Death of a Queen

by Arkane12

35: Matricide

Chrysalis studied the map on the ceiling. She examined each curve of paint carefully, studying the way the color glowed in the moonlight and wondering how she never noticed it before. In her head, she pictured some far-off land that inspired such a work of artistry. She considered what strange beasts would line its wilds, what civilizations lay untouched for so long. Most importantly, she wondered what color she would repaint it when she had permission.

“Chrysalis?”

Cadence’s voice interrupted her important soul searching. In truth, the princess had been standing outside the door for a while. The love radiating from her at any given moment might as well have been a beacon shining through the night.

“I’m not here right now,” Chrysalis yelled back.

“I was just checking to see if you needed anything. Maybe something to eat? Or drink? Or whatever it is that changelings call it? Feeding?”

With a groan, Chrysalis climbed upright. While her patience had worn thin during the second interruption, this one had finally broken it. She stormed to the door, swinging it open to reveal the soft pink mare standing outside, grinning like an idiot.

“What do you want, Cadence?”

“I told you, I was just checking to see if you needed anything.”

“I don’t.”

“You sure? You’ve been sitting in your room all day. You know, you’ve been granted access to the rest of the castle grounds. I hear the Gardens are beautiful this time of night.”

“I’ll pass, thanks,” Chrysalis stated listlessly.

“Then what about a visit to the celestial observatory? See the heavens in a whole new light.”

“Sounds riveting. You’ll have to show it to me someday.”

“Alright, maybe this one is more your style? Want to spar with some guards? The only rule is no killing or permanent damage.”

“Cadence, what is all this about?”

“What?”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “Why are you trying so hard to convince me to do something? I just want to sit in my room. Alone. At least until Twilight gets back. Okay?”

Cadence pouted. “Isn’t it boring?”

“Incredibly.”

“But you’d rather do that than do anything with me.”

“Yes.”

“Oh.” The princess whimpered like an injured pup.

A slimy guilt slithered through Chrysalis at the sight of the heartbroken mare. Of course, she could barely register it through the blinding hunger gnawing at her.

“Well,” Cadence continued. “I’m sorry to have bothered you. I’ll leave you to your night.”

“You still didn’t answer my question.”

“And what question is that?”

“Why are you trying so hard to . . . be nice. It’s weird.”

“I’m . . . sorry? Was it something I said?” Cadence apologized.

“No. You just seem . . .” Chrysalis searched for the right explanation. “You seem so eager to keep me company while Twilight’s gone. And while I’m sure that Twilight specifically asked you to do so, you appear genuinely interested in spending time with me. Why?”

“Well . . . you’re Twilight’s friend now. As her sister-in-law, I think it’s only fair that any friend of hers is a friend of mine.” Cadence slid a stray strand of her mane back into place.

Chrysalis scoffed. “I’m not a friend of yours, Cadence. Don’t kid yourself.”

“Neither were you and Twilight, at first.”

A sense of defeat overwhelmed the changeling. After a short silence, she continued. “Fine. If it will satiate your desire for me to leave my room, you can escort me to Thorax’s room. I assume you’re able to do that.”

“Sure.” Cadence nodded, trying her best to hide her insulted feelings.

“Then lead the way.”

Chrysalis followed Cadence into the hallway, making sure to close the door behind her. With her growing hunger, a minuscule drop of saliva trickled from Chrysalis’ lips. She wiped it away before her companion could notice. At this point, even standing in the same room with the princess started to hurt. Luckily, the years spent half-starved left her with immense self-control.

“So, why are you going to see Thorax?” Cadence wondered.

“No real reason. We were planning on overthrowing the kingdom before Twilight got back. I just want to make sure that everything is still going according to plan.”

Cadence laughed a quiet, nervous laugh.

“Well, you didn’t sic guards on me, so I guess that’s a good start. In truth, though, I do need to speak with him. I’ve . . . had a lot on my mind since I returned from the nightmare world.”

“You could always talk to me,” Cadence offered.

“Well, if there are no walls, floors, or ceilings available, I’ll keep that in mind,” Chrysalis snarked.

Cadence didn’t try to strike up another conversation. The foreboding shame roiling through the changeling only built with each piled insult and slight. The world slipped in and out of focus. She corrected her wandering senses with a sharp bite, piercing one of her fangs into her tongue. With the taste of copper, the mental fog lifted.

