> A Queen & You
>  by Lord of Nothing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You slam and lock the door to your apartment, feeling like a slightly more mobile iceberg as your feet and hands flail about whilst trying to take off your shoes; a task which would normally be a breeze to accomplish, but wasn't so with fingers that felt at least twice their normal size. Just as you feel about ready to rage quit, your left sneaker flies off, almost causing you to fall, and, during a quick readjustment (which sees you bumbling around even more in the process), your right hand barely manages to slip into your pocket and grab the contents. Finally, a mere thirty seconds after arriving, your one-man tango ends with you haphazardly tossing two keys and a wallet down onto the carpeted floor, then extending your arms as far out as the entry way's walls would allow, then braced yourself, more than prepared to let the warmth of the apartment work its magic on your chilled body.

However, after a shiver-filled moment or two of the exact opposite, you decide to take a quick peek at the thermometer to your left. You know for a fact that it should be warm; at least seventy-four degrees (if the dinky, old device was to be trusted), just like you set it before you left, not really caring all too much about how big of a dent such a decision would put in your wallet just so long as you were warm, but it feels more like it should read somewhere down in the forties. Glancing towards the bottom of the small plastic panel showed that it was, in fact, in the "on" position, which made the apparent malfunction make even less sense.

Heaving a heavy sigh of defeat, you lean back against the front door, knowing that you'll soon have to bring this up with the complex's landlord, Miranda, whom everyone seemed to get along with just fine except you. There could be any number of perfectly reasonable things that continued to keep the two of you from having a healthy friendship, but you assume it's just because she's an ass, and would not find it hard to believe if she thought the same (only about you). In an attempt to get your mind off the subject, you silently reflect on the sudden and rather intense change of Colorado weather, listening as the gentle hum of the air conditioner finally kicks in, signaling that there should only be a few minutes separating you from the heat you so desperately craved. A small smile works itself onto your face when you think about not only the coming warmth, but how crazy it is that someone like yourself somehow managed to make it from the parking lot, then up three flights with nothing more than two damp socks, a moist pair of pants, and an unfortunately soaked shirt; in other words, a much better end result than practically every other snowstorm you've lived through.

You stand up a bit straighter, about to perform a few more checks on the system, but your stomach demands otherwise, practically yelling at you after skipping breakfast and having nothing more than a soda for lunch. You'd much rather starve than go talk to Miranda, but, you know, that whole "living" thing tends to trump everything else in the end, whether you like it or not. Before taking your first step towards the kitchen, which sat a mere twenty-five feet or so from the door, you swing your arm up over your head, and it brushes against the vent, which was currently pushing out a constant supply of hot air; nowhere near enough to warm up as quickly as you'd previously thought, but enough to (hopefully) have the place feeling normal again within an hour or two. You don't really know, but at least the damn thing was actually working.

You don't bother picking up your feet as you walk, trying to force the carpet into absorbing as much moisture from your socks as possible, but it doesn't seem to want to work at all. Several rapid and random images of the food you wish you could be eating flash through your mind, but you remind yourself that, even though you usually have more than enough money leftover from bills and such to splurge on a meal somewhere nice, like Taco Bell or Subway, you don't actually have to. However, your stomach grumbles anyway, and you pick up the pace for the last foot or so.

Unfortunately, all the time spent walking could've been put towards doing something infinitely more productive, for arriving in the kitchen didn't bring about all of the goodies and snacks you expected it to, something you can attribute to your seeming inability to not shop until just before you're completely out, despite walking by several aisles of food every damn day in a store where you're even give a small discount on almost everything. You glance over at a little black clock that hangs above the sink, and find that, even though it's almost dark outside, it was only six minutes past five. You grumble and open the fridge, pulling out a water bottle before turning back and heading to the couch.

Sitting down and cracking open the bottle, you stare ahead at the television, its black screen reflecting your whole figure. You take a moment to look yourself over, wondering if anyone liked (or even noticed) the new shirt you had bought just two days before. It wasn't anything special, so you'd understand if they didn't, but still. You take a sip, put the cap back on, then lay your head back and close your eyes, wanting to now focus on nothing more than kicking back and waking up warmer than you currently are. Your muscles relax after a day that seemed to drag on longer than it really did, and, after a particularily hard exhale, you feel yourself drift to sleep, the howling winds outside singing you a rough lullaby. 



***



You eyelids flutter for a second before opening fully, after which you blink a couple of times to get back in to the swing of things. The wind still hasn't died down, but the clock now reads somewhere around a quarter past six, and the room is considerably warmer, so you are totally alright with everything outside. You stand and stretch, hearing at least two pops of your spine, then give your chest area a quick and lazy scratch. You grab your water and begin heading back to the kitchen, but stop when you swear you hear a faint cry. 

Like any rational person would do, you stop and listen, waiting for whatever it was to sound off again, but, when it doesn't after a moment or two, you shrug it off and plant your bottle on the counter. Opening the fridge, you decide to keep dinner simple and grab two eggs and some butter, then look one cabinet to the left for a pan to use. Putting all four things down, you start up the left burner, and pull out a little knife to cut just a bit of butter off the rest of the stick. 

Putting said butter into the pan yields results almost instantly, but, just as you begin to search for a spatula of some sort, you hear a knock. Now, a knock is something almost everyone expects every now and again, but this time was different; the knock came from your small balcony, which sat up on the third story of the building. You freeze, and seriously contemplate just up and leaving the house as fast as humanly possible, but some sick need to know draws you away from the buttery pan and towards the sliding glass door back by the couch. 

It takes a moment for you to extend your hand and grasp the handle, but, as soon as you do, you pull back and decide to roll with something much safer; just checking through the blinds. Aftter another moment of intense internal debate, you pull aside one blind, and gaze out in to the cold night. 

Nothing pops out immediately, but a quick glance downwards startles you worse than anything before; it's a creature of some sort, black as night, save for an odd and bright green thing around what you can only assume to be its stomach, and what looked like hair that was a most interesting shade of blue. You bounce back away from the door, and your mind instantly begins trying to process what it just saw. Did some undiscovered species just happen to land on your patio? Was it even still alive?

Unfortunately, the only way to answer any questions required you to get even closer to the whatever that thing was, which is something you didn't particularily want to do, but, you figure there's nothing you can lose anyway, so you swallow your fear and crawl back to the door. Your thumb slowly snaps the lock open, and you slide the door itself open even slower. The winds howl as if they want the door to remain closed, but you press on, seeing now that the creature is much closer than you originally though. 

A cautious hand sticks out and places itself upon the creature's neck, or what you assume to be the neck. It's soft like silk, which suprises you, as the thing looks to be coated in some sort of latex or leather. The blue-ish hair, you find, is equally as soft, if not more so, than the hide. Running your hand up along the creature's neck reveals that it has a pulse, which causes you to tense up more than you already were, yourself now fully prepared to dash away in the other direction. 

It exhales, and you freeze as it turns its head slightly to look in your direction, momentarily locking eyes with you, and you can't believe you didn't recognize what this was earlier; Queen Chrysalis, ruler over the Changelings, sprawled out on your third story balcony in the freezing cold. Your hand shoots back to your side, and, before you can close the door, you swear that she barely manages to whisper something along the lines of "Help". 

Well, great. You're starving, it's cold now thanks to the door being open, and you've got a cartoon character on your patio. A sane person would bolt in the opposite direction, but you aren't entirely sane. Still, you have the nagging sense that something isn't right, like this is all just some weird dream brought on by fatigue that brought itself out of nowhere. You look back towards the door, where Chrysalis has now rested her head on the stone lip leading back inside, her eyes half-lidded but still focused on you, giving you something that looked like sleep puppy-dog eyes. 

"Damnit," is all you can bring yourself to think as you reach back out to grasp the door handle.
> Part I, Chapter I - The Unconscious Changeling
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You sit down on the couch, staring at the television screen as it silently plays the local news while an open water bottle simultaneously chills your right hand. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Chrysalis' immobile figure just kind of laying there. You shake your head and think about how your breaths are just a tad bit heavier than you'd like. Before drinking, you raise a hand to wipe your brow. Now, you would never think you're that out of shape, but the last three or four minutes have proven you wrong. As such, you take a mental note to do more active things with your life, then finally take a single sip, enjoying the feeling of the cool liquid as it fills your mouth and trickles down your throat. 

Chrysalis, or rather, the pile of every blanket you own, lets out another soft moan. You stare at her, but, after only a few seconds of inactivity on her part, revert back to staring blankly at the television, watching the quiet images play whilst trying to think of anything other than your current situation. Unfortunately for you though, what's happening isn't something that can easily be brushed off and moved on from; it's a cartoon character in the real world. Even more unfortunate was that this wasn't just the real world; it was your apartment.

A quick glance towards the clock lets you know that it's only a few minutes past seven, and another quick glance towards the balcony shows you that the snowstorm is still raging on, possibly more so than it was earlier, which would probably keep you out of work through tomorrow. Also, just to add on to that bit of good luck, the thermostat still feels like it's working, which means the meeting with your landlord can be postponed. You've actually already forgotten what it's been set it to, but that didn't matter now: what mattered was that you were warm, and were more than likely going to have to pay alot more than usual because of it.

Another sound escapes Chrysalis, but this one sounds different than her usual weak moans and sighs; this one sounds like she was in pain. Now, even though you should really be trying to figure out why the plot to a bad fanfiction was playing out in your living space, you can't help but just not care, and instead find yourself throwing all caution to the wind with a want to get closer to the Changeling. So, slowly, one blanket at a time, you begin uncovering the Queen. It's a process that doesn't seem like it took any time at all whilst you were throwing things around on top of one other, but, during the deconstruction of the mound, it all seems to be taking forever. You also momentarily fear that the amount of blankets you possess might be well over the sane limit. However, sorting through them will have to wait for later, as only one comforter seperates you and the somewhat unknown.

"Fuck," you say through clenched teeth. The haphazard tossing to the side of your big red blanket knocks over your water bottle, spilling its contents on to the carpeted floor. You now have an even bigger choice to make: clean the carpet now and miss a possible something or other with Chrysalis, or skip the cleaning entirely and head straight for her.

"Fuck," you say again, dragging the multi-functional word out longer than usual as the urge to check on the Changeling beats out cleaning up the carpet. You try to find a bright side to the decision before buckling down and focusing solely on the task at hand, but, sadly, none come, and you realize you'll just have to hate yourself when you (inevitably) step on the damp spot later.

Chrysalis' leg extends quickly, delivering a sharp kick to your ankle, snapping you both back to attention and the ground. Through the stink-eye you give her, you realize that she may not have done it intentionally, or even consciously. After a couple seconds more of thought, you figure that, instead of moving on to the carpet, now would be as good a time as any to try and figure out what exactly made a Changeling tick. Another thought, this time of things turning south during your exploration, flashes through your mind, but you disregard it and advance. 

Positioning yourself on your hands and knees in front Chrysalis, you finally notice that she's actually a fairly large creature; maybe a little over six-and-a-half feet when upright, and that wasn't even counting her horn-ish thing (though it probably wouldn't add much more anyway).

You extend a cautious hand to the leg that lashed out at you, keeping an eye on the rest of Chrysalis as you do so. Once contact is made with her thigh, you're greeted with the same odd feeling of smoothness from before, only now adding in a good bit of warmth. Your hand slides down an inch or so, gliding over one of her several seemingly unexplainable leg holes, followed shortly after by your middle finger accidentally slipping through one of said holes. It takes you a second to register what's happening, but you were a second too late apparently; the hole clenches around the joint halfway down your finger, and the sensation shoots adrenaline throughout your completely unprepared body. You let out a yelp and recoil, pulling your whole hand away before cluctching it to your chest as if covering up a wound. The hole squeezes the air twice more while you sit back and try calming the hell down, which you eventually do.

After regrouping, you stick your hand back out, this time a bit further up her body, resting again on her thigh, though it's really more like her back. Heat just seems to radiate off of her, odd considering she was outside and practically frozen not even fifteen minutes ago. 

