“Is strapping my hooves to the chair really necessary?” Asked a rather worried Cadence, she was collared and caped by Chrysalis while being forced to sit in this chair with her hooves tied down.
“Yes, I’m not going to hurt you if that’s what you’re worried about. Does it chafe?” Chrysalis levitated a brush over to her and looked to Cadence’s somewhat dried mane hungrily.
“No, it doesn’t chafe, but I would like to respectfully state that I don’t like this.” Cadence watched as Chrysalis approached her with the brush and shivered at the look in her eyes.
“You don’t have to like it, now let me brush your mane. I’ll have to comb it into shape a bit before I get to the next part.” Chrysalis stalked over to the mare that was trapped beneath a white cape and she started to gently brush Cadence’s mane, she would do so until it was completely dry. She wanted the mare’s mane to be nice and straight for the next part and the curls at the end of Cadence’s hair had always bothered Chrysalis slightly. “You know, this is the kind of thing I’ve always wanted to do ever since I fell in love with the idea of you. Earning the love correctly of the actual you would have been so much better, but Shining armor already had your attention and can you really blame me for being jealous of him?”
“Maybe a little, he was the only choice in my mind that I would choose to marry and I’m the princess of love, so wouldn’t that mean I’d understand more than the most common form? You know what I mean, the kind between a mare and her stallion. Of course by that point it was already too late for you to make a bid for my heart.” The brushing actually felt nice, every sweep was lulling Cadence into a false sense of security and she grabbed hold of that for all it was worth. Chrysalis was being surprisingly friendly instead of accidentally pulling at her hair roughly to get a small amount of pain out of her. “I kind of fell into the princess must marry the knight in Shining Armor thing didn’t I, but it’s worked out for me.”
“Yes, it certainly did. It’s freaking cliché though! I mean wouldn’t it have been a little bit more interesting had you chosen someone who didn’t have a bit to their name? Actually that would have been far more cliché. I swear you’re the only princess that stays on one side of the street; at least I know for certain Celestia and Luna both have barn doors swinging on all cylinders… Luna especially considering what her tastes happen to be.” Here both Chrysalis and Cadence cringed, there was no one that came off as completely nuts as Luna at times. “I mean she can seem so normal one second and then she takes the words, ‘shotgun wedding’, way too seriously. Now time to comb it out, any requests?”
Here Chrysalis sat down the brush and picked up a comb in her magic.
“Can you do something for me Chrysalis, can you comb it out fully to the tips and at least let me look in a mirror one last time before you do anything drastic to me? I have a feeling or a hunch that I know exactly what you’re about to do and where this is going.” Cadence got a full length mirror and saw her caped form and her long mane being combed out by Chrysalis and the changeling stepped back to let her to look at herself for a moment. She took in her full image and visage for a minute, before she closed her eyes sighing. “Okay, continue combing.”
Chrysalis gladly did so with a smile on her face; it looked like Cadence was accepting defeat here at this very moment and after she was done using the comb to give her fringe a center parting. That small change in her hairstyle made Cadence shiver, her bangs were now framing her face and Chrysalis nodded to herself before looking off to the side. After a moment she continued to comb the rest of Cadence’s mane so that there was an almost even amount of hair on both sides of her neck. One side of her head had slightly more hair combed to it than the other.
“So, how about I give you some options before I do this thing? Would you prefer a ponytail or a braid? Either way I’m binding that mane of yours with a hair band.” Chrysalis ran her hooves through the silky mane and even took a sniff of it, sure it might have made her look creepy and who was she to not take enjoyment in this? In any case Cadence smelled really nice.
“Ponytail, I had one throughout most of my youth and…. no wait… braid, I want to see what it would have looked like. Can you separate the braid into the three colors? I know you’re not exactly a stylist, but…” Cadence yelped slightly when she felt Chrysalis’s hooves tugging at her mane, the changeling was apparently going to start braiding her hair now.
“One braid coming right up, of course you realize I’m going to do something for your tail as well… I’ve already planned out this style long before this and I think it won’t look too bad. Unless you start struggling that is, can you be a big brave princess and not do that?” A few more tugs and Chrysalis had the hair band around a mass of Cadence’s mane, leaving two swaths of hair at the sides of her face. “Besides I actually went and earned my license to style forty years ago, unless they changed the requirements I think I’ve still got it and Celestia isn’t the only old pony around here. I did after all kidnap you before the wedding because I was disguised as a stylist if you bothered to remember. The talent was a lot more useful than I previously thought and it’s something I enjoy doing as well.”
