We can't go back. What can we do? The hive is lost. All my brothers.. brainwashed. So many have been executed. We were lucky to have split off from the rest before the new Queen was elected ruler of the hive. We can hear their internal screams. We cannot save them. We are powerless against the darkness that has enshrouded them all.
This was no ordinary Queen. She was nothing like Chrysalis. We thought Chrysalis was bad, but.. this is far worse. This Queen has no empathy, no consciousness even. We don't even know 'what' it is. But whatever 'it' is, we cannot fight it. Well, at least we cannot fight without a leader.
We need our Queen back.
~~~
Twilight trotted around her library looking for some books on changelings. Since she had been interacting with Chrysalis, she figured she could do some more research on her kind. Just then, she was interrupted by Spike, who tapped her on the shoulder as she read.
“What is it Spike?” Twilight asked whilst looking over her shoulder.
“Um, I hope you don't mind me asking, but.. where have you been yesterday?” Spike asked.
Twilight gasped. She knew she had forgotten something. She had completely forgotten to tell Spike where she was going last night when she decided to speak with Chrysalis.
“I was.. just working on a project.. at.. um... Dr. Hooves place! Yes, I was helping him out on some.. equations, and stuff. Just boring math stuff you know.. heh,” Twilight grinned sheepishly.
“Oh, okay. Hope you had fun.”
“Yep, I had a great time! Well.. I gotta go to Cloudsdale to do some more flying practice. I will be back around 10:00.”
“Well alright, see ya!”
After Spike left the room to clean the other rooms of the castle, Twilight let out a sigh of relief. She snuck out of the castle and made her way to Canterlot. Spike walked down the corridors to find one of the guest room doors left open. He walked inside to clean the room, but the room seemed somewhat vacant. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something was missing.
Twilight mirthfully trotted through the streets of Canterlot carrying a large rectangular object that was covered in a shroud with her magic. She hummed joyfully as she strutted her way up to the Castle. She made her way down the dungeon corridors again. She didn't seem to mind the other prisoners this time. She merely waltzed right past them without a care in the world. Once she made her way down the stair case, she walked towards Chrysalis's cell door with the strange object levitating behind her. She set it down, and peered into the cell.
Twilight tapped on the door a couple of times to get the Changeling's attention. Chrysalis's eyes lit up at the sight of her new acquaintance. “Twilight!” she chirped.
“Hey Chryssie!” Twilight smiled. “How are you feeling?”
Chrysalis chuckled a little from Twilight purposefully butchering her name. “A little better. I slept for a good 15 hours I think. Those bandages really helped.”
“Well I'm glad you are feeling better. But for now, we need to continue with your friendship lessons.”
Chrysalis tilted her head. “F-friendship lessons?”
“Of course! You are now officially one of my students, and I am going to help you get back on your hooves.”
Chrysalis blushed at the sentiment. She felt ecstatic. “That's great! So.. where do we start?”
“Okay, first, I want you to promise to apologize to Fluttershy for scaring her animals when she gets here on Monday. I will tell her that it is okay to talk to you.”
“Okay, duly noted.”
“Good, and I also want you to write an apology letter to Cadence and Shining Armor for attempting to ruin their wedding. I have provided you with some paper and a quill.”
“Um.. Twilight?”
“Yeah?”
“The seal?” Chrysalis said while pointing to her horn. “I never learned to write any other way I'm afraid.”
Twilight shook her head. “I'm sorry Chrysalis, but I still can't trust you enough to be allowed to use your magic. You still have a long way to go before I can give you that privilege.
Chrysalis lowered her head in shame. “Okay, I understand. Oh, how about I tell you what to write? You can write the letter for me.”
“That could work. Okay, do you want to start now?”
“Sure. Okay, here it goes,” Chrysalis took a deep breath as she prepared to come up with a good apology:
Dear Princess Cadence and Shining Armor,
I wish to offer a formal apology for attempting to ruin your royal wedding at Canterlot. It was wrong of me to take advantage of you both, and you have every right to be angry at me. However, I wish to make it up to you any way I can. As you probably know, I am currently residing in the Canterlot Dungeon. I have been taking friendship lessons from Twilight, and she has been teaching me everything I need to know about friendship. I was hoping you could come down and visit me and Twilight, and maybe we could all try to make amends. I'll understand if you don't want to visit, but please let me know if you want to come down here to visit me. I'll be waiting here in the dungeon with Twilight if you ever decide to come. I hope you both are doing well, and I wish you both a great Summer.
