Darmon rushed through the long hallways of Queen Chrysalis’ castle, deep blue armour adorning his chest and head, proudly representing his long loyalty and service. The armour was made of hard impenetrable metal, as said by Chrysalis, and proven in many battles he fought.
His steps echoed through stone walls as he rushed to the North Tower, trying to find his Queen. As one of the generals of the army of changelings, his duty was to inform the Queen about results of the battle, the suffered loss, the security of the Changeling Hive, and future war strategies. They have been attacking without break, fighting to collect every drop of love, and struggling to survive.
But, things haven’t been so well for the past two months. Ever since they were defeated in Canterlot, the Hive was getting smaller and smaller every day, and Queen Chrysalis became desperate. She too, couldn’t survive without love, so her state was getting worse. She couldn’t sleep and she could barely walk due to her weakness and famine. Her ribs were visible through her skin, as well as her spine and joints, and she was feeling dizzy. Hunger was driving her to the point of insanity.
Desperate for love, she’d been ordering to attack every nation, without careful planning, losing more and more changelings every day. She even wrote a letter to Princess Celestia, begging her to negotiate, to give them love just so they can survive, but the response never came back. Celestia was probably afraid of another changeling invasion, but looking at the state they were in, soon there won’t be any changelings left.
As Darmon opened the door, he saw his Queen looking through the window, seeing her once powerful and beautiful kingdom crumbling around her. She was tired and she was shaking. Her ears twitched to the sound of door opening. She knew why he was here. He didn’t have to speak, she spoke before him.
“H-how many?” she whispered with a shaky voice.
“Three… three hundred, my Queen,” Darmon said, bowing to her.
Chrysalis closed her eyes and softly wept. Three hundred changelings. Three hundred of her children were gone. Dead in another battle. Even more lives she failed to save. She let out a sigh and looked again through the window, and saw her changelings dying on the street. They were slowly making one step at a time, too weak to fly, but even after few steps, they would pass out. Other changelings, who had at least some strength left, rushed to help them, but it was all worthless. They died on the spot. Their looks at their Queen’s castle made her heart shatter. Their wishes, their looks of hope were directed to her, thinking that maybe she can do something, but they all knew their Matriarch was as powerless as they were.
Queen Chrysalis began to weep harder, shaken by the events at the street, asking herself; is she a good Queen? She was the one who ordered all those failed attacks, not listening to her own generals and commanders. She failed her changelings, she let them die. Is that how a good Queen treats her people? No, she wasn’t their Queen anymore. She was their traitor, she was their failed hope, the reason they were gone. She felt as she was their enemy, though she has given everything for them to keep them safe.
“D-Darmon…?” She looked at him with her tired eyes, collecting all her remained strength.
“Yes, my Queen?” He looked back at her, shocked with her state.
“Am…am I a bad Queen?”
“N-no, my Queen. What has happened is not your fault. You cannot feed your kingdom with love that is not there. We might have failed you in our desperate attacks for food, but do not forget how high your kingdom rose the last time we were defeated,” Darmon responded, a bit shocked by her question, trying to bring hope to his Queen. He knows how much she needs to hear good words right now, despite the terrible situation they are in.
“I…I failed you. I don’t deserve this title,” she said, tossing her crown away as it clattered to the floor, all while sobbing harder.
Darmon was surprised by Queen’s reaction. His legs shook when the crown hit the stone bricks. Immediately he took the crown, seeing it’s not broken or damaged, and took it back to Queen. However, she didn’t even look at it. She believed she wasn’t worthy of it anymore. To somehow bring the lost spark of hope and joy to his Queen, he carefully turned her head towards her crown.
“My Queen, your crown…” He tried to place it on her head, but she took a few steps back.
“No… I don’t want it… I don’t deserve it…” Chrysalis closed her eyes, taking a few shaky steps away from it.
“Look, my Queen.” Darmon brought the crown closer to her, and seeing she was right up against the wall with nowhere else to go, took the opportunity to speak with her.
“I failed you… I failed you all… I’m not your Queen anymore…” She ignored him, giving in to her own self loathing, guilt, and sorrow.
