//------------------------------// // 10 - A Changeling in Ponyville // Story: Chrysalis: Saviour of Time // by Robo Bro //------------------------------// Chrysalis stretched out her sore hind leg as she stood outside of the Ponyville Hospital upon being released from their custody…again. With a chuckle that was as much sad as it was mirthful, she thought to herself that if she was a patient here any more often they might just give her a loyalty card of some kind. Stay at our hospital three times and get upgraded to the comfy hospital bed free of charge! She snorted. The premise was ridiculous. There were no comfy beds in the hospital. On the plus side, during her two night stay she had been able to get one of the doctors alone for long enough to have a proper feeding. Add that to the bit of love she was able to passively siphon from the element bearers coming to visit her and she wasn’t feeling hungry for the first time since Shining Armor had been assigned to keep an eye on her. She wasn’t completely satiated, but she was comfortable. She began walking through the town, though at a very casual pace. While there had been no long term damage to any part of her body, her leg hadn’t quite fully healed yet and she walked with a limp. She wasn’t about to complain about it, though. She could have easily been as poorly off as Shining Armor. She had received word that the operation to amputate his leg had been successful, though he would be hospitalized for quite some time to heal, and then even longer to learn how to properly walk with a prosthetic limb. But Shining’s fate didn’t really concern her. He was still alive and capable of being involved in the necessary future events, and her past self had little need for his leg. No, what concerned her now was getting to Sugarcube Corner to meet up with Pinkie Pie. That mare had made her promise to get in contact with her when she was released from the hospital so that she could start preparations for a party to celebrate the two of them reconciling. A party for her sounded like a convenient way to siphon a bit of love with minimal effort. The town seemed oddly empty that day, Chrysalis noted. It wasn’t early in the morning when ponies might still be asleep, as it was close to noon. At first it hadn’t bothered her, but the longer it went on the more unsettling it seemed. It was almost as if the ponies were hiding from something. A small foal was standing on the doorstep of a building, staring at her as she passed. It was the first pony she had seen for the past five minutes. Chrysalis waved a hoof at the kid, and she began waving back only to be abruptly dragged inside by an adult, leaving Chrysalis alone again. Chrysalis stopped for a moment and scratched the side of her head. It was like they were afraid of her. Could it be because of the Trixie incident? She thought that had been resolved and that most ponies would have forgiven her by now, but perhaps she was wrong. She certainly hoped that was the case, and it wasn’t something as bad as them finding out her identity as a changeling. As Chrysalis walked by the entrance to Sugarcube Corner, once again blasted by the sickly sweet smell of baked goods that made her feel sick, she noticed a pony in the distance wearing a brown cloak that covered most of their features. No, Chrysalis noted, not a pony. Sticking out from beneath the cloak were limbs that had the distinctive striping of a zebra. She hadn’t seen one of those in many, many years. They weren’t exactly a common species in Equestria. “Psst!” "Huh?” Chrysalis attempted to find the source of the voice. “Psst! Twilight! Come here!” Chrysalis looked to the entrance of the Sugarcube Corner, and saw Pinkie Pie waving at her from behind the open top half of the door. “Come here! Hurry! Before she gets you!” Chrysalis rolled her eyes at the pink pony’s theatrics, but did as Pinkie Pie bid and followed her inside the bakery. Much to her surprise, hiding in the place with the lights turned off were all of the element bearers and Applejack's little sister, Apple Bloom. Either they were involved in an incredibly morally questionable orgy that involved a minor, or they were doing something really stupid that was going to give her a headache. “Okay, I’m probably going to regret asking, but,” Chrysalis put a hoof to her forehead, trying to prepare herself for whatever the answer was going to be, “what are you all doing in here in the dark?” “We’re hiding from her!” Applejack answered in a wavering voice as she pulled a curtain on a window back. Chrysalis looked through the window to see the same zebra she saw earlier. She was digging at a patch of dirt with a hoof. They were hiding from a zebra? Chrysalis groaned. How had she and her armies lost to these shining bastions of bravery? “Did you see her, Twilight? Did you see Zecora?” Apple Bloom asked her. “Apple Bloom! I told you to never say that name!” Applejack scolded her little sister. “What? Is she supposed to be able to hear her from all the way over there?” Chrysalis asked incredulously. “Maybe.” AJ’s eyes shifted between the window and Chrysalis. “Ugh…whatever.” Chrysalis threw a hoof up in surrender to the stupidity. Given her track record with visitors to the town lately, it might be best for her if she didn’t get involved. If the ponies of Ponyville wanted to be afraid of a lone zebra, then she wasn’t going to try and change their minds. She sat herself in a corner and just watched as the ponies kept on yapping about this Zecora. Most notably, Apple Bloom argued with her sister, seemingly unafraid of the visitor. A faint smile of amusement graced her lips at seeing the foal of the group acting the most mature of the bunch. At some point while Chrysalis was massaging her sore leg rather than paying attention, Pinkie Pie burst out into song and she danced about the room, accosting all those present one by one. “She’s an evil enchantress! She does evil dances, And if you look deep in her eye, She’ll put you in trances Then what will she do? Mix up an evil brew, And she’ll gobble you up In a big tasty stew! Sooo, watch out!” The responses of the assembled ponies varied, though most were clearly stunned, except for Applejack who was shaking like a leaf in the wind. The changeling of the group, however, burst out laughing. Normally, Chrysalis would just roll her eyes at being subjected to another Pinkie song, but something about this one was different. It was so unpolished, even for Pinkie. The movements that normally seemed to naturally flow in her other songs was stilted and jerky. The tune was repetitive to the point of incompetence, and the voice matched the tune. The worst offender, however, was the atrocious lyrics. “Hey!” Pinkie pouted. “It’s a work in progress!” “I’m sorry, Pinkie, just…really? An evil enchantress?” “She could be!” Applejack spoke up, still quaking where she stood. “She can’t be an evil enchantress any more than you, Applejack. Zebras can’t use magic like unicorns. Also, zebras are herbivores, just like you. They don’t eat meat so they aren't going to cook you up in a stew.” “Maybe she’s got some magic potions that turns ponies into apples and then she eats you!” Pinkie shouted as she grabbed onto AJ and shook her. Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. She had a sudden inkling that maybe Pinkie Pie was just trying to scare her friend. “Oooooh…I hadn’t thought about that.” Chrysalis decided to play along, putting a hoof to her chin in faux thoughtfulness. “You know, you could be right.” “R…r…really?” Applejack’s teeth were chattering fiercely by now. Chrysalis smirked. “What? Is the big, strong Applejack afraid?” “I..I’m not afraid o’ nothin’!” She boasted through her obvious trembling. “I’m jus’ concerned about Apple Bloom is all!” “Speaking of which, where is Apple Bloom?” Rarity asked. “What do ya mean, where is she? She was right here!” Applejack practically shouted as she frantically searched the room. Upon not finding her, she looked out the window and her pupils shrank. “Oh no…Apple Bloom!” She ran out of the bakery, crashing through the front door as she did so. Chrysalis sighed. If Apple Bloom had gone out to meet with Zecora, then she really doubted that anything bad was going to happen to her. Still, as she watched each of the other element bearers run after their hasty friend in nearly as much panic as Applejack, she resigned herself to following after them, though at a slightly slower pace. She couldn’t see either Zecora or Apple Bloom outside, but that didn’t seem to stop the others. They headed for the outskirts of town, taking the occasional pause to quickly search an area just in case Apple Bloom had changed her mind about following Zecora. After awhile, they passed the outskirts entirely and the Everfree Forest began to loom in the distance. “So, why are we headed for the Everfree Forest now?” Chrysalis asked, her face set in a frown because of her aching leg. She had had to abandon her slower, less pain inducing speed just to keep up. “Zecora lives in the Everfree Forest.” Fluttershy, who had stayed in the back near Chrysalis, explained. “Well, that’s a little creepy.” Chrysalis admitted. “Who in their right mind would live in there?” “An eeeevil enchaaaantress!” Pinkie Pie popped out of seemingly nowhere, waving her forehooves in an attempt to seem spooky. “Riiiight.” Chrysalis rolled her eyes. The zebra probably just liked her privacy, and who could blame her with ponies like these around? There was one issue, she begrudgingly admitted. If Zecora lived in the Everfree Forest and Apple Bloom followed her into it, then she could be in trouble. If she kept close enough to Zecora then she’d probably be fine, but if she got lost? With a sigh, she increased her pace to catch up to Applejack who was in the lead. Seeing Chrysalis joining her and taking the loss of her sister seriously, AJ gave a nervous, though appreciative, smile. They came across a trail leading into the forest, different from the one they had entered when they had chased after Nightmare Moon. Half of the path was covered with a beautiful, blue flower patch, and on the other side of that path was the little filly they were searching for, standing there and looking a little indecisive. “Apple Bloom! You get back here right now!” Applejack shouted at the foal who froze in place. For good measure, Chrysalis reached out and gently levitated her to ensure that she didn’t go any further. “No going into the Everfree, kiddo, it’s dangerous.” Chrysalis called out to her while stepping through the blue flowers. Before she could reach the kid, Applejack blasted past her and lifted Apple Bloom from her magic and forced her onto her back. “Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!” A heavily accented voice floated to them from the direction of the hooded Zecora further down the path. “Don’t worry, Zecora!” Chrysalis assured her. “We have no intention of bothering you, just here to stop a kid from doing something stupid. We’ll leave you to your privacy.” “Beware! Beware!” Zecora bellowed at them once more before disappearing into the darkness of the forest behind her. Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. That was certainly weird. Maybe the ponies were onto something in being wary of her. Chrysalis suddenly felt very glad about her decision to not get involved with the stranger. “You and your curse are the ones that should beware!” Rainbow Dash shouted into the forest ineffectually before grinning as if she had actually accomplished something. “I’m sure the trees are very intimidated.” Chyrsalis said sarcastically. She turned to the others, all of which had joined her amongst the blue flowers. The Apple sisters were arguing as Chrysalis often observed siblings do, even if she had never had a sibling herself to experience such bickering with. “I think we’ve got what we came for, let’s get out of here.” Chrysalis announced. With a smattering of nods from her companions, they did precisely that. ____________________________ Chrysalis approached the Golden Oaks Library late that afternoon. The party that Pinkie Pie had planned to celebrate her release from the hospital would sadly have to wait for the next day since she had promised the owners of Sugarcube Corner that she would look after the bakery for the day. Chrysalis had just accepted her excuse, not even bothering to point out how that responsibility hadn’t stopped her from running out on the store to chase after Apple Bloom earlier. She supposed that searching for a missing child was perhaps slightly more important than selling a few cakes. Still, it was a pity, she had been looking forward to the meal she could get at her party. “I’m back!” She shouted as she pushed open the door only to freeze when she saw a grey pegasus stallion with a streaky black mane sitting at a reading couch across from Spike while the two of them sipped from teacups. It took a moment for Chrysalis to remember that it was Time Keeper with a bad dye job. “Hey, Twilight!” Spike greeted her cheerfully. “This is Snowball, he’s been here pretty much all the time these last couple of days reading books!” “Uh…hello…Twilight.” Time Keeper greeted, his words incredibly stilted. “I’m, uh, new in town and was hoping I could maybe get a job here?” “Really? I don’t know, the library isn’t really all that busy, I don’t think we need to hire anybody.” Spike said. “Please? I could really use the work.” Time Keeper pleaded with Spike, causing Chrysalis to roll her eyes. Why was he focusing on the dragon? “I, uh…I’ve always wanted to work with…books.” “Well, it’s up to Twilight, not me.” Spike admitted, pointing at the purple unicorn in the room. “Right.” Time Keeper laughed nervously and