Queens to Check, Dragon to Mate

by dracone

A Different Kind of Interlude, C

Author's Note:

Another POV chapter, this time it's Celestia. As always, you're free to use anything provided for your own work, just drop me a line about it. I just want to help, I would never presume to take over the work of another without permission.

It always amazed Celestia at how quickly Chrysalis had adapted to doing things the way she did now, especially after said changeling admitted to spending twenty plus years working on a way to invade and harvest Canterlot. It was that very admission that both relaxed and worried Celestia, even after Chrysalis’s admission of her three eldest to the magical kindergarten Twilight had established in Ponyville the Ivory alicorn kept expecting Chrysalis to have plans within plans swirling in her head. The worry had been so great that she had insisted that Luna not only enter the sanctity of the Changeling’s dreams but also use them as a gateway for seeing what might lie as far forward as decades. What Luna had come back with was heartwarming, and terrifying, Chrysalis gladly sacrificing herself to save innocent lives. In fact, Luna shared over a dozen scenarios that actually hinged on this meeting, in some she and the other princess were the targets of assassination attempts shortly after each of the “delegates” had made sure to kill Chrysalis. In the case of Violet Emerald, only Arachne didn’t slay the infant, the loss of the filly naturally sent all four alicorns into a much more enraged state, so much so that both Twilight and Celestia had their manes and tails replaced by fire while Cadance and Luna had their manes and tails replaced by glowing plasma that matched their colorations. Having more than one queen in the same complex was never a good idea, and Luna’s excursions into what might be were a good set of examples why. The alicorns that came out it alive, this varied in number based which queen was the last standing, were injured so seriously that they would likely not be able to manage their normal duties for days or weeks. Twilight’s friends weren’t in much better shape for the conflicts, which were often so bloody that one or more of said mares were either barely conscious or collapsed from blood loss.

Although, Celestia and Luna did take some solace in the fact that what was needed to kill Chrysalis was possibly more effort than the other queens were either willing to exert or thought they would actually need. Also, the death of Chrysalis or Emerald, or just intentional severe injury to them, would be enough to send Spike into a destructive rage that would make his greed fueled rampage look like a toddler throwing a tantrum in a sandbox. The prospects were not looking good should Chrysalis experience extreme danger or a life-threatening situation. And the same held true for her daughter.

Chrysalis’s admission that she preferred to play the long game, as opposed to the short game preferred by most Changeling queens, had worried Equestria’s princesses, all of them, even for some time after Chrysalis’s admission that all queens didn’t practice open affection outside of guises. Chrysalis herself, for several years now, had not only been openly affectionate in her natural state but also openly emotional overall. The scene of Chrysalis dancing with her foals in the kitchen was all the real proof they really needed, since based on what they knew and Chrysalis’s own admission as such changeling queens would rather delegate the task to one or more members of their hive, despite the age of the individuals in question, and would certainly do everything in their power to keep “frivolous” acts such as dancing and singing from occurring during this time. But here was Chrysalis in the kitchen, with one of her daughters, dancing and humming a wordless tune as she prepared meals for everyone, even shooing others out of the kitchen as she did so.

A quick look over at the visiting queens showed they were making no effort to hide the disdain at Chrysalis’s actions, when they could tear their gaze away from the dancing changeling filly for short moments to do so. In a sense, they had the look of individuals bearing witness to a train wreck. To Ponyville, and to a lesser extent the rest of Equestria, sights like this regarding Chrysalis were to be expected. But to these visiting queens, it was a disaster of unprecedented proportions and, to top it all off, Chrysalis wasn’t showing any sort of assertiveness or aggression in the negotiations, which were par for the course in changeling meetings. The Chrysalis of twenty some odd years ago would definitely have acted like that, but the current Chrysalis was more interested in maintaining a sense of balance with Equestria. In short, she was focused more on having a sense of harmony than control. This philosophy was well reflected in how she managed her hive, she allowed Spike to have an equal part in matters pertaining to the hive, even going as far to develop a flexible schedule with him so he could spend time doing things away from the hive while she mothered the members of the hive. This went even further with her allowing the offspring she had with Spike to act independently and make decisions on their own, within the limits that parents should try to reinforce on children of the age most of her hive was.

