Ripples [SFWish (don't read this shit at work, idiot)]

Sequel to http://pastebin.com/uv0GkWWq


>You wake up, yawning
>You swing your feet out of bed, standing up on the soft carpet
>Suddenly, you realize what day it is
>"One down. Three to go."
>You shower and dress yourself
>You can't believe it's been a whole month
>Really, it wasn't that bad
>The magical experiences were actually pretty interesting
>You'd learned that your immunity to magic was permissive (that is, it didn't turn on for harmful magic, it was on all the time and only stopped itself for magic that would help you)
>You also learned all sorts of weird physical quirks you had
>Like the fact that you could glow in the dark
>That was kind of sick
>In fact, everything was going pretty well
>Well
>Except for the nasty headaches you had for the past week
>And the near-constant nightmares
>Those both sucked
>But they had to pass in time
>You flutter down the hallway, wings buzzing behind you
>You smile at the guard as you cross into the kitchen, already beginning to get stuff out of the fridge with your magic
>In no time at all, you're sitting in front of a nice bowl of cereal
>You take a bite, thumbing at your temple with one hand
>Jesus Christ, your head hurt
>You try to ignore it as you read your itinerary for the day
>Magic training with Twilight
>Therapy with Professor Frontal Lobe
>Nothing really unusual
>You get up to go to your first session
>As you progress through your day, your headache gets progressively worse
>It's fucking impossible to concentrate on Cadence's inquiries into how Changeling love-feeding works
>You normally have an hour of free-time before you're allowed to sleep
>Typically, you read during it
>Today, though, you just go to sleep
>Your head hurts too bad to do anything else
>You pass out as soon as your head hits the pillow
>You wake up, head still fuzzy, but not hurting any more
>You open your eyes
>Wait-
>That's-
>You sit up with a start
>You don't have a stone ceiling
>Especially not that kind of stone
>You look down
>You've naked, and there's no covers on you
>You appear to be on a stone floor
>You can feel your heart start to race
>There's-
>There's no way you got kidnapped again
>You would have woken up
>Right?
>Or maybe you got drugged so you wouldn't wake up
>Well, if that's the case, Chrysalis had another fucking thing coming to her
>"Mmmm..."
>You freeze
>That was her voice
>But...
>You suddenly become aware of warmth on your leg
>Holding your breath, you look over
>Chrysalis is there, next to you
>splayed across the floor
>Her leg across yours
>"HEY!"
>You grab her with magic, waking her instantly
>She looks just as confused as you, but you don't care
>You jump on top of her
>"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO ME?"
>"I- I don't know!"
>"NO, NO, YOU DID SOMETHING TO-"
>Fuck
>Her face
>Her eyes
>She's so scared of you...
>You release your magical grip and stagger to a wall, leaning against it
>She stands up, curiously
>"I... Can you remember last night?"
>Your head makes small shaking motions, rapidly
>You can't focus on her, so you stare at the wall instead
>Chrysalis stays a distance away from you
>"I just... I remember having a headache. Then you appeared, and... Everything goes black."
>"I appeared?"
>"Yes."
>"You're lying."
>You blink a few times, trying to steady yourself
>Fuck!
>There's no way Celestia is going to let you-
>"I'm not, Anonymous. Trust me, I'd rather not have just woken up next to my greatest enemy."
>You swallow and nod
>"Feeling's mutual."
>The room is totally silent except the sound of your heavy breathing for a minute
>"So...."
>You glance up at her
>"You do know that there is one logical explanation for this, correct?"
>You feel like you're going to puke
>"It-"
>You resist the urge to fling her against the room
>"It's not possible."
>"Well. Let's look at the evidence."
>She takes a step towards you
>"You called yourself a 'king,' right?"
>You nod
>"And I am a queen. And we have both woken up next to each other. And you are naked."
>You grab your forehead with a hand
>"I... That's..."
>You slide down the wall, moving into a sitting position
>You hear her hooves on stone as she trots up to you
>You feel the touch of her chitin on yours as she sits next to you
>"Hard to believe that either of us could make such a bad decision. Although..."
>She makes a small "Hmph" of laughter
>"I don't think it was really a choice for either of us."
>You draw your head out of your hands, looking up
>"How the fuck does Changeling mating even work?"
>"You tell me."
>You rotate your head towards her, raising an eyebrow
>"I mean, I certainly know how drone-producing mating works. There's a whole room full of my egg pods a few floors beneath us."
>Your eyes revolve to the upper-left corner of their sockets as you fact-check her with magic
>Yeah
>Holy shit, there's like a hundred and fifty of them
>Thank god your gender hadn't changed
>Having to lay all those fucking eggs... Jesus
>"But royal mating? Well, that could take any form."
>"I swear to god, if Changelings are part seahorse..."
>You let your voice trail off
>"No. Nothing like that. I just don't know the physical process."
>"Do you know the..."
>You since as you say the word
>"Results?"
>"Between us?"
>Her horn lights up, as does her abdomen
>"Nothing. Apparently. It's a magical process, and having a kid through me would be harmful to you, apparently."
>Yeah
>She could fucking say that again
>"Although... I do fear for your reput..."
>Her voice trails off as her mouth closes
>"Go ahead. You already ruined my life twice."
>"No. There's no fun in it. Not anymore."
>"Hm?"
>"Anonymous. If we did it, we can't be the only Changelings to do so. That particular aspect of the hivemind extends even beyond a hive."
>You adjust your legs
>"What do you mean?"
>"I mean that every other royal Changeling pair mated last night. And they probably conceived."
>She actually sounds... Sad?
>"If you think I'm bad, they're worse. I care for my drones. To an extent, at least. They use them as canon fodder. I convert ponies, or keep them in pods. They drain them."
