The orange-and-red bird bobbed up and down upon my back as I retched into the toilet again. Pink-tinted saliva and bile dribbled from my lips, dripping down into the toilet water below. Swirls of glowing pink and deep emerald were already present, and they twisted and bled together as the water rippled with each new drop.

I had a moment to catch my breath before my chest heaved painfully and I retched again, emerald specks splattering across the insides of the porcelain bowl. A thin strand of pink hung from my bottom lip. It trembled with each rasping breath I took.

This time I was actually able to spit out a glob of bile before the next wave hit me. My belly was empty though, so I just dry-heaved, my stomach clenching uselessly as it tried to expel non-existent substances. It felt like the organ was trying to rip itself free and force itself up my throat. I gagged at the feeling, half-expecting it to come falling from my lips and into the toilet.

Giving one last retch, I laid there, draped across the toilet seat. I rested my head against my foreleg, gazing blankly down into the multi-colored water below me. For once, I was actually glad that the ponies had sheared my mane down to a shorter length; it was no longer long enough to fall into the tainted waters.

A small belch escaped me, and I grimaced at the taste.

“So undignified,” I muttered, closing my eyes.

Upon my back, the bird chirped loudly and readjusted its perch, hopping from one claw to the other as it fluffed its wings. It was surprisingly careful to not step upon my still-bruised elytra and wings. Still, it’s presence here was an annoyance—the bloody thing arrived shortly after I made a mad dash for the bathroom.

An unwanted witness to a not-so-flattering task.

Without moving, I growled up at the thing. “Why can’t you let me suffer in peace?”

It chirped again before hopping up to stand upon the back of my head.

“Buzz off, you overgrown buzzard,” I croaked, fighting to not heave again. “I’m not dead yet.”

The bird chirped for a third time before pecking at my skull. It then proceeded to pull several strands of my mane out and tucked them beneath one of its wings.

I shook my head weakly, but couldn’t dislodge the bird. “I swear by my broken egg, if you keep doing that, I’ll roast you alive and eat your charred meat.”

The bird paused…

“That’s better,” I grunted.

...before tugging out one last hair.

“Insolent whelp!” I snarled, whipping my head up and sending the bird flying. “Your succulent dark meat is min—herk!” My stomach lurched suddenly, and I gagged as my throat tightened. I barely had time to shove my face back into the toilet bowl before I retched. A spray of emerald green droplets splattered into the water below.

“By the Hive, why?” I whined as the bird settled back down upon my back. “There’s nothing left in my stomach to get rid of! It’s empty!” Brushing hair from my eyes, I went back to leaning upon the toilet. I rested my head against its side, grateful for the coolness it provided. Thank goodness nopony was here to witness this.

My ears twitched at the sound of approaching hooves. It would appear I spoke too soon. Figures. I have gone a few hours without losing more of my dignity. I’m due for some more humiliation.

Grumbling softly to myself, I frowned. It was strange. I didn’t even hear the door to my room open. As the hoofsteps grew closer, I debated whether I should quickly stand up and make this as dignified as possible… or simply remain where I was and make a mental note to dispose of whoever it was that found me in such a state.

A twinge from my stomach forced me to lean towards the latter.

I hope it’s a pegasus; my pillow could use a refeathering.

The pony paused in the doorway and the pony made a confused sounding huff. Cracking an eye open, I peered around, only to close it again with a groan upon seeing Honest Practice standing there. She had a bemused look on her face, one eyebrow raised higher than the other. Of all the damnable ponies to show up…

Whatever little dignity I have left—and trust me, there wasn’t much left to begin with—vanished when I tasted the amusement trickling from her.

“Oh, the irony here is delicious,” she said.

“What are you doing here?” I rasped, not opening my eyes. “I thought you had the day off.”

“You do realize that another name for a toilet is a ‘porcelain throne’?” she continued as though she hadn’t heard me. “And here you are. A queen upon the throne. I wish I had a camera, because none of my coworkers will ever believe me when I tell them about this.”

The bird on my back squawked and flapped its wings.

“I brought your entire city to its knees once,” I muttered. “You were all at my mercy. I could have ended all of you if I so wished. Tossed your sacs off the edge of the mountain.” The porcelain my face was pressed against had lost its coolness, so I began dragging my cheek along the side of the bowl, searching for another spot. As I slid, I made a soft whistling sound. “Hweeeuw, right down to the ground. Splat.”

“And yet, look at you now,” Honest Practice cooed, moving further into the bathroom. “With your face where most ponies put their plots.”

My ear twitched against the toilet bowl.

