//------------------------------//
// 9: Technically 
// Story: Pony of the Gears 
// by TheFoxern 
//------------------------------//

	The first thing one sees when waking up usually is a good guess as to how well the day is going to go. Two large green eyes, with long slits staring at you, is not a situation that fills you with hope for the day. “Ah.” They pulled away, revealing a black shape, with a sort of wet mane, but mane was the wrong word. Something about her just looked off. The long, crooked horn on her head seemed very wrong. “Doctor.” She looked away, addressing someone off to the side. “Seems he's alive.” She did not sound too happy about this.

“Oh good.” Someone was beside him, but he couldn't seem to move. It wasn't that he didn't want to, he physically couldn't. “Don't worry Copper. Everything's alright now.”

Copper opened his mouth, but his mouth felt like he had been chewing chalk. Instead of words, he coughed and ended up curling in on himself. “Hmph.” The green eyed one moved around the bed Copper was laying in. She had long, insect wings with several holes. In fact she looked a lot like a pony shaped insect. Then he noticed her long fangs. “I'm still surprised it worked.”

“Where am I?” Copper managed to say. His throat hurt, his tongue hurt, his teeth hurt. In fact, now that he thought about it, everything hurt. A lot.

“Safe,” said the pony behind Copper and he tried to turn over to look at him, but he couldn't.

“Sort of,” said the green eyed one, staring disapprovingly at him. “Are you sure we need him? He really doesn't look that much.”

“Please, your majesty. He has done more than anypony yet.” It felt to Copper he had been challenged. He ignored the pain and sat up slowly. “Copper, it's all right. Don't move.”

“I'll move if I want,” Copper said and cleared his throat. His mouth tasted like burnt wood. That wasn't pleasant.

“Would you like a glass of water?” said the pony. It was, in fact, a pony. 

Copper recognized him instantly. “You're Doctor Whooves,” he said slowly, glaring at him.

“Ah.” Doctor Whooves seemed a bit caught off guard. “Yes, I am.”

He looked at the one he had called majesty. “And you're...Queen Chrysalis... I've seen pictures of you in Canterlot.” He coughed again and shook his head. “And yes...a glass of water sounds good...”

Queen Chrysalis was practically glaring at him. “It annoys me that they do such art of me.” She sat down and Copper looked at the holes in her hooves.

“Yes...they make you look far more monstrous,” Copper said before looking at Doctor Whooves. “But I suppose they want ponies to fear you.” 

“Yes well, they aren't very good,” she said, though she didn't sound very upset over it. 

“So we're in the badlands?” Copper guessed, staring at Doctor Whooves, watching him closely. He needed to be sure he wasn't a changeling, but he had no way of knowing how to tell.

There was a slight hesitation as he approached with a glass of water. “Yes... Froud Valley to be precise.” 

“In the center of my kingdom,” Chrysalis said, though she didn't sound happy about it. “And the only reason you're here is because I owed the Doctor a very big favor.”

“Well I hardly-” he turned to look at her and felt a slight crack. He froze, staring at her. “I...” He paused, trying to think. “I was dead.”

“Yes,” she said as she smiled. That was a ruthless smile, one of slight delight, but mostly of menace.

“Technically, yes. You were technically dead,” Doctor Whooves said, holding out the glass to him.

Copper took the glass with slight hesitation, though he did not look at it. He was still staring at Chrysalis. “Am I still dead?” he said as his gaze turned to the glass. He didn't feel dead. 

“Not...technically,” he said, glancing at Chrysalis. “Technically you're dead. And technically you're not.”

“Does...that make me some sort of zombie?” he said before taking a drink. He practically spat it out, coughing. It was disgusting, like even more burnt wood; all charcoal and ash. “That's awful,” he managed through coughs. Now he was sure he was in the badlands.

“No. Not a zombie. Just...technically not dead, yet dead,” Doctor Whooves said, patting him on the back.

“How can I be technically dead?” he said, taking deep breaths. The taste of burnt wood was still there, but it was hard to taste anything as his tongue had gone numb.

