How Love Works

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter I - Chances
Chapter II - Problems
Chapter III - Arguments
Chapter IV - Thrones
Chapter V - Visions
Chapter VI - Battles
Epilogue - Heirs

Prologue

I'm going to tell you a story, one to which I don't require you listen, but request that you will hear. You won't lose anything by not reading this, and you might enjoy some other story more. Nothing will stop you from walking away. You can close this book whenever you like, and go do something else.

My parents built their city on top of the old hive in the badlands, from which Queen Chrysalis had been evicted by her subjects. My parents came to the old hive, shielded from the desert by their spells and fortune. After gathering the survivors from underground, they set about their grand project to build a city, by changelings, for changelings. The workers told me that the hive was once a vast network of tunnels that occupied nearly a hundred cubic kilometers of the world below the desert.

They commissioned all changelings fit for work —about two hundred— to build the city, constructing the castle first, where all had lived for the first few years. It wasn't much of a castle, as it was less than three meters tall. If built any higher, it would collapse under the raw, natural might of the constant sandstorm.

Small teams of changelings would leave the castle after its completion, carrying bags full of rocks on their backs, with a new plot of land to their name, and go out into the desert winds, determined to build their own homes. Those changelings usually came running back, unable to fly in the furious blizzard of sand and dust, unable to see for weeks until their eyes healed, having been victims of what some called, "Sand bite."

I had grown up in a flat castle, built barely a story tall, surrounded by changelings, crying, blinded by their own home. I lived in constant fear that the walls of my home would be whisked away on the wind, leaving all of my people exposed to the unrelenting power of the badlands. That did a number on my mind, and I still have not overcome such a fear.

Finally, for one week, the sands let up. No one knew why the sands had given way, but all jumped on the opportunity, constructing a great wall around the castle, towering above anything and everything, built to hold its own against the desert. It rose into the sky at an unimaginable pace, hurried on by the fear of the winds that could return at any moment.

As the winds returned, the wall still grew, more slowly than before, but we'd gotten on our feet, and we wouldn't fall back over, for fear of the winds consuming our hard work. Every evening a great spell would be cast by my parents, turning the center of the castle into a beacon of white light, a guide for any workers who'd lost their way in the sands. Every night, my parents would run around their sickly castle, counting heads until they slumped into their bed, relieved that not one of their subjects had been lost.

As the wall grew, the winds lost their grip on the land encircled by the barrier of magic stone, creating a sort of rain shadow effect, but with sand. The wall took the blunt of the desert's fury, and the castle slowly learned to relax, growing taller and taller with each passing day. As the castle grew, morale got better. All worked harder, spoke happier thoughts, and felt safer by the day.

One day, I watched in awe as those around me returned from the outside world, not a single scratch on them, talking about something bright in the sky. I'd scrambled to find my father, and asked him if I could go see. I'd dragged him outside upon his compliance, and looked up at the sky.

There was the great circle of light, of which my father and mother had spoken about in their bedtime stories, calling it the sun. I stood there for a while, looking up at the raging cloud of blistering sand, able to see through it to the great star behind it. I returned to see it every day at lunchtime, and every day it became brighter and brighter, clearer and clearer.

On what would be remembered as the last day, of the desert's tyrannical control of my people, of the genius of the land's final loss, the sky was unobstructed by sand. I looked up at the sun, in all of its greatness, feeling its warmth on my chitin for the first time I'd remember. I had smiled at it and heard my father say, "We've done it, kid. We've done it."

There had been hours of partying, dancing, and jokes passed around at dinner. My sisters were, at the time, few in number. Those older than me were cadets of the Canterlot Castle guard, and would later become the castle guard in New Hiveland. They had purple eyes, armor, wings, and auras. My older sisters had made sure to be included in some of the fun. They'd swiped a few dice from the adults, taken me outside, and gathered around a makeshift table. They'd rolled dice and bet on various things of little consequence.

One of the more friendly of the purples, named Glados, had smiled at me and said, "You forgot your own birthday, didn't you?" She'd laughed and sat down next to me, pointing her hoof at the sky as it turned black. She said, "Look at the sky, Toothless. What do you see?"

I had followed her gaze, and squinted at the sky. I saw a few dots of white appear, then more and more showed. Before long, the whole sky was full of white points of light. I'd clapped my hooves together excitedly and asked her what they were. I'd never seen stars, none that I could remember at least.

She'd smiled at my and pulled me closer to her. "They're stars, and each of them is a sun all of its own. Imagine that, a million different worlds could be spinning around them. Some might even have people like us, who could be looking at their sky, seeing our sun, wondering if we're here," she had said to me.

Chapter I - Chances

But, the next day, it was back to work. Houses began popping up on the land encircled by the wall, dozens of them, hundreds of them.

After a while, even my sisters moved out of the castle, into sorority houses, save for the purples, who were still being trained by one of the best drill sergeants in the land, Rainbow Dash. I also took lessons from her, sword fighting, running laps, trying to make my wings work, and wrestling with the purples.

Each time a new clutch hatched from my parents, they would take care of them, until they turned five, and were moved into a new sorority house.

My tutor became the public schoolteacher, and the clutch born after me —the oranges— was placed in the same grade level as me, so they followed me everywhere I went. They got their own home, and flocked to school every weekday, where they spent their time pestering me about who was prettier or how cute I was.

This is where the story really starts, when I am sixteen years old, starting my senior year in high school. This was the year the first pony would move to the city with the intention of staying.

I grumbled incoherent things as I walked into the classroom, which was full of other changelings. The teacher sat at the front of the room, behind a large desk. Her blue eyes filled with welcoming as I stepped towards her. She smiled and said, "It's always nice to see you again, Toothless."

I smiled at her and reached a hoof into my bag, pulling an apple out of it, and setting it on her desk. I said, "And too you." I lowered my head ever so slightly and turned to face the other students. I frowned as they all erupted into a clamorous frenzy, breaking the silence that had accompanied my entrance.

All of them were my sisters, the clutch born after me. Their eyes and armor plates were a solid orange color, and their wings buzzed excitedly as I made my way to the back of the room, blurring into masses of orange. They turned to each other and spoke frantically about me.

I pinned my ears against the sides of my head, and sighed as I took my seat at the back of the room. I noticed that there was an empty desk to my left, and assumed that one of the oranges had fallen ill. It wasn't like them to miss a chance to see me. I set my bag down on the floor, and pulled out a spiral bound notebook.

Suddenly, a collective gasp filled the room, and all fell silent, save for a hurried breathing. The bell rang, signaling the start of class. I heard a deep, feminine voice, tired and hurried, say, "Nailed it." The source of the voice moved towards the back of the room, and as I looked up, my eyes widened.

I could feel my heart rate accelerate from a perfectly healthy thumping to nearly frightening pounding. I felt as though my heart could burst out of my chest, and I found myself unable to speak. I froze, sitting there, staring dumbly at the new creature. My silver eyes were open so wide they started to burn, and I had to remind myself to blink, then breathe.

A pony, covered from hoof to head in soft, lemon yellow fur, sporting a pair of well preened avian wings, was standing right in front of me, holding my gaze with her camouflage brown eyes. Her chest was heaving as she recovered her breath, and her mouth was open enough for me to see her perfectly white teeth. Her flowing mane and tail were the same shade of red as faded roses.

Her cutie mark —as my parents had called these symbols— was a pink flower, with three leafy vines spreading out in various directions. Where the middle of the flower should have been, was an oval, with the upper third colored black, and the rest a vibrant red. Down the middle of the red area was a thin white border, which also separated the black from the red sections. Five black dots were placed in the red area, one directly in the middle of the white line.

I found myself getting lost in her eyes, and my cheeks flushed a bright shade of iridescent blue. I wanted to look away, out of modesty or embarrassment, I could tell, but didn't find myself able to move. I didn't really want to move, or take my eyes off of her, this beautiful creature who had just walked into the classroom.

My ears began to burn as my blush deepened, and her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink in turn. I couldn't understand why she'd be embarrassed for staring at me, as I wasn't much to look at.

I was just another changeling. With black chitin, holes all over my legs and in my bat like wings, a solid blue hue to the gossamer plates, which folded like those of a luxurious fan. My armor was a flashy shade of bubblegum pink, and my fangs weren't even big enough to show with a closed mouth. My frills were nothing impressive, and my tail was the same silver as my eyes. My horn was pointed, curved, and well polished, shimmering slightly in the sunlight pouring through the windows.

I opened my mouth to say something, but came up with, "Um..." I looked down and my blush deepened. That was a new level of smooth for me. My ears felt as though a piece of kindling was being held to them. "I... Hello. I... I hope you don't mind me, being an awkward grub and all," I finally managed.

