Every Prince Deserves a Princess

I cried out in pain again as the fangs sunk into my foreleg, and blood oozed up from beneath the wound. Chrysalis kept her muzzle flush to my flesh, purring lightly as her twin tongues flickered across the surface of my fur, lapping up droplets of my lifeblood. My heart was racing and my mind was screaming at me to kick her off, but I knew that I couldn't. I knew she was right. This had to be convincing, for my sake, and hers. She had saved Shining Armor, and she was going to save me... or so I hoped.

Atop the hard, cold, stone floor I laid, the bug queen atop me and pressed into my chest. Chrysalis writhed ever so slightly, her wings slowly circling with pleasure as she continued to wound me. Countless scratches, cuts, and punctures littered my skin, and I was sure to exaggerate every scream as best I could. If help came, I wanted them to find me... and even if they annihilated that loathsome beast, so long as I got out alive, I wouldn't have cared at all. It wasn't as though Chrysalis was a friend.

The oversized bug withdrew her lips from my skin with a sickeningly wet pop, twirling her tongues around each other as she sucked them back into her mouth with a sadistic grin. "Too much? I wouldn't complain, little prince. I'm only letting you live because Shining wants it. Really, it would be more convenient if you died, considering that my daughter has plans for you."

"P-plans?" I stammered, feeling barely in control of my voice. "There's... more to this... this scheme?"

"Of course there's more. You should be getting a feel for how she operates, by now. There's an entire elaborate plan in motion, and it's up to Shining and I to stop it. If you prove useful, then you'll have a part to play, as well." Chrysalis licked off her bloody forehoof as she dismounted my chest with some effort. Her once agile and imposing movements were stuttered, slowed and twisted by age, or fatigue. Perhaps both. Clearly, she was not the queen she had once been.

I leaned upward, propping myself up as best I could against a nearby boulder. Sweat poured from my forehead as blood continued to run down my legs and chest, and it took me several moments to collect my thoughts. "Why? You still haven't given me a clear answer. Why does she need to be stopped? Isn't this... this madness, this chaos, exactly the sort of thing you would promote?"

"Normally, yes, but these times are anything but normal." Chrysalis continued to lick, seeming to be in a much better mood. After what felt like several minutes of silence, she stood once more, and made her way over to me. The queen was quite tall, and, now that I had seen her from that perspective, very imposing. She leaned her long, slender neck downward, until her dull eyes were mere inches from my own, our muzzles touching lightly. "I told you once that asking was dangerous... but I like a thick stallion. Indulge me, and I'll return the favor."

I shuddered, thinking through the possibilities of what she could mean. The obvious, sickening answer was the first to mind, and I frantically crossed my hind legs in a feeble attempt to protect myself. I opened my mouth to protest, but I wasn't given an option. Thankfully, I was quite mistaken with her intentions.

"Hold still. This won't hurt. It's more of a... squeezing sensation," she spoke with a grin. Before I could respond, her horn was alight and pressed against mine, and I felt myself being drained. Of what, I couldn't say, though I quickly figured out that she must have been stealing love. My vision went blurry, and I did indeed feel a tight squeeze around my chest as Chrysalis fed. Amazingly enough, the entire process ended within seconds, and my vision returned shortly thereafter. Compared to her previous complexion, the queen was practically glowing after the act.

"Yes, excellent. Your love for the princess is strong, child. Now, I may yet make it through this winter..." Chrysalis cracked her neck, a youthful sort of mischief hanging about her features.

"You're dying...?" I asked, despite myself. The idea seemed absurd, that one could age so quickly, if they were deprived of love...

"My race is dying," she replied with a hint of venom. Chrysalis turned away, and took her time walking to the fire in the center of the room. She sat before the roaring flames, seeming almost pensive as her tone changed entirely. "The worldwide population of changelings is below 300. All of them are here."

It took several seconds to process the information, during which I must have looked like a lobotomite. I rose into a full sitting position, though the action was a bit shaky due to the various injuries that Chrysalis had graced me with. "Three hundred? But... at least a thousand invaded Canterlot. Surely, we didn't kill that many...?"

"You didn't. There are other factors at play. Instar is right to make a dangerous gamble to save our people... but Cadance isn't it. This is a bad move, and one that's going to get us all killed. She isn't going to listen to me. I've become a pariah, after my failure. My subjects will not even address me as queen." Chrysalis turned back to face me, her expression one of disgust.

"...and yet, she calls herself Princess. She hasn't deposed you."

"Not yet. She can't. The distinction between the two is physical, not simply a rite of birth or promotion, as it is with you p-"

Chrysalis was interrupted by a stallion's scream, and then a hard thump. The noise was quite loud, and came from a place entirely too close for comfort.

"That's... oh, no..." I scrambled backward, falling onto my back to lay prostrate once again and keep up our little ruse.

