Author's Note

The M rating isn’t very relevant to this chapter. It’s more for stuff that’ll get added in later chapters.

Not so average Friday night

Argo was done dealing with other ponies today, but that wasn’t anything new. Every week Monday to Friday the young earth pony walked to his soul-sucking job at the grocery store. Every week he’d be yelled at, sworn at, and generally abused by customers all while maintaining a fake smile for so long that it made his face hurt. Every week he’d walk home through town hoping for a carriage barreling down the road, or a stray bolt of lighting from the weather factory in Cloudsdale to hit him and put him out of his misery, or at least make it so he didn’t have to back to work, and every week he ended up back at his small house on the edge of Ponyville. But today was Friday, he had tomorrow off, and that means he was free to drink his sorrows away without worrying about showing up at work hungover.

As he arrives home Argo has the feeling of being watched. He looks around a bit, but brushes it off as being tired and heads inside. “Home sweet home...,” he says sarcastically and grabs some leftover pizza and a bottle of whiskey from the kitchen. Argo switches on the tv and sits down, again getting that feeling of being watched. He glances at the window, thinking he saw something but again shrugs it off as an effect of his exhaustion. Finishing off his pizza, he grabs another, downs some whiskey, and starts scrolling through the channels.

An hour later Argo’s fast asleep on the couch, though it’s anything but restful. He was tossing and turning, lost in the throughs of a nightmare, and completely unaware of the figure that just teleported into his living room.

The former queen of the changelings eyes the sleeping stallion with some concern. Her kind could sense love, but they could also sense other emotions and she was sensing a lot of emotions coming from him. Fear, anger, sorrow, and loneliness.

Chrysalis sighs, ”I’m never going to get anywhere if he’s like this.” She grabs his shoulder and starts shaking. “Wake up. Wake up.” Her tone is hushed but commanding.

Argo is mid nightmare when he hears someone calling for him to wake up. He bolts upright, face planting into Chrysalis’s soft breasts, wrapping his arms around her waist, and shaking from the residual terror. Chrysalis is surprised but rolls with it, hugging him back reluctantly.

Argo starts to calm down when he feels someone’s arms on his back. His calm turns to confusion as he remembers he lives alone. He pulls his face out of the chest pillows in front of him and looks up at chrysalis’s face; his still teary, dark blue eyes meeting Chrysalis‘s vibrant green ones.
The two stare at each awkwardly for a few seconds before Argo speaks up. “Are...are you here to kill me?” He asks quietly.

Chrysalis is a bit taken aback by the bluntness of the question. “You’re not scared?”

Argo shrugs. “I’m too tired to be scared right now, and honestly I can think of worse deaths than being drained by a changeling Queen.”

Chrysalis disengages the hug and looks at him a little confused. “I...do you want me to kill you?”

Argo grabs the mostly full whiskey bottle from the coffee table and downs some, staying silent.

Chrysalis rolls her eyes and attempts to magically worm her way into his mind to get a clear answer, and Argo doesn’t resist. She physically recoils a bit at what she sees. Memories that held years of abuse. A sea of suppressed anxiety, guilt, depression, and loneliness. “Gods above and below...” she says and pulls out of Argos' mind. “No offense...but how are you still alive? Dealing with that much, it’s enough to make someone suicidal.”

Argo sighs. “I’ve tried before, twice actually, and the looks on my families face when they found out...I couldn’t let them go through the pain of losing another family member. So here I am, just kinda listing through life and hoping one night I’ll go to sleep and not wake up.” He downs some more whiskey straight from the bottle and offers it to Chrysalis.

Chrysalis sighs and waves the bottle away. “Well, I’m not going to kill you; a body would just alert the guards. But I can’t just let you go.”

Argo shrugs. “I’m not gonna say anything; not like I have anyone to tell anyways. I don’t talk to my family anymore and I don’t have any friends. Even if I did who would believe me?”

The two sit there for a moment unsure of what to do until Chrysalis’s stomach grumbles quietly, breaking the awkward silence.

“If you want to eat my love go ahead, I’m not gonna stop you...” Argo says.

Chrysalis sighs and starts slowly siphoning a pink cloud of energy from Argo. True to his word Argo doesn’t resist, to Chrysalis’s surprise he seems to be actively pushing it out to her making the process much faster. She uses her magic to pull him closer and lets him rest his head on her chest as she finishes feeding. Argo snuggles up to her, just enjoying the feeling of being held. The two sit there as the sounds of rain and thunder start outside.

“So now what?” Argo asks quietly, really not wanting this moment to end.

Chrysalis levitates the whiskey to her and takes a drink. “I’m fine just sitting here for now,” she says. “I’m not a fan of flying during a thunderstorm, and honestly this feels kind of nice.”

Argo nods. “Yeah, it does.” He grabs the whiskey from Chrysalis and takes a long drink. “I can’t tell you how much I’ve wanted this...”

“Wanted, what? Being drained by a changeling and then drinking whiskey with her afterward?” Chrysalis asks smirking a bit.

“Being held,” Argo says. “Just...relaxing and being held by someone.” He takes another drink from the bottle and smiles. “You, are very comfy...” he says and slowly falls asleep.