From her time as a young one, Chrysalis’s mother always reminded her that all life had a purpose. In her adolescence, it did not make much sense. Ponies were born as squishy, meaty love sponges in three different flavors with no other purpose but to waste their potential by being happy all the time. Where was the return? To what great, universal purpose did they belong to?
Tasty flavors they might be, but she knew there had to be more to life than just becoming the divine breakfast of something bigger and scarier than you.
Life was swift, cruel, and downright horrifying.
There was no denying it, and anyone who blatantly chose to do so could usually be found gurgling in the fresh, steamy excrement of some unseen horror they knew nothing about, the victim of their own idiocy.
Her mother was the one who taught her such a silly proverb, and, like her young, free-spirited self she laughed and at the same time felt sick at the thought of seeing herself submerged neck-deep in a mountain of manticore dung. Her memory of it was an ode to, theoretically, good parenting, for it taught her about the natural order of things. Play the fool and commence your downfall, but play the mastermind and complete the circle.
Perhaps, thought the queen on her return journey to the central hive, ponies really were meant to rule as the dominant order of Equestria. Their mastery of the earth, air, and mystics allowed them to play a better card above all the rest. They were dealt the better hand in life. They won fair and square.
Or, she mused with a following sigh of dread on the very same return journey, destiny could be, quite literally, a pain in the plot. Maybe it would be less of a jerk if it stopped crushing the dreams of young ones who hope and pray for brighter futures. Instead, they are stuck with wayside skill sets and nothing else for the rest of their lives all the while being slowly crushed beneath destiny’s mighty hammer of pettiness.
“Follow the silver contrails…” Chrysalis muttered in a low whisper, gently gliding a hoof over the surface of the tablet. This object had stood the test of time and she now handled it as delicately as one would handle a simple butterfly.
Through the open roof in the central hive, she looked to the clouds blanketing the sky; their seemingly boundless size resembled a form close to divinity and, she hoped, could portray the answers she sought for so hastily. The right one had to be somewhere among the vapory threads. “Folia… Such a strange name. What did she want with me?”
“I think you should be more concerned with what he wants with you,” Roseluck spoke up from the far side of the gathering hall where they stood. One of her hooves was pointed downward, indicating the base of the queen’s hooves. Chrysalis’s gaze turned downward, as did her expression when she frowned at the sight of Ditto signifying the face of an impoverished soul, with his imperfect cheeks having transformed into a faux coming of age.
“Oh…” Chrysalis sighed through her nose.
“Maybe you should…?” Roseluck rolled a hoof in the air, expecting the queen to understand what she was trying to get across.
“Oh!” Chrysalis gasped, finally getting the message. “Hungry…he’s hungry…right.”
“Yeah…right,” Roseluck rolled her eyes, and amidst the discomfiture Chrysalis put aside her tablet and took up Ditto in her hold. She managed to get him to giggle to revive his spirits by tickling his soft underbelly, but was swiftly reminded of her intermittent configuration when his joyous laughter was interrupted by the rumbling of his stomach. His pent-up hunger drove him to moan in pain.
For one of the few times over the past few days she paid special notice to his safety, his cries were actually starting to worry her a lot. She could easily relate to his pain, for when you’re in a dreadful famine for hundreds of years all you ever hear besides your own breath was the beating of your heart and the torturous grumbles of your weak stomach so helplessly deprived of what it so sorely needs.
“Come, Roseluck. Over here,” Chrysalis hurriedly waved the mare over.
Seeing Ditto’s face up close however only drove the mare to worry all the more. Roseluck cringed a little when Ditto began to writhe in the cradle of his mother’s arms, clutching his stomach like it was an unbearable sickness. She could recall herself once coming down with a terrible stomach virus that left her bedridden for a whole week. She especially remembered the cramps that tore at her digestive system, but she couldn’t for the life of her imagine what the experience must feel like at such a young age.
“He…doesn’t look so good…”
“It’s just hunger pains,” Chrysalis replied with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.
