MLP: Maternal Instinct: Chapter Twelve

<center>Maternal Instinct

Chapter Twelve</center>

“I’m abdicating.”

Maybe it was the breaking of the silence or just how unexpected those two words were, maybe both, but Celestia stared at her with utter bafflement.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Technically, I already have.”

“How? Simply by giving your sister your crown?” Celestia clucked her tongue and eyed the Changeling’s head quizzingly. “Hmm, you really do look odd without it.”

Chrysalis tossed over on the bed, away from her and flipped her pillow to the cool side. It was still dark in the room, save for the morning light streaming narrowly into the room as before. Celestia had recently re-joined Chrysalis after performing her daily duty of raising the sun, one that did not change wherever she was in the world. The Changeling Queen did not bother getting up to watch her perform this feat, having seen the sun rise herself countless times and, frankly, even was confused why ponies found it so awe-inspiring.  

Now the Sun Princess lay snuggled up behind Chrysalis, pressing her head against the back of hers. Both matriarchs were exhausted, and, at this moment, curling up and slummocking together in bed was the most calming thing they could think of as they waited endlessly for news of Pupa’s progress. They did not know when that knock on the door would come or what the news would be, but all they could do now was wait patiently and try to pass the time.

“I’m still going to do it,” she mumbled into the pillow. “It is my right.”

“And what do you intend to solve by doing this?” asked Celestia tiresomely, squirming about to get comfortable. “With your country in trouble, and your only child in critical condition in the hospital, exactly how do you think abdication will make anything better?”

“Hey, Echo couldn’t possibly do as bad a job as me.”

She nudged her on the back and reprimanded her, “Chrysalis, stop talking this nonsense. You’re not thinking clearly.”

“No, Celestia,” Chrysalis hissed as she curled flinchingly into a fetal position and stared steely into space. “For the first time in my life, I am thinking clearly.” Celestia picked up a quiver in her voice. “My family has spent centuries building this land up from a civil war, and what a surprise, I’ve singlehoofedly managed to ruin everything, not just for me, but for my daughter and all my little Changelings. What’s happened with Pupa has finally opened my eyes to what an unworthy, incompetent fool I truly am!”

“Oh, that’s not melodramatic in the slightest, is it?”

A surge of anger coursed through her overworked veins and she sat halfway up. “Funny you can lay there and say that with your perfect kingdom and all your loyal little not starving subjects not abandoning you.” Her dim eyes glanced over to glare at the shut windows, or rather, what was beyond them. “Just open your eyes and look around the streets of my city, Celestia: poverty, disease and famine are everywhere. That is the legacy I’m leaving to Pupa: a disaster! ”

“I get it, Chrysalis; I have read the records.”

“And it’ll only get worse unless something is done, and if that means I must step down and allow somechangeling else to do my job and do it better, I will,” she said conclusively, putting her hoof over her chest. “Don’t make the mistake in assuming I don’t care for my people, because I do...” Her voice petered out, adding the next part with great shame, staring at her hooves as if they were still blood-splattered, “I do. I go to every cabinet meeting, undertake every budget, spend endless nights without sleep or food, but it’s never enough.”

“I never thought you didn’t,” Celestia affirmed to her as she got off the maddeningly uncomfortable bed to stretch her slender legs. “I think you’re onto something: there needs to be change, but of a different kind than simply a different queen sitting on the throne.” She made a short jog over to Chrysalis’ desk and searched the drawers. “Your kingdom is a deprived land, Chrysalis, and your people are suffering immensely—” Celestia levitated a long white stick and held it up to her view. “May I?”

Chrysalis’s eyebrow twitched. “You smoke?”

“You’d be surprised.” Magically lighting the cigarette, she took a smooth drag and blew a perfect circle. “Anyway, if you’re genuinely interested in bringing forth a change, and especially for Pupa’s future benefit, then has political reform never crossed your mind? It does seem more the rational course.”

Hearing the word ‘reform’ and the many connotations that came with it was nearly enough to trigger a headache for Chrysalis, whose reaction was to cover her cringing face with her leg.

“And how would I do that?” she groaned.

For a moment or two, Celestia wondered whether the Queen was playing stupid or simply was joking. When nothing followed, the Princess blinked and stared at her like a second head sprung out of her neck.

