> The Fallen Queen
>  by James Pwyll
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> The Fallen Queen
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How long had she been flying now? She couldn't remember, and frankly, she didn't even care at this point. All she had to do was flee. Flee and wait, and plan, and do what she could to get back what she'd lost. Even now, with so much time having passed for it to sink in for her, she couldn't believe it. Mere hours ago, she was on top of the world. Leader of the most feared and powerful army in the world, with her enemies' leaders all in her grasp. And yet, because of the actions of a few insignificant pests, she had lost it all. She was a Queen no longer, and now flew through the air as a fugitive. Why they weren't chasing her, she couldn't say, only that she knew they would live to regret that choice. Many places sped past her as she continued onward, and so long had this journey been going on that she could not even recognise where she was right now. And it was right at that moment when the tiredness finally made itself known to her. Even one as capable as her was not immune to fatigue, and the aching in her wings made it clear that she had to stop, at least for a while. So, finding a particular spot amid the trees below, she descended at long last. Once upon the ground, she began to pant heavily, finally recognising just how tired she was. And through that tiredness came her bitterness, her resentment, and most of all her rage. "Starlight Glimmer...you will pay for what you did to me."

"Hello? Is anypony out there?" another voice called out.

Her eyes widening, Chrysalis spun in place to look in the direction of the voice. It was dark now, with the skies above heavily clouded. So there was next to no light on her right now. But through that darkness she could still see a glow in the distance, getting closer. She recognised it immediately as that of a lamp, and no matter who was holding it, she knew that they were unlikely going to be pleased to see the ex-Queen of the Changelings when they got here. So, realising that it would be unwise for her to simply attack without her usual backup, she resorted to be more subtle about this, and so gathered what remained of her strength. Green flames engulfed her, and where once stood the ragged Queen there was now a pretty mare, a unicorn to be precise, with pale-green fur and a long auburn mane. She sat upon the ground, but not out of some attempt to appear feeble, but out of genuine exhaustion. That transformation had clearly taken more out of her than she'd predicted, and she was soon panting even more than before. Looking up, she could see the glow from before finally getting close. "Who...who is it?"

The glow finally emerged from behind the nearest tree, and it was shown to belong to an earth pony stallion. An older one from the looks of it, who looked to her with clear concern. "Oh my goodness! Are you alright?"

Chrysalis, with her new face, looked to him with appreciation as he approached. "I...I got lost." That, at least, was no lie. She had no idea where she was after all. And as she finally saw him get close enough to look him in the eye, she saw the genuine worry he had for her. "Can...you help me?"

The stallion set his lamp down, taking another step towards her. "Of course. Nopony should be out here by themselves. Here..." He got down to his knees, and Chrysalis knew what he wanted, so she placed her foreleg over the back of his neck, so when he stood again he helped her get back to her hooves. Lowering his head, he picked up his lantern with is mouth, and with the greatest care he helped walk her along the path he'd come on. Chrysalis made note of their surroundings, which she could probably see better than her current companion thanks to the excellent night-vision her people had. They walked in silence for a time, but eventually they found themselves at what had to be the stallion's home, a small wood cabin just beyond where the edge of the woodland was. Once at its door, he stretched out his neck and set the lantern upon a small hook at the side of the door, thus freeing him to be able to talk again. "Come on, let's get you someplace warm."

Chrysalis watched as he opened his door, the warm glow of the inside reaching out. It was an inviting feeling, she had to admit, and as he entered she followed silently. Once inside, she found herself looking upon a very homely place. "Quaint" would be the world she'd have likely used, were she appearing as how she normally would, but instead, after seeing her host close the door, she just put on a fake smile for him. "Thank you."

The stallion smiled back. "No reason to thank me, Miss...?"

Realising she needed a cover name for the time being, Chrysalis thought quickly. "Oh, my name is...Shutterbug."

The stallion nodded to her. "Nice to meet you, Shutterbug. Name's Keeper. I, er...keep the grounds." He chuckled nervously, then got back to business. "So, what's a pretty mare like you doing out there all by yourself?"

Chrysalis didn't want to think about her reasons for being here, and as she turned away from Keeper, she grimaced. "I...had a falling out with my family."

Keeper sighed, his face giving the distinct impression that he had a story of his own in that regard. "Oh yeah, I know the feeling. It's hard. Kinda feels like you're all alone in the world, doesn't it?"

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes, staring at the nearby fireplace. "Yes...I am alone."

Keeper approached, giving her a quick pat on the shoulder. "Well, no worries, Miss. You can stay here the night. I assure you, it's no trouble."

Chrysalis smiled back to him, and for once she was genuinely thankful, if only because she knew she was in need of shelter. "Thank you."

