//------------------------------// // 8 - Get a Griff // Story: Chrysalis: Saviour of Time // by Robo Bro //------------------------------// Chrysalis stretched her limbs as she gradually roused from slumber. A slight movement of something rather warm at her side reminded her of Spike’s presence in her bed. With a smile she wasn’t fully aware of, she lifted the covers from herself and peeked down at her sleeping companion who had curled up like a contented cat. Careful not to wake the child, she crawled out of her bed. Despite all odds, given the circumstances, she had had a very peaceful sleep. It easily had been the best rest she had gotten in years, or at least it felt like it to her. She concluded that it had to have been the bed, which was leagues ahead of what she had experienced in the hospital, which itself had been a considerable leg up on the dregs of a bed she had slept on back in the hive. Her thoughts meandered unwillingly to how lousy a night Time Keeper likely had had and her contented smile slowly warped into an irritated frown. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t leave him out in the wild indefinitely. He was probably hungry too, he had been out there on his own since yesterday morning after all. With that thought, her expression finished its journey to being a fully fledged scowl. She made her way over to the bedroom door, pausing only a moment to ensure that her disguise was still properly in place, she didn’t want a repeat of what had nearly happened at the Quills and Sofas store yesterday. As quietly as she could manage, she opened the door and checked outside. Leaning against the wall next to the door was Shining Armor. His eyes were closed and his breathing slow and steady. He was asleep on his hooves, something she remembered finding him doing several times during the period when she had infiltrated Canterlot disguised as Princess Cadenza. She had to resist the urge to feed on him as she had often done back then when finding him in such a state, something which could easily wake him, and she sneaked past. She really didn’t want to risk having him follow her and seeing Time Keeper. She searched the kitchen downstairs for some food she could bring to Time Keeper. As she perhaps should have expected of a place that had so recently been unoccupied, the cupboards and fridge were both empty. She would need to go shopping sometime, not because she needed food, naturally, but she did need to keep up appearances. Upon further reflection, she also acknowledged that Spike and Shining Armor probably needed something to eat, too. As she was stepping out the front door, Chrysalis nearly tripped over a large basket set just outside on the ground. Leaning against the basket was a roll of parchment. She skimmed through it to find it explained that contained in the basket were a variety of housewarming gifts from ‘all her friends’, Celestia and even Luna. It had been signed by all of the element bearers with varying qualities of penmanship. Sorting through the basket, she found a variety of goods. A half dozen apples were clearly from Applejack, and the finely crafted saddlebags were likely from Rarity, but the rest were somewhat less clear. There was a book on the wildlife around Ponyville, a lidded container with cupcakes, and a poster of a yellow pegasus with a fiery orange mane and wearing a tight blue uniform of some kind. She had no idea who that mare was supposed to be, or why anybody would think she would want a poster of her. Aside from those, there were two more rolls of parchment inside, one sealed with a sun and laid next to a small coin purse, and the other with a moon lay next to a dark bottle. Breaking the sun seal, she found an explanation that the purse contained Twilight’s monthly living expenses that she was to receive as Celestia’s personal student. She was glad to know she would have her financial needs taken care of, as Queen she was not accustomed to holding down a job for the sake of something as banal as money. She had always had far more important duties to keep her occupied. In a post script, it also reminded her to send letters in return on the lessons she learns about friendship. Turning her attention to the third and presumably final letter, she broke the moon seal and read it. She nearly snorted with a laugh at what she saw. It was, or at least appeared to be, a love letter. My Dearest Twilight Sparkle: It has been over a millennium since I have had a suitor of any sort, and as such I am woefully out of date on the norms of courtship. Do lovers yet exchange letters professing their emotions for one another? If not, then mayhap you would indulge my old fashioned manners and do me the honour of accepting my periodic writings, and, if you are so inclined, to send a letter of your own in return now and then. I feel I must apologize for my behaviour at our last meeting. My jealousy was uncalled for, I should know better than most the desire to show dominance over one’s opponents, especially when that opponent is my sister. Admittedly, I myself would never have thought to kiss her as a display of power over her, for what I should hope are obvious reasons. Regardless, I believe that your actions were not done out of love or lust for my sister, and as such I will put the act behind us so that we can move forwards without it clouding our relations. I do request that, if you continue to clash with her in the future, you do not harm her. I could not stand to lose her anymore than I could stand to lose you. I have thought much of you in these days past. I yearn to be by your side again, but I know I cannot. I have much to do now that I have returned from the moon. I must learn a thousand years worth of political change, be reintroduced to the world at large, and meet with countless important political figures and families, not to mention the need to recuperate from our own little tussle in our old castle. The new castle in Canterlot is nice, but it lacks the familiarity and history of the one in the Everfree Forest. I think back on the memories of that battle, the ones you stole from me as you had my heart. I can only imagine you did it to protect your true identity, but it is surely unfair of you to have done so. My sister and seemingly half the guard have seen your natural form, the latter of which whisper of your apparent beauty and strength. I wish to admire your true self as well. It fills me with jealousy, that of which I know is wrong of me to feel, but if I were so easily able to control such emotions I would never have been sent to the moon. I hope one day that you trust me enough to show me your real face. It would fill me with joys you could only imagine. I must confess, I am unsure of how one ends a love letter, or even all that one puts in the body of one. I feel that my inexperience had hindered me greatly and hope you do not hold it against me. Perhaps next time I shall write some romantic poetry. Your Love: Luna P.S.: I should not need to say so, but please keep these letters a secret. I can imagine the scandal of a princess exchanging love letters