Explain yourself at once, commander.
I-I didn’t know! I was just trying to get her to move forward! She continued to stall by stopping every now and then, but--!
Yet you felt it right to injure her? Do not try to fool me, commander. I could see the scars.
But my queen--!
She is cooperating now. She was never a threat to us in the first place, and yet you say you remained oblivious to what you were doing with your sword? Speak no more. Return to your post at once, and don’t let this happen again.
~~~~~
Cool, pleasing winds blew across Chrysalis’s face as she lay in her bed of soft creepers, its streamline forces eventually rousing her from her slumber. She stirred and rolled over, but refused to rise, keeping her eyes closed in hopes of falling asleep again. By the temperature alone, she could tell that the sun was not yet high in the sky. Instead, it peeked over the hidden horizon, bathing the land in the light of the early morning. The coolness of the air made her smile, for her body was used to waking up in the sticky, humid afternoons.
Suddenly, she felt a nudge on the back of her neck, but grogginess made her ignore it. She felt the nudge again, slightly harder this time. Again, she ignored it, furthering her efforts to fall asleep by placing her hooves over her head and curling into a tight ball.
Once again, the nudge came back, angering the tense queen. Who would dare awaken her at a time like this? She remembered nothing about requesting a wakeup call.
Much to her chagrin, the nudge came around yet again, followed by a low, gentle coo, like that of a dove.
Angry for having been awakened in such a bothersome manner, Chrysalis emitted a low growl and huffed through her nose before shooting up to her hooves and whirling around to face her intruder.
But as she barred her jagged teeth and readied her voice to unleash a battery of thunderous insults to whoever dared to disturb her, the queen found herself dumbstruck. The intruder was her own, precious son, who came around to simply awaken his mother, probably because he was hungry. Ditto sat on his haunches like a puppy in front of the queen, staring up at her with the biggest, cheekiest grin he could muster. Chrysalis had seen him smile like this several times before and such an adorable look always warmed her stump of a heart; a new feeling that she generously accepted into her life not too long ago.
Chrysalis lay down on her stomach and gently nuzzled the little changeling on the cheek. Ditto’s face felt very warm and surprisingly soft. The blue-eyed infant hummed blissfully and returned with a nuzzle of his own. The affection she put out for Ditto felt completely normal to her now. No longer did it give her a mildly disturbed feeling to gently caress another changeling, what with so much love now held within her.
But as the queen reached around to bring Ditto closer, one miraculously obscure detail finally caught her attention.
How was it that Ditto was on the ground? His crib, which was more of a wide, cradle-like hammock, was suspended above the ground, just high enough so Chrysalis could reach in and lift him out. It might not seem like much, but the height, if Ditto were to fall out of his crib, was enough to injure him quite badly for his young age, since he would be landing on cold, hard dirt. The thought alone made her body tingle with worry, and she made a mental note to fix the problem later.
The queen darted her eyes back and forth, measuring the distance from Ditto to his hanging crib, but could find no evidence as to how the little one managed to climb down from such a summit.
“How did you get out?” asked Chrysalis, turning to face Ditto. Of course, she felt silly for asking her own child, who could not even speak yet, for the answer to the puzzling dilemma. Ditto covered his mouth with one hoof as he snickered softly into it. The gesture was immensely adorable, but his mother’s worried look remained.
“There’s just no way…” Chrysalis continued, whispering. Just to be safe, she checked and double checked Ditto’s fragile body for any signs of damage, yet she could find no injuries that could lead to the results of a fall. She lightly poked and prodded Ditto’s hooves, neck, and sides, but all the infant did was squirm and giggle, which came out more as raspy squeaks than genuine laughter. The queen smiled, but continued her search.
Just then, when she thought that she could proclaim Ditto’s unscathed body a miracle, Chrysalis felt a thin, damp line running around Ditto’s chest and back. As she retracted her hoof over it, she was taken by surprise. From Ditto’s sides sprang two translucent wings that glistened in the early morning sun. The queen watched in awe as her son’s new features began to flap rapidly in the air. Moments later, before she knew it, Ditto was off the ground.
Off the ground.
Ditto was flying.
Chrysalis beamed with joy. Ditto’s wings finally came in, albeit a little earlier than most. Ditto himself was most certainly happy about it. He hovered back and forth before the dew covering on his wings forced him to land in his mother’s outstretched hooves. The queen smiled brightly and pulled him into a firm hug.
As they stood there, holding each other close, a soft growl erupted from Ditto. Chrysalis pulled her son away to find him rubbing his stomach with both hooves. He frowned and looked up at his mother, silently begging for his long-awaited nourishment.
“Oh…right,” murmured Chrysalis. “You’re hungry, aren’t you?” She sighed with ill content. She would need to pay Roseluck a visit. Even though she knew that the mare was now willing to provide love for the sake of her son’s survival, the thought of having to drain her once again continued to send cold chills down her spine.