“Okay that’s making me all the more wary about this, but I’m guessing there’s no talking you out of it.” Cadence decided that she probably shouldn’t have opened her mouth; she certainly remembered how cuddly her stylist had been before she struck and then went after Shining Armor disguised as her. The tugs at her mane weren’t all too sharp or even painful, Chrysalis was surprisingly treating her mane with a reverence that she didn’t know the changeling queen had.
“You’d be correct. Also your braid is coming along nicely. Almost done here, so I can give you your next decision and I’m doing this by hoof so I can get the most enjoyment out of it you know. You’re hair feels really nice by the way.” Chrysalis continued to braid most of Cadence’s mane at the back of her head; until she got to the very end of the hair she could move with her hooves and lit her horn for the last bit before tying it off with another band.
“I’m not about to say thank you, you’re kind of forcing this all on me after all.” Cadence was given a chance to look at the braid in the mirror without having to ask Chrysalis, she would have looked rather nice with it and she could already tell why she still had hair that was hanging outside of the braid. She still preferred her ponytail style out of personal preference though.
“So… do you want me to use scissors or clippers? The clippers would make this go by much faster; the scissors are going to be needed to shape your mane to how I want it anyway. It’s your choice what I use here. Either way I’m going to like the end results and it will be a rather specific style I’m going for here.” Chrysalis watched as Cadence broke out in tears without an ounce of remorse; yeah she really upset Cadence and didn’t care as the princess of love was hers for a day. “Hey now, don’t be like that. Sure I’m going to cut a lot of it off, but it’s not like I’m going to give you a double buzz. Well, unless you struggle, then that might very well be the end result.”
Cadence stiffened at the thought of sporting a buzzed tail and mane for a year, but the tears wouldn’t stop falling. It left her worrying about the hairstyle Chrysalis had in mind and she didn’t want to force the changeling queen to buzz her head, she’d at least like to save some of her mane if she could so she wouldn’t dream of struggling now. Shuddering she took a gulp and then felt something wipe at her eyes.
“Hey, I’ll have none of that now! I have to do your makeup too you know and I don’t want it to run thanks to your tears. So how do you want me to start? I’m going to decide for you if you can’t decide in the next ten seconds.” Chrysalis started counting off the seconds mentally; she would probably go for the scissors personally.
“C-c-clippers, I want you to use the clippers.” Cadence figured that she might as well have it over with fast, with a pop there was a buzzing noise filling the air and her ears wilted at the sound. She closed her eyes tightly and didn’t struggle as the buzzing got closer to her head around the base of her neck where her mane started. Hearing the scissors slowly sawing through her braid would have been considerably worse in her mind.
-
While Chrysalis was getting her payment of a day with Cadence started off on a good hoof, for the changeling queen at the very least, Rarity finished applying all the stops to her face and body. Sure the few scratched and injuries she had acquired were still visible, but at least they weren’t on her face and were less noticeable now. Her mane and tail were coiffed to perfection and she set out of the bathroom only for Greta to rush in past her mussing up her mane slightly by the rush of air of her passing, Rarity glared over her shoulder as the door slammed shut. She quickly got her mane back into shape with a few pushes of her magic before she addressed those awake in the room, while completely ignoring the sigh of relief coming from the bathroom.
“Well yesterday was quite a thing wasn’t it Coco? I admit, being seen somewhat as a hero is a little disheartening. None of our actions were exactly heroic and more out of desperation; we didn’t exactly save anyone beyond two ponies and a diamond dog.” Rarity gave Coco and appraising look and Coco looked away while rubbing at her face, it was that cute blush that let Rarity know that Coco was aware of what she saw. “One of which is currently in the room with us out the goodness of my heart, though I seriously hope to actually talk with him as I really don’t understand why he followed us all the way to the hotel without a single word.
