Death of a Queen, V2.

by Arkane12

51: "If We Live Through This"

Twilight cradled Chrysalis’ head in her lap, slowly teasing her mane.

“What happened?” Doctor Heart’s voice summoned up some thread of recognition from Twilight. She turned to see him, Thorax, and Crow sprinting down the hallways towards them.

“I don’t know,” Twilight admitted, her shock rendering her words flat.

The new arrivals scattered. Crow searched the room and hall beyond for threats while Thorax and the doctor rushed to Chrysalis’ side. As he knelt, the doctor pulled tool after tool from his bag and checked her vitals. Even as Thorax sat down beside her, Twilight tried to keep her focus on Chrysalis. She never let the changeling queen out of her grasp.

“Anything yet?” Thorax asked.

“Pulse is weak. Breathing is shallow,” the doctor said without breaking his focus.

“Can you tell what caused it?”

“Still working on that, King Thorax.” The doctor frowned as his examination continued further down Chrysalis’ body. “There’s no sign of damage. No fresh open wounds. Any luck on your end?”

Before Twilight could ask what he was talking about, Crow appeared from the shadows. “I followed the blood. It stops on the stairs. Whoever was bleeding must have stopped to bandage themselves up. I didn’t find anything helpful.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not the only one.” Doctor Heart sat back, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. “Alright, we know the blood isn’t hers. Then that means there was somepony else here.”

Thorax perked up. “Twilight, you were with Chrysalis right before she was attacked, right? Can you remember anything that might help?”

“I . . .” Twilight looked down at her quivering hoof. “I don’t know.” A looming sense of guilt started to settle in as she realized that Chrysalis had been right to keep her guard up. It was only Twilight’s suggestion that made this possible. The realization made her lock up.

“Take it slow,” Thorax said. “Start with what you were doing right before you met me in the kitchen.”

“Hold on.” Crow stepped forward. “What were you doing down in the kitchen? You were given explicit orders that you were not to leave the upper levels.”

Twilight grimaced. “I-I was just trying to be helpful. I was taking down our dishes from l-lunch.” Her eyes squeezed shut. “We ate lunch up here. I had a salad with fruit. Chrysalis had hot tea. And I shared a bite of a-apple with her.”

Doctor Heart’s gaze darted from Twilight to Thorax. “Would any of that cause trouble?”

“No.”

Twilight could see the gears in the doctor’s head grinding. “What else would cause food to make someone sick.” He glanced toward the blood. “We know somepony else was in here. Which means this could be foul play.”

“Poison?” Crow suggested.

The doctor nodded. “It’s possible. We can’t rule it out.”

“Princess Twilight?” Crow paled. “Did you see your lunch being prepared?”

Twilight blinked. “No. It was brought to us by one of the maids. She said you put in the order for us.”

“I did no such thing.” Crow sighed. “And I didn’t clear any maids for access to the upper levels.” Her and the doctor shared a concerned frown. “Which makes your theory all the more plausible.”

“Did you drink any of the tea, Princess?” Doctor Heart asked. Twilight shook her head. “Then that must have been the delivery method. Did you notice any strange smells? Any weird tastes? Odd looks? Anything.”

“Nothing that I noticed,” Twilight said. She could feel herself growing light-headed as her breathing grew faster. She clutched her hoof to her chest in a useless attempt to calm her heartbeat. “Is there anything you can do, Doctor?”

“I need to identify the type of poison, first.” He lifted a small syringe from his tools. He pressed it to Chrysalis’ leg, only for the needle to scratch uselessly against her chitin.

“Here.” Thorax leaned forward, tracing a line down the side of Chrysalis’ leg. “Here’s where the plates meet. The armor’s weaker there.”

“I guess we just got lucky the first time, then.” The doctor nodded. “Good work.” He pressed the head of the needle where Thorax had indicated. It required a bit of force, but he managed to punch through into the flesh below. He pulled back, filling the tube with a thin red fluid. Chrysalis squirmed at the needle’s touch.

“Crow?”

“Yes, Doctor?”