"Must be a horse thing," you think, shrugging the thought off and away. 

You give her a quick rub, almost like you would a dog, then find yourself feeling a bit uncomfortable when nothing is there to rub against and feel, save for her smooth hide. However, one rub leads to another, and before you know it, you're pretty much petting an unconcious Chrysalis, which, you figure, totally wouldn't be very hard to work your way out of. You brain tells you you should stop, but your hand apparently isn't receiving the message. 

A good minute passes by, and the petting's still happening, only you've now fallen into more of a rhythm, stroking along her side to the beat of some annoying song you heard earlier. The television's playing a "Head and Shoulders" commercial, with gratuitous shots of women combing their fingers through their hair as well as rubbing against their bare shoulders, which isn't helping you out any. Things are starting to build up in your head, and you can feel yourself getting more and more anxious whilst waiting for something, anything to happen and break you free from the seemingly endless cycle of silence and repetitive stroking. 

Luckily for you though, when you turn your head towards the kitchen, you're greeted by something that isn't the sight of your ugly old toaster; it's Chrysalis' eyes staring right in to yours. It takes you a second to register what's going on, something you've found happening more and more over the past hour or so, but, even when you do, you're still frozen in place, your hand never stopping it's rubbing of the Changeling's thigh. She smiles softly, accompanying the incredibly cute face with what you could only imagine was a purr of some sort. Had this been a normal situation, such a thing would've been welcomed, especially were it from another human being, but, seeing as to how she wasn't, you begin to panic

Your mouth opens to start making some kind of psychotic noise in response, but you're cut short when Chrysalis clocks her head right in to yours. 





***





You wake to a dull pounding at the front of your skull, accompanied by the faint sound of sobbing. Naturally, you're both confused and terrified, seeing as to how you've seen plenty of movies that play out exactly like this. However, you push past the horrible thoughts and slowly move your head around, which ends up being a terrible idea, because you instantly feel as if you've been pimp-slapped with a hammer. 

There is good news though; you're still inside your own apartment, so about five movies can be crossed off the list. Unfortunately, the bad news is that the bone-chilling sobs still barely manage to cut through everything else, meaning that there's still about ten movies left on. Truth be told, if you had a choice, you'd much rather take another ass-chewing from your landlord than whatever's about to happen. 

Your eyes lock on the television, which shows the news running a human interest story on some stupid video from the internet. Just next to the set though, is a peculiar black mark, looking almost as if someone scorched a small portion of the wall. In fact, now that you've got the word in your head, you swear to smell something burning, too; not to a crisp, but certainly more on fire than it should be. 

You roll to your stomach, stopping yourself with a hand on either side of your body, resting like you would were you coming down from a push-up. Adding on to the mystery that is tonight, several more black spots like the one near the television litter the carpet and wall directly in front of you. You reach out and touch a small spot that's actually pretty close, and find that someone has in fact torched up your carpeting. Rage momentarily floods through your veins, knowing that the cost of repairs would more than likely force you to take up two shifts in order to make ends meet, but the anger subsides as curiosity washes back over. 

You work yourself on to your feet, relying heavily on the couch for support, and somehow still falling only twice. However, you want to just lay back down and die as soon as you straighten out, as your eyelids flutter violently and your vision nearly fades to black, almost sending you back down to the floor. 

You try taking a step, but end up swaying just a little bit. Luckily, you manage to balance yourself out with a leg, using it as a prop while you stick your arms out to the sides. Sadly, your "prop" sticks itself right in the middle of the wet spot near the couch; the exact same one that you really should have just taken the minute or so to clean earlier. Quickly, you look back to the whole dropping dead thing, which is beginning to look like more and more of a great idea, seeing as to how you don't see how anything could possibly make the night worse, but still you push on. 

Now, with a damp foot, a sour mood, and your equilibrium back in check, you begin to move around the room and inspect. Unsurprisingly,  just about every black spot you check out is the same; a torched surface with a faint burning smell. However, exactly what caused them is still a mystery. 

Your mind flashes to Chrysalis, who was gone when you woke up, and also had something to do with fire (if you remember any scene of hers or a Changeling's correctly), both of which would make her a prime suspect. The rational side of your mind takes over milliseconds later, reminding you that, no matter what, she's still a cartoon character, and such a thing can't possibly exist, save for maybe in a dream. That'd make sense, since she was there until you woke back up, but wouldn't explain how you also went through the rest of yet another uneventful work day inside of what should be a fantastical dream. Perhaps you were just boring, and had dreams to match. 

Nearing your bedroom with that last depressing thought, you freeze in place as the sobbing from minutes ago shoots itself back to the front of your thoughts with what sounds to be a final heave of exhaustion. To make matters even worse, the sound seems to be emanating from inside the room. Thoughts of death or otherwise serious injury upon opening the door cycle in your head, and the door to the staircase outside cries out your name, but for some insane reason, you feel that you absolutely have to know what's happening. 

Swallowing your fear, you grip the handle and twist downwards, pushing the door open in one swift thrust of your arm. There, laying on your bed atop a charred blanket, is Chrysalis, the Queen of the Changelings, staring back at you with reddened and drowsy-looking eyes. You honestly have no idea how to react, since every other point in your life has never prepared you for such an experience, so you instead continue to stand and stare. 

Moments pass, then finally, cutting through the silence with a voice that sounds like it's been run through a shredder, Chrysalis manages to get out, "Aren't you going to come and help your Queen?"
> Part I, Chapter II - Rolling Over
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You're standing outside, staring at your own front door and freezing your ass off, even while wearing a jacket, but still suddenly taking great interest every little scrape and ding that decorates its face. There's not much to look at thanks to your not being a total idiot, but the task still manages to eat up a much needed minute or two. After a second or two more, you begin feeling the need to go inside and heat up, as the snow's still falling like crazy everywhere in and around Colorado Springs.

As you reach for the knob, you do something you rarely seem to do anymore: get serious. Just thinking the word is crazy enough, but you really do need to get your life back together before heading back. You get down, lean back, and silently begin to think.

Suddenly, your phone rings, snapping you back out of your thoughts. The device practically flies out of your pocket and up to your ear, where you greet, "What's up?"

"Not much. Just got a call from the boss-man."

You stand up, alert and ready for anything she had. Your friend honestly wasn't the hardest of workers, which was something you'd known and thought about for awhile, so a call this late from one of the higher-ups could only mean one thing, and you were prepared to be there for her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. You know, this kind of thing happens to everyone at one point or another."

"What the fuck? It's just a snow day, no need to start getting emotional on me," she says, more than likely making some stupid face at you through the phone.

Apparently you don't watch enough of anything, as that went in the complete opposite direction. Now, you always knew that Target was lucky to have her as an employee, and never doubted her when it came to anything even remotely related to work, but who would have ever thought that an employer could deliver good news past the end of an employee's shift. Either way, all you had to do now was perform a few quick manuevers, then you'd be home free for the rest of the next thirty-ish hours.

"What I meant was, like, my body's more than ready, but I was saying something to the television."

"The...television? Are you bullshitting me?"

She's being rather vulgar tonight, something that she usually tries to stay away from. You wonder what could possibly have gotten in to her.

"Yeah, man, just something sad. Gave me a real good, manly tear, you know?"

"Right," she hisses, the levels of mistrust in her voice incredibly high. "And what might this tearjerker of a program be?"

Your mind, unprepared for such a question, frantically races to think of a show, something that would normally be a breeze were you stuck answering trivia during your lunch break, but nothing comes to mind. What was that show you were thinking of just a few minutes ago? Oh, yeah...

"'My Little Pony'!" you yell triumphantly, the sound echoing down the hallway.

Unfortunately, that wasn't at all what you intended to say. A hand quickly clasps itself over your open mouth, despite no one else being around you, and all you can hear is her muffled giggling on the other end. 

"Really? Isn't that show for people just a bit younger than you?"

You're pretty much stuck between a rock and hard place right now. You stutter for only a moment before formulating a response that, in no way, shape, or form, would make it seem like you really have been watching said show in secret.

"It's not just for little kids."

More giggles follow the reply, but you're quick to continue before she can squeeze another word in.

"Come on, I have a friend who happens to be one of those, like, 'Brownies' or whatever, and he's over right now, so we're watching it."

Nothing but silence follows this time. You think about what she could possibly be thinking, and you don't happen to very much like what your brain comes up with. However, just before you can hang up, delete her number, and smash the phone for good measure, she cuts back in.

"Whatever, dude; I'm just fuckin' with you. Enjoy the time off."

Before you can say another thing, she's hung up, and you're still just standing there with your mouth open like a dumbass. Perhaps it's for the best that she never continued to question you, because what would you have really said about your "friend" that was over? That the "friend" was actually a villain from a show that was already aimed at people years younger than yourself, and that she managed to scare you out of your own domain by doing nothing more than moving around a little bit?

Your shoulders slump, and you brush off the thoughts, finally turning to head back in and escape the cold. The doorknob practically freezes your hand, but you fight through and twist it a bit to the right, your free hand already working on removing the jacket as you push the door inward, the heat of the living space already embracing you. That slight burning smell from minutes ago still lingers in the air, something your nostrils aren't too pleased with, but you know you'll live.

You drop the jacket to the floor, and waste no time in heading back your bedroom. Chrysalis is thankfully in the same place you left her, but still not looking much better, which is both a good and bad thing in your current situation.

"I see you've finally come crawling back to me," she says with a hiss, her narrowed eyes staring you down. "Have you come to finally accept your Queen's rule?"

As fun as this might be in a dream or something, you're stuck in reality, so you know you have to hold your own ground. Maybe you can somehow work out those incredible lying powers you used on your friend a couple moments ago.

"I want you out."

Just like that, you're off to a fantastic start. There's no possible way that anything from here on out can possibly go wrong in any way for you.

"'Out'? Why ever would I want to go back out there? It's absolutely frozen!"

"Listen, I don't know, and I don't care, but please, I think it's time you left."

She took a second, glancing left and saying, "But I've only just arrived, and, besides, how can we possibly have any fun if I'm out the door?"

She finishes with a quick flick of her tail. Though the words came out weak, you're still pretty much able to take away all you needed to, and it would be a lie to say the Internet hadn't managed to make you even a little interested. Still, this is your home, so you need to be tough, though tough doesn't seem to be working, so you'll just have to start compromising instead. 

"Fine, I guess, you don't have to leave, but can you please just stay out of the way for awhile?"

She tilts her head up, hopefully considering what you said. You make back towards the door, placing your hand on the handle and stepping almost completely through the doorframe.

"Why should I - "

You close the door, effectively cutting her off, though it doesn't sound like she's stopped yet. You turn and head to the kitchen, grabbing a few paper towels upon arrival, then head back to the couch, where you proceed to try and soak up all the moisture from the carpeting. Your stupid towels don't seem to do much though, as the floor's still moist even after you deem the task complete.

You sigh and head back to the kitchen, where you assemble the ingredients and make a simple peanut butter sandwich. A sudden hunger overtakes you, and you dig right in where you stand. You finish a whole minute later, not really feeling full, but still knowing that there are bigger things to worry about.

You head back to the couch, and a brief flash of Chrysalis laying across the bed flashes through your mind; you don't know why, but you roll with it and act like it never happened. The cushions seem to be more comfortable right now than they usually are, which surprises you. The television's still silently playing something, but you couldn't even begin to guess what; it looks like something to do with singing.

A single soft knock comes from the bedroom door, startling you back to attention. You just about jump back on to your feet, then quickly make for the door. You waste no time in opening it upon arrival, but are confused after finding only a wadded-up shirt on the floor and Chrysalis still not having moved anywhere. It takes a second, but you remember that that jagged thing on her face is a horn, and what that entails.

"You desire more already?"

"Can it." The words leave your mouth so fast that you're surprised you actually even said them.

"Excuse me?" she asks, snarling as her horn lights up, illuminating the room with a faint green glow.

Shit. You might actually have to think about what you say, and who knows how much effort that's going to take. It's almost as if Chrysalis' arrival is changing your life in more ways than one.

