It had taken a considerable ammount of time for him to collect the information about Chrysalis and her activites among the ponies without making himself known... not an entirely easy thing given that his brood was more acclimated to hostile stealth and fighting than infiltration and espionage, though certain unexpected events saw the most important information fall right in his claws, her current location.

He had spent a year or so among the ponies by then, concealed as best he could and observing, learning about them, collecting what information he could from stray changeling's that didn't seem to know where their Queen had gone... As such, he knew enough to expect them to be 'nice' in general, but they also seemed slothful and negligent of anything that wasn't part of their daily lives or deeply important to them. It came as a surprie to find out that they had 'left' Chrysalis trapped inside some form of enchanted castle roughly 5 'years' ago, were they naive? careless? covertly evil?... or perhaps just stupid? who could have not considered the inevitability of starvation in such an environment?

Regardless, he'd set out immediately for the castle, retrieving his Brood and what remained of Chrysalis' that had remained living amongst ponies waiting for her return, at least those in a position to dissapear for a while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'you have 'got' to be kidding me... fuck you 'world', stop torturing me and let me have my peace!'

She had suddenly found herself hurting again, which meant she was concious, which also meant that she her 'last moments' were in fact 'not' truly her last moments, of course it took her a while for her still starving mind to recall the last moments before blacking out.

At the instant of the realization she suddenly lurched up, trying to sit up and suddenly let out a Pained Howl coupled with several noisy crackles before flopping back flat, she wasn't in a state to be moving yet and had certainly hurt something.

Then she felt it, an especially large hoof resting on her shoulder, firm but harmless and holding her down... it was too big for a normal pony, it was... 'not' a normal hoof, she quickly realized, and opened her eyes suddenly, finding herself staring into Large Red eyes she hadn't seen in years, coupled with a worried smile.

"There you are, Stay still, and don't speak yet... I am impressed you held out for so long, but you are still in the deepest stages of changeling starvation... you practically look dead already, but we can fix that given time and a healthy supply... now, you're carapace is weak and cracking, if you move too much you're going to break it and cut yourself up beneath... I can't offer a 'quick fix' this time, but i can make sure you'll live, making a full recovery will be up to 'you' though... Toughing through it without a magical 'fixer upper' is a good way to grow stronger from your experiences."

She found herself thoroughly stunned at this, trying her best not to snicker at Irony kicking her in the flank again by making her wake up to her 'savior' keeping watch over her... perhaps it was her pitiful state at the time, or the perspective, but he seemed even more impressive than her memories implied, though his carapace seemed to have been smoothed out some as it didn't appear 'sharp and deadly' anymore... of course, a moment later something caught in her mind and a worried expression appeared, and as if on cue he continued speaking and moved on to another subject.

"More importantly I'm sure, you're Children are all... well, not okay, but alive, My own hivemates are tending to them as best they can, though they'll heal best if you get healthy again and help them through your own link... It doesn't seem that there were any deaths yet either... I stand impressed by you yet again, most would very likely have executed some drones to save themselves some love to survive on, but you spread it all out with remarkable balance to keep them all alive as long as possible... I can't say my opinion of you isn't dulled a bit by what i've learned you 'did' to end up here, but I'd say you've already been suffering enough because of those mistakes... Those ponies of your's are 'not' easy for me to imitate, hahah... speaking of which..."

She was over-joyed to hear that tidbit, though for some strange reason it ached to think he might be dissapointed, the news that the other's had all still survived and might be able to recover... was that? well shit 'Seriously? I didn't even know I 'could' produce tears...'

Yeah, that was probably another blow to her pride, but at the moment she didn't care, her hive would survive... She found herself trying to move her head, carefully, slowly, wincing frequently as her starved form refused to act smoothly, but in her mind she was desperate to see them, to have a visual reminder to back up his information...

The scene before her was beautiful, horrifying, and shocking at the same time.

Her own changeling's looked as sickly and starved as she did, Grayed and cracked carapace, fading colors, full of holes, bandages on occasion in the few cases that one was physically injured due to their fragile states.

Around them milled about other changelings, though 'red' was the typically common color that she figured identified them a Rasav's along with various forms of armor like carapace, there were many other colors present at random as well... A strikingly obvious theme came to mind, they were all diverse, rarely was one of 'his' changelings just like another of their brothers, each one was a different size, some had bits of armor, some had altered carapace, some barely registered as changelings, and one she swore looked like he was made of goo... a few were still disguised as normal ponies... wait

They didn't have reason to be disguied here, there should only be changeling's around... those 'are' ponies...

A quick 'Ow!' 'slow' glance to scan the room revealed a fair number of them, along with the thankful image of some of her own changeling's that had been lost prior being present and healthy enough to help... but more importantly was the presence of a couple of royal guards and a certain familiar unicorn waiting by the entrance that struck a fresh taste of horror in her mind that led to her snapping attention back to Rasav with a worried look.

