“I just… I just… We can’t care for a filly. We barely make enough to get by ourselves,” Chrysalis was doing her best ‘poor lady that can’t care for a kid’ act. It was convincing as fuck. The secretary nodded, before taking Midnight. “She fell asleep on the way here; we’re a traveling couple and Manehattan was the nearest city we could drop her off at… Please find her a good home.” Chrysalis said with a hint of sadness. Blaze had opted to sit outside of the orphanage for the time being. The wagon had just rolled up, and she had hopped in it to remain out of sight.

“Of course we’ll find this little filly a home… You’d think she’d be awake by now.”

“...Actually,” I chimed in. “She’s been crying her eyes out; I found her shortly after some bandits caught her and her family… The parents weren’t super lucky. She’s been crying all night, and only managed to go to sleep this morning.” Hey, I wasn’t lying, I guess. That’s the story Starlight wanted to give herself. The secretary’s eyes widened.

“Oh you poor thing,” she whispered to the ‘filly’ in her arms. “We’ll take good care of her until she’s adopted, or can stand on her own,” the secretary rushed off, likely to get the foal checked in.

“Okay, run before we have to sign anything or pay any fees,” I said. Nobody needed to be told twice, she grabbed me by the scruff, and teleported us out onto the wagon. I stumbled a bit… Damn, that’s only the second time I’ve been teleported. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that. Blaze didn’t need to be told a word, the wagon just started rolling down the street at a much, much faster pace than the sedate pace we were going at while out on the road. “Well, there’s that kid gone,” I leaned back. “I feel a bit bad…”

“But also, it was Starlight Glimmer trying to manipulate us.” Blaze pointed out.

“True to that…” I need alcohol.

Chrysalis started snickering. Beside her was a set of paint… that was the exact same color as Midnight’s horn. “I may have painted a magic prohibitor and stuck it on Starlight while you two were sleeping. It’ll be a while before she can leave that orphanage. And I believe the most common deaging spell keeps you at that specific age until the spell wears off. So it should be a long, long week for Starlight.” She chuckled, before nudging me. “Remember how I asked if we could visit the Badlands before we left Equestria?” She asked.

“Oh… Fuck. We can go tell Twilight, or ditch them and take off at a different dock along the coast.”

“We should let them know, since I believe Twilight Sparkle will try to follow us anyways, and I believe Rarity would like to spend a day or two in Manehattan,” Chrysalis nuzzled me. “Thank you for agreeing to visit my old kingdom with me. And… sorry for putting a wrench in our plans.” She wrapped her hooves around me.

“You do know that Ostri forgot your desire to do so, right?” Blaze asked. “Because he was about to tell you about how it was his fault.” We both glared at the kitsune, who simply giggled behind her wall of tails.

So, while the three of us would like to find a new foal, we figured going to the Badlands would be a good idea. Plus, we might find a griffin kit, since they were adorable and Chrysalis said she’d let me keep one if I were able to find one. So, we went on to the hotel where the Elements were staying and told them the news. Twilight, being Twilight, immediately grabbed at the opportunity to study the new changelings, and was hoping to use Chrysalis for a comparison between new changelings and old ones. She quickly figured out how bad of an idea that was when one of my marefriend’s hooves turned into a hand and flipped Twilight the bird… Aw, she learnt that from me!

I am so proud.

So, because she didn’t wanna leave Twilight alone with us, Rainbow Dash tagged along, and Pinkie hopped in the wagon last second before it started to roll off. Apple Jack had brought apples with her, and wanted to try and sell some, Fluttershy was terrified of me and Chryssy, and Rarity just wanted to be in Manehattan because she’s a psycho who likes fancy clothes.

“Hey Ostri, where’s Midnight? I thought you’d wanna take her with us,” Twilight tilted her head.