"I mean, uh, what would you like?" you correct, saving yourself from who knows what.

She takes a moment to collect herself again, or something like that; all you really know is that her horn stops glowing.

"Well, creature, what I desire is really quite simple..." she begins, trailing off.

Well, really, you're not sure if she's trailed off or just can't talk right, but you've met more than a few assholes in your time, so you figure it best not to ask. Either way, it would seem she's obviously waiting for you to say something, so you don't have too much of a choice. 

"And that would be?" you ask, motioning at her with your hands.

She lets out something between a sigh and a laugh (a "slaugh", if you will), then focuses really hard directly on you, staring you dead in the eye sockets.

"You, I want you."

Well, this was certainly unexpected; the Queen of the Changelings herself just put it all out on the table for you, probably for her own nefarious purposes, and she's now...what? Expecting you to just take advantage of the offer? That would be totally unlike you, no matter what a few late-night browsing sessions may say towards the contrary.

You roll your head around twice on your shoulders, groaning, then stare the Changeling right in her own oddly large eye sockets.

"Hey, listen, now really isn't a good time, Chry...creature, whatever you - "

Another snarl from Chrysalis' direction gets you back on topic; luckily, she bought out your mistake this time, but you'll have to be more careful.

"Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that you need to leave."

She huffs and rolls her eyes, dismissing your statement.

"I'm being serious here; I'm really sorry the weather's the way it is outside, but you need to get yourself out of here and go somewhere else. I don't even really care where that somewhere else is, I just want you out."

She looks at you pleadingly now, her whole demeanor suddenly seeming to change at the finishing of your statement. It's actually a pretty cute face, but "cute" can't pay the bills around here; in fact, "cute" would only add on to said bills, making Chrysalis even more of a horrible roommate. You see her bottom lip begin to quiver, and she swivels around so her front half now faces you, hanging her hooves off the edge of the bed.

"But, wait, you can't honestly be thinking what I think you're thinking, can you? You wouldn't dare just throw your Queen out in that blizzard, would you?"

Her persuasion skills, if that's even what that was an attempt at, seem pretty weak, but her delivery sounds incredibly sincere, the half-whispered words flowing out of her mouth like honey. You thought you had a pretty sweet handle on the situation, but now you're not so sure.

No, you have to take a stand and make your point; she's a living cartoon, and living cartoons like her are not welcome inside your home. You turn back towards the door once more, this time planning on leaving and returning to an empty room.

You can hear Chrysalis shuffling around on the bed.

"And just where do you think you're going now?" she asks, all previous emotion removed from her voice.

Without turning back to look at any art of her, you simply look down at your hand where it rests on the handle and say, "I'm going back outside, and, when I get back, I want it to be like you were never here."

She doesn't reply at first, instead choosing to wait until just before the door closes all the way.

"Wait!" she shrieks uncharacteristically. 

You open it back up slightly, peeking through the crack to barely see her moving her hooves away from her mouth.

"What could you possibly want now?"

"You...you don't honestly expect me to just throw myself back out there, do you? Out in to the cold and dark?"

You actually take a moment to think over the question, despite having an answer rooted in your mind for the past few minutes. Do you really have it in you to push an extremely rare creature out to fend for itself? Sure, said creature has some gnarly horn-thing on its head, and, yeah, there's some magic in there, too, but the world you live in today doesn't really seem to care for magical anything. Still, your life is something you'd like to continue living in the same fashion you always have, so sacrifices have to be made.

"Yes."

With that, you slam the door before she can even think about getting another word in.

As you plop yourself back down on the couch, you reach for the remote and turn the volume up just a little bit.

"I'll tell you what, Greg, it doesn't look like this storm's gonna be letting up anytime soon; projected temperatures are in the high thirty's, low forty's as this rough patch rolls over us in to about sometime three days or so from now, when it'll start..."

The meteorologist doesn't really trail off right there, but he might as well have, as the volume on the television is muted. 

You sigh heavily, now feeling just a twinkle of remorse for being as rude as you were to Chrysalis; however, she has been characterized as a pretty good manipulator in a story or two you've come across, so your feelings about the situation almost balance themselves out. You decide to wait until the news is over before doing anything else, a decision that saw you doing nothing but sitting and staring blankly at a screen for ten straight minutes. After the last credit fades, you tell yourself you'll do whatever it takes to get Chrysalis gone before she can get the chance to try and ruin your life, then stand up and head straight back to your bedroom, throwing the door open in a rather overly-dramatic fashion.

You survey the situation as best you can in the dim lighting. Chrysalis doesn't seem to have moved an inch during the time you gave her, which means that she, like you, is deciding to be incredibly defiant against what the other party wants.

"Well, well, well," you say just a bit cockishly. "Is there a reason you haven't left yet?"

She says nothing, turning her head slightly away from you. 

"Well?"

You know you sound like an ass right now; it's what you feel is appropriate for the situation, but you also feel a bit wrong assuming such a role. Never before have you ever felt the need to try and be as harsh as you have to Chrysalis, yet, again sacrifices need to be made for the greater good. 

Chrysalis carries her silence on, though she does move her head back again, positioning it in such a way that it looks as if she's staring at you head-on, the soft, green glow from her eyes faintly illuminating the bridge of her snout.

Unfortunately, you have a terrible time picking up some things, such as reading emotions from wide, green eyes, so this part of the encounter is all but lost to you. You can assume, however, that since you want her gone and she knows it, Chrysalis is probably pretty miffed. 

As such, in preparation for an imminent attack, you take the best unassuming defensive stance you can, which honestly isn't that great; if anything, it makes you even less prepared. 

"Creature," you say, "I don't know who or what you are, but this is the last straw; you will leave my house right now, or suffer the consequences."

That felt pretty good to say, making you feel like you really know what you're doing right now, until you realize that, when you said "consequences", you meant "I'll roll over and do anything, just don't kill me".

Things fall deathly silent, and you prepare to beg for your life, but Chrysalis seems to want to take the conversation in a whole other direction. 

"Very well, I'll leave," she says, defeated. 

It wasn't at all what you expected to hear. You actually begin to mentally pat yourself on the back, but she continues. 

"May I ask something of you though, first?"

You quickly decide that, if she's willing to roll over for you, you can do the same for her. 

"Yes, you may."

She takes a deep breath and sighs. 

"Have you ever lost something, Creature?"

"Well, of cour - "

"I do not mean something petty, such as a volume of one's favorite story, or a piece of jewelery, something replaceable; I wish to know if you have ever lost something...more."

You aren't sure if you're tracking or not, so you remain silent. 

"I myself have recently lost a great deal, though it's apparent you wouldn't understand."

"Hey, my dog ran away when I was ten, and it killed me, so I think I know a thing or two about loss."

She chuckles softly at your comment, completely undermining whatever point you just tried to make. 

"A dog? You truly believe that a simple dog could ever measure up to the things I've come to lose? Tell me then, did you have to raise the dog up from birth? Did you ever look upon the dog and see...and see yourself in it's face? Were you helpless to watch - "

Her words catch in her throat. You can swear to see her eyes grow damp, and a soft whine begins to work its way in-between the two of you. Still, she pushes on. 

"Were you ever helpless to watch this dog, this spitting-image of you...die...over and over again because of mistakes you'd made?

You were really at a loss for words now, and actually felt like an even bigger piece of shit than you did a few minutes ago. 

"Have you ever been ripped violently from your home and thrust in to someplace you never knew existed, torn away from everything and everyone you ever - "

This time, it's you who cuts her off, simply holding a hand out in midair. She notices, the whine stops, and her eyes close. You put your arm back by your side and take a moment to think about what to say, wanting to make absolute certain you are one-thousand percent behind whatever your next move will be. 

Her eyes open again, now positioned lower and more closed than they were before, so you assume she's put her head down. The faint glow from before also seems to have become a lot fainter, now leaving her face completely in darkness. 

The room quiets back down, and, no longer fearing attack, you drop your defensive stance. You think you've figured out what you want to do next, but the problem lies in how you want to try and execute it. 

Throwing caution to the wind, you take a single step towards Chrysalis and the bed, testing out the waters; if she's not having any of it, she'll no doubt let you know, which will act as your cue to initiate Plan B. However, she does nothing aside from focus her attention you, though without lifting her head. 

You then take another step, and then another, and then another, until you find yourself about half-a-foot or so away from the edge of the bed. 

"So far, so good," you think, completing Phase One of your plan without a hitch. 

Now comes the hard part: getting her to talk again. Fortunately, you practiced what you planned to say during the seconds-long walk over, and now all you had to do was get it out in the open. 

You look down at her and let your mind take over.

"Hey, listen, Chrysalis - "

Fuck. Shit. 

You mutter another curse out loud; your brain has betrayed you once again.

From your vantage point above her, you can see Chrysalis' ears instantly perk up at your calling of her name. She extends her neck and lifts her head, then leans closer towards you; you notice what appears to be single tear rolling down her cheek.

"H-how do you know my name?"

And, just like that, the hard questions start to roll towards you like an out-of-control train. What would even come close to being an acceptable, or even understandable, answer? 'Oh, you know, I watch your show and read some stuff on the side'? You have to think quickly, lest your whole operation turn to more shit in the blink of an eye.

You open your mouth to begin spewing some kind of nonsense, but she saves you the trouble and instead asks if she can just have a moment to herself, which you agree to without hesitation, but your legs apparently never get the message.

You look over at the little digital clock on the bedside table, trying hard but ultimately just guessing what time the little red numbers display. You really do want to try and explain at least a little bit of this crazy situation to her, and maybe have her do the same for you, but perhaps now wasn't the time for it, especially since she's apparently here to stay for a little while, which is just another thing you'll have to figure out how to deal with. You weigh your options for the night, then end up picking the one that gets you one step closer to actually sleeping sooner rather than later.

You slowly start to move back towards the door, stopping once and turning back to say, "Hey, uh, I'm going to be making a snack or two out in the kitchen in a few. If you want in, just come on out and we'll, uh...we'll figure something out for you, alright?"

She nods slowly and silently, which is when you finally take your leave, closing the door behind yourself. Hopefully she'll come out soon and try to eat something you have, and then maybe she'll reward you even more by never bringing up you knowing her name before she gave it ever again.

You plop down on the couch, getting as comfortable as humanly possible, then, after what must have been a solid five minutes of waiting and staring at the nook that hides away the door to your bedroom, you turn your attention once more towards the silent screen and opt to instead listen for anything from your bedroom.

Two whole commercial breaks go by before the door creaks open and Chrysalis steps out.

She clears her throat hard as she slinks around the corner, though she still sounds a bit raspy as she announces, "After thinking upon your offer, your Queen has decided to come out and feast; She is feeling quite famished after her journey."

Wow. The first thing that hits you, besides the fact that she's actually acting pretty calm for once, is how much different she looks. Now, you don't really have anything to base her appearance off of other than a general assumption that someone of her stature, at least in a cartoon world, would always look prim and proper, with nary a single hair out of place, but the creature in front of you is the complete opposite. Now that she's up, moving, and under actual lighting, you find yourself able to pick up on things you had no way of noticing before, like how the faint and drying trails of her tears from earlier served as interesting contrasts to her otherwise stark black coat, or just how exhausted and worn out she really looked, both physically and mentally.

You figure that, if she is faking this whole thing, she's a pretty great actress.

It takes a second, but you nod at her and stand up, finally turning off the T.V. and heading for the pantry with Chrysalis silently in tow.
> Part I, Chapter III - Unanswered Questions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You stand in the kitchen eating your second sandwich of the night. Chrysalis, however, is just staring at you with half-lidded eyes, the green in them, once practically glowing and very prominent, now dull and lifeless. You had offered her something to eat, but she refused, and now, five minutes later, she's just staring, and things are starting to get weird. 

You swallow your current bite, place the sandwich down on the counter, and stare right back at the changeling, hoping to guilt her into stopping. 