"Hmhm, well at least your memory is intact... If I'd known you're territory was 'between' mine and Equestria, I might have found you much earlier... as it stands, I only knew to encounter the ponies first and see if they knew your location... Naturally, I learned of what you've done in Equestria before and since our last meeting, and like-wise, why the initial reaction to my appearance in Equestria was so hostile...

Naturally they didn't like the idea of an entirely separate hive that 'looked' more dangerous, going off to potentially rally with their previous offender and come back to bite them...

The Princesses 'did' seem impressively understanding and open once they'd come to understand I wasn't there to invade, but a ruler always has a duty to consider and plan for the worst possibilities in the interest of their subjects... we reached a compromise... Those you wrong the most, along with a sizeable force of 'their' soldiers would acommpany us."

He leaned in close to whisper with a small smirk "It was no worry for me to accept, It's not like these guard's are a threat to 'my' brood anyway." That got the barest of snickers from her as he rose back up.

"So, to clarify, Prince Shining Armor, as well as Princesses Twilight and Cadance have Tagged along and-"

"You've got-to be-fucking-kidding me!" The voice that interupted him between desperately deep breaths was strained and suffering, Chrysalis was clearly shocked by something she heard "Twilight is-a princess-now?." She recieved a mild glare from him for the insulted tone, something that molified her instantly "Sorry... It's-"

"Your pride rearing it's head... Understandable, though that lets me know just how 'new' she is to the role since you didn't know... You are going to have to sacrifice all of that and build your pride back from the ground up... I want to be completely clear here... I 'am' here to 'save' you, but I am not here to be a magical 'take it all away' button... You will be facing the ponies you've hurt, You'll have to decide the future of your hive and how you intend to make peace... I will keep you healthy until you're strong enough to handle yourself again, but by then you're troubles with Equestria will have been resolved."

She looked... sad, suddenly "Please... tell me you didn't come to save me only to have me dumped in a dungeon..."

He chuckled a little at that and shook his head "No, No I haven't, as I said, the Princesses' are remarkably understanding, and merciful, the fact that no fatalities were caused is of course a factor drastically in your favor... Being that you are far too weak to threaten even a normal pony right now, you'll be in 'my' custody while I am 'officially' under watch by the princesses themselves... I have my own plans for the ponies, much more 'mutual' than your's were, but For the fore-seeable future, my Responsibility is 'you'... I know there is a 'good' queen behind that vengeaful pride and desperation, and I shall see her brought to light where her Carapace will shine gloriously... And it appears it's time for a different talk."

She followed his suddenly shifted gaze to see that familiar white unicorn trotting over, his armor seeming far more crystaline and shiny than the it should have been for an Equestrian Guard captain.

Behind him were 2 alicorns... 2? "You're-shitting me... She-turned-alicorn too?"

Rasav's eyes met the Unicorn's for a moment as they exchanged a very simple greeting "Shining Armor..."
"King Rasav..."
It looked like nothing to most, but the eyes said it all, Distrust in one pair, and the other challenging... 'daring' the first to try him... Then it all turned back to Chrysalis.

The Light behind the approaching ponies had, for the most part, denied her detailed sight of them, being severely weak with somewhat still blurry vision wasn't helping... but she couldn't mistake the sound that she heard as they got close enough... Sobs... 'they' were crying for 'her'... It made her feel sick, her pride was furious at this affront, yet she was far too weak to act on the feeling beyond simply looking away.

"Shining!"

The sharp tone of a familiar pink princess' voice brought her gaze back, finding the Unicorn suddenly glaring suspicious and angry, the other 2 glaring at him "I can't..."

Cadance wrapped a leg around his withers and tugged him closer, coincidentally just a bit further from Chrysalis "what do you mean?"

"She's... This has to be a trick!... I-"
"Shiny! That's Cruel!"
"Grah, It has to be!... After what she did, how can anypony trust her? How can another Changeling even trust 'her' if not for some hidden agenda... we don't have any idea how long Changeling's can actually live off of that energy, maybe She's really got extra stored away and this is just-" *Pow!*

well, that got a surprised look from Chrysalis, though she was the only one... Through the ranting he'd seemed increasingly more angry, It's not like she could blame him, it was her own fault for being so deceptive and invasive... But the pink one just smacked him upside the head suddenly... from an alicorn that had to hurt, but maybe the armor protected him "Shiny, You know I love you, but you can be such a block head!" She spoke with remarkable calmness despite her tears and her expression being twisted into something only describably as heart-broken at the scene before them. "You've been trained to detect magic, You can tell just like us that she's powerless right now, she can't 'fake' anything now."

"But... she was in my head!... How can we know? How..."
"It doesn't matter!"

