You walked up and down the harshly constructed floor of the throne room. You'd never taken notice of it before, but after everything that had happened, everything you had undergone, the world seemed different to you. It was a darker, colder, more unforgiving place, and that was saying something.

"Apo-, er Queen Apocrita?" a Changeling asked, clearly confused and uncertain as to how address you as he stepped into the throne room. Even the guards lining the room looked among themselves, uncertain as to whether they should be punishing the Changeling for insolence or not.

"Just call me Regent Apocrita for the time being, we'll figure out where things fall into place later," you stated, turning to face the Changeling, the edges of your bountiful wings brushing the craggy floor, yet not feeling any pain. You were made of stronger stuff now, but despite that, you felt so very brittle. It was only because the hive needed you that kept you from falling apart

"Right, um... It's about Queen Chrysalis brood with... well, you know... they're hungry and I wasn't sure if... I mean, who did you want to feed them, and what? They seem rather resistant to anyone short of their parents... parent," the Changeling asked awkwardly, his face twisting as he tried to speak without drawing up too many painful memories, but it was impossible. Without intending to, Anon had seeped into the very foundation of the hive at this point. Everything was a reminder of him, one way or another.

You sighed, but offered a meager smile and walked forward. "Take me to them, I'll try to share some of the love that he bestowed upon me. I'm sure that will help," you stated, following the Changeling out of the throne room.

Walking through the halls of the hive, you passed numerous members of your species. In the three days since your duel with Chrysalis, you found that some had already adjusted to your presence and the role you were undertaking. Others still seemed to look at you in awe, amazed that any of their kind could have become such an unusual, yet elegant being. A few, marginal as they may be, looked at you with some level of disgust, feeling like you had cheated the traditions to be where you were, and you didn't fully blame them.

Sure, you had ever intention of overthrowing the ways of old when you and Anon had spoken about his love for you and Chrysalis. For him, you had agreed to spare Chrysalis and move beyond the expectations for you, a new queen, to kill the old... although, you had still planned to rough her up a bit. You were honest enough that some part of you did want to get back at Chrysalis for having taken something from your lover that you had felt belonged to you. You accepted his love was enough to satisfy you both, and lord knows you wouldn't have agreed to that double blowjob with Luna if you didn't have an open mind, but Chrysalis had taken a march on you when she had Anon's kids. Kids she had initially planned on leveraging against him.

Now though, you couldn't feel such a pitiful malice toward your former superior. After all, you were only a step away from where she was now. A broken, near lifeless husk that wallowed in her chambers. Every day you checked on her, almost willing her to lash out at you for what part you had in things, but the fire that burned inside of her had been snuffed out. The grief over Anon's death was a sign of how much she had loved him, especially since she blamed herself for his death. You'd moved beyond blaming anypony, knowing that you had your part for blinding Chrysalis, and Anon himself had his own hand for trying to launch himself into the middle of your foray. But Chrysalis... she had been the one to deliver the killing blow, and she wouldn't forgive herself for that. Perhaps if you'd been the one responsible, she'd be the one barely holding on while you went catatonic.

"Regent?" the Changeling guiding you stated, shaking you from your train of thought. You were already at Chrysalis' chambers, the door pushed open slightly.

"I'll take it from here, thank you," you offered, giving a slight nod to dismiss the Changeling. Stepping inside the chamber, you looked around, the room incredibly dark, but the sound of wailing larvae resonating through it. Thankfully, your eyes had some damn good night vision before, and even better since this moth upgrade you received.

Approaching the crib, you cast a golden glow that picked each of the larvae up, levitating them over to you. As you let them rotate around your head, giving each one a loving smile, they seemed to calm down. They may not have been your children, but they were Anon's, and so you would love them like they were your own. One in particular, the infamous Pupa you'd been told so much about over the past couple of days, still seemed to hiss and cry, as angry as she was sad. From your understanding, she was damn smart for a larva, and likely recognized what had happened to her father better than the others.

