//------------------------------//
// Assistance 
// Story: My Enemy's Enemy 
// by BudCharles 
//------------------------------//

Twilight sat surrounded by literal pillars of literature in her new castle library, completely absorbed in her latest new book, Starswirl: Wizard, Legend, Father. She couldn’t put the thing down, she had been reading for at least the past two hours, far more time than she allocated on the daily schedule.
 
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
 
Hearing a sound, Spike peeked at Twilight from behind one of the castle bookshelves, nearly sending the whole thing tumbling to the ground. She didn’t move an inch.
 
“Twilight?” he attempted to ask calmly while pushing a couple of thick books back into place. Twilight flicked over to the next page, completely oblivious.
 
With rising irritation in his voice, Spike repeated, “Twiliiiight!” Still no response.
 
Spike sighed and jumped down from the bookshelf, nearly sending the whole thing crashing a second time. Once he touched down safely on the carpeted ground, he made a b-line straight for Twilight.
 
“Earth to Twilight?” he repeated, waving his green hand in front of Twilight’s face, almost bumping her pointy snout.
 
“Whoa! Wha-? Yes Spike?” she finally managed to say, completely flustered.
 
Spike rolled his eyes.
 
“Someone’s knocking at the door.”
 
“Sorrysorrysorrysorry…” Twilight called out loudly as she raced out of the room, the message presumably intended for her waiting guests.
 
Spike shrugged and walked off, satisfied with a job well done, he had a bubble bath to get started!
 
“…sorry…. sorry…….. sorry……….” Twilight was basically panting by the time she actually reached the door. She weakly grabbed the handle of one half of the door with her magic, swinging it open.
 
“Your majesty” the pony outside said politely, with a bow. She was a plain green unicorn, with a plain green coat of fur and a simple pink heart as her cutie mark. A small, quite nervous looking foal appeared to be hiding behind her - Twilight took it on as her mission to cheer him up!
 
“There’s no need for formalities,” Twilight said with a smile, holding the castle door open, “come in!”
 
The green pony let the way, and the little foal scampered along close behind her. Twilight closed the door behind them.
 
“What’s your name?” Twilight asked with a friendly tone.
 
The foal simply shook his head quietly.
 
Twilight sat down on her hindquarters to appear less intimidating. “You have any hobbies? Anything you do for fun?
 
He shook his head again.
 
Twilight sighed, perhaps this was a battle she couldn’t win. She stood up and turned her attention back to the mother - at least she assumed the green pony was the mother.
 
“Sorry again, what did you come here for?” Twilight asked politely.
 
The green pony took a deep breath, before a wave of light began to form at the tip of her horn, and made its way down her entire form, revealing none other than the hard, shiny, dark form of Chrysalis - the changeling queen!
 
Immediately, Twilight charged up her horn defensively!
 
“Stand back!” she demanded, taking a step forwards in an attempt to stand her ground.
 
The little foal whimpered in terror and raced to hide under the nearest piece of furniture he could find, while Chrysalis just took a step back as calmly as possible.
 
“Please, turn off your horn, I’m not here to attack you.”
 
“Prove it,” Twilight demanded, eyeing Chrysalis suspiciously, but not taking another step.
 
Chrysalis sighed and sent a beam of magic towards the little foal, revealing a tiny, badly injured changeling - Pupa.
 
Immediately, Twilight let down her guard and raced to his side.
 
“I - is he alright?” she asked. She didn’t know what the green stuff was, but she could tell he definitely wasn’t alright. “Did something happen to him?”
 
“That is my son, Pupa,” Chrysalis explained, “our nest was attacked by some… creature. He did this, just to make a point.”
 
As calm as she was trying to keep herself, a tear escaped Chrysalis’ eye - clear, just like a pony’s tear. Twiight gave her a sympathetic look, but shyed away from saying anything.
 
“We had no choice but to flee to the nearest place we could find - your ‘Everfree forest’ if the street signs were correct? However, Pupa needed help, desperately - so I came here, in the hope that you would show ‘mercy’, as you call it, and at least save him.”
 
Twilight simply looked at the ground for a moment in consideration, before giving her reply.
 
“I really don’t know much about changeling anatomy, especially not how to treat something this serious-looking. I will try to get Fluttershy’s help if I can - but no guarantees there. I will try though, I promise!”
 
“Thank you” Chrysalis answered, scooping up little Pupa in a big hug. Pupa snuggled up to her hard exoskeleton as if it were a soft, cuddly pillow.
 
Twilight smiled as she headed out the door to find Fluttershy, reminded of the times Celestia scooped her up and hugged her whenever she grazed her knee, or afflicted herself with a paper cut. She’d never imagined her enemy would be so… familiar. The image of a loving mother was so different to that of a manipulative tyrant - and so much more accurate, it seemed.
 
A few minutes later, Fluttershy arrived, a first aid kit strapped to her back. She had a full on panic attack as she and Twilight approached the door.
 
“Eep! W-what if I offend her, will she reduce me to a scorch mark on the ground?”
 
“You won’t offend her,” Twilight tried to reassure her friend, “I mean I was about to launch an agonising pain spell at her and she wasn’t upset with me.”
 
