15-Proffered Assistance

Chrysalis stared intently. She sat behind Daedalus, her muzzle an inch from resting on his shoulder. Her slitted eyes were wide, showing interest in what the virus was doing. Daedalus, for the most part, was content to let her watch. He was doing nothing other than deciding the exterior shape of the plants before he created the inner workings.

"Any input, Chrysalis?" He directed behind him. "I'm just designing the aesthetics right now. Afterwards, I'll make the inner workings."

She leans forward, her muzzle brushing against his ear as she talked. "Something heart-shaped. It produces love so it must have at least one heart on it."

Daedalus twisted his body and looked at her. Chrysalis' eyes met his and a frown flashed across her muzzle. "What?"

He just chuckled. "Nothing."

Daedalus turned back and extended his tendrils, forming a small pillar, about six inches high. It slowly coalesced into a unique shape. Several small trunks spiraled from the ground and twisted together, forming a small, leafy bush on top. Half a dozen flowers sprouted from the bush. Each had three heart-shaped pink petals and gold coloring around the flower itself.

"How does that look, Chrysalis?" He asked. For a moment, he didn't receive a reply so he turned and looked back again.

Her eyes were wide, her lips slightly parted in shock. Emotions flashed in her eyes; joy, shocked awe, and disbelief. Daedalus snapped his fingers by her ear and she flinched away. He repeated his question, a small smile on his face.

"That's it?" Chrysalis asked. Daedalus frowned lightly but she continued. "That's how simple it is? It's that simple to stop our starvation?"

Daedalus stood, drawing her attention. He shook his head at her and replied. "No. That is the first attempt. The ones that will feed your Hive will be bigger and stronger. I also need to code them to produce love. Right now, that flower is just for looks."

Daedalus reached out toward it to destroy it only to be stopped by a green aura coating his arm. "No!"

He glanced at Chrysalis questioningly and she blushed lightly before elaborating. "Let me keep it."

Daedalus nodded. She let go of his arm and the picked up the flowered plant. He held it out to her and she accepted it with her magic, her blush only darkening. She summoned a small pot filled with dirt and planted it. Then she teleported it away.

"Come, let's walk." Chrysalis said as she exited the small cavern they were in. Daedalus followed her, his long strides keeping up rather effectively. As they walked through the tunnels, small mushrooms on the walls provided a blue light. Even smaller lights drifted though the air, each one glowing a bluish-green.

Chrysalis noticed him staring at the lights and smirked. "They are spores. The mushrooms, we call them Nature's Glow, release an almost continuous stream of them whenever the air is disturbed. Our passage is the only thing that stirs the air so far underground, so the spores only drift when somepony is walking down the tunnels."

Daedalus held out his hand and watched one of the spores drift onto it. It was small yet emitted a bright glow. The veritable hundreds that filled the tunnel produced a light bright enough to mimic daylight, if not for the altered coloring. "Ponies think a Changeling Hive is slimy, dark, and disgusting."

Chrysalis frowned as she turned away, thinking Daedalus believed it too. He continued, though. "Truth is, this place is beautiful."

Chrysalis' head slowly drifted back and looked at him. "Really? You think so?"

He smiled and nodded. "I know it. The ethereal glow, the nature, even the architecture. This place is one-of-a-kind. Nothing like it exists anywhere on the surface."

Daedalus' smile deepened. "Be proud of what you've built. Be proud of what Changelings have done. Other races can't understand, but you have done so much more than them."

Chrysalis smiled lightly, her eyes watering over making her face sparkle as light reflected off the tears. She stepped forward and reared up, her forelegs wrapping around his shoulders. She buried her muzzle into the crook of his neck, her tears lightly wetting the area.

Daedalus wrapped his arms around her and leaned against the wall. He knew how much what he said meant. He believed it all, too. Changelings, or at least the Sapphire Hive, have built an entire city underground, all the while being hated and hunted by ponies and gryphons alike. He was impressed by them. The level of tenacity and ingenuity rivals even that of humanity.

