Dusk Village

All eyes were on Maree. Her statement had come out of nowhere. Just a moment before Twilight could volunteer herself to seal the deal between the Equestrians and the Changelings, Maree cut her off, offering herself instead.

"Maree, No! What are you thinking, are you crazy?!" Twilight was saying.

Chrysalis ignored Twilight, and now focussed her attention on Maree. "And just who are you, exactly?"

"My name is Maree," she replied, "And although I don't like to admit it, I am the biological daughrer of Paragon. As such, I am by extension Celestia's niece, and and after Cadence I am the next in line for Equestria's throne." Maree said this with confidence, though on the inside, she was only just now realizing the gravity of that truth. I'm royalty... just like Mom said... I really am a princess...

"Fascinating..." Chrysalis rubbed her "hooves" together (again, a word used for lack of a better one) in thought. "Yes, I think that will do just fine... Argon, what do you think?" She turned to face her son, who looked Maree up and down with interest. He smiled, clearly happy with the beautiful mare he saw his two top fangs clearly visible in his mouth. And then something happened that made Maree do a double-take: Argon's eyes spontaneously changed color from a dull grey to solid red. Maree looked to her peers for some sort of confirmation, checking if any of them had seen what she had seen. Neither of them showed any indication of noticing it.

"Ah, yes, I can feeling your thoughts... I am glad you are pleased... Now that we have that we are in agreement, I suppose we should affirm our trust..." Queen Chrysalis got up slowly from her throne and approached the Equestrians. "What shall you give me to prove your trustworthiness?"

Cadence and the others all exchanged glances. "What did you have in mind?" Cadence asked meekly.

"It has been some time since I fed... your love... is strong... it would make a fine meal..." She chuckled under her breath. Cadence was, of course, reasonably hesitant. "Don't worry, I won't suck you dry... I just want a little snack is all..." She stepped closer to Cadence, who was shaking a bit. She had no idea what it felt like being drained by a changeling, and she wasn't really up to finding out. But she really didn't have a choice.

"A-alright... do what you have to do..." She looked away, eyes closed, bracing herself for whatever was going to happen to her.

Chrysalis barred her teeth in anticipation, a wild grin on her face. Her mangled horn started to glow, and a green silhouette appeared over Cadence. Gradually, little bits of Cadence's energy starting to collect in Chrysalis' horn as she drained her of her love, and of her life energy. It was slow at first, but it gradually picked up speed, and Cadence became visibly weaker. Her knees buckled, and she started to fall to the ground, panting and groaning in exhaustion. She put a hoof to her head, apparently suffering from some sort of headache as a result. Chrysalis, meanwhile, was going through some transformation; the sickly look she had taken up before began to fade, and gave way to brighter colors and more youthful, energetic features. Her skin darkened, her mane was restored, and the wrinkles evapourated. Still she continued, however, her eyes shut; clearly lost in her ecstasy. Cadence couldn't take much more; she was completely on the ground, and even her shoulders were sagging.

"Stop! You're going to hurt her!" Twilight pleaded. Maree just watched, trying to remain calm. It hurt her to see family suffering like this, but she'd been taught how to appear strong, even when you weren't.

Chrysalis, broken from her trance by Twilight's pleading, snapped to attention, abruptly ending her spell. She breathed in deep through her nose, and sighed heavily. The former and true Queen Chrysalis had been restored.

"Hm hm hm... sometimes, I get a little carried away... lucky you had your friends there to stop me..." CHrysalis said over her should as she returned to her throne.

Cadence was left on the floor, gasping and panting. "Are you alright?" Twilight was at her side, trying to support her.

"I feel... I feel awful... sad... hated... physically, I don't feel much different, but I'm just so... miserable all of a sudden, I..." Her voice was trembling, and a single tear rolled down her cheek, she caught it in her hoof, and looked at it as though she'd never seen it. "What is wrong with me... I can't control myself..."

"Come on ,we need to get you to your hooves and into a bed." Maree said, helping Cadence up.

Chrysalis looked out a window, perhaps somehow able to read the time of day, despite a constant cloud coverage making that nearly impossible. "Why don't we find a room for our guests? Battle strategies can wait until tomorrow..." Several escorts circled around the Equestrians, and started to guide them away from the throne room. Maree looked one last time at Argon, who sill watched her with that flirtatious smile, and for some reason, she felt a chill roll up her spine.

"Maree, what is the matter with you? Why would you do something like that?" Twilight demanded to know, in a harsh whisper.

"I didn't want anyone else to have to give up their lives for this cause, I felt it was the right thing to do."

