> A Time to Think
>  by The Sonic Mage
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: An Unexpected Guest (edited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 1: An Unexpected Guest


‘This is a good day’. That was the very thought that ran through King Thorax’s mind. As the ruler of the Changeling Empire, life was usually a bit chaotic. What with the reconstructing and remodeling of the hive, as well as the occasional monster attacks, there was hardly ever a truly mundane time in the Empire. So the times when he could just sit in the throne room, drink a cup of tea, watch the people of his kingdom from the balcony, and just generally enjoy the quiet, were moments that he cherished and enjoyed greatly. For Thorax, it's like the calm could last forever…
“YOUR MAJESTY!!!”, Unless someling comes barreling through the Throne Room doors like the world is coming to an end. Alas, all good things must come to an end, and he must return to his royal duties.

“*sigh* Pharynx, brother, This is an unexpected visit,” he said, placing himself back on the throne, “I thought you and your platoon were out on an extended wide area patrol. Why back so soon?”

Thorax leaned forward on his comfortable moss covered stone throne. A small joking smile forming on his face. His “Brother”, Pharynx, was the recently appointed general of the newly formed Changeling Defence Force (C.D.F.) and head of all hive defence military operations. While Pharynx himself leaped at the position like the common moth to a lantern burning in the night, some of the recruits lacked the stamina for the job. As such, Thorax liked to poke fun at this fact every once and a while, as he had heard many a story about the drill sessions during basic training. To him, this looked like a perfect opportunity to make a joke, “Did the new recruits burn out a quarter way through the patrol or…” but one look at Pharynx’s face said otherwise. His face was stained with sweat, his breath tired and heavy, legs shaking. Thorax took a few steps forward, his eyes starting to fill with concern and worry.

“Brother, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve been running from Tirek himself.” Thorax quickly levitated a cold glass of water to Pharynx’s lips. He couldn’t help but be worried. His brother looked like he had gone through Tartarus and back again. He had to find out what was going on. Fortunately, he would not have to wait long as Pharynx chugged the glass like it was full of apple cider, and after fixing his posture and collecting himself, he began to tell him everything.

“Your Majesty, a few minutes ago I was on a routine patrol exercise with several new recruits and a collection of veterans to the training program.” Thorax’s guts twisted a little. He didn’t like being called ‘Your Majesty’, or ‘Sire’, or anything else that has a royal connotation to it. It was just too formal for him, and made his position as king heavier than it actually was. However in this case he would not comment on it. He knew it was how Pharynx talked to him when he got like this.

“It was during this time, while scouting the Everfree Forest, we came across…” He stopped. There was a long pause, noling spoke. Thorax was hanging on Pharynx’s words like a fish on a hook and his worry and paranoia were building with every second of silence

“What, what did you find?” Thorax leaned forward, stopping mid-step. His “brother’s” silence was making his concern burn like fire. “Pharynx, what happened out there, what did you fi-” Pharynx put a hoof to Thorax’s mouth. Any other ruler would have taken some offence to this, but it was common knowledge that Thorax was not that kind of ruler.

“I think...I think it would be easier to show you.” Pharynx said, looking down at the ground slightly with his solid blue changeling eyes.

“Show me what?” It was at this point that Thorax’s paranoia reached new heights. What was Pharynx going to show him? Were the Timberwolves invading, the constellation beasts, was the forest on FIRE?! Or was it…

“BRING THEM IN!!”

The doors flung open revealing several troopers, pulling and tugging at magical chains. Sweat bearing down their faces. The once quiet Throne Room was now filled with the sounds of grunting and physical strain, the clatter of enchanted metal. And on the end of those chains, was Her. The 12 Changeling troops clearly had to put to put their all into moving her. She had a harness around her barrel, inhibiting the use of her wings, to which 6 of the troops had chains attached, 3 on each side. Another clamp was around her neck, with another 6 troops attached. She was clearly not out of it, but she also didn’t go down easy. There were cracks and cuts across her chitin, dried green blood to accompany the wounds. Her legs scraped, kicked, and dragged across the floor, in an effort to resist the Changelings restraining her. Thorax could only watch in awe as they dragged their prisoner to him. When they got close enough, the guards gave a hearty pull and the captive tumbled to the floor. Thorax looked down at her. She looked up at him with eyes that harbored nothing but disgust and hatred for him. Thorax turned to Pharynx.

“Well, this was rather unexpected.” His eyes returned to the sore captive lying in front of him. “I wasn’t expecting you to show up anytime,” his voice had gained a noticeable stern tone as he addressed, “Queen Chrysalis.”


 End of Chapter One

> Chapter 2: A Decision
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“We found her on the outskirts, hiding out in the Everfree” Pharynx stood tall as Thorax continued to just stare. He noticed something among the physical restraints. Around Chrysalis’ neck, along with the clamp, was a bejeweled necklace(or collar depending on the way you look at it). He recognized that item and its purpose. It was a magic inhibitor, which limited her abilities to little more than slowly levitating small objects a few feet off the ground. She couldn’t fly, couldn’t shape shift, and could barely use magic. On top of all that, Chrysalis had been stripped of her throne, devoid of a people to rule. 'She’s completely helpless’. That one sentence filled Thorax’s mind, seemingly on an endless loop. He was broken from his deep thought when Pharynx got his attention .

“*Ahem*If I may ask sir, what should we do with her?” Pharynx continued, “She is guilty of attempted usurpation of the Royal sisters and trying to take over all of Equestria. Twice no less.” Thorax looked to Pharynx, and back to Chysalis again. His “brother” was right, that was a factor to consider. Chrysalis was a wanted fugitive and essentially a terrorist. However, there was another thing to think about. As previously mentioned, she has nothing to her name. No people, no kingdom, no crown. To turn her in would be rubbing salt in her wounds. And what will happen to her once she is taken away? How would Chysalis be punished? Celestia is not one fond of execution, but the people would be in revolt if that, or something similar, was not the sentence. He had to make a decision. And considering everything, there was only one thing to do.

“Leave us.” The words were said in a low tone as they left Thorax’s mouth.

“Yes sir, I—What?,” Phynrax thought his ears were out of whack, “You want us to leave?” He picked at the inside of his ear in an attempt to remove some blockage that wasn’t there. Thorax put on a calm neutral face, and simply nodded.

“Yes, and leave Chysalis here.” At that remark, Phynrax’s eyes shot wide open.

“WHAT!!”, shouting with a voice that might have shook the Throne Room ceiling, “You expect me to-”.

Thorax maintained his calm tone and face as he interrupted with a simple, “Yes, I do.”

Phynrax was flabbergasted, almost speechless as he stumbled over his words, “B-b-but she-” It was now Thorax who put a hoof to Phynrax’s mouth so that he may continue to speak.

“I know, and I get that your worried. But I need you to trust me on this. I’ll be fine, okay?” With a sigh, Phynrax gave in to his “brother’s” wishes, leaving the room with the guards a few steps ahead. With one last creak, the doors closed. Now, there was nothing. Just a rising king, a fallen queen, and a room. A quiet, quiet room.

On the other side of the doors, a trooper looked up at his superior officer.

“Do you believe him?” asked the soldier. Phynrax looked down him unsure of what to say.

“What?” his face only slightly reflecting his confusion.

“I mean Thorax sir. Do you believe him when he says ‘he’ll be fine’?” the soldier pressed his question. With a heavy sigh, Phynrax gave the most honest answer he could.

“I don’t know,” he said “I just...really don’t know.”
> Chapter 3: A Royal Hearing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        The silence emanating from Chrysalis was deafening. The two had only been alone for less then a minute, but the unending quiet made it feel like hours, bordering on days even. Thorax stared at Chrysalis with an expecting gaze. He was slightly taller than her due to the throne on which he sat. Chrysalis on the other hand, just sat on the floor with her head hung low. Her long, green mane drooped down just as much. It came down over her face, hiding the eyes that refused to look up and the ones of the king. Thorax could sense her anger and disgust. It was even a little nauseating. After what seemed like an eternity, it was Thorax who broke the silence between them.

“Is there...anything I can get you?” He said with a little unsure smile. At this point, he had regressed from the confident, calm king to the more nervous, but kind Changeling that he was known to be. Chrysalis however, did not take his question well. Her rage and disgust boiled, as she raised her head to glare at the king that was before her. She still refused to make eye contact, but Chrysalis’ eyes still burned with the raw anger within.

“What,” she hissed through clenched fangs, “What did you say?” Thorax tried to keep cool.

“I asked, can I get you anything?” Thorax levitated over a teapot and two cups, as to bring attention to them. Chrysalis seathed.

“You have captured me, bound me in chains, and you dare to offer me TEA!!” Chrysalis’ voice definitely shook the ceiling.

“I am trying to be a good host. Guests deserve respect.” Thorax continued to keep up his shaky but calm demeanor. Chrysalis’ temper only grew more sour.

“You are my warden, and I am your prisoner! And you’re treating me like a guest at a dinner party! How incompetent are you?!” Her voice carried her rage, the words laced with burning poison. The restraints weighed her down, but it was clear that if she got the chance...she would jump across the room and ring his neck. Thorax’s frustrations were starting to grade on him like foreign dignitaries, and it was starting to show.

“Chrysalis, if you think showing mercy and kindness is being stupid and incompetent, then I’m sorry to say, you have some serious problems.” Thorax’s voice began to raise in volume. His tone starting to gain elements of his frustration, stress...and hint of guilt.

“Mercy is for the weaklings, like you!” Chrysalis’ enraged monologue seemed to have no end. “You were always the least capable, so pathetic! It really shouldn’t have surprised me that you would plot to overthrow me!” That remark caught Thorax off guard.

“What?” His face perfectly reflected how perplexed he was

“Don’t play dumb with me, you filthy rat! You lead your pathetic ‘friends’ to my empire, so that you could bump me out of the picture and take it all for yourself!” Chrysalis grinded her teeth, as she spit on the ground. Every second her rage grew. Every time she spoke, it was like her voice got louder.

“We were trying to save all the ponies that you kidnaped. We never planning to usurp you!” Thorax’s attempts to remain stoic were quickly crumbling. Like a sandcastle at high-tide.

“Oh, an after thought I’m sure,” Chrysalis sarcastically retorted, “Even if that were true, The Princesses would have me executed!” She continued loudly.

“You could have at least tried talking to them,” Thorax responded, “their not those kinds of rulers. Celestia most of all!” His voice had become one of a pony who was weary of pointing out other, better options. Chrysalis simply continued her sarcastic retorts.

“Gasp! What’s this? Diplomacy?” Chrysalis continued, “This is surprising! Especially coming from a slimey, thieving bug!” Tears began to form behind Thorax’s eyes. But it was not because of Chrysalis’ name calling.

“I didn’t steal anything from you!” His voice had become shaky as he tried not to let himself go.

“Liar! You say didn’t seal the Crown, the Throne, the Hive?” Chrysalis obviously did not believe him. “Well then, if you didn’t steal them, how did come to have them? How does a pathetic, incompetent rat like you come into so much power?” She glared at him, expecting an answer to her question.

“...”Silence was all he could offer.

“You’re such a disappointment. I can practically smell the guilt coming off you.” Her comment did not end there. “Oh, but you think it’s something that I did. Well go on then ‘Oh great and wise ruler’, what did I do. What great atrocity did I commit.” She continued to wait for an answer.

“...” Thorax was at his limit.

“ANSWER ME, you coward! WHAT DID I DO!” Chrysalis shouted

“YOU ABANDONED EVERYTHING!!!” But Thorax was much, much louder. He was clearly trying not to cry. “You left it all behind!!! Everything you had! Everything you ever built!! Everything you ever LOVED!!!” Chrysalis was frozen, had never heard Thorax yell before. In fact, noling had heard him even shout for a second. Not as an imp or a grown seeker. And it did not end there. “You left your Crown, your Throne, your Hive, YOUR PEOPLE!!! You ABANDONED US! You were offered a chance to lead us into a new Golden Age, and you threw it away for WHAT?! Some half-baked plan that would fail harder than your attempt to ruin somepony’s WEDDING DAY?!?!” His words shook Chrysalis to her core. The amount of anger and anguish coming from him was scary. Thorax’s breathing was heavy, shaky and his eyes were on the verge of bursting into tears. “YOU left the throne behind Chrysalis. Someling had to pick it up. Maybe not willingly, but someling had to.” After many more heavy breaths and silence, Thorax took action. With a glow of his horn and regal antlers, he invoked the hive-mind, and called forth 4 Changeling guards. They entered hastily and stopped just in front of Chrysalis, who had her head hung low. No longer in anger, but in shame. The guards made their presence known.

“You called Your High-- uh, Thorax?” At this point, Thorax had forgotten about his pet peeves. He turned his attention to two of the guards.

“Escort Chrysalis to the Infirmary. Make sure she receives proper medical care. Am I understood?” Thorax’s voice was rained from all the yelling he had done, and his voice was still shaky and low. However, the guards did not ask any questions. They gave a simple nod, took up the chains and began to take Chrysalis to see the doctor. She made no attempt to resist the troopers leading her away. As they left, the other two stepped closer to the Throne. Thorax turned his attention to them.

“Have a room prepared for Chrysalis to stay in, and make sure it’s comfortable. She will be escorted to the room after she as recovered. Am I understood?” Once again they gave a simple nod, and went off to perform their assigned task. For the second time that day, the Throne Room doors closed, once again leaving Thorax alone in the quiet. But it was no longer a comforting provider of peace. It was unsettling, and only gave him goosebumps. He hated the large empty space. He needed to get out of there. In a flash, he was in his personal chambers. He slowly walked over to the vanity in his room. He sat in front of it and just stared at his reflection. His eyes finally gave up. He just sat in front of the vanity…

and cried.
> Chapter 4: Comfort
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Thorax?” Pharynx was walking down the hallway towards the Royal Chambers, “you weren’t in the Throne Room. Is everything alri-” He was cut off by the sound of weeping on the other side of the door. “Thorax? Brother, are you okay?” It was his turn today to worry about his adopted siblings’ well-being.

“Go away!” Thorax shouted. He sounded like a foal. Normally, Pharynx would switch into military mode and tell him to “grow up” or “pull yourself together”, but he knew better then that. Still, he had to get in there.

“Brother, please. You’re not going to feel any better if you don’t talk to someling about…whatever’s eating you. So please, can I come in?” Pharynx heard Thorax sniffle a few times. He thought it would take more convincing, but fortunately it didn’t.

“Okay” Thorax said in a small voice, still sounding like a child.

“Alright, I’m coming in.” Pharynx took a deep breath, bracing himself. Surely the room wasn’t as bad as he thought, right?

Wrong. The room was a mess. Mainly the bed where his brother lay sniffling and crying. The sheets and blankets were a wrinkled, balled-up mess. The pillows ranged from a few spots, to damp and wet. And in the middle of it all, lay Thorax. His eyes were puffy, his nose red, and his face was stained with tears that had long since dried, with only a few stragglers to speak of. At the site of this, Pharynx really went into “big brother mode”.

“Oh, bro what’s wrong?” His voice was still gruff and grizzled, but was comforting. It made him easier to talk to. With a sniff, Thorax told him what was wrong.

“I-I broke,” he whimpered, “I broke. I yelled, I screamed, and I let myself go. I snapped in front of Chrysalis, when I was trying to be kind. I didn’t act like the level-headed king everyling expects me to be.” Pharynx knew what this was: Thorax wasn’t meeting his own expectations. That and he was angry at himself for yelling at Chrysalis (for one reason or another). Fortunately, he knew how to remedy this.

“Hey, bro it’s okay. It’s not bad that you yelled.” Pharynx said as he pet the top of Thorax’s head.

“H-how can you be sure?” Thorax said his voice was shaky, still trying to recover from his long minutes of weeping.

“Because, you’re not the first Equestrian ruler to let themselves go.” Pharynx had the perfect idea, “You know who else has yelled at their guests?”

“Who, King Sombra?” Thorax said, managing a small attitude through his sadness.

“Nope,” Pharynx said with a smile, “Princess Celestia.” Thorax looked up with a bit of surprise.

“Yep, I should know. I was there after all.” Pharynx made the statement with a tad of pride, as he put a hoof to his chest.

“You were?” Thorax’s voice and eyes had gained a bit of childlike wonder. With a prideful nod Pharynx recounted a tale from before “The Great Change”, as it was called, of when he was on an espionage mission, and Celestia had torn into a particularly annoying nobel-pony. Thorax couldn’t help but laugh when his brother told the story. It made him feel better.

“So you see, every ruler snaps at some point. And it’s okay.”

Thorax managed to lift himself onto his hoofs. “I guess…but I-” he was stopped by his brother.

“Look, take a shower and go clean yourself up. I’ll make us some tea, and we can keep talking about this, okay?” Thorax nodded and the two hugged each other a two siblings would. However, as Pharynx began to make the tea, and he started the shower, Thorax wondered how he would explain what he wanted to do about Chrysalis. The warm water helped.
> Chapter 5: A Plan of Action
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The smell of tea was strong, and filled the room. It was the kind of sent that brought to mind warm memories and good feelings. It was something that would be needed if Thorax wanted to survive the next few minutes. He had to tell Pharynx what he intended to do. He took a seat across from his brother at the small table, and began to drink.

“Feel better now?” Pharynx asked, still being calm and kind. Thorax looked up from his cup.

“Yes, I do feel a lot better, but…” Thorax looked off to the side at nothing in particular.

“But, what?” Pharynx leaned forward, a bit confused.

“I...I still feel bad about yelling at Chrysalis.” Thorax sounded a bit down when he said that.

“Yeah, I was wondering about that.” Pharynx said “What do you intended to do with her, anyway?”

“Well…,” Thorax hesitated for a moment, “I have an idea...but I don’t think you’ll like it.”

“Why do I get the feeling that this is going to make me angry?” Pharynx spoke with a bit of concern in his voice.

“Pharynx, just promise me you won’t yell. There’s been enough of that today” the young king pleaded.

“Thorax, I-” His resistance was met by Thorax doing his best puppy dog face. It was a face that Pharynx hated because, when coming from his brother, it was almost impossible to deny. Eventually, the stone-faced general caved. “Grr…Oh, alright I’ll try my best. But, no promises.”

“Thank you, Pharynx.” Thorax felt a wave of relief wash over him.

“Alright, so what’s this plan of yours?” Pharynx stood himself up straight as Thorax walked over to him. Surely this plan wasn’t as bad as he thought, right?

“Well, what I want to do is…” Thorax whispered his idea into his brother’s ear…whose eyes practically bulged.

>~~~~~~~~~<

The Changeling farmer Kick-back was once again distracted by a muffled but loud noise coming from the hive, the fourth time that day. It was honestly starting to get annoying.

“I swear, this place gets weirder everyday.” He shook his head and went back to his crops.

>~~~~~~~~~~<

“You want to do WHAT!!!” Pharynx’s protest added to the repeated instances of shouting that day.

“You said you wouldn’t get mad!” Thorax was a tad upset and worried. He was scared that Pharynx would react strongly to this, but still hoped for the opposite. Or at least, a less extreme response.

“I said would try my best not to, and that is outside my range of effort.” Pharynx shook his head before looking up again. “I mean, you want to keep her here?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re not going to tell the Princesses?”

“Yes”

“Why?! It’s not like they’ll send her to the galowes, of which they have none!”

“It’s not the Princesses I’m worried about Pharynx, it’s the people!” Thorax stated “The ponies of Equestria will have a riot. They’ll be up in hoofs, demanding that Chrysalis be seriously punished!”

“Would you expect anything less?” Pharynx questioned loudly.

“No, but that’s not the point. They would storm the gates of Canterlot Castle.” Thorax said with pleading eyes, wanting so badly for Pharynx to see what he was trying to say.
“So they can just keep her a secret! There, problem solved” That could have ended the conversation. But Thorax had more to say.

“No one can keep a secret from everyone Pharynx, you know this!” Thorax exclaimed, “Eventually, some guard will have one too many drinks and say one too many things at the bar, or one of the more gossiping servants will be at a hair salon, and if that happens it’s all over. Everypony from The Crystal Empire to Starlight’s old village would know about it a day later!”

“Don’t you mean everypony from The Crystal Empire to Appleosa?” Pharynx questioned.

“Does it matter? The fact is, it would get out eventually, and definitely sooner that we would like. So no, we are not giving her to the Princesses” declared Thorax. Pharynx put a hoof to his forehead, rubbing it a bit.

“Okay, but will you at least tell the Princesses and The Elements of Harmony?” Pharynx proposed.

“Are you kidding!” Thorax exclaimed “No disrespect to The Elements, but they are not the best ones to go to with this”

“Why?”

“Rarity loves to gossip, Twilight would do a number of crazy things, and no offense to Applejack, but I trust her with secrets as far as I can throw her. And that’s not very far.” Thorax took a deep breath as he continued to point out the lack of options, “As for the Princesses, Celestia isn’t an issue, but Luna would probably declare war, and I don’t want to even imagine what Cadence and Shining Armor would do!” That last point was very much valid. Thorax put his hoof down on the table, if to point at a spot on a map. “This land is not about violently destroying anyone that threatens the peace, in order to keep said peace. It’s about communicating, negotiating. It’s about finding a middle ground that everyone can stand on and be happy and at peace.” Pharynx pondered for a second and then asked a serious question.

“What else?” He asked in a stern voice. Thorax seemed confused by this.

“What do you mean, ‘What else’?”

“You’re not a politician, Thorax. It’s why you’re so likable, you tell the truth. There’s more to this than just the political uproar that would be caused. So, I will ask again, what else is there?”  He stared at Thorax expecting the elaboration he knew he was going to get.

“*sigh* I-I want Chrysalis to feel welcome. Like we haven’t given up on her, that don’t resent her. I want her to belong because...because I care.” Thorax’s eyes were filled with emotions, hopes, dreams, prayers, “I want to help her. I want to bring her home.”

Pharynx looked at his brother, “You realise, what you want to do here is dangerous right?”

“Yes.”

“And illegal. We could be court-martialed for this.”

“Yes, I do.”

Pharynx closed his eyes with his head tilted down at the table. He then uttered a single word, “Okay.”

“Look, Pharynx I know you don’t like this, but I really just—What?”

Pharynx raised his head to meet his brother’s confused gaze, “I said, okay.”

Thorax continued to stare, “Why?”

Pharynx leaned forward as he held his stern expression, “Let me make something clear. This plan of yours, is stupid.” He said unapologetically, “It’s a stupid, crazy, and basically impossible idea.”

Thorax rolled his eyes, “Thanks, that’s really supportive.”

“Don’t start sassing me, Thorax.” Pharynx shot back, “Your plan is everything I just said... but,” he continued, “if there is one Changeling I know that can pull off stupid, crazy, and impossible ideas, it’s you Thorax. So if you think you can make this work, well then I’m with you all the way.”

Thorax was stunned by his brother’s support, “Y-You mean it?”

“Completely.”

“I-I’m speechless. I don’t know what to say!”

“You don’t need to say anything.” Pharynx reassured. “What you do need to do, is figure out how you’re going to approach this. From how you described it, you gave Chrysalis quite the verbal thrashing” Pharynx reminded.

“Yeah, I did didn’t I?”

“Indeed. Not the best first step. So what are you going to do about it?

Thorax pondered for a moment. As he looked down at his cup of tea, an idea struck him, “I think I’ve got it!”
> Chapter 6: Complications
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She would not come out. Day after day she did not leave her room. It had become something of a ritual. Every morning a Changeling would walk down to Chrysalis’ quarters with breakfast. When they walked in, she would be sitting on the bed with her back turned to the door, staring at the wall. When they came back to pick up the tray, so little of the food was eaten. The same thing happened with every other meal. And with every meal, there was a cup of tea, which Thorax made himself every time. He meant for it to be an apology of sorts. It came with a little card and everything. And everyday, the cup would be untouched. It was also brought to his attention that Chrysalis had been scratching tic marks onto the wall. There was a new one every day. It had been two weeks since Chrysalis’ arrival, and all this bad news was starting to really eat at him. His desk was cluttered with papers that he barely bothered to look at. What he was most concerned about was Chrysalis.

Thorax planted his face onto the table, “What am I doing wrong?” He thought out loud.

Pharynx, who was going through the papers on the desk, addressed his brother without looking up, “Personally I think it’s more of what you are doing.”

“Not helping here.”

“Listen,” Pharynx said, “I don’t know what to say to you. You have done a lot in the past two weeks. Maybe it’s time to change tactics.”

Thorax picked his head back up, “I’ve been trying to make her feel at home!”

“And yet she’s treating this like a prison.”

Thorax threw his hoofs up, “How can she? I’ve given her a room, made sure she is given respect, and invited her to everything from breakfast to the gardens.”

“Well it’s clearly going to take more then a few hot meals to make her come out of the shell she’s made for herself.” Pharynx continued to look through the documents, when a question came up, “Have you tried giving the invitations in person?”

Thorax shook his head a little, “Nooooo.”

“Thorax you’re going to have to face her some time. It would be better if you invited her yourself.”

“Even if I yelled at her?” Thorax asked.

Pharynx nodded, “You want to show you still care, right? That’s how.”

“But-I,”Thorax sighed, “You’re right. But what am I going to?”

Pharynx put a hoof to his chin, “It would have to be some kind of spectacle. A real site-to-see.”

“I could take her for a tour of the hive.”

Pharynx shook his head, “Too little.”

Thorax went down his mental list, “Throw her a Changeling Gourd Festival?”

“Too much.”

Another one off the list, “Oh maybe the theater club could-!”

Pharynx glared, “NO. Just NO.”

Thorax pouted. There had to be something entertaining he could invite her to. In his deep thought his eyes glanced over a letter from Shining Armor. It reminded him of the fact that he would eventually have to tell everypony else about this. He cringed at the thought. However, upon closer inspection, he noticed that the letter included an interesting detail. A detail that made a light bulb go off in Thorax’s head.

“Pharynx,” Thorax asked, “do you have a new group of trainees coming in tomorrow?”

Pharynx looked up from the documents before him, “From Canterlot and The Crystal Empire,yes. Shining is too busy with politics to train the recruits himself, so he’s sending them over to me. Why do you ask?”

Thorax got a bright glow in his eyes, and a smile formed on his face, “I’ve got an idea!”

Pharynx frowned a bit, “I don’t like where this is going.” he said dubiously.

“Trust me, you will!”

“And what makes you say that?”

“Because…” Thorax leaned over to Pharynx and whispered the idea into his ear. Pharynx’s eyes widened, and jaw dropped in disbelief. He turned to Thorax with that expression still plastered on his face.

Pharynx blinked a few times, “You-you want me to-”

“Yep.” Thorax said with a gleeful smile still on his face.

“A-And you’re letting me-”

“Mhm.”

“And I get to-?”

“Oh yeah.”

The corners of Pharynx’s gaping mouth began to turn upward, “Who are you, and what have you done with my brother?”, he said with a big smile, as he gave Thorax a playful noogie. “Oh you are the best little brother!” It was rare for the general to show his childish side.

“Pharynx, stop!” Thorax said with a bit of laughter in his voice. He managed to get his older brother off him, both of their faces bearing a smile.

“But for real, are you serious about this?”

Thorax nodded, “Yes, as long as you maintain some restraint, you have my permission.” The duo began to walk towards the door, “Besides, I think it would be fun to see their reaction.”

Pharynx raised an eyebrow in a bit of confusion, “The troops’, or Chrysalis’?”

“Mmm,” Thorax pondered for a moment, “bit of both.”

