The Cleaving
“You do the Pony Pokey, you do the Pony Pokey, you do the Pony Pokey and that's what it's all about. Yeah!”

Grey heard himself panting. His head was pounding. A yellow emergency light spun around quickly, lighting up the room in frenetic patches. A dimly lit, rotting face jumped into his vision. “Lookit that, you're awake!” Grey screamed. “Mighty sorry about that, I always forget not to sneak up on ponies.” Grey's heart was racing.

“Need to... calm...” he managed.

“Oh, okay.” Bray sat on his haunches. “Here we are... just doing nothing... just calming down.”

The peace was shattered by a loud metallic bang. Grey was worried his heart might stop. Other than skipping a beat, though, it continued to race wildly. There were more loud bangs. Grey looked for something to stuff in his ears.

“That's Chrysalis,” Bray shouted, “She's mighty angry that we're in here and all. She gave up for a little while, but I think she heard you.” Grey found a stool. He scraped it across the floor and sat on it, motioning Bray to come close. The banging continued, but both ponies did their best to have a conversation. At points they sounded unnecessarily loud, but they could at least understand each other.

“What do we do now?”

“I have no idea,” Bray replied excitedly.

“Why did we come here, then?”

“For these!” Bray produced a medical tray covered in crimson velvet. There were five syringes, each with colored labels on them. A space existed for a sixth, but it was absent. “I would have had a heckuva time getting them out if you hadn't come along. I may be a genius, but I never was good with computers.”

“A genius?” Grey swiped the syringes away and examined them. He dumped them in his saddlebag, but a number of devices fell into the bag as well. Grey inspected them as Bray continued.

“Yep! Didn't used to be, but I guess being alive for two hundred and thirty four years will do that to ya. That and getting turned into a ghoul!” Bray was so excited and cheery that Grey felt like he was bragging, or exaggerating, or both. Grey got jealous.

“Fine! But what does that have to do with this?” Throwing everything into his bag, Grey put the bag down and started kneading the stool with his fore hooves. They beat an alternating cadence on the stool.

Bray looked at him. “Well, I had to figure all this out. Didn’t you see the terminal entries?”

Grey clutched his head. All the banging, all the information, he couldn’t process it all and his head was starting to hurt. “I… can’t remember. And I can’t think WITH ALL THAT BANGING!”

“Settle down, partner. We can hunker down until she gets tired again. Then we can really talk, or whisper. Either way, it’ll be fun!” Fun was exactly the opposite of what Grey was having.

A few more minutes and the banging stopped. “Whatever these shutters are made of sure are fancy. They’re much thinner than the walls, but just as strong. What an alloy!” Bray admired. He turned to Grey and smiled. The ringing in his ears made Bray’s comment sound like a hiss. The lights inconsistently lighting up the ghoul’s smiling face unsettled Grey. It was starting to feel like a nightmare that he couldn’t get out of. The fact that boxing them in here was the only thing keeping them alive made the sensation worse.

“As I started saying,” Bray whispered, “this whole facility, it was started by a unicorn named Fancy Pants…” Grey didn’t seem to respond. He couldn’t hear, instead he started talking to himself.

“You’re okay, it’s okay. We haven’t been here long.” Grey’s own voice sounded muffled to him. A small hissing sound slowly replaced his muffled world. “Great, now the blood’s rushing to my head.”

“So that’s what that sound is.”

“You can hear that?”

“Sure can.”

“Why can you hear the blood rushing back to my… head?”

Bray shrugged. “Good ears?”

The hissing crackled and popped. Grey rummaged through his saddle bags. He upturned the bag, spilling the contents on the floor. Somewhere in the mess, the hissing continued, only it was occasionally broken by clicks. Grey rummaged through the pile again and came up with a small communicator. He slipped the bud into an ear.

