Even though Chrysalis, the Changeling Queen and ruler of amorphization was evil, she still only wanted something simple. Something hardly considered tough to give: love. Although she tried to do it with force, and almost caused mass destruction upon Canterlot, the fact was that what she wanted something simple, not complicated. Getting to her hooves, her neck in horrid pains, she looked around, and wondered where all her children had gone, and what in Equestria knocked her all the way into the Everfree Forest. Though it wasn’t that hard to figure out, the Queen still contemplated the matter, only for a moment, however.
Looking around in the dead of night, fog looming around her and fear slowly but surely taking its hold on her heart, she stood, her holed hooves shuffled the dirt beneath them. She gave a wee squeak, and frantically began to gallop towards town, Ponyville, where Twilight rested safe and sound, unaware of the menacing evil that approached her quaint home.
Twilight yawned, blinked her drooping eyes and asked her assistant dragon if he was done cataloging what had just happened in Canterlot. He didn’t answer. She walked over to his location only to find the poor thing out cold and barely moving. She widened her eyes due to worry; she couldn’t see his chest moving... She even thought about poking him with a stick, just to be sure, but his sudden, silence-breaking snore assured him he was alright. Letting out a relieved sigh, the unicorn tried to magically lift the heavy snoozer, but found she was going to collapse if she tried magic; too much spellcasting the night before, but the ponies demanded more light shows! So, she left him there, lying on the desk, thoroughly lost in a random dream most likely involving Rarity.
“Ugh... forget it. I can’t even. I’ve lost the ability to even... What is an ‘even’ anyway? I mean, the foals at the party were talking about it... must be some weird saying going around schools or something... uuugh." She muttered to herself, half lost in some semi-realistic dream. Everything was twirling and spinning to her, but late night burnouts were nothing for her anymore. Twilight had gone on way longer than this, all the way till sunrise, “Why can’t I keep my eyes open...?”
All of the sudden, the treehouse’s keeper heard a noise coming from outside. She sobered up instantly, or at least as quickly as three hours of sleep would allow her, and crept over to the door. Peering out, she saw nothing. For a split second, she contemplated her lassitude was too great to cope with and realized she must have been hearing things in her head. The second noise told her otherwise. Loud and oh, so real, Twilight knew from it that this was definitely anything but her imagination.
A loud knocking on the door was the sound. For a minute, Twilight stared at the wooden designs, thinking about how that door never opened the same way whenever she or Spike used it. Would it open like any other door this time, or would it split down the lower middle? She couldn’t decide which one would work. With the second knock, and Spike shifting over and falling off of his desk to make a dent in the floorboard, she made the final choice of choosing the lower part, only to find out she chose wrong. This time, the door wished for her to exit normally.
“Typical...” She sighed, looking over at the scar Spike had on his head, “Oh, great.. I’ll have to call somepony from Floormasters to repair that.. Spike should be fine. Just some blood, that’s all. He doesn’t need to go to the hospital or anything like that. Definitely couldn’t be any kind of alarming head trauma!” The thought of Spike’s brain bouncing around inside his head sent her own mind reeling, “Ok, let’s not think about that...”
Her hoof nervously loomed over the handle, thoughts spawning about what might be on the other side. Is it some angry tax collector? She thought, A librarian from the past...? No, I returned all those books, definitely! Then again... maybe there was one or two... or ten that got left behind... no, no no! What if it’s Princess Celestia, coming to punish me for a missed letter on the magic of friendship!?
“Oh, I can’t take it anymore!”
She threw open the door, the fear of the unknown was just too overwhelming. Whatever was on the other side of the door, she’d find out then and there. It swung open. As it did, lightning struck in the distance. It wasn’t even raining moments before. The being stood there, her green, devil-like eyes scanning Twilight’s frame. The random light show behind her made things all the more frightening. As her mouth opened, a slithery tongue passed by razor sharp fangs, forcing Twilight to scream in shock. She fell backwards, knowing exactly who the intruder was.
“C-C-Chrysalis!”
The changeling lifted her eyebrows in astonishment, not knowing what she’d done wrong. Naturally, her just being there was enough to make Twilight Yelp for help. As she entered, her hoof silenced the unicorn, while her sorry gaze made Twilight’s curiosity peque. Slowly and calmly, she explained her reasons for even considering coming anywhere near Ponyville, “I’m trying to find my kids...”