“That is what hunger pains look like?”
“Love is an energy, not of a solid substance. With every move we make, more of it is drained from our bodies. It’s simple. The smaller the changeling, the quicker they could starve.”
“That’s why you need so much of it, right?”
“Exactly.”
Roseluck sat down and bowed her head.
“Well…let’s get this over with.”
Chrysalis put a hoof gently to Ditto’s neck to keep him held still. Doing so, through the telepathic abilities she benefited from the now meager shadow of what once was the hive mind, her very touch granted her an inside look at the thoughts and emotions of his heart and soul. The views beyond the veil of the mind were dim at best, for his body was too weak to make much sense of anything.
Suddenly, Ditto’s pain intensified, and he openly began to cry. Roseluck could have never imagined seeing the teardrops of a spawn of a once great evil, but no matter how long Chrysalis tried to uphold it, the queen’s evil half was long gone, and it remained known to her only as a black-hearted specter. It could scare occasionally, but never again bring harm to the innocent.
“Hurry it up! Can’t you see what’s happening to him?!” Roseluck shouted.
“I know, I know!” Chrysalis hastily replied.
The transfer spell began immediately. From the flesh and bone of the forbearer of the key to Ditto’s life, the energy of love seeped out through Roseluck’s pale skin. Its power distorted the space around her and colored it a slight, pinkish hue. The energy was channeled through to Chrysalis’s horn before slowly being absorbed into Ditto’s soft chitin, passing through his thin carapace and seeping into his body. He calmed down in due time, but childcare wasn’t all that simple. Roseluck looked up just in time to see Chrysalis nuzzle the infant and rock him back and forth. Ditto welcomed his mother’s advances with open arms, his forehooves of which playfully grabbed at his mother’s nose.
The spell was broken just as the squeaky laughs arose from a certain young one. Ditto had returned to full health, his hunger subsided and his timely smiles remaining as something to relish.
Roseluck stood up and went through a checkup procedure to make sure she was alright and that the spell hadn’t taken more out of her than she would have preferred. Still breathing? Check. Skin still on? Check. No angry, hungry fire beast swooping down from the sky with sharp claws extended and eyes on the more bulbous parts of her unsullied backside? She needed to check that in gold ink. Some part of that Lyrish luck myth she heard from a fortune cookie had to be true, and when her life was on the line she needed as much of it as she could get every second of every day!
Though, silliness aside, the only thing she knew of that kept her sane on a base level, there was a serious concern she needed to get off her chest. It had plagued her for what felt like ages up to now. It all fell in line with this wretched forest. Never had she wanted anything to do with it, but as many times as she thought about fleeing she was always brought back to the fact that her captivity was wholly indefinite, at the mercy of the queen. If she was going to stay alive, she needed to lay down some ground rules for herself, but these rules would be all but useful if she didn’t clear up a few matters with the ever-so negligent queen of a hopeless future.
“Chrysalis?” Roseluck furrowed her brow. “We need to talk.”
“Not now, not now,” replied Chrysalis, waving her off.
“Yes. Now.”
Chrysalis looked at Roseluck as if she was crazy, but then, in that moment, she felt it. She quickly looked away, realizing what she had just done, and how uncomfortably real it felt to not backlash and harshly threaten anyone who dare disobey her even after she ordered them away.
“Th-Then talk. No one else can hear us. We are safe here.”
“Put him down first,” said Roseluck, gesturing to Ditto.
“Why?”
“You’re getting distracted. Uggh, this is serious!” Roseluck stamped her hoof.
“I’m not letting him out of my sight and that’s that!”
…no. Just…no.
Roseluck couldn’t take it anymore. She just couldn’t take it. What couldn’t she take, exactly? Who knows, because she hardly did anymore. She never thought she would see the day, but no.
This was the day.
Suddenly, the mare lunged forward, leaping ahead and grabbing the changeling queen by the skin of her neck. It happened so quickly that Chrysalis had no time to let out a gasp, let alone keep her footing. She nearly lost her grip on Ditto and yearned to scold and threaten the living daylights out of her companion.
