Breaking Boundaries

The rest of Filia's day was uneventful as Blazing did everything he could to keep the truth of what she is a secret from the whole town, especially Rainbow Dash and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Filia sat by the window in her room, staring at the night sky in awe. This is not the first time she took notice of the star-spangled canvas overlooking the sleeping land, but now that she knew the young princess, Luna, was responsible for the glittering beauty, something about it seemed more appealing.

"To think one equine put so much time and effort into painting the sky like this," Filia thought to herself as she lay her cheek into the palm of her hand. "I want to be sick of the idea, but-" she paused as she watched the stars. "How can anyone hate something like this?"

Suddenly, Filia felt that sting in her back again, which made her flinch before she looked at the rooftops of the neighboring houses. Nothing out of the ordinary, or at least what she learned was usual for the equine culture, caught her attention. Filia scanned the immediate area to find a single unicorn female staring at her through the window, and she dove out of sight.

"Shit!" she hissed at herself.

"I see you," a familiar voice filled Filia's head, making her blink.

"Mother?" she asked herself as she peaked her eyes over the edge of the windowsill to look at the unicorn, who only smiled at her.

"How long do you intend on staying in this place?" Chrysalis' voice filled Filia's mind again. Filia took her pegasus form before she opened the window and flew out and across the road to meet the unicorn.

"Mother?" Filia asked as she landed in front of the stranger, who only smiled at her. Filia held nothing back as she pulled Chrysalis into a warm hug. "Oh, I've missed you!" Chrysalis stood there for a few seconds before she returned the hug.

"I'm glad you're still alive, child," Chrysalis observed. Filia broke the hug to meet her mother's gaze.

"I almost wasn't," Filia began before she looked around. "We should talk somewhere more private. Follow me." Filia took Chrysalis' hand and ran down the road toward the forest.

They ran for a few minutes before reaching the brush. Chrysalis wasted no time releasing her disguise and sitting on a cloud of green magic with her legs folded while watching Filia. "Now, explain yourself," Chrysalis ordered firmly.

"Well, the barrier threw me-" Filia began as she looked at Chrysalis.

"Release your magic," Chrysalis huffed. "You know I can't take you seriously looking like one of them."

"Oh," Filia blinked as she looked at herself before releasing her guise. "Forgive me, mother." Chrysalis inclined her head.

"Continue," Chrysalis ordered.

"Well, that barrier sent me all the way here to the Everfree Forest," Filia began. "Whatever that magic was, it drained me all of my magic. I couldn't change my shape; I was injured all over, I could barely even feed on the energy from the pathetic animals of the forest."

"So, how'd you survive?" Chrysalis asked as she watched her daughter pace back and forth as she told her story. Filia stopped to look at Chrysalis.

"I was," Filia began before she groaned in frustration while scratching her face with both hands. "An equine rescued me!"

"A pegasus male?" Chrysalis asked with a raised brow. Filia nodded in reply. "You were disguised when he rescued you, weren't you?" Filia shook her head.

"It took everything I had just to stay alive," Filia explained. "I knew I was done for until Blazing showed up."

"You're telling me, this Blazing Feathers knows you're a changeling, and he helped you anyway?" Chrysalis asked with a brow. Filia nodded. "Why have you not killed him?!" Chrysalis cried out as she stomped to her feet, making Filia flinch.

"He's been useful," Filia answered quickly.

"How?" Chrysalis asked as she towered over her daughter.

"When I came to," Filia began as she looked at her mother. "I questioned his motives, and I still don't trust him. But, his eagerness to help me has given me the golden opportunity for recon." Chrysalis blinked. "Today alone, I learned about those six equines who were at Canterlot and what they do in this town." Chrysalis' glare turned into a smile as she sat on her cloud of magic again.

"I knew you would have a good reason for your actions," Chrysalis mused before she narrowed her brow. "However, I'm still curious as to why you didn't reach out to me all this time."

"I've been out this entire time," Filia answered quickly. "Blazing has been healing me this entire time, and I only just regained enough strength this morning to change my shape."

"And if I were to question Blazing myself, he'd confirm this statement?" Chrysalis asked.

