• Published 13th Sep 2018
  • 8,417 Views, 204 Comments

Shot Through The Heart - Chaospaladin



Twilight cares for Chrysalis after a near-fatal accident.

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Shot through the heart

“Following me down here alone will be your last mistake, Twilight Sparkle!”

Chrysalis’ voice boomed around Twilight from the shadows of the dank catacombs. Light from Twilight’s horn fought for ground against the darkness that filled the space between the towering stalagmites and tunnel walls. Twilight braved the cavernous depths, unperturbed by the directionless voice.

“It won’t be long until my friends get here. Until then, if you want to get out, you’ll have to go through me!” Twilight said. “There’s still a chance to resolve things peacefully if you stand down.”

“After everything you ponies have taken from me?” Chrysalis scoffed. “I’d rather die than lose the only possession I have left.”

Twilight’s ears pinned back. Her gaze swept the area for any signs of movement. Inspecting her environment, Twilight realized that Chrysalis could attack from any angle and she wouldn’t be able to see her until it was too late.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked. Her ears flicked upwards in an attempt to focus on the direction of Chrysalis’ response. A soft green glow flickered to Twilight’s left, catching her attention instead.

She raised a shield just before the beam shot forth. It bounced off with a blinding spark. Twilight threw a purple sphere of magic in that direction. Light exploded from the ball, only to reveal nothing.

“You’ve taken my subjects…!”

Another blast, this time from the right. The shield came up a second too late. Agony exploded from the grazing shot on her forehead, ripping a scream out of Twilight’s throat. She recoiled and stumbled from the mind-numbing pain, though not before she fired off a magical blast toward the source, destroying a portion of the cavern wall. Her breathing came out in shudders as the reality of nearly losing her head settled in.

“My kingdom! My home!”

Twilight screamed as a bolt of green magic slammed into her side. In her peripheral, she caught a flicker of green light. She just in time managed to place another barrier to absorb the blast.

“I will see Equestria turned to ash before I let you take away my pride!”

Streaks of light peppered Twilight’s shield, none from the same direction for more than a few seconds. The barrier’s light dimmed with every hail of magic thrown at her. One eye squinted from the trail of blood running down her forehead, Twilight peered closely at the shadows. South. East. North. West. South again. North once more. Energy flickered west. That’s when it clicked in her mind.

Gotcha!

Right when she absorbed the blast from the west, Twilight dropped the shield and unleashed a powerful blast at the east.

Chrysalis had just emerged from teleportation, only to get rocked by Twilight’s blast and sent flying into the now cracked wall. She fell on her stomach with an ‘oof’, carapace badly scratched from impact. Her horn sparked with magic as she picked herself off the floor, glaring daggers at Twilight.

“If you believe for even a second that such paltry strike would stop—”

“Enough!”

Another magical burst slammed into Chrysalis, blasting her into the wall again. This time the wind was knocked out of her, leaving her sprawled on the ground.

“We didn’t ask for any of this, nor do we want to take away your pride.” Twilight shook the stars out of her eyes from the intense use of magic. “All we want is to stop fighting and find a peaceful end to this violence!”

“Never!” Chrysalis coughed, wiping emerald blood from her muzzle as she staggered to her hooves. She was about to move forward, likely to attack, then hesitated the moment Twilight’s glare hardened. “I'll never bow to you, filthy pest! It's because of you ponies that I lost everything!”

Twilight shook her head. “We haven’t done anything but defend ourselves. It was your spite and selfishness that was your downfall. If even a drop of all that stolen love reached your frozen heart, you could have avoided all of this!”

Chrysalis seethed in silence.

“It's not too late,” Twilight pleaded. “You can get past this hatred. This anger. Give us an opportunity to help you find happiness. We can only help you if you let us.” She dared a few steps closer. Chrysalis shriveled back and snarled. “Think of all the friends you could have. The love you could get if you just opened your heart, even just a little bit.”

“Spout your nonsense all you want. You’ll never be anything more than food to me!”

Twilight growled. “I’ll find a way to get through to you, Chrysalis. There has to be more than hate somewhere inside you. If the other changelings can learn to give love rather than take, I know you can do the same.”

“You know nothing about me!” Chrysalis snapped.