The pony sat down at the empty spot next to me, and looked down at her desk. She said, "I don't mind, so long as you can put up with me." She and I sat there for a while, and the class seemed to take notice of this, as my sisters all fell quiet, something they'd never have done under normal circumstances.

Finally, I swallowed hard, and turned to face her. "I'm Toothless, and I hope my sisters don't give you any trouble," I said. I reached a hoof towards her, offering her to shake it. I smiled nervously, my blush having finally faded. I glanced at the changeling in the row in front of mine.

All of the orange eyes in the room were darting back and forth between the pony and me, giving us anything between warning glares and shocked looks. I held their gazes, and, in a burst of courage I'd never found before, emitted a small growl. "Leave me alone for once," I snarled.

They all looked away, either up at the ceiling or at the teacher.

The pony's hoof held mine, and she said, "I'm Ladybug Spring, and are they all your sisters?" She seemed to think that wasn't the case, because she sounded amused. She shook my hoof and held my gaze again. She smiled a bit, showing her perfectly white teeth.

My blush returned, and I said, "Um... Actually, a decent majority of the city is made of my siblings." I rubbed the back of my neck with my right hoof, careful not to touch my frills. "I'm willing to assume you've met my parents." I closed my eyes, and returned her smile, mine more nervous than hers.

The space between us seemed to thicken, and the scents of various emotions trickled up my nostrils. I had been told that ponies gave off more emotion than changelings, not that they felt any more, but I'd never considered the implications of such a notion. Now I could only sort through the feelings she felt, trying to dissect her opinions of me.

It wasn't easy, and, as biology class came and went, I had only confidently identified two emotions from her. I knew that she felt both curiosity and interest towards me. I couldn't untangle the many knots and puzzles of her mind. As the class came to an end, it occurred to me that I could simply ask her.

I felt silly for not thinking about that sooner, but we parted ways once the bell rang. I stopped in the hallway to look over my shoulder, and spotted the faint rose color of her mane, then blushed when I caught her gaze. I looked forward again, and made my way to the next class.

Chapter II - Problems

Author's Note

The changelings in my stories speak Armenian, which I chose because Armenian has so many sounds a bug can make. I don't really speak very much Armenian myself, and I've tried to write this story with such simple translations that a simple copy and paste into Google Translate will yeild good results. The only exceptions to that rule are a few Latin names (which I actually speak).

Chapter II - Problems

When the bell rang two classes later, I made my way to the lunch room, carrying my bags and a few flasks of pink liquid with my magic. The bottles glowed as I made my way to the same table I'd always sat at. I set down my bags beneath the table, and the flasks on the top of the table.

There was a rule about the table I sat at, that stated, unless they had permission from me, no one could sit there. The rule had been written after a particularly strong advance from another of the students. Now, my table was my table, and everyone knew that.

I closed my teeth around the cork on one of the flasks, and pulled it out with a loud popping sound. I eyed the bottle for a moment, and slid it in circles on the table's surface, sloshing the pink fluid inside. I sighed as I stilled the bottle, and the liquid continued to spin.

I watched my reflection on the fluid, and shook my head slowly. I saw another figure in the reflection, and looked up to see who it was. I blinked at Ladybug, and sat up, suddenly self conscious. "H-hello, Miss Spring," I said, ears perking up and my eyes widening.

She smiled at me and said, "Hi, Toothless. May I sit with you?"

I sat there for a moment, unmoving, and tried to imagine what my sisters would say. I looked over my shoulder, as though to make sure that no one was watching, and said, "Sure. I would also like to talk with you, if that's alright with you."

"Thanks," she said, taking her seat a quarter of the table to my left. She leaned her neck back to reach into her bag, and pulled out a brown paper bag. She lifted a hoof to wipe away a stray lock of her rosy mane, and smiled nervously at me. "The other students seem to think that I'm going to threaten them in some way."

I blinked, then shook my head to stop staring at her. I thought for a moment, and said, "Well..." I considered how best to explain this. "Most of them do have some sort of crush on me," I finished. I watched her for her reaction, trying to gauge how much this information affected her.

She raised an eyebrow at me, and asked, "Aren't they supposed to be related to you?"

"Yes and no. The thing is, while the other students share parents with me, we aren't genetically similar enough to be related. I'm more of a pony than any of them, as my father used to be a pony, but my conception used the only pony DNA he had stored from his youth. And um... That sounds really weird, doesn't it?" I said, biting my lip, trying to figure out how to fix my mistake.

"Basically, I'm the only male their age, and they seem to think that it's a race to become my favorite," I added. I smiled nervously, and rubbed the back of my head with a hoof.

Ladybug smiled at me, and said, "They think I'm going to steal your heart?" She sounded amused, like such an opinion of her wasn't to be taken seriously. She snorted, then laughed, "Like that'll ever happen." She laughed for a bit, then stopped abruptly, her eyes filling with a sort of displacement. She sighed heavily, and muttered under her breath, "Like that'll ever happen."

She placed her hoof on top of an apple from her lunch, and rolled it around on the table idly. She frowned a bit, and looked down at the table. "Stupid..." she muttered.

I felt my own lips curling down in sympathy, not enough to make out from another table, but enough that I felt my own mind supporting the weight of some shared burden. I —without really thinking, or I wouldn't have done it— made my way towards her, and placed my left hoof on her shoulder.

With her forelegs crossed over the top of the table, she hid her head in them, and a soft sobbing sound accompanied the erratic motions of her chest. Her wings went limp at her sides, and her ears pinned back as she cried.

I hesitated, finally considering the implications of what I was about to do. None of my sisters had ever come to me for comfort, but I'd served as confidant for both of my parents before, and learned most of my manners and etiquette from them. I was royalty, and —whether I liked it or not— royalty didn't cry, nor did they show themselves as creatures of emotion.

The sobbing was interrupted by a sniffle, and that made up my mind.

I found myself in a position in which no monarch would in their right minds wind up, comforting their subjects. This, I knew, was not my job, nor was it proper. It wasn't correct, and it wasn't helpful to my public image. What I did in that moment would haunt me throughout the duration of my life, and, consequently, my reign.

But screw that, because no one should be above helping another. No matter the hierarchy, no matter the status, no matter the time or place, we are social creatures. We must help one another, or the world is the lesser. Let my sisters and my parents think of me what they wish, but I am not above showing kindness to a fellow creature.

With my left foreleg wrapped around her, from shoulder to shoulder, and my ears standing as stiffly as they could, I said, "You can tell me what's wrong." I placed my hoof on the back of her head and softly patted it.

A few moments later, the sniffling and the sobbing stopped. Ladybug cried into her hooves, "M... My uncle died." She sniffled once, and wiped her eyes clean. She sat up to face me, her eyes still bleary, and her eyes filled with pain. She wrapped her forelegs around me, and let her head rest on my shoulder.

I felt my shoulders tense, as I was not used to so much physical contact, but knew that a hug was a part of being a real person. I hadn't been given the chance to be so sympathetic, but it'd always bothered me to be the stuck up prince. I'd never been known as a real person.

It was time I started being one.

I nodded and carefully wrapped my forelegs around her, letting her cry into my shoulder. I said, "That'll hurt for a while..." I bit my lip and thought for a moment. "Here's what I do when someone I know passes on. I think for a while, about what lessons I've learned from them, and I teach others that same lesson. I do what I can to make sure that their values and knowledge gets passed on."

I leaned forward a bit, my own heart sinking with every sound the pegasus in front of me made. I hadn't come up with those words, but my father had told them to me each time one of the element bearers had passed away. They'd been close friends of his mother, and his aunt's pupil had been his mentor for a while.

The last one of them had died right in this city. Rainbow Dash had been running my older sisters and me through some laps, keeping us in good shape, when she'd suffered from a fit of coughing. She'd told me that it was nothing when I'd asked, but the coughing only got worse throughout the day.

She'd called us back to the castle, and, upon delivering me back to my parents, coughed up a bit of blood. My parents had both rushed her to the medical ward, where she'd told my parents, "Keep my daughter safe for me." She'd died before the sun set, and the sky had lit itself into a brilliant display of rainbows, signaling her death to the world.

Her daughter had been a changeling hybrid, and most well recognized for her multitude of colors. She'd been named Tsiatsan, the Changeling word for rainbow. I'd met her a few times, and after a particularly rough fight with her father, she'd disappeared into the Everfree Forest, where no one had found her.

I blinked, and felt my limbs warming, as the pegasus's body temperature was higher than mine. I asked, "The cold doesn't bother you, does it?" I lifted a napkin from the middle of the table, and held it in front of her.

