A short time before the changeling attack on Canterlot, Queen chrysalis was not alone in ruling the hive. This is the story of Amor, the former changeling king, and his journey from the hive.
Amor was the former king of the changeling hive, but disappeared shortly before the attack on Canterlot not many knew exactly what happened or even if there was a reason. In this story, we follow Amor in his journey from the hive and on his adventure. Will he find what he is looking for?
[This is my first story, so be honest of what you think about it]
"Sir, what are your orders?" A single changeling soldier stood straight up, addressing his superior. "Sir?" The king broke from his thoughts. He almost forgot the soldier was still in the room.
"Hmm? Oh! Sorry, what were we talking about?"
"We need to select the next area to launch an attack upon. The hive has grown hungry, and we need food soon."
Amor, king of the changeling hive, looked over his map of equestria. He was a larger changeling, taller and slightly thinner than the rest of his subjects. His dark teal mane, longer than most soldiers but still kept tighty for a changeling, hung halfway down his neck. He had green eyes and thin black pupils, which was a rare occurence in changelings, who normally had solid blue eyes with no whites or pupils. Even his fangs were longer, so long that they rested overtop of his bottom lip and arched down, almost touching his chin. But there was one distinguishing factor about him that set him apart from the rest of the hive. You see, all ponies, even changelings, gain their cutie marks at some point in there lives. The only difference is that a changeling's will only appear briefly, before faiding as black as their heart. But for some reason, Amor's still stayed. A mended heart, broken in two and stiched back together.
"I see. But where can we strike? The hive is weak, so our options are limited."
"What about Canterlot?" asked the soldier. "No, no, no. Canterlot, while being plentiful in love, is too powerful a force for us at the moment."
"Ponyville?"
"Our spies have reported large magical blasts from Ponyville, sugesting that at least one powerful unicorn is in the town. What worries me most is one report in specific. One of our spies reported a blast of magic that almost sent him flying."
"Are you certain, sir?" asked the soldier.
"I was skeptical at first, yes. The man came back babbling about chocolate rain and cotton candy clouds. I thought he suffered a head injury, but all the troops in the area reported the same thing. Some time later was when the blast was recorded. The last time a blast of that power was recorded was over one thousand years ago, and was the result of the Elements of Harmony. I'm not sure, but the elements may have returned and the weilders may be residence there."
"What about Cloudsdale?" "I haven't completly ruled it out, but those pegasi can fight back. What they lack in magic they make up for with brute strength."
"We could always try for Manehattan or Fillydelphia."
"Maybe, but I would rather wait until we can get spies up there and see if it is safe."
The soldier, though smaller than the king, looked at him aggresively and spoke in a deep and unprofessional tone. "We can't afford to wait! That is all you want to do is wait! Look at your people and tell me, can they wait any longer? Within a week we will be in a famine, in months, there may not be anyone left to serve you!" Amor, filled with stress and exaustion, did not even notice the small soldier raise his voice. He looked up from his map and walked to the chair in the corner of the room.
"I know, I know, but what else can we do? We are weak and we continue to grow weaker."
A feminine voice awnsered his question. "So we attack while we are strong."
Both Amor and the soldier looked towards the doorway with surprise. "My Queen!" they both exclaimed as they bowed before her. Amor may be the king of the hive, but he still was of lower rank than his queen. Chrysalis stepped forward and put her hoof on the back of the soldier, pushing him to the ground with all her might.
"I heard that little outbreak. Your king may not care, but loyalty is still to be enforced."
"My queen, I...I'm sorry. Please... forgive me."
Amor rose up and put a gentle hoof on the queen's shoulder. "That's enough, my queen. He has done nothing wrong and is pleading for forgiveness. Let him go."
Chrysalis lifted her hoof and spoke to the soldier in a low, threatening voice. "Begone with you." "Yes my queen." awnsered the soldier as he practically crawled out of the room.
Once he was gone, Chrysalis spoke again. "Amor." Her voice was a sweeter, much more calming tone. "Why must you be so giving to those who hold there loyalty so loosly?" Amor looked down. He was taller than the queen, but not by much.
"My queen, he did nothing wrong. He had every right to yell. We grow hungrier, and that hunger is driving them mad. But nowhere is safe for us to feed in our condition. And the longer we wait, the weaker we become."
"So again, I say we attack now, while we are still strong enough to fight." Amor hugged Chrysalis and looked into her eyes.
"If it were only so simple."
Chrysalis stared back. She could see that it has been days since Amor has gotten any sleep. He had bags under his eyes and his eyelids hung half closed. Lately, he has been spacey. He has stopped wearing his crown, he goes into deep thoughts, and he practically lets his underlings trample all over him. It's been like this for weeks and she is starting to become worried.
"Come," she said, "It is late. Let us sleep."
Amor followed Chrysalis to their chamber, where they shared a bed. Chrysalis removed her crown and placed it on the nightstand, next to where Amor's has sat for days. She gently lied down in the bed and Amor followed. He started to go into another one of his deep thoughts. What am I going to do?, He tought. I need to find food for our people, or else I will be to blame for what may be the mass extinction of our race! Chrysalis looked at him and could immediatley tell that he was in another one of his trances. She hated seeing him like this. She put her hoof on his shoulder.
"Amor? Amor!" He blinked twice and came back to reality. "You are not going through this alone. I will help you in any way I can."
"I know," he said in a low and depressed voice, "but all I can think about is our people. It is up to me to find us food. What if I can't? What if I fail?" She cut him off before he could continue.
"No. It is not up to you, it is up to us. We will find food and we will survive. All you need to do is stop thinking, and rest." With a kiss Chrysalis layed Amor down and lied down beside him.
A lone changeling crawled up to the king. He was starved. His skin was pulled tight over his bones and his tail and mane were a tattered mess. He obviously hasnt eaten for a month, and at this point food wouldn't help him. It was too late for him.
"Please, my king, help me."
All Amor could do was look away. The whole hive was dying, and it was clear that anyone who was still alive was either on the brink of death or too far gone to help. Amor looked out the nearby window. The hive was littered with starved corpses, thrown to the floor and left to rot. Amor looked at himself. He was in no better condition then the small changeling before him. He tried to stand and fell to the floor, his legs too weak to hold him up. The changeling's voice started fading away.
"Please...help...me."
Amor looked at him. He was gone. his blue eyes were glazed with a milky film. Just then he heard a hard thud from behind him. He struggled to turn around, and when he finally saw what made the sickening noise, his heart stopped. Lying on the floor, eyes half closed and wings flatened on the ground, was Chrysalis.
"No. Not you. Not...now." That was all Amor could manage to say, for he was dying as well. His vision started to fade. Everything started to fog up. Before he passed on, he heard Chrysalis manage to say one thing.
"You caused this. We die...because of you."
Amor's eyes shot open faster than a changeling could beat it's wings. He sat up and started panting. Not again, he thought. He looked over at Chrysalis. She was sound alseep and made no noise. Cautiosly, Amor rose from the bed and walked over to the mirror. It is true, this is not the first time these nightmares have plagued his sleep. When he finally reached the mirror, he looked at himself. No bones, wings were fine, he wasn't starving yet. He looked at his crown across the room and his horn began to hum. The crown silently floated across the room to him and stopped within inches of his face. He studied it. A large, black crown, decorated with dark green gems. Instead of being tipped with them like Chrysalis's, they were molded into the ends and were much larger. He placed the crown atop his head. I hate wearing this thing, he thought. It makes me look so...stupid. Then, just as silently as he picked it up, he sent it back to its place on the nightstand. He looked at himself in the mirror one more time.
"What is wrong with me?" he whispered to himself. "I don't think like a changeling, I don't act like a changeling, and then theres this thing." he said as he looked at his cutie mark. "Maybe it means something." he whispered as he headed back to the bed.
As he sat on the bed, he heard Chrysalis stir. He stayed still hoping she wouldn't wake. Thankfully, she rolled over, and with a cute little sigh, she was motionless and still asleep. Amor quietly lied down in the bed and looked at Chrysalis. When he looked at her, he felt calm. His thoughts were no longer plagued with hunger or famine, just love. It's a shame we think so differently he thought. With these thoughts, Amor drifted back to a dreamless sleep.
He woke some time later just as the queen began to stir again. It was mid morning and the sun shown through the window. Chrysalis awoke and looked over at Amor. Instantly she could tell he had a good nights sleep.
"Good morning, my queen." he said as he rose. She smiled and replied.
"Good morning, Amor. You look as though you slept well."
"And I feel better." he replied.
He stood from the bed and multiple bones cracked throughout his body. First above his hooves, then his knees, up to his head, and finally his back. After he finally got situated and Chrysalis began to rise, he headed out the door.
"Wait." called Chrysalis.
Amor stopped in the doorway and looked back at the queen.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" she said as her horn began to hum and glow. His crown lifted from the table and floated across the room, landing atop his head. He used his magic to position it and turned to the queen.
"Thank you, Chrysalis." He then made his way out the door.
As Amor walked down the hallway, he began thinking again.
"Should I tell her?" he whispered.
Amor has not told Chrysalis about the dreams he has been having. It has been almost a month since they have started and they always seem to be very similar. But the one last night left him shaking.
"You caused this. We die...because of you."
That statement flashed through Amor's head repeatedly. If he ever heard that from Chrysalis, he would be heartbroken.
"It's settled," he said. "I will do everything in my power to make sure that never happens."
As Amor walked, he entered the main chamber of the throne room. All the soldiers in the room looked at him. They did not see a changeling, they did not see Amor. When he wore his crown, all they saw was their king in all his glory. Many of them feared him when he wore it, even though they knew they had nothing to fear.
Amor did not notice all the staring eyes, until he bumped into one of the passing servants.
"My king! I-I'm sorry! Please, forgive me!"
Amor broke from his thoughts and looked down at the small changeling bowed before him. When he saw him, memories flashed through his head again.
"Please...help...me."
The last dying words of the changeling in his dreams. Amor felt light headed. He tried not to think about his dreams, but they always made their way back into his head.
"Oh, no. It was my fault. I should have watched where I was going. Continue with what you were doing. I need to sit down..."
The small changeling made his way through the door and Amor sat on his throne, his head throbbing from these recurring thoughts.
Is it possible that these dreams have a reason? he thought. As he sat, a lone changeling walked before him and bowed, waiting for his king’s approval before speaking. Amor looked at the soldier. He was one of the ones set up around the city.
"What news do you have about our city?"
The soldier looked up at his king from his spot on the ground. It was as if he didn't want to say what was on his mind. Amor knew what he was about to say. It was what he feared most.
"My king, I've been patrolling the city for some time now. I... I think the famine has finally set in."
Amor felt sick. When he heard these words, Every dream he has had for the last month flooded into his mind. His head was spinning.
"I see. I will notify the queen as soon as possible. Thank you, you are dismissed."
The soldier rose to his feet and left the room as Amor tried to concentrate. Once he could finally see straight, he shook his head, rose to his feet, and walked into the next room. His mind racing with thoughts, but one screamed out over the rest. All his nightmares would soon be true.
As Amor entered the next room, Chrysalis was consulting with a soldier about where to strike next. This puzzled Amor, for he was usually the one who chose where to attack. He waited in the corner, not wanting to interrupt, until the soldier and his queen were done talking. Chrysalis looked up to see Amor standing before her.
"Amor, you look troubled. If this is about me planning, I just didn't want you to feel so stressed."
Amor looked at Chrysalis with a dark stare that almost told what he was about to say.
"My queen, famine has struck."
Chrysalis stared at Amor, but her glare slowly lowered to the map. She was deep in thought.
"I see. I feared this would happen soon. I will need to make this public."
"No. I will do it. I know you want to help, but this is my duty." He then spoke to the soldier in the corner. "You. Go make an announcement. There is to be a speech to be given about the hive's current state in two hours. Spread the word to anypony and everypony, now."
With a nod, the soldier was out the door. Amor began to go into thought, but was quickly snapped out of it by Chrysalis.
"What do you plan to do?" she said.
"I plan...I plan to announce that we are in famine. All precautions are to be made to keep our energy usage at a bare minimum. In a few hours the whole hive will know of our state, and hopefully we can get food soon. Tomorrow, we will plan our attack."
Amor hugged Chrysalis, and was off to prepare his speech.
After almost two full hours of preparing his speech, Amor was ready to present to his people. It was mid-day, but the king was already tired. All the thoughts that passed through his head added stress to his day and put an extra burden on him. He walked out of the room, trying to clear his thoughts of everything but what he had to say. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he walked, Chrysalis walked up beside him.
“I do not want you to do this alone. You may be giving the speech, but I will stand at your side, always.”
Amor smiled at the queen. No matter what was happening to the hive, if they were alive, content, hungry, starving, or dying, if Chrysalis stood at his side, Amor was happy. When Chrysalis saw him smile, she smiled back at him. It’s good to see he can find any happiness in a time like this. She thought. I just hope the rest of the hive will, too.
As the king and queen walked out on the balcony of the castle, Amor looked out at the many Changelings before him. Thousands, maybe millions of changelings showed up for the speech. Good, he thought. If they all showed up, then we may be able to conserve all the energy we can. All the changelings were murmuring to themselves. When the king was spotted, the murmuring slowed, started to get quiet, then all together stopped. Amor stood tall and began his speech.
“I am glad to see how many of you showed up, for this is an important topic. For as long as any of us can remember, the changeling race has fed off of the love of others to survive. It has been almost two months since our last strike, and we are running on reserves. I am sorry to announce that the famine has set in and is starting to take effect on the hive.”
A light mumbling took place over the crowd. Amor could tell they were starting to worry.
“If we can conserve all the energy we can, we may be able to survive long enough to attack again, refill our reserves, feed long enough to move on. The queen and I are planning the next attack soon, so please stay calm and be patient. We will survive this. We will live to see another day. When the time is right and we find the perfect place to strike, we will attack with caution and speed.”
The hive began to panic. As Amor left the balcony, Chrysalis walked beside him.
“Do you think we will find food fast enough to save them all?”
“We will. I promise you, we will.”
Amor and Chrysalis headed towards the dining hall. Changelings may survive on love, but they still need to eat food, and it has been a long day.
Dinner went on as usual, but with smaller portions. Rationing was to take place immediately, no exceptions. In the middle of the meal, Chrysalis looked up at Amor. He had that blank look in his eyes again. She could tell he was thinking deeply.
“Amor, you have a plan, don’t you?”
Amor looked up from his meal. He could see that Chrysalis was worried not only about the hive, but about him.
“Not yet. But our chance will come”
Chrysalis, still slightly worried, seemed content with the answer she was given. The two went back to their meals and finished with no rush. When they were finished, Amor headed to the balcony one last time before heading for bed. He looked out over the hive.
“Can I really save this whole hive? Will I find food, or fail miserably?”
Amor looked up at the night sky. He prayed. He wasn’t sure who he was praying to, but he prayed.
“Please, if you can hear me, if anypony can hear me, don’t let this hive starve because of me. Let them live. Take me if you have to.”
Amor was so caught up in the moment, that he didn’t even notice Chrysalis was watching him. She stayed in the shadows and listened to his little prayer. Her eyes filled with tears at the thought. A life without Amor? She would not let him die.
Chrysalis walked out on the balcony beside Amor. When he finally noticed her, he stood up and Chrysalis hugged him. Amor was very surprised.
“What brought that on?” he asked.
“Do not die. Did you hear me? Do not ever die before me.”
Amor looked down at Chrysalis. His face changed from a look of surprise to a look of love and comfort.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon.”
Amor and Chrysalis stayed in each other’s hooves for what felt like hours. When they finally headed in for bed it was very late. They got in the bedroom and Amor began to hang his head very low, already being half asleep. When his head fell he heard a very loud clang, like metal on concrete. His eyes shot open and his head was up, looking for the source of the noise. Chrysalis looked at him and giggled.
“What’s so funny?” he asked in an unserious tone.
“You.”
Chrysalis’s horn began to glow and hum, and from the floor in front of Amor floated up his crown.
“Hmm. I forgot I was wearing that thing.”
“Yes, I could tell.”
Amor and Chrysalis fell in the bed. Chrysalis gave Amor another good hug and a kiss, and quickly drifted to sleep. Amor did the same.
“Amor.” called a voice that he has never heard before.
Amor opened his eyes slowly at first. Then they flew open when he realized he was no longer in his bed. He was nowhere. There was no floor, no walls, no sky, just total blackness. Amor was standing in what was the equivalent of the void.
“Amor.” called the voice again. The voice was definitely female, but it sounded as if though it echoed. He tried to walk toward where he thought the voice was coming from, but when he took his first step, there was no ground in front of him. Before he could fall, he began rapidly flapping his wings. The insect like buzz echoed throughout the area. So he hovered, still looking for the source of the voice. “Amor, you are not a normal changeling, you know this. You must leave the hive soon. Let nopony know where you are going, but rest assured, you will save the hive. Trust in me. But for now, you must wake up.”
Suddenly, Amor saw something began to glow from below him. He looked down to see an emerald fire climbing towards him rapidly. He tried to fly up and away from the fire, but he hit something. There was some sort of invisible roof above him. He was trapped, and the fire began licking his hooves. The pain burned into his legs, his body, his neck, and finally his head.
“You must leave the hive.”
Amor shot up from the bed. He was breathing heavily and sweating. He looked over at Chrysalis to make sure he didn’t wake her. Still asleep. Amazing what she could sleep through, he thought. Amor laid back down in the bed and looked at Chrysalis as he thought about what just happened. What was that? He thought. None of my nightmares were ever like that, and that voice. What could it all mean? These thoughts stayed in Amor’s mind until he finally drifted back asleep.
He woke the next morning and got ready for the day, right after Chrysalis made sure he didn’t forget his crown again. With a kiss they were off to their new duties: finding a new food source. They walked to the small room where the planning was always held. After the guards were dismissed, the two were ready to get to work.
“Okay, let’s start by looking over what notes we already have.” Said Amor as he removed his crown and sat it on the table with the map. “Let’s see. I’ve just about completely ruled out Ponyville and Canterlot, those two are just too risky.”
“But wouldn’t Canterlot have enough love to feed the hive for years to come?”
“Yes, but the risk is greater than the reward. There is an extremely high chance that if we try to attack Canterlot, the city guards will overpower us, not to mention the power Celestia has. I don’t think it is a good idea to attack Canterlot unless we get the perfect chance to strike from within.”
Chrysalis’s eyes widened with disbelief. She tried planning attacks before, but she never thought about other factors like that. Planning will be much harder than she thought.
“Do we have anything from Manehattan yet? What about Filydelpia?”
“I sent spies out to those two locations days ago and I’m still waiting for a report. I don’t know what’s taking them so long. So far Cloudsdale would be the easiest to attack, but I’m not sure how much love we would get out of it. Most of those pegasi are fueled by competition, not love. Not to mention that a lot of them are a bit aggressive. We would probably get more envy from there than anything.” “I see. What did you say was wrong with Ponyville?”
"I think the wielders of the Elements of Harmony live there.”
Chrysalis looked up in shock. “The Elements of harmony? I thought that was just a myth!”
“Trust me, it’s all but a myth. Recently, a magical blast in town was recorded. The last time anything of that power was ever seen was over a thousand years ago.”
Ideas were passed back and forth for hours, but when day turned to night, they still had no new plans. Amor and Chrysalis decided to call it a night and headed to the bedroom. Just like last night, a hug and a kiss. And just like last night Amor ended up in the same place.
“I told you, you must leave the hive. You must leave.”
Amor realized this was more than a dream. In his dreams, he never had full control over his body. He usually just sat back and watched. But this was different.
“Who are you? Show yourself!”
“You don’t need to know who I am. All you need to know is that you must leave. Now!”
Like last night, Amor flew towards the source of the voice, but he kept flying. He flew straight into the void. There was nothing ahead, only darkness. He kept flying anyways, devoted to finding the culprit. Eventually he ended up where he was last night. He heard the final message, and the flames were upon him again.
“You must leave the hive! Tell nopony about this!”
Again, Amor woke with a start. What is going on! Why is this happening? he thought to himself. This is definitely more than a dream. Who is that voice? And why does she want me to leave the hive so bad? Could she know something that I don’t? These thoughts kept Amor awake all night. When Chrysalis awoke, she immediately knew something was wrong.
“Amor, what’s going on? You look troubled.”
Amor wanted to tell her about his dreams. He wanted to tell her every detail, every little thing that happened. But then the last words from his dreams flashed through his head. Tell nopony about this! He decided it would be best not to tell her now.
“It’s nothing to worry about. I’ll be fine.”
For weeks it was the same thing over and over. He and Chrysalis woke up, continued with their duties, and when he went to sleep, he had the dreams. He was no closer to discovering who it was trying to communicate with him or why, until one night, the truth was told, and in the process, the start of life changing events.
Amor found himself in the void again, listening to what the voice had to say.
“It is time you know why you must leave. It is about your cutie mark, and the survival of the changeling race.”
Amor’s eyes widened. He was filled with curiosity.
“What do you know about my cutie mark? How is this important to saving the changelings?”
“All will be revealed, but for now, you must find a way to leave, without anypony knowing where you are going.”
“Where am I going?”
“You will learn soon enough. Now wake up.”
Once again, Amor was engulfed in flames. He woke slowly, trying to grasp reality again. He was back in his bed, in his room, next to Chrysalis. He now knew it was certain. These dreams did mean something. Something important. He must leave the hive as soon as possible.
The day went on as normal. Amor and Chrysalis awoke. They went on with their duties and they went to bed. But this time, Amor gave Chrysalis a hug. He didn’t let go for a few minutes and finally he looked at her.
“I love you with my entire heart. Promise me you will never let anything happen to you.”
“Amor, I-“
“Promise me.”
“I…I promise.”
Amor’s behavior started to scare Chrysalis. He has never acted like this before. But before she could say anything, Amor gave Chrysalis a kiss, and they were off to bed. One last kiss, before I go he thought.
Amor waited a few hours before sitting up in the bed. He looked over at Chrysalis to make sure she was asleep. Sure enough, she was sleeping soundly. It was now or never. Amor looked around the room for a piece of paper and a pencil. When he finally found one, he wrote a small note to Chrysalis. He set the note on the table next to her crown, where she was sure to see it. As he made his way towards the door, he stopped. He looked back at the queen, who was still asleep, with a large amount of guilt in his heart. His horn hummed and glowed, and his crown floated across the room. He placed it atop his head and made his way out the door. After what felt like an eternity of sneaking past the soldiers throughout the hive, Amor finally made his way out of the hive. Before leaving for good, he looked back at the hive.
“Goodbye, my queen. I will miss you, and the farther I will get, the more pain my heart will bring me.”
With those final words, Amor left the hive forever, never looking back again.
Chrysalis awoke the next morning. Something was wrong.
“Amor, do you feel-“ she cut herself off when she realized he wasn’t in the room, nor was his crown. All she saw was a small piece of paper next to her own. She picked it up and was startled by what it said. Chrysalis,
I’m sorry it had to be like this. I just feel it would be better for the hive if I left. If you haven’t realized yet, I hate feeding off of the love of others. It makes me feel so guilty. I need to find some answers before I ever come back. I promise you, I will not die while I am out here, but it has to be this way. Don’t bother looking for me, we both know it will be useless. Feed our hive. Feed your hive. Your love, now and forever, Amor. P.S. I remembered my crown this time. It will remind me of you.
Chrysalis read over the note over and over again, making sure she did not misread any of it. She felt a wide variety of emotions. She felt angry, saddened, confused, but most of all, she felt alone and abandoned. Amor was all she ever cared about. What will she do without him? She began to weep, but stopped herself.
“This is a bad time for the hive. We are in famine and our king has abandoned us. Abandoned me. I must stay strong for the hive.”
Chrysalis carried the note with her everywhere she went that day. She felt so empty without Amor, but carried on her duties. While planning today, however, Chrysalis got a report that changed everything.
A changeling soldier walked into the room where Chrysalis was looking over the note from Amor again. He bowed and in a low voice, spoke to the queen.
“My queen, our spies have returned from their routes.”
Chrysalis broke from her thoughts of Amor and looked at the soldier.
“What have you to report?”
“Well, we have no reports from Manehattan or Filydelpia, and we are assuming the worst. But one of our spies found this.”
The soldier pulled a small slip of paper out from his bag and the queen took it. As it hovered in front of her, she read it out loud.
“To whom it may concern, we are happy to announce the binding of two souls in holy matrimony. This is a very special occasion indeed, for this is the marriage of the head of the royal guard, Shining Armor, and the niece of Princess Celestia, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. We hope you will join us for this special marriage.”
“My queen, what are your orders?”
Chrysalis thought for a little. This could be the only chance she will get to feed the hive.
“Where is this Princess Mi Amore Cadenza right now?”
“She is being flown to Canterlot right now. Reports say she is returning from vacation.”
“Perfect. Set up an ambush on their path. I will lead this party myself. We are to capture everypony and make sure nopony escapes. That’s an order!”
“Yes, my queen.”
“This could be it, that once in a lifetime chance.” She mumbled to herself.
Amor walked slowly in down the path he found that day. He had no idea where he was going, so he traveled in no particular direction. He looked every so often, not sure of what he would see. Maybe a pony, maybe a bird or two, something to keep him occupied while he walked. But nothing could prepare him for what he saw, for when he looked up, he saw a small squad of changelings flying away from the hive, being led by Chrysalis herself.
“I thought I told her not to look for me!” he said to himself. It was clear he was going to have to hide from his pursuers. Luckily, the forest on the edge of the road provided enough cover that he wouldn’t be seen.
Amor ran through the forest for hours, trying to keep out of sight of any changelings that might be in the area. He did not know it, but these soldiers were not trying to find him. This was simply the small squad set up to ambush the princess. Amor tried to run as long as he could, but he was growing tired, and he would need to find shelter before he could rest. So he looked for anything that would suffice. He spotted a large cave opening.
“That will do for now.”
When Amor entered the cave, he couldn’t see anything. It was just total darkness. His horn buzzed and hummed and glowed, letting off enough light to see within five feet of himself. The way he saw it, the deeper he went into the cave, the less likely they were to find him. But his bad luck continued.
As he traveled through the cave, he ran into something that he almost couldn’t see. It was translucent, it glowed blue, and it looked like the night sky littered with stars. When he heard the earth shattering growls he knew exactly what he had just disturbed. Standing right in front of him, ready to tear him apart, was an ursamajor. Amor was bewildered. He had no idea something so dangerous lived anywhere near the hive. Every part of his mind screamed one thing to him that he heard loud and clear. Run!
Amor took off. He looked like a wonderbolt, kicking up dirt with every step. His mind just kept screaming at him. Run! Run until you cannot run anymore! Run until you are miles away from that thing! So he did. Amor ran until nightfall, and when he stopped, his hooves practically screamed with pain. He collapsed where he stood, too tired to go on any farther.
As he slept, Amor found himself in that strange place again, a place he was fond of calling the void. The name seemed suiting, considering he couldn’t see a thing, no matter how bright his horn glowed.
“You have left the hive, as I told you to. Good. You will find your answers soon enough.”
“When? I have left my people to fend for themselves. I have left the only pony I have ever loved! When will I find these answers you keep telling me of?”
“Soon enough, soon enough.” The answer Amor got irritated him. His horn began to glow, and he shot a blast of energy at the darkness before him. He watched, as it continued in a straight line, never touching anything, never breaking down.
“Don’t worry, your hive will be fed soon enough, even if only for a few minutes.”
“How could you know this?”
“You don’t need to know, but I will tell you, those soldiers were not after you.”
“How do you know!?”
“Hush now, it is time to wake up.”
“No! Not yet!”
But as always, Amor was swallowed by the green flames, and found himself in the dirt where he passed out the night before.
Amor continued walking. He was growing hungrier by the minute, and with no love in the area he would have to put up with it for now. He was somewhat rested, so he could make do for another day. But his mind began to wander again.
“Who could be trying to contact me through my dreams?” he said to himself. “What makes me so important? No one has even heard of changelings, I’ve made sure of that. Whenever we infiltrate a town, I always make sure they are none the wiser. So why is it this voice is haunting my dreams?”
He didn’t realize that he made his way back on the road. As Amor thought, he bumped into a sign in the road. When he looked at the sign, he knew right where he was. The sign pointed in three directions. To the left, was Canterlot, to the right, Ponyville. And straight above me, Cloudsdale.
“Well, as much as I’d hate to feed, I am getting weak.” It was true what Amor wrote. He always felt guilty when he fed. The idea of stealing from somepony in order to survive, it put added stress on himself. This, actually, was part of the reason he decided it would be better for him to leave the hive. ”Let’s see, Cloudsdale lacked love, Canterlot is a good stretch away and is heavily fortified. It would probably be a lot easier to sneak a single pony into Ponyville than an entire hive, so looks like I am stopping there. But I’ll need a disguise. I’ll keep this basic.”
