The sound of chirping birds and a waterfall in the distance was the first noises to enter the changeling’s mind. The second sense was sight. As Queen Chrysalis slowly but carefully lifted her weak frame–not to stand, but to just barely look up–she saw the boulder she’d struck her head painfully upon during the rainstorm. Shortly afterward, the dream commenced. It was no wonder at that point why her forehead felt like a spike was being hammered into it.

Once her senses stabilized, and she was able to smell and feel everything else around her, Chrysalis soon felt somepony tugging tightly to her side. It was a familiar being who’d saved her only minutes ago.

Princess Luna, the blue coated and sparkling maned mare she’d been seeing within peculiar visions and sidetracked experiences within her dreamscape laid right there, slumbering peacefully while tightly hugging the queen’s side.

“Princess?” Chrysalis asked in an attempt to stir her highness out of her slumber.

As her eyes opened ever so slightly, they gazed up at Chrysalis, and her body lifted to align with the mare she’d been with. For a moment, they both sat there, staring at one another. No smiling, but not frowning either. Just dull, transfixed glances towards one another, almost as if everything in the world meant nothing.

However, that would quickly come to an end, for the sudden memory of the queen’s loved ones soon shot through her mind, and just like that, Chrysalis was off, galloping for the cave, all the while chanting silently to herself, “Please be alright!”

Luna followed suit. Through the thick bushes and branches, passing along tall trees and trampling through fresh mud, the two ponies ran in search for their destination. It’d been so long since Chrysalis was at the cave, so without any actual clue as to whether her children were still alive, she assumed the worst. With the dreadful fear seeping into her now conscious mind, the changeling forced herself to strain herself harder than ever before.

She magically shifted hanging moss out of her way and leaped repeatedly over stumps and small ponds, all the while frantically whipping her head left and right, seeking out the only thing she truly needed to find. It was every bit recognizable thanks to the daylight, but even then, she couldn’t seem to find it right away.

“Oh, come on,” she whispered. “I couldn’t have gone that far away from it!”

Eventually, Luna caught up. As she ran next to Chrysalis, she reminded the mare, “If you lose me, there will be hardly any love for them! I’m the only one who could be used as a source for feeding right now!”

“Right,” Chrysalis nodded. “They only need a little, and then they’ll be able to live for at least a week, but we shall talk about that later. For now–” She skidded to a halt. The second she did, her majesty turned to the right, gave a tiny huff of relief, and resumed running, if only a bit slower. “Princess Luna! Over here!”

As Luna followed closely behind, she saw passed the leader’s mossy mane. Only a yard or two away was the cave entrance. If anything, the dark, gloomy silhouette brimming the edges was amazingly inviting to her. Nothing would please Luna more at that point but to see Chrysalis happily grasping her children in warm, loving embrace. The reality of the situation, however, was much more unfair.

At the entrance, Chrysalis stood perfectly still, Luna creeping up closely to her side. Within the darkness, one jagged shape could be seen to the left of the empty room. A boulder with what looked like beings on it was all that could be made out as the cave’s current residency.

Chrysalis was motionless, her mouth open, eyes looking around. Eventually, she trotted forward, hesitantly, as though not doing anything would be best. She flinched for a second when a drop of water fell from the roof, but panted, and return her focus to the children.

“... H-hello? Are you three… sleeping?”

No sound. No movement. By the time Chrysalis reached them to awaken one with a hoof, she already knew the truth. Chrysalis shook once… then turned the child over to lay him on his back. The grim, cold, blank face stared back at her, and Luna gasped.

The queen checked each one, paranoid they’d all gone. It wasn’t sinking in just then that this was the inevitable. They were already weak and broken before she’d left, and being inside that hellish nightmare for so long guaranteed their survival a meaningless token of hope.

She stood back up, her body shaking, and stormed out. Luna wasn’t able to break the stare she had on the queen’s deceased subjects. Their lifeless corpses, one limply leaning down and dropping to the rocky terrain, caused a new kind of misery she’d never felt before. She could only imagine how hurt Chrysalis truly was.