She shook her head against my shoulder, and grabbed the napkin. She held it to her nose and blew into it, then sat up. She didn't make any move to end the hug, nor did she look me in the eye. She said, "Thank you. I... I needed that more than I was willing to admit."

I nodded, and gave her a warm smile. I said, "Don't tell my sisters that I helped, or they'll feel even more threatened."

"Toothless?" a familiar voice asked me.

My smile evaporated, replaced immediately by a snarl on the left corner of my lips. I didn't look at the orange changeling to my left, but acknowledged her presence with a rumbling growl. "Go away, Grgrrel," I hissed. I whispered through the right side of my mouth, with closed teeth, "Sorry."

I grit my teeth, and released Ladybug. I turned towards the table, whispering to the pegasus, "Do not give her your attention. Don't look at her, and don't listen to a word that slips from her tongue." I stood up, and took my original seat. I placed the open flask to my lips, and tipped it back, letting the sweet fluid drain into my mouth.

Grgrrel was nothing if not persistent, and she knew that she'd get nowhere from talking to me. She sat down where I'd just been, her side brushing against Ladybug's lemon yellow coat. She said, "So, there's an alien in town."

Ladybug's eyes widened almost enough that her pupils replaced her irises. Her wings stiffened against her sides, and her back straightened out, like one of those anklets I'd seen some people wear. She poured the smell and flavor of fear into the air, so thick that it made me scared.

I hissed at the orange, "Lrrir, Grgrrel, kam yes kstoragri ayd zspich' kargy." I set down the flask on the wooden table, and marched over to the pair. I looked the orange in the eye and said, "Leave our guest alone, or I will alert our parents that a third lawsuit is in order."

Grgrrel looked at me, and then at the pegasus. "Stay away from him, y-"

"Now!" I snapped.

The orange jumped, and darted away, her wings buzzing frantically. She poked her head out from behind someone at another table, and shouted, "You galloping g-"

I slammed my hoof against the ground, my horn igniting into a brilliant white glow. "I will tell you this one last time. Back off, you've done enough damage. I know that you can hear my thoughts, Grgrrel, so tell everyone in this room what I'm thinking right now!" I shouted.

Grgrrel's ears flopped down, and she said, "Yes ch'yem sirum k'yez." She looked down, biting her lip, and repeated the thought to herself, "You don't love me." She turned to walk away.

I nodded, and pointed at the ground in front of me. "Now, come over here, and repeat that name you called my guest to my face!" I shouted to her.

The orange hung her head low, and stood in front of me. She opened her mouth to speak, but choked on the phrase. "Y-y..." she managed. She closed her eyes, as though the pain inflicted upon Ladybug by that very insult were hitting her. Truth be told, that's exactly what was happening.

I was redirecting the emotional torment she had placed upon Ladybug back to her, showing her just how painful it was. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," I growled. "Remember this feeling, Grgrrel. Remember that when you think about insulting the people I talk to, or anyone else."

The orange sniffled as the pain grew sharper, then, I closed the tap, stopping the worst of it before she could feel all of it. "That, what you just felt, wasn't even half of what that phrase means to Ladybug. Are you ready to apologize now?" I asked the orange.

The orange shook her head, not letting it get through her thick skull, and hung her head as she walked past me. Before she passed Ladybug though, she slapped one of her front hooves against my backside, earning a whinny and a stern glare from me. She said, "Pony boy's got a marefriend now, and she's an alien."

I whipped around to face my sister, my horn burning a bright pink at the tip, and baby blue at the bottom. "Lrrir!" I shouted at the orange, and released upon her all of Ladybug's pain, allowing my own to spill over with it.

Grgrrel continued to walk, not showing any sign of emotion, until my rage flooded over into her, and she froze. She took a shaky step forward, drawing in a sharp breath. She kept walking.

My eyes began to glow, the left one turned bright pink, and the right one shone bright blue. I forced upon her all of the pain she'd inflicted upon me in previous years, from the annoyance to the downright heartless insults I'd seen her throwing around like they meant nothing.

Grgrrel's step wavered.

Something blocked my view.

I blinked, and the glow in my eyes faded. My horn sputtered a bit, first blue, then pink sparks burst forth, and went out.

"Stop," Ladybug commanded me. Her right eye had lazed a bit, and was now pointed at some part of the ceiling.

I felt like my mother had just shouted at me. Shame, like nothing else, washed over me. It cut like a knife and dove straight for a bone, which it knew was evil. I bit my lip, and took a deep breath. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came. I nodded, knowing what to do, and hung my head as I walked towards my sister.

I said, "Grgrrel, that wasn't necessary of me. I shouldn't have done that to you. I just felt like nothing else I do works." I caught up to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

Grgrrel whipped her head around to face me, and growled, pushing my hoof away with her own. She looked straight ahead, and marched forward.

I blinked, my head lowering towards the ground. I turned around and walked back to the table. I sat down in my initial spot, and sighed.

I watched Ladybug for a moment, whose eye had realigned itself with the other. She went about her lunch with a sullen look about her, her heart heavy, and her expression empty. She glanced at me from time to time, not saying anything, and bit down on her apple.

Eventually, I got up the nerve to speak, and said, "I'm really sorry for doing that, and I wish you hadn't seen it, that I hadn't done it. Why do I keep talking to people if it gets me nowhere?" I crossed my forelegs on the table, and let my head rest on them, not crying, but certainly less than happy.

Ladybug said, "It's alright."

I groaned, nearly laughing at her naïvety. "Nope, it's not alright. If it were alright, I wouldn't have just used your emotions as a weapon, and I wouldn't look like a serious donkey, no offense to any donkeys in the general area," I said. I sat up, bit my lip, and turned to face the pegasus.

"None taken," a deep voice said from somewhere out of sight.

Ladybug raised an eyebrow at me. "You don't swear, there's a good thing," she said.

I said, "I'm a prince. If I swear, I'm in trouble. If I show kindness, I'm in trouble. If I fail my classes, I'm in trouble. If I use the wrong fork, I'm in serious trouble. If I get hurt, I'm in trouble. If my parents die, I'm just..." I leaned my head back, trying to think of the right word.

"Screwed?" she suggested.

"...mated," I said, decidedly removing the cork from the second flask at my disposal. I placed its rim to my lips and drank it down. I placed it back on the table, and remembered the question I'd meant to ask her. "You know how changelings sustain themselves on the emotions of others?"

Ladybug nodded.

"Well, changelings can also smell and taste emotions. So, when I met you, I took to memory how you felt towards me, and I've been rather stuck after sorting out curiosity and interest," I said. I looked her in the eye, and blushed as I heard myself speak. "So I was wondering if you could just tell me how you felt about me."

I smiled as the words left my mouth, and snorted, "It sounds like a much deeper question than it is. I'm not trying to make any romantic advances here." My bright blue blush deepened, and my ears began to burn.

Ladybug nodded, a look of quiet understanding in her eyes. "At first, a bit awed. I didn't know changelings could be born without such large fangs, and such wings," she said. "Then I sort of freaked out when everyone started staring at me. I looked at you, and then forgot them. Something about you seemed familiar, and homely."

I smiled at her, and said, "You know, I think we're going to get along quite well."

She returned the smile, and nodded. "I hope so," she said. "Now, can you explain to me this game they keep talking about, truth or tell?"

Truth or tell was one of the games the oranges played, in which one person would either have to tell everyone at the lunch table their deepest secret, or whisper it into my ear. I hated the game because most of my sisters chose to trust me with their secrets, leaving me to know horrifying —sometimes incriminating— things about my sisters.

I turned to Ladybug and said, "Just don't play it."

Chapter III - Arguments

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter IV - Thrones

By the time Glados returned, I had only spoken one phrase outside of plain denial, "Why me? Why me? Why me? Why me!" I stood up and slammed my hoof against the wall, bashing it against the engraving of the star that was me. I only cried more, and, when I heard a familiar, deep voice, ran over to Ladybug Spring, so I could cry into her shoulder.

Ladybug went still when I got to her, burying my face against her neck, and asked, "What's this all about?"

I beat my sisters to the answer, and sobbed, "G-gone!" I wrapped my forelegs around the base of her neck. "Th-they're gone!"

Ladybug sat down, and held me in front of her for a moment. She looked into my tear soaked, bloodshot eyes —the blue veins having been highlighted. She reached her forelegs out to me, and let me cry against her fluffy chest. She hugged me, and ran her hoof down the left side of my neck.

I reached my own forelegs behind her, closing them around the space in front of her wings, and nuzzled her chest.

She spread her wings, and wrapped them around my back. "I'm sorry, Toothless. No one should have to go through this," she said.