with one so young, a mere student of my own sister even, but I fear that such repercussions would pale next to the pains you would suffer from me speaking so plainly of your true identity. Chrysalis didn’t know much about love letters herself, but they seemed a silly business to her. It was just paper. A changeling could neither feel the love expressed with those words, nor feed from it. Such love was woefully inadequate and completely unsatisfying. It was like dying of thirst and being given a painting of water. Though, Chrysalis thought to herself, given the source of the letter, perhaps the painting is preferable to the real thing. With nary a second thought, Chrysalis incinerated the letter. Considering how frankly and confidently the princess had written of her not being what she seemed, Chrysalis couldn’t afford to risk it falling into anyone else’s possession. She hoped that Luna would be more discreet if she wrote future letters, or failing that, at least be very careful in selecting a messenger. The bottle that the letter had been leaning against was filled with a rather fruity smelling, and a very strong, faintly familiar odour. She wrinkled her nose as she realized what it was and put the cork back into the opening. Alcohol wasn’t unheard of in changeling society, some of her subjects were quite fond of the drink, but it was far from commonly consumed. Alcohol was like a mixture of water and food, it could cause stomach aches similar to eating, but it tended not to be nearly as severe. The taste left something to be desired for the majority of changelings, likely a result of their carnivorous ancestry and the plant basis for the drinks. However, it was neither the taste nor the pain that prevented alcohol from seeing widespread consumption in changeling society. The thing that limited its use was the fact that a drunken changeling could not keep up a transformation. Usually any attempt to don a disguise would result in a few sparks of ineffectual magic sprouting forth from their horn and nothing more. Chrysalis had experienced the panic from an inability to use such an innate ability once in her life before she had become queen and swore never to drink alcohol again. Chrysalis brought the rather heavy basket inside and placed it onto the kitchen counter. She took the bottle and poured it down the sink before refilling it with plain water. Next she dug out the saddlebags and placed them onto herself, leaving the straps unfastened so she wouldn’t hurt herself if she had to transform into her natural shape. It was less stable, but it was by far the lesser of two evils. After placing the apples, cupcakes, coin purse and bottle of water into her bags, Chrysalis exited the library once more. The basket had certainly made her day easier, she wouldn’t need to go searching for food to bring for Time Keeper. There was still a need to find a way to get him out of the wilds without being caught by the guards again, though. While she wasn’t sure of where to find what she needed to accomplish that aim, she had a good idea of someone that would. With goal in mind, she set off for Rarity’s boutique. It was early in the morning, the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon. Most of Ponyville seemed to still be asleep, or at the very least were not out of their homes yet. She hoped that Rarity would be up by now. If not, she supposed she would have to return after feeding Time Keeper. Upon reaching Carousel Boutique, her concerns were proven unjustified by the presence of a small ‘Open’ sign on Rarity's door, written in immaculate, flowing script. As she pushed her way inside, she could hear a large crash coming from somewhere deeper within accompanied by a high pitched yelp. “Sweetie!” Chrysalis heard Rarity’s voice pierce the air. “I’m okay.” A young voice squeaked. “Perhaps you should just go have some breakfast instead.” “But—” “Sweetie Belle...” Rarity’s tone was clearly a warning. “Fine.” The younger voice caved in with clear disappointment. Chrysalis stood at the door somewhat awkwardly as a young, white filly with a purple and pink mane trudged out of what she remembered to be Rarity’s work room with a pouty frown. Chrysalis thought she was absolutely adorable, and then quickly rejected the idea that she ever would have thought such a thing. “Oh, hello!” The foal greeted her cheerfully, her prior sulkiness forgotten, or at least well hidden. “Rarity! You’ve got a customer!” “I’ll be right there!” Rarity called back. A few seconds later she too popped out of her work room, shooing the young foal away. “Oh, it’s you, Twilight! You’re up rather early!” Chrysalis watched as the child trotted off and then turned her attention back to Rarity, giving her an appraising look. “I didn’t know you were a mother.” Chrysalis commented. Rarity must have been older than she looked to have a foal that age. “What?” Rarity blushed. “Oh, no! I’m not her mother, she’s my sister, Sweetie Belle.” “I see. Do your parents live here, too?” “No, they moved to Baltimare for work a couple years back. They felt that uprooting Sweetie wouldn’t be good for her, so she’s living with me instead.” “And how does she feel about the matter?” “She misses them, as I do, but is happy to not leave her home.” “It must be hard on her to lose her parents like that.” Rarity chuckled. “You act as if they died. They visit once or twice a month on weekends, they are still part of her life.” “That still leaves her without them for most of the month.” “You seem awfully concerned for her well being. Are you particularly fond of children?” “No.” Chrysalis denied immediately, and after a moment added, “I can’t stand them.” “Right, of course, darling.” Rarity replied with a smirk and the exact tone she had used when she had ‘conceded’ that she didn’t need help attracting stallions. Chrysalis frowned and changed the subject. “I came here to ask some questions. Do you know where I could find some makeup and dye?” “Do you mean dye like I use for cloth? I have plenty of that if you need some.” “No, I mean dye for a mane.” “Well, I don’t have any of that, I’m afraid. I could lend you some of my makeup, though it really wouldn’t match your colour. What I’d recommend is heading over to Aloe and Lotus’ spa, they sell an excellent selection of beauty products.” “That should work. Could you give me directions?” “I could do one better than that, I can give you a map of the town with all the shops labelled on it.” “That’d be great.” “There is one problem, however, it doesn’t open for a couple of hours yet.” Rarity pointed out then looked at her friend hopefully. “Perhaps you could pass the time here, modelling for me? You do owe me after all.” Chrysalis closed her eyes and sighed. She should have seen this coming. She could make up an excuse and get out of it, but she would have to face this sooner or later. “Fine, I’ll model for you. Just remember, no corsets!” Rarity practically squealed with delight. “Oh I know just what to put you in! You’ll absolutely adore what I’ve got planned for you!” Chrysalis followed Rarity into her work room reluctantly. She