“You just moved up my list. Your pelt will look lovely as a decorative throw blanket.” I swallowed, only to wince at the foul taste clinging to my tongue. “Why are you here?” I asked again. “You told me you had the day off. I was looking forward to not having to deal with you today.”

“So was I,” she said stiffly. “However, you scared the rest of the doctors off with your little stunt, so they had to call me back in. Now, thanks to you, we both have to deal with each other.”

With a cheek pressed against the porcelain, I smirked.

Overnight, my condition had improved immensely. Sure, I wasn’t fully healed yet—that would still take several more days at my current intake of love—but I was certainly in better shape than I had been when I had first arrived. My various wounds had stopped bleeding some time during the night, the exposed flesh now just tender and scabbed over. The bandages that covered my stump no longer bore splotches of green ichor upon them. The corners of my mouth were still chapped and cracked, but no longer needed to be held together by sutures and tape. My chitin plates were still damaged as well, though there was no hope to heal those; it’d take a good molting for those to be repaired.

That was something I was not looking forward to in the near future.

An early morning trip to the bathroom had also revealed that, while still sore and awkward, I could manage to walk on my own without needing to use the wall for support. Although, I wasn’t entirely sure I’d ever be able to get used to walking with three legs.

Especially seeing as the gait it left me with was completely undignified.

Seriously, how will anypony take me seriously if I’m hop-hop-hopping along like a half-witted fool? All their fear would flee their body upon seeing me walk. ‘Yes, step into my parlor, little ones’—hop hop hop.

I can hear the laughter already.

Might as well just put rabbit ears on me and shove a cotton tail up my rump for as good for my self-image that’ll be.

Chrysalis, the Bunny Queen…

…

Ugh, I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.

Wait… my stomach is currently empty.

Well, never mind then…

Loss of my formidable stride aside, apparently the speed of my recovery was unexpected, given the startled reactions from the medical ponies that were assigned to me. The doctor who had come to check up on me in the morning had expected to find me still bedridden. Thus, the fool nearly fainted from shock—and a fair amount of fear—when he came muzzle to muzzle with me only a few steps into the room. His scream caused the guards to come running, and I would have had a bit more concern for myself had the pair not promptly slipped in the puddle the good doctor had left on the floor.

Yellow on white had never looked so good.

Once the mess had been cleaned up and the medical staff had discovered just how much I had healed over the night, they subjected me to a plethora of physical tests, much to my growing annoyance. Go here, stand there, open your wings, trot in place, bend your neck this way and that; at one point I almost expected them to instruct me to stand on my head and whistle a ditty.

It was when one of the more uppity doctors told me to turn around and flag my tail that I finally snapped. The only thing that saved his worthless hide was my missing leg. Still, the sound of him squealing as he shot off down the hall leaving a trail of urine behind was music to my ears. And the fact the guards had to clean up another mess just added to the warm, fuzzy feeling in my chest.

Maybe I’m not as pathetic without my legs as I previously thought. I mean, I made two ponies piss themselves in the span of a few short hours. Perhaps I could work with this after all…

…

Anyways, after that, the majority of the asinine doctors seemed to get the message. Deciding that it wasn’t worth any potential loss of limb themselves, they retreated hastily, leaving me alone with my own devices.

“They’re lucky I’m not at full power yet,” I grumbled. “Annoying little gnats. They act like I don’t even know my own body. They treat me as though I can’t take care of myself.”

“Uh-huh,” Honest Practice hummed. “And how, pray tell, did you end up in this current predicament again?”

“It’s just a little bout of queasiness,” I answered a little too quickly.

“Oh really?” came the reply, and I could feel the eyebrow raise she leveled at the back of my head.

“Yes.”

“You didn’t happen to do anything at all that might have caused this?”

“No.”

“...”

“...”

“...you ate the love bag, didn’t you?”

“What? No! Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I do something stupid like that?”

She was silent for a few seconds before a wet smack came from beside the toilet. Cracking open an eye, I glanced down only to see the empty love bag—the top half torn open—lying on the floor beside the toilet. The sight of it caused my stomach to clench, and I was forced to shove my face into the toilet bowl as I dry-heaved again.

“You ate the love bag.” It wasn’t a question.

“Of course I did!” I growled, staring down into the swirling colored water. “It’s a bag of love! Love! I’m a changeling! I’m hungry! What did you expect me to do?” Finally pulling my head from the bowl, I reached over and flushed away the remainder of my filth. Shakily getting to my hooves, I stumbled from the bathroom.

“And this is why we act like you can’t take care of yourself,” Honest Practice said as she followed behind me.

