A Whirlwind of Emotions
"Chryssy, Chryssy wake up! You ok?"
"Ugh?" The first thoughts of consciousness that came to the forefront of the Queen of the Changeling's mind were a wild roller coaster of emotions, ones that she was not ready to face. However, they soon slowed, allowing her to catch a glimpse of her surroundings. Multiple tubes went into her left foreleg, the pulses of the heart monitor being the only ambient sound in the room, and the very concerned look of the Princess of Love pierced her straight to the core. "Cadence? What happened? Last I remember-"
"You fainted," Cadance said, a gentle curtness to her tone that revealed the worry Chrysalis was feeling from her was not being hidden. "We were heading to your office, when suddenly you just… collapsed. Shiny and Luna are currently with your daughter, and I managed to free up your schedule a bit to give you some extra rest."
"I see," Chrysalis noted, a quick glance around the room showing that, much to her surprise, there were no guards stationed in the faintly-lavender scented room. With just her, Cadance, and Cadance's royal doctor in the room, she couldn't help but smirk. "You know, it is awfully unwise for someone of your standing to not have a guard detail in my presence, I am Chrysalis the Feared after all."
"Mmm, maybe," Cadance's playful tone, combined with the fact she started brushing Chrysalis' mane as she hummed, was enough to lure the dread queen into letting her guard down. She knew that Cadance had known there was no fire behind the statement, but deep down she felt no anger at the self-revelation. "But then again, I think it is story time, one I think you will enjoy."
"I am not Flurry Heart," Chrysalis deadpanned, not happy that she was being treated like a foal, but considering said foal could inflict some painful wounds if it wanted, she simply huffed. "Nonetheless, continue."
"Thank you," With a smile, Cadance cleared her throat, never once stopping the brush until she was sure all the knots were taken care of. "Now then, a long time ago, far away in Canterlot, there was a young pegasus mare, and all her life she was an outcast. Nopony played with her, nopony invited her to parties or just to hang out, when all she wanted was friendship. It hurt her, deeply, and over time her heart slowly closed itself off, accepting that she would die a lonely mare.
"One day, however, she met a nice stallion, one who shared the same interests as her and they soon became fast friends. For the first time in her life, she was happy, but sadly it was just a fleeting thing. Less than a year after they met, he died in a horrific accident, one that permanently traumatized the mare and made her close her heart once more. Not out of grief, but out of fear."
"That…" Chrysalis, even with the traces of motherly love that Cadance was giving her, no doubt a mental reflex of story times to Flurry, felt hollow. Her mouth was dry, and a weight tightened around her heart as she remembered when Luna was banished. "That sounds terrible…"
"Quite," Cadance nodded, pausing a moment before continuing. "As you can guess, losing her beloved deeply stung, to the point she swore to never love again. For a long time, she didn't, and she nearly died herself from malnutrition. Alas, that was not the end for her, while out for a stroll as she was contemplating her final resting place she was mugged in an alley. She begged for them to kill her, but before the dagger could be driven in, a rookie guard put a stop to it. With the culprit captured, the guard checked on the mare, only for their eyes to meet. When they did, the mare felt her flanks heat up as her cutie mark formed, and a new sense of purpose filled her. They eventually got married and had a loving family, but the moral of the story is not to let your burdens crush you. Fight through them, and everypony has a special somepony, even if they are not a pony. Love finds a way."
"That story, it was about you wasn't it?" Chrysalis could feel the alicorn's emotions flinch at the question, giving her the answer she needed. "That is not the stories I have heard about you, if anything, I would have thought Celestia would-"
"Would what, treat me like a princess?" Cadance snorted, the dismissiveness surprising Chrysalis with the wave of resentment that accompanied it. "She tried, oh trust me she tried, but I demanded to have no guard detail and to live away from the castle. I wanted to live among the subjects to get a better feel for how Auntie was doing as a ruler. I wanted nothing to do with being a ruler in my youth, I just wanted to be a happy little pegasus that could forge her own path and live carefree. Before you ask, it wasn't my looks or who I was that made me an outcast, it was my special talent starting to manifest that did me in."
"The fact you tried to strengthen love was enough to have them push you away?" Chrysalis was stunned, knowing how important friendship was to ponies, it seemed out of place to her. "No offense, but those sound like the kind of ponies that deserve to spend a few weeks in a pod as punishment. Not for harvesting, but actual punishment."