“Left her with a foalsitter,” I lied. “Chryssy told me that the path to the badlands can be rather hot, dangerous, and no place for a filly her age…” I chuckled. “Okay, I can’t keep lying, uh, I know who she is, Twilight.” I started chuckling even more when Twilight and her two friends’ looked shocked. “Starlight knowing how to become a filly’s a new one; I wouldn’t have dreamt of seeing anybody do that a thousand years ago,” I took out my knife and examined it, like I had just killed somebody.

“But… That could’ve been an innocent filly! You kill-”

“I’m not that cruel, Twilight. If that was just a cute, sweet little orphan, I wouldn’t hurt her. No, I just stuck her in an orphanage and Chrysalis stuck a ring around her horn after painting it.” I nudged the Queen behind me, and the Kitsune that’s leaning on me. “I have two, very, very credible sources to believe that Midnight isn’t who she claims to be, one who can literally read minds, and I trust Chryssy more than I trust most ponies. Which says a lot given…”

“How I tried to get you isolated and alone so I could kill you when we first reunited?” She tilted her heads, and I dunno if she intentionally did it, but her ears kinda flopped when she did that, and I wanted to kiss her.

“And then became jelly upon being hugged?” We both chuckled. “That was surprisingly cute, by the way. The way you just slowly lowered yourself to the ground to get hugged better.” We both turned to Twilight. “You’re on thin ice, lady. That was a devious little plan, having your student spy on us, but there is something important that you should understand.” I nuzzled my marefriend. “I might not care about what happens to me anymore, but two very powerful people do, and they are more than willing to…” I hummed. “Chat with you about ruining me even more than Luna did. I’m a bit far gone, and I’m only not an unhinged, deranged killer because I would like to retain some of my humanity while I’m living in Equestria.” I kept examining my knife, before using a cloth to clean it. “But don’t be mistaken about humans, Twilight, since I know you’ve probably met a few in that Crystal Mirror…

“Let’s just say that we are at the top of the food chain, Twilight, for a reason.” I put the knife away and sat down right in front of Rainbow Dash, who had quickly changed her tune back to trusting me after I said I didn’t kill Starlight. “So, how’d you learn to fly so fast?”

“Oh, I was always like that-”

So the six of us ended up playing a board game that Pinkie had somehow stored in her mane. Halfway through, she was using me as a pillow, rolling a dice. Chrysalis definitely wasn’t excited about that, but she only allowed it because she probably sensed that Pinkie wasn’t trying anything. In fact, Chrysalis stopped glaring at the earth pony shortly after she became Pinkie’s cuddle buggy. The board game heavily resembled Monopoly, and played exactly like it, it was Monopony, and was literally Monopoly, but with pony puns.

“Say,” I said after bankrupting Twilight who had to have the worst luck I’ve ever seen(she landed on Horse Walk, the Horse version of Boardwalk six times, the last time there was a hotel on it). “Blaze, if Starlight can turn herself into a foal, can you turn yourself into a puppy?” Blaze nodded. “Can you do it?” I clapped my hooves together. “I bet you would be really cute,” I coaxed.

“You just want to hold me,” Blaze chuckled. “But because you look so excited to see me as a puppy…” She opened her eyes and she was enveloped in light. As soon as it dissipated, sitting before me, with wagging tails was a fox kit with nine tails. She reassembled a Vulpix from Pokemon, but had her same coat colors with a creamy white, black ears, and black tail tips. Her eyes were huge… almost at the same proportions as a pony’s. The rest of us sat and stared at her, having forgotten Monopony. “Well? What do you all thin- woah, Ostri, put me down!” She ended up being cradled, snuggled and nuzzled for the rest of the trip. Kitsune puppies are adorable.

Only when the Hive was apparently getting close, did she turn back. “Blaze, you did not tell me you would be dangerously cute,” I said as I nuzzled her. “Can you do that again, sometime?”

“You look like a pup with those big ol’ eyes… I’ll do it on your birthday, and for when you get married to Chrysalis; she’s planning it all in her head as we speak. From the dress, to your suit, to the mating rituals that will follow suit during your honeymoon.” Chrysalis threw a book at Blaze which only made the fox let out a very, very, unsettling human-like laugh.

