The Support Group

The figure stood before the shimmering dome of the Crystal Kingdom, its ragged cloak doing little to protect it from the howling winds and the blinding snow. A gust of wind swirling in a different direction blew the hood off of the figure, and the changeling queen quickly flipped it back up with her hooves, doing her best to protect herself from the elements. She was here again at last. One way or another her pain would end this night

For months after the stallion had stopped responding to her she had driven on, attempting to find other sources. But it wasn't enough. She'd replaced loved ones, seduced stallions and mares alike, had even fallen to the most desperate of changeling feeding methods, prostitution, to feed herself and her swarm. It was all for nothing. Her children were gone, either dead or absorbed into other swarms. Her crown was cast aside months ago, having only existed at that point as a painful reminder of what she'd lost. Happiness, lust, and fear all tasted like ash in her mouth. She caught herself speaking his name at the worst times. The stallion was all she could focus on. She couldn't go on anymore, she had to have it again. Chrysalis needed to taste his love again, even if it was just for a moment. They'd catch her of course, in her current state there was no way she could capture Cadance again. She'd be found out, revealed, and sent to the dungeons, hopefully to await a quick execution. Then it would be over. She wouldn't suffer this burning, this aching in her barrel that left her forsaking all that she'd worked to attain in her lifetime.

She took a few steps forward, stumbling slightly in the uneven snow. Recovering quickly, she kept walking, finally reaching the barrier about the time the sun was fully hidden by the nearby mountains. She entered and sighed in relief as the cold stopped sapping what little energy was left in her body. Love was thick in the air, yet it did her no good. It was like a dying mare rejecting a glass of water. Her starving body rejected the energy that she was swimming in. She cast aside her ragged clothing, not caring anymore if she was found out. She stumbled down empty streets, somehow always missing the patrols, somehow making it to the castle without a single shout of alarm. She saw the gate, and found it unguarded at the moment, saw a few guards talking to each other during the change of shift. She quickly moved through the gate, hiding in a bush and looking to the castle above her.

She could feel him, could taste the stallion's emotions from here. The proximity to her goal gave her strength, and she began watching her step again. She dodged patrols as she made her way through the halls, always following the beacon in the night. She ducked behind a pillar, watching carefully as a pair of crystal guard ponies made their way past her, none the wiser. The queen giggled manically, she was so close, so close to another taste, she just needed one more and then she could- she could figure out where to go from there.

"I'll be right back, Shiney. I need to grab something," a voice called out from two doors down. Chrysalis ducked out of sight once more, watching as the pink alicorn of food made her way down the hall. Grinning like the predator she was, the queen copied the form once more, moving into the room she'd left and taking in the sight and scent of The Stallion once more.

Shining armor was walking out of the shower, his mane and tail slick with warm water when her eyes fell upon him. He smiled warmly at her, radiating that sweet nectar she craved so much. Then it was gone, the love reduced to confusion, then to anger as his horn flared with magic. The queen was grabbed and restrained in his aura, a quick spell pulling her disguise away.

It didn't matter though. She'd tasted it, it was hers and she was happy. She could only stare at the unicorn, her glazed eyes tracking him with desperation even as her legs flailed, the changeling attempting to swim through the air towards her target. She was so close, just one kiss was all she wanted. It was all she'd ever need.

I could only stare in shock at the being that was held before me. Queen Chrysalis in the flesh, no matter the condition that flesh may be. It had taken me by surprise, seeing Cady still in the room after calling to me as I left the shower, but the black flecks of her failing disguise had given her away. Quick as a flash, I'd grabbed her in my aura and used Twily's spell to pull back the queen's disguise. I almost wish I hadn't.

The spell always left the target worse for wear, but the mare in my aura didn't even flinch as her disguise was forcefully ripped away revealing a mare that reminded me of the few dead changelings we'd found after the invasion. Certainly most of them escaped, but not all of the shape shifters were able to catch themselves after being thrown from Canterlot and the guard had been called to several locations where the emotion eaters were either already dead, or so close to death it was best to give them mercy.

The mare before me though, she was a shadow of her former self, of the predatory mare I'd seen so long ago. A cracked horn sputtered weakly with magic, sparks emitting from the cracks and the broken tip leaving my own horn aching in sympathetic pain. The queens eyes were glazed, the pupils inside focused completely on me. I leaned right, then left, watching as she move her head, but not her eyes. Could she even see at this point, or was she tracking me solely by her ability to detect emotion?

The carapace had seen better days as well, entire sections of the chitinous armor missing and revealing black pseudo-skin underneath, at least where it wasn't dark green from dried blood. I shuddered at the queen's visage; where had the haughty queen of her people disappeared to? Where was the mare that had been so certain of victory, or even in defeat certain she would recover? It was almost pitiable, this thing she'd devolved into. Could this have been my fate as well, had I not gone through those treatments to cure myself of that addiction to to her? What would have happened if I'd been the one in her place?

"Shiny? Shiny, I- CHRYS-al..is...Shiny what's going on? What, what happened to her?" Cadance asked, slowly trotting around the slowly swimming queen. Chrysalis had made no progess in reaching me, but seemed uninterested in stopping either. She just slowly swam in place, reaching my being the only goal she could possibly fathom at this time.

I began to sweat as my wife walked back into the room. I'd tried so hard to keep that from her, to keep my failing out of our lives and to move on. Now the changeling was here, half-dead from the looks of it, and Cadance was asking questions. Questions I may know the answer to, but couldn't answer without incriminating myself. How had this happened? How had things fallen to this so quickly? I was supposed to be happy tonight!

"I- I don't know, Cadance. She just showed up and- I don't know!"

Cadance began circling the swimming mare, her expression sinking from shock to horror as she took in the slew of injuries the black creature bore.

"Oh stars, what could have- Shining, she needs help."

I blinked in confusion as my wife took the queen in her own aura and pulled her into the nearby bathroom, immediately starting to fill up the tub and pulling out a nearby first aid kit. She began pulling out supplies to clean the fresher wounds even as the queen slowly made her way over to me, causing Cadance to stare in confusion.

"Shiny?"

The black mare stood before me, a desperate smile on her face. She was almost completely subsumed by the addiction, the addiction I'd escaped; the one I'd left her with.

'She never thought I'd find a way to break it, so she always assumed I'd be available to her. She thought we were both bound to each other, but I broke out without warning her. Oh Celestia, I did this to her.'

Without a second thought I pulled the queen into a hug, tears forming in my eyes. I couldn't do this to her, I had to help her. She could have done things to me, could have had me expelled from the public eye, brought my visits with her to light, could have had me in other ways. Instead I used her, used her and left her to die in the cold. Sun and stars, she didn't deserve this. Nopony did. The only question now was how do I explain this to Cadance?

"I- I know what...what's wrong with her," I stuttered out.