"She's his little princess," you heard Chrysalis state, drawing your eyes over to the massive bed. She had the right half of her body on the bed, while her left legs shakily stood, hooves clattering on the floor. While her body still seemed complete due to the love Anon had fed her, you could see how quickly her body had grown ill in the past couple of days. The lustrous black exoskeleton that she had met you with in battle was now dull, turning grey. Her mane, once healthy and vibrant, like a thriving plant, now seemed to have wilted. The thorny crown she had been wearing now lay on the floor, untouched since she first entered her chamber.

Nodding your head, you slowly approached the mare you had considered your adversary only three days ago, but now perhaps the only one that knew how truly hurt you felt from Anon's loss, carrying her brood in your magic. "I'm aware... you know, in a sense, I'd met her before?" you inquired, trying to draw something else out of her. "After you told him about the brood, he had a dream. You, me, and him. All living together happily, with a brood each of his kids. The only one in the dream he had named was Pupa. I'd seen a fraction of it when Luna brought my unconscious mind over to his dream."

Chrysalis let out a mirthless laugh, her green eyes falling upon you, letting you get a better look at the puffiness around the orbs. "I... I knew he was doing something, talking to Luna that is. He had said as much during the game night, but I... I blinded myself in the face of his love... then my own love for him. Oh, to the hive, I actually loved him. He saw me as something to escape, then as the mother of his children, but never truly his lover, oh no, that was all you. Yet I can't help but feel... this," Chrysalis sobbed, looking like she was going to cry, but apparently having shed too many tears already.

Twitching one of your antennae, you slowly let the larvae down onto the bed beside their mother, some crawling over to her, looking for her love, but the queen seemed almost indifferent. "Chrysalis... Anon loved you, he really did. As more than just the mother of his children, I know that. You and I... as much as you might hate to admit it, are the same," you stated, keeping your eyes locked on Chrysalis' expecting her to have some well of emotion, anger or hatred, but finding only a lifeless sorrow. "When I first met Anon, I couldn't stand him. I thought you had actually punished me with the assignment. I had to endure his unrelenting sense of humor and irritability, and yet... the more time I spent with him, the more I grew to see what was past that wall of crass comedy, the man beneath," you stated, feeling your own emotions starting to well up, the tightness in your chest crushing your heart. How crazy it was that this crazy alien had made an impact on you, to have you go from hating him to finding him the most important part of your life, now gone.

Chrysalis averted her gaze from your own, which was fine as it landed on her offspring. The hoof on the floor lifted up slowly, reaching out to softly stroke their little heads. "I... didn't care about him at first," she admitted, her words seeming to be more for herself than you. "I saw this foreign creature in the hooves of the princesses and I wanted it for myself. I wondered about his taste, what sort of flavor his love came in, and wanted to try it. I expected nothing more than lust, especially after he had spoken to me with such disdain for my actions, despite his own ruthlessness. I was amused by him, but didn't care for him... not until he returned to me," she whispered, her hoof stopping for a moment, as though recalling a painful memory. "I know now he came back for you, but to me it was so important, I couldn't believe myself. I deluded myself into thinking he loved me, and so I started to love him back. I started to see the things in him I hadn't before, began to admire this softy, squishy creature with a resolve harder than any carapace. The first being I'd ever been willing to truly see as my equal."

Offering a small, if sad, smile, you reached out to place your hoof over hers, making Chrysalis stop as her eyes slowly looked up to yours once more. "Anon did not love either of us from the start. He found reasons to love us, let them grow and blossom into new things. He saw me as a hard ass that got in the way of his fun, till he found the softer side that he came to love. He saw you as a sexually harassing kidnapper until he saw that you could show love for those that truly meant something to you. There was never an immediate attraction, but opportunities to find something more."

Chrysalis stared at you for a long moment, then sniffled before looking back down at her brood, her magic bringing Pupa up so she would stop crying, letting her mother give her some true parental love. "You've been talking to Thorax and Pharynx too much," she muttered, the statement feeling like a joke, but it was hard to feel any true humor in it.