then gulped. “So, can I have a job?” “I dunno. I’m going to have to do an interview to make sure you’re suitable.” Chrysalis said and then looked at Spike. “Alone. Come on, Snowball, let’s go into the basement and we’ll talk.” “Sure thing.” Time Keeper said with a pathetic attempt to appear happy. The two of them descended a set of stairs, closing the door at their apex behind them as they went. The basement was one large, dim room, currently lit by a lone window just above ground level at the top of the far wall. It was incredibly dusty from years of disuse, and the only furniture present was an old, sagging couch and a pair of empty, rickety looking shelves. “You really suck at lying.” Chrysalis bluntly informed him. “Well, sorry if I haven’t spent an entire lifetime lying to everybody I know.” He responded acidly. Chrysalis benevolently decided to ignore the jab. “You’re going to have to get better at it, or I’m going to have to get rid of you for the sake of myself and your precious future.” “What happened with Trixie?” Time Keeper stared at her with a serious expression. "That stupid blow hard?" Chrysalis waved a dismissive hoof. “She’s been dealt with, the guards will arrest her soon enough. I’m surprised you even know who she is.” “Trixie is important to the time line!” He nearly shouted, barely able to hold back to avoid having Spike hear them above. “You’re joking.” “No! She’s supposed to become friends with Twilight Sparkle’s future apprentice! She can’t do that if she’s in jail!” “You’re serious, aren’t you?” Chrysalis stared at him. “So I’m supposed to be taking an apprentice now?” “No, not now, a few years down the road. Oh and because apparently I need to tell you not to act like a monster, don’t kill a pony named Starlight Glimmer, either!” “Maybe if you actually acted like the guide you’re supposed to be, we could avoid these problems!” She hissed at him. “I couldn’t get anywhere near you because of a certain captain of the guard!” He hissed right back. “Speaking of which, I heard that he lost his leg!” “He’ll live. It’s not like he needs his leg to be brainwashed by my past self.” She casually dismissed his concern. “Anyway, you’re here now, so maybe you can be a little less useless. What’s the next big thing I have to worry about?” “Well…I can’t think of anypony really important you should be meeting any time soon. I think the next big thing is Discord in about a year. Shouldn’t be a big deal, just find the elements of harmony again and use them on him.” “Right, about that…” Chrysalis paused for a moment. “I couldn’t get them to work.” “Wait, what?” Time’s eyes bulged. "What about Nightmare Moon? How did you deal with her if you didn’t use the elements?” “I absorbed all of her tainted love, got pretty sick doing it too.” “And that worked?!” “Yeah.” “But…how are you going to defeat Discord without the elements of harmony?” “I’ll figure something out. Right now, I’m feeling hungry.” Chrysalis gave him a predatory gaze, which he ignored as he began examining the room. “Fine, whatever, go have something to eat. I’m just going to stay here and panic about the future.” He trotted over to the couch and wrinkled his nose as he investigated it. "Ugh...what a mess." Chrysalis followed after and shoved him, causing him to fall onto the old sofa and sending a storm of dust swirling through the room. “Wait, what are you doing?” His voice cracked as he tried to crawl away from the approaching, disguised changeling, horror inundating him as he realized just what ‘eating’ entailed for her. “Getting some dinner.” Chrysalis answered right before her eyes and horn both began to glow. Time Keeper’s own eyes began to glow in response, and his body went limp. Finally, that moron would actually prove useful for something. She dug deep into his mind, dragged out the wondrous love that hid beneath, and fed. Once she finished, she went back upstairs, leaving him asleep on that dirty old couch. She informed Spike that she had hired him, that he would be staying in the basement, and that he was tired so would be taking a nap, ordering him to go down and put a blanket over him. She had consumed far more deeply of him than she had with Big Macintosh on the day she had arrived, and he would likely be out of it for a couple hours. With a sense of content, she spent the rest of the day browsing through some of the books available to her from the library’s vast collection. ____________________________ Chrysalis yawned as she woke up the next morning. She stared lazily at the roof of her bedroom, listening to the rhythmic breathing of Spike in his own little bed next to hers. An entire year where nothing important happens. That’s what Time Keeper had told her, at least. She would feel relieved if she wasn’t worried that she would die from boredom in that time. Maybe she could spend it trying to think of a way to help her hive. She threw her blankets off of her and immediately noticed something wrong: her body was black, and her limbs were full of holes. She froze in momentary panic, then looked over to Spike to find that he was still asleep. She hadn’t fallen out of her disguise while sleeping in years, not since she was a foal learning to control it. With a flush of embarrassment, she focused her horn in preparation of returning to the form of Twilight Sparkle. It didn’t work. With her breath catching in her throat, she tried again. And again. And again. No matter how many times she cast the spell to transform, she remained stubbornly black. Worse yet, she noticed something else was off. Her limbs, while decidedly changeling, did not look familiar to her. As quietly as she could, she crawled out of bed and made her way to a mirror. It took all of her effort to avoid screaming. She was a changeling, but not herself. She was a normal, everyday kind of changeling, just like any one of her subjects. A fin like mane instead of her usual long one made up of hair, a tail equally lacking in hair, a short, curved horn, eyes that were near solid blue and lacked in any recognizable pupils, and she stood at best half her natural height. She experimentally buzzed her insect like wings, and tried to levitate a nearby brush off of the counter top that the mirror was placed on. Both seemed to work fine. She tried to transform once more, this time into her actual natural form, but the image in the mirror remained as it was, staring in bewilderment at her for her failure. A sudden crashing sound from the first floor of the library beneath her room caused her to flinch. What in the world had that been? Fortunately, Spike hadn’t woken from it, so she sneaked over to the door and quietly opened it. “Twilight? Where are you?” Rarity’s voice drifted from below, followed by another crash. “Rainbow Dash! You can walk, you know! You really shouldn’t be flying in your condition!” Chrysalis attempted to calm