was not looking forward to this. ________________________________ Chrysalis stepped out into the midmorning air, her saddlebags both heavier and tighter than when she had arrived at Rarity’s boutique. Rarity had been delighted to see her wearing the saddlebags that she had made for her, but she had been insistent on ensuring the straps were properly tightened beyond what Chrysalis would have ever thought necessary. She had also insisted on giving the dress Chrysalis had modelled to her as an extra welcome to Ponyville gift, after some adjustments to better suit her. It too felt uncomfortably tight, though Rarity had insisted that it looked divine on her. That mare seemed obsessed with tight fights. After loosening the saddlebag straps to a less restrictive level, Chrysalis brought out the map that Rarity had slipped her and quickly found the spa, helpfully marked with a bright red circle. Once she was confident she had memorized her route, she tucked the paper back into place and went on her way. The trip was uneventful and soon she stood inside the spa where a pink pony with blue mane and tail greeted her. Her accent marked her as clearly not being from around there, or indeed anywhere that Chrysalis had ever been. “Greetings, I am Aloe, welcome to my spa. Might I recommend a deep tissue massage with a scented body oil of your choice?” Chrysalis opened her mouth to decline but paused and closed it again. That massage sounded incredibly tempting. She hadn’t experienced pampering of that sort for years, not since she had disguised herself as Princess Cadenza. With regret, she finally shook her head. “Maybe next time. I have much to do today.” “Very well, then how may I help you?” The spa pony asked, her friendly demeanour not diminishing in the slightest. “I hear you sell makeup and mane dye.” “We do,” Aloe bowed her head in confirmation, “we have the best selection available to match any pony’s complexion and desires. If you would follow me.” To the credit of both Aloe and Rarity’s words, the selection was of an impressive size. She honestly didn’t know much about makeup since she had never really needed any. If she wanted to modify her look she could always use a little transformation magic, just as any changeling could. Makeup merchants didn't really have much job security in the hive. For the dye she merely grabbed the first bottle she found, which happened to be black. After several indecisive minutes of searching through the surprisingly complex world of foundations, eyeliners, lip glosses, and countless other products that had Chrysalis’ head swimming, she asked Aloe for assistance before the swimming sensation could graduate to a headache. With her help, she managed to select a package filled with a variety of makeup that advertised itself as being the preferred choice of professional actors for hiding details on their coats, or adding new ones. Chrysalis left the spa, declining one last offer of a massage from the pink pony as she did so. After sorting through her bags to ensure she had everything she needed, she began her journey to the outskirts of Ponyville where she had left Time Keeper. The path she took was a meandering one as she attempted to ensure that no pony was tailing her. She had to duck out of sight once to avoid being spotted by Shining Armor who seemed to be searching rather frantically for presumably her. The thought that she could have left a note for him to let him know she was okay briefly crossed her mind, but she dismissed it as quickly as it came. He was a big stallion, a little panic wouldn’t kill him. It was taking far longer to get to her destination than she liked. It was easy to underestimate the distance between two locations when you had only travelled between them by flight previously. She was tempted to transform so she could fly the rest of the way, but chose not to. It’d be easy to explain away a walk in the countryside if she were spotted as Twilight. If a passerby happened to spy her transforming she would have a much harder time explaining herself. It was nearly noon by the time she arrived, and there was no immediate sign of her time travelling partner in crime. “Time Keeper?” She asked the empty clearing. She stepped further in and repeated herself. Her head instinctively turned up when a flash of rainbow in the sky caught her eye. What was clearly Rainbow Dash rocketed across the sky, followed shortly behind by a brown blur. Knowing her insensitive personality, Chrysalis wondered if perhaps Dash had angered somebody too fast for her to run away from. “Chrysalis!” Chrysalis reacted subconsciously to the sudden shout next to her by swiping at it with her magic, sending the offender flying through a bush and into the base of a distant tree. “Owww...” Time Keeper groaned in pain as he righted himself. His fur, mane and tail were all a rough, matted mess. How much of that was from sleeping outside and how much from his sudden, involuntary flight was a mystery to which Chrysalis didn’t much care about the answer. She casually trotted up to him and levitated the apples, cupcakes and bottle of water over to him from her bag. “That hurt!” The nuisance whined. “Don’t sneak up on me.” She responded calmly. “You left me out in the wild to fend for myself!” “Not my problem.” “It was cold last night, I could have gotten sick and died!” Chrysalis’ brow set itself in irritation. “Are you going to eat this food or not?” It looked like Time Keeper was about to say more, but he choked on his words as he seemed to finally notice the food she had brought for him. Trembling, he tore into the small pile of apples, barely taking time to breathe between bites. Chrysalis stepped away and turned her eyes to the sky. She didn’t enjoy watching others eating, especially when they were as messy as Time Keeper was being. It was a rather disgusting process when one paid close attention to it. While her thoughts wandered aimlessly, her eyes were drawn to her second sighting of Rainbow Dash and the mysterious brown blur soaring through the sky, though this time the colourful mare was the one bringing up the rear. “They’ve been at it all morning.” Time Keeper explained between his now much slower bites of apple. “What are they doing?” “Racing, I think.” “Do you know who that is with Rainbow Dash?” “That’s Rainbow Dash?” His jaw dropped as he stared at the sky in amazement. Chrysalis rolled her eyes. That kind of hero worship would only serve to worsen that mare’s already rampant narcissism. “No, it’s some other really fast, rainbow coloured pegasus. If you didn’t even realize that was Rainbow Dash, I guess it’s stupid to think you would know who the other one is.” Chrysalis paused and then continued in a barely audible grumble. “Some guide you’re turning out to be.” Not wanting to waste any more time, Chrysalis took out the makeup she had bought and set them on the ground in front of Time Keeper piece by piece. “What’re those?” “Makeup.” “I didn’t think you were the type to wear any.” “I don’t. It’s for you.” “Me?” His voice cracked a little in surprise. “You said yourself that you can’t stay