With a hum of his horn, a green fire started at Amor’s feet. As it rose, his body began to transform. When it finally got to the top of his head, the full transformation was complete. It was nothing special, he was a basic grey unicorn, his wings hidden, and his cutie mark still showing. His horn had changed from the gnarled horn of a royal changeling to a short little thing sticking off the top of his head. It was a bump compared to what he was used to. Other than his wings and horn, Amor’s outward appearance changed drastically. He was much shorter than he normally was. His fangs were no longer there, and his legs were no longer full of holes. His crown, being atop his head when he transformed, completely disappeared.
“This will do.” He said as he made his way to Ponyville.
The town was quieter than he expected. After all the reports Amor has gotten about Ponyville, he was expecting some high class town with ponies coming from every direction. While in his thoughts, Amor was taken off guard by the pink pony that shot out in front of him.
“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name?”
“Uhh, Amor.”
“Well hi, Amor! I’ve never seen you around town before, and I know everypony! Are you new to Ponyville? What am I saying, of course you are! Would you like the tour of the town?”
Amor could feel the affection coming off of this little pink pony. Even if it was just friendship, it passed as a meal, even if he had to listen to her babble on.
“So, want the tour? I know where everything is in town! So wanna tour huhuh do ya?”
“Uhh, no, maybe la-“
“Well just find me and let me know whenever you’re ready! I’m usually hanging out with one of my friends so you may have some trouble finding me, but rest assured you will find me eventually, but you would probably find out what everything is just by looking for me so I guess I’ll give you the tour whenever I see you next! I’d love to stay and chat but I gotta get home and start packing, cuz I’m off to Canterlot for a big wedding! I guess I’ll see you later!”
As Pinkie Pie walked away Amor stood there for a few minutes to try and put together what just happened.
With a fresh fill of love, Amor decided it would be best to leave Ponyville. For good.
“Between the threat of the elements and that thing, I’ll sooner take my chances with the timberwolves than return there.”
Amor walked on, still unsure of where his path would lead him. Would he find his answers? He found it best not to think about it. After hours of walking, Amor was hoofsore. He would need to find some place to rest, or risk attracting a predator.
“After last time, caves are strictly off limits.” He said to himself. “That doesn’t leave me many options, so I guess I’ll spend the night in the trees.”
With the rapid flapping of his wings and an insect-like buzz, Amor hovered around in the above trees. He would need to find something suitable to rest on. He finally found it after five minutes of searching. A wide branch that hung almost straight out. It was long enough to lie upon and low enough that if he fell in his sleep he wouldn’t suffer many injuries. It took him several minutes to get settled in, trying to find the most comfortable position. Finally, he gave up, rolled onto his back, and stared at the stars through a gap in the leaves.
“Somewhere, I bet Chrysalis is looking up at the same stars.”
He did his best not to think about the hive. But the one thing he yearned for most clung to his mind. Chrysalis. His one and only love. And when he thought about her, he remembered the work he put on her when he left.
“Well, this is just perfect. I’m trying to sleep on a tree branch, the hive is starving and possibly dying without me, and I left Chrysalis alone to feed them. Could this get any worse?”
Amor waited several seconds before letting out a heavy sigh.
“I guess not.”
When Amor finally adjusted to the transition from the soft ground to the hard bark of a tree, he drifted off to sleep. He had another one of his plentiful nightmares.
“You have been traveling very fast, much faster than I had expected. But soon, your next stop will be in sight, and will be slightly less…optional.”
“Optional? What do you mean?”
“You will find out soon enough. I will leave you with peaceful sleep for a few days. It is getting dangerous for us to communicate like this.”
“You’re making less and less sense. Where am I going?”
“You will learn soon enough. For now, rest.”
And it was over. There were no flames to swallow him, no burning, and no waking in a sweat. Amor slept the night away peacefully. He awoke slowly, hoping everything that had happened over the last few days was just a dream. He hoped he was in his bed, next to Chrysalis, waking to another normal day. He didn’t get what he hoped for.
“I expected as much.”
With four hooves hitting the ground heavily, Amor was off, but he was in no hurry. He walked with ease, taking in the beautiful scenery of the forest he was traveling through. After walking for several miles, Amor came across a pond. He was thirsty, for he hasn’t had anything to drink for several days. He dipped his mouth in the cool water and began drinking heavily. After he got his share, he began walking again, but was quickly stopped by what he heard next.
“NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Amor stopped dead in his tracks. He knew that voice well. After all, it was the voice of his queen.
“Was that-“
Before he could finish his sentence, a large burst of magic sent him flying. He would have kept going, but luckily, or sadly, a tree stopped him. He hit the tree head first, and was quickly knocked unconscious. For the first time since he could remember, Amor had sweet dreams. He dreamed that he was under a large tree with Chrysalis. They sat there curled together without a care in the world. No hunger, no famine, and no hive to worry about. There was not a sound other than the wind lightly blowing against the grass. Finally, Amor broke this silence.
“I wish this moment would last forever.”
Chrysalis looked up at him with her sweet green eyes.
“So do I, but you have to wake up.”
“Wake up? What do you mean?”
“I mean wake up.”
And like that, Amor was lying under the tree alone. Only, this was not the same tree in that peaceful field. This was the tree he crashed into earlier. His eyes opened slowly, and he was quickly welcomed from his slumber with a massive headache. Amor checked himself for any injuries. Miraculously, he was fine. No concussion, no broken bones, just a lot of bruises and a pounding head. He would have to deal with that for now, because he had other things on his mind. “Was that really Chrysalis? What would she be doing way out here? And what was that blast? It wasn’t nearly powerful enough to be the Elements of Harmony, but still, that was one of the most powerful things I had ever felt. It was like… like the strength of a shield mixed with the outward push of a fired spell.”
After thinking about the whole incident for a few minutes, Amor passed the voice of his queen off as his imagination.
“Great, on top of being thrown against a tree and having this headache, I’m going crazy. Well this trip is starting to pay off. Guess I should probably get-“
“You! Stop right there!”
Before Amor could even respond to the demand, three royal guards were atop of him.
“Quickly, hold it down while I cast the spell!”
As the three guards held Amor to the ground, the forth, a unicorn, walked up to him, his horn glowing blue.
“Oh no you don’t!”
Amor’s own horn began to glow and hum. But before he could cast his spell, the unicorn released his upon Amor, and just like that, Amor’s horn calmed. He was unable to cast any spells. “You are now under arrest and are to be tried by Princess Celestia for the invasion of Canterlot. You are to be bound and led back to the city at this point.” “What are you talking about? I wasn’t in Canterlot you simple minded fool!” “Nice try, but you’re coming with us.”
Amor was lead to the front gates of the city while bound in chains. His front two legs were chained together, and the same with his back two. A collar was placed around his neck, and two chains ran from it to the mouths of the two leading guards. The other two followed behind, spears ready for any flinch. One of these two held Amor’s crown. His magic was still bound, and his wings were tied down by yet another collar like piece going around his chest. When they finally reached the front gate, the four guards stopped, and the lead two gave a hard pull on the chains. One of the two rear guards stepped forward and spoke to one of the guards positioned next to the city gate.
“What have you to report, soldier?” said the gate guard.
“We found this outside of the city.”
“I see. Put it in the dungeon. We should let the princess know as soon as possible.”
“Yes sir.”
The ponies on either side of the gate turned and looked at the huge door to the city. Both of their horns glowed, and the heavy doors slowly opened.
“Come on, parasite. Get moving.” Barked the guard behind Amor. The two lead ponies gave a hard tug on the chains, and with a low growl, he followed the orders.
When they entered the city, Amor was surprised to see the townspeople all look straight at him, disgust and hatred in all of their eyes. When the gates closed behind him, the worse of it began. Some of the ponies began throwing rocks at Amor, some coming close, some missing altogether, and some hitting him, hard. One caught him right behind the ear, and just like that, his headache was much worse.
“Ha! I got him! Hit him right on his head!” cried the pony who threw the rock.
Amor was lead straight through the center of town, the quickest path to the castle. Although it was only minutes, the trip felt like an eternity to Amor. Around every corner there were more and more ponies. Some only assaulted him verbally, using names and rude comments like ‘love sucker’. Others kept throwing rocks. Amor was angry, but overall confused. How is it that so many ponies know of his kind? How is it that he has been out of the hive for only days and has already managed to make enemies with an entire town?
Finally, the group of four guards and a changeling made it to the castle, where Amor was thrown into a small stone cell.
“I’ll go find the princess. The rest of you, keep an eye on it.”
It? Thought Amor. I am so low to these ponies that I am referred to as an it? Amor took a quick look around his cell. There was nothing in there but a crude lavatory and a small shelf-like wooden plank, being held to the wall by chains. This was his seat, and it doubled as his bed. Hmph, I’d much rather lie on the ground, that way I can see out the door. So he did. Amor fell on his side and lied down in the center of his cell, his eyes concentrated on the door.
“What is so important that I must see to it at this moment?” a calm and majestic voice echoed down the hall.
“Well, your majesty, it would be better for you to see it yourself.”
Amor looked to see a tall white mare, an alicorn to be specific, with a flowing rainbow mane and tail staring at him, her jaw hanging slightly open. She wore a golden crown and shoulder piece, both with a single diamond shaped amethyst in the center. Her cutie mark depicted the sun. After staring at Amor for a few minutes, she spoke to the guard beside her.
“Was he alone?”
“Yes, your majesty. But it did have this.” The guard presented the alicorn with Amor’s crown, and her eyes grew wider. She then spoke to Amor.
“You have a lot of questions to answer. First, and least important at the moment, who are you?”
Amor rose from his spot on the concrete floor before giving his answer.
“My name, is Amor. I am the former king of the changeling hive, but I fled days ago, and found myself here. You, I presume, are Princess Celestia, correct?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Okay then. Before you ask me anymore questions, I would like my crown back.”
Celestia obliged, and Amors crown floated into his cell, where he took it and placed it back upon his head.
“Okay, continue.”
“You said you left the hive days ago. Then you have no knowledge on the recent attack on Canterlot?”
“No, I do not. Why would I?”
“The attack was led by the queen of the changelings.”
“Chrysalis.” Amor mumbled this under his breath, just quiet enough that Celestia couldn’t understand what he said.
“What was that?”
Amor looked at the princess. “Nothing, go on.” They don’t know her real name, he thought to himself. With a slight hesitation, Celestia continued her questioning.
“Would you know why they would have attacked.”
“Starvation, famine, a will to live, if you would.”
“I see. And why is it you left the hive?”
“I have my reasons. But I guess it would have to be the guilt I felt.”
“Guilt? Explain, please.”
With a sigh, Amor went on with his answer.
“Well, as you should know, princess, a changeling must feed off of love to survive. Many thought it would be easiest to steal this love, thus the reason the hive attacked Canterlot instead of befriending you. I, however, have a heart. I always feel guilty when I steal love, but I did it to survive. Every part of it made me feel horrible, the feeding, the transforming, the deceit of it all.”
“I see.” With a moment of hesitation, Celestia addressed the guard again.
“Open the cell.”
“Princess, are you sure?”
Amor chimed in sarcastically. “Yes, princess, I may bite.”
Celestia let out a small chuckle.
“Open the cell. He is pure, I can see it in his heart and his eyes. He may be angry, but I can see he means no harm.”
After a moment’s hesitation, the guard opened the cell door, and Celestia addressed Amor once more.
“You my stay in the castle for the time being, so long as you don’t cause too much trouble. We cannot risk letting you free just yet, but if you prove yourself, you may stay as a permanent resident at my castle.
“Thank you, princess.” As Amor stepped out of his dark cell and into the light he made one more comment. “Any more questions?”
“Just one. Why do you have a cutie mark?!”
Amor looked down at his flank. “That-is a very good question.”
“And what does it mean?”
Amor hesitated a bit. He knew exactly what it meant, but was looking for just the right way to word it. “It means…It means I can fix a broken heart.”
“How long would you say the changelings were in Canterlot?”
Celestia hesitated for a moment.
“Well, from our knowledge, the queen was in for about two days, and the rest of the hive, maybe five minutes tops.”
Good, Amor thought. That means that Chrysalis got her fill, and the others have enough to survive almost a month.
As Celestia and Amor walked, a voice called from around the corner.
“Sister, why do most of the citizens look- oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know we had guests.”
Amor looked on in slight shock.
“Princess Luna!”
“Surprised?”
“Well, I heard rumors of your return, but until now I never entirely believed them.”
Celestia chimed in. “Well, now that you have met each other, Luna, this is Amor, the former changeling king.”
“Changeling? I thought you said they were responsible for the recent attack?”
“Yes, but Amor was absent during the attack. He fled the hive before they attacked Canterlot and had no knowledge of it.”
“And you believe him?”
“I can see it. He means no harm.”
Amor looked on silently. Luna was a midnight blue alicorn, with a mane and tail that looked like a clear night sky. Like Celestia, she wore a crown and small neck piece, but hers were black and depicted the moon. Her cutie mark, as expected, was a crescent moon in a black, starless sky. Well, they are beautiful, I’ll give them that, he thought. But still not as beautiful as Chrysalis. When you love somepony, they become the most beautiful thing in your eyes. “Well then, it is a pleasure to meet you, Amor.”
“The pleasure is all mine.” Amor said with a bow.
With that, Celestia led Amor to his room. They walked down many long hallways, and Amor marveled at every turn. The castle was much bigger than he expected. When they finally reached a small hallway, Celestia stopped, and Amor did as well. The hall ended with a single large door, on either side of the hallway, was another. Celestia opened one of these two doors.
“This will be your room. You may decorate if you would like, but try not to get carried away.”
“Thank you, princess.”
“Now if you would excuse me, I need to prepare a short statement for the citizens here. Please meet me at the balcony in the throne room in one hour. The guards will lead you there.” She finished this last statement while looking at one of the royal guards standing at the staircase.
When the guard realized she was talking to him, he quickly replied. “Yes ma’am.”
“Luna and I will be waiting for you before we make the statement. People are already gathering outside the castle, so it is important we do this soon.”
“Yes, princess, and thank you again.”
As Celestia left, Amor entered the large bedroom. The ceiling rose so high that Amor had room to fly. This, combined with the width and length of the room, gave Amor enough room to do tricks if he wanted to, but he had never felt that urge in his lifetime. It is not something he would find himself doing. The bed sat against the east wall. It was a rather large bed, big enough to fit almost four ponies in. On the opposite side of the room sat a dresser with a mirror above it. Next to the dresser was a small doorway, leading to his own personal bathroom. In the bathroom was as expected, a bath, a sink, and a lavatory that was much nicer than the one in his cell. On the northern wall was a large window, and Amor found himself staring out at the beautiful view of the castle garden. When he was done, he fell in the bed. It was more comfortable than the dirt floor he slept on in the forest, and much more comfortable than the stone floor of the prison cell. He must have dozed off, because before he knew it, the guard was outside his room.
“You. The princess is waiting, we have about ten minutes.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
Amor followed the guard to the throne room of the castle, where he marveled at the large throne against the center of the wall. The guard led Amor through the large door on the opposite side of the room, where Amor saw Celestia and Luna standing on the balcony on the opposite side of the room. He made his way to them, and was stopped by Luna.
“Wait. If the citizens see you immediately, it may cause them to panic.”
“I understand.”
Luna then made her way back to the balcony while Amor waited for his time. A few minutes later, Celestia addressed the crowd.
“Citizens of Canterlot, I thank you for coming out here today. As you all recall, we were recently attacked by the changeling queen and her soldiers.”
When she mentioned this a small uproar took over the crowd, but was quickly quieted with a raise of the princess’s hoof.
“As many of you know, a changeling was found outside of the city recently. I know many of you were expecting this changeling to be executed, but this was not the case. This changeling, Amor, is different from the rest of his kind, and had nothing to do with the attack. I know this comes as a shock to most of you, but this changeling is pure of heart and means us no harm. It is with all due respect that I tell you all that this former king of the changeling hive will be staying at the castle with me and my sister. Do not worry, for the time being, Amor will be under constant guard. Now if he would be kind enough to step forward and address the crowd before us.”
Amor walked forward, trying to figure out what he would say. He had no time to prepare, so he would have to make himself scarce. He looked down at the thousands of ponies before him. Many had looks of fear and anger still in their eyes.
“Hello. As you all heard, I had nothing to do with the recent attack upon Canterlot. I fled the hive a day before the attack and it was with dumb luck that I ended up outside the city when the rest of the changelings were expelled from here. I know many of you were not fond of seeing me when I first set foot in this town, but I am here to tell you now, I forgive you for your behavior upon seeing me, and I am willing to forget what happened earlier. All that I ask is that you treat me as an equal. I thank the princess for letting me stay here in this beautiful city, and I hope that you all start to see that I only wish to be accepted.”
The crowd began to mumble and stir, but Amor was uncertain if this was in anger or if they were worried.
“There you have it. For the time being, Amor will be under constant watch and will not be allowed outside of the castle until he can prove himself. Thank you all for coming, you are now dismissed.”
Amor followed Celestia and Luna from the balcony. After they finished speaking with the crowd outside the castle and leaving them slightly confused, they decided it would be best if they left the citizens to think about having a changeling in the city.
“Princess, do you really think they will be as open as you were about having a changeling in the city?”
“They may not be as willing at first, but over time they will grow to become used to you.”
“And did you mean all of that about me being under security?”
“Some of it, but that was mostly to calm them down. Yes, you are to stay in the castle until further notice. No, you are not to be under constant watch unless you prove you need otherwise.”
Amor could feel the love and friendship emanating from the princess. He wasn’t exactly stealing it, considering Celestia knew what he was, who he was, and was giving it to him willingly, so there was no guilt involved.
“Amor, I know you may not eat like the rest of us, but will you join us for dinner?”
“A changeling still eats, they just survive primarily off of love. And yes, I would love to join you.”
“Good, I will go inform the cook that there will be a third tonight for dinner, you may explore the castle, if you would like.”
With that, Celestia was off, but Luna stayed behind with Amor.
“So, I can trust you are not planning anything?”
“No, princess. I’m not evil like you may believe.”
Amor felt it. Luna wasn’t giving off love, more so was she worried.
“If you say so. My sister seems to trust you, so I guess I trust you too.”
And just like that, Luna was giving off emotions of calmness.
“Follow me, please. I will lead you to the dining hall. I hope you have table manners.”
“Princess, a king must keep his table manners. It would be a disgrace if my soldiers were to see me eat like a pig. But my magic is still bound. Would you be able to at least give me back levitation?”
“Alright, I will notify the guard in the dining hall to release some of your magic.”
Luna led Amor to the dining area of the castle. It was a long room, and, as expected, had a long table in the center. The table was a fine wood, covered with a silk table cloth, lined with a golden colored fabric. There were many chairs set around the table, but only three had set spots. At the far end of the table, was a large chair lined with gold and cushioned. This likely belonged to one of the princesses, for there was another at the other end. Amor was so caught up in looking at the table that he didn’t notice the guard walk up to him.
“Princess Luna told me that I am to release a small amount of your magic. Stand still.”
The guard’s horn began to buzz and hum, and Amor readied himself for the spell. Shortly after a small zap made contact with the end of his horn.
“Alright, that should do it. Try it out, make sure it worked.”
Amor looked at the chair at the corner of the table. It was smaller than the two throne-like chairs at the head of the table, so it would be easier to move. While he concentrated, his horn began to hum and glowed the normal changeling green. The chair slid back, and then back in.
“That will do. Thank you.”
Amor took his seat at the chair he pulled out. This was the only one set, so it must be where he was expected to sit, and he could already tell which of the princesses was going to sit in the chair closest to him. Well, I might as well leave a good first impression. I guess I’ll be civil at dinner.
Minutes later the two princesses took their seats, and as expected Celestia sat closer to Amor. She probably has more questions to ask me, he thought. He was right. Minutes after the two sat down, dinner was served. It was a normal vegetarian meal, a large salad and some fruit. Amor waited to eat. He was hungry, but he didn’t want to look like a pig, so he waited for the princesses to start before taking a bite. As they ate, Celestia started asking questions about Amor’s cutie mark.
“So, how rare is it to find a changeling with a cutie mark?”
Luna chimed in. “Changelings don’t usually have cutie marks?”
“No, sister, none of the ones during the attack, not even the queen, had one.”
Amor finished chewing his bite of food and calmly swallowed before he spoke.
“It is supposedly impossible. In all of history, I am the first and last.”
“I see. Do you recall how long ago it appeared?”
Amor thought a moment. “Maybe, ten years?”
“And what were you doing when it appeared?”
That was something Amor had not thought about for some time, but now that it was brought up, he remembered it clearly.
“Well, it all started a while back, before I was the king of the hive. Chrysalis’s birth parents had passed away in battle, trying to feed the hive.”
“Chrysalis?”
“Yes, you would know her better as the changeling queen.”
“Ah, go on then.”
“Well, I went looking for her after the burial ceremony, and found her mourning over their graves. She was alone, weeping for her parents. After I watched her for some time, I approached her, trying to figure out what to say. I managed to get her to walk away from the graves and we somehow found ourselves curled up under a tree. She forgot about her pain, forgot her sorrow, her fear, she forgot about being alone. She found comfort in being with me. It wasn’t much later when we got up and I got a glimpse at my flank. We looked at it for a while, waiting for it to fade away, like they usually do. But it just stayed there. It wouldn’t disappear. It took some time, but I grew used to it, at times I forget it’s there.”
“And you have had it ever since?”
“Yes.”
“I see. This is very interesting.”
Amor continued eating his meal. His fork would hover down, stab a small pile in the salad, and calmly float back to his mouth. He finished moments later and calmly sipped at his water, until it was gone. He then placed his fork on his plate and sat peacefully.
“Amor, you may go, if you would like.”
“No, not yet. I would much rather be here than sit alone in my room.”
“Very well.”
Celestia and Luna finished not too long later, and Luna stood up.
“We had dinner quite early today, sister. It is just about time to raise the moon. Excuse me please.”
And with that, Amor decided to get some rest, so he headed to bed.
Amor watched out his window as the sun dipped over the horizon and the moon rose. After today, it is time for a well-deserved rest. Amor collapsed in the bed, and immediately, he was asleep. Within a few hours, although they felt like moments to Amor, he started to dream. It was not the dream of the void, but the dream of him and Chrysalis, running and laughing in the field. After they had their share of fun, they were curled together under the large tree again, and Amor said the same thing he said last time.
“I wish this moment would last forever.”
“So do I, but you have to-“
“No. Don’t say it. Please, just a few more minutes together.”
“I’m sorry, Amor, but you have to wake up.”
Amor awoke slowly. He looked around the room, trying to make sure the events of yesterday really happened. When he finally was sure he was awake and not still dreaming, he rose from his bed, ready to begin his day. When he opened his door, he made his way towards the throne room, ready to prove himself. He didn’t notice Luna, who had also just awoken, follow him until she spoke up.
“She is raising the sun. It’s early, too early for me, actually.”
“Then why are you up?”
“I am up because you are up.”
Amor looked at her, puzzled by what she had just said.
“I’ll explain, please follow me.”
Amor followed Luna to the large dining room, where she took her seat at one of the smaller chairs, signaling Amor to sit across from her.
“As you know, I am the Princess of the Night. My power lets me travel through the dreams of others, controlling what happens, bringing happiness to whoever I choose. Last night, I chose you. I wanted to see what brought you happiness, and that dream from your past did it. Now I am certain, you mean us no harm. Sorry if I didn’t trust you.”
And that was when he finally noticed it. Luna didn’t give off her normal feeling of calmness, she gave off trust and…pity. And something very important hit him.
“Wait, if you can see into my dreams, do you know why I have been having these strange dreams all of a sudden?”
Luna was confused. She had no idea what Amor was talking about.
“I’m sorry, but you have not been in range of my dream spell until recently. My spell spreads dreams depending on the emotions of the person under effect, but I didn’t even know of your existence until recently. Could you explain these dreams?”
“It’s like some sort of recurring nightmare. I find myself in total darkness, unable to see anything but myself. I start out standing on a small platform, but when I move it is gone. I hear a strange voice that I had never heard until I started having these dreams. She told me to leave the hive, that it had something to do with my cutie mark, and recently, that it would be too dangerous to communicate. Then I end up being swallowed by a green flame.”
“Well, I cannot explain that dream. It sounds like someone is trying to communicate with you. But it sounds like they are afraid of me. That would be the only explanation of why it would be unsafe for her to communicate. I’ll keep watching your dreams to be sure though.”
“Thank you.”
On that note, Celestia entered the room.
“Well, you two are up early. Getting along well?”
“I guess we are.” Luna said in an upbeat tone.
“I can see us becoming good friends very soon.” Added Amor.
“That’s good to hear. Amor, you are to stand next to my throne today. If the people are going to get used to you, the easiest way would be to let them see how close I can get to you, let them see you aren’t dangerous.”
“Fair enough.”
“If you’re ready, let’s begin.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
The day was an uneventful one. Other than the occasional visitor coming in to marvel and gawk at Amor, nothing happened. He was happy with this, because it gave him time to think. If the princess of night and dreams doesn’t know who is talking to me, I might never find out. Maybe I’m not meant to, but one thing’s for sure, I need to find out why and eventually finish with this task put before me. I need to get traveling as soon as I can. Even if it means I will have to leave Canterlot.
The day went on and the moon rose. Amor was signaled by Celestia that the day was over and that he no longer had to sit next to her throne. The alicorn and changeling made their way to the dinner table just as Luna came in. There were no questions at dinner today, Amor just sat quietly and ate his meal. After dinner, Amor stood up from his seat and made his way out the door. After a quick shower, he was off to bed, finding himself having more peaceful dreams about Chrysalis. This time Amor was walking Chrysalis down a small path, lined with trees on either side. As they walked, Chrysalis clung tight to him, and he put his wing over her back. Her head was against his neck as they walked. A small moment later, a thunderous boom broke through the silence, and it started to rain. Amor stretched his wing out wide and held it over Chrysalis’s head as they rushed for cover. They found it in the form of a small cave. As Amor sat at the mouth of the cave, Chrysalis once again rested her head on his neck, lying close to him.
“Amor.”
“Yes, Chrysalis?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
They sat there until the storm stopped. The sun shone through the trees, hitting Amor’s and Chrysalis’s coats, making them shine in the light. His pleasant dream ended there. He woke again, but he knew what to expect today. Amor got up as the sun rose outside, showing its light through the window. As he exited his room, Luna doing the same, they made their way towards the throne room.
The next few days were uneventful, and eventually Amor was allowed into the city, and occasionally was given small chores from Celestia. Almost all the citizens had gotten used to Amor, even accepting him as part of the city. He never asked for anything from them, only expected to be treated like them. All but one accepted him.
Celestia sent Amor to help the cooks in the kitchen. When Amor entered, a rush of different scents flooded into his nose. He could smell every prepared meal that was either being made or was already prepared, weather it was in the garbage or still on a plate. He looked around trying to find out who he should report to. He then spotted one of the cooks preparing the next meal.
“Are you the head chef?”
“Yes I am. Did Celestia send you?”
“Yeah, I’m here to help in any way possible.”
“Can you cook?”
“No.”
“Then you are to go into town and pick up my last order. I will need it to continue to prepare dinner.”
“Dinner? This early?”
“The meal I am preparing will take time to complete. It should be done in time for dinner. For now, go get those ingredients.” And just like that, Amor was off.
He walked through the town quickly, knowing that the pony was ahead of him.
“Hey, parasite! What are you doing out and about so early, looking for your next victim?”
Amor continued on his route, ignoring the pony. He was a dull grey pegasus, his mane and hair were brown and had a greasy look to them. His cutie mark, a snake with a silver tongue, said a lot about him. Amor didn’t know his name, and he planned to keep it like that. He was obnoxious. Every time Amor passed, he would make another rude comment, sometimes saying as much as he could think up before he retreated back to the safety of his house. For the most part, Amor didn’t let these remarks bother him.
“Are you just going to ignore me? Oh that’s right, you can’t feed off of anger. Well, that’s too bad, cuz I’ve got plenty for you!”
Amor was quickly passed the pegasus. He didn’t want to be anywhere near that fool. He quickly found the shop he was looking for. He entered and walked to the front counter, being greeted by a high spirited yellow mare with a pale red mane.
“Welcome! Can I help you?”
“I just need to pick up the ingredients for the princess’s dinner.”
“Bad day?”
“Believe it or not, I’ve still got enemies.”
“Well, I’ll just be a minute.”
“Take your time.”
Amor was lost in thought. How could he judge me? He knows nothing of the pain I went through. After a few minutes of waiting, the mare came back with a small sac of different ingredients.
“That should be everything. Don’t worry, it’s already paid for.”
“Thank you. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye! I hope your day gets better!”
Amor walked the path home, knowing exactly what to expect. When he turned the corner, he already saw the grey pegasus. I wonder what he has brewed up this time.
“Hey, bug boy! Ready for round two?”
Amor just kept walking, ignoring his every remark. He blocked out all of it, but he just managed to hear the last remark made by the grey pony.
“I guess you left that hornet’s nest on your own terms. Or…maybe you couldn’t stand the sight of your so called queen?”