her rapid breathing and silently shut the door, cursing the fact that there was no lock on the stupid thing. What were Rarity and Rainbow Dash doing in the library? Why of all days did they choose today to come? And most importantly, why, oh why was she stuck as an ordinary changeling? She realized she had little time to contemplate the matter when she heard steps coming up the stairs. She needed to hide, and fast. Her eyes went first to the window. As tempting as it was to flee, she could easily be seen by the town ponies, and she wanted to avoid that if possible. There was a knocking on the door behind her and she leaped into the air in fright, levitating a moment as her wings buzzed noisily. “Twilight? Are you in there? We need to talk.” Rarity’s muffled voice came through the door. She sounded concerned. Chrysalis’ eye twitched as she noticed Spike began to stir. She let out a sigh when he didn’t actually rise from his bed. “Yeah, open up!” Rainbow Dash demanded as she pounded violently at the door. A whimper escaped from Chrysalis’ lips as Spike bolted upright in his bed, wide awake. Without thinking, Chrysalis snatched the blankets he was under with her magic and yanked them up over his face, wrapping him up in a cocoon of cloth. “Hey, what’s the big idea?!” Spike complained, more annoyed than alarmed. Chrysalis took advantage of his momentary blindness by flying straight to a nearby closet, throwing it open, crawling inside it and nearly slamming it closed. “Spike? Is something wrong?” Rarity asked, her voice laced with concern. “I’m coming in!” Chrysalis watched through the thin slats of the closet door as Rarity and Rainbow Dash entered. Her head tilted in confusion at their appearance. Rarity’s hair had grown long enough to drag along the floor as she walked all over her body, and it looked incredibly frizzy. Dash seemed normal at first glance, but after a moment she realized that her wings were on upside down. What in the world happened to them? “Spike?” Rarity asked the ball of struggling blankets. “Is that you?” “A little help, please!” Spike’s muffled voice escaped his prison. Rarity’s gentle blue magic lifted him up and soon had him unwravelled. "How’d that happen?" Dash asked the little dragon as she chuckled. “I think Twilight was playing a prank on me.” Spike explained. “Speaking of Twilight, where is she?” Rarity asked, looking around the room. Or at least Chrysalis thought she was looking around, it was hard to tell beneath all that hair. “Huh…I dunno.” Spike admitted as she too saw the place was empty. “I could’ve sworn I heard her moving around a minute ago.” The three of them began searching the room. Rainbow Dash went to the window, while Rarity began checking around the bed. Spike, on the other hoof, went straight for the closet. Chrysalis held her breath until he walked past it and, presumably, to the out of sight mirror she had been at earlier. She let out the breath she had been holding, a momentary sensation of relief filling her. Still, it would only be a matter- The closet doors swung open, and Spike was staring wide eyed at her huddled up into the corner of the closet. She stared back, then timidly waved a hoof at him. He waved a claw back at her uncertainly and then slowly closed the door. “Girls?” He called out a moment later. “There’s a monster in the closet!” “Pfft! Yeah, right!” Rainbow Dash scoffed. “Darling, you know that monsters don’t spend time in closets, it’s just not a practical form of housing for them.” Rarity explained. “I’m telling you, there’s a monster in the closet!” “And I’m telling you that there isn’t. I’ll show you!” Rarity trotted towards the door and swung it open. “See, there’s nothing to be afraid-” Rarity froze and her eye twitched, then she slammed the door shut again. “Rainbow, would you be a dear and get the others?” “Why?” Dash asked with a raised eyebrow, clearly having not seen Chrysalis through Rarity's body. “Because there is a monster in the closet.” She said in the same tone one would say they need to buy eggs. Well, this is it, Chrysalis thought as Rainbow Dash blitzed out of her bedroom to get backup. She had thought of a million ways that this entire venture could fail, but crushed by the element bearers in a closet was not one of those ways. “You, uh…monster!? Don’t you even think about trying anything. We ponies are much tougher than you might think! And we don’t taste very good, either!” Rarity called out to her. Chrysalis would be amused by the unicorn's fear, if she herself weren’t so afraid of what was coming. Three other element bearers ran into the room along with, oddly enough, Apple Bloom. Through the slats, she could see that Pinkie Pie’s tongue was sticking out of her mouth, all swollen and spotted. Fluttershy and Apple Bloom seemed normal, though. Pinkie Pie tried to say something, but all that came out was an indecipherable bit of gibberish thanks to her swollen tongue. “Okay…my friends are here, monster, so don’t try anything stupid.” Rarity warned. “What have you done with Twilight Sparkle?” “Is there really a monster in there?”Apple Bloom asked, which was followed by a high pitched squeaking sound. “Yes, and I suspect it might have done something to Twilight.” Rarity nodded. Chrysalis was out of time. She had to do something or she was going to be a bunch of bug guts sprayed across her bedroom soon. She took a deep breath and hoped she was right about none of them knowing what a changeling was. “Hello, Rarity. Girls.” She spoke, her voice neither her own, nor Twilight’s, but a dual toned voice to match her unusual changeling form. “It’s me, Twilight.” The girls looked at each other, confused. Rarity cautiously opened the door to reveal Chrysalis, and those who hadn’t yet seen her reacted in a variety of shocked manner, ranging from flinches to gasps. “Is that really you, Twilight?” Dash asked, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Yup” Chrysalis confirmed. “Remember when we first met you crashed right into me, cleaned me up with a rain cloud, and then made a bet with Spike about whether or not you could clear the skies in ten seconds? Or when I met you Rarity, I still had my mane all messed up because of Rainbow Dash and you dragged me off to your boutique to fix it and then I tore your corset in two, which you held over me until I modelled for you.” The girls looked to Rainbow Dash and Rarity expectantly. "It is true." Rarity admitted. “Yeah, I guess it is you. Geeze, it looks like you got it even worse than the rest of us. Even worse than Applejack, even!” Rainbow Dash said, pointing to Apple Bloom. No, not to Apple Bloom, Chrysalis realized, but to her back where a tiny Applejack stood and the high pitched squeaking sound that kept cropping up was coming from. “Rainbow is right. I thought I looked bad, but you look absolutely hideous!” Rarity added. “Hey!” Chrysalis