Twilight jump into the arguement with a clearly grumpy but still teary look "Even if somehow she 'were' faking something, It doesn't matter... She's still suffering because 'our' dumb asses forgot we left her here, we just assumed she'd break out of something, not that she'd've used a castle that she didn't know how to escape herself... I'd say nearly starving to death is a way worse punishment than prison time or execution, I could probably name dozens of ponies in canterlot who would've made every sacrifice on the part of others so they'd have more food for themselves... Either way it's our duty to bring her back and make sure nopony, and no 'changeling', dies because of our own stupid mistakes... Believe me, I still want to smack her as much as you do, But we're not cruel enough to beat someone when their down, we help someone who's suffering, we hurt when we see something this horrible, even if it's happening to someone we have plenty of reason to hate"

Twilight, as a new princess, was especially rough around the edges, it didn't take spending a lot of time around her to realize she preffered a no-nonsense style with as little froofy word play and 'noble' nanny pandering as possible, but was still able to pour her heart into making a speech about something she believes... It gave a fairly clear impression impression of her character, even without being able to sense emotions... She might be inexperienced in both the role of leadership and in battle, but he could see the 'potential' that Celestia spoke of and found that he could count her among the very 'very' few ponies that he can respect.

On that Front, Rasav was still impressed with these ponies... even if the out-ward reactions were anger in Shining's case, and the obvious sadness or simply uncertainty for the rest, He could sense an over-whelming and unanimous Ocean of sorrow and self dissapointment... These ponies were disgusted with their own negligence and truly horrified at seeing even an army of, hopefully former, foes in such a tremendous state of suffering.

"Ugh... I can't-believe-this..." Their attention went to Chrysalis suddenly, who was currently biting back as much sentiment as possible "I'm still-not sure-this isn't-some form-of delusion-from starvation... I can't believe-I feel-'love'-flowing from-you... I 'must'-be-delusional..."

Rasav was actually the one to reply to her strained comment "why?" She looked up, finding a rather unusual smile on his face "I haven't found many ponies during my presence in equestria that I could claim deserving of my fashion of respect, I could count the number on my claws honestly, most I can simply 'leave to their lives'." He grumbled just a little bit "Except those 'nobles'... ugh." he made an irritated face that, for just a moment, the other 3 ponies around her mirrored at the mention of 'nobles' "But there is one thing I have found... they are creatures full of emotion, Love having a most dominant presence in their lives... Once the princess made it known that I wasn't there to invade or harm anypony, quite a number of them calmed down immediately... Ponies may seem weak and fragile, but among the most vital lesson's I learned long ago when it was still a challenge to survive in the southern jungles, You will find the potential greatness in the most unexpected of places, and you should never underestimate some creature as though what you know of them is everything there is... Hmph, you'd never think of it looking at me 'now', But ages ago I was merely a drone in another Queens hive, but that's a tale for a different time... for now you need to accept their help, and maybe with a little work we can get you to stop thinking of them as simple prey."

The very idea that this tremendous specimen of Changeling Superiorty [in her mind at least] could... 'respect'... ponies, she could barely process it... then again, she was also incredibly diminished at the time, good luck thinking straight when you've been starving for years. "Ugh... Just-Do what your-going to do... I'll worry-about this-after I don't-feel like death-anymore."

It was an odd thing, even if it sounded like a desperate attempt to hold on to what little pride she had by being rude about it, It was an acceptance, more so it was very final and seemed to spark them into action and the trio moved away to let several ponies and changelings of both hives move in to ready the crippled queen for being moved... though just at the last moment she raised her head to Rasav to speak "One last thing... There's a-question-that's tortured me-for years-ever since we-met-in the jungle..."

A lot of attention was suddenly on her, Rasav's included "Yes?"

"You're a king... How do you-lay eggs?" 'gobsmacked' was a good way to describe the expressions of everyone within ear-shot, she'd even chuckled at asking that question...

a moment later The Changeling king burst out laughing, the depth of his voice in such unrestrained laughter could be 'felt' by anyone near him... A few seconds later he calmed down, though still had a very toothy grin as he looked back at her "You know the answer to that Chrysalis... The same answer to all questions asking how a changeling does something... Evolution my dear." that didn't actually answer the question, and aside from a snicker from 'his' changelings, everyone present was still completely clueless, though they quickly recovered to continue their recovery efforts.

Author's Note

It would actually take a couple of days and plenty of efforts on the parts of both the ponies and changelings to safely transport a crippled hive Back into Equestria's territory... Surely it was an adventure of Epic proportions that tested the wills of all and drove those involved closer as comrades, willing or not...

[Pinkie Interlude: Buuut, the Author doesn't feel like detailing that right now, so we're going to skip right to the end where they get back safely!

Me: Pinkie... do you have to do that? Maybe I want to see if the readers can interpret that I have ideas for it but am fully intent on making them wait until I design it out as a side-story to this one.

Pinkie: Pff, of course I have to, It's not very nice to make them wait, not to mention throwing in character changes that you don't explain.

Me: Ugh, there's no winning with pinkie... I'm still going to make them wait until I make it a side story.]

So, Moving on