Glados said, "I don't think he's so worried about our parents, as the tree has already declared them dead. Why I mentioned a royal consort in your summons, Miss Spring, is that Toothless is now holding the crown, but not legally allowed to rule, and thus, we have a paradox." She walked from the back of the room towards Ladybug and me. "And he'll need as much support, emotional and otherwise, as he can get, if he is going to run this place."

Ladybug's wings stiffened. She blinked at my sister, and said, "So... I'm supposed to make sure he doesn't hurt himself?"

"Not per say," Glados answered, and made a few clicking sounds with her tongue. "The thing is that, if he has that sword, he can't legally become the monarch, as the knight is sworn to protect royalty. That's where you come in. If Toothless has an heir, then they get the crown, and he can legally rule."

Ladybug asked her, "So... That involves me how?"

I sniffled, and poked my head out of Ladybug's embrace. I blew my nose on a tissue from a box one of my other sisters was holding. "She's saying that... I need a princess..." I clarified. "You're the only person in this city I talk to on a regular basis, so you're the default choice."

Ladybug's eyes went wide, and she released me from her hug. She thought for a moment, and held up her hoof. She opened her mouth to speak, and stammered, "I... um... Princess... Me?" Her ears flopped down, and her eyes rolled closed. She started falling backwards, but I moved between her back and the ground in time to set her down on her stomach.

I looked over her unconscious body, and turned to Glados. "No," I declared. "First of all, I'm only sixteen. I'm not of legal age to consent such a thing. She's not up for the job, and I've only known her for three weeks. She's competent enough to handle literally any other job."

Glados said, "She's of legal age, and the crown cares not for the age of its bearer on such matters. No one will call us out on breaking this one law for the sake of New Hiveland and the betterment of the world. Mother and father's next potential heir isn't even able to speak, and you cannot abdicate the throne before you've even taken it."

I stood up, and marched over to my sister. "You cannot force me or Ladybug to marry. She is neither related to or herself royalty. I'd rather see to it that you and the rest of you purples form a parliament than force me and my only friend into the throne," I told her.

Glados thought for a moment, then smiled. This was the kind of smile one only gets alongside one's best idea. She said, "She could become royalty through ascension, and besides, if we were busy running the country, who would defend the castle, deliver mail, and train all day?"

I squinted at her, thinking this argument over. "We are not forcing her to marry me, and that's the last of it I want to hear from you, captain," I told her, my lips curled back in a snarl.

"You have no power over me, as you are not the prince. You are only the crown's personal bodyguard, and must submit to my authority in the absence of a ruler," she said, cooly, and grinning the whole time.

Her comrades all said, "Ouch."

I took a step back, and said, "You can't do this... Even as captain, you cannot tell the knight who to marry."

"The reigning monarchs have simply vanished, and that makes this a national emergency. As captain, in the absence of a reigning monarch, I become the general. And the general has absolute authority in times of emergency. Everyone, so long as they are a member of this city, must obey my every command, even the knight," she argued.

I shuddered, knowing all of what she said to be true. I didn't want it to be true, but she was right. "Y-you could simply make a law that states me as the prince, and then we can be done with this whole mess," I told her.

"No, I can't. The general is not a legislature. My job is to ensure the safety of my people, and nothing else," she said. She stepped forward, pushing me back. "You have a sworn duty, Toothless, to take the crown in our parents' absence, and you'd rather let the city starve itself than fulfill your only job."

"N-no, I'd not see the city starve. You're in charge of the love substitute supply as general," I said, glancing at the wall behind me as I continued to back up.

"You cannot deny my orders, Toothless, and neither can your friend. She seems to like you, and besides, you know better than to let the crown go untouched for more than the day it's already endured. The citizens will hear of our parents' death, and what'll happen then?" she asked me, pressing me against the wall.

"They'll all try to become princess..." I whispered.

Glados nodded and asked, "And how far will the oranges go to get at you?"

I clamped my eyes shut, and looked away, biting my lip.

"Toothless, what will they stop at?" Glados asked me, more sternly this time.

I pinned my ears back, and swallowed hard. "Th-they won't," I admitted. I looked at Ladybug Spring, who was lying on the floor, eyes closed, chest rising and falling. "I... There must be a better way."

"There isn't one, Toothless, and I'm sure that your friend will agree with me. What's necessary must be done, and if that means marrying you off, so be it," Glados said.

"B-but..." I stammered.

"But nothing. There is no dispute left to be had," she said, and stepped away from me. "Now, you're going to tell me what you and father argued about last night," she told me.

"I... I tried to get back at Grgrrel for making fun of Ladybug three weeks ago, and made a few mistakes," I said. I bit my lip, and slowly walked towards Ladybug, whose eyes were fluttering open as she recovered from her initial shock. "I asked him about the manifestation of the desert and its relationship to me, only for him to ask mom if having more kids would be okay."

Ladybug stood up, and I stopped dead in my tracks. She looked at me, and said, "I'm okay. I just um... don't think that I'm alicorn material."

Glados said, "Good, because you don't have to be an alicorn." She walked over to me and pushed me closer to the pegasus. "Now, you two will have to get married. Does... tomorrow sound like a good time to hold the ceremony?"

"How about never? Does never sound like a better date to you, Ladybug?" I asked the pegasus, not looking away from my sister. I blinked, then looked at Ladybug. "Please tell me that you already have a significant other, preferably somewhere very far away."

The pegasus said, "I have my eye on someone, yes b-"

"Check and mate, Glados!" I declared. I had never actually beaten her at chess, so saying that made this whole thing feel a lot better for me.

"Okay, let me check," Glados said. She looked over me at Ladybug Spring and asked, "Who is this person? And do you think that Toothless should stop being so stuck up and follow his general's orders, regardless of what that means? If he doesn't marry you, then this city will have no ruler, and I am not capable of keeping everything in order for more than a week."

Ladybug Spring rustled her wings a bit, and glanced at me. Her cheeks turned bright red, and she rubbed the back of her neck with her left hoof. "I... I wouldn't be opposed to marrying him, if that's what it takes to make sure my new home has a ruler," she said.

My jaw dropped, and my wings shot out at my sides, before going limp, dragging along the ground, displaying my mixed reaction to my sisters. "B-b-but... But... I'm not of legal age," I argued, then frowned, remembering that I'd already tried that.

Glados turned to me, and declared, "Checkmate!"

My ears flopped down on either side of my head, and I spoke the very first thing that came to mind. "K'unel!" I shouted. I shouldn't have said that, nor should I have ever considered it. It was the filthiest word in changeling tongue, and, while not really an insult, shouldn't be spoken in front of anyone but your significant other —and, even then, only in the most intimate of situations.

Glados froze, as did the rest of my sisters, their wings stiffening, and their eyes going wide. They all turned to look at me, aghast that such a word had been spoken by —of all people— me, who had only ever sworn thrice in his whole life. That was the severity of my situation.

Ladybug took note of my sisters' sudden change of attitude, and whispered to Glados, "What'd he just say?"

"Tell her, and I'll see to it that my first action as prince will be to strip you of your command!" I warned Glados.

Glados took my warning seriously, and said nothing. She stood there for a few moments, while the room grew ever quieter and quieter. "So, you will be prince?" she asked me, after what felt like nearly an hour had passed.

I bit my lip, looked up to find my horn glowing, and put it out with a hoof. I stormed out of the throne room, and added, "Futuere!" That was from the language of the bat ponies, and translated to the exact same thing as I'd spoken in changeling.

Ladybug Spring gasped, covering her mouth with a hoof. She and my sisters all stood there, having received nearly half of all the curses I'd ever made in just one night. The pegasus shook herself out of her shock, and said, "That... That sounded like Old Unicorn."

Glados said, "Unicorn is mostly derived from Bat, but I should mention that what he said in Changeling also meant the same thing. He can speak three different languages, and, before tonight, he'd only ever intentionally cursed three times. The problem is this, whenever he gets this mad, he only gets worse the longer he stews."

I stormed into my bedroom, which was almost perfectly cubic, save for the narrow opening that led to the window above the head of my bed. From the outside, my bed was to the left of the door, and took up the entire length of the room. The walls were black and smooth, carved from the same magical obsidian as the rest of the castle.

I slammed the wooden door to my room closed, grabbed the hilt of my sword from my magic vault, teleporting it into my room. I turned it over for a moment, pushing any thoughts of my present situation to the very back of my mind. After examining it for a moment, I set it down on my nightstand, and sat down on my bed.

I looked at the window, and smiled at the purple flower, with a million petals and a dozen meanings. It was a tribute to my Aunt Chrysanthemum, who had died to save my parents when they were very young, despite having grown up in their shadows. I told the flower, "I shouldn't have to get married at the age of sixteen, right?"

I thought for a moment, and added, "She's nice, which is more than I can say for most of this city. She's understanding, and almost overwhelmingly empathetic. No matter what I do, she seems to always have the greater good in mind. I suppose that's all I could ask for in a mate."

