“Mother… Mother, no, please!”

Crypsis struggled against her bonds, a fly trapped in a spider web of chains, as Shining screamed again, the sound ringing in her ears long after it actually stopped. Tears ran down her muzzle, dripping rhythmically on the floor as she dangled. Her shackles dug into her ankles and neck, the steel burning against her skin. Her eyes were screwed shut, unable to look anymore.

There was the sound of metal clattering to the floor. “You’ve been far too wild for far too long,” said the ethereal voice of her mother, dripping with sickening sweetness like poisoned honey. “You need to learn to not be so attached to your food. It’s not healthy.”

“Please, Mother, I’ll do anything you want,” Crypsis pleaded, hyperventilating with heavy, panting breaths, her mind wild with fear. “Just stop hurting him, please!”

“It’s just a pony, dearest,” her mother hummed as a new instrument was chosen, metal scraping against metal. “A fickle beast easily controlled with a little hypnosis. And this one had the audacity to seduce you, corrupt you, make you disobey me. That’s a crime I simply can’t abide!”

There was a sickening squelch and another scream. Crypsis’ stomach turned and heart screamed along with him.

“He’s my husband! I love him, Mother!” she shrieked. “Please, please stop!”

“Not until you’ve both learned your lesson, honey,” her mother hissed softly. “Now please stop shouting. I don’t mind the beast here screaming, but I raised you to take your punishments like a big girl.”

“No!”

Somehow, despite her closed eyes, she saw a blue mist swirl into her vision. “So this is what you’ve been dreaming about,” said the mist, the voice all too familiar.

“Luna?” Crypsis managed to choke out. “What’re you…?” As the mistress of the night formed in her mind, it finally clicked. “This… this is only a dream.” She struggled against her chains, their weight lifted by pure relief flowing through her. “I must’ve fallen asleep! Oh thank sweet Celestia, it’s only a dream!”

“A nightmare,” Luna said simply as her horn glowed. There was a burst of light, and gone were the chains, her murderous mother, and her hurting husband, leaving the two mares in the hive’s torture chamber. Black chitin lined the walls and floors, with green, bioluminescent growths as the only source of light. “And quite a telling one, at that.”

Crypsis rubbed her neck, the burn of her steel collar still there, as she looked up at the alicorn. “Telling?” she rasped. “Telling how?”

“About what you fear most this night,” Luna said as she sat down, eyes on Crypsis like a hawk. “To be honest, I expected something selfish, like retribution against you from myself, the other royals, your husband, your own family… but this was a surprise.”

Crypsis lowered her head, hiding behind her pink mane. “I thought you knew me better than that, Luna.”

“I knew Cadance better than that,” Luna said, voice betraying a wellspring of anger. “You are a stranger to me, changeling.”

“Crypsis,” she said softly, lowering her head further. “My name is Crypsis.”

“Whatever your wretch of a mother named you, you are certainly a stranger to me now,” Luna snapped. “I thought I knew you, certainly, but I never expected my friend to be a traitor!”

Crypsis recoiled from the alicorn’s brewing wrath. “I’m sorry,” was all she could say as the tears fell anew. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for lying to you. I’ll understand if you’ll never forgive me.”

There was a few seconds of silence before Luna let out a sigh. “That said,” she started, the enraged edge to her voice dulled, “I’m the last mare in the world that can throw stones when it comes to making bad decisions. Mine almost ended all life on the planet as we know it. In comparison, treason might as well be a foal stealing sweets.”

Through her sobs, Crypsis worked up the courage to raise her head. Her eyes found Luna wearing a sad smile, a foreleg extended in an offered embrace. “You… you really mean it?” she asked weakly.

Luna nodded, her face cast in shadows from the dim, green lights. “I do. Shining’s letter was disjointed and distressed, but he told us the major details. It was brave of you to defy your mother and your family to do what you felt was right. One of the bravest things I’ve seen in a long while.”

“I…” Crypsis shook her head and dove into Luna’s forelegs, happily accepting the embrace. The alicorn’s grip was soft and tight, the changeling’s chitin warmed by her fur and the changeling’s heart warmed by the gesture. “Thank you. I-I’ve had no idea what to do, what if I did was right, if I completely ruined everything or not, and, I… thank you!”

Luna leaned down and nuzzled her mane, wiping Crypsis’ tears away with a hoof. “However,” she said, a dreaded word, “your decision to commit suicide thereafter was heinous.”

Crypsis shrank in the alicorn’s grip. “I know… I know. I need to face the music, not just run away. I’ve done horrible things, and I deserve to-”

Luna put her hoof on Crypsis’ lips. She pulled away a little, tears running down her own face as she said, “No, because you’re my friend, you foolish, foolish mare. As bad as affairs are at the moment, they can be remedied. Changeling or no, I would never forgive myself if I lost you over this, or anything else.”