>You roll your eyes
>"Yeah, you're the good guy here."
>"Compared to them, I am. Even I couldn't-- Couldn't agree with their methods. Which is why I'm here, so close to Equestria."
>You raise an eyebrow
>"I was banished, for rebelling against the hive. In the very early days of my existence. I've had to scrape out a living here, without a mate, ever since."
>Something tells you that she's telling the truth
>"Maybe that's what caused us to stop mating. I didn't have a mate."
>"So... They banish you. Everybody stops fucking. Then I get created, giving you a mate..."
>The picture starts to form in your head
>"And we all get a primal urge to fuck again. So we fuck, against our will. And they fuck too."
>She nods
>"Unfortunately."
>"Okay. Fine. So... What happens now?"
>Chrysalis laughs
>"Oh, nothing good. You'll probably survive, as you said, but I'm done for."
>"Why?"
>"Anonymous. I am one of eight hives."
>You start to get a familiar "oh shit" feeling
>"The other seven exist mostly underground, on the other side of this planet. They stay hidden, mostly. But now..."
>She leans back, relaxing on the floor
>"Well, now they've mated. They're at the height of their power. A Changeling who is pregnant with an heir has their egg production rate tripled, and their offspring far surpasses normal drones in power."
>She rolls over, onto her back
>"So they're going to build an army, take over the world, and then destroy my hive, since there's no place left to banish me. Best case scenario, they kill me. More likely, I'm kept as a broodmare. I get drugged and produce eggs for them, non-stop, until I die of exhaustion."
>You grimace
>Not even she deserved that
>"And... The Equestrians?"
>"Dead. Well, not really 'dead', so much. But drained. I'm assuming you know what that does, since you can do it yourself, right?"
>Flashes of nightmares flood your vision
>"Yeah."
>"They'll work their way up. Celestia will probably put up a good fight, but she can't stop the swarm. Nothing can."
>She stretches out, still looking completely relaxed
>She's resigned to her fate already
>"I think I'll kill myself, actually. Better than being a fucking broodmare."
>"No!"
>You stand up
>"No! No, you're not. We can go to Celestia, we can-"
>Chrysalis laughs
>"She's not going to believe you! She's definitely not going to believe me!"
>"But-"
>Fuck
>She's right
>"Remember when you said I made a mistake by making you?"
>You nod
>"Well, you were correct. We both just screwed the entire world."
>"Come on. There has to be something..."
>"Yeah. There is. We wait until the swarm rises, then we commit suicide. Or, at least, I do. You can do as you wish, but I can only image what horrible tortures they'll have for you. I bet they'll vivisect you."
>You start to pace
>"Come on, Chrysalis. I might not, well, like you, but I think we have a common enemy here. We can't just-- We can't just let this happen!"
>"No, we can. It's the only thing we CAN do."
>She stretches again, splaying her legs in the air
>You quickly look away
>"You can't get back to your friends, of course. After this there's no way in hell they'll let you back in Equestria."
>You should be crying
>Or screaming at her
>Telling her that she's lying
>That the power of friendship will overcome it
>Or some shit
>Right?
>But you can't
>You just feel hollow
>As if you, yourself, have been drained
>That many Changelings...
>Fuck, just Chrysalis gave Equestria enough trouble
>They didn't stand a chance
>"I mean... Wait a minute."
>You turn back to her, trying to ignore how suggestively she's posed
>"If they drain everybody, where are they going to get their food from?"
>Chrysalis shrugs
>"Nowhere, probably. They'll just die off."
>"But-"
>"My relatives aren't very good at foresight. I mean, maybe with that much power they can do some inter-universal travel. So you might have just screwed your own world, as well."
>You snort
>"Yeah. I'm not worried about that."
>"Why? What could a bunch of useless apes with no magic do against a swarm of powerful Changelings?"
>"Look. You don't know humans. If they try to fuck with Earth, they're all dead. Every single fucking one of them. We're extremely good at dealing with large crowds of enemies."
>You can't help but smile at the thought of nuclear bombs laying waste to the hordes that are going to kill your friends
>It was a phyric victory
>Because, you know, they were still going to kill all your fucking friends
>In the most horrible way possible
>But at least they were going to fucking die for their sins
>"Even so, Anonymous. They are going to take this world."
>Her hoof traces little circles around her chest
>"We just need to wait for it to happen. I mean, last I heard, your friends are forcing you to live in a special quarantine room, so it's not like you're losing much."
>"No. No, I really am."
>"You don't look like it."
>"I can't. It's not really possible to show the utter despair I feel. Fuck. I can't even really feel it. I can sense that you're not lying. Somehow."
>"Hivemind."
>You sadly smile, then sit down again
>"It's too much, y'know? I'm losing all of them, Chrysalis. All my friends. And they're going to think it's my fault that they're dying."
>You shake your head
>"That's the worst possible thing I can possibly think of."
>"Hm."
>She continues to lay there on the floor, relaxing
>"Friendship... You still cling to it, don't you?"
>"Yeah."
>"Strange, in your current circumstance."
>"It's all I have left."
>She licks her lips, but not suggestively
>Contemplatively, almost
>"Hmmm..."
>You put an arm behind your head and roll onto your side
>"Well. I can't go back there, so I'm staying here."
>It's not a request
>"I'm going to get some sleep. Wake me, and suffer the consequences."
>You close your eyes
>You're not actually going to sleep, of course
>No way in hell you can sleep
>But you can lay there
>Eyes closed
>Thinking
>After some impossible-to-determine amount of time, you feel a new sensation
>Something besides the cold, stone floor
>Something warm
>You mentally prepare yourself to blast the treacherous bug into next week
>But she doesn't
>You feel her curl up next to you
>She doesn't make a noise as she does so
>You don't know her motives
>But you decide to let her stay