I did this often, more often than I'd admit to anyone. Talking helped me think, and —as I lacked a confidant— I talked to flowers. "But... it's still not legal. If I had to marry anyone, I'd like it to be her, but... she has other romantic attachments. It's a purely political marriage, not a real one," I said.

I sighed, and shuffled my hooves idly. I teleported a cube, with each face divided into nine squares of the same color, into the room, which my mother had often used as a fidget. I closed my eyes, and rotated its various faces several times, then dropped it, picked it back up, and scrambled it some more. "If I am going to get married, I want to mean every vow I say," I said.

"I'm just not sure if I love her, and, again, she's only doing it because Glados is using her authority to make her do it," I said. I opened my eyes, and looked at the cube, which was in the same configuration as when it had been solved. "Dang it. I must have unconsciously remembered the scramble, and undid it without realizing it."

I bit my lip, and set the cube down on the nightstand. "Do I love her?" I asked myself, more a whisper than a question. I found the thought ludicrous, then asked myself, "How would I know?" I froze, and found myself at an impasse. I wanted to say that I didn't love her, to be safe, and not the prince, but I knew that I couldn't make such a claim without knowing the difference.

I stepped off my bed, which released a springy, squeaking sound. I heard footsteps from the other side of my bedroom door, and froze. "Who goes there?" I asked, facing the door.

An alto voice answered, "It's me."

I frowned, and said, "You'll have to be more specific. The door's pretty thick, and I can't be sure if you're telling the truth or not."

The voice repeated itself, "Ladybug Spring."

I stepped towards the door, and paused. A million questions came to mind about what love was, and how I could reliably check that I loved someone or not. I opened the door, and jumped back, opening my mouth to shout, but found my throat being pressed against the floor, just delicately enough not to crush my windpipe and inflict serious damage.

I looked up at the old changeling. Her eyes had two irises each, the middle ones darker green than her outer ones. Her pupils narrowed to vertical slits, and she opened her mouth to hiss at me, but stopped to close the door with one of her hind legs. "We wouldn't want any witnesses, now, would we?" asked Chrysalis's vile voice.

I found my hooves stuck to the floor by magical bindings, and my horn blocked by the hoof she held to its tip. "Such a fine changeling you've become," she said. She smiled, showing her small fangs, and her four wings buzzed delightedly as she added, "It's such a shame that I have to kill you too."

She lit up her horn, and placed a neon green binding around my throat, attached to the floor below me. She said, "I had hoped that, someday, you could serve as my pet. It's not nearly as bad a job as it sounds. You'd have simply been beaten with a whip a few times, likely branded, and sterilized."

Her magical choker contracted a bit, closing down around my throat, and I said, "You're too late to get the throne back, witch. There's another heir waiting for the throne, and you're not on the list." It contracted again, and I began to panic. "My mother, you deemed harmless, but she's the one who caught you."

Chrysalis's eyes narrowed, and she hissed, "Silence, maggot!" She closed the choker a few more times in rapid succession, blocking my ability to breathe. She crouched down above me, and whispered into my ear, "Like I said, it's such a shame that your little marefriend can't save you."

She was torn off of me, into a flurry of yellow feathers. I distinctly heard hooves striking chitin, and tried not to panic in an effort to conserve what little oxygen I had left. I heard a shout of undeniable rage, and the magical restraints on my limbs and neck dissipated.

A pointed object landed on the floor next to my head, and I jumped when I realized what it was. A piece of Chrysalis's horn had been taken off, and less than cleanly.

When it was all over, I saw Ladybug Spring pinning down Chrysalis, nostrils flaring, eyes narrowed. She thrust her hoof downward, but the old changeling vanished in a puff of smoke. The pegasus looked around for a moment, and ran over to me. "You're alive," she sighed.

I nodded, unable to properly process what had just happened. I continued to nod for a few seconds, until Ladybug steadied my head with a hoof.

She panted for a bit, recovering her breath from the fight, and said, "Don't scare me like that, okay?"

I nodded again, and rolled onto my stomach so I could stand up. "I'm... I..." I said. I found myself face to face with the pegasus. "Um..." I blushed, my ears burning, and my cheeks practically glowing iridescent blue. "Forgive me, I'll try not to get assassinated in a way that frightens you so."

Ladybug smiled warmly at me. "Poetic sarcasm," she said. "Now I've seen everything."

"Aside from the fact that you didn't see poetic sarcasm, if that was even poetic, but heard it, you can't have seen everything. For example, have you ever seen a blind you? Have you seen the heat death of the universe? Have you seen the beginning of time? Have you ever met the Goddess?" I asked her.

"Shut up, Toothless," she said. She lifted her hoof up and bobbed me on the nose. "Just... Never change, or I'll assume that you're another changeling disguised as you."

I nodded.

She said, "And stop nodding so much, it's getting on my nerves!"

I nodded again, and said, "Okay, I'll try. I just... You took Chrysalis in a fight." This stunning revelation was immediately followed by a string of progressively more terrifying thoughts. "Chrysalis got into a fight. Chrysalis escaped! What if she killed..." I darted out of my bedroom, and ran back to the throne room.

Chapter V - Visions

I stepped into the throne room, surprised to find it empty. I looked around, seeing none of the purples, and stepped into the room. My footsteps echoed throughout the castle, reverberating over the obsidian and out the open windows, through which lay the city. It was midday, but the city was quiet. Not a single cart moved, nor did a single gust of wind blow.

I turned around, perhaps to check if they'd gone to lunch, or if it was someone's birthday, and I'd missed the news. It wasn't my birthday, I imagined that someone would have brought such a thing up. I found the doorway missing, a wall having replaced it. I blinked at the wall, and placed my hoof against it to check for any of the blues' illusions.

The wall was pretty solid.

I blinked, and was unable to move. I was standing on an elevated platform, and dressed in —of all things— a tuxedo. To my right sat a group of changelings, all with different eye colors. I saw them all stand, and the doors at the back of the room flew open.

Ladybug Spring stepped through the doors, and my heart skipped a beat. She was dressed in a vail, a long, flowing dress, whiter than pearls, and her wings were spread wide. Behind her, my youngest sister jumped from one side of the isle to the other, scattering rose petals everywhere.

Ladybug stepped onto the raised platform, and turned to face me, a smile visible through her vail.

Glados stepped forward from my left. She said, "We are gathered here today..." She then jumped to, "You may now kiss the bride.

I lifted Ladybug's vail away, and jumped back when two green, doubly irised eyes with vertical slitted pupils stared me down. Chrysalis burst into flame, sending the dress up in a cloud of ash, and stepped forward. "We will meet again, little maggot, and when we do, I'll make sure you know the meaning of pain," she hissed.

She pinned me against the wall with the aid of her magic, and closed most of the distance between us, licking her lips hungrily. "I will kill that little pegasus pet of yours, and don't think for a moment that even one of your sisters will live, especially that little gold one," she said.

Three heartbeats went off, two in asynchronous layers, and the third independent. "Thub-thub. Dub-dub. Thub. Dub," they went. My ears twitched as puffs of air passed over them. Everything felt warm, and very soft, like a pillow fresh out of the dryer, or a smore.

I snuggled more closely to the source of extra body heat, and smiled as it responded in kind. I opened my mouth to yawn, and hoped that it was a weekend, so I could stay in bed. I heard someone murmur something into my ear, and —reluctantly— opened my eyes.

I looked down, and spotted a feathery, yellow wing, draped over me like a blanket. Its leading edge rested on my right shoulder, and its feathers covered everything behind that, save for my hind legs, which I pulled closer to my body so the wing could keep them warm.

Ladybug Spring's deep voice murmured, "You're a very restless sleeper, you know?"

My ears shot up from the sides of my head. I thought for a moment, and relaxed again, deciding that if she was willing to keep me warm, I wasn't gonna say no. "Why do you have two heartbeats?" I asked her.

It was her turn to tense up, and remain that way for few seconds. She sighed, relaxing a bit, and said, "My dad's... sort of an alien. It's a long story, and I don't think you'd want to hear about it."

I nodded slowly, and said, "So... Doctor Whooves?"

She paused, likely deciding if I was trustworthy enough or not to know for sure. "Yeah," she said. She didn't ask how I had figured that out, as I would have done if I were her.

That felt odd, that she was willing to believe I could be trusted with that information, especially since I'd only known her for a few weeks. "Cool," I added.

"I guess so," she sighed.

We lay there for a while, neither speaking nor really thinking. For a little bit, we simply were, existing in our own little world. I imagined that this was what love felt like, but didn't trust that assumption, as it could lead me astray. Eventually, I snuggled closer to her, and asked, "What does love feel like?"