A moment and a sigh later, you see her eyes move up from where they were locked (somewhere around your stomach you guess) to look straight into yours. You are finally able to get a good look, and are somewhat surprised to discover they almost look like a cat's eyes, a discovery which confuses you even more in regards as to whatever the hell a changeling really is. 

The two of you fall into a staring contest of sorts, and, although you put up a real good fight, Chrysalis beats you seemingly without even having to try. Her small victory pushes you over the edge; you know in your heart that you have got to do something, and fast. 

Unfortunately, your brain apparently forgets how to do anything between now and a few minutes ago, and the way you end up standing a whole countertop away from a creature of Chrysalis' stature with an open-wide mouth and one hand on a hip looks quite foolish. This, of course, is all made even worse by the state of disarray the rest of you is in after the other events that have occured over this completely crazy night. 

Luckily though, your silly antics pay off, managing to get you somewhere without you even having to try. Chrysalis, not looking any better herself after her own crazy night, cracks a very small smile and lets it rest upon her face for a few short seconds.

The sight of a smile through all of her apparent misery seems like it would be warm enough to melt all of the snow outside, but it isn't very long before the changeling closes back up and looks once more towards the countertop, forcing you to resort back to your incredibly quick thinking and wit. 

Now, if this were another human, male or female, you are almost one-hundred percent sure that the conversation would be off the chain, and you and your acquaintance would be almost instantaneous friends, but all of that flies out the window with the advent of Chrysalis being a creature that does not happen to exist within your universe. This unfortunately gives you virtually nothing that could even begin to pass as a "common experience", which basically means that you are up a very long and treacherous creek without even the slightest thought of a paddle. Still, you have to try something, if not for her sake, then for yours. 

"So..." you shakily begin, thinking that you had had something pretty outstanding to say, but instead end up trailing off almost instantly. 

The idea of carrying a steady conversation with Chrysalis is really a very simple one, even actually kind of pleasant, provided she is not still the bitch she was for most of her time spent in your bedroom, but for some reason, nothing comes to mind to say. You mentally take note of the fact that it is apparently extremely difficult to have something incredibly strange and out of the ordinary happen without explanation, and then just carry on with life as if said thing had never happened; you then make sure to put extra emphasis towards the fact that it is even worse when the previously mentioned thing ends up staying at your place. 

Chrysalis glances back up, and you figure you have got a very small window of opportunity to take the most advantage of before losing her again, and that is something you don't intend to do... at least, not until you can coax out a few answers. 

"Yeah", you chuckle, beginning again, this time with more confidence. "So, are you sure you don't want anything to eat? I know I don't have much, but it's better than nothing, you know?"

The Changeling Queen sighs, then slowly answers, "No, Creature, for your Queen has already told you, She is doing quite all ri - "

She is interrupted by a low grumbling from her gut. 

If the circumstances had been literally anything other than what they were now, you would have considered letting out a little chuckle at how Chrysalis was acting, but you hold yourself back, thinking instead that something like that would be just a tad bit inappropriate for the time being. 

"Come on, are you sure you don't want even a little nibble of something?" you ask, subtly pushing the sandwich closer towards your guest.

She notices your action almost instantly, so it probably was not really all that subtle, but it at least looks like she might actually be considering it. In that same instant though, another rumble from her gut looks like it finally makes her want to accept your help, as much as she no doubt does not want to. However, Chrysalis herself still takes another second before finally coming around and accepting your help; apparently, a ruthless figure such as herself is not allowed to take anything from anybody, even if that something meant the difference between eventual life and death. 

She rolls her eyes, and, despite being in a weakened state, the bitchiness of the act still hits you full-force. 

"Very well. Your Queen will partake of your offerings."

Finally.

You reach for the loaf of bread and a knife, but then it hits you: you have no idea what something like her eats. You have seen that she has obviously got the teeth and makeup of a carnivore, but the show she was a part of, itself mostly full of herbivores, never had a scene of the Queen eating anything. Your hand has already touched the loaf by the time the realization hit though, and you do not want to risk anything and make everything even weirder, so you resort back to your special set of people skills. 

You quickly reach in and grab a slice, and then, without missing a beat, stab the knife right in to the center of said slice; not repeatedly, and not so much as to destroy the poor thing, just one single stab straight in the center. 

The whole apartment falls silent, save for the howling of the winds outside. You, feeling quite proud of your work, smile like an idiot and look back up at Chrysalis, who looks just as unamused as ever, though maybe even more so now. 

She stares at you for a moment; not in any particular place, mind you, just at you, in your general direction. Then she looks down at the knifed slice of bread for just as long before looking back up at you, no doubt trying her best to comprehend what possessed you to do something like that. 

Now it is your turn to admire your work. 

You notice rather quickly that Chrysalis is not emoting anything, so you look down at the bread and instantly become just as unamused as she. 

You scramble to remove the knife from the bread, feeling your face grow warmer as a blush spreads across your face while you chuckle nervously and mutter something about how you are a dumbass and totally know how to cook. This misery of yours goes on though, for in a last ditch effort to apparently make yourself seem like the most normal person in the history of the world, you slam the knife back down on the countertop and shove half of the slice in to your mouth, chewing and swallowing it faster than you thought possible of yourself. 

As the mushy substance slides down your throat, you realize you have made a mistake, and move to grip the counter and begin trying to counteract the sudden onset hiccups that begin to barrage your being as a result of you eating too fast. The spasming of your diaphragm shakes you to your core, and it is beginning to hurt a little bit, seeing as to how you cannot seem to go for more than about four seconds before another hiccup rocks your world.

And, just to add some sprinkles to the shit cake that is your evening, you can feel Chrysalis' glare cutting through you, almost like a knife would through, say, a slice of bread. 

The hiccups end as suddenly as they began, only to be replaced by a short fit of coughs while you try to regain your breath and lose some unnecessary color from your face. After making sure you were absolutely, one-hundred percent finished dying, you still find yourself taking a second before finally looking back up at your guest, but in all honesty, the way she's looking at you is not too much better than what just occurred. 

You can just tell from a quick glance that she thought you were stupid. Hell, you really would have had to have been the stupidest person in the world to not think you looked even just a little bit stupid. You then start to feel even stupider because you are certain that all of the progress you thought you were making back over in your bedroom was now all for naught, but then Chrysalis pulls a complete one-eighty and does something that surprises you for what you're sure won't be the last time:

She begins to laugh. 

And it is not just a coy smile and a hand - or a hoof, in her case - over the mouth either; it is a full-on, honest-to-goodness laugh. For the first time since you had met her, she is finally showing some explicit kind of emotion, and the simple fact that the first real thing she exhibits is happiness almost manages to make up for the crumby day you've been having thus far. Still, instead of being a big grouch, you decide to just let her have her moment and rejoice in a small victory while the sounds of laughter fill up your living space. 

After about half a minute, Chrysalis comes back down to your level, and the place quiets back down with her. She takes a deep breath and recomposes herself as best she can before resuming quietly staring at you. 

It takes a moment, but you finally throw out an earnest, "Well, do you at least feel a bit better now?"

She takes her own time to respond, almost as if she were trying to see how long you would be willing to wait before saying something else. Finally though, she replies with a rather smart-ass reply: "I do not believe that that's quite how such a thing works, Creature."

Wow, awesome! Through some grace of a higher being, not only did you happen to find a Changeling Queen on your balcony, you found a damn Changeling Comedian, too! 

The urge to simply walk away from the situation continues to be incredibly strong, but no matter how much your mind wanders towards suggesting leaving, you cannot help but feel that this thing in your home is now your responsibility, and that means you will actually have to take care of it, as tragic as it sounds. If she were a dog or something, you feel one-hundred percent sure that everything would be hunky-dory all the time, but instead, you have found yourself holed up with a rather judgemental and randomly emotional creature from another universe, so it looks like things for you are just going to have to suck for a bit. 

You take a quick breath, pinching the bridge of your nose as you do so. Well, you think, if you're going to be stuck, you might as well be stuck with someone - or something - you know. 

With that simple thought, it is as if a switch somewhere in your brain is finally switched in some direction, whether on or off, because all of the things you could not think to say earlier finally come flowing out. 

"So, what exactly are you?"

Once again, she takes her time to respond, though this time it seems like she is doing so more to let herself think of an answer than to mess with you. Then she puts a holed hoof on her chest and speaks as if she has had to explain this very thing several times before. 

"I, as you so obviously seem to not be aware, am a changeling, a highly-advanced race of shape-shifting beings capable of becoming almost any other living being that we so desire."

And that was all she said. 

Luckily for you though, you had previously read just a little bit more about the changelings somewhere on the Internet a day or so ago, so you are not left completely in the dark. Besides, as nice as it would be to get just a little bit extra from the source herself, you are currently more than happy to simply take any little bits you can and run with them; at least you are getting something out of her. 

Anyway, you feel that it is now time to move on and get to things that you already kind of know, yet still want to hear out loud just so you can talk about them a little bit more. 

"Where are you changelings from?"

Again, she does not answer immediately, which is apparently an appropriate thing to do where she is from, or at least that is the best you can figure. Still, it comes out, just after a wee bit longer wait than the first time. 

"I am from a far away land, one that someone the likes of you would never understand, could never even hope to."

Yeah, a world full of ponies and vibrant colors; real incomprehensible, jerk, you think to yourself. 

After the disappointment of her seeming unwilling to answer a question in anything more than short, vague responses, you quickly decide to start hitting the real questions, the ones that matter, so just like that, you jump right in. 

"Tell me, does Her Highness have a name?"

Without missing a beat though, Chrysalis very quickly asks back, "What do you care, Creature?"

The questioning catches you off-guard, and it is as if that switch that let you think clearly for the past few minutes was suddenly switched back in the opposite direction. And what does that even mean, 'What do you care?' You care because you are more than likely going to have to live with this thing for a while, and it would be kind of nice to not have it be a total stranger, especially since she is obviously already just going to be a huge bitch. 

Still, you are once again thrust into a position of not knowing how to handle what could be a very simple situation had it been previously handled just about any other way, and that almost managed to worry you more than the impossible event occuring within your home. 

You begin tripping over your reply almost immediately, somehow still managing to sputter out something that sounds like, "Because I'm need to know where you is from, maybe?"

Chrysalis just rolls her eyes and huffs, her shoulders drooping as her eyes gaze over and away from the kitchen to who knows where. She gives herself a second, taking a deep breath, sighing, and shuddering before standing up and quickly heading off to somewhere else, apparently tired of listening to you trying to save what little conversation there was. 

You hold yourself back, briefly fighting with yourself over whether or not you should say something else, but once again, it ultimately does not matter what you might have eventually picked, for the stupid side of you beats out everything else. 

"Stop," you call out, taking a step forward, one foot now out of the kitchen and in to the living room. 

Chrysalis freezes before turning around, which is when you see the first few tears of another round begin rolling their way down her face. Does she ever do anything other than cry and be sad?

No matter how she may or may not act, though, you realize that you have obviously screwed up once again, but also now know in your gut that you are going to be in this thing for the long haul; no matter what, you are not going to back down again until you get answers to all of your questions. 

However, instead of jumping straight in to the actual demanding, your first step on the journey towards discovery apparently involves some damage control. Though you know with absolute certainty that you did nothing wrong just now, or at least cannot think of anything you did, something in the back of your head is still nagging at you to apologize, so you do. 

"Hey, sorry, I'm sorry. I've just got a lot of things on my mind right now, and you being here isn't helping all that much. I mean, like..."

Dammit.

That probably just made it worse, or something real close to "worse". You are not quite exactly sure what on earth would have told you that telling an obviously distressed creature that its arrival was only helping to make everything worse would be a good idea, but it seems to get a reaction anyway, though it is one you would have never expected. 

Wiping a tear from her face, Chrysalis squeaks out, "No, Creature, your Queen is the one that should be apologizing right now."

"What the fuck do you mean?"

The question hangs in the air for a moment before it registers that you actually said it aloud and not inside your head. You open your mouth to try and patch things up once again, but Chrysalis cuts you off, straightening a bit as she does so. 