out here, but if you go in as you are then the guards will just arrest you again. If we dye your mane and give you a new cutie mark, then you’ll be able to pass as a new pony.” “Dye my mane!?” He recoiled in horror at the suggestion, touching his blue locks with a hoof. “But I like my mane!” Chrysalis raised an eyebrow as she stared at the mess of a blue mane that had become tangled with an assortment of plant matter. “It’s not that great.” She told him bluntly and picked up the bottle of black mane dye, noticing a slight problem. “We’re gonna need to wash that crap out. Do you know where some water is?” “Do we really need to do this?” His question was met with an irritated glare. Time Keeper continued after a dejected sigh. “There’s a stream not too far from here.” After much time and continuous complaints, Time Keeper’s mane and tail had lost their brilliant blue lustre, replaced with black, more or less. It wasn’t exactly the best dye job, but Chrysalis was fed up with trying to get it to look any better than the streaky mess it ended up being. That she would do so poorly at something as simple as a dye job stuck at her like a thorn in her side. Hopefully ponies would assume that his mane was naturally streaky. A lot of ponies did have rather unusually coloured manes themselves, after all. “How do I look?” Time Keeper asked uncertainly. “Great.” Chrysalis lied. “Your cutie mark is next. Turn your flank my way.” Time Keeper gulped in apprehension over her order, but did as he was commanded. Chrysalis opened up a jar of white cream and rubbed a generous portion of it on his watch cutie mark, as the instruction directed her. Supposedly this stuff was created by unicorns and laced with magic that would cause it to match any base fur colour once dried. “Do I at least get to choose what my new cutie mark is?” “You’ll get whatever I give you.” Chrysalis snapped at him, causing him to bite his lip and keep quiet. Once the white cream had dried, in a surprisingly short minute or two, there was a blank, grey space of fur where his cutie mark had previously been. Chrysalis opened up the small box containing the products for adding details to coats. There were six sticks inside of different colours, specifically black, grey, white, red, blue and yellow. She took the black one out with her magic and pressed the pointed end against her hoof. A small flow of black liquid stained her purple hoof and quickly dried. It seemed simple enough, and she figured it would be easy for her to accomplish her task. She floated the stick next to Time Keeper’s flank and paused. What was she going to draw? What could she draw? She was a changeling queen, not some simple artist. The stallion looked back at her nervously. “Is something wrong?” Unwilling to admit her own inadequacy at the task, Chrysalis jabbed the stick into his flank hard enough to elicit a satisfying yelp from him. She chastised him for moving and went about drawing on his new cutie mark. A few minutes and one colour change later, she declared herself done. Time Keeper turned his head to look at her handiwork only to have his ears droop in disappointment upon what he saw. “It’s....three white circles.” “They’re outlined in black, too.” Chrysalis added defensively. “What are they even supposed to be?” “Snowballs. Speaking of which, that’s your name now: Snowball.” “What?! Why? Nopony knows my name, why should I change it?” Chrysalis gave an insincere smile and answered him with faux levity. “If I’m going to spend years of my life as somebody I’m not because of your stupidity, then so are you.” She dropped the smile. “Besides, Time Keeper doesn’t match your new cutie mark.” “You’re a changeling, it’s normal for you to be somepony you’re not!” “Anyway, Snowball—” Chrysalis emphasized his new name. “You’re not going to listen to me, are you?” He interrupted, though Chrysalis didn’t even stop speaking. “—you’re a pony from Manehattan who got tired of the big city life, so you’re looking for a change of pace by moving to the small town of Ponyville.” “But—” “Now, what’s your name?” Chrysalis cut him off. Time Keeper sighed. “Snowball.” “And why are you here?” “I’m moving from Manehattan because I’m tired of city life.” “Good boy.” Chrysalis cooed her praise at him as if he were a pet that had just done a trick. To further add to his humiliation, she reached a hoof up to the top of his head and patted him, causing him to flinch. Ignoring his discomfort, she next brought out her map of Ponyville and unfolded it so he could see it. “For now you’ll have to stay at an inn right here.” She pointed to the appropriate location on the paper. “But I don’t have any money.” “Don’t worry about that, I have plenty courtesy of the Princess of the Sun.” She assured him in a dismissive tone. “Eventually, you’ll come to the Golden Oaks Library looking for a job and I shall graciously give you one. I could probably even convince Celestia to pay for your wages, too. If I recall there’s a basement we could set up for you to live in, that way I can keep an eye on you. I’ll let you know when you can come by, though it may be awhile.” “Why can’t I just go there now?” “I’d rather you did, but Shining Armor is staying there to keep an eye on me. Hopefully he doesn’t stay more than a few days.” “Shining Armor...that was...uh...” Chrysalis gave a frustrated sigh. “Twilight’s brother and captain of the royal guard, not to mention eventual husband of Princess Cadenza. If he sees you too soon, he may still recognize you, even with the changes we’ve made. Here.” She dumped out most of the bits from her coin purse into a small pocket of her saddlebag and tossed the purse and its remaining contents to Time Keeper. “Do you remember where you need to go?” “I think so.” Time Keeper nodded as he lifted the coin purse from the ground. “If not, you can just ask for directions. I’m sure somebody would be willing to help. Now I’ve got to get back, I have...things to do.” Chrysalis’ thoughts wandered over to a certain pink pony and her selection of scented oils. A nice massage sounded wonderful, especially if it meant she could leech a little love from the mare giving it. As she was about to leave, she felt a feathery touch upon her shoulder from the tips of her companion’s wing. “What?” She asked, impatient to get to her first massage in years. “Just...thanks. For everything. I know I complain a lot, but I want you to know I appreciate what you’ve done for me.” Chrysalis stared at him for a few seconds. The events of the past few days flashed across her mind, ultimately settling on how she was now trapped in the past. Even if she could shape the future to the benefits of her changelings, she couldn’t truly join them. They already had a queen, and no need for a second. Part of her knew she was doing her duty and was determined to face these challenges head on using the pathetic worm for guidance. The other part wanted to tear him apart with her fangs as she screamed with fury and frustration. “Don’t mention it.” She answered in as neutral a tone as she could muster, burying her pain as deeply as she could manage, deep