MY LULLABY

The next morning, Kovu woke up to see "Kiara" standing right beside him and looking down at him with a rather seductive smile on her face. Regardless, he proceeded to let out a yawn and ask, "Um, good morning, Kiara. Did you sleep well?"

"Oh, I slept like a newbown lar- I mean cub," she replied with an unusually silky voice. "And how did you sleep, dear?"

Even though Kovu was a little weirded out by this change in her demeanor, he nevertheless stood up and said, "Uh... T-the same as you. W-where is Chrysalis? Isn't she supposed to be back here yet?"

Upon hearing this question, "Kiara" quickly changed her facial expression to one of concern and stated, "I... I have no idea where she is. Like you said, she was supposed to back here by morning, but I've seen no sign of her since I woke up."

"I knew it!" Kovu suddenly exclaimed with utter frustration. "I knew we couldn't trust her. She is just as deceitful and manipulative as my mother was."

Though she could not help but inwardly smile at these unintentional compliments, the former Changeling queen in disguise still managed to keep the concerned look on her face as she said, "I know, Kovu. I'm so sorry I didn't believe you on this. What was I thinking when I argued she could be brought to the side of good? Can you ever forgive me?"

Kovu then noticed "Kiara" looking at the ground very sadly and he immediately cupped her chin with one of his paws before replying, "Hey, it's alright. Of course I forgive you. But right now, we need to get back to Pride Rock as fast we can and warn your father about Chrysalis' betrayal. She might even be on her way there so that she can take advantage of our absence and invade the Pride Lands. What do you say?"

In response, "Kiara" looked directly into Kovu's eyes with a look of determination on her face and declared, "Let's go back home, then. We can't waste any time."

"Agreed," Kovu stated before he closed his eyes and began to gently rub his mane against hers. "I love you so much, Kiara. I always will."

Hearing these words caused "Kiara" to make a sinister smile and her eyes glowed emerald green as she responded, "I love you too, Kovu dear."

She then rubbed her mane against Kovu's as well and as soon as two separated, they began running towards the direction they had originally come from. Even though Kovu briefly noticed the eyes of "Kiara" glowing green, he simply brushed it off as a mere trick of the light and the two continued on their return journey to the Pride Lands.

Almost half an hour later, Kovu had become completely exhausted and while he was inwardly questioning how it was possible for him to be so tired after sprinting for such a short period of time, he could not deny the fact that he was quickly running out of energy to even move forward.

"Kiara", meanwhile, was moving right behind him without any sign of fatigue whatsoever and she once again made a concerned expression appear on her face as she asked, "Are you tired, Kovu? We can rest for a few minutes if you want."

"Yeah... That would be great," he replied before suddenly collapsing on the ground and going into a deep slumber.

As soon as he started snoring, "Kiara" transformed back into Chrysalis and used her magic to drain the last bit of love left inside Kovu. Upon finishing her meal, she licked her lips and said, "Sooo much love! I haven't eaten this well in ages!"

She then looked at the unconscious lion and declared, "You were right not to trust me, Kovu. Unfortunately for you, I've been ten steps ahead of you right from the start. I should thank you, though, since your love for that foolish lioness was far greater than I had anticipated. In fact, it was even more potent than the love that Shining Armor has for Princess Cadence. How sad it must be for you that I was able to devour all of it portion by portion when we were on our way here. With this much love, I finally have enough power to exact my revenge on all those ponies who cost me my kingdom, and you shall be the key to ensuring the success of my grand plan."

Right after finishing that last sentence, she fired a beam of magic from her horn directly into Kovu's head and a few seconds later, he woke up with glowing green eyes and a completely emotionless expression on his face. Then, when he finally stood back up on all fours, Chrysalis dramatically exclaimed, "Go, my dear Kovu! Attack and maul any pony who would dare stand on your way to Canterlot! Do not hesitate and show no mercy!"

Upon hearing these orders, Kovu let out an extremely loud roar and began running towards the same direction that he had been coming from with Chrysalis following him in the air.

A few moments later, they came across the bustling frontier town of Appleloosa and per his new queen's command, Kovu wasted no time attacking the first Earth pony he saw with immense ferocity. He pounced on the shocked and defenseless mare just like he normally would while hunting an antelope or a zebra before he started mauling her to death with his razor sharp claws and teeth.

While some of the ponies in the area began trotting away screaming due to this horrible sight, the others along with a handful of buffalo began charging at Kovu with their lassos so that they can restrain him and put a stop to his mindless carnage. Leading the said attack was a certain Earth pony stallion named Braeburn who, despite being initially utterly horrified by the savage mauling of one of his Appleloosian sisters, was fully determined to prevent the beast right in front of him from harming any pony else.

First, he ordered the one of the buffalos running beside him to directly charge at Kovu in order to get him off an Earth pony stallion that he was attacking and also cause some disorientation from the impact. Then, he directed four of his Appleloosian brethren to lasso up each one of Kovu's limbs while he himself muzzled up Kovu's mouth with his own lasso in an effort to completely immobilize the rampaging lion. Even though the brainwashed Kovu tried as hard as he could to break free from his bonds, the combined strength of five Earh ponies were simple too much for him to overcome on his own and they were slowly but surely beginning to tire him out.

While all that was happening, Chrysalis was watching everything that was going on from a safe distance on a hilltop and she was very much enjoying every single minute of it. The moment she saw the Earth ponies restraining Kovu with their lassos and sheer raw strength, she sinisterly chuckled to herself and declared, "This is going even better than I thought it would. Time to break the bad news to the dear old mommy and daddy."

Immediately after saying these words, she used her magic to teleport away from the area. Meanwhile, two more Earth ponies came along to tie up Kovu's body from each side with their lassos, completely immobilizing the savage lion. In spite of all this, Kovu still growled and treid to thrash around with all his remaining strength, nearly throwing Braeburn and the Earth ponies holding his limbs off balance. However, he then stopped moving when the buffalo chief Thunderhooves arrived and delivered a headbutt to his skull, finally knocking him out cold.