Twilight slid around a corner, cursing the second of speed she lost by doing so before breaking into a run in an attempt to compensate. The shadows around her lit up, and she fired a concussive blast at the seemingly bioluminescent Changeling without breaking her stride. He hissed inequinely before shrinking back from the blast, and Twilight continued her gallop, finally catching sight of her target; A wooden door at the end of an ominous hallway. She slammed them open dramatically to powerslide into the center of the dimly lit room, directly beneath a chandelier lit by jade-green stones.
As she whipped her head around the room, searching for the one who had called her here, she heard a faint creak above her, and caught the falling chandelier in her magic without thinking, tossing it besides her. An evil cackle resounded throughout the room, and she charged a magical attack as the darkness jeered at her.
"Very clever, Princess. Your instincts have certainly improved since our last encounter."
"Enough games, Chrysalis! Show yourself!"
"Since when are we on first names basis?" Chrysalis whispered suddenly, catching Twilight off guard. She whipped around to see the wall shift, and immediately discharged her shot at the wall, blowing it into dust as the outline of a tail slipped away behind it. Twilight leaped through the hole, reaching a dark room lit by spider-like webs made of the neon green substance Changelings seemed to leave behind. Two eyes lit up at the end of the room, faint enough that Twilight wouldn't have caught it if she hadn't seen this trick pulled several times before.
She swung her head down to parry at the last moment, feeling an unpleasant scrape as Chrysalis leapt out of the shadows and clashed their horns together. Twilight snarled as she was lifted off her hooves and slammed against the wall, and she charged her horn again in preparation, as Chrysalis bared her teeth. After a tense moment that seemed to last an eternity, they lunged at each other at the same moment-
Coming in for a deep kiss that lasted even longer.
They both fell to the ground, rolling around on the stone and snarling insults while coming up for breath. Finally, they broke apart and slunk to opposite sides of the room to catch their breaths.
"Give... Give it up, Chrysalis... You're not going to get away with... What did you do again?"
"I... I don't remember what the plan was again... I was mostly focused on getting you here..."
"You didn't...? Whatever! We can still fight!"
Their horns lit once more, and Chrysalis smirked as she watched her opponent charge her head-on.
---*---
"YOU RAN OFF TO FIGHT CHRYSALIS WITHOUT TELLING US, AND THEN YOU KISSED HER?"
"I thought she had captured one of the princesses or something!"
"You thought she was putting your mentors in mortal danger, so you kissed her!?"
"She also invited me to fight her again next week. I think I'll go."
"She tore your hind leg off this time!"
Twilight glanced at the messy stump below the hospital bed sheets, before sheepishly turning back to Rarity.
"I'm sure she'll give it back next time."
"SHE SWALLOWED IT WHOLE!"
"So it'll be in the same condition I left it in."
Rarity sunk her head into the bed, prompting a few sheepish pats from Twilight.
"Twilight... my closest friend, Twilight Acorna Sparkle... Why, in Celestia's name, do you feel the need to throw yourself into her arms again?"
---*---
"I can't help it! She's just so powerful- So many fools have dared to call themselves my equal, but she can actually back up that claim! I hate her with every molecule in my body, but at the same time, I feel... drawn to her! Does that make sense?"
The drone stayed silent, continuing to shine he chitin of his Queen as she continued monologuing in response to a question he hadn't asked in the first place. She pondered her nemesis some more while absentmindedly running a hoof through her hair. When she glared at him suddenly, it occurred that he was meant to answer.
"Yes, My Queen."
"I've invited her over again for next week. Feel free to abandon the hive that day to save your skin from our rampage. Oh, I can't wait!"
She giggled in a fashion someone not working under her tyranny might consider adorable, and the drone briefly wondered if he was meant to laugh along as he was obligated to during her evil cackles.
"Yes, I know a monarch of my status shouldn't concern themselves over such trivial matters as love in any form besides edible, but think of the glory each fight brings us! Two eternal rulers, battling for supremacy in a foreign field as cities burn in their wake, unnoticed by either! And if this is love, it's powerful enough to feed my children for centuries! Yes... I will meet her, and we will fight, and we will see what happens...Eeeee! I'm so excited!"
---*---
The battle had raged for hours now, with both sides straining to overcome the exhaustion gained from fighting their equals in strength and stamina. The fight had left the hive long ago, carrying through the wasteland before settling on the top of a disc-shaped plateau with a long crack running diagonally across it's otherwise perfectly flat surface. Both sides struggled to keep their footing at opposite sides, desperate to not show weakness to their enemy. Finally, Twilight collapsed down on her prosthetic leg, struggling to pull herself over to her weakly-giggling foe. As she reached Chrysalis, the Changeling Queen began to stiffly jerk, before leaning down and spitting Twilight's bile-covered leg on the ground in front of her.
"Heh... Thanks.."
"N...No problem..."
"Please, Chrysalis... This has gone on long enough... Why do you keep fighting me? You haven't even done anything this time, it feels like... You just like fighting me..."
"I do! I love fighting you, but I just... feel something else, between us, and I don't know what it is!"
"You... do?"
She nodded limply, before finally collapsing in front of the Princess. Twilight pulled herself over, and nervously lay her head on Chrysalis's chitinous belly. When she made no move to stop her, she took another cautious step by running her hoof through the Queen's hair.
"How about... how about we call a truce on this one... my friends are probably worried about me, I was kind of in the hospital when I ran after you... we can call a truce, and then next week, after we've healed up a little... Maybe you could come to the castle, and we could... have lunch together?"
"Heh... I'd like that... I'd like that a lot."
Twilight snuggled up to her some more, and they lay there, staring up into the clouds, both of them suddenly unsure of their futures.
Author's Note
In case you couldn't tell, I came up with the title before the story.