shouted indignantly. She didn’t much like her current form, either, but that was purely because it wasn’t actually her own form and because she couldn't get out of it. Her changelings were beautiful, far more so than the vast majority of ponies. “Now, now, it’s not your fault that you look like a rejected Nightmare Night costume, I know.” Rarity continued to lather on the insults. “And you look like a bitch.” Chrysalis retorted with narrowed eyes. “Hey, that is uncalled for! And there is a foal present!” Rarity whined. “Ya know, she’s right. Ya look a lot like a big, shaggy dog.” Apple Bloom pointed out with a chuckle as she let her older sister off onto the reading desk. “A dog?” Rarity’s voice faltered beneath her mop of hair, and she swayed a little bit as if she were about to faint. “I…we must break this curse at once!” “Curse?” Chrysalis asked, her head tilted. “If ya haven’t noticed, we’re all a little messed up right now.” Applejack shouted, though it was still barely audible to Chrysalis from her position in the closet. Feeling a little awkward, she stepped out of it. “Well, all except Fluttershy here.” Rainbow Dash pointed out, but Fluttershy shook her head. “Wait, are you saying you’re messed up too?” Fluttershy nodded. Pinkie Pie tried to say something completely unintelligible and let out a muffled scream of frustration when all she got were confused looks. “I think that what Pinkie Pie was trying to say was what is wrong with you?” Rarity translated to the eager nods of Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy shied away from her friends’ curious gazes. “Well, what is it?!” Rainbow Dash pushed. “I don’t want to talk about it.” The deepest, most masculine voice that Chrysalis had ever heard poured forth from Fluttershy’s lips. Chrysalis’ jaw dropped along with most other jaws in the room. One exception, however, was Spike. “This is hilarious!” Spike roared with laughter. “We’ve got Hairity, Flutterguy, Appleteeny, Rainbow Crash, Spitty Pie and...uhh…” Spike stopped in his tracks at Chrysalis. “Say something and you’re not getting any gems for the rest of your life.” Chrysalis warned with a hiss. “Ahem…and Twilight.” He finished quickly. “That’s really creepy the way you talk right now.” “And those eyes…they are quite unsettling.” Rarity added. “Hey, you got wings!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Can you fly with them?!” Chrysalis nearly answered in the affirmative with a rather rude remark, but stopped herself. It would be awfully stupid to reveal such information. “I dunno.” She lied and pretended to concentrate hard. After a few seconds of faking, she gave her wings a quick buzz and floated a few centimetres off the floor before falling back down, feigning surprise. “Awesome!” Rainbow gushed as she too lifted herself into the air. “We should totally go flying together!” Rainbow Dash began flying in the general direction of the window, though missed it by at least a metre and crashed with a sickening thud into a wall. “I don’t think you’re fit to fly in your current condition.” Chrysalis pointed out. “No, I’ve got this, I just gotta get used to it!” Dash quickly crashed into a bookcase, knocking two full shelves onto the floor. She tried to move again, but was quickly halted by a green aura. “Rainbow Dash! You stop flying this instant or I clip your wings! You’re going to destroy my home!” “Oh, uh, sorry.” Rainbow Dash winced, and when she was set down she stayed put. “Maybe when we’re outside?” “Fine, when we’re outside I’ll try flying with you.” Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “Okay, so we’re cursed? How the heck did we all get cursed?” Pinkie Pie jumped in and started miming some actions that Chrysalis vaguely remembered her doing before during her song. “Zecora?” Chrysalis asked. “You think Zecora did this? How? Zebras don’t have magic!” “Can you think of anything else that could have caused this?” Rarity asked. “We all saw her yesterday, and that’s the only thing we did differently than normal.” “This is ridiculous!” Chrysalis shouted in disgust. “Apple Bloom got even closer than any of us, and she’s fine, right Apple Bloom?” The assembled ponies looked around to find that Apple Bloom was gone. “Maybe Zecora’s curse turned her invisible?” Dash suggested. “Did it turn her into a mute too?” Chrysalis asked rhetorically. “No, she must’ve left while we were talking. “Applejack’s gone too!” Rarity announced. “See? They probably just left together.” Chrysalis explained. “But where would they have gone?” Dash asked. “You don’t think they would have gone to find Zecora, do you?” Fluttershy’s silky smooth baritone filled the room. Chrysalis’ face darkened and a scowl settled upon her lips. “Of course.” Chrysalis said bitterly. “I just told her yesterday not to go into the Everfree Forest! Why don’t kids ever listen to me? Come on, let’s go save the brat.” Upon stepping outside of the library, Chrysalis immediately drew fearful looks of the ponies walking through the area. She froze in place and began thinking about going back inside to grab a sheet or something that she could cover herself with. Before she could follow through with the thought, she was knocked off her doorstep as Rarity bumped into her while shuffling out of the door. “I’m sorry, Twilight, I didn’t see you there.” Rarity apologized. “It’s this awful hair! It makes it so hard to see!" Chrysalis swallowed nervously, discarded her idea of getting a sheet, and set a path running directly for the Everfree Forest, trying to ignore all the looks she was getting. She had an awful feeling, as if the ponies would set upon her and tear her to pieces if she stayed in one place for too long. If she was lucky, being with the element bearers would stop them from bringing out the torches and pitch forks. “Come on, Twilight, I thought we were going to fly together!” Rainbow Dash complained. “We’ve got a missing child, I think we have more important things to do.” Rarity chastised her. “Come on, flying would be so much faster!” Before Rarity could respond, Rainbow Dash crashed into a sign hanging from the side of a store they were passing. Chrysalis snatched her up with her magic and dragged her along behind her. “You should probably stick to running,” Chrysalis suggested, “or you’re going to slow us down.” “Fine, just put me down!” Rainbow Dash pouted. Chrysalis cut off her spell and Dash fell to the ground with a sudden thud. She fell behind her friends momentarily before she caught up again. “I said put me down, not drop me!” “Less whining, more running.” Chrysalis scolded her. Dash huffed, but did as she was told, at least for awhile. As they approached the edge of the Everfree Forest she leapt into the air and began flying again, and swiftly crashed into several bushes and trees, going so far as to break off the limb of one of those trees