Keeper nodded, then looked around his home. "I know it's not much, but I had some soup on the go if you're hungry?"

Chrysalis raised a hoof to politely decline. "Oh, I couldn't possibly..."

But it seemed that Keeper's need to be a good host was taking centre stage here. "Ah, I won't hear it. You're my guest here, and by Celestia you're gonna be given something to eat."

Though Chrysalis had to stifle the need to grimace at the mention of her enemy's name, she still had it in her to keep up the facade of a grateful guest. "Well...if you insist." She found herself a spot by the fire, rubbing her hooves together to try and keep warm. She could hear Keeper tending to the promised meal some distance away, and while he was there her mind was already hard at work. Plans, plots, schemes, these came to her almost as easily as breathing, and with no Hive to manage she knew she had plenty of time to come up with some idea on how to get back what was stolen. For a moment, she even let her mask of pleasantness slip, revealing the expression of bitterness that truly reflected her heart. The flames before her kept her attention, and for a moment she even wickedly imagined throwing her foes into such an inferno when she got them in her grasp once more. But she held herself back from laughing at the thought, just in case her host overheard her, and speaking of whom, he returned in that moment, bringing with him a piping hot bowl of soup, which Chrysalis accepted with a smile "Thank you."

Keeper nodded, his smile obviously more genuine than hers. "You're quite welcome, Miss." Taking a seat close by, he watched as she took that first sip of the gifted food. "How is it? I'm not the best cook in the land I'm afraid."

Another false smile from Chrysalis. "Oh, it's wonderful." It was a lie of course. As a Changeling she didn't require food in the same way the ponies did, and even on the rare occasions that she wanted to have something besides love energy she definitely wouldn't be fond of something like this. But still, it filled her stomach, and that was something at least. Even so, there was still the lingering matter of what she was going to do next. She had a roof over her head for the night, to be sure, but what then? Just keep on wandering until the answer just came to her? It was no great prospect, and she knew it, but what alternative was there? She took another sip, then glanced to Keeper. "So...may I ask what you do here?"

Keeper shrugged. "Oh, I'm nopony special. I just look after the woodland for the land's owners. They're never here much, but I like to think I do a decent job." He looked to her with interest. "Yourself?"

Chrysalis' eyes darted left and bright briefly. "I...er...I'm a...photographer?"

Keeper smiled. "Sounds pretty interesting. Go to new places, see lots of fascinating sights..."

Chrysalis chuckled. "Yes, it definitely keeps me occupied."

keeper's eyes widened. "Oh! Maybe you could take photos of the Summer Sun Celebration next week! I bet Celestia's gonna make it the biggest best party in Equestria after everything that happened recently!"

Chrysalis, as before, tried to hide her disdain for that name. "Oh? And what happened recently?"

Keeper snorted. "What? You haven't heard? Queen Chrysalis has been defeated!"

Here, Chrysalis paused, and every fibre of her being wanted to just bare her fangs and hiss wildly at this stallion for seeming so happy at that news. But her skills as an actor prevailed in the end. "Yes, it's certainly...a big change we'll have to get used to."

The stallion let out a hearty guffaw. "You're telling me. After all those years of being afraid of her and her Changelings, finally we ponies can sleep easy for a bit!"

Chrysalis glanced away, frowning to the enthusiasm her companion was displaying. "I bet she's not feeling too good about it herself."

Keeper waved her off. "Maybe, but who cares? That Queen was nothing more than a witch as far as I'm concerned. A monster who only lived to make things bad for us. If she spends the rest of her life out there in the wilds without a friend in all the word, it'll be the least she deserves!"

Chrysalis gripped her soup bowl even harder than before, doing all she could to keep her smile on her face. "Oh yeah, she'll be out there. All alone...no army to help her...no kingdom to call home...and the ponies will celebrate. They will sing and dance and cheer for the Queen they beat."

Keeper gave her a pat on the shoulder. "If there's any justice in the world, Princess Twilight and her friends will track her down and finish her one day. Can you imagine it? The world finally being rid of that abomination?"

Chrysalis, through her fake face, exhaled. She couldn't risk revealing herself, no matter how tempting it might be to simply throttle this boisterous stallion. Yet sitting here, listening to all this, was just further salt in her wounds. Nobody was feeling anything other than happy over her defeat, and the most she had to her name was a fire and a bowl of soup that somepony had given her out of pity and nothing more. Truly, she was at rock-bottom, and as she stared at the aforementioned soup in her bowl, she mumbled. "One day...things will be better. One day...everything will be the way it should be."

Keeper, who actually hadn't been paying attention to her for the last few moments, looked back to her again. "Sorry, I wasn't listening. What was that?"

Taking a deep breath, Chrysalis sighed. "Just...thinking about tomorrow."