Several moments went by before Luna could leave, and during that morbidly rough event, she couldn’t help but wish this was all a dream. Into the daylight, she saw her new friend sitting in the distance, staring out at the murky swamp water, her tears creating rippling rings that bounced on the edges.

The princess cautiously approached, and sat side by side with Chrysalis, completely silent. She couldn’t find the right words anymore, for all her reassurance in the dream had lead them to even more heartache.

“Thank you…” Chrysalis said, but still looked into her reflection. “You’re the first to have ever showed me such kindness, but… you can go now.”

Luna huffed, a little insulted. “Why would I do that?”

The queen glanced over, but soon enough returned to the waters. “I have nothing left. You see, it’s my children that helps me just as much as I help them. I’m a bug, though. I provide love for them, and in return, they alter that love into a seed; a seed… that I give birth to. The love they give back is the future of the changeling race, and without children, I cannot reproduce.”

Luna’s mouth fell open, once more. “Y-you mean…”

Chrysalis nodded with a tear cascading along her nose. “I’m the only one left.”

Luna squinted her eyes, fighting back her own salty tears, but it was no use. She sighed, then fussed, “But this doesn’t make any sense!”

“What do you mean?” Chrysalis lifted her head to give Luna her attention. “Everything I have in this world is dead. How does that not make sense?”

For a moment, Luna had to think with Chrysalis looking at her, an annoyed expression showing. She thought, and thought until she had to look away, and finally asked, “There was another changeling in the dream, right?”

Chrysalis blinked, but remembered quickly. “Coad? She was there, yes… But, she’s been dead for far too long. What does she have to do with this?”

“Did you dream about anything else while you were there? Because more than once, I got pushed into somepony else’s dream. A changeling’s dream.” Luna placed her hoof on the queen’s shoulder. “I met her! She couldn’t speak, but I could hear her thoughts the same way I heard yours. She said her name… was coad.”

Chrysalis looked away, mumbled a bit, but confessed, “There was one instance when… I found myself in this enchanted garden… At least, I think it was a garden.” She looked up, her face becoming more animated, and asked, “Could that have been…”

“It was!” Luna stood immediately and grabbed Chrysalis up as well. “Don’t you see? Changelings are so much more different than ponies. I must’ve accidentally switched you into your daughter’s dream, and when I did, she became trapped in yours! Because you two hold a special, family bond, you were able to keep her within your nightmare!”

Chrysalis wiped her tears away, Luna doing the same, and asked, “Then, s-she’s still alive?”

Luna nodded frantically. “Yes! I have absolutely no doubt-”

Chrysalis stopped her with a hoof. With it resting on Luna’s lips, the queen revealed something that could change the situation altogether. “She was supposed to be executed.”

The stunned look Luna gave was anything but pleasing for her majesty. The hoof was lowered for her to ask, “You don’t know if she was actually killed? Because if she was…”

Chrysalis tilted her head. “What if she was?”

Luna turned around, unable to face her friend while saying this. “One of the reasons I came to you was because I feared you’d die in there… And, here’s the thing…” Chrysalis heard Luna gulp. “I-if you die in the dream, you could die in real life…”

Chrysalis stepped back. “What? H-how is that even possible?!”

Luna returned, facing forward and locking eyesight with the changeling. “It can trigger a heart attack! Especially when you can’t wake yourself up. The thought and life-like existence of death within one’s mind, if continued long enough has been known to bring some ponies to their fates. In other words…”

Chrysalis finished for Luna, “If Coad died in my dream, she would’ve died in real life… But, I can’t help but doubt Celestia would do that, even in my dream. I can’t help but to be honest when I say that she couldn’t have killed Coad. That’s just not how I see her. I can understand it if she killed me, but something about the other possibility doesn’t sound correct. Not in the least bit.”

Luna came close to say, “Then this search for your child will commence.” She looked around, then chanted as she began walking, “Coad? Coad!”

Soon enough, Chrysalis did the very same, seeking out her child with little, but strong hope. The thought of her other children, however, the three who died in the cave slowed her down some. Luckily for the changeling, though, Princess Luna was there to help keep spirits up.

Author's Note

Coauthored with RainbowBob