“Well, that's where it gets complicated. You're technically dead because you're not technically all the way alive. Not a zombie though, because you're not undead. You're still partially dead.”

He forced himself to drink more water. Badlands water may be the worst thing he had ever tasted, but it wasn't unhealthy to drink if you could get it down. “So I'm still dead...”

“Technically,” he corrected, with another glance at Chrysalis. “Though not so much as to be able to claim you’re dead...”

“But not enough to claim I'm alive either?” Copper said, putting the empty glass down. That was awful, but he couldn't taste the burnt wood anymore.

“Exactly,” he said smiling at him. “Technically dead, but technically alive. Not a zombie just...”

“Not all there,” Chrysalis said, she had been watching Doctor Whooves try to explain with an exasperated expression. “My magic isn't for this kind of thing and we couldn't get you all the way back.”

“But we got most of you and we're pretty sure that it's the part you need.” Doctor Whooves was smiling at him.

“You mean, the part you need.” He rubbed his face and then looked down at his hoof. The three scars were still there. That was an oddly comforting thought. 

“Ah...uhm...” He hesitated, trying to find words.

“Yes,” Chrysalis said and Copper looked at her. “The part that we need. It was a good job you did taking down the False God and it put their plans back a very, very long way, which is good for us.”

Things that Lady Evale said floated through his head. “So...” he said and then shifted a bit. His bones seemed to creak and crack. “How long have I been dead?”

“What? Why do you ask?” Doctor Whooves sounded as though he did not want to answer.

“How long,” Copper said and glared at him. The Doctor looked back and forth from him, to Chrysalis.

“Four years,” she said, a slight smile on her face. “Seems he can still do that look I've heard about.”

Copper sat quietly for a moment, staring at Chrysalis. He liked how she gave him straight answers, even if it were in an attempt to get to him. He would have to ask her questions, not Whooves. “Four years? I've been a corpse for four years?”

She nodded, smiling that ruthless smile. “Yup. Four whole years dead. The spell took a lot of prep time, lots of things needed to be done correctly and we couldn't rush anything.”

“And I'm sure you took a lot of convincing to do it... I bet that a lot of time was spent searching for somepony else to do it,” Copper said, before Doctor Whooves could agree with her.

“What?” Her expression turned to a mock form of shock. “I'm hurt you would say such a thing. The Doctor asked me personally to help you and I did.”

Copper paused, looking at her. There was a feeling in him, something that he couldn't seem to put words to. This was not the Queen Chrysalis he had read about- been told about. “...thank you,” he said finally and took a deep breath.

She blinked, her expression melting into confusion. “What?”

He moved out of the bed, slowly. He did his best to not fall over, which he found was not easy after four years as a corpse. “I said...thank you. Not many would have done that... Bring a pony back. Four days, four months, four years...it doesn't matter how long it took. You brought me back and for that, you have my thanks.” He bowed to her, as well as he could. 

Chrysalis backed away from him a bit, looking at Doctor Whooves, who could not help but smile. “I told you he's an interesting pony. I mean, he managed to stop me on several occasions. Flat out ruined my plans.” He sighed a bit, shaking his head.

“I am sorry,” he said as he walked slowly across the floor to the window. Four years. Dead for four years. They had preserved his body for four years. Or had the spell undone the rot of four years? That was something he did not want to think about. He had seen rotting bodies before and he did not want to imagine himself as one. 

“Not your fault, technically,” he said, watching him walk across the room. 

Chrysalis seemed to regain her composure. “You should be sorry. We could've stopped this whole thing and probably saved Manehattan.”

“Chrysalis,” Doctor Whooves said, glaring at her. “This is not the time, or the place to bring that up.”

“It's fine.” Outside the window Copper could see Froud Valley. Also known as the Dead Swamp. He'd been to the badlands before, but never in this deep. The Dead Swamp covered all of the southern half of the Badlands. It went from dry cracking dead land, into swamp. There had been no reason to go to the swamp, he had just gone in a little ways, but not out of choice. “It is my fault. My designs. My ideas.” He took a deep breath.