before disappearing from Chrysalis’ view. If she was going to be stupid, Chrysalis wasn’t going to bother with her. The four of them that remained blasted through the patch of blue flowers from earlier and down the path they had seen Zecora going down the day before, hoping it would lead to Apple Bloom. Thankfully, the path they were on had been clear of any dangers and did not fork at any point. At some stage of their journey, they were rejoined by Rainbow Dash who was being ridden by the tiny Applejack that she must have found at some point. Amusingly, she was being led through the air upside down guided by AJ using reins and bridle made of vines and sticks. Kinky. They had to slow down due to the dim light and rough nature of the path they were treading, but they still found a twisted looking tree with a door and window amongst a patch of clearly maintained vegetation. The area was decorated with several somewhat creepy looking tribal masks, and Chrysalis shuddered as she imagined them watching her. It looked like a dark mirror of the Golden Oaks Library that she was temporarily calling home. “Ugh, I look horrible!” Rarity moaned as she stumbled towards them, chunks of vegetation stuck in her excessive hair. Pinkie Pie said something which Chrysalis could have sworn was ‘Your face looks terrible,’ before she raised Rarity’s thick rolls of hair from her eyes. “Oh my, that place really does look horrible.” Chrysalis gave a sidelong glance to Rarity before rolling her eyes and then pressed forward cautiously. The others followed closely behind, all except for Rainbow Dash and Applejack who had gone missing again after yet another crash. They crept up to the window and peered inside to find even more tribal masks adorning the otherwise rather dull walls of the home, along with a few shelves filled with an assortment of objects. In the centre of the room was a big, cauldron with a bubbling, green liquid. Perhaps the most important thing to be seen was Zecora herself, of course. She held a bottle in her mouth and shook some of its flaky contents into the bubbling brew. After setting the bottle aside, she began to seemingly chant something in a tongue completely foreign to Chrysalis. Pinkie leaped back from the window and angrily sprayed the mares with spit as she tried to shout something while pointing at Zecora inside. “She…stole your song?” Rarity asked, somewhat puzzled, to which Pinkie nodded vigorously. “Riiight.” Chrysalis spoke sarcastically and turned back to the window, hoping to spot Apple Bloom. If she wasn’t there, then it seemed likely that she got lost along the way and she’d be a lot harder to find. She was pulled from her search by Pinkie Pie literally pulling her from the window and glaring at her. Chrysalis raised an eyebrow expectantly and Pinkie looked down at her swollen tongue before tossing herself at Fluttershy’s hooves and giving her puppy dog eyes. With an irritated sigh, Fluttershy sang Pinkie’s earlier song with her silky, smooth voice and a complete deadpan stare into nothingness. It still sounded nothing like what Zecora was doing, but Chrysalis didn’t bother to point it out lest she start an argument with Pinkie and end up drowning in spit. “Well, if we can’t break this curse, at least Fluttershy can have a future singing in jazz clubs.” Chrysalis commented before looking back through the window. “Wait, why am I doing this? I’m going in there to ask her if she’s seen Apple Bloom.” “Wait! You can’t do that!” Fluttershy objected, uncharacteristically forceful. “She might…uh…cook you in her cauldron!” “I told you, zebras are herbivores! You ponies are being ridiculous!” Chrysalis shoved her way past the others and made her way around to the other side of the building where the door was. Just as she was about to open it, she flinched because of a scream tearing through the sky that sounded a lot like Rainbow Dash. “I’m comin’ for ya, Apple Bloom!” Applejack shrieked from atop her rainbow mount, and Chrysalis barely had any time to leap out of the way before the two of them crashed through the door. Chrysalis groaned and watched in horror as Rainbow Dash and co crashed into everything inside the small dwelling to the protests of its occupant. She walked into the room, dodging the flying missile until she managed to catch the duo with her magic, halting her in place, though not until after she had destroyed half a dozen pots and jars and knocked over the cauldron. Chrysalis stood next to a puddle of mystery liquid that had spilled from a couple of those jars that had been knocked off a shelf that held several more similar containers. Zecora’s eyes went wide with shock as she stared at Chrysalis, then something behind her before settling back on her. Chrysalis' eyes followed hers to the jars on the shelf and noticed that they were glowing a sickly green in her presence and she held her breath involuntarily for a moment. “What a shocking thing…you are-” Zecora began but was interrupted by the other three ponies barging into her abode and Applejack leaped from Dash onto Zecora’s head where she wrestled the zebra’s ear. “Gimme back my sister!” Applejack cried. “And remove this curse you put on us at once!” Rarity shouted. “You made me look ridiculous!” “You made me sound ridiculous.” Fluttershy added. Realizing that Zecora had clearly recognized what she was, Chrysalis chimed in as well. “And you turned me into some kind of monster!” Chrysalis certainly didn’t believe that Zecora was the least bit responsible, but she needed to do whatever she could to convince her that she wasn’t a changeling. She also walked over to the others side of the room away from the contents in those jars and upon the floor, both of which returned to a more natural colourless state. “And gimme back my sister, ya striped varmint!” Applejack repeated. Zecora looked between the group of ponies, her brow furrowed in confusion and alarm, before settling once again on Chrysalis. “What is it here that you do? Can’t you see the monster in your crew?” She asked while pointing at Chrysalis. “That’s Twilight, she’s our friend, not a monster no matter how terrible she looks,” Rarity stood up in her defence, “and if you would be so kind as to remove your curse, she would be back to normal! We all would!” Zecora tilted her head, causing AJ to nearly lose her grip and fall. “A friend to you, could it be true?” “Hey, Zecora! I think I got all the things ya asked for!” Apple Bloom's voice cut through the tension as she walked through the door and froze as she took in the chaotic scene. “What in Ponyville is goin’ on here?” Applejack gasped and paused in her ear wrestling. “Apple Bloom, you’re okay!” “Why wouldn’t I be?” Apple Bloom asked with an amused smile. There was a moment of silence before Pinkie Pie jumped forward and pointed at Zecora, making all sorts of unintelligible