Broken

"You know it doesn't have to be this way." a motherly voice whispered, making her concerns for the pitiful Changeling known.

Chrysalis glared inn anger and frustration.

How *DARE** she try to console me like a child!*

Chrysalis was on the verge of slamming herself against the iron bars in an obviously feeble attempt to get at the Princess of the Sun when she spoke again.

"I hold no ill will towards you or your kind, for whatever reason you chose to invade Equestria.  I only keep you here because you are a threat to Equestria if left unchanged."

"Ha! Fearful of us as you should be, wench!" Chrysalis spat.

Celestia's face held no signs of shock, disgust, pain or even fear.

Instead, she sported an understanding smile paired nicely with two soft eyes.

"You do not feed on fear, so why do you crave it so much?" Celestia wondered aloud.

"My desires are none of your concern, pony princess!"

"As a matter of fact, they are.  Because you lead a nation, Chrysalis, a nation that may very well aim to harm my little ponies.  But I see something in you, something I should have seen in another but did not one thousand years ago.  It may seem selfish that I'm simply changing you to make myself feel better about the past, but it is also for the sake of your kind.  I have endured thousands of years of hardships, two thousand or more of those years alone, and never once have I come across a creature so malicious and vengeful as yourself.  Equestria is not prepared for a war- of this you are aware-  but my ponies will fight to the death if their lives and freedom are at stake.  I have never heard of your kind and do not wish for a history lesson, but surely as a ruler you must see that the path you are walking can only lead to the destruction of your race, if not my own as well."

Chrysalis stared, dumbfound, at the white alicorn who was settled on her stomach before her.  She hadn't expected the white ruler to be, or at least seem, so wise.

Is it true?  Am I only leading my children down into their demise...?

...

Chrysalis jumped to her hooves and thrust her horn through the bars, missing the Princess by mere centimeters and only succeeding at slamming her head against the cold, hard metal.

She gritted her teeth in pain and struggled to close the gap between the two for a few seconds before giving up in exhausting gasps.

But Chrysalis held her glare.

It would do her no good to appear completely weak and vulnerable, despite her being so, to her jailor.

Who knows what these ponies would do to me...

Princess Celestia held a long, hard gaze with the Changeling Queen; but her eyes still held no sign of fear or even anger.

Only disappointment.

"I will return later today but you need to eat something, Chrysalis.  I would never forgive myself if you starved to death."

The alicorn's words sounded sincere, but Chrysalis wouldn't be fooled.

"Then perhaps I'll just refuse any 'food' you decide to give me." she declared with a smirk.

"And then where would that leave you and your hive?"

Chrysalis blinked in surprise.

She hated this pony, the pony that was hitting all of her soft spots like she knew them by heart.

A soft, non malicious smirk found its way to Celestia's mouth after she knew she had won and she gingerly rose to her hooves; towering above the confounded Changeling before opening the gate and stepping inside.

"I do not trust you with my little ponies just yet, so tonight I will be your meal."

Chrysalis had to suppress her laughter.

The fool probably doesn't even realize what she just said.  No matter, she meant food and food is what I desperately need right now...But should I do it?  Would it be dishonorable, to submit to my foe as such?

Chrysalis pondered this for a while as Princess Celestia stood before her, waiting for the Changeling to take its toll.

"This doesn't mean anything; I will not submit to any more of your demands or suggestions." the Changeling hissed as she rose to her hooves and rather violently sunk her fangs into Celestia's neck.

The Royal Guards almost burst into the cell to down the Changeling until Celestia waved them off.

She felt no pain, no sense of dread; just Chrysalis sucking out some of her emotions.

But Celestia was no fool, for she knew the power a Changeling had over its prey, so she 'installed' magical barriers to keep the starving Queen from taking too much or taking the wrong thing.

And Chrysalis slammed against many of those barriers before she settled for the least appetizing emotion she could find: Trust.

And it tasted disgusting considering the situation, but the symbolic meaning was not lost on the Queen.

She simply chose to ignore it and feed.

~=(♥)=~

A soft, satisfied gasp escaped Chrysalis's lips as she carefully removed her fangs from Celestia's neck.

No blood spilled, the wounds sealed themselves rapidly, and Chrysalis was left with a full 'belly' of emotions to distribute to her hive.

The realization struck Chrysalis hard, so hard that she took a few steps back and let her eyes widen in shock.

"You monster!  You knew what you were doing and you still let me do it, how dare you!" Chrysalis shouted.

"I did what I had to to ensure that the Changeling race survives.  While I still grieve for your kin, wherever they may be, I cannot help them.  But I can help you, and you can help them." Celestia replied.

"Not with this anti-magic ring around my horn-" Chrysalis began rudely before a the 'tinkling' sound of metal could be heard as it fell to the floor.

Chrysalis stared down at the devilish metal ring, now in the shape of a '3', in silence; her eyes wider than they ever had been before.

Her arch nemesis and jailor had just released her, a fully healed and fully fed Changeling Queen, right in front of herself.

My, my, today is becoming *VERY** interesting...* Chrysalis thought.

"You have one chance, Chrysalis.  One chance to prove yourself to me that you're willing to travel down the right path and keep your kind from going extinct.  The entire fate of the Changeling race rests on your decision."

And so, after much thinking, Chrysalis made her choice.

Her horn flared with a bright green that made it seem like it was encased in some kind of gel as she carefully distributed her food to the rest of her hive, although it was quite difficult considering the immense distance between her and them.

But it had been done.

Chrysalis had retraced her steps from the dark path she had been happily wandering down for most of her life and instead took the bright path that she had ignored before.

But not before sending a little message to those she fed...