“Copper...” Doctor Whooves was walking slowly towards him. “We have to know...where is The Gem Cog?”

“Don't you know?” Copper said, looking back at him. The complete look of loss on Doctor Whooves face made Copper smile. “I smashed it.”

There was silence for a half a moment, before Chrysalis laughed. “Smashed it? Perfect!”

“No, that's bad!” He spun on her, glaring at her. “We may not have wanted them to possess The Gem Cog, but we needed it ourselves. We could have defended ourselves with it. A machine powered by it can't be effected by magic... Blast it...”

Chrysalis smiled at Whooves. “I thought you said it couldn't be destroyed. Nothing was powerful enough, no physical thing could even scratch it. But he simply smashed it.”

“Well...” Doctor Whooves glanced at Copper and then back at Chrysalis. “There are technically ways to do it. But none of them are easy and I don't know how he could have just...smashed it...”

They both looked at Copper and he shrugged. It was interesting to watch them argue for some reason. “I don't know. It shattered like it was made of glass...” He held up his hoof, staring at it. He felt so amused as he remembered the tingling feeling. “It was so easy. I just slammed my hoof down and it shattered.” He paused. “Like glass...”

“Maybe the machine weakened it...” Doctor Whooves said, staring at Copper's hoof as well. “It had been in that clock tower for thousands of years and that was making it impossible for anyone to find it... Maybe even it couldn't take that kind of stress...”

“It was working perfectly,” Copper said, taking a deep breath, even the air here was odd and unpleasant. “Up till I smashed it.”

Chrysalis could not seem to stop smiling at him. “Why did you smash it?” Doctor Whooves asked, staring at Copper. “Why would you do something like that?”

“It wasn't necessary.” He put his hooves on the frame and placed his head on top of them. “I lost it. I simply lost it.”

“That's not a good enough reason.”

Copper spun on him, staring him down. “Not good enough? No. Probably not.” He stalked forward, his gaze not leaving Doctor Whooves. “Not good. Not good at all, no. I did it, because it was needed. It needed to be destroyed. Don't use it, the old griffon had said, don't use it. I understood why. I understand why.” Doctor Whooves had to back away now, or risk Copper walking into him and then probably over him. “Unnatural. Unnecessary. What's the point of something that makes a device never stop? Where's the pleasure in finding things to improve with every repair?” He swung his hoof up, pointing it at the Doctor, who was against the wall now. “You have no right to say it was not to be destroyed. It had to be destroyed as soon as possible. Something like that...something like that...” His hoof wavered slightly in the air and he placed it firmly on the ground. “Something like that.” He took a deep, slow breath and turned from him, walking back to the window. He could feel himself cracking again and tried to hold the pieces together. “Something like that impedes progress, Doctor. Something like that dulls the senses. It is a dependent. It is...wrong.” 

There was silence for several seconds, before Chrysalis laughed. “I like him,” she said as she walked towards the door. “Definitely worth the effort of bringing back.” Her grin would have sent shivers down somepony’s spine who had not been expecting it.

Doctor Whooves cleared his throat, moving to the door as well. “Well, Copper... I'm sorry you feel that way about it, but it would have helped us quite a bit. Now, I need to see how you could have possibly destroyed it.” 

Chrysalis stopped and smiled slightly. “Oh? Leaving me now, Doctor? Leaving him in my care?”

There was a brief hesitation, before he nodded. “Yes. I have to. I trust that won’t be a problem...and that there won’t be any problems.”

She adopted that mock hurt look once again. “Problems? Oh no of course not, Doctor... Of course not.” There was a certain venom in her voice.

Copper noticed the bit of hesitation, as he watched Whooves try to weigh the consequences of staying verses going. “I will return as soon as I can.” Apparently it was worth going. Copper wondered how he was going to find out, but he must have some way to do it if he was even suggesting it.

“Oh I am sure you will,” Chrysalis said as she backed away from the door, more towards Copper. He had her interest now. Copper was unsure if that was a good thing or not.