“W-What the?!” Chrysalis stuttered as angrily flailed her body from side to side. “H-How…dare y—!”
Roseluck scowled and pressed her hooves harder against the queen’s neck, which was surprisingly pillow soft and as easy to squeeze as a wet sponge. It was dangerous in such a way that her actions, though lacking strength, could even choke Chrysalis to death given the situation. Chrysalis softly yelped at the first onset of stinging pain before Roseluck yanked her closer until they met each other eye to eye, horrified by the severity of it all. This was unlike her. Was she possesed? Crazed? Had she been set up? In any case, Chrysalis was in for a world of hurt.
Oh how the tables had turned.
“Shut. Up.” Roseluck grunted through clenched teeth, the daggers that were her bloodshot eyes staring deep into the queen’s newly reformed soul. “Listen carefully, Chrissy.” Roseluck squeezed the queen’s neck harder with each emphasis of her words. “I have never trusted you. I have never done so much as to like you in the slightest. You are the root of all my problems right now and the bane of my existence! You’re scum and you know it, and while you sit here and take frivolous risks just because you feel like it, your entire species, your subjects, your children, the ones you should be caring about are all starving to death!”
Chrysalis could hardly believe this was happening. She was supposed to be the vicious one, not Roseluck. Never Roseluck! No pony in all of Equestria could ever outmatch her the queen’s power in words. But every part of it was true, and denying it in any form would be pointless. It almost made her want to…cry; for the first time in hundreds of years. Not because they were…true facts…but because it reminded her of her mother.
Down below, Ditto was getting concerned. All of the shouting and angry voices he heard meant that something wasn't right between his mother and caretaker. At the first sight of the frown on his mother's face, he became restless and tried to gain her attention using the only few ways he knew how, most notably the sounds he made when sad or frightened. Roseluck glanced at him when she heard his nervous squeaks that broke the silence between them, her expression remaining stagnant.
“Put him down.” Roseluck commanded.
“B-But…” Chrysalis stuttered.
“Now.” Roseluck growled with the threatening brutality of a mighty lioness.
Apparently, Chrysalis wasn’t the only one who possessed a bad side kept hidden from the clueless, outside world. Her own hidden lioness looked more like a defenseless kitten compared to Roseluck’s rarely embodied spirit of anger. Swallowing hard, she complied with her demand once Roseluck released her grip on her throat, gently placing Ditto on the ground and tapping him softly on the rump to send him on his way towards a vacant corner in the room. He stepped forward only a few feet before looking back, disheartened that his methods for bringing joy to his mother's face failed. Wishing to resolve the situation quickly, she waved him off with a stern twitch of her hoof. He had no choice but to obey. He whimpered forlornly as he hobbled away, but he knew good and well that her decision was final.
“There,” Chrysalis hissed, retaliating Roseluck’s glaring ilk with the well-known hostility lain within a viper’s signature forewarning. “Are you satisfied, yet?”
“That…that wasn’t my intention,” replied Roseluck. She sighed dismally and sat down, closing her eyes and vigorously rubbing her temples. “Look, just…sit, please. I just need to discuss something with you.”
“You truly believe I’m going to listen to you after all that?!”
“I just needed to get your attention…sort of. It’s a little more complicated than that.”
“Oh, spare me the pleasantries…” Chrysalis grunted, rolling her eyes before sitting down in front of her. “Fine.”
“Thank you,” Roseluck replied in a singular, posh-like tone to reassert her role in the conversation. “I…ok, I'll admit. I went a little too far there with the whole calling you ‘scum’ thing…”
“What?” said Chrysalis, mildly annoyed but knowledgeable of the guilt she knew was wholly true. “What about your other insults, hmm? I demand a proper explanation!”
“That’s not what—“ Roseluck grunted, still unhappy with the way things were going. “Nevermind…” she continued, rolling her eyes. “There is a very, very serious issue concerning…well…you.”