“Iron Heart? Iron Heart! Where have you… No… Yes… I… down here? As in, right now down here? The problem is we’re stuck down- Yes, we... Bray. Only the queen of… well I don’t know what she is. But Bray’s hurt, Xhenora’s dead, and… well I’m pregnant… The zebra Iron Heart, keep up!...” Grey suddenly sat up, surprised. “Watch your language Iron Heart! That’s no way to talk to a pony carrying a child!

“Iron Heart, are you there?” Grey pouted. “He can’t just stop talking to me like that! What’s he expect me to do?” A loud clang echoed within the metal room. “Keep trying, maybe you’ll get through megaspell shielded shutters!” Grey taunted. A constant banging started up and continued for five minutes straight. Both Grey and Bray covered their ears and hunkered down. After it slowed, Grey looked at the shuttered door carefully. “Nope! Not yet!” he yelled at the door and stuck out his tongue. A metal bang echoed inches from his face. He fell back with a cry.

“Say, we could let her in and explain this was all a misunderstanding.” Bray called out.

“I don’t think that’s what she wants. At least that’s what the gooey ponies outside think.”

“But you can’t tell what they think.”

“No, but I don’t think they were trying to make nice with Chrysalis before they got all gooey and dead. At least, I don’t think that’s what they were doing.” Grey considered the possibility. “Well, if they were, it didn’t work out too well.”

Grey trotted to the terminal and looked at it. There were journal entries. “The terminal’s unlocked! Did you do that Bray?”

“No, you did. Don’t you remember?’

“I uh… ow, oohh. I don’t. I have a headache, though.” Grey rubbed his head a little and pulled up the journals.

1-Too good to be true. That’s what I had told myself. Pants you old fool. But things had been going too well. They still have. My formulae are nearly complete. Years of research, and all of it to be hoofed over to a pony that did nothing at all. Well, I guess she isn’t much of a pony…

Must be careful now. I have been doing things in private. Fortunately none of them seem adept at using a terminal. I can’t tell which ponies I can trust and which ponies are one of them… friends, loved ones, society’s finest. Who is real, who is supplanted? I have started to develop ways to confirm their identities.

Of all the gifts I have given her, it has come to this sadly. It was I who suggested the phototrophic benefits of plant life. She more than happily agreed. I even saw to her customizations personally. My reward? A pair of fangs bared at my back. Instead of a fine friend, she has proven to be a masquerading foe.

It is almost complete, however. The process for developing my formulae is nearly perfect. Now, how can I use the tools at my disposal? There must be a way to save anypony left and keep my darling Fleur safe. There is yet hope, but I must work fast.

-FP, One Hoof Step Away

2-I have it! I asked myself, if she has found a way to subvert my ponies, why not subvert them myself? What would possibly stop me from not reverse engineer their genome, we have plenty of samples. It was touch and go for a time, however. I was almost discovered once or twice, but have managed to keep this branch of my work completely safe.

Once I had their genome complete, I only needed to synthesize the virus to enact my plan. Noble will fit the bill. He may be aging, but he has always been reliable. Better yet, they won't suspect him. Instead, all their attention is on myself. Pants, dear boy, you've done it! Now is only to wait, the rest is complete.

When the vials are sent back to me, all that remains is to get close to her. A trivial task when you have in mind what I do.

-FP One Magnificent Bastard

Fwd: Original Message Forwarded to Over Stallion's Private Terminal

My Dear Colleague and close friend,

I come to you in my most urgent time of need. You have supported my endeavors since the beginning. I must inform you that all we have hoped for, all we have dreamed, all of it is in critical danger. I am sorry to come to you like this, but I need you most urgently. Attached to this message are six formulae that I have been working on nonstop these past few days. Please synthesize them into six syringes and add six copies of my newly designed healing devices. Have the package sent post haste to my office. Not the grand one; rather my more humble abode.

I am assured from our recent conversation of two things. Firstly, that you are still, in fact, the same pony that I have known since magic kindergarten. Secondly, that you and I still remain as we have always been: the best of friends. That is why I entrust this task to you. My mentor, my friend, my life is in your hooves. I know that you will, as you always have, live up to your name: Noble.