Still, you gave a short chuckle, hoping to lighten things up a bit. "Perhaps I have. I think Pharynx is still upset I ended up looking like this and not like him," you admitted, thinking in how different you and your fellow ex-elite ended up. When Chrysalis didn't respond, you kept your smile, but let it lessen. "I... I hope to see you again at the ceremony later. We may never truly let him go, but we need to say our goodbyes," you informed her, wishing that she'd take this to heart and willingly leave her chamber. You'd have somepony pick up the brood for the ceremony regardless, giving them the right to say goodbye to their father, but you thought it best if Chrysalis was the one to bring them.

When Chrysalis didn't answer you, eyes still focused on Pupa, you silently left the chamber to let her mourn.

You stood at the entrance of Chitin's infirmary, watching for a moment as he inspected your mother. The older, grumpier Changeling winced as she followed the light of a particularly bright species of firefly that Chitin used for eye examinations. Her blind eye was... no longer blind. It was still dim in comparison to her good eye, but it had regained some color, and with it, some use. Neither had taken notice of you yet, and you were hoping to keep it that way for a moment.

"Fascinating. Never in my life had I ever seen an eye make a recovery like this after having gone blind. Without doing an exploratory surgery, I could have only assumed that the nerves connecting your eye to the rest of your nervous system had basically been disconnected," Chitin muttered, the tone of his voice indicating he was more speaking aloud to himself than actually explaining things to Vespa.

"Considering my eye itself was never crushed or anything, I always figured as such. Doesn't take a doctor to figure that out," Vespa spat, narrowing her eyes, only to hiss a little, apparently finding the act of doing such properly over her once blind eye a little painful.

"Indeed, that's why an unlicensed medical practitioner such as myself was able to make such an astute observation," Chitin stated, not letting Vespa's words take hold as an insult to him. Bottling the firefly and putting it back on a shelf, he said "If we had the equipment, I would have considered it possible to have done a surgery to reconnect the nerves individually, but alas, I get none of the respect or equipment I deserve. Perhaps Apocrita will provide me with the support I need."

"That's Regent Apocrita to you," Vespa growled, hopping off the examination table to glare down at the smaller Changeling. Her expression softened a little after she mentioned you by name, sighing regretfully. "I'm surprised that she didn't knock my other eye out for dropping Anon. Hive knows she must blame me for what happened to him, just as she had for Bee. She knows how to pack a punch," Vespa stated, lifting a hoof up to her eye.

"I remember when she clocked you for your hoof in executing Bee. First time I'd ever seen one Changeling attack another with such force that it left permanent damage," Chitin stated with almost a chuckle, making you frown. You didn't like thinking back to that day. The raw emotion you felt, the fury that burned in your heart, it was probably the first time that you knew you would feel love for others, even when you shouldn't have. You were proud of that emotion now, but the shame over it now came over the damage you had done to your mother, who you still loved.

"It hurt on more than one level that she had done so, but I suppose I should at least be proud that she wouldn't be half-hearted about it," Vespa stated, a weak smile actually gracing her lips.

"Well that's probably why it's healing now," Chitin stated, turning back to face Vespa. In doing so, he saw you, certainly pausing for a moment, but not stopping. He figured you were silent for a reason and decided to continue on. "While I had noticed your health increasing when Anon was feeding you his love, this change to your eye comes solely from the fact she has been loving you. It might help that she's a higher life form now, but that love has seemingly helped reconnect your nerves. I'd say that in a couple of days, you'll get full use of your eye back."

Vespa scoffed, shaking her head at Chitin's words. "Proof that you're not as smart as you think you are. Between Bee and Anon, there's no way she'd love me," she declared.

Deciding now was the time to step in, you entered the room, clearing your throat once before announcing "Proof that even with your eye getting better, you still can't see what's right in front of you."

Spinning to face you, Vespa's eyes widened and she quickly stood at attention. "My regent!" she shouted, averting her gaze.

Rolling your eyes, you said "At ease, Mom. If I wanted to lord my power over you, I'd probably have you dress up in something silly, just to amuse myself." Stopping before the two of them, you looked between them, then focused on Chitin, but said loud enough to clearly be speaking to the both of them "And you can simply refer to me as Apocrita, or anything else you see fit. My position and power isn't exactly clear to even me at this time."