"The right thing to do?!" Twilight exclaimed under her breath. "Maree, I'm almost middle aged at this point, I would have been the perfect candidate for this!" Twilight argued. "You're young, Maree, very young. And you have a long, long life ahead of you."

"She is right, Maree, you shouldn't have just jumped in like that without talking or at least thinking it over." Cadence agreed.

"Well, there's more to it than just wanting the best for you guys..." Maree said. "It's... it's very difficult to explain, but the momenet I saw Argon, I just... I don't know..."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "You better not tell me you 'fell in love with him at first sight,' or I'm going to smack you."

"No, that's not it at all!" Maree replied. "I mean, don't get me wrong... for a changeling, he's a pretty handsome stallion, but there was something else compelling me to act... I just knew somehow, that being with him would be good... that inevitably, somehow, the world will benefit from our union." She tried to explain.

"That's sounds an awful lot like the story that Sweetie Belle told me about Marya and Paragon..." Cadence pointed out.

"Maybe one day, about 20 or so years from now, you'll give birth to Argon's child, who will then inevitably grow up to kill Argon." Came Twilight's 'input.'

"That wasn't funny, Twilight." Cadence muttered.

"All I'm saying, Maree, is that you're behavior lately is... very unlike you. You're being reckless and impulsive, like..." Twilight trailed off.

"Like who?" Maree wondered.

"...You're starting to remind me of your mother... of Rainbow Dash."

Maree was quiet, and hung her head a little. She hadn't seen her mother in over half of her life. Han't even talked about her for years. She tried not to feel pain for her absence, for it seemed that she might never see her again, but it still bothered her the way it had happened. So sudden, no goodbyes... she left her there with Paragon. She turned around and ran for her life. She'll never forget that fear... that shame... and she'll never forget Rainbow Dash, her only true mother as far as she was concerned.

The trio walked in silence, escorted by the chagnelings, and were eventually led to a hallway where they were each assigned a room.

"Stay... here. Sleep... here." One of the changelings said, clearly one of the slightly more intelligent changelings. The other's bore no distiguishable expression, as though they were but mindless beasts. Twiligh and Cadence both nodded in thanks as they walked into their respective rooms, but Maree remained.

"I'm... not tired at this time. I'd like to remain out here."

The smarter changeling hissed first, followed shortly by the others who did so only in response to the first's reaction.

"If you must, you can follow me to ensure I am not causing trouble. I simply do not want to go to bed yet."

After a moment or two of thought, the changeling relented, seeing no harm to it inevitably, and they followed behind Maree as she explored. Occasionally she would stop to look at a door, but would have her curiosity cut off by the changeling guide cautioning her. "Not here, not here!" It would hiss, and she would move on.

Eventually Maree found herself on a balcony one floor above the throne room that whatever leader once lived in this castle so many years ago might have used to address the public. She looked out into the ruined kingdom, the changelings from inside long gone under ground. She wondered offhandedly just how large those tunnels were, and how many changelings there were... too many to counted, she figured. The sight of the kingdom was both depressing and fascinating. It was a historically significant sight... or at least, it might have been if anyone had remembered it. Somehow, this whole kingdom disappeared essentially overnight... no one ever knew why,and no one who was sent to investigate ever came back. It was a truly mysterious place, until about 20 years ago, when a successful search did take place, and the true nature of this kingdom had been discovered. The thought of it all made Maree think about home; not any home in particular, just the concept of it. What was home, really? Some would argue that home is where you were born, where you came from. After all, they call the place you were born your "hometown" so it would only make sense. But what about where you lived? SO one would argue that Maree had spent more time in Dusk Village than Ponyville, and some would argue, by that logic, that Dusk Village was her home. And besides, Twilight was born in Canterlot. Did that make Canterlot her true home? All of her friends and the very place she had lived was in Ponyville, but her family was in Canterlot. But then, what about Dusk Village? Did she really have a home at all? did any of them? Were they all homeless? Maree thought to herself for a long time. She eventually decided that you were only truly homeless if you thought you were, because home was wherever you made it.

"Like the view?"

Maree jumped and spun around when she heard the voice. It was Prince Argon.

"Prince Argon. Good evening." Maree kept a neutral expression. She'd never met Argon before, and had to remain cautious around him. Just being near him made her... uneasy, somehow, and she couldn't explain why, even though she knew that somehow, Argon was going to play a role in this change...

"I thought you were going to bed." Argon walked over beside Maree. As he passed the changelings who had escorted Maree, he glanced at them briefly. His mouth was silent, but his eyes said "go" and so they did, leaving the two of them alone on the balcony.

"I am not yet tired." Maree felt herself become alarmingly tense as Argon approached her for no reason that she could discern. As far as she could tell, on a conscious level, he was presenting himself as a non-aggressive, and non-threatening individual, yet there was just something about him...

