Twilight walked back and forth behind the door leading to Celestia's private chambers, thinking hard about what to say to Celestia regarding Chrysalis. Before she had a chance to knock, Celestia opened the door and flinched at the sight of Twilight appearing right in front of her.
“Twilight? What are you doing here so early? I only just got done raising the sun.”
“I need to talk to you.”
The two Alicorns sat and spoke for about 10 minutes. Twilight told her what had happened between her and Chrysalis. The conversation was mostly one-sided, with Celestia merely listening and nodding her head for Twilight to continue. Finally, The Princess of the Sun let down her teacup.
“I see.. so you think that she is reforming..”
“Absolutely!” Twilight grinned.
“Hmm.. Twilight, I'm sorry but this just doesn't sound right at all.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“Twilight, Chrysalis is a Changeling. Her sole purpose is to act, to deceive, to manipulate. She is using you Twilight.”
“Huh? No! No, you don't understand, she was showing true signs of changing! Celestia, you have to believe me!”
“Twilight, listen to me. She is acting. Do you honestly think the Queen of the Changelings, the one that attacked Canterlot, would all of the sudden just turn good for no reason?”
Twilight was frozen in her seat. She didn't know how to respond to that. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing would come out. Her head began to droop.
“I'm afraid I can't do anything to help her. Just try to focus on your friendship lessons with Starlight from now on.”
Twilight looked down in anger. Deep down, she knew that Chrysalis was sincere. Celestia was wrong, and she knew it.
“She cried in my arms.” Twilight murmured, furrowing her brow.
Celestia gasped at Twilight's statement. “You were in there with her, by yourself?!”
“Yes Celestia. I know it sounds dangerous, but she had to earn my trust somehow. I trusted her enough so that I could get close to her and not be afraid. If I am able to trust Chrysalis that much, what does that say about her?”
Celestia lowered her head and sat deep in thought. There was a long pause. Finally, Celestia looked up to meet Twilight's worried gaze.
“Very well, it's decided. If she can keep up her good behavior for 2 months, I will reduce her sentence down to 20 years. However, you must not tell her this, or anyone else for that matter. I also want you to give me an update after every session.”
20 years still sounded like a very long time, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Twilight's face lit up.
“Thank you Celestia! I'll make sure that she behaves.”
“Good. I will look forward to your progress. Now.. there was something I was meaning to speak to you about as well.”
Twilight made a puzzled look. “What is it?”
“I've.. been having these strange nightmares recently. I cannot describe them very easily, but all I remember is feeling very cold, and being surrounded by this dark aura. I hear this strange chanting, and I can't remember what it was. And then after that, I wake up feeling very frightened. I know it's weird that I'm telling you this..”
“No no, it's okay,” Twilight stammered.
“Okay, well the strangest thing of all, is that not even Luna is able to see these dreams. She goes in and sees nothing but a black void. It's frightening, and I do not know what is causing it.”
“Could it be Nightmare Moon?”
“No.. this couldn't be her. I would sense if it was her. This is something.. very different.. and very familiar. I can't seem to remember..”
Twilight tilted her head a little, and put her hoof on Celestia to comfort her.
“That does sound strange, but I'm sure we will find out what it is. I still have a whole library to look through. Maybe I can find the answer.”
“Thank you Twilight, that was exactly what I wanted to ask you to do. If you can find an answer to this.. I would be eternally grateful.”
“You can count on me.”
“Good. Now I have a very important meeting that I have to attend to right now. I'm counting on you Twilight.”
“I won't let you down.”
Twilight then left off towards Ponyville. She now had to tell her friends about Chrysalis. She took a deep breath, and flew out the window to reach her friends at the Ponyville Park.
~~~
“She what?!” Yelled Rainbow Dash.
“Yes Rainbow, it's true. All of it,” Twilight affirmed.
“I can't believe this. I.. I feel so sorry for her,” Fluttershy lamented.
Rainbow Dash crossed her arms. “I can't believe this either. Is this your idea of a joke, because this isn't funny Twilight."
'Says the pony who scared Fluttershy by dressing up as some demonic entity and chased her through the woods,' Twilight thought to herself, letting out a smirk. “I'm telling the truth, this is serious!”
“Well then, I guess I have no choice but to believe you.. but what are we supposed to do?” Fluttershy asked.
“We? Nuh uh! I don't want anything to do with this!” Rainbow frowned.
Twilight lowered her head. “You don't have to help Rainbow. I understand you find it hard to trust Chrysalis, and I respect that. I was just hoping we could all go down and talk to her some day.”
“I'd be willing to talk with her.. if.. you are okay with that,” Fluttershy blushed.