"Good, cause I'd rather not be adding Regent or Queen to the front of your name, it leaves an aftertaste that's just weird to me," Chitin stated, looking you over. He was still obsessed with the idea of further examining your new form, to see just what you had lost since your metamorphosis and what you had gained. What a nerd... dammit Anon.

Vespa still stood tall as she could, but did relax some. It was odd, seeing your mother who always stood second only to Chrysalis herself, now shorter than you were. She seemed to find it awkward as well, but tried to hide it behind a mask of stoicism. "I'll... try, but you can't undo decades of elite training so easily," she contended, to which you had to agree and understand.

Lifting your wing, you curled it forward so that it would gently graze your mother's face. "Be that as it may, I will not have you doubt my capacity to love you. It's a gift that Anon left me and one that I plan on making liberal use of for the sake of this hive. After all, that's what you raised me on. The importance and well-being of our people over all else," you stated with a smile.

The loving embrace seemed to make your mother uncomfortable, which actually made your smile grow a little bit. You indeed loved her, but seeing her squirm a bit was also rather fun. "Yes, well... considering I dropped him, with his infinite capacity to feed our hive, I figured I might have been on the execution block," she stated, looking away from you as another thought clearly entered her mind. "After all... that's what happened with Bee, for the exact same reason..."

Sighing, you stepped forward, wrapping your wings around your mother and pulling her in tight, a strength in your wings that could easily be overlooked considering their elegance and beauty. You could feel her stiffen against you, but you did not let that deter you. "Mom... I've hated you for years for what happened to Bee. I knew that it was going to happen to him regardless, but the fact that you had personally ended his life felt like a betrayal. Not just because you took it upon yourself to do so, but because you didn't grieve with me. I thought you'd be feeling the same thing I did, but... it hurt so much then, and I just couldn't understand why you'd do that. Why you had to make an already terrible situation even worse," you announced, letting your face nestle into the top of your mother's head. How was it that, even when she was smaller than you physically, she still felt so very tall?

Vespa stayed still for a moment, then leaned into you, letting your body support her as she gave a weak hug, her forelegs almost limp over your body. "I've always done what I thought was best for the hive. Even having a brood of my own was simply to help continue the legacy of strong elites to serve our queen with. I've done many terrible things, brought down many kind ponies and beyond, and I do not apologize for any single action I have taken in the search for continuing to defend and empower our hive, because I believed it was truly for the best," she stated, making you stiffen a bit, unsure as to whether or not this was going to be something you really wanted to hear.

"However..." your mother continued, "I do regret making you feel that way toward me, because while you may hate me, I've always been proud of you. Even when I felt you had failed the hive because of your metamorphosis, I felt so only because you had not taken precautions. You've flown to higher heights than I could have ever hoped for you, and it is my sincerest wishes that you continue to do so."

Sighing, you pulled back, and with a tear at the corner of your eye, you said "Mom, I don't hate you anymore. I'm... disappointed in the actions you've taken before, but I don't hate you. As much as you may not have liked Anon, he taught me how important it is to see past flaws and love what lies beneath."

Vespa gave a slight snort, but offered you a smile. "Yes, well... I suppose he'd have to teach you that, considering how many flaws he had."

"Indeed, he didn't even have an exoskeleton," Chitin spoke up, reminding you that he was still present. "I suspect if he had one, he would have been able to surv-"

You quickly shut Chitin up with a hoof to his mouth, muffling whatever he was going to say next. "I'd rather not hear you talk about what could have been, we need to live with what simply is," you declared, giving him a slight glare that conveyed how he needed to tame his comments. Then, letting your gaze soften, you pulled your hoof away and said "But I want to thank you, for everything. Assisting him while I was in my cocoon, disguising yourself as me to keep up the charade-"

"Disguising yourself as me to keep up the charade," Vespa mirrored, giving him a glare that was less pleased with his actions, but accepting of them.

Stifling a laugh, you added "And most of all, being the friend he needed while I was unavailable. I know he appreciated your efforts, even when they fell short at times."

Chitin gave a casual shrug, but you noticed a tenseness in his motions that indicated he wasn't quite as nonchalant as he'd have liked you to believe. "He was a fascinating specimen. Truly one of a kind, although I'd have restrained myself from saying so in his presence, considering his already massive ego."