And so, the two set off, excitedly awaiting what would come tomorrow
> Chapter 7: Contemplation of an Invitation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chrysalis sat on the bed in total silence. She didn’t know what to do. Under normal circumstances, she would be plotting her escape. She would be manipulating those around her to perform a subtle coup on the the ones in power.

But these were not normal circumstances. Now, she felt no will to fight, no right to be enraged. And it as all because of Him. Thorax, the newly crowned king of Changelings.

‘The rightful king of Changelings’ Chrysalis thought to herself. It had been at least two weeks since she arrived, but it didn’t feel like it. It felt shorter than that. It felt like she had only served a few seconds of the sentence that she deserved. For the crimes that Thorax brought to her attention. It felt like that day hadn’t ended. She remembered everything. The site of Thorax’s face was burned into her vision. It was everywhere she looked. There was only a wall in front of her, but her mind said otherwise. The sound of his shouting was unparalleled, as it echoed through her thoughts. But they were nothing compared to his words. The words that were laced with anger, sorrow. They rang in her ears without end. Their poison paralyzed her, as their fire burnt her to a crisp. Chrysalis had been called a “monster” and a “villain” before, but nothing like this. She could still remember everything in cold, crisp detail.

‘You left your Crown, your Throne, your Hive, YOUR PEOPLE!!! You ABANDONED US!!!’ The words stayed on repeat. Chrysalis couldn’t tell if Thorax was still yelling at her, or if she was yelling at herself. The sound of hoof-steps from down the hall reached her ears, but she hardly cared or noticed. It was probably just another meal that she couldn’t bring herself to eat.

‘W-Why are they giving me such privileges?’ She asked herself as tears began to form. Her subconscious kept reinforcing the same message ‘I failed the hive, failed the Changelings.’ She looked at her hole filled hooves, ‘I brought nothing but misery to my kind!’ The steps were right outside her door, ‘I...I don’t deserve-’

A knock came at the door, “*knock*, *knock*, *knock* Chrysalis?” A small gasp escaped her lungs. Chrysalis knew that voice. And it terrified her.

“Hey...can I come in?” Thorax’s voice was soft, and gentle. Much like how it was before...she shuddered at the thought. “I, uh...I’d like to talk to you.” Chrysalis started to panic a bit, when Thorax continued to speak from beyond the door, “Uh, it’s nothing bad! You’re not in trouble. I… just wanted to talk.”

Chrysalis’ panicked train of thought suddenly stopped, ‘Not...in...trouble?’ The sentence confounded her. How was she not in trouble? She dwelled on the thought a minute. ‘M-Maybe I should…?’ Her subconscious reasserted itself, there was no way she could face Thorax. ‘I don’t deserve to,’ she thought, ‘I don’t deserve his mercy.’

In all her time thinking, however, she didn’t realize that she had absent-mindedly walked over to the door, and put her hoof on the door. In the moment she became conscious of this, Chrysalis mentally recoiled. Her mind screamed to stop, but her body had other plans.

>~~~~~~~~<

When Chrysalis opened the door, Thorax was almost going to leave, thinking that Chrysalis was asleep. Thankfully, she opened the door. Her head hung down, as she slowly stepped to the side, letting Thorax into the room. He slowly walked into the room with a small awkward, and nervous smile. As he came in, Chrysalis closed the door and the room became very dark.

“Jeez, you’d think open a window in here.” Thorax joked in an attempt to lighten the mood, but Chrysalis had no visible reaction. He gave a heavy sigh, and tried to work up his nerves, ‘Come on Thorax. You can do this. You just got to ask her, simple as that!’ 

He turned around with a warm hopeful look only to find that Chrysalis was still sitting by the door, with her side to him. The site of this made something click in Thorax. He walked over to the bed and hopped up onto it. He then got Chrysalis’ attention, patting the spot next to him. To this, Chrysalis had a visible reaction. Her hair moved to reveal a surprised look in her eye.

There was a long period where noling said or did anything. About a minute passed, before Chrysalis slowly turned and walked to sit next to Thorax on the bed. Her posture and movements made it seem like her legs were made of lead and was carrying a ton of bricks. She stopped short of the bedside, hesitant with an aura of fear. Thorax motioned to the spot again, mustering up the warmest smile possible under the circumstances.

“It’s okay,” he said warmly, “I told you, I just wanna talk.” With that reassurance, Chrysalis slowly climbed up to sit next to Thorax on the bed. Thorax turned to face the former queen, though she kept her head down, refusing to meet his gaze.

Thorax took a deep breath, “Look Chrysalis,” He said, “We can’t keep doing this whole, ‘We’re bitter at each other and sad about what we’ve done, so we’re not going to talk to each other’ thing. At some point, we are going to have to address the draconequus in the room.” Thorax held his breath for a moment, half expecting Discord to show up in that instance. He continued breathing when the creature in question didn’t suddenly appear.

Chrysalis tensed up, however, fully expecting another verbal assault, in one form or another. The words she expected to hear immediately formed in her head. ‘You’re harboring a criminal and this was all temporary care, and you need to send me to the Princesses to face justice for my-’

“I’ve been a terrible host to you.” Thorax said with a bit of sadness in his voice. “You’re my guest and I should have came to talk to you in-person sooner rather than later.”

Once again Chrysalis’ train of thought was completely stopped, ‘W-What? What is he on about? Me? Guest? Host?’ She didn’t know what was happening.

Thorax looked at Chrysalis in her one visible eye with a hopeful look, “But I’m here now, and I’m going to make it right.” He reached his hoof out, “Chrysalis, I would like to personally invite you to a special, surprise event that me and Pharynx organized special for you.” Thorax’s eyes were hopeful, praying for one answer above all. “Would you like to attend?”

Chrysalis slowly glanced between Thorax’s expecting hoof and his hopeful expression. She had no way to rationalize what was happening to her in this moment. Her self-presentation instincts began dictating her thoughts. ‘It’s a trick! He’ll just snatch his hoof away and berate you for even thinking you’re worth his mercy!’ Chrysalis’ conscious mind quietly responded, ‘He’s done it once before. I can take another one.’ She began to lift her hole-filled hoof to shake the one Thorax was holding out. Her survival instincts made her pull back a-bit half way. It screamed at her, ‘The event they prepared if probably your execution! You’ll be publicly hung from the gallows!!!’ Chrysalis sighed as she thought to herself, ‘If that’s the case… it’s not like I don’t deserve it.’ She took a deep breath, and finally shook Thorax’s hoof, giving a simple, “Yes… I will.”

Thorax’s eyes light up like fireworks, as the corners of his mouth turned upward. He had gotten Chrysalis to speak and accept his invitation. “T-That’s great!” He slightly fumbled over his words. He would have hugged her, but one step at a time. He hopped off the bed and began moving towards the door, “Do you...need a minute to get ready?”

Chrysalis turned her head slightly towards his to look at him. “I’ll be out in a moment.” she said quietly.

“Alright. I’ll be right outside.” Thorax went out the door and closed it behind him. Leaving Chrysalis alone again. She walked towards the mirror in her room and stared at it. She then slowly began to straighten out her appearance...


As she let a few silent tears fall to the floor.
> Chapter 8: A General Performance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chrysalis emerged from her room a minute or two later. She didn’t do too much to her look. She had brushed, un-knotted, and straightened her hair, as well as wash her face. But aside from that, there were no other alterations. It wasn’t like Thorax minded though. He would have been just as happy if Chrysalis had “Yes”, and left immediately. She was getting out of that room, and that was what mattered. Still, complements where they are due.

“You look great!” He said with some enthusiasm.

Chrysalis winced as her eyes adjusted to the light of the hallway. “T-Thank you...Your Majesty.” She said, almost as quiet as Fluttershy. Thorax’s smile faltered just a tad. Chrysalis’ quiet voice was another indication of her lack of comfort. And...she called him “Your Majesty”. “Your Majesty”. Of all the things he expected her to call him, that was not one of them. He didn’t stress about it though. He just viewed it as another obstacle to overcome. It wouldn’t exactly be easy, but it wouldn’t be impossible either.

“Please,” he said said softly with his kind smile regained, “let’s do away with the formalities. I’m noling special. At the end of the day, I’m just a Changeling.” The level of humility Thorax was displaying was equal to that of Celestia. It was somewhat surprising considering he went from seeker, to deserter, to king in a relatively short amount of time.

“O-Of course, sorry” Chrysalis said quickly.

Thorax gave a small chuckle. “It’s okay.” he said. He began to walk down the hall, motioning for Chrysalis to follow. “Come on,” He said with a wave of his hoof, “We don’t want to be late.”

They walked past room, after room. Occasionally, they would walk past a Changeling, or group of them. At these moments Chrysalis felt compelled to hide, to use her shape-shifting abilities. But a pulse from the inhibitor that adorned her neck reminded her she couldn’t.

Yet, when they were noticed by these Changelings, an odd thing happened every time. Rather than be disgusted by her presence, they greeted her. They addressed them both by name, with a smile. It was as if they didn’t mind her presence. As if they didn’t notice that her appearance was that of a Changeling that needed to steal Love in order to survive. Or at least thought they did.

As they continued walking, one question couldn’t help but come up in Chrysalis’ mind. “Uh...pardon me asking, but what exactly do we not want to be late for?” She asked as they walked side by side.

Thorax looked at her with a knowing smile as he said, “The morning drills.”

>~~~~~~~~~<

Pharynx was waiting for them on the balcony that overlooked the courtyard. On the ground below, pony soldier trainees were lining up in formation, preparing to meet their drill instructor. A little grin graced Pharynx’s face at the site. There was one thing he was sure of in that moment, ‘These ponies have no idea what their in for.’

The sound of hoof-steps behind him caught his attention, as he turned to see the two Changings he was waiting for.

“Ah, the guests of honor!” He said. “Thorax, brother! Glad to see ya!” He turned his attention to the reason they organized this. “And Chrysalis, good to see you out of that room of yours!”

“It’s good to see you to Pharynx.” Thorax grined. Chrysalis was stunned by the show of care from the one who technically arrested her. She didn’t know what was going on. It purely confounded her. Meanwhile, the brothers continued talking as they looked out onto the courtyard.

“So,” Thorax began, “These are the recruits you were sent?”

Pharynx nodded, “Yep.” There was a moment of science, when Pharynx turned to look at him. “I’m sorry I keep asking, but are you sure you want me to-”

“Pharynx, if I didn’t want you to, I would never have given you permission.”

Pharynx smiled wide, “I’ve said it once, and I will say it again: You are the best.”

Thorax returned the smile. “I know.” He motioned his toward the troops gathered outside, “Now, get out there and do your thing.”

Pharynx saluted his sibling with a prideful smirk. “Sir, with pleasure, Sir!” He said jokingly, as he marched off, down the steps to the courtyard.

Thorax’s horn and antlers glowed with magic, bringing over two lounge chairs. “Please, take a seat.”

“Um…” Chrysalis spoke up after Pharynx had departed,“If you don’t mind me asking…what exactly did you give him permission to do?” She asked, as she cautiously settled into her own seat.

“I gave him permission to go ‘over-the-top Drill Sergeant’ on the recruits.”

Chrysalis’ mind did a double take. “Wait, what?”

>~~~~~~~~<

It was incredibly hot in the courtyard. The sun was bearing down on the troops. They had gotten into formation a few minutes ago and were now just waiting for their Drill Instructor to begin orientation. It was at the three minute mark, that Pharynx walked up on an elevated dirt mound in front of the recruits. He took a long hard look at ponies before him. From where he stood, it was the perfect crowd. He straightened his posture, standing tall on all four legs. Took a deep breath and prepared his voice…

And so he began.

“LISTEN UP!” Pharynx roared in his military voice, which echoed across the grounds, “I am General Pharynx, of the Changeling Defense Force. Your Captain of Guard, Shining Armor, is preoccupied running The Crystal Empire. As such, he wrote an official statement entrusting your training to me, meaning I will be acting as your Senior Drill Instructor.”

He stepped off his elevated spot to the ponies that he was prepared to break down into tiny glass shards. “However, if you think that changes anything, I don’t think you could be more wrong. I expect you show me the same level of respect you would if Shining Armor was standing here! As such, when you are in my presence, you will speak only when spoken to, or when I explicitly give you permission. And the first and last words I want to hear out of your muzzles is ‘Sir’. Do you understand that?”

“Sir, Yes, Sir.” the troops said with little effort.

“LIARS! I can’t hear you!” Pharynx shouted, less than pleased with the reaction from the trainees. “Sound off like you’ve got a spine!”

“Sir, Yes, Sir!” That was more to his liking.

Pharynx wasn’t finished though now came the more entertaining part, “You might be looking at yourselves and be thinking that because you’ve made it this far, you have a chance. Well let me tell you something: When I received that statement from Captain Armor, I expected to be getting wagons stocked with capable fighters and potential warriors. But instead, all I got was you washed-up, backstage extras, with an accompaniment of rejects!!!” His voice was thunderous, rattling the bones of the ponies he stood before. “You-all-reak of economic instability and teenage angst! Every breath you take is a stunning endorsement of stupidity! You grease stains are a collective masterpiece of failure! You college dropout slackers pulled all-nighter study sessions to exhaustion ruteenly.

“There is a concerning number of you who selfishly signed up to become legends and war heroes, and probably cried like spoiled brats when you realized that half of of your military idols are dead!! The only reason you are able to give me such stone faces is because your sensitive eyes have leaked so many tears you could sail away on a fleet of pity cruisers. Or do you think I’m mistaken?”

The troops shouted, “Sir, No, Sir!” as to not potentially anger their active Sargent.

Pharynx continued his mass orientation speech, “Each and every one of you was sent here to learn. If you end up leaving this place- if you survive recruitment training with your soul and bones intact- you will be a soldier. You will be a guardian. You will have been crafted into a sword and shield that can, and will deployed in defense of this great nation of Equestria that we all call home! But until that day comes to pass, you are all infants. Foals! Nymphs! You are the most incapable life forms on the face of the planet. You are not even capable of walking without explicit instructions. That does not mean it is impossible to teach you. This is not going to a ‘show and tell’ in kindergarten, however. You will get your collective tails pulled on so hard, you’ll think you’re getting sucked through an industrial printing press in Manehattan! I will reorganize the failures that is your lives. I will KICKSTART-your-SOULS!!”

“Sir, Yes, Sir!” The troops did not show the fact that they were terrified, but it was obvious that they were.

“Because I am strict and stern, you will not like me. But if I were anything less you would not learn. I am strict, but I am fair. If I despise you, it is because of what you have done and who you are, not what you are. There is no bigotry of any kind here. I do not discriminate between Mares and Colts. I do not favor Earth Ponies, Pegasi, or Unicorns. I do not look down on Griffins, Hippogriffs, Dragons, or Yaks. Here you all stand on equal footing. Here you are all equally worthless. Meaning that you will all subjected to the same level of punishment and reward, as my orders are to weed out every slacker who doesn’t deserve to serve in Captain Armor’s beloved corp. I will chop off your unkempt tails, put them where your tongues should be. Cover you in paper-mache, and beat you like a pinata! Heck, I’ll make you howl so much you’d put Timberwolves out of business. But fear not! Because by the time this is over, I will have turned you capable few into the warriors that Equestria needs! Do you understand that?”

“Sir, Yes, Sir!”

“LIARS!!” Pharynx roared again, “I can’t hear you!”

“SIR, YES, SIR!!”
> Chapter 9: Of Mind and Body
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was no doubt about it, the pony soldiers under Pharynx’s care were terrified, as the Changeling General began his individual chew-outs. However, while there was fear in the courtyard, there was anything but that coming from a high up balcony.
>~~~~~~<

Thorax was hysterical. He was doubling over in laughter, tears in his eyes, almost falling out of his chair. Chrysalis on the other hoof, was stunned, her mouth agape. Never in her life had she seen, or heard for that matter, such a thing. A large part of her somewhere felt like she should be afraid, terrified even, like the trainees down below. And yet, for some reason, she felt…amused. She found the whole ordeal…somewhat funny. It wasn’t out of some kind of fetish for the misery of others (She knew too well what that felt like). It was the kind of amusement that came from watching a stand-up comedy routine. There were several times where she had snorted, chuckled or let out a laugh outright, covering her mouth with a hoof in shock at herself. Part of her felt bad, and another part felt good. ‘Why!?’ Chrysalis mentally questioned herself, as she became aware of the sound of Thorax’s laughter again.

The king took a few breaths. While he wasn’t completely laughed out, he had calmed to the point he could form a coherent sentence. He invoked the hive-mind and telepathically contacted his brother. “How-*snort* H-How long were you holding that in for?” Thorax said, verbally expressing his question.

‘Since the day you made stop, bro’ Pharynx mentally responded, without a word leaving his mouth.

“I have to commend you on your patience.”

“Um…” Chrysalis got Thorax’s attention.

“Yes, Chrysalis?”

“P-Pardon me asking, but why did you find that whole thing funny? I mean, was it not somewhat cruel?”

Thorax collected himself so that he could give a proper answer. “Well yes, it is, but a lot of that was exaggerated for the purpose of scaring them a bit.”

“I get that, but why is it funny?” She needed the answer partly for herself.

“Well, part of it is because it’s so over-the-top. Another part is that it’s so absurd. But it’s mostly because I know the reason it’s so absurd and over-the-top.”

Chrysalis tilted her head, slightly confused, “And that reason is?”

Thorax chuckled a bit, “Pretty much everything he just said…” he paused for a moment, “he made up right then and there.”

There was a long pause as Chrysalis had to process the explanation. “What?”

“Yeah.” Thorax said. “I mean, he memorizes the rules and regulations. But how he presents them, and everything in-between is entirely made up on the spot. By his own admission. In fact we’ve made it into a kind of game to try and keep a straight face all the way through one of his ‘orientation speeches’”.

After another few seconds of silence, something came up Chrysalis’ throat. It wasn’t anything sick. It was a sound. It was…a chuckle. Then that chuckling turned into a small laugh. And then, it became a full fit of laughter. It wasn’t an evil, malicious laugh. It was genuine laughter. It was a good hearted fit. One that both she and Thorax shared in.

“*snort* H-How many breaths did he take that whole thing?” Chrysalis asked.

“I stopped counting after the ‘college dropout’ part, HAHAHA!” Thorax said through his giggles.

The two continued gleefully discussing Pharynx’s antics. And for a while, Chrysalis forgot about her past, her fear, everything that made her so quiet and distant.

“So just wondering,” Chrysalis began, “you stick around for the rest of orientations?” She looked out at the courtyard where Pharynx was still going through the process of interrogating individual troops.

“All the time, just in case he needs me.”
Thorax looked out to the same place. “I mean, it’s unlikely he will, but especially in this case I like to be sure.”

“You really have seen a lot of improvement ever since…” Chrysalis stopped. All of her painful memories were beginning to come back to her. The invasions, the wars, the misery.

However, they were interrupted by Thorax. “It’s far from perfect. And we still have our problems.”

“What do you mean? What kind of problems?”

Thorax rubbed the back of his neck, “Well it’s mainly because of me.”

“What?” Chrysalis was taken aback by the statement. “How can that be? You’ve been such a good leader as far as I can tell.” She was expecting the problems to be related to her time as ruler creating stigma and racism towards Changeling kind.

“Yes, but I’m not a good politician.” Thorax said. “I’m terrible at meetings. I’ve angered a few dignitaries, said the wrong things at the wrong times, and apparently according to a few I’m ‘too truthful’.” It was clear that Thorax found the last one somewhat ridiculous. “And in the case of me being a leader…I’ve made big mistakes. There are times where I don’t know what to do. And when I go to my brother and the people, they don’t know what I should do. So then I end up making a decision that could do great good or bad.” Memories were now flooding into Thorax’s mind. Embarrassing moments, small crises, and so on.

He took a deep breath collecting himself, “It’s times like those that I wish I had someling to help me rule.”

Chrysalis tilted her head in a bit of confusion. “You mean like a…?”

“N-Not like a Queen.” Thorax hurriedly responded.

“Well then, what do you mean?”

Thorax sighed, looking out into the distance. “What I mean is…a mentor. Someling to teach me and guide me. Someling who can help me grow as a leader. Like a...” Thorax didn’t continue. He just seemed to look down at the floor.

“Thorax?” Chrysalis broke Thorax from his thoughts. He shook his head and smiled.

“I’ve rambled on long enough about me.” He said kindly. “I think my brother can take care of himself from here. How about we get some lunch?”

As they left the balcony, Chrysalis could only wonder what Thorax was going to say earlier. At least they were going to have a meal which, despite her current state of mind, was never a necessarily bad experience.

>~~~~~~~~~<

If Chrysalis had known earlier that they were going to be having lunch in a public area in the Hive she would have ran to her room like there was no tomorrow, and locked the door as if a monster was on the other side. She felt terribly stressed. She was essentially in a room surrounded by witnesses to her failure as the leader of a kingdom and a provider to her people. With every passing second, Chrysalis fully expected for at least one of the Changelings in the mass dining hall to come up to her in a fit of rage, and berate her. Maybe even attack her. And yet such a thing never came to pass.

A new voice then broke her from her contemplation of the situation.

“Ah, Bonjour Monsieur Thorax!” Said their waitress with obvious enthusiasm, and a clear Prench accent.

Thorax waved a hoof in greeting. “Hello Tibia! It’s good to see you too.” It seemed clear that Thorax was more sociable and active in communicating with the Hive.

Tibia looked to the black Changeling and former queen who was also at the table. Chrysalis smiled nervously, waving a hoof as she shrank into her seat when Tibia laid eyes on her.

Their next sentence, however, was anything but degrading, “Oh, Madam Chrysalis! It is a pleasure to serve you in-pony.” There wasn’t a hint is fear or sarcasm in her sentence. She was genuinely happy.

‘So…much…kindness’ Chrysalis seemed to be getting surprised a lot recently. ‘Why?’ She also seemed to be asking herself a lot of questions that apparently had no answers.

“So what can I get you for today?” Tibia asked, pulling out a small notepad.

Thorax eyed the menu for a moment. “I think I’ll have the usual casserole.”

Tibia frowned a little, “Monsieur, you really should order some of the more substantial dishes I can provide.”

“It’s just lunch Tibia,” He said, “I don’t think I’d be able to eat anything for the rest of the day if I ordered your famous ‘Royal Flush’.”

“Still, I didn’t spend 4 years studying the culinary arts abroad in Prance, just so you could order a glorified salad.”

Thorax jokingly rolled his eyes, “Perhaps for a special occasion.”

Tibia sighed, “As you wish.” She then turned to Chrysalis. “Now, the real question is: what exotic dish can I get you Madam Chrysalis?”

A million bells went off in Chrysalis’ head. ‘It’s a trick!’ Her mind started shouting, ‘They’ll poison the meal! Get back to the room! At least there’s a chance to survive the trap that’s been laid there!’ 

The whole thing was laid out in her head. All she had to say was “excuse me for a moment”, and once out of site, run all the way back to her room. She looked at the menu, then to Tibia, and then to Thorax. She looked back at the menu. Chrysalis opened her mouth to speak, and…

“Um...Surprise me?” Chrysalis said, a bit unsure of her request.

“Oh, mon Dieu!” Tibia said. “Noling has asked me to do that in a long time!”

Uh-I mean-if it’s not too much trouble. S-Sorry for-”

“No, no Madam, it’s fine. You just caught me off guard, that’s all.” Tibia gave a small chuckle. “Now, as for your order…” Tibia leaned in close to Chrysalis, putting a hoof to her chin. She scrutinized her, tilted her head, giving a few “Hrm”s and “Hmm”s throughout the process. It made Chrysalis feel somewhat uncomfortable.

After a minute, Tibia shouted, “Eureka! I know just what to get you!” She scribbled something on her notepad. “Don’t worry, you’ll love it! In the meantime, I’ll have a bottle of Vintage Extract sent over to you and be back in a few minutes!” She then ran off with a spring in her step. In the distance she could be heard saying, “Sacrebleu, I am a genius!”

>~~~~~~~~~<

If one could hear the amount of internal screaming coming from Chrysalis’ mind, it would undoubtedly rattle their ear drums at a minimum. She was thinking one thing, and doing something completely different. It seemed that there was a disconnect between what Chrysalis’ mind-her subconscious, survival instincts, etc.- thought, and what her body actually did. So much so that she was now professing in the art of kicking herself. All the while, she kept asking herself, ‘Why?’‘Why am I not listening to myself? I hear what my mind is saying, but I do not act upon it. Why? Just…Why?!’

“Chrysalis?” Thorax spoke up, reeling her back into the real world. “You okay?”

Chrysalis shook her head, “I’m…fine!” She waved her hole-filled hoof, “Fit as a fiddle, really!”

Chrysalis then blinked. She looked at he hoof, which compelled Thorax to do the same. They then both thought about the analogy she made. They thought about the musical instrument referenced in the analogy. Then, back to Chrysalis’ hoof.

And they laughed a bit.

‘Really!?’ Her subconscious was speaking up again. ‘You, are about to be poisoned in a few minutes, and you're indulging in foalish humor?! What happens when they actually manage to kill you?!’

‘I told you, I deserve it!’ Chrysalis mentally shouted back. ‘This probably is just a progress report of sorts. A little assurance that they’ll be fine without me.’ She paused her internal monologue for a moment, ‘Before they send me off to that, quote unquote, Big Changeling Hive in the sky.’ She mentally stared her complaining subconscious down. ‘There are crimes I have committed, and I need to pay for them. I have accepted this. And so must you.’ Once again, the voice of her disagreeable self, faded. Chrysalis let out a heavy internal sigh, ‘Now all that’s left to do is wait…wait for the end to come.’

>~~~~~~~~~<

When Chrysalis said “Surprise me”, she wasn’t expecting to be completely stunned. The meal that lay before her looked incredible. It was a gourmet fish dinner cooked to the purity of perfection, including garnish, olive oil, and steamed and fried roasted vegetables. It was almost too beautiful to eat.

“Surprised?” Tibia asked with a prideful little grin.

Chrysalis was wide eyed. “V-Very” She said stuttering due to her amazement.

“I knew you would be.” Tibia scribbled another obscure note on her pad. “And here is the Extract.” she pulled a wine bottle from her saddle bag and placed it on the table. “For you Madam.”

Chrysalis’ surprise only increased, “For me?”

“Yes.” Tibia’s ears swerved in the direction of some voice that got her attention. “Excuse me, I must be going. Bon appetit!” And so she went on her way.

Chrysalis lifted the bottle over to her with what little magic the inhibitor around her neck allowed. It was an oddity to her. She couldn’t decide whether she thought it was poison or an actual drink. She could, however, think of one reliable source for answers.

“Um, what is Vintage Extract?” She asked Thorax, who was happily eating his casserole.

“Oh,” He said putting his silverware down, “that’s, uh, quite a long story.”

Chrysalis tilted her head a bit with a quizzical look. “Well, what is it?”

Thorax took a breath, “The proper name for it is ‘Love Extract’, actually.”

Chrysalis froze for a second, not quite understanding what she just heard. “I’m…sorry…What?”

“It’s more of a medical substance used for treatment than a beverage.”

Chrysalis brought the bottle back over, scrutinizing the label. She looked back to Thorax. “And what exactly is it used to treat?”

“A couple of things actually.” He said, fiddling with his food a little. “But, mostly it’s used on Changings suffering from malnutrition. This place also serves it to those who are on record as needing it.”

Chrysalis started to panic a little. “W-What’s that got to do with me?”

Thorax looked up from fiddling with his casserole. “Well, Doc’s been telling me that you don’t have enough Love in your system. I don’t want to have to send you to the emergency room, so I had them put you down as needing it.”