"Yes," Filia answered without fear or hesitation. "Please accept that answer," she told herself without breaking her confident smile. "Why the hell am I concerned for that equine?!"

Chrysalis smiled at Filia. "So, the barrier drained all your strength and threw you out here in the forest before this Blazing Feathers found and nursed you back to health; now you're taking this perfect opportunity to give me any and all information you can about the equines?"

"Yes, mother," Filia answered with a firm nod of her head and a smirk on her face. "With me here, gathering intel, you can better plan another strike on these creatures." Chrysalis grinned at her daughter as she got to her feet; her cloud of magic disappeared as soon as her butt stopped touching it.

"That's my girl," Chrysalis mused as she spread her great wings, ready to take off. Filia watched Chrysalis stand there without moving for a few seconds before she got curious.

"Mother?" Filia asked. "Something else on your mind?" Chrysalis slowly looked over her shoulder at Filia with a threatening look. Fila stood her ground when she saw the glare in her mother's eye.

"What about that treasonous scum?" Chrysalis asked firmly.

"Shit!" Filia thought to herself without moving an inch or changing her expression. "I can't tell her I let him live, let alone in this town!" Filia lifted her chin high while keeping eye contact with the changeling queen. "He's dead," Filia answered. Chrysalis raised an eyebrow at this. "I found his body in Canterlot. I drove a claw through his heart to make sure." Chrysalis stared into Filia's eyes for several seconds before her expression softened, and she smiled at the princess.

"Well done, Filia," Chrysalis hummed. "I'll have a drone come to check on your progress."

"When can I expect the drone?" Filia asked.

"Don't," Chrysalis answered as she spread her wings again. "You just continue gaining information on these equines." Chrysalis kicked off the ground before Filia could say another word, leaving Filia in the dust as the queen flew into the night skies.

Filia coughed as she flapped her wings to clear the dust out of the air. When the dust settled, she looked for her mother in the skies but only found the stars sparkling. She scanned the sky for several seconds before she let out a sigh of relief and fell on her hands and knees, trembling in fear.

"Shit!" she cursed under her breath. Filia stared at the ground as she heaved heavy breaths while trembling from head to toe. "Why the fuck was I so terrified?!" Filia had been in the queen's presence since the day she hatched many years ago. Chrysalis always had an intimidating presence, but Filia felt she would break if the queen remained even a second longer.

Filia pulled moved her legs to the side to sit down as she whipped her brow before a little black bunny caught her attention. The timid creature came to investigate the noise before Filia growled like a manticore, sending the rabbit hopping away in terror. Filia snorted when the rabbit disappeared into the bushes. "Filthy creatures," she sighed as she pushed herself off the ground before brushing the dirt off her hips.

"why was that so intense?" Filia asked herself as she used her magic to change to Chocolate. "She's my mother! I have no reason to be that scared of her!" Filia questioned her nerves as she flew back to Blazing's house and into the opened window of her bedroom. She closed the window behind her; then she closed the blinds before she released her magic. She dragged her feet on the floor as she walked toward the bed, where she let herself fall face-first into the blankets.

After a few seconds, she pulled her face off the bed to get some air. However, she was not in the guest room she had been staying in for the last couple of days. She looked around to find a barren wasteland instead of a comfortable living space. "What the hell?" she asked herself. Soon, her eyes fell upon a lone pegasus male sitting in the dirt; his yellow coat crusted in mud, and the orange stripes lining his body faded.

"Blazing?" Filia asked as she slipped off the bed. The pegasus ignored her as she walked up. "Blazing, what's going on? Where are we?"

"As if you don't know!" Blazing snapped, making Filia flinch.

"Blazing?" Filia asked.

"Haven't you caused enough trouble?!" Blazing asked.

"What are you talking about?" Filia asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Just look around!" Blazing ordered as he gestured to the dead earth around them. Filia looked to find what looked like the remains of Ponyville; equine statues with familiar faces standing perfectly still with looks of horror on their faces. Splotches of green slime shattered everywhere.