“Um... Chrysalis? You are the Queen,” she said slowly, sounding almost like she was speaking to a slow filly. “If bringing about change is something you’re truly concerned about, the only thing I think you need is the will.”

The response she received was a disrespectful snort as Chrysalis pulled the blankets from under herself and brought them up to her chin; her own little way of telling Celestia what she thought of her opinions.  

Celestia frowned as she blew a set of circles and said, “Listen, I know you normally don’t care about what I have to say, but you have nothing to lose from just hearing me out for a moment.”

“This coming from the all-powerful goddess of Equestria who sends her ponies to the moon on a whim?” she snickered, while brushing her curtain of mane from her face. “That’s logic.”

“What?”

“You heard me; don’t think you’re in any position to lecture me—”

“Stop. Now.”  

It was not what Celestia said, but the dark, ominous manner in which she said it, coupled with the iciness of her magenta gaze, that slapped the smirk off the Changeling’s muzzle and forced her to hold her forked tongue.

“I want to set a few things straight to you,” Celestia approached the bedpost, her hooffalls making harsh thuds against the floor. Her whole form appeared to grow taller the more she spoke. “When my sister became Nightmare Moon, I sealed her in the moon using the Elements of Harmony not on a whim, but because I had to.”

“Alright—”

Chrysalis almost gulped when the Sun Princess’s face became uncomfortably close to hers. It dawned on her too late that she must have unwittingly touched upon a sacred nerve for the Alicorn.

“It was an isolated incident that happened once over a thousand years ago!” Celestia continued to chastise her. “And for that matter, the Elements are gone now, so even if I wanted to send a certain somepony to the moon, I couldn’t!”

“You’ve made your point.” She held her holed hoof over her head in precaution. “I’m sorry, alright?”

Silently accepting her apology through her softening expression, Celestia backed away and returned to the cigarette she had left handing in mid-air and placed it between her lips again. A part of her felt somewhat guilty for getting confrontational like that, considering all the Queen had been through lately, but there were some lines that were not meant to be crossed.

“As for your ‘all-powerful’ claim, that’s where you’re way off course,” Celestia turned her back to the Changeling and took another smoke. “You’ve clearly forgotten that I am a diarch, and as such I share power with my sister. What’s more, over the centuries, I’ve been gradually introducing my own reforms which are proving—”

“Oh, well, how good for you!” Chrysalis cut her off with a snarl, holding her crossed hooves over her chest dramatically. “Now if only I had a supportive sister by side to take up my work so I could actually get eight hours of sleep!” She slammed her head against her pillow in frustration, dragging her hooves down her face so hard it looked like she was going to tear the skin off. “Well, I’m sorry, but I can’t do all those things you can! So stop lecturing me!”

“I’m not trying to lecture you!” Celestia snapped, her lingering ire rising again as she rubbed her temple in a circular nation. Pausing until he cooled off a tad, she continued, more sombrely, “But Chrysalis, you’re not ignorant. You’re actually very intelligent and I think if you really wanted to, could have modernized your kingdom years ago and as a result, placed Pupa in a much better position when she assumes the throne.”

“From you, I’ll take that as a compliment,” she murmured, gently rubbing her now sore face. “But you still fail to understand.”

“If I don’t, fair enough, but then why not help me to understand? Explain it to me.”

The dark mare did not respond for a long time. She scrunched her muzzle, thinking deeply about what she was going to say. After the long chat they had had about her and Pupa, was there anything to lose from moving onto the next minefield.

“... As Queen of my species and my nation, I am tasked with upholding the ways of my forefathers,” Chrysalis unenthusiastically stated as if she were rehearsing a phrase repeatedly drummed into to her in fillyhood.

“Like channelling all your resources into a military you’ve just got standing around doing nothing?”

“It’s not simple,” she growled, becoming irate by the old problem being brought up again and having to defend herself again. “I’m bound by centuries-old Changeling traditions and practices. I can’t just do whatever I want; I have to act in according to what is expected of me!”

“Am I really hearing this from the same mare who tried taking down a world power and, to be fair here, very nearly succeeded?” Celestia asked, getting frustrated. Having talked to such a vulnerable, humbled Chrysalis this long was now leaving her dumbfounded. “Since when did you become fixated... o-oh.” Her eyes flickered open wide, a sudden realization dawning over her, like something went and clicked in her head. “Oh.”  