What broke the peaceful silence was not speech, nor the sounds of tears. Rather, it was the sound of Chrysalis' stomach rumbling that made Daedalus laugh. She dropped down from his shoulders, her cheeks tinted green. The virus calmed himself and smiled down at Chrysalis who gave him a hopeful look in reply.

Daedalus sighed but nodded, prompting a smile from the Queen. He sat down and cannibalized his cells, synthesizing more love. He held his arm out to Chrysalis and she lightly bit it. Her fangs dug into his skin, but not enough to hurt or to pierce it.

He watched in unmitigated interest as a pink mist flowed from his skin into her mouth. Daedalus focused on the region around her fangs. He could sense the chemicals of love being physically drawn to the location, almost as if by magnetism. There, the liquids were drawn to his skin where they were heated, converted into gas, and inhaled by the Changeling. All that was left was a warm feeling that was focused on his arm and slowly spread though him.

After a long moment, she let go and pulled back, her lips and fangs tinted pink. She leaned forward and nuzzled his chest, to his surprise, and whispered. "Thank you."

"No problem, Chryssi." Daedalus said without thinking.

Her head pulled back, surprised. "Chryssi?"

He blinks, realizing what he said. "Sorry. It's a habit from long ago. I'll make sure not to call you that."

Chrysalis is silent for a moment, seemingly thinking something over. Then she speaks with lightly tinted cheeks. "No, it's fine. You can call me that. I just wasn't expecting that, Daedi."

Then she makes a face as if she tasted something bitter. The two were silent for a moment before they both broke out laughing. Chrysalis leaned over against Daedalus, who paid no mind to it. After a short moment, the two calmed and Daedalus spoke.

"Jay." He said simply. Chrysalis looked at him questioningly and he continued. "My real name; it's Jay."

She smiled up at him, her green eyes meeting his icy blue ones. "Then I'm calling you Jay."

"That's perfect, Chryssi." Daedalus said right before she yawned. She snuggled her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Really? Right in the middle of a random tunnel?" Daedalus asked.

"Mmhmm." She replied. Moments later, her breathing and heartbeat slowed and he knew she fell asleep. He smiled, his eyes drifting across the tunnel walls. Their breath stirred the air and as the virus watched the mesmerizing lights, he fell asleep.

"Good night, Daedalus!" A cheerful voice chirped out as the world slowly came into view around him. He was seated in his old laboratory, unfinished devices sitting all around him.

Across the room, closely examining one of the whiteboards was Luna. She was studying the equations, which she soon abandoned and turned to face him with a smile.

"Hello, Luna. It's good to see you." He replied, standing up.

"It's good to see you, too. How goes the peace mission? How much trouble has Chrysalis given you?"

Daedalus lifted an old crystal, remembering when he used it to separate photons. "None. She's been cooperative and happy I was there."

The midnight alicorn seemed surprised. "Truly? I expected her to be problematic."

He set it down, shaking his head. "She's done nothing of the sort."

Luna came over and lied across the table on her back with her hooves folded above her. Her tail, thankfully, blocked any unwanted views as she stared at him with a smile. "So what is this place?"

"The laboratory I used to work at before my infection." He explained. "It was a small, privately funded company focused on understanding the secrets of physics. I worked here for eleven years, maybe."

Luna glanced over to her side seeing a strange sight. A long tube ran across the wall, disappearing behind it at both corners. She pointed a hoof at it. "What's that?"

Daedalus glanced at it, then answered. "The shortest particle accelerator ever made. We would take two atoms, speed them up to near the speed of light, and make them collide. We would study the results and discover new particles and learn more about the ones we already discovered. Although, the real one didn't run through my workplace."

He looked around at all the tables, cabinets, and shelves scattered throughout the room. "In fact, this place is loaded with memories of mine. Each object you see is a memento from a different experiment, whether failed or successful."