“I’ll say that yesterday was rather scary, I sometimes wish I were a bit braver like you. You didn’t falter and neither did Greta, I cuddled her again because she snuggles very well.” Coco mumbled under her breath, but loud enough to be heard by Trapeze rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with a hoof and there was Bernard calmly sitting on her head, her long and thick blue mane fanned out beneath her. Taking her gaze away from the acrobatic magician Coco turned back to Rarity. “I’m just glad everything worked out alright and that they weren’t able to cripple any more people. I’m still upset to hear that the little pegasus will never be able to fly, at least she’ll still be able to walk. When she finally gets out of the hospital that is, I’m surprised the princesses are paying for all those medical bills. Still though, So many people hurt and for what reason?”
“I wouldn’t have the foggiest of idea’s Coco darling, though if you need hugs you could just ask. Greta doesn’t mind cuddling, but I think she’s dead set on Gilda, so please don’t go breaking her heart dear if she starts reciprocating. I’m sorry to say that I’m currently more worried about poor Sassy and Opal. I’m mean Opal mentally and Sassy physically after those horrible material cannon rounds she took, hopefully Vera will keep them held together up there until we can finish our business down here.” Rarity’s accent went straight to downright posh at the moment; she was in Canterlot a city of beauty and the high social standards so it was understandable.
“Yeah those material cannons would have made cheese of me if I tried to fly away, but I’m glad you didn’t order me to do that because I would have gladly done so boss lady. Don’t think Gilda would have like me being mauled though.” Greta walked back into the room with cleaner looking feathers and freshly washed talons and a cheerful smile on her beak. “Also I don’t mind the snuggling sweetheart, just so long as you don’t take it the wrong way. I know I’m gay, but that doesn’t mean you are just because you like being cuddled. Though one does wonder when you keep blushing like you do.”
“Can we please get off the subject of my enjoyment of being a plush toy for others? Speaking of, couldn’t you maybe just make a Gilda sized plush toy for Greta so we don’t have to worry about getting grabby in her sleep?” The idea had occurred to Coco, but she only now voiced it after the second time of waking up next to Greta held in a rather comfortable if compromising position. “Also I remember that we have an important meeting scheduled today and we all need a little time to freshen up for it, I think we’ll still have a few hours before lunch for us to just look around the city and see the sights. I hope Luna doesn’t mind having that lunch today or giving me the hug that I asked for, if she even wants to do it that is.”
-
“Of course we can have that lunch today! Come on to the castle and bring all your friends as well, we will make a feast of it! If you hadn’t breakfast yet, then don’t bother as lunch will be more than enough.” Luna was rather jovial about this particular meeting, she wanted to be friends with the creator of the breach gel which was proving most fortuitous in the fields of medicine, space exploration and humorously enough toys thanks to Luna’s extensive testing of that particular subject. “If you will send me a list of foods you really enjoy, I will see to it that each and every one of you is satisfied as we join for the devouring of tasty food and merriment as friends!”
-
“Luna is really nice.” That was all Coco had to say about that call after everyone, except the sleeping diamond dog they left alone, sent a list of the foods they wanted to see at lunch. “She’s incredibly pleasant to talk to, especially after yesterday’s sordid affairs.”
“Quite, she’s more outgoing than Celestia and is usually seen perusing night clubs and running around with the likes of Vinyl and Octavia. You know the two mares we met on Ewesen, one of whom was an utter tom colt.” That brought a smile to Rarity’s face, she had never seen a mare so against putting on a dress and looking feminine in her life. “I remember them saying something about being at the Gala; it’ll be nice to see them wearing my dresses. Well at least I know Octavia will be wearing one.”
“Never been to Canterlot before, guess you girls haven’t been either. I think you should really do something about our silent tail here while I get myself ready to for a performance of a lifetime for the princess. Are you up for making it a performance worthy of royalty Bernard?” The rabbit nodded excitedly and Trapeze couldn’t help smile at his enthusiasm, the two of them shared quite a special bond. She flicked her top hat and out of it fell a bottle of shampoo, a towel and a bar of soap; she then stuffed her entire sleeping bag into it before setting off for the bathroom.
“That has got to be the most useful special talent I’ve ever seen a pony have.” It was a talent Greta really wished she had, because then she wouldn’t have to worry about carrying a tool kit or Mr. Welder around. To think all that weight could be entirely put off by a simple looking top hat, earth pony magicians were quite a rarity and she wasn’t thinking of her boss lady. Well at least Greta was trying to not think about her boss lady in anything other than a professional or friendly manner.