Chrysalis once again looked at the bottle. As she did so, two things crossed her mind. One: ‘This bottle is so lavish and fancy! How is any creature supposed to know this is medicine?’ And two: ‘He prescribed me medication. He put me on a treatment plan as to improve and maintain my health.’ At this point, death actually seemed rather appealing, if it meant that she wouldn’t have to deal with the excruciating headache she had right now.

“Chrysalis, you okay?” Thorax leaned towards her. He was worried that the lack of love in her system was starting to take hold.

“I…” Chrysalis massaged her temples. She removed the cork from the bottle and began to pour a glass. “I think I’ll start drinking this now.” She said. ‘It’s probably poisoned anyhow. It’s either this or the fish’ She thought to herself.

“Good to hear.” Thorax beamed at the fact that Chrysalis was actually going to “take her medicine”, as it were. He lifted up a glass of water. “A toast to the future, I guess?”

“Why not?” Chrysalis took up her own glass, now filled with extract. Their glasses clinked together. ‘Well, bottoms up. Hopefully it at least tastes go-’

Chrysalis’ thought process was interrupted by the sudden wave of flavor that ignited her senses. It was sweet, soothing. A stream that tantalized her taste buds. ‘Whoa…’ She felt warm, more awake. She only then realized how deprived of energy she was.

“Don’t go chugging the whole bottle now.” Thorax joked.

“Oh, sorry.”

Thorax shook his head, “It’s okay, there’s no need for apologies.” He took another bite out of his casserole. “Please, eat. Can’t let Tibia’s foreign studies go to waste.”

Chrysalis looked at the plate before her. She suddenly felt dubious. Sure, it looked pretty, gorgeous even. But she never really found any real need for physical sustenance. Changelings could eat, but they didn’t really get anything out of it. Then again, what did she know? She and a majority of her predecessors were the ones who thought the Changeling race couldn’t evolve to become a self sufficient people. Granted, that belief was founded in the fact that ponies had never been very kind to Changelings, and that only just changed recently, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that maybe physical food might actually be good for something.

‘Okay then,’ she cut a reasonable piece of the fish that had most of the seasoning, spices, and other things on it, and brought it to her mouth, ‘Hopefully I have taste buds that are good for somethi-’

Where as the Vintage Extract came in as a wave, which became a river that allowed one to enjoy its pleasures, the main course was an explosion. It’s flavor hit like sledgehammer, leaving behind a memorable after shock. One that demanded another bite be taken. Once again, she forgot about all her worries. Instead, Chrysalis had to put her all into creating a set of table manners and implementing them, rather then just stuffing the whole plate into her face. Of coarse, a few slightly larger than average bites wouldn’t hurt.

“Tibia has a funny way of knowing what ponies would love to eat.” Thorax said looking content having finished his meal.

“Mmmm!” Chrysalis was still getting through her own plate. “ She really does!” She covered her mouth when she realized that she was talking with food in her mouth, which was bad manners last time she checked. She was about to apologize.

“Ha, ha, it’s okay.” Thorax waved off her lack of proper table edict. “It happens to me all the time.” He kept doing that. Kept reassuring Chrysalis that everything was fine. Part of her believed him part of her didn’t. And another third was just purely conflicted. She was about to take thoughtful bite, when something caught her attention. A small squeak came from beside her seat. And when she saw what made the noise, she tensed up.

Right by her was a small, purple eyed Changeling nymph with a blue carapace. The child looked up at her with curiosity and wonder. Chrysalis was some what panicked by the nymph’s presence. Several thoughts ran through her head. ‘He’s probably terrified of me. He’ll run. Or worse, he’ll scream, and also run. And then everyling will think I did something wrong!’

The young nymph then took a few steps forward, ‘Oh my goodness! Okay, just stay calm don’t freak out. He’s just curious, it’s anything to worry about.’ The nymph then poked at one of the holes in her legs. ‘Aaaahhhhhh!’ Chrysalis was officially in internal panic mode

The nymph poked at the holes a few more times before looking up at her again. Chrysalis nervously cracked a smile, which was the last thing she wanted to do, since it would show her fangs. Unfortunately, her facial muscles were not obeying any commands. Rather than reeling back or yelping, or anything of that kind, however, the child did something Chrysalis didn’t expect in the slightest.

The nymph fluttered it’s wings, giggled and said, “Cheese legs!” in a playful squeaky voice. Chrysalis’ expression shifted. That was the last thing she expected to hear. She pulled her leg away from the nymph. But the child only pursued it. The sudden advance of the young nymph lean away somewhat fearfully. She fell on her back in the process.

She hit the ground with a small, but audible “Oof!” She groaned slightly before trying to right herself. However, when she lifted her head, her eyes went straight to her abdomen and saw something standing on top of her. ‘Oh, blast. Why?’ The young nymph was standing on her, beaming like a foal on Heart’s Warming. The small thing gave a laugh. Apparently, he was enjoying himself.

Thorax failed to suppress a chuckle. “Looks like you’ve got yourself a new fan there.”

Chrysalis kept her eyes on the nymph, who was leaning down low as if he were a cat. Some angry part of her managed to make her give a throated growl. To that part of her’s great dismay, however, that only made the child snuggle up closer. He also started purring, as he seemed to think that was intent of the sound she made.

Then, Chrysalis slowly and shakingly lifted a hoof. She felt like she was moving against something. The disconnect between thoughts and actions was noticeable again. She started growling again (though the child in question still thought they were purrs). With the gentlest touch she could muster...she stroked the top of the child’s head, petting him.

Then in the middle of doing this, the little pseudo-pony raised a tiny hoof to Chrysalis’ snout, and booped her.Right on the nose. ‘D-Did he just…?’  The young big-pony giggled and squealed in joy and amusement. The corners of Chrysalis’ mouth curled upward. She would be quite the liar if she said the kid wasn’t adorable. 

“Artex? Artex?” A voice was calling a name that got the attention of the Changeling filly. The origin of the voice was a grown Changeling mare.
“Artex? Where are yo- *gasp* Artex!” The nymph was presumably “Artex”, meaning that the Changeling running towards her was his mother.

‘Wait…Mother!’ Chrysalis had officially lost count of the amount of times she had gone into a state of panic that day(As if she were keeping track in the first place). ‘Oh, she probably thinks I was doing something terrible!’ Artex hopped off her chest as she quickly stood up. She began sputtering words in her fright. “I-I-I’m sorry! I wasn’t doing anything wrong! I-”

“Artex!”, The mother scooped up her son, “What did I tell you about wandering off, and bothering other Changelings?”

Artex pouted a little. “Mooommy.” He said in his squeaky, somewhat upset voice.

“Ah, Ah,Ah! None of the sass.” Artex’s mother made her position very clear. “Now, what do you say?”

Artex looked down to the side, rubbing his front leg with his other, “Sorry, mommy.”

Artex’s mother let out a heavy breath. She then turned her attention to Chrysalis and Thorax. “I am so sorry for him bothering you.” She put her hoof on Chrysalis’, “I hope he wasn’t too much trouble.”

Thorax opened his mouth to speak, but something compelled Chrysalis to speak instead. “N-No, it’s fine…really. He wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

“You’re sure?”

“They didn’t cause any trouble, Mera.” Thorax reassured, addressing the parent by name.

“Well, okay then.” Mera looked at her son. She smiled, and lightly rubbed the top of his head. She turned back to Chrysalis, and shaked her hoof. “Thank you so much for handling him until I got here, mam.” Genuine gratitude and thankfulness emanated from her. Chrysalis confusion returned. The warm smiles, the compliments, the comfort. It all brought her back to the question she was asking herself earlier: ‘Why?’ 

‘Why do they show me such kindness? Why do they treat me as if I have done no real wrong? Why?’

“Uh…You’re very welcome.” Chrysalis stammered out. Mera smiles and nodded in response.

“Come now Artex! Time to go.” The two began walking away from the table. Artex turned around to face the tall black Changeling that facilitated him so much.

He smiled, and waved. “Bye, cheese legs!” He said, meaning no harm in the foalish name, before running off to catch up with his mother. Chrysalis only lifted her hoof a little to wave back. She was too consumed by her thoughts.

“Uh…” Thorax obtained Chrysalis’ attention. “Are you going to finish that?” He pointed to her plate which was three quarters of the way done. She took a good long look at it.

“I…I think I’ve had my fill.” She said quietly.

Thorax simply nodded. He paid for the meal, leaving a wholesum tip as well, and they made their way out.

>~~~~~~~~<

They had returned to her room. Chrysalis had said that she felt rather drained by the day’s events. While Thorax would have loved to show her around the new hive some more, he respected the wishes of his guest.

“Do you need anything before I go?” Thorax was still a little concerned. He wanted her to be as comfortable as possible.

“I think I’ll be good for now.” Chrysalis said.

“Well…” Thorax still felt unsure about his tenant’s state of health, though. “Okay. Just remember, tell me if you need anything, and I’ll get it taken care of.” He put a hoof on the former Queen’s shoulder when he said that.

“O-Of course.” Chrysalis stuttered, as she began to disappear into her room.

“Oh, and don’t forget to take that medicine when you need it!” Thorax called out.

“I will!” Chrysalis called back before closing the door. She let out a great breath. She was stressed, questioning herself. She let her head and neck slump as she walked over to her bed.

And so she laid there. Staring up at the ceiling, floating aimlessly in an endless sea of contemplation. She lay there on her bed, asking herself all the same questions. Both the old ones from when she first arrived her, and the new ones that arose today.

That and if the fish she ate today was or wasn’t poisoned.

>~~~~~~<

“So how do you think lunch went?” Pharynx and Thorax were once again at their desk, going over petitions, area reports, statical charts, and the occasional bill. Why they had bills to pay to themselves was beyond them, but they had to be folders and boxes like everything else.

“Personally, I think it went very well.” Thorax responded without looking up from the stack of papers he was analyzing. His response was supported by the happy expression on his face. “And let me just say, she absolutely loved your performance.”

The General’s eyes glanced up for a moment, “Glad to hear that I’ve still got it.” His gaze returned to his respective stack of annoyingly long, vague, and cryptically worded legal documents. He groaned and rolled his eyes as he viewed a certain letter.

“Thorax, where’s the spam folder?”

“You mean the trash bin?”

“Yes.”

“Here.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

The duo continued their end-of-the-day ritual that consisted of a level of organization that one would expect to see from Twilight Sparkle.

“So…” Pharynx spoke up, “You got an idea about what to do next?”

Thorax paused. He leaned back in his seat thinking. It was a legitimate question. ‘Maybe I could…?’ 

Thorax came up with yet another great idea. He hadn’t been able to go and see the hive gardens in a long time. It would be nice to do that again

‘Oh, it would be perfect!’ Thorax began thinking up the entire day plan in the back of his head. But there were other tasks that required his attention. And first-and-foremost…

“Pharynx, can I get the spam folder?”
> Chapter 10: Go and Smell the Roses
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chrysalis awoke with a groan. Her eyes ached from the act of rising from her deep slumber. That, however, brought to her attention a very important detail.

‘So…I’m not dead.’ She thought to herself. Which meant that yesterday’s fish wasn’t poisoned. ‘Terrific.’

Her eyes, still somewhat sore, were drawn to the bottle of Extract on her bedside table. Her energy was low and it was about that time she took her meds. She thoughtlessly levitated the bottle to her hoofs. However her attention was caught by how fast the bottle came to her.

Chrysalis then started moving the bottle up and down with her magic. She felt the increase in accessible power. ‘But, how? I mean the only way that could happen is if…’ She quickly looked down at the inhibitor around her neck. Her eyes widened.

Several of the enchanted gems had lost their glow. Meaning that the inhibitors level of restraint over her had decreased. ‘What?!’ She mentally questioned herself, ‘Who in the name of Equestria would-’

Her brain put two and two together, clicking in the process. There was only one individual that could, and would, lower the restraint level.

‘Thorax…’ It seemed clear that he could be rooms away, and still be able to loosen her bonds. Which brought forth another question that came up often, but she would save that for a face-to-face conversation with the Changeling himself. For now, it was medication time. ‘At least it tastes good.’ 

Shortly after taking a sizable gulp from the bottle, a familiar knock, at a familiar time, came at her door. ‘Breakfast time, I guess.’ Chrysalis walked over to the door. She felt like opening the door herself today, rather than letting off a small magical signal to telegraph that entry was permitted.

She opened the door, and expected an average character to be carrying a tray. However, what she got was a gleeful “Good Morning!” from a very familiar voice. Seemed that face-to-face discussion would come sooner than she thought.

Thorax had showed up on her doorstep to personally deliver breakfast. His expression was wonderfully cheerful. “Would you like some breakfast-in-bed?”

Chrysalis, taken aback by the sudden gesture, managed to stumble out a reply. “S-Sure, gladly.” She stepped aside and let the young king into her room. He set the somewhat cluttered tray on the table in the middle of the room, and began unpacking it.

“Here we are. Breakfast is served.” Thorax took a seat on one end of the table, and waited for Chrysalis to do the same. She slowly did, as she was able to process the current events. She lifted a fork to dig into the plate of eggs that lay before her.

‘Poison-’ Chrysalis mentally slapped her subconscious in the face. She was really starting to get tired of this.

‘Oh, shut up you paranoid maggot!’ She cursed in her personal mindscape. ‘Your endless rambling is the reason I’ve gotten anything into my system for the past days! I have been here for over two weeks, and nothing I have eaten or gone to see has resulted in my demise!’ She managed to not let her anger show in her facial expressions. ‘And before you say anything, we discussed this yesterday: I don’t care about the punishment! Weather it be execution, torture, or the wrath of the Princesses, I deserve it. And I will accept it. So you had better bulk up, accept the reality of the situation, because I am not having this conversation with you ever again. You hear me!?’ 

‘.....’ Silence. No response. There was nothing left to argue about. The new found peace allowed her completely focus on consuming her breakfast.

The eggs were cooked to perfection. A little rough around the edges, but still good. The biscuits were also creamy and had a soft, warm, puffy inside. “This is really good.” Chrysalis said, this time remembering to chew and swallow her food before speaking.

“Made and delivered by yours truly.” Thorax put a hoof on his chest, comically exaggerating the small bit of pride he took in the fact.

Chrysalis paused for a moment. Looking at her plate. “You, made all this?”

“Well, I can’t expect Tibia to cook everything,” he said, “Besides, it makes me feel like I’m good at something other than ‘being king’.”

Chrysalis then remembered something important. A question that she had to ask. ‘Oh, right. That.’ She steeled herself, gathering the courage to ask. ‘Come on Chrysalis, you can do this. It’s just one question. One, simple, question.’ She quietly took a deep breath.

“Um, Thorax?”

The king put his fork down and looked up at the mention of his name. “Yes?”

“This morning, I noticed that…” She faltered for a moment.

“Noticed what?”

“...That the magic inhibitor significantly decreased its restraint level.” Another moment of hesitation, “It wouldn’t happen to be losing its…?”

“Wha-?” Thorax realized what she was asking. It made him laugh a little. “Oh, ho, ho, ho. No, Chrysalis. It’s not losing power. I loosened its grip.”

‘Well there’s the conformation,’ Chrysalis thought. ‘Now for the big part…’

“Well...Why?” She asked. “Do…Do you trust me?” The very thought of such a thing made her conflicted.

Thorax smiled, “It’s not a matter of me trusting you, Chrysalis,” He paused for a moment, “ It’s about you trusting yourself.”

“Uh...What?” Chrysalis just stared back in bewilderment.

Thorax blinked, and then nervously laughed. “Oh gosh, I’m starting to sound like Celestia now, aren’t I?” He laughed a little more. “No more Royal meetings for me.”

Chrysalis laughed a little as well. He was right. That did sound like something the Sun Princess would say.

“No, but in all seriousness, I feel like you’re not as stressed about yourself, if that makes any sense.” Thorax was attempting to explain his highly complicated position in the simplest way possible. “I’ve always been fine with you being here. But I wasn’t sure if you were comfortable with it. And because of that I was worried you would…do something drastic.”

Chrysalis was still a bit confused, but decided to just roll with it, as to avoid giving herself a headache. She simply responded with, “I see…” and moved on from that part of the conversation.

“Anyway,” Thorax decided to get to his reasons for being there. “We have recently created a garden area in the hive, and I was wondering if you would like to come and see it?”

Chrysalis stopped. She had just been made another offer to be taken on another walk through the hive, for the purpose of entertaining her. Normally, at this point, her subconscious would be making some radical comment about execution or something of the like. But, considering the lecture she had given it a moment ago, she was able to think without too much mental noise, and instead came up with her answer to the current question.

“Yeah, I guess. Maybe this afternoon?”

Thorax looked off to the side. “Actually, it’s almost 11:00 am right now.”

Chrysalis’ eyes shot wide open, “What!”

Thorax waved his hooves, “l-I’m sorry! I just thought that I would let you sleep in, get some extra rest.” He was somewhat panicked by Chrysalis’ response, fearing that he upset her.

Fortunately she got a hold of herself and, almost on impulse,quelled Thorax’s worry. “N-No, it’s fine! I was just surprised, that’s all.” ‘Whoa…where did that come from?’

Thorax calmed down. “Okay. But, is there a specific time you’d like to go and see the garden?”

“Uh…” She pondered for a moment, “Whenever you think would be good.” Only to put out a non-specific answer. ‘I shouldn’t be making any decisions about whens and wheres around here.

Thorax tilted his head to one side. He was slightly confused by Chrysalis’ some what non-answer, but he went with it. “Alright. I’ll come and get you a little later, okay?”

“Of course.” A small nod accompanied the conformation.

The current and former monarchs finished their respective plates and Thorax took them way to be washed (by himself of course. He wasn’t going to leave everything to his fellow Changeling). He looked back at his guest with a smile. “See ya later.”
Chrysalis weakly waved back in response.

And so she was left to herself, with yet another question to herself.

>~~~~~~~~<

Thorax went to Chrysalis’ room to take her to the gardens at around 12:00 pm. He was running down the halls to get to her room. He didn’t want to be delayed even further. When he finally made it, his breath was heavy, as he knocked on the door. Chrysalis opened the door slowly, as she was a bit nervous about letting others in.

“S-Sorry for taking so long,” Thorax said through his exhausted breath, “I would have came at 11:30, but Royal duties delayed me.”

Chrysalis shook a hoof in dismissal. “N-No, it’s fine. You’re not at fault for anything.” She was referring to more than just his lateness. And more then just him.

“So,” Thorax began, “Do you still want to go?”

“Yes, I do.”

Thorax perked up at the response. “Alright then. If you would please follow me.” And they began on their way.

>~~~~~~~~<

“Not much further now.” Thorax reassured. They were approaching a large set of wooden double doors, with grand vine-like designs on them. It was beautiful.

“Hello, my lor- Oh! Uh, I mean, Thorax. The guard that greeted them slightly looked away in embarrassment.

“It’s okay, Hard Shell,” Thorax said kindly “Everyling messes up at some point. I’m fine with it really.”

Hard Shell nodded, relieved he hadn’t offended his king. He pulled a collection of keys from his saddle bag, and began to single out the one that unlocked the doors behind him.

Chrysalis got a chill down her spine. She recognized the Changeling guard. He was one of the troopers who originally captured her and brought her to the Hive. She shuddered at the thought of what he must think of her.

“So, Hard Shell,” Thorax began as the guard he addressed continued his search for the right key, “What are you doing here? I thought you were on Pharynx’s scouting team.”

“Oh, I’m taking a break from it.” Hard Shell fumbled with the multitude of keys on the loop. “That’s what active duty does to ya: Wears you down.” He found the right key. “We really put labels on these…” The young soldier muttered to himself.

“I’ll get to work on that.” Thorax affirmed. Hard Shell froze, turning to look at his monarch.

“How…did you…?” The guard had a rather puzzled look on his face. Thorax simply tapped his horn as an answer. “Wha…? Ahhhhhhahaha, I see you!” Hard Shell laughed at the indication that he needed to check when he was accessing the Hive mind. “Ah, here we are!” He proclaimed with triumph, as he stuck the key in the lock. The sound of creaking hinges echoed through the hall. The doors to the gardens were open.

“Thank you, Hard Shell.” Thorax gave a little bow to the young trooper. He stared walking in, motioning Chrysalis to follow.

As she walked through the door, she stopped as she turned her head to look at Hard Shell. She opened her mouth to speak, but Hard Shell cut her off. “Yes, I know. And I’m okay with it.” He knew what she was going to say. “I’m not harboring any grudges, nor do I think any other Changeling is.” He then motioned his head towards the gardens that await outside. “Go on, don’t wanna get left behind, do ya?”

Chrysalis looked out the doorway. Thorax was patiently waiting for her. She took one last look at Hard Shell, before slowly stepping into the sunlight. The doors creaking closed behind her.

>~~~~~~~~~~<

A sudden swell of light and colors and smells assaulted her senses. At first she winced as if in pain, but slowly, her nose and eyes began to registering all the colors and smells. And when that happened she was amazed. All around her were lively green shrubs, trees of various sizes, and most importantly: All the flowers. On both sides of the walkway, there were more flowers than could be counted in a reasonable amount of time.

Chrysalis couldn’t help but keep looking from side to side, her eyes eating up the view as if it were candy. It was as if she had entered some kind of wonderland. All around her, all about her. Roses, tulips, violets on one side. Daisies, carnations, and sunflowers on the other.

“You like it?” Thorax seemed to come out of nowhere as he brought Chrysalis out of her trance.

She struggled to find words, “It…I…” She struggled with her vocabulary for a little longer, until eventually, something came to her. “I…It’s…I-It’s beautiful.”

Thorax looked out on the same view, “I know. It’s amazing that this actually all here.”

Chrysalis looked to Thorax, “How was all of this made?”

“Well, to put it simply, one day a dozen or so Changelings got together and made a plan to create a massive garden. It was one of the most ambitious projects ever attempted. They spent months turning over soil, gathering seeds, planting, building. Then more Changelings joined in. Then more, and more, until practically the whole Hive was working on it. And now, here we are.”

Chrysalis tried to imagine it. The whole Hive working to complete one massive land project, that was first started by only a small group. It’s was hard to visualize, but she tried.

“Would you like to see the rest of it?” Thorax put his hoof towards the rest of the garden, as if he were presenting it.

“O-Of course…” And so, the two continued on their way.

>~~~~~~~~<

Cherry blossoms, ferns, ivy, and dandelions. There was such an extensive variety of plant life. Chrysalis had never even seen or heard of half the plants growing around her. She had to rely on Thorax for information about their rather green surroundings. It was somewhat embarrassing. They were steady making their way to the center of the gardens. She wondered what the centerpiece would be. What was the crown jewel?

‘A giant tree? A sculpture of some kind?’ Her curiosity kept her walking forward, as they passed by other Changelings, who gave smiles and greetings. The fact that their kind compliments were so sincere, still gave her pause.

“So, you enjoying yourself?” Thorax posed the question, making his guest was enjoying their time.

“Very much so.” Chrysalis tried not to sound like she was lying. She was enjoying herself, but her anxiety and lack of self assurance made her a tad stressed. “It’s hard to believe that this was all built by Changelings.”

“Well, ya know what they say,” Thorax quipped cheerfully, “The best way to get folks to unite, is to give them a common goal.”

“Who said that?” Chrysalis raised an eyebrow.

“Me.” Thorax smiled and the two shared a small chuckle.

It was then, that Chrysalis saw it. The centerpiece. She stared at it, walked over to it, seemingly in a trance. It wasn’t a massive tree, nor a sculpture of any kind. It was something she didn’t expect at all. In a vase, upon a pedestal, surrounded by white and red roses, sat a single flower. One that, by all means of nature, should not be able to exist.

It was a single, Black Rose.

There another thing odd about it. When she looked closely, a lot of the outermost petals had holes in them. Not holes punched in them, no, these holes were naturally occurring. Chrysalis was so entranced that she didn’t notice Thorax coming up beside her.

“Chrysalis?”

“Gah!” She jumped, having been suddenly brought back to the conscious realm.

“Whoa, whoa, hey it’s okay. It’s me.” Thorax reassured her. “You alright?”

Chrysalis didn’t answer his question. Instead she asked one of her own. “Wha-? What is- What is that?” She struggles to form a sentence due to the amount of confusion she was experiencing.

Thorax looked to the flower in question. “Oh, that. That’s the garden’s central flower. The original planters called it ‘their greatest inspiration’ when they announced the project. They built this whole garden around that flower.”

Chrysalis could only think of more questions to ask. The original planters must have known the implications of the plant’s appearance. “How did this thing come to be? Are there more of them?”

“No,” Thorax replied, “This is the only one we know of. As for it’s origins, some say it’s magic, others say it’s a random, one time byproduct of nature.” He looked to Chrysalis, “But, I can tell you, that everyling thinks it’s beautiful.”

Beautiful. The word echoed in Chrysalis’ head. ‘Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful.’ It confounded her. Surely she wasn’t the only one who could draw the comparison between the appearance of the flower and the appearance of what the Changelings used to be. Chrysalis had so many questions. What, when, where, why, who, how. She could go on for days listing off the number of inquiries that racked her brain. However, only one question managed to squeeze its way out of her mouth.

“What is it called?” Chrysalis spoke somewhat quietly.

“What?” Thorax didn’t quite hear her.

She quickly turned to him. Speaking in a hurried, almost panicked manner. “The flower. The flower, what is it called?”

Thorax replied with one word, “Hope.”

Chrysalis blinked, “W...What?”

“The flower is called Hope.”

Chrysalis looked back to the black rose that was causing her confusion.

“There’s, uh, still some more garden to explore,” Thorax added, “Would you like to go and see it?”

Chrysalis mindlessly nodded, and the two began walking again.

>~~~~~~~~~~<

They walked on for another hour or two. Thorax would point out different plants, but Chrysalis wasn’t really paying attention. Her mind was ablaze. To her, there were so many things wrong with what she just saw, the list could go on for days. At the end, Thorax offered to get her something to eat, but she declined. She, instead, asked to be taken straight to her room. “Thank you”s were exchanged, and after closing the door and taking a few sizable gulps of Love Extract, she fell right onto her bed. She needed to rest. To process. To comprehend what she had seen only a few hours ago.

She didn’t get much sleep that night.
> Chapter 11: Are You Well?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thorax paced about the room, while Pharynx was working on new exercises to bulk up the recruits under his command. It took approximately five minutes, before Pharynx got tired of the sound of hooves hitting the floor in an unproductive manner. The Changeling general dropped his pen  and paper on the table.

“Alright, that’s it,” Pharynx’s voice made clear his irritation, “What’s wrong?”

Thorax stopped pacing and looked to his brother. A simple, “What?” was all he responded with.

Pharynx wasn’t satisfied with the response, so he repeated the question, this time emphasizing each word. “What’s wrong?”

Thorax let out a deep breath, indicating that he was either stressed or exhausted. “I’m…really starting to worry about Chrysalis.”

‘Stress.’ Pharynx made a mental note of it.

Thorax continued, “I don’t know why, but it seems like she’s having a mental, mid-life crisis or something like that.” Thorax resumes his pacing as he spoke.

“And when did you notice this?” Pharynx raised an eyebrow, starting to take interest in the topic.

Thorax slowed his looped pacing, “Just today, when I took her to the gardens. Around the “Hope flower.’

“As in the flower that bears a resemblance to our previous forms?”

“Yes.” Thorax finally sat down at the table, pushing a pencil around with his hoof, “I mean, there were some times before when she drifted into space, but that seemed more like her not being used to the environment,” He looked at an empty picture frame on the table, awaiting some treasured memory to present, “But this time, it was like she just broke a little inside.”