She remained silent for a moment, and pulled me closer against her stomach with her wing. "It feels... pleasant, and warm, sometimes like a soft candle, and others like a bonfire. Some love blazes in and out of existence, and some will always be there, no matter how much it rains," she said.

"Hm," was all I could say. Such a definition didn't really help me, but it felt comforting to have some information about this. In the last two days, I'd lost my parents, my temper, and my mind. I'd felt lost, cold, and abandoned, so any sense of stability was appreciated. Perhaps I did love her, but the sort of mystery around it was kind of fun.

I had to know though, just to be sure. I needed to know if she loved me, perhaps to avoid hurting her when we got married, perhaps to reinforce my own belief in loving her. Perhaps I wanted to know simply because it was more data, upon which I could make informed decisions. "L-Ladybug?"

"Yes, Toothless," she answered.

"Do you... I mean... Do you love me?" I asked her.

She nuzzled her nose against the back of my head, and nodded so I could feel it. "Yes," she said. She lifted her right foreleg over my neck, and pulled me closer to her, so I was able to feel the softness of her fur on my shoulders. "I do love you, Toothless."

Now that she'd said that, all of the tastes, the smells, the warm glows of love filled my senses. I could have consumed it without discretion, and left her there, in any number of states ranging from comatose to mild fatigue. I withheld myself from sating a hunger that had grown in my stomach, or simply gone unnoticed until then. "I hope that your stallionfriend doesn't pound me into dust when he hears about this," I told her.

"Nah, he's a pretty calm guy. Besides, if he'd have wanted to hurt you, then I'd get to ask why you were hitting yourself," she said. She nuzzled the top of my head, and placed a gentle kiss on it. "I was talking about you, when I admitted to having a crush on someone."

I opened my mouth to speak, but closed it again. I smiled, and let my eyes drift closed. "Thanks for saving my life, by the way," I said.

"No problem," she said.

A few moments later, the sounds of light footsteps approaching made me open my eyes. I looked down over the edge of the bed, and smiled at my youngest sister. "You were walking," I told her.

She sat down clumsily, and looked me in the eye. She blinked a few times, and stood back up. She took a few shaky steps forward, and reached for the top of the mattress. Her hoof clung to the frame of the bed, and she tried to pull herself up. She tried this a few times, then fell gently onto the floor.

I used my magic to pick her up, and set her down on the bed in front of me. "You still don't have a name yet, do you?" I asked the hatchling.

She thought for a moment, and opened her mouth, showing me her large fangs. She pointed a hoof at her open mouth, and made a quiet sound, not unlike a changeling's chirp, but not entirely different from a pony's wail. She knew how to get my attention when she needed it.

I groaned, "Alright. I'll get up." I sat up from my spot on the bed, and stepped onto the cold stone floor. I turned to look at the hatchling, only to find her missing. "Where'd tha-"

Ladybug lifted her wing, folding it against her side, and looked down. She lifted the thin blanket off of herself, exposing the young changeling who had hidden under her wing. "Try here," she said. She rolled onto her other side, and tucked the blanket around herself.

I picked up the golden foal, and set her down on my back, letting her cling to my chitinous armor before moving again. I looked at Ladybug, whose chest was rising and falling slowly. "You'll have to get up eventually. We have things to do," I told her.

"I'll do them when they must be done," she groaned.

I frowned and said, "Ladybug, I can't trust that you'll be safe on your own right now."

She rolled over again so she was facing me, and opened her right eye, which she pointed at my nose. "I can take care of myself," she said.

"I..." I said. I took a deep breath, and swallowed hard. "You know how some members of the royal family get visions?" I asked her. I hoped that she'd listen, as my visions had only come while I'd been awake, rarely ever, and always proved horrifyingly accurate.

She opened her left eye, and sat up. "Wh-what happened?" she asked me. Evidently, the royal family's visions were well respected where she came from.

I sighed, "We... We were getting married, and when I lifted your vail... Ladybug, Chrysalis said she'd kill you, and everyone else, and that I'd watch..." I clamped my eyes shut, and shook my head, as though trying to shake the memories off of my nose like a particularly bothersome fly.

Ladybug's eyes grew wider, and her right eye pointed up at the ceiling, and slightly to the left. "H-how do you know it was a vision?" she asked me.

"Because I don't remember falling asleep before I got it. I was running back to the throne room, and then it was empty, and then the door vanished, and I was watching you come down the isle, and then you were Chrysalis, and she tried to kill me," I told her. I bit my lip, and pinned back my ears. "You are not safe with me."

Ladybug said, "But what if that wasn't a vision? It could have been a bad dream. It could have been an... unprompted prank from Princess Luna. It could have been Chrysalis messing with your head. She's not above using dream magic, is she? It could have been left over fear from her attacking you."

"Nightmares don't get this telling, and neither of my grandmothers could have given me a bad dream if they tried. No bad dream is remembered this vividly," I told her. I stepped towards the bed, and nuzzled Ladybug. "I... I think I can stop her, but I can't have anyone in the castle while I do it."

Ladybug stood up, and hopped off the bed.

I grabbed my sword from my nightstand, and darted to the opposite end of the room, to a glass box with a single item inside. I lifted the case up, and sighed as I removed my crown from its hiding place, from which I'd hoped never to remove it.

The crown wasn't unlike a helmet, hammered down by one of my ancestors, and lighter than a feather. It shone white in the dimly lit bedroom, and I turned it over to look at the back of it. Engraved next to the holes through which my frills would go, was a single phrase in Bat. I read it aloud in Equish, "Protector of the night."

I looked over the smooth metal, and sighed as I slid it over my head. Despite its true mass, it felt like I was carrying the weight of all who had donned the helmet before me. My —many, many greats— grandfather had worn it while overseeing the construction of Nocturnia. My grandfather had worn this helmet the day he died, defending Nocturnia. My mother had worn it for years while working as a monster hunter.

I brought Ladybug to the barracks, where the purples were already awake, some wrestling, some donning their armor, still others chitchatting about various things. Everything fell silent, and all stilled when I stepped inside. Everyone turned to face me, including Ladybug and my youngest sister.

"Glados," I called.

The named changeling stepped forward from her wrestling match with Milli, and whistled. All of the other purples assembled in a line facing me. Glados turned to me and asked, "What is it, Toothless? Are you willing to do what's right?"

"I had a vision, Glados," I told her.

Glados's wings quivered, and she told the other purples, "Don't just stand there. Arm yourselves!" They promptly scattered across the barracks, all dressing in their armor, and grabbing their spears and swords. Glados turned to face me again, and asked me, "What happened?"

"Chrysalis attacked me last night, and Ladybug pinned her down, snapped off a bit of her horn, but the witch vanished, as did the chipped horn. I think Chrysalis is making shadow copies of herself, and used them to escape her cell in the dungeon, then sent one or more to kill our parents,"

Glados's horn lit up, and the hilt of her dagger glowed dimly as she prepared to unsheathe it. "Don't turn around," she muttered slowly.

Footsteps could be heard in the hallway, and a vile hissing sound approached me.

I lit up my own horn, grabbing the hilt of my father's sword from my belt. A blade of solid energy emerged from the hilt of my sword. I whipped around to face the old changeling queen, and shouted as the blade hissed through the air. It vaporized the particles of dust in the air, before screaming as it met Chrysalis's neck.

I stood facing the doorway, sword pointed at the ground to my right and behind me. I looked up at the changeling, whose neck had been sliced cleanly down from the left. I watched as the false Chrysalis's neck slid off of the cut, and rolled across the floor. I marched over to it, and placed my hoof on its neck. "What do you want, grandmother?" I asked the severed head.

It only grinned at me as its body evaporated into nothingness, as did the head under my hoof.

I growled when it was gone, and turned to face Glados. "You were saying?" I asked her.

Ladybug and my youngest sibling were both hiding behind Glados, staring at me with wide eyes.

I put the blade away, drawing it back into the hilt, and placed it into my belt. "I have a plan to finish off the real Chrysalis, but I need to issue an evacuation of the castle, and I can't do it after the length of time it'll require to hold a ceremony," I told Glados. "You have the authority to make me general in your place, so all you have to do is make me second in command, which I already am, and leave the city."

Glados said, "And your plan is?"

"If I told you, another Chrysalis might hear it, and flee," I told her. "Just get everyone out of the castle, and kill anyone who leaves it on sight until you see Chrysalis tossed out of the front door, and she doesn't evaporate in five minutes."

"What about you?" Ladybug asked me. She ran to me, and gently nuzzled my cheek.