Your Humbly Devoted Student,

FP

Fwd: Original Message Forwarded to Over Stallion's Private Terminal

Fleur. My dearest love. While I cannot say who, for I do not know, a pony has helped them find my records. They know. I have been summoned to her and they will not allow me to return to my office.

Dearest, in a world of shallow beings, you went deeper than anypony I ever knew. You have been my rock. You have been my comfort, and now you must be my agent.

If I had more to give you, I would. You will know the password to the terminal, I have spoken it to you thousands of times. It is how I know that you are you. Don't think on it too hard, my love, but remember how often I whispered it in your loving ears, and how you told me you loved to hear me say it. I am undone, but you have my legacy in the safe.

Do not be afraid, dear, I believe with my whole heart that we will see each other again. The queen cannot kill me until I have given her the transfusion that will transform her. That is the bargaining chip I will use to stay safe. You are my ace in the hole.

There are six of them, dear. Green will turn their own bodies to poison. It is a defense mechanism when they're young. Their body emits an enzyme that... look at me rambling.

Inject one, any one of them, with the green and the virus will spread to them all. After that, the slightest injury or turmoil will cause their bodies to break down at the smallest level.

Here is part of the problem. You need to get close to them in order to use the green one. Blue will allow you to become one of them. In that case, you will be able to detect which ponies are which. White will allow you to return to your true self. You must transform, find any one, and inject them with green. That will start the plague to kill every last one that has destroyed so many of the ponies you and I have loved. Inject yourself with the white one to transform back to your perfect self. This will keep you safe.

I know this is difficult, but I know the strength that lives within your perfect breast. Your heart, my dear, has always been the strength for both your life and mine. Now I come to what is most difficult. I am told that the process is excruciating. I have included ten of my inventions in the back of the box, behind the six. These will allow you to survive the processes. Simply apply the correct color and one of these inventions to yourself at the same time and all will be well.

The other three are marked black. Do not, at any time, use these. They will kill instantly, but they will only be able to kill one pony. It will take the life of one and leave you found out. Again, you must use green in order to kill every last one of the creatures that have brought us so much sadness.

Soon I will return and be in your loving embrace once more. Then you and I will

The rest of the letter went on to describe a scene of love too racy for Grey's tiny eyes. He flushed and closed the journal. After a few moments he went over to Bray.

“What happened?”

“What do you mean, partner?”

“Don't play dumb. What happened, what's the rest of the story? Tell me! I deserved to know,” Grey demanded.

Bray let out a sigh. “Never made it. Plan didn't work. I can't tell you what I went through to get all this.” Grey went to ask more, but Bray quieted him with a hoof and brought out a TH Tape and inserted in into a TH 751-Recorder/Player on the over stallion's console.

The main screen flickered to life. Grey saw a room with Fancy Pants in it and something that was larger than a pony. In a few moments he recognized it from the statue in the center of town. Bray nodded.

“That's Chryssalis before her transfusion. Seems she was a different species back then. But her support was a key piece of what made the research here possible.

Fancy Pants huffed on the recording. “You wanted to see me, your majesty? I'm very busy.”

“Yes,” the younger Chrysalis cooed. “It seems you have been going behind my back.”

“I don't-”

She wheeled and hissed. “Lie to me again and I'll rip out your false tongue! Now wouldn't that be droll?” Spit glistened from her tiny maw.

“Fine. I've been continuing my research. I will show you everything, let us go to my office.”

“No!” Chrysalis screamed. “Give me what you promised. I need it, now!”

“Who's lying to whom, my dear? It has not been me, but you who's broken our pact! You've replaced much of my staff already! What has happened to all my friends that have changed?”

“You needn't worry, my dear, they have all been most... useful. They are safe, for now. I will release them once you have given me what you promised.”

“We already made promises! And you have kept none of them. Show me that my entire staff is healthy and let them go, or I swear you'll never get anything.”

