What Have We Become

It was a dark stormy night, lightning flashed across the dark sky, violent rain lashed the trees, punishing the trees of the Everfree and churning the ground into oceans of mud. Any sane pony would be indoors on such a miserable night. Many were, and had been for hours, safely barricaded against the incessant storm. Only the desperate or unfortunate would find themselves walking in this weather.

One such lonely creature found herself meandering along the edges of the forest, stumbling along under the sheer force of the pounding rain. Her gossamer wings were closed against her chitinous body, too weak to fly. She was almost too weak to walk. This pitiful creature, once so proud and mighty had indeed fallen as low as any being could fall. She had once held Canterlot itself in the palm of her hand, to look at her now, a shambling ruin of her former self.

She shivered and screamed in terror as another bolt of lightning lit up the dark night sky, she threw herself to the muddy quagmire of the ground in an attempt to hide from the peals of rolling thunder. Shakily she got to her hooves, using a hand to steady herself against a gnarled old tree. Her once fine clothes, now ripped and torn, as disheveled as the creature wearing them were plastered to her thin body, the rain long since soaking them to her skin.

Blinded by the torrential rain she stumbled on her hooves through the forest. She had given up wiping the rain from her eyes, even if she could see where she was going she had no idea where she was, or indeed how she had gotten here, wherever here was. She didn't know how long she had been aimlessly roaming this forest, it seemed never ending. Days and nights merged into one another. She only knew one from the other because one was light and the other dark.

She managed to find a brief respite under the branches of a particularly old gnarled looking tree, it's canopy of leaves sheltering her shivering form from the worst of the rain, although by this time it was a futile effort. Huddling against the rough bark she screamed again as more lightning danced across the night sky. Cowering against the tree she tried to take stock of her situation. It didn't take her long to sum up her lot. It was hopeless. As hopeless as trying to outrun the fury of the skies. Try as she might she just couldn't remember.

She tried to remember, she really did. The harder she tried to remember, well, anything at all, the less she could recall. She couldn't remember where she was from, she couldn't remember what she was, or what her name was. Did she even have a name? She didn't know how long she had been wandering, or where she was going to.

She only knew three things, she was alone in the world, she was terrified of the flashes and loud bangs and she was hungry. Painfully hungry. Why was she hungry? She had eaten, but still she was hungry. Why? She couldn't understand it. She had consumed small animals that she had managed to overpower, and had eaten the fruit from the trees, but no matter what she had tried, the damned hunger wouldn't leave her. She had stopped eating the animals and fruit, she couldn't remember when. What was the point if they weren't feeding her? What then did she need to consume? Like everything else she didn't know, or couldn't remember, or maybe it was both?

She slumped down to sit on the forest floor, her back resting against the tree. The muddy ground was drier here. She closed her eyes, trying to remember her dreams. Even when she slept she knew no peace, her dreams were hounded all the while. One word kept coming back to her. Canterlot.

What was so special about Canterlot? Did she live there? Had something happened there? Why was this word the only thing she could remember? Canterlot. Always Canterlot. Every time she dreamed she dreamed of Canterlot. She couldn't remember ever going there, but she must have, to know its name. The thought made her laugh. How could she know the name of a place she couldn't remember ever going to when she didn't even know her own name? She had been certain long ago that she would find her answers in this Canterlot place, and had decided to find it. That was when she had first realised the hopelessness of her situation. Even if she knew where she was now, she had no idea where this Canterlot was.

This was where Chrysalis found herself on this cold dark miserable night, cowering under a tree in the Everfree Forest from the primal fury of a thunderstorm. The former Queen of the Changelings had truly hit rock bottom indeed. She didn't know what a thunderstorm was, but she knew enough to be utterly terrified of the flashes and loud bangs overhead. One such burst of lightning flashed almost directly above her, striking the tree and igniting it in a pillar of flame. Once more she screamed, though it came out as little more than a hoarse shriek from her tortured throat. Scrabbling to her hooves she ran blindly through the trees, paying no heed to her destination, she just wanted to be as far away from her burning shelter as she could manage.

She burst from the trees, the ground opening up into a clearing. In the distance she could see a small dwelling, it's lights shining bright in the darkness from its windows. In her panic Chrysalis ran towards it, the thunder and lightning giving life to her tired legs. Onwards she ran, fear of the night outweighing the fear of what manner of thing she’d find inside. Her breath came in ragged bursts, stars began to explode at the edge of her vision as fatigue began to get the better of her. In the darkness she couldn't tell how close she was to the cottage, only that the lights were getting nearer. Without realising it she ran headfirst into the heavy wooden door, colliding with it with a loud thudding noise.