“Down by Celestia’s room, you’ll see a dark green stallion, who goes by the name of Hunt.” He removed the vial from his syringe, taking care to check the seal on the lid for leaks. Finding it in adequate condition, he relinquished it to the thestral. “Tell him I want it tested for different toxins. Full spectrum. He’s got an hour.”

“Right.” The thestral slipped the tube into one of the compartments in her armor and bolted out the door, her wings flapping madly.

“What should we do? What if she doesn’t have an hour?” Twilight asked.

“Then we buy her more time.” Heart said. Despite the panic surging through the room, he kept as calm as ever. “Whatever she’s got circulating in her blood at the moment, it’s shutting down her heart rather quickly. There’s a machine down in Celestia’s room I can use to keep her breathing, but there’s not much to be done without that antivenom.

“You’re telling us we just have to sit here and wait?” Twilight gasped.

“I didn’t say that.” Heart rose, the weakness of his old age all but forgotten. “Thorax, you’re coming with me. We’ll need to grab some things from Celestia’s room and I can’t carry it all.” He turned to Twilight. “Stay with her. Keep her comfortable. If she regains lucidity at all, try and see if you can find out what happened. Any information she might be able to provide about this will give us an advantage. Got it?”

Twilight nodded slowly.

“I said ‘do you got it’?” He repeated, louder than before.

That snapped the alicorn out of her trance. “I heard you. I’ll do what I can.”

“Good.” Without wasting any more time, the doctor took off down the hallway. Despite his limp, he moved with impressive speed.

Once the two of them were gone, Twilight turned her full attention back on Chrysalis. She rocked the changeling queen’s head in her lap. Chrysalis’ one functional eye stared blankly up at the ceiling.

“Hang in there, Chrysalis,” Twilight whispered. “Help is on the way.”

“T-Twi–”

Chrysalis’ voice struck Twilight like a million volts. “I’m here, Chrysalis.”

“I . . . I can’t . . .”

“You’re going to be okay. Do you hear me? Doctor Heart is coming back any minute and he’ll have something to help you.” Chrysalis’ eye fluttered closed. Distraught, Twilight shook her, causing the changeling to stir momentarily. “Stay with me, Chrysalis. Do you hear me?”

“T-The m-maid.”

“What?” Twilight leaned in closer. “What are you talking about? The maid? Is she the one who did this?” Her hooves shook. Not just because of the terror flooding through her as she held her dying love.

No, she felt furious.

The maid she’d vouched for, the one she told Chrysalis to treat with some kindness and respect . . . She was the one who’d done this? The alicorn’s teeth clicked as she ground them together. For the first time in her life, she wanted to hurt somepony.

Rage and pain made the seconds stretch on endlessly. But eventually, she heard Doctor Heart’s voice from outside.

“Come on, we’ve wasted enough time as it is.” He sprinted back inside, carrying some equipment Twilight didn’t recognize. Thorax followed not too far behind, pushing a cart loaded with monitors and machines. “Good thing we kept some spares around for Celestia,” Heart said as he directed Thorax on how to hook the machines up to the patient.

“Twilight?” Thorax asked, once they’d finished.

The pony’s eyes were glued to the monitor, where she watched Chrysalis’ heartbeat bounce up and down. Her own breathing grew increasingly fast and heavy.

“Twilight, it’s all right, she’s going to make it,” Thorax reassured her.

That’s when Twilight’s head snapped towards him. “It was the maid.” Thorax and Heart exchanged glances then looked back to Twilight. “Chrysalis tried to tell me something was wrong. I didn’t listen. I vouched for her. And she betrayed me.” Twilight shook her head, her fur rising as static arced across her body.

“And we’ll deal with her just as soon as Chrysalis is back on her hooves,” Doctor Heart said. “But for now, try to calm yourself, Twilight.”

“Calm?” Twilight twitched.

“T-Twilight?” Chrysalis squeezed Twilight’s hoof. It was weak, but it was there.

“I’m here, Chrysalis.”

“Y-Tou’re sh-shaking.”

The princess squeezed her eyes shut. “Yeah. I know.”

“It’s making it hard to r-rest.”