"It was a good size, but it wasn't the biggest I've seen," you joked, earning a groan from your mother and friend. Your smile sagging once more, you said "He would have loved that... well, outside of not being the biggest, but he doesn't need to know who I've seen that's larger than him... I suppose he never will now." Shaking your head, you already had enough sorrow to deal with, no need to walk into the muck now. Looking to the two, you added "I hope I'll be seeing you both at the ceremony. Whether you'll admit to it or not, you are among those closest to him."

"I suppose I have nothing better to do," Chitin declared, accepting in his own way.

"And if it is the wish of my queen, regent or otherwise, then I will attend," Vespa acknowledged, even though nothing you said indicated it was truly an order. With one last smile, you gave them both a nod, then turned to depart.

"Please, come in and take a seat. Anywhere but the front row," you greeted, offering a hoof in greeting to yet another group of Changelings that had arrived at the entrance to the throne room. None of them took your hoof, only bowing graciously to you, although one did kiss it respectfully before moving on. You watched as they took off, finding somewhere that they could seat themselves.

Given there were no actual chairs except for a select few at the very front, not counting the royal throne itself. Anon's sat before the royal throne, having been broken from its foundation so that it could now hold a large, smooth cocoon. After Anon's death, you and Chrysalis, before her inevitable spiral down depression, had agreed to a truce, caring more for the loss of the one you both loved so deeply, and had further settled on a Changeling funeral for him.

Funerals were rare occasions for Changelings. Not because of mortality rates, as Changelings died every day, but because they were reserved for only the most esteemed members of the hive. Only a select few outside of a queen herself would ever be granted a funeral. The deceased would be encased in a cocoon formed of the mucus of those closest to them, which would then be lit on fire during the ceremony, with hopes that the fallen would emerge renewed in the afterlife, stronger than before.

"You know, I never thought I'd actually see one of these. Always hoped I'd have one, but of course, no Changeling knows if they're truly going to receive one... outside of a queen that is," Pharynx stated as he and Thorax had stepped up to the throne room doors. After the truce, you had taken to freeing Thorax and Pharynx, saying they had faced enough torture... because they looked like gay moose. You'd been told by Chitin that Anon would have said that, and in doing so, he might have an easier afterlife. The brothers had groaned at this, but were just pleased to be free.

"Based on your actions and... unique appearance, I'll be certain to issue one when you die," you offered, trying not to draw too much attention to how odd they looked.

Pharynx rolled his eyes, but smiled regardless. "Thanks, but who says you're not going to die before I am? Maybe I'll be the one attending your funeral?" he challenged, not willing to accept that he didn't have some degree of immortality in him in his new form.

You were about to point out how you, an actual queen, had basically beaten Chrysalis at her strongest, while Pharynx and his brother got their flanks handed to them, but Thorax's sniffling and sobbing distracted you. "P-P-Please don't talk ab-about anyone else d-d-d-dying. I'm b-barely able to hold back a-as it is," he stammered, tears already rolling down his cheeks.

"Ugh, I should have left you in the Frozen North," Pharynx groaned, shaking his head at his brother's oversensitive nature. You remembered how easy to bully Thorax was, even if you yourself had never really made that effort.

Reaching out with a wing, you wipe away some of the tears, letting the scales that touched Thorax's face fall to the ground with the additional moisture. "Nopony else is dying any time soon, don't worry. Just go take your seats at the front. You're among the special attendants," you informed Thorax, comforting him as best you could while letting him know he had a future in the hive. He and Pharynx both nodded to you, with the latter trying to keep his brother from bawling on the way to their seats. "I don't know how Pharynx deals with him," you muttered, still smiling sadly.

"We have an idea," you heard a rather familiar voice, turning back to find Princess Luna and Princess Celestia present. You'd grown rather close to Luna during all her visits in your cocoon dream state, and a bit closer after that rather raunchy team up with Anon. Knowing his feelings for the princesses and vice versa, you had made it a point of extending an invitation to them as well.

"Luna, it is a pleasure to see you again. And in person, might I add," you teased, stepping forward to envelop the nighttime princess in a hug with your wings, which she gladly returned.

