Negotiation

"Good evening, Liam."

Liam's eyelids remained closed, but the movement behind them communicated with consciousness. His senses returned to him quickly, and he realized that he had fallen asleep within Luna's embrace. Her feathered wing was draped over him still, a softer blanket than any he had felt previously.

"Hey, g'evenin'," he grumbled.

His eyelids peeked open, then his eyes navigated upwards to see Luna with a small smile on her face, her cyan orbs looking down into his. He gave her a small, groggy smile, then released his grip around her barrel. As he departed her warmth, the slight chill of the room met his bare skin. He suppressed a chill and sat up, rubbing his eye with his palm.

He sat there for a few moments, blinking owlishly, then pulled his arms upwards and stretched. A satisfying series of pops rang out from an elbow and his back, a groan escaping him. Luna lit her horn and illuminated the both of them with a soft blue glow. She shimmied closer to him and he set an arm on her back. He looked towards the glow of the lights creeping beneath the door. They were in various states of disarray; Liam's hair a fuzzy mess, and Luna's mane not much better.

"Huh," he sounded.

"What is it?" Luna asked, blinking away the remnants of her own rest.

Liam looked to her and gave her a small smile.

"That's the best I've slept in months, I think. You make a good pillow," he croaked.

Luna blushed and returned the smile, rolling her head about on her neck.

"We share that sentiment as well, on both accounts," she said softly.

Liam debated on returning to that warm embrace and wasting the rest of the day away. Luna shared a similar want. How tempting an idea, and he would have given into that temptation, were it not for a return to that thought.

Rest of the day. His eyes suddenly became a tad more alert. Luna noticed the change in his mood.

"Wait... wait a sec."

His hand darted over to the night stand, fishing a silver alarm clock out from within it's depths. Already he could feel a sense of urgency that ruined the post-sleep comfort he was feeling. He stared at the clock face for a few seconds, holding his breath.

"Fuck," he whispered.

He looked to Luna's concerned visage and shook his head.

"I forgot to set my alarm clock."

Luna felt a degree of relief to know it was simply the passage of time that had him concerned. Then she considered the position he occupied, the potential for things to get out of hoof down below the surface. She wondered if anypony above would know that things had gone awry down here. Luna's ears flattened on her head.

"Ah, are we behind schedule?"

"Very. We were supposed to be in Room L-224 an hour ago."

Liam sighed and rose from the bed, shambling over to the closet and picking clothes out of it. He pulled out a pair of black slacks and a gray dress shirt from the closet, then began dressing himself quickly. He closed the closet to make more room for himself. Luna awkwardly fumbled out of the bed and gave her wings an uncomfortable stretch, being mindful not to encroach into Liam's space. She yawned and flipped on the light with her magic, dispelling her own.

The sudden change in brightness made both of them squint and recoil. Liam powered through the blindness and pulled his slacks up around his waist, fastening the button and pulling up the zipper. He waddled closer to the door and slipped on his socks, then deftly slipped his feet into his shoes.

"Do you have a mirror?" Luna asked.

"Yeah, open that door there," he gestured to the closet. Luna pulled open the door and found a small mirror hanging just below her eye-line, suspended inside the closet. She bent her forelegs slightly and dipped down into a position to see herself better. Liam's eyes wandered over towards her, then darted away quickly, something Luna noticed in the mirror.

Was that a blush? Surely not. Right? She realized then that he had looked over her hindquarters, and the immediate rush of blood from her heart to her head almost overtook her. She dismissed the thought and became very self-conscious of the placement of her tail.

Luna fixated back on her own reflection. Her mane, while still quite cosmic in nature, was rather unkempt. Curls flowed inwards and outwards at odd positions in her mane, frizzy odd strands darting off in random directions. She frowned at the bedhead, and upon further inspection, recalled just the right spell for the job.

In a blink and with a pop, Luna's mane reoriented instantaneously. Liam looked over at the sound and the flash, noticing her appearance had neatened-up considerably.

"Shit, wish I could do that," he muttered, then turned back to his own devices.

"It does make preparation easier," Luna trilled, "do you need help?"

Liam turned over his shoulder with pursed lips, then back to the ties in his hand. Blue, or black? He looked down to his slacks shirt. Black and gray respectively. Black would match the pants, what about a jacket?