“You told me I could eat solid foods again!” I shot back. Making my way across the room, I clambered onto the bed, nestling down on top of the blankets. The bird, having apparently gotten all the hair it wanted, promptly vanished. How it escaped the room, I do not know, as the door was currently closed.

As I tucked my legs beneath me, the nurse approached the bedside.

“You can eat solid foods!”

“Then it’s not my fault your bag of love made me sick!” I growled. “It’s clear that your source—” I spat the word “—is incompetent when it comes to the art of lovemaking.”

“Well, of course it made you sick!” she snorted, stamping a hoof. “It had chemicals and meds and solutions in it! It’s not meant to go in your stomach! It’s meant to go in your veins!” Lighting up her horn, she waved a new, unopened love bag in my face. “You basically consumed two-thousand milliliters of tainted love!”

“Well, I needed something in my stomach,” I sneered at her. “I am ravenous!”

She gave me a skeptical frown. “I highly doubt that. We’ve had you on a love IV drip since you’ve arrived.”

“Yes, and the majority of that went towards healing myself,” I huffed. “I could either consume all that love as food and die of a broken body with a full stomach… or I could use the love to heal myself and remain starved.” Shifting slightly, I pulled my only foreleg free and gestured at my body with it. As I did so, I gave the nurse a pointed look. “You can see which path I chose to take.”

“You’re telling me,” Honest Practice said slowly, “that all that love we pumped into you… none of it kept? You got no sustenance from it? You just flushed it all through your system to make repairs?”

At that moment, my stomach decided to prove my point as a loud grumble filled the room. It was an echoing kind of grumble, the type that more akin to a growl of a predator.

“The body might be recovering, but the stomach is still empty,” I grumbled.

She opened her mouth to rebuke me, but the words died on her lips when the door to the room suddenly swung open. Instead, what came out was “P-princess Celestia! What… what are you doing here?”

“I came to check up on our patient,” Celestia answered. She stepped gracefully into the room, a small, peaceful smile on her muzzle. Outside, I could see four guards standing about—the two that usually guarded my room, and the two that she probably brought with her.

“Did I hear that correctly? Somepony is hungry? Well, we can’t have that!” she continued as she turned her gaze towards me.

I said nothing, my eyes narrowing as I studied her. Despite our interactions yesterday, she gave off no negative emotions. I had been expecting a bit of sorrow or hurt or even anger, but she only radiated a calm sense of contentment.

Strange...

It took me a moment to realize that Celestia had been appraising me as well, looking up and down my body even as I laid nestled on top of the sheets. I felt like her gaze lingered longer on my flank than anywhere else, but I couldn’t be entirely sure.

Flicking the tattered remains of my tail over my rump in a failed attempt to cover it, I gave her a deadpan look. “Can I help you?”

“Oh, forgive me,” she said. “It’s just… you’ve only been here for a few days, but your wounds look practically healed. Your rate of recovery is surprising. A normal pony wouldn’t be conscious yet, let alone walking and talking as you are.”

Lifting my forehoof, I examined it with disinterest. “That’s because your ponies are not changeling queens. Unlike you fleshly little things, changelings can heal quickly from most injuries. Queen, even faster. So long as we’re given enough love, that is.” I shot a sideways glance at Honest Practice. “If proper care is given, anything less than a killing blow can easily be survived by the weakest amongst us. Given enough love and we can turn months of recovery into weeks, or even days.

“That’s why when the little Harlot of Love and her hubby blasted us across the countryside, most of my children survived,” I continued. “They were still saturated with collected love. Granted, once they were done healing themselves, we were back at square one,” I added under my breath.

Celestia nodded in understanding, a thoughtful look on her face, but Honest Practice cocked her head to the side. “If that is the case, why were you in such critical condition when the Princess brought you in?”

“Because,” I growled, “I was starving to death, you fool. It’s rather hard to heal oneself with love when there’s not enough love in one’s system to live by! Even now, I find my body needing to choose between feedings itself or healing itself. As I said before, I am ravenous!”

“Well then, we best get you something to eat!” Celestia chirped happily. Her horn began to glow, and suddenly a wheelchair rolled up beside her. She gave me an expectant look as she parked it next to the bed.

I stared blankly at it for a few seconds before it dawned on me what she was waiting for. “No. Absolutely not.”

Celestia blinked. “What?”

“I am not getting in that thing,” I growled.

“But, I’m taking you to get something to eat.”

“I’m well aware,” I huffed, “but I’m not an invalid. Wherever we are going, I am more than capable of walking there under my own power.”

“It’s a long walk,” Celestia said as she rolled the wheelchair back and forth. It bumped gently against the side of the bed.