“My Queen, wipe away those tears, look at this crown, and please, listen to me…” Darmon softly said, gently holding the crown. Chrysalis somehow managed to calm herself down, allowing Darmon to speak, but every look at her crown made her remember all those tragedies her changelings suffered ever since their defeat at Canterlot. Taking a few deep breaths, she settled down and leaned hair from her face.
“You may have forgotten what I was talking about earlier. You seem to forget what has happened after the Second Fall of Changelings. I may have not lived as long as you have, but I know that Second Fall was apocalypse for our kingdom. It has happened two thousand years ago, long before you came to power. All changelings know the horror and do not want to remember it, but we must not forget it. All the lost changelings, fallen tribes, all because we were seen as monsters. We only needed love. Food. We fought for our lives, because no being can survive without food. We were not selfish, we did not want to conquer foreign lands, we were happy with the land we had. And yet we were seen as monsters.” Darmon spoke, his eyes watering, as well as Chrysalis’. Despite that, he continued.
“Your mother ruled the kingdom. And she wore this crown. The crown you are wearing. The crown I’m holding right now. Your crown.” Darmon put the crown in Chrysalis’ hooves.
“And even after that, and centuries that passed after, that crown has no crack. No scratches. Not even one crystal missing. It’s still whole. Like your kingdom.” After those words, Chrysalis looked at Darmon. She felt a small spark of life coming back to her tired body.
“No matter what, she fought back. She didn’t lose hope. She didn’t give up. But who knows how many times she cried, alone in her room. How many times she threw her crown, thinking she failed, just like you threw yours. Who knows how much horror she saw, just like you saw your changelings dying on the street. Who knows how many battles she lost, how much did she suffer. All while wearing that same crown. And yet, it’s still whole. Just like our kingdom. The hope isn’t lost. The battle is not over.
“After our suffering, the kingdom rose from the ashes, more powerful than before. When everything seemed lost, we won. The kingdom continued to grow in power even more when you became its Queen. And it will. We will rise again. Remember my words. But please, my Queen, do not lose hope, even if everything seems lost. Maybe you’re thinking that only a miracle can save you, but miracles do happen. I know you are thinking these are just some empty words, but please, try to believe. Maybe… maybe you lost all hope long ago, after praying for a miracle at Canterlot didn’t work, but… it’s all that can save us now.” He finished and put the crown on Chrysalis’ head. She gave him a warm smile, feeling hopeful.
“Thank you. I was foolish, and I gave in to my sorrow and guilt. I… I needed to hear that. Thank you, Darmon, for your words and your undeniable loyalty. As for the miracles… I’ll try, but I don’t see why that would work. The luck hasn’t been on our side, and I while I am hoping that love falls from the sky… it’s not going to happen.”
Darmon bowed before her. “Thank you, my Queen, and don’t lose hope. But now, I must meet with the commander to discuss about further actions. Then, we will inform you. I’ll leave you now to rest.” He spoke and closed the door, leaving Chrysalis alone in her room.
The silence in the room was broken by Chrysalis’ surprised gasp. She suddenly felt warm chills running through her body, like somepony was watching her.
Wait, somepony was watching her?
She was rapidly turning her head around, searching the room.
“Who is there?” she said, as loudly as she could. Nopony could get it, because she’d definitely hear it.
She was afraid somepony overheard their conversation, but the room was empty. Everything was where it was supposed to be; her bed, her desk, her closet and her nightstand. Everything was perfectly normal.
Except for the giant ball of pink fluff in the corner. Since when did Chrysalid own a giant pink anything? A blanket? Was it a giant plush that she got gifted? She thought it an inanimate object if not for one thing.
It blew a raspberry.
Chrysalis jumped and immediately tried casting a protection spell, but all that came out of her horn were few tiny green sparks. She was too tired, physically and mentally, to even cast magic.
She carefully approached it, not sure what it was. It was just a giant ball of fur.
Which had eyes…and legs…and ears. It was a… pony?
Chrysalis jumped out of shock, her heart almost stopping. “Are you one of Celestia’s spies?! Where did you come from?!” she screamed at the pony.
Much to her shock, the pony just stick her tongue out and grumbled slightly, clearly a bit offended by her sudden screaming.