Twilight was about to snap back when a peculiar thought struck her. The evolved changelings no longer hungered for love and lived far healthier, happier lives. Chrysalis, having lived for so many centuries, had to know such a thing was possible. But if she did, then why go through so much trouble to live the way they did when most of their food issues could’ve been solved by—

“Actually…” Twilight pondered aloud, “you have a point. I know practically nothing about you. Have you ever felt anything remotely close to love for another living being? Do you even know what it means to love someone?”

“Pointless questions,” Chrysalis sneered. “All that matters is—”

“You don’t even know what love is, do you?” Twilight cut her off. Chrysalis recoiled. “It’s only been food to you. It’s a wild guess, but for as many centuries as you’ve lived, I can’t imagine you didn’t know something about changelings evolving through releasing love. I think you knew the truth for a long time, didn’t you? You knew, yet you kept the truth from your own subjects.”

Chrysalis went silent. Her baleful stare intensified.

“Love is a concept even a little foal can grasp, yet it’s clear this never registered for you with your subjects. It’s rather sad, actually. All that love you’ve taken without really understanding it. You really are all alone, aren’t you?”

Chrysalis’ expression went blank, as if her mind had slipped from the proverbial rug being pulled from under it. For a single moment, Twilight sensed a cold void behind Chrysalis’s gaze. An icy sensation crawled up Twilight’s back, shaken from the realization that her assumption might have been more correct than she could’ve ever imagined.

That moment of vulnerability was gone as quickly as it came, swallowed by pure, feral rage. With a bone-rattling cry that turned Twilight’s legs to jelly, Chrysalis charged forward.

Twilight grounded her legs and poured magic into her horn, ready to counterattack.

We’ve given you every possible chance to turn your life around! More than most ponies get their entire lives! Why? Why can’t you open your eyes?

Chrysalis galloped headlong at Twilight, fangs bared.

Why can’t you get it through your thick skull that I want to save you?!

With the flash of her horn, Chrysalis vanished.

Twilight reared back in surprise, especially when Chrysalis reappeared in front of her in a mid-air lunge.

She panicked and fired.

The blast sliced through the ceiling in a brilliant display of pure power.

Twilight’s face ashened as that power pierced Chrysalis’ chest like a lance.

Agonized shock frozen on her face, Chrysalis collapsed on the ground in a broken heap. A puppet with its strings cut.

Twilight stared at the fallen queen in horror. Her mind worked to catch up with what just happened.

Grounded. Hole in chest. Dying. Chrysalis is dying.

Chrysalis is about to die because of me…!

“Oh no...!”

Twilight scrambled next to her. “N—No. No no no, please no!”

She took Chrysalis’ head in her trembling hooves and carefully cradled it on her lap. One look at Chrysalis’ chest forced Twilight to avert her eyes, fighting back the bile that rose to her throat.

“Chrysalis, I didn’t mean—I was just——I’m so sorry, I…”

Tears streaming down her cheeks, she mentally pushed through her ramblings to reach the only important objective in her mind.

“Hospital! We need to go to a hospital!” She mustered her magic reserves, frantically navigating her destination to the closest hospital her panicked mind could conjure.

“Le…” Chrysalis strained to force the raspy words out of her throat. “Leave…!”

“No!” Twilight cried. “I’m not going to abandon you! Don’t die on me!”

Chrysalis’ jaw slackened. Glassy, emerald eyes gawked at her.

“Wh...why…?”

It was all she could managed before her eyes fluttered closed. The question Chrysalis attempted to ask echoed in Twilight’s mind.

Why did I kill her?

“Chrysalis…?” Twilight called out in a small, frightened whisper. No response. “Chrysalis?!” She tried to shake Chrysalis into consciousness. Again, no response. Hot tears fell unbidden.

“CHRYSALIS!”

In a purple flash, the two disappeared.

Author's Note:

What's up, my fellow paladins?

Another day, another contest I aim to slam dunk as hard as I can. This story is the kind that didn't take me very long to come up with or even write. The hard part, as with many things, comes from the execution of it all, which turned out a little more complex than I expected. Thankfully, as writing a story featuring Chrysalis and Twilight together isn't something new to me, I can use this familiar ground to come up with something that hits a little closer to home.

I look forward to dazzling you with awesomeness and see if I can melt your hearts.:pinkiehappy:

Feel free to throw your thoughts/criticism at me. What are your predictions? How do you think this will end? Are you a fan of Bon Jovi? I wanna hear it all.

Until next time, stay classy my paladins.