"Nah, I got it," he murmured.

He eventually opted for neither, instead doing up his black faux-leather belt and abandoning the jacket all-together. He turned slightly and splayed out his arms.

"How do I look?" he asked. Luna eyed him in the mirror.

"Bedraggled," she said as she turned around, rising upwards. A single small plume of brown hair rose upwards on the back of his head.

"Turn around," she instructed. He gave her a quizzical look and complied.

Liam felt a wetness on the back of his head, pushing his head forward slightly as whatever it was moved upwards and off of his head. He heard a lip-smack follow, then a stroking motion going down in that wet spot. He stood silent for a few moments after the event.

"Did..." he said slowly, "... did you just lick me?"

He turned around to find her pupils had become narrow dots, a sheepish grin on her face.

"Doth thine kind not groom each other in such a manner?"

He blinked.

"Not really, but hey, 'when in Rome' I guess," he said with an awkward laugh. He opened the door and nudged towards it with his head.

"Ladies first," he said.

Luna pouted.

"You know," she said, shaking off a little bit of that embarrassment with mock-indignance, "stallions typically go first in Equestria."

"Tough luck, I'm no stallion. Get your butt out there," Liam smirked.

Luna laughed and marched forward.

Liam walked through the doorway with a cautious eye, quickly setting his sights upon Sunny Skies. Sunny gave him a nod, then motioned to the cell window with his eyes. Fixed in the concrete wall was a one-sided window, revealing within what seemed to be a perfectly normal beige unicorn mare. She pushed her indigo bangs to the side and let out a sigh, her left hoof bouncing up and down on the floor.

"I'm sorry we're late, forgot to set my alarm clock earlier this afternoon. Where's Miss Do?"

"Recuperating," Sunny said neutrally, "they had her in one of those pods. She'll be out of it for a little while."

Liam probed the side of his cheek. This business could be messy. Liam walked towards the window and inspected the mare. Her eyes looked towards the window, and if he didn't know any better, he'd think she was staring right at him. Soon enough, her gaze moved upwards around the mirror.

"That her?"

Sunny sighed.

"I dunno. Hasn't dropped her disguise. She's been getting pretty antsy, that's for sure."

Liam turned his head to the side, still staring at the mare. Luna walked into the room with a curious look on her face. Liam had not divulged anything regarding the nature of this excursion.

"Don't let anyone else in here, got it? I don't want a freak-out, changelings tend to scare."

Luna's eyes widened, then landed on the mare behind the glass, inspecting her hooves.

"A changeling? Who have you brought here?"

"We're about to find out."

Liam depressed the handle and pushed the door into the room. He moved in and gave what he felt was a disarming smile, holding the door open for Luna to move into the room. He stepped away from the door and made the mistake of turning his back to his guest.

As soon as she saw Princess Luna standing there in the doorway, she lunged over the table and pressed her horn into the underside of Liam's chin. The tip of her horn dug into the flesh just enough to force his head upwards at an angle. Luna's eyes widened in terror as now-black hooves wrapped around his chest and pulled him back. The rest of the disguise fell, revealing malevolent green eyes staring over his shoulder.

"CHRYSALIS!" Luna shrieked, her stance widening and her horn charging.

Liam's heart beat fast in his chest, his arms coming up with open hands.

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you! I knew it! Lying bucking alien!" Chrysalis hissed in his ear.

"Close that door!" Liam barked to Sunny.

"DO NOT DARE HARM HIM, OR WE SHALT TEAR FROM THEE THINE CARAPACE WITH OUR TEETH!" Luna screamed.

Liam could barely see Sunny's panicked movements behind Luna before the door shut with a bang. The noise drove the horn just a little further into Liam's skin, but he was running out of real-estate to move his head further.

"Hey, everyone let's just relax, alright? We're just gonna talk," he said as calmly as he could. Chrysalis taste his fear in the air, but it was not nearly as powerful as the fear she had sampled during the wedding. Changelings could make for good lie-detectors themselves, but she could hardly taste anything on the creature in her grasp.

"You brought a bucking Princess of all ponies to talk?! Yeah right!"