“Right then, who wants the honor of waking him up or shall I do it?” Rarity questioned as she tilted her head towards the diamond dog sleeping on the floor. The diamond dog was an average sized one; they usually came in small, average and the less than popular large brute variety. Intelligence among diamond dogs was, to put it succinctly as possible, rather incredibly sporadic. “Wait… did Trapeze just take Bernard with her to… never mind. I think it best to not to go there, though my previous question still stands however.”
“I’ll do it.” Coco offered as she made her way over to the sleeping dog, all she did was gently prod him and he was up with his back against the wall in an instant cowering and looking panicked.
“Rover awake, Rover awake!” The Diamond Dog obviously named Rover shouted causing Coco to look back at the others for help with this sudden change in mood, while the Rover covered his head looking around frightfully.
-
“Rover is following boss lady! Boss lady is Rover’s new leader and leader is nice to Rover so far.” When asked why he was still coming along with them, that was his only response and he had been following them for a while now. Rover didn’t seem too bad and was mostly keeping to himself as he plodded along behind them on two legs. Then he surprised them by adding out of nowhere. “Not think of Rover as dumb, Rover understanding leader is not Diamond Dog and is tired of following bad leaders. Have trust of griffon, must be good leader. Also boss lady is a very pretty pony who helped save Rover, in taking chances Rover will. Not much is else going good for Rover anyway; I stick to this one thing, maybe better outcome.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence darling.” Rarity just shook her head and adjusted her pink and purple dress. He might have been a bit too brutish for Rarity’s tastes, but he was earnest in his attempts to follow them around and trying to make it look like it was normal everyday occurrence. He was failing horribly, but at least he was trying and he certainly carried a positive attitude in the face of Greta’s snickering. She would have to ask Trap Bar how he went about making the Diamond Dogs in his crew as competent as they were, she had a feeling she would need it.
They approached the guards with Coco in the lead and the poor mare got a little shy here, until Rarity patted her on the back trying to calm the mare’s nerves and was quickly joined by Greta, Trapeze and a confused looking Rover who shrugged and joined in on the patting. After taking in all the comforting for a while Coco got her courage and moved towards the guards to address them.
“Coco Pommel, Luna’s lunch party?” Coco asked more than stated, the two guards looked between themselves and nodded before moving aside to let them all through while watching them carefully. They didn’t confiscate Greta or Rarity’s weapons; the guards didn’t think small arms to be a threat to Luna at all. If anything Luna was more threatening than a few well armed supposed civilians just by being herself.
A guard arrived and motioned for the group to follow him. They all did so and came to a large ornate dining room with a huge table and Luna messing with her data pad, she was playing games on it and not actually doing anything importance. It was rather apparent to anyone who spent enough time in her presence that Luna might have had a procrastination problem. Rarity cleared her throat and Luna suddenly hit the pause button on her game and looked up wide eyed to be caught red hoofed at enjoying such trivial things. The princess gave them a sheepish smile before standing up.
“Hello there and welcome friends, lunch will take a while to be finished. I heard that we are to be joined by Queen Chrysalis and Princess Cadence for some sort of announcement soon, most likely we’ll be seeing Cadence’s form of punishment for distracting me from my job so much.” Yep Luna was still going to carry on that lie that it was all Cadence’s fault that she was so far behind on her work, her recent tests into the impulse saddles were proving just as fun. Can you say zero gravity breach gel balls bouncing around a contained room? “So we may be waiting a while longer for food. I hope you do not mind, if you have any questions or need anything of me that I am willing to grant, I will now hear you out.”
“Yes, I do have something I want to bring up with you. It has to do with a ticket to the gala you owe me, I believe…” Before Rarity could get any further her pupils shrunk and then grew to several sizes when Luna sent the ticket hovering her way immediately. She took it into her magic reverently and clasping it in her hooves she gave off an unladylike squeal of epic proportions that caused Rover to clutch at his head. “I have no further things of note to mention and thank you very much princess Luna. Though I do believe you still owe Coco and apology.”
“Ah yes, I do believe that I am required to give her a hug? Of that I will gladly grant her.” Luna walked over to Coco as Rarity quickly went to grab a seat with Rover following dutifully and sitting right next to her. She fanned out her wings and swept Coco into her hooves before wrapping her snugly in feathers and a warm and tender embrace. Then she went a step further by treating Coco like a baby. “You are one of my little ponies, yes you are. You just need a little coddling and everything will better yes? Who’s a cute pony, you are!”