Chrysalis' face darkened. “You are in no position to bargain! You had no problem as my subjects lined up for your experiments!”

Fancy Pants returned her glare, his face just as fearsome. “Every one was a willing participant. I asked every last one if they wanted to leave. I treated them well, I even gave the ones that survived compensation!”

Chrysalis stepped back, amused. “Do, go on. I find your petty idealism delicious. My subjects at least know how to sacrifice for the good of our hive. It is why we are so efficient.”

“Must also be why none of you can love and are forced to steal it from others! I looked up your history. Had I not been such a fool and done so earlier, I would have never agreed to work with the likes of you!” Chrysalis looked bored. “Enough of this,” Fancy Pants went on, “I have given you everything while you have given me nothing. And that has left me without even the slightest reason to trust you.”

Chrysalis loomed and laughed. “How about this, then?” The recording split into two frames. On one side was the metal room with Fancy Pants and Chrysalis, the other frame held a familiar white mare with a pink mane.

“Fleur!”

“Fancy Pants? Darling? Where are you? What am I doing here? They told me you were going to be here.”

“Let her go this instant!” Fancy Pants was cold, demanding. “Or I'll-”

“You'll what? Oh my, this passion, this hatred. All because of love.” Chrysalis licked her lips. Her eyes lit up with dark green flame. “I was wrong. There must be so much more to a pony that I can eat, so much more to devour and feed to my children. I can have all of you ponies!” Chrysalis let out a trembling sigh.

“I do this,” Fancy Pants spit through clenched teeth, “They all go free.”

“Yes. OH YES! Of course, why shouldn't a queen keep her word?”

Fancy Pants struggled. Fleur cried out in fear. Black creatures that resembled Chrysalis began to encircle her. Seeing this, Fancy Pants yelled at Chrysalis, who had her eyes closed as her horn glowed. “She goes free NOW!”

“Perhaps.” Chrysalis smiled, opening her eyes and fixing Fancy Pants with seductive eyes. “That depends on you.” Fancy Pants produced a small device from his coat. He jammed it into Chrysalis with a hoof. She screamed and writhed... and began to change. Her body tore itself open in increasingly large sections. She stumbled off of the camera's view.

After a minute or two Fancy Pants yelled, “Let her go!” A new voice, one that was more familiar to Grey and Bray, began to laugh. Her laughing continued to a crescendo until it echoed around the over stallion's office that Grey and Bray were in.

“Very well,” the new voice announced, “She is released from my protection!” Her laugh grew ever more hateful and loathsome. On the split screen the forms surrounding Fleur hissed and fell upon her. She cried out and screamed. On the other, Fancy Pants looked in utter horror. A shadow blotted out the camera, laughing all the while.

The tape came to an end. Grey was shaking. He had been too terribly enthralled to look away. Now he put his head on the ground and covered it with his hooves. For a long while nothing moved, and Grey felt his world spinning out from under him. He got up shakily and stared at Bray.

“That's it then. That's what we're doing here. That virus. You want to wipe out the queen and every other living thing that isn't a pony out there. That's why you used me to open the safe.”

Bray looked squarely at Grey. “Do you have any idea what's going on out there?”

“I have some, why?”

“No, I don't think you do.” The ghoul flicked his partially rotting tail. “Slavery. Phovannah actually has a relatively large population. Especially for the wasteland. Problem is, this population is treated as cattle. You know what cattle is, Grey? Meat. This race has fed on the population for nearly two hundred years. You can't know how evil that is. This city's been grown and eaten for generations. You just came alive compared to them. I've seen it every day.

“The ponies are allowed to reproduce in a controlled environment. They live miserable lives, and have nothing to look forward to except one of these options. The bodies are processed to feed other ponies. Do you know what kind of things they have to do to a pony to allow her to be eaten by another herbivore? They almost lost the entire population before they figured it out. Meat, Grey. Ponies eating ponies. Reminds me of what the world was like before the balefire, really.”

