My Enemy's Enemy

by BudCharles

Goodbyes

“Mummy!” Pupa cried out as he woke up suddenly, sitting up in his bed and breathing heavily.

On the other side of a thick stone wall, Chrysalis turned over in her bed restlessly, bothered by the sound, but not yet awake.

“MUMMY! WHERE ARE YOU?” Pupa called out again, loud enough to wake up half of Ponyville.

Chrysalis hissed in confusion as she slowly opened her eyes and groggily rolled onto the floor. Her wings hung like dying leaves and she stumbled to her hooves in the pitch black darkness.

“MUMMYYYYYY!”

In an instant, every hint of the changeling queen’s exhaustion was gone. She raced straight out of her room as if it was midday.

She swung open Pupa’s door to see him crying into a pillow, shaking. His bandages were half fallen off from all his writhing around.

“Are you alright?” Chrysalis asked, running straight to her child’s side.

“Mummy!” Pupa squeaked, looking up in disbelief, before jumping onto her mother and tackle-hugging her.

Chrysalis smiled. “Alright, alright, what’s wrong?”

“Well, I-I was there again, when the bad unicorn attacked. And you - he - th-the…”

Chrysalis hugged Pupa once more, using her magic to light up the room. “It was just a nightmare,” she assured him, “He’s not going to hurt you, or me, or anyone else, and if he tries, I’ll make him regret ever being born, understand?”

Pupa giggled a little, before crying again.

“Come on Pupa, it’s alright, nothing’s going to hap-”

“You’re leaving aren’t you?” Pupa interrupted, struggling to get the words out between bouts of sobbing.

“What do you m-“

“When I get better, you’re going to leave me with those ponies, and go back to fight him off aren’t you.”

“Well I -”

“Promise that you’re not going to!”

Chrysalis sighed. Normally she would have told him off for yelling at her like this, but she knew it wouldn’t achieve anything.

“I’m sorry, but you saw what that bad unicorn did to all those changelings. I have to do something, before he hurts anyone else. Twilight and Fluttershy will take good care of you, I promise.”

“But I don’t want Twilight or Fluttershy! I want YOU!”

Chrysalis sighed again and hugged Pupa tighter. She wanted to tell him that she wished she could stay, that she wished she could live to watch him grow up and make friends and do great things - but she knew that would only make him feel worse.

The next morning, Fluttershy swung open the door to find Pupa cuddled up on the bed in a little ball of blankets, and Chrysalis sprawled out on the ground next to him. She let out a giggle as she walked in and nudged them both with one of her front hooves.

“Wakey wakey sleepy heads,” she said gently.

Happily, Pupa leaped out of the bed, shaking off the last of his bandages that were still managing to cling on before racing out the door and into the wide, empty maze of corridors on the other side. Fluttershy tried to call for him but he’d left the room before she could even turn around. She figured she’d catch up to him once he realised he had no idea where he was.

“Errrrrgh,” Chrysalis whined, “what time is it?”

“Ten in the morning,” Fluttershy answered happily, turning to face her.

“Ten?” Chrysalis gasped. “I usually get up at six!”

“Did your sleep get interrupted at all? That happens sometimes to Angel bunny.”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes, this pony was comparing her to a rabbit. If she was in the changeling kingdom she’d have her imprisoned for treason.

“I’ll have you know that - oh… actually I was interrupted.”

“Oh dear - was something wrong with the bed - was there not enough light? Or too much light?”

“No, no, it was fine. I appreciate the sleeping arrangements. Pupa just had a nightmare, so I had to go comfort him.”

“A nightmare? The poor thing, I’d better see if he’s alright.”

With that, Fluttershy raced out of the room, only to run straight into a completely un-traumatised-looking Pupa.

“Oh, hi,” the little changeling asked, “do you know which direction is the best way to go to run away from you?”

“Um yes, just take a right turn and - hey, come back here!”

With that, Pupa turned tail and raced off again, Fluttershy just inches behind him. Chrysalis followed unenthusiastically behind. As tired as she was though, she couldn’t help but smile a little inside. She hadn’t seen her little boy this happy in a long time.

“Breakfast is served!” Spike declared as the three of them came tumbling into the dining room, Fluttershy finally managing to get hold of Pupa.

“Time to get you back into those bandages young man!” Fluttershy declared playfully.

“I don’t need bandanas!” Pupa retorted.

“Bandages, not bandanas.”

“Well I don’t need any band badgers! I’m fine!”

“Don’t be silly, you still have a lot of recovering to do, you should be drinking lots of fluids, getting plenty of rest and most importantly keeping your bandages on!”

“No, no band badgers!” Pupa protested, folding his arms dramatically.

“Hey you two,” Spike interrupted, “how about we call a temporary truce, because Twilight and I made pancakes and we’re very eager to eat them.”

He turned around to see the pony princess already gulping down a pancake whole, maple syrup trickling down her face.

“Well... I’m very eager to eat them. Twilight got a bit ahead of herself.”

Pupa chuckled.

“Thanks, but mummy and I have had so much love here that we’re already full.”

He proceeded to run up to Fluttershy and wrap his arms around her tummy.

She felt her heart almost explode.

“Oh my, um, you’re welcome,” she managed.

Pupa let go and trotted back to Chrysalis’ side and Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief. That level of cuteness exposure was surely above some kind of legal limit.