She looked up at her. “‘Oh’, what?”

The Princess approached the bedside, and took a spot on the mattress near her but maintaining a comfortable distance.

“Is this why you’ve become so withdrawn?” she asked, trying to be empathetic towards her. “Because of what happened at Canterlot?”

A sick feeling ran up and down Chrysalis’ entire being. This was one memory she really did not want to mull over at this time, especially not with Celestia. She had long thought about the choice words to sum up her feelings about it, but she had not the energy.

She spoke the words as they came. “Canterlot’s fall was going to be my legacy,” she explained lamentingly, but with a kind of pride long-lost. “I would have become a Changeling Empress, Celestia; the supreme ruler of a new changeling-led world order!” Her shoulders slumped and she crawled like a dirty half-squished vermin to the comfort of her pillow. “And now... n-now... I’m nothing. Nothing but the Queen of a third-rate power no creature cares about.”

Celestia felt a wrench of sympathy for her old nemesis, even if the sympathy was most arguably not deserved.

“I don’t think I’ve ever considered how much it’s affected you,” she admitted regretfully.

“That doesn’t shock me.”

The Alicorn cocked an eyebrow. “I suppose I apologize for stopping you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Chrysalis rebuked. “You were protecting your subjects. Well, no, your student, her friends and your ‘niece’ protecting them for you. They’re the ones I underestimated. Ultimately, it was my lack of foresight and overconfidence that led to my downfall, so how can I blame you? Still, you going down so easily like that... that was disappointing.”

A small pulse was visible in her long neck. “I’m sorry for letting you down like that,” she replied hollowly, her voice still reflecting the shame she felt for her failure to defend her kingdom that fateful day. “Chrysalis, why did you attack Equestria?”

“I told you, it was to be my legacy.”

“But why choose Equestria? Your generals have had their eyes on Manechuria for longer than I can count. Trying to take down the world’s leading superpower is an exceptionally bold move—reckless, but bold, nonetheless.”

“The better question is why not,” countered Chrysalis, who was seeing something the Princess clearly was not. “Not only would my kingdom effectively rule the world, but my Changelings would have been provided with enough love that famine would be completely wiped out; you know this. You don’t believe your many foreign counterparts have never thought about it at least once, do you?”

In Equestria’s rich history, the siege of Canterlot by Chrysalis and her army was by no means the first attempt by a foreign power to take down their peaceful and prosperous society. The Griffin Empire had tried to help themselves to Equestria’s fruits more than once, using their technological superiority. Chrysalis’ campaign was infamous not just because of how close she came to succeeding, but how well she used her species’ abilities to her advantage in lieu of the conventional war methods.  

As much as Celestia hated to acknowledge this sad fact, every ambitious nation wanted a piece of her country at some point or another, even ones she now called her closest allies.

“Not even all my father’s achievements together would top it.” A hateful growl emanated from the dark depths of her belly. “Somewhere in the afterlife he’s watching me with disgust.”

“You consider yourself in competition with your father,” Celestia deducted.

Chrysalis ran the tip of her hoof over her plated belly and mused, “Honey, I’m not gonna touch that minefield with a fifty foot poll.”

“Are you sure?” The Princess reached out a comforting hoof. “Talking about it may help you.”

“You seriously want me to talk about my youth?” Chrysalis chuckled hollowly, unceremoniously hauling herself up and putting on a grimacing face. “I’m going to need a drink first.”

“You’ve got too many drugs in your system.” Celestia brought another pair of cigarettes flying from the still open drawer to the bed. “Here.”

Chrysalis took the cigarette, remarking dryly, “Yeah, because this is so much better.”

---

When she woke up, Princess Pupa was doped up so much until she finally calmed down and stopped crying. Her whole body turned numb and heavy like a sack of rocks. She did not mind, because they took the pain away, which was so intense her little head felt like it was going to burst open.

The hospital staff gave her a lengthy wash, scrubbing her rough and blood-stained coat with the finest imported shampoo and conditioner from the palace. She was still shivering for a lot of the time; she was so unused to being without a kimono or robe, it made her feel naked. They soon gave her a fluffy white robe to wear to keep her warm and cosy.

