How did it come to all of this? Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, or former Queen, since she was blasted from Canterlot after her failed take over attempt, is all alone. No subjects to rule over and no love to feed off of. Not that she was starving, as the love she took on that fateful day was enough to keep her fed for the many months she’s been wandering.

However, those reserves are coming to an end. Soon, that love will fade, and with that, she will have lost everything. Sure, she could return to her hive, perhaps start over, but what’s the point? To try and fail another day? To live day by day wondering where the next meal will come from? It’s not a life worth living. She’s tired and wants nothing more than to rest.

When did she start lying on the ground? Oh, she must’ve collapsed, the last remaining love now slipping away from her. She should be terrified by the thought of dying, but she’s been alive longer than she can remember. It’s nice to finally enter her long period of rest. Though, she wished it wasn’t in such a dreary place. A dark forest with monsters aplenty. Surely one will come and feast on her corpse in due time.

As her eyes begin to fall heavy, she wonders what she could’ve done differently in her life. A cry echoes deep within the forest. It was faint at first, but slowly built in volume. Groggily, Chrysalis opens her eyes and scans the treeline. Was she hearing things? No, something is crying just up ahead. That isn’t a sound you often hear in a place as dangerous as this.

Curious, she lifts herself back onto her hooves and sluggishly makes her way to the source of the noise. Breaking past a few bushes, she enters a meadow of some kind. Clear of the dense trees, leaving the sky bare and the sun shining down in a perfect spotlight on the center. There, she finds a creature she’s never seen before. Sitting on its rump, a monkey-like beast is crying to itself.

Taking a step forward, she breaks a twig beneath her hoof and draws its attention. It turns around and looks her way, terrified. She assumed that it would run in fear or perhaps cry more, releasing that sickening emotion in her direction, but to her astonishment, the creature gets up and sprints toward her. Chrysalis is overwhelmed with the emotion of relief from the beast as it grasps one of her legs with all its strength.

Such an unusual creature. Why is it not frightened of her? She lifts her hoof and tries to shake it off, but that doesn’t work.

“Release me!” Chrysalis commands.

“I’m scared, Mommy!” the creature shrieks.

Taken aback, Chrysalis is flooded with love from the creature and the aftertaste of fear.

“I’m not your mother.” She tries to shake it off again, but it’s rather strong.

“No!” It shouts. “Don’t leave me, Bug Mommy!”

Chrysalis grits her teeth. “I’m not a bug!” She casts her magic and tears it off, to which it attempts to cling to her again while floating in front of her face. “Where do you come from?”

The weird creature seems to calm in her magic. “I don’t know.”

“What are you?”

“I don’t know.”

Chrysalis grunts. “Do you know anything?”

The creature looks at her and smiles. “I love you!”

Like a blow to the gut, Chrysalis studies the creature, bewildered. In no way was it lying when it said that. She can feel a significant amount of love filling her once empty stomach. Unlike the love she took, this was much sweeter and fulfilling. She looks over the creature in her magic. Even with it this close, she’s positive she’s never seen a creature like it before. Though, she at least can tell it’s male.

“Do you have a name?” She asks, and he shakes his head. “How about Pseudo?”

“Ok, Bug Mommy!” he says with a sweet smile.

She sets him down, and once again he’s clinging to her leg.

“Don’t cling to me.”

“Ok.” He lets go of her.

What is going on in her head? Now she’s given him a name? True, the creature is feeding her, but to ensure that Pseudo is around to feed her, she must take care of him. It’s young, too young to fend for itself. Speaking of which, a growl leaves Pseudo.

“Are you hungry?” she asks, and he nods. “Very well, we must find you sustenance. What is it that your kind eats?”

“Fruits, vegetables, and meats.”

Chrysalis taps a hoof to her chin. “I’m unaware if the berries in this forest are poison. Meat is the best option.”

Pseudo has a massive smile on his face as he opens his mouth and a cooked piece of meat enters for him to eat. Chrysalis looks displeased by this turn of events as she tears fragments off the manticore she crushed and levitates it over the fire she made to cook. It took her less time to kill the monster than it did to figure out how to prepare the meat just right for Pseudo to eat.

“Thirsty!” He giggles as a ball of water floats towards him and into his mouth.

“How can something so little eat so much?” Chrysalis says to herself, floating a few more pieces for Pseudo to eat.

She can’t complain much, as the amount of love radiating from Pseudo could rival the love she felt from Shining Armor. However, it’s genuine; Pseudo feels all this love for her. It’s an odd thing to think that anything could come to love something that looks like her, but in all of her misfortune, she’s found such a being.

She senses something cling to her neck while she was lying down and finds Pseudo there looking up at her with a smile.

“I love you, Bug Mommy.”

She rolls her eyes. “Just ‘Queen’ is fine.”

“I love you Bug Queen Mommy!”

Though she feels a tired sigh escape her, there’s also a slight smile at the edge of her lips.

Author's Note

Image submitted by Rosegfx