enough that maybe she wouldn’t have to acknowledge it. Chrysalis left Time Keeper to his own devices, assuming he’d be at least competent enough to find his way to the inn on his own. She trotted at a brisk pace all the way back to Ponyville and set herself on a path straight back to the spa. She was so focused on her destination that she wasn’t paying attention to the sky when something fell from it. “Look out below!” “What?” Chrysalis head jerked up barely in time to see some sort of unusual flying contraption that looked like a couple of giant candy canes with a propeller stuck on it as it crashed right into her. She groaned in pain at having a flying entity slamming into her for the second time since coming to Ponyville, then tensed up when she saw just how close one of the propellers had come to her neck. “Owwie...” A pink pile of fur on top of her that Chrysalis recognized as Pinkie Pie moaned. Chrysalis slowly and very carefully levitated the remains of the flying machine away from her. As those dangerous blades were brought to a much less neck endangering distance, she noticed a familiar pair of rainbow and brown blurs in the sky. Moments later, Pinkie Pie bounced off of her and shook herself almost like a dog shaking water off of itself. “Hey, Twilight, sorry ‘bout that. Hey, have you been crying?” “What just happened?” Chrysalis demanded, ignoring Pinkie Pie’s question. She was queen of the changelings, she didn’t have time to cry, or to even acknowledge such a ludicrous idea. “Well, you see, I was going to hang out with Rainbow Dash today, but she had a griffon friend named Gilda with her and said they had promised to do stuff together and that we could hang out later. Well, it was later, and I figured the more friends the better, right? But Gilda seemed to disagree. She popped my balloons! She told me to buzz off! Then she broke my flyro copter!” “Wait,” Chrysalis put up a hoof to silence Pinkie Pie before she continued, “you mean that she’s why you crashed?” “Yeah,” Pinkie nodded vigorously, “and I don’t think it was an accident, either! Gilda is REALLY mean!” “She could have killed you!” Chrysalis glanced back to the potentially deadly propeller blades. “She could have killed me!” “Well, it wasn’t that much of a fall...” Pinkie spoke in defence of her attacker, though she seemed a little unsure of her own words. “Do you think it would have made a difference to her if it had been?” “Probably?” She paused for a moment and then her ears wilted. “Probably not. But what could I do about it?” Chrysalis thought on the massage that she had been looking forward to and quickly realized that she was going to be missing it. This griffon was a danger to Pinkie, and protecting those necessary to the timeline took priority. Besides, she could think of a few things she could do to this Gilda that could be just as therapeutic as a massage. “I think I have an idea.” ____________________________ Chrysalis stood in wait on the outskirts of Ponyville where nobody was around to see what they were going to do. Pinkie Pie was nearby, holding a large burlap sack at the ready. They were both watching the sky. “There they are!” Pinkie announced. “I see them.” Rainbow Dash and Gilda were flying across the sky once again, with the griffon lagging behind her colourful friend. Chrysalis marvelled at both of their endurances, most ponies and changelings alike would be exhausted after all that racing those two had done, even at half the speeds they were flying at. Not even Chrysalis herself would be able to do what they were doing without struggle. They must have been taking breaks between races, there was no way they could be doing this non-stop. Biding time for the moment when Rainbow Dash passed them, Chrysalis swiftly channelled power through her horn and latched onto Gilda with her magic. A high pitched squawk could be heard as the griffon first slowed and then came to a complete stop. The halted flyer shouted for her friend, but Rainbow Dash had rocketed so far ahead that her cries went unheard. When Chrysalis began dragging her quarry down to the ground, the flyer began flapping her wings with all her might in an effort to break free. Chrysalis had to pour a seemingly ever increasing amount of love into the spell just to keep control, but keep control she did. By the time Gilda was grounded, Chrysalis couldn’t tell which one of them was breathing heavier. “You!” Gilda hissed when she saw Pinkie. “Hold the bag open, Pinkie.” Chrysalis ordered. “I don’t know about this anymore.” “Just do it, Pinkie.” She demanded with a raised voice. Pinkie flinched and opened up the mouth of the rather large sack. “What do you think you’re doing?! When Dash hears about this, she’s gonna—” She was cut off with a grunt of pain as she was carelessly tossed into the bag and Chrysalis drew it closed. “I don’t like this...” Pinkie said, fidgeting nervously. “Look, we’ve been through this, we both know Gilda is a mean person, right?” “Right, but—” “If she’s a mean person, then it’s only a matter of time before she hurts others, maybe even Rainbow Dash.” “I guess that makes sense, but isn’t this going a little far? I just wanted an apology!” “Oh, she’ll apologize when I’m through with her.” Chrysalis declared with dark glee. “Now you wait here and keep an eye out for anypony so that I don’t get interrupted.” Chrysalis turned to walk away with her bag in tow, but found that it suddenly wouldn’t move. She turned back to see that Pinkie Pie had latched onto it and was holding her back. “Promise me that you won’t hurt her.” She stared at Chrysalis, obstinately refusing to release their prisoner from her grasp. “What?” Chrysalis stared right back at the Pink Pony incredulously. She had thought that Pinkie had wanted her help. “Promise me that you won’t hurt her, or I’m going to tell Dashie about this.” After a few seconds, Chrysalis nodded. “I promise I won’t hurt her.” “Okay, go ahead, I’ll stand watch.” Pinkie Pie said after sighing with relief at her concession and let go of the sack. Chrysalis trotted away with the bagged griffon dragging through the air behind her until she reached some trees that would suffice to block Dash’s view from the sky and Pinkie’s view from the ground. She unceremoniously dumped Gilda out of her sack behind a tree. In anticipation of her bolting, she used her magic to immediately restrain her against the trunk. “Hello, there. Gilda, was it?” Chrysalis greeted the griffon with a false smile as she towered over her. “Let me go, dweeb!” Her captive screeched as she tried to swipe at her with a talon. The attempt looked rather pathetic, if Chrysalis was being honest. “Tisk, tisk, Gilda. You have quite the temper, don’t you?” “Bite me!” “You’ve not been good enough for that.” Chrysalis gave a lone, humourless laugh. “You’ve been awfully cruel to my...friend, Pinkie Pie.” “That annoying, pink freak keeps trying to come between me and Dash!” “And your solution is to cause severe bodily harm? I know she’s annoying, trust me I know, but crashing her flying contraption is going too far. You could have killed her.” “And