"What Your Highness means, Creature, is that she is trying apologize before heading back to her chambers. If you would not appreciate the gesture, I will gladly leave and come back sometime in the morning."

You cannot believe your ears. Chrysalis apologizing to you for something that was not even anybody's fault? This whole thing has only been going on for about two hours or so, from discovery to right now, but Chrysalis has already topped her little surprise from earlier.  

You are not really even sure how to respond to her, so you do not bother with such a thing, instead choosing to just stand exactly where you are and watch her eyes, themselves continuing to glisten as they watch you for any reaction. However, neither of you seem to see anything in the other, so Chrysalis makes the first move and continues back to your bedroom without so much as another glance in your direction. 

You eventually do move, too, sometime shortly after hearing the door to your bedroom slam shut, yet still manage to remain just as flabbergasted at the Queen's actions as you had been. 

First of all, "her chambers"? It's your room! Just because she is all big and powerful does not mean she can just take whatever she wants from you! Well, you know, it does, in a way, but that is beside the point. 

Second, seriously, what the hell is going on with her? You have nothing to compare this behavior to aside from two episodes of a television show, but you are almost one-hundred percent certain that the way Chrysalis is acting is not normal in any way, shape, or form.

Maybe it is the change of scenery, you think, but it might also be the fact that it's freezing cold outside, which, just by looking at Chrysalis, doesn't seem to be her kind of weather. Hell, it could really be anythig, but you still doubt that you would be able to guess it on your own without getting at least one part of it wrong.  

Now you stand alone once again, wondering if you should try and get after Chrysalis to see what was wrong with her, or just to go get your bedroom back. 

You look back to see all the ingredients from earlier out, so you make it your mission to first put all of them away, that way they won't go bad and leave you without food for a little bit. Then you rinse off the two knives that were used, quickly drying and placing them back in their rightful drawer. 

Finally, with the place looking a bit more presentable once again, you steel your nerves and head towards your bedroom. 




***




Almost two whole minutes pass before you realize that you have been doing nothing more than standing in front of the bedroom door. Not knocking or anything, no, just kind of standing there, minding your own business, like you were just waiting for things to suddenly change on their own.  

Unfortunately though, you know deep down that none of this will change on its own, no matter how hard you really hope it would. So, after mustering up whatever courage you could, you give your bedroom door three soft knocks, waiting a moment before proceeding; you did still have manners, after all. 

Then, although a bit muffled, you hear a quick reply: nothing more than an allowance to enter. 

You take it, snatching up the offer and throwing open the door before literally thrusting yourself head-first in to the room. Upon entering, you are relieved to find that nothing is too out of the ordinary, aside from the obvious, and that really helps to calm one or two of your bigger worries right now. 

However, you have bigger fish to fry than whatever state your room may or may not currently be in; you want answers, and you want them now. 

Suddenly feeling more confident in yourself, you cut the shit and jump straight in to things. 

"Alright, changeling, the time has come. I'm sure you know why I'm in here, yes?"

Her only response is a simple look of confusion, which kind of kills your vibe, but you press on. 

"Very well, I guess I'll just tell you, then. I'm here for you to tell me everything I need to know about whatever the hell it is that you are, and I'm not leaving until you - "

You are cut-off just a bit more forcefully than you would have expected, though you honestly should have seen it coming. Chrysalis' horn lights up and glows green, same as your body as she magically lifts you up off the ground. The stage is obviously hers now, and you are not even going to do much as breathe a single breath of non-agreement. 

"Let me make one thing clear for you, Creature: I will not bend to your every pathetic whim, no matter what you may or may not be hoping to achieve with each one. However, seeing as to how your Queen is certainly not a fool and the predicament that we two have found ourselves in is extremely odd, I will allow you to ask me a few of your silly little questions. However, should I say that we're finished - "

She pauses, both for dramatic effect and to allow herself a brief moment to tighten the grip she has over your entire being; it certainly sent a message, and it sent it well. 

" - should I say we're finished, know now that I am being completely serious."

You manage a nod despite her magical grip, and then she releases you, not taking her eyes off of you as you drop the short distance back to the ground, the somewhat loud sound no doubt making your neighbors downstairs just a little bit mad, especially at such a late hour. 

You straighten back up, then fix your sights on Chrysalis. 

"So, I guess that, since I've already asked your where it is you're from and what you are, do you think it would be too far outside the realm of possibility for me to finally get your name?"

And at the asking of your first question, Chrysalis' mind seems to go completely blank, as she does nothing more than just stare at you, though "through you" seems to be a more apt description of how hard her gaze is. 

What could she possibly be thinking? Is she concocting some elaborate lie? As soon as you think the thought though, you realize you are not entirely sure why she would suddenly feel the need to lie to you, as everything else that has come out tonight, no matter how strange, has appeared to be pretty sincere, especially the rude stuff. 

In the end, you simply decide not to rush anything, no matter what might really be happening in her head, and that seems to be the best route to take, as Chrysalis comes back moments later with an answer. 

"Your Queen has decided that such a thing is still irrelevant at this time.You may continue, but do not attempt such a thing again. Do you understand, Creature?"

You have to try hard to bite your tongue down hard enough to keep yourself from questioning her. If she didn't want her name out, yet was fine disclosing some information about her race, where was the line drawn? As with the rest of the night, not much was making all that much sense, and you cannot say you are really enjoying it. 

You take a brief moment to plot the rest of your current course of action, then move on to your next question. 

"Would you mind telling me how you got here?"

It is blunt, yes, but you see no other way of getting the information you want without being explicit and straightforward. 

Chrysalis is obviously confused by the question, and makes no attempt to hide that fact when she asks, "What ever do you mean?"

You are not all that certain why, yet you feel as if you are in a position of some kind of power right now. There is a part of you that is sure this is because you are currently better at masking your confusion, but it helps to boost your self-esteem a bit to just think you are simply the better party in this current situation. 

A smug smirk comes out of nowhere and plants itself on your face while you watch Chrysalis try and interpret your question. Waiting though, at least in this instance, does not seem to be what your brain wants to do, so you launch in to some kind of ramble against her. 

"I think you know exactly what I mean, and now you're just trying to play dumb or cute or something to try and make me forget about it."

If Chrysalis was not confused before, she definitely is now. Words try and fail to leave her mouth, while your brain has apparently gotten itself stuck on automatic and will not shut up. 

"Yeah, I think you know exactly how and why you ended up here in my apartment: you chose me! You somehow knew about everything I had going on here, and so you - "

Instantly, you are once again enveloped in Chrysalis' magic and slammed in to the wall opposite your bed much harder than before. Your head seems to absorb the majority of the impact, which sends your vision swimming. You feel lightheaded, and wish to be back on solid ground so as to just lie down and recover, but Chrysalis keeps you firmly against the wall. 

You know that you have obviously struck a chord, and should have just stopped as soon as Chrysalis could not think of anything to say, but now you are just going to have to face the consequences of your actions, whatever those "consequences" may end up being. 

In a flash, Chrysalis herself is upon you, too, vicious snarl plastered on her face, and the tip of her gnarled horn, still glowing green, poised to stab you straight through the neck. 

For a moment, all you can hear is the hum of her magic and your combined heavy breaths. She pushes her horn up against your throat, the surprisingly cold appendage cooling your otherwise warm flesh.

You assume Chrysalis wants you looking at her while she puts on this display, but you simply will not. Really the last thing you want to do is give her any kind of opening. 

"Your Queen is very disapproving of your tone, Creature!" she snarls, tightening her grip. "And she does not care for your insinuations, either! How dare you assume that she would ever intentionally want to be banished to a wretched place such as this!"

Banished? Well there is a word that has not been thrown around too much tonight. Just like that, the conversation is becoming interesting again; the only thing to figure out now was how to get her to keep talking about it without getting yourself hurt anymore. 

It takes you a few seconds, but you eventually manage to work out a good enough plan in your head, then kick everything you have in to high-gear. 

However, just as soon as you open your mouth to initiate Phase One of your brilliant plan, Chrysalis releases you, without warning, from her magical grip, then turns back to the bed. 

As you drop, every part of the plan you had just constructed is quickly forgotten while another one takes its place, and you carefully probe the back of your head to make sure that there is not any damage. After feeling certain that there indeed is not anything wrong, you return the majority of your attention to the changeling; you also briefly think that maybe now was not the best time to go looking for serious answers. 

"You know," you say, watching as she hops on to the bed and curls up, likely trying to make herself as small as possible so as to fit on the mattress, "you could've just explained some of that stuff to me earlier, and then everything here could've gone down a lot smoother."

It was bullshit, of course, and you knew it, making sure to remember that she did not disclose anything to you. This was actually the second plan that you had come up with: a (hopefully) quick way to remove yourself from the situation before the emotionally-unstable Changeling Queen really went off on you. 

And, as expected, instead of offering up anything else in response to what you had said, Chrysalis simply falls silent for the umpteenth time tonight, turning her head so you cannot see anything but the back of it. It is also at that moment that you realize that whatever conversation you might have had going has finally stopped dead in its tracks. Honestly, all you really want to do now is just give Chrysalis some space and time to work through all of her feelings on her own. You are also pretty glad that things seemed to have calmed back down between the two of you, though it seems like a thing such as random peace would be kind of a given thing to be thankful for. 

And so it is, that with those thoughts, you make up your mind and turn to leave, managing to get one foot out the door before she suddenly calls your name, surprising you enough to draw your attention fully back to her. 

She turns her head back towards you, takes a deep breath, then quietly asks, "Tell me, Creature, what do you a queen is without any of her subjects? Without her glorious kingdom? What could she possibly be, other than a failure?"

The question makes you pause. Nothing you can think to say sounds good enough in your head to say out loud, especially when you still are not entirely sure what it is she is talking about. Finally though, it hits you: a nice little sentiment that you do not think could possibly come back to bite you in the future in any way. 

"I'm not sure... but you can always be the queen of this apartment, I guess."

She looks as if she is totally taken aback by the suggestion, but then, for the briefest moment, literally half a blink of an eye, you swear you see Chrysalis crack a small smile. However, it disappears again just as quickly, and then she reverts back to being her usual stone-cold self. 

"Well then, I suppose this is where we shall part for the night," she says. 

"Yeah," you say back, "I suppose so."

As you turn again to leave, for real this time, you linger, feeling as though you should say something else to her, just to get it out in the open, but you have no idea what. You focus hard on Chrysalis, who is just laying there, staring back at you with those dark green eyes of hers, and you think about how, since she first woke up earlier, you have not been able to get a real precise read on her emotions, other than her little bout of laughter earlier; everything else was pure guess work, though that seemed to be mostly correct anyway. This thought that you have no real idea of what Chrysalis is thinking at any given point in your interactions certainly troubles you on some deeper level, but not enough right now to warrant you to do anything drastic to change things.

Still though, -

"Go to sleep, Creature... "

You hear Chrysalis' voice, loud and clear enough to make it seem that she had said it out loud, yet you swear you did not see her lips move, so that should not have been possible. Perhaps it was just the way the room was lit though, something real small like that that really doesn't end up being anything. Either way, you quickly shrug the event off and turn back towards the doorway, also thinking you could see Chrysalis give a sly wink or something just before she leaves your field of vision, but shrug that off just as quickly, too.

The door clicks, signaling its full closing, but stil, you keep a hand on the handle. Like with apparently everything else you do, you are not entirely sure why you stick by the door; it is almost like there is something keeping you hanging around, like the door to your bedroom has suddenly become the most important thing in your life. And then, just like that, the feeling is gone, disappearing without explanation as quickly as it appeared. 

You give your head a good shake, momentarily rattling your vision and clearing your thoughts, then make quick for the couch, where you toss one of the many blankets laying around just up on to the piece of furniture before heading to turn out the kitchen lights. You flick the switches and the room is instantly cloaked in darkness, with only the faint glow of the apartment complex's streetlights just barely managing to shine in through both the thick fall of the snowstorm and your window's blinds. 