After they were done cleaning her up and wrapping her in fresh bandages, the staff tucked their princess into a cleaner bed and sat her upright. The nurses then brought a big bowl of chicken and sweetcorn soup to her bedside; all she had been fed since she was admitted was hospital mush through a tube.

“Here you are, Princess,” said one kindly nurse, who blew on a spoonful of soup and held it up to the filly’s mouth.

Pupa’s eyes were rolled upwards at the ceiling and her jaw hung open, dribbling a waterfall onto her bib. She could barely grasp what was going on around her, apart from the very real enticing aroma of chicken, which only made her salivate even more. The nurse gingerly slid the spoon into her mouth and another nurse stood by to shut her mouth and massage her throat so it went down smoothly.

“Good girl,” the nurse flicked a bit of sweetcorn off her lip and got her some more. “Just a couple more.”

The soup was not really the most important thing on the filly’s dazed little mind, however good it was. Pupa was still very much scared. She had no idea who the Changelings around her were, even if it was obvious to anychangeling they were kindly. Her grasp was weak and fragile, but images kept flashing by in her head, as did random names she knew meant something to her, and she was slowly beginning to recall why.

Cerci.

Yes, she remembered that name. Cerci. It made her whole feel warm and tingly, and brought back comforting memories of cosy hugs and wet kisses. It was such a soothing feeling, a lot she was being held and cradled in the arms of her mommy...

Mommy. Mother!

The heart-rate monitor went mad. Pupa’s slow breathing turned into rapid panting. The doctors swarmed around her, some pinning her down and one immediately jabbing a syringe into her neck. In moments, the monitor gradually returned to normal, as did a shuddering, sweltering Pupa’s breath patterns.

As the doctors left, the nurses fluttered back to the side of their Princess, some dabbing her mead with a sponge and others stroking her cold hoof caringly. Yet however skilled they were, a broken heart could not be fixed with a syringe or scalpel.

Tears shed from Pupa’s half-closed orbs. She never felt so alone and scared before. She wanted Cerci! Where was Cerci?

Outside the Princess’ room, two silhouettes in the form of Changelings were talking right by the doors.

“We’ve had the courier send the news to the palace,” Kemushi was informed by her colleague out in the hospital corridor; it was the same undersized stallion from the previous night, who now appeared he caught up on some of his sleep. “We’ve yet to receive a reply.”

“Perhaps that’s for the better, right now,” she said, smoking a much appreciated cigarette. “The Princess is still in a delicate state. I wouldn’t recommend visitors for the time being.”

With their patient now awake and, Kami willing, further out of the White Changeling of death’s touch, the staff of King Cocoon Memorial was at last allowed to take a well-deserved break. Many of her colleagues were quick to congratulate Kemushi on her handling of the whole situation and by some for ‘saving the Princess’ life’, which was true for all most of them knew, but all she cared about right now was going home and straight to sleep.

“It’s a shame none of this will be made public, doctor,” sighed the shorter stallion with mild disappointment. “You would’ve been famous for sure.”

Kemushi shrugged apathetically, saying, “We were all just doing our job, and we owe a lot of thanks to Princess Celestia and her pet. Besides, I can’t stand the press.”

“And you’re certain she would have died if not for the phoenix?”

Even though she did not answer him directly, the cold, hardened stare she gave him told him all he needed to know. She extinguished her cigarette against her horseshoe and headed nonchalantly down the corridor.

“I’m signing off,” she said before she left, sounding like the stress inflicted by the last three days was at last wearing off. “Excuse me.”

“Aren’t you still on for another two hours?” he asked.

The doctor reached the corner, telling him over her shoulder, “I just saved the Princess, remember? I somehow doubt anychangeling will ever question my integrity now.”

---

“Where do I begin? I was the first hatched of my clutch—only by three seconds—and I was brought up as any other heir to the throne: I had nannies, tutors, five-star mane groomers, and the cutest little trike you ever saw. It was a pleasant little life... well, except for the time I felt off my trike and broke my leg.”

“Yes, that’s known to leave scars.”

Chrysalis blew two long streams of smoke through her nostrils and glared at her pony counterpart, sneering, “What do you want from me? A teary, sniffling confession of how hard my fillyhood was? Well, it wasn’t, Celestia. I was doted on and given anything I wanted...” she paused, holding her breath before blowing more smoke, continuing, “As long as I behaved, sat still and didn’t say a word unless spoken to. My parents didn’t even hit me, not even once.”