“Well, I don’t know to tell you,” Pharynx double-checked his plans for tomorrow, “All I can say is keeping doing what you’ve been doing: Making her feel at home.”

Thorax looked up at his brother, “Ya sure you can’t give me a stern, Drill Sargent, talking to?”

“Never.”

“*Sigh* Oh well.”

Pharynx filed his training plan away for the night. “So, got any more grand ideas to aid you in your quest?” He spoke as if he were reading a storybook.

Thorax scratched his chin, as if his kind was even capable of naturally growing a beard. “Enough to keep busy for a few weeks."
> Pharynx's Rage (deleted scene)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pharynx continued down the line, recruit after recruit. He had ripped through several ponies that he could only classify as spineless or egotistical. He needed something different. It was then that something caught his eyes. She wasn’t very tall, at least not compared to him. She had a light blue coat, and green eyes. Her face was hard but neutral. It gave off a distinct aura of discipline that the others lacked. It was all in the details. The mare peaked Pharynx’s interest. He approached her, maintaining his stern expression.

“You there!” Pharynx shouted, addressing the mare before him. “What’s your name?”

The mare in question went into a salute position, “Sir, Private Cloudy Sky, Sir!”

Pharynx mentally stuck his tongue out. Her demeanor and tone were perfect. But, that name. Such a poor name shouldn’t be attached to such a fine candidate. So, he decided to fix that.

“WRONG!” He shouted, “From now on your name is Private Windbreaker! Do you like that name?”

“Sir, Yes, Sir!”

“Private Windbreaker, your accent tells me that you’re from Manehattan. Am I correct?”

“Sir, Yes, Sir!”

“You like the food there, Private?”

“Sir, Yes, Sir!”

“Well there’s one thing you probably won’t like Private Windbreaker: They don’t serve fast-food or fine cuisine on a daily basis in my mess-hall!” He has to be fair and throw in a little bit of rudeness.

“Sir, Yes, Sir!” Windbreaker maintained her tone, posture, and expression.

Pharynx smiled on the inside a bit. He didn’t see enough mare warriors in the army. Which he considered a shame, since he thought that many of the mares he had met, had great potential. In fact, there were many times he could recall where they greatly outperformed the stallions. Cloudy Sky/ Windbreaker showed a lot of promise.

He was about to move down the line when his ear twitched. He heard something. He heard somepony say, “Probably serve the love you stole from Canterlot.”

Pharynx’s blood boiled. Steam (somehow) came out of his nostrils, and he grit his teeth. “Who said that?” He stormed in the general direction of the sound. “WHO THE HECK SAID THAT?!” He settled on a small line of troops. “Who’s the grimy little, scum-sucking, mulch pile, that just signed their own DEATH WARRANT?!” Pharynx looked between the small group, each one was as stone-faced as the other. His rage only grew with the extended silence. “Nobody, hm? A flipping para-sprite said it. How absolutely wonderful-I will PT you all until you DIE! I’ll PT you until you’re crying for your mom!” He grabbed the recruit closest to him, “Was it you, ya scrawny little maggot?”

The trainee was sweating bullets under Pharynx’s glare. “S-Sir, No, Sir!” He answered in a slight panic. Pharynx remained unconvinced.

“I can practically taste the amount of contempt coming from over here. I’ll bet it was you!”

“Sir, N-No, Sir!”

Suddenly, the recruit right next him spoke up, “Sir, I said it, Sir!”

A great silence came over the grounds. Those that could moved their eyes to look at the one who spoke up. He was a character of average height. A stallion with an orange coat, brown eyes, and a similarly brown mane. Pharynx marched over to the stallion, his hooves making heavy, audible impact upon the ground with every step. He stared the culprit down.

“Well,” Pharynx growled, “Small world. What do we have here? An uneducated bigot, Private Blockhead. I admire your honesty. Heck, I like you. You can come inside The Hive and date one of my sisters.” Before “Private Blockhead” could respond in any way, the enraged Changeling General punched him in the chest, knocking the air out of his lungs. He fell to the ground, gripping the area of impact with one hoof, supporting himself on his knees and other hoof.

Pharynx stood over the pony that he hated so much at the moment. “YOU LITTLE SCUMBAG! I’ve got your name, I’VE GOT YOUR MARK!!! You will not laugh, you will not cry. You will learn by the numbers. I will teach you! Now get up, get on your hooves!!” Slowly, the Private managed to stand on all four hooves. It was clear that his attitude and ego had been taken down more than a few notches. Pharynx wasn’t done however. “You had best fix yourself real fast, or I’ll turn your helmet into a hammer and drive your head through a WALL!”

Private “Blockhead” croaked our a decent, “Sir, Yes, Sir!”

“Private ‘Blockhead’, why did you join Shining Armor’s beloved Corp?”

“Sir, to defend the kingdom of Equestria, Sir!”

“It’s not ‘kingdom’ Private, it’s kingdoms. Equestria is a Country made up of several kingdoms. Theses include the capital of Canterlot, The Crystal Empire, the Giffin territory, the Hippogriff kingdom on Mount. Eris, the Yak territory out west, and the land you are standing on at this moment! Am I understood?”

“Sir, Yes, Sir!”

“Make sure you memorize it!” Pharynx marched down the line, continuing the process of ripping through troops.
> Chapter 12: An Enlightening Day (Part 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chrysalis was definitely kept busy. Every other day, She was asked If she wanted to attend some event or go somewhere in the Changeling Empire. A small dinner party one day, a theater performance another. And there were also days where Thorax would just engage in just simple conversation with her. She didn’t feel tired as much as she felt bewildered. She felt like she was on a tour. Which reminded her; Thorax was going to take her on an actual tour of the Hive. A day she waited for with both curiosity and un-ending dread. While she had pushed passed the idea that she was going to be killed at every turn, she still wasn’t over the massive amount of gilt she felt. 

Regardless, she had said “Yes” to it earlier, and was mentally cursing herself now for it. 

‘Why do I do this to myself?’ A question she had no answer to. But what she did have an answer to, was the knock at her door. 

“Come in,” she said, knowing who was at her door just from the knock.

Sure enough, Thorax was the one to walk in. He smiled as he entered, happy to see Chrysalis. “Hey there,” he greeted.

“Hello,” Chrysalis responded. She knew exactly what was coming. 

“So,” Thorax asked, “Ready for that tour?” He was nervous about her answer.

Chrysalis quietly took a deep breath, “Sure! Whenever you’re ready.” Her answer allowed Thorax to keep up his cheery expression.

“Great,” he said, “If you’re sure you’re all set, then we can get started.”

Chrysalis walked out of the room, and they began to go on their way. 

“So,” Chrysalis asked, “Where are we going first?” 

Thorax continued looking ahead as he walked along his guest, “Well, I do have an interesting first stop picked out.”

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~<

Tibia was speed trotting through the kitchen keeping an eye on everything in her view. Noling could rationalize how she managed to act as head chef and a waitress when they were short on staff, and yet she did without breaking a sweat. She was on her way to her office, when a sight caught her eye. It was the sight of Thorax and Chrysalis walking into the kitchen. On a dime she detoured in their direction. She almost startled them with how fast she appeared before them.

“Monsieur Thorax! Madam Chrysalis!” the Prench Changeling exclaimed.  

Thorax bowed his head to the chef, “Hello Tibia.”

“W-What are you two doing here?” Tibia was still slightly in shock.
“Thorax here is taking me on an official tour of the Hive.” Chrysalis answered before Thorax could. 

Tibia gasped, “Monsieur Thorax, why did you not tell me about this? I would have prepared something special for you!” She yanked his ear as a mother would do to their disobedient child. “Honte à vous Monsieur.”

Thorax massaged the yanked ear, “Sorry Tibia. I just didn’t want anyling to put on an act on my account.”

Chrysalis was stunned by the exchange. ‘She...She just pulled on his ear! On her KING’S ear!’ She pondered how it was possible for Tibia to get away with such an action. A bizarre thought came to her. ‘Are Thorax’s subjects so comfortable around him that they can do such things?’

Tibia cleared her throat, “Well, I guess I could show you around the kitchen.” She motioned her hoof to the rest of the facility, “If you would follow me, please.”

They had only taken a few steps before Tibia stopped them “Oh, mon Dieu! I almost forgot!” She pulled an elastic hair band out of a pocket in her uniform, and turned to Chrysalis. “This will only take a moment Madam,” Tibia said as she reached for the former Queen’s long mane. 

Chrysalis reeled back a bit, “What are you doing?”

“I am tying your hair up, Madam,” The Prench Changeling clarified, “All Changelings with long manes must tie it up. It’s a heath protocol.”

“Oh…” Chrysalis felt a little silly for not thinking about such a thing.

Tibia then tied Chrysalis’ hair into a neat bun. “There we go, Madam.” Tibia looked at her handy work and smiled “Oh, it looks fantastique!”

“Y-You really think so?” Chrysalis was unsure of the compliment.

“I’d have to agree,” Thorax added on, “It suits you.”

Chrysalis frose in that moment. She was being complimented on her appearance. Any other pony, grown or foal, would describe her as “hideous”, “abominable”, or run away screaming. Yet here, she was described as looking “fantastic” with no sarcasm or fear.

“Well then,” Tibia inquired, “Shall I show you two around?”

>~~~~~~~~~~~~<

The walk around the kitchen was standard but still interesting. Tibia showed them the main cookery, the fondue maker, and all the other major sections of the work place that she ran. At the end she made them gourmet chocolate strawberries as a treat, said their farewells, and the duo were on their way again to their next location.

“So,” Thorax said after swallowing a strawberry, “Where in the Hive would you like to go next?”

Chrysalis couldn’t really think of anything. She was at a loss for Ideas. “You’re the tour guide. Your pick.”

Thorax thought for a moment and then came up with a great thing to do. “How about we see what my brother is doing?”

“Oh… well sure.”

They began walking to do just that, but Chrysalis soon realised something. “Thorax, this isn’t the way to the balcony.”

“We’re not going to the balcony,” He said, “We’re going to the courtyard.”

“What!” Naturally, Chrysalis panicked. “B-But…He’s training pony soldiers. If they see me, they’ll-”

“You still remember how to shapeshift…right?” Thorax interrupted, with a quizzical look on his face.

Chrysalis was stunned. “Wha...What?”

“Shapeshifting,” Thorax repeated, “You still remember how to do that, right?”

Chrysalis went from panicked, to down right bewildered. “But…the inhibitor...it-”

“Have you checked it recently?”

Chrysalis looked down at the bejeweled crest that was meant to detain magic, and if her jaw could drop any further, it would probably hit the floor. The inhibitor’s level of restraint was even lower now than the last time she checked, which now that she thought about it was a while ago.

“So, you still remember?” Thorax smiled. 

Chrysalis began to concentrate. It had been a long time since she had used such a power. Still couldn’t hurt to give it a try. She created a picture in her head of what she wanted to look like, who she wanted to be: A new Changeling with rose colored wings and a light green carapace. All accompanied with a pair of purple eyes. She pressed her teeth together in concentration. Slowly, the magical flames wrapped around her like a blanket, and enveloped her. After a few seconds, the flames receded, revealing that yes, She still remembered how to shapeshift.

>~~~~~~~~~~~~<

“COME ON, MOVE!” Pharynx barked at the trainees as they moved across the field, “Move like death is after you!”   

The recruits moved as fast as they could, trying to get past every obstacle correctly. Pharynx kept ahead of them on the course, doing along with them. He saw it as a way to motivate the trainees, to show that it was possible to do it. However, there were a few recruits struggling with the climbing section, one more than others.

“Oh, that’s right Private Aster,” Pharynx barked at the pony from atop the wall, “Don’t make any actual effort to get up to the top of the obstacle. If Celestia wanted you up here, she would have miracled your hide up here by now, wouldn’t she?” His orientation speech may have been him letting of steam and having fun, but some of the troops were honestly wearing on his nerves. And it showed.

Private Aster, a brown coated, black maned earth pony, Struggled to climb the wall. While he was making progress, it was painfully slow.

“Private Aster! Whatever you do, don’t fall down! That would break my heart!” Pharynx was determined to get that pony to the top of the obstical. “Get your hide up here, Aster!”

“I-I’m trying, S-Sir,” Aster managed to sputter out in his exhaustion.

“I’ll bet you if the mare of your dreams was up here on top of this obstacle, you could get up here! Couldn’t you!”

Pharynx wanted so badly to lay into Aster with verbal thashings all day until he climbed the obstacle. However,he took a few deep breaths, calmed himself, and tried something else.

“TROOPS,” Pharynx shouted, getting everyone’s attention, “Get washed up and take a 5 minute break. After words there will be a 5k march before meal time.” 

Everypony stopped and looked in the general’s direction. For them, this came right out of left field. The blank stares didn’t last long, however.

“Well, what are waiting for,” Pharynx yelled, “If you want that break, I expect you to off this field in 2 minutes!”

And with that everypony head for their bunks. Aster was starting to head there.

“Private Aster,” But Pharynx stopped him, “Come here.”

Aster nervously walked over to his current commanding officer. He was shaking, his mouth quivered, as he stood before the Changeling General that was more than a few inches taller than him. 

He managed to stammer out a, “S-Sir?”

“Private Aster,”  Pharynx’s voice was stern and commanding, but it wasn’t loud and angry. It was calm, “Why are you unable to negotiate that obstacle?”

“Sir, I-I’m sorry. I was just too weak to do it. I’m sorry, Sir.”

Pharynx looked at Aster with an analytical eye. ‘I know exactly what to do.’ He thought.

“Private Aster,” He kept his posture straight, “Starting tomorrow, I will have you set up to take exercise courses to increase your stamina.”

Aster looked up at Pharynx in surprize and awe. “Wha…?” He was expecting to receive a ejection from the military at best.

“I will also be sending you to the doctor for a full physical,” Pharynx continued, “And if it proves necessary, I will have you trained in the use of special equipment that will allow you to better navigate obstacles.”

Aster was still in shock. “S-Sir...Why...?

“Because I’m your teacher, and your my student,” The Changeling general responded, “And sometimes, students need some extra aid in order to properly learn.”

“S-So...Your not discharging me?”

“Aster, I read your profile. If I thought you had no potential, at all, in any aspect of training, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. So no, I'm not discharging you, because yes, I think you have what it takes.”

Aster would have cried if he were not standing in front of his Drill Instructor, but he was close to letting a few tears loose. “Th-Thank you, Sir.”

Pharynx smiled, “You’re welcome, Private” He nudged Aster’s shoulder. “Now you carry on,” he motioned toward the bunk area, “There’s 3 minutes let in your break.”

“Sir, yes, Sir!” Aster said with a new found self-confidence. He went of to join his fellow trainees.

“So, has anyling told you ‘You could be a father’?” Thorax seemed to have come out of nowhere, but it didn’t startle Pharynx.

“Thorax,” Pharynx turned to face his sibling, “This is quite the surprise visit.” 

“Well, I can’t pass up on a chance to support my brother.”

Pharynx then noticed the Changeling next to Thorax. If his memory served him correctly(Which it usually did), he had never seen her before. Yet, there was an air of familiarity about her. 

‘Who is this?’ Pharynx telepathically asked through the Hivemind. 

‘It’s Chrysalis,’ Thorax responded.

‘You gave her the leeway to use shifting magic?’

‘Pharynx, trust me. You said you would. I know what I’m doing.’

‘...Alright…’ Pharynx then turned his attention to the disguised Chrysalis. “It’s good to see you, mam. You designed a great form to use.”

Chrysalis was stunned for a moment by the fact that Pharynx knew it was her. ‘Okay, stay calm, roll with it.’

“T-Thank you, it took a while to make.” Chrysalis was trying to keep cool under the pressure she now found herself under. 

“It really suits you,” Pharynx said politely. 

“So,” Chrysalis asked, “Is that how you work with troops?”

Pharynx looked out onto the the field, “Like I said earlier, sometimes they need a little extra support to get the job done.” 

Chrysalis spaced out, “Ha…he really is like a Father, isn’t he?” Chrysalis quietly though out loud.

“You say something Chrysalis?” Thorax asked.

“Oh,” Chrysalis was brought out of her thoughts by Thorax addressing her, “N-No, nothing.” She waved her hoof, dismissively. 

“So,” Pharynx said slyly, “Who wants to try out my obstacle course?





TRANSLATIONS: 

Honte à vous Monsieur (Shame on you Mister)

fantastique (Fantastic) 

mon Dieu (my god)
> Chapter 12: An Enlightening Day (Part 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I could not have gotten out of there fast enough.” Thorax said between exhausted breaths. The two of them knew they should have kindly refused, but they didn’t as to not be rude.

“Remind me to never do that again.” Chrysalis was equally exhausted. “Please tell me that you have a less exercise oriented destination picked out for our next stop.”

Thorax sat down and leaned against a wall. “I do. But first,” He took a deep breath to get himself settled, “I think we both need a breather.” 

Chrysalis settled into her own spot. There was a strange feeling within her, however. A sort of uneasiness… 

>~~~~~~~~~~<

After a bit of a rest, the duo continued on their way to the next location. Chrysalis had done away with her disguise ( a little begrudgingly), since they were no longer among ponies. 

“So…Where are we going now?” Thorax was withholding their destination from her. 

“We’re almost there.”

Chrysalis felt like an impatient foal, of all things. Being forced to wait like it was Heartwarming eve
for a surprise. However, as they walked there was a smell that became more distinct. It was one of stale, sterile air. Even stranger was that it seemed familiar. 

She began to actively, though subtly, focusing on the scents that came across her nose. ‘Let’s see…chemicals, plastic, and…hoof sanitizer.’

Chrysalis thought her senses were playing tricks on her, but her hypothesis was only further supported by the sounds of shuffling paperwork, scrolls being received, and the sound of several, rhythmic beeping, monitor spells. They were going someplace she had been before.

They were heading to the medical department.

Naturally, this discovery prompted the question, “Thorax, why are we heading to the medical department?”

For a moment, Thorax had a small expression of surprise, over the fact that Chrysalis had accurately guessed where they were going. He quickly looked past it, however, responding with, “There’s something really special I want you to see.”

They entered the medical area. The place was abuzz with staff, who were moving papers, equipment, consoling relatives, things that would normally happen in a hospital. 

Thorax looked around the main room until he found the Changeling he was looking for.

“Doctor Cloverfield,” Thorax called out.

The primarily red Changeling in a white lab coat turned to the calling of his name. 

“Thorax,” said the good doctor, “Good to see you!”

Thorax shook hooves with him, “It’s good to see you too, doc.”

“So, what brings you here?” 

“Well, I want to show someling around.” Thorax looked back at Chrysalis, who was gazing about in awe, before noticing the eyes that were on her.

Doctor Cloverfield returned his eyes to Thorax, “Have you brought her in for a check-up, or do you just want the tour?” He chuckled a little at his own joke. 

“Well, as long as we get lollipops at the end,” Thorax comedicly retorted. 

Chrysalis quietly laughed a little at the remark. Though she tensed up again when Dr. Cloverfield came over to her.

The good doctor put his hoof out to shake her’s, “It’s nice to see you in good health. Pleasure to have you here.”

Chrysalis slowly shook his hoof, “T-Thank you for taking the time to treat me.” Chrysalis then looked to Thorax, “So, what here did you want to show me?” 

Thorax looked at Dr. Cloverfield, “Doctor, if you could please act as our escort?”

“Of course,” he began walking towards one of the coradors, “If you would please follow me.”

>~~~~~~~~<

Dr. Cloverfield was taking them past rooms and rooms that Chrysalis thought they would be stopping at. He pointed them out when asked, for sure, but didn’t go into deep detail. They were heading somewhere more important, but where?

“Ah, here we are,” the doctor announced. 

Chrysalis looked the glass that displayed the room, and froze.

In that room, there were several nurses, tending to several cradles. And in those cradles were hatchlings. Nymphs. They were at the nursery. 

Chrysalis felt some stress rising up, but it wasn’t to severe. After all, they were just taking a passing peak it wasn’t like they were going to-

“Would you like to go in?” Cloverfield mostly asked Thorax.

“Absolutely,” Thorax happily replied 

The realization only then hit Chrysalis over the head. ‘This is what he wanted to show me…’ 

This revelation then made her think ‘Why!? What makes him think I would be at all good with children? What event transpired to-‘

It was then that she was hit with yet another realization. ‘That nymph from weeks ago. Artex…Oh, curse that hatchling.’ In reality, she didn’t hate the young Changeling.

“Coming Chrysalis?” Thorax had a habit of pulling her out of her moments of deep, prolonged thought.

Chrysalis intended to simply shake her head and politely refuse (She was still paranoid about doing something horrible). However, rather than expressing a refusal, she took a step forward. Again, there was a disconnect. Chrysalis looked back up to Thorax, who was patiently waiting for an answer with a twinkle in his eye.

‘You know what? Fine,’ Chrysalis took a deep breath as she reworked her mental plan, ‘I just won’t get close to them.’

“Coming.” She eventually said, keeping her worry contained, as she joined the other two.

>~~~~~~~~~<

The nursery was quiet, but not in an unsettling way. It was a quiet that was calming. All the hatchlings in their cribs, content. It made Chrysalis feel all the more like she was trespassing on sacred ground. As if she desecrated everyplace she travelled to. 

Her eyes darted about, hoping that none of them woke up or noticed her.
‘Why do I keep doing this to myself? It’s like some internal force makes me feel compelled to do these things.’

“Nurse Arachnia, how are things?” Dr. Cloverfield was addressing one of the leading nurses who was cradling a young hatchling.

“Ah,” Arachnia said in a quiet tone as to not disturb the children, “Doctor. It’s good to see you. And Thorax, have you gotten taller?”

Thorax blushed in playful embarrassment, “Hi Arachnia.”

Chrysalis wanted to say a way from the exchange. She privately thanked the fact that most of the newborns were asleep. She didn’t want to imagine a room full of screaming nymphs. 

She was about to quietly leave the room, when a little sound made her look right down into one of the cribs, and right into the large eyes of a hatchling.

Chrysalis made a small yelp and hid her face behind her hooves. After a few seconds she removed her hooves from her face. The moment she did so, the hatchling giggled a little. She hid her face again. ‘Are they laughing at my face?’

However when she did it again, it seemed that the newborn was laughing at the act of her hiding and revealing her face. Her fear turned to confusion, then to intrigue. It was strange. It made her feel tingly inside. ‘As long as they’re not crying’ 

Suddenly, she sensed something. She detected energy. Love energy. She looked around wondering where it could be coming from. She eventually looked back down to the child before her and got her answer. The child had an invisible cloud of love energy about them, and they were directing it at someling. 

That “someling” was Chrysalis.

Her eyes widened and pupils shrunk as she reeled back. ‘N-No! I can’t do that! Y-You can’t do that!’

“Chrysalis?” Thorax walked over to her. He noticed that she seemed stressed, “You alright?”

Chrysalis looked to him, doing her best to hide that she was mentally freaking out. “Yes. I’m fine.”

“I see you’ve met Dakara,” Nurse Arachnia gave a little smile as she picked up the infant Changeling and began cradling it, “Adorable little thing, isn’t she?” 

Chrysalis kept quickly glancing to Dakara from time to time, still shaken by the fact that the child intentionally directed its love at her. Nevertheless, she played along, “Yes, she really is.” 

“Would you like to hold her?” the Nurse offered.

Chrysalis’ pupils became dots, “Ehh?”

“Would you like to hold Dakara?”

“Oh, no I couldn't do that,” Chrysalis dismissed as a bead of sweat came down the side of her face unnoticed, “I don’t even know how to hold a baby.”

“It's never too soon to learn,” Nurse Arachnia proposed.

“But, I-” Chrysalis then noticed Dakara looking at her with big wonderfilled eyes. ‘What if they start crying because they think I hate them?’ the child looked happy to be in her presence. ‘Guess it wouldn’t hurt. As long as I don’t feed off their love.’

“Sure, I guess I could,” Chrysalis conceded to the adorable Changeling. 

“Alright then,” Arachnia said cheerfully, “Just put your hooves like this…” Nurse Arachnia guided Chrysalis’s hooves into the proper position and then, slowly and carefully, passed Dakara over to her. 

The young Changeling seemed so inexplicably happy being cradled by her. They didn’t think that she was their mother or anything but it was still odd. Again, Dakara began directing love at her. Chrysalis didn’t take the energy. She still, however, managed to muster up the courage to rub Dakara’s belly. The joyful giggles of the child unconsciously brought a smile to her face.

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~<     

All these experiences, the shows, dinners, holding a member of the next generation, they all left Chrysalis with a strange sensation. One she couldn’t identify. The rest of the walk around the Medical Department was a blur in her memory. All she could think about was her holding the Changeling nymph in her hooves. All the joy and love it was expresing. She felt like she had committed a borderline crime. And yet, her environment said otherwise. That what she was doing wasn’t wrong. The mixed signals left her clueless as to how to feel. 

Regardless, they were coming to their last stop. They were going to sit at the balcony in the Throne Room. ‘Great,’ She thought, ‘Lots of wonderful memories waiting for me there.’ The last time she was there, she had been made self aware of her crimes against her own kind. She started to remember days when she was on the Throne. Days when she scolded and shamed the seekers and workers under her rule. Days when she would take the ponies they had captured and suck them dry of their love, regardless of race, gender…or age. 

She shuddered at the sounds of screaming that came into her memory. She picked up her pace to keep up with Thorax. With a whisk of magic, he brought a tablecloth, candles, and a few other things.

“Please,” Thorax motioned to the other side of the small round table, “Take a seat.”

She slowly pulled out the chair and sat in it, awaiting what would happen to her next.

“This is one of my favorite places to go, in the Hive.” Thorax looked out onto the horizon.

“The Throne Room?” Chrysalis questioned. 

“Oh, no. I mean this balcony,” Thorax specified, “Here I can just sit, relax and watch everyling go about their day. These mundane moments are things I really cherish. Especially considering my job.” 

Chrysalis looked out upon the view Thorax loved so much. She could see the enormity of the garden. The sprawling acres of fertile farmland. And further out were the outlines of construction, the expansion of The Hive to accommodate the growing and thriving civilization. ‘It is a wonderful view isn’t it.’   

Thorax then pulled over a tray with two cups on it. The tray also had. a little bowl of sugar, a bottle of honey, and a…teapot. 

Thorax poured his own cup before holding up the empty one. “Tea,” He offered, “If you’d like, I could get you something else.”

Chrysalis just stared at the cup in front of her. It slowly made her blood boil with rage. Perhaps it had something to do with all her self-loathing and guilt. Those years of brutal famine, totalitarian control, and scoffing at the idea of peaceful coexistence. She hated herself for those dark days. It made those first few weeks, where she locked herself in that room refusing to come out. Those days when Thorax would kindly, and bizarrely send food, invitations…and tea. 

‘Always a cup of tea. Every Faust forsaken time!’ Chrysalis was angry. She was angry that she didn’t understand why Thorax was so nice to her after acknowledging all her crimes. Angry that she didn’t know why every Changeling she had met so far was genuinely happy to see her, despite her horrible leadership in the past. Heck, she was angry that they didn’t hate her in general. She hated herself, and she knew why. So why? ‘Why don’t they hate me?’

“Chrysalis,” Thorax’s voice came into her mind, “Are you alright?”

Chrysalis clenched and grit her teeth in a scowl. “Alright, that’s it!” She slammed her hooves on the table, making the whole thing shake. She looked Thorax in the eyes. “What are you playing at?” She growled. 

“W-What do you mean?” Thorax nervously asked. 

