur.  Chrysalis’ chest tightened. Her vision shifted.  Though she simply sat and watched a small mite of dust float through the air, her thoughts lay miles away, back in her hive. One of her personal chambers. Drones flew back and forth above, crawling through small passages cut in the rock. The echo of swarming wings brought a sense of ease to her, as false as it was. She recognized her old room.  A large bed tucked away in one corner. A table with a few chairs gathered haphazardly around it. The far wall held nothing but shelves, lined with tomes of varying size and shape.  Despite the grand collection of furniture, Chrysalis lay on the floor, her legs curled tight beneath her. A red wool rug cushioned her against the dense stone. Her eyes felt heavy. She kept shaking herself awake during particularly heavy drowsy spells. A small nudge against her chest drew her attention downward, where a small nymph slept beneath her; its tender flesh encased in a warm blanket, snoring quietly. Occasionally, his breath would catch, causing him to fidget in his sleep. She could feel it shivering against her icy chitin. Every so often, she would lean over, watching his face. His eyes hadn’t opened in over a week. When night arrived, she would drape herself over him, trying in vain to shield him from the cold gale that roamed the wasteland nights. A quiet sob teased Chrysalis back into the hospital room. She pressed her cheek into the pillow, wiping the lone tear from her eye. On the other side of the curtain, Twilight started to cry. She could see the scene playing out just beyond her sight: A foal’s instinct, to press tightly to their mother in some desperate attempt to escape their pain. Perhaps Luna’s offer might have been more pleasant. A cruel voice in her subconscious told her it would’ve been less painful.             Chrysalis didn’t know how to express pain like this.  Her hive had once known her feelings as well as they’d known their own. Outward shows of emotion could cripple a negotiation, ruin a stealthy operation. There would never be any reason to expose a weakness to a potential enemy. Guided by these instincts, she waited for the night, when Twilight’s sleeping form had to be carried away by her guards. Alone in her room and even more alone in her head, Chrysalis learned how it felt to cry.