Douglas 2: The Douggenning

-DOUGLAS POV

I’d lost all control over the situation a long time ago. After seeing Chrysalis turn into all my friends, I couldn’t move at all. Seeing them in such a lewd light only validated the fears I had about being near them. I knew what I was doing by thinking like this, and braced myself for a snide remark from Klaus. But…there was nothing. Had he manifested enough power to separate from me? I glanced at the mirror. He was facing away, and at first I thought that he had turned around, but then I realized that the mirror was reflecting his back. Klaus was standing in front of it.

There was a horrible crash as one of the beasts pounced on Chrysalis. It was the same manner of beast which had attacked me and my companions back in Canterlot. Its teeth left several gashes in the queen’s side. Chrysalis wasn’t moving. I was. I seized the thing with one hand, and then my mind was just white noise. I tore one of its legs off at the joint and struck the monster in the ribs. The limb turned into acid when it hit, and with a grisly hissing, the beast’s ribcage fell open. The appendages of its mouth flailed miserably as its innards dropped to the ground. I watched it bleed dry. Klaus stared at me with a cocktail of fear and hate. Walking over to the weakly breathing body of Chrysalis, I bound her side with strips from my clothes and picked her up, carrying her away. Klaus shouted at me, but did nothing. I could care less what happened to Klaus. As I entered the tunnels once again, the dark overcame me, but this time, I was able to navigate it.

I was free.

I had plenty of questions, and Chrysalis would hopefully be able to help answer them when she came to, but that wasn’t important. What was important was the dying changeling I was carrying. Questions or not, I had to help her. Not because she was Klaus’s enemy, not because I owed her something, and not even because it was my job. I did it for one simple reason: it’s what Pinkie Pie would have done.
By the time I’d made it back to Canterlot, Chrysalis’s blood had soaked through my makeshift bandages and begun to stain my skin. Her breath was becoming thinner, and I knew I had next to no time. I thought back to what had transpired in the hive. I’d clearly done something…did that mean I could heal her? I pulled away the strips. It looked like half of her side had been assaulted by a cheese grater. She winced in pain as I placed a hand on the wound. I concentrated, recalling my own wounds, recalling the sensation of Luna’s healing spell. Luna’s spell was gentle, like the moon embracing me and nursing me to health. The energy that punctured Chrysalis caused her to convulse as steam poured from the gashes in her skin. Her flesh began to undulate, stretching over the cuts as new skin knitted itself together. I had no idea how much pain I’d caused her, but she’d live. I hoped.

-CHRYSALIS POV

Changelings are born knowing only hunger, and I was no different, save one thing: I had a mentor. Tyrant or not, everything I knew about myself had been given to me by Klaus. I was more than his sultry concubine, I was his protégé. Everything I knew about magic, leadership, perseverance, and victory had been taught to me by the Emperor of the changelings. I could hear his voice in my head, that sadistic lilt which painted the colors of my world.

“You are the strongest resource you will ever possess, Chrysalis. Remember that. Others are only tools. I am your tool; you use me to learn. You are my tool. I use you…to entertain myself. But above all, remember who you are, Chrysalis. You are a queen. Now, are you awake? Do you feel alright?” What? Klaus never said that to me. I tried to focus. Without opening my eyes, I could sense another presence, a changeling presence. It had to be Klaus. I opened my eyes.

It was Douglas.

I have made many mistakes in my lifetime, drawn many ill conclusions, but changelings can sense one another infallibly. There was only one before me, and it was the human. This mystery was soon overshadowed by another, however. The last thing I could remember was being mauled by that abomination, yet I bore no wound. This meant that Douglas had healed me. The very thought contradicted everything I knew. What I’d done to Douglas was typical behavior for me. I’d played with him, tormented him, and used him. I’d reduced him to the level of an object. But he saved my life. What drove the human? What could he possibly hunger for that would lead him to save me? Perhaps he enjoyed what I did to him, and I was to be a tool for him as he was for me, like I was for Klaus. Maybe it was Klaus’s influence which was motivating him, like it motivated me. I felt a coolness near my mouth.

“Here, drink. I imagine you can’t be feeling too well.” His cupped hands held water. Those hands…he offered them to me. If he intended to use me, then he would have pointed to the water and told me to drink instead of fetching water for me, instead of nursing me, instead of…caring for me. I drank deeply, and every time I finished, he silently brought more water for me until I was satisfied. The question lingered in my mind.

“Why are you helping me?” He stopped moving, and I could read his face. He was…unsure. This baffled me even further. Was there no reason whatsoever for the hospitality I was being shown? It took him a few moments before he spoke.

“When I first came here to Equestria, I did something horrible. I hurt three other ponies, and it killed me inside. Made me want to be alone forever so I wouldn’t hurt another pony. There was one pony though, one of the ones I’d hurt, that cared about me and saved me. I guess I came to the conclusion that everypony deserves to be saved.”

Nothing made sense anymore. Everypony deserved to be saved? Ridiculous! He receives nothing from that philosophy, nothing whatsoever!

“How could you possibly believe such a sentiment? There’s nothing you could ever hope to gain from it!”

“Yeah. That’s the entire point.”