I wrapped my forelegs around her neck, and held her in a tight hug for a moment. I said, "That doesn't matter anymore. My sadistic, shapeshifting, self replicating, evil grandmother is on the loose. And I'm not going to make the same mistake my parents made in not killing her."

Glados shook her head, and said, "It's better and easier if we all partake i-"

"It's not mutiny anymore. Here," I told her. I teleported a piece of paper in front if her, and let her read it. "I'm married to the reigning monarch. I'm in charge of the entire guard, and that includes you, Glados." I teleported another set of objects into the room, one a band of gold on the base of Ladybug's left wing, and the other an identical one on the base of my front left leg.

Glados said, "While this is a legitimate marriage license, that doesn't mean that you have every power. I'm still the general, and I'm in charge during states of national emergency."

"I'm sure that our parents would have given you such a title, especially if I'd simply told them about your escapades with that apple farmer," I mumbled.

Glados's wings stiffened, and she gulped. "Leave Little Mac out of this!" she shouted.

"And I'm sure they'd be proud of your behavior as general. Whether you like it or not, I'm the prince now, and if I have a better plan than you do, it's up to a vote whose plan goes through," I told her. I turned to the line of purples, and said, "What's a better plan, us all running around through the castle halls, trying to figure out who is and isn't Chrysalis, and risk killing one another, or one of us snuffing her out from the inside while the rest wait to kill her at the front door?"

The guards all muttered amongst themselves, and a few seconds later, nodded to me. "The latter," Arachne said.

"Dammit!" Glados shouted.

"Escort my two heirs out of the building, keep everyone out of the castle, and keep anyone who isn't already out in. You have five minutes," I told Glados.

Glados shouted, "I will not-"

"-follow orders, soldier?" I asked her.

Glados looked down, and said, "V-very well, your highness." She hung her head low, and walked over to her cot. She picked up a saddle from under her bed, and fastened it over her armor. She picked up the youngest changeling, and placed her on the saddle. "I... Come on, you all heard him."

Ladybug ran over to me, and hugged me. "You can't. You're just going to die. She's older, stronger, and less honorable than you," she said.

"Dodging death is the one thing my family has always been good at," I told her, and hugged her back. "Sorry there wasn't any ceremony, but you can always brag to my sisters that you got that ring." I smiled at her, and placed my lips to hers. I took a brief moment to remember her, her soft, warm, lemony fur, her rosy tail and mane, and her camouflage brown eyes.

Two seconds later, I pulled back, and said, "If I don't live, don't stay a widow on my account..." I paused for a moment, listening to her two hearts beating. "I love you, Ladybug Spring."

"Don't say that!" she shouted. She stomped her hoof, and narrowed her eyes at me. Her right eye had drifted off again.

I teleported away, and found myself in the throne room. I walked towards my father's empty chair, and placed my crown down on top of his, which had been set down atop his throne. I clamped my eyes shut, and sniffled. My breath caught, and I threw myself against the obsidian throne. "I... I love you. I'm sorry," I cried. "I'm sorry, Ladybug."

Author's Note

Ladybug is the daughter of Doctor Whooves and Derpy Hooves, just to be clear. I'm using the Doctor Whooves and Assistant by Ponies With Pockets Productions as the canon story for those two characters. The uncle who died at the beginning of this story is Tick Tock, just to be completely honest.

Chapter VI - Battles

Everything felt numb, everything except for the one thing that hurt. Everything felt sideways, a bit too far to the right, and about two centimeters too tall. I'd lost my hearing a while ago, for the sound of pain overpowered everything else, and my entire face and chest had gone numb from crying.

I picked up my crown, and placed it on my head. I lit up my horn, and my sword flared to life, burning anything solid that touched it. I lined up the tip of the sword with the silver star on my family tree, and drove it forward, sinking the beam of white light into the stone.

I grit my teeth, and rotated the hilt clockwise, a full revolution, then back one eleventh of a turn. I turned it back to the full circle, then back two elevenths. I turned it back one, and forward two, like it was bounding down a flight of stairs wrapped around a cylinder.

This was a special spell my parents had told me only to use if there was no other option. It was supposed to be activated with the entire population in the castle, hiding from the sandstorm in the event of the city walls collapsing. Now, I was using it to isolate one individual from all the rest.

When it came back to its original position, I yanked the sword back, and shouted as bolts of white magic burst free of the wall, most of them burning my chitin on contact, some barely missing and leaving singes behind. The burnt chitin turned grey after a few moments, then white once it was zapped again.

The castle was rocked by a tremor, then another, twice as strong. In an ovoid shape, a shield glowing bright white enveloped the castle. The spell dug into the ground, and anyone at the bottom had several seconds to get away before the castle began to move.

The castle rose into the air, bringing the many tunnels of the dungeon up with it. It looked somewhat like a great, black tree was being uprooted, and the sand below ground level fell away, leaving the tunnels exposed to the air. It kept flying upwards, accelerating in such a way that everything inside felt three times as heavy. It came to a sudden stop when it'd flown higher than the top of the city wall.

The bolts of magic stopped coming, leaving all of my once black chitin a milky white color. I had fallen over under the energy being delivered to me combined with my experienced gain in weight, and now pushed a hoof under myself, trying to stand up. I rose on shaky legs, and picked up my sword. I looked around, my joints stiff like an overcooked slice of toast.

Chrysalis was standing across the room from me, with a large hole in her chest, no wings, and a wire connecting her ears to a music player strapped to her chest. "You know, I've found that music can be quite powerful, if you know how to use it," she said, unplugging her earbuds and reaching for the player.

I hissed at her, and said, "Where'd you get that gap?"

She paused and looked down at the hole in her chest. "Your father managed to poke me with his kabob skewer before I could kill him," she said. She hadn't looked up, big mistake. "Your parents refused to give up. Even when I had your mother's throat pinned down, he managed to take even more from me."

When she looked up, I had already made it halfway across the room, and was unsheathing my sword. The beam of white light flared to life, and was swinging from my left to my right in front of me. She tapped the music player's play button, and smiled, "Let's see how you play."

Just when my sword should have removed her head from her neck, she blurred and reappeared behind me. She said in time with the music, "My return is a mystery." She vanished and struck the back of my neck with her hoof before adding, "Thought you had control of me." She sat luxuriously upon my mother's throne. "I'm offended that you're so surprised."

I ran forward, and tried to slice her down the middle, but found myself pinned against the throne. She added, "That first defeat was a practice round, but I pulled myself off the ground, and I've already planned your demise." She tried to smash my skull in with her hoof, but I was too fast.

It was then that I realized how such an old changeling could move so fast. The music, the music was giving her power. I was suddenly very glad that I knew this song. "I won't stop fighting 'cause I'm not done yet," I sang. I darted behind the old changeling, and slashed at her midsection, but she pinned me down, and tried to choke me under her hoof.

I bashed my head forward, slamming my helmet against her hoof, forcing her to withdraw it. With more room to breathe, I jumped, turned around, and —thankful for my father's clinging ability— ran up the wall. I shouted, "You're gonna regret. This time I won't let you forget." I silently hoped that my father had been lying, and willed the castle to move in a very specific way.

The castle began to rotate. The player sang in place of us both, as we were busy trying to figure out how to balance on the floor, which was then the wall, "You're not gonna get away this time. I'll strike when you're blind. You'll awake just to find you are mine."

I lunged forward, and swung at her. "You thought you won, thought the battle was over. But I," I shouted.

"I," she responded, skillfully ducking under my sword, and kicked my front legs out from under me.

"I," I called as the wall we stood on moved to the side, and we had to stand on the ceiling. I clung to the surface, getting my footing first, and ran up the decreasingly steep slope. I swung my sword at the still confused queen.

"I'm just getting stronger," she added. She stepped backwards.

"Enjoy your freedom, it won't last much longer 'cause I," I said. I ran forward, swinging at her again.

"I," she declared, backing out of the way, but not without half of her mane being burned off.

"I," I called. I thrust my sword forward, successfully slicing off a chunk of her tail, which had been pointed towards me in her retreat.

"I keep getting stronger," Chrysalis sang, having run forward until she'd realized that the next wall was a series of open windows, and turned around. She found herself facing the tip of my sword.

The player pitched in, "When the sky turns to grey, when the light fades away."

A smile appeared on my grandmother's lips, and she sang, "You will say I just keep getting stronger." She ducked out of my sword's way, and pulled my front hoof forward, throwing me out of the window.

Reflex saved my backside, and my wings pumped into a blur of cobalt blue. I stayed just outside of the window, and swung the sword at her from outside, singing, "You can try to prepare, or attack if you dare."

She launched herself out of the window, her tail being completely removed by the sword, and grabbed my leg before she could fall away. "I don't care 'cause I'm just getting stronger," she shouted.