what are you going to do about it?” She puffed up her chest, fluffing her feathers to make her appear even larger in an instinctive effort to intimidate her. It was about as effective as her futile attempts to swipe at her. “I heard ya make that promise to not hurt me!” Gilda grinned triumphantly. Without warning, Chrysalis reared up on her hind legs and slammed her hooves against the trunk on either side of Gilda’s head, just barely missing her. The Griffon flinched and her eyes grew wide with fear as she stared at the cold eyes of the pony’s face that was now only a few centimetres away from her own. “I’ll let you in on a secret.” Chrysalis spoke softly and then leaned to her prey’s ear where she continued in a whisper. “Pinkie Pie isn’t here.” ____________________________ Pinkie Pie stood diligently, looking out for anypony that might interrupt her friend, Twilight, as she convinced that mean Gilda to be a little nicer. She was definitely looking forward to getting an apology from her and then making friends with Dashie’s old friend. A frown found its way onto her face. Twilight had seemed awfully scary and mean herself, though. It was almost like she would hurt Gilda, and Pinkie didn’t want that to happen to anypony, or griffin for that matter. She had gotten Twilight to promise not to hurt her, but she was beginning to worry that wasn’t going to be enough. Maybe she should have made her do a Pinkie Promise. Pinkie Pie was broken from her musings by a scream coming from the direction that Twilight had gone, and it was followed shortly by a cry for help. Pinkie froze for only a second before bolting towards the sound. Moments later, she found the two of them. Twilight was facing away from her, and Gilda was being held by Twilight’s magic to the ground on her belly, looking towards Pinkie. The white feathers of her face and the yellow of her beak had a splotch of red on them. Gilda’s eyes focused on her pleadingly. She was crying. Pinkie quickly looked between the two. Twilight was clearly about to hurt Gilda! How could she do that? She promised! “Twilight, stop!” Pinkie shouted as she rushed past her, accidentally shoving Twilight off balance and knocking her over. She could apologize later, though, first she needed to get Gilda away from there. She picked up the terrified griffon off the ground, released from Twilight’s magic after she had fallen over, and ran as fast her legs could take her. _______________________ With a groan that was equal parts pain and frustration, Chrysalis got back to her hooves. Pinkie Pie didn’t know her own strength. Neither her sudden assailant nor Gilda were anywhere to be seen. She fumed with anger over what had just happened, and just a little of something else: shame. She put a hoof to her face and brought it away and before her eyes to find the blood that she knew would be there. That bitch of a bird pecked her! Chrysalis had been so shocked by her audacity that she had thrown her aside without even thinking. Before Pinkie had interrupted, she was going to do even more. That, of course, was the source of her shame. Chrysalis had promised Pinkie that she wouldn’t harm Gilda, and she took her promises very seriously. She had planned on only scaring the bird in order to appease Pinkie, but her temper had gotten the better of her and she had resorted all too easily to what she had wanted to do rather than what she knew she should do. She was better than that, she knew she was. It had to have been the stress of the past few days getting to her. She swore at herself. She was a fool. Stress was no excuse for breaking her promise. She needed to find Pinkie and apologize. Chrysalis trotted her way back to Ponyville, assuming that the pair would likely return to town, though where precisely in said town she was unsure of. Where was it that Pinkie Pie lived? A bakery of some kind, wasn’t it? Chrysalis dug through her saddle bags and brought out her map. She had never been to Pinkie’s home, but she had received reports on all of the element bearers, perhaps seeing it listed among the other businesses would jog her memory. “Twily! There you are!” Chrysalis’ eyes twitched at Shining Armor’s familiar and clearly displeased voice. She put on a big smile and set her map back into her bag. “Shining!” She greeted him with well practiced, false joviality. “How’re you doing?” “Don’t you ‘how’re you doing’ me! Where in Equestria have you been?! I’ve been looking all over for you! Wait, is that blood?!” Chrysalis’ insincere smile quickly withered into a much more honest scowl. “It’s nothing, but if you must know, I tripped and hit my face against a rock while I was exploring Ponyville. I figured that since I’m going to live here, I should probably try to get a little more familiar with the place.” She explained indignantly. “You should’ve taken me with you! I’m here to protect you, remember?” “From what? The rock, or your own snoring? You stayed up all night, I’m surprised you can even stand right now!” “I’ve trained to deal with a lack of sleep, Twily! The princess would have my tail if anything happened to you, and I’d let her take it! I don’t want to see you hurt!” “I’m not a foal, I can take care of myself! I’m not nearly as fragile as you or Celestia think!” “Just kiss, already!” A shout interrupted their screaming match. “Shut up!” Chrysalis and Shining Armor spoke in unison to shout down the mare who had bothered them only to be faced by a small crowd of ponies that had gathered at the spectacle of their argument. Chrysalis wasn’t sure which one had yelled at them to kiss, but if she had to guess, it was probably the white unicorn mare with the spiky blue mane and sunglasses. It was her amused grin and the horrified look of the grey earth pony mare next to her that tipped her off. “I don’t have time for this,” Chrysalis growled, “I need to find Pinkie Pie.” Chrysalis stormed through the crowd, gritting her teeth as she did so. The ponies made way for her exit, though she almost wished they hadn’t. She really wanted an excuse to hit somebody. “What do you mean you need to find Pinkie?” Shining Armor asked as he trotted after her, using a business like tone as he fell back into his role as a guard pony. “Is she okay?” “I—” Chrysalis paused her words to angrily kick a pebble that lay in her path, “—made a mistake. I need to apologize to her.” “Really? What did you do to hurt your friends this time?” “I don’t wanna talk about it.” “Excuse me.” “What?!” Chrysalis stopped and snarled at the intruding voice. It was the same sunglasses wearing mare from before. “Cool it, girl, I’m trying to help. I saw Pinkie not too long ago. She was at Sugarcube Corner.” “What? No snide comments on how I should kiss my sister this time?” “She’s your sister? That’s hilarious!” The mare burst out laughing. “I’m glad you find it funny.” Shining responded, his face scrunched up as if he had just swallowed something absolutely disgusting. “Lighten up, it got you two to stop fighting, right?” “I guess...” “Anyway, I can show you the way if you want. Consider it an apology.” “That won’t be necessary.” Chrysalis’ tone was acidic. “Suit yourself.” The mare shrugged. “I’m Vinyl Scratch, by the way. I’m a DJ, so if you ever need somepony slinging some records, I’m your mare! Just talk to Pinkie if you need me, she usually knows where to find me.” Chrysalis bit her tongue as the aggravating mare trotted off. She found herself momentarily glad that this Vinyl Scratch hadn’t been an element bearer. As bad as the true bearers were, they weren’t nearly as grating as she had been. Once the mare was out of sight around a corner, Chrysalis pulled the map back out of her bag. “What are you doing?” “Looking for Sugarcube Corner.” “I thought you said you knew where it was.” “You just assumed I knew where it was, I never said any such thing.” She pointed out then gave a nod towards where Vinyl Scratch had disappeared. “Besides, do you really want to spend more time with her?” Shining Armor grimaced. “Fair point.” Fortunately for Chrysalis, their path to Sugarcube Corner was not met with any further interruptions. Shining Armor, though angry before, seemed more or less content now that he was able to perform his job of guarding her. As annoying as it was to have him shadowing her every move, it was nice to be able to focus her thoughts on one angry pony instead of two. The building itself was another weird one in the same vein as Canterlot Boutique, only more so, as it appeared to be a giant gingerbread house covered in frosting and candies. The scent of fresh baked goods emanated from the place, causing a mild, sickening sensation in Chrysalis’ stomach. “Smells delicious!” Shining observed as he took a deep whiff of the air. “Right.” Chrysalis murmured her insincere agreement. Sometimes Chrysalis envied the ponies for the variety of foods they found palatable. She hoped she wouldn’t be spending much time here in the future. Breathing through her mouth, she stepped into the bakery. “Welcome to Sugarcube Corner! How can I help you today?” A rather scrawny, yellow stallion greeted them from behind the counter. “I’m looking for Pinkie Pie.” She answered. “I need to talk with her.” “Ah...right.” His eyes darted subconsciously to a set of stairs leading up before focusing back on her a little nervously. “I don’t think she’s in the mood for guests, she seemed a little upset.” “I know, but that’s why I need to speak with her.” “Well, I don’t—” “It’s okay, Twilight can come upstairs.” Pinkie’s voice cut in from the direction of the stairs, though Chrysalis couldn’t see her from the angle she stood at. “You sure?” The stallion asked, a look of concern filling his face as he spoke towards the stairs. After a pause, he continued. “Alright then. Go on up, Twilight.” “I, uh...guess I’ll just stay down here.” Shining Armor piped up awkwardly. Chrysalis ignored him and headed straight for where she had heard Pinkie’s voice. At the top of the steps was a short hallway with a pair of doors at the end. Chrysalis approached the one that was slightly ajar. “Come in, Twilight.” Chrysalis pushed the door fully open and stepped into what was evidently Pinkie Pie’s bedroom. It was far more subdued than she had expected. While there were a few empty balloons and some toys strewn about here and there, it was overall rather mundane. Pinkie Pie herself sat with a slight frown on the edge of a rather messily made bed, staring at her. “So...where’s Gilda?” “She left to find Rainbow Dash.” Awkward silence fell between them and Chrysalis began to fidget nervously. She was not good at apologizing. She never really did it much before. “I’m sorry.” Chrysalis blurted out. Pinkie tilted her head slightly, as if asking her to elaborate. “I promised I wouldn’t hurt her and I was about to break that promise before you stopped me, and I thank you for doing so. I didn’t mean to hurt her, I just wanted to scare her into apologizing to you, but she pecked me and I lost my temper.” Pinkie’s eyes darted to the splotch of dried blood on Chrysalis’ face. “I know.” Pinkie answered succinctly. Chrysalis frowned with confusion. “You do?” Pinkie nodded. “Gilda told me. I don’t like that you were about to hurt her, but I understand why you were about to.” For someone who understood the situation, Pinkie sounded alarmingly upset. “So...are we okay, then?” “No, we are not okay!” Chrysalis eyes widened. She had had a hard time imagining Pinkie Pie raising her voice in anger what with her annoyingly persistent jolly personality. Seeing it actually happen was a surprisingly unpleasant experience. “If you forgive me for nearly hurting Gilda, then why—” “That’s not why I’m mad, Twilight!” Pinkie cut her off, “I just wanted Gilda to stop being a bully so that we could be friends, but you made me become one worse than she was!” Chrysalis thought back on the day and remembered that Pinkie had indeed protested their course of action multiple times, and she had completely ignored her discomfort. A flash of indignation rose inside her. She had been doing it for Pinkie Pie! Should a mother not force her child to take medicine because her child did not want it? No, it had been for her own good! “Look, she deserved what she got and more! She could have killed you! You should be thanking me for what I did!” Pinkie Pie began to tremble and the beginnings of tears that had been on her face before turned into a steady trickle. “You don’t get it.” Pinkie said, her voice shaking with disbelief. “You really don’t get it.” “I just don’t understand you ponies! I try to help and you get angry at me! You ungrateful, little worm!” “Get out.” Pinkie whispered. “What?” Chrysalis blinked in surprise. “I don’t want to see you anymore. Get out of my room.” Pinkie spoke slowly and clearly. “But—” “OUT!” Chrysalis flinched. The rational side of her that told her to retreat fought with her instincts telling her to press the attack, and the end result was her standing in place with one hoof half raised to leave, and her mouth open to continue the argument. After a few seconds of staring at each other, Chrysalis finally wrestled her desire to fight into submission. “Fine!” Chrysalis shouted and marched out of the room, using her magic to slam the door behind her. She snorted with frustration. That was the last time she’d try to help that stupid mare. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm down before walking to the stairs. She could hear the stallion who had greeted her before greeting another customer. She was halfway down when she heard a familiar and unwelcome voice. “Uh...yeah..is Pinkie Pie still here? I wanna thank her before I leave town.” “She’s not really up to seeing anypony right now.” Chrysalis began descending again. “Oh...could you thank her for Gilda?” Chrysalis entered the main floor of the shop while the stallion muttered a reply. The griffon’s eyes were immediately drawn to her and a glint of fear graced her features. Chrysalis stood glaring at her. Sensing the tension between the two, the stallion beat a hasty retreat to the back of the store. “Hey, d...dweeb! You could have really hurt me!” Gilda accused, trying to put on a brave face. “You could have killed Pinkie.” She answered coldly, and then added the next words as if they were an afterthought. “Or me.” Gilda’s bravado faltered and soon vanished entirely as she bowed her head in shame. “You’re right. I wanted to see her so I could say I’m sorry about that.” Chrysalis stared at the seemingly remorseful creature, imagining what it would be like to pluck every feather from her body and then drain her love until she was an empty husk. Oddly, the mental image failed to give her any satisfaction. “Whatever.” Chrysalis walked right past Gilda and straight for the exit. She wasn’t worth it anymore. She was met by Shining Armor just outside of the bakery, looking uncomfortable. He had clearly heard at least some of her exchange with Pinkie earlier. “I don’t want to talk about it.” She cut him off before he even had a chance to ask. He merely nodded and fell in step behind her as she made her way back to the library. With each passing step, her anger faded little by little to be replaced with more logical thoughts. She had just turned one of the element bearers into an enemy, and the consequences of such a mistake could be very dire for all. By the time the duo stepped inside the Golden Oaks Library, her concern must have shown on her face because Shining Armor decided to prod her despite her prior orders not to. “Uh...Twily? I know you said you don’t want to talk about it, but I don’t like seeing you so miserable. What happened?” Chrysalis sighed. The anger that remained wanted to toss him against a wall for disobeying her, but, much like with Gilda, it just didn’t seem worth the effort. Maybe he’d even have some insight on how to fix the situation. She summarized the events surrounding Gilda for him. “I...didn’t know you had it in you. That was a little harsh, even for you, Twily.” Chrysalis growled. “She deserved it. “You shouldn’t have taken matters into your own hooves, you should have told me. I’m a guard, remember? I deal with this sort of thing all the time. I mean...what you did? I’ve arrested ponies for less!” “So you’re going to arrest your little sister?” Chrysalis scoffed at the idea. “You know I’m not going to do that.” “How magnanimous of you.” She retorted sarcastically, eliciting a frustrated sigh from him. “You should probably apologize and try to make it up to her.” “How am I supposed to do that? I don’t think she’ll even see me right now.” “Maybe not now, but later. And make sure you’re specific with your apology, don’t give a half hearted one word ‘sorry’. You need to promise her that next time you’ll listen to her.” “I’ll think about it.” Chrysalis grumbled. “I’m going to my room.” Shining Armor reached out a hoof to stop her. “The Princess wanted me to remind you to write reports on what you learn about friendship. I think that maybe this would be worth writing about.” Chrysalis shrugged him off and walked up the stairs to her room. A letter, huh? She sighed angrily. As much as she would love to cram the paper for said letter down Shining Armor’s throat, she would need to do it to avoid suspicion from the princess. She shut her bedroom door behind her, garnering the attention of Spike who had been lying in his basket with a comic book. “Oh, hey, Twilight! Whatcha up to?” “I’m thinking about writing a letter.” She answered, trying to keep the anger out of her voice. As annoying as he was, Spike didn’t deserve to suffer for her bad mood. “Oh, I’ve got it!” Spike tossed the comic aside haphazardly, leaped to his feet and ran off to a desk. Within moments, he was standing at the ready with quill and parchment in his claws. He stood in eager anticipation, and Chrysalis realized when he didn’t hand either to her that he intended to have her dictate the letter for him to write. “Right, well...” Chrysalis paused. She was not used to having someone else write for her. She had barely even begun thinking about what she was going to say. “Uh...Twilight?” Spike spoke up when she failed to continue. “You okay there?” “I think I’d like to write this one myself, Spike, if you don’t mind.” “Oh. Okay, I guess. Let me know when you’re ready to send it.” He let her snatch the parchment and quill with her magic and trudged off back to his basket where he picked up his previously discarded comic, clearly disappointed the entire way. She took a moment to reflect on what a weird child he was before walking over to the same desk that Spike had just brought the writing implements from and began the laborious process of writing her letter. When she was finished, she read what she had wrote. To: Princess Celestia Today I ran into someone who, through her own cruelty and indifference to the suffering and wellbeing of others, had put the life of one of my friends in danger. I made plans to scare her into treating others better with that friend and am happy to report that my plan succeeded as she seemed to genuinely wish to apologize for her actions. However, my friend was uncomfortable with the means we used and is now upset with me. I guess I have learned that I need to listen to my friends and not force them to do things they are uncomfortable with, even if I am justified in my actions and said actions achieved the desired results. From: Twilight Sparkle It seemed sufficient, as far as she was concerned, even if it was a bit vague. Being forced to write a letter detailing something she had supposedly learned felt somehow degrading and she was sure that her resentment showed, but it was done. She nearly cast the spell to send it back to the hive and almost had a heart attack when she realized what she had almost done. A sudden letter from Twilight Sparkle showing up on her past self’s doorstep would surely lead to a much more thorough investigation of her than she could likely handle. “Spike?” She called out to the lizard who quickly hopped to attention. “Yes, Twilight? Are you ready to send the letter?” “Yes.” Chrysalis held the parchment aloft in front of him with her magic. Spike took a deep breath and exhaled flames, seemingly incinerating the letter. “Thanks.” “No problem! Do you need me for anything else?” he asked with a smile and eyes that shone with anticipation. “No thanks. I’m going to bed.” “Already? But it’s not even supper time.” “I got up really early, and it’s been a long day. Maybe you could make something for Shining to eat. I’d really appreciate it if you could keep him out of my mane for the rest of the day.” “Will do, Twilight!” Spike gave a rigid salute and ran off to do her bidding. Chrysalis nearly chuckled at his exuberance. Maybe living with him wouldn’t be all bad. Chrysalis crawled onto her bed and lay there. She wasn’t really tired, maybe a little drained, but not sleepy. What she really wanted was to be alone. Dealing with ponies was just too frustrating for her to handle, so she attempted to calm herself by focusing on her breathing. Her troubled thoughts began to fade as the monotonous concentration on her every inhale followed by an exhale forced them out of her mind. She kept repeating her solitary meditation until long after the last light of day had faded to night and she finally was tired enough to fall asleep.