A violent cough rose up through her throat, forcing her to beat her chest as she gasped for air. The air was rife with their second-hoof smoke. Celestia magically unlocked and opened the windows, filling the room with natural light. The Changeling Queen squinched her eyes shut and hissed like a vampire exposed to sunlight, even if it was hardly bright outside.

“Grow up,” groaned Celestia unimpressed.

She lowered herself deeper into her bed and covered half her face with her pillow, taking a few moments to adjust to the light before getting back to her story.

“My mother died when I was five, maybe six.” There was no inclination of sadness in her voice, only plain matter-of-fact. “They said it was a fever... it wasn’t a shock. She was a weak-hearted mare.”

“I’m sorry.”

Chrysalis shrugged indifferently, “I was young, I hardly knew her.” She crossed her legs and propped her head up on her hoof. “But my father always said I look a lot like her.”

“I only met her once,” said Celestia contemplatively. “She was very beautiful.”

“For most of my fillyhood I didn’t see much of my parents; my nannies brought me up, even if none of them truly cared for me.” She finished her sentence with an underlying simmering anger. “Pupa was so lucky to have somechangeling like Cerci. Dear old Daddy didn’t get involved in my life until I was old enough for my true grooming for the throne to begin. He taught me everything I know.”  

The Alicorn grinned playfully, “Oh, so that’s where you got that cute little giggle of yours from?”

Her cheeks blushed green with a sudden rush of blood, but she refused to let it get to her. “No.” She re-brushed her gossamer mane and held her head with dignity as reminisced with fondness, “He taught me how to run a government, the secrets of military command, even the more exclusive arts of shape shifting.”

“From the sounds of it, you had good times together.”

“Too bad he was entirely unpleasable.” Her smile dropped, knowing she was getting into painful territory. “When I was twelve, I spent a whole day painting the cherry blossoms blooming in the palace garden. When I finished, Father took one look and told me to do it again until I did it perfectly. Our relationship always worked like that: whatever he asked, I did, but he always found fault.”

That was not a surprise. The pressure to succeed, especially in academics and similar fields, by one’s parents was a staple of Changeling society, even amongst the lowest levels of peasantry. Picture yourself in the position of the Crown Princess and the sheer intensity of pressure you were under at such a young age to be nothing short of perfect. How any filly like that did not end growing up into an unhinged, emotional wreck was nothing short of a miracle.

“I’ll cut to the chase,” said Chrysalis as she removed the cigarette, which had nearly burned down to a nub, from her lips and put it out. No matter how many she had, they were not going to help her through this part. “When I was eighteen, I was put in charge of my first division, right in the midst of the Second Griffin-Changeling War. We were reaching a crucial turning point to turn the war in our favour and my father believed it was high time for me to take on some major responsibility.”

“Your father made you a Major General at eighteen-years-old?” Celestia asked amusedly, trying to envision a teenage Chrysalis decorated in military trappings.

“Members of the royal family are expected to hold important military positions, even in our youth. I was so excited! I was tasked with guarding the frontline city of Honeycomb. It’s a beautiful historical city, Celestia. They produce the finest grade honey there—and the best mead.” She licked her lips, her ravenous desire for alcohol burning inside her. “It was like a countryside holiday for the first three months; all the fighting was happening hundreds of miles away.”

“And then you were ambushed by the griffins’ forces,” she added, her historical knowledge sharp and wanting to move the topic on faster.

A tightness constricted the Changeling Queen’s throat and she pushed on with her story, “The griffin army pushed our armies back to Honeycomb. We were caught unprepared, and worse, I was an unexperienced young mare who’d never before commanded troops in battle.”

A single tear came trailing down her stone face and she did not bother to wipe it away.

“It was a disaster, Celestia. I sent wave after wave of Changelings at them, but the griffins were relentless. When they pushed us to the very edge of the city, nearly three quarters of my division and half my guards were wiped out and I barely escaped with a huge gash on my flank.”

Her tail reactively curled up over her flank, covering it up as if the wound was fresh. The pain of sharp steel tearing through her soft, young skin still made her wince.