“Did she know it was going to be an agonising pain spell?”
 
“Well, perhaps not - but still.”
 
“Eep! I don’t want to go in there! I’m sorry!” Fluttershy whimpered as she tried to run off.
 
“Don’t even think about it!” Twilight demanded, grabbing her friend’s tail with her magic. She realised she had to change her approach. “Look Fluttershy, you know more than anypony that whether they’re changelings or ponies or ferrets, all creatures have feelings, and all creatures deserve to be helped? Isn’t that right?”
 
Fluttershy nodded and smiled, pleased that her (extremely quiet) lectures had been getting through to at least one of her friends.
 
“Good. Well, right now, in that castle, there is a mother holding her dying son in her hooves. Without your help, one creature will lose their life, and another will never be able to live with themselves. So you should go in there now, and do everything you can to help them. I can’t force you - you can run away if you want - “, she stepped aside to emphasise the point, “I just urge you to do what you think is the right thing.”
 
Fluttershy took a deep breath and reached for the door handle, nervously swinging open the entrance to the castle. Twilight smiled, relieved, following close behind.
 
As soon as she caught the sight from the corner of her eye, Fluttershy rushed to help the changelings.
 
“Oh my! You poor thing,” she practically whispered as she examined Pupa’s injured form.
 
The little changeling looked up at her nervously, and was instantly comforted by her gentle expression, lying back and relaxing in his mothers’ arms. Chrysalis smiled as she cradled him.
 
“Thank you,” Chysalis began, “and don’t worry, I would never reduce you to a scorch mark.”
 
“Oh my,” Fluttershy said sheepishly, “I - I didn’t mean for you to hear that. I’m sorry.”
 
“I would be scared too, it’s alright. To be honest, I am still a little scared now.”
 
“Oh, um, you don’t need to be scared of us. We’re not enemies any more right?”
 
“I suppose that’s true, but I’m not allowed on your soil.”
 
“Well, um, I think you’re on tiles right now, not soil, so you’re okay.”
 
Chrysalis let out a tiny snicker. How unbecoming of her to laugh at such petty entertainment… but it was pretty funny.
 
With that, Fluttershy turned her attention back to Pupa, now lying, barely awake, in his mothers arms. She examined him closely, and though she tried not to show it, she was a little shocked by the intensity of his wounds.
 
“They’re - bad aren’t they?” Pupa finally spoke up. His voice was very soft, and a little high pitched, a bit like a shy colt, though with a hint of raspiness to it, reminding Fluttershy of Rainbow Dash or Scootaloo.
 
“Oh, no, don’t be silly,” Fluttershy said gently, “nothing you can’t recover from.”
 
“You’re lying.” Pupa said plainly.
 
Fluttershy was little taken aback by his honesty but Applejack was like that too, so she wasn’t as taken aback as most ponies would be.
 
“I might - not make it - huh?” Pupa added.
 
“Don’t think of it that way,” Fluttershy reassured, “try to tell yourself ‘I might make it’, not ‘I might not’.”
 
“But aren’t they both true?” he asked, bewildered. “Why should I say one, and not the other?
 
Fluttershy whimpered a bit, the look of sheer bafflement in his huge shiny eyes was a bit too much adorableness even for her to handle.
 
“Well, yes,” she answered, gaining back control of herself, “but you’re more likely to get better, if you feel like you’re getting better. It’s called the placebo effect.”
 
“The cheeto effect?” Pupa asked, his eyes seemingly even sparklier than before.
 
Fluttershy had to take a second to breathe as her heart skipped a bit, before answering Pupa’s question. “Um, n-no, the placebo effect.”
 
“Okay,” Pupa finally agreed, “so I might make it.”
 
“Yes, that’s right.”
 
“But I might not.”
 
“Oh, um, I think you’re missing the poi-“
 
“Hey, I feel much better now!”
 
“But you’re just the same as-“
 
“Thank you Doctor Fluttershy!”
 
Pupa rolled over in Fluttershy’s direction and wrapped his tiny arms around one of her forelimbs in a hug. Fluttershy whimpered again - this was like watching a baby otter discover a waterslide for the first time, too much to handle!
 
“Um, you’re welcome” she managed to get out, with a smile.
 
Pupa appeared to almost fall asleep during the hug, and Fluttershy gently laid him down, before retrieving some antiseptic ointment out of the first aid kit. Gently, she dabbed some on her hoof and spread it across Pupa’s wounds. At first the little creature winced, tiny tear drops forming in his eyes, but then he felt all the pain go away and drifted quietly off to sleep, while Fluttershy began gently wrapping him in a variety of bandages.
 
By the time Fluttershy had finished, Pupa looked like some kind of four-legged Egyptian mummy sprawled out on the floor, with the most content expression on his face, as if he was dreaming about a mountain of ice cream a mile high - or love cream, if that’s what changelings ate. Fluttershy wasn’t entirely sure.
 
Chrysalis gave Fluttershy a look of overwhelming gratitude, before gently picking up her child and holding him close. These ponies, they ruined her greatest triumph, they banished everyone she knew and loved to a wasteland, they starved and weakened her race in the first place so they could be attacked. So why did she have such a strong urge to hug the feathers out of them?