You take the few steps back to the couch and throw yourself under a blanket, propping your head up comfortably enough on one of the couch's stiff arm-rests. It definitely will not be one of the best sleeps of your life, but it will no doubt be one of the most well-deserved. 

As you settle down for sleep, feeling your eyelids rapidly growing heavier and heavier, you briefly wonder what Chrysalis could possibly be thinking about this whole situation, about you. Is she confident in her abilities, perhaps? Or is she just as worried as you? What will be her next move? Whatever she may be feeling, you know exactly how you feel right now: tomorrow is when you are finally going to buckle down and get in to the question asking, and not wuss out like you did earlier. You guess that you will also figure out how to actually do such a thing tomorrow, too. 

After that final definitive thought, stray questions and other things flitter about in your head, trying desperately to make themselves known before being washed away by waves of sleep, but even those that you manage to latch on to are soon pushed to the wayside. Everything really will just have to wait until later, you think, and then, just like that, you are off and dreaming about some poor bloke with their life changed drastically by the appearance of a strange creature from another dimension. 

Funny; almost sounds like your life right about now, you know. 




*****




Out from the darkness, the sound of a door slowly creaking open slices through the usual silence like a knife, though you are currently far too removed from the waking world to even begin to take notice of the event taking place. A somewhat tall and thin figure slips through the shadows, itself practically being one in situations such as this. It then stands still, taking in the surroundings through a more green-tinted version of night-vision, seeing everything with considerably less detail than in the light, though still being able to have enough common sense to assume what something or someone is. 

Chrysalis moves after a moment of this silent surveillance and takes up residence in front of the couch where you currently sleep. She has plenty on her mind that she needs to think through at the moment, and, unfortunately, most of the answers she needs seem to be lying within you. 

Still though, she does nothing, instead choosing to simply sit and observe tonight, needing to make absolute certain her plan will eventually go in to action with zero possible chance for failure waiting for her at any point along the way. 

This will be, without a doubt, one of the longest nights of both Chrysalis' unnaturally long life and your own slightly more normal one. 
> Part I, Chapter IV - New Day, New Beginnings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You wake up sometime hours later, but do not instantly open your eyes, not yet ready to fully greet the world. 

Your arms extend as far out as they possibly can, while a slight uncontrollable wiggle in your leg tosses the blanket off your leg. Instead of fishing to get it back over yourself though, you curl into the fetal position and fish your phone out from your pocket, making the first thing you see today your surprisingly bright screensaver. 

It takes a second to adjust, but you manage to focus long enough to make out that the time is now a little past eight in the morning; thank God you do not have work today, otherwise you would be up a creek. 

And, now that your eyes are finally open, you decide it is about time to give the new day a good looking at. Unfortunately though, one of the first things you see just about scares your pants off. 

Chrysalis is laying on her side, much like she did when you first brought her in, though this time seeming much more... alive. It is a somewhat odd sight to behold for many reasons, but some part of you makes a split-second choice to not think about any of them at the moment, and instead, you freeze up. 

What is she doing out here? Why isn't she in your room? What will happen if you wake her up? What will happen when she wakes herself up?

Questions race from one side of your head to another, but you manage to keep everything calm and collected on the outside. All you really know for certain right now is that you do not want a repeat of whatever nonsense you carried on with last night, because that would no doubt only make things worse for you than they already were (again). 

You slip your phone back into your pocket, suddenly becoming acutely aware of the sound your hand makes as it slides against both the inside of the pocket and the blanket.

With nothing better to do now than keep quiet, you twist your head to get a glance outside. Unfortunately though, there is not too much to look at other than a thick blanket snow, with a somewhat lighter covering on your balcony; how deep any of it truly is is hard to determine in your current situation. 

You tire of looking at frost, and instead turn back to observe at your guest. 

Once again, she is an incredibly odd creature, which is something that you just cannot get over, no matter what explanation you come up with to reason her design being what it is. And, if the jet-black coat did not grab your attention right away, there was a myriad of things decorating her body that would act as perfect substitutes. 

Take, for example, her long and gnraled horn, which sits at the top of her head, or rather, closer to the forehead: what purpose does it truly serve? You have seen many episodes of My Little Pony beforehand, but never once did you see anybody ever do anything like try and stab somebody else, so that couldn't be it. Perhaps it was really nothing more than a quick artistic choice of one of the people who worked on the show. 

That thought causes you to start thinking down a path totally unrelated to anything you were just doing, or the situation you have found yourself in: what would happen if Chrysalis were to see herself in some form of media if she believes that she is the only Chrysalis? 

All of your thoughts quickly start turning a bit too much towards a scene from Toy Story for your liking, so it actually relieves you slightly when Chrysalis makes her first move on the floor. However, such an action on her part also terrifies you, on account of your overactive thoughts contemplating whatever terrible fate may lie ahead. 

You panic and close your eyes until you can just barely see through your eyelashes, hoping that it tricks her into thinking you are still asleep, perhaps letting you get a sneak peek at what she may or may not have in mind for you. 

First, she sighs and stretches out all four legs as far as they can go, with the end of each hoof skimming the bottom front edge of the loveseat you are laying on. Then, in much the same fashion as a dog, she lifts her head without moving the rest of her body, giving quick glances around the immediate area, as if trying to remember were she is. Finally, her gaze settles on you for a moment before she lays back down, apparently alright with everything she has seen. 

You wait before letting out your own small sigh of relief, beyond relieved that nothing ended up happening; that unfortunately did not mean that something could not happen during her next stirring, though. 

The worry of what may or may not happen is actually starting to get to you, forming a knot in your stomach, which seems to be in cahoots with your colon, as you quickly find yourself having to go. 

Now things are starting to heat up. 

Chrysalis had unintentionally allowed for a nice little square to be formed between herself, her legs, and the couch, which, in turn, acts as a kind of landing pad for your feet to step in.

You slowly sit up, creating a ninety-degree angle with yourself, and, with one more motion, throw your legs off the edge of the loveseat and plant your feet firmly in the center of the square Chrysalis made. So far, so good. 

Then you very carefully step over Chrysalis's hind legs and thank your landlord for doing something right with her idea of carpeted flooring, as it allows for you to stealthily make your way to the bathroom. 

You take a quick listen for any signs of something possibly having woken Chrysalis, but nothing comes, so you drop your pants and get to taking care of your business. 

Slowly but surely, the knot in your gut undoes itself. You wipe, flush, and stand to pull up your pants, but when you look back up, instead of seeing your usually bland, white walls, you come face to face with the glowing green eyes of Queen Chrysalis. 

How did you miss her? How long had she been there?

More questions race, but stop as soon as you fall backwards, startled, landing on the toilet seat and continuing to stare up at her. 

Fortunately though, despite everything else you currently could not do, you still find yourself able to talk. 

"What the fuck are you doing in here?" you shout, loud enough to get the point across without being too angry-sounding. 

"Isn't it simple, Creature?"

She leave it at that, apparently actually expecting you to come up with an answer.

"No, of course it isn't, so please, what are you doing in here?" 

You really did not have any reason to ask your question again, as she more than likely knew exactly what she was doing, and, should she be even half of what she was last night, she will not tell you anyway. 

"It's simple: I'm observing you."

You mouth the word to yourself, confused for multiple reasons, and she seems to take notice. 

"You see, Creature, your Queen feels that, if she is going to survive in whatever Celestia-forsaken place you call this, she is, unfortunately going to have to... rely... on you. Only for the time being, though! Should you ever suspect that your Queen is becoming weak, I will gut you and bathe the Drones in your blood! Are we understood?"

You really had no choice but to nod, despite how out-of-character she just made herself seem. After all, she did just reveal what her intentions were, kind of glossed over how she felt about it all, and, to top it all off, threatened to brutalize you should you do her wrong; basically, everything other than the threat was pretty new to you. 

Was she feeling alright? Is it something to do with the cold weather? Maybe a good nap was all it took to get her back in order.

You brush off all thoughts regarding the Queen and collect yourself, standing back up as she takes her own few steps back, accommodating for you, actually giving you a tiny bit of free space. 

You nod again, and, just to really confirm your understanding of what she said, ask, "So, my Queen, are you feeling hungry?"

It takes a moment, but finally, you get a reluctant nod from her, with the action no doubt killing her in some way on the inside. So, with that, you manage to squeeze by and get infrontof her, leading the way back towards the kitchen.
> Part I, Chapter V - Regrouping
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You decide that cereal will make for the perfect easy, non-threatening breakfast. At one point, you had made sure to purchase actual plates and bowls on the off-chance you had guests, and despite thinking you would never use them, are now thankful for having. You reach into the small pantry and grab a nearly empty box of whatever store-brand cereal you happened to snag last time you went shopping. Pouring almost two bowl-fulls of Crisp Rice, you toss the now-empty box into the trash and make for the fridge. You fill each bowl about halfway with milk, smiling at the slight snaps, crackles, and pops coming from each serving. After putting the milk back, you close the fridge door and look towards your quiet houseguest.

Chrysalis had been watching you prepare the simple meal from just outside the boundaries of the kitchen. As you noted, she did not say anything in the short amount of time it took, which was not a complete surprise, but after your little exchange in the bathroom, you hoped for just a little more out of her. Beggars could not be choosers, you figure. 

You retrieve two plastic spoons from a drawer, dunking each in its own bowl before sliding one towards the Changeling. She eyes the thing like it might explode at any minute, but you waste no time in scooping up a nice, big spoonful and taking an extra moment or two to savor your first bite of a fresh bowl. You do not eat cereal as much as you used to, and it is times like these that you would allow yourself to wonder why. No matter how good the cereal is though, you can not help but notice Chrysalis still just standing there, cautiously gauging your offering. 

Was she offended? You almost know for a fact that cereal was something that existed in her world, so it was not like she had never seen such a thing before. 

Without thinking too hard about what might happen after, your mouth starts to speak without your brain’s permission. 

“You know, it’s perfectly safe to eat it.”

She shifts her gaze and fixes it on you, causing you to freeze. They are not as wide as they have been in her short time with you, but still enough to subtly tell you, “Hey, back off.” So, doing exactly what the eyes say, you drop it and look back to your own bowl. 

As moments turn to minutes, you almost manage to forget about the Changeling and power through the rest of your cereal. When you finish, you take the two steps over to the sink to rinse out your bowl, then throw the spoon in the trash. You are now reasonably full and ready to do something else with your day, but find a still-frozen Changeling Queen blocking your path out of the kitchen. You understand that she feels like she will need to be relying on you to survive, but you quickly decide to draw the line at practically teaching her how to eat, especially after having to assure her the food you prepared and ingested yourself is safe. 

It does not take as much effort as you thought it might, but you scoot past Chrysalis and head back to the bathroom to finish getting ready to face the day. 


***


If you put your hand on the white tile wall of your shower, you would be able to feel the pipes lightly rumble just beneath the surface as they carry water up from one of the apartment complex’s many wells. That same water now washes over any skin of yours that it can find, just as warm as any spring - or so you imagine, having never been to one yourself. 

Maybe it is just because of how cold it is outside, but you cannot help but feel even more warm than usual. Or, perhaps it is just that, somehow, you have managed to find the perfect in-between temperature, where it is not quite “hotter than the sun”, and not just “almost warm enough”. Either way, whatever the reason, you felt pleased, as a shower of any kind is something you needed, especially after all the craziness you have been putting up with. 

Speaking of which, what the hell is going on with you? Forget the fact that a damn cartoon character is sitting out in your living room, probably still contemplating your cereal offering - which is its own problem entirely - what is up with you? 

You are normally pretty confident in your abilities, and reasonably stable, having lived on your own for a little while now, but lately you have been slipping up. Nothing serious, at least not yet, but enough to make you question some things. For instance, your job at Target - it was normally a pretty slick gig, but a few weeks ago, something switched in your brain that made you irrationally despise the place. You do not have an inkling of what it could possibly have been, but it is something you struggle with sometimes while restocking, or getting yelled at by your boss. Maybe it was something everyone went through at one point or another, but you would not know, as everyone else seems to still enjoy their work plenty. 