Doctor Whooves looked at them both and then nodded. “I will be back.” Then he was out the door and gone. Copper wondered whether or not he would actually come back. He felt...broken. Again. He had gotten rid of that feeling, but now it was back and worse. It wasn't just his wing now, his very life was broken. While the pain in his body subsided, he could feel more of himself and he was truly broken. 

“Why do you look so sad?” came Chrysalis' voice from beside him and slightly upwards. She was quite a bit taller than him. Like Celestia...

He shivered and looked up at her. “Why do you think? I've been dead for four years. Word’s probably gotten around the world now. Everypony has probably already forgotten about me.”

“Oh I doubt that,” she said as she took a seat beside him, staring out at the swamplands. He looked up at her, arching a brow. “Celestia had a memorial put up to you in Canterlot and Ponyville. And a lot of other places have done so as well... Savior of all.” She swayed her hoof in a dramatic sweeping gesture. “Who brought down The False God single hoofedly. It was a good speech I hear. Gave you all the credit for everything.”

Copper ground his hoof into the ground, glaring out the window. “Despite everything...she could do that with a somber face, too... Just sit there and pretend to weep for me, despite practically killing me with her own hooves.”

“Yeah...” She nodded slightly and then looked down at him. “But she didn't.” She smirked. “You killed yourself. Just to be rid of her. Not many would go to such an extreme.”

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I suppose that not many would... It seemed the best way out. The best way to not have to listen to her lies ever again...the things I did for her...”

“Toppled empires. Slaughtered kings. Hacked butchers. Hunted down those that fled...” Copper looked up at her as she spoke, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Your record is impressive, I'll give you that.” She smiled at him and there was something about it that seemed genuine. “Now, if you can just work your magic one last time, we can win this.”

“Why are you helping?” It had been a question that had been bugging him since he was aware of who she was.

“Why?” She glared out the window. “Because I hate her.” Copper sat expectantly, looking up at her, waiting for her to continue. She sighed softly. “I don't expect you to understand...but then again, you probably will. We had an agreement. My changelings were allowed in Equestria, as long as they caused minimal harm. We posed as ponies from places far away, or those that had passed away, or even ponies that didn't exist. A good changeling can use pieces of ponies they've seen to shape themselves. They fed on the love of their friends and I fed on their love of me...”

She lapsed into silence and he felt the need to prompt her. “So what happened?”

Her fangs actually seemed to grow and she slammed her hoof on the ground. “She banished us all. No reason. No warning. She just started sending hit squads. Killing changelings that had done nothing but live. Murdering them. Slaughtering them.” She took a few deep, slow breaths. “And then...she sends the bodies back...” She grit her teeth and went quiet for a moment. She sighed, shaking her head. “So I amassed my army. I came up with a plan to take over Equestria. She wouldn't be able to stop me. Nor would her Elements of Harmony...but of course she knew what I was going to do. She goaded me into it. She forced my hoof, in order to completely banish all my kind from Equestria.”

“With Princess Cadencia and Shining Armor...” he said slowly, nodding. “I...thought it was odd that even though you feed on love... They beat you with love.”

“It's preposterous,” she said, slamming her hoof down again. “But it was not love for us. That's why it beat us. And it forced us completely out of Equestria...” 

Copper decided to let the silence fill the room and looked out the window again. Could he really take her word on what was happening? Could he take what Lady Evale said was true as well? Was Celestia really the one behind it all? He hated that it made sense. Copper had never seen her bad side, because he was so far on her good side. He did everything that was asked of him and more. Above and beyond any request. Got any job done. He got every job done. No failures, even if it wasn't the best outcome. But a feeling told him that he didn't have all the facts. “So you invaded Equestria...”

“I had to,” she snapped, glaring down at him. “My kind are dying. Dying, Copper, because of the lack of love. We starve without it. And I'm the only changeling that can feed off the love of other changelings, that's why I'm the queen.” 

