Broken

Ugh...My...My head...

Where...Where am I...?

"Welcome back, changeling." a voice spat.

No...Not him, not again...

"Cozy in your new, permanent home?"

"Shining Armor..."

"Don't you dare say my name after what you've done to me, to Cadance...To Equestria!" Shining Armor shouted as Queen Chrysalis opened her eyes fully.

As her vision cleared and brought into focus a furious white unicorn, Chrysalis realized that she was laying on the cold stone floor of a jail cell; probably in Canterlot.  Loose bits of hay littered the floor and a wooden bucket sat in the corner, reeking of excrement despite being empty.

Shining Armor stood on the opposite side of the thick iron bars while two unicorn guards took a post on the wall behind him; facing Chrysalis.

"What do you have to say for yourself?!" Shining Armor growled, resisting the urge to let loose his magic and kill the changeling.  He was under strict orders from Princess Celestia and technically wasn't even supposed to be down here at all.

In response to his fuming question, Chrysalis crossed her front hooves comfortably and smiled slyly.  "That your love tasted like strawberries."

~=(♥)=~

Help me, my subjects!  I am trapped in Canterlot in some sort of dungeon! Chrysalis thought, sending her message through every channel in her Hive.

They cannot hear you.

Chrysalis's eyes shot open, breaking her concentration as a new, stern voice spoke into her head.

Who...Who dares invade the mind of their Queen?!

I have no queen, Chrysalis; for I *AM** a queen.*

At that, the voice stopped talking and Chrysalis stopped trying to broadcast to her swarm.

They'll figure it out eventually, oh yes they will.  And then...Then I'll have my revenge on all of your precious little ponies...

Content with the thought of her imminent rescue, Chrysalis began eying the two guards posted just outside of her cell hungrily; telepathically searching through their mind and memories for desires of loved ones that were too strong to resist.

She was hungry, and she knew very well that Princess Celestia knew that actual food held no value for a changeling.

But something strange was happening with these guards.

Despite all of her best efforts, Chrysalis couldn't even see a faint outline of memories from either of the guards.

It was as if something were...Blocking her...

The realization hit Chrysalis like a bag of bricks and she reached up with both hooves to claw at the enchanted ring that wrapped around the base of her horn.

"Damn you, Celestia!  DAMN YOU!" Chrysalis screamed as the ring shocked her hoof each time it touched her magical prison.

The guards hardly shifted from their positions as Chrysalis began hurling every obscenity she knew at the Sun Goddess's name.

Eventually, after a few hours of this, she had either run out of terms or simply worn herself out.

Get a hold of yourself, Chrysalis!  You're blowing off magic, and it's apparent that these ponies are trying to starve you.  Just think...How to get out of here?  Think, think, think...

A realization never came to her.

~=(♥)=~

"Are you hungry?" a voice asked softly.

If it weren't for the masked hatred that Chrysalis could feel ebbing off of the creature she hardly would have noticed her presence.

But she did, and was awoken from her fruitless slumber.

"Are you hungry?" Princess Celestia repeated, doing her best to keep a neutral tone.

Chrysalis simply glared at the monarch as she continued to lay on the cold, dirty floor of her cell.

The staring contest went on for a few more minutes before Celestia sighed and trotted away.

"Alert me if she asks for food." she commanded two new guards who had taken up post as she slept.

Yawning and thinking nothing more of the matter, Queen Chrysalis settled her snout on her crossed hooves and sunk back into her dreams; ignoring the throbbing pain that rocked her mind as her body cried out for nourishment.