Chrysalis leaned forward, glaring at Thorax with a look of rage that stemmed from her confusion. “What. Are. You. Playing at?” She repeated the question with a heavy emphasis on each word.

“Chrysalis, I don’t-”

“NO! I have listened to you for the longest time, and that has only given me more questions than useful answers!” She seathed, “Now you are going to listen to me, and you are going to tell me everything I want to know!”

>~~~~~~~~<

Thorax was a bit frightened. He never liked it when ponies angrily yelled at him, as if he did something wrong. ‘I won’t yell,’ he repeated in his mind, ‘I promised myself that I won’t yell.’ He organized his thoughts and prepared for the oncoming onslaught. ‘I’m not breaking that promise now’

>~~~~~~~~~<

“I have done terrible things, monstrous things! And it’s very obvious that you know this. I’ve kidnapped high royalty on multiple occasions. I tried to use the entire population of Equestria as Cattle to feed my people! I immediately jumped straight to waging war, rather than even considering peaceful negotiations!

“And because of that, because of my obsession and fixation, I ended up driving my kingdom into ruins. I put my people through famine, for the longest time, because thought it would be a ‘smashing’ idea to try and over turn Shining Armor’s Royal wedding. All for the sake of nourishment. I didn’t even begin to imagine that Changeling-kind could evolve into a self sustaining species! So I also denied my people the chance to grow and evolve, consciously or not!!

“I have done so many horrible things for so long, I don’t even remember some of the things I’ve done. The most hospitality I deserve is a cold dark jail cell carved into the core of a mountain! I HATE myself for it all!! You should hate ME! I thought you hated me! I thought that you would turn me in! Publicly execute me!! And yet, here you all are! Galloping about in a constant state of nirvana! Then, when I show up on your doorstep, you and everyling else treats me like I’m a prestigious guest! Why are you showing me such kindness?! Why are you treating me with any kind of respect?! 

“Why…why…WHY ARE YOU BEING SO NICE TO ME??!!!”

It was honestly a miracle that noling came charging through the doors wondering what all the fuss was about. The most fragile layer of silence coated the situation. The meer blowing of the wind had the potential to shatter it. 

Thorax looked down as his his hooves as he fiddled them, trying to find the strength to give his answer. For a while, Chrysalis that he had no answer, no excuse. 

Then, as Thorax looked up from his hooves, she got his answer in a small, kind voice .

“Because…you’re our mother.”
… 
… 
Whatever tracks Chrysalis’ initial train of thought was on, were now irrelevant. That train had been brutally derailed.

“And good kids take care of their mother, when she can’t take care of herself. They help her get well, and back on her feet.” 

A new deafening silence filled the air. An outside observer would say it only lasted a minute or two. For Chrysalis, however, it seemed to last for hours. It was as if she, along with time, had frozen. Everything just seemed to stop. The whole world seemed to stop. 
The moment seemed to last forever.

It was only when a messenger politely approached the table, that time seemed to pass normally. However, the exchange between the messenger and Thorax didn’t pull her back into the conscious world. All she could hear was a rhythmic thumping, and a light ringing in her ears. 

>~~~~~~~<

The next few moments were a complete blur in Chrysalis’ memory. At some point, They went back to her room. Thorax might have said some kind words concealing his internal worries. It didn’t matter. All she knew now was that she was lying on the bed in her room, just starring endlessly at the void that was the ceiling.

No thoughts formed in her mind, not a muscle in her body moved, not a sound graced her ears.

Only one word escaped her lips… 



“Mother…?”

> Chapter 13: A Potential Problem
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Did she look shocked when you told her?” Pharynx followed behind Thorax, as his brother sifted through a stack of letters with his magic.

“Yes, she did.” Thorax continued marching towards his room, glancing at each envelope while Pharynx tried to keep up. 

“Did she say anything afterwards?”

“No, she didn’t.” 

“Well, what happened after-”

“Pharynx!” Thorax looked back at Pharynx with a mixed look of exhaustion, agitated frustration, and anger. “I just can’t right now.”

“Can’t do what?” 

“This!” Thorax exclaimed, as he entered his living quarters. “I can’t deal with Chrysalis and your pressing questions at the same time!” 

“Thorax, you know that I know that isn’t what this is about!” 

“Then what is it about then?”

“This is about you, being very worried about Chrysalis’ reaction to what you told her. You’re worried about what she thinks of you and the Hive.” 

Thorax flopped the letters down on his desk, holding his face in his hooves. “I feel like such an idiot!”

“To be fair, you really didn’t have any other options.”

Thorax threw his hooves up in the air, “There must have been something else I could have said!”

“Like what?” Pharynx arched an eyebrow dubiously, as to question the actual likelihood of his brother’s claim.

“Well, I could have...uh...I…” Thorax’s mind turned up with nothing, not a thing he could have said that wasn’t what he told Chrysalis at least 20 minuets ago. 

“Exactly,” Pharynx stated clearly, “ And besides, you told her that we care about her. Isn’t that what you wanted to convey the whole time?” 

“It’s not that I didn’t want to tell her,” Thorax clarified, “I just didn’t want to say it so obviously.”

Pharynx sighed. “Well, what’s done is done. All we can do now is make the best of it.”

“I just hope we can make the best of it.”

“Hey,” Pharynx placed a hoof on his brother’s shoulder, “Promise me something?”

“What?” Thorax seemed a tad perplexed. 

“Don’t make a sobbing mess out of the bed sheets again, okay?” 

Warm laughter followed and lasted for the next few minutes.

However, in all the day’s excitement, Thorax had completely forgotten to look through the stack letters on the table. 

Especially one that had a particular seal on it…
> Chapter 14: Bed Bound
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Had she done this before? Had she been here before? No, she had definitely been here before. But had she done this before? Chrysalis couldn’t seem to answer her own questions. All she seemed to do effectively was lay in bed and stare at the ceiling of the room. She couldn’t bring herself to sleep, eat, drink, let alone move. In what seemed like an eternity ago, she remembered days when her head was filled with the angry, spiteful voice of Thorax, as he berated her for all her faults. Now, all she could think of were the kind words, the reassurance he offered to her, the asking of her opinion, and the general, uncompromising respect he showed her. If she had the power to choose between Thorax’s rage and his kindness, Chrysalis preferred the former of the two. She could understand him being mad, she could understand him being spiteful. But by no means could she understand him showing her mercy. 

Most of all, one phrased was repeated in her mind more than any other: “You’re our mother.” Why had he said that? Aside from a few very rare exceptions spread out across hundreds of years of their history, Changeling Monarchs had no blood relation to the subjects they ruled over. So why would he call her “mother”? The question went round and round her mind endlessly. 

Then, for a moment, she thought: did they consider her a mother in an “honorary family member” way. She carried that train of thought. 

Changeling rulers were comparable to parents or guardians by duty. They aided in the raising of some of the new born nymphs, provided for their subjects (as if they were children), and had a greater presence in the Hive social dynamic and interacted with their subjects more than most Monarchs. By that logic, Thorax would be sort of like a “Father” to the Hive by duty, or at least a caretaker. And that would also make her the former “Mother of the Hive” by duty(A twisted, terrible, tyrannical mother, but still). Was that it? Was that the logic behind it all?

‘No, no, no, no, no. This has to be a mistake. It must be…’

‘It better be.’ 

Chrysalis remained still, only hearing the voices running around her head. 

Suddenly there was something else. 

At first she thought it was just the sounds of memories getting jumbled together. But it wasn’t. It was the faint echo of a voice. A new voice. One she didn’t recognize. 

‘Ru…ru…ru…’

The echo was saying something, but she couldn’t figure out what it was. She tried to pinpoint where in her mind the voice was coming from. Nothing. 

‘Maybe I’m going mad…’ She thought. 

Every time she tried to divert her mind, it would just go right back to her activities from the past few weeks. She wanted to hate herself, at this point, she wanted everyone to hate her for all she had done. Yet time and time again, those around her seemed to tell her that “everything’s ok, we still care”. 

At some point, Thorax had taken Chrysalis to see a musical. She couldn’t remember all the details. Something about a guy who was a revolutionary, and at some point a treasury secretary. It was fuzzy. What she did remember very well, was the part where the main character was shot and killed in a magic duel by the pony that used to be his friend. 

She felt like she was living that moment. That one, singular moment. Like she and Thorax were in a duel. Like she had shot at him with intentions to kill. Like Thorax was intentionally wasting his opportunity to attack, in order to spare her. 

It made her feel sick inside. 

She was selfish, she never did the right thing. She was brash, arrogant, and impulsive. Why would nobody see that. Why would nobody see that she was a terrible “parent”.

She curled up into a ball on her bed, tears coming into her eyes, as rocked back and forward. Only a few words left her lips.

“I’m not a good parent. I’m not a good parent. I’m not a good parent. I’m not a good parent.”
> Chapter 15: An Interaction
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The afternoon rolled in as quietly as the morning and was equally uninteresting. Usually, sitting at the balcony was one of Thorax’s favorite pastimes. In all honesty, the view was wonderful. But it just seemed hollow. He felt like he had made a massive mistake. 

‘What in Equestria made me think that I could do this by myself?’ Thorax lamented in his mind. ‘Maybe I should have told Twilight and her friends. At least they would have had some idea of what to do.’ 

All he could do was stare at the horizon and contemplate his self-disappointment.

>~~~~~~~~<

Chrysalis had lost track of how many hours she had spent lying there on the bed in the room she didn’t deserve. Sleep eluded her and the time to herself didn’t aid her in finding the answers to the questions floating around her head. It all just kept going round and round. 

‘Why’ this, ‘Why’ that. Cascades of questions, without answers. It seemed like the unending enigma of the privileges bestowed upon her would kill her. ‘Who would have answers to my questions?’ She added that question to the growing pile in her brain. 

However, that one did not remain unanswered. It came to her rather quickly, but she didn’t like it. 

Thorax. Thorax would be able to answer at least some of her questions. 

The problem was that she really didn’t want to talk to him. She didn’t hate him, but the thought of interacting with him after she had locked herself in her room, again, made her nervous. She weighed her options.

‘I could either get some clarity in my life, and then rot away in self imposed solitude. Or I could let the lack of answers consume me, as I rot away in self imposed solitude and slip slowly into madness…’ 

‘........’

‘Oh, Faust be damned!’ Chrysalis, albeit very begrudgingly, slowly rolled out of her bed and onto the floor. It took her a moment to find her footing, but she managed to do it. Walking towards the door, she braced herself for the amount of light that was about to flood her eyes. And it’s a good thing to. Even though the day wasn’t especially sunny, it was still a bit much. After letting her eyes adjust to the light, Chrysalis headed to the one place that she could think of to find Thorax. 

The Throne Room.

>~~~~~~~~<

Thorax thoughtlessly stirred his drink. A million ways he could say “Sorry” were going through his mind. He didn’t know exactly what he would be apologizing for, but he still felt that it was necessary. He was about to take the cups he had used to the kitchen so that he could wash them, when a knock came at the Throne Room door. 

The door slowly opened a crack, and in stepped the one who he had been having such a hard time getting through to. 

“Uh...Hi,” Chrysalis nervously waved a hoof at Thorax.

“Hi.” Thorax responded, somewhat nervous himself. 

“Am I…I mean…Is this a bad time?” Chrysalis pointed to the door, “If it is, I could come back later-”

“Oh, no! It’s okay. I wasn’t really doing anything.”

“Oh, okay…”

A moment of awkward silence fell upon the scene. 

“So…”

“So…”

“Can I…get you something to drink?” Thorax offered.

“No, I’m good.” She was lying. Aside from occasionally taking sips from the bottle of Love Extract (Which she treated more like medication than sustenance), she hadn’t really ate or drank anything the past day or two. She knew doing so wasn’t good for her health or her magic but she didn’t care. And she would have stuck to that answer to if her stomach hasn't made a rather clear growl. 

Chrysalis’ cheeks gained a reddish tint as she rubbed her front leg in light embarrassment. “Maybe just some Extract,” she said without making eye contact.

Thorax’s magic reached into some unseen void and pulled out an unopened bottle of the stuff. 

“Here,” He said as he levitated the bottle over to her. 

Chrysalis carefully opened the bottle and slowly drank a small portion of it, not wanting to throw her body into shock.

“Thank you,” She said. 

Another wave of silence filled the room. 

“Thorax, I…” Chrysalis struggled to call upon words to continue her sentence. 

Thorax opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out. 

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did you want to say something?” Chrysalis surrendered her “turn to talk”.

“No,no!” Thorax responded hurriedly, “Please, you first.”

Chrysalis bit her lip. She didn’t want to speak first. She wanted to come up with any excuse not to speak first. Part of her even wanted to just leave the room without saying a word. But she had come too far to back out now. 

‘Come on Chrysalis, you can do this! Deep breaths…’

“Thorax…can I-”

“YOUR MAJESTY!!!”

‘Faust be damned!’ The former Queen and current King thought at the same time. 

One of Thorax’s messengers had come crashing through the doors, obviously in a panic. 

Thorax looked to the messenger that just barged in. “Exodus, what is it?”, Thorax said, with annoyance in his tone. 

“King Thorax, they’re coming!”

“Who is coming, Exodus?”

“The Princesses!”

Thorax and Chrysalis’ annoyance quickly turned to shock.


‘The Princesses are coming? Why? Wouldn’t they have sent a letter ahead of ti-’ Thorax’s thoughts stopped. He quickly remembered something. Something he wished he had remembered much, much sooner: He hadn’t gone through all the mail from that week. In all the hustle and bustle of working out Chrysalis’ stay, he must have forgotten to go through it all. 

‘It’s okay,’ Thorax thought to himself, ‘It’s just the Princesses, nothing crazy. I can improvise this.’ Thorax mentality recited with confidence. 

Only for that confidence to be shattered when Chrysalis asked a question that he should have thought of earlier. “Which Princesses are coming?”

Exodus’s response was not reassuring. “A-All of them…”

… 

… 

“What?” They both said at the same time.

“Also,” Exodus continued, Princess Twilight may have brought all of her friends, and Princess Cadence may have also brought her husband…” A few beads of sweat fell down his face. 

Thorax and Chrysalis were about to scream, when they heard the drifting sounds of a far off conversation. The duo rushed to the balcony, looking over it, hoping against hope that their fears had not been realized. 

They had no such luck.

Down on the ground were the distinct outlines of Princess Celesta, Luna, Twilight, and Cadence, along with two Royal Guards. That wasn’t all. There were a whole host of other ponies that just made the situation worse. Rainbow Dash could be seen zipping about the group. Pinkie Pie was taking a spring-loaded step every second. Fluttershy was clearly occupied by the blossoming plant life all around them. AppleJack was presumably making comparisons between something she was seeing and something involving farm life. And Thorax couldn’t even imagine all the aesthetic “improvements” that Rarity was coming up with. 

However, there was one pony in the crowd that drew immediate attention (more attention than Pinkie Pie). Snuggled up against Cadence, was the one pony that Thorax, nor Chrysalis, nor Pharynx wanted to see at this point in time.

Prince Shining Armor.

In that singular moment of shock, and panic, Chrysalis and Thorax said the only thing that could adequately describe how they felt in that moment.

“Oh, pony feathers.”
> Chapter 16: Meet the Inconvenient Visitors
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“IM SO EXCITED! Areyouexcited?CauseI’mexcited.Imean,what’snottobeexcitedabout?InevergottoseethenewChangelinghomeuntilnow,andnowwe’rehere!”

“Pinkie Pie! Calm down, will ya?” Apple Jack had to shout in order bring Pinkie Pie out of her hyperactive, excited state.

“Oops, sorry.” The pink, party pony giggled, as she floated down to the ground from mid jump(Defying several laws of physics in the process). 

“It’s alright,” Celesta reassured, “We’re all very eager to see how Thorax and the other Changelings are doing.”

“Yes, especially since Thorax has little experience in leading a kingdom,” Luna pitched in, keeping pace with her older sister. 

Rarity looked about the area around her with a critical eye. “Well, if nothing else, the plants around here could use a good trimming.”

“I’m more surprised that anything was able to grow ‘round here,” Apple Jack looked around her in amazement at the staggering amount of foliage that had sprouted up, “Last we was here, all this was dried up dirt, rocks, and sand.”

Fluttershy was content with simply admiring its presence. “I think it’s lovely.” Everypony wordless agreed with that sentiment. 

Rainbow Dash continued to zip about in the air space surrounding the group. She made a dive that was a tad too low and came dangerously close to Twilight’s head. 

The Purple alicorn let out a little “Eep!” and ducked.

Twilight rose to her hooves, looking slightly annoyed by the cyan pegasus’ antics. “Dash, watch it!” She called up, “You’re gonna hurt somepony with that flying. Including, but not limited to, yourself!”

“Oh, come on Twi,” the cyan pegasus in question flew back and forth, making boxing poses in those directions, “I gotta be on guard!”

Rarity rolled her eyes, “And why exactly must you be ‘on guard’, as it were?”

“You never know,” Rainbow Dash said, continuing to shadow box in the air, “Some big, scary monster could come out of nowhere!” A smirk quickly formed on her face, clearly displaying the mare’s love for danger and adventure.  

Cadence couldn’t help but chuckle at Rainbow Dash’s enthusiasm. Her small smile soon turned to a concerned frown, as her gaze drifted to the ground.

“What’s the matter, honey?” Shining Armor’s impeccable ability to know when his wife was distressed kicked in as he moved closer to his wife. 

A smile returned to Cadence’s face, “It’s nothing dear.”

“Cadence, it’s never just ‘nothing’.” Shining looked at his beautiful bride with eyes of worry, trying to think of what could be wrong, “Did I forget to turn off the stove?”

Cadence let out a small laugh at the absurd question, “No honey, it’s not that,” her worried expression returned as she stared up at the sky, her gaze now directed more towards the Changeling Hive, “It’s just that…”

“Just what, dear?”

“Ever since Thorax left the Crystal Empire and became King of the Changelings, he seems so distant. Nowadays, I wonder if he can handle running a whole kingdom on his own. I mean, I’m not saying he’s incapable. Not at all. He helped out a lot with all the legal documents we had to deal with, and he managed to successfully babysit Flurry Heart of all ponies.

“But hardly ever writes to us and never really tells us what’s going on. I’m just scared that he’s pushing himself to much.”

Shining turned Cadence’s face to meet eyes with him. He then gave his loving wife a little kiss on the lips. 

“Cadence, if there was a problem that Thorax and the Changelings couldn’t handle on their own, I’m sure that he would contact us, or somepony that could help him immediately.”

The two snuggled a bit and Cadence couldn’t help but smile at her beloved husband. “Thank you, sweetie.”

“You’re welcome, honey.” A warm smile cane to Shining Armor’s face. He took comfort in knowing his wife was happy. “Besides, Thorax is a tough little guy. I’m sure he’s fine.”
> Chapter 17: In the Mind of a Master Improviser
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thorax was-

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!”

Anything but okay.

Despite the fact that he was in a sound muffling panic bubble,(which he had unconsciously cast) he still could be heard throughout most of the room. 

Chrysalis fared no better. In fact, she seemed to be faring worse. As she stood there, shaking at the knees, her mind filled with all the horrible things that would happen if they found her here. The burning glares, the spiteful words. That strange,far off, distant voice seemed to come closer in her head. All the noise, noise, noise.

The two of them would have kept this up for at least another 5 minutes that they didn’t have, were it not for Exodus walking into Thorax’s panic bubble and swiftly clamping his kings mouth shut and smacking him in the face. 

“SIR! Pull yourself together!” Exodus’ shout also managed to snap Chrysalis out of her trance. ‘Good’ Exodus thought, ‘Saves some time.’

“I understand the two of you are nervous, but right now we need a plan so that this whole thing that you have spent weeks trying to do doesn’t fall to pieces.” Exodus stood between the the two panicked Changelings. 

Thorax then started searching his brain for any ideas to help make the situation easier to deal with. They had to get Chrysalis to a safe place, and to do that they needed to slow the group down. So the question remained: How?

“Uh...uh-” an idea came to the Changeling king, “Exodus, do we have something akin to a waiting area? Like how the have in doctor offices?”

“Uh, yes, I’m sure we do-”

“Okay. Exodus, I need you to run interference. Lead them to that space and tell them that I’ll be there in a few minutes or something.”

“Yes, sir!” 

“Also, pay attention to what they’re talking about. Might be able to get some distraction ideas from that.”

“Of course, sir!”

“Go, now!” 

Exodus quickly left the room, running off to stall the incoming guests.

“Okay, what else, what else?” Thorax rubbed his temples, as if ideas would come to him faster if he did so. “Uh, Chrysalis any ideas?” 

Shock plastered Chrysalis’ face when asked. Sweat started to drip down her face. She really didn’t want to do this. To take part in deception to protect herself. Considering what Thorax was trying to do(make her a better pony), it seemed hypocritical and wrong. She was going to say “Sorry, I’ve got nothing”, but then she realized that by doing so, she would be leaving him hanging. He had sacrificed so much and she had given back so little. The most she had given back was coldness and isolation. That made her feel even worse. Biting her lip she gave in and let her idea out.

“We could have Tibia show Pinkie Pie around the kitchen,” Chrysalis stammered out.

Thorax looked to Chrysalis as she continued, “And maybe they could make something together?”

Thorax beamed at the idea. Pinkie Pie was naturally hyperactive. So giving her something to do that interested her was great. 

“Perfect,” he said, “I’ll contact Tibia and tell her. With Exodus running interference, that should by her enough time to prepare.” Thorax reached into the Hive Mind, and got in contact with the Changeling Chef herself. 

“Hello, Tibia?” He said, thinking out loud, “Yes, it’s me, Thorax- listen…”
He went on to quickly explain what was happening. There was a lot of hurried speech, and clearly a lot of annoyed yelling on the other end, but he managed to work it out. 

“Yes, and I promise that you get to serve me whatever you want as punishment for my slipping up…Okay, thank you!” He left the Hive Mind visibly stressed from the discussion he just had. 

“Well,” Chrysalis said, “One down, many more to go.”

“Right,” Thorax resumed rubbing his temples. “It had be all of them. Couldn’t have been the Princesses, nooo, that would be too simple. Now Rarity’s going to be going on endlessly about my-” Another idea came to him. He reached into the Hive Mind and contacted another Changeling. 

“Thimble, you there?”

“Oh, Thorax! Yes, I’m here, what do you need?”

“Listen, Thimble, you love fashion, right?”

“Oh, yes! It’s my favorite thing in the world! It’s why I run a fashion club.”

“Well, what if I told you that there was a chance you could meet one of Equestria’s greatest fashion designers?”

“Oh, I’d be over the moon! Especially if it was Rarity. Her work is absolutely incredible!”

“Well, you’re in luck, because she’s coming…today…like right now.”

“...”

“Thimble, you-?”

The sound of overjoyed squeals filled Thorax’s head. He noticeably flinched as result of the high pitched mental noise.

“Really? You mean it?”

“Yes, I do. Can you make this meeting happen?

“Oh, well, I don’t know. I’d need a few minutes to prepare.” 

“I’m buying you those few minutes now. Can you make it happen?”

“Y-Yes! Yes I can!”

“Great, I’ll get back to you later.”

“Of course! And thank you Thorax! EEEE-!”

Thorax cut the call there before his brain exploded. “Okay. Still a lot to do, but still progress.” 

“So what now?” Chrysalis asked. 

Thorax looked to her before calling two guards. 

The pair of armored Changelings ran into the room before stopping directly in front of their Monarch.

“Yes, Ki-I mean Thorax?”

“Take Chrysalis and hide her. In her room, in the basement, where ever she won’t be found by our surprise visitors.” 

“Yes, of course.”

“Wait, what?” Chrysalis looked around in confusion. 

“Chrysalis,” Thorax put a hoof on her shoulder, “Right now, all of the most important ponies in Equestria are coming, and I haven’t come up with a good time or way to tell them that you’re here.

“Not to mention that not all of them have the most forgiving and accepting temperament towards you. I think it would be best if you stay out of sight for a while.”

Chrysalis looked down at the ground in consideration. 

“Okay…I understand.”

“Great,” Thorax nodded, looking at the two guards that he had called, “You guys got an idea of where to take her?”

“Yes, we do Thorax”

“Great. Get moving!”

The guards nodded and escorted Chrysalis out of the room and into the hallway.

It was at that moment, that Exodus called, “Sir?”

“Yes Exodus?” 

“I’ve got some information that might help the situation.”

“What do ya got, Exodus?”

“Ms. Fluttershy could be sent to spend some time in the massive garden, as well as Apple Jack to a lesser degree. 

“Apple Jack could also see Tibia, though considering how Ms. Pinkie Pie is also meeting her I’m not sure how that would go.”

“Somepony with experience should be there to keep Pinkie Pie in check. I’ll let Tibia know. What else?”

“Well, Rainbow Dash could go see our athletic group. They were going on about pony sports teams at times during their approach.”

“Sounds about right. What about Twilight?” 

“Princess Twilight…hmm…she seemed interested in Changeling society and our science.”

“We could have her see Dr. Cloverfield, and maybe a few other members of our scientific community.”

“Yes, that would keep her occupied, wouldn’t it.”

“And the other Princesses probably want to sit around the meeting table and talk politics. So that’s simple enough.” 

“Um, sir. Pardon me but I feel like like you might be forgetting about the Timber Wolf in the room.” 

“And that would be…?”

“His majesty, Shining Armor.”

Thorax’s guts twisted a little. Exodus was right. He hadn’t come up with something to occupy Shining Armor. 

‘Oh Faust, what am I going to do?’ Thorax thought in a panic. 

Then he realized that he did have something to occupy Shining Armor. The problem: he was going to have two Changelings on his back comedically punishing him for his slip up. 

At this point, however, he was willing to take it. 

“I think I’ve got something for him, Exodus.”

“Sir?”

“Look, just get them to the waiting room. I’ll take care of the rest.” 

Exodus sighed, “Very well, if you say so.” 

The call ended, and Thorax was able to put all his focus into gathering the courage to contact the only one who could keep Shining Armor occupied for a considerable amount of time.

“Just keep calm, Thorax. Keep calm.”

>~~~~~~~~~~~<

“2-4-2-4-2, Come On! 2-4-2-4-2!”
Pharynx had the troops practicing their marches. If there was anything he refused to let go of from his days in the old Changeling army, it was that you could have all the skill in the world, and be the best fighter ever. But without discipline, you would never be a soldier. 

“Private Hooper, you’re off beat!” Pharynx barked, “Straighten up!” 

Wordlessly, the trainee fell back into rhythm. 

“Come on, keep it up! 2-4-2-4-2!

It was then, Pharynx got a call request through the Hive Mind. Normally he would just ignore them to continue with his training. When he checked who it was, however, he knew he had to answer.

“HALT!” Pharynx shouted loud enough for all the marching trainees to hear. Like clockwork, they stopped.

Pharynx accessed the Hive Mind, allowing Thorax to communicate with him. 

“Brother, what is it?”

“Pharynx, what’s on your agenda today?” Thorax asked, with a noticeable twinge of stress in his question.

“Not much, why?” Even if he wasn’t in the same room as his brother, “Thorax, what’s wrong?” He could smell that something was up from a mile away.

Thorax let out a nervous laugh, “Uh, haha, yeah, um…funny story. Ya see…I never went through all of last weeks mail…”

“So…?”

“So, I may have missed a letter saying that the Princesses were coming.”

Pharynx fell silent. His mouth hung open, drawing the attention of some the trainees. 

“When?” Pharynx asked in a low and stressed voice.

“Now…”

“...”

“Look, Pharynx, I-”

“Would you excuse me for a moment, please?”