Grey was quivering. He stared at the ground. He wanted Bray to stop, he wanted to say something, but it was all so terrible that all he did was sit there and shiver.

“Another option is the feasts,” Bray continued, “There are ponies that even choose this one. I can't see any biological reason for it, these creatures, changelings they're called, are all phototrophic. They don't need to have the feasts, they just like them for some reason. Feasts are where some of the population is brought in. It's said a lot of these changelings go out and hoof pick ponies. They have a big party, a hootenanny like you wouldn't believe. Celestia's even there. At the end of this party, each changeling gets to suck the life out of their escort. They don't literally suck the life out of them, actually. Instead what they're doing is feeding off everything that pony is, I understand love is especially sought prized. If they survive, the pony gets to go home to their family with the promise that they never have to attend another one. I can't tell you how many times that hasn't been true. I also can't tell you how many hearts give out, how many bodies are sent to the meat factories. Suffice it to say that it's a lot.

“Final choice, and I use choice in the loosest of ways, is that their queen uses living ponies to make more hatchlings. You and Xhenora both know what that's like. I would be too, if my body hadn't been so toxic it killed the pupa before it had a chance to hatch. In order to allow the pupa to gestate, it has to be inserted into living tissue. That way, when it's ready, the meal is fresh. That's how these things come alive, Grey. They eat their way out of a living, breathing pony. Did you hear Xhenora crying out in pain? Did you see how scared she was when-”

“Stop it!” Grey was crying again. “No, I didn't all I could see was how be-beautiful she was. Don't you ever say anything about her like that, NOT EVER! Brave, too...” Bray came over and put a hoof around him.

“Of course you're right. We need to make sure her sacrifice meant something. We have to make sure this ends here. I came to do that. I came to release that virus and set these ponies free. If we do that today, an entire city of ponies gets that chance at something their miserable parents never had- a chance to be happy. Julia didn't see it like that. That's why I came alone,” Grey looked up questioningly, “My mare, remember? The one on the radio.” Grey seemed to accept that, looking at the ground once more.

“All of them? You want to kill them all. Why not just the queen?”

“Did you get a look at her, friend? You said it yourself, there's no way we can get close.”

“We... we could try.”

“Sure, you go ahead and try. Even if by some miracle she goes down, they have a hive mind. Each one is able to act independently or share their experiences through an empathic link. I don't fully understand it yet, but in isolated trials, separating one group from another forces another queen to emerge. This gives the changelings a pony to rely on. Another changeling would just take her place, and I'd still have to stop this without you.”

“Genocide.”

“Raiders, slavers, scourges of life, of anything living. Same thing is going on here, Grey. You just need to wake up and see it. You also need to see the chance we have to stop it. Justice demands it.”

“Every. Last. One.”

“Two hundred years, buck. Do you know what it's like to have a heart and see that? To feel responsible for it? And finally, after all this time, to do something about it? What's wrong with you? Doesn't that make you angry? Or sad? Most of my kind would be driven insane, gone feral years ago, at a sight like that. But here I am, ready to do something about it.”

“All of it. It makes me sad and angry at the same time, and I don't know how to handle it.”

“Pick up the tools we have and let's do it! Let's end this!”

Grey stopped again for a long while. When he moved again, he went over to the console, forwarded to the end of the tape, brought a microphone close to his muzzle, and put one hoof on the communicator and the other on a button. The tape started to record more data. “Iron Heart. I don't know if you can hear this, but don't come after me. Things. They just, I can't understand. I'm leaving you a note in the over stallion's office. It contains everything I know. It should also give you enough information to continue where we've left off. Wherever you are, get to the surface, get safe, and do everything you can to contact Bray's friend.”

“Julia,” Bray added with a smile.

“Julia. Bray's friend is Julia. Anything else?”

“Only that my friend here and I are about to be the most awesome thing in all Paaadock Promontory.” He gave a rear and a rasping whinny.