“Me?” Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. “What is this about?”
“Everything! Don’t you see? It’s all about you! Ever since you sent the rest of the changelings away, I’ve been doing some hard thinking, and it’s more than clear to me that you’re becoming too much of a liability!”
“A liability?!” Chrysalis scowled. “To whom?”
“Stop acting like you don’t believe me! You’re a liability to Ditto, myself, and, most embarrassingly, your own species! You’re bad news everywhere we go!”
Chrysalis snarled, deeply annoyed with Roseluck’s temper. “Must I remind you time and time again that the Everfree Forest--!”
“Is the most dangerous place in the world~! Oh no! So scary!” Roseluck mocked the queen through silly facial expressions and hoof gestures. “You know, that excuse is getting pretty old!”
“Excuse?!” Chrysalis growled in agitation, arching her back in a feign attempt to appear taller and thus stronger, but its once empowering rigor had been lost long ago. Roseluck didn’t even flinch as the temporary truce she had established just minutes ago crumbled to pieces.
“Look around you, Chrysalis! You don’t even remember where you are, do you? In your head, it’s just like any other forest. Full of trees, mud, and bugs, right? You know its dangers and how to get around them, but I don’t! Ditto doesn’t know either!” Roseluck turned and pointed to Ditto, who sat quietly in his corner of the room, idly gawking at whatever speck of reality his bug eyes could lead him to. “Just look at him! You say he’s cute, but cute isn’t going to cut it out here, sister! You need to learn that pretty quickly, otherwise we’re all going to end up as another manticore’s chew toy!”
“Oh, the nerve of you! You’re expecting me to forcibly change him? To torture him and scare him into line? Is that it!?”
“No!” Roseluck shouted. “But hey, if you want to be congratulated on something your majesty I’d be more than happy to oblige. I’d give your lack of compassion tens across the bucking board! Your attitude could use a little work, but I think you’ll get it down in…the next few centuries or so? That sounds about right. Don’t you agree?”
The truth hurts far more than any amount of physical pain could ever do. Guilt can linger, but reality stays forever. Chrysalis dejectedly lowered her haunches to the floor. She let the onset of another emotional whirlwind bring the rest of her down to the steadily cooling soil.
“Why can’t I fight you…” asked Chrysalis with a voice shook to the core with inner denial. She was too weary to combat the mare anymore.
“Because you don’t know how to fight anymore, Chrysalis! You’re so traumatized by how few of you there are left that you can’t think clearly anymore. You’re doing nothing to help the situation either, which only makes things even worse than they need to be!”
“I do all that I can to help…and yet that’s still not enough for you?”
“It’s because I worry about you!”
This new development surprised Chrysalis, her interest causing her to lift her head in attentiveness while her mind made its best efforts to cycle through her emotional range and choose a feeling less likely to result in a kickstart of wild accusations.
"You...do?" Chrysalis murmured.
"Chrysalis, listen and listen well." Roseluck sighed before bringing a stern expression to bare. "You are not, and I repeat, not the queen you once were anymore. You've changed! Just face the facts and move on with it!"
"But--"
"No buts! For Celestia's sake, no buts! That's all it's ever been with you. Your problems become my problems and you expect me to sympathize with you? To just "tolerate" them? That's not a solution at all! It's just cowardice! Blantant, in your face cowardice, and I won't put up with it anymore!"
Suddenly, Roseluck took hold of Chrysalis's shoulders and hoisted her upright in a single, strong motion.
"You need to get a grip on yourself right this instant," Roseluck continued with a low growl, keeping her hooves held with a firm grip to the queen's soft shoulders. "Because if you want to really go after this...Mariposa place you'll need a strong mind and a strong body to do it with. This is your responsibility and yours alone."