Amor stopped in his tracks. He waited for the next remark, but it never came. He turned to look at the pegasus, and saw a wide grin across his face. He found Amor’s weak spot. Before he could let loose his next set of remarks, Amor was off. He felt a new sense of rage in his body.
“Here, take your ingredients.” Amor had an agitated and angry tone to his voice.
“You don’t sound happy.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Amor threw the bag of ingredients on the counter before making his way to his room, where he sat, thinking about the events that had passed. He has no right to mention Chrysalis. I almost let loose upon him, almost slaughtered him. Perhaps I did overreact a little though…I’ll try to keep calm, but if he continues, this may not end well. Amor headed down to dinner moments later, content on not talking about the grey pony to anyone. While they ate, Celestia looked at Amor. She saw it in his eyes, he was deep in thought, and he was angry.
“Amor, did something happen today? You seem as though you’re thinking a lot.”
“It was nothing important, princess. I’ll be fine.”
Celestia wasn’t happy with the answer she got, but decided it would be best not to dig any deeper for the time being. Amor quickly finished his dinner and was off to bed. He had rage still in his heart, so he had no dreams. He slept soundly and awoke the next morning, ready to begin. He was sent to the chef again, and his heart sank when he was sent to get more ingredients.
“You mean I have to go to the same shop?”
“Yes, I set another order that was to be ready this morning. I need you to go get them.”
“Why didn’t you just have me get them yesterday?”
“I just told you, they weren’t to be ready until this morning. I would get them myself, but I have a lot that needs to be done. Please, just get the ingredients.”
With a heavy sigh, Amor was out the door, his teeth grinding hard. He tried to ready himself for the next verbal assault, but was surprised to see that the pegasus wasn’t outside this morning. Amor took advantage of this and hurried to the shop. He was greeted by the same yellow mare as yesterday.
“Hi! It’s nice seeing you hear again! Same reason?”
“Yeah, same reason.”
“So, how has today been going so far?”
“Better, for now.”
“Good to hear, I’ll just be one moment.”
Please hurry, Amor thought. I need to take advantage of this. He then began thinking about why he was here. Why is Celestia sending me on all of these small jobs? I’m a king! But, I guess I need to gain the trust of the citizens, and there is no better way than to let them see that I’m just as normal as them, I live my life the same, even if I look different. But why does that pegasus have to torture me? I could transform, but that wouldn’t be good for my public image, but neither would hurting the fool. Well, considering how much I hate transforming, I’ll deal with the annoying pest for one more day, but I must tell Celestia today. The mare came back a small bit later with the small bag.
“Have a nice day, and I hope it stays this good for you.”
“So do I. Thank you.”
As Amor walked he just kept thinking to himself. Maybe he won’t be there. Maybe he got what he wanted out of me. But all good things must end. The grey pony was waiting, the grin still across his face.
“Hey, parasite. Been thinking of that hag you call a queen lately? I wonder what happened to her. Hey, maybe she’s dead.”
“Shut up, right now.”
“What’s wrong? Don’t like it when I talk about that abomination?”
“I said shut up.”
Amor was already enraged, but the next comment made it much worse.
“It’s no wonder she attacked Canterlot. If you left her, you must not have loved her at all, or she wasn’t getting enough out of you.”
“SHUT UP!” Amor shouted at the pegasus at the top of his lungs. A small crowd began to circle the spectacle.
“Why, what are you going to do about it? You’re not allowed to hurt me, Celestia will have you executed. It’s no wonder your queen-“
“I SAID SHUT UP!” Amor couldn’t control himself. He charged at the pegasus as fast as he could. The pegasus was stunned. He never expected Amor to actually retaliate. With a hard tackle, the pony was on the ground, Amor standing over him with his horn glowing, his eyes burning with rage. Luckily, he regained control of himself before he hurt the pony any further. What have I done? He looked around to see a large group of ponies staring at him in shock and fear. Amor ran to the castle. He had to be the one to tell Celestia about this, if she heard it from anypony else, it would look even worse for Amor. He threw the doors open and ran to Celestia.
“Amor? What happened? Why did you just storm in hear like that?”
Amor bowed before the princess, he didn’t want to look her in the eyes.
“Amor, what did you do?” her voice was still somewhat calm, but filled with concern.
“Princess, I…I attacked one of the citizens. He has been toying with me for the last few days, but until today he didn’t entirely get on my nerves. I’m sorry.”
Celestia looked at Amor, pity and worry in her eyes. She then looked at the guard standing beside her throne.
“Go find the victim, bring him before me.”
“Yes ma’am.” When the guard left, Celestia diverted her attention back to Amor.
“Amor, I know you didn’t mean to hurt him, but I cannot let this go unpunished. You must spend the week back in the prison cell.”
“I understand. I was just so filled with rage that I couldn’t control myself.”
“What did he do?”
Amor thought a small moment. “He…he ‘commented’ on the one pony I love.”
Celestia looked down at Amor. He could feel it, she was giving off disappointment and…admirement? She somewhat admired him for what he did? Amor’s head tried to figure out these thoughts, but before he could, the guard returned with the injured pegasus. When he reached the throne, he bowed down, and both were signaled to rise.
“What is your name?”
“Creed.”
“Your full name.”
“Creed Rain, your majesty.”
“Well, Mr. Rain, Amor has admitted to what he has done, do you have anything to add?”
Amor felt it radiate off of the small pegasus. He was afraid, but he gave off a new found respect towards Amor.
“Yes, princess. I have been instigating this changeling for some time now. I just never expected him to retaliate like he did. I apologize if this has caused any problems.”
“Well, because of this incident, Amor must spend a week imprisoned.”
Creed looked at Amor. He still somewhat feared him, but Amor knew he was done with his verbal attacks.
“I’m sorry para…Amor. Forgive me.”
Amor hesitated before giving his answer. “Forgive and forget.”
On that note, Amor was led to the small cell he first ended up in when he entered Canterlot. He took his place on the floor once more and began to think. That was all it took? All I had to do was retaliate, and the fool would stop? While he thought the grey pony walked out front of the cell.
“Amor, I would like you to know that I was not pressured into what I said back there, I meant it.”
“I know.”
“So, did you mean what you said?”
“Yes, and I won’t lie, you opened some old scars with that first comment about my queen. The rest was just salt in the wounds.”
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize how much pain I brought you until you attacked. I guess I was just still angry about the whole changeling incident and let that anger out on you. But to make it official, I apologize.” The pony stuck his hoof through the iron bars of the cell door. Amor rose to his feet and raised his. He hesitated a bit, but eventually took the hoof and shook with the grey pony.
Amor had been lying in on the stone floor of that cell all week, only getting up to eat and defecate. He tried to sleep the week away, but found that it didn’t help. So he thought about the good times, the times when he was with Chrysalis. This, however, did work, for the week flew by and before he knew it, his sentence was over.
The first thing Amor did with his freedom was approach the princess, bow down, and apologize once more for his outburst.
“Amor, you have served your time, you don’t need to apologize anymore.”
“I know, but this incident was just adding on to my stress. I need to make peace with myself this one time.”
“Well I forgive you, and so did Mr. Rain. You don’t need to apologize anymore.”
“Thank you, princess.”
“Not only that, but you have proven yourself. Amor, you are allowed free roam throughout Equestria. I have sent notice to each of the towns and cities, and, after receiving a few criticizing letters in return, I have finally made it noted that you are an ally all of Equestria. My castle is still your home, but you are not obligated to return every day.”
Amor looked up. He didn’t know what to say.
“After all that I have done, you still think I have proven myself?”
“Of course. You have proven yourself more than any had expected.”
“I don’t know what else to say, except, well, thank you, for everything.”
“You are quite welcome. Don’t be out too long, the pegasi have a storm scheduled for today. You are dismissed.”
And with that, Amor was off to explore the area around Canterlot.
He wandered aimlessly through the woods, with no particular destination and nowhere he needed to be. He was wondering for hours, and he eventually lost track of time. Before he knew it, he was miles away from Canterlot and it was raining. Amor went to a nearby cave for cover. Being as close to the city as he was, he wasn’t worried about any wild animals nearby, but that ended up being the last thing on his mind.
Once Amor entered the cave, something felt wrong. He lit up his horn and began traveling deeper into the cave. When he reached the point where he couldn’t see the opening of the cave anymore, he looked to the ground, only to find a small trickle of blood. To most, this would have been passed off as a wounded animal seeking cover, but Amor knew this wasn’t the blood of an animal. It was the blood of a changeling. He followed the small trail to a secluded part of the cave where he found the blood stop. Whoever left this here, they are nearby. Amor looked all through the small chamber he was in, and found nothing but a strange rock against one of the walls. But as he got closer, he realized this wasn’t a rock at all, it was the one behind the trail, and it was his queen, Chrysalis.
Amor rushed to her side as fast as he could. He looked her over. She was hurt badly, only one small open wound, but many bruises, and maybe some broken bones. He watched her for a minute, hoping she would move, but to no avail. Amor’s eyes began to water, he did all he could to fight back tears. One fell on the head of Chrysalis, and her ear flicked. Amor noticed this small movement, and was at slightly more ease, but still worried, for she was badly injured and must have been lying there for a while.
“Chrysalis? Chrysalis, please wake up. Please.”
Her eyes opened slowly. She looked up at Amor and a small smile showed across her face.
“Amor. I knew you would find me. I just knew that somehow…we would be together again.” Her voice was weak, almost a whisper.
“Chrysalis, how hurt are you?”
“I still have the note you left me. It always brought me hope that you would come back.”
“Chrysalis, please, tell me how bad it hurts.”
“I… I can’t walk. I think two of my legs are broken.”
“How long have you been here? When was the last time you had anything to drink?”
She thought a moment. “Two weeks. It’s been two weeks since either.”
Amor thought very hard for a moment. "Can you move all? We need to get you something to drink.”
“It hurts. Maybe you could carry me?”
“I’ll do anything for you, you know that. Now stay still, this may hurt.”
Amor’s horn began to hum, and the auras glow formed around both it and Chrysalis. She slowly lifted off the ground.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! IT HURTS!” Even in her weakened state, she screamed out in pain. Tears started to build up in Amor’s eyes knowing how much pain he just brought her.
“I’m so sorry, but we need to move you, get you to water.”
Amor slowly set Chrysalis on his back, trying to be as gentle as possible. He walked slowly, the rain slowly dropping on their heads. Luckily, a large puddle had formed just outside the cave, so he wouldn’t have to look far to find water. He slowly and gently set Chrysalis down, knowing that she was still in pain. She moaned, but settled as she hit the ground. Amor aided her head closer to the puddle, and she slowly drank. After almost two minutes, she stopped, and Amor brought her back to the mouth of the cave.
Amor knew what he had to do to save her, although she may not agree with what had to be done.
“Chrysalis, I’m going to get help. Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon. Do you trust me?”
“Of course I trust you. You are the only pony I know I can trust.”
“Okay, I’ll be back before nightfall.”
Amor took off, shooting straight for Canterlot. Halfway back, he started flapping his insect-like wings to get up the mountainside. In the rain, he would have to work twice as hard to get up there, but no matter how much it hurt, he knew chrysalis would be in much more pain if he didn’t get to Canterlot, so he pressed on, finally making it over the wall. Once in, he landed, and ran the rest of the way to the castle. He charged through the door, startling Celestia.
“Amor! Why do you keep doing that, what did you do this time?”
Amor couldn’t answer her immediately, still trying to catch his breath.
“Amor?”
Finally catching his breath, he answered.
“Princess, I… I found Chrysalis.”
Celestia looked at him, a more serious look in her eyes.
“Where is she.” She demanded.
“She is very hurt.”
Celestia rose to her hooves and walked up to Amor
“Amor. Where is she?”
Amor stood as tall as he could. He was still taller than Celestia, but he knew he wouldn’t win a fight with her, even if he had all of his magic.
“I won’t let you hurt her.”
Celestia hesitated, thinking about the best way to approach this.
“Alright, how about this. I promise you that we will not hurt Chrysalis any more than she is, but she is to be kept in captivity.”
“She needs medical treatment. She has at least two broken legs, and she may be bleeding internally.”
“Alright, anything else.”
Amor thought before answering.
“I want my room moved.”
“To where?”
“To whatever cell Chrysalis is going to be held in.”
“Alright, but she is definitely to have her magic bound. We are going to need to find a way to get her in the city unnoticed.”
Amor thought this problem over for almost ten minutes before he realized the only answer.
“We need two of your most trusted guards. They need to be pegasi, and they need to follow your exact word.”
“Are you certain?”
“Positive. We are going to need them to carry her on some sort of stretcher.”
“Alright, we will leave from the castle balcony.”
“We need to go soon. I promised her I would be back.”
Celestia hurried to gather her two most trusted pegasi. They were quickly briefed on what they were to do, and, with a slight mumble, they were off. Amor led the party, and they stopped before the cave was in sight.
“Stay back here until I give the signal. She won’t be entirely happy to see you, but I may be able to calm her, even if just a little.”
Amor entered the cave and found Chrysalis right where he left her. Her curled around her and gently put his head to her ear.
“Do you trust me? No matter what, do you trust me?”
“Of course, no matter what, I trust you.”
“Alright.” Amor looked to the mouth of the cave. “Alright, come on in.”
Celestia entered with her two guards carrying a large stretcher. Chrysalis, unable to move, just watched as they entered. All Amor could do was try and comfort her.
“It’s okay, I won’t let them hurt you. Just trust me.”
Chrysalis closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh.
“I trust you.”
Chrysalis was gently set atop the stretcher and taken to the castle, unnoticed by anyone. Medical staff was already waiting for her.
Amor waited anxiously for them to finish, hoping that she would be okay. Almost two hours later, the doctor came out, and Amor rushed towards him, waiting to hear what had become of Chrysalis.
“She won’t be able to move for some time. Her back two legs are broken, the same with some of her ribs, and she was bleeding due to one hit below the ribs. If she stays in bed for a while, she should heal in maybe two or three months. It’s crucial that she stays hydrated.”
A mattress was moved into the cell before Chrysalis. Amor entered, relieved to see that she was going to be okay. She had two casts on her back legs and a bandage wrapped around her waist. Her magic was bound, but a glass of water was placed within her reach. Amor entered slowly, not sure if Chrysalis wanted to see him after bringing Celestia to help. He was relieved to hear otherwise.
“May I come in?”
Chrysalis strained to look up.
“Of course.”
Amor walked into the small cell, and the door was closed behind him. He sat took his seat next to Chrysalis.
“Will you be okay?”
“I’ll be fine, thanks to you. I never would have made it out of that cave if it wasn’t for you.”
“I’m sorry about everything. It’s my fault any of this happened. You never should have gotten hurt.”
“Amor, you left on your own terms. I may not understand them, but I trusted that you had your reasons.”
“No. I left you to feed the hive. I left you with all of my duties, all of my work. I left you alone.”
“Amor, stop. Blaming yourself will not get you anywhere. The past is the past, and what happened, happened. It can’t be helped.”
Amor looked down at Chrysalis. Even now, her eyes brought him comfort. His pain was eased and he was at peace with himself, for Chrysalis forgave him. Amor walked to Chrysalis, wrapped around her, and together they sat.
“Amor.”
“Yes, my queen?”
“Promise me you will never leave me again.”
“I promise. I will always come back. I will keep you safe.”
Together again, they slept the night away, finally finding their other halves once more.
Amor awoke still curled around Chrysalis. He didn’t move at all, but slowly, his eyes opened. He was face to face with Chrysalis, who was still asleep. A small smile came across his face, and he closed his eyes again, trying to hold on to this moment. It’s not a dream this time, he thought. I am not asleep, she is really here beside me. I never imagined it would be possible, but we are together again.
After several more minutes of peace and quiet, Chrysalis began to stir. Amor opened his eyes once more to greet her. With a heavy sigh, Chrysalis began slowly opening her eyes, finding her head almost touching the side of Amor’s, who then shifted to see her.
“Good morning, Amor.”
“Good morning.”
“It felt like forever since the last time I said that.”
“I know, I’m sorry.”
“Amor, I told you to stop. It is done.”
Amor looked at Chrysalis, let out a small smile, and curled his head around her gently, sure not to hurt her. She then draped her head over his neck.
“Please don’t leave me again.”
“I won’t. I will always come back. I will never leave you again.”
“Why did you leave me? You never told me why you left, not even in the letter.”
Amor was quiet for a small moment. He had not thought about the dreams for a while, since Luna has kept them away. But he needed to shed some light on it, let her know the true reason he left. It wasn’t something he wanted to do, but he felt he had to. With a heavy and painful sigh, Amor answered her, trying to piece together his memories.
“When we led the hive together, I always feared that I would somehow fail as king, fail not the hive, but you. The stress from these thoughts combined with the stress from the famine would give me terrible nightmares, nightmares about our hive dying. In these nightmares, they always ended with you blaming me for the famine, just before we both passed on.”
“Amor, you know I would never blame you.”
“I know, but then it got stranger. After a while, these dreams changed, I was no longer in the hive. I was in a void of darkness, listening to a voice that continued telling me to leave the hive. I didn’t want to believe them, but then one night the voice told me why I had to leave, said it had something to do with my cutie mark. It said that if I left, the hive would be saved, but I see now that was a lie. The dreams soon left me when I entered the area around Canterlot, saying something about how it would be dangerous to communicate.”
Chrysalis smiled. “Amor, it wasn’t lying. You were too good natured, your strategies were too protective of the hive. Once you left, I felt heartbroken, but I knew I must carry on. That was when one of the soldiers returned with a small wedding invitation and information about the princess to be married, who, luckily, was returning from vacation. Even if only for a few minutes, the hive got to feed.”
Amor needed some answers too. “May I ask you a question now?”
“Of course.”
“Why were you alone? Where was the rest of the hive?”
A serious looked took its place on Chrysalis’s face.
“Well, after the failed attack, we were sent out of Canterlot rather viciously. Most of the changelings who were in the town at the time were sent out farther than I was. I, however, hit a mountainside rather hard, and landed on the ground, unable to move. I thought I was going to be there for a while, when a small group of maybe five of our soldiers passed by. I tried to call to them, ask for some help. They heard me, and quickly looked straight at me. They didn’t help me. One hissed at me, another one stated how he couldn’t follow ‘a failed queen looking for a chance at power’.”
Amor listened silently. He couldn’t believe what he heard. The hive abandoned its queen?
“I managed to crawl into that cave, where I lied for two weeks, until you found me. I would have to believe the rest of the changelings headed back to the hive, trying to survive without a queen.”
Amor thought a small moment about what to say next, and only one thing came to mind.
“You know, I never found those answers I was promised in my dreams. I was ready to give up more than once, but when I thought about you, I kept pushing on. Memories of you kept me going in the day and helped me sleep at night.”
Chrysalis felt tears of happiness begin to build, and she closed her eyes.
“It’s good to have you back, Amor”
“I am glad to be back at your side.”
Unknown to both of them, Celestia and Luna were listening to their conversation. They began to walk away, but Luna had to ask a question to Celestia.
“Do you really think she can be trusted not to try something?”
“I believe that as long as Amor is with her, we have nothing to worry about.”
“And do you believe what she told him?”
“Why would she lie to the pony she loves, the one who saved her life?” They continued walking, but Celestia had a question for Luna.
“Did you know about his dreams?”
“He asked me to look over them. As far as I know, there was no voice speaking to him while he was within range of my spell.”
“So we may never find out who was trying to speak to him?”
“Maybe, sister.”
Amor stayed in the cell with Chrysalis, aiding her in any way he could. He was allowed to leave, but didn’t want to leave her side for the longest time, so they stayed together for yet another day, trying to comfort each other in any way they could.
Amor looked down at Chrysalis. In her eyes was fear. Amor had just revealed his plans to search the area around Canterlot for any remaining soldiers, and Chrysalis wasn’t too happy with the idea.
“Right now, there may be more changelings out there who are weak or have abandoned the hives old ways. If they are near, it would be better for them to be kept in Canterlot.”
“Can’t we wait longer? Just wait until I can travel with you?”
“I know you’re worried, but if we wait, the weak may not survive, and if they left the hive, they may not trust you, but they may still trust me somewhat.”
Chrysalis thought over the plan for a few minutes, looking for any alternative. She finally gave up, and with a heavy sigh, let Amor go.
“Alright, I don’t see any other alternative. You are right, you need to go soon if you are to save them, they may scatter otherwise. Just… be careful.”
“You know I will. I’ll be back at the end of the day.” Amor left the room and was ready to leave, but had one major problem: Celestia. He found her in her throne, and bowed before her.
“Amor, do you have something to say?”
“Yes, princess. I have been thinking for some time, if Chrysalis was out there, maybe there are others out there who have abandoned the hive, seen the error in their way or gained confidence to leave after seeing me leave. I want your permission to search and bring in any changelings I see.”
Celestia looked on, bewildered by this new plan brought before her. “What makes you think they won’t trick you? Try to get into Canterlot to launch another attack?”
“Well, it is likely that any who are still in the old ways would attack me on sight. If they are too weak to run, they can be easily detained and we will judge them later. If they trust me still, than they likely left the hive after hearing of my absence. They will be put in cells until they prove themselves like I did.”
Celestia thought for a moment, then asked a question she thought would take Amor off guard. “What if something happens? What if there is an incident caused by a changeling?”
“Any problems caused by the changelings I bring in will be pinned on me. If they cause any problems, they will be sent out of Canterlot, the rest is up to them.”
“Alright, you seemed to have thought this through. If you need my help with anything, let me know.”
“Actually princess, I do need you to do something. I need you to tell the citizens of Canterlot about this plan. No matter how much they trust me, they will always follow your word over mine.”
“I understand. I will spread the word effectively. You are dismissed and may begin your mission.”
“Thank you, princess. I will leave immediately, and I won’t be back until the moon rises.”
Amor left Canterlot early that morning, determined to find another changeling that could be trusted, reformed, anything. After the Chrysalis incident, Amor knew to look where you wouldn’t look. He flew for hours, searching for a starting point for his search. He decided to begin with a cave he found after his hours of searching. He landed, and began searching the cave. He traveled through the entire cave, looked over every rock and crevice, but to no avail. He left the cave and decided to search the rest of the day on foot.
Amor was almost ready to give up already. He didn’t realize how hard this would actually be.
“Who am I kidding, any changelings out here would be either long gone by now or dead.”
Then he heard a rustling in the tree nearby. Amor walked up to the tree cautiously, and was surprised to find a young changeling soldier, bruises covering his entire body, stuck in a low branch and tangled in vines.
“Hey, are you okay? How long have you been up there?”
The changeling slowly looked down and his eyes widened.
“My king? We thought you left for good!”
“I asked you a question, soldier. Are you hurt?”
“Yes, actually. We were led to Canterlot by the queen, and we were easily defeated. I hit the top of this tree hard, and hit a lot of the branches on the way down. I was caught in this branch ever since. I saw small search party pass, but they left me, said they were starting a new hive, and that the weak were not to be included.”
“What’s your name soldier?”
“Avispa, sir.”
“Well, Avispa, are you ready to give up your old ways to live in piece with ponies?”
“Anything to serve by your side again, sir.”
“Well then, there are a few things you need to do to gain the trust of others, but welcome to Canterlot.”
Avispa’s eyes grew wider.
“Canterlot? You have become allies with Canterlot?”
“Yes, and if you want saved, you must put the old way of the changeling behind you.”
“Alright, I’m with you.”
“Good, but for now, I must bind your magic.”
The soldier hesitated, but after weighing his options, eventually agreed.
“Can you walk, soldier?”
“Probably, I’ve just been stuck in this tree for a week. The blast left me weak, so I wasn’t able to break out of the vines. Would you mind helping me?”
“Sure, just give me a second.”
Amor Concentrated, and a small beam of magic left his horn and swallowed the changeling’s for a second, then he flew up and broke through the vines with ease.
“Avispa, you are to follow me for the time being. Your magic has been bound, so it is now unusable. We will rest at the first sight of water.”
“Yes sir, I will walk at your side.”
“Good, be on the lookout for any other changelings these rouges left to die. They will be saved if I have anything to say about it.”
“Glad to see your honor is still intact, sir.”
Amor and Avispa walked through the forest bordering the mountain. There pace was slow due to Avispa’s injuries, but it was a small cost to save any changeling he could.
They stopped at a pond almost an hour later, Avispa quickly fell to his knees and began to drink all he could stomache. When he was finished, he took a post that he assigned himself with one purpose in mind: guard the king with his life.
“King Amor, permission to ask a question.”
Amor looked at the changeling before answering.
“Granted. What did you want to ask?”
“Why was it you left the hive?”
“I will tell you when we return to Canterlot. For now we shou-“
They heard something crashing through the bushes on the other side of the pond. Avispa was quickly to the edge of the pond, looking to the other side. Amor quickly rose to his hooves. Whatever it was, it was coming fast. The two were amazed to see a rather large changeling wearing a full set of armor, scratched and nearly destroyed by years of battle. He wielded an older spear, shined and still ready for use, obviously kept clean. He looked to the other side of the pond and met eyes with his former king.
“King Amor? I assumed you were dead.”
“Well, I am very much alive. What are you doing out here alone, soldier?”
“I should ask you the same thing.”
Amor looked to the other side of the pond, keeping eye contact with the soldier, but thinking hard. He obviously is an outcast, he wouldn’t be out here alone if otherwise. Let’s see how he responds. Amor then answered his statement.
“I am not to return the hive. They think I am too good natured to lead them, they think I am weak.” That did the trick, because the soldier on the other side of the pond lowered his spear. He then called to Avispa.
“You, soldier, why are you out here?”
“I was weakened when I landed after the blast. I ended up in a tree and a small group left me to die, they said I was too weak. Our king was gracious enough to save me.”
The soldier completely lowered his spear and began walking to the other side of the pond.
“That makes two of us then. I was told not to return to the hive. I was able to survive on my own, but I am growing hungry.”
Amor spoke to the soldier again. “What’s your name, soldier?”
“Escara, sir.”
“Escara, are you willing to give up the old ways of the changeling to live in peace with all ponies?”
“I am in your service, my king, no matter what.”
“Well, there are a few small steps you must follow, but if you are willing, you may join me.”
“I am honored, my king. Just tell me what I need to do.”
“First, I need to bind your magic, also, I need to confiscate that spear.”
Escara looked at the spear before him. “This spear was all I had to use to survive, but if I must part with it, I would only give it to you. Do what must be done.”
Amor cast the binding spell once more. When he was done, he used his magic to lift the spear.
“You will get it back eventually, but you must prove yourself. For the time being, welcome to Canterlot.”
“Canterlot? We are going to Canterlot?”
“Yes. We will head back now. You two will follow me in, and will be kept confined. If your behavior is good enough, you will be given free access to the entire city, but one false move, and you must leave Canterlot for good. Do you both understand?”
The two soldiers looked at each other and nodded. “We understand. We are ready when you are.”
The three changelings entered the castle of Canterlot almost an hour later. When they entered Celestia walked up to them. The soldiers stood straight, and Amor bent down to speak to them quietly.
“Bow. In Canterlot, Celestia rules over all of us, even me.”
At the command the two changeling soldiers bowed before the princess, and Amor quickly followed. Celestia let out a small chuckle.
“It’s not as strict as your king made it sound. I expect that you abide to our laws and follow them properly. Now, what are your names?”
“Escara, ma’am.”
“Avispa, ma’am.”
Celestia stood tall. “Escara and Avispa, former members of the changeling army, you are to be kept locked away until further notice. If you behave well, you may be freed from captivity, and eventually looked at as an equal by the citizens of our town. Do you accept?”
Both of the changelings answered at the same time. “Yes, ma’am. We accept these terms, and will do our best to prove ourselves.”
“I am glad to hear that. Amor, would you lead them to their cell?”
“Yes, princess. Avispa, Escara, follow me.”
“Yes sir.”
Just before they entered the prison area, Amor spoke to the two soldiers.
“You two will be kept in separate cells. As of now, it would be better to keep you separate, keep the guards from thinking you’re planning something.”
“Yes sir.”
“You should know, you two were not the first that I found.”
“How many others are there as of now?” Escara asked with slight curiosity in his voice.
“Just one.” At that moment, the three turned the corner, and the two soldiers saw that one changeling, there queen.
Both looked on in startled disbelief. “My queen!” they both exclaimed as they bowed.
Chrysalis looked up from her bed, slightly surprised to see any other changelings so soon.
“At ease.”
Avispa looked up. “My queen, I thought you were with the hive.”
“No, they left me for dead. As of now, I am no longer part of the hive.”
“Well, it is good to be able to serve you both again,” Said Escara. At that moment, knowing that they had both the queen and the king on their side, the two soldiers were more at ease with the whole idea of being kept locked away.
The two soldiers quickly were accepted into the community. They were skeptical about taking orders from the princess at first, but were quick to adapt and after a week of following orders and, surprisingly, making friends with some of the royal guards, were moved into the guards barracks as there new sleeping quarters. They were the new personal guards of the Amor and Chrysalis, and never left their post unless instructed otherwise by a superior.