Crypsis avoided eye contact, trying to pull away from the hug as if it burned. “Luna, I almost doomed the country. No, not just that, I almost doomed two countries to enslavement! I don’t deserve your friendship, or anyone else’s.”

Luna just held her tighter, laying her head on Crypsis’ neck. “And thankfully such things aren’t up to you, Cadance… Crypsis. You need a friend more than ever in these dark times, and I’m more than willing to provide.”

Crypsis paused, pondering as her own tears fell into Luna’s coat, before finally returning the hug. “Thank you, Luna. I… I can’t even begin to thank you properly, but thank you so much.”

“Make no mistake, I am very angry with you,” Luna said through gritted teeth, “but in the end, I still love you. I think the others, even Shining, will come to that same conclusion. Just give it time.”

Crypsis shook her head and pulled away to look Luna in the eye. “I don’t think we have time, Luna. Mother won’t take this lying down. Shining and I are targets now, and there’s nobody we can trust besides you and the other alicorns. Anybody in both your courts and mine could be one of my siblings.”

“But you don’t know who,” Luna said with a raised brow.

Crypsis shook her head. “No, I don’t. I only have info on my own branch, and they’ve decided to stay neutral, for now. The only changeling that knows everyone’s positions is, well, Mother herself. Unless we have a plan, we’re sunk sooner or later.”

“Sister and I have been discussing courses of action. She thinks that we should offer asylum to any and all changelings that wish to defect from your mother’s empire,” Luna explained, stroking Crypsis’ back gently. “You can’t be the only one that feels the way you do about Chrysalis, it’d provide us with valuable intel from a wide range of regions, and we could use them for counter-intelligence work.”

Crypsis paused and hummed, thinking it over. “I’m not the only one, I know that. But don’t expect a huge turnout; most of my siblings are either fiercely loyal to Mother, or absolutely terrified of her. And even then, you’ll only get drones. My high-born sisters would never dream of betraying an empire that suites them so well,” she spat with a hiss.

“Still, it would be a start. And then there’s the matter of finding Cadance. Even if we do find her, we have no way of knowing if it’s another fake. We’ve decided that once you arrive in Canterlot, we’ll put Twilight to the task of devising a means to dispel changeling disguises.” Luna paused and added, hesitation clear, “Once Twilight calms down, that is.”

Crypsis let out a worried little chitter, her wings humming. “How is she taking the news…?”

“Not well,” Luna sighed, ears flat. “She at first was disbelieving, but has since flown into a grief-stricken rage. We’re hoping she settles down by the time you arrive.”

Crypsis stared into space, her wings lightly buzzing as she thought. “This… this is going to take years to fix… isn’t it?” she asked, voice soft and afraid.

“Perhaps even decades,” Luna answered, nuzzling her muzzle against the changeling’s.

“I was afraid of that,” Crypsis mumbled, weakly returning the gesture.

Luna looked down at the younger mare with concern in her eyes and asked, “Cadance… Crypsis… how do you see this whole affair ending?”

Crypsis’ wings hummed again, and she took in a deep breath. “With Shining filing for divorce… and my mother in jail, or me in a casket.”

“You really think she’d kill you if we don’t stop her?” Luna asked gently.

“No. But if she takes me away from Shining, from you, from everyone else… if she locks me in the hive… I won’t hesitate to end it.” She looked up at Luna with placid, resolute eyes. “I’d have nothing left, anyway.”

Luna held her close once more, draping her neck and head over the smaller mare. “Please don’t say things like that. If your mother does steal you from us, we’ll save you. I promise.”

Crypsis found no words to say as she relaxed in Luna’s embrace, her ears drinking in the larger mare’s soft breathing as she basked in the warmth of the alicorn’s fur. She couldn’t tell if moments or minutes of silence followed between the two. It hardly mattered. It was still a while before she said, “Luna?”

“Yes?”

“Could you… please not leave? Until I wake up, anyway,” she asked with a shiver. “I really don’t want to dream again.”

“Whatever you desire,” Luna answered. She gently draped her wings around the changeling dreamer, and the two friends sat together in the comfort of silence and stillness until the waking world once again beckoned.

Author's Notes:

With eternal lateness, I apologize for the huge gap between chapters. My muse is a fickle, flighty thing, and it didn't feel like working with me on this story for the longest time. Coupled with being paralyzed by fear that my writing may be getting worse, and you get one very frustrated writer. I'm still afraid that this continuation can't capture the power of the original one-shot, but many of you wanted more and I am still seeking to provide. I just hope it's good enough.