Twilight didn’t need much more to understand her predicament. Having someone like Spike was similar to having a son of her own. An annoying, gem eating, fire breathing, constant hazard son. One can only imagine how many bits a single ruby cost, let alone a whole bag of them, and that was just his breakfast. If it wasn’t for Princess Celestia who catered to that dragon’s insane tastes, Twilight wouldn’t even bother with attempting to feed him anything close.
“You see,” Chrysalis said, gaining Twilight’s impossibly obtainable attention, “I almost feel bad now, wondering where my babies are. They’re probably alone, cold and wishing I was there with them.”
In the Blackberry woods located just a little ways beyond the Everfree Forest, a group of Changelings converged, all rolling their eyes. “Well, this was sure to happen,” one said, and all the others agreed.
“We tried to warn her, but noooo, she wouldn’t listen!”
“I just wanted to hug everypony. That’s the proper way of feeding.”
“Yeah! If she simply asked, how much you guys wanna bet those ponies would’ve agreed without hesitation? Look at us! We’re adorable, right?”
All of which, to the Canterlot citizens, were indeed cute and huggable, but the Queen refused to accept this, and demanded her army act as just that; an army. Their thoughts, which were collective, traveled to Chrysalis, finally making her come to the realization that this might’ve worked.
And why wouldn’t it still work, she thought. Visions of simply collecting love through hugs circled her thoughts. She’d never listened to her kids before, mainly because of the tyrannical power that blinded her from doing so, but worrying for them made Chrysalis listen for the first time in ages, “Uh... T-Twilight...”
The hostess blinked, glossy tiredness showing, and asked, “Chrysalis...?”
“May I... Try something?”
“That depends on what it is. If you wish to take on my appearance...”
“No,”
“Take over my life,”
“Twilight, I...”
“And completely overtake Ponyville,”
Fed up with the immediate conclusion that her deeds would repeat themselves, Chrysalis blurted out her true request. “I JUST WISH TO HUG YOU!”
Twilight sat in befuddlement, completely silenced by the random statement. The thought to decline crossed her mind; what did she owe this Changeling? She led an assault on the capital city after all. But her forgiving nature begged her raise a hoof, acting beyond her sense of logic, her sense of anger as a memory or two crept up from that time only a little while ago.
Without warning, Twilight was engulfed in a strong, powerful hug. She was amazed at how warm the mare really was, despite the chitinous skin surrounding her. Memories rose of when Princess Celestia cuddled with her after some studying, back in her foal years. She’d be so, very weary from the day’s challenges that tears often escaped. Celestia, being the motherly mare she was would soothe her student with a kind hug. Twilight’s eyes closed along with this sweet remembrance and openly embraced the hug, as if it was from the Princess herself.
She wrapped her hooves around the Queen, even smiled a bit, forgetting who was nestling her. Slowly, her love, purple in mist and only visible to Chrysalis seeped out of her fur and entered through the holes on the Queen’s hooves. Weakness was sensed, but ignored, for a hug seemed to only give a small percentage compared to other methods, like kissing.
Twilight moaned a bit, letting Chrysalis know not to tug so tightly. “Sorry Twily. I’m getting carried away, aren’t I?”
“Mmh...? No, you’re... so soft. Why didn’t you just do this in the first place, instead of attacking Canterlot?”
“I don’t know! My kids tried to tell me I was in the wrong, but... Buh, I just didn’t listen! I’m sorry... I’m just so, so sorry Twily!”
She couldn’t believe her ears. Was this the true evil that Twilight was certain would destroy an entire, heavily guarded palace? If so, it was the nicest evil she’d ever met. Hearing herself be called something only her friends chanted only made the situation that much more tender. She even felt a tear escape. Noticing the liquid drop onto her shoulder, Chrysalis realized she’d gathered enough love from Twilight, and had fed enough on it. She’d be able to return to her children and feed them plenty to keep them alive for about two more days. That would grant her enough time to encourage more ponies to hug her, and freely give her the emotions she needed.
Releasing the unicorn, Queen Chrysalis sniffled and held back her own tears. Twilight looked about ready to burst and sob from happiness, as did her guest, but Twilight was way more emotional about this. It showed her not all evil in the world remains as such. It meant there was still hope for her yet, and that everypony in all of Equestia, regardless of how corrupt they might’ve been, still had some good in them.
Of course, Twilight allowed Chrysalis to stay for the night, confident she could be trusted. The following morning would come later than usual, but when it did, Twilight would feel no regret about housing her new friend, the Queen of the Changeling Armada.