Those were the last coherent statements Chrysalis made for the next hour. Twilight’s rage quelled slightly while Thorax and Heart looked on with concern. Eventually, Doctor Heart’s nurse returned, carrying a different syringe, this time loaded with clear fluid.

“What is that?” Thorax asked, helping line that needle up with one of Chrysalis’ weak spots.

“We were able to whip up an antivenom,” Hunt said from over the doctor’s shoulder.

“All you need to know is that it should help,” Doctor Heart explained, pressing the plunger and injecting the medicine near where he’d drawn from originally. Before long, she was already showing signs of improvement.

“Alright, Twilight. You can let her rest now,” Doctor Heart said.

“Right.” The princess returned to stroking her lover’s mane, whispering softly in her ear. “You’re alright. You can rest now, Chryssy.”

Chrysalis’ lips moved in an attempt to speak, but exhaustion overwhelmed her. Her eye closed as she nuzzled against Twilight’s body. Within moments, she was sleeping soundly. To anyone who hadn’t witnessed the last hour’s events for themselves, the scene would have looked almost peaceful.

“Let me see the report,” Doctor Heart ordered. His underling produced a sheet of paper for him to scrutinize.

“What does it say?” Twilight asked.

The doctor didn’t answer right away, but Twilight could see his gaze drifting left to right as he scanned the page.

“Manticore venom.” He shook his head. “It’s high grade and deadly, but common enough that antivenoms can be produced quickly and with a very high recovery rate.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s hardly a tool of a trained killer,” Heart explained.

“And it also means the source could be difficult to track down,” Hunt added.

“We know the maid had something to do with it,” Thorax growled.

Doctor Heart shrugged. “It’s possible she may have been nothing but a delivery system. If somepony else is pulling strings, we’ll have to be more careful.”

The evening ticked by, giving way to the darkness of night. A new moon, combined with an overcast sky, left the night black and dismal. An eerie reflection of Twilight’s current mindset. Even if she wanted to leave Chrysalis' side, she wasn’t sure she had the stomach to face whatever challenge came next on her own.

Suddenly, she felt something cold touch her shoulder. She watched Thorax sit down beside her, his face twisted in distress.

“Everything okay?” Twilight asked softly.

“I . . .” He hesitated. “I know this isn’t a good time. But we need to talk.”

“About what?” Twilight didn’t have the energy to waste on anxiety.

“Chrysalis. She’s . . . She’s in bad shape, Twilight.”

“I can see that, Thorax,” Twilight said, trying her best not to let her annoyance seep into her voice. Given Thorax’s sudden hesitation, she guessed she didn’t succeed. “Look, I’m sorry. I just . . . I’m at my limit here, Thorax. I want to help, but I don’t know what to do. Everything’s just gone so . . . so wrong.”

“Yeah.” He chuckled humorlessly. “That’s sort of why I hate to ask you this.”

“Ask me what?”

“To take her.” Thorax sighed. Twilight reached out to him, but he pulled away. “Just listen to me for a minute. Everything you said up in your room? You were right. As much as I want to bring her home, I can’t. The other changelings would never accept her back.” His lip quivered. “Twilight, I’ve put off making my choice for as long as I can.”

“It’s alright, Thorax.”

“It’s not alright!” He shouted, jumping back up to his hooves. “Nothing about this is alright! I never wanted any of this. I wanted to help as many as I could. I wanted everyone to have a happy ending. But that’s not how any of this works. I get that, now.”

“What are you saying?” Twilight tried to stand, but Chrysalis’ weight kept her down.

“I’m saying that you were right.” His flame extinguished. “I’ve put this off for too long.”

“Thorax?”

“I’m leaving, Twilight,” he whispered. As quiet as his words were, they nearly crushed him under their weight.

“You’re . . .?”

“Leaving. Tonight.” Thorax let his answer hang in the air. “I’ve tried to balance my subjects’ and Chrysalis’ needs. But I can’t anymore. Not with all of this chaos.”

Twilight glanced down at the changeling lying in her lap, then back to Thorax. “I understand. You’re the king, Thorax. Your subjects have to be your highest priority. It’s the right thing to do.”

“There’s nothing right about any of this.” Thorax shook his head. “She saved me. She protected me. And now that she needs me, I’m leaving. It’s . . .monstrous.”