Copper did not flinch under her gaze, despite the feeling it sent running down his spine. “You brought me back from the dead.”

She stared at him and then blinked. “Yes. We have been over that. And it was only because the Doctor asked me. And...I owed him a favor...”

“What kind of favor?” Copper couldn't help but be curious about her. There was something about her that held his interest.

There was slight hesitation and he was partially surprised over that. “The kind where you don't say no. No matter what.”

He nodded, staring up at her. He saw the slight flash of discomfort in her gaze, before she looked away. “I understand what it's like to owe that much to somepony.”

She spun around to face him, opened her mouth, but stopped when she saw his face. “I...have the feeling you do.” She slumped slightly, against the window and stared outside.

Then a thought struck him and he nodded slightly. “Right then.” He stood up and she looked at him. “I owe you,” he said and took a deep breath. “I owe you a lot. A lot more than my thanks. So, as long as I can still do anything, I'm going to try and do whatever I can, for you.”

The blank expression on her face gave Copper the feeling that maybe that wasn't the best thing for him to say. Then her expression shifted into amusement. “Oh? Well...I do suppose you owe me what life you have...” She examined him and Copper felt slightly uncomfortable under that gaze. “The first thing that you can do...” She licked her lips. “Is love me.”

He blinked and looked at her a moment before speaking. “Love you?”

“Feed me,” she said with a slight smirk. “There are less and less changelings every day as we slowly starve...and all we need is love.” She turned her body towards him.

“I...” He hesitated, looking around the room. Right now the window seemed a decent option, but she was was in the way. “I don't think I have all that much love to give.” Which was true. He was unsure if he had truly loved anyone. Maybe his parents, but he couldn't remember much about them. 

“Any love will do,” she said, moving slowly, very slowly, towards him. “Any at all...”

Again he hesitated, but he held his ground. She did not frighten him, but she did worry him a bit. “I...suppose I could try...”

Was she drooling slightly? Yes, she was. She also didn't seem to notice it, as she continued her approach. “Yes...please do.”

Love. How do you love somepony? What exactly were you supposed to do to love? Love had not been something that he had ever thought about. He stared at her as she got closer and closer. She looked desperate to him, but that was because she needed love to live. She was only a few hooves away from him. He could feel her breath coming out in slow streams. What was love? Some kind of emotion for some other pony, having feelings for them. Chrysalis was oddly attractive, he admitted to himself. He had never payed attention, but now he was forcing himself to. So were a lot of the ponies he'd met. He needed to care about her. Care about her, like when he saw that the ship was going to crash. All he could think of were the ponies he had met and how he cared for them. Oh how he cared. He loved them. He loved them all. And now he needed to love Chrysalis. “This...is difficult,” he said slowly.

She sat down in front of him and sighed slightly. “I know, it's hard to love something like me...but I can be anypony...anypony you want.”

He hesitated and then shook his head. “No... I have a feeling that wouldn't work...” He needed to care about Chrysalis. Did he care about her? If she were in trouble, would he rush to her, to help her? Yes, but that would be because he owed her. He needed to try his thought process from a different angle, what about if he didn't owe her? She was nice to him, she didn't like the Doctor, or at least didn't act like it and he liked that. He wasn't fond of the Doctor either. Would he save her, if given the chance? Even at the cost of his own life. … Yes.

She inhaled and smiled as her eyes closed. “Ah...there it is...the little faint twinge of love...”

Copper felt his face redden and she grinned at him. “Well...it's a start at least,” he managed to say, clearing his throat. His heart was racing now and he looked over towards the window. It looked as though it weren't an option now. That was good.

She leaned in and pressed her cheek against his. “It has been too long since I have felt love from a pony...not since I left Equestria.” She sighed softly.

She felt cold and Copper had to resist the urge to lean against her. This was such an odd feeling, actually letting one’s emotions have some sort of sway on you. And this particular emotion was trying to pour out. He had never let himself love, but now that he let a bit through, the dam was ready to burst. “I...” He backed away from her quickly, taking deep breaths. “I do believe that's enough...”