“So, Chrysalis,” Twilight said, who had finally looked up from her book. “Why did you suddenly want to visit your old Hive? You have to know that they probably hate you now, right?”

“Whether they hate me or not is up to debate, whether or not that they hate me matters not. Every single drone in that Hive were my children. I may have not been a good mother, I may have been an awful Queen, but I would still like to make sure that they are doing well. Perhaps even give a few words of advice to Thorax; he’ll need all the help he can get when it comes to ruling.”

“How do we know you won’t try to use him to take over Equestria again?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Chrysalis nudged my shoulder. “For one, I love this stallion, and I would rather spend the next century with him than plot revenge that I should know won’t go anywhere. Secondly… I have been ruling a starving country, entirely made up of my offspring, and barely managing to scrape by every year for the last thousand years. I do not wish to rule anymore, and I don’t wish to have any more quarrels with Equestria.” Chrysalis shivered and I pulled her into a hug. “I bucking hate watching my children starve to death in droves every damned year because I couldn’t fucking be a good mother and find them food.” A tear rolled down her cheek.

Our guests remained silent, up until Pinkie walked over and pushed my marefriend’s frown into a smile. “Cheer up Chrys! You may think you’re a failure, but your actions inadvertently have put your Hive in a better place! That has to mean something, right?”

Chrysalis shook her head with a small smile forming. “You are as enthusiastic, Pinkie pie, I can see why Ostri actually puts up with you; you’ve got me smiling with such a silly sentiment… Thank you, Pinkie.”

Upon reaching the… Hive, okay, it was more like a mountain that got blown up and there was a throne in the center of it. There was a boatload of… I think those are changelings, but I could be wrong. For one thing, they were colored like ponies, another, they didn’t have holes in their legs. They had wing covers that weren’t too different from a lady bug’s, minus the pattern. They had tails that kinda looked like Chrysalis’s mane, but they were more sparkly. Sitting on the throne was a bug moose, from what I could see, and a whole bunch of changelings staring at us from it. Bits and pieces of the mountain that the Hive was built into, still stood and probably served to split the thing up into sections.

“...The Hive has certainly gotten more colorful since I’ve come here,” Chrysalis was under a disguise. Just a simple, brown, female unicorn with a black mane. “You know, I am surprised that Pharynx didn't call us a bunch of trespassers.” Her ears flattened. “Suddenly, I don’t know how I feel about visiting my children anymore,” she whispered to me.

“But… how will they know it’s you?”

“Most changelings, through pheromones, can pick up a disguised changeling. I’m sure you’ve noticed how ponies have their own distinctive smell, and changelings are the same. Except we changelings have a stronger sense of smell, so we end up… knowing exactly which changeling we’re speaking to. Now take into account that I was the Queen…” Oh, a few changelings were, in fact, snarling by the time we got to the entrance. Sitting before it was the tall, yellow bug moose from earlier. From here… I could tell he had a green underbelly and butterfly-like, transparent wings. Beside him was a shorter, dark purple bug moose with a red set of antlers.

Neither of them looked particularly happy.

Well, the yellow one got a bit happier when he saw Twilight and her friends hop out the wagon first. Blaze was sitting in the wagon with us, waving her tails idly. While they chatted, the three of us disembarked from the wagon. “Hey Thorax,” the shorter of the Bugmooses nudged who I assumed was Thorax. “I’m glad you’re happy to see your friends and all, but how do we know they aren’t being mind controlled by that thing?” He said, pointing at me and Chrysalis.

“Yeah… you’re actually right, Pharynx,” the tall, yellow beetle moose’s demeaner quickly shifted from happy and bubbly,to a poor attempt at being mean. “Chrysalis, we know that’s you, so drop the disguise.” He snarled. The attempt didn’t go unwarranted, since my marefriend immediately dropped the disguise and started giggling behind a hoof.