Lighting up my own horn, I stopped the bumping. “I. Don’t. Care.” Surprisingly, instead of being hurt, I could sense a thin trickle of… playfulness coming from Celestia, even as a pout crossed her lips.

“Um, excuse me,” Honest Practice interrupted by clearing her throat. Both Celestia and I jumped, both of us forgetting that the smaller pony was there.

“Yes?” Celestia asked.

“As much as I’m loathed to agree with her,” Honest said, “I’m afraid my patient isn’t going anywhere. She has not been cleared to leave yet.”

“Well, doctor knows best,” I rasped, chuckling weakly.

“There’s still a few more tests I want to run,” she continued, levitating a clipboard over. “We need a few blood samples, a quick check of her vitals, and some more physical therapy. Plus, we need to rehydrate her after her… purging earlier.”

“You fucking traitor,” I growled, glaring down at her.

“I’m doing my job,” she shot back. “You’ll leave here only when I say you’re ready to.”

“Well,” Celestia said, drawing our attention back to her. A scroll hovered by her head, and she unrolled it with a smile, “that’s not entirely true, Nurse Practice.”

The nurse deadpanned. “Say what?”

“I’m happy to say that she has already been cleared to leave,” Celestia continued happily. “The other doctors assigned to her informed me earlier that she is well enough to be released into my care.”

“Was that before or after she scared the pee out of them?” Honest asked, her eyes narrowing.

“Doesn’t matter,” I huffed. “I’m still not going anywhere in that thing.”

Turning to look at me, Celestia’s bottom lip began to tremble. “Oh, Chrysalis… it’s only a tiny, little wheelchair.”

“What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand?”

“I’m just looking out for your health.”

“I’d rather have my other leg fall off.”

The frown left Celestia’s face, and I sensed her amusement dry up. “Chrysalis. Get in the chair.”

“Bite me,” was my reply.

“Get in the chair,” she repeated, her eyes narrowing.

“Take your chair and stuff it where your sun doesn’t shine.”

There was a spike of annoyance.

Celestia stamped a hoof against the floor. “You are leaving this room in this wheelchair and that’s final!”

~ ~ ~ ~ > > < < ~ ~ ~ ~

I could sense the faintest amounts of annoyance radiating off of Celestia as we slowly made our way down the corridor. A small smirk touched my muzzle, although I ignored her for the most part, choosing instead to focus on the movement of my hooves.

Front… back back.

Front… back back.

Front… back back.

“Hive damn it,” I grumbled under my breath. The gait was awkward, and despite practicing it earlier this morning, I still found myself trying occasionally to use the leg that wasn’t there. As such, I stumbled often—much to my exasperation—and Celestia had to stop more than once to allow me to resituate myself and catch up with her. She didn’t say anything, but each time it happened, I could feel her annoyance spike just a little.

I wasn’t doing it on purpose, but each time I felt the increase in her irritation, I couldn’t help but grin to myself. Victory is mine! I might have been a crumbling fragment of my former self, but at least I still had my dignity.

So, why did I feel like something was off?

The more I pondered, the more I realized that it was Celestia’s annoyance that was throwing me off. It was present, no doubt about that, but it was muted. It didn’t feel like the irritation one would feel if they had just lost a battle of wits to someone as devious and cunning as I.

No, instead… it felt… weaker, with an aftertaste of barely concealed amusement. Almost like when a caretaker is watching a nymph make a fool of themselves, but the nymph is too stubborn to listen… to… reason…

…

Well, fuck you too, Celestia.

This was clearly petty payback for foiling her attempt yesterday.

I wonder…

Curious about what other emotions she might be trying to suppress, I dug a little deeper, only to frown upon finding… nothing. No obvious negative emotions. There was the amused-tainted irritation, some faint traces of boredom—oh, I’m sooo sorry that my bunny hopping around isn’t more entertaining for you—and a good smidgen of calmness.

I couldn’t sense anything else present. No sadness, no anger, no distress. Nothing that indicated anything happened yesterday. Why wasn’t she more upset that I foiled her plan? Even the hurt I had seen on her face upon leaving yesterday wasn’t present.

Could she be hiding the emotions?

…

No, Celestia might have been a good actor, but nobody could hide their emotions from me completely. It might take a little digging, but I will always find it.

So… why wasn’t there any present within Celestia at the moment?

…

What that… gah!

I had been so immersed in thought that I had completely forgotten about my missing leg again and had attempted to use it. With nothing to support myself, I staggered forward, barely stopping myself from falling by collapsing upon the wall for support. Pain lanced across my shoulder and down my spine as my stump took the force of the impact. Stars exploded in front of my eyes.

“By my fucking teats!” I growled.