“It would take a whole year until my father’s armies recaptured Honeycomb and by the end of the war, half the city had been razed to the ground. I was humiliated. My father removed me from all military involvement for the remainder of the war. When he brought me to his war room to speak with me in private was the worst part.”

Celestia, having gradually become more engrossed the more she heard this story the Changeling must have seldom told anychangeling else, asked quietly, tentatively, “What did he say?”

“He chewed me out for letting the city fall into enemy claws, what else? How I’d brought shame upon the royal family and the reputation of our military and, being fair here, he wasn’t half wrong. He asked me something...”

Out of the blue, Chrysalis’ facial features began to change slightly, as did her voice, becoming more stallion-like as Celestia watched on silently in bewilderment. Her eyes turned a dark, soulless blue and her cerulean mane shortened and darkened greatly in colour.

“Do you have any remote idea as to why I’ve never once hit you?” she spoke literally in her father’s voice, not quite matching the severity of his tone, but coming close enough. “It’s because you’re a worthless spoiled brat who’s not even worth hitting”. Her own voice returned and finished tiredly, “And then he broke my muzzle.”

Celestia felt her heart sink for her rival. Maybe it was how horribly sad her story was or the heartbreakingly genuine way in which she told it. In moments, the Alicorn was lying next to her again just like they were several minutes ago, not physically touching her but close enough to provide her with comfort.

The once mighty Queen shivered, sobbing and groaning tearlessly, “I don’t believe he ever forgave me for that. I’d proven all his investment in me worthless. A-All... all I wanted from him was his love, or at least his respect, but he wouldn’t even give me that.” She summoned the strength to roll her head to look at her.  “Was that so much to ask, Celestia?”

“No,” Celestia answered her authoritively and a bit louder than she intended. She coiled her hoof over Chrysalis’ midsection and used the other to stroke her silky locks. “Listen to me, Chrysalis. No filly should be made to feel their parents’ love is something to be earned. Thorax should have been grateful you came home safe and sound. I’m so sorry you were treated that way.”

Her words and her apology provided her with a motherly comfort and love, and, wanting more of it, she flipped over on her other side so they faced each other. Their horns were scraping over each other, they were so close.

“Do you know what the worst part of it is?” she asked her with a sigh. “I’ve actually treated Pupa far worse than he ever did me. I’ve done nothing but neglect her until three days ago when I nearly murdered her. I only wish there was a way to turn back the clock and do everything differently.”

“I know that feel.”

“I’d have stopped working all the damn time and spent more of it with her,” she grumbled, criticizing herself once more. “It’s what I should’ve done from the beginning. Maybe reform doesn’t sound that bad.” She gave her large thigh an insulting slap. “I’d start working out a lot more, too.”

“You’ll have your second chance once Pupa gets better,” Celestia assured her, nuzzling her forehead with her own tenderly. “If it’s any consolation, I think you’ve proved yourself to be the more caring parent.”

“Thank you,” Chrysalis whispered, nuzzling her back. “Look... I know my kingdom has to change, wherever I want it or not. My uncle tells me to shrink my army, something that should have been done years ago, yet I’ve not dared make a move all these years.”

“Maybe because a large part of you still wants to be like your father?” she suggested, but this was followed by an uncertain frown. “Or I’m just getting too comfortably playing therapist.” She then added with care, “Perhaps... you should consider seeing one.”

Chrysalis chuckled at hearing this, not a single shred of humour in her voice, “Oh, that’s just what I need—a shrink.” ‘Why don’t I just have the word ‘MAD’ rubberstamped on my forehead?’

“It’s entirely up to you, and it is merely my suggestion, but it’s nothing to be ashamed of, Chrysalis.”

“Ugh, I’ll think about,” she crossed her legs and pouted begrudgingly.

“And what of you... abdicating?”

Chrysalis found herself caught a tad off guard when her counterpart asked that, and her biting of her lip was a good enough indication of her feelings.

“... I don’t know. I don’t want to talk about it, not right now.”

Not knowing what more to say, or rather too tired to really think about it, Chrysalis took a deep yawn and snuggled up close to her Equestrian counterpart, perhaps getting a little too close for comfort for the Alicorn, who accepted her regardless.

“Let’s just rest for a little longer,” she whispered, clearly worn-out and shutting her eyes. “I’m tired, Celestia. All this talk about my personal life and politics has been interesting, but there’s only so much I can talk about, especially with what.”