“That's just what I wanted to hear,” Twilight smiled.
“Humph.. well.. I guess it wouldn't hurt to visit at least once. Maaaaybe in a month or so. I'll think on it,” Rainbow suggested.
“That's fine by me. Thank you everypony.”
And with that, Twilight left to go back to her friendship lessons with Starlight, and her research on Celestia's strange nightmares. It was going to be a long week.
~~~
It was Monday morning. Fluttershy always got up extra early on Mondays so that the majority of prisoners she would have to walk past would be sound asleep. She flew through the fog with a small gray rabbit riding on her back. After making her way through the corridors, she trotted over to Chrysalis's cell with the small rabbit quivering in fear behind her. Fluttershy tried to comfort the rabbit as she approached the door. She rapped at the door a couple of times to get Chrysalis's attention.
Chrysalis got up and looked through the small grate. Normally she would look through the window, but she figured this would scare Fluttershy less than having her towering over her.
“Good morning Fluttershy. How was your week?”
“Um... it... was...............good.” Fluttershy mumbled. She began to whinny a little in fear, as she normally would when talking to strangers alone by herself.
Chrysalis looked down in disappointment. This was going to be harder than she thought.
“Fluttershy.. I..”
“Yes?!” Fluttershy interrupted, looking scared out of her mind.
“I.. just want to say that I'm sorry.. for scaring your animals.. those other times.”
Fluttershy paused for a couple of seconds.
“You.. really...... mean it?” Fluttershy asked passively.
“Yes, I truly am sorry.” Chrysalis whispered in a soft voice.
Fluttershy eyed the changeling for a couple of moments, and then a smile suddenly appeared on her face.
“I forgive you.”
“Y-you what?”
“I forgive you Chrysalis. Twilight told me all about you. She told me you've changed.”
Chrysalis was overjoyed by this. For once, somepony had completely forgiven her for something she had done. Chrysalis was at a loss for words.
“Here..” Fluttershy motioned the rabbit up to the Changeling. The rabbit still looked a little scared, but Fluttershy gave it a few pets to let it know that it was safe. Chrysalis began to absorb some of the love from the rabbit. The rabbit began to feel a little dizzy at first, but began to feel better moments afterwards. Fluttershy helped the rabbit onto her back, and smiled back at Chrysalis.
“You know, you don't have to keep doing this. As long as Twilight is around, I will still have plenty of positive emotions to share,” The former Changeling Queen insisted.
“It's okay. You need all the help you can get, and I will be here for you Chrysalis.”
“T-thank you Fluttershy,” the changeling whispered.
“Don't mention it,” Fluttershy giggled.
The changeling then walked back over to her bed. She was a bit saddened by the fact that she would have to wait days until her next meeting with Twilight, but she knew the wait would be worth it.
~~~
The next Saturday, Twilight and Chrysalis met up with each other again. This time, Twilight had agreed to bring some books to read with her. She also brought back a letter with her from Cadence and Shining Armor. Twilight was surprised to see that Chrysalis's health had greatly improved. Her eyes no longer bore the dark circles, and her wounds have fully healed. Chrysalis and Twilight both read books together on the bed. Twilight's glowing horn helped them read, and lit up the whole room. They both laughed together, and Chrysalis got to learn more things about friendship that she never knew about.
Then it came time to open the letter. Chrysalis could barely withhold her excitement. Chrysalis opened the letter and began to read it aloud:
To Chrysalis,
We are sorry, but we cannot forgive you for what you did. We are still angry with you for having tried to ruin what was supposed to be a perfect wedding. You have to understand that what you did was practically unforgivable to us. We cannot come down to visit you. We have a baby to take care of, and much higher priorities at the moment. Please refrain from messaging us ever again.
From Princess Cadence, and Shining Armor
Chrysalis looked down in shame as a frown crossed her face. Twilight put her hoof on her shoulder.
“Well, you can't please everybody. It was still good of you to apologize Chryssie.” Twilight consoled.
“Yeah, it's okay. I honestly wasn't expecting them to just forgive me on the spot. I'd still be angry too if someone did the same to me.”
“Well, maybe they will forgive you some day, who knows? A lot of times people will say they will never forgive you, but they don't always mean it.”
“I guess only time will tell,” Chrysalis murmured.
Twilight began to rub Chrysalis's shoulder some more to help raise her spirits. Chrysalis looked back at her with a smug smile.
“You know, with all these positive vibes you are giving me, you are going to put Fluttershy out of business,” Chrysalis teased.
Twilight giggled. “That reminds me, I am going to have to drain your magic again at some point.”
“I understand.”
Twilight smiled back, and they continued to read together all the way until midnight.