“Um, sure. Why do you-”

Pharynx put his brother on hold, “*Inhale*...”

“...”

“PRIVATE WINDBREAKER!”

Windbreaker didn’t waste a moment, immediately rushing to his current commanding officer to see what he required from her. “Sir, Yes Sir.”

“Windbreaker! I need something to hit really hard, right now.”

“Sir, Yes Sir.” With impeccable reaction time, Windbreaker placed a training dummy in front of the Changeling General. 

Pharynx wasted no time, grabbing it and driving his hoof directly into its chest. The fresh, untouched dummy went spiraling into the ground. The fabric skin ripped and torn, foam guts scattered around, and the wooden skeleton that gave the now mangled thing shape was shattered beyond repair. All things considered…wasn’t that bad.

“Thank you, Private Windbreaker,” Pharynx breathed at the relief of his frustration. 

“You’re welcome, Sir.”

Pharynx turned his attention back to Thorax’s call.

“Okay. So, Which Princesses are coming?”

“Um…All of them.”

“…I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”

“All four Princesses are coming.”

“...”

“Pharynx?”

“What else?”

“What do you-”

“What else. Should I know. About the current situation?”

“Well, Twilight brought the other Elements along with her…”

“And...?”

“Cadence…may also have her Significant Other with her…”

Pharynx’s eye twitched, “Cadence.”

“Yes.”

“And Shining Armor.”

“Yes.” 

“Coming here.”

“Yes.”

“Right now.”

“Yes”

“...Thorax, I need another moment.”

“I-” Was all that Thorax was able to get out before Pharynx put him on hold again.

“*Inhale*...WINDBREAKER!”

Once again the pegasus was before him, “Sir, Yes Sir.”

“Windbreaker, I need something a little more potent.”

“Sir, Yes Sir.” 

Windbreaker swiftly returned with a reinforced training dummy. 

At that moment, a lot of pent up anger was let loose.

Pharynx grabbed the lifeless thing, breaking its wooden spine over his back with an audible snap. He then slammed it into the ground. 

Standing up right, Pharynx slammed his his right back hoof into the dummy’s chest cracking the braces within.

Still grinding his back hoof into the chest, Pharynx swung with his front left hoof, and crushed the dummy’s neck joint and skull. 

After a few moments of him breathing heavily, Pharynx regained his composure, and got back on the line with Thorax.

“*Sigh* Ok, sorry about that…Yes…Yes, I can do that brother…Look, I have no problem keeping him occupied for a while…No, I’ll be fine…If I need your help, I will call you…Right, okay, thanks, I’ll talk to you later...bye.” Pharynx hung up, not wanting any more surprises.

“Um, Sir,” a nervous trainee by the name of Private Ridge spoke up, “Is something happening, Sir?”

Pharynx looked to the pony who was asking the question. He was going to need to get this group together. 

“Assembly formation!” Pharynx loudly ordered in his commanding voice. “Stand to attention!”

Quickly all the pony trainees did their best to line up in a rectangle in front of the mound that the Changeling General did morning announcements on. 

Pharynx got up on the mound and addressed the troops that stood before him. 

“Listen!” He hollered, “Today, we have a couple of surprise guests coming. Some of you might be pleasantly surprised by who is coming today. Would anyone like to guess?”

A series of confused murmurs traveled through the crowd below. 

“Well I guess there’s no point in holding it back, it’s the Princesses!”

The hushed murmurs were replaced by noticeable gasps and slightly more distinctive discussion. 

“Yes, this is for real. But the real Icing on the cake is that Shining Armor is also coming.”

The sounds of shock and surprise increased in volume. 

“Yes. This is happening,” Pharynx confirmed, “So, in light of this, I want you mugs to set your bunks and clean your quarters. Make all the facilities you use crystal clean. I want those rooms so sanitary and squared away, that The Royal Sisters themselves would be proud to be there. Do you understand?”

“Sir, Yes Sir!” Shouted the crowd of ponies in response.

“Well then what are you all still standing here for!?! Move it!! NOW!” 

The pony troops hurried of to carry out their new janitorial duties, as to not further answer their current commanding officer.

Once they had all left, Pharynx made a call.

“Hello…Sparks, it’s me…Look I need you to do something…I want you to get a group of well trained soldiers, and have them posted in the primary places that our unexpected guests will be visiting…It’s not paranoia if it’s more likely to happen then not, Sparks…Well, you know what they say Sparks: ‘Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.’ Now get it done.”

Pharynx cut the call. Looking over the field, he began to create a mental list of conversation topic and activities that would act as a good distraction for the ruler of The Crystal Empire. 

If nothing else, it was going to be a long, tense day.
> Chapter 18: Hide Away
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chrysalis didn’t say a word as the two Changeling guards escorted her through many hallways and down a couple of flights of stairs. As they continued to go onward to whatever destination the guards had in mind, her panic continued to rise. Her eyes would dart about, as if eyes were always on her. Little beads of sweat ran down her the sides of her face. Sometimes she glanced over her shoulder, swearing that there was someone-something-behind her, following her. Sometimes her mind seemed to conjure up the idea that she was being dragged away to the dungeons of Canterlot. And what was more concerning, was that new distant voice in her head seemed to become clearer now, as it continued to speak up sporadically. 

‘un…un…un…un…’

It wasn’t clear enough to understand, but it was enough to make her jump a little, or look over her shoulder more often. 

After a few more minutes, the blue guard on her left spoke up. “Okay, we’re here.”

They had come to a hallway that had doors on each side in a lower section of the Hive. The air was still, and had an odd smell. Like things were locked away down here, waiting for a time when they will be let out.

Chrysalis looked around, “What…is this place?”

“This?” the green guard to her right said, “This is the storage section. We call it ‘The Vault’. This is where a lot of us put this of high value. Some of it’s inheritance, others are objects of personal value. You want something kept safe for your whole life, you lock it down here.”

Many of the doors were large. There were numbers carved into them, with gemstone handles. Presumably, they were enchanted to further check if the Changeling opening it had the permission to do so. 

The trio continued walking down the hall until they stopped at an unlit door.

“Here we are,” the blue guard said, “This one’s not in use.” The green guard wordlessly walked up to it and grasped the bejeweled handle. It reminded her of the basically worthless inhibitor that she used to wear. At this point it was just a very flashy necklace, that sat on the nightstand in her room.

The door, numbered 14, was slowly pulled open, revealing the plain empty interior. The distinct scent of stale air slowly floating to the now open doorway. 

For a moment, Chrysalis just stood in the doorway looking in at the space. Her attention was drawn away when one of the guards that escorted her there cleared his throat,making an obvious “Ahem”.

Chrysalis looked to the guard, as he motioned to the inside of the storage room. 

“W-Wait,” Chrysalis questioned, catching on to what he meant, “In there?”

“Why else do you think we came here?” The blue guard clearly thought the intent was obvious.

Chrysalis started shaking a bit. The room was bare. And the door made her feel as if she was actually getting put in a high security dungeon.

“I…I-” Chrysalis’ nervous protest was cut off by the red guard.

“Look, it’s not going to be forever, and there’s a light in here, so you won’t be in the dark,” the guard said with reassurance and a pinch of impatience.

Chrysalis looked into the space again, “You’re…You’re sure they won’t find me here?”

“The door will register as locked,” the blue guard assured her, “So on the off chance that the unexpected tour group comes down here, this door won’t be opened.”

Chrysalis sweat a little. She knew that she had to go in there, or risk being discovered. Collecting all her nerves, and taking a deep breath, she slowly walked into the room. 

As she entered, she examined her surroundings. The walls and floor were smooth and featureless. Not a single thing stood out about them. On the ceiling, a mass of bio-luminescent plant life anchored its roots. It was the most interesting thing in the room. 

“Oh, before we forget,” the red guard piped up, “We got you somethings to keep you occupied.” He floated a large, hiking style pack over to Chrysalis, who took it in her own magic.

Opening the flap, she looked to see what was in it. It was a rather interesting assortment. Inside, there were a couple of books, a pillow and sleeping bag, a small bag of cookies, a drawing pad with pencils, a bottle of Love Extract, and a ball. All together, it was a recipe for a few hours worth of self-entertainment. 

“One more thing,” the blue guard grabbed the handle of the door in preparation to close it, “Try to stay as quiet as possible. The door may be thick, but it’s not sound proof.” 

“O-Okay,” was all that Chrysalis could manage.

“Great, see you in a bit.” The two then proceeded to push the large door closed. The sound was akin to that of a stronghold fortress gate closing and locking. The amount of outside light shrunk and shrunk until just a sliver could get in before the door shut. Chrysalis tried her best not to shake. She tried so hard not to buckle under the stress and panic. Finally, the doors closed all the way, and the plants hanging from the roof began to glow.

At that moment, she ran up to the doors. She didn’t know what she was trying to accomplish. It was far too late to back out. That, and there had been no other viable options. She heard the guards on the other side. Putting her ear to the door, she listened. 

>~~~~~~~~~~<

“Alright then, that’s done.”

“You think she’ll be okay in there?”

“We gave her some stuff and told her to keep it down. That and the door is locked. It’s highly unlikely that she’ll be found.”

“If this doesn’t work, it’s your funeral.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s get back to Thorax before the guests start wandering around.”

“Hey, you didn’t call him ‘Your Majesty’ that time.”

“I always mess up when I’m around him!” 

“Old habits die hard, my friend.”

“Come on, let’s go.” The two trotted away, their steps leaving echos that slowly faded as they left.

>~~~~~~~~~~~<

Chrysalis was slightly disappointed. She hadn’t learned anything new about the current situation. 

‘No use dwelling on it I guess,’ she thought, walking over to the spot where her bag lay. She decided to sort her things and see exactly what she had.

She once again found herself looking around the room. The walls weren’t just smooth, they were solid. The general atmosphere of the whole space was rather dismal, almost prison like. 

A terrifying thought then materialized in her mind: Was she being imprisoned? Was this whole situation a set up for the ponies to capture her?

As much as she hated to give her paranoia any acknowledgement, she began to consider the possibility in regards to her current position. It was a good place to catch her. An enclosed space, with only one way out. She would also be very much outnumbered.

However, upon further inspection of her current inventory, the likelihood of this being for her capture decreased. Several of the items she had could be used as weapons. The sleeping bag and pillow were more in the distractions area, but the books and bottle were definitely more viable options. If this was a set up for her capture, it was already rather poor.

Simple really, smash the base of the bottle, use the books as crude shields and instruments of smacking. 

‘Magic inhibitors,’ Chrysalis’ brain spurted out, apparently thinking of every terrible thing that could happen in her current situation…again.

That was, however, quickly remedied. Magic inhibitors had to be applied manually due to the materials they were made of. One could not just levitate them on. So dodging and disarming seemed like the best strategy if things went wrong.

‘Besides, I’m strong. I’ve practiced fighting without magic. I can work with it.’ There was an edge of pride in her thoughts.

Chrysalis reached for the bottle of Extract, until one final possibility entered her conscious. ‘Drugged food’.

The bottle was centimeters from her hoof. The idea that the edibles she had been provided with made her freeze. She looked down at the food from the pack. Was it laced with sleeping powder, or something of the sort?

Only one way to find out.

Chrysalis slowly took hold of the bottle, and carefully pulled out the cork cap. This was, regrettably, one of those moments here her past experience as a tyrant and social infiltrator would come in handy. 

Chrysalis was no stranger to sleeping spells, compounds, and potions. She had used them in the past to make ponies…easier to work with. Also, as a Changeling, she had a very acute sense of smell. Mix those two together, and you know exactly what drugged items smell like. 

Careful not to inhale too much of the wisps from the bottle, she brought it to her nose and took a few sniffs.

As the smell hit her nose several nightmarish fantasies swirled in her head. Ideas of her quickly falling unconscious, hitting the floor as everything faded to black. She shut her eyes tight in preparation for impending unconsciousness.

… 

Nothing. Not a thing. 

Risking another smell, Chrysalis took a long deep sniff. Once again, nothing. 

She immediately went to the cookies and any other food stuffs in the bag. Not a single thing.

‘Stupid paranoia,’ Chrysalis cursed internally. She took a swig of Extract from the bottle, and picked up one of the books that were in the pack. It was less for actually reading and more for drawing her attention away from the noise in her mind. The new distant voice most of all, as it echoed its incomplete words.

‘Ru…ru…ru…’

It wasn’t blaring, but it was noticeable if one had nothing else to focus on. And it was constantly trying to get her attention.

Chrysalis took a deep breath, and, putting as much focus on it as possible, opened to the first page of her book.

“In the beginning, there was nothing…”
> Chapter 19: The Start of the Act
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“There is so much that could go wrong here.” Thorax thought out loud walking with his brother to the waiting room. Beyond its door, was everything he had been fearing for a long time. 

“Thorax, I’m pretty sure that you’ve done more with less,” Pharynx accompanied Thorax, acting as moral support. 

“None of it was hosting an impromptu tour for surprise guests as a ploy for hiding one of the most wanted individuals in all of Equestria.”

“True, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t pull this off.” The brothers made it to the door. Pharynx turned to Thorax, whose brow had sweat being to form.

“Bro,” Pharynx wiped his brother’s forehead, “Chill out, okay?”

Thorax took a deep breath, his eyes filling with courage and determination, “Okay, We can do this. I can do this.”

He put his hoof in the knob in preparation to open it. ‘Fake it till you make it.’ He kept that phrase in his mind. 

After one more deep breath, he opened the door to the waiting room.

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~<

“It’s taking him a long time to get here,” Rarity looked to the door with an expression of slight confusion.

“Ugh, we’ve been here for hours!” Rainbow Dash made her boredom very vocal as she floated about the room.

“Dash, we’ve only been here for a few minutes.” Twilight pointed out.

“Well it feels like longer,” The cyan pegasus pouted as she descend to the ground. “What’s the holdup?” 

Celestia sat peacefully on one of the benches in the room. “I’m sure that they’re just making some final preparations.”

“Thorax always did get a bit antsy when it came to preparing for guests,” Cadence recalled.

Rainbow Dash looked around the room when her gaze was drawn by the pink, party pony, sitting almost perfectly still. 

The sight amazed her. “Okay, I gotta know. How is Pinkie Pie among the calmest of us?”

“As a master of surprise parties, I have to be patient,” Pinkie Pie explained in her usual bubbly tone, “I once had to wait a whole day doing nothing but hiding and perfectly still and quiet before I could jump out and say ‘Surprise!’ So I’ve got this waiting thing down.”

Dash rolled her eyes, “Of course you do.” She gave a little huff. Another absurd, adventurous idea popped into her head. “Oh maybe they-!”

“No Dash,” Twilight said, not raising her eyes from the book she brought with her, “They were not eaten by a giant, mutant, spider monster.”

Rainbow Dash frowned a bit. “Lucky guess,” she pouted.

An awe filled gasp could be heard from Pinkie Pie’s seat. Next thing, Pinkie Pie was in Twilight’s face. 

“Are you psychic?!” She asked excitedly. 

Twilight had a nagging feeling that she should be used to this by now, seeing as how this wasn’t the first time Pinkie had asked her that question.

Twilight sighed, “No Pinkie, I’m not physic.”

“Oh, okay,” the party pony smiled and darted back to her seat.

A few more silent minutes passed. 

The sound of a door opening got the room’s attention, as the distinct figures of two Changelings walked in. The sight brought a smile to everyone in the room. 

“Hello everypony,” Thorax said, “Hope I didn’t keep you waiting to long.

>~~~~~~~~~~<

Chrysalis paused, looking up from the book she was reading. She looked around the room, expecting something or someone to be there. There was a presence in the room, it just couldn’t be seen.

That, or her nonexistent imagination was running wild. 

‘By creation, this feels like a cell.’

She cautiously returned to reading her book.

‘I must be going crazy.’

>~~~~~~~~~~~<

“Thorax!!” The Mane Six happily exclaimed. They all ran over to greet him. 

“Hey, everypony!” Thorax waved, smiling to everyone. He looked to the element bearers, and took the obvious joke opportunity. “Hey, did you guys get shorter, or is just me?”

“Oh, hush you,” Applejack playfully nudged Thorax.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Thorax chuckled, “Low hanging fruit.” He looked about the room, trying to keep things casual, “Say, where’s Starlight, Trixie, Spike, and Discord?” 

“Oh, they said they couldn’t come,” Fluttershy said in their meek but audible voice, “They’re sorry.”

“Ah, It’s alright, Thorax assured, “Everyone has things they need to do at times.” He turned to face the two ponies that first gave him a proper home. 

Cadence walked up the Changeling King that used to be her subject. “It’s great to see you, Thorax!” She smiled, expressing her genuine happiness.

“It’s been too long since we last spoke,” Shining Armor added on.

Thorax smiled in response. “Cadence! Shining! How are you two these days?”

Cadence gave her former subject a short, friendly hug “We’re doing well, thanks for asking.”

Thorax cocked an eyebrow and smirked. “Wait a second. Are you visiting, or are you trying to get me to watch Flurry Heart again.” 

Cadence laughed as Her husband answered, “No, just wanted to visit, no ulterior motivate.”

Thorax chuckled, “Seriously, how is the little ankle biter?”

Cadence recovered from her laughter, “‘Little’ isn’t the word I’d use to describe her nowadays. She’s gotten pretty big.”

“Really? Well then, I guess I’ll have to visit some time,” Thorax said.

A waving, multi-colored mane caught Thorax’s eye. He turned his head to find himself looking at the Royal Sisters. On impulse, he made his whole body face them, and bowed.

“Your Majesties,” He said, lowering his head and closing his eyes.

Celestia chuckled a little at the sight. “Thorax, there’s no need to be so formal.”

“Still, we appreciate the show of respect,” Luna added on.

“O-Of course, sorry,” Thorax rose to his feet, “It’s kind of a reflex.”

“Well then,” Rarity said, fixing her mane, “You are our host. Lead the way.”

“Actually,” the young king responded, “I’ve organized for some of you to meet with some important members of our community. So-”

Thorax was then swiftly tackled by a pink projectile. 

Pinkie Pie proceeded to tightly hug his neck. “We get to see your Hive and all the crazy stuff in it! This is so exciting!!”

“P-Pinkie…Need air.”

“Whoops, sorry.” Pinkie released Thorax from her vice grip.Thorax was more than happy to breathe again. 

Regaining his composure, he started to go down the list. 

“Uh, okay, Twilight, you’ll be meeting with Dr. Cloverfield in the medical wing. Rarity, you’re going to meet Thimble. She’s a sweet kid, I think you’ll like her. Fluttershy, you’ll be escorted to meet our garden society. Rainbow Dash, I think you’ll like our athletics group. Finally Pinkie, Applejack, I’ve set up a meeting with our farmers and Tibia.” Thorax looked directly at the two, “When you meet Tibia, please, please, don’t make a mess of her kitchen.”

“Okie-Dokie-Loki!” Pinkie Pie assured.

“I assume you have some kind of similar plan for us?” Luna asked. 

“Well, for Shining, I figured that he could meet with Pharynx, since his recruits are under my brother’s care at the moment,” Thorax suggested as his brother stepped forward to face the Prince of The Crystal Empire.

“As for the rest of you,” Thorax continued, “Maybe we can go to my study and talk?”

“That sounds wonderful,” Celestia said happily, “It would be nice to catch up.”

“Great!” Thorax smiled, “These guards will escort you to where you need to be. Shining, your with Pharynx. And the rest of you, follow me.”

“Lead the way,” Cadence said.

The ponies began to leave the room, heading of to see all the new and strange things throughout the Hive.

Shining Armor and Pharynx, however, stayed behind.

Pharynx stepped forward to face the Prince of The Crystal Empire.

Shining’s expression flattened, neutral. The two military leaders stared at each other with perfect posture in silence. 

They then saluted each other, Pharynx speaking first. 

“Captain,” He said.

“General,” Shining responded. 

They soon broke their salutes and started laughing. 

“Good to see ya, Pharynx.”

“And you, Shining.”

They both took a moment to recover from their laughter. 

“So, how have the recruits been treating you?”

“You’re asking how they’ve been treating me?”

“Should I worry about how you’re treating them?”

“I’m sure the troops would appreciate your concern.”

The two of them laughed a little more.

“Well then Captain, how about we check up on the recruits?” 

“Lead the way, General,” Shining Armor did an exaggerated bow. 

The two military leaders then left the room for the courtyard. 

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~<

“Oh, curses,” Chrysalis quietly swore as she ripped yet another piece of paper from the sketch-pad. She was trying to replicate what seemed like a simple picture from one of the books she had. 

It turned out to be a rather taxing effort.

Lines would be in the wrong places, some parts would be too big or too small, and a host of other problems. 

She took a small bite out of one of the snacks in her bag, glaring at the image that was giving her so much trouble. 

‘Stupid lack of artistic talent,’ she mentally cursed, throwing the pencil to the ground. 

Her frustration passed, carrying as much emotional weight as a forgettable childhood experience. Chrysalis sighed. She knew this sort of thing took years of practice. What she expecting to happen, that she would become a professional overnight?

‘No,’ she privately admitted to herself, ‘No, that’s not going to happen…just like a lot of things.’

Chrysalis moved to pick up the pencil, when she felt a twinge. Another feeling of disturbance in the space around her.

She suddenly felt closed in, claustrophobic, imprisoned. The room was pretty big, yet it felt like it had the dimensions of a dungeon cell. The thought began to make her shudder.

Out of nowhere that pesky voice spoke up again, still unable to spit out a full word.

‘Ru…Ru…Ru…’

‘Oh for love of- Why can’t you just say a whole word?’ Chrysalis angrily questioned in her mind. 

There was no response.

Chrysalis groaned, rubbing her forehead. The new voice in her head, had gone from unsettling to the early stages of being annoying.

Returning her gaze to the pencil, she picked it up and returned it to the drawing-pad, opting to read another book instead. 

Though, it was harder to keep her thoughts off the voice and the light sense of imprisonment at the same time.
> Chapter 20: All Part(s) of the Show: Twilight and Rarity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight could barely contain her excitement, though she was doing a pretty good job of it. She always had maintained a fascination with studying new things. Whether it be civilizations, spells, or artifacts, she always enjoyed discovering things that nopony ever has(Usually from the comfort of her library, of course). This was no different. 

Changelings had always fascinated her. Their ability to perfectly imitate the physical appearance, voice, and magic of anypony, or any creature really, was astounding. It also amazed her how they could even create their own completely original disguises. She had wanted to fill at least three notebooks with information about them for the longest time. So this visit was perfect.

She would have liked to get information about their social/ economic/ political dynamic, but this would be equally, if not more interesting.

‘Politicians are hard to talk to any way. That and the subject matter gets very messy very fast,’ She mentally concluded.

Soon, her escort had brought her to the medical wing of the Hive. The entry point was very distinct and directions to get there were very clear cut. Most likely so that anyone could easily find it in an emergency. 

‘I’m going to have to ask this Dr. Cloverfield about that, to see if I’m correct.’ She bookmarked the question in her head.

“Dr. Cloverfield,” Twilight’s escort called, “Your special guest is here.”

The good doctor walked towards them with a clipboard at his side. “Ah, good, I was worried that I blocked out time for nothing.” Dr. Cloverfield outstretched a hoof, offering a shake. “Dr. Cloverfield, head doctor of this wing.”

Twilight happily returned the hoof shake, “Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship.

“It’s good to make your acquaintance, Princess Sparkle.”

“It’s nice to meet you to,” Twilight said, “And please, just call me Twilight.”

Dr. C. nodded. “So, I hear you’re interested in how our society functions?”

“Yes, I am,” Twilight confirmed, nodding her head as emphasis.

“Well, I’m not too up-to-date on political policies, but I can inform you about some of the ‘smaller’ details that get glanced over.”

“That would be perfect!” Twilight seemed like a child in a candy store. It made Dr. Cloverfield smile.

“Well then, I-”

“Um, just one question Doctor.”

“Yes, Ms. Twilight?”

“When we’re discussing any topic,” Twilight lifted up 6 notebooks in her magic, opening each one to the first blank page, pencil at the ready, “Could you tell me everything?”

The doctor marveled at her eagerness to learn. He smiled, lifting up a notebook as thick as a textbook. “Only if you’ll do the same with any questions I have,” He said, ready to write.”

“Well doctor, what’s a good place to start?”

“Let’s see…Well, the requirements to work in medicine are similar to pony ones, but there are some additional factors…”

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<

“My word, darling!” Rarity looked about the visually pleasing mess of a space that was Thimble’s workshop. The Changeling has already made an interesting impression. She was a brilliant shade of pink. She had several measuring tapes wrapped around her hooves and hanging from her neck to be used at moment’s notice. A utility vest kept all her scissors, pins, and thread in some order. The most interesting thing on her were the glasses on the tip of her nose. They had several adjustable magnifying lenses on them. It was rather eye catching.

“Here it is,” Thimble proclaimed, “The Wonder Room!” She presented the room with nervous pride. “I’m still working on the name…”

“Oh, it’s absolutely astounding, dear,” Rarity said.

Thimble looked confused for a moment, “The name, or the room?”

“Both!”

“Oh, t-thank you!”

Thimble began showing the pony fashionista all her drawn plans, unfinished projects, and more. 

Rarity hadn’t been lying or exaggerating about the room being amazing. It was a creative mess, with piles of fabric scattered around. Some were even hanging from clotheslines. Crumpled pieces of paper, scribbled out designs, they all littered the floor and walls. 

“I must say, dear,” Rarity said, “I’ve always been somewhat curious nowadays about what Changelings look for this in fashion.”

“So have I!” Thimble exclaimed, bringing Rarity some confusion. 

“You don’t know what your own kind look for in fashion?”

“Not exactly,” Thimble’s ears drooped a bit. They quickly went right back up, however, “I’ve been experimenting with a few ideas with some success, however. So I’m taking those elements into account for future projects.”

Rarity’s eye was then caught by a manikin. It wasn’t different from any other manikin, but it stood out because it was oddly blank. The only thing on it was a beautiful and intricate dress design sketch pinned onto it. The design had swirling lines across the body, wondrous patterns and was a sight to behold despite it only being on paper.

“Darling,” Rarity called over Thimble, “What’s this?”

“Oh that,” Thimble’s ears drooped again, “That design. It’s supposed to be my magnum opus! But I don’t have the skill or resources to make it.”

“My dear,” Rarity turned to the Changeling designer, scoffing at the statement, “The only true limits in an industry such as fashion, is your imagination.” Rarity then brought the manikin over to her and Thimble.

“Wait,” Thimble hurried over, slightly worried that her design would be damaged, “What are you doing?”

“I would like offer my assistance in making your dream dress come to life.”

Thimble froze and went silent, looking at Rarity with a mix of shock and awe. 

“R-Really,” Thimble stuttered, “Y-You’d like to help me with this?” 

“Of course, darling,” Rarity assured, “So how about it?”

Thimble, still frozen still from surprise, silently thought it over.

She then immediately started  squealing in indescribable joy.

“Oh, yes! Thank-you-thank-you-thank-you!!!!” She gave the Element of Generosity a big hug. She eventually let go, cheeks burning with excitement.

“You’re very welcome, dear,” Rarity kindly smiled, “So, where do we start?”

Thimble stood straight, pushed her glasses up, and put on her imaginary thinking hat.

The two then switched into “work mode”.

“Well, we need to start with the fabric frame…”
> Chapter 20: All Part(s) of the Show (Part 2): Applejack and Pinkie Pie
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“And make sure she never finds the utensils!” Tibia wasn’t taking any chances. She had heard many a tale about the Element of Laughter. If she was coming into her kitchen, then she was not going to trash the place. The Changeling chef had the fullest intention to “Pinkie-proof” the kitchen. Even though nothing of the sort had ever been achieved, that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to try.