“I’m proud of you,” Chrysalis said.
“For what?” Amor looked at her with a questioning look in his face.
“You saved some of our people, even if only two, you have done well.”
“Maybe, but it’s not enough. I feel like there are still others out there, maybe some still alive. Escara was living off the land when I found him, who knows how many others have been doing the same.”
Chrysalis had guilt in her heart. “I want to help you as much as I can.”
“Just a few more weeks, my love.” Chrysalis began to blush. Amor has been calling her that for some time, but she wasn’t sure if it was because of how much he loved her or if it was because he was worried about her. Truthfully, it was both. Amor loved her more than anything, and would do anything in his power to make sure she wouldn’t get hurt again.
“I hope you know I am going with you as soon as I can.”
“I know. And since there is no talking you out of it, our guards are coming, too.” The guards were alert at the cue.
At that, Amor began to leave the cell. “Escara, you’re with me today.”
“Yes sir.” The two left again, intending on finding any other outcasts of the new changeling hive. Even after being unsuccessful for so long, Amor was sure there was somepony out there, hopefully.
It was the same thing. Amor and Escara flew to a new area outside of the forest floor. They searched for hours, but to no avail. They stopped at a small pond and Amor gave his soldier a nod to rest. Escara removed his battle scared helmet for a moment and sat nearby.
“My king, may I ask you a question?” Escara put his helmet back on and sat back, obviously comfortable.
“Yes?”
“Do you really think we will find any others out here.”
“It’s a stretch, but I have hope that we wi-“
“Wait,” Escara quickly sat up, alert. “Something is coming.”
Amor was silent and ready. Something was crashing through the brush behind them. It sounded like it was staggering.
“What is it?” Amor asked in a hushed whisper.
“We’re about to find out. It’s coming this way.”
Escara stood in front of Amor, prepared to protect his king, but nothing would prepare them for what came out. Staggering ten feet in front of them, was a small changeling, too young to fend for itself. It was bruised and bloodied, and barely able to stand. When it looked up, they were shocked to see the it, was a she, with those royal green eyes. She actually looked somewhat like Chrysalis.
“Help me, they’re trying to kill me.”
“Who? Where are they?” Before she answered, they heard a something following the frightened changeling.
“I think she went this way!”
Before they could find out who it was, Amor gave a silent signal to Escara to run, quickly grabbed the small changeling, and soon followed.
“I heard something! This way!”
Amor ran as far as he could. He was unsure where Escara had gotten to, until something tripped him up. It was Escara, who luckily found a small crevice in the mountain wall. Amor quickly pushed the small changeling to Escara before quickly following. After a quick struggle, they were soon hidden, and made no noise as they waited for the group to pass. They were surprised to see it was a group of changeling soldiers. One stood outside for a moment, before being called away.
“I think she went this way, let’s go!” When the three were sure that the search party was gone, Amor looked at Escara.
“Do you know what this means?”
“Yeah, the hive has gone savage, and we have just found the successor to the queen.”
Amor put the little changeling on his back and they were off to Canterlot immediately. They entered the castle quickly. Celestia was sitting in her throne, but was quickly to her hooves when she saw what Amor had found.
“Oh my, what happened to her?”
“The changelings have gone savage. They were hunting her.” Amor looked back to see the small changeling asleep on his back.
“We need to get her treated.”
Amor carried her to the hospital, slightly worried, but not about the young queen to be. He was more worried about the new hive. If they were trying to kill the queen, who is leading them? When they finally got to the hospital, it brought slight relief that she was going to be okay.
“She’ll be fine. She has some cuts and bruises, but nothing serious.”
“Okay, thank you. Is she awake yet?”
“Yes, I will bring her out for you.”
Moments later, the nurse was back with the changeling beside her. Amor bent down to talk to her in a calm and peaceful tone.
“Hi, sweetheart. How are you doing?”
“I’ll be fine, mister. Thank you.”
“Call me Amor. I never caught your name.”
“I…I don’t have one.”
“Well, we’ll fix that soon. So what happened back there?”
“I don’t know. I hatched from my pod and started walking. A little later a bunch of people came into the room and began looking over all the others that hatched. They stopped at me. Some went to get something and came back with lots of spears and stuff. I don’t even remember how I got away.”
“Well, you’re safe now. Come with me.”
“Where are we going?” Amor stopped and looked down at the changeling, a comforting smile on his face.
“We’re going to see your new mother.”
Amor led the way to the cell Chrysalis was in. When they got there, Chrysalis looked up.
“Amor, did you find something? I heard a commotion earlier.”
“Get ready Chrysalis, I have someone who wants to meet you.” At that the small changeling walked out from behind Amor’s leg. Chrysalis’s eyes widened as she walked towards her.
“Hi, I heard you’re my new mommy.”
Chrysalis smiled and tears swelled in her eyes. “I…yes, I am.” “Wow. You look a lot like me.” Chrysalis laughed a little. “What’s your name, little one?”
“I don’t have one yet, but Amor said he’d fix that.” Chrysalis looked up at Amor, a smile still on his face.
“Go ahead, Chrysalis.” Chrysalis looked back down at the changeling in front of her.
“I will call you…Purity. What do you think?”
“I like that name.” the little changeling said as she curled up next to her mother.
Amor thought to himself. Purity. A perfect name for the next queen of our people, never to be corrupt by heartlessness, so innocent. Amor then curled up next to Chrysalis.
“Well, Purity, it’s been a long day for you. What do you say about getting some rest?”
“That sounds like a good idea.” The little changeling curled up against Chrysalis, already half asleep. Moments later, she was out. Chrysalis looked down at the young changeling in her hooves.
“How did you find her?”
“She was being hunted. The rest of the hive was trying to kill her.”
“But why? Why would they try to kill a queen?”
“Who knows. Maybe they have some power hungry leader. Maybe they have gone crazy.”
“Well, she is our last hope.”
“And it looks like you have new duties. You need to teach her what it means to be a queen.”
“I understand.”
“And no more of the old ways. I don’t want you teaching her about invading and attacking.”
Chrysalis let out a small chuckle. “I know.” She then put her head on Amor’s side and drifted into sleep. Soon after, Amor did the same.
Purity, now known as Princess Purity, was learning quickly what it meant to lead. Chrysalis and Celestia were teaching her separately at the time being, but overall she was guided down the path of good. Word spread that the next queen of the changelings was found, and people all over Equestria were talking about it. On top of all of that, Celestia gave Chrysalis permission to leave her cell due to good behavior, when she could walk of course. But the doctor did say that by now she should be fine, and should try walking soon.
“Ready?” Amor was sitting next to Chrysalis in the cell.
“Ready.” With that, Chrysalis began to rise, putting most of her weight into Amor. A look of pain was in her face, but subsided soon after.
“You’re doing good. Don’t strain yourself, we’ll be searching together soon.” A smile took its place on Chrysalis’s face.
“Let’s try getting up the stairs. I’m tired of this dreaded scenery.”
“Do you think you’re ready so soon?”
“One way to find out.” Before the last word was out of her mouth, her front legs were up the first two steps. Now for her bad legs. Slowly, her first one rose and a look of pain was in her face again. Her hoof hit the first step slowly, and her front moved up one more step. Her other back rose up past the first step and onto the second. Five more steps and she reached the first landing.
“You did good, but you still have your wings. Perhaps that would be a better choice for now.”
“Oh. I’ve been sitting around so long I forgot about them.” With a rapid beating of the wings, Chrysalis began hovering over the next few stairs, Amor beside her. They were soon in the throne room, Celestia watching. “So many memories. So many bad memories.”
“Well, Queen Chrysalis, I am glad to see you up and around again.”
“Mommy, you’re walking!” Purity ran towards the queen, who bent down to meet her.
“Yes I am, little one. What have you been up to?”
“I’ve been learning so much from Miss Celestia about equal treatment and showing respect to those below and above you.”
“Ah, a good lesson indeed,” Amor said, helping Chrysalis back to her feet.
“Come now, Purity,” said Celestia. “Let’s leave these two to explore.”
“Actually princess, I have a question.”
“Yes, Amor?”
“Well, it’s just that, Chrysalis is starting to walk again, and she’s been down in that cell for some time. I don’t feel comfortable leaving her side. Would it be okay if we moved her into my old room?”
Celestia smiled at Amor. “Of course. You two are to be moved back into the extra room.” She then looked down at Purity. “Would you like your own room? If it’s okay with your parents, that is.”
Amor looked at Chrysalis, who soon answered. “If she would like one.”
Purity’s looked up at Celestia. “Do I really get my own room?”
“Of course. Change of plans I guess. Amor, you two will be moved to a different room, Purity will be across the hall.”
Amor was about to thank the princess, but was stopped when Escara and Avispa rushed into the room, followed by two royal guards.
“Escara, Avispa, what do you have to report?”
“Sir,” Avispa paused before continuing. “A changeling entered Canterlot moments ago. He said he is from the new hive.”
Amor looked at the guards, thinking this whole thing was a joke. Moments later, he realized it wasn’t. he looked at one of the royal guards.
“Soldier, look after the young princess for a moment.” He then bent down to speak to Purity. “Stay here with the nice guard, okay?”
“Okay.”
Moments later, the rest of the group flew through the door, Avispa and Escara leading, followed by Amor, at his side Chrysalis was hovering, behind them was Celestia and the remaining guard. They were soon at a small cell holding a single changeling. Amor stepped forward.
“You are either the bravest changeling I’ve met or the stupidest. What are you doing here?”
“I heard that the next changeling queen was being housed here. Is she?”
“Why do you want to know? The ‘new hive’ was trying to kill her!”
“I-I wasn’t part of that! I never wanted them to hurt her, but they would have killed me if I said anything!”
Amor stepped closer to the cell, almost pressing his head to the barred door. “You are going to talk, and you are going to tell me everything. Now.”
The changeling stepped back. There was a small quiver in his voice, but he spoke. “Wh-what do you want to know.”
“Where are the rest of you, how did you get here, what has become of our hive, why are you trying to kill each other, and who is leading you?”
The changeling stepped back again, shaking in fear at the sight of the furious king. “Alright, I escaped from the hive. We were held up at the remains of the old hive, your hive. Soon after, when the queen had gotten away, our leader was furious. Soon after, rumors spread that the former king and queen had returned, and that they, along with the next queen, were held up in Canterlot. Panic spread through the hive. We were gathering what we could, and I saw my chance to escape. Did I forget anything?”
“Who is leading you? Why are you trying to kill each other?” Amor was beginning to calm down, but he needed these answers.
“We had orders to either leave the weak or kill them. Our new leader gave us orders to kill any royalty born. Our new leader was one of the top soldiers due to his aggression and power, he goes by Hornet.”
“Hornet?”
“He prefers ‘King’ Hornet.”
“Alright where did King Hornet say you were going?”
“I don’t know, he never told us. He just said we were leaving Equestria, said it was too dangerous now that the former king and queen, along with three alicorns and the next queen, were all living here. Not to mention the Elements of Harmony.”
Amor let out a sigh. “Well that’s good news and bad news. Good news, the rest of the brutes have left Equestria, we have the next queen safe, and we may be able to save some more changelings. Bad news, we have a whole hive of aggressive changelings out there and we don’t know where, other than being savage these changelings have some ability to strategize and plan, and they may have already killed any changelings who tried to escape.” He thought for a moment. “Princess, I need three small strike teams, five to ten soldiers each. Avispa and Escara, you two have already been in the hive before. You two are to lead two of the strike teams, I will lead the third. Be prepared for an ambush, we don’t know if what he said was true. We are looking for any changelings we can find. We will save any if we can, but if they fight, fight back.”
Chrysalis stepped towards him. “I’m going with you.”
“No. You’re still too badly injured. If anything happens, I’m not sure if you would be able to get away. I just… I just don’t want you to get hurt again. Stay here with Purity.”
An hour later, the three strike teams were set up, eight members each, each led by a changeling. Amor stood before them, a satchel on his back.
“If any are found, Escara or Avispa are to approach first. They may be more cooperative to a fellow changeling. Make sure to mention that you were sent by the former king. Say nothing more and watch their reaction. If they still cooperate, take them, if they attack, strike. Let’s go!”
With that, the twenty-four pegasi and three changelings began flying through the afternoon, flying in three awkward triangles in the sky. After almost seven hours of nonstop flying, the team found the old hive, half destroyed, but still standing. When they entered, the inside was destroyed. The pegasi marveled at the changeling craftsmanship.
“Alright, we will split up from here. Keep your eyes open for anything. Avispa, lead your team through the east side of the hive, stopping at the castle. Escara, you take the east with the same instructions. My team, we go straight north and into the castle. We will then regroup at the castle gate where Escara, Avispa and I will search the hatching chambers. The rest of you will stand guard. Go!” At the call, the three groups were dispatched.
They searched for hours. Amor’s group had no luck, but he was hoping they would find something soon. I wonder if the others are having any luck. Just as he finished his thought, he heard one of his soldiers.
“King Amor! We found one!” Amor was quickly at the soldiers side. In front of him was a small female changeling, battered and beaten. She was stuck under fallen rubble, but it wasn’t crushing her.
“Ma’am, do you know who I am?”
The changeling looked up at him, and a smile spread across her face. “Of course I do. Your our king, the real king. You’re the best thing I’ve seen for weeks.”
“What happened to you?”
She looked down to the ground. “Well, I’m sure by now you have heard about the attack on Canterlot. Well, I wasn’t part of the attack, so I was waiting for their return. When they returned, they were crazy. They said only the strong would be accepted, and that we needed to prove ourselves. If we failed, we would be sent out on our own. After the remainder of the hive passed, he took power. King Hornet he called himself. Things just got worse from there. They started taking their anger out on each other. When the hive was in panic, I heard a loud crash and I was stuck. They thought I was dead, didn’t even bother to check. They just left.”
Amor looked down at the changeling. “You’re safe now.” His horn began to glow and the larger rocks slowly rose. He then looked at two of the soldiers nearby. “Help her to her feet. She will need help standing for some time, so stay by her at all times.” There were no more changelings on their route, so they entered the castle.
“Spread out. Look for anypony who survived.” He looked at the two pegasi and young changeling. “You three, stay here and wait for the rest of them.” Amor wanted to search his room, alone. He made his way up the large staircase to the room, only to find it nearly empty. The mirror, cracked and slightly ajar, was still on the wall. He walked up to it and stared at himself for a while.
“I haven’t changed since the last time I looked into this. I failed, just like I said I would. So I saved a lucky few who survived, but for what? I’m still the same abomination I was the last time I was here, lucky to have what I have.”
“King Amor? Is that you?”
Amor spun around quickly to see another changeling standing beside his old bed.
“How long have you been there?”
“Since the new hive left. I figured they would never look in the royal chambers for a lowly worker. But what are you doing here? Last I heard you were in Canterlot.”
“I came to search for any signs of the hive. So you’re certain they have left?”
“I haven’t heard anything.”
“Well, go downstairs and report to one of the pegasi there. Give them your name and wait with any others down there.”
The changeling was about to leave, but Amor stopped him.
“Wait.”
“Yes, my king?”
“You…you are not to tell anypony what you heard up here, understood?”
“Understood.” With that, he continued downstairs.
Amor continued looking through his room, only to find the only thing salvageable was a large amount of bits he left when he left, the blanket on the bed, and the bed itself. Well, it’ll be the only souvenir I can find. He folded the blanket up and stuffed it into one side of his satchel and took all the bits he found. It was then that he noticed the picture frame on one of the tables against the wall. Something little that he hadn’t paid much attention to when he lived here, but looking at it now, it brought him back years. In the picture, he was standing in the forest outside of the hive, Chrysalis was hugging him, hanging off of his neck while they looked at the camera, both smiling. Amor couldn’t help but smile at the picture. He took it out of the cracked frame and carefully slid it into the satchel. Soon after, a soldier came into the room.
“King Amor, the other two teams have returned. More survivors were found, some in the castle while you were up here.”
Amor walked downstairs into the throne room. There were definitely more than four changelings in the room, but not enough to be happy about. Avispa and Escara walked towards him
“Sir, my team found three more survivors,” Avispa said, looking straight at Amor.
“My team found four. Sadly, only two were saved.”
Amor looked down at Escara. “Did they attack?”
“One did, yes. I mentioned that you were here and he threw himself at me. I had to fight back. The other we found very weak. It was evident he wasn’t going to survive.”
“I see. This is very sad to here. Well, we saved some at least.” He walked to one of the nearby guards. “I want you to get the names of all the changelings we have found so far. The three of us are going to the hatching chambers.”
Amor walked to the hatching chamber in the far east of the hive, followed by the two changeling soldiers. Escara got closer behind Amor.
“Sir, why are we the only three going to search?”
“Because, I don’t think the royal guards know what to look for in here. As for the changelings we saved, I don’t know if they can be trusted yet.”
The three finally reached the hatching chamber, nearly empty other than a few empty pods.
“Just as I thought. They took the young, too. Look around, see if they missed anything.”
The three searched for hours, finding only one unhatched pod.
“Alright, we need two of us to carry this. Are you two willing?”
“Of course we are. Let’s get this thing out of here.” The pod was detached from the ceiling and was carefully attached to the two soldiers, now having to fly in harmony.
Amor entered the throne room once again and the guard he ordered to write down the names came forward, handing a piece of paper to him. Amor looked down at the paper.
“Ten changelings.” He then made his way to the front of the room before calling out to the changelings in the room. “Alright, I need all the changelings found today to line up before me!”
Quickly, the changelings lined up in front of the king.
“I am going to call out your names. Say ‘here’ when you hear your name. Deciet?”
“Here!” called one of the changelings near the middle.
“Serenity?”
“Here,” called the changeling Amor’s team found stuck.
“Agony?”
“Here.”
“Rapture.”
“Here.”
“Respite.”
“Here.”
“Reverence.”
“Here.”
“Cielo.”
“Here.”
“Souls.”
“Here.”
“Apostate.”
“And Penance.”
“Here.”
“Anyone I did not call?” Silence filled the room for a moment. “Okay. We found one pod in the hatching chamber. Would anyone be willing to take the pod?” Silence filled the room once more.
“I’ll take it,” a changeling, Cielo, said as she stepped forward.
“Okay, now that that’s out of the way, we need to go over some rules. You are to be kept in holding cells during the beginning of your stay. If and when you prove you are willing to put your old ways behind you and live a peaceful life with the ponies of Canterlot, you will be free to roam. Any questions?” Once again, silence. “Good. Welcome to Canterlot.”
The team decided to stay the night in the remains of the hive.
“Go back to your homes and see what you can salvage. We will sleep in the throne room tonight, since it seems to be the most structurally sound area of the hive. Be back in two hours. If you feel it is needed, you can take a guard with you.” Sure enough, twenty members from the group left in pairs. Amor sat on the remains of his throne, rubbing his temple. “What am I going to do?”
Escara and Avispa, who had just finished securing the pod to the lowest point in the roof, had returned. “Sir, is something wrong?”
Amor looked up. “Well, it’s good we are increasing in numbers, but I was hoping that we would be stronger in numbers by now. Soon enough, Celestia is sure to kick us out of Canterlot.”
“Would she really do that? She seems to have grown attached to the young queen.”
Amor higher, his eyes dazed in thought. “Maybe.” He then shook his head and came back to reality. “You two are allowed to go to your old residence if you would like.”
“Thank you, sir. We will be back in an hour, maybe two.”
After two hours, the entire team was one again, many of the changelings returning with bags filled with memories and blankets that were lied down, used as bedding. They huddled together in a large group, two guards rotating from their shifts every few hours. Amor used his throne as his bed. Even with routine guards, there were no reports of returning changelings. The night was peaceful, and everyone slept peacefully. The next morning, they were up and ready to go. Amor took one last look around his decrepit throne room. He looked back at his and Chrysalis’s old thrones. They were solid black, other than the cushion and decorating pearls. They were taller than he was, and his was topped with a small dragon’s head with a single pearl under its jaw. Down the rests on the sides were more of these pearls. His horn began to hum. Multiple cracks were heard as the green pearls decorating the thrones began breaking free. Every last one of them was removed, and Amor put them into two separate parts of his satchel. He turned to see one of the royal guards staring at him awkwardly.
“Souvinirs. They bring back memories.”
The group of now twenty-four pegasi and thirteen changelings made their way back to Canterlot in a defensive position. Escara and Avispa, still carrying the single pod, were in the center of the group. Surrounding them were the changelings found at the old hive. Surrounding them, with three in front, behind, to the left and to the right, and six above and below, were the royal guards. Leading the group back was Amor, in front of the large barricade. They returned to Canterlot half a day later.
Chrysalis was amazed to see so many changelings heading into the adjacent cells. When Amor entered behind them, she hobbled over to him.
“How many did you find? It seems like you found a lot!”
“Not enough. We found ten and one pod.”
“A pod! That’s wonderful! Where is it?”
“Being moved into the cell with the changeling who chose to take it. Her name is Cielo.”
“Even if you think otherwise, ten is still more than I ever thought you would find.”
“Maybe, but if we only have ten, there are probably thousands with that false king.”
Chrysalis put a hoof to his mouth, having slightly more trouble balancing on only one good leg. “Amor, stop thinking, it only brings you trouble.” She smiled. Amor saw that she was happy, and therefore, he was happy.
“Do you really think I’ve done that well?”
“Of course. If you didn’t realize, more showed up while you were out, all heard that the two queens and the king were here and were willing to cooperate.” Amor looked down the long row of cells. That was when he saw more than ten changelings, nearly twenty were held up, some had two in a cell.”
“How many are there?”
“Two groups showed up, both had four changelings who found each other during their travels.”
“And none of them had any info about-“
“What did I say about thinking about him?” She smiled once again. “But yes, that’s the best part. He fled Equestria! We will never hear from him again.”
Amor closed his eyes. “My only regret is not saving more, but this is great news.”
“Amor.”
“I know, I know, stop blaming myself.” He hesitated for a moment. “If we grow any more than we already are, we’re going to need to start a new hive.”
“Where?”
“We’ll find out when we need to, but I’ll need to speak to Celestia.” Before he walked away, he turned back to look at Chrysalis one last time before heading to Celestia’s throne.
“Princess, may I speak with you for a moment?”
Celestia looked down at him from her seat. “Of course, go ahead.”
“Thank you. While I am very glad to see we have found some changelings, I fear we are becoming too much of a burden on Canterlot.”
“Nonsense, I enjoy meeting your kind. And, well, I love spending time with Purity.”
“I know, but if we take up any more space, we will need to make a new hive.”
“Are there enough of you?”
“It’s a stretch, but we will make do.”
“I…I see. Well, you can leave when you feel it is right.”
Amor looked up and saw a childish look in Celestia’s face. She didn’t want her company to leave yet, and she did grow attached to Purity. “Well, we could wait for our numbers to grow, and it would be better for the pod if we wait for it to hatch. Moving it this much can’t be good for it.”
Celestia looked up, a smile across her face. “I am glad to hear that. I have many more lessons for our new changeling queen.”
Amor looked at his satchel and an idea came into his head. “Is there a jeweler in town?”
“Yes, there is.” Celestia gave Amor directions to the shop and Amor was off.
He found the shop almost ten minutes later and walked inside. There were display cases everywhere, filled with gold, silver, diamond, and other jewelery.
“May I help y-wait, you’re the changeling king!”
“Yes, and?”
“Well, i-it’s an honor to be in your presence.”
“All I want is to be treated like any other pony.”
“Of course, so how can I help you?”
Amor’s horn hummed and the pearls from Chrysalis’s throne floated out of his bag. “Could these be made into a necklace?”
The jeweler, an older stallion with a white coat, mane, and tail and a cutie mark depicting a diamond, looked at the green pearls. “I’ve never seen anything like these before, but rest assured, it will be done. Return tomorrow.”
“How much will I owe you?” Amor asked, ready to pull out the remaining pearls as payment.
“Oh no, you don’t owe anything. For what you’re doing, you deserve this. It will be done tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. No need to pay me.”
“Alright, thank you then.”
Amor returned to the castle, tired as ever. He entered his new room, Chrysalis waiting for him.
“I’ve been waiting for you to return.”
“I know, I’m sorry.”
Chrysalis walked up to him and wrapped her hooves around his neck. “Don’t apologize. You are a good king, a great king. I love you, no matter what.”
Amor remembered the picture in his bag. He levitated it out and held it before Chrysalis. “I found this in our room.”
Chrysalis took the picture, looking at it with awe. “I was wondering if I’d ever see this again. Remember that day?” Chrysalis’s eyes filled with tears as she recalled the better times of her life. She once again put her hooves around Amor, squeezing even tighter. “I love you. If there has ever been a time when you thought otherwise, know now that I always loved you, and always will.”
“I know. And you know I always have and always will love you. We will be together forever this time.”
“This time?” Chrysalis looked at him, one eyebrow raised.
“I will not leave again.”
She then closed her eyes and smiled. “I know, you told me.”
The week went on uneventful. No more changelings appeared for a while, but the pod hatched. The adoptive mother, Cielo, named the hatched changeling Sheol. Amor, still thinking that the changelings were too much for Canterlot, felt he needed to look for a new place to start over.
“Amor, we are still weak. We need more time before we can start building.” Chrysalis said to him, still certain that there were more changelings out there. “Twenty-two changelings and two children is no way to start a hive. We need to wait.”
“I know, but we don’t have many choices. We are taking up too much room as it is. Can we really wait any longer?”
“Celestia herself told you we can wait longer. I don’t want to take advantage of her hospitality, I’m surprised she didn’t have me killed for what I did, but we are in no condition to move.”
Amor looked at her, knowing she was right. The hive was weak, but how much longer would Celestia put up with them? “You’re right, but still, I’m going to look around in the area. Since we have a kind of peace with Canterlot, maybe Celestia will allow us to build nearby. That way, we won’t have to move far and we know the area somewhat.”
Chrysalis looked at Amor, slightly irritated, but she knew it wasn’t a bad plan. “Alright, but I think Celestia should know about your plan. She should be willing to agree if it means seeing Purity.”
“Okay, it’s settled, I will look around the area for a new hive after speaking to Celestia.”
Moments later, Amor found himself before Celestia, presenting his plans of moving.
“Princess, if it wouldn’t be asking too much, I think I have an idea for our hive.”
“Go on.”
“I am planning on looking through the areas near the mountain. If I find a place where the changelings would be able to build a new hive, I will come back and notify you. All I’m asking is for permission to build on the land owned by Canterlot.”
“Well depending on the land, you might be able to build. I will give you a map so you know where you are. When the proper land is found, mark it on the map and return to me. I’ll see what I can do from there.”
“That’s perfect. Thank you, princess.” Amor took the map that Celestia handed to him, and he was off to search.
When he got to the ground, Amor looked over the map. “Well, we need a mountainside or a cliff to start with. So that lookes like the best place to start,” he said, staring at an area on the map marked with upside-down V’s, meaning a mountainous area. “If we can build anywhere, it would be there. So if I’m here,” he said, looking at the small area outside of Canterlot on the map, “Then I have to travel north.” He then began trotting to the area he marked.
After two hours of walking, Amor reached the first cliff. “It’s good, but there are too many trees in the area.” He then began walking the side of the mountain, looking for an area best for building.
“Keep going. You’re closer than you think.”
Amor froze in his tracks. He looked back and forth looking for some source to the voice. Was he really hearing it again? It sounded strangely like the voice in his dreams. “I must be going crazy.”
“Oh no you’re not. Keep going.”
There it is again. Should he follow it? “I…I must find the answers.” He soon found himself in a trot, heading in the same direction.
“Keep going.”
Amor pushed on, moving slightly faster.
"Getting closer."
Amor began running, sure he was going to find answers.
“Almost there.”
Amor found himself in a full sprint. Was he really about to get the answers he was promised?
“You may stop. Right here.”
Amor skidded to a stop, nearly leaving a trail behind him. He found himself in a clearing. “Yeah, couldn’t have picked a better spot to get my answers. Running through the heavy woods, and I’m told to stop in the only clearing for miles.”
“Step forward.”
With a sigh, Amor began walking into the center of the clearing. He saw nothing special in the area. There were the trees, the grass, a puddle, the leaves, and the wind. “What am I looking for?”
“Just walk.”
Amor did as instructed, looking around for anything or anypony. The light glimmered off of the puddle nearby, and something caught his eyes. “What was that?” Amor walked up to the puddle and found that it looked slightly different than a normal puddle. Nothing was noticeably different about the puddle, so why did it look so different?
“You are here.”
Amor looked straight out into the woods, confused. “I’m here? I’m at a puddle. I traveled all this time, I was promised all these answers, and I get a puddle?”
“Look at yourself in the reflection. What do you see?”
Amor did as instructed and saw…and saw…his reflection, as expected. “What does this do for me?”
“Look closer.”