“Yeah,” Grey couldn't help but smile, “I guess that about sums it up.”

Grey keyed some commands into the console. After another minute, static filled the pile near his saddle bags. Grey dug through the clutter and came up with the mapping gadget O'Rielly had given him.

“This is a radio, too,” Grey beamed, “And I also know that everything we did worked, we're getting a broadcast signal already!” Grey was excited. Bray was catching on.

“You just set up an emergency broadcast with my old tape, you're a genius!”

“You figured everything out before I even got here, you're a genius!” The two hugged each other. Their mutual support, however, was cut short by a loud clang. Bray shivered. “I just realized something Bray.”

“What's that partner.”

“Why an over stallion? It's pretty much always a mare.”

“Fancy Pants got Scootalo to build this place, so he felt like he should be able to run it.”

“Scootawho?”

“Just one of Stable-tech's CEO mares.”

“Oh. I thought there'd be some bigger underlying experiment.”

“No, simple as what I said. Why?”

“Curiosity, my dear Trotson, curiosity.” Grey suddenly began to jump around, singing an impromptu rhyme. “You've been trying to get in for so long, I finally figured out what's wrong! There aren't any doors for you to come through, so me and my friend are coming to... you!” Bray danced a little and then stopped.

“Grey, can't we just escape through the emergency hatch?”

“Didn't you say we needed to end this now?”

“Well sure, but I didn't mean now partner.”

“Why not?”

“So we can get a plan together, so we can come back and finish this right.”

“No we can't.” Grey sing-songed. “We have to finish tonight, tonigggghht, otherwise, what will happen to those sad ponies in friiiiggght?”

“But we can't just-”

“Sure we can! We just go over to the door, press these buttons, and voila!” The lights stopped spinning, the shutters opened. Grey was still smiling and pointing at the door when an armored, insane face yelled and poked its head inside. Bray squealed dryly and galloped behind the over stallion's desk. There he remained, terrified. Grey didn't seem to react at all.

Chrysalis' head turned and faced Grey. She gave a snap with her jaws.

“Don't you dare ever do that to me again.”

“Why not,” she smiled wickedly. Grey's horn glowed and he flicked a switch, drawing down the shutters on Chrysalis' armored neck. The massive shutters didn't bend or warp. Chrysalis writhed, she was stuck. Grey's horn continued to glow.

“Because, now we're even. And Bray and I can leave any time we want to.” Grey moved to the terminal and activated the emergency escape command. The main console hissed and shifted. Bray ran for more cover as his hiding spot lifted away on hydraulic stilts. Chrysalis hissed and snapped. Grey hit the switch, raising the shutters, but immediately lowered them again. Chrysalis had tried to pull out of the doorway completely, the shutters had come down on her head. She squirmed and cried and screeched and pulled, but the armored plates only made her more stuck as they wedged themselves on the door. “I told you! Don't you do that. But you did, and now look at you. You're supposed to be a queen, but right now you're being nothing but a big meanie!” Her hissing and spitting continued. Grey looked angry the way a mouse might frown upon a cat invading its home. “How dare you! I thought you loved me!”

She stopped short. In all her years, many more than Grey even knew, she had never heard that before, ever. Sure, ponies had told her that they loved her all the time (although, before tonight, even that had been a long time ago), but none had ever mistaken her intentions for love. Mostly they just whimpered and cried and begged for mercy. A few vermin had even dared to fight her; all those attempts had ended as futilely as they had begun. “How could you even think that a queen would love an insignificant insect like you?” she sneered.

“You're right. You'd kill me without a second though.”

Her tongue licked her lips, “Sounds delicious.”

Grey staggered. “I thought our child meant more to you than that. I guess I was wrong, you're a worse mother than I thought, and you're an even more pathetic lover.”