Coco blushed and snuggled into Luna’s embrace, it felt too cozy to do anything else and she wasn’t complaining. She didn’t regret requesting lunch and a hug, it was more than enough for her and she was happy enough with the results that she didn’t mind that Luna was treating her like a child. Celestia and Luna were old enough to mother any pony they saw fit.
“Right, so the chefs didn’t mind the fried fish and chips order right?” It was a concern of Greta’s; ponies just didn’t take to meat very well. Pegasus ponies were the first ponies that could eat fish and thanks to large amounts of cross breeding due in part to the unification of the three tribes, most Unicorn and Earth Ponies could as well.
It was mostly just a small social taboo to eat meat among ponies; it was truly taboo to eat the meat of a being that was previously sentient or moderately intelligent. All ponies still ate unfertilized eggs, so there was a taste for something outside of a vegetarian lifestyle most ponies tried to adhere to. Griffons would be hard pressed to give up the taste of bacon if pigs ever suddenly learned how to talk and became smarter; even then they were more carnivorous then omnivorous. Diamond Dogs were oddly omnivores leaning vegetarian and as such Rover would be okay with whatever they were having, he was going to eat his fill as he hadn’t had a good meal in a long time.
“It is fine; I too love the taste of fried fish along with most of my foods fried. Fried cake and ice cream being one of the best treats I have ever tried… I forgot to mention that dessert will be a first come first serve ordeal.” After that Luna just kept on nuzzling Coco who was in her mind a very adorable pony, it was a common opinion that Coco was adorable. Luna’s night guards were insectivores so who was she to complain about eating odd foods, Celestia was the one that preferred to be almost strictly vegetarian.
“Rover can’t eat chocolate or grapes, also greasy food very bad. Baked fish is better for Rover.” At least Rover understood his limitations and what was poisonous to him, in fact that was the first lesson all pups ever learned and they learned those lessons on the pain of an awful death. You had to learn what was safe to eat, cheese was in general safe for Diamond Dogs but there were the rare occasions of a Diamond Dog having problems with it.
“Are you lactose intolerant?” Seeing as Luna’s answer was the dogs shaking his head no, she nodded to him. Diamond Dogs weren’t unknown to Luna or Celestia, so the question needed to be asked. “Then it is best you stay away from the bread pudding and the chocolate cake, stick to the cheesecake with strawberry syrup or the other safe desserts and ask before consuming anything sweet. I’ll see to getting you some baked fish.”
“Excuse me everyone, it looks like we’ve got quite a party going here! Now introducing…” Everyone turned to the queen of the changelings, better known as Chrysalis, as she walked into the room with a broad smile. She turned back around and looked outside of the door she walked through. “Oh come on it’s not that bad, in fact you look very good!”
“I know and that’s what upsets me about this… fine, I’m coming in but nobody better do anything to upset me.” Into the dining room walked an Alicorn with platinum blond hair and a pink coat reminiscent of the princess of love. She was sporting a short A-line bob that covered a portion of her right eye and her tail was cut quite short to a fourth the length that it previously was, it matched her mostly sheared neck quite well. She sighed as she noticed all the stares, three of them had blushes and one of those three was Luna. “I don’t mind the look, but I wish it were personally on another pony at the moment. I miss my long hair, but I will admit to it looking good. I’m certainly glad that you at least allowed me to opt out on dying my coat bright brown with white spots.”
“You don’t have to keep the hair color Cadence; it’ll wash out later this evening. I just wanted to know what you’d look like as a blonde and you don’t disappoint. You just have to keep up with the style.” Turning to everyone Chrysalis smiled broadly.”Again, now introducing to you for your viewing pleasure… it is Princess Cadence; you are the first lucky few to witness her new makeover! Well aside from a few guards and some maids.”
“Wait… I’m ogling my niece!” It had to be said that Luna’s tastes were quite out there. “I thought she was just a new and rather attractive alicorn, have I no shame?”
Cadence brought a hoof to her face; she certainly didn’t need to hear that and she wondered what Shining would think of her new look. She hoped Chrysalis’s services were worth this, she was going to be getting her mane trimmed every week for a year because magical pony hair grows back really fast.
As far as first meetings go, Rarity was a little put off by Chrysalis’s current friendly demeanor considering all that she’s heard about the queen.