Amor got closer to the puddle, but still nothing changed. “This is pointless.” Amor kept staring at his reflection. He was about to turn away, but something wouldn’t let him. Suddenly, something grabbed him. It was a pair of ghostly white hooves, wrapped around his horn and pulling his face into the puddle. He tried fighting back, but since he was sitting when it grabbed him, he had no time to properly stand, and was easily pulled in. He found it was much deeper than he thought it was. His entire body was submerged, and he couldn’t breathe. He blacked out.
After what felt like hours, Amor awoke. He didn’t want to open his eyes, they felt too heavy. His whole body was numb, so he lied there for a few minutes. First the feeling came back into his legs. He felt around and was surprised by what he felt. Sand. He was lying in sand, and he had no memory of sand anywhere near him. Then the rest of his body came back. He couldn’t feel any sunlight, but then why was it so hot? It felt like he was on top of a volcano. Then finally, he gained the courage to open his eyes. He was looking up at the sky, but the sky wasn’t there. It was night, but there was no moon, no stars, no wind. He turned his head, looking out at the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. He was looking out at an ocean. Something under the water caused it to glow a beautiful reddish orange. Over the water was a rockbridge, naturally created by years of wear.
“Welcome to all the answers of the world.”
Amor shifted his vision to look up somewhat. He saw an angel-like mare. She was literally a glowing white pony with long white hair, and her tail was the same. She had silk wraps hanging off of her body, but they were flowing, along with her hair, as if they were the only thing in this strange place that could catch a breeze.
Amor tried to talk, but his throat was extremely dry. It felt like he hadn’t said a single word for weeks and hasn’t had anything to drink for a day. After five minutes of trying to speak, he finally got his voice back.
“Where am I?”
The angel spoke in a calm voice. “This, is the sea of memories.”
“What happened to me?”
“You’re dead.”
“WHAT!”
The angel giggled. “Just kidding. You are in a state of mind beyond any other.”
“So, I’m imagining this?”
“In some ways yes. But this is where you will find the answers you are looking for. Please rise.”
Amor tried to rise to his feet, but struggled. It was as if he forgot how to stand. He fell over a few times, but finally struggled to his feet.
“What questions do you have?”
“So many. Why do I have a Cutie mark? How did leaving help the hive?”
“One by one, please. So, you want to know about your cutie mark? Step to the edge of the water.”
Amor struggled, but finally made his way to the water’s edge. He looked down at the water.
“Now, let’s start with when you got your cutie mark.”
Suddenly, the water changed in more ways than one. The surface showed Amor under the tree again, looking over his newly gotten cutie mark. It was like watching his memories unfold before him. Suddenly, the picture changed to a young changeling who Amor never knew. She was in a room with an older changeling, who Amor presumed was her mother. The older one was crying, when the younger one cast some kind of spell on her. She then stopped crying, a look of happiness filled her eyes as she hugged the younger changeling. Soon after, she was walking down a road alone, when she saw a mark on her flank. It was much like Amor’s, but instead of a mended heart, it was a full one, not yet broken. She then was attacked by changeling soldiers, and the water faded back to normal.
“What was that?”
The Angel looked at him with a neutral look now in her face. One that Amor thought meant she was saddened. “These are not just your memories. These are the memories of all ponies of the world. If it wasn’t clear to you, they lied to you. You were not the first to have a cutie mark, the first preceded you by almost a century. Being a lowly worker, she was executed for being different. With no one else knowing her spell of happiness, it was lost.”
“But why do I have one? Why just me and not all the changelings?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I would like to bring up a memory from your dark past. Memories of your blackened heart.”
Amor stared at the water, but nothing happened. He waited, but still no picture.
“Figure it out yet?”
“No. Still lost here.”
“You have no dark memories. Your past is clean, filled with good deeds and negative thoughts, but no dark memories. Do you get it yet?”
“Still don’t get it.”
“All changelings have cutie marks, but soon after they appear, they blacken as dark as their hearts. Your heart, however, is pure, so your cutie mark didn’t fade.”
“I think I get it now. But why wasn’t I executed like the other one was?”
“There is a big difference between killing a worker and killing the king. They found it easier to lie to you.”
“Who all knew about it?”
“Only those who were above you. The former king and queen didn’t want to kill you, so they told you that you were the first. No one else ever knew about the young girl.”
“Okay, so then why did I need to leave the hive?”
Suddenly, a picture appeared in the water. It was the night when he and the changeling were planning attacks. When he saw the scene before him, he remembered the night, and the audio played in his head. That is all you want to do is wait! Look at your people and tell me, can they wait any longer?
“Remember that day? Of course you do. Well when he left, he was still extremely angry, especially so when Chrysalis intervened. But he was not the only one.”
More scenes appeared before him all at once. In the middle was the original, above it was a changeling watching Amor when he bumped into the servant, angered when he thought Amor picked favorites. Below the original was that same changeling speaking with others, stirring them and causing them to join his opinion. To the left, three changelings walking through the woods after the attack on Canterlot, hearing pleas for help from the queen and hissing in her presence. To the right, a soldier wearing a makeshift crown, leading hundreds of agitated changelings, who were fighting and trying to kill each other.
“When you left the hive, the true sides of all your changelings appeared. Those who were angered by the way you led went savage. The one who was in that tent with you, Hornet, went on to lead these savages. But those who were still true to you were always behind you. Some found you, others are still out there. But they will survive, and eventually, they will find you.”
“So, you thinned out the heard in a way?”
“Not me. These all were events of destiny. I just needed to lead you to make the right decisions.”
“But wait, I’m in a state of mind, aren’t I dreaming? Why can’t Luna find you?”
“This is too deep in your thoughts. At first, you were too far away. I could only contact you in your nightmares by altering them. When you went to search for a new hive location, you stumbled in range.”
“I see. Well, I’ve gotten my answers, how do I get out of here?”
“That is the final test. To leave, you must answer this question truthfully. Do you forgive yourself?”
Something Amor hadn’t thought of for a while. Does he truly believe himself, or is he in denial? How do you answer a question like this? Then, like someone was telling him what to say, the words came out.
“I will never be able to forgive myself for some of the things that I have done. I left my queen, I let her get hurt. But overall, I know now that some of the things that happened were things I had no control over. So to answer your question, yes, I forgive myself for my mistakes.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes”
“You’re not fighting yourself to say that?”
“I’m certain.”
“Very well. You are at peace with yourself. I will give you one gift before you go.”
Another memory appeared in the water. An elder unicorn, sitting at his desk, was creating a spell. He wrote in his journal, titled ‘Pure of Heart’. Soon after, the unicorn tested his spell on multiple criminals. A dragon, an extremely agitated griffon, and an aggressive changeling. None of them knew why they were there. The unicorn entered and walked to the first cell, the griffon. His horn began to glow and he touched the griffons head with it. With a flash, the griffon closed his eyes. He was no longer trying to escape, he was calm. Next was the changeling. When the unicorn approached, he hissed. The unicorn’s horn began to glow again and touched with the changeling’s. Soon, the changeling was calm again. Next, the dragon, who’s head was tied down. The unicorn approached carefully, his horn glowing again. Once again he touched the dragon’s head, and the dragon was more docile than ever.
“That unicorn created the first ever pure heart spell. Sadly, he died before the spell was ever known. It has been lost, until now.”
A bowl appeared in front of her. The angel then floated down to the water and filled the bowl with the memory played before Amor. She then held the bowl in front of him. “Drink.” As the angel held the bowl to Amor’s lips, he drank the waters, and he remembered things that were not of his memory. Soon, he finished the water. “I have just shared with you the knowledge of someone else’s memory. You now have the ability to cast the pure heart spell, but I must warn you, the spell consumes a lot of energy and will not change someone’s past. Meaning if you use that spell on a changeling, which I know you will, their cutie marks will not reappear.”
“I understand.”
“With that, then, I bid you goodbye.”
Amor awoke again, back in the land of the living. When he got up, he saw the rest of the puddle slowly seep into the earth’s surface. He shook his head and realized that he wasn’t imagining what he saw, for his horn was glowing. It wasn’t the normal changeling glow, his horn simply turned to a blinding white, and slowly faded back to normal.
Amor looked around the area he was drawn to. It was actually perfect for the hive. No trees, the cliffside was right there and was rather wide. He looked at the map and found where he was. He circled a large area. He rolled the map up and began walking. He began staggering as he moved and his wings were too numb. He couldn’t fly yet, but as he walked his sight got slightly clearer and clearer. He finally was able to see straight after ten minutes, but still couldn’t fly. He wanted to believe what happened to him back there, but the memories he now had, the spell he now knew, they said otherwise.
During his travels he began talking to himself. “There is only one reason she would have given me that spell, but why did she choose me? Is it because I am pure by her standards? Is it because I created an alliance between the changelings and-“ He stopped short at the wretched smell of rotting flesh. It smelled like it had been sitting in the sun for weeks. He looked for the source and sadly found it to be a changeling, left to die.
“Poor soul. I am so sorry. I should have found you sooner, but I was too late. You deserve better than this.” He began digging with his hooves. He was sore, numb, and lost to emotions, but he dug.
After hours of digging, his hooves were cut and battered, but he was done. It was dark, but he didn’t care. He gently picked up the corpse of the changeling with his spell and set it in the hole. “May you be guided to your place in the beyond world.” He then began kicking the loose dirt back in the hole.
By the time he was done, his hooves were packed with dirt and were screaming with pain. Luckily, he regained the feeling in his wings and hovered the rest of the way back to Canterlot.
“Amor, where have you been. And what happened to you?” Chrysalis looked over a dirty and battered Amor.
“I…found another changeling.”
“That’s great! Where is he?” She patiently waited for an answer, but his expression said it all. “Oh.”
“I gave him a somewhat proper burial.”
“I’m sorry. I know you care about all of them.”
“Please, I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to take a shower and go to sleep.”
“Of course. Forget I said anything.”
Amor washed the dirt away. As he stepped out, drying himself with a towel, he looked in the mirror again. He was the same as he was last time he looked at himself. He was tired, worried, stressed, but something was different this time. He didn’t have the same thoughts towards himself.
“I am at peace with myself.”
He walked into the bedroom to find Chrysalis, already asleep, lying in bed. Amor clicked the light off and made his way across the room, using only the moonlight to see. He gently lied down in bed and looked at Chrysalis. Soon, but not yet. Amor drifted to sleep with only the thought of purifying her heart, unsure of what it would do.
Amor woke up the next morning, alone in his bed. Chrysalis was already going on with her day of teaching. Amor looked out the window, now on the other side of the garden. It was a beautiful morning, and Amor was ready. He walked into the throne room, Celestia in her throne.
“Amor, we missed you last night. What happened?”
“I’d…rather not talk about it.”
“Very well. Did you find a site for your hive?”
“Yes. There is a clearing against a cliff that would be perfect for the hive to begin when we are ready.” He then handed the map to Celestia. She looked over the map for a few moments, then rolled it up.
“This area seems fine. There are no current owners of the land, so you may begin building when ready, but I think it would be a good idea to leave Princess Purity here while she is being taught.”
Amor thought for a moment, then came to a conclusion. “I will have to see what Chrysalis says. She has more authority than I do. Either way, I would much rather wait for more changelings, but I don’t see that happening soon.”
“Very well, if there is nothing more to report, you may go.”
Amor wanted to leave, but something told him to say more. Something deep inside. “Actually, I have something to report.”
“Yes, is it important?”
“Yes. You may have a hard time believing me.”
“What is it?”
“Well…I…was having dreams before I left the hive. They were the reason I left.”
“Yes, Luna told me.”
“Well, I found the pony communicating with me.”
Her eyes widened. “Really? Who was it?”
“I don’t know. She was an angel of some sort, or maybe a guardian.”
“A guardian? Of what?”
“Memories.”
“I don’t follow.”
“Me neither.”
“What do you mean?”
“I would much rather talk about this in private.”
“Very well.” She then looked at the guards below her throne. “You may leave.”
The two guards left the room, and Amor continued. “Have you heard of the sea of memories?”
“No, I am not familiar with the story.”
“It’s not a story.”
“What do you mean? You’re making little sense.”
Amor let out a sigh, and told the events that happened the day before. “I was looking for a place to build the hive. Somehow, the voice started talking to me again. I followed where it led me, which was to a puddle in the open. When I got closer, I was dragged into the water, only to find it was not a puddle, but a portal of the mind.”
“I see. Go on.”
“Well, when I woke up, I found myself on a strange red beach, and an angel floated down in front of me. She gave me the answers promised, and a little gift.”
“What kind of gift?”
“The memories of a pony. I can now cast a spell that can purify the hearts of any. She told me it was the first and last, and that it was lost with his passing. Have you heard of a pure heart spell?”
Celestia thought, slightly confused. “No. the only thing I have heard of with that ability would be the combined abilities of the elements of harmony, and even that is chance.”
“Well, she gave it to me as a gift, and then I awoke. When I looked over, the puddle began dissolving in some way.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing, but if you’re telling the truth, you know what you must do.”
“I know, give me time, and I will.”
Amor had nothing he needed to do today, and after yesterday, he would rather walk around the castle. He walked around, marveling at every sight, and eventually, found himself in the dungeon. What once was a dark place for all had been turned into a cheerful place for the remaining changelings. With the lack of crime in Equestria, the cells were never used until the changelings moved in. Amor walked down the long hall, cells on either side of him, decorated with heirlooms and other things the changelings salvaged from their homes. Pictures, sculptures, paintings, and other things decorating the stone walls. Amor noticed one of the changelings wearing a necklace, and Amor remembered something. He was off.
Ten minutes later, Amor found himself in the jeweler’s shop. The white stallion looked up at him and smiled.
“You never showed up yesterday. I didn’t think you were coming back.”
“Sorry, something came up. Is it ready?”
“Yes, hold on while I get it.”
The jeweler left and reappeared moments later, holding a green pearl necklace. There were seven pearls, set in a black metal, all spread out equally on a necklace, decorated with spacers made of the same black metal, with carvings up and down each one, obviously done painstakingly by hand. Amor looked on in amazement at the beautiful creation in front of him.
“And you don’t want anything in return?”
“Of course not. It was my pleasure creating this.”
“I don’t feel right taking this.” He then pulled out the bits he found in his room. “Here, take this.”
“Oh no, that won’t be necessary.”
“Just take it.” The shop owner did as instructed and took the bits from Amor.
“Thank you. You are very kind.”
“You deserve it. This is great work.”
“Thank you.” Amor took the necklace and left the shop.
He returned to the castle, ready to give Chrysalis her gift, and…help her. He entered his room and Chrysalis, who was looking out the window, turned to see him.
“There you are.” She walked to him in a half trot, half limp.
“You’re walking better.”
“Yes. It’s a little sore, but I’ve been doing better.”
“That’s good to hear. I got you a gift.”
“Really? You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know, but you deserve it.” He then showed her the pearl necklace. She stared at it in aw, unsure what to say.
“It’s beautiful.”
“It’s made from the pearls off of your throne.”
“I love it.”
Amor put the necklace on Chrysalis, trying to piece together what to say to her about purifying her.
“Chrysalis.”
“Yes?”
“If…if I said…that I could make your heart pure…would you agree?”
“What do you mean?”
“All the things that you have done that could be considered…evil…have been corrupting your heart. If you could …fix that…would you?”
Chrysalis hesitated for a moment, unsure on how to answer him. “I… would. I want to feel bad about the things I have done, but I can’t. if I could be saved, yes, but I can’t be saved.”
Amor walked closer to Chrysalis and held her tight. “That was all I wanted to hear. Hold still.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Just hold still.” Amor locked his horn with Chrysalis’s, and closed his eyes. His horns began to glow. Suddenly, her eyes began to glow just as white and just as bright. Then, a flash. Amor’s horn dulled, and so did Chrysalis’s eyes. She stood there, shocked by what just happened. She then fell on the ground, crying.
“All those people I hurt. Celestia, Cadence, Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkles, all our people that I had hurt, killed, just because I wanted to feed. It’s all my fault.”
Amor knelt down beside her and put a hoof on her chin, gently pulling her head up to look into her eyes. “I’m here for you. Share your pain with me.” She then put her head on his shoulder, still crying. Amor held her, trying to comfort her. They stayed there together on the floor for hours, until Chrysalis stopped crying, and fell asleep in Amor’s arms. After holding her a little longer, he carried her to the bed, pulled the blankets over her, and took his place beside her, where he slept the night away.
Amor awoke the next day, Chrysalis wrapped around him. He didn’t want to wake her, so he laid there, waiting and thinking. Did I do the right thing? Is she going to be okay? Maybe she was better off before I tried to help her. Maybe I just made it worse. Before another thought could go through his head, Chrysalis began to stir. She rolled over and her hoof lifted off of Amor. Before she could roll back over, Amor slowly tried to get out of bed.
“Don’t go yet.”
Amor looked out of the corner of his eye to see Chrysalis watching him.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning, Amor.” She lazily propped herself up on her front leg. “I…never thanked you…for yesterday.”
“You don’t need to. Remember what I said? Well, I did what I thought was right.”
“Thank you.”
Amor grinned before standing. He walked over to the other side of the bed and aided Chrysalis up. While Amor made his way down the stairs, Chrysalis went across the hall to wake Purity. The first thing Amor did, was walk straight to the throne room, where Celestia was waiting
“It is done.”
“How did it go?”
“She was willing, but her emotions took over at first. She’s calmed down, though”
At that, Chrysalis and Purity entered the room. Chrysalis walked before the throne and bowed before Celestia.
“Princess, I would like to…apologize for the pain I have caused you and your people. I wasn’t in my right mind.”
“Apology accepted.” Celestia smiled. “I am glad to see you have regained your senses.”
“Yes, me too. I am truly sorry.”
“It is okay, Chrysalis, you may go.”
With Amor’s help, Chrysalis rose to her feet and left the room, Purity following close behind. Amor looked back at Celestia.
“With your permission, I would like to bring the changelings to the spot for the hive and begin construction.”
“Of course.”
“I may also need a few guards while we are building. Avispa and Escara are going to be needed at the time.”
“Alright, how many?”
Amor thought a moment. “Two would be fine.”
“Okay, two guards. Anything else?”
“No, we should be back by nightfall. Any later, we may be in trouble.”
“The guards will be waiting at the balcony, you may go.”
Amor walked into the former dungeon once again and found all the changelings, along with Chrysalis and Purity. Amor stood at the entrance, standing tall.
“Good morning everyone!” All the changelings turned to see the king standing in the room. “Today, we are going to start building the new hive. We are leaving in ten minutes, so get ready. We meet at the balcony.” At the call, all the changelings started out the door. Amor stopped Chrysalis.
“Chrysalis, I would prefer it if you stay here with Purity and Sheol.”
“I want to help.”
“I know, but I’d prefer it if you stayed here since you’re still hurt.”
Chrysalis hesitated a minute, an irritated look on her face. Finally, she agreed. “Alright, I’ll stay.”
“Thank you, follow me.”
Amor walked to the crowd of changelings, spotting one with a young hatchling on her back. Amor approached her calmly and tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention.
“Cielo, I think it would be a better idea to leave Sheol here with Chrysalis and Purity.”
“Thank goodness. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to bring him. It would be hard to work and watch him at the same time.”
“Good, now follow me for a moment.” Amor led Cielo to Chrysalis, where she put Sheol on the queen’s back.
“Please take good care of him.”
“I will.”
After the two children were left with the queen, the group of twenty changelings and two royal guards were off to the cliffside. When they reached it, Amor gave the order.
“You know what you must do. Dig deep into the rock wall, start with the base by hollowing out the main chamber, then if we have time, build your houses. You may go.” The changelings started together, using their magic to burrow deep into the cliff. Amor helped all he could, digging deep into the cliff. Rock was destroyed, walls were reinforced. The two guards stood ready at the entrance to the cave. After a long day of digging and reinforcing, the team was done for now. They returned to Canterlot, Sheol was reunited with his mother for the day, they got there rest, and were back to work the next day, with some setbacks in their work.
“Alright everyone, back to work.” The group headed into the cave, Amor following. Suddenly, they heard a thunderous growl, and a foul smell filled the air. The changelings who were already in the cave fled, running in a panic. Amor stopped one of them, slightly irritated and confused. “What happened?”
“A timberwolf moved into the cave overnight. We can’t fight it like this!”
Amor looked around at the changelings in panic. Amor stood tall, took a deep breath, and quieted the panic.
“QUIET!” Every changeling stopped in their tracks and looked at him. “Gather up and take to the air. Wait here.”
Amor walked to the mouth of the cave. The smell got worse as he closed in, and when he reached the mouth, a deep growl once again. Timberwolves don’t usually travel alone. It must be an outcast. So… Amor braced himself. This transformation would take a lot of energy. He gritted his teeth, dug his hooves deep into the dirt, and began to transform. His horn hummed and an emerald flame began at his hooves. It traveled up his body, as it passed his holy legs turned to wooden claws, four times bigger than his legs and twice as big as a normal timberwolf. His eyes began to glow green, his fangs turned into two foot splinters, his head turned to a wooden log. When the flame reached the tip of his head, it burned out. The king, once a six foot changeling, was now a twenty-four foot tall timberwolf alpha male. He entered the cave, finding a single wolf inside. It let out a heavy growl. Amor did the same, and a thunderous boom filled the air, the ground nearly shaking. The timberwolf began to wimper, cowering in the corner. Amor let out a bloodcurdling snarl, spit flying. The wolf yelped, and took off out of the cave, its tail between its legs. Amor walked out the cave, watching the wolf disappear through the woods. Once he was sure it was gone, he changed back to his normal self, now feeling smaller than ever.
“I think I sold that quite well. Alright, back to work! We need to work on the entrance today. Half of you work on the interior, the rest are out here.” At the command, the changelings broke into two groups. Half buzzed into the cave, the rest began making a cocoon-like entrance to the hive.
The changelings went right back to work after the timberwolf was gone, but the guards stood, almost as if paralyzed, eyes locked on the king. Was this really the changeling king? This small being, who moments ago towered over a timberwolf, looking vicious enough to kill them all?
Amor, who was helping with the entrance, felt as if he was being watched. He turned to see the two pegasi, standing there, wide eyes locked on him. He slowly walked up to the guards and could tell they feared him.
“You two are thinking about it too hard. That was a one-time thing, because I don’t like transforming. You don’t need to worry about me, so stand guard.” The guards gave a shaky nod, and turned back to guard the working changelings. Amor headed into the hive, checking the progress of the changelings. He was amazed to see within two days, twenty changelings had made this hive half as big as the old one, but it was so…hollow. A huge, empty cave, with no buildings, no houses, no castle, nothing except the supports holding the roof up. The roof was coated with a green slime, produced by the changelings themselves. Over time, the coating will harden, making the roof stronger than stone, almost indestructible if it was kept under constant maintenance and repair. Amor walked to a group of changelings who were breaking through a wall in the cave, expanding the hive even more. He stopped them by calling out.
“You’re all doing great. This is big enough, so if you want to start with your housing, you may. Keep it at a standard size, not too big.” After coating the wall and ceiling, the changelings scattered, heading to the nearest opening on the stone ground. Boundaries were cut into the ground, twenty squares of an average size, with a huge opening against the back wall, where Amor headed. It was an opening five houses wide and ten long. Ten started building, the rest still working on the entrance. Amor started carving a giant outline in the stone using his magic. Everypony has their houses cut out, and they seem to be happy with the size. I want to build this castle, make it perfect, for Chrysalis. Amor wanted to start now, but a good king helps his people. Amor headed out to the changelings building their houses. He started out with the weaker and smaller of them, who were farther behind with their building. He noticed that Avispa and Escara were building nearby.
“Hey, you two know you are welcome in the castle if you would like.”
“We know. Thank you for the hospitality, but we would much rather build, live like the rest. You know, no special treatment.”
“Alright, the offer is still open if you would like. You two are very loyal, but if you want your own homes, I can’t stop you.”
Amor helped the changeling catch up with his building before leaving to help the next. He continued this process until all the outer shells were complete. Ten shells of houses, no interior yet, no floors, nothing yet. It was beginning to get dark so Amor gathered the workers and guards. When he exited, he looked over the cave. It represented a beehive, made of the same material used in cocoons, a dull green, almost blue color. Multiple exits were built, with one large ground door and multiple holes for mid-flight landings. It was perfect for keeping anything else out, and they wouldn’t have to worry about timberwolves anymore.
“A long day of hard work. Good job everypony. We should have the hive done within the month.” They all took flight for yet another night of sleep in canterlot.
Amor entered the dining hall, where Celestia, Luna, Chrysalis and Purity were seated. Amor took his seat between Celestia and Chrysalis, the same spot he always sat. Purity was sitting on the other side of Chrysalis, and Luna sat on the other end of the table. While they ate, conversations of the hive took place.
“So Amor, how was building today?” Celestia asked before she started eating.
Amor put his fork down. “We had a run-in with a timberwolf, but we scared it off and continued building.
“What happened?”
“It found the cave overnight and claimed it. I had to transform, but I scared it off. We went right back to building, starting with the entry. We’re working fast for twenty changelings.”
“How much longer will it be?”
“Maybe a month. The changelings have started on their houses. So far they have a weak outer shell for their homes, but they need to be reinforced. The cave ceiling should be done soon.”
“That’s good to here.”
Dinner went on as usual. Everyone ate and went to bed. The three changelings headed to the tower their rooms were in, and when Purity was put to bed, Amor and Chrysalis entered their room.
“How have your legs been latley?”
“I’m walking better. I can trot, I can walk, and I can fly if I need to run.”
“That’s good. You’re healing faster than I expected.”
“You’re not getting rid of me that easy.”
“I know, and you know I don’t want to.”
“I know, and that’s why I love you. You’re working hard from what I hear.”
“Yeah. I was thinking about letting the others have tomorrow off, three days nonstop seems like a bit much. What do you think?”
“It sounds like a good idea. Cielo needs to be with Sheol.”
“How has he been acting?”
“He’s an angel.”
Amor let out a chuckle. “An angel named Sheol. That’s irony if I’ve ever seen it.”
Amor lied down in the bed and pulled the blanket over himself. “It’s settled. They get tomorrow off.”
“Good, I get to spend the day with you.” Chrysalis gave Amor a kiss, and they drifted to sleep, dreams of a perfect future in their thoughts. Thoughts of spending the rest of their lives with each other, happy, loving, and at peace.
The sun shone through the window as a new day began. Amor slept soundly, ready to sleep the day away. The stress, the two days of work, they built up, tiring him down. He would have slept past noon, if somepony wouldn’t have awaken him.
“Amor, Amor wake up. It’s a new day and the night has gone. You have no work. You don’t really want to sleep all day, do you?”
Amor recognized the voice as something that soothed him often. His eyes crept open, knowing what to expect. Standing above him was Chrysalis, a calming smile across her face. Amor smiled and closed his eyes jokingly.
“Come on! Today is our day, and you’re not spending it in bed.”
Amor was in an especially good mood today. He playfully hugged Chrysalis and pulled her into the bed, rolling over to put her beside him.
“Careful,” she said while laughing. Amor looked into her eyes. The hive was coming together, the people are happy, and the ‘new hive’ has fled. It was all too good to be true.
“Check my hooves,” he said, holding his front legs up.
“For what?”
“Four leaf clovers. I think one might be stuck somewhere, cuz things are too good for my luck!” he said, laughing at himself.
“That was a bit cheesy, don’t you think?” Chrysalis said, wrapping around Amor.
“I know, but I feel so happy today. Everything has been perfect.”
“This day is going to be perfect,” Chrysalis said, falling back into bed.
“I hope so.”
“It will, I promise.”
Amor stood from what felt like an eternity of sleep, every bone in his body cracking. Chrysalis rose on the other side, patiently waiting for Amor. After letting out a lazy yawn, Amor shook away the drowsiness.
“What time is it?”
“Almost ten.”
“Really? I slept in.”
“I know, I was waiting. I finally decided to make sure you weren’t dead and woke you up. So what do you have planned for us today?”
“We’re going for a walk.”
“Where?”
“The forest.” Amor, afraid of disappointing Chrysalis, panicked. “Or, did you have something else in mind?”
“A walk sounds lovely. As long as I am with you, that is.”
Amor walked out the door and was soon greeted by Purity.
“Hi Amor! You’re finally awake!”
“Yeah, lot of stuff happened in the last few days. I needed my rest. How are you doing today, little one?”
“I’ve been doing fine.”
“That’s good to hear. Well, time for us to get going, and time for you to go find Celestia. I’ll see you later, little one.”
“Bye Amor.”
Purity rushed down the stairs as Chrysalis came out of the room.
“She’s always so happy.”
“She loves you like a father. She looks up to you.”
“Do you really think so?”
“I know so.”
Amor smiled before continuing. “Come on, let’s get some fresh air.” Chrysalis was quickly at his side. “You’re moving much better. You may not need those casts anymore.”
“Maybe.”
“We’ll see the doctor tomorrow, see what he says.”
“Could we possibly see him before we leave?”
“If you would like. We’ll go now, then.”