Celestia glance back at me from where she stopped a few paces ahead. The spike of annoyance came alongside the cock of an eyebrow.

“You wouldn’t have this problem if you had just used the wheelchair,” she said.

“Kind of hard to use a broken wheelchair,” I shot back.

She snorted at this. “It wasn’t broken until you embedded it into the wall.”

“Oops,” I deadpanned.

Rolling her eyes, Celestia sighed before turning and slowly walking back to my side. “Why are you being so difficult about this?” she asked. “I was only trying to help.”

“I don’t need your help,” I huffed. “I can manage on my own.”

“With the wheelchair, we would have been there already.”

“I can manage… on my own.” I glared up at her.

She said nothing, but glanced between me and the wall with a rather pointed look.

“Oh, like you’d be able to walk perfectly with three legs right off the bat,” I growled. “How about I rip your leg off and then you can show me how the pretentious, pretty little princess can hobble about with perfect pose, hmmm?”

Surprise flared up inside her, and Celestia took a step back. “I didn’t mean to imply…”

“I’m well aware of what you meant,” I grumbled. Taking a breath, I pushed myself off of the wall and back onto my hooves. “Let’s go before my hunger turns the rest of me to brittle ash.” Keeping close to the wall in case I had to support myself again, I moved along, watching my hooves closely as I went.

Celestia was still for a moment before moving to walk beside me once more.

I tried to keep a steady pace but soon found myself a little short of breath. My remaining limbs burned, and it took a good deal of concentration in order to keep my balance. Apparently walking around a small hospital room all morning was not the same as walking down a serious of long, winding corridors.

Who would have guessed?

It wasn’t long before my condition became painfully apparent. My breaths came in short, ragged gasps, and my steps were less hop-like and more of a weird three-legged shuffle.

I caught Celestia giving me a concerned look at of the corner of my eye.

“Are you sure you don’t want the wheelchair?” she asked.

I returned her question with a glare.

“How much further is it?” I rasped out.

She sighed. “It’s just around the corner.”

“Then I will manage,” I growled out.

True to her word, as we rounded the corner, the dining hall came into view. Two guards were positioned on either side of the gilded double doors, and they snapped to attention as Celestia neared. Upon spying me though, they tensed and readied their spears.

“At ease,” Celestia said softly, brushing the tips of their spears with her wings.

“Princess.” The one on the left returned to attention; the one on the right, however, continued to level her spear at me, glaring out from beneath her helmet. I could taste the hatred leaking off of her, but it was almost… hiding something.

I decided to dig a little deeper.

“Sergeant, stand down,” Celestia said, a little more firmly. “She is not a threat!”

That caused me to pause. Not… not a threat? Is she serious? Oh, Celestia… have you learned nothing from dealing with me? How many times have I managed to get the drop on you and your ponies? Always… always assume that I am a threat.

At all times.

No exceptions.

At Celestia’s words, the mare’s gaze flicked back to her for a moment before returning firmly to me.

“How do you know?” she asked. She tried to sound cold, but I could still pick up the faint tremble in her words. “How do you know she won’t try something?”

Ah! There it is. Beneath the anger and the hatred, a nice big heaping helping of fear. She was afraid of me. Or of what I could do. I wonder… could she have been one of the guards at the wedding?

…

Bah, it didn’t matter. I was starving, and the mare was in the way.

Celestia opened her mouth to answer the guard, but I shoved past her. “Chrysalis, what are you…?!” Ignoring her, I leaned forward, jamming the tip of the mare’s spear into my neck. Not enough to break my chitin, but enough that it dug into the brittle shell.

The guardmare flinched at my sudden movement, her eyes widening.

“Kill me or move aside,” I rasped, still breathing heavily. “Either way, make your decision quickly and stop wasting my time. I didn’t drag myself all the way down here just to die of starvation at the threshold.”

The mare said nothing, but I could sense the anger fading and the defeat taking its place.

After a moment of silence, I huffed. “That’s what I thought.” I shoved the spear aside, and it fell from her hooves with a clatter. Sidestepping around the pitiful excuse for a guard, I forced the dining room doors open with my shoulder.

As I slunk inside, Celestia tsk softly before following.

“That was unnecessary,” she said when the doors had closed behind us.

“Only fools make threats they’re not prepared to carry out,” I grumbled as I study the room we had just entered.

It was a surprisingly small banquet hall. A long table sat in the middle of the room and had the capacity to sit twelve ponies comfortably. Stained glass windows lined the walls, allowing in natural light that sparkled around the room in reds and blues and yellows and greens. Marble pillars sat in the corners, supporting a ceiling that bore a mosaic of Celestia and Luna chasing their perspective heavenly bodies across the aether. A single chandelier hung from the center of the scene.