"Instar. Don't you dare tell her about my involvement, or what you know. It would be both of our heads." Chrysalis hurried to climb back atop me, pinning my hooves to the ground with her own as she readied her fangs against my shoulder. "...I'm not sorry, but that doesn't mean I want to hurt you."

"Fair enough," I quipped with a sarcastic tone. I took the opportunity to pat her atop the head in as condescending a manner as I could manage. "Do what you must." As Chrysalis sank her teeth into my shoulder, I immediately regretted my little triumph.

A voice came from a nearby tunnel- light, giddy, and feminine. A panic rose within me as I heard Instar coming, a sort of primal fear eclipsing the pain from her mother's bite. "Oh, my little colts... I've come home to play with you, once again," she sang.

A bloodstained Shining Armor entered the large chamber, grinning from ear to ear as 'he' walked his way up to the fire pit. The usual pristine coat of snow white was almost entirely red, and the ersatz stallion lacked any sort of armor... but made up for it with what appeared to be a few organs, ground and plastered against his fur. The stallion's smile didn't last long as he noticed the two vacant stone protrusions, and shifted immediately back to his true form of Instar.

"Where are they!?" she bellowed, sprinting toward me and her mother, both upon the ground. As we came into her line of sight, the furious princess pulled Chrysalis from my chest and gazed into the larger bug's eyes, before smacking her hard across the face. Chrysalis stumbled and fell to her knees form the impact, spitting a small torrent of deep, blue blood onto the rock below.

"You fed on him? He is mine!" Instar roared, before her horn began to glow with a purple fury. I was lifted from the ground and slammed back into the pillar to which I had originally been bound with a loud crack, the impact knocking the very air from my lungs. "Where is Shining Armor!?"

My breathlessness prevented a response, and I soon found my back slamming into the rock once again, with even greater force. "Where did he go!?"

"Enough!" A dark hoof appeared on Instar's shoulder, drawing her attention behind herself and away from me. I dropped to the ground like a stone, coughing madly as the bugs argued with each other.

"Don't you dare lay hooves on me again!"

"You'll kill him, you fool! He and Shining Armor were escaping, and I found the pair on the way out of the caves. I fed off the weakling to stop Shining, but he proved too much for me. He got away, but I managed to subdue the little prince," Chrysalis lied with an expert poker face. Instar searched her mother's eyes for any sign of deceit... before turning to look at mine.

I froze again with fear, knowing that I was normally a terrible liar, and bluffing was far from my strong suit. I cleared my mind as best I could, focusing only on the idea, the need to support Chrysalis' story. If I didn't, if I couldn't manage to convince that evil bitch, both of us would die, then and there. I steeled myself and returned her gaze, finally in control of my breaths once again.

"...i-it's true... Shining... Shining is on his way back to Canterlot. He'll stop you. He'll save me."

Instar narrowed her eyes, a look of barely restrained rage sweeping across her face. "Not if he can't find us. Mother," she stated with a tone just daring the elder queen to question her. Chrysalis looked to Instar, ready and waiting for her orders. "Guard this cave. Slaughter any foolish enough to enter." Chrysalis nodded, while lazily twirling a lock of her mane around her socketed hoof.

"And what of the little prince? Are you going to kill him?"

Instar turned to me, her gaze softening, if just a bit. "Why would I break a toy that has provided me with so much entertainment? No. For now, he lives. Besides... if Shining has made it back to Canterlot... I'll need him to continue the plan."

"Of course," Chrysalis replied, moving to sit back at the fire pit.

"Mother? One more thing..." Instar walked over, pressing her lips to the former queen's ear. "I don't trust you. I think you're involved... but I also think you're smarter than that. If I do find out that you've helped either of them, I'll fucking murder you myself. Are we clear?" she finished sweetly.

"...crystal. Get going, before the guards make it here."

"That's the plan." Instar looked over her shoulder to me, where I lay still stunned and trying to process the exchange. "Can you walk?"

"I... I don't know," I answered honestly.

"Well, you'd better figure it out. If you can't keep up, I'll give you reason to." Instar made her way toward the mouth of a tunnel, before disappearing behind the first bend with an high-pitched, cascading laugh that caused my skin to crawl. I could have tried to run. I could have begged Chrysalis for help, and hoped against hope that the elder changeling could still win in a fight against her daughter. I didn't dare.

Slowly and painfully, I got to my hooves and began limping toward the tunnel Instar had taken. As I pressed my hoof against the rocky wall for support, a voice from behind echoed softly toward my ears.

"...good luck."

I looked over my shoulder, catching Chrysalis' tired eyes and watching the flames reflect within them. It was odd, seeing an honest, encouraging look from a changeling.

"...you too," I replied, before pushing myself forward to go and find my captor.