Accompanied by Spike, Fluttershy and the two changelings made their way over to Twilight’s table, where a stack of pancakes was ready for each of them. They looked around them to see a wide open hall, paved with a wooden floor and brightly lit with natural light from a big, arched window. There were some traces of a carpet that had been removed, probably due to it not sitting well with Twilight’s messy eating habits. The tables were large, round and made from some kind of opaque white crystal - the stools were of matching material and colour.

Twilight would never have approved of spending public money on such an expensive building material - but the castle just spawned them out of thin air so what could she do? She had once considered selling them to raise money for ponies in need, but Rarity found the idea of removing such splendour from the castle unacceptable, and Twilight didn’t want to go through months of being whined at by her best friend - the media and the nobility gave her more than enough whining already.

“Oh, hmm mmo!” Twilight said happily as she noticed her guests approaching. She then noticed her mouth was full and quickly swallowed, blushing with embarrassment. “Heh, sorry, meant to say ‘hello’. Did you sleep well?”

Chrysalis nodded with a smile, not touching her pancakes.

“Is something wrong?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, um, they only eat love” Fluttershy explained.

“Oh right!” Twilight realised, even more sheepish than before. “Hey, uh, is it alright if I have yours?”

“Go ahead,” Chrysalis offered.

“Thank you!”

Twilight’s face lit up with excitement as she levitated Chrysalis’ plate over to her side of the table. Double pancakes!

“Do I get extra pancakes too?” Spike asked.

Pupa giggled and used his own magic to move his plate over to Spike.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Spike declared, licking his lips as he admired the two stacks of pancakes in front of him.

Fluttershy watched on in amazement.

“Wow, your magic is working already? You’re recovering very quickly! Actually, now I think about it, your wounds are looking a lot better too.”

“They… are?” Pupa said sadly, looking down at the ground.

“Well, yeah, aren’t you happy? That means less bandages!”

“It also means mummy has to go away.”

“Oh.” Fluttershy realised, before you looking up at Chrysalis. “You’re… planning to leave?”

“I don’t have a choice,” Chrysalis answered. “My people are in danger, I have a duty to protect them. I was planning to ask you as soon as I knew Pupa would be safe - I’d like you to look after him permanently - if… if I don’t succeed.”

“Oh my” Fluttershy managed, as all sense of joy evaporated from the area.

Twilight dropped a half-eaten pancake and turned to Chrysalis. “You know you don’t have to go alone right?”

“I couldn’t take Pupa, are you crazy?” Chrysalis snapped.

“No no, that’s not what I meant!” Twilight assured her. “I meant I could come with you. We’d stand a much better chance together.”

“You don’t understand, this enemy who attacked us, he has immense power, he took down thousands with one strike! You would be risking -”

“My life, I know - but it would be worth it. I’d be fighting to save a whole nation of innocent citizens, and most of all I’d be fighting to save somepony who came to me in a time of need, a loyal leader, a brave warrior and most of all a loving mother. I’d be proud to die for you.”

Chrysalis stared in stunned silence.

“But I’m not a pony - and you’ve only known me for two days! I know there was before - but back then I tried to kill you and take over you country. W-why would you do the exact opposite for me?”

Twilight simply smiled, “well, you with me or not?”

“Well of course, thank you! But - why?”

“Wait mummy!” Pupa called out before Twilight could respond. “Don’t go! Please!”

Chrysalis sighed. “Pupa, I’m sorry, there’s no other way.”

“Then I’m coming with you!”

“It’s too dangerous. You have so much still ahead of you.”

“But mummy, please!” Pupa whimpered, tears filling his eyes.

Chrysalis’ eyes returned the gesture as she walked over to hug him. “Pupa, I’m so sorry. You deserve better, but this is just the way it is. I love you okay. Never forget that. Never ever!”

“But -”

“Promise?”

Pupa sniffed.

“Promise.”

“Good. Now stay strong like you always have. Remember, we changelings are tough, got it?”

“Got it!” Pupa declared, wiping his tears away and attempting the toughest flexing pose he could.

Chrysalis chuckled, before galloping out of the room, Twilight by her side. There was no turning back now.

Author's Note:

Oh dang, the feels D:

Sorry the introduction is dragging on so long, hopefully I can get into some of the action in the next part. I just don't want to rush all this. Trust me there will be more action and adventure soon :3 (And hopefully I won't screw it up XD)

But yeah again sorry for spending so much time stuffing around :P Tried to make up for it with a bit of comedy so it didn't get too boring

Comments

[Cross Lament]

Don't be afraid to spend some time building things up. Many writers suffer the temptation to 'get to the good stuff already', but then they miss out on the joy of torturing their audience with anticipation...

[Razzy]

Nice chapter, you put in lots of personality quirks in, making the characters feel real and true to themselves.

“Oh, hi,” the little changeling asked, “do you know which direction is the best way to go to run away from you?”

“Um yes, just take a right turn and - hey, come back here!”

That was SO Fluttershy.

Cya
Raziel-chan

[BudCharles]

6836590 Heh, alright XD I'll keep torturing you then, since you asked for it :P Thanks xD

[BudCharles]

6836662 Hehe thanks X'D Glad that the characters worked out so far :P

[Darkest Dreams]

So far I like this story, but I actually find it a little too quick. I'm used to stories that take a long build up with lots of backstory and then have a short culmative action shot, or a long story with multiple action sequences woven in. I must say I enjoy it a lot though. Not enough of Chrysalis being shown as sensitive.
One major error I picked up on:

“Mummy!” Pupa cried out as she woke up suddenly, sitting up in her bed and breathing heavily.

I think you meant He and his.

Edit: fixed Chryslais spelling error. I hate it when I do that.