Aran huddled in the dark corner of his gloomy cell. His eyes reflecting the light of the torches that did little to illuminate the room. Luna stood a safe distance away with her shadow-guards at her side, holding the remains of the basket that Aran had thrown out a few days earlier. "You will tell me who has aided you in your time here,” Luna glowered at him. “Was it one of the maids or guards who gave you this!?" She shouted angrily with a commanding tone.
"It’s been months and I still don't understand why you even ask, you know I won't give you shit you dried up old cunt!" He retorted back, spitting towards the princess, but her magic stopped the spittle from hitting her, impacting against a magical shield before it disappeared along with the spell.
"You're right." She said as a sinister smirk spread across her lips. "You can hold your tongue, but your mind is but an open book for me to read at my leisure." Her horn glowed as she charged it up to forcefully sift through his mind as she had done countless times. "Let’s take another look, shall we?"
The human braced himself for another session of unspeakable pain. The spell made contact with Aran's mind and he felt like a searing hot nail was being shoved directly through his brain, searing his gray matter, but despite this, the human remained conscious, struggling against the agony. He clawed and pulled at his hair as the spell pushed through him, but this time, he was able to push back. He could even see how Luna was struggling to maintain the spell, beads of sweat forming along her brow, glistening in the torchlight on her fur. Seeing this, Aran forced himself against the spell even more, spurred on by the horse’s strain. More and more she tried to peer into his mind as some sort of magical buildup was pushing her back. Aran was doing his best not to give into the pain, he grit his teeth and balled his hands, his nails drawing blood from his palms as he resisted. As long as he could stay conscious, it meant that she wouldn’t be able to read his mind. Eventually, the internal struggle shifted in Aran's favor and he let out a shout as he pushed harder against the mare. The spell that Luna had worked so hard to maintain, broke away, knocking everyone in the room away from the blast, except the human. He instead fell down to the ground and started puking excessively.
"Highness, are you well!?" One of her guards leant her a wing to lean on and regain her footing.
"I am unharmed." She spoke, trying to maintain her dignity. She saw how the human was reeling on the ground with a pool of vomit beneath him. "I'll be back, and when I return I'll use an even more powerful spell to pry open that simple mind of yours." She hissed with as much venom as she could. Infuriated and humiliated in front of her guards, she stormed out of the dungeon, leaving the human to recuperate from his experience. He raised his head to see that there were two guards stationed, guarding him at all times. Inside his shirt, he had hid the crystal heart. he carefully grabbed it and clutched it closer to his chest, hoping that Cadence would respond. "Your secret is safe with me." He whispered softly, hoping she could hear him.
***
Months had gone by and that time, Aran had received several tokens, given to him in secret by Cadence. Though as the days had gone by, she had started to speak with him less and less. Because of this, the human's body had begun to deteriorate once again. Food was all he could think of, he would kill for a juicy steak. He’d constantly pray to some sort of deity or another that the guards would be stupid enough to come closer to the bars, so he could devour them whole. His condition had started to cost him his sanity. He had been scratching the stone walls for weeks and banging his head on the metal bars for days. The guards were mostly quiet, sometimes there were guards who kept their distance and didn't speak a single word, other times they would constantly try to provoke him. The princesses had tried countless different spells against him. While they could never pry open his brain and look into his memories again, he was often left in excruciating pain, sometimes for weeks. The only time he was granted any form of relief was when he was able to speak with Cadence late at night. Sometimes she would sing him a lullaby to lull him to sleep. It was the only hint of kindness he had received in this place, but now… weeks had gone by and the last thing she had told him was that she was getting married. She cut the magic to the crystal heart and hadn’t spoken a word since.
"Just end it already..." He let out a hoarse whisper. For him, time had lost its meaning. He had no idea how long he had been in the cell. Weeks? Months? Maybe years. He had never seen the city and the single barred window provided a view dominates by a large spire that blotted out the rest of the world. "If there is a God, put me out of my mistery." He whispered to himself under his breath.
The doors of the dungeon suddenly swung open, clanging against the walls as they impacted against them, and from it, a regal looking alicorn walked into the dark prison. The guards quickly snapped to attention as they saw the princess of love. However, one of the wardens of the dungeon quickly approached the princess and saluted her, but also stood in her way.
"Your Highness, what brings you to my cells?" He asked with a respectful tone, but still with a hint of authority.
"I wish to speak with the human." She responded uncaringly to the peon before her.