The virus walked over to one of the tables and lifted a stack of papers, reading it with a chuckle. The alicorn rolled off of the table and approached Daedalus from behind. She reared up and set her hooves on his shoulders and looked over his shoulder at the paper. "What experiment is that from?"

"It wasn't an experiment. It's an old theory I made when I was 17. It was unproven for a decade and a half until I proved it wrong." He explained.

"You proved your own theory wrong?" Luna asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I never cared about being right. I wanted facts, even if it meant I was wrong."

"That's a rare outlook for scientists, Daedalus." Luna comments, impressed.

"Maybe, but not where I worked. We all thought alike and tried to prove each other right or wrong. There was no sense of competition here. We proved each other wrong, or right, consistently and no one was ever bothered. If anything, we were thankful."

"Thankful? Why?" Luna questioned incredulously.

"Because we were taught where we messed up. It let us fix our mistakes and get that much closer to the truth." Daedalus answered.

He set the paper down and looked around. "This place brings back so many memories."

Luna nodded. "Sometimes, memories are all we have-"

The dream shattered as the laboratory collapsed in on itself. Luna was expelled from his dream as Daedalus fell into a black, star-filled void.

Daedalus jerked awake. His forehead slammed into something and he fell back, dazed and weakened by the abrupt change. His hearing slowly returned to hear someone groaning in pain. He opened his eyes and saw Chrysalis on the ground with her hooves on her head as a small trickle of green blood trailed down her face.

"Shit, Chryssi, I'm sorry." Daedalus said as he sat up and reached for her. "Move your hooves so I can heal it."

She nodded and took her hooves away. He winced at the obvious crack in her chitin that was leaking green blood. It was right above her eyes and she kept having to blink in order to keep her left eye clear.

Daedalus reached out and placed his hand on her forehead, right below her horn and right on the cut before it dissolved into a mass of writhing matter. Several tendrils absorbed the blood while others administered a weak anesthesia to stop the pain. Others still healed the wound by recreating her cells and removing all traces of Blacklight from it.

His hand solidified again and he pulled it away. Chrysalis felt her forehead and sighed. "What the buck was that for, Jay?"

"Sorry," He started, running his hand through his hair. "I was speaking to Luna and something woke me up. Apparently, being woken from a lucid dream is a lot more jarring than a normal one."

She snorted. "Apparently. You shot up and head-butted me. Is your skull made of steel or something?"

"Or something." Daedalus agreed. "My skin is dense, making it harder than steel. I don't actually have a skull."

"Right. Virus." Chrysalis said slowly.

"It bothers you, doesn't it?" Daedalus asked.

"No!" She exclaimed, then added. "It just takes a bit to get used to it. You are literally the only one in the world like that."

"Fair enough." Daedalus says. "In any case, were you what woke me?"

She rolls her eyes. "No, Jay, another Changeling that slept beside you did."

He chuckles and stands. "Good answer. Why'd you wake me?"

"We slept for several hours and I now need to hold morning Court. Are you going to accompany me or further develop the flowers?" She asked simply.

"I'll work more on the flowers. I'm not a fan of anything political, even if my old job had to deal with it anyway." Daedalus says.

"Very well." Chrysalis says with a flash of disappointment. "I'll call one of my guards to lead you to a large cavern where you'll be free to work."

Daedalus thought for a second. Then he spoke with a mischievous smile. "Holding Court must be boring. It'll likely be more bearable if you had someone there to speak with in between sessions. It would be beneficial of me to keep you happy, wouldn't it?"

She returned his smile brightly. "Yes, and a happy Queen would make your job here much more bearable."

Daedalus nodded with a chuckle. "I guess I have to go with you, then."

He walks past Chrysalis who takes the chance to nuzzle his shoulder. "Thank you, Jay."

Daedalus stops and looks back with a smile. "Come on, Chryssi. What are you waiting for?"

She laughs and trots over. "I'm going to teleport us there. Be ready."