“Oh Thorax, that was a terrible attempt at being assertive…” She sat down. “I will give you credit, if it were not me you were speaking to, you’d probably scare the daylights out of them,” she began to scan the faces in the horde of changelings behind both bug meese. “I see you are all doing well, and look better fed than while I was ruling,” Chrysalis looked to Thorax. “I know you probably do not want me here, so I’ll make my visit brief. Just… Thank you for inadvertently forcing me to drop my position of power; it was becoming too much to bear and it started to influence my decisions towards the end.”

“You foalnapped us!” Rainbow shouted. “Though, after hearing what you said earlier, I guess it makes sense.”

“...What does Rainbow mean by that?” Thorax asked. “Actually, how do we know that this isn’t some ploy to take your crown back?” Chrysalis took the crown that was on her head, threw it to the ground, and zapped it with a spell so strong that I could feel the heat from a couple meters away.

“If I may say something,” I stepped up, walking past the burnt remains of Chrysalis’s crown.

“And why should we listen to you, pony? You’re probably-”

“I’m not defending Chrysalis for what she did. She’s done terrible things, just as I have. However, I am her mate, and I’ll say this; she genuinely just wants to make sure her children will be well off without her. If you would believe it or not, she loves all of you, and wishes you the best. Hell, if ruling and watching generations of her kids die didn’t drive her mad, she’d more than happily would’ve given each, and every single one of you drones the time of day one on one.” Chryssy nodded.

“And his eyes are not tinted green, so I am not influencing him; he simply is my mate.”

“WHAT?!” The entire Hive shouted.

“Well…”

“Congratulations!” The entire Hive said in unison. We blinked a couple of times. Pharynx and Thorax looked at each other, before the taller of the assumed rulers walked up to Chrysalis. Thorax… was actually a foot shorter than his mother.

“You’re… not being evil anymore?”

“Of course not. I never wanted to be evil. I will not ‘reform’ and assume that new form; it’s too colorful and hurts my eyes. However… I will refrain from doing horrible things when I can. Unless you threaten Ostri, then I will do some highly illegal, possibly evil things to you.”

“She dressed up in a nurse outfit because I got hit in the face by a dragon,” I chimed. “Kinda hot, not gonna lie.”

“...Sweet mother of changelings, she actually loves you…” Thorax whispered. “Does that make you our Dad?” What?

Chrysalis looked just as shocked as I was. “You… I expected to be chased off by now.”

“W-well…” Thorax rubbed the back of his head. “As much as you did horrible things, you were still our mother,” he said. “You were just doing what you could for us. The invasion that got many of us killed? That was to give the Hive a stable future when you had no other options. Then you went and tried your hooves again because you wanted to avenge those that got killed during the first invasion…” Thorax was now nose to nose with his mother. “And you were kind of scary.”

“I would have welcomed you to spend the day with me, so I would seem less scary.”

“…That’s the thing; you weren’t actively mean to us. Sure, our living conditions weren’t great, but we were barely scraping by. You may not be our Queen anymore, but you’re still our mother.” Pharynx snorted when his sibling hugged Chryssy, making her squeak. “You’ll change, right?”

“If… it means I can return in a few centuries now to see how the Hive is flourishing, then yes. If nothing else, it is so I can remain with Ostri without any fear of being put down.” Chrysalis nuzzled Thorax. “Pharynx? Can you come here?”

“So you can give me a hug? I’m not a cuddlebug, Mom.”

And there’s the puppy eyes. “Please?” She asked again. “I haven’t gotten the chance to hug you since you were but a nymph!” Pharynx shook his head with a small smirk. He, and several other drones came up to receive a hug from their old monarch. “You know, Ostri is your new father…” She said with a sly smile. What are you doing, Chryssy? “He could smile a bit more, and…

“We can make a changeling pile to help him smile-“

I started running for my life as a horde of changelings chased me down to give me a giant, group hug.

Author's Note

originally, i wanted Ember to come in and try and have her kick Chrysalis’s shit in. I’m gonna have Ember meet Ostri and Chryssy out at sea.