"I'm not complaining, of course." Argon flashed a grin in Maree's direction, those piercing red eyes staring at her. "It gives us a chance to talk."

"About… what in particular?" Maree was becoming more tense by the moment. She was even developing a shortness of breath, and sweat was starting to form on her brow.

"Nothing in particular. Just common chatter. Getting to know one another. After all, if we are to wed some day, we may as well know a little bit about each other."

Maree tried  to control her outrageous emotions, so that she could at least try to entertain in this conversation. "Well... what do you want to know?"

"Well, I suppose you could start with your name. You know mine. It started with an "M" I believe, but I didn't quite catch it." Argon tried to appear friendly, and took another step towards Maree, but Maree reflexively took another step make to maintain a distince. She didn't want him any closer than he already was, and he was clearly affected by that.

"I... my name is Maree."

"Ah, yes, Maree. What a lovely name... Maree, I feel a lot of passion surrounding you... and yet, there is also fear... vulnerability..."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Argon shook his head as if waking from a nap. "My apologies. I have a special gift... one that let's me feel the emotions of those near me. If you are uncomfortable with this, I will try and refrain from doing so."

Maree become even more unsettled knowing this. Surely, he knew how she was feeling; even if neither of them could explain why; so why does he continue to press on like this?

"If it's all the same to you, I prefer to keep my thoughts just that." Maree replied.

"Very well." Argon smiled, trying to assure Maree of his sincerety, but it just perpetuated the growing fear inside her. Yes, he had said it, it was fear... but she also felt... anger? Why was she angry? Now she felt even slightly guilty, and that was the weirdest part of all, almost as if she felt guilty for all the inexplicable emotions she felt in his presence.

"So, since I can't read your thoughts, could I at least ask you questions about your life? Where you grew up, what it was like?"

Maree tried to push her strange thoughts out of her mind as best she could so she could answer him properly. "I... I suppose there isn't... much to say, really. I grew up with my adopted mother, Rainbow Dash, in Ponyville. I lived there until I was about 10 years old, and that's when Paragon attacked us. I've been forced to live in Dusk Village ever since." Maree didn't feel it necessary to give him all the details. "It's a short story, but that's basically the whole of it. What about you?"

As soon as she asked; as soon as Argon tried to recall his past; a cold wave washed over Maree. The fear, anger, and sadness she had felt before doubled in it's intensity, and was now supplimented by mourning and sorrow. Argon's expression did not change, but his thoughts clearly did.

"I suppose my story isn't much more interesting. I've lived here for whole life of 31 years, in this very castle. I've never met an Equestrian in person, but my mother speaks of them. Not too fondly I might add. Though I don't understand why, based on what I've seen in you, Equestrians seem like kind and decent ponies to me." He smiled at Maree again, that same unnerving, fanged smile. "Though, that might just be why she doesn't like you. We're very different, my mother and I. For all the love she consumes, she doesn't seem to understand it very well. But perhaps that's not her fault..."

Again, an intense wave of emotion washed over Maree, and she visibly shuddered. She couldn't stand being near Argon anymore.

"Maree? Are you alright?"

Maree gave her head a shake to try and clear her mind. "I'm... I'm fine, but I think I want to go to bed now, I... I'm getting tired."

"But we've only been out here a few minutes."

"I... I need to go..." Maree stormed away, trying to escape the terrible feelings that had been settling in her mind. It was intoxicating, and she was barely able to function properly. She even accidentally bumped into the doorway frame on her way out. Argon apparently did not follow her, as her mind began to clear.

When Maree was finally back in her room, she felt relieved. So relieved, in fact, that it was like she had never felt anything in the first place.

"What the hell is wrong with me?!" She exclaimed out loud.

It was the most bizzare phenominon  she had ever experienced. Only in Argon's presence did she feel like she did. but when she did start to feel strange, it was... choking. She had never felt so awful... so negative... in her life. Something was definitely wrong with Argon. There was something unusual going on inside of his mind. Just as she was starting to get over herself, she felt that strange, negative energy consume her again. She looked toward her door, and sure enough, a moment later, there was a knock. She forced herself to answer it, and just as she had expected, it was Prince Argon.

"Argon, please, we can talk more tomorrow. I'm really very, very tired..." She tried to close the door, but he blocked it with one of his legs. It took all of her willpower to avoid pressing it as hard as she could to crush his leg.

"I just wanted you to know that once we have finished our planning tomorrow, I'll be accompanying you on your way back." Argon said through the crack in the door.

Dammit!

"Very well then, thank you. Good night, Argon."

"Good night."

She closed the door as he left much harder than she had intended to.

End of Chapter 12.