The warden stood in place, glancing at his guards for a few seconds then returning his gaze towards the princess with a hesitant look. "Forgive me your Highness, but I haven’t received notification that you would be visiting us. I am terribly sorry but without permission from Princess Luna or Princess Celestia, I cannot let you-" Cadence did not let him finish however, as her strong presence cut through the warden's sense of duty.
"I am well within my rights as a princess to go where I wish, and I still have the authority to undermine any order you have been given. Now will you let me through, or should I pick out one of these cells as your new office?"
The warden gave the princess a submissive nod. "As you wish." He said, stepping aside, letting Cadence come through.
"Oh and I also intend to speak in private with the prisoner." The warden was silent for another moment before he nodded again. All of the guards in the dungeon filed into formation and left the princess alone with the human.
The moment Aran saw Cadence, he felt a renewed strength flow through him by some mysterious force. He quickly got back up on his feet and gripped the bars, happy to see his friend again. But his happiness swiftly faded as he felt a cold chill in the room. Cadence wasn't smiling and she didn't speak a single word. She just stared at the towering human. Like he was a stranger. Aran's paranoid instincts kicked in and he began to realize that something was very wrong. The human also noticed something else. Whenever Cadence did visit Aran in the cellar which was a long time ago since she last did, she always smelled of roses. A very noticeable smell, when compared to a foul smelling dungeon. But this time, there was no lovely odor, or perfume. Even after taking several sniffs in the direction of the princess, there was simply nothing. It was gnawing at the human's instincts. Something was terribly wrong and just by looking into the princess's eyes, he could see that whatever that creature was, it most definitely wasn't the Cadence he knew.
"Who are you!?" He asked in with a low growl, making his suspicions obvious.
"Interesting, you are not as easily deceived by my illusion as the others." A green flame enveloped the pseudo-Cadence’s form, spreading over her body and revealing the creature’s true form, a black monstrosity that looked more like an insect mixed with a pony. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Queen Chrysalis, what is your name?" She asked with a wicked smile, revealing her fangs.
"If you managed to infiltrate the crown, I am more then certain you are well aware of who I am and what my name is." He spat back disrespectfully.
She gave a low chuckle. "I do indeed, but there is no need for this…. hatred, I was merely just trying to be polite… which I admit is difficult." She spoke with a piercing gaze towards the human. She was intrigued by the creature, though it was obvious that it had seen better times.
Aran was not amused by this insect pony, although it was good that she had at least kept her distance from him. "Drop the bullshit and tell me, what have you done to Cadence and what do you want from me? If you're here to kill me, do it quickly, if not, spit it out already!"
The Changeling smiled, she found that she rather enjoyed the human's cold and direct approach. "Princess Cadence is being held in a safe place, where she won't be able to ruin my plans." The human started baring his teeth towards the ‘Queen’. Despite his hatred for every single pony, he held Cadence in high regard. "Let’s remain calm now, we are not animals, are we?" She teased behind the safety of the prison bars. Aran did calm down a little bit, because he was still very curious as to what the insect pony had in store for him. "Good." She said, seeing the human back off. "In a few weeks, I will lay siege to this city, I will have all the guards disposed of and the city's defences should crumble in mere minutes."
"But?" He cut in.
The Changeling sighed. "But, as brilliant as I am, I cannot challenge the princesses in terms of magical power… But you..." She spoke, taking a few steps closer, almost within grasping reach. "From what I've read, you are almost completely impervious to any form of magic."
"Making me an invaluable living weapon..." He cut in again. "Why should I help you?" He asked, knowing where this was going.
The changeling queen smiled. "Firstly, I will of course set you free for you to exact your revenge, secondly I'll make you my right hoof, you'll be seen as a king amongst my kind." She took a few extra steps forward, now within reaching distance. "And thirdly, you'll have everything your heart has ever desired." She finished, with her worm like tongue slithering along her fangs, her muzzle was now mere inches away from Aran's. Though her confident cheshire grin quickly formed into a visage of fear and regret as the human reached through the bars and had her pressed in between them.
"Even though I'm barely strong enough to stand, I am still strong enough to break your neck with a simple pull of my arm."
Chrysalis smiled, attempting to hide her fear, yet confident in her silver tongue. "I am certain you can, but you won't. After all, you honestly don't wish to be imprisoned here any longer, do you?" She asked with a sinister smirk, she knew that her words had already convinced the human to fight for her. Aran loosened his grip of the Changeling queen's neck and let her go back to her gloating.
"If I help you, I want you to do something for me."
Chrysalis slithered closer to the cell once more as she was more than thrilled to please her new toy. "And that is?" She asked.
"I want you to spare, Cadence!”