“Are they almost here?” Tibia asked one of her assistants.

“They’re right down the hall.” 

“Great, now get to your station! Having guests doesn’t mean no work!”

“Yes Chef!”

Tibia turned to the rest of the kitchen staff, “That goes for the rest of you to! Put your heart into your cooking, and not just when special guests are coming!”

“Yes Chef!”

Tibia heard the sound of approaching hoof-steps. She stood at the door, bracing herself for the oncoming onslaught of hyperactive energy that she had only heard about through word-of-mouth. 

A knock came at the door. She took a deep breath. ‘It’s now or never.’

The was opened and sure enough, the Elements of Honesty and Laughter were there. 

“Hi there!” Pinkie Pie loudly greeted.

“Howdy Miss.” Applejack tipped her hat to the Changeling.

“Bonjour, Madam Pinkie Pie, Madam Applejack,” Tibia politely bowed her head a little, “It is wonderful to have you two here.”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” said Applejack humbly “We’re just happy to be here-”

“YEAH! Like super-duper-wooper happy to be here!” Pinkie Pie shouted.

“Of course,” Tibia forced a smile, hoping that Applejack would make this easier to handle. “Please, come in. I’m sure there is much you would like to see. Oh, and put these hair nets on please.”

“I’ve never seen an industrial kitchen before!” Pinkie bounced in anticipation.

“I’m sure it ain’t to different from a regular…old…” Applejack fell silent. 

Tibia smirked satisfied with her guests’ amazement. 

And they were amazed. The smell of several different dishes being cooked at once filled the air. Noise was constant, activity was high, and the space was massive. It was all ovens, burners, sinks, cabinets and more. 

“Behold,” Tibia proclaimed, “My kitchen!”

As they walked around the place, the two ponies continued to be amazed. All the Changeling cooks were vigorously stirring bowls and flipping pans. Some had even given themselves extra hooves to handle their duties.

Applejack’s senses were overwhelmed. Never had she seen such an expansive and busy kitchen in her life. Not even the kitchen in Canterlot Castle was as big, and it certainly wasn’t as active.

“I…I-I don’t know what to say,” Applejack struggled to form a complete sentence, “I mean, this is just incredible!”

“That’s very kind of you to say,” Tibia said, adjusting one cook’s posture. 

“Ooooooo.” Pinkie Pie was in hyperactive “poke everything, and ask questions faster than any pony can answer them” mode.

Which wasn’t good.

At all.

“What’s this do? What’s this do? Oh, what’s this do?”

“Pinkie, quit messing around,” Applejack attempted to get Pinkie Pie to stop, “You can’t just-”

“Oooo, what’s this do?” Surprisingly, it didn’t work. 

Tibia snatched up Pinkie Pie and planted her on the ground. She delivered an annoyed expression. “Madam Pinkie Pie,” Tibia said, “You can not go poking and prodding everything you see. Especially when you are a guest in someling else’s home. You should know better than to do that!” 

Pinkie Pie smiled nervously. “Sorry,” She said, her hyperactive state passing like a breeze, “Just got super excited.”

Tibia took a deep breath, letting her nerves settle, “Apology accepted. Now, are you calm enough to not poke and prod everything you see?”

“Yep,” Pinkie said in a cheery tone.

“Wonderful,” Tibia regained her earlier composure, “So, with that out of the way, I have a question for the two of you.”

“Uh, what’s your question?” Applejack was still a little star struck that the Changeling Chef had stopped Pinkie as quickly as she had.

“Was I wrong when I heard that both of you bake?” Tibia inquired. 

Pinkie got a lot of energy back. 

“Are you kidding!? It’s one of my specialties! I can make the best sugar pastries, and Applejack’s apple products are the best!” 

“Is that so…?” Tibia’s curiosity had been awoken

“Well, I don’t wanna brag…” Applejack said trying to remain as humble as possible.

Tibia then said four words that ensured the events of the next few minutes:

“Well then…Prove it.”

A baking competition quickly ensued.
> Chapter 20: All Part(s) of the Show(Part 3): The Rest of the Side Characters
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“It’s really nice to meet you, uh…?”

“Iris, Ms. Fluttershy, my name is Iris.” The Changeling gardener shook Fluttershy’s hoof.

“R-Right, Iris. Sorry for-”

“You have nothing to apologize for Ms. It’s all good.”

“Of course,” Fluttershy was still trying to get over the nervous feeling she got when meeting new ponies, or Changelings in this case. Granted, it was nowhere near as bad as it used to be, but still. “So, uh, if it’s alright to ask…”

“Hmm?”

“W-What’s it like curating the garden?” Fluttershy asked.

Much to Fluttershy’s confusion, Iris laughed a little at the question. 

“You flatter me, Ms. Fluttershy. However, I’m not Head Curator.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy’s ears drooped a little, she felt a little silly, “So, who is the Head Curator?”

“Meeeeeeeeee!” said a sing-song voice.

A baby blue Changeling swung open the door. She wore a white apron with a flower pattern. The apron and herself were smudged with dirt, grass blades, and a variety of flower petals.

Fluttershy was a bit shaken by the Changeling’s sudden entry. “H-Hello…”

“Ms. Fluttershy, this is-” Iris was cut off by the new face in the room.

“You must be Fluttershy! I’ve heard so much about you.”

“T-Thank you,” Fluttershy stuttered, “And you are…?”

“Oh, of course, how could I forget?” The gardener Changeling outstretched her hoof in welcoming, “My name is Proboscis, Head Curator of the gardens, and it is wonderful to meet you.” 

Fluttershy felt a little more comfortable knowing the Changeling’s name, “It’s nice to meet you to.”

Proboscis looked to Iris, “Say, you wanna come along?” 

“I would love to, but I have to go check on the rose bushes in the green house. Maybe later on.”

Proboscis just smiled, “Suit yourself. See ya later!” She waved as Iris left to attend to the roses.

“So, what’s it like being Head Curator?” Fluttershy asked, now knowing that this was the right Changeling to ask. 

“Oh, it’s a ton of work, what with hunting down weeds, trimming everything to make sure nothing takes up too much space and sunlight, and making sure every blade of grass is healthy. But it’s completely worth it,” Proboscis went on, “All the flowers, and trees, and swirling colors, it’s like growing a painting!”

The description had Fluttershy hanging on every word. 

“Oh my,” Fluttershy said, “Is it really that?”

“Yes!” Proboscis exclaimed with cheer. “Oh, but don’t just take my word for it.” She put a hoof around Fluttershy’s neck and began leading her through the room ahead, “Let’s go see it for ourselves!”

Their pace had speed but wasn’t rushed. There was time to properly see and register the surrounding area. And in Fluttershy’s opinion the contents of the room were very interesting. All along the shelves and tables there were many plants. Some were familiar and some were completely new to her. Almost every plant was either in a strange kind of pot or had an assortment of glass tubes going into its soil. A whole host more were hanging from the ceiling. 

As they continued, Fluttershy gazed through several windows into another room, that had several greenhouses in it. Iris could be seen in one of them, tending to the roses within it.

“Oh my goodness,” Fluttershy was amazed by the strange assortment of potted plants, “What is all this?” 

“This is where we cultivate new plants, test out new plant feed, and get the new seeds ready for the big garden.” Proboscis explained. “Speaking of which…”

The had made it to a small door on the other end of the room. “This is our secret entrance to the garden,” Proboscis said, trying to contain her excitement. 

Fluttershy stood there, admiring the door. It was just a simple door and she liked that about it. Proboscis nudged her shoulder.

“Well,” the Changeling gardener insisted, “Open it.”

Fluttershy stuttered, “M-Me?”

“Well of course,” Proboscis cheerful encouraged, “You're the guest who's never seen it, so you should open the door!” Proboscis nudged Fluttershy forward another inch. “Go on, open it!”

“...O-Okay.” Fluttershy took a deep breath. She grasped the knob of the door and twisted it.

The door opened and the most beautiful sight in the world graced her eyes.

“...Oh…my…”

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~<

“Company, begin!” A Changeling sergeant ordered. The pony trainees followed the command immediately, rushing up to the obstacle course, climbing, jumping, and crawling through.

As the troops went about following orders, two military leaders looked on. Shining Armor looked at the the ponies with a smile. They showed discipline and strength.

“Looks to me like you’ve been doing a good job,” Shining said, giving praise to his Changeling friend, “Behavior wise, I can barely recognize them.”

“Well, I do try my best,” said Pharynx. ‘I swear, if the majority of these numskulls go back to their usual antics when he’s gone, I will brutally hurt them.’ Naturally, he kept that thought to himself.

As the two military leaders slowly walked through the courtyard, a pony trainee going through the obstacle course, wearing an odd set of equipment, caught Shining’s attention.

“Pharynx,” Shining pointed in the direction of the pony in question, “That one over there, what’s his story?” 

“Ah, Private Aster,” Pharynx remarked as he watched, “He’s a special case that one. Very intelligent, can very determined, but he doesn’t always believe he’s any good. 

“Especially when it comes to physical training. I’m having him do extra exercises to build up strength. And that equipment is meant to help him better maneuver obstacles. A temporary aid.” Pharynx smiled, seeing young recruits succeed filled him with pride. 

“It’s good to see you’re taking care of them,” Shining said, “I was afraid that I would come back to a pile of worn out, broken bodies.” The two had a small laugh over that.

They continued to watch the recruits, until they had completed the course.

“Form Companies!” Shining Armor ordered. The troops did so as quickly as they could. They lined up in front of the two commanding officers, quietly awaiting orders (That or a grilling).

“So, Captain Shining,” Pharynx asked, “Do these results satisfy you?”

“You have done an exceptional job, General Pharynx,” Shining complemented.

Pharynx bowed his head, “Thank you, Sir.” 

Shining then looked to the pony trainees that he had left to Pharynx. “That goes for all of you as well,” he announced, “You have all made great amounts of progress in your training. You truly make me and the rest of Equestria proud.

The the foreign exchange recruits saluted Captain Armor. Some cracked small smiles, and others got wet eyes. They all gave a collective and hearty: “Sir, Thank you, Sir!”

Pharynx turned to look at the Changeling officer who had taken over for the day. 

“Officer,” Pharynx instructed, “Get these troops back to their drills.”

The officer simply nodded and said, “Yes, Sir”. He set the trainees back to work on that day’s drills and exercises. 

“So, Shining,” Pharynx said, “I was wondering if you would like to do a bit of sparring.”

Shining looked at the Changeling General with some initial surprise. However, as the idea stirred in his head, he smiled. While it was amusing to watch his troops go about their routine, it would be a whole lot more fun to have a friendly duel with Pharynx. That, and he was getting rusty and a little out of shape(but he would never admit that).

“I’d be more than happy to,” the pony Captain of guard said, “Where to?”

Pharynx started leading Shining back towards the Hive. “We have a small fighting ring inside. We can-” 

The General was interrupted when a blue, feathered form hit the ground and slid across it, landing right in front of the two military leaders.

Rainbow Dash lay dazed, groaning as her entire body ached(If you squint and use your imagination, you could see little Changelings flying around her head). 

The cyan pegasus slowly leaned up, holding her aching head. However upon opening her eyes she found herself looking right into the eyes of Pharynx.

“Dash,” the General asked, “Were you trying to get the Chief Air Marshal to race you?”

Dash pouted, turning her head away from Pharynx. “Maybe,” She said with an air of annoyance.

“...By nagging and heckling him?” Pharynx continued.

Rainbow Dash continued to act like a child. She didn’t want to admit that she had gotten thrown through the air like a hoof-ball. 

So naturally her response was, “Maybe”.

She glanced at Pharynx for a moment. Which turned out to be a big mistake. 

Once she made eye contact, she was frozen in place. The ice cold stare that the General delivered held Dash’s attention. For some reason, the whole world seemed to get a lot colder.

“Rainbow Dash,” Pharynx said in a flat tone that made it very clear what mood he was in.

“Yes?” Dash said somewhat meekly.

“Get on that obstacle course,” the General ordered, “Now.”

Sweat was starting to form on the pegasus’ forehead. She quickly darted off to do that course that all the other ponies there were doing.

Shining Armor marveled at what he had just seen. “That was really cool!” He said, completely amazed.

“Now,” Pharynx returned his attention to his guest, “About that sparring match.”
> Chapter 21: In Regards to Royalty
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

And another book was added to the pile. An average pony might recommend to Chrysalis that she pace herself and take a break between each book. To which she would reply with either a glare, hiss, or just flat-out ignore them. At this point, she wasn’t going through her books like fire wood for entertainment. Now she was doing it for distraction. While her subconscious hadn’t spoken up in a while, that didn’t stop dark thoughts from entering her mind. Her attempts at imagining a field of green grass, butterflies, and pixies were thwarted by images of hail-fire and brimstone. And all the while, that stupid voice in her head kept randomly spewing out incomplete words. The fact that the mental noise was growing in clarity just made things worse. 

Chrysalis longed for the moment that she could get out of that-

‘Prison,’ The word just popped into her head. Immediately, Chrysalis shook her head furiously, as if the word would eventually fall out of her head through her ears. To her dismay, it stayed right where it was. Chrysalis hated it. 

However, when one is alone for too long, they often have too much time to think. And when a train of thought gets started, there’s hardly any stopping it.

Chrysalis didn’t want to pay the idea any mind, but she couldn’t help thinking about it. The more she considered her circumstances, the more the word stuck. 

She was in a closed space with a locked door that she could not open, and she couldn’t leave of her own accord. All things considered, it did feel like a-

‘Prison Cell’, There it was again. Chrysalis shook her head again, almost picking up one of the hardcover books in her pile to smash against her head. 

‘This is not a prison cell’, she repeated again and again in her mind. She tried desperately for images of the Canterlot Castle royal dungeon to not manifest in her imagination. The effort was taxing. 

‘No, no, no, no!’ It felt like she was trying to hold back a river all on her own. 

Eventually her mind drifted off to other places, but the dread remained in the corners of her psyche. 

Chrysalis groaned in exhaustion. “I’ll just sleep the hours away,” She said.
She rolled out the sleeping bag and placed the pillow at the head of it. 

After a few seconds of padding the bag with her hooves, she laid on top of the sleeping bag and gently lay her head into the pillow. She then closed her eyes, trying to find a quiet place in her head. Just one solitary, quiet place. She focused on that one spot and stayed there. Away from all the sobbing, screaming, anachronistic thoughts, and all the noise. 

All except for one.

‘Ru… Ru… Ru…’

That strange voice in her head. 

‘Un…Un…Un…’

That repetitive,-

‘Ru… Ru… Ru…’

Persistent,-

‘Un…Un…Un…’

Unrelenting voice stuck with her.

All the way to sleep.

Her fitful, fear-filled, paranoid sleep.
> Chapter 22: An Odd and Highly Inconvenient Change in Behavior
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Thorax’s surprise, everything was going better than expected. Sure it was a bit nerve wracking to have the Elements of Harmony wondering about the Hive, as well as sitting in a room with the three Equestrian Princesses. Aside from that, however, there was no reason to panic. In fact, the more he continued to (awkwardly) exchange pleasantries with the Princesses, the more confident he became in the situation. 

‘By Faust,’ Thorax thought, ‘I just might be able to pull this off.’

The sound of laughter returned his attention to reality. Cadence was finishing up a story about the time Shining Armor went to the dentist to get some extra teeth removed. The details of his appointment were hilarious.

“The dentist had given him so much anesthesia, that he couldn’t talk right for weeks!” Cadence said through her laughter, “He sounded like a newborn foal!”

The rest of the table laughed. Luna even smacked the table. The idea of a grown stallion being so numb in the mouth that they couldn’t form a whole word was funny all on its own. The fact that the pony in question was Shining Armor just made it even better. 

“Oh, that poor boy,” Celestia commented as she recovered. 

“I could do an impression of what Shining Armor would be like in that state, but I’m not gonna,” Thorax said, wiping his eyes.

Luna’s attention quickly went to the young king, “Oh, please do! We demand to see it!”

Thorax rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know. I mean, it’s rude, and-”

“Thorax,” Cadence interrupted, “We’re all grownups, and he’s not even here.” 

Thorax bit his lip for a moment, but soon caved. With a swirl of magic flame, he looked just like Shining Armor. Of course, he let his tongue partly hang limply out of his mouth. And to take it even further, he spoke with his tongue out to impersonate Shining’s voice. The room burst out in laughter. 

“That’s perfect!” Cadence exclaimed.

Celestia continued her efforts to not completely bust a gut, when she noticed the position of the sun in the sky.

“Oh dear,” She said, “Honestly, where does all the time go?”

Celestia’s comment drew everyone’s attention to the time as well. Thorax looked around the table trying to work out an organic thing to say.

“I suppose you need to get back home?” Thorax said, making sure to sound down about it (Truthfully, part of him was a bit down about it. The little meeting had been fun, though a little hectic).

“Indeed,” Luna said, rising from her seat, “We can only stay away from the palace and our duties for so long.” 

“I’m sorry Thorax,” Cadence walked over to the Changeling King and gave him a friendly hug, “Wish we could have stayed longer.”

“It’s okay, everyone’s got work to do,” Thorax returned the hug, then went to open the door, “And besides, I’ll come and visit you next time.” 

“That sounds lovely Thorax,” Celestia said with a smile as they exited the room, “Do send a letter when you can.”

Thorax smiled and nodded. ‘Unlike me, you’re guaranteed to read it.’

Hoof steps drew the attention of the group. 

“I think that might be the rest of our group.” Cadence said. 

Indeed it was, and the Princesses would have greeted them if it weren’t for their appearances.

Pinkie-Pie and Applejack were messes of powder, batter, icing, and a host of other things involved with baking. Rarity had her hair in a bun, with sewing pins stuck into the base of it looking over a sketch book. Fluttershy had some dirt on her as well as a collection of very exotic looking flowers. Twilight was carrying a ludicrous amount of notebooks and loose papers both in her saddle bag and in her magic. 

The only thing any of them had in common was that they were still talking to the Changelings that the had met with. 

The room was abuzz with chatter, and the exchange of ideas. 

Thorax and the Royal Sisters could only stare, but Cadence got everyone’s attention.

“Wait!” She exclaimed, causing everyone to stop, “Where’s Shining and Rainbow?”

It was only at that moment that everyone realized that they were indeed missing two members. 

Fortunately, the sound of hooves coming down the hall to the group’s right, drew their attention to three figures, two ponies and one changeling, approaching them.

“Hey everypony!” Shining called as he came into view.

“Oh, good there you are,” Cadence breathed a sigh of relief, “I was worried that you-Oh my goodness!”

Cadence’s reaction was not uncalled for. Rainbow Dash on her own was a sweating mess, panting like a dog and wheezing like an asthma patient. She looked like she had spent three straight hours in the shower and forgot to dry off. This was indeed one of the rare times where Dash was legitimately tired. 

Shining Armor and Pharynx were even worse, as the leaned against one another for support. Aside from being sweaty, they also looked like they had been in a fight. Shining had several bruises all over his body, with a slight limp in his left front leg, and Pharynx had similar bruises plus a black eye.

“What?” Shining asked as if this were a normal occurrence.

“Shining, what happened to you?! Are you alright?!”

“I’m fine Cadence, really. It’s okay.”

Pharynx was about to remark “I’m fine, thanks for asking”, but Thorax came to check on him with similar concern before he could.

“Pharynx! Are you alright? It’s anything broken? Are you-you-you…You challenged Shining to a sparring match, didn’t you?”

The Pony Captain and Changeling General simply smiled and said, “We neither confirm, nor deny,” in unison. 

There was some laughter and worry-filled complaints (Mostly from Cadence and Thorax) that filled the room. 

However, in the midst of this, Pinkie-Pie twitched. 

Normally, she would have made an outcry to warn everyone, but she didn’t. This wasn’t a normal twitch, like when her tail went off. This was something different. Rather than telling her to run from something, this was telling her to go to something. She looked down the hall behind her, and there was a spiral staircase that went up and down. This new, nagging feeling compelled her to take the staircase down…somewhere.

In her usual Pinkie-Pie way, she stood at the foot of the stairs, looked at the rest of her compatriots and called out, “Hey, Thorax!”

Thorax looked over Pinkie-Pie was. “Yes, Pinkie?” He said, only to mentally seize up, upon seeing exactly where she was standing. And he wasn’t the only one to notice. Pharynx, and the two Changeling guards that had escorted “The Queen in Question” down those stairs, took notice as well. 

Thorax began mental praying, ‘Please don’t ask what’s down the stairs, please don’t ask what’s down the stairs, please don’t ask what’s down the stairs’, as did all the other Changelings who knew what lay several flights below.

“What’s down these stairs?” Pinkie called.

‘Pony Feathers!’ Thorax was so close to cursing out loud, but he managed to hold back the words, and maintained the same expression, despite the little beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

“Just some empty space. Nothing really interesting,” Thorax said in a calm, warm voice that was more for himself than anyone else, “Now, how about I personally escort you to your ride home?” 

“Come on, Pinkie,” Apple Jack said. 

The group started making their way towards the exit of the Hive, but Thorax stopped walking when he noticed the lack of the sound of spring- filled hoof-steps behind or among their group. Cause for even more concern. 

Neither Thorax, nor his brother, nor the two Changeling guards accompanying them, wanted to look back. But alas, they had to. 

All at once, these four Changelings turned around. They didn’t like what they saw.

Pinkie-Pie was standing at the foot of the staircase, staring at the group like a clueless child. She quietly blinked and tilted her head to the left, only furthering the comparison. 

It was getting harder for Thorax to fake a calm demeanor and a warm smile. A bead of sweat fell from his face to the floor. It went unnoticed. 

Rarity spoke up, saving Thorax the trouble. “Pinkie-Pie, are you alright,” She said, seeing that their friend hadn’t moved from that very spot, “Darling, we must be going. Surely you have things to do at home?”

Pinkie-Pie looked at the staircase, then back to the group. Then back to the staircase. Then back to the group. She held her gaze on the small crowd of Changelings and Ponies for a while. Silence filled the hall like a tub, and the tension that was present was so tight that one could play the violin on it.

Thorax, Pharynx, and the two guards, hoped-prayed that Pinkie would just bounce right over to the group. That would solve so many problems they had at the moment. 

Pinkie Pie lifted a hoof off the ground. They got hopeful. 

*Zip!* With a single stretch of her impossibly elastic body, and a cartoonish sound, Pinkie-Pie disappeared down the staircase.

There was a moment of silence, as everyone’s brains tried to catch up with, and comprehend what just happened.

Silence…

And then…

“AAAAAAAAAAA!!!!” Panicked screaming from four Changelings in the group.

“Get Them!!” Pharynx barked at the two guards under his command. 

They didn’t waste time with salutes and “Yes, Sir”s. They immediately went into action. Using their spears to vault over those in their way and round tight corners, they quickly pursued the pink party pony. 

Thorax, in a panic, ran down the steps to try and stop Pinkie-Pie as well. 

“Thorax!” Pharynx called as he then began chasing his brother. 

Unfortunately, the rest of the group would soon follow. Applejack ran after the four Changelings and overly hyper pony, “Pinkie-Pie, get back here!”

As the crowd of ponies, Royalty included, joined the fray, their Changeling escorts were quick to chase their guests. They didn’t need a briefing to intuit what was happening and why it was probably bad. 

An entire crowd of ponies and Changelings were racing down the spiral staircase, all in persuit of their fellows. 

Not everyone knew what was happening. But those that did knew that more likely than not, this was going to go very, very wrong
> Chapter 23: Brain Cells and Bad Timing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chrysalis groaned. Her head ached something fierce, mostly at the base of her horn. She tried massaging that area, but little relief was found. 

As she began ignoring the pain, several questions arose. ‘Why are the lights out? That stupid moss can’t have just burned out, can it?’ 

Chrysalis was certainly annoyed. She began wandering over to the edge of the room to get a better vantage point, but then she noticed something. The room felt smaller. She kept walking, only to quickly bump into the wall. She walked over to the adjacent wall at the same pace. She quickly found her muzzle pressed up against it.

The room was smaller. 

Chrysalis was starting to panic. “Okay Chrysalis, deep breaths. Deep breaths…And I’m talking to myself.”

As her eyes adjusted to the newfound darkness, more details became apparent. The floor felt and looked like stone used for floors. The same stone lined the walls. It was cold. Uncharacteristically cold. And a bit damp to. All and all, it was pretty gross, even by her standards. 

‘Okay, I am going to find out what’s going on,’ She vowed to herself 

She walked to reach the door…Only for her hooves to feel something very different. 

Metal. 

Cold rods of metal.

‘Bars?!’ 

Chrysalis’ panic jumped to eleven in a in a medically concerning amount of time. And not without out reason. 

A dark, dank room made of cold stone and sealed with even colder bars brought only one thing to mind. 

A cell. 

A prison cell. 

Chrysalis began hyperventilating, struggling to speak between breaths, scrambling and shuffling to the back wall. 

“Wha-How-When-Who?” Chrysalis was not a heavy sleeper, especially when she was anxious. And she had been very much on edge this entire time. 

“What- What happened?”

“Does that really matter right now?” 

A voice came from down the hall. It was echoed and distorted, yet it sounded familiar. 

With trepidation, Chrysalis slowly walked back to the bars. A figure walked into view from the left. It was definitely a pony. Based of the build they were definitely a stallion. Smooth coat and height suggested he was middle aged. Oddly despite her amazing night vision, she couldn’t properly make out his face. It was very shadowed, as was most of his body. The oddly familiar stallion too a few steps towards the bars, making a few more of his details clearer. 

Eyes still couldn’t be made out. Well-trimmed, blue mane. Stocky hooves, snow-white coat-

‘Wait a second-’ Chrysalis started putting all those details through her memory. It quickly settled on one individual. Her eyes widened, pupils shrunk, fear set in. 

Shining Armor. All those details matched up with Shining Armor. 

Chrysalis looked up at him, her face a mix of fear and confusion.

“Finally have you in a cage, right where you belong.” 

“But, how did you-?”

“You have a lot of enemies. And I’m friend with a lot of those enemies. Do the mat,.” The slightly off Shining Armor said, “The others who aided in your capture couldn’t be here to see you, but I’m sure they’ll be more than willing to attend the carrying out of your sentence.” 

“S-Sentence?” Chrysalis stuttered, “But I-I’ve been trying to-”

Armor slammed his hooves against the bars, silencing her. “Manipulating leaders, infiltrate government?” He accused.

“N-No, I-!”

“Shut up, bug!” Shining cursed, “I don’t care what evil acts you were trying pull off-!”

“I was just trying to make amends!” Chrysalis cried out in desperation to finish a sentence and make him listen. 

A moment of silence came upon the space. It didn’t last long, however. 

“Well,” said the figure of Shining Armor, “You can easily do that by being present for your own execution.”

Chrysalis froze up, mentally and physically, at the sentence. “Execution…?” She said, almost in a whisper. 

“Did you really think I’d let you get off without some kind of punishment,” he said, “No slaps on the wrist for you.”

Chrysalis was starting to crash. She couldn’t understand what was happening, or why it was happening. More hoof-steps came from down the hall. Shining Armor turned to face the new faces.

“What a surprise,” he said with a cruel little smile, “You actually did make it.” 

“Are you kidding…” said one voice. It was frighteningly familiar. The voice of the young Princess Twilight. 

Then, all the new ponies in the room simultaneously said, “WE WOULDN’T MISS THIS FOR THE WORLD!”