“Here we are.” Cadence stepped aside, motioning to one of the myriad unmarked wooden doors that lined the thinner hallway.

“This is Thorax’s room?”

“Yup.”

“Well, thank you. I doubt I would have found it without you.”

Chrysalis brushed past Cadence, knocking three times on the hard oak. Cadence drifted away, her gait awkward and lazy.

“One second,” Thorax called from the other side.

Short on patience for the evening, Chrysalis knocked again.

“One second!” He yelled a little louder this time.

As Chrysalis moved for a third round, the door swung inward, revealing a lime green pegasus stallion, dressed in a casual black suit and sporting a slicked-back mane.

“What are you wearing?” Chrysalis asked, blinking several times.

“Chrysalis? Oh, I thought you were . . . uh . . . don’t worry about it. Come on in.” The stallion nodded, motioning for Chrysalis to follow him inside.

Though the suite held all the same amenities as those upstairs, they were all crammed into a space about half the size. Two chests of drawers. A bed. A private bathroom. All with only a few feet of open floor between them.

“Everything alright?” Thorax questioned.

“You look ridiculous,” Chrysalis snapped, lounging on Thorax’s bed. Unlike hers, this bed had only been designed for a regular pony, meaning her legs hung over the edge no matter how she tried to fit.

“Oh, this?” Thorax rose to his hind legs, presenting the full outfit.

“Why are you wearing that?”

“I was planning on heading down to one of the bars in downtown Canterlot tonight. You know, see if I can find a quick bite to eat.”

“You’re still feeding on ponies?” Chrysalis’ eyes widened.

“Only those willing to share,” Thorax assured her.

“Then why the disguise?”

“I’ve found that a lot of ponies freak out if a changeling starts talking to them. If you start as a pony, and the two of you hit it off, they’re usually a lot cooler about the reveal.”

“How do you figure?”

“If they know I’m normal, they’re not so scared of me. Besides, I don’t feel like starting trouble with anyone by flaunting my changeling body. Hold on, did you come here just to ask me about this?”

“Not really. I mostly came so Cadence would quit bothering me to get out of my room,” Chrysalis chuckled. Thorax didn’t.

“Is everything okay?”

Chrysalis plastered on the most reassuring smile she could.

“No.”

The two of them let the answer hang in the air for nearly a minute.

“Tell me.”

“I’ve been thinking.”

“About?”

“Everything.” She lowered her head onto her crossed forelegs.

“Anything in particular?”

“You.”

Thorax raised an eyebrow. “Me?”

“Are you alright? After everything that happened in my dream.”

“You’re worried about me?”

“I nearly killed you, Thorax.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve almost died,” Thorax waved a hoof dismissively, but Chrysalis only retreated deeper into herself.

“It’s not funny.”

“I had faith in you, Chrysalis. I knew you wouldn’t let me die,” He explained in a more reassuring tone.

“That makes one of us.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m fine. We all made it out of there in one piece, okay? You don’t need to worry about it. I’m not the fragile little drone I used to be.”

“Maybe not. You’re still my fragile little drone, though.”

“Well, I guess I’ll have to work harder to show you the truth.”

“If I’m being honest, I don’t think I’ll ever see you as anything else. Back in that hive, when I thought I’d lost you . . .”

“You didn’t lose me.”

“But I did.”

Chrysalis turned to watch the snow sink past the windows. Outside, a wintery fog hid the rest of Canterlot from view. She thought of Twilight, out with her friends, laughing and playing as they roamed the frozen streets.

“I left. That’s not your fault.”

“I drove you away. I pushed you too far.”

Thorax leaned forward, pleading. “You didn’t. I swear.”

“Why did you leave, Thorax?”

“I . . .”

“Tell me.”

Thorax collapsed in his chair. He slid down slowly into the cushion, wracking his mind for the best way to frame his reasons.

“I couldn’t handle it anymore. I couldn’t stand hurting innocent ponies for something we didn’t have to take. I thought we could live in harmony with them, sharing our love freely without hurting anyone,” he blurted.

“You think I’m a monster, don’t you?”

“I don’t. I think you did what you thought best for your changelings.”

“And yet, you feared me to the point where you would rather leave than tell me the truth.”

Thorax threw his head back with a sigh. “I knew you too well. Your pride would never have allowed it. I never wanted it to end like this, though. When I left, I wanted to find my own way, live my own life. When I learned that you had taken Twilight and the other princesses . . . I couldn’t sit idly by and watch it happen.”