Just then, a familiar, gentle coo drifted through the conversation, lessening the tension and calming the mare's nerves for but a nearly fleeting, tender moment. It couldn't have come at a better time, for when she looked below her, she discovered Ditto once again at the base of his mother's hooves. His lonesome sitting posture and bold, blue eyes just begged for attention, yet his mother did nothing to resolve his sadness, be her reasons out of fear, shyness, or even the loss of will to care anymore.
Roseluck smiled having concocted the perfect remedy, lifting Ditto from the hard ground and cradling him in her hold. He displayed his thankfulness by rubbing his face into her chest, only to then have his eyes grow bigger and wider, glistening as if to threaten tears. He pulled his head out of the softness of the mare's fur and turned to look at the sullen face of his mother: two parts of a whole severed by the hooves of a mere pony.
"Speaking of responsibilities, I do believe this is yours," said Roseluck, leaning forward and exchanging the child to his mother.
Immediately, Chrysalis quickly made a grab for him, but suddenly stopped and pulled back before reaching in again, this time slowly and carefully as if some part of her clocked up mentality took in the words of Roseluck's counsel.
"I was...never usually one to take after my mother's advice, as you already know," Chrysalis started as she placed Ditto on her back with a smile. "The urgency to retain a strong, lasting figure came when our numbers began to dwell. I watched her body burn in the gathering hall, for she chose to go the way of cremation, and it was I who personally scooped her ashes into a dry gourd and scattered them high above the forest, her home. As I watched the high winds carry what was left of her away, piece by piece...I knew it was my duty to protect what she alone fostered, no matter the cost. I did what I could, and from the day of Ditto's birth onward I could see my guilty flaw. Fear cannot bring you strength. Only your actions will, and all that I did only led my species...my children...to the brink of extinction. Well...no more, I say."
Chrysalis triumphantly rose to her hooves, feeling victorious in some respects, and less of a coward in others. Ditto kept a firm grip on her mane, sitting up on her back in turn while holding on to the thin, green tassels like reins on a horse.
"The queen I once was is no longer with me. It is the queen I will become that shall take her place. Fear is no longer my tool of conquest, but rather my ambitions will be for a just cause. We will find this...Mariposa my mother must have known something about. Whatever we may find there, I can only hope it will help my changelings in our time of need, but...should we fail..."
"But we won't fail," Roseluck cut in, raising an eyebrow. "Will we?"
"I can only hope not..." Chrysalis sighed.
"Hey, I plan on actually staying alive by the end of all of this. I still have a garden to tend to, you know!"
Such a silly need to tend to delicate, pathetic plants with only an aesthetic value to their name brightened the queen's smile. She could only imagine the look on Roseluck's face should she be introduced to things like the pitcher plant or the corpse flower that commonly rooted the Everfree's cold, damp soil.
"You ponies and your hobbies..." Chrysalis chuckled, relocating to the entrance to a corridor that led to various sections of the central hive. "Feel free to study the map if you like."
"The map?" said Roseluck, looking towards the tablet which lay on the ground close by. "What for? It's still just a big rock with scribbles on it."
"Then study them should they pique your interest. Now, I go to rest. We leave for Smoky Mountain at nightfall."
"W-What?!" Roseluck stammered in fear. "Smoky Mountain? You mean that dreadful place with a dragon living in it? Why on earth would you want us to go there? Didn't you listen to anything I said?!"
"The dragon has long since moved away, leaving its resident cave abandoned. It is the first stop on our journey. The map claims to reveal Mariposa's location there. It's significance is mentioned rather well"
"O-Ok...but...why at night?" Roseluck shuddered. "Isn't that usually the time when the predators come out to...you know...hunt?"
"And you mocked me for harmlessly reminding you of the horrors of the Everfree." Chrysalis chuckled. "Because, at night, the manticores and timberwolves are the furthest away from their territory, allowing us to cut straight through the forest and use it as a shortcut."
"What makes you think that plan will work?"
"Oh, Roseluck..." Chrysalis turned to face her mare companion. "Surely you should know why you should trust me."
"...no?"
Chrysalis chuckled and threw a knowing, dependable wink.
"Mother knows best."