Luna slowly moved around the overturned table, like a predator stalking prey. Chrysalis reoriented Liam and retreated further towards the corner, using his body for a shield.

"We swear it to thee, We shalt flay thy corpse and pin it against thine wretched hive should harm befall him," Luna whispered. Chrysalis could taste the hatred and the vitriol, bitter and acidic on her tongue. But in that hatred she could also taste... love? Love. The fear and anger that pervaded Princess Luna came from love. The platter was not enough to shake her from the reality of her situation, however.

"You weren't there at the wedding, you have no idea what I'm capable of! How much I held back!" she shouted back. The dissonant undertones of her voice wavered in her stressed. Her wings buzzed against her back, eyes squarely set upon the danger in the room.

"Okay, everyone fucking calm down," Liam said quickly, "Queen Chrysalis, I gave you my word, didn't I? I just wanna-" he grimaced as the horn dipped and found itself back where it was. He could only imagine the reaction Sunny must be having. He didn't much like the idea of security piling in here and turning this fuck-up into a right proper bloodbath.

"You didn't say anything about Princess Luna! How can I trust you?" She spat.

"Well, she's not a Princess anymore, she's working with me, and we're only here to talk," Liam pleaded.

"A most dangerous villain, stopped by for a visit! Thou art mad! What manner of talk may we have?!"

Liam's heart threatened to burst, and in that moment, he decided that he had to do something. Talking them like a negotiator wasn't working, and he'd find himself with a nice little hole in the bottom of his head if something didn't change. He wasn't too keen on getting blasted by Luna either, whatever damage that might do.

Instead, he took a deep breath.

"ENOUGH!" He roared. The horn dug a little too deep into his chin and he felt the sharp point break the skin.

But it worked. Luna seemed surprised at the outburst, shocked at his volume. Chrysalis' grip on his chest had weakened some. He reached up slowly and gently touched at Chrysalis' horn with his fingers. She made a surprised noise at the contact, and before she could move or reposition herself, he grunted.

"Don't you think things would've gone differently if I didn't want to talk?" he asked impatiently.

"Now, I'm going to move this horn away, and you're going to sit, and we're going to talk. Okay?"

She didn't say anything, but Liam felt movement behind him, then he slowly pushed the horn away. He kept his hands open as he turned around and faced the changeling queen, now considerably taller in her true form. Her eyes moved quickly between him and Luna, then the door. Looking for a way out. Liam knelt down, hands still open, and gently righted the discarded chair beside her. She did not move towards it.

"Please. Just... sit," he exhaled, gesturing to the chair.

Chrysalis silently communicated her distrust of Luna, her horn still alight with a charged spell. He turned and gave her a demanding look.

"You too, cool your jets," he said sternly. Her spell dissipated.

"What... what does that mean?" she asked lamely.

He felt like he was going to pass out. His head pounded and he leaned against a wall, exhaling loudly.

"It means relax. Just... fucking relax, everyone, please," he said finally, pulling a trembling hand to his chin. He pulled his fingers away to reveal a red smear against them. Luna smelled the blood from her position, an anger swelling in her heart once more. She wanted to tear this bug apart, piece by piece, for harming him. She wanted to make good on her promise. But yet, Liam had a plan. She soon learned that Liam's plans were deserving of complaints and mane-pulling. They all took unsteady, tense breaths, sitting in the muck of the situation for a moment.

"I'm going to put this table back up," Liam said finally.

No one voiced their disapproval of the action, so he went ahead and set it upright. He retrieved two folding chairs, similar to the one Chrysalis found beside her, and set them opposite her chair. He gestured the to the seats, and slowly, Luna and Chrysalis placed themselves upon their chairs. Liam wiped away more blood before he sat down, and while it wasn't a gushing wound, the small flow was steady in the formation of droplets. One droplet landed with a dull splat on the metal table. He looked down at it, then looked up at Chrysalis with tired eyes.

"Listen, I'm not going to hold you here against your will," he began, "I told Fronse that I wanted to negotiate with you, and that's true. That's all I want to do here."

He swallowed uncomfortably.

"I don't see a monster sitting across from me, I see a Queen who had to do what she had to do for her people... er, ponies... changelings, whatever. I just want to talk, okay?"