Her head tilted to the side slightly and she leaned towards him. “Oh come now...I can feel all that repressed love...you've held back so long...let yourself go for once.” The look she gave him was almost desperate. 

How much could he trust her? That look of need made his heart beat harder. Nopony had ever given him that look. He took several deep breaths, trying to slow his heart. “That won’t be a good idea...” That look would be the end of him.

“Please.” She moved slowly towards him. “All I want is your love...”

Chrysalis suddenly went rigid and sat up straight. “All right...” Doctor Whooves said as he came into the room and relief washed over Copper.

“Took you long enough...” Copper mumbled, still breathing quite heavily. But Chrysalis seemed completely back to normal. At least, as normal as she had been in his presence earlier anyways, with that look of contempt and distaste. 

“So I think I found out why you were able to break it...” He moved towards the two of them and looked at Copper and at Chrysalis. “What's been going on?”

“On?” Chrysalis said, arching an eyebrow at him. “What would make you think anything had been going on? Copper and I had merely been talking things over.”

Copper cleared his throat, straightening up a bit. “She was explaining why she had invaded Canterlot.” He took deep, slow breaths, his heart calming down. Sitting down also helped a lot. “Honestly I can see her reasoning behind it.” She gave him an odd look, but he was refusing internally to allow himself to look at her. “If it meant the survival of a species, that had not been harming anyone previously, I...well, I see why she did what she did.”

Doctor Whooves looked from one, then to the other, then back. “Yes...anyways. After some work, I found out why you could destroy it.”

“How did you find out?” Copper said, looking at him. He was curious, if only to avoid thinking of Chrysalis.

“It's...complicated. Maybe I'll explain it someday, but right now it's not important.” He ignored Copper’s questioning and perturbed look. “Anyways...there's a few different things that could have lead to it. Some of them are...well, unlikely.”

Copper moved towards the Doctor, which thankfully got him away from Chrysalis. “All right, so what kind of things?”

Chrysalis sniffed slightly, staring at Doctor Whooves. “Get on with it. Some of us have things to be doing.”

Again he looked from Copper to Chrysalis and back. “Right... So, stress could have been one of the things. After I explained the machine to him, he agreed that it might have been the cause and though the first conclusion, isn't the most likely.”

“Who?” Copper's eyes narrowed on him. He didn't like how the Doctor seemed to know so much about everything.

He hesitated a bit and looked at Copper before he answered, “Gears.”

There was silence as Copper stared at him, his eyes narrowing. “And...who is that?” Chrysalis said and Copper could tell she was feeling as though she was missing something quite important.

“He's the leading expert on The Gem Cog. He was there when it was first used, and the first one it affected.” He braced himself for the assault of questions.

But they did not come. Instead, it was just one. “So you have a way of speaking with ponies that are dead?”

Whooves gave him a look and nodded slowly before speaking. “Yes...” Copper nodded and gestured a hoof for him to continue. “Yes, well he said that that wasn't the best option. He...he said that it was most likely...you were the only pony who could destroy it.”

Copper arched an eyebrow at him. “Me? So no other pony could have done it even if they tried?”

“No. No other pony, griffon, or anything else. He said it was because...” He hesitated and then shook his head. Copper had the odd feeling he was trying to explain it all in such a way as to not give all the answers, but not lie in the process. “I think some explaining is needed first. When Gears touched the cog, it... He claims a bit of it forced itself into his head. It gave him clarity and understanding. He became what is apparently known as the Pony of the Gears. The book with the same title, is, in fact, his personal journal.”

“His journal...” Copper said slowly, his mind racing over the pages that he had looked over. It had been unlike any other sort of mechanical book he had read. “That would make sense...”

“Yes...well...according to him...the only one who could properly use the gear to it's full effect...and if needed, destroy it...would be a Pony of the Gears.”

There was silence, where Chrysalis' expression changed into one of amusement. “So than Copper is a Pony of the Gears.”

Doctor Whooves nodded. “Yes. There's no other explanation.”