"Remind me to inquire about that later," Cadance mused, sending a chill up Chrysalis' spine from both mental fantasy and also the implications of revealing that information. "Anyway, they thought I was being pushy and that I needed to mind my business, and I had to oblige to stay out of trouble… Can't tell you how many relationships I saw fizzle as a result, but oh well."
"Depends on the matter of approach," Chrysalis said, pausing for a moment as she considered her wording. "Upfront you meet resistance, stealthy far less so and it is easier to succeed. So, if you don't mind me asking, how did your first love die?"
"Framed for a crime he did not commit, then while he was awaiting trial, had a massive hailstone dropped on his head while in the courtyard on his yard time.” Chrysalis could see, and feel, the pain in Cadance’s eyes as she spoke, the painful memories lashing at the changeling’s defenses like weaponized vines that drew emotional ichor with every strike. The pain soon gave way to a cold satisfaction, one that made Chrysalis feel true fear and sent her mind racing. "Its a shame really, nopony ended up finding out how the sod ended up how he did, but that is for the best in my opinion."
"You killed him in revenge, didn't you?" The inquiry hit right where Chrysalis hoped, the Princess of Love having to briefly advert her gaze at the question. The nurse, much to the changeling's suspicion, did not even blink at the implications. "I do not feel any guilt coming from you either, you actually have no regret about what you did."
"Love is a powerful emotion," Cadance said, once again meeting Chrysalis' eyes with her own. "It is needed for your kind to live, and it is what powers both my special talent and the Crystal Heart. However, it is also a vice, one that demands your soul as payment. We both know the feeling of a loved one being torn from us, you by Aunt Lulu's banishment, and me by the untimely death of my coltfriend.
"I have no shame, nor guilt, because I feel as if it was an equal measure for what was taken from me. You being pregnant at the time of your wife's banishment no doubt was a burden, but at least we have long enough of a lifespan that you were bound to reunite with her at some point. As for me, I never would have him back. We all do things that we are not proud of in the name of love, but we cannot change the past now can we?"
"Do not compare your loss to mine," Chrysalis fumed, Cadance gulping at the embers that danced in the emerald eyes of the changeling queen. "Much like Discord, I have never intentionally killed someone. Think, for a moment, about what Celestia took from me Cadance. She took away a foal from me and Lulu by making it stillborn from her actions, and she made me spend so long without my wife. I had her, dead to rights, at the wedding but even with all she did to me killing her was not in my plans.
"Would I kill if someone threatened the lives of somepony I care about? Yes. Would I kill if they succeeded in killing my loved ones? No. I would want them to suffer, knowing what they did with justice properly served. I do have some degree of morals Cadance, so I pity what happened to you, but I cannot condone the means you went to."
"You sound like Shiny," Cadance dryly laughed, making Chrysalis confused at the reaction. "Look at us, discussing things of yesteryear like an old couple or old friends instead of talking about the future. So, what are you going to do when you get out of here? Aside from your duties of course."
"That depends really," Chrysalis sighed, not happy the subject was changed so abruptly but chose not to push her boundaries. "I have a lot of things to process mentally and emotionally. After all, as you said, love is a powerful emotion."
"Looking forward to time with Auntie aren't you?" Cadence giggled, a light blush showing on Chrysalis' cheeks at the thought of possibly having some 'personal cuddle therapy' with her beloved. "I'll take that as a yes. We both know the Empire lacks the diverse activities Equestria has to offer, but I do hope the two of you are able to reconnect."
"Same here," Chrysalis' tone wavered, a tear rolling down her cheek as her mind turned to not-so-happy scenarios. "I love her Cadance, what if we aren't able to redevelop the bond we once had? I-"
"Look at me," Chrysalis, after a brief hesitation, did as instructed, gazing into the eyes of the Princess of Love. "You have to be patient, give it time, and do not worry about those thoughts. At the very least, you have a family here with me, Shiny, and Flurry so you will never be alone again. You have my vow…"
Chrysalis' breath hitched at the pause in Cadance's sentence, not from the pony she once swore as an enemy moving closer to be muzzle to muzzle, but from her feeling all of the alicorn's resistance crumble as a smile graced her lips.
"And you have my love."
Fireworks exploded in Chrysalis' mind when Cadance's lips met hers, all her negative thoughts being banished in a tidal wave of raw love that threatened to consume her very being. The soft, rose pink lips calmed her inner turmoil, but also made her want more as the two mares increased the embrace.