Chrysalis had mixed feelings regarding his statement, but notes of truth sat lightly in his speech. Despite the peculiar nature of this strange being, the lack of readily available emotions to pluck upon on his form, she could tell he was genuine from the look of his eyes.

Desperation and curiosity drove her to this meeting. At this point, all options had to be considered, and here one presented itself, albeit in very strange and stressful circumstances. Luna glared daggers at her, but in this strange soup of confusion and doubt, there may be something for her hive. She tried her best to discard her wounded pride and her aggravation, and opted for a nod to the strange being.

A small measure of relief touched his eyes and he looked to Luna. She did not look back. He gently rose from his chair.

"Now, I need tissues, you want water or anything?"

"Water would be nice," Chrysalis murmured.

"Liam, have you gone mad?"

Liam gently set a paper cup filled with water in front of Chrysalis, then turned to Luna, stage-whispering at him. He looked at Chrysalis, who by her own bemused expression, clearly heard the poorly concealed message.

"I'm pretty sure she can hear," he said as he returned to his spot at the table.

"I can," she confirmed.

"We care not," Luna growled.

Liam sighed and took a sip from his own cup. He set it down and threw his arm over the backrest of his chair.

"Well, Luna, what I'm thinking is that the changeling species needs a pick-me-up. They have a raw deal and a great set of talents that this organization could use," he finished while looking towards Chrysalis.

He leaned forwards and set his elbows on the metal table.

"As Fronse may have told you, I want to negotiate a... pact, maybe. An agreement," he said, looking for the right wording.

Queen Chrysalis eyed him intensely, before drawing her attention to the walls and the window.

"What are you? What is this place?"

Liam pursed his lips and rubbed his chin, being mindful not to scrape off the torn tissue-paper stuck to his flesh. He thought about how to best communicate his story to her. He let out a breath through his nose and looked at Chrysalis.

"I'm an interdimensional refugee developing an organization the likes of which Equus has never seen," he said finally.

She remained silent and regarded him with interest, but an eyebrow fell tighter against her eye in suspicion.

"Within Equestria's borders?"

"Yes," he said plainly.

She resumed her silence, then her wings buzzed in agitation.

"Princess Celestia must know about this," she trailed.

Liam nodded and Chrysalis looked to Luna for more insight on the subject. The former princess was stonewalling her. She had been since Liam departed for water.

"She does. I have permission from her to operate throughout Equestria, so long as certain things don't happen," he said evasively. Chrysalis wanted to pry, but the subject of Celestia still hung on her mind.

"So this is a deal between myself and Equestrian royalty, then?"

Liam shook his head.

"No. This is a deal with me and my organization," he said definitively.

She paused.

"What is the purpose of your organization?"

Liam again found himself searching for the right words.

"The capture and containment of dangerous... anomalies. Objects of interest, sometimes people, that left unchecked could spell doom for all of Equus. Capture, contain, control," he explained.

"And you are its leader? A furless ape?" she asked mockingly.

"A human," he responded. That word sounded familiar.

"My world had a similar organization, the SCP Foundation. I worked with them, for them. They failed to contain one of those threats, and as a result, I am the last one left," he said coldly.

"Last one?"

"The last human."

Despite the appearance of emptiness, the sentence held within it fragments of a great pain. Despair. Hopelessness and grief. Chrysalis pressed forward so as to not stay upon it. Then, the word finally clicked in her head. The memories of the hive stretched far into history, and there she found mention of the word. But beyond that, she found images of the North, trauma in the memories of old, destruction brought about by humankind here.

'Interdimensional my flank,' she thought.

After further silence, she leaned forwards over the table, disgust plain on her muzzle.

"Our hive remembers your kind, human. It is good that your race was culled. Eat cotton," she said smarmily.

"Wench!" Luna yelped, but Liam's hand darted towards her to stop her from doing anything rash. He swallowed and his brows knit together, his eyes wrenching shut and the corner of his lip twitching. He recomposed himself as best he could, but the trickle of emotion she had felt on his body became a waterfall.

He took a breath.

