by Europa
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
At some point she must've fallen asleep, which was odd because she had no dreams or nightmares. Twilight blearily opened her eyes, and after a few moments of blinking the sleep out of them, looking this way and that, she realized she was in something like a hospital. Cheerful pictures of foals lined the pinkish crystal walls. She laid on her back, she couldn't move her limbs, and she saw an IV drip connected into her right foreleg, the bag filled with purple fluid.
"Twilight!" said a wonderful, wonderful voice she'd feared she'd never hear again. Twilight looked over and found Princess Celestia, bereft of any regalia, standing from the walls and rushing over to her. "Don't try and speak, Twilight. Your body has been through a tough time, with only dark magic supporting it. There's a breathing and feeding tube down your throat, don't try and talk. Blink once if you understand me." Twilight blinked once. "Okay. I'm going to open a neural link between us. Just think what you want to say." The Princess's horn flashed brilliant gold.
'Thank you,' she thought to the alicorn. 'Thank you, thank you, thank you!'
'It's no worry, Twilight. It was Chrysalis who found you and ended Sombra.'
'Sombra!' Her eyes widened. 'Princess Celestia, I'm so sorry! I tried to fight him off so the others could get in, but he got me and you told me to protect the empire and I, and I - '
A wave of warm, soothing emotions washed over her, snuffing out her panic. 'Twilight, you have nothing to be sorry about. I'm just so happy you're all right. You were gone for so long... ' Twilight could see tears running down the princess's cheeks and matting her fur. 'I never thought I'd see you again. You were with that vile stallion for eleven months, Twilight.' Her breath caught in her throat.
'What... what happened? He kept draining my magic reserves, what was he doing?'
'Later, Twilight. For now, get some sleep. You need to get your strength back, but rest assured everything's going to be alright now.'
As if summoned by the Princess's words, Twilight's eyes slid shut.
***-_***_-***-_***_-***-_***_-***
When she woke back up, the tube was removed from her throat, which ached. Now that she was more awake than last time, she noticed her horn had a medical-grade suppressor ring to prevent uncontrolled flares, and her limbs were tied down, likely in case of night terrors. How thoughtful of the staff. The changeling queen was with her instead of the princess, which set her nerves on end.
"Relax," she said in her exotic double-voice. "I'm not here to hurt you." The longed, crooked horn simmered with eldritch energies, and Twilight felt her mind open up again. The long horn's glow went out.
'Can you hear me?'
'Yes,' she thought back. 'Why did you save me? I thought you... hated me.'
'For a while I did, but like I said, a lot of things happened since you were taken by Sombra. Would you like me to tell you?'
Twilight forced a smile. 'Not like I'm going anywhere.'
Chrysalis came over to her bed and sat down. 'So, after Sombra nymphnapped you he continued to batter at the Crystal Empire. You wouldn't know, but your sister-in-law had erected a shield of love energy around it to keep Sombra out until a more permanent solution could be found. Your friends pieced together that they needed the artifact known as the 'Crystal Heart' to do the same passively, but Sombra had hidden it away. Before they could find it he pierced the shield through attrition, and filled the Crystal Heart with dark magic's hatred and fear.'
Twilight gasped as hard as she could in her state. 'My friends? Family? Are they okay?!' she demanded.
'They're all fine, Twilight. But... not without harm. Sombra enslaved the empire and waged war on the rest of Equestria. You wouldn't think such a small city could do so, but he was ruthless in his use of the Heart, enslaving vast swaths of the Royal Guard and terrifying Equestria's allies into staying out of it. Of course, the Heart had long-range effects as well; we could taste the fear in the air, even if it had no effect on us.'
'So you helped Equestria,' she concluded. 'Why?'
'Well think about it, Twilight,' she said with a little grin. 'It's not in my best interests to let anything overly bad happen to your kind. Sombra's hatred would've starved us in the end and made you miserable, but we would've at least encouraged couples and herds to form.'
'Makes sense,' she decided. 'How long did it take?'
Chrysalis sighed. 'My people have always had a proud military history; half of our million-strong population enlists. We outnumbered the Crystal Empire enormously, we outnumber Equestria ten to one. But even so, King Sombra's knowledge of dark magic was terrible, and your princesses said he'd never had so much raw power before. I suppose now we know why.'
'He was draining me...' she thought sadly. 'It's my fault he was so strong.'
'Perhaps, but there was nothing you could have done. Sometimes, these things just happen, Twilight. And in the end, we freed Cadance and in return, she fed me enough love so I could track down Sombra and fight him. My changelings separated him from the Crystal Heart by faking the magical signature of his thralls, and I believe you saw me kill him myself.'
A chill went down Twilight's spine. Kill him. The changeling queen was a killer. 'Oh,' she thought sadly. 'So... what's happening now?'
'The Crystal Heart is purified and spreading love instead of fear. Our people are...' Chrysalis stammered over the word even in telepathy, as if it left a bad taste in her mouth. '... allies, and your friends will be by once you're better. They're worried about you.' The changeling queen stood and began leaving. 'You should get some rest.'
A spike of unholy terror lanced through Twilight's heart as she watched the receding changeling. 'WAIT!' She did, turning around with bored eyes. 'Please don't go. I-I don't want to be alone,' she stammered out, her eyes pleading.
Chrysalis's green-tinted eyes softened, and she gave a wordless nod. With loud clip-clops she came back to Twilight's side, and magically dimmed the lights.
'Thank you,' she sent. She was tired again. Being ill was the worst.
'It's nothing,' she thought back to her, projecting memories of warmth, suspension in fluid, well-being. With those, Twilight soon fell asleep, a pair of fangs being the last thing her closing eyelids let through.