And all across the hive mind, every drone felt it when the Queen of the Badlands fired it off in pulses to prevent an overflow, soon falling to the ground where they stood as they drank in the rich food supply. Deciduous, Firestorm, and Glacial all welcomed the meal, gorging themselves like Bulk Biceps on a protein shake bender, but Nebula had a different reaction entirely.
"We need to check on mother," The changeling said, jumping to her hooves and startling both Luna and Shining armor into an alert state. "She just had to dump off a massive amount of raw love."
"Our wife vented love?" Luna asked, a bit of fear mingling into her Olde Equish. "Pray tell, dear daughter, what would cause a changeling to do such?"
"Overflow," Nebula said, opening the door and informing the guards stationed outside the doors to lead the trio to where Chrysalis had been resting. "Much like how a pony can die from too much food, too much love can kill a changeling. Venting helps negate it when the hive mind is too saturated, but as much as she is giving off? She would have had to have drawn straight from the Crystal Heart."
"Or an equivalent," Shining heart threatened to skip a beat, his throat burning dry from a few possibilities that made him feel ill. Yet, reaching the medical room, they only found a shocked Twilight Sparkle standing in a slight love daze. "Twily? What are you doing here, where are Cady and Chrysalis?"
"I was standing guard, as per my duty as Ambassador, while disguised as Cadance's royal doctor," Twilight said, her words slightly slurred as she shook off the effects of the close-proximity love blast. "As for your second question? I have no idea, Cadance kissed Chrysalis to give her a love boost, then next thing I know they both were encased in a prism of light as they vanished."
"Vanished?" Luna's brow was raised higher than her moon at midnight, figuratively reaching for her mane as all eyes were drawn on her. "That almost sounds like an ascension, but prismatic colors? The only thing I know-"
"Oh bugger."
Time and space seemed to bend for Chrysalis and Cadance as they floated in a sea of nothingness. All around the pair they could hear faint whispers, echoes of the past that made memory after memory rush in a torrent that had no breakpoint. However, before they were swallowed in the depths of their own minds and turmoil, everything went calm.
”Hello you two”
The voice was welcoming, like a mother embracing their foal after being away for an extended period. Even with no words being exchanged between the pair, a mix of both fear and confusion made them clutch tighter to the other.
”Be not afraid,”
This time, a figure began to form, one that made both of the mare's jaws drop in shock. Before them was the Tree of Harmony, the elements glistening from its branches, and the Crystal Heart pulsing brightly in the center of the healthy trunk.
”For I am Harmony, and I bid thee welcome.”
"Harmony?!" Chrysalis exclaimed, wondering for a moment if she had died and was just hallucinating as her brain shut down. "Why have you summoned me? Cadence I can understand from her connection to the Crystal Heart, but I am a changeling."
"One that has love for two of the princesses," Harmony replied, making both alicorn and changeling look at each other with light blushes as the branches containing Loyalty and Honesty reached towards the pair. "A love that will ensure the Frozen North is protected from Windegos as long as you both draw breath, even after Prince Armor passes on."
"She cannot replace my Shiny," Cadance growled, a cocoon of anger shrouding her aura as she lowered into a defensive position. "Even after-"
"Foolish mare," Harmony said, making Cadance try to harness her magic, but much to her shock she could not even draw a spark. "Do you honestly expect me to believe you would? No, but on the current course, one aspect of your love of Chrysalis will be forged in time of mourning."
"Wait," Cadance's eyes went wide, her bottom lip trembling as her throat suddenly lost all moisture. "You can't mean-"
“You are an alicorn, Shining a unicorn,” Harmony’s remark cut Cadance to the core, the Princess of Love lowering her gaze to her hooves. “He still has many years ahead, but he has nowhere near the lifespan you do.”
“I-am aware,” Cadance stuttered, Chrysalis feeling a whirlwind of emotions from the pony she had a secret crush on soon fanning the flames of her frustration. “But who are you to bring us here to talk about what will be one of the hardest moments of my life?! I do not care if I had forever or a day, I love every moment that I am with my Shiny. He has my heart, he is my everything, and we have a daughter that is a beautiful testament to our bond and love.”