Nothing but overlapping laughter, insults, and just noise rang in Chrysalis’ ears. The sounds of those stupid ponies wouldn’t stop, her own outcries seemingly drowned out by them. And of course, that absolutely useless, annoying, repetitive voice in her head kept spitting out syllables.

“Ru…”

“Un…”

“Ru…”

“Un…”

‘Stop it…’ Chrysalis mentally pleaded, her frustration and anger growing. 

‘Stop it…’ She felt a boiling in her blood. All the things she wanted began flooding into the forefront of her mind, making her thoughts even more of a mess than they already were.

‘Stop it…’ Her desires. That was all she could think of. She desired answers to all the questions she had, pleaded for a peaceful rest, and longed for those ponies to…

‘Those ponies…’ She longed for those ponies to see all the wrong they had done to her kind for hundreds of years. How they had forced Changelings to live on the edge of the world, surviving off of scraps. How their archaic self-righteousness had caused a species wide famine, as their health deteriorated and societies crumbled. They had made her into a monster. 

And rather than fix herself and prove them wrong years ago, she made herself into even more of a monster, both to them and to the Changelings she once led. 

She hated them for labeling her kind as monsters. She hated herself for consciously proving them right, and then some. 

She longed for those stupid ponies to just-

“STOP IT!!!!” Her outcry momentarily drowned out anything she could hear.

Her horn began sparking…

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<

When Pinkie Pie finally hopped off the staircase, she was slightly disappointed. The twitching she had felt was really strong, and she had expected it to take her somewhere great(at least to a party of some kind). Instead, she found herself in a large hall with big doors on each side. She didn’t know where she was or why all the doors had jewels on them.

“Hello!” She called out, “Is there a party down here?” She only got an echo in response. 

Pinkie giggled at it, saying, “Hey, I’m asking you!” She was going to keep going as if she was talking to a real pony, until her ears started twitching.

They were only twitching once with a few seconds between, but they were twitching nonetheless. 

Pinkie shrugged and turned to start walking back towards the stairs, until she noticed something: When she did turn back to the stairs, her ears twitched less. She turned back to face the hallway, they went back to twitching.

“Oooooo!” Pinkie was very much intrigued. She started bouncing down the hall, following the twitching of her ears.

As she did so, the twitching became stronger and more frequent. 

“Oh, I wonder what’s over there,” she asked herself. 

She continued further down the hall, until, mid-bounce, she was tackled. 

Both she and the one who grabbed her slammed back onto the ground, rolling across the floor before she finally landed on her back, looking up into the face of a very stressed, and very angry, Changeling General.

Of course Pinkie, being Pinkie, a master in art of being completely oblivious at the worst of times, couldn’t put together the reality of her situation.

“Oh! Are we playing tag? Am I it? Oh, or are we playing Guard Ponies and Thieves?”

Pharynx could only groan in response. ‘How her friends put up with her antics, I may never know.’

The two Changeling guards soon followed. Then came Thorax. 

“Y-You…,” Thorax tried to catch as much of his own breath as possible, “You got her?” 

“Yeah, I got her.” Pharynx refused to take his eyes of the pink, party pony out of fear that she might disappear if he wasn’t looking at her.

“Oh, good,” Thorax said, on the verge of having a heart attack.

“Pinkie Pie!” The sound of Twilight’s voice echoed through the hall.

‘Oh boy…’ Thorax thought, as the sound of many hooves running across the floor filled the space. 

The mane 6 gathered about the spot where Pharynx had Pinkie pined. 

“Pinkie Pie, are you alright?” Fluttershy asked. 

“Can I get up and take my eyes off her now?” Pharynx asked. 

“Yes, we’ve got it from here.” Twilight assured. 

With that confirmation, Pharynx rolled off of Pinkie Pie and onto his back. His eyes watered as he closed them, to make up for their dryness.

“Soooo…No tag?” It was hard for everyone in the room to not groan at the party pony’s question.

Twilight walked over to Pinkie Pie, helping her to her hooves. 

“Pinkie Pie, what were you-?”

“Madam Pinkie Pie!” A distinct, angry Prench accent rang out through the hall. 

“T-Tibia,” Thimble stuttered, “Maybe you should take a moment to calm down?”

“To Tartarus with calming down,” Tibia shouted, “I am giving this overgrown, self-centered, arrogant child the verbal thrashing she deserves!”

Tibia could stomp holes in the floor, she was so mad. Twilight tried to intercept the Prench Changeling, but was shoved aside. 

“Oh, hi Tibi-Ow!” Pinkie Pie yelped as she had her ear pulled on. 

“Madam Pinkie Pie, have you completely forgotten everything I told you earlier about appropriate behavior in the homes of others? Because here you are demonstrating that you have! If this is how you act regularly, then how your friends put up with your outrageous behavior is beyond me-!”

“Tibia!” Thorax shouted. He gave Tibia a hard glare, communicating his disapproval. “That’s enough.”

Tibia finally took a moment to breathe. Her frustration subsided, and she stepped aside.

“While I don’t entirely approve of Tibia’s outburst, I do have to agree with the reasons behind it,” Thorax said gathering himself to act calm, despite the obvious problem. He helped Pharynx up before continuing, “Charging down here, without permission, after being told that it was time to go, was very inconsiderate of you.”

Pinkie’s ears drooped. On some level, she knew what she did was rude. “I’m sorry, it’s just that I felt a really strong twitching and-”

“WHAT!?” Everypony who knew the what happened when Pinkie Pie twitched reacted very strongly. Some dropped to the floor, others hid behind the others in the room to use them as shields. 

Pinkie Pie giggled, “No silly, not like that!”

Everypony opened their eyes, confused as to what Pinkie meant(and rightfully so).

“Wait, what?” Rainbow Dash asked, coming out from behind Thorax.

“Well, I was twitching,” Pinkie confirmed, “But it wasn’t a ‘Look Out’ kinda twitch. More of a ‘Ooo, Over Here’ twitch. So I followed it, and it lead me here.”

The rest of the Royals joined the crowd in time to hear Pinkie Pie’s explanation. Their pony guards accompanied them.

“So what you are saying is that, some strange, unexplainable force compelled you to come down here to this…” Luna paused for a moment, searching for the right word to describe the space, “Containment area?”

“These are storage units.” Thorax clarified. 

“Why didn’t you show us this?” Cadence asked. 

“Well,” Thorax’s internal panic was beginning to return, this was taking too long, “It’s a pretty generic space, so I didn’t think it was that important.”

Pharynx, aided by the two Changeling troopers, managed to get back on his hooves. “Plus, most of these are filled with spare Hive resources, and the personal belongings of our citizens. It would be an invasion of privacy.” 

Celestia nodded, “That is more than understandable.”

Gathering his nerves and suppressing his panic, Thorax once again began ushering his guests out. “Now, let’s get ya home before it gets dark out.”

“But what about my twitching?” Pinkie asked, sounding slightly disappointed.

“Pinkie Pie, dear,” Rarity said, “We are not going to invade the privacy of a Changeling just because your ‘Pinkie-sense’ is on the fritz today.”

“After all,” Applejack added on, “What have they got to hide?”

In hindsight, considering the current situation, and her element, Thorax should have known that she would jinx it. 

A resounding BOOM rang out through the hall. The door of one of the storage units, was blasted into pieces from within the space it kept sealed. Burning bits of debris scattered across the floor. The wall and floor in front of the nonexistent door were burned black, the massive scorch area accompanied by residual green flames on the floor. In the thick dust cloud, there was the vague outline of something, or someone. 

‘Oh Faust, please no…’ The high up Changelings present knew exactly what that was. The citizens could easily guess. The ponies had no idea.

The dust began to settle… 

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<

‘I…I’m…Out…’
The sound of a blast shattering…something, and the lack of anyone speaking, gave Chrysalis the auditory confirmation of her freedom. Finally, she was out of that accursed crystal dungeon. She could escape. She almost hoped that those ponies were still alive so that she could satisfy her burning want to hurt them as much as that spell her her lungs…and her head. Casting high-cost spell after spending so long barely using any magic had a tendency to do that. 

As the adrenaline rush died down, her senses began functioning properly. 

‘Wait, something’s wrong,’ Chrysalis started registering the space around her. The air didn’t smell the same, the ground fell like rock rather than crystal. And amongst the remains of her enclosure, there was no sign of molten or twisted metal. ‘What’s going on?’

As the dust around her began to settle, she noticed the outline of something to her right. She squinted, as if it would help her see through the cloud. 

Then, all the dust settled. Her eyes registered what was to her right. She seized up. To her right was everybody. Thorax, Pharynx, the Changelings they had introduced her to, and the ponies she was supposed to be hiding from. The crowd looked like they had been frozen in the middle of leaving, as they all stared over to her with looks that ranged from shock to fearful panic. 

However, there was something more important than the presence of the Royal Sisters, the Princess of Friendship, or the collective Elements of Harmony…

The presence of Princess Cadence…and Prince Shining Armor.

A million questions ran through her head: What were they all doing there? What that mess with the Crystal dungeon not even two minutes ago? Did she have a nightmare, and had broken out at the worst possible moment. 

Then, in her head, she heard it.

‘Ru…’

‘Un…’

That voice in her head… 

‘Ru…’

‘Un…’

The voice that had been so distant, so echo-like…

‘Ru…’
‘Un…’

The voice that had only spit out broken syllables…

‘Ru…Un…’

That voice, as if it were standing right next to her ear, finally said one, short simple word…



“…Run…”

> Chapter 24: Fight and Flight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

For a time, there was a great stillness and quiet. Nobody moved, nobody spoke. Chrysalis shifted her front, right hoof.

And then, a lot of things happened at once.

Chrysalis broke into a run. She knew that there was a staircase at the other end of this long hall of storage rooms. 

As she began sprinting, Thorax started running after her, in the hopes of catching up and calming her down. 

Shining Armor and the two royal pony guards would have started running after Chrysalis. However, the Changeling troopers slammed the blunt handles of their spears down on the backs of the pony guards, and then slamming the back of their heads. The pony guards were dazed. 

Shining got a little farther, before Pharynx drove his hoof straight into a bruised spot on his chest.

They had bought themselves some time. 

‘Okay,’ Pharynx thought, ‘Shining and his two punching bags are down for now. That just leaves-’

The sense of actual magic in the air broke him from his planing. Cadence got into a combative stance, wings outstretched, magic gathering at her horn. A look of anger formed on her face 

‘...The other half of the relationship.’ Pharynx finished his initial thought. The rest of their pony guests began to step forward, but Pharynx summoned a thick wall from the floor, leaving him with only Cadence to deal with. He took a breath, his troopers getting beside him, and braced himself for the impending onslaught.

Time was all they could buy.

>~~~~~~~~~~~<

‘Run’

Chrysalis had never ran so much for so long in her whole life, as far as she could remember.

Her breathing was frantic and audible. Blood rushed to her head making her slightly dizzy. Her hooves pounded against the floor.

‘Run’

She just had this urge to escape, to get somewhere she felt safe. 

‘Run!’

“Chrysalis!” Thorax called out, trying to gain speed. “Please, stop!”

Chrysalis started to slow down. Maybe she was panicking over nothing. Maybe-

“Get her!” Shining Armor barked to the two pony guards. He was red in the face and breathing heavily.

Chrysalis returned to running as fast as she could.

“Oh, come on!” Thorax ached, resuming his pursuit of Chrysalis, trying to stay ahead of the guards. 

Thorax was never the most athletic Changeling, however, so his admirable efforts were basically for naught. 

Chrysalis knew the two soldiers were descending on her. 

‘What do I do?’ Chrysalis frantically looked about her surroundings, ‘Where do I go?’ 

‘Right’

Without thinking about it, Chrysalis made a sudden, hard right into the first hallway she came across. The guards stumbled and skidded across the floor. She had created a little more distance before the two pony guards got back on their hooves.

Shining Armor, ignoring the pain of his bruises, soon got ahead of the troops, and was starting to get closer to the Changeling he wanted to catch so badly right now. 

Fear pumped into Chrysalis’s veins at the sight of this pony stampeding behind her. She pushed herself to keep going.

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~<

Thorax and Pharynx were trying to catch up as much as they were running for their lives. They needed to reach Chrysalis, but they also needed to dodge all magic blasts and airborne punches getting in their way. Princesses Cadence was trying to either physically block them with her body, conjured obstacles, or just zapping them. Many a blinding, shielding, and short teleport spell had been expended between the two.

“Pharynx!” Thorax called between breaths.

“What?” Pharynx barked.

“This might be a bad time,” Thorax admitted, “But I take full responsibility for this happening!”

“Oh, you better!” Pharynx shouted, before a pink magic bolt whizzed past their heads, exploding only a few feet ahead of them. A cloud of dust and shrapnel kicked up in the air, cherry-topped with a crater being made in the floor. The two Changelings jumped up and over the smoke filled pothole.

“Well, your Majesty, any ideas!”

“I’m thinking…”

“And?”

“You’ve got access to the Hive-Mind, you know exactly what I’m thinking!”

Thorax wasn’t wrong. Pharynx did have access.

“I believe the fact that we need to distract her is painfully obvious right now!” Pharynx yelled.

“There’s more to it, okay!”

Pharynx resumed listening to Thorax’s train of thought. He was surprised by what he heard. 

“Are you serious!?”

“I don’t hear your brain coming up with anything!” Thorax refuted. He ducked under another spread shot aimed at his antlers.

“You don’t have a better bad-idea than that?” Pharynx asked.

“That is the best bad-idea I have, Pharynx!” 

Pharynx was so lost in the reality of what his brother was ordering that he almost didn’t cast a deflect-spell when Cadence chucked another enchanted stalactite squarely at his head. Yet another unwelcome close call in his book. 

“CEASE YOUR RESISTANCE!!!” she demanded, here Royal Canterlot voice on full blast.

Pharynx looked to his brother, “Thorax?”

“Yeah?”

“You scare me.”

“Just give the order!”

Pharynx asked no further questions. He simply accessed the Hive-Mind and sent out a call. “I want a Scorcher unit on this floor, now!”

It wasn’t long before three Changeling soldiers teleported into the hall, a little ways ahead of the fleeing brothers. Each one had a hollow rod, like a funnel, mounted in front of their mouths, with a ball of magic energy inside it. 

The trio of troops were awfully surprised to see their superiors running from a very angry pony Princess.

“Smoke!” Thorax called out to the troops, “Now!”

The troops were surprised and apprehensive. An order to attack Equestrian Royalty? “Uh, Your Majesty?”

Pharynx cut in as a star-spell exploded above him, “Now, damn it, now!”

Wasting no further time, the middle solder stepped forward, taking in a deep breath. The fleeing brothers, knowing what was about to happen, quickly dropped and slid across the floor between the troops they had just called in. The middle soldier blew into the funnel and onto the ball of magic, as it began to glow white.

In an instant, thick, black smoke filled with charged magic particles, came out the other end of the funnel at high speeds and flooded the hallway before them from floor to ceiling. Coughing and many statements of confusion could be heard from within the cloud.

“Light it,” Pharynx ordered the other two soldiers. 

They turned to their General in utter shock. “S-Sir, She-”

“Did I stutter!” 

Assuming that there must be a good reason for this, the two Changeling troopers turned to the cloud of smoke, and blew into their own funnels.

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<

Twilight, her friends, and the Royal Sisters had finally broken through the wall that Pharynx had locked them behind. They quickly made their way out of the lower chambers. While they didn't have the murderous intent that possessed Cadence and Shining, they still moved with similar haste.

“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash pulled up alongside her friend. “What’s the game plan?”

“Catch up to Thorax and Pharynx and figure what the hay is going on.”

“I don’t think there will be many obstacles stopping us from that goal.” Luna said as they came to the top of the staircase.

Pinkie Pie noticed an odd scent in the air. She took a long sniff wondering what it was. As she did so, a violent warning twitch electrified her body. 

“Wait!!!” She hollered jumping through the air to the top of the stairs in front of the stampede of Equestrian figureheads.

“Twitchy ear!!!” Pinkie shouted causing her five other friends to grind to a hault which also stopped the Royal Sisters. 

“Twilight,” Luna asked, “Why do we delay?”

“Whenever Pinkie gets all twitchy like that, something unpleasant is usually on the way.” Applejack answered.

“What do you mean by ‘unpleasant’?” Celestia inquired.

At that very moment, a wave of heat and fire filled the corridor in front of them. Everypony jumped or tumbled back, awestruck by the destructive display before them.

“Like that,” Applejack said.
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<

A bright, green glare from their magic spheres briefly filled the room before it was soon replaced by heat, as streams of green fire sprung forward into the cloud of smoke. The particles of magic in the smoke then ignited, engulfing anything or anyone in a visually spectacular fireball.

“Sir,” the middle Changeling asked Pharynx, “Why are we doing this?”

“I’ll tell you why later,” the Changeling General said, “Just hold her as long as you can!”

“Yes Sir!”

With the confirmation that they would no longer have bolts raining down on them for a few minutes, the brothers resumed their pursuit of Chrysalis and Shining Armor.

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~<

‘Left’

Another hard turn down a hallway, and Chrysalis saw something. A light. Daylight at the end of the hall. ‘Come on, just a little further!’

Shining Armor was galloping as fast as he could. He cursed in his thoughts. He would have been able to go faster if it weren’t for the bruise on his chest that made his ribs and lungs feel like they were being stabbed as he breathed. 

Still he pressed on, slowly getting closer to his target. 

“Shining!” A voice called out from behind him. Shining glanced back. Thorax and Pharynx has managed to catch up. 

The brothers could see who they’ve been chasing, who they had put so much effort into helping. But they needed to get past the ponies in front of them now. 

‘It’s just one thing after another,’ Thorax lamented.

Pharynx called to his brother, “Thorax, I have an idea.”

“Really? What is it?” 

“You’ve got access, don’t you?” 

Thorax had a feeling that he knew where this was going. He looked at the idea Pharynx had in his head.

“Pharynx, you know that transformation makes me dizzy!”

“You, got a better bad idea than that?”

Yep, Pharynx was doing this to him. 

Thorax simply shook his head, and readied himself. The two of them gathered their magic, and focused best as possible on the image in their heads. They leapt forward as their magic engulfed their bodies, and changed them. 

They landed upon the ground as rolling balls of armor, gaining speed as they caught up to ponies ahead of them. 

Shining Armor was distracted from pursuing Chrysalis by the sound of something rolling along the ground, and the sound was getting closer. He allowed himself a glance behind him. 

He was greeted not with the sight of two royal Changelings, but rather a ball of segmented insect armor coming down at his face. He barely had time to blink before it crashed into his forehead. His body bounced and rolled across the ground. He was absolutely dazed as he slowly raised to hooves. That insectoid bowling ball was coming at him again. Angered, he quickly channeled magic into his back hooves, and kicked it as hard as he could. 

There was a cracking sound as Shining’s hooves made impact. Green, fire-like magic came off the armor ball as the form fell away. Pharynx’s body hit the ground and skidded on his side. The immense pain in his back refused to let him get up. He couldn’t tell if his shell or wings had been damaged, but it definitely felt like it. 

Managing to open his eyes as he lay on his side, Pharynx could see Shining Armor looking down at him in anger. A second armored ball zipping by drew the white unicorn’s attention away.

Shining didn’t want to waste any more time chasing it, or Chrysalis for that matter. He’d just blast them both. He began to gather magic at his horn. 

Pharynx, realizing what was about to happen, ignored the possibility that he was bleeding as best he could, and focused on gathering magic at his antlers. Not without a bit of frustration and pain, he launched a blast of magic right into Shining Armor’s back leg. It struck him right where his cutie mark was. 

Shining cried out from the sudden pain he felt, collapsing to his knees and losing focus on the spell he was trying to cast. He clenched his teeth as he tried to ignore the fresh, brutal burn on his calf. The fur of his coat sizzled as the skin beneath it seethed in pain. He looked down the hall. They were getting away. She was getting away. Again. 

>~~~~~~~~~~<

Chrysalis came to the end of the hall and found herself looking at where that light had been coming from. A window. A very large and very nice window at that. And beyond that window was the great outdoors. An expanse of grass patches, flowers, and rocky dirt that led right to the Everfree Forest. She could lose her pursuers there. She could hide. She-

“Chrysalis!”

-Took too long contemplating how the forest would be a great place to escape to.

Chrysalis whirled around in time to see what looked almost like a giant rolly-polly uncurl in mid-air and lunge at her. A scream barely escaped her mouth before the large thing tackled her and they rolled across the floor, into another room. 

Chrysalis groaned, laying on her back, as she regained her bearings. She quickly registered the super sized insect standing over her, looking her in the eyes.

“Uh…” The former queen couldn’t tell if it was the awkward silence or the huge arthropod that was weighing on her chest.

“Oh, right!” Magic flames washed over the body of the giant bug, reverting it back to being the young King of Changelings. 

The awkward moment didn’t get better until Thorax rushed over to the door, slamming it shut and turning the lock. 

Thorax let out a sigh of relief. “You alright, Chrysalis?”

“What are you doing!?” Chrysalis frantically asked, “Just what are you playing at? And why the heck were you and all those other ponies down in the cellar where I was hiding?”

“Shhh, keep it down!” Thorax urged. “And to answer your second question: Pinkie Pie ran down there out of nowhere.”

“Of course it was the annoying one.” Chrysalis put her face in her hooves, completely exhausted by the absurdity of those ponies. ‘Oh, who am I kidding, they’re all annoying.’

“Look, it’ll be okay,” Thorax assured, “We can talk to the Princesses, get this whole mess sorted out and we can all live ‘happily ever after’, right?” 

“...No…”

Thorax blinked. “What?” 

“I can’t do that…”

“Why not? I thought we went over this! The Princesses are not going to kill you!”

“It’s not about that!” Chrysalis shouted.

“Then what is it about?” 

“You!” Chrysalis replied, “It’s about you, and your brother, and every Changeling in this Hive!”

There was a moment of silence as Chrysalis regained her breath. 

“Listen,” she continued, “You and your subjects have given me so much. You’ve housed me, fed me, entertained me, and all these things. And I know exactly how you feel about it.

“But I have no idea how I feel about it. I’m completely lost and I don’t have the room or time to figure it out. I can’t sit in the room you gave me, because I’m surrounded by all the things you gave me. I need to be away from all of this, and them.” She pointed at the locked door. “Thorax…I need some time to think…about everything.”

Thorax stepped towards her, worry returning to his face. “But where are you gonna go?” 

“I’m not sure…” Chrysalis admitted, “But I can’t stay here. Especially not now.” 

“Please, Chrysalis, don’t do this,” Thorax pleaded, “You’ve come so far!”

“You may believe that, but I need to believe it to. And right now, I don’t”

A pounding came at the room’s door. Muffled shouting and bickering was beyond it. Time was short.

‘Run’

Chrysalis grabbed Thorax by his shoulders, making direct eye contact with him. “Please…”

Thorax grimaced as he tried to look away. He really didn’t want to do this. But at the same time, he didn’t want Chrysalis to hate him. 

Begrudgingly, he caved. 

“Please…Come back when you’re done.” 

‘Please, come home,’ Thorax wanted to say it so badly, but he felt it would be too forward.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Chrysalis said making her way to the balcony

Thorax got into the best fighting stance he could manage in front of the door, which at this point was being hammered.

Chrysalis looked back at the young king. “Thorax…” she said. Thorax glanced to Chrysalis. “Take…Take care of the Changelings, okay?” She almost said “children” rather than “Changelings”.

“Only if you promise to come back,” Thorax responded. Another pound hit the door. A massive crack appeared in it. Thorax turned back to the door, bracing himself for the pony storm that was trying to get through. 

*WHAM!* Another hit.

Chrysalis slowly walked towards the edge of the balcony. 

‘Jump’

‘Or I could just fly,’ Chrysalis determined. She went through a quick checklist. ‘Wind speed and direction…Wing strength…Target in mind-’

*WHAM!*...and then…*CRUNCH!*

Splintered wood flew through the room. One large chunk hit Thorax square in the face and forced him back, as he hit the ground. 

Chrysalis knew it was time to go. She vaulted over the balcony banister and got her wings moving. Being out of practice didn’t help her speed or mobility, but she was airborne. 

Shining Armor limped his way to the balcony of the room. He wasn’t going to miss this time. He forced himself to stand on his unsupported legs and lined up his horn. 

Thorax rose from the shambles of what used to be the door. His head ached and his body was sore. That didn’t matter when he registered that Shining Armor was taking aim. 

Thorax scrambled to his splinter filled hooves and leapt at Shining, grabbing him by the neck and head, trying to haul him back. 

The sudden lurch caused Shining to lose aim and misfire. The blot seemed to travel in slow motion through the air. It just missed Chrysalis’s body. 

What it did hit, however, was her right wing.

Chrysalis’s cat like pupils thinned into lines, as she quickly plummeted to the ground. The ground came closer and closer as Chrysalis fell, expecting nothing but death. Chrysalis felt her whole insufferable life flash before her eyes before-

*THUMP*

Chrysalis’s body hit the ground, and was still.

For a time, there was silence. Then a groan came from the black and green body. Chrysalis opened her eyes slowly rolling onto her belly. She found herself…surprisingly less hurt than she should be. There were scrapes, cuts, and cracks, but nothing was broken. 

“There she is!”

“Get her!” 

The voices of pony guards reached her ears. Chrysalis quickly rose to her feet and thanked the fact that her body could still produce enough adrenaline to keep her going.

As she raced to the tree line she took a moment to look back. Back at the balcony she had fell from, at the hive she was running from again. Then, she turned back to the forest she was running to again, and pressed forward. 

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<

Princess Cadence was exhausted, as was her opposition. The entire corridor was blackened by endless fighting. It reeked of burned stone, boiled sweat, and singed fur and feathers. The three fire-throwing Changelings had held their ground for a while but it couldn’t last forever. Cadence eventually managed to get some magic bolts through the chaos. After a while the three Changelings ran out of magic and strength. 

Despite her wounds, Cadence pressed on.

She wanted an explanation, and she was willing to get it through whatever aggressive means she could think of.

She only had to walk through a lot more hallway to get it.

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<

Pharynx, still on the floor where he lay, sensed Thorax’s distressed thoughts. He sensed that his brother was in a bad spot. 

He sensed that Chrysalis had fled The Hive and was still being pursued.

Pharynx grit his teeth, growling slightly, and sent out an order through the Hive Mind. “I want my two best trackers to pursue Chrysalis and bring her back. If those royal guard ponies get to her first, you’re done for!” Pharynx took a moment to breath and ease the pain he was in, before sending out another order. “Kraft! Get your unit up here, now!”

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<

The Royal Sisters and Mane 6 couldn’t help but be frozen with shock by the sight before them. It looked like a whole war had been fought right there in the hall.

The borderline horrific sight prompted Twilight to ask the only appropriate question.

“W-Why did this happen?”

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<

Shining was enraged by the sight of the former Changeling Queen racing across the land towards the Forest. He would jump down there and chase her himself, if it weren’t for his wounded leg. That and the the Changeling King whom he was wrestling with at the moment.

Thorax did his best to keep Shining from the balcony, worrying that the pony may do something crazy. 

The two rolled across the ground until they kicked away from one another and hit their backs against the walls of the room. 

Shining leaned against his wall, gripping his wounds, while Thorax lay on the floor, breathing slowly, staring at the outside world through the balcony. 

The sound of clattering hooves echoed through the hall. Thorax’s eyes began to water, as he continued staring at the horizon, a few tears dripping and hitting the floor. 

One sorrowful word escaped his lips…


“Chrysalis…”