From Chrysalis
Twilight finished writing the letter, and rolled it up to send it to Cadence later via Spike.
“That was a great apology letter Chrysalis. I don't think you realize just how proud I am of you. You have shown so much improvement.”
“Thank you Twilight. I'm just trying my best,” Chrysalis blushed.
“Anyways, I have a little surprise for you,” Twilight winked.
Chrysalis tilted her head with a puzzled look on her face. Twilight used her teleportation magic to teleport the strange rectangular object into the Changeling's cell. The tan veil was left behind as it floated to the ground. In the right-hand corner of Chrysalis's room, there was a wooden bed with a large fluffy comforter on top. The comforter had a dark-green and dark-bluish plaid pattern with thin, light-greenish lines going through it. It had a plump white pillow tucked right at the end. The bed itself was rather quaint, but still looked very comfortable.
Chrysalis's eyes lit up. An overwhelming and immense wave of joy hit Chrysalis like a tidal wave. She was overcome with so many different emotions, she did not know what to think. She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt like crying, despite the fact that she wasn't upset about anything. A tear had started to make it's way down her face.
“It's... it's perfect..” Chrysalis choked.
“You like it?” Twilight asked with a grin.
“I.. I love it. T-thank you!”
“Well, what are you waiting for? Try it out!” Twilight insisted.
Chrysalis slowly walked over to the bed, dragging the ball and chain behind her as she struggled to get onto the bed. It felt so incredibly soft. Her body sunk into it almost as if the bed would swallow her whole. She lied her head down on the pillow. She felt weightless. It felt almost as if her sense of gravity had suddenly disappeared.
“It feels.. incredible. I can't explain it,” Chrysalis began to weep softly. “W-why am I crying?”
Twilight gave a heartfelt smile. “Because you are happy Chrysalis.”
“B-but.. that doesn't make any sense! W-what is happening to me?”
Twilight had finally made up her mind. She had built up her trust for Chrysalis as much as she could. Now, she felt like she was ready to do what she was too afraid to do last time.
Twilight teleported into the cell. She started to feel a little anxious, but she swallowed and began to approach the former Changeling Queen. Chrysalis looked back at Twilight in bewilderment, tears still streaming down her face.
Twilight wrapped her hooves around Chrysalis's neck. Chrysalis began to feel frightened, thinking that she was about to be choked, but it was unusual for a pony to get up this close just to choke someone. Twilight stood up from the bed, holding the Changeling in her arms. Chrysalis then realized what was going on. Then came the waterworks.
Chrysalis embraced the violet Alicorn, wrapping her hooves around her waist. Chrysalis rested her head against Twilight's neck as she sobbed. Twilight began stroking the Changeling's long silky hair with her hoof. She did everything she could to try and comfort her.
“It's okay Chrysalis. Just let it out. I'll be here for you.”
“N-nobody's ever given me a gift like this before.”
“Yeah well, you've earned it,” Twilight smiled.
The both of them stayed like this for a good 20 minutes. That was when the clock struck 9:00. Twilight wanted to stay a little longer, but she knew that she had to head back home before 10 like she promised.
“Chrysalis? I hate to have to leave so soon, but I have to go back home for now.”
“It's okay. I'm just glad you came to visit. I really needed the company.”
“I have decided to visit you every Saturday night to check up on you and continue our lessons. I will see you next Saturday okay?”
“Sounds great. I will await our next visit. Sleep well, Twilight.”
“Goodnight.”
Chrysalis got under the covers, and slowly began to fall into a deep slumber. Twilight teleported out of the cell, and looked back to see the Changeling sleeping soundly. She was astounded at how successful the night went. She was glad to have finally gained Chrysalis's trust. However, she had to tell the others what was going on. She couldn't keep this a secret forever. She had decided tomorrow to tell Celestia and the others about what was happening.
It was for the best.