“Well...all right,” Copper said after a pause. “But...what does that mean? So I'm a...Pony of the Gears. But what does that even mean?”

“I...don't know. Gears didn't know. He just knew that that was what he was. And that only a Pony of the Gears could destroy the cog. But...that's not all.” He sighed softly, looking at Chrysalis. “Not all hope is lost. Gears explained that once The Gem Cog was destroyed, The power within it would...shift.”

Chrysalis moved a bit closer to Copper, looking at him with interest. “Oh really? So he will find where this power shifted to?”

“It...sounds that way...” Copper said, glancing at Chrysalis. 

“Yes. You will. He wasn't sure exactly how it would work...but he theorized it is possible to wear down The Gem Cog, so it would need to be replaced,” the Doctor said, also glancing at Chrysalis. He wasn't sure how he felt about her interest in Copper. “I will need to find out more information. It will take some time.” There was a bit of a hesitation in his voice. 

Copper’s immediate thoughts were begging him not to leave. He wasn't sure if he could keep the dam held back. “How much time?”

“A few days,” he said slowly, watching as Copper's expression seemed to twitch. “In that time, you'll have to stay out of anywhere you've been. We can't have anyone recognizing you and getting that information back to Celestia.”

“Right... I'm still supposed to be dead.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Dead...” He shook his head, shaking out the thoughts.

“Technically. Technically dead. But technically alive. Remember that.” He moved slightly towards the door. “Remember that you are technically alive. And you can die.” That sounded a bit like a warning, but also a bit like a threat. 

“Good to know,” Chrysalis said, a smirk on her face. “Now...run along little Doctor.” She waved a hoof slightly at him. “I'm sure you have many, many ponies to see and speak with...”

Copper could feel her moving closer to him, without physically moving. “Right...” Doctor Whooves said, looking at him and then to her. “I will check in when I have more information...but in the mean time I suggest you rest.” He pointed a hoof at Copper. “And you.” His hoof moved to point at Chrysalis. Leave him alone and let him rest.”

“Me?” Chrysalis adorned her hurt expression, placing a hoof over her chest. “I'm hurt, Doctor. He is in bad shape and needs his rest.” She smiled, a ruthless smile. “And he'll get plenty of it, I assure you.”

He looked at Copper. “Will you be all right, Copper?”

There was a slight hesitation. He wanted to say no. Oh how he wanted to say no. Say 'no' and 'please take me with you. Don't leave me alone with her.' But he didn't. Instead, he said, “Yes. I...I think that I will be.”

“All right...” he said slowly and turned away. “If you're sure.”

Then he was gone again. He felt Chrysalis behind him before she draped herself over him. “Now...he's not here anymore...” Her legs wrapped around him slowly. “No more interruptions...no more distractions...” Her voice was so soft, warm, comforting. And she wasn't as cold now. It was probably the bit of love that she had fed off of him.

“Your majesty-”

“Please...” She pressed her cheek against the side of his head. “Chrysalis...please call me Chrysalis...” He could hear the smirk in her voice.

He swallowed and took a deep breath. She was so light. “Chrysalis...what...what exactly do you think you're doing?”

“Doing?” She said, nuzzling him. “I'm not doing anything... Well...” She rubbed her hoof over his chest. “Nothing bad...nothing...unwanted.”

It was so hard to not lean against her. To allow her to envelope him. To let the dam break and flood himself with it all. “What...makes you think...that I want this?”

“You are not complaining...” she said softly, her voice was driving him mad. “You would have complained, or asked me to stop...” Which was true, he had not protested at all. “All you need do, is ask and I will stop... I will stop and not ask again...all you need do is ask...”

He opened his mouth to protest. Just one word. All he needed was a word. Stop. No. Anything. But he couldn't. Not now. His eyes closed and he leaned against her. The dam was cracking and love was pouring from it. “I...can't say no...” he said, he could hear more than his own heartbeat now. He could hear hers. It was beating harder than even his.

“Then...” She held him tighter. “You...are mine...”

The dam burst.