“... Okay.” There was a lot more Celestia wanted to discuss, and the still real prospect of Chrysalis stepping down did trouble her, but she could certainly appreciate the Queen was understandably not up to it right now. She magically shut the windows, basking the room in darkness again. “If that’s what you want. No more. We’ll simply rest until news from the hospital comes, does that sound good?”

“Yeah.”

So both matriarchs shared a serene catnap together on the spacious queen-sized bed, neither speaking another word. Celestia got comfortable enough she even discarded most of her royal regalia. The only thing that stopped her from falling into a deep sleep was the lingering fear of little Pupa’s fate and how much she prayed for the best outcome.

When one considered the personal history the rulers shared, one finding such comfort in the other was the last thing either would imagine, and both secretly prayed to their gods that nopony and nochangeling outside those walls ever knew about this. That should not be a big concern, though; if there was a thing leaders were good at, it was keeping secrets.

In her head, Celestia figured at most half an hour had passed when a rapid knock on the door rudely snapped both of them awake. Celestia jolted right up on her haunches, while Chrysalis merely yawned again, mumbling angrily at the disturbance.

“I’m not getting it,” the latter half-snored.

“Fine.”

Celestia groaned and sluggishly got out of bed and went to answer the door, which was knocking even louder and ringing Chrysalis’ sensitive ears. The Changeling Queen was too content in her snuggled position and wanted only to stay to her lazy thrall.

Any hope of this was shattered when a familiar pair of hooves grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her frantically.

“Chrysalis!” Celestia cried. “Chrysalis, get up!”

Against her will, she slowly got up, working against gravity and the bulk of her stomach, and asking in a whiney voice that made her sound like a filly, “What now?”

“Sit up for a moment.”

“Don’t talk to me like that.”

Taking a breath, Celestia looked her in the eye and told her calmly, “Chrysalis... Pupa’s woken up.”

The silence was so intense she could hear the thudding beats of her own heart. She held her tongue, waiting for the Changeling to respond.

All Chrysalis did was look down, eyes twitching left and right, ears dropping and her hoof clasping over her mouth. Her whole paling body was shaking like a shrivelled autumn leaf in the breeze. It looked like she was having some difficulty processing what she had just been told.

“She’s... she’s come out of her coma and they’ve put her on medication. She’s going to be okay.” She bent her knees to meet her level, deeply concerned.  “... Chrysalis?”

“My baby...” were the only feeble words the dark mare could speak with clarity. “You mean she’s going—”

“—to be okay,” Celestia stressed, putting her hoof under her chin and tilting her head upward. She did her best to smile for her. “Pupa is going to be okay, don’t you see?”

Before she knew what hit her, the holed, cheese-like legs wrapped around her neck tighter than an anaconda. Celestia gasped in surprise. At first she did not know how to react, until she realized she was being hugged and hugged Chrysalis back.

“She’s alright...” Chrysalis buried her face into Celestia’s shoulder, refusing to let her see her tears of relief. “My little hatchling...!”

The widest, warmest of smiles spread over the Alicorn’s lips as she held her. Out the corners of her eyes, shiny tears trickled down her fluffy white cheeks.

For the first time in days, the Changeling Queen experienced things she had not, not only for these last harrowing days, but for years. Not just relief and joy, but a second chance.

---

“Prisoner 24601, get up. You have a visitor.”

24601 refused to get up from the moist stone she had grown accustomed to in her cell, not just out of defiance, but exhaustion. In her however short time being incarcerated here, she had grown weak and ill. She no longer felt hunger, the will to eat having disappeared upon her acceptance of her dime fate. What use was there in wasting whatever little energy she had left in following the jailer mare’s orders?

The jailer mare, angered, shouted, “Prisoner! I told you to get up—”

“That will be enough.”

24601’s eyes came alive. She knew that voice. She was up on her knees before her weary mind could register it. When she got a good look at her visitor, she nearly did a double take.

“Leave us.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The jailer mare slinked away, leaving the figure who was exceedingly taller than even the average Changeling mare, to face the emaciating prisoner, the years’ old bars the only thing standing between them.

Chrysalis, straight-faced, spoke coolly, “Konnichiwa, Cerci.”