Her horn lit up with green light before the pair vanished in a flash of magic. They reappeared in a large room with the same flash. Daedalus quickly examined the room with a few glances. Large stone columns lined the walls while the entrance had no door, just a large arch covered in the green gel he had seen before. The roof was nonexistent, letting Daedalus look up and see Chrysalis' home far above him. Blue mushrooms, the same as the ones in the tunnel, grew along the walls and columns as well as one large one behind the throne. Several Changelings, each with thick chitin armor, stood guard at the entrance arch and around the room.

He turned to Chrysalis to see her sitting on a throne made of onyx and sapphire. Unlike Celestia's, which was full of gentle slopes and slow turns, Chrysalis' had hard edges and sharp corners. It showed her preference of strength over compassion, a preference Daedalus agreed with.

Chrysalis smiled and gestured beside her throne as she summoned a cushioned chair there. Daedalus walked over and took a seat beside her. "So how exactly does this work?"

"Changelings come in before me and speak. Generally, they only ask for advice or a request, but sometimes there's a dispute. In that case, I review facts with our Hive Mind, which stores all of our memories, and either make a suggestion or, if needed, an order. I try not to order anyling, though." Chrysalis explained.

Daedalus smiled. "That's an admirable trait, Chryssi."

She returned his smile with her own warm one. "Thank you, Jay."

The she raised her voice as she addressed the guards by the arch. "Let the first petitioner in!"

The guard nodded and tapped on the gel, which quivered in a way reminding of Jell-O. Daedalus suspected another guard outside saw this and spoke as soon after another Changeling entered.

The first Changeling entered. He was the same as most of what he's seen, bald, tattered wings, jagged horn, blue eyes with no iris, and plenty of leg holes. The equine entered slowly, glancing nervously at Daedalus. He, in turn, smiled and looked at Chrysalis. He seemed to relax a little and approached the throne with more ease, but also a small amount of reverence.

"How may I help you?" Chrysalis asked with kindness equal to any other ruler.

"The recent tremors have collapsed several more tunnel systems, Your Majesty." The Changeling said.

A worried frown creased Chrysalis' face as she looked at him. "Was anyling injured in the collapse? I hope not."

He shook his head, much to her relief. "No, Your Majesty. However, my family as well as two others have lost our homes and belongings to the collapse. I beg you for help until the tunnels are excavated again."

Chrysalis nodded, a small smile surfacing. "Of course. Your family as well as the other two may stay in the emergency housing in the city. You may remain there until your homes are finished."

The Changeling smiled widely, happiness radiating from him. "Thank you, Your Majesty! I'll be sure to tell the others!"

He quickly left the room and soon after another Changeling entered. This one was larger, yet still not as large as Chrysalis. He, too, had hair as well as actual irises, even if they were slitted. He approached the throne slowly, his walk betraying his age as Daedalus realized he had to have been at least fifty, maybe sixty.

"Do you have something to report, Vyramir?" Queen Chrysalis asked her subject with equal parts kindness and royal tone.

The Changeling, named Vyramir, Daedalus now knew, nodded his head and spoke slowly. "Yes, my Queen. Two hundred more Changelings have been buried. The proper rites have been preformed and their souls have been sent into the next life."

Chrysalis nodded, all royal pretense abandoned. She stared at the Changeling she had likely known since his birth sadly, pain clear in her eyes. As he saw this, a horrible thought struck Daedalus. Changelings were starving to death every day. Every few hours, a mother lost her daughter, a father lost his son, or a child lost their parents. Daedalus, the one being with the power to fix this problem, was doing nothing to help as he watched Queen Chrysalis holding court.

Daedalus stood up and turned to Chrysalis. "Your Majesty, I request to be dismissed. I want to go work on the project I have in development.

Chrysalis nodded, slightly confused not only at his formal tone but also at the request itself, and spoke. "You may be dismissed, Daedalus. After Court is finished, I will come meet you. I trust you can find your way back?"