“How dare you I-”

“Have no problem killing me and our child. And all those ponies who said “they loved you” before, what about them? You chewed them up and spit them out. All that you thought you felt, it all evaporated the moment they knew what you really were.” The look on Chrysalis' face was inexplicable. “You know what that means dear, my disgusting little 'love'?" Grey used his hooves to make air quotes that made it clear how sarcastic he was being. “Not one,” he held up a hoof, watching her every movement, “not a single one ever really loved you. It was the lie they loved, and the truth that scared them, the truth they hated, the truth that disgusted them. You've been trying to get food all this time, but all you've gotten is dirt.”

She screamed. The sound sent Bray reeling. Grey found some paper, spit on it, and stuffed it in his ears. She writhed, she squirmed, she did everything possible to get free, but she was stuck, unmovable. “NOO! Not true, not real! You're wrong, those feelings they were-”

Grey galloped over, “Not for you. For somepony else. Poor Chrysalis. Poor, pathetic, sad little Chrysalis. No one ever loved you. But you needed love,” Grey dripped with mockery, “So you tried to steal love from somepony else, but it was never enough, because it was never yours.” Grey deadpanned. “How many still had feelings for you when they saw what you did to them? Poor creature. Don't you know you need give what you want to get?”

Her breath came in gasps, her eyes wide. She was stuck and she couldn't get away, madness started to take root in her eyes. He was right. She tried to run, to deny it, she told herself it wasn't real, but she couldn't... she couldn't get away. Madness opened the door to her mind and started to make itself a new, comfortable home. Her screams died to a whimper. Her body stopped struggling. She went limp.

“Not a good mother at all. Completely unable to even love her own children.”

“Love? I came when you killed my other child!” She asserted herself, building a new house her mind could live in, that she could defend. Especially now that the regular one was occupied.

“Not to save your child, but to kill us. You know what your child did? She tried to kill us. We were terrified. She even killed my friend, Xhenora, after all she did for your baby. You taught your baby so well about love, that she killed her other mother. Do you mean to tell me you loved her by sending her to kill that zebra? Are you trying to say you loved us? Nope, you just proved how incapable you really are.” Grey bucked over her new house, forcing her out with ease.

Starts and gulps rocked her body. The armor rattled together. It took Grey a moment to realize she was crying. Grey moved his side closer and closer to her mouth. Soon, he was touching her bony snout, right at the mark she had made in his side. Her mouth quivered. She wanted to bite down, she wanted to tear through his flesh... and that meant Grey was right. She couldn't. That was her child. And Grey was carrying her little love inside him. She sensed the little life, she sensed two little lives. Grey and the unborn child.

“That's why you had to stop everypony from moving. Cycle of love? You're nothing but a cycle of death,” he gave a chuckle, “Funny really, you're wearing that mask even now.”

Pain worked its way from her innermost places, brushing across her voice. “Oh my darling. My darling I wish I could talk to you. That you could hear. So sorry.” Groans and cries punctured her speech. “Right, he's right. Mommy's ssssorry. She's sssooo sorry she doesn't love you.” It also took him a minute to realize that she was speaking into his side. “She tried, but she... she...”

“Was blind, but finally sees who she really has been. Now I'll ask you this once, and only once.” Grey moved around her face with a hoof. He brushed away the parts of her massive mane that wound its way around her armor and into her eyes, green and narrow. He looked at her and smiled genuinely. “I love you. I really do. Do you want to love me, too?”

Chrysalis didn't know what that meant. She couldn't tell what it was. But she wanted to, her soul ached to know. A hole was eating its way through her. Rather, it had always been there, but she had taken other ponies and tried to hide it, or at least ignore it. “How? I've never really loved anyone.”

“Do you want to?” Grey met her eyes.

Her massive form looked suddenly small and broken. Her armor didn't seem to provide any protection from her mortal wound. Pinned as she was, she managed the smallest nod. Opening her massive muzzle, she managed the smallest, “Yes.” Bray didn't know what was going on. He was stunned, his jaw hung open and loose. His rotting flesh relaxed. Grey wrapped himself gently around the side of her face.

“Can you feel this, Chryss?”

“Yes.” Her eyes closed.