sounds. “Uh…what?” Apple Bloom asked. “I believe that Pinkie Pie is saying that she’s an evil enchantress that cursed us.” Chrysalis explained, eager to keep the conversation on anything except herself at that moment. Apple Bloom and Zecora both laughed at the accusation, though Zecora’s seemed somewhat more reserved than the young foal’s. “Oh, Twilight, is Pinkie still going on ‘bout that? You know there’s no such thing as a curse, right?” “Well, I wouldn’t go that far, but I seriously doubt zebras, creatures without the ability to use magic, could put a curse on anybody.” Chrysalis answered. “If you’ll remember back, the words I spoke were quite exact.” Zecora spoke as Apple Bloom walked right up next to her and looked up to her with a grin. “Beware, beware you pony folk, those leaves of blue are not a joke.” Chrysalis raised an eyebrow, wondering if she always spoke in rhyme. She had been certain she hadn’t when speaking in her native tongue earlier, assuming it was her native tongue, so perhaps it was just something she did with other languages. “It was a warnin’, about that blue plant.” Apple Bloom helpfully translated since Zecora’s words weren’t as clear or exact as she claimed. “It’s called poison joke.” “That plant is much like poison oak, but its results are like a joke.” Zecora elaborated. “Gee, that would have been a lot more useful than that vaguely worded warning.” Chrysalis grumbled. A joke, huh? It was a really unfunny joke to make a changeling unable to transform, and even less funny to make a queen look like a normal changeling. “What in the hay does that mean?” Applejack asked, pushing aside Zecora’s mohawk styled mane to be seen more clearly. “It means that this plant does not breed wrath, instead this plant just wants a laugh.” After another pause, Applejack spoke up again. “Will somepony please talk normal?” “She means that the blue flowers we walked through earlier did this to us.” Chrysalis clarified for the farmer and then addressed Zecora. “Now maybe you could tell us how to get rid of these jokes.” “Well, actually, we were makin’ the cure before you came.” Apple Bloom pointed to the cauldron. “We were puttin’ all these herbal ingredient in for ya. Ya just gotta take a bubble bath!” “And then the curse will be lifted?” Chrysalis pressed, looking at the spilled contents of the cauldron with annoyance. “Yup!” Apple Bloom answered with a bright grin. “So…could you maybe mix up another batch of the cure?” Chrysalis asked of Zecora, who eyed her warily. “Mix it up I certainly will, yet I am missing an herb from Ponyville.” “But whenever Zecora comes to town, all the shops are mysteriously closed.” Apple Bloom explained. “Girls?” Chrysalis looked over her companions. “Perhaps you should see what you can do about that.” ________________________________ Chrysalis was hiding away in a private room inside of Aloe and Lotus’ spa next to a small tub filled with water and an assortment of medicinal ingredients. She had rushed back into Ponyville after borrowing one of Zecora’s cloaks to hide her identity and ran straight for the spa, the location at which they as a group had decided to have their cleansing baths. The others had dealt with the issue of getting the pony folk of the town to stop running in fear of the zebra so that they could find the last of the ingredients, though Chrysalis had refused to join them on account of ‘how monstrous she looked’. Rarity had said she understood perfectly and let her leave without any fuss. After ensuring that the door was locked, she climbed gingerly into the restorative waters and dunked herself beneath the surface. Within moments, she felt a chain reaction in her body not unlike the feeling of her own intentional transformations and suddenly the room and tub both seemed a lot smaller. She looked at her now elongated limbs, still full of holes, and shook her head until a bit of her bluish green mane fell over her eyes. She was back to normal as a changeling queen, just as she had expected. It would not have done any good to have her supposedly restored in front of the others only to appear as a different variant of the same monster the poison joke had forced onto her. She attempted to change back into Twilight Sparkle and sighed with relief when she was immediately in the guise of the purple unicorn. Careful not to slip on the water that had been displaced onto the floor when she had grown several sizes, she stepped cautiously out of the tub and opened the door leading out. She wandered down a hallway until she came across a large room with an even larger tub, filled with the element bearers, many of which were chuckling as they splashed each other playfully. Pinkie Pie noticed her entrance. “See, Zecora! There she is, and she doesn’t look like a monster anymore!” “So it seems to be, as I can plainly see.” Zecora answered as she watched Chrysalis approach them. “Are we all okay, now?” Chrysalis asked them, earning nods and general vocal confirmations. “Good. I hope I never have to see that thing I was in the mirror again.” Chrysalis said with simulated relief, hoping that Zecora would buy her act. All of them chatted for quite some time until the water turned cold, laughing jovially as they looked back on the silly pranks that the poison joke had played on them now that the pain of actually experiencing them had passed. Chrysalis waited impatiently the entire time, feigning interest in their conversations but all the while thinking of something else. She had something important she had to do. ________________________________ Chrysalis crept up to Zecora’s home in the Everfree Forest in the dead of night, still disguised as Twilight Sparkle. Ever since she had been cured of the poison joke, her mind had been preoccupied with what she had seen earlier. It looked so much like something from her own past and this world’s future that she had to go see it again. Had to destroy it. Strictly controlling her breathing, she pushed open the door from a distance with her magic and peered into the darkness from outside. Seeing nothing, she stepped inside and immediately she was bathed in an eerie green glow. A quick glance told her that the wall surrounding the door had been coated with the substance from earlier and was reacting to her presence. She winced as she heard hoofsteps approaching from further within, and soon the form of Zecora came into view, her own face aglow with the liquid that had been painted on in some sort of tribal markings. “I knew it was not a joking thing, you truly are a changeling.” She pronounced solemnly. Zecora stood there, seemingly at ease despite the accusation she had just made, a stark contrast with how tense Chrysalis was. Her first instinct was to attack the zebra, to wipe her memories of what she had seen and do what she had come to do, or perhaps something more permanent. Something, however, seemed to hold her back. The recent events surrounding her interactions with Gilda and Trixie flashed before her eyes. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of those thoughts. This was different. Nothing could link what happened here with her, yet she still didn’t act. “I didn’t come here to hurt you.” Chrysalis stated evenly. “I feel very little surprise, and suspect you came for a different prize.” Zecora stepped aside and pointed to a table where sat several jars, barely visible in the glow of the liquid that was actually close enough to react to Chrysalis’ presence. “I need to destroy those. They have the potential to completely ruin my people. We could be hunted into extinction if that stuff becomes common knowledge.” Chrysalis didn’t mention that it already nearly had in her own time line. She had never known where the ointment that reacted to the presence of changelings by glowing had come from. She had never dreamed that she would have the chance to avert that particular disaster at its source by becoming Twilight. Zecora stepped aside, leaving a clear path for Chrysalis to take to the jars. Chrysalis eagerly smashed them from a distance, setting the liquid within ablaze with her magic until she was sure that their contents were all gone. Zecora chuckled humourlessly. “Do with my supplies as you will, as long as I live I can produce more still.” Chrysalis eyed Zecora warily. Why would she admit such a thing? Why would she goad her like that? Did she want to die? Zecora stared at her, her face a mask of neutrality. “The inevitable will only meet delay, if killing me is your path today.” Chrysalis swallowed. Perhaps the zebra was right, perhaps killing her would only delay the ointment from becoming public knowledge. She couldn’t do nothing, though. She considered killing Zecora once more. A delay was better than nothing. She could think of several ways to do it, too. As thoughts of murder filled her head, they were interrupted by a memory of Apple Bloom looking up at Zecora earlier that day. “Apple Bloom…really admires you.” She stated quietly. Zecora did not react. With that thought, Chrysalis made up her mind. “What do I need to do for you to get you to not spread this stuff around?” She asked seriously. She was prepared for whatever she asked. Pretend to be a long lost loved one, help her integrate with the ponies of Ponyville, or even be a guinea pig for her alchemical experiments if need be. No matter what she asked, she would at least give it serious consideration. For the first time since Chrysalis had arrived. Zecora smiled. “It is not what you can do for me, but instead what you do not, you see.” Chrysalis blinked in confusion. “What? Stop speaking in riddles!” Zecora smirked. “Those ponies proclaimed you as a friend, that you seek not a malicious end, but such a thing is easily said when changelings have put lies in a head. What is it that you do here, with those in Ponyville who find you dear?" Chrysalis stared. "You want to know why I'm in Ponyville?" Zecora nodded. Chrysalis thought carefully of her next words, of how much she was willing to tell the zebra. "I'm here to fix a mistake that a pony made." "And will the fixing of this mistake, result in your friends' heartache?" "Believe it or not, what I do may save their lives." Chrysalis answered vaguely, uncertain if even she believed that at this point. Time Keeper's lack of competence gave considerable cause to doubt his claim that the universe would destroy itself if she didn't help. "So you have no intentions to cause them pain, you will leave them healthy, happy and quite sane?" "I don't know about the sane part, they seem pretty crazy already, but I have no intentions of causing them more pain than necessary." What she deemed necessary, Chrysalis did not say. "Then prove it true that you mean no harm, and from me you need not feel alarm.” “So…I just need to be a good little changeling and you'll keep the formula from those who might harm us?” “Do nothing to give me cause and mass production’s forever on pause.” “What of my friends?” Chrysalis pressed. “Will you tell them of my secret? That I’m a changeling?” “I suspect you fear I may say yes, but frankly it’s none of my business.” Chrysalis nearly cringed at her mispronunciation of that last word just to make it rhyme better with ‘yes’. Still this was far better than she could have hoped for, and she didn’t even have to use violence, lies or manipulation to get what she wanted. It was…a rather unusual feeling. “Thank you…Zecora.” Chrysalis said, the words feeling almost as odd in her mouth as had the sensation of using such a different method to resolve her conflict. “You are welcome, my dear, now would you please get out of here? Since it seems that I shall not soon be dead, I would much like to rest my weary head.” “Oh, right.” Chrysalis awkwardly ushered herself out of Zecora’s home at her urging. It was awfully late, and she too was getting tired. As Chrysalis walked through the Everfee Forest, she began to think that perhaps she could use her experiences this day to write to Celestia, pretending that she had learned something about friendship. While she tried to avoid tripping over vines, she constructed what she would write in her mind. To: Princess Celestia Today I had met somebody new, a zebra. The town had been quite frightened by her and I had felt that it wasn’t worth the trouble to try and convince them that she wasn’t worth fearing. However, circumstances surrounding an unusual plant and a foal running off into the Everfree Forest led to a confrontation with her anyway. I will not bore you with the details of the encounter, but I learned that perhaps it is not always best to stick with the ways in which you are most comfortable. By going out of my comfort zone and actually opening up to her, our situation was resolved amicably and I may have earned a new ally, perhaps even a friend. From: Twilight Sparkle ______________________ A letter was placed down upon a table, the one who had held it having just finished reading it. She thought long and hard about what it contained, and what it could possibly mean. It held very unexpected news, to say the least. Queen Chrysalis’ eyes flashed green as they reflected the torchlight of her royal chambers. There was a changeling in Ponyville that she was unaware of, if her spy in that town was to be believed. A changeling that not only was not one of her own, but had walked brazenly through the town undisguised. Skitter had done his job and asked around for information, learning that the changeling was supposedly Twilight Sparkle cursed by some plant, the same pony that had somehow been involved with the defeat of Nightmare Moon. A defeat by the hooves of what sounded suspiciously like a very powerful changeling. The Queen resolved to keep a close eye on this Twilight Sparkle.