“Chrysalis!” Metamora yelled, whipping around to face her challenger, “This doesn’t have to be a fight.”

“Oh it won’t be. Just like last time,” she laughed, “I’ll be taking what’s mine now.”

“No, Chrysalis. You’re not taking anything else today,” Metamora declared, her horn flaring to life.

“Oh, but I thought I might,” Chrysalis countered, her horn awash with green energy.

But Metamora acted first. Her magic shot forth, a pink-tinted aura fully encompassing Chrysalis. As her magic grew in power, it became harder and harder to see the villainous queen through the shining, shimmering ether. For what felt like minutes Metamora unloaded on her former queen, dousing her in magical energy. But eventually her horn petered out, letting the aura around Chrysalis fade.

And there she stood, completely unfazed.

“You miserable fool! You’ve just given me so much love!”

“Exactly,” Metamora said, catching her breath. “There’s no need to take anything. I can give you what you need.”

“You can give us love, yes, but at the cost of enslavement to the ponies? I will not be sold.”

“Chrysalis, this is not…” Metamora began, “I’m not a slave to anypony. For once in my life I’m finally free. Free from a hive that couldn’t sustain itself, free from the fear of persecution, free to feel.”

“Free to be weak!” Chrysalis screamed.

“No, free to be strong,” she corrected, deep in concentration as her horn flared to life again. She cast the same magic, once more bathing Chrysalis in light. This time Chrysalis managed to absorb the aura faster than Metamora could create it, looking positively energized as she received Metamora’s love.

Celestia and Luna moved to stop Metamora, assuming that she meant to help her Queen only. But you knew better, stopping them with a wave of your hand as you watched the events unfold. No sooner had you stopped the princesses from acting than you wished that you hadn’t. Chrysalis, not content to draw in the power she was already receiving let loose her magic, her sinister green magic devouring the beam trailing from Metamora’s horn until she had completely turned the tables, encircling Metamora in a green glow.

“Yes,” Chrysalis moaned, the rest of you watching as Metamora tried to stop her with wide eyes, “You have so much love to give and I’m going to take every last drop.”

“Stop!” you screamed, lunging at Chrysalis as she seemed content to suck the last bit of love from Metamora. You watched your love deflate as she hit the ground, the Princesses, Aphelion, and Pharynx all rushing to her aid.

“You can’t stop me, human!” she spat, lowering her horn as she aimed at you in rage. But in her rage, she forgot her lesson from your last encounter. What hit you was pure magical energy. Enough magical energy to…

You felt the ground shake around you, opening your eyes to see the new forcefield surrounding you and Chrysalis. While it was much smaller than the one enclosing Ponyville, it was no less potent.

“You so sure about that?” you asked, “I don’t play nice like the rest of them.”

She screamed as she let loose a bolt of energy at the walls of your trap, the sphere lighting up like a plasma globe but firing back a ricochet of energy right at you.

“Still so confident, bughorse?”

“Fuck you,” she growled, “You’re pathetic. You were so weak you fell for a Changeling and you think now you have the power to resist one?”

“No, I’ve never had the power to resist one. But I’ve always had the ability to overpower one,” you correct, staring her down.

“Overpower me? You think just because your love caught me by surprise once that you can do it again?”

“Oh shit, I forgot about that,” you paused, “Wait… You’re not mad because I didn’t finish in you, right?”

“No, I’m not…” she snapped, “To think I’d even given a second thought to your inadequate performance…”

“Whoa, no need to be petty about it.”

“I’m not-” she started, “What are we even doing right now?”

“We’re going to stay in here until we can talk this through calmly and with reason.”

“Talk this through? Come on, Anon! Where’s the rage, where’s the anger? I almost killed you! Fucking fight me!”

“I’m not mad at you, Chrysalis.”

“Well you should be. You notice that nopony’s trying to save Metamora anymore? Guess what that means...”

You looked up. She was right, no one was attending to Metamora as she lay lifeless on the ground. They stared sorrowfully, their attention still on your love as you tried to peel your own eyes away.

“That’s right. I have taken everything. I’ve taken love, I’ve taken magic, I’ve taken your mare. You’re the only thing left to take from, and you have so much to give.”

You felt a truth to her words, anger welling in you as you realized this creature had taken everything you had in this world and destroyed it. You felt that darkness inside of you surface, asking for permission to come out and play.

“You bitch!” you screamed, a black silhouette pouring from you to coat the ground inside your dome, climbing up the walls as it reached the edges.

“That’s right. I am a bitch. I’m the bitch that’s going to take you right here and now until I’ve taken every last shred of love you have left.”

“I don’t think so,” you growled, the black ooze climbing her leg as it also worked to black out the entire dome.

“Wh- What are you-” Chrysalis started, feeling tendrils of your magic hold her in place.