“Hold onto it. It's for you. I really love the real you.” The black void in her heart had sucked everything she was away long ago. It suddenly started to fill again. Not with malice, but with something else. “Now, don't let go of that, but give me back what's inside your heart, what's from you.”

“But there's nothing there, you showed me-”

“And now I'm showing you that you can choose to put it there.”

Somewhere, something appeared that she forgot was there, or never knew she had. It was the smallest little thing she'd ever known. It was so small she almost laughed at it. But then it grew, and multiplied and soon, everything she'd ever known about herself changed. Just being close to Grey, just feeling him near her, on her, and she was happy. And... for the first time she could ever recall, she wanted him to be happy, too.

“Got it?” Grey asked. Her eyes came open. She managed a nod. Good. Grey smiled, flipped the switch, and she was free. She didn't get up. She could have, but she wanted to stay just as she was. “Good.”

Grey's horn had been glowing from when he first approached Chrysalis, and it glowed a little brighter now. He looked her in the eye. “I need you to know that I'm going to do this because I love you...” his voice trailed off. She looked at him and he kissed her. Leaning gently, she parted her jaws and let him control the kiss so that he didn't hurt himself. It was wonderful. Grey pulled back, his horn still glowing. “...and your kingdom, and our child, the ponies I care about. They all need this. The ponies especially need better.”

“I promise Grey,” Chrysalis started, “from now on-” He hushed her with his tiny hoof.

“Don't promise me anything. Having you is going to be enough. At least it will be once you and your subjects make up for what you've done.”

“I'll do ev-... eh? Whap's vis?” She hadn't even noticed the tiny pin prick in her mouth. But now, she realized that something was there.

Grey leaned in close to her ear. “I'm sorry.”

She stood up fast. “What did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO!” Her jaws worked. Her tongue slithered. She spit something out. It was a syringe. The plunger showed that it had been used.

Addendum I:

Field Report- Red "Dead" Eye

Related Reference- Field Fleet Report 1024

Classified-Access Restricted

Security Authority Recognized......................

Decryption Initiated.................................................................................

Decryption Complete..............................................................................

I hate after action reports. No pony’s going to read this, are they? Even if they did, what could we do about it? My research partner is giving me stink-eye. I guess I should get on with it regardless. Look, slavery is bad, we all know that. Which is why the Enclave never implemented anything like it. We all know that the pegasus race needs to live and work together, else we’ll die alone. I just don’t understand what purpose… oh what the hell. Have to hand it to the dictation software though, it’s pretty accurate.

Just bucking!

Alright already, keep your lab coat on. Look. Red Eye. Earth pony. Kills his entire bucking stable. Every, last, pony, except for a couple of researchers or something. Shithead comes topside and insists on building a “better tomorrow” for his hoof picked favorites. Steals kids or something. Problem is these favorites build their better tomorrow on the bodies of countless slaves. Had a lot of tech on his side. That and a lot of dead ponies.

Oh right, used alicorns for protection. Was trying to become some big alicorn himself. Alicorn queen tried to stop him, but got killed. Notice a trend yet? Everypony who touched him wound up dead. Bad business if you ask me. What? Nopony’s asking? Well buck off! Yeah, yeah, the report.

Red Eye divides his forces to build a big cathedral in Everfree. His forces clash with the Enclave, etcetera until Red Eye gets himself blown up in some freak explosion. End of cathedral, end of Col Autumn Leaf, end of story. Good riddance. Guy was a puss bubble waiting to get popped.

Anything else? What? You want more? Um, well his cult is still around, though he’s dead. Idiots will probably eat each other before too long. That or raiders will tear ‘em apart. What do you mean not helpful? The hell else you want me to say?

LEVEL UP
New Perk: Partial Mediation
Because there are two sides to every bit.

You are rhetorically obsessed. You gain an additional 15 points to the Speech skill.

Author's Note

-End Ch. 9
-Dead is dead, but was it all for nothing?