Ditto’s stomach rumbled again, and the hungry infant sighed with sadness.
“Oh, don’t worry,” said Chrysalis, cooing gently into Ditto’s ear as she brought him close again. “I’ll get food for you. I’m sure Roseluck…won’t mind.”
~~~~~
She felt…relaxed, her body surrounded by an alien softness. All around her, she could hear booming, high-pitched echoes, like the tweet of a bird, or maybe even a frog. The blackness of her dream state slowly began to grow brighter, and Roseluck opened her eyes to the new reality she had accepted the night before. She was just barely ready to face her new life, but she hoped she would get used to it in time.
She pulled her blanket off her body, sat up, and straightened her back to release the morning’s yawn when the mare was suddenly struck by a jarring sensation.
A blanket? Roseluck thought, looking down at the clean, embroidered sheets that covered her whole upper body.
“When did I get a blanket?” asked Roseluck out loud, scratching her head.
“I gave it to you,” spoke the voice of Chrysalis nearby, causing Roseluck to jolt and whip around to face the phantom-like queen, who seemed to have just appeared out of nowhere.
“Oh, it’s you,” Roseluck sighed. “You scared me.”
“S-s…sorry.”
“It’s ok to say sorry, you know. There’s no harm to it.”
“I’m still getting used to it.”
Roseluck stretched her forelegs and rose up from the ground. She brushed her mane back as straight as she could with her hooves. With gracious assistance from Chrysalis, a bucket of gathered rainwater was floated over to her, which she used to wash her face. When everything was done, when her body and mind felt completely refreshed, Roseluck breathed in deeply and released all of her pent-up stress in one great sigh of relief.
For the first time in a long while, Roseluck felt revitalized; rejuvenated, as if she could do anything, as if she could take on the world!
…all thirty by thirty feet of it anyway, which even then was just a rough estimation. She was a botanist, not an architect. Being confined to a space no bigger than a living room for the entirety of her day was no picnic she was looking forward to.
“Thanks for that,” said Roseluck as she waited for the water on her face to dry. “And thanks for the blanket too. It’s nice to finally sleep with something that doesn’t feel like hard ice.” The mare chuckled.
“Sadly, I couldn’t provide a pillow for you. We’re used to sleeping on the ground, and getting the blanket was hard enough. I had my spies in Ponyville obtain it from some sort of tapestry store, but before they could ste--…acquire a pillow, they were caught and forced to flee.”
Chrysalis looked down. “That’s two more missing pony reports to add to the count…” she whispered.
“Say again?” asked Roseluck.
“N-nothing…” Chrysalis replied. “I suppose you’re hungry, yes?”
“Oh, like you wouldn’t believe!” exclaimed Roseluck, rolling her eyes. “I’m starving! N-no offence…”
“None taken,” said Chrysalis, smiling. “I can take you to a place where food is plentiful. The bread and apples that were given to you before were obtained from a farm in Ponyville, and took quite a bit of skill just to sneak inside. Not many of us venture to this place because we have no need for it, so, hopefully, it should be left untouched.”
“Great! When can we…leave…”
“Is something wrong?”
“Just how far away is this place? I thought you said I could never leave this place!”
“Exactly. You can never leave the hive, as a part of your own soul is bound to it. However, I remain the dominant link in the chain. So long as I accompany you, you’re still technically within the hive’s field of influence, which expands far into the forest.”
“…ok,” said Roseluck in a mildly disturbed tone of voice, kicking at the ground beneath her as awkwardness crawled into the conversation.
“It’s not as restricting as you may think. You will be fine.”
“So…when can we leave?”
“Whenever you’re ready, I suppose, but there’s…just one problem.”
“What’s that?”
Roseluck took a step forward, but nearly tripped over when her hoof became blocked by something small and tense. Surprised, she took a lazy step backward and looked down at her hooves to find Ditto standing before her, his neck craned upward like a long, vertical stalk and his cerulean eyes full of wonder.
“Oh…” murmured Roseluck, nervously staring back into the infant’s big, blue eyes, which, when viewed at the right angle, displayed the thousands of tiny, reflecting panels that make up a changeling’s vision.
“He’s…hungry as well,” said Chrysalis.
Ditto’s curious expression shifted into a cheerful smile at the faint mention of food, but his change of face could have just been the love radiating from Roseluck’s heart. Even Chrysalis could smell it from where she stood.
“Don’t I need food to…well, produce love?” asked Roseluck, looking up at Chrysalis. Down below, Ditto showed some likeness for the living food source in front of him by rubbing up against the mare’s front hooves. Roseluck cringed, biting her lower lip with anxiety as her eyes rolled back down to the changeling turned house cat.