"Indeed, we are most happy to see you again, and looking rather regal now," Luna declared. "We only wish the occasion could have been a more joyous one," she admitted, starting to pull away, only for Celestia to suddenly push herself in, her wings pulling you and Luna toward her.

"I-I can't believe it! I should have been there for him! I should have dared whatever dangers Chrysalis had planned to get him back!" Celestia cried out, burying her face in your and Luna's wings, her own squeezing even tighter.

"A-As we said, we know how Pharynx has been dealing with his sibling," Luna coughed out, eventually splaying her wings out to get Celestia to let go.

Taking a breath to fill your lungs, you patted Celestia's wing with your own. "Th-there, there. There was nothing you could have done to stop him. He chose to stay... for me. He chose to interfere, for us. If you had been there, the only thing that you would have done is seen it with your own eyes," you tried to assure the princess, finding it oddly amusing that you were now her height, but feeling larger from how much she cried over this.

Sniffling, Celestia nodded her head slowly, then tried to wipe away some of her tears. "Can I... Can I see him?" she asked hopefully.

You shook your head regretfully and explained "He is encased in a cocoon, you will not be able to see him. Besides, while we did our best to... patch the wound, it left a rather severe mark that would not put you at ease."

Celestia was about to burst into tears again, but Luna quickly pulled her sister close, letting her sob into her neck. Looking to you with a thankful smile, she said "We appreciate all you have done. We know how much he loved you, and you him, and so we trust that whatever you tried and what arrangements you have made will honor his memory."

"Only the biggest honor we could think of," you stated, looking back to the front row of seats. Besides Thorax and Pharynx, there was a basket containing Anon's brood, and beside them sat Chrysalis. "It was Chrysalis' idea. She said that after all Anon had done and what he had meant, she wanted him to be forever remembered, even if it would take what she always wanted. As the ceremony comes to its end, we will declare Anon a member of our pantheon as the God of Love."

Luna's eyes widened, but seemed to calm as she smiled, pleased with what you had said. "A prestigious honor that I'm sure he would graciously accept."

You shrugged as you looked back at her. "I think he would have been happier with the God of Sex, but it means more to us for him to be the God of Love," you admitted, chuckling a bit, even if the sound felt hollow in your throat. Stopping as you felt a few eyes directed to you, you waved your wing out. "Please, take your seats at the front, I'll be with you shortly."

The sisters nodded, offering their thanks before moving to the front. You watched them, feeling a little smaller as they moved away. The impact that Anon had was... impossible to consider, especially for a non-Changeling. For the princesses of Equestria to willingly walk into the hive to attend his funeral, with not a single Changeling so much as baring a fang at them, was a sign of how much he did, even when he intended to do no such thing. Given he wanted peace, but this was still a sign to you of what you had to work on. The things you needed to uphold in his absence.

Casting the heavy thoughts aside, you greeted a few more Changelings before deciding any further additions would find their way on their own. The whole hive wanted to attend in truth, but many were still working on the problem of the still mind controlled dragons, now sitting in a daze outside, as Chrysalis had yet to dismiss her magic. It was a problem you had to work out with her, but that was for another time.

Marching up to the cocoon, you cast a glance to Chrysalis, urging her to join you. She seemed to stare into the void for a moment, but eventually rose to her hooves, slowly approaching the cocoon to stand beside you, each positioned so that neither would appear to be taking the lead.

"My fellow Changelings and esteemed guests, we would like to thank you for your attendance today. We know this is not an easy task that we are about to embark on, but it is one that is no less necessary for somepony... no, someone that has affected us so deeply," you announced, letting your wings flare out to help garner the attention of those present. The room quickly went silent, some due to the dazzling sight of your unique and beautiful form, but most simply from the fact that the time had come to say goodbye.

You looked to Chrysalis, who seemed to be staring at the ground, her hair hanging in her face as it had many times before. You were hoping that she was going to join you, to speak up and show that she still had some say. Sure, you could take the throne of queen in all its glory and power by yourself if she did not, but for the memory of Anon, you were trying to be a united front. It seemed she was not going to take the hint, and so you sighed, inhaling to continue... but then she spoke.