Have you seen your parents anytime recently? Was that wearing on you? Did you even want to? How long has it even been?

You shake your head, snapping yourself out of the thought. The sound of flowing water replaces silent contemplation, flooding your ears. You stand still for a moment, relishing the feeling of the stream once more. Two fists slowly rise up to gently rub your eyes. 

It takes you a moment, but you are then rooted firmly back in the present. 

You turn your back on the showerhead and reach for the body wash, squirting a healthy amount on to your small, blue loofah. You massage the poofy thing until the body wash has been introduced to every nook and cranny, then get to work. 

As you scrub, your thoughts drift to the Changeling just outside - more specifically, one thing in particular: how?

You consider yourself to be adequately well-read and then some when it came to fanfiction, and this was a scenario that played itself out in more than a few, but whereas those were all silly stories online, this was real life, meaning such things should not be possible. 

Are not possible, you quickly correct. 

Yet, here she is. 

Fucking with your head. 

That is another thing you cannot wrap your head around yet - what is she doing to you? Thinking back to last night and how purely hectic it was, you feel a small wave of regret wash over you. You definitely did not handle things the way you should have. You were clumsy, tripping over your words, and being generally indecisive. Granted, you were placed in just a bit of a stressful situation, but you still should have had some of your wits about you. For even when you would take charge, you would eventually backtrack and bow down - a strong mixture of fear and uncertainty clouding your thoughts. All because of her: Chrysalis, undisputed Queen of the Changelings… and your new roommate...

The thought makes you shiver, despite the warm water covering you. 

Second, if not even more important than what she is somehow doing to you, is what in the world is she doing with herself? One second, she is alert, then dull, then cruel, then sad, then quiet before becoming apologetic and giving little smiles, and finally back to being just mean. It did not, and does not, make even a tiny lick of sense. Is she okay? Is she hurt? Obviously, something had to be wrong with her, being in an almost completely alien world, but was there perhaps something deeper? And even more troubling, despite you trying not to think too much about it since, was that you were almost certain you heard her in your head...

Your eyes focus back on the bottle of body wash, bringing you once more back into the present. You glance downward at yourself, feeling a tad embarrassed that you only managed to scrub little more than half of yourself before becoming distracted again. Taking no extra time, you finish off whatever was left without suds, rinse yourself and the loofah, then shut off the water. 

Instantly, you are bombarded with cold, something you nor anybody that you can think of would ever be fully prepared for at the end of a good shower. You stand still for a moment, adjusting to the chill and letting the air start to try and dry you off. 

You reach for your towel, pulling it back inside the shower with yourself, and begin to actually dry off.

The next order of business for you is to figure out how to move forward. Unfortunately, the raging snow outside will no doubt keep you inside for who knows how long, which will keep you away from work, which will keep you inside with her for even longer. Maybe she will just refuse to say anything more, and you can sit in silence and try to think something through. That would be awful considerate. No matter what, though, you know that you will somehow eventually get through it, whatever that may entail, and the thought of doing just that pleases you greatly. 

Smiling, you give your hair a final ruffle, then take the step or two over to the sink, where the final parts of your morning ritual await. You give your teeth a good brushing, though perhaps not going for an entire two minutes. Deodorant is applied where it should. Clothes are thrown back on to your body. And, finally, you take a minute to work out any kinks in your still-damp hair. 

You observe yourself in the mirror. Relatively pleased with what you see, just like every other day, you quietly brace yourself for whatever may come and head back out into the living room.


*****


Chrysalis did not see it, but she heard the door click as it shut behind you. Her ears perked up at the sound, then flattened back against her head after a moment. She wanted to make sure you were actually gone, even if she did not know where to. 

Her attention turned back to the bowl of cereal you had placed before leaving. She had a rough idea of what it was - even if her kind had lived in the shadows, she still knew how to blend in elsewhere - but she did not know yet whether or not she wanted to give in and partake. Watching you had, if anything, only made the temptation stronger for the young queen. 

Still, she was exactly that - a queen - one that did not simply bow and ask for help… despite doing just that several hours earlier. 

Chrysalis had beaten herself up plenty for that brash decision, but what was she supposed to do? She could not hardly understand any of the things in this strange new world she found herself in, only fragments here and there, like they should be familiar but somehow were not. It was tough to put an actual hoof on. Then add on to that the fact that it was simply freezing, something no Changeling was built for, and she had a perfect recipe for a total loss of power. However, she saw a chance to survive and took it, knowing that a stupid decision could sometimes be the smartest. 

And, in this specific case, such a thing paid off. 

She did not, however, know which ways of responding would resonate most within you, therefore she simply did not know how to act. It made her look indecisive and foolish, she thought, but still could not argue with the results thus far. 

A sudden, sharp hiss from the direction you had disappeared to silenced her own thoughts as she tried to locate the source of the sound. It quieted down almost instantly, and was instead replaced by the soft pitter-patter of what sounded like… water? Regardless, it did not immediately pose a threat, so Chrysalis did not let it stop her for too long. 

She turned her head slowly back towards the bowl of cereal. It taunted her, practically begging to be eaten, but she knew that if she did, you would no doubt notice and think that, maybe, you had won - that she was simply inferior. The Queen of the Changelings knew that could not ever be allowed to happen. She buckled down, continuing to stand where she had been before you left the room, and making sure she let you and the meal know who was in charge. She smirked. 

As she quickly found out, however, defiantly ignoring food was not as interesting as she had pictured it. Instead, she was left only with a grumbling in her stomach. 

Chrysalis glanced around, although without turning her head too much. She recognized several doors both big and small adorning the walls, and knew you had procured food from one and some kind of utensils from another, but was still at a loss for their bigger purpose. Then there was a large, off-white machine, much closer to her than the door you grabbed the food from - it hummed gently at the Changeling, who paid no more mind after a moment or two. 

How could anyone live like this? It was simply too cluttered.

Chrysalis’ attention once again turned towards the bowl and its contents, called over by its siren song. Maybe just a nibble? Nobody would ever notice, especially not you. 

Before she can even take her first step, she is frozen in her tracks by another unexpected sound, this time killing the pitter-patter from before. The room fell silent once again. Chrysalis weighed her options, and decided there was, again, no greater threat to herself, so she proceeded onward. 

A rather petite, somewhat angular muzzle brushed against the surface layer of the cereal, not quite completely soggy yet. She inhaled softly, taking in the scent of the contents. Immediately, she recognized the dairy, milk, though it seemed somehow different than the milk from her homeland. The other component was something she did not quite recognize, but was willing to investigate further anyway. 

Opening her mouth only a little, she hardly dips her muzzle in to the bowl before closing again, retrieving only a little of her prize. 

She takes a moment to register what she is tasting, then swallows. Another moment passes before she decides this was something she absolutely needed more of. 

It was perfect - not the most overpowering taste, some might even say it was bland, yet still quite palatable. 

Dipping her muzzle back in, she stops as a door, no doubt the same one you had disappeared into earlier, opens once more from behind her…


*****


You catch Chrysalis in the act. Her green eyes - or eye, as you can only see one from your vantage point - widens in what you can only assume to be honest surprise. 

She lifts her head from the bowl. She gulps down whatever she had, milk lightly dripping from her muzzle. Her eyes close, then she turns her head to look at you straight-on. She does not say anything though, instead just continuing to stare. 

You fold your arms across your chest. Not threateningly, and definitely not angrily, just across your chest. 

After a few second of trying to figure out what the balance of power was in the room, you take a deep breath and stare right back at the Changeling, doing your best to make eye-contact without keeping it up forever. 

“Can we please talk?” you calmly ask. 

It takes Chrysalis a second to respond, but when she finally does, she closes her eyes, opens them, sighs, and nods her head. 

Good, now maybe you two can start trying to get somewhere.
> Part I, Chapter ? - Awakening (April Fool's Day)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chrysalis stands up slowly, her eyes fixed solely on you. You are once again reminded just how much taller than you she really is. 

“So, Creature, whatever shall we talk about?”

The words roll off her serpentine tongue. You stand still, working through in your head which would be the most appropriate thing to ask first. Maybe a name would be nice to get, that way you will not have to try and cover up if you slip and say her name again. 

You open your mouth to speak, but are stopped when, in the blink of an eye, Chrysalis fades from existence and reappears right in front of you. 

She lowers her head until her muzzle is right next to your left ear. 

Softly, almost seductively, she coos, “Sorry, you took much too long, and your Queen has matters to attend to…”

She pulls back, angling her head so that her long, gnarled horn is aimed directly at your chest. Then, in a single motion, she plunges directly in to your chest, ripping through tissue and muscle and bone alike, piercing the wall that you stand against. 

As she retracts her head and the appendage, you feel every twisted inch sliding itself back out through your wound. The last thing you see with your final moments of life is Chrysalis, still standing above your form, and the last thing you hear is her maniacal laugh bubbling up from within. 


*****


Today is April 1st, 2018. Your eyes slowly work themselves open, as they do every morning. You turn your head slightly to the left to glance at your alarm clock. 

7:57 A.M.

Your alarm will go off in three minutes. You lazily drag a hand up to your chest and feel for anything out of place. Being content with the fact that you were still very much intact, you throw your comforter off of yourself and slide off the mattress. 

Looking out the bedroom window, you see the sun starting to rise, just as you had. You stand up from the bed, and start getting ready for yet another day of work.
> Part I, Chapter VI - Attempting to Communicate
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You make sure to leave the room so as to give Chrysalis a moment to finish her bowl. After all, you did not like being caught in the act any more than anyone else would, and you figured that she was a special case, especially right now.

You return to your bedroom. Flicking the lights on, you are greeted with the familiar sight of a perpetually messy room. Clothes laid around more or less in the hamper. The sheets are strewn about, both from your own rather restless night, as well as Chrysalis’ brief residence. As far as you are concerned, it is not anything too far out of the ordinary, present circumstances notwithstanding. Still, despite being at a relative loss for what to with your houseguest, you still have basic manners, so you set out to start tidying up… at least a little bit.

The bed is easy enough to set straight. You choose not to go all out and completely remake it, instead simply pulling sheets to meet corners before tucking the upper portions underneath your pillows. Next was helping the clothes make it all the way into the hamper - another quite simple task. You pick up any other random bits and bobs you happen across on the floor and place them on your small bedside table, not worrying too much about finding a more permanent residence for them just yet.

You take a final quick glance around the smaller room. Feeling pleased with how it looks, you nod your head once in an act of self-assurance over how clean things look, then turn to head back into the living room area.

Though you should have been more focused on your Changeling guest, instead it was her bowl of cereal that you were more interested in, or rather, the lack of a bowl. Surprisingly, the countertop was cleared of all evidence that any kind of food had been eaten.

Chrysalis had been sitting in front of the couch, keeping as neutral an expression as possible. While she was still hesitant to do anything with you in any capacity, she could not deny being just a little intrigued by what could possibly be holding your attention more than her. However, when she looked back to find that it was just empty counter space, she would have admitted to being somewhat frustrated. She clears her throat.

You glance towards Chrysalis at the sound.

Oh yeah.

You can not help but notice that, even when sitting, Chrysalis was almost as tall as you were, with your eyes meeting at about the same level. It is a tad bit difficult to weigh any options about how to get most comfortable whilst having your upcoming discussion, as you have no idea how long such a talk will carry on for, but you know for a fact that you would like to at least be on the same level while doing so.

You think of a way to word your request, then press on.

“Would you mind laying down? Like, on your stomach maybe?”

You can see Chrysalis processing the question, indicated by the way she almost squints her eyes at you. After a moment or so, though, she does, but not after quickly rolling her eyes. The Changeling Queen gently lowers her front half to the ground and folds one leg over the other, signifying her wait for your own next move.

“Thank you,” you say. You mean it, too, and wonder if she can tell.

You take a couple of steps over to a wall across from where Chrysalis currently lie, press your back against it, then slid down until your rump met the ground. You criss-cross your legs, resting one arm casually on each knee. It does not seem wise to be on the offense or defense, so appearing somewhat relaxed is the next best thing, you think.