“It’s also what she would want you to do.”

“I know. That just makes it worse.” The king collapsed back onto the floor beside Twilight. “Besides, you have a lot on your plate, too. Yet, here I am, dumping her on you to take care of.”

Twilight grinned slightly. “I’m more than happy to take care of her, Thorax.”

He scoffed. “For now.”

Her grin melted into a frown. “What’s that supposed to mean? After everything I’ve done for her, you think I would just toss her away?”

“You might not have a choice.”

Twilight wanted to be angry, but something in Thorax’s voice made it clear he wasn’t telling her the whole truth. “Thorax, stop talking in riddles. If there’s something I need to know, then tell me. Hiding things from me will just make it worse.”

“I’m not . . .” Thorax yanked on one of his antlers. “I’m not hiding anything. I’m just . . . not sure how to tell you.”

“Just come right out and say it?” Twilight suggested.

“Fine.” He took a calming breath that didn’t seem to work too well. “Chrysalis will be dead by the end of the week.”

Twilight’s body went numb. “What?”

“I was hoping I was wrong. But the more I think about it, the more I can’t help but notice that it all adds up. Chrysalis is dying.”

Twilight furrowed her brow. “Are you talking about the poison?”

“No. Not exactly.” He dragged his hooves down his face, desperately trying to keep himself together. “Twilight, I’ve seen Chrysalis shrug with mortal wounds without so much as flinching. She’s as tough as they come. But look at her.” Thorax waved his hoof toward Chrysalis. Toward her missing leg. Her missing eye. The thin cracks and pale coloring of her chitin.

“She’s been through a lot recently,” Twilight argued.

“She’s been doing that her whole life. And I’ve never seen her end up like this.”

Twilight leaned forward, holding tight to Chrysalis. “What’s wrong with her? Maybe we can fix it?”

“She’s starving,” Thorax said. For the moment, he seemed to have leveled himself. “I knew she hadn’t fed in a while, but I thought that she had enough energy to keep going. I thought that was why she hadn’t healed her wounds.” He reached out, running his hoof along Chrysalis’ slender cheek. “But the way she reacted to that poison . . .”

“We cleared the poison from her system. She’ll be fine, won’t she?”

Thorax shook his head. “That’s not my point. It shouldn’t have affected her in the first place. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t even have noticed it. Her magic would have healed her. But it didn’t. And since I doubt she did it on purpose, that only leaves one possibility.”

“She doesn’t have any magic left,” Twilight realized.

Thorax nodded. “If you burn through too much magic, you’ll just end up tired and with a pretty decent headache. But Changelings? We’re beings of magic. It’s what keeps us alive. Without it, we die.”

Twilight scratched her head. “Then all we need to do is feed her, right? That would replenish her magic. Right?”

“Yeah.” Thorax offered Twilight a look she could only interpret as pity. “Except we have no way to do that.”

“I’ll do it.” Twilight grabbed his shoulder, the sudden movement startling the king. “Tell me how to save her.”

He put his own hoof on hers. “It’s not that simple, Twilight.” He bit his lip. “There’s a lot of risk involved, including a decent chance that you might not survive it.”

The room fell quiet as Twilight considered his words. Her mortality wasn’t something she spent time thinking about. At the very least, she knew that sitting idly by, watching Chrysalis die, knowing that she could have done something to stop it scared her far more than death.

“I can handle it,” Twilight said firmly.

“I admire the enthusiasm, but that might not be enough.” Thorax turned his body to face Twilight. “Has Chrysalis told you anything about her magic? About how dangerous it might be?”

Twilight thought for a moment. “She might have mentioned it, but never gave me much clarification on anything.”

“Alright, listen.” He waited until Twilight gave him her full attention. “Changelings’ magic is bound by their emotions. The more strongly we feel towards something, the more powerful our magic becomes. Take Chrysalis for example.” He glanced down toward his mother. “Her willpower is far beyond any Changeling I’ve ever met. It’s what makes her magic so powerful.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Twilight said.