I pumped my wings harder for a moment, then swung at her with my sword, trying to make her drop to her death, as she had no wings. We both got dragged down by her weight and my lack of compensation for it.

"I, I, I, I'm just getting stronger!" the player shouted as I folded my wings against my sides, and dropped both of us through another window on a different part of the castle. "I, I, I, I'm just getting stronger!"

I landed on my back, a bit stunned, and fell back onto the floor as it became the floor again. I groaned as I stood up, and froze when I found my own sword pointed at my throat.

"I, I, I, I'm just getting stronger!" Chrysalis sang, and grinned at me.

I willed the castle to save me, not considering how terribly simple and unspecific that command was.

A chunk of the floor shot up from below Chrysalis's stomach, and an adjacent part of the ceiling moved down. The two pieces of stone held the changeling queen still, unable to break her armor, but well able to keep her there.

"I, I, I, I'm just getting stronger!" I replied, and swiped the sword from my grandmother. I stepped behind her, and cut at the base of her hind leg, attempting to sever it and prevent her from moving so quickly.

The stone retracted, and she fell to the ground, out of the blade's way. She jumped up, and grabbed me in her magic, pinning my legs against the wall with neon green shackles. "I am the nightmare that replays in your head. I am the shadow lurking under your bed," she said, stepping towards me.

I maintained a straight face, and lifted the sword behind her neck without looking at it. "And when I lose it's never really the end. You should have known if have a plan for revenge," I said, and shoved the sword forward.

She stepped to the side, and the sword dug itself into the wall, just barely missing my hindquarters. She pulled the sword out of the wall, and said, "And I won't stop fighting 'cause I'm not done yet."

I grit my teeth as the castle's rotation slowed to a halt, and it remained fixed, with the floor as the floor. The wall behind me slid upwards, lifting me out of the sword's way. The sword cut through her magical binding on my left hind leg, and the rest shattered. "You're gonna regret. This time I won't let you forget," I said, and gripped the sword as well as her.

We both held the sword's hilt for a moment, trying to point it at one another to deliver the killing blow. Neither of us dared to blink or miss a note of the song, for if we did, the other would have its power, and we'd lose. "You're not, gonna get away this time. I'll strike when you're blind. You'll awake, just to find you are mine," we both growled.

In an instant, I jumped aside, and let her have the sword. She swung down, and blinked long enough for me to swipe the blade back. She grabbed a metal sword from the wall —we must have landed in the armory— and held it up just in time to block my attack.

"You thought you won, thought the battle was over, but I," I said, applying more pressure to the sword, knowing that, if I did this for long enough, mine would melt through her makeshift defense.

"I!" she shouted, and pushed back up against the sword.

"I," I replied, able to smell the vaporized metal from her sword.

"I'm just getting stronger," she sang, and stepped forward, pressing her nose against mine.

I backed up a bit, and ran into a wall. I shouted, "Enjoy your freedom, it won't last much longer 'cause I."

"I," she declared.

"I," I added, pressing my sword harder against hers.

"I keep getting stronger!" she shouted, and stepped to the side just as the last of her sword melted and snapped. She grabbed a spear from the wall, and thrust it forward, only for me to cut its head off, and then slice it into sections as the splinters continued their journey. She hurled more spears at me, all of which I sliced out of the air, only to have to deal with another volley of them.

After a few seconds of this, Chrysalis grabbed three swords, and charged straight at me, lining up the tips of the swords into a cone in front of her.

We both shouted, "When the sky turns to grey, when the light fades away, you will say I just keep getting stronger. Stronger every day, stronger every day!"

I pointed my sword at the center of her conic battering ram, and finally, after so many years, did what none of my family had. I killed Queen Chrysalis.

The castle shuddered, trembling violently as the spell placed upon it broke. It creaked and groaned as its buttresses and window frames succumbed to gravity again, and the bubble of magic flowed down to create a heat shield. It fell, slowly at first, and then accelerated, the ground getting ever closer as it fell.

The white magic pushed against the air, forming a white bowl shape of air, which then stretched into a cone as the castle broke the sound barrier. The air screamed in protest, and when the castle finally slowed down, it hovered just a centimeter off the ground, and the sonic boom caught up with it, shattering windows in the nearby homes.

Waiting below was the whole city, all gathered around the crater where the castle had once rested, awaiting the return of their city's most grand structure. A few on the west side gasped, and whispers spread about that the queen was dead.

The castle shook once more, and vibrated to shake away the sand, and it sank into the pit of sand it had once occupied. It settled down, and an orange changeling presented to the purples a head, long dead, of Queen Chrysalis.

The purples stepped up to the castle doors, and told all to remain outside until they could figure out what had happened. One citizen pushed her way through though, not that anyone in their right mind would've tried to stop her. They all knew that she was in charge now, even if all was well, she was the princess.

Ladybug Spring flew through the many halls, beating her wings rapidly, and hurried on by fear.

When she zipped to the end of another hallway, she glanced through the door on the left, and darted inside. She looked over the body, and at the small machine to her right, which had been crushed under my hoof in a moment of spite. She placed a hoof against my stomach, and looked down at the three swords on the floor.

Queen Chrysalis had managed to take me with her. That was how this story ends, and that is how I died.

Hey, where are you going?

I told you that this story was over, not that my story was over.

Like I said, my family has a reputation for surviving things that no one should.

Author's Note

The song used is Getting Stronger, and it's just incredible.

Epilogue - Heirs

In the grand throne room of Canterlot, Princess Celestia grit her teeth as noise filled the castle. She looked straight ahead, not acknowledging the clamorous voices demanding her attention. She cringed as her sister, sitting to her right, leaned over, and whispered into the solar monarch's ear, "'Tia, do you remember what you said when I was first caring for Nightsong?"

Celestia grumbled, not looking at her sister, "You'll never let me forget it." She wiped her bloodshot eyes with her front left hoof.

Princess Luna held a hoof to her mouth, and giggled. "No, I never will," she confirmed.

In a puff of smoke, Discord solidified to Celestia's left, holding a little alicorn filly in his front legs, with a bubblegum pink mane, white coat, and no cutie mark. Her purple eyes opened as the draconiquus set her down next to the princess. The antler on the left side of her head had a few ice cream cones between its many branches, one of which she lifted to her mouth with her golden magic, and took a lick of. She promptly hopped onto her mother's throne, looking back at Discord, saying, "Thanks for the ice cream, papa."

Luna smiled, and told Celestia, "You said that parenting was easy."

Discord and Luna both broke into laughter, and Celestia shouted at the dozens of other occupants of the throne room, "SILENCE!"

Everyone went still, especially her twenty five sons, who had all been begging for her attention a few moments ago. Most of them were equine with a few of their father's features thrown into the mix, but one was definitely a draconiquus, a mix of flamingo, snake, leopard, and owl parts.

Celestia said, "It's time for your father to take you to the amusement park."

Her one daughter, named Sunspot, didn't look up, and quietly sat by her mother's side, licking at her ice cream, alternating between vanilla and strawberry cones. But her sons all ran towards Discord, shouting things like "Roller coaster", "Cotton candy", and "Chocolate milk" at the top of their lungs.

Discord muttered to Celestia, "You win this round, but they're yours in another hour." He then promptly teleported away, dragging his twenty five sons with him.

Celestia took a deep breath, and looked down at Sunspot. She smiled at her daughter, and asked, "May I have some ice cream?"

Her daughter didn't nod, so as not to lose any of her cones, and levitated a vanilla cone to her mother. "Sure," she said.

Celestia felt a bit warmer about this whole children idea, and told her sister, "Your mistake was sticking to one boy, and not having any daughters. You and I both know how that curse worked. You could have had hundreds of fillies to talk to, if you'd have simply pursued another husband." Her eyes widened when she caught sight of her sister's stomach, which was a bit larger than it normally would have been. "When did that happen?"

Luna smiled, and gently patted a particular guard on the head, a handsome griffon with the face of an owl and the stripes of a tiger. "Oh, a few months ago. I assumed someone as astute as you would've noticed. If you hadn't been spending all of your time playing with Discord in the dream world, I'm sure I wouldn't have felt so... rowdy," she said. "Constantine and I have been very... productive as of late."

Celestia froze, and asked, "You... You didn't watch us, did you?"

The lunar alicorn winked at her sister, who promptly slapped her forehead with a hoof. She laughed, and said, "Oh, don't worry. Your secret's safe with me." She then leaned towards the griffon, and whispered into his ear, "Are you still up for trying out that fetish we discussed in the dreamscape?"

To be continued...

Author's Note

When I get to writing some of the other prequels you'll see a lot more of Constantine. Make no mistake, he's more than a historical footnote in this series.
The last word is green for a reason. Click click to find yourself at the sequel.