Chapter I
"Why me?"
That's the only thought that went through Chrysalis's mind the entire trip. She was on her way to Canterlot; she had to attend Celestia's dumb "ScHoOl Of MagIc" because of the peace treaty between her mother's hive and Equestria. She looked out of the window of her carriage. She loved trees; there were none in the Badlands. Her ancestors made sure of that; the Badlands were once called the "Peaceful Moss Forest" or the "Moss Filled Woods" the names mostly explain themselves. A butterfly flew into the carriage, Chrysalis was shocked, for she had never seen a butterfly in real life before, only in books. She watched it fly around, and it was memorizing: the butterfly's beautiful wings shimmered in the light as if they were made of priceless gems. She was still stuck on what her fake name would be, but she now had an idea.
~Four Days Later~
Chrysalis yawned; she was just entering Canterlot, and she couldn't be more bored. She kept staring out the window; yes, she had to admit that it was a sight to behold. The buildings were magnificent; they shone like the sun itself. It was a bit blinding, but that didn't bother her. What did bother her on the other hoof, was all the ponies staring at her carriage. They were puzzled, for the carriage looked like it was made of obsidian and emeralds that seemed to glow in the sunlight, and that's because it was. Chrysalis sighed and thought to herself "Ponies are so weird-- it's just a carriage--what's so special about it?". She did notice something strange: there were barely any trees. She was disappointed, but what did she expect? Ponies were always finding new ways to destroy the environment. She pulled a sketchbook out of her saddle bag; she was still making the design for her disguise. She continued to sketch; she had a rough idea of what her disguise was going to look like. What she had right now was her disguise would have a deep green mane with light green streaks in it; her coat would be a light emerald green. What she couldn't figure out was what her cutie mark would look like, but then she got an idea. She drew something in her sketchbook; she had a wide grin on her face for she was proud of herself.
Without realizing it; she shouted "Finally!!" the changeling who was driving her carriage asked her "Ma'am is everything ok in there? I heard you shouting." but she swiftly replied "Yes, everything is ok." she sighed; her mother, if she was here would not stand for her little outburst in fact, what her mother would likely do would be to slap her halfway back to the Badlands. She then noticed that they were closer to the palace, she sighed and green flames engulfed her in her place was a light emerald green filly that fit the description of Chrysalis's disguise; she had a butterfly made of emerald as her cutie mark. "Ma'am do you have your disguise on?" Asked the changeling who was driving the carriage "Yes, I do." replied the unicorn filly. "That's good, have you thought up a name for your disguise?" asked the changeling "Oh yeah. I have, her name is Emerald Gem," replied Chrysalis. They were now passing the Royal Library, Chrysalis looked at it longingly "I must go there and read all the books." Chrysalis thought to herself "I wonder how many books there are in there." Chrysalis shook her head; she was here so Equestria wouldn't have a reason to attack her hive, and to see what possible weaknesses Celestia had. Her mother would be so proud of her, well... that was what she hoped for at least. Her mother gave her a crystal ball so she could check in on her.
Her mother thought that she was a failure, but Chrysalis had hoped that if she succeeded in this little "mission" that her mother would like her more. The carriage was now so close to the palace that when Chrysalis looked out of the window she saw guards everywhere. The buildings there were even more beautiful than the other ones that she had seen before; "Those houses must be for upper class." thought Chrysalis. Then something caught her eye, it was a little pawn shop that looked very old. She stared at it for a long time until it was out of view; there was just something about it... She shook her head, "It was just an old pawn shop that was a little out of place, nothing else." she thought, but she couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't supposed to be there.
~At Canterlot Palace A Half An Hour Later~
Princess Celestia was talking to Twilight's parents, she was amazed by how powerful Twilight was, so she was asking her parents if she was always this powerful. "Mrs.Velvet has your daughter always been this skilled with magic?" Celestia asked "No, to be honest she could barely flip a page with her magic." Twilight Velvet replied "We were just as surprised as you when she turned us to cacti!" Nightlight laughed. Velvet gave her husband a stare so cold it would turn lava to ice; Nightlight might as well have been stone. He regretted his joke.
~Meanwhile In The Library~
Emerald Gem was reading a book when she heard a sound loud enough that it sounded as if an entire bookshelf fell down. "What was that?" She muttered to herself; she went to where the noise came from and that's when she saw it, a small bookshelf was knocked over and a lavender filly was laying on her back; she seemed to have jumped out of the way. Why she was unconscious, Emerald didn't know, but she felt the need to help her; Emerald walked over to the lavender filly, but before she could do anything the filly sat up hitting her head against Emerald's. The filly sat up so fast that when her head hit Emerald's she knocked Emerald to the ground. Emerald rubbed her head; she had to admit that this filly was a bit strong, but only a bit. "Oh no! Are you hurt? I really hope you're ok!!" The filly said as she somehow was already at Emerald's side. Emerald scooted away from her, shocked by how one second, the filly was in front of her, and the next she was next to her. "I'm just fine, But you should be worried about your own health!" Emerald said to the strange filly "I saw you unconscious on the ground!!" the filly looked puzzled for a moment but then said "A book hit me in the head, but I'm fine. By the way, what's your name?". Emerald blinked she was confused about the book hitting the filly's head, but what confused her even more was her asking for her name. "My name is Emerald Gem, what's your name?" Emerald replied "Oh. My name is Twilight Sparkle!" the filly said with a smile.