Pain bloomed across her forehead and the base of her horn as Chrysalis staggered backwards, and fell to her knees. Exhausted from her run, she fell face first in the path before the door, half starved and beyond tired her vision swam blurred across her eyes. She saw the door open, the light from within blinding her tired eyes, the silhouette of a tall something with wings stood before her. ‘It's an angel…’ Thought Chrysalis as she finally blacked out, unconsciousness claiming her at last.

Seated safely inside her cottage, clad in pink pyjamas and a fluffy yellow fleece robe Fluttershy sipped her rose tea. Her critters had been securely bedded down before the scheduled thunderstorm had begun. She was glad to be indoors tonight, it was, as Applejack would have called it, a ‘doozy’ of a storm. Every so often one was necessary, although Fluttershy had to admit, the weather Pegasi had really outdone themselves this time. Still, plenty of warning had been given, and everypony was safely prepared. Or so the shy pegasus thought anyway.

The last thing she was expecting on a night such as this was to hear a loud thud impacting her front door. Fluttershy had no idea what to expect as she went to investigate the noise. There was absolutely no way anypony would be foolhardy enough to venture out in this weather surely? Fluttershy had almost been tempted to ignore it and go back to her tea and duvet on her sofa, but a twinge of curiosity and been sparked, and she found herself nervously holding the latch of her door.

Pulling the heavy wooden door inwards she opened it, peering out into the dark night, the light from her kitchen spilling out onto her garden path. She didn't see anything at first until she glanced down at the ground, and saw the unconscious body of one she hadn't seen in months, since the failed invasion of Canterlot. There, lying prone scarred and battered was Chrysalis herself.

“Oh my…” Fluttershy was wracked with indecision, what in Equestria should she do? On one hand Changelings were public enemies, and this was the worst of the lot, but on the other she simply couldn't leave the poor thing outside in this storm, Fluttershy could obviously see the Changeling was in a very bad way. Making her mind up Fluttershy rushed out into the rain and as gently as she could gathered Chrysalis up in her arms and carried her into her cottage.

Kicking her door shut behind her Fluttershy spread her wings and gently flew up her stairs to the spare room, taking care not to disturb Chrysalis any more than absolutely necessary, although it didn't seem she was going to wake up any time soon. Nudging open the spare room door Fluttershy carefully laid her cargo on her old table while she got the spare bed ready for her. She noticed the steady drip of rainwater from Chrysalis’ sodden clothes, and after making sure she wasn't going to roll off the table Fluttershy quickly went to the airing cupboard and retrieved a change of clothes and a bath robe  for her guest. Picking up a pair of sturdy scissors Fluttershy flew back up to the spare room.

Fighting back a furious blush at what she was about to do, Fluttershy ran the scissors up the arms and front of Chrysalis’ still dripping filthy shirt and then down the legs of her ripped muddy jeans. Slipping the scissors into a pocket of her own robe Fluttershy gently pulled off the ruined dirty clothes and proceeded to dump them unceremoniously in her waste bin. Now faced with a naked sleeping Chrysalis Fluttershy blushed a fierce red so bright she thought she might spontaneously combust. She knew she shouldn't look too much but if she wanted to dress her guest in the robe it couldn't be helped.

Chrysalis really did have a nice body, her naturally slim frame was gaunt from months of under nourishment, she was almost painfully thin now, Fluttershy could clearly see her bones of her hips and ribs through her hard chitinous skin. Scars criss crossed her body, in particular a nasty looking one that ran down the left side of her face, down her neck and almost to her breasts. Fluttershy checked her hooves over, carefully wiping the dirt and mud away from the hard surface and sensitive inner areas. They looked cracked and chipped in places, but otherwise not too worse for wear. Tenderly she placed a kiss on each hoof, then another on Chrysalis’ forehead at the base of her horn before threading her slender arms through the arms of the bath robe. Wrapping it around her narrow waist she tied it off and carried her to the waiting bed. Once she was placed with her head on the soft pillow Fluttershy bought the duvet up to her chin, then turned out the light and went to her own room.

A sudden thought struck her as Fluttershy settled into her own bed. ‘What in the wide world of Equestria are my friends going to think?’ She would have to tell them of course, they would inevitably find out anyway, and she would much rather be upfront with her friends. She could hear the many arguments in her head even now, and Fluttershy had to admit it to herself that maybe this wasn't her best idea, but if she had to she would petition Celestia and Luna personally to take care of her charge. As she drifted off to an uneasy sleep she  shook the thought from her head, tomorrow will bring what tomorrow will bring, and any bridges that needed to be crossed would be crossed as and when it was necessary.