“But it’s a two-edged sword,” Thorax continued. “If we can’t control our emotions, then we can’t control our magic. Which is what makes her so dangerous to you. Truth be told, she might be more likely to kill you now than when she was your enemy.”

Twilight blinked. “Now you’ve lost me.”

Thorax closed his eyes. “Do you remember the Nightmare?”

“A little. I remember Chrysalis got hurt really badly.” Twilight’s gaze flickered toward Chrysalis’ missing leg. “What does that have to do with this?”

“Luna told me the story. She threw herself into the path of the Nightmare’s spell to save you. And it should have killed her. But it didn’t. Do you know why?” Twilight shook her head. “If you asked her directly, she would try to rationalize it away. Maybe she’d say that it was a tactical decision. But it wasn’t. She sacrificed herself to save you.”

A bitter taste assaulted Twilight’s tongue.

“But it was that love that saved her,” Thorax said. “She didn’t think. She simply reacted. It was an instinct. And that love she felt for you strengthened her magic. She survived because she loved you.”

“I . . .” Twilight simply stared down at Chrysalis. Her heart felt heavy.

“And that same love could kill you, if you’re not careful,” Thorax warned. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”

“She wouldn’t hurt me.”

“She wouldn’t even realize she was doing it.” He sighed. “Let me put this plainly, Twilight. The stronger she feels towards you, the stronger her magic will be on you. That includes feeding. She might drain you dry before you even realize what’s happening.”

Twilight squeezed her eyes shut. As much as she didn’t want to believe Thorax, the logical half of her mind knew he was telling the truth. But one thought pushed through the rest, drawing Twilight’s full attention. She set her jaw and looked at Thorax. “Even if I don’t survive, I still want to save her.”

Thorax stared up at the ceiling. “I know you do. I’m not telling you this because I doubt your resolve. I’m telling you so that you can be prepared for what might happen. And so that you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into by being with Chrysalis.”

“I love her, Thorax.”

“I know. And I know she loves you. But there’s a reason Changelings don’t usually fall in love. The bonds between our magic and our emotion make us dangerous to those we love.”

They sat in silence for a long while.

After assuring Chrysalis’ health, Doctor Heart and his assistant packed up their stations and returned to Celestia’s chambers. Crow wasn’t far behind them, returning to her post at Luna’s beck and call. Now, only Thorax and Twilight remained.

“Thorax?” Twilight began. “Why didn’t Chrysalis tell me this was happening?”

“Maybe she didn’t want to risk hurting you.” He shrugged. “Or maybe she just didn’t know.”

“How could she not know?” Twilight whined.

“You said the two of you have been spending a lot of time together, right? Just being near you might have been enough to keep her on her hooves.”

“Being near me?”

“Yeah, you see . . .” Thorax paused. “Before I explain this, I’m giving you one last chance to stop this.” Thorax warned. “Nopony would blame you if you walked away. Not even Chrysalis.”

Despite the grim circumstances, Twilight couldn’t help but smile. “She gave me the same warning plenty of times. I didn’t listen to her, either. Give me your warning, but then I want you to tell me how to help her.”

Thorax gathered his thoughts. “Alright. First things first. You need to know how a changeling feeds.”

“Do we really have time for this?” Twilight asked.

“Yes.” Thorax said firmly. “Even if you survive, you’ll still be out of commission for a little while. I might not be here when you wake up. Before I leave, though, I need to make sure that you know what you’re doing. That you know how to take care of Chrysalis.”

“Alright.” Twilight nodded. “And Thorax? Thank you for trusting me.”

“You can thank me if you live through this,” he moaned.

Comments

[GeneraLeeDiscord]

So...not only did are maid stab themselves...but also poisoned Chrysalis with deadly manticore venom and leave her just lying on the ground.

Anyone believing that this was Chrysaliss doing is a colossal idiot...but I guess the whole point is to reveal that she's even there to begin with and apparently can't handle a maid.

Yep xenophobic terrorists willing to commit treason.

[oblivion2k]

Reptile nerd time!

Venom is typically not harmful when swallowed, because it needs to be injected under the skin (by a snake bite, for example) to enter the bloodstream and cause damage. Poison is what's harmful to swallow.