As I glanced around, Celestia moved past me. Making her way over to the table, she ignored the large cushion at the head and instead picked one of the few along the side. She took a moment to get settled, her legs folding beneath her barrel gracefully, before giving me an expectant look.

Snorting, I limped over to the cushion across the table from her and proceeded to collapse upon it. Much to my surprise, it was actually fairly comfortable. A low grown escaped me as my aching limbs were finally able to relax.

“Are you in pain?” Celestia asked, a faint hint of concern coming from her.

“I’m fine,” I grunted. She opened her mouth again, but I cut her off. “My legs might be a little sore, but it’s my stomach that is currently bothering me the most.” I gave her a pointed look, even as my stomach growled softly. My body was already missing the IV bag, and I could feel my meager store of love fading as my injuries attempted to fix themselves. “Either IV me or feed me, Celestia, but whatever you do, do it fast.”

She stared at me for a moment before raising her head and letting out a soft whistle. No sooner had the sound faded then a maid appeared at the table, a tray balanced skillfully upon her back. With practiced ease, she began distributing the dishes.

A large bowl of salad was placed in front of Celestia—a mixture of lettuce, noodles, blackberries, tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers, and strawberries, with a thick blue cheese dressing drizzled over the top. A small cup of croutons was placed down beside the salad, and Celestia snacked on a few as the maid continued to unload her tray.

Next, the mare laid out a few plates and bowls of various fruits and vegetables, many of them seasoned with sugar or salt, such as the cooked apples dusted with brown sugar. There was also a tray of deviled eggs.

My eyes locked onto the hard-boiled goodness.

Oh… yeeesss….

Come to mama…

“You can eat regular food, right?” Celestia asked, peering at me over her salad bowl.

“Yes, I am more than capable of eating food,” I say, not looking away from the deviled eggs. “It can keep me going for a while, but without love, I’ll just waste away. It’s similar to a pony drinking nothing but water. You’ll live for a while, but in the end, it won’t be enough.”

Celestia popped another crouton delicately into her mouth. “I see…”

Chewing on my lip, I continued to stare at the eggs for a few more seconds before huffing softly. I made to grab a few, but before I could move, the maid placed a covered dish in front of me.

“There you are,” she said, her tray now empty. “Please, enjoy your meals.” Giving a short bow, she turned and trotted out of the room.

Eyeing the dish curiously, I lifted the lid a little, only to drop it immediately upon catching sight of the contents. I stared blankly down at the cover, my mind abuzz.

“Is something wrong?” Celestia asked, cocking an eyebrow.

I was silent for a moment before answering. “No, there’s no problem at all.” Slowly, I lifted the lid again, completely uncovering the dish. I stared down at the broth, which was glowing bright pink. My stomach growled loudly as the delicious aroma of love hit my nose.

This…

This was love.

Pure, unaltered love.

Every instinct was telling me to dive face-first into the dish and consume the love as quickly as possible, but I restrained myself. Eyes narrowing, my gaze flicked up to Celestia, who was watching me idly while slowly working at her own food.

“Yes?” she asked upon seeing me glaring at her.

“What’s the catch?” I asked.

She blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“What’s… the… catch?” I repeated, motioning towards the dish. “What? Are you trying to butter me up? Didn’t like the answer I gave you yesterday, so you’re trying to bribe me with pure love?”

“Of course not!” I could sense the hurt feeling waft off of her. “I would never hold something you needed to live over your head like that. Regardless of your answer, we were always going to feed you. The request was just a possible bonus.”

Now emanating annoyance, she returned to her salad.

Falling silent, I glanced back down at the bowl of love. This… wasn’t what I had been expecting. Sure, I knew it was going to be love—it was the only thing that would keep me alive at the moment—but I had been expecting diluted love. This… this was pure love. Undiluted, untampered. With this, I could not only get back my energy again, but I would be able to accelerate my recovery rate.

And she was giving it to me with no strings attached?

I hadn’t sensed any falsehood in her words…

…

What…

What if… what if I was wrong about her intentions? Could… could she be sincere in her desires? In her wants? Was I truly looking a gift horse in the mouth? Have I become so jaded, so cynical that I couldn’t even comprehend that Celestia truly did want to help me?

...

With my mind still a whirlwind of uncertainty, I gingerly picked up the bowl with a trembling hoof and brought it to my lips.

It was the most delicious thing I’d ever tasted.

That didn’t help with my uncertainty.