“Welcome to hell,” you laughed, your words not your own. You could see that she hadn’t expected this, her expression panicked as she tried to break loose of your hold. This was where she died, where you got your revenge. You dug deeper within yourself, first imagining and then feeling her neck snap in your minds eye as you all but willed it to happen. But you stopped yourself.

No, the voice in your head stopped you. She wouldn’t approve. She wouldn’t let you kill someone, even for her. You felt a stillness, opening your eyes to see the scene in front of you as time seemed to freeze. Before you lay the remaining Queen of the Changelings, but in her you saw something new.

You saw weakness. Not the weakness of a bested opponent, not the weakness of a creature fearing for its life. No, you recognized this weakness. You’d seen it before. You’d seen it in Metamora, in Luna, in Celestia. You’d seen it in yourself.

This weakness, This was the weakness of being alone.

You knew what you had to do, what you had to say. It was the same thing that Metamora had needed, what Luna and Celestia needed. It was the same thing you found for yourself.

“I Love You, Chrysalis,” you choked out, watching her eyes go wide. You meant it, and she saw that.

Shock colored her eyes, her earlier fear replaced by something different yet the same. She was scared, not because of what you could do to her, but because she could feel how powerful those words were, she could feel herself reacting to them.

“What are you-”

“Everyone needs to be loved. Em taught me that, and I love her enough not to ignore that, even for you.”

“I don’t deserve to be loved,” Chrysalis sighed.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m a Changeling! I’m ugly and unlikeable and a parasite!”

“That’s not true. You yourself said that Metamora and I were a symbiosis. You’re just a symbiote outside of its environment.”

“How do you know? What if I never find love?”

“I used to ask myself the same question, but I didn’t find love,” you explained, “In the end, it found me.”

“No one wants to love a Changeling.”

“That’s just not true. I never thought I’d fall in love with some kind of equine before I came here, but I did. Because at the end of the day I didn’t fall in love with Em because she was a Changeling, I fell in love because of everything else.”

“She had an everything else though,” Chrysalis countered, “I… All I have is being a Changeling.”

“You’re so much more than that. You’re a passionate ruler, a skilled tactician, you’re beautiful in your own way. I know there’s love out there for you, but until you find it, I’ll give you mine.”

“You really mean all of that?”

“Yes Chrysalis,” you said, reaching out to offer a hug, “I do.”

She was silent as she returned the gesture, closing her eyes as she let herself be held for the first time in… maybe ever.

“Are you ready to love and be loved, Chrysalis?”

“After all I’ve done? You would still give your love to me?”

“Will you give back the love you’ve taken?” you asked, letting the dome trapping you two dissolve in a shower of sparks.

“Yes,” she nodded solemnly, her horn brightening as thousands of ponies worth of love all released in a million directions.

“Then I’ll give you as much love as you need. And together, we’ll find love for you and your Changelings.”

Chrysalis only seemed to let the love free at a faster and faster pace, the air frenzied with love. Celestia and Luna had both perked up at the sight, genuine surprise in their eyes.

They hesitantly walked over to where you and Chrysalis stood, standing behind you with a remaining note of apprehension.

“Is it done, Anon?” Luna asked.

“No,” you answered, “We’re just getting started.”

“What do you mean?” Celestia followed up.

“I mean that we have our work cut out for us. An entire species to bring into the fold, love to find for all of them… Love to find without her…”

You looked solemnly at Metamora, her still lifeless body hurt more to see than any wound could on your own.

“Anon…” Chrysalis hesitated, “I’m sorry… I… She meant so much to you.”

“Please don’t,” you asked, “I… I don’t want an apology right now. I just… Can we be alone for a minute?”

Everyone gave you space as you walked back over to Metamora, lifting her into your lap as wisps of love still circled above. You let her rest against you, the embrace letting you forget for just a moment that she wasn’t there. As the magic finally stopped flowing into her, you cradled her in your lap, begging silently for it to bring her back.

“Em, I’m so sorry… I should have acted sooner…” you said, a tear coming to your eye.

She didn’t stir, no sign of breathing, of warmth, of life inside of her.

“Em, come on. We did it. We saved the day. We made peace. I… I did what you would have wanted.”

You knew that if she could hear you, if she could respond, she would agree.

“Please? I… need you Em. I don’t want to go on without you.”

You didn’t, but you would. Because of her you had strength you’d never known. Because of her you could go on without her. But just because you could didn’t mean it would be enjoyable. Thinking about life without her, even with only your brief period here, was like imagining an eternity of disappointment.

“Em I love you,” you cried, “I’ll always love you, no matter what happens. But please, please, if you’re in there don’t let me be alone again.”

Then you sensed something. Something coming from inside of her. It called to you, beckoned you forward, pulling your consciousness towards itself. Was that her? Was she still inside somewhere?

Whatever the answer, you gave in to the mysterious force, feeling your mind pulled into a deep, shapeless expanse, a sea of solid black.

But in the distance you saw a shape, a dot of brilliant pink light.

You ran.

Author's Note

He's gonna get her back, right? Right?