"Wait," Filia observed. "This is-"

"This is all that's left after you changelings took over!" Blazing barked. Filia blinked as she looked at the equine who cared for her. Blazing glared at her with red eyes from crying. "Rainbow Dash! The Crusaders! My own mother! All gone because of you!" Blazing took a step forward with each description before jabbing a finger into Filia's chest at the last word.

"No!" Filia protested. "I didn't do this!"

"I've had enough of your lies!" Blazing screamed, his voice cracking over the emotion flooding his body. "I saved you from the forest! Helped Zecora nurse you back to health! Take you into my home, and how do you repay me?!"

"I-" Filia tried to get a word in.

"You have your fucking hive capture everyone I know and love, and now they're all gone, thanks to you!" Blazing screamed."

"Blazing," Filia began.

"Get the hell out of my sight, you ungrateful piece of shit!" Blazing ordered.

"Blazing, this isn't my-"

"GO!"

Filia kicked off the ground in a panic as she felt Blazing's anger reach a breaking point. She struggled to fly off the ground before she hit a statue of three young equines huddled together. She froze when she saw who they were. "Sweetie Belle? Apple Bloom? Scootaloo?" Filia looked at their panic faces frozen in place during their last moments. "What the fuck's going on here?!"

"Everything we could ever want."

Filia gasped and looked to find Chrysalis towering over the statue with an evil grin on her face. "You did wonderful, Filia!" Chrysalis cheered. "The information you gave me was more than enough for me to claim all of Equestria!"

"No!" Filia cried. "I didn't tell you anything! This isn't how it's supposed to be!"

"How else did you expect it to go?" Chrysalis asked as she smashed the CMC statue with her magic, making Filia gasp. "This has always been our goal!"

"Not like this!" Filia protested as she looked around at the destroyed world. Suddenly, she felt a firm grip around her neck, making her gasp for air as she saw the queen lifting her off the ground. Filia gripped Chrysalis' arm as she kicked the air in a desperate effort to break free.

"You've played your part very well, child," Chrysalis hummed. "But now it's time to remove the thorn in my side."

"No!" Filia gasped as Chrysalis pulled her closer as she opened her mouth wide. Filia braced herself for what was to come before Chrysalis's eyes glowed a pure white, and Filia fell to the ground. Filia looked up to find the face of a navy-blue alicorn looking at her.

"I'm watching you," the alicorn stated before fading into a cloud of blue smoke, taking the barren scenery with it.

Filia sat up in her bed and looked around to find herself back in the bedroom she had been sleeping in the last few days. "What the hell?" she asked herself before a knock came from the door.

"Chocolate?" Blazing's voice called. Filia looked at the door with a jump.

"Y-yes?" she answered. The door opened, and Blazing stepped in with a welcoming smile.

"Morning," Blazing greeted. Filia looked to the window to find the sunlight bleeding through the closed blinds.

"It's morning?" she asked herself.

"Everything alright?" Blazing asked as he sat on the edge of the bed, getting the changeling to look at him.

"Yeah," Filia began before swallowing. "I just had a bad dream."

"Changelings have bad dreams?" Blazing asked.

"Is that hard to believe?" Filia asked. "And why'd you call me Chocolate?"

"That's your new name," Blazing warmly answered. "As long as you're here with me and my friends, you're Golden Chocolate."

"And what if I don't want you to call me that?" Filia asked.

"Do you?" Blazing asked.

Filia thought about her given name and everything that had happened the last couple of weeks. She remembered Blazing's Hot Chocolate from yesterday and how much she loved that simple concoction. All the equines who treated her with nothing but love and kindness since the changeling met them. Then she thought about that dream she just woke up from and how awful it was in comparison. Filia soon smiled at Blazing.

"Actually, I kinda like it," she admitted. Blazing smiled at Filia- no; Blazing smiled at Chocolate.

"Well, would you like some breakfast, Chocolate?" Blazing asked as he stood.

"You know I don't need to eat, right?" Chocolate asked.

"I thought it would be nice to ask," Blazing answered as he began to leave the room.

"I'd love some breakfast," Chocolate called, getting Blazing to look at her with a smile.

"Okay," Blazing warmly said before leaving the room.