~ ~ ~ ~ > > < < ~ ~ ~ ~

The sun was setting as I made my way slowly down the hall. My stomach was slightly distended, and I could feel the love sloshing about inside with each hop-like step I took. There was a pleasant warmth to it, and I could feel the various aches and pains around my body fading as the love was absorbed.

Two guards shadowed me as I made my way back towards the hospital ward. Walking was easier now, thanks to the pure love in my system, but the guards were still able to outpace me; both of them having to stop every now and then to allow me to take the lead again.

And while my limbs might have been feeling better, my mind was still a jumbled mess.

Celestia… what are you playing at?

“Why are ponies so complicated?” I grumbled, my brow furrowing. One of the guards gave me a confused look but didn’t say anything. After a long moment of silence, I growled and shook my head. “Why couldn’t you have just tried to kill me, like everypony else?” It certainly would have made things a whole lot simpler.

Conflict was something I understood.

This though… this kindness… this was new.

…

Bah… maybe sleeping on it would help?

Still musing silently to myself, I walked right past my destination. Only a guard clearing his throat brought me back to present, and I backtracked, ignoring the muted amusement coming from my foalsitters. Trying to purge the thoughts from my mind, I pushed the door open and slunk inside. Thankfully, the guards didn’t enter but instead took up position on either side of the entrance. The door closed behind me, and they were lost to view.

I took a few steps inside only to pause upon discovering that I wasn’t alone.

There, standing in the middle of the room with her starlit mane wafting in an unseen breeze, was the Princess of the Night. On either side of her stood a pair of stoic batpony guards, all four of them decked out in dark lavender armor. And behind them, eyeing me nervously, were a dozen or so doctors and nurses.

“So, her royal highness has finally returned,” Luna said after a moment of silence. “We were beginning to think you might have gotten lost."

“It’s not that hard to find this room again,” I sniff. “Your kind doctors saw to that. All you have to do is follow the smell of urine.” Behind Luna, one of the doctors shifted uncomfortably.

Luna tsked softly. “You say that, but we were just about to send our guards out to find you. To make sure that you hadn’t… run off.”

“Oh, I hardly doubt I’ll be able to do that,” I said, waving my useless stump of a foreleg at her. Pain flared up, but I ignored it. “Maybe hobble off, but even that might take me awhile. If you were truly concerned about my whereabouts, though, you could have just asked your sister. After all, it was her idea to drag me along to dinner.”

“It was our understanding that the meal ended a few hours ago,” Luna said, cocking an eyebrow.

I shrugged, wobbling slightly on three legs. “What can I say? The meal was so good that I simply had to stay for dessert. And as I’m sure you’re no doubt aware, when it comes to dessert, your sister has a tendency to go overboard.”

Her expression didn’t change, but I could sense a spike of annoyance from her, as well as stirring of hatred. Strangely enough, hidden beneath the negative emotions, I could just barely sense the tiniest sliver of amusement beginning to well to life.

I had to bite back a smile. She was upset that she found that quip funny.

Eyes drifting over the doctors huddled behind the alicorn, I grunted. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”

“At the request of my sister, we come bearing a gift., although it’s our opinion you don’t necessarily deserve it.” Her horn began to glow, and she lifted a long, thin case out from behind her. Unclasping the latches, she opened it, revealing what was within.

I blinked.

…

I blinked again. “Is that… what I think it is?”

“Indeed it is,” Luna said as she levitated the prosthetic leg out of the velvet-lined case. It shifted in her magic, the joints twisting with soft, metallic click’s. “Your measurements were taken during one of your medical inspections, and my sister had this custom-made. She felt that it would help you adjust to your new life.”

I stared at the metal leg for a moment before squinting at Luna. “Sooo, what’s the catch?”

“Sadly, nothing,” Luna sighed. “We had wanted to make you earn this through various means, but our sister insisted that it be a gift. A show of good faith.” She passed the limb to a nearby nurse, who took it carefully in her own magic. “These fine medical ponies are here to help you get outfitted with it, as well as to make sure it’s adjusted properly.”

As the nurses and doctors moved towards me tentatively, I gave Luna a questioning look. “And what are you here for? Surely this doesn’t require your presence.”

For the first time, a smirk touched Luna’s face, although it didn’t reach her eyes. “We hear that the initial adjusting can be rather… unpleasant. Almost painful, even. We figured you could use some support.” Her grin turned into a sneer. “Please, by all means, don’t hold back on crying for our sake. We won’t think less of you for it.”

I said nothing but slowly moved my tongue between my back teeth. There was no way I was going to give her the satisfaction of seeing me in pain. I lived through having the leg ripped off… surely having a fake one put back on wouldn’t be worse.

Right?

~ ~ ~ ~ > > < < ~ ~ ~ ~

I was wrong.