He nods and she continues. "Go ahead then."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Daedalus said with a formal head nod before turning and exiting the room. It didn't take him very long to find his way back to the cavern they were in before. He entered quickly, raising a viral wall across the entrance to prevent any unwanted visitors. Then, he turned and punched the wall hard. The stone cracked around his fist as small pebbles and dust particles fell to the floor.

Daedalus pulled his hand back, a flash of annoyance sparking through him causing him to groan loudly. Then he felt annoyed at being annoyed which only pissed him off. His emotions quickly descended into chaos as his feelings sparked more feelings. He felt his virus beginning to react aggressively to the emotions. When he realized it was about to force a kinetic evolution, he quickly began to force them under control.

Slowly, he brought himself under control. He forced the anger down, calming himself as his viral nature proved itself useful in wrestling his emotions into submission. Finally, after several minutes of bubbling anger, as well as physical bubbling as his skin shifted around, he fully calmed himself.

Then he sat against the wall and begun thinking. That should not have happened. I'm a virus, a non-living entity. I shouldn't have emotions, especially ones I can control. What changed?

Delving deep into his own genetics, Daedalus searched around for any differences, any changes. Methodically, he checked each gene of each chromosome. He found nothing. There was no out of place coding, no haywire cells, no faulty DNA. Instead, all he found was viral cells behaving normally, following commands put into place by his own unaltered code.

Then what sparked the uncontrollable emotions? Nothing changed in me so it had to be an outside force. Daedalus thought for a moment, reviewing his memories of the past few days. Chrysalis feeding off of me? Could that be the source? Further testing required. Until further notice, avoid emotional situations. Blacklight reacts violently to the presence of strong emotions.

The virus had no real clue if Chrysalis was purposely causing his changes. In fact, he had no real idea if it even was her that sparked the emotional change. Whatever it was, whatever caused it, it disturbed him greatly. He had gotten so used to having no real emotions that having them was unnatural, a forgotten feeling. He wanted them gone.

At the same time, though, normalcy was something he strived for. Truthfully, he enjoyed breathing, having a heartbeat and flowing blood. There was just something about feeling alive that he desired. These emotions only made him feel better than ever, far better than the blank emptiness and faked feelings that all Evolved deal with until they are consumed by another.

With a drawn out sigh, Daedalus decided to put aside his dilemma for now. He wanted to focus on helping Chrysalis. Whether he liked it or not, he wanted to see her smile. For now, that meant focusing purely on further the development of the flowers.

A rapid knocking on the viral wall ripped Daedalus from his concentration. With a single though, a small doorway appeared in the makeshift barrier and he felt someone pass through the entrance before he closed it again.

The presence moved through the room, stepping over and on viral matter as they waved their way closer to him. Eventually, they sat down beside him. Daedalus slowly became aware of a scent different from what he had grown used to; jasmine. He turned his head to the side to see Chrysalis seated beside him. She must have felt him looking as she looked over.

The virus felt a spark of joy as their eyes met before he wrestled the unprompted emotion down. He smiled at her, his tendrils still hard at work on the interior of the large flower. She returned it with a slightly disgruntled look before speaking. "Do you mind explaining to me why you left suddenly?"

Daedalus sighed, his tendrils retracting as he turned to fully face her. "Because of what Vyramir said."

When he received nothing more than a confused look in reply, he elaborated. "When he told you about the buried dead, a thought struck me. Every day, Changelings were dying. Whether by starvation, or disease, or injury, your subjects were dying. Then there was me, a being capable of fixing it all. What was I doing?"

He grunted and faced forward. "Absolutely nothing. Instead of working on making these flowers, or healing injuries, or anything else, I was sitting in a room, listening to politics. I couldn't believe how heartless I had been."

His gaze drifted over and looked the Queen is the eyes, tears beginning to form in his own. "How could I have been so heartless? So callous? How many Changelings have died because of my inaction?"