“Don’t worry. He won’t bite.” Chrysalis giggled under her breath before stepping closer to Roseluck and lifting Ditto off the ground and onto her back. “He doesn’t even have his teeth yet.”
“How old is he anyway?”
Chrysalis smiled warmly as Ditto played with her wispy mane, pawing at it like a baby kitten amused by the enticing motions of a length of yarn dangling in the air.
“He’s just a little over one week old, but the way he’s been growing is outstanding.”
Ditto wrapped his forehooves around his mother’s mane, tugging on it like rope. Chrysalis flinched as the infant continued to pull it uncomfortably, but instead of stopping him, she powered through the pain and let Ditto have his fun.
“Like me, he can sense the love within you,” continued Chrysalis. “It’s not much, but he needs some, just enough to tide him over.”
Roseluck was quivering at “to tide him over.” For a moment, she felt like she was nothing more than endless buffet, being feasted upon night and day by a…parasite.
It’s for a good cause… thought Roseluck. It’s for a good cause…
“Alright,” Roseluck sighed. “But then can you take me to where I can eat?”
“Of course.” Chrysalis smiled. “It won’t hurt. I promise. Now, bow your head and look at the ground.”
Roseluck did as she was told, craning her neck downwards as the queen took another step forward and put the tip of her horn to Roseluck’s forehead.
The draining process began upon contact. The queen’s horn glowed a dim blue-ish green as the pink essence of love flowed out of Roseluck’s body. As Chrysalis had spoken the truth, the mare felt no pain from the transfer, though she did feel a little lightheaded. Curious, Roseluck decided to ask Chrysalis a question she had long since thought about.
“I’ve been wondering something,” started Roseluck, turning her eyes up to Chrysalis but keeping her head pointed down. “How can love be more than just an emotion? A food source is one thing, but I never knew it was like that until the Canterlot incident.”
“The mysteries of the world are few and far between,” said Chrysalis. “It’s terribly complicated to explain, but I can say this. Love, like magic, is its own unique energy, in more ways than one. Other emotions, such as anger and sadness, do not belong in the same place as love, because they themselves are not diverse enough to be counted as a physical, manipulative energy. It sounds absurd, doesn’t it? There’s more to love than meets the eye.”
Chrysalis ended the transfer of Ditto’s morning snack and turned her attention to her son, who seemed to be enjoying himself in his mother’s forest of wispy hair. When he looked away, Chrysalis touched her horn to his forehead, sending the magical breakfast flowing into the infant, who dawned a big smirk as the tingling sensations of love filled his body.
Roseluck lifted her head, rubbing her forehead to gently ease away the trifling nausea.
“But how can it be a source of food to you?” she asked. “There’s got to be an explanation for it, right?”
“I’m afraid that even I am deprived of such knowledge,” said Chrysalis, sighing as she finished transferring the love to Ditto’s body, ending it off with a tender kiss to his forehead. “The universe is cruel to us. It’s just the way we are. I never bothered to ask my mother either, so I’m just as clueless as you are.”
Chrysalis turned back to face Roseluck, flinching when she felt Ditto yank her mane much harder than before.
“Are you ready?” asked the queen.
“Definitely!” replied Roseluck. “Let’s go!”
~~~~~
The duo, minus Ditto, who was left with the commander for safety reasons, calmly strolled away from what Chrysalis called “the central hive” where the main bulk of the changelings were gathered. Roseluck found it astonishing as to how well hidden their home was. When they neared the outskirts, the black queen stated that the hive was still very much visible, but how? One look back and all Roseluck could see was endless stretches of forest that faded into the distance. Maybe that’s just how they built their home, camouflaging it with the whole of its surroundings. It was clear to her that the changelings were not only a cunning species, but a smart species as well.
The expansive surroundings of the Everfree forest were oddly quiet in all directions, save the occasional chirp of a bug or the distant roar of an animal, but when Chrysalis explained why it was so, Roseluck’s outlook on the changelings as a survivable species became greatly expanded.
She was no scientist, but from what she could conclude, she learned that the changeling hive, during the daytime, emits a high pitched sound wave that radiates to the forest around it. Audible only to animals, this ear-piecing racket, created by the combined bustle of changeling activity, wards away predators and other unwanted guests.
“Only at nighttime do the most dangerous of the Everfree’s hunters come out to hunt,” Chrysalis continued to explain as they neared the edge of what she claimed was the boundary of their territory. “Hydras, cockatrices, tarancha-sharkodiles, things like that.”
“Tarancha-what now?” asked Roseluck in disbelief.
“Strange name, isn’t it? Let it speak for the creature itself. Part sea shark, which only I have seen with my own eyes back when I was young, part swamp crocodile, and lastly, part spider, a big spider at that. It’s only been seen twice, and as you could probably tell, it is not friendly.”