I was horribly wrong.

~ ~ ~ ~ > > < < ~ ~ ~ ~

Silvery moonlight filtered in through the tall windows as I made my way down the hall… again. I staggered along, my shoulder throbbing with each step I took. My gait was a little off, but that was to be expected, given the awkwardness that was currently attached to me.

clink

clink

clink

cli—clunk

I grunted in annoyance before glaring down at the metal limb that now jutted forth from my shoulder. It was proving to be somewhat difficult to use, as the joints locked up occasionally if I misstepped. This would cause me to stumble when I tried to put weight on the unmoving limb.

Giving my shoulder a small shake, I hissed in pain. In order to attach the leg to my body, the doctors had surgically implanted a large gemstone over the scar where my old leg had once been. A special harness was then wrapped around the stump, keeping the gemstone from being dislodged should I jostle it about.

At first I had been confused as to why they had stuck a gemstone on me. Sure, the green of the gem went well with my mane and eyes, but what possible purpose could it serve?

I found out the minute one of the doctors put a little magic into it.

Pain had shot through my shoulder as the nerves, long since dormant, flared back to life. I hadn’t cried out—I would not give the moon-flanked grub the satisfaction—but I’m pretty sure I cracked a few teeth before the pain receded…

Well, mostly receded. The only thing that had stopped me from tearing the doctors apart was the Lunar Guards standing off to the side.

...by the Hive, I’m going soft.

One of the nurses had been kind enough to explain to me that the gemstone would start absorbing my own latent magic. Once it was saturated enough, the leg would be attached, and the stone would allow me to move the prosthetic as though it were my own flesh and blood through a series of enchanted gemstones interlaced through the internal mechanisms.

At least, that’s what I got out of the explanation.

Giving my shoulder another shake, I winced again. Thankfully, the leg reset this time and I was able to keep on walking. It was somewhat weird—going from having to learn to walk with three legs, to returning to a four-legged gait. One would think that it would be fairly easy to progress back to what was supposed to be natural, but the new leg did not function like my old one.

For one, I had no feeling in it, which made tripping on uneven surfaces all the more likely and annoying. I’d only had it for about an hour now and already I had tripped over more stairs and carpet than I could count. I was forced to lift the leg higher than necessary in order to clear such hurdles, which in turn gave me an awkward, high-stepping movement only on that side of my body.

Another annoyance that came with my new piece of hardware was the fact that it did not have the same range of motion as my original, fleshy limb had. The doctors had assured me that the mobility would come as I grew more used to using the prosthetic, but I wasn’t getting my hopes up.

Rounding a corner, I stiffly thunk’d my way down the hall for a moment before slowing to a stop outside a large, ornate door. I stared up at it, chewing gingerly on my lip. After a moment of hesitation, I reached up and knocked upon the golden surface.

Silence filled the air for several longs seconds before the door creaked open and a white head poked itself out. “Chrysalis…?” Blinking sleep from her eyes, Celestia gave me a confused look. It was clear that I had awoken her—she wore a black, silken nightie that was laced up her back, and her mane was moving more lethargically than it normally did.

“What… what are you doing here?” she asked, fighting back a yawn. “It’s rather late for a visit, isn’t it?”

I opened my mouth, only to close it with a snap. Staring blankly at a point just over her shoulder, I racked my mind for the best possible way to phrase the request. No words came to mind though, and as the seconds dragged on, I could feel Celestia’s confusion—and annoyance—growing.

“I’m sorry, Chrysalis, but whatever it is, can’t it wait until morning?” she asked.

Opening and closing my mouth again, I swallowed thickly. Why was this so hard? I’m Chrysalis. I brought the Royal Sisters down twice, outwitted the smartest mare of the generation, and staved off death countless times. My name made foals quiver in fear.

So why was this so hard?

I pulled myself from my funk just in time to see Celestia beginning to close the door. Without thinking, I stepped forward and jammed my new hoof into the crack just before the door snapped shut.

The sound of metal on metal caused Celestia to look down, and her eyes widened in surprise. “Is that…?” Before she could continue the question though, I caught her attention again by clearing my throat.

“Celestia…”

She trailed off and returned her gaze to mine. Gone was the annoyance, and instead there was just a quiet curiosity.

I paused again, mulling over the words one last time before finally

“S-so, um… about this room of yours?”

Her face was blank for a moment as she proceeded what I had just said, but then, when it finally registered, a small gasp escaped her lips…

...and her face lit up like the sun.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long delay. I didn't like how the end of this chapter kept turning out. However, I think this is about as good as I'm going to get it presently. I might come back later and touch it up, but for now, we must move onwards!