Amor and Chrysalis walked slowly through the castle. When they finally reached the outside, Chrysalis took a deep breath.
“Ah, fresh air. It feels like it’s been forever since the last time I was outside.”
The two changelings walked down the town streets like they were no special site. The citizens had easily gotten used to Amor, but needless to say they were skeptical about letting Chrysalis into the town. After word spread that her heart was pure, she means no more harm, she feels bad for what she did, and that she’s harmless when she is around Amor, some seemed to grow slightly more comfortable with her in the city, but others were still frightened. After a few looks of shock were sent in their direction, many went on with their days. Amor quickly escorted Chrysalis to the doctor, trying his hardest to avoid any confrontations. Luckily, many had better things to do than assault a changeling.
Amor waited patiently while Chrysalis was being checked. Moments later, she returned without her casts on, the doctor close behind.
“She’ll be fine. It’s a good idea to walk on that leg a little, but don’t over-do it.”
“Thank you, doctor.”
Amor walked out of the building and his wings began to buzz. Soon after, Chrysalis’s did the same thing. They were soon in flight, off to the forest nearby. Some find the sight of a changeling in flight to be interesting, so it was only normal to have many of the ponies in the city staring at the pair as they flew overhead. It felt good for both of them to be in flight, the breeze lightly blowing against their faces, the sounds whistling past their ears, the sights they can see below, it is truly magical. Upon landing, they found a small footpath leading through the trees.
“This seems like the place to start. Ready to get going?”
“Waiting for you.”
Chrysalis was playfully trotting ahead, and the sight brought Amor back to better days. He was going to make the best of today. He soon found himself chasing after her, weaving through the trees, soon finding themselves far off the path. Chrysalis was far ahead of Amor, and soon after he lost sight of her. He stopped in his tracks, looking back and forth for any sight of her.
“Chrysalis, where are you?”
Suddenly, he heard a branch above him shake, and not a moment later the dew that was resting on the leaves was raining down on him. He looked up to see Chrysalis, giggling at the sight of Amor, beads of dew clinging to his coat. He couldn’t stop himself from chuckling at himself, but soon got his revenge. With the hum of his horn, the branch above Chrysalis began to shake, along with the next several above that one. Soon, Amor and Chrysalis were soaked in morning dew, laughing, having fun, finally having a day to themselves. Amor shook himself dry, and Chrysalis soon followed after landing. Time flew by, and they soon were in a field, chasing each other in circles. They stopped to take a brake under a tree on the edge of the field.
“It’s getting late. Celestia should be setting the sun soon.”
“Let’s watch the sun set.”
“Alright.”
Amor and Chrysalis looked over the horizon, waiting for the sun to finally go down. Chrysalis shifted, putting her head on Amor’s shoulder. She was cold to the touch from the dew, which was far gone by now thanks to the sun. Amor wrapped a wing around her side.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
Chrysalis smiled and nuzzled deeper into his coat. The sun was gone and the moon shined bright. Chrysalis stood and let out a sleepy yawn. A thought made its way into Amor’s head, and he stood soon after. After a quick stretch, a flame started at his hooves. Soon, he was in the form of a large griffon.
“Care for a ride home?”
The wide, feathery back that was now Amor’s was a welcoming site. Chrysalis was soon buried deep in the feathers, fast asleep. Amor stretched his now feathered wings for a near silent takeoff. With his new form, he could fly much faster than a changeling, but with a passenger, Amor decided to keep the flight smooth and slow. Even moving as slow as he was, he was making great time. He was soon at the castle. He was welcomed by Celestia, who was at first surprised when a griffon landed, but soon realized the truth when she saw Chrysalis and the still green eyes of Amor.
“How was your day?”
“Sshh. She’s sleeping.”
With a smile, Celestia nodded, able to see that they had a perfect day together. Amor carried Chrysalis all the way to the room in his griffon form. When he finally got there, he was so tired himself, that he didn’t bother transforming, didn’t even get into the bed. He curled up against the north wall, beside a window. Chrysalis was still on his back, but with the feathery surface of his body, he barely noticed, and felt as if he were in bed himself. The two slept the night like that, a changeling atop a griffon, curled up like a dog at a fireplace. Amor was happy for once. Not his normal happy, but truly happy.
Amor transformed halfway through the night, unknown to him. When he finally woke up, Chrysalis was draped over his body. He stretched and with the sudden movement, Chrysalis woke up.
“Good morning, sleeping beauty.”
Chrysalis yawned and stood up, finding it slightly difficult after sleeping in such an awkward position. Finally to her hooves, Chrysalis stood over Amor.
“Last night was wonderful.”
“I know.” Amor said as he got to his feet, stretching to full height. “I haven’t had that much fun in years.”
“It’s good to let loose every so often.” Amor headed to the door, Chrysalis beside him. “Amor. I was thinking that, maybe we could leave the young with Celestia? Could I come with you today?”
“You know I would want that, but it’s too dangerous. I don’t want you to get hurt. Please, just stay with the young for a little longer, then you could help with the castle if you want.”
Chrysalis let out a sigh. She knew there was no point in arguing with Amor, especially when he was concerned with her safety. “Alright. I’ll stay a little longer.”
Amor headed to gather the changelings for another day of work.
“Good morning everyone! I hope your day off yesterday was as good as mine. We’re back to work today though. We’ll never get done if we keep taking days off.”
The changelings were full of energy. Living in Canterlot has done well for them, constant love and affection feeds them daily, keeping them at their top in health and energy. Sheol was left with Chrysalis and Purity, the same two guards were sent to protect them, and all other changelings were off to work.
Like the days before, the changelings went straight to work, some working on the entrance more, others back to the interior. Amor was inside the hive hard at work on a changeling’s house. Today was slow. Many of the changelings were still working lazily after yesterday, some talking and laughing through the day. Amor was always a soft king, but today was especially so, so he didn’t pester the changelings to work any harder than they wanted to. A heavy crack came from the entrance that pulled Amor’s attention. He walked outside only to see another lone timberwolf, in front of it were three changelings. Amor immediately looked at the two guards, flying safely above.
“What were you two doing!?”
“We were…uh…taking a break.”
“Who authorized that!?”
“S-self authorized, sir. That’s not important now.”
He was right. This timberwolf wandered to the clearing to claim its territory, and in its simple mind, these creatures were trespassing. It was a much larger one than last time, too big for magic. It took a step closer to the cornered changelings, too afraid to flee. Amor knew it was now or never. He once again transformed into the towering timberwolf and let out his loudest bark. The real timberwolf turned to see who was interfering, and with the distraction, the changelings took to the air.
Amor began to circle the timberwolf, who was sizing up his opponent. Without hesitation, the wolf charged. Amor easily dodged the attack, but something was wrong. The wolf kept going, jumped up, kicked off the rock wall, and was hurdling straight into the crowd of flying changelings. Most of the changelings were able to get out of the way, but one was too startled to move. Her wings locked up, but before she could fall, the timberwolf had her in its jaws. Amor’s eyes widened at the site. This beast must die. Its jaws tightened around the changeling and an ear-piercing cry followed.
“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
At the sound, all remaining senses Amor had vanished. Something in his head snapped, and he began fighting like a true timberwolf. Suddenly, the awkward sound of two logs thrown at each other echoed through the trees. The timberwolf, surprised by the attack, dropped the changeling, who hit the ground with a thud. The fight was on.
Amor began snarling viciously at the creature, who returned the favor. Anger took over, as Amor charged the beast. He hit again, but before they could hit the ground, the timberwolf bit in to his lower leg. Amor snarled once again before using his other leg to claw the beast off. The timberwolf was quickly to his feet after being knocked off, three fresh claw marks across its eye. This time the timberwolf pounced. Amor stepped to the side, falling for the trick. The beast landed beside Amor and quickly swung its front leg, catching Amor across the shoulder. Amor fell to his knees after the blow, giving the timberwolf clear sign of where to attack. The beast was upon Amor instantly, claws tearing away at his back. He felt the fangs digging in near his neck, trying to find purchase to finish him.
NO! This is not how I die! It is not my time! Something urged Amor to stand, the wolf still on his back. He did all he could to get it off of him. He tackled the cliffside with his good side, smashing the timberwolf hard, but to no avail. He jumped up and landed on his back, but the wolf still clung on. With one last effort, Amor rose to his feet. He took a few steps back, and charged at the wall one last time. This time, the wolf hit hard, and fell to the ground. Time to end this. The timberwolf tried to rise to its feet, and in the process, gave Amor an opening. He charged at the beast against the wall, but instead of hitting, he lowered his head, opened his mouth, and caught the wolf’s neck. As the timberwolf let out one last whimper, Amor turned his neck hard, until he heard the splintering wood finally snap. The body of the timberwolf, now a heap of wood and leaves, fell to the ground, as the now severed head crumbled in Amor’s mouth. After letting out an earth shaking roar, he transformed back to himself, still baring his fangs. His right shoulder was torn, three claw marks across it. His lower left leg was definitely broken, blood coming from the teeth marks. His neck was torn in more places than one, but it only broke the skin. All down his back were claw marks from where the timberwolf kept digging to gain footing. He didn’t have time to check his injuries, or those of the changeling, because moments after transforming, Amor blacked out in a small puddle of his own blood, filled with the debris of the severed timberwolf head.
To Amor, he was only unconscious for seconds. But those seconds turned to minutes, minutes to hours, hours to days, days to weeks. Amor opened his eyes to a blinding white light. Am I actually dead this time? His ears finally caught the sound of buzzing lights above his head. A constant beep came from somewhere beside him. His eyes finally adjusted to the lights, and he saw he was in some sort of white room. He couldn’t move anything, his whole body was numb. He was able to roll his head side to side to look around the room. To his right, he saw a heart monitor with wires hooked up to him. Beyond that, he saw another bed, a small changeling in bandages lying in it. She was unconscious, but breathing steadily.
Amor heard something that sounded like a light sigh beside him. He rolled his head to the other side, shifting to look down the bed, and saw Chrysalis, sleeping with her head on his chest. By this point, he was starting to get the feeling back into the majority of his body. He looked down over his body. Wires and tubes were attached to various places on him. His right shoulder was bandaged, along with his back and neck. A cast was placed around his left leg, holding it in place. Chrysalis began to move, finding a more comfortable position, but not waking up. Amor pulled his hoof out from under her and rested it on the back of her head, feeling her fine and smooth hair. He looked out the window to see the early sun shine through the window. The clock nearby showed the time as six-thirty.
Amor looked around the room, which he decided must be a hospital room. It was a large room, two heart monitors and two beds. The one monitor was hooked up to Amor, the other was attached to the changeling in the other bed, who Amor identified as Souls. Across the room was the clock, hanging in the center of the wall, above a wide dresser. Amor sat back in his bed, his hoof still holding Chrysalis. I couldn’t even protect one, let alone myself. Why? Why does this keep happening to me? Amor opened his mouth to take in a big breath of air. His throat felt dry.
A white mare dressed as a nurse walked into the room pushing a cart with a small tray of food on it. Amor had some trouble speaking, but finally the words came out. “Excuse me ma’am, but what day is it?”
The nurse jumped at the sound of his voice. She turned to see him sitting in his bed, her eyes wide at the site. “You’re awake!”
Chrysalis began to stir at the sound. “Sshh. Don’t wake her. Please ma’am, what day is it?”
The nurse spoke in a calmer and quieter voice. “It’s Wednesday.”
“Wednesday.” Amor looked up at the clock one last time, now reading seven. “It’s already seven. I’ve been thinking for half an hour.” The nurse walked over to the other changeling, gently nudging her awake. When she finally woke up, the nurse aided her up and helped her eat.
Amor watched for a few moments before falling back in bed, looking up at the light above him. How long have I been here? He pulled his hoof through Chrysalis’s hair, closing his eyes as it unraveled, the soothing feeling as it pulled apart when it caught on the holes at the edge of his hoof. How long have you been here? He then placed his hoof back to its original position on Chrysalis’s head.
“My king?”
Amor’s eyes slowly opened as he turned his head to the changeling beside him.
“I wanted to thank you for everything you did. You saved my life.”
“But I didn’t do enough.” He turned his head again, looking back up at the ceiling. “You never should have gotten hurt.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over it. I’m alive, you’re alive, everypony is safe. There was no way to expect that attack. I would have been dead if you wouldn’t have reacted like you did.”
“That’s true, but it’s best not to think about it, too many bad memories.”
“Yeah, good idea.”
“So, how bad was it? Are you going to be okay?”
“Well, it’ll take some getting used to.” The changeling pulled the blankets off of her body, revealing that most of her body was in bandages. Three of her legs were in casts, the forth, her front right, was all she could use to move. “A lot of my ribs were broken, along with most of my legs. There were a lot of spots where its teeth broke the skin, and my wings are mostly shredded. I’m not flying any time soon, maybe not ever.”
“I’m…sorry.”
“Don’t be. There was nothing that could have been done to stop it.”
Amor remembered what he said at the Sea of Memories. “I know that some of the things that have happened were things I had no control over.” He then looked over at Souls. “Could you forgive me?”
“Of course. You saved my life.”
Amor fell back in his bed. “I’m glad to hear that.”
Suddenly, Amor felt something moving. He looked down the bed to see Chrysalis, stirring and beginning to rise, Amor lifting his hoof from her head. She let out a yawn and began to stretch.
“Good morning, my queen.”
She stopped mid yawn, her hooves above her head. Her eyes shot open and she looked straight at Amor.
“Amor! You’re finally awake!” She then jumped at him and hugged him tight. Amor felt a sharp pain in his neck, but ignored it as he put his hoof on her back. “It’s been so long since I heard your voice.”
“Chrysalis, it’s only Wednesday.”
Chrysalis sat up in her chair, looking Amor in the eyes. “Amor, you realize you have been in a coma for almost a month?”
“A month!?”
“Yes, you blacked out from blood loss and haven’t waken up since. Thankfully the changelings who witnessed it all brought you back.”
Amor listened to Chrysalis, but the thought that he had been out for a month was stuck in his head.
“A month.”
“Yes, and I stayed by your side the whole time.”
Amor looked over at Chrysalis. “You stayed by my side? The whole time I was out?”
“Of course.”
Amor felt true love for Chrysalis, but then another thought appeared in his head.
“Wait, if I’ve been here for a month, then-“
“The hive has been built, and Purity has been leading the hive.”
“Purity has been leading the hive?”
“Yes, she has matured and is proving that she has earned her place.”
“Our little Purity.”
“She isn’t so little anymore. And that’s not all.”
“What do you mean?”
Chrysalis smiled. “She has a cutie mark.”
Amor’s eyes widened as he tried to process everything that was going through his head. It was then that he realized the nurse had entered the room once again.
“Excuse me, ma’am.”
“Yes?”
“Would it be possible to tell people that I have awaken?”
“Of course. Who would you like to know?”
Amor thought for a moment. “Send one letter to Princess Celestia, and another to the changeling hive.”
“Of course, I will get right on that.” After doing what she came in the room to do, the nurse left in a hurry.
Amor looked down at Chrysalis. “You stayed for a whole month?”
Chrysalis slid down and held Amor, her head on his chest. “I told you, I’m not leaving you.”
Amor put his hoof back on her head, her hair sliding over it. He closed his eyes. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Amor and Chrysalis sat like that for an hour, until finally, a knock on the door. Moments later Celestia entered the room. Behind her was Purity, who due to the rapid growth and maturity of the changelings, stood almost as tall as Celestia. Atop her head was a crown very similar to the one Chrysalis wore. Behind her rushed in Avispa and Escara, Amor’s loyal guards.
Celestia spoke first. “We are glad to see you have finally awaken.”
“It feels like I was only out for a few seconds.” Amor then turned to Purity. “How has the hive been treating you, Princess Purity?”
Purity stepped forward, and Amor could clearly make out the cutie mark, a cluster of hearts, on her flank. “It’s hard work, but I’m adjusting.” She truly was beginning to look like Chrysalis. Her main was slightly shorter, and was a slightly duller color. Her horn was similar to Chrysalis’s, but there were some minor differences in twists. Her back, instead of fading from green to cyan, was blue, and faded to a lighter shade. She walked to the side of the bed and gave Amor a hug. ”It’s good to have you back, father.”
Father. This was the first time Purity had called him father. He didn’t want to say anything else. When she stepped back, Avispa and Escara stepped forward.
“Sir, please forgive us.”
Amor looked on, puzzled. “For what?”
“It is our fault that this happened to you. We should have been outside instead of working in the hive.”
“Don’t talk like that. You were following orders, nothing less, and nothing less or more than was expected from you.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Amor sat up in his bed. “”So, how long until I can leave here?”
“The doctor said it will be another week,” Celestia said in an upbeat tone.
Amor sat in his bed all week. He didn’t care about the injuries. He didn’t care that he was bedridden. He was spending a whole week at Chrysalis’s side. She would help him eat while he gained his strength. No matter how much Amor asked her to leave, she never left his side.
“Chrysalis, you don’t need to spend the whole week at my side. You can go if you want.”
“But I don’t want to.” She put her head on Amor’s chest. “I want to stay with you.”
“But you must grow tired of staying here, doing nothing, don’t you?”
“Of course not. I love being with you.”
Chrysalis never left Amor’s side. Amor had her eat part of his meals so she wouldn’t starve. She left for moments at a time, only to use the restroom, but was back immediately. After two days, the doctor had Amor start walking. When he rose from the bed, he found it extremely difficult to stand. He sat on the edge of the bed, Chrysalis standing beside him. When he rose, his legs were not used to walking after so long, so he began falling. In his panic, he threw his front left leg to the ground hard to stabilize himself. All he got in return was an unbearable pain all the way up his leg. He began to fall over, but Chrysalis stopped him. He nearly knocked her over, but she held her ground, even with the king putting his weight into her.
It took a few tries, but after five minutes Amor was able to stand on his own. He began to slowly limp down the hall, his front leg lifted off the ground. He wanted to fly up and down the halls, but his wings were still numb, always the last thing to regain their feeling, and after lying on them for a month, they weren’t going to regain their senses for some time now.
Day two of walking and Amor was moving faster. He was now able to flap his wings, but very slowly, at half the speed a pegasus would need to fly, which is nowhere close to the speed a changeling would need. Today Amor had his bandages changed. When they removed the one on his shoulder, Amor turned his head to see. His shoulder was swollen, a huge scar beginning to form over it. The bandage was caked in dry blood.
Amor looked at the doctor who was changing the bandage. “You…did check me for diseases, right?”
“Of course. These were some bad injuries, and they were caused by a wild animal. We had to check you for rabies, lockjaw, anything.”
“And did I have anything?”
“Nothing. Amazingly, none of the wounds were infected, and you had no diseases.”
The doctor applied a fresh bandage to his shoulder, and began removing the one from his back. This one was the same, but with far more marks. This bandage had less blood on it, but when Amor saw his back, he noticed many more claw marks and openings.
“You got lucky with this one. None of these marks were deep enough to leave scars.”
The doctor only smiled as he replaced the bandage. Finally, the one around his neck.
“Sit up and hold still please.”
Amor did as instructed, and the doctor carefully removed the bandage. Even with the bandage off, Amor’s neck felt as if it were tightly wrapped. The doctor carefully placed the fresh bandage around his neck, making sure it wasn’t too tight. Amor lied back into the bed, as the doctor cleaned up.
When the doctor was finally done, Chrysalis, who was waiting in the doorway, walked into the room.
“So how is it?”
“Nothing major, it will disappear in time.”
“That’s good.”
“Three more days.”
“And we return to the hive.”
Chrysalis kissed Amor before sinking back in her chair for the night.
Day three and Amor was still getting faster when he walked. His limp was at the speed of a trot, and his wings were starting to beat faster. Soon enough he would be able to fly if the time came. He made it a habit to beat his wings as he walked, a constant, yet weak beat. All that was heard was wind every half second, instead of the constant buzzing. Day four and Amor had an almost perfect gait, but he still had to keep his front leg up. Celestia showed up today to see how he was.
“May I come in?”
“Of course, princess. May I ask to what we owe the visit?”
“Just came to see how you were holding up. I heard you were healing quite well.”
“Yes, I am able to walk pretty well.”
“That is good to hear. How many more days is it? Two?”
“Including today, yes. I’ll be out tomorrow at this rate.”
“That’s good. I’m sure the hive misses you two.”
“Meh. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but they seem to be fine for now.”
Celestia smiled. “Take all the time you need to heal.”
“Thank you. I will.”
Celestia then looked at Chrysalis, who was sitting at Amor’s side. “And I am happy to see you stay at his side.”
Celestia left the room and headed back to her castle. When she cleared the door, Chrysalis put her head on Amor again. “She grows on you. It’s no wonder her people love her so much.”
Amor put his hoof on her head. “She means well. She doesn’t want to hurt anyone, but she will protect friends, family, and her subjects.”
Chrysalis had a disgruntled look on her face. “I know. I was on the receiving end of her wrath.”
“Mmmhh. Sorry I brought it up.”
“It’s okay. It’s getting late, you should get some sleep.”
“You’re right. Good night, Chrysalis.”
“Good night, Amor,” she said as she nuzzled into his coat.
Amor turned to the bed beside his. “Good night, Souls.”
“Good night, my king.”
The room fell quiet as the lights went dim. Amor heard a light sigh from Chrysalis, meaning she was asleep. From somewhere beside him, he heard another sigh and what sounded like someone rolling over. Amor came to the conclusion that he was the only one still awake. He sat there in his bed, toying with Chrysalis’s hair. He found it hard to sleep at times, and this was one of those times. He looked up at the blank ceiling. Does the hive need me anymore? Does it need us? Purity seems to have everything under control. Maybe it is time I retire. Amor sat the rest of the night until he dozed off, his leg around Chrysalis.
Amor awoke early the next morning. The lights, all on one switch, were still off, but the sun came in through the window. Chrysalis was sitting in her chair, slouched forward onto Amor. He still felt tired, but couldn’t go back to sleep. He looked at the clock. It was only six. Amor looked to his left, seeing Souls was still asleep. How am I the last asleep but the first awake? Amor sat for a few minutes, until finally somepony turned on the lights. Amor, who was looking at the ceiling, was greeted by a surprising and bright light. It stung his eyes for a moment, but he adjusted, now seeing spots. When the lights clicked on, the sound woke Chrysalis. She picked her head up and stretched her legs straight out, yawning the whole time.
“Good morning. I see you’re finally awake.”
Chrysalis looked at him, slightly dazed. “Finally?” She took a quick glimpse at the clock. “It’s only six-oh-five.”
“Then I’ve been awake a little over five minutes.”
Chrysalis yawned again before resting her head on Amor’s chest and nuzzling into his neck. “It’s too early for me.”
Amor smiled and wrapped his hooves around her, putting his bandaged left on top.
“You can sleep. I won’t stop you.”
“You know how alike we are. Once I’m awake, I can’t go back to sleep.”
“Mmhh.”
Chrysalis giggled before wrapping her hooves around Amor.
Amor smiled “Today’s the day.”
“When we return to the hive.”
Amor still had one thought in his head that he couldn’t shake, no matter how hard he tried.
Retirement.
Amor didn’t want to think about it. He hadn’t thought about it for years and wasn’t planning on thinking about it for years to come, but with the sudden change of events, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. There is a new queen. There is a new hive. But there is still the old king, the old queen, and the old ways that come with them. If the hive was to move on, leave behind its aggressive nature, it would require the removal of the old leaders. He had to tell her.
“Chrysalis.”
“Hmm?”
“I’ve been thinking. Maybe…maybe…”
“Amor, you could tell me. What is it, my love?”
When she called him that, Amor felt like a burden was lifted from him, like some unseen force told him it was okay. “I…” he sighed. “I think it is time…we should retire.”
The room fell silent. Chrysalis picked her head up and blankly looked out the window. She was deep in thought, and obviously the question caught her off guard, but at the time Amor asked, he was sure anything would have caught her off guard.
“I’ve…been thinking about that.”
“You have?”
“Yes. I…didn’t want to bring it up. I didn’t know you were thinking the same.”
“I wasn’t planning on retiring for a while, but it looks like we need to decide.”
“I don’t know. What do you think we should do?”
“Chrysalis, this is as much your decision as mine. You can’t expect me to decide your fate.”
“Well, my last decision almost cost the lives of hundreds, so I don’t feel I’m in the position to make decisions.”
“But this isn’t a decision for many, this is a decision for your future.” Chrysalis began to look at the ground, but Amor put his hoof to her chin and gently held her head up, looking into her eyes. “This is your decision.”
Chrysalis closed her eyes tight. “I can’t... I don’t know,” she said as she rapidly shook her head back and forth.
“You can, I know you can. Look deep in your heart, find your answer. Should we stop leading the hive, or continue our leadership?”
“I…I.” Chrysalis let out a heavy sigh. “The next queen has been found. It is time to retire.”
“Very well, when we get back to the hive, we shall retire.” Chrysalis looked down in guilt, and again Amor put his hoof on her chin. “Hey, you did the right thing, and no matter what, I still love you.”
Chrysalis closed her eyes. “But how much of that is true?”
Amor slid his hoof to the side of her head and put his other hoof on the other side. He twisted his head and pulled Chrysalis to him, surprising her. He kissed her, but this was different from any other time. It wasn’t guilt, it wasn’t a slight affection, this was true love, much more than any time before. They remained there with their lips locked for almost two minutes. Neither of them wanted the moment to end, but a knock on the door interrupted. Amor pulled away slowly, Chrysalis following his every movement for a few seconds, as if they were attached at the lips. Amor looked at her, a yearning look in his eyes. Another knock at the door, this one more rapid. Amor hugged Chrysalis before answering.
“Come in.”
The door opened, and a nurse walked in, looking at Amor and Chrysalis. “Oh, sorry. I hope I’m not interrupting.”
“N-no, no, it’s alright. Come on in,” Chrysalis said shyly
“Thank you, I just need to wake her up and feed her.”
“Feed her? Is it already that time?” Amor looked up at the clock. Sure enough, it was seven. The nurse nudged Souls awake and fed her like she did every other day, starting small talk with Amor.
“So, today’s the day, huh?”
“Yeah, I’m allowed out today. What about her? When will she be able to leave?”
“Well, doctor says soon, but he never gave me an exact time.”
“Hey, still here!” Souls called out playfully.
“Sorry, Souls.”
“It’s okay, my king.”
“Not anymore.”
Both the nurse and Souls looked at Amor. “What do you mean?”
Amor looked at Chrysalis and smiled before turning back to the two and giving his answer. “As of now, Chrysalis and I are retiring.”
The room fell silent again. The nurse and Souls had wide eyes, both staring at the former king. Finally, Souls broke the silence. “Well…you will always be the king to me, and I will not fall short of addressing you as so.”
“So be it. I will live in the hive until I feel otherwise, but princess, I mean Queen Purity is of higher authority than me now.” Chrysalis looked at Amor, a look of sorrow in her eyes. “Don’t worry. If I leave, you’ll come with me this time, and we can live…wherever, as long as we are together.”
Souls and the nurse looked on in aw, while Chrysalis hugged Amor, and whispered something in his ear that nopony else saw or heard. “I don’t want to be alone again.” Amor didn’t know what else to say. He just closed his eyes and wrapped his hooves around Chrysalis, not wanting to let go. He then whispered back in her ear.
“You know it. This chair isn’t being good to me,” Chysalis said asshe stood from the chair, her back cracking in multiple spots. Amor sat on the edge of his bed as the doctor came in.
“So how have you been?”
“Good, I feel like I’m ready to go.”
“We’ll see.”
The doctor began poking and prodding Amor. He poked him once in the spine, and a look of irritation filled Amor’s face. The doctor paid no attention to it and began feeling down his front left leg. When he reached the cast, he began pushing harder, seeing if he could shift the bone. Amor let out a snarl in pain.
“Hmm, still extremely tender. Alright, just stay off that leg for a while longer and you should be fine. You’re free to go.”
“Thank you.” Amor began to rise from his bed and hit the ground on his three good legs. He began beating his wings, which were finally able to lift him off the ground, and quickly landed again.
Amor was quickly met at the door by Celestia on their way out.
“I see you’re out and about. How are you two feeling?”
“Better than I have all month.”
“But you’ve been out all month.”
“Exactly. I couldn’t feel a thing.”
Celestia only smiled. “So, you are to be staying at the hive now, King Amor?”
“Yes, and it’s not king anymore. I am retiring.”
Celestia’s eyes widened and she turned to Chrysalis, waiting for the joke. Chrysalis looked back at her, slightly cowering in fear and guilt. “He’s telling the truth. We decided to retire.”
Celestia’s eyes half closed in ease. “Well, if you feel you have done right, good for you.” A comforting smile. “If you ever need a place to stay, you are welcome at the castle.”
Chrysalis looked down. “Thank you for the offer, but…but…”
Amor could tell she felt uncomfortable speaking to the princess. He stepped forward, put a wing over Chrysalis, and finished her statement. “But we feel we have taken advantage of your hospitality. Thanks for the offer though.”
