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// My Duty As Queen 
// Story: I Am Her Servant 
// by Arreis Of Avalon 
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	Chaos. Absolute chaos. I should’ve known what would be our undoing – Love. That true love had ruined all our plans. Blew us back, our saving grace becoming the cause for our defeat. I soared through the air in pain… But I saw My Queen. She was crying as we were blown away, I could tell. Not from any pain this defeat caused – But because her people were starving, and this was her final hope. Her hope had been shattered, much like I had thought my love had been when she was to marry the Prince Armor.
Disoriented, I reached out for My Queen. I grabbed her. She was confused as she felt herself brought into a warm embrace. I held on tightly and screeched in pain as we made contact with a wall – We were not blown back so far as the Bad Lands. We were still inside Canterlot. 
My Queen was safe – I had protected her from further harm by holding her as I had. She realizes this, and I think the blush staining her cheeks is simply a trick of light. I try and stand, but find myself unsteady on my hooves – The collision caused more damage than I thought. I glance at her. “Are you alright?”
“Y-Yes, Captain.”
“Good.” ‘Captain’ once more. I turn, looking out among the crowds from behind the wall. This hiding place will not last long – Guards are running around checking ID’s. I have a fake one, plus my disguise – But My Queen was not prepared. She did not think the plan would fail. “Soon we’ll be caught,” I whisper to her.
I hear a soft sob behind me. I turn to see My Queen, tears rolling down her face. She looks miserable – A wreak of a Changeling. Without a word, I embrace her again – I am protecting her still. Only, this time, not from a collision of any kind. I am protecting her from the pain around her, the pain of her failure. “Shh…” She cries in my hooves, uncaring for status now. Status means nothing to us now.
All of this chaos. All of this is because of what I am, what they see on the surface. None of them realize that the pony I was disguised as was the true me. The Changeling is the disguise – I have and always will be closer to a pony than a Changeling.
But they would never agree.
“How is this what we deserve,” I say softly in anger, but soothingly to My Queen, the mare I have loved and will always love. “Just because we are starving? Because we are misfortunate? They have not taken the time to know us, to know what we can do… We can do all they can.” 
My face turns grim as I let her go. She looks at me and I cannot help but smile, even softly. She is too stubborn. She will never admit she loves me back. I couldn’t kid myself. I would live out the rest of my life, separated from the mare I loved with all my heart by fate. I would see her forever through a veil of aloofness, my heart aching to be more than just ‘her Captain’.
Worst of all, she might die here. She might be executed for her crimes. 
My decision is a quick one, but a pure one. I would never regret it. “If this is what we deserve,” I say, speaking not only of how we are hunted, but how we are separated, “then I shall take it upon myself to defy it.”
My Queen is still crying, softly. “My Queen.” She does not respond in her sorrow. My heart aches at what is to become of her – But I know she will be safe. “… Chrysalis.” Her head snaps up, her eyes wide. Nopony is allowed to call her by name – It is considered rude. As for me… I taste the sweetness of her name one last time. “Chrysalis… Take these.”
She looks bewildered as I hand her my scarf and goggles. Out of a small, sewn in pocket of my scarf falls an ID card.  She picks it up. “I lend you my disguise.” She starts to speak, but I hold my hoof to her lips. She looks surprised, but keeps her hold on my things. “Put them on and change form.” 
She stares for a moment before nodding. She slips on the disguise, but does not change form. “What of you, Captain?”
“It will be alright,” I say softly. I shut my eyes as I change form, and I hear her gasp. I look at her as a mirror now, smiling. Her eyes reflect back the image of herself, but a smiling form. “We’re Changelings… Nopony will be able to notice the difference.”
She begins to protest, but I lean forward. She gasps slightly as I kiss her. It feels… strange. New. I close my eyes softly, savoring the first kiss – as far as I know – of Changeling kind. We have never ‘been in’ love, and thus have never felt the need for true kisses. Their loss.
I savor it, then leave her stunned. “Now change.”
She is too startled by the kiss to realize as she shifts forms to my pony identity. I hug her – Rather, myself – tightly, whispering. “I know you can be a good queen.” 
Without another word, I ran. 
I shut my eyes tightly, refusing to hear My Queen cry out for me. I feel tears rolling down my face as I charge straight into Canterlot. Her cry is soon drowned out by the shouts and yells of guards as they hear me. I remember my vow in the Caverns to spread love to my queen for all Changelings to feed on. I now realize what that meant to me. What my duty is now.
My duty now is of Queen. I am the Queen, and I must protect my race in the only way I can – By sacrificing myself for their survival, so they can continue to feed on whatever they can find. If Chrysalis dies, then the main source of Love and power in the Bad Lands would disappear. My race would perish. I could not let that happen – Not to her, and not to them.
I run, my tears cold on my face. The guards are following me, allowing… allowing ‘Eacko’ to escape. Allowing Chrysalis to escape. I cannot help but smile – These ponies are foals. They can’t tell us apart – That is their main failing. All they see is another Changeling, and a Changeling Queen, when it is not that at all. If only they could see what we truly where – A race, dying and in need of the truth. In need of the lessons these ponies all value; Love and friendship are the only things that can save us now.
I stop before Princess Luna and Prince Shining Armor. They appeared in a flash before me, without me realizing it. I still smile, though they do as well. They believe they have won – They have defeated the queen.
In the madness of the crowd, I see My Queen, fully disguised, watching me. Her eyes are filled with fear, but something else – Something that makes me smile brighter as I see it. She feels it from me, now. Her warmth. My warmth. Our warmth.
Our Love.
“Halt, Chrysalis,” Shining Armor says. I stop as he commands, grinning. Guards surround me. The crowd is pushed away. I smile as I am restrained, my thoughts only on her.
I am the Queen, I think as they push me to the ground, forcing me into cuffs and casting defenses on me. You are the Fugitive. We’re both sad Changelings, and we are always going to be separated by fate. They called you evil, but you’re not… If they have to call you evil…
“If you have to call us evil,” I shout, My Queen’s voice all I hear. “Then all my race is, for that is all we are – A race, trying to survive!”
“Quiet, Changeling scum!” A hoof comes down to my face. I gasp in pain, but still I grin. I grin, even as they beat me and hurt me – For I am Queen, and they cannot harm my love. They will NEVER harm the Love I now give to my subjects through the true Queen, My Chrysalis. 
I have done my duty as Queen.