"I don't know much about what the humans were like here. I know they were savage, barbaric, and I know they disappeared somewhere in the Crystal Empire. My kind were not those humans, and my kind did not deserve a culling. Eight-billion souls were lost to a horror you couldn't even begin to understand. I recommend you speak carefully from this point forward. I want to continue diplomatically, civilly, so watch what you say next," he finished with a threatening rumble.

Eight-billion? The figure boggled Luna's and Chrysalis' minds. Liam had never before shared the details, the numbers, with Luna before. He had told her of it's mutations, of the volatility of the virus, the rate of infection and time for symptoms. She told him how quickly it spread, how vast populations fell in moments, but never how vast.

"What kind of... what kind of horror was this?" Chrysalis finally uttered in horror.

"A sapient disease, one that defied conventional medicine and science. I don't even know if magic works against it. But I do know that if I somehow crossed over into your reality, it could too. And if it does, if it has, we best start preparing now."

"But your kind is facing extinction," he said softly. Luna looked at him and knew what he was saying, why he was saying it, but she felt the gravity behind his words.

Chrysalis found within his eyes that dreaded common ground. He did not know the specifics, but he knew the same pain. He recognized the direness in her situation as if it was his own, because he had felt it. She thought for a moment she was drowning in pity, when in reality, it was sympathy.

"You have an opportunity in front of you to do right by your hive, Hell, probably every changeling for generations to come. Your people are starving, your prestige is lost, you are defeated. Right now, you're a shell of what you once were, but we can change all of that," he explained.

"How?" she whispered.

"We establish a non-exhaustive and safe way to feed your changelings, help your kind get back on their hooves. Safety for your people, no fear of dangerous wild-life. If it's possible, immigration, integration. A new home," he looked to Luna. Chrysalis felt bile rising in her stomach.

"Absurd!" Chrysalis barked.

"Conquest and domination are off-the-table. The only way forward is coexistence. Don't you want that? Don't you want peace?" he asked pleadingly.

"To be remembered as a coward? To be remembered for failure, then bowing? After all that?!" she almost cried.

"To be remembered as the savior of your species. To remain a Queen over living subjects. Sovereignty and rule mean nothing if your population starves to death. Don't let ego step in the way," he said sagely.

They all remained silent, and Chrysalis waged an internal war against herself. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be. Certainly not, they would persecute her changelings! They would never accept them! Right? She glanced over to Luna, wearing a doubtful expression and staring at the table.

"Coexistence... is that even possible? Given her look, I see Luna's opposed to the idea," she reasoned.

Luna looked up at her and her eyes softened.

"Do not presume to know our thoughts," she said quietly.

"If we have any hope of survival, if not against that disease, then any manner of destructive forces on this planet, we need to come together. The number of anomalies on my planet was in the thousands, and I can only hazard a guess that thirty percent of them could've ended the world right alongside that disease. If there's even a sliver of that number here, that's still too many."

Liam sighed and turned to Luna. She did not return his gaze.

"Luna, you represent Equestrian political interests here. I know that Queen Chrysalis is an enemy to you, to the state, but I need your support on this," he said firmly.

Luna sat still and buried herself within her own thoughts. She closed her eyes slowly and then flipped her starry mane to the side, looking at Chrysalis with wounded eyes.

"I would be a hypocrite to deny her a second chance. I am upset with this course of action, but I see the logic in it, and the necessity. Queen Chrysalis..." she began, speaking slowly so as to not err. Then, with new-found confidence in her eyes, she leaned forwards to match the changeling opposite her.

"I will do everything in my power to ensure our side of the bargain is met, so long as those are conditions we agree upon, and I hope that the future between our species may be brighter than our present. You have my support, Liam," she gave Liam a restrained smile. Chrysalis could see there was much to be said in that expression, but knew then everything Luna had told her... she meant.

She meant it. She would try.

There was hope.

Liam's voice cut through the silence with a question.

"So... what do you say?"

Author's Note

I feel like my writing is improving with each chapter, but that means each chapter previous is getting left behind in quality. Or alternatively, I'm inflating my own ego. Problem for future me, I guess. Anywho, here you all are! Hope you all enjoy, let me know if there are any errors to be spotted, and give your thoughts/opinions/reactions down below! I love reading your comments.

Catch you either Friday or Saturday!

Caspian