“Well, you are always welcome back,” Celestia said as she walked to her nearby chariot. “Please, allow me to give you a ride.”
“No, no, we’ll be fine.”
“Nonsense, I insist. Just getting out of the hospital, you don’t expect me to have you walk or fly the way there. Please, get in.”
Amor and Chrysalis did as instructed. Celestia got in first, but Amor stopped just before getting in and waited.
“Ladies first.” Chrysalis only smiled as she hopped into the chariot. Celestia watched on and chuckled.
“Well aren’t you a gentleman.”
Amor grinned as he hopped in. “Did you expect any less from me?” Both Celestia and Chrysalis couldn’t help but smile as Amor took his seat next to Chrysalis.
Celestia leaned over the side of the chariot. “Lovely view.”
Both Chrysalis and Amor looked over the railing at the city below. The streets shined like gold as the floated over them. Soon they were flying over the forest. The site below left them in a state of admirement. The trees, lakes and ponds, colorful birds decorating the scenery, it was beautiful. Soon they were at the now completed hive. The cave entrance was reinforced, twice as thick as Amor remembered it. As the chariot landed and the three exited, the soldiers guarding the exterior bowed as they passed through the entrance. When they finally passed, the guards rose.
Chrysalis looked back. “New guards I see.”
“Can’t be too careful. It’s good we had some volunteer to stand guard.” Amor looked back at Celestia, who was following behind them. “Sorry if our ways are strange to you.”
“Not at all. If anything, I find it interesting how your people live.”
Amor nodded and continued down the cave into the large chamber. It looked similar to when Amor left it, but the castle was complete and most of the houses were done, all but one. Amor looked at the incomplete house as he passed. It was an outer shell, but the roof and interior were nothing. It was four walls standing, nothing to protect, no roof on top.
“I can’t believe nopony helped while she was out.”
“I’m sure they have their reasons.”
Amor didn’t want to push the issue, so he kept walking. Soon they were at the castle. The main chamber resembled that of the old hive. The main chamber was a wider room, empty other than a few decoration items and the two thrones far against the wall atop a staircase of about ten stairs on three sides. Even the thrones looked the same. Tall black seats lined with a bright bluish green cloth, green pearls down the arms and one at the top. Purity sat at the one throne, but rose when she saw the three enter and met them halfway in the room. She hugged Chrysalis.
“Mother, it is so good to see you.” She then turned and hugged Amor. “Father, I am glad to see you up and moving.” She then bowed before Celestia before hugging her. “And my teacher. It is so good to see you all.” She then stepped back. “Ready to lead again?”
“Nope.” Purity looked at Amor, a look of shock and confusion in her face.
“What do you mean?”
Amor stood straight and tall. “We have retired.”
Purity’s eyes opened wide and her jaw fell open. Chrysalis stepped forward.
“What he means is, you still lead the hive.”
Now Celestia did the same. “And you are the queen.”
Amor stood as tall as he could. “Queen Purity, leader of the changeling hive, with the retirement of the former king and queen, you have inherited leadership.” He then bowed. “Lead your people well.”
Amor stood but Purity was still in shock. “But I have no experience in leading! I only filled in, made minor decisions, I don’t know the first thing about leading a hive!”
Chrysalis stepped forward and held Purity’s hoof with her own. “We will be there with you. You have the most authority, but if you need help, you know you can ask us.”
Amor began wandering the new hive, trying to become familiar to the area. He found what was now to be his and Chrysalis’s room, connected by a large staircase off to the right of the thrones to the main chamber of the castle. It was similar to the last hive, but with some differences. This one, being on the edge of the castle and against the rock’s face, had a window burrowed out. A circular bed sat in the center of the room, made and clean. Other than that, there was a single dresser against the southern wall, but the room was still so empty. In the hive, the same few houses littered the street sides, changelings walking down paths made. A hive was practically a town, but built underground.
“King Amor! It’s good to see you again.” A small male who Amor didn’t recognize bowed before him.
“Uh, oh yeah I’m glad to be back.”
The changeling stood up. “Oh, you don’t recognize me, do you?”
“Of course I do. You’re, uh…”
“It’s me, Sheol!”
Amor’s eyes widened. “Oh! Sorry, you’ve grown since I’ve last seen you.”
“It’s alright sir.” Sheol acted a lot like Amor, a dull, lifeless attitude, but still showing respect to others. Something about him caught Amor’s eyes.
“Wait, what’s that?”
“Oh yeah.” Sheol turned to show his side. “I got a cutie mark.”
Amor studied Sheol’s flank. He had a small green flame on his side.
“Do you know what it means?”
“I like transforming. Not to steal love, but to be someone else for once. When I need to get away from it all, I create an alternate identity, have some fun for once.”
Amor smirked. The new hive, the next generation of changelings, could they become pure? If they could become pure, it could begin a new era for the changelings.
Amor walked all through the hive, but one site always drew his attention, the incomplete house of the changeling Souls. In the middle of all of these houses, all these changelings walk past this hollow shell of a house. I have to do something. Amor headed back to the castle finding Purity, Chrysalis, and Celestia sitting around a table, talking and laughing. He stopped in the doorway, leaning against the frame. What could they be talking about? Girl talk is so weird to me. Amor doesn’t eavesdrop, so he didn’t hear a word they said, and didn’t notice Celestia wave him over.
“Amor.” He shook himself from his thoughts back to reality and began walking to the table.
“Amor, what are you doing back already?”
“I would just like to tell you I am going to work on Souls’ house while she is in the hospital.”
“Alright, anything else?”
“No, just send our things from the castle in Canterlot.” Amor left the castle.
He found himself staring at the house. From the outside, standing on the ground, it looked complete. But from above, you could see there was no roof, and the walls were nearly paper thin. When Amor stepped inside, he saw just how hollow the house was. There was one floor at this point, with no tables, no bed, nothing. The walls could easily be knocked down with enough force. Amor still felt guilt, like he thought it was his fault she got hurt. He felt somewhat obligated to do this.
He closed his eyes and concentrated as the fluids began excreting from glands in his mouth. He stuck his tongue out, letting the dull blue fluid run down it. Time to go to work. He droned through the house, chewing on walls to add more of the wax-like liquid changelings use to build. Being the only changeling working, it took Amor an hour to complete one circle around the interior.
“This will take weeks.” Amor decided to work on one wall at a time, slowly moving up it. Showing his primitive mindset, Amor began climbing the wall instead of flying, being gentle enough that he didn’t leave footprints in the drying wax. Amor was so distracted by working he didn’t notice the door open. Still working, Amor felt a slight tug on his tail. He turned to see Chrysalis with his tail in her mouth, looking at him with big, sappy eyes, begging for something. “Don’t look at me like that, it’s too cute.”
“I want to help.”
“And I won’t stop you.” Chrysalis let go of Amor’s tail as the fluids began building in her mouth. She moved to the wall opposite of Amor and began chewing.
Amor finished his wall first and turned back to see Chrysalis halfway up.
“Do you need any help?”
“I won’t say no.” Amor shrugged and flew over to help Chrysalis, starting at the top of the wall. Both lost track of where they were, and somewhere around one-fourth of the way down the wall. Neither of them noticed the other was near until they reached each other, their lips touching. Both recoiled, blushing at each other.
“We…should get back to work.”
“Yeah, good idea.” Chrysalis had a shy look in her face. She fluttered her eyes before heading back to work. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to, but when they were working, and when they had this wax-like fluid in their mouths, it made It a little awkward.
In the time that it would have taken Amor to complete one wall, the couple completed twice as much. Looking over their work, they were slightly proud of themselves. The walls were reinforced, making them much stronger, but the interior was still hollow. Amor had plans for the inside, two floors, a staircase against the wall, shelves and other things like that. Amor wanted to get this done before Souls got back, but since they had no specific date, he decided to work quickly and keep adding until she returned, and he would finish whatever he started. Amor still had an awkward taste in his mouth from the building waxes, but couldn’t help lick it off his lips. Not because of the taste, but just to get it off.
“We got quite a lot done today.”
“Yeah. Tomorrow would you help me again?”
“Of course.”
“Good, thank you.” Amor finally kissed Chrysalis, getting some of her wax on accident. It tasted different, slightly sweeter, but it was still the same thing. He saw Chrysalis with an awkward look on her face and he could immediately tell she got some of his. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I kind of liked it, a different experience.” Amor couldn’t argue, it was different.
Amor woke the next day and went straight to work, leaving Chrysalis to sleep. Walking through the hive, Amor could tell something was wrong. The hive wasn’t as active as it should be. The energy being given off by the changelings was weak. He could tell they were hungry. Moments later, Amor found himself standing outside the house, admiring his and Chrysalis’s work. The house was still standing, the first sign that they did well. When he entered, he was more than pleased. The walls were hardened and the wax didn’t run. At this point, the walls were as hard as rock.
He could feel the wax building in his mouth. He again let his tongue hang, feeling the wax dripping off of it. Back to work. Today would be harder, because he was building the ceiling to the first floor, so he would have to build slow, making sure not to put too much on at once before it dried, or else it would collapse. Amor climbed halfway up the wall before starting to apply the wax. After applying the first layer, Amor started moving around the wall, only putting the wax on three of them. It was difficult for Amor to maneuver around on three legs, but he made do.
Chrysalis entered the house moments later, still half asleep. Her hair was a mess and she had bags under her eyes. She let out a large yawn and blinked her eyes repeatedly, looking slightly dazed.
“Good morning.”
Chrysalis looked up at Amor, hanging on the wall above her. “You could have woken me. I told you I would help.”
“You need to sleep.”
“Yes, but we need to complete this house.”
Amor climbed down the wall and stood in front of Chrysalis. He could tell she was distracted by something.
“You feel it too, don’t you?”
“The hive is getting hungry.”
“Yes. But this time, I think I have a plan.”
“And what would that be?”
“Don’t worry about it.” He wrapped his hoof around her. “Just know that I have it under control.”
Chrysalis wasn’t sure what he was planning, but she knew she could trust him. “Alright, but you are not in command anymore. Make sure you tell Purity.”
“Did you eat breakfast? How long ago did you wake up?”
“Is it really that obvious?”
Amor let out a chuckle as his horn began to hum. Chrysalis’s head began to glow as Amor fixed her hair and tail. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re still beautiful.” Chrysalis only turned her head and blushed. “I’d kiss you, but I’ve already started.”
“Does it matter?” She then pulled Amor closer and kissed him. Amor didn’t resist, but when Chrysalis pulled away she let her tongue hang like Amor did, with wax dripping off of it.
“I told you,” Amor said sarcastically.
“What are you talking about? I’m ready to build.”
Amor smirked. “I already started.”
“I see that, but I was going to start the stairs.”
“Good idea, I’ll join you.” Together, Amor and Chrysalis began the stairs, starting with the first one. They built a large rectangle on the floor against the wall. When they produced enough to make the first step, Amor sat while it dried, using his magic to hold it in place. On a small area like this, it was easy, but it would be nearly impossible to hold the ceiling up. While Amor was holding the step together, Chrysalis sat next to him.
“Do you think we will get done before she gets back?”
“I hope so. But all we can do is work until she is released from the hospital.”
“Mmhh. Would I be able to start the second step while you are holding that one?”
“You can, but you will have to hold it together when you are done.” Chrysalis then walked back to the block of wax, emitting a green aura from Amor’s magic, and began building a slightly shorter one on top, giving Amor time to think. I hope Celestia would be willing. If we could work out a deal, maybe we could keep the hive fed. Amor tends to get lost in his thoughts a lot, and while he pondered on this thought, Chrysalis finished the next step. Amor finally returned to the world at the sound of Chrysalis sitting down beside him, thrusting against the ground hard enough that a small gust of air shot out from where she sat.
“I think your step has hardened enough to be left alone.” Amor was hesitant, but he stopped casting his spell. Sure enough, the step stayed in place, but it wasn’t exactly dry enough to walk on. Chrysalis was already casting her spell, so Amor started to rise to start his step. “No. Please, stay with me.”
“I want to get this done soon.” Amor began to walk, but stopped when he felt something pulling at his tail. He turned to see Chrysalis, just like yesterday, with his tail in her mouth, giving him those big eyes again. Amor could only give a smirk. “Alright.” He took his seat next to Chrysalis once more, pulling his tail in front of him. There was some wax in it, so Amor tried getting it out with his teeth, which only made it worse. Every time he bit down, more wax from his mouth would get stuck in his tail. He finally gave up after a few minutes, clumps of wax all through the end of his tail.
“It will come out eventually.”
Amor was about to say something, but Chrysalis leaned her head onto his shoulder, and he forgot what he was going to say. “Yeeah.”
“You’re thinking about something. I can tell.”
“What makes you say that?” Chrysalis only looked at him. “Okay, I think I have a way to feed our changelings without the whole stealing and attacking thing.”
“And how is that?”
“You will find out soon enough, but first I need to get it passed with Celestia.”
“What are you planning?”
“You’ll see.”
“You know I don’t like it when you keep secrets.”
“Alright. Maybe we can strike a deal with Celestia, if she gives us some ponies to feed off of, we won’t have to attack.” Chrysalis stared at him again, this time with a surprised, somewhat shocked look on her face. “I’m kidding. You know how much I hate stealing love. Slavery isn’t much better.” He pulled Chrysalis close again.
“Not funny.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to-“
“It’s okay.”
“Right.” Amor put his chin on Chrysalis’s head. “Forget I said anything.”
Chrysalis replied jokingly. “What did you say?” Amor smiled before pulling his head down beside her, wrapping both of his hooves around her.
Through the day, Amor and Chrysalis worked on the stairs. They finished the staircase hours later, making it to the spot where Amor started on the ceiling. They had a small square built built at the top where it stopped, leaving plenty of room to turn, if there was anywhere to turn to at this point. The day was coming to an end, so they decided it would be time to head back to the castle, where Purity was sitting in her throne. Amor could see it, she was just as weak as the rest of the hive.
“Queen Purity.”
She looked up, slightly dazed. “Oh, hello father, hello mother.”
“My queen, as you know by now, the hive is growing hungry again.”
“Yes, I can tell. I have been trying to think of a way to feed them without force.”
“I know you have, but I think I have a plan.”
“Already? What have you come up with?”
“Well, if you would remember, our changelings were doing fine when they were in Canterlot,”
“Yes, but it is too late to move into Canterlot. We have made our decision.”
“I never said we would move.”
“Alright then, what have you come up with?”
“Simple, we ask Celestia if Canterlot could host some sort of social event every so often. Let the changelings into Canterlot to make friends, talk with the friends they made while they were living there, things like that.”
“Maybe.”
“So far, that’s all we have, unless you’ve come up with something?” He felt Chrysalis give him a sharp elbow to the ribs. “Right, sorry.”
“No, it’s fine, he’s right. Tomorrow we will go see Celestia, all three of us.”
“You mean you two.” Both Amor and Purity looked at Chrysalis.
“Chrysalis, what do you mean?”
“I don’t feel comfortable going. After what I did, I don’t want to show my face in Canterlot.”
Amor looked up at Chrysalis. Ever since he cast that spell on her she’s been so, different. Amor couldn’t help but feel guilty. “If you don’t want to go, I won’t make you.” Chrysalis looked up, staring straight into his eyes. “It’s okay.”
“I’m sorry, Amor.”
“For what? I understand your guilt, I share your pain. I understand you don’t want to go.” He wrapped a hoof around her. “It’s okay.”
Purity, who was silent the whole time, finally spoke up. “So, have we made up our minds?”
Amor looked up. “Yes, my queen, it looks like it’s going to be me and you.”
“Alright, I just have one request.”
“And what is that?”
“Please stop saying ‘my queen’. It feels so weird coming from my parents.”
Amor chuckled. “Alright, Purity. Guess I can’t really call you little one anymore either.”
“Please no, that would just be embarrassing.”
“Alright, permission to leave?”
“Granted.”
“Thank you.” Amor stood on his three good legs and left, followed by Chrysalis. He sat on the edge of the bed while Chrysalis headed to the bathroom.
“I’m taking a bath.”
“Alright. Let me know when you’re done, I need to get this wax out of my tail.” Amor fell back in bed as he heard the water run into the tub. I can’t remember the last time I had any time with Purity. When was it? About two months ago when we found her? She has proven that she can lead, but she is still so young, inexperienced in leading the hive. She can’t do it alone, but… Amor shuddered at the thought. But what if something happens to me or Chrysalis? Yes, a royal changeling has a lifespan that can compare to that of an alicorn, but death is never expected. Thinking back to all those before him, Amor couldn’t recall that many changelings who reached the end of their life naturally. Most died in battle, some were assassinated, killed by wildlife, natural disaster etc. Recalling past events, Amor is surprised he is still alive. Let’s see, there was the run-in with the ursamajor, those royal guards could have killed me and been done with it, if Celestia wasn’t so sure that I was harmless, I could have been executed when I attacked that pony. Then there was that whole ordeal with the timberwolf that could have and should have ended me. Amor sat up. Maybe I’m part cat, he thought to himself jokingly. In that case, taking into count all those times, I have, what, like five lives left? Or maybe this could be my ninth life. Amor felt something pulling at the bandage around his neck that made him jump. He turned his head enough to see Chrysalis, still dripping wet after her bath, untying the bandage.
“Careful. It’s about time to change your bandages again. That, and I’m pretty sure it’s not a good idea to get theses wet.”
Amor looked at the nearby mirror. His neck wasn’t as bad as he imagined it, but it was still bad. Some of his fur was missing, leaving bare patches of grey skin, but the hair would grow back. In other spots, he had large teeth marks, in one spot he had an exact replica of the timberwolf’s jawline. It all would easily be hidden, but the scars will be forever. Amor closed his eyes and sighed, and Chrysalis caught every moment of it.
“Don’t think about the day.”
“It’s hard not to.”
“I know, but sometimes, you have to stop thinking.”
Amor was starting to stress out from all the talk of his injuries. “I’m sorry, but you don’t know the pain.”
“I could, if you want me to.”
Amor looked at her puzzled. “What are you saying?”
Chrysalis couldn’t hide it anymore. She sighed heavily and looked at Amor in the mirror. “Well, when I said I don’t like you keeping secrets, I guess I have secrets too.”
“Chrysalis, what are you hiding?”
“A new meaning to the expression share your pain.”
“What?”
“Just sit still.” Amor felt Chrysalis’s horn latch to his. Her horn hummed and Amor felt a strange sensation over his body. With her behind him, Amor couldn’t see Chrysalis’s face, but she was groaning, as if in pain. After a few moments, Chrysalis’s horn stopped humming, and Amor didn’t feel anything anymore, other than something pulling heavily on his horn. When they finally unlatched, Amor heard a heavy thud behind him. He turned to see Chrysalis on her knees, breathing heavy. He was quickly at her side.
“Are you okay? What was that?” Chrysalis tried to respond, but the pain made it impossible to speak. As she opened her mouth, tears of pain filled her eyes. “No, never mind. Don’t speak yet.” Amor quickly picked her up and put her in the bed, her wet mane clinging to his legs. He pulled the blankets over her. “I’m going to get help.” Amor turned to run out the door, but was stopped when Chrysalis grabbed his leg. He turned to see her shaking her head, telling him no. Amor stood bedside, nervous, scared, but overall caring.
After a few minutes her breathing slowed slightly. She still looked as if she was in pain, but she tried to talk between breaths. “I’m…sorry.”
Amor was quickly at her side. “What was that?”
“A spell. I can…feel your pain…share my pain…give or take…memories.” “What did you do?”
“I…took memories…took pain…since you left…until now.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Share…your pain.”
Amor didn’t know what to say. He always told her to share her pain, but never imagined this. All he could do was try to calm her. He began casting the spell all changelings know by heart: the mind control spell. The spell was completely useless in controlling a changeling, the one who originated the spell almost two centuries ago made a failsafe so that it wouldn’t work, but it gave off a calming, almost pain-easing side-affect. As soon as the spell hit, Chrysalis began to relax. Her eyes eased shut and her breathing slowed even more. After a while, she fell asleep, and Amor stopped casting his spell, tucking Chrysalis in. “Why, my sweet? Why did you do that? Why bring so much pain to yourself? I know you meant well, but that was just…just…well, stupid.”
Amor did everything he could. He walked into the bathroom and turned on the cold water. Using his magic, he grabbed a washcloth and levitated it under the water, wringing the excess out. After folding it up, he placed it onto Chrysalis’s head. She shuddered at the touch, but quickly adjusted. Amor then placed a glass of water bedside. I’ve been in here too long, need fresh air. Amor opened the window to the main hive. Looking out, he could see a watch balcony at the hive mouth. With buzz, Amor was off across the hive, finding the balcony empty. Still shorthanded. Amor looked out over the forest, the cool breeze against his fur and the bare flesh on his neck and back. He almost forgot about the wax in his tail until he felt how heavy his tail was. He pulled it forward and began chewing on the wax again. Keeping it wet would stop it from drying. He began pulling on it, biting down harder, but that didn’t do much. Biting down chipped away at it, but when he pulled the most he could do was rip out the hairs they were trapped in, and other than ripping out half of his tail, that would hurt. A lot.
“Lovely veiw.”
Amor turned around to see Purity standing behind him. “How did you find me?”
“Well, you weren’t very subtle when you left. Where is mother?”
“She’s…sleeping.”
“Really? You seemed a little too hesitant to tell me she is sleeping.”
“Well, yeah, she’s sleeping. I just needed some fresh air.”
Purity stared at Amor. “You look troubled.”
Amor quickly came up with an excuse. “I’m just tired.” Amor didn’t know if Chrysalis told anyone about the spell, but he wasn’t about to let it slip. He looked up at the full moon. “It’s going to be so different looking up and not seeing the Mare in the Moon.”
“The what?” Amor was about to say something, but came to the sudden realization that Purity wasn’t alive to hear the stories.
“There is a story about how Princess Luna envied the sun. Ponies would play in the day, have fun, but slept when night fell. Luna grew angry and an evil form took over. In an attempt to bring eternal night, Celestia used the Elements of Harmony to imprison her on the moon. But after one thousand years or so she was released, and the new embodiments of the elements released her from her evil form, bringing back the true Princess Luna.”
“Oh.”
“Sorry, I’m no good at telling stories. Do me one favor though, do NOT bring it up in front of Luna. I’m not sure if she ever forgave herself for what she did.”
“Alright.”
“You don’t talk much when I’m around. Is something wrong?”
“We aren’t around each other that often.”
Amor sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s fine.”
“Well, at least it will be me and you when we go to Canterlot.”
“Yeah.”
Amor stretched. “Well, it’s about time we go to bed. We leave tomorrow.” Amor turned back to the hive. “You coming?”
“I’ll be there soon.”
Amor buzzed his way straight back to the open window. Chrysalis was already a mess in bed. The rag was next to her head, and her hooves were hanging off of the edge of the bed, the blankets a mess around her. With a sigh, Amor went to work. Using his magic, he gently lifted Chrysalis above the bed and pulled the blanket out from under her. He placed her back atop the bed and moved her legs to a better position before placing the blanket back on top of her. He took the rag and dampened it again. Amor kissed Chrysalis on the forehead and placed the rag back in place before whispering in her ear.
“Don’t ever bring that much pain on yourself again.” Amor was about to go to bed until he realized the wax still in his tail. With a quick bath to clean his wounds, get the wax out of his tail, and all together, clean up, he got out of the bath and looked at himself in the mirror. He matted his hair down before levitating a roll of bandages in front of him. As he wrapped his neck and back he found himself too tired to think, which surprised him. He then walked back out into the room and slid next to Chrysalis before instantly falling asleep.
The night was no better than beforehand. As soon as Amor hit the bed, he was asleep, but to say he stayed asleep would be a lie. He didn’t dream, and he was only sleeping lightly. He awoke in the middle of the night at the sound of Chrysalis breathing heavily again. His eyes crept open. Was he imagining it? He soon realized how real it was when Chrysalis started flailing. She was sweating, but he couldn’t tell if it was in pain or fear. Amor panicked, and when he panicked, his mind went into worse case scenario.
“What can I do, what can I do! If I pin her, she will only end up hurting herself. Paralysis? No, she would hurt herself even more straining against it.” Amor was running out of options. “What would a mind control spell do? Sure it will calm her momentarily, but…” he sighed. “I have no other options.” Again a beam of energy from Amor’s horn hit Chrysalis’s head. She began breathing slower, calming down. Her legs would twitch, as if pulling away from a hot surface. Amor pulled the blanket over her once more before crawling into bed beside her, whispering into her ear. “Calm, my love. Forget the pain, forget my memories. Listen to my voice, listen to me speak, and think of nothing else. Relax. Relax.” Amor was never good at singing, or rhyming, but whatever he did seemed to work. Chrysalis stopped moving, her breathing was normal, and she stopped sweating. Amor dampened the rag again and placed it back on her head. What was that? Was she dreaming? Was she feeling actual pain? Maybe she was reliving my memories in her sleep. One thing’s for sure, I do not want to deal with that again. But I know I will. Sure enough, every time Amor would start to drift back to sleep, he would hear her breathing begin to speed. Luckily, none of the other events were as serious as the first one. All it took was a whisper in her ear to slow her breathing. Finally, around three in the morning, Amor fell asleep and Chrysalis didn’t have another fit. Waking at eight, with only five hours of sleep, Amor didn’t want to get up. He lied there in bed for what felt like hours before even sitting up. He turned to Chrysalis, who was still asleep. Amor put a hoof to her head, which was still warm.
“Don’t ever do that to yourself again.” At the sound, Chrysalis rolled over , her hoof prodding for Amor, so he scooted closer. She wrapped her hooves around him unknowingly, letting out a sigh of comfort. “What am I going to do with you?” As if she heard him, she nuzzled into his neck like a pillow. Amor wrapped the blanket around them and put his hooves around her. He dug his face into her hair and closed his eyes. “This is nice.” Even asleep, she found ways to comfort him. “Please don’t hurt yourself for my sake.”
Almost an hour later, Chrysalis woke, but of course it wasn’t so simple. As Amor sat with Chrysalis on top of him, she began breathing heavy again. She tossed and turned and Amor unwrapped his hooves from her. Her front left leg began twitching, and eventually it shot straight out, hitting Amor in the same leg. He felt a sharp pain and wanted to scream, but held his breath as he wrapped his right hoof around her. Finally, her eyes, filled with tears, shot open as she sat up, sweating and breathing heavy.
“Heyheyhey, calm down, you’re safe.” He levitated the glass of water in front of her. “Here, drink some water.” Chrysalis cupped her hooves around the glass and gulped down the whole glass without stopping. Amor wiped the tears from her eyes. “You’re safe. I’m here.” She fell back down, weeping into Amor’s neck.
“I’m so sorry. I had no idea what you went through.”
“It’s okay, it’s over now. Please, please promise you will NEVER do that again. Never do I want you to feel my pain, not like that. I don’t want to see you like that again.” Chrysalis put her face deeper into Amor’s neck. She began sobbing, muffled by his fur. Amor wrapped his hooves around her again. “Let it out, it’s okay. I’m here for you, no matter what happens.” He dug his muzzle deep into her hair and let out a heavy sigh, making it warm. Tears ran down Amor’s now wet neck, just below the bandages. He pulled her closer, trying to comfort her. Chrysalis finally calmed down enough to speak, although her voice was shaky. She lifted her head from Amor’s neck.
“How?”
Amor picked his head up out of her hair. “How, what?”
“How did you live with so much pain?”
Amor thought for a moment. “I don’t know, really. If I had to guess, one main reason kept me going.”
“And what was that?”
“Knowing that if I gave up, I would never see you again.” Chrysalis smiled and put her head down, resting her temple on his chest. “Please tell me your fits are over.”
“I cannot tell for sure, but I think we are done for now.”
“Good. It killed me to see you in such pain.”
“And it killed me to know you felt such pain.” Amor placed his head back into her hair and again let out a breath of warm air. “Mmh, that felt good. Do it again.” Amor took a deep breath and exhaled a burst of warm air through her hair as she huddled closer to him and closed her eyes. It did feel good. Her warm hair covering his face, he liked the way it felt. Closing his eyes, he hugged Chrysalis tighter, she doing the same. “I don’t want this moment to end.”
“Neither do I, but all things will end eventually, so let’s stay like this as long as we can.”
“Sir, the queen sent me to make sure you are awake. You are leaving for Canterlot in an hour.”
“Alright, thank you.” Amor heard the footsteps fade away.
“Do you have to go now?”
“Yeah, I have to get ready.” He kissed Chrysalis on top of her head. “Don’t worry, we can stay together when I get back.” Chrysalis squirmed off of Amor so he could stand. He entered the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was a mess, tangled and knotted. Grabbing a comb from nearby, Amor brushed his hair, gritting his teeth as it caught the bigger knots. Looking at himself in the mirror again, his hair was straight with the odd holes in his main. His horn began to glow, along with his hair. Although he has spoken to Celestia before, he wanted to be professional about this. He pulled the hair from in front of his face and tucked it back until he got it to look good. He walked back into the bedroom where Chrysalis sat on the bed, her head propped up by her hoof.