“And what did you think of me in that moment?”

“I thought . . . I didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t want to think that you would do something like that. I hoped that some other group of changelings might be behind it. Or maybe you’d finally lost it.”

“But the truth is simpler than that, isn’t it? I was a monster.”

“You were,” Thorax admitted, ashamed.

“That day when you led that assault to my hive, I hated you.”

Thorax flinched, but Chrysalis continued, her focus still on the falling snow and the memories projected on the emptiness behind them.

“I intended to make an example of you. To show what would happen when one of my changelings disobeyed me.”

Thorax tried to speak, but his words were stuck.

“And then you changed. You showed changeling-kind that they didn’t have to live in fear, stealing to survive. You usurped me.”

“I didn’t—”

“I was furious. But now, when I think back on everything that happened . . . I’m ashamed. At some point, I became so desperate to prove myself that I threatened my changelings. I drove them away. My plans became more about satisfying my ego than saving my children.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“Because you deserve an apology. All of you.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for. Things are different now. You’ve changed.”

“It’s far too late for that, I’m afraid. I’ve been wondering about what I’ll do when all this is over. When Celestia is finally awake. When you go back to your hive.”

“You could come with me?” he hoped in vain.

Even grown up, Thorax’s youthful innocence brought a smile to the old changeling’s face. “We both know that won’t happen. I think you might be the only one of my changelings that still tolerates me.”

“But they’ll listen to me.”

“I can’t ask you to do that for me.”

“You don’t have to ask.”

“Thorax . . .” Chrysalis twisted her voice into a motherly tone as she turned toward him. Gentle, yet firm.

“Then you’ll go with Twilight?”

“I don’t know.” She turned back to the storm outside.

“I thought the two of you were . . . you know. I mean, after that display upstairs . . .”

“I don’t know,” she whispered.

“I know Twilight can be strange, but she’s one of the nicest ponies—”

“Please stop, Thorax.”

They listened to the quiet clicking as the white flakes scratched across the glass outside. Thorax frowned as he watched his mother think. Though he knew lying would only make the situation worse, he couldn’t help but feel partly responsible for her melancholy. Regret bubbled in his chest.

“I’ve been thinking about Twilight,” Chrysalis finally admitted.

“Anything I should know?”

“I was going to Claim her.”

Thorax tensed.

“Was?”

Chrysalis opened her mouth to speak when a knock rattled the door.

“Thorax? You in there?”

Both changelings recognized the voice.

“Give me one second, Pharynx.”

“We don’t have any time to waste. We’re starving out here. Hurry up.”

“It seems your subjects are waiting for you, Thorax,” Chrysalis mused.

“They can wait. We’re not finished talking.”

“Is someone in there?” Pharynx called. The door burst open, revealing the navy-blue carapace of another reformed changeling. When he noticed his former queen, his red wings fluttered subtly.

“It would seem we’re finished after all.” Chrysalis rose. Thorax didn’t try to stop her this time. She forged her stoic mask as she turned to face her second son. Only then did she notice the half-a-dozen changelings waiting behind him, glancing over his shoulder, alarmed by their shared empathy.

“Chrysalis,” Pharynx monotoned as she passed, not bothering to look her in the eye.

“Pharynx.” She pushed past, failing to acknowledge any of the changelings gathered here. Though several were not her blood children, she recognized each of them. A hot shame flushed beneath her mask as she struggled to remember their names.

When she finally wrestled free of the gathered party, she stumbled into another unfortunate scenario. Cadence sat at the end of the hallway, watching the display with vested interest.

“I’m ready to head back up,” Chrysalis ordered.

“All right,” Cadence agreed, obviously troubled by the sudden somber aura. The two of them returned to the upper chambers together, and back to Chrysalis’ marked door.

“How are you holding up?”

“Tell Twilight I’ll be waiting for her.”

Chrysalis cracked open the door and slipped inside, closing it and locking it once she passed. Cadence plopped to the ground on the spot. She sat outside Chrysalis’ chambers for several minutes, wondering.

“I’ll tell her,” Cadence whispered to the emptiness.

Comments

[secury]

“Oh.” The princess whimpered like an injured pup.

Oh, poor Cadance.

[DovahkiinMaster]

Chrysalis, your plans still threaten me.

[Razzy]

Well, the awkward levels are certainly of the scale.

[Yubella]

10542170
Screw her.