“And I will give my all to protect them,” The words left Chrysalis’ lips without thinking, without hesitation, surprising even herself in the conviction she put behind them. “I came to the Empire a broken and defeated Queen, one who was on the brink of having the hive die out from lack of sustainable love. Despite everything I did to Shining Armor, by brainwashing and stealing his love. Despite everything I did to Cadance by almost robbing her of her husband and wedding day. Despite my crimes towards the crystal ponies by doing those unspeakable acts towards their rulers, they all took me in. I have all of them to thank for my redemption, and…”
Tears, white hot from pent-up emotion that hit all at once freely flowed. The old her would have chided herself for crying in the presence of others, a sign of weakness showing in the mask of the Queen of the Badlands. However, deep down in her mind, she looked at the cruel reflection of her past self and rammed it with her horn. In the here and now, those tears were not a weakness, but instead a flood of relief and weight being removed from her mind.
“A-and for saving my children, and saving me from myself…” Looking up at Harmony, Chrysalis took a few steps towards the astral figure and shocking Cadance with the flair of conviction she showed, Her steps were steady and true, the trot of a ruler who had everything to bare and nothing to lose. The Mare who had bested the Bringer of the Day in combat, and captured the Heart of the Moon within her breast. In that moment, something bloomed inside the Princess of Love, as if she was looking at Chrysalis in a new, loving light as the changeling spoke again. “I owe them everything, and I will put my life on the line to ensure their protection, as well as the well being of the Crystal Ponies. Their battles are now mine, by hoof and by sword, and unless you have something actually useful to give us I ask that you bid us leave.”
“Such vigor, to stand up to me in the flesh,” Harmony had no hint of aggression in her tone, in fact, Chrysalis could feel the faintest traces of humor coming from her. Just even feeling the humor sent the changeling's mind racing to try and find a logical conclusion, and it bothered her that she couldn't. ”Very well, I do suppose that I have hit a few sensitive subjects, so I shall grant thy boon. I may be Harmony, but that does not mean that everything is rosy. With good, comes bad, and it is the balance of the two that ensures I exist and continue to ensure things try and remain peaceful. Yet, that will not always be the case, for there are times one must endure hardship to grow. This is something you both know first hoof.”
Both mares simply nodded, neither saying a word as they both felt more needed to be said.
”Now, I hinted at something earlier, something subtle. Think on my words after I called Cadenza foolish, did you two notice something very specific that I said?”
"You said ‘current course’," Cadance said, new hope filling her a couple branches moved in a bidding motion. "That shows there are more paths ahead, but I am confused. By that, it hints that there is a way to prolong Shiny's life, but there are no mentioned cases of a male alicorn in the historical texts I have read."
”And that is so, but there is another method to prolong his life without ascension,” Chrysalis’ ichor ran cold under her shell, her heart briefly skipping out of rhythm as she felt Harmony’s presence center around her. ”Isn’t that right Chrsyalis?”
“Chrysalis?” Cadance’s inquisitive tone was met with silence, the changeling froze in place in what the alicorn could tell was fear. “Chryssy, what is wrong? You look more terrified than when I strolled into the reception hall at your invasion.”
“First of all, that stung,” Chrysalis said, trying to gather herself, and could feel that Cadance regretted the analogy. “Second, there is a way, if I make Shining a changeling royal it would increase the lifespan. The process is something I am unsure if he would agree with, all things considered.”
“Oh,” The flicker flame of hope Cadance had dimmed, but did not go fully out. “We will have to ask him when we get back then. Now, Harmony, would you be so kind?”
That afternoon, many of the adult crystal ponies gathered in the various bars, carrying on murmurs of rumors that Shining Armor had been seen carrying a small suitcase towards one of the higher-suited apartments that had been built for overflow during diplomatic trips. A few of the guard, and several maids that had been in earshot, tried to keep peace by saying that the Prince Consort merely needed some time to clear his head after the events that had unfolded in Baltimare and Canterlot. It was a half truth, one that satisfied one part of the rumor mill. The Crystal Heart having a slower rotation, and a soft emerald pattern that had emerged in it, did little to quiet the others.
And in the Royal Bedroom, a princess wept.
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Uuu boy here comes the angst train, all abored!
Meh, oracles. Can’t say I trust them much, have seen too many that just come across as making shit up about the future in order to further their own agendas, and “Harmony” here leaves much the same aftertaste.
Mostly, though, I spotted a typo that positively jumped out at me:
May want to fix that, and all the best for 2023.
11466479
Wow, one actually slipped past my eye, thank you
Pero Celestia hizo lo mismos y la castigaron.
11498326
Indeed so, but considering how long she had to spend in exile and away from Luna, that was punishment in itself