The tension in the room as both of you wait for someone to speak first could almost be cut with a knife. Or, even more apt, you think, would be if someone were to light a match, the whole apartment might go up in flames.

Would it even be a smart move to talk first? Would that be considered “too dominant”? You know you want to appear at least somewhat dominant, as this is your home - not to mention, your world - but maybe it will be better to let someone as high and mighty as Chrysalis get the first words out there.

“Who are you?”

Before you can even talk yourself out of it, the words have left your mouth. Chrysalis, too, seems more than a little taken aback by your forwardness but keeps the bulk of her reaction in check. She takes a deep breath, then begins.

“I,” she says, closing her eyes and prodding a hoof lightly against her chest, “am Queen Chrysalis of the Hive Mephisto.”

For as wishy-washy as she has been, that was, no doubt, the most confident, almost triumphant, statement she has made since arriving. Still though...

Hive Mephisto? That is not something you remember from any story. Maybe it was in one of those comics you neglected to ever pick up. Either way, you feel you might be able to get her to explain it later if needed.

While you think, she lowers the holed hoof back to where it sat atop the other and redirects her own attention to you. Then, in a considerably more quiet voice than that of just a few short moments ago, she continues with her own line of questioning.

“And, Creature, what might you be?”

You take your own short time preparing an answer, trying to think of a way to sound as important as she just did. Normally, it would not be anywhere near this hard to just announce yourself, but she is different, in more ways than one.

You say it loudly enough - who you are and where you are from - in an exact mimic of how she presented herself. Chrysalis notices and actually seems a little pleased by the display, at least if the slight smile on the left side of her mouth is anything to go by. You honestly cannot tell if you just made a mistake or not, but roll with it anyway. Anything is better than nothing, you think.

“And what exactly are you, Chrysalis?”

As if it was not already alien enough having a living, breathing fictional character laying mere feet from yourself, it almost felt more foreign to actually address her by her name. To compare, it is almost like giving an evil a definitive name, though how evil this Queen herself will prove to be is still unknown.

“I am a Changeling,” she informs, giving a quick flap of her insect-like wings, almost as if for emphasis - which, truthfully, it probably was.

“And what does it mean to be one?”

“Oh, poor fool, if you only knew.”

With that ominous statement, a sudden flash burst out from where Chrysalis lay, temporarily blinding you. When you regain your sight, however, what you see staring back at you may be even worse than the Changeling Queen.

Twilight Sparkle, in all her purple and violet glory, stands exactly where the Queen stood, looking just as confused as you currently did. You shake your head, immediately remembering exactly what it is that a Changeling can do. Chrysalis, however, does not seem to be too amused by your apparent lack of surprise at her action.

“What’s the matter? Don’t like me like this?” Celestia’s star pupil coos.

With that, another bright flash, and then there sat Applejack. Again, though, you are not the least bit surprised, and, again, Chrysalis seems unamused.

“C’mon, pardner, ain’t ya wantin’ t’ go buck a tree or sumthin’?”

If anything, you find the degree to which she emphasizes the cowgirl’s accent to be actually pretty funny. A smile works itself across her face. This, however, does not go over well with your guest.

A third flash floods the room with its light. Instead of another new character’s presence, though, you are instead greeted once again by Chrysalis’ natural form. The Changeling glares at you, almost as if she was sizing you up, though for what you can not guess. Her ears pin flat against her head and she cranes her neck forward.

“Are you not amazed, Creature?”

Truth be told, you are not. Of course, the fact that something like this is really happening before your eyes is rather amazing, but this was not the first time you had been witness to the Queen’s true powers. Again, granted, those were stories and animation, but you feel there is little to no difference for the time being. That answer would not work, however, for multiple reasons. Instead, you decide to try and fake it, at least for a little while.

Doing your best to find a tone that sounds even a little truly mesmerized, you quickly widen your eyes in surprise and throw your hands out in front of yourself.

“Are you kidding me? That was incredible.”

You are supposed to be excited, yes, but not too loud. After all, you do still have neighbors, even if they do not have their own Chrysalis, too.

She continues to glare, which starts to worry you ever so slightly, but the feeling quickly passes. The Changeling pulls her head back, returning to a more relaxed position. The silence that follows is short-lived.

“And what manner of beast are you?”

“I am a Human.”

“A ‘Human’?” she asks quizzically.

“Yes, a Human. We are not like you Changelings, but we still manage to get by alright.”

Chrysalis briefly looks you up and down, not appearing to stop in any specific area for too long.

“What can you do?”

That is a tough one. Sure, you cannot fly or cast magic spells or change physical appearances - at least, not like she can - but there is still a bunch of other useful things a human can do.

“Well, we’ve built structures that reach to the skies and cultivated countless lands and reached out to touch the stars. I guess there’s a lot.”

She takes your words and contemplates them for a moment. You wish that you could see into her head, if only for a moment - not just in regards to yourself, but all of this as a whole. How is she feeling? Is she worried about anything? Does she even know what it is to worry?

The Changeling makes a sound of approval, accepting your answer.

Yet again, a silence falls over both of you. You have so many questions, but figure she more than likely has many more, so you sit there against your wall trying to game whether or not she will actually ask them. Luckily, you do not have to wait too long.

“Where has your Queen found herself anyhow?”

You weigh the options of whether or not it would be easier to tell a lie or the truth. Fortunately for you, the rational side of your brain has the reigns of today.

“You are currently in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Your Highness.”

She nods once.

“And I assume this is not Equestria?”

You nod before you even fully know what it is you are planning to do. To this, a low growl forms in her throat.

“Damn her!” she snarls, her wings spreading to their maximum length. “Damn that tyrannical Sun whore!”

If you were not already pressed as far back against the wall as possible, you would have tried to push even further away. The outburst most definitely startles you, one of the first things to truly do so since the Queen’s arrival. You cannot let that fear control you though. You need to reel Chrysalis back in.

“Hey, I don’t know who this Sun thing is, but it’s okay.”

She stands up, all four long black limbs extending as far as they possibly could. Whatever you just did was absolutely wrong, and if having an angry Changeling tower over you did not get the message across well enough, the fury she directs at you certainly will.

“You speak of matters that you know nothing about! How dare you presume to even start to believe that such a disgusting creature as yourself could ever comprehend the true evils at work against me!”

You do not say anything, which is probably for the best. She breathes deep, heavy, rhythmic breaths which almost seem to fill the entire apartment. You would be lying if you said you were not at least a little bit scared, but also… fascinated? Sure, maybe you are not the most quizzical person - something happens, you may or may not question it - but to see this creature that, quite frankly, should not exist, has you quite intrigued.

Chrysalis’ thin, jet-black coat looks like it could very well be suede like a horse should be, but something about the way the light hits her makes it almost look more akin to some kind of leather. Her near-translucent wings, which have caught your attention several times before, draw your eyes to them once more. Knowing how ragged they are, and noting the several holes that litter each just like her legs, you wonder how she is possibly able to achieve and maintain any kind of flight, sustained or otherwise.

The Queen’s long, flowing mane looked more like a normal head of hair that another human being might have had, were it not for the odd, naturally occurring shade of blue, and the fact that it had several distinct holes throughout. In fact, you think you might be beginning to notice a pattern with how she is built - take whatever looks normal and punch a couple of holes in it.

Finally, the thing that has held more of your attention than anything else about her appearance is her piercing green eyes. They were all too familiar, yet still distinctly unfamiliar, like if you were to gaze into the eyes of a longtime childhood friend you had not seen in a while. Were they perhaps even just a little cat-like, too? And are they even bigger in real life, or did the show just over-exaggerate?

It is in the middle of these thoughts, of course, that you realize you are staring. And, as if you were not fast enough to notice it, Chrysalis picks up on it, too. Her wings return to their resting position, folding up against her body, and her already-large eyes widen even more in a suspecting manner.

“What do you think you see, Creature?” she practically hisses. “Trying to size me up?”

Your plan is backfiring. Things are only getting worse with each passing second. You need to think of something quick to reel her back in and cool the whole situation off, but what? What do you possibly have to use as ammunition? What could Chrysalis possibly care more about than… herself...

And, just like that, you have it - your last thought as to how to win the Queen over for good. If it would not have been so suspicious to do so, you would have rubbed your hands together.

“No, Your Majesty, I’m not trying to do anything of the sort!” you say, throwing your hands out in front of yourself.

“Then quit your idiotic staring and start telling me what is going on! Your Queen demands answers!”

“And you’ll get them! I’m just trying to figure it out.”

“Figure what out?”

You smile, making sure to show some teeth, but not too many.

“Figure out how any of those who oppose you could even think to do so.”

She appears legitimately surprised by your answer. Her eyes widen ever so slightly, and her ears perk forward. Something tenses somewhere along her body, though what you do not know for sure. Cautiously, she takes a breath and replies.

“What are you getting at now?”

“I am only trying to say, Queen Chrysalis, that you are what we refer to here as, a ‘specimen’, meaning - “

“I know what a specimen is, Creature. Get to the point.”

“Of course,” you say sheepishly, rubbing a hand against the back of your head. “All I am trying to say is, look at you - a near-perfect example of what an excellent leader should be.”

The Changeling now seems more interested in where you are going with your spiel than anything else. Her eyes narrow and focus hard on your own. You do your best to steel yourself and try to stare back with just as much intensity. Admittedly, you do not know just what will happen next, but you can feel in your gut that it has the chance to alter the course of all things to come.

Finally, a smile appears on Chrysalis’ face, and with it, a small, rather feminine chuckle.

“I’m so glad that even such a primitive being like yourself can respect pure authority when they see it. It is… refreshing, to say the least.”

Your own smile returns.

“But of course, Queen Chrysalis. It would be foolish not to.”

She lets out a low hum of approval, closing her eyes for a moment. You take the opportunity to have your own moment to reflect. Granted, things are now going away from where you initially wished, but at least Chrysalis has calmed back down. Now what you need to do is start walking the line between keeping up your current activity and getting things back into your own control. Before you can start really formulating how to do that, however, you see Chrysalis’ eyes open back up.

“Where again did you say we are, Creature?”

“Colorado Springs,” you reply almost instantaneously.

She emits a low hum, probably mulling over the information you have again presented her with.

“And how much of these Springs do you rule?”

You frown just a little bit. Hopefully, not all of her questions will be along these lines.

“Well, your Highness, I do not own hardly any of it. Really just what you see in here is mine.”

Chrysalis nods, then looks around the living room, taking in each piece of furniture and every knick-knack. Her head swivels back to glance towards the kitchen, which she seems more interested in than the room she currently sits in. She looks back towards you. Her gaze lingers on you for a moment - though on what you do not know - before continuing to peek just beyond yourself, back towards the front door. She flashes a grin and lets out a little snort before returning her attention to you.

“Is this really all?”

Even though she is a cartoon character, the sting from her comment is real as ever. You do not know why it hit you so hard, as you have always been rather pleased with everything you have managed to acquire, but the fact that anybody can feel good making you feel so small for all of it hurts. However, you guess that if there is anybody who can do all of that and fail to ever even see why doing so would be a problem, it would no doubt be Chrysalis. Still, you steel yourself and march on.

“Yes, this is all of it.”

She laughs again, a little harder this time. The Queen takes a moment, then composes herself and continues.

“I suppose it will do.”

“It will what?”

“It. Will. Do.,” she repeats, more forceful this time.

“And what exactly are your plans? This is still my home.”

“Wrong again, Creature. This is our home now.”

You shake your head. This is, once again, going too far for your liking. You take a step forward, but immediately find you can not advance any further, as you are somehow frozen in place. The cause is not mysterious for long, however.

Chrysalis’ mangled horn now glows a vicious dark green. She winces, but it quickly turns into a snarl as she stares you down like the predator she is.

“I truly hope you won’t have any objections to this. I think you will make a valuable asset yet.”

After a brief moment of no resistance, she releases her magical hold on you, letting out a sigh as well.

“Good. Now, where to begin…”