Chrysalis sighed before she reached up and gripped his shoulder. "You aren't heartless nor callous. You worked on this flower consistently, the only exception when we slept and when you attended Court for a short time. As for how many have died since you came here? None."

"What? How?" Daedalus asked, confused.

"When I first fed off of your love, I ate more than I needed to. The extra that I didn't need, I spread among my subjects. Then, last night, when I fed again, I did the same." Chrysalis explained.

His brows furrowed as he looked to her. "How much love does a Changeling need?"

She smiled. "Not much. An Infiltrator will always drain more than they need so they can send some back to the Hive. I did the same."

Daedalus returned the smile as a thought struck him. "Chrysalis, until I get these flowers fully formed and functional, I would like you to continue feeding from me to keep you and your Hive going. Is that acceptable?"

Her smile widened as she nodded. "Very much so."

Daedalus sighed in content relief as he formed more love and held his arm out for her. She leaned forward and latched on again, the same draining process belong performed again. This time, instead of simply creating a small amount of love for her to drain, he kept making more and more, ensuring she had a large supply.

The warm feeling spread up his arm and into his chest as she continued to drain him. Physically, a small headache began to form as the chemicals were forcefully taken from him. After he guessed she had devoured at least thirty time the previous amount of gaseous love, he cut the flow off and watched the mist fade.

Chrysalis let go and sat back, her muzzle and fangs fully pink. A slightly delirious look adorned her face as she swayed side to side. Her eyes stared out, seemingly seeing nothing before her horn quickly began glowing. Suddenly, he was knocked over on his back from a magical push. The delirious Queen quickly crawled onto him and lied down, her fangs latching onto his neck instinctively. Daedalus could feel her trying to drain more love there was no more in his system.

After nearly twenty minutes of having a large pony attached to his neck, he felt Chrysalis quickly let go with a gasp as she rolled away and spoke in supreme concern once she stopped. "Are you okay?"

"Of course, why?" Daedalus asked in confusion.

She stood and stepped over to him, quickly examining his neck before magically lifting his arm. She checked that too before glancing at his eyes. "I drank too much. I went love-mad."

Daedalus chuckled lightly at the name before calming and asking the question on his mind. "What is that?"

"It means I fed too much. The large intake of love made me lose my senses and I tried to take it all from you. Infiltrators have to take extensive training courses to prevent themselves from going mad with the love they taste." Chrysalis explained.

"Did you ever take those courses?" He asked in curiosity.

"I did, but we never trained to resist that much love. No living being is able to hold that much in them without going mentally insane. No living being can lose that much without dying, either. It was no wonder I lost control. Did you feel anything off when I was feeding?" She asked, concern painting her features.

Daedalus shrugged. "Not really. Just a warm feeling spreading across my arm and chest."

She tilted her head. "Warm feeling? That doesn't make sense. Why would you feel warm? Anything else?"

"My emotions have been uncontrollable recently." Daedalus added.

"They are emotions. They aren't meant to be controlled." She replied simply.

"Normally, you are right. I'm a virus, though. I can control my emotions with perfect precision normally, which is how I produce the love for you and your kind." He explained.

Chrysalis hummed lightly. "I'll have to think more on it. I'm not sure why you feel warm when I feed. Perhaps later I'll have an answer for you."

Then she closed her eyes and smiled warmly at him. "As it is, you've been working on the flowers for four hours, and supplied a week's worth of love for the Hive. Would you like to take a break and let me show you the Gem Caverns beneath us?"

Daedalus nodded, though her eyes were closed. "Yeah, that sounds really interesting. Let's go."

She stood up quickly and turned toward the exit. "Then come on! They are a beautiful sight to see and I often find myself wandering the natural paths for hours on end to clear my thoughts."

Daedalus gave a small smile, genuinely happy she was happy. He stood and quickly followed as she trotted out the room, a noticeable pep in her step. They passed two guards, both of which looked on happily as they saw their ruler so excited.

Heh, she must love this place if she's this eager to show me.

Author's Notes:

Betaread by BurningDusk