“You’re taking this serious.”
“Of course. This is the best way to save the hive without the need to attack.”
“Well then, you’ll need this.” Her horn hummed as a glowing crown was placed on Amor’s head.
“It doesn’t mean anything anymore.”
“Yes it does. It represents what you were, and what you still are. Retired or not, you are a leader.”
Amor smiled. “How do I look?”
Chrysalis’s horn glowed again as she took control of Amor’s body. “Stand tall, wings straight, keep your head up, look straight, keep a stern look on your face, and you should be fine.” As she spoke, whatever she said she made happen. His legs straightened out, his wings spread, his head propped up, neck straightened. Amor waited while she finished.
“Anything else?”
Chrysalis crawled to the foot of the bed. “Confidence. If you sound shaky, they won’t take you serious.”
Amor walked to the bed. “You sure you don’t want to come?”
“No. The hive needs a leader while you’re gone anyways.” She pushed forward and wrapped around Amor, half on the bed and hanging in the middle. Amor started to fall back, pulling Chrysalis on top of him. “Woah!” She didn’t try to stop herself and Amor didn’t try to save it either. His crown hit the ground with a ping and rolled around beside them. Amor looked up at Chrysalis, giggling on top of him. She looked into his eyes and stared for a minute before kissing him. “Time to go.” Chrysalis rolled over as Amor stood, and she used her magic to fix his hair again. “Remember, confidence.” His crown landed on his head as Chrysalis nudged him out the door.
In the throne room, Purity waited for Amor. Her hair was in a ball and she was wearing her crown. She had a blank look on her face as Amor entered.
“My que-uh Purity.”
“Father. Glad to see you remembered.”
“It will take some getting used to, but I’ll adjust. Ready to go?”
“Yeah, I have one of the chariots waiting outside.”
“Chariot?”
“You didn’t think we would fly to Canterlot like this, did you? We need to look professional when we get there.”
“Right.” Amor and Purity headed to the “gate” of the hive. Waiting outside was a chariot with two larger changeling soldiers tied to it. It was the normal design for a Changeling chariot. A wooden body and wheels, but the body was coated in the bluish green building wax for durability and display. A large green pearl was placed on the front. They stepped onto their ride and with a raise of the hoof, the two soldiers began to pull the chariot into the air. Amor always enjoyed the view above the forest and was looking over the side. Purity still had that blank yet serious look on her face as she looked forward. They were in Canterlot in minutes, landing in front of the castle.
As they stepped down from the chariot, the two royal guards bowed before the queen. “Tell Princess Celestia that Purity and Amor are here to negotiate.” At the command, one of the guards trotted to the castle while the other began chatting with the changelings at the chariot. The guard came back moments later.
“Follow me, please.” The guard led the two royal changelings to Celestia’s throne, where they all bowed.
“Purity, Amor, to what do I owe the visit?”
Purity rose. “Teacher, I think it is quite obvious.”
“It’s about the hive, isn’t it?”
“Yes. The hive has grown hungry again, but we think we have a solution.”
“And what would that be?”
Purity turned around. “Amor?”
Amor stepped forward. “It’s rather simple, actually. All we ask is for a small social event. Let the hive come up to Canterlot weekly to make friends, reunite with old ones, have fun, do whatever. It would do enough for our kind.”
“And that’s it?”
“Well, yes. If your people are willing, we can have a nonviolent alternative to the old ways of steal, attack, takeover.”
Celestia smiled. “I think that it is a great idea, it will get the citizens calmed to the idea of being allies with the changeling hive. I will make an announcement right away, just give me time to ready myself. I want you two present though.”
“Fair enough. We have nothing better to do anyways.”
As a scroll and quill appeared in front of Celestia, Purity and Amor spoke to each other.
“Who will speak?”
“Isn’t it obvious? You’re the queen, you need to represent our people.”
“But what if I mess up?”
“You’ll do fine.” She looked down at the ground. Amor sighed. “Purity, I was never there for you. I didn’t guide you, I didn’t help you, I wasn’t there to see you grow.”
“Thank you, father.”
“But you are my daughter and I love you, no matter what you think. I know you can do this little speech.”
Purity looked up. “Thank you. And I do love you.” She quickly gave Amor a hug before turning her back to him, deep in thought.
“People of Canterlot, I stand before you today to share with you news of a celebration. As you know, we are now allies with the changeling hive. As of now, the changelings grow hungry, but we have come up with a solution. We are going to host a weekly event, invite the changelings to our city to celebrate friendship. I will now turn this over to Queen Purity of the changeling hive.”
Purity began to step forward. She was shaky, trembling, but with an assuring glance from Amor, she felt more confident. “People of Canterlot, I thank you for your cooperation. As you know, my people feed off of love to survive, but we do not need to steal it. I would like to see ponies and changelings living together peacefully and I feel this would be the start of it. Again, I thank you all for cooperating.” She turned and Celestia stepped forward again.
“Thank you all for coming, you are dismissed.” The crowd dispersed as the three headed back into the castle. Celestia turned around to see the two changelings stop close behind her. “Are you sure this will work?”
Amor stood tall. Remember, confidence. “It will work. The changelings have grown docile, most of them have already made friends with citizens here and others will learn to if they want to survive.”
Purity mimicked Amor. “And if they disobey and decide to attack, they will deal with five angry leaders.”
“Yeah, three royal changelings and two alicorns.”
Celestia smiled. “I hope you’re right.”
“Trust me, after they saw what I did to that timberwolf, I wouldn’t be surprised if they would listen to my every whim still.”
“Alright, alright. Do you need anything else?”
“No, I think I’ll stop at the hospital real quick and we’ll be off.”
The two changelings walked out the castle door, where they saw the two changeling soldiers, still strapped to the chariot, talking and laughing with the two royal guards. As soon as one noticed the two walk out, he nudged the other, and all four turned and bowed.
“My queen, are you ready to go?”
“Not yet, we are going to the hospital, you two can stay and chat for a little longer, until we get back.”
“Yes, my queen.” Amor could tell they weren’t about to argue. They were gaining strength with every word they spoke, and Amor was pretty sure the guards knew. He wasn’t about to ruin it though.
Amor and Purity entered the hospital moments later, greeted by the nurse at the front desk. She looked up to see the two changelings. “Hello, may I help you?” After a few moments she recognized Amor. “What did you do to yourself this time? More timberwolves?”
“No, no, we are here to see Souls, the changeling who was sharing a room with me.”
“Of course. You know where the room is, right?”
“Yes, we can get there ourselves. Thank you though.”
They stood outside the door for a few moments, unsure whether to enter or not. Amor stared at the doorknob. Purity was standing behind him, waiting patiently, but finally stepped forward.
“Father, what’s wrong?”
Amor was thinking about that day again. “I still feel guilty for what happened. If I would have reacted faster, if I would have done something-“
“It could have ended worse. You did all you could, you saved a life. If you would have rushed, it would have attacked all of them. If you would have waited, it would have killed her. Nothing more could have been done, nothing more can be done.”
Amor sighed. “Your right. She forgave me, I did what I could. Time to face my fear.” The door handle glowed, turned, and the door swung open. Souls was in her bed as usual, and she turned to see two large changelings enter the room.
“Queen Purity! King Amor!”
“I told you I’m not the king.”
“And I told you I would still call you that. But it’s great to see you. You didn’t have to come all the way out here to see me.”
“Of course we did. You are still one of us.”
“Yeah, but I’m useless. No wings, one leg, I can barely move.”
“But you are a changeling, and the hive would be happy to have you back. In fact, Chrysalis and I have been working on your house.”
“Really? Thank you, I never would have been able to finish in my condition. Speaking of which, how’s your leg?”
Amor held up his bad leg. “It doesn’t hurt, unless you hit it, but it’ll be fine, it isn’t holding me back at all.”
“That’s good.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll be out of here soon.”
“Yeah, thanks for trying to make me feel better.”
Amor grinned. “Don’t worry, we’ll have your house done soon.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“Oh yes I do.”
“Well, thank you.”
“Yeah, well we should be going soon, we just stopped by to see how you were doing, and we are glad to see how quickly you’re getting along.”
“Well, thanks for stopping by.” Souls struggled around on the bed, but finally just raised her arm to her head in a salute. Amor nodded and left, Purity close behind. They stepped in the chariot, and with a nod and a wave, all the guards were back to their posts, the changelings, filled with love, were stronger than when they got there and flew fast.
“You did good.”
“What?”
“Your speech. You did a good job.”
“Thank you, father.”
Nothing else was said, and they were back at the hive moments later. Chrysalis waited for Amor, seated at the throne built for her, now belonging to Purity.
“How did it go?”
“Good. Celestia is willing, there was no arguing with the citizens.”
“That’s good.” Amor began walking to his room. Chrysalis stepped down from the throne and quickly followed him. “Are you mad at me?”
Amor stopped in his tracks and turned. Chrysalis had a guilty look in face, as if she thought she did something wrong, as if she were undeserving. “Why would I be mad at you?”
“I didn’t go to Canterlot with you, I made you go through the pain of watching me feel your pain.”
“Stop. I could never be mad at you. You’re tearing yourself apart over nothing. You didn’t want to go you didn’t have to. You took my memories to ease my pain and you feel you did right, so you did. You can never do wrong in my eyes.”
“What about the attack on Canterlot?”
“You did what you thought was right, you were trying to feed the hive. I don’t care about that. You’re here with me now and I won’t let anything happen to you. I love you, no matter what you think.”
Chrysalis smiled weakly. “Alright. Sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“It’s okay. Now, let’s pretend this never happened.”
“Yeah.”
They entered the bed room moments later. Chrysalis’s crown hovered over to the table that was bedside and she used her magic to make Amor’s do the same. With the crown off and the meeting over, Amor shook his head back and forth. His hair was in his eyes, flattened and straightened. Perfect. One thought came into his head, one that he knew all too well. Share your pain.
“Chrysalis, you said your spell could give and take pain and memories.”
“Yes. What are you getting…no. No, I will not do it.”
Amor walked up to her. “Share your pain. Please, I had to see you go through the pain I had. The least I can do is take the pain away, so please, share your pain.”
She knew she couldn’t argue with him. “Alright, alright. Sit still.” Chrysalis locked horns with Amor and hers began to glow. “I love you.” After a few moments, her horn stopped, and an almost unbearable pain filled Amor. He fell to his knees, snarling and growling like a rabid animal. He saw the first of the memories. Chrysalis sat at their old bed, reading over the note over and over, eyes filled with tears. He felt his heart begin to ache. Emotional pain. What he caused her with a little note, he couldn’t believe it.
The scene flashed to the next memory of pain. The attack on Canterlot. Amor witnessed a young alicorn and a unicorn wearing what seemed like a guard’s ceremonial attire touch horns. A blast of magic shot out and launched her out from the town. That pain was enough, but then then moments later she was smashed into a cliffside. Amor felt like two more of his legs were broken, along with some of his ribs. He then felt the effects of weeks of hunger and thirst all at once. Then, he saw himself, standing over her. He picked her up and with the shift of all the broken bones another large rush of pain filled him. He was levitated to the bed by Chrysalis, who covered him up and did everything she could. The next memory came. She was sitting in their room in Canterlot, when a knock came at the door. A soldier entered the room and delivered the bad news: Amor was in the hospital. More emotional pain. Next thing he saw they were in the hospital. He was lying in a bed, wrapped in bandages, a cast around his leg. The emotional pain kept growing. The memories faded away, but the pain was still there.
“Close your eyes, here me sing.
Remember back, when you were king.
I’ll be here, by your side,
And I’ll help, your mind subside.
Please, please, be calm my love,
And clear your mind, of what you think of.”
Chrysalis’s melody calmed Amor. He listened. He closed his eyes, he steadied his breathing, and he fell asleep.
Amor dreamed as he slept, but these dreams were not good dreams. Amor kept reliving the memories he received from Chrysalis, kept reliving the pain, but Chrysalis would calm him, carry him back to reality with her tune, over and over again. He did not awake until the next morning. His eyes shot open with another attack of pain. He began breathing heavy, sweating, pain filled his entire body. He found himself with his head in Chrysalis’s hooves.
“Calm yourself, forget the pain
As your hoof feels through my main.
Fill your mind with a happy thought,
Calm your mind, and fear not.
I am here, by your side
And know that while you slept, I cried.”
Amor calmed and slowed his breathing enough to speak. “You cried?”
“Of course. Seeing you in pain, I imagine, was as bad as when you saw me the same way.” A damp rag hovered to Amor and wiped the sweat from his head. It landed nearby and a glass of water did the same. “Drink.” Amor obeyed, and as Chrysalis held the glass to his lips he drank.
“Chrysalis.”
“Yes?”
“Share your pain with me, no matter how much it hurts me, share your pain when you need me.”
She smiled and put her muzzle in his main. “We’ll see.”
“No. I don’t care what it does to me, just share your pain when need be.”
“Amor, I don’t want to put you through any more pain than you have to.”
“It’s not a matter of whether I have to or not, I want to do this for you.”
“We’ll see.”
Amor sighed, knowing he wouldn’t get a straight answer. “So when you said you had secrets, were you hiding anything else from me?”
“No, just this.”
“Alright. Hey, will I get any more of those pain attacks?”
“No one can say for sure, we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Amor rolled off of Chrysalis and sat up beside her, wrapping his hoof over her shoulder. “We’re working more on the house today, right?”
Chrysalis’s head fell onto his shoulder. “If that is what you want to do, yes, I will help.”
“Good, good.” Amor pulled Chrysalis close. “Let’s stay like this for a while.”
“Good idea.” She laid back, her head on Amor. “I hardly got…any…sleep.” She dozed off in Amor’s hooves. He grinned and curled his head around her.
“Sleep, you deserve it.” He exhaled deeply into her hair. “Sleep.” When he was sure she was asleep, he slipped out from under Chrysalis quietly. Amor floated the blanket above the bed and spread it out, then placed it on top of her. He kissed her on the head before heading out to the house, which he was going to try to finish today, although he knew he wouldn’t. He added a layer of wax for the ceiling and started with the house’s roof. After placing a thick layer to both of them he sat in the center of the house. Suddenly, his head began throbbing, but he shook it off and paid no attention to it. The ceiling was dried enough so he climbed the wall and added another layer. After an hour Chrysalis appeared in the door.
“You really want to get this done, don’t you?”
“Of course I do. I feel I owe her something after letting her get attaAAAUUUGHH!” Amor fell off of the wall and hit the ground hard. Chrysalis was quickly at his side.
“What is it, another pain attack?” Amor only nodded. “Okay, calm down. Breath slowly, I’ll figure something out.” She began casting the mind control spell and Amor instantly felt slight releif, but not enough. She crawled up behind him and wrapped her hooves around his neck as she sang.
“Close your eyes, here my voice,
Remember that this was your choice.
Please forget all the pain,
Or else I fear my tears will rain.” Amor’s breath slowed as the pain eased. “It’s okay, I’m here for you. I won’t leave your side.” He closed his eyes as the pain numbed itself. Amor tried to stand, but when he moved the pain began to come back, so they lied there together, motionless, but painless. “I’m so sorry. I never should have given you my pain.” Tears filled Chrysalis’s eyes as she pressed her face into Amor’s neck. It hurt, but he had to say something.
“No. Don’t… be sorry. You did…what you thought was right.”
Chrysalis wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled. “Don’t speak, it hurts you too much.”
“I… don’t care. You need… to know that… you did the right thing.” Amor winced in pain before stopping.
“You’ve proven your point. Now stop, before you cause yourself more pain.” She nuzzled back into his neck.
“You…should work.”
“Amor, I’m not leaving your side just to work on this house. It can wait.” Amor was about to open his mouth in protest, but realized he didn’t want to, so he shut his mouth and closed his eyes.
“Thank… you.”
“You don’t need to thank me. I would never leave your side. Now shut up before you hurt yourself.” Amor wasn’t about to argue. His mouth felt like someone had put a hot iron to his lips, his neck felt like he had swallowed broken glass.
Amor laid there silently for what felt like an hour. He heard Chrysalis sigh behind him and curl up. Could she really be asleep? I guess she did have a long night. Amor decided it would be best if he at least tried to move. His front right hoof twitched, but he felt no pain. He gave a light kick, and still no pain. Must be over. Amor quietly climbed to his hooves. He looked back at Chrysalis, and sure enough she was asleep, curled in a ball with her tail wrapped around herself. Cute. Alright, enough distractions, back to work. Amor climbed one of the walls and applied a fresh layer of wax to it, along with the others and the roof. Hours passed and Amor kept adding a new layer after each one, making progress rapidly. Halfway done with the ceiling, Amor could tell he needed rest. The wax in his mouth wasn’t right, and when he tried to apply it, it was runny. His body wasn’t producing it right, meaning he overused himself for today. Amor tried one more time to apply the next layer to the ceiling, but of course, it dripped right off.
“Hey!” Amor looked down to see Chrysalis standing below him, wax splattered on her face.
“Umm… oops.”
“I think you’ve been building enough. You worked yourself dry.” She used her hoof to try and wipe the watery wax from her face, but only smeared it around. Amor landed on the ground nearby and approached her. He pulled her hoof off of her face and kissed her, then he stuck his tongue out and proceeded to lick her face, starting at her nose and dragging it to the top of her head, repeating the process until he got all of the wax out of her coat.
“Better?”
“Y-yeah, thank you.” She blushed before turning for the door. “Come on, it’s getting late.”
Amor was sure that the pain was over, but as he followed Chrysalis to their chambers, he couldn’t help but think of the pain she felt. After all she has been through, she still is so happy. They were in the room moments later, Chrysalis levitated her crown to the table near the bed. She turned to see Amor with a worried expression on his face, and she then had the same.
“Amor, what’s wrong?”
Amor looked at Chrysalis. “The pain you’ve been through, but you are still so… so cheery. How do you do it?”
“Well for one,” she began walking around him. “I don’t think about it.” She put a hoof to Amor’s chest. “I have you.” She began pushing gently towards the bed. Amor tripped onto it and Chrysalis ended up on top of him, pinning his shoulders with her hooves. She looked into his eyes as she let out seductive laugh. She leaned in closer and Amor began to get nervous.
“What-what are you doing?”
“Oh nothing.” She kissed him on the lips and put his crown next to hers before falling on top of him. She held Amor tight and rolled over, putting Amor on top. He let out a comforting smile and kissed her again before trying to get up. “Ah, ah, ah.” She hooked her horn around his and pulled him down, looking deep into his eyes.
“Chrysalis, it’s getting late. We should sleep.”
“Do we have to?”
“Yes, now get some sleep.”
“I’ve been asleep all day!”
“At least try.” Amor unhooked his horn from her and it began to hum. He picked her up and, after childishly crossing her front legs and making a face of disappointment, she did as she was told. One thought came into Amor’s head. Great, she’s in her reproductive state. Amor set Chrysalis down in the bed and put the blanket on top of her. He crawled into bed beside her and pulled the blanket over himself. Chrysalis cuddled up into his neck again, her hooves curled up in front of her and between them, Amor wrapping his around her. “Sleep.”
“Alright, alright. No need to scold me like a child.” She let out a large yawn before pulling closer to his neck. “I guess I am tired anyways.” Her tail wrapped around Amor’s body under the blankets, and he did the same to her. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, my love.” Amor kissed her atop her head before closing his eyes to sleep. He had no dreams tonight. No pain, no memories. Just the way he liked it. He awoke the next morning, well rested and ready to go. But before he could get up, Chrysalis was on top of him again, pinning his shoulders to the bed.
“Good morning, Amor.”
“My love, what are you doing? Could you let me up?”
Chrysalis put her head onto Amor’s chest before playfully responding. “No.”
“Chrysalis.”
“No.” Amor sighed and his horn glowed. He picked Chrysalis up off of him and set her down on the bed beside him and standing up.
“You need to calm down.”
Chrysalis sighed. “You’re right, sorry.”
“It’s alright, just please stop. This is going too far. I understand where you are coming from, but this is crazy.”
Chrysalis rolled over to the edge of the bed and wrapped around Amor. “I’m sorry.” Amor picked Chrysalis up and placed her on her hooves.
“It’s alright.” Amor kissed her and turned. “Come, we need to finish the house today.”
“Alright.” Chrysalis took her place at his side as they walked to the changeling’s house. There was a small hole left in the roof, and the ceiling for the first floor was the same. Amor and Chrysalis stood in the dark house, the only light source was the hole in the center of the room. “So romantic.”
“Yeah.” Amor didn’t want to wait for what she had to say next. “Well, back to work.” Amor quickly flew up to the ceiling and began adding the next layer. Chrysalis sighed before flying up to the ceiling of the first floor and adding her layer. The light grew dimmer and dimmer with each layer added. Eventually, there was no more than a single ray from a small hole in the ceiling. As Amor added the final layer to the roof, the light faded, and he was left in the dark. “Now that I think about it, I should have put torches in here first.” He lit his horn, the dim green light that emitted from it splashed on the walls. He made his way for the staircase, but when he heard something crash downstairs he rushed down to see what happened.
“Remind me why we didn’t put lights in here?” Chrysalis laid sprawled on the floor, her hooves a tangled mess.
“What happened?”
“What happened was I fell in the dark.”
“Why didn’t you light your horn?”
“Because I forgot.” Amor sighed as he used his magic to pick Chrysalis up. He walked to the wall and started adding more wax in a ball. Using his magic, he then shaped it into a basic torch and held it together.
“You do the same on the other wall.” Chrysalis nodded before walking to the wall opposite of Amor and creating another torch mold. She sat next to Amor, facing the opposite direction, as she held it in place.
“Sorry for how I’ve been acting lately.”
“It’s okay, you’re just going through a phase. It will pass.”
“Eventually. Don’t say a word to anyone.”
Amor rolled his eyes and replied sarcastically. “Yeah, because that’s what I would do. Hey guys, my wife’s going through her reproductive state, let’s talk about that.” He felt a sharp nudge in his side. “Alright, I’m sorry. Your secret’s safe with me.”
“Good. Thank you.” When Amor was sure his torch would hold, he let go and moved to the next wall. Placing the next torch, Chrysalis followed soon after and sat next to him. “Looks like we’re going to get done soon.”
“All we need to do is put torches up stairs and fix the floor up there.” Soon after the torches were starting to dry, so they moves upstairs. The first thing Amor noticed was the rough floor under his hooves. All he needed to do was add a new layer to the already existing layer to the one already down and flatten it. As Chrysalis began placing the first torch, Amor started on the floor. “Could you fly while you work on that torch? I want to get the floor done.”
“Alright.” Her wings buzzed as she lifted off the ground. Amor began coating the floor with a fresh layer, and at the half way point stopped. His horn hummed as he flattened and smoothed the newly applied layer. Chrysalis buzzed over the floor and studied it. “It looks good, keep going.” Amor did as instructed and placed the rest of the wax down, smoothing it out as he finished.
“Just about done. You can stop with that torch, I think it’s done.” Chrysalis let go and moved to the next wall. “Do you want to take a break?”
“When I get this torch placed, sure.”
“What the-oof!” Both Amor and Chrysalis looked at the stair case.
“Was that?”
“Could it be? Stay here.” Amor headed down the stairs to the dark room below. He lit his horn to see a changeling, sprawled on the floor. Three of her legs were in casts, her wings were shredded, and her body was wrapped in bandages. “Souls? what are you doing here?”
The changeling looked up from her spot on the ground. “Oh! I didn’t know you were still here, my king. The hospital let me out. Why is it so dark in here?”
“Sorry, we forgot to put the torches in and we’re getting to it now.”
“We? So the queen is still here?”
“Yes. Chrysalis is upstairs putting the last few torches on the walls.”
“Thank you, my king.” The changeling tried to stand, or kneel into a bow, but ended up just squirming on the ground. Amor sighed.
“You don’t need to do that.” He picked the changeling up with his magic and placed her on her hooves. “I’ll get a bed in here soon.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s the least I can do.” Chrysalis came down the stairs soon after.
“Oh good, you’re here. How many torches do you want upstairs?”
“Two is fine, my queen.” Chrysalis chuckled.
“You can’t have two queens. Just call us by our names.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Amor sighed. “That will do. Don’t go upstairs for a while, the floor is still drying.”
“Thank you, sir.” Amor rolled his eyes before heading for the door.
“I’ll have a bed in here before dark. Decorating is up to you.”
The day was coming to an end. Amor left the house, Chrysalis close behind him. The chattering and buzzing of changelings was growing quiet as they made their ways back to their homes. Returning to the castle, Amor was happy with his work on Souls’ house. The main chamber of the castle was nearly empty other than a few servants cleaning up. Everypony must already be in bed. Amor headed up the stairs to the right of the thrones in the center of the room. He reached his room and placed his crown on the table nearby, Chrysalis doing the same.
“I’ll be done in a minute.” He walked into the bathroom attached to his room. Amor turned on the water and let it warm up as he looked in the mirror at himself. He was smiling at himself, proud of what he has done. He was sure that Chrysalis couldn’t hear him over the running water. “My life isn’t as bad as I made it out to be. I got out of my leadership alive. I have a beautiful wife who cares and loves me. The few changelings I did save are loyal. My daughter loves me and is a great leader.” He looked at himself in the mirror. “I wish I didn’t look so stupid when I full out smiled, but I’m too happy to care.” Amor took a quick bath and dried his main the best he could. Walking out into the bedroom, he found Chrysalis already asleep, curled in a mess of blankets. He sighed as he slid in bed and curled around her on top of the blankets. He rested his head on her back as he slowly drifted to sleep.
He found himself in a dream of Canterlot’s castle, just waking from his bed. He stood and opened the door to find the hall empty, no guards at all. Walking down the stairs, every hoof step echoed through the silent castle. He reached the bottom floor and still found it empty. He thought he heard someone giggling and stopped in his tracks, scanning the room for the source. He heard it again, echoing through the door to the throne room. Upon entering, he found Celestia’s throne, but it was not her seated in it. Why would she? This is a dream, so it only made sense that he would see none other than Luna sitting in the throne. “Princess Luna.” Amor bowed.
“Rise, please. This is your dream.”
“And you are still a Princess.” Amor rose to his hooves. “So why am I dreaming?”
“Simple. You are actually happy for once. You have accepted everything, you have finished your work as king of the changeling hive. You can now live your life freely, and you are happy because of it.” Amor closed his eyes and grinned. “Thank you, princess, but why is this my dream?”
“Just decided to say hi, and there is no better way than this. Would you like to continue dreaming or do you want a dreamless sleep.”
“I think you know the answer.” Luna smiled. “Very well.” Her horn began to glow, a blinding light that filled the room emanating from it. When it faded, he and Luna were standing in an open field. “Dream well, Amor. Goodbye.” She faded away, disappeared like she disintegrated in the sun’s rays.
“Amor, are you coming?” Amor turned to see Chrysalis, cheery as ever with a calming smile across her face. Amor smiled as he approached her.
“Of course, my love. I am here for you.”
“I know you are. You are always here for me.” Chrysalis began trotting and Amor soon followed. They walked for hours until finally stopping at a huge tree, where Chrysalis flew to a large branch, Amor right behind her. Sitting on the branch side by side. Chrysalis leaned her head onto Amor’s shoulder as they looked at the sunset. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Chrysalis.”
“Amor, it is time to wake up.”
“Alright, my love.” Amor’s eyes started to grow heavy, and before he knew it, he was awake. Chrysalis had one of his hooves wrapped in her own and had her nose pressed up to it. Quietly, Amor slipped his hoof out. Like a child, Chrysalis began feeling for it, trying to grab it. Amor balled up a blanket and put it in her hooves, which seemed to please her, because she held it tight and stopped moving. Amor walked over to the window and opened it, looking over the baron streets and quiet houses. Spreading his wings, he buzzed out the window and flew to one of the open balconies watching over the hive entrance. Looking over the forest floor as the breeze blew the hair back on his body. The moonlight lit the ground enough to see the grass fly in the breeze, like an ocean of green.
“It looks beautiful.” Amor turned to see Chrysalis standing behind him.
“I thought you were asleep?”
“A blanket is no substitute to the warmth I get off of your body. What are you doing out here?”
“Enjoying the view.” Chrysalis walked out in front of Amor and looked over the balcony. Her fur glistened in the moonlight, making it able to see every hair move. Amor looked into her eyes, a sparkle from the foreign light showing in them. She looked more beautiful than ever. Amor walked beside her and put his head to hers, the horns crossing. They both closed their eyes as Amor spoke. “You are beautiful. Most ponies would have left me after so long, but you love me enough to stay by my side.”
“Of course. Why would I leave? Most fear me, call me a monstrosity, even the changelings in the hive hate me, but you love me for me, not for who I could be.”
“I think-no, I know you are the most beautiful pony in Equestria.” Two solid black figures sat with their heads touching, the moon behind them. Their shadows formed a sort of heart in the light, a sign that they would be together for years to come. Forever.