“Wow…” uttered Roseluck, her mind now rampant with images of what she imagined such a creature would look like. “The Everfree isn’t a vacation spot, that’s for sure…”
“Oh really?” replied Chrysalis. “You haven’t seen, or heard, anything yet! The edge of the Everfree is almost a paradise compared to what we find out here.”
Chrysalis stopped in her tracks, Roseluck following in turn.
“This is the edge of our influential territory,” said Chrysalis. The queen lifted and pointed one of her hooves forward. “Look there, up ahead.”
Roseluck looked past Chrysalis at the area of forest further away. Immediately, she spotted a major difference in the scenery. All that surrounded her was colored in boring hues of green, brown, black, and grey; dreadful shades of a neglected world, but what she saw was like peering into a whole new world.
Large, leafy bushes surrounded by an outcrop of trees with twisted branches grew tall in a group from the cold soil. Their leaves were of a bright green, easily visible in the sunlight, and from them hung dozens of colorful, rounded objects, glistening like crystal with the remnants of morning dew. Patches of blue, red, and other such tints made the bundled crag look like something out of a colorful foalhood storybook.
“It’s fruit,” said Chrysalis, smiling. “Safe fruit at that, as far as we know, anyway.”
Roseluck started moving towards the colorful haven. Chrysalis followed behind her.
“This isn’t the only one, either,” Chrysalis continued. “Fruit patches like these have been found by my scouts all over the wood, so if this one is picked clean, I can have some delivered to you from other parts of the forest.”
When she arrived at the outcrop, Roseluck gently reached forward and cautiously poked one of the blue fruits growing on the bush, which appeared to be a giant blueberry of some sorts, about the size of a hoofball. Nothing happened, but its soft texture coaxed the mare to investigate further. She carefully plucked the fruit from its stem, turning it over and inspecting it with an observant, skeptical eye.
“They should be harmless,” stated Chrysalis, stepping up to Roseluck’s side. “Some of my changelings got curious one day and decided to try them out for themselves. They tasted bitter and foul to them, but nothing more.”
“So what’s there to say that I won’t like it?” asked Roseluck.
“There’s a chance, but the odds are slim at best. We dine on love, not plants.”
Roseluck looked over the fruit in her hooves for a few seconds more before putting it up to her lips and taking a very small, mouse-like bite out of it. Her reaction to its taste was immediate. Succulent, sweet, and as tender as a strawberry, her taste buds were overwhelmed to have been graced with such a marvelous sensation. Her eyes went wide and her smile even more so as she dove in for another enriching morsel. The blue fruit oozed with sugary juices as it was taken apart piece by piece. It was most delicious thing she had ever tasted, and that was saying a lot if she were to compare it to Pinkie Pie’s mouth-watering cupcakes. Before she knew it, the fruit was picked clean, leaving only a thin, glossy stem in the middle, which she tossed aside.
“I take it you enjoyed it?” asked Chrysalis, beaming.
“Are you kidding me?!” exclaimed Roseluck, exuberant. “It was so good I could eat the whole bush in one sitting!”
Chrysalis chuckled softly. “We must be careful though. I am uncertain as to how many of these bushes are within close proximity of the hive. I do not wish to send my own children out on a suicide mission out into the forest just to collect a few plants.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Roseluck plonked down onto her haunches and rubbed a hoof across her stomach. “That one alone was enough to fill me up!”
Chrysalis grinned. “I’m glad to hear that you’re full, but I’m sure that Ditto—“
Suddenly, there came a loud, shrill roll of noises, like the rapid chirping of a swarm of cicadas. Chrysalis had stopped talking. Her mouth remained open as her face shifted into a bewildered countenance.
“Chrysalis?” said Roseluck, waving a hoof in front of the queen’s face. She did not respond. Roseluck then tried poking her, but again, the changeling queen remained unresponsive. The queen’s eyes moved in tone, from green to cloudy grey. Her ears twitched a few times as the chirping grew louder, irritating Roseluck’s ears, but soon afterward, the chirping died down, and Chrysalis became active once again. The queen stumbled in place, nearly falling to the ground as if she was held in place for a moment by some mystical force.
“Oh my goodness! A-are you ok?” asked Roseluck, moving to help the queen rise to her hooves.
“S-something…something is wrong,” Chrysalis wheezed as her eyes returned to their normal color. She then looked over her shoulder, gazing back at her nigh invisible homeland in the forest thicket. “My changelings are restless…”
Chrysalis turned back to Roseluck.
“We must return to the hive at once,” urged Chrysalis with deep worry in her eyes.
“What’s going on?” asked Roseluck.
“Th-there’s no time!” exclaimed Chrysalis, turning tail and taking off in a brisk gallop towards the hive. “Follow me, quickly!”
After gathering her wits, Roseluck gave chase, taking off through the trees in hot pursuit of the frightened empress.