"His time with us was short. Positively minuscule in the life of a single Changeling, let alone in the entirety of our hive," Chrysalis declared, her eyes slowly lifting from the floor, the out of focus dullness dissipating. "However, what he meant to us was nothing less than life changing. I know I will never live another day of my life without knowing he has had his impact on me," Chrysalis stated, extending her wings, the tip of the one closest to you brushing against your own wing.

"Anon once told me that he believed he would unite Equestria, and while his method of doing so was... decidedly different than what has occurred today, we can see that among us are the Princesses of Equestria themselves. Honored guests who cared for Anon just as we have. It is this shared love and dedication to Anon that has bound us together today, and it is for that reason he deserves no less than an honor utterly deserving of one capable of making enemies come together like none other before," you continued for Chrysalis, letting your antennae start to build up a golden glow.

"While he has passed on, we wish to immortalize him in the only way we truly can!" Chrysalis almost shouted, her own horn starting to glow with its green aura. "We stand here to announce the ascension of Anon, the only human to ever grace our world, will be the first non-Changeling to enter our pantheon! A distinguished and coveted spot as a life giver, provider of that most precious to us!"

Chrysalis glanced to you and you nodded back to her. Facing the crowd, you announced in unison "We give you our praise, God of Love, Anon!"

Turning together, you both unleashed the magic you had been gathering, firing them into the cocoon. From it, a gold-and-green fire erupted, basking you in the warmth that you felt whenever Anon gave you his love. Behind you, you could hear applause from those in attendance, cheering on their new god, while at the same time mourning the loss of one who had come to mean so much from them so quickly. Something about it comforted you, but you couldn't stop from stepping forward, looking down at the burning cocoon, with Chrysalis joining you.

"Good bye, Anon. I'll always love you, and wish that whatever the afterlife has planned for you, you can be happy," you whispered, allowing yourself to finally shed tears onto the last vestige of your one and only love. Chrysalis didn't speak, apparently leaving whatever she had left internalized, her eyes oddly dry now compared to you, although you suspected she may have just shed too many of them at this point to give any more. And so you both stood, watching as the cocoon crackled and burned...

... then suddenly exploded outward as a hand shot through the top of it, sending you and Chrysalis scrambling back on your flanks, looking in abject horror as more of the cocoon broke apart, freeing the body attached to the hand, a wailing scream of pain filling the room, which was soon followed by cries of absolute terror at the sight.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! IT FUCKING BURNS! WHY THE FUCK DID YOU DO THIS TO ME!?" Anon's familiar, yet pain filled voice screamed out, climbing out of the cocoon, just to fall to the floor. You could hear the wings of Changelings buzzing, many trying to flee what surely had to be a nightmare come true, while a girlish squeal that you were pretty sure came from Thorax was followed by a thud.

As Anon rolled around on the ground, trying to put out the flames, you suddenly recognized just what was going on and quickly flew over to him, trying to use your magic to put out the flames. It only worked to a degree, since the flames were caused by magic, even when Chrysalis joined in. Luna and Celestia soon realized your intentions, and despite their own horrified expressions, they joined in trying to stop it. You were close, but there was still some more, so there was only one thing left to do.

"AAAAAH! WHY ARE YOU KICKING ME!? DID DEATH LIE!? DID I GO TO HELL! FUUUUUUUUUUUCK!" Anon cried out as you and the others began to stomp out the flames.

Oddly enough, you could say that this was both the liveliest and happiest funeral you ever attended.

Author's Notes:

Be honest with me, how many of you really thought that Anon returned to the human world? Most of you caught onto the wordplay at the end of the previous chapter, but I had to play off the doubt of those that thought he was returning 'home'. But we all know that home is where the heart is, and his heart is with these disgusting bug-ponies... I'm probably going to use that line in the next chapter.

That said though, we're pretty much at the end. There's going to be... maybe one or two more chapters left? Depends on how I want to fully resolve everything. Got to say, this has been a wild ride, and I went on for way longer than I thought I was going to, but the support has been amazing, but I'll get sappy with the final chapter.