Chrysalis was taken aback by the pony’s reaction, but she didn’t want to cause panic. She wanted to know how did that… giant ball of cuteness with adorable green eyes came to her tower.
“How…how did you get here?” Chrysalis softly asked, but the pony seemed to ignore her. However, its eyes remained on her, glowing brighter with every passing moment, without even blinking.
A big question mark was floating above Chrysalis’ head, but the longer she stared at it, she began to feel a bit… strange. She felt she… liked this pony? She thought it was… cute? What?! Maybe it was because of the hunger. It had to be. Changelings can’t love. They feed off love, they don’t love, right?
...Right?
She hated to admit it, but for some reason, she thought that adorable light pink pony with the fur she’s never seen before was just plain… cute. It was cute and adorable. She never felt anything like this in her whole life for anypony or any changeling. She began getting a strange, tickling feeling in her stomach, but decided to shake it off as another side effect of hunger.
“Do you have a name?” Chrysalis asked, raising an eyebrow, but the pony was still ignoring her. She was becoming slightly frustrated, and scared because of the large growing eyes and drools on its wide mouth.
“Do you mind if I call you... Fluffy?” she asked again, but that pony didn’t even blink. It became scary at this point. She felt those large glowing eyes were staring directly into her soul.
Now running out of ideas, she tried to come up with questions that might get an answer, but before she could ever think of one, Fluffy began to slowly walk towards her. She raised an eyebrow, confused, but soon started taking a few steps back, slowly panicking.
“What…what are you doing?” she shouted, but Fluffy was still ignoring her. In fact, she was getting closer.
Now hitting stone wall behind her, she began to panic. She knew that adorable Fluffy couldn’t absolutely hurt her, but with her creepy eyes it was hard to assume.
“Get away from-“
Fluffy wrapped her hooves around her, burying her muzzle into her hair. Her soft fur covered Chrysalis’ stomach, which was now expanding, her chin being tickled by Fluffy’s long hairs. Its hooves wrapped around her back, warming it, while she felt blood rushing through her veins as her heart pumped rapidly. She felt Fluffy smile under the hug, making her blush slightly.
Just when she was about to push her away, she felt a familiar feeling she thought she was never going to experience again. The feeling she struggled all this time to feel again.
Air around her got hotter, as well as her body. She took in deep breaths, getting her full strength back. Her hooves and back were now getting thicker, covering her bones. Her horn glowed in bright green aura, illuminating the room, bursting out with magic. Her wings buzzed, now strong enough to lift her from the ground. Famine was no longer there, and she felt her belly full again. Full with love.
Tears of joy now formed in her eyes, as she returned the hug, screaming of happiness.
“Thank you! You saved my life!” she said, burying her hooves deeper into her fur, touching Fluffy’s head with her chin.
Suddenly, the door slammed open, almost breaking. Darmon entered the room, holding something under his wing.
“My Queen! Terribly sorry to interrupt, but I have very important-oh my god, what in the name of Chrysalis is that?!” Darmon shouted, shocked with furry ball Queen was hugging. Queen’s eyes widened, and as a reflex, she pushed Fluffy away and flew up, almost hitting the ceiling. She then realized Fluffy hit the floor with her face, but to her surprise, she started… buzzing.
And moving.
With her head on the floor.
And vibrating over to the bed.
Shaken by this whole situation, and a little embarrassed, he wanted to just hand over the letter and disappear, but he noticed Queen’s state has improved. She was as strong as she used to be, her horn glowed and her wings buzzed as she flied.
He assumed it was this… pony ball of fur that gave her love and strength back, but he had no idea how did it end up here, or even what kind of pony is that, but he thought it didn't matter. Chrysalis had gotten better, and that was important.
That, and she would probably get mad if he asked her something.
That hugging scene was embarrassing for both her and him.
But not for Fluffy. She was rolling on bed, giving funny, almost jealous looks at Darmon.
Seeing Queen getting angry, he cleared his throat and continued.
“My Queen, I’m so sorry for interrupting, but I’m bringing you some very important news.”
“What is it?” she asked, and took the letter with her magic, carefully opening it. As she started to read it, she felt her heart beat a little faster and tears of joy forming in her eyes.
It was a letter from Princess Celestia.