The oldest being what Chrysalis had described as the Primes, who were currently in their fifth year, and moderately integrated into Ponyville’s education system for foals within the same age range as them, and youngest being around Violet Emerald’s age. It was also counterproductive to share a possible means of circumventing claims, the memory spell Chrysalis had shared proved that but the unwillingness of Changeling queens to share more than they deem necessary means that the true originator of the spell might never be known, especially if Chrysalis’s admission that the memory of the pony it supposedly originated from their memories regarding the spell wiped from their mind.

What was most surprising to Celestia, even after all the time leading up to this event, was Chrysalis’s complete and total willingness to allow herself to be subject to the possible emotional abuse that more close-minded individuals were more than a will to pile their aggressions on her. The most notable, of course, being Blueblood and his narcissistic self-ego stroking behavior. Just two years into her very public relationship with Spike, Chrysalis was targeted by every information outlet Blueblood had some manner of pull with, all claiming that she had Spike and the Princesses under some manner of mind control, Chrysalis actually took the assault on her with far more grace than most Equestria’s nobility would ever have, as had Spike. But in order to fully get a grasp on the assault, Chrysalis had actually acquired copies from all those outlets and it was only when the assaults showed to be targeting her daughters that she decided to do something about it. In a rather tactful, and rather ingenious, retaliation she managed to uncover many lesser known facts about Blueblood that could potentially prove damaging and tricked those same outlets into publishing those facts in addition to many of Equestria’s outlets that had a well-known track for verifying the facts before releasing them, as opposed to the outlets Blueblood used which were more akin to publishing unsubstantiated slander. It was that approach that had helped Celestia to feel more at ease than ever, Spike and Chrysalis were more than capable of handling themselves but it took individuals of very little moral substance to target infants for acts of maliciousness.

But what really caused Celestia to feel the new Chrysalis and her complete level of cooperation with her and the other princesses was the fact she was willing to take whatever punishment was deemed necessary from Twilight and her friends, willingly took the retribution of Cadance and Shining Armor, and even took Celestia’s own “retribution” in surprisingly good spirits. Queen or not, Chrysalis would not have taken all of that with grace if she were still operating on the same set of rules as other changelings. The biggest tip off to Chrysalis preferring a different sort of approach from the classic one practiced by changeling queens was the very fact she was willing to share in the understanding of changelings as a whole with anyone who asked within Equestria, there was a reason anthropology and sociological journals and books that explored confirmed and theoretical aspects of changeling culture and norms dominated the academic world of Equestria for almost a full year but shortly a few months after Chrysalis had married Spike.

More of trying to understand changelings and less fear or hatred towards them was always the sort of steps Celestia wanted the populace of Equestria to work towards. Since her pairing with Spike Chrysalis had probably more fully made herself of an example of embracing Equestria’s philosophical practices than perhaps even Twilight herself, who in the years since ascension was held as a pinnacle of what Equestria’s philosophy can really mean when it is embraced in one's regular routines. But by far, the biggest show of Chrysalis’s decision to diverge from “traditional” changeling practices when it comes to hive building and interaction in general.

Comments

[GrimmWolfDragon]

Great chapter, I'm glad to see that all of princess and the main six well protect Chrysalis and her family.

[Razzy]

Nice chapter, good to see that Celestia was cautious at first. And this job going against Blueballs, Chryssie.

'The alicorns that came out it alive' - out of it

'enough to end Spike' - send

'she was focused more having' - more on having

'supposedly originated with had' - originated from

'new Chrysalis was the complete level' - not sure what was meant to be written here, I'd suggest 'Chrysalis and her complete cooperation'

'full year shortly a few months' - full year but a few months

'More trying to' - more of trying to

'Chrysalis had probably more fully made herself an' - Chrysalis had probably made herself more of an

'Equestria’s philosophy practices' - philosophical practices

'embraced in ones regular routines' - embraced in everyday routines

'But by far, the biggest show of Chrysalis’s decision to diverge from “traditional” changeling practices when it comes to hive building and interaction in general' - practices were her choices in hive building and