//------------------------------// // Tell her how you really feel // Story: Discord vs. the Greeting-Card Industry // by SoloBrony //------------------------------// Chrysalis cackled to herself as she strutted around the decrepit Castle of the Two Pony Sisters. "Yesss, yes, that is how I shall destroy her. A reformed villain, that's what the pony said. All I've to do is take her form and pretend she's had enough of this candy-coated nonsense! I don't have to steal the elements of harmony; Twilight and her friends will use them on Starlight Glimmer willingly! I'm a genius!" Chrysalis draped herself across a nearby chair and stroked her hair. "Oh, Starlight. If only you knew what I have in store for you..." Suddenly, Starlight's voice echoed around the room. "Well, I know now! Who is this? Chrysalis? Is that Chrysalis? Why am I hearing all of this? Hello?" Chrysalis stiffened in the chair, and then sprang up into a ready stance, hissing. "STARLIGHT GLIMMER! How are you doing this?! Where are you, coward?!" "I have no idea! I just suddenly started hearing you! Are you even in Ponyville right now?" "No! I'm—ah, clever pony, but I won't give you anything more." Chrysalis smirked smugly and awaited whatever taunts her enemy would send her way. Instead she got this: "Uhh... so I can still hear you breathing... and I've tried walking around and it's not stopping." Chrysalis paused at that. Is she being serious? What in Equestria's going on? Chrysalis carefully strode out of the room, alert for ambushes, and listened carefully. And heard somepony breathing, as though they were just a few feet away. "Gah! What sort of spell have you put on me?! I WILL MAKE YOU REGRET—" "Listen, I really have no idea what's going on. You're the last person I wanted to speak to today! I've actually had two whole students come to me for guidance counseling! This was a great day! You think I wanted to cap it off hearing about your revenge plans?" "Hmph. You've been magically spying on me, trying to keep a step ahead. But I'm far ahead in the intelligence game, Starlig—" "CHRYSALIS, I have a LIFE! I don't give a buck about you! I'm not even mad that you're plotting revenge – it's not like I haven't done it – but I don't really feel like being harassed with this right now!" Chrysalis hissed in rage. "You dare insinuate I'm not even important enough to spy on?!" "Have you noticed a pattern with villains who try to mess with Twilight's friends, Chrysalis? I spied on her for an entire year planning my revenge. I noticed a pattern!" "Hmph. You're saying that just because no one else has succeeded, I cannot?" "You didn't succeed either! Repeatedly! And if you did succeed, you'd have Celestia, Luna, and Discord breathing down your neck! What's your endgame then? At least my plan involved time-travel so I could avoid all of Twilight's backup. Seriously, did you even think about the fallout?" Chrysalis balked and took a defensive posture. "Well, I am a master of deception and disguise! I figured I would just go into hiding, perhaps even hide my involvement altogether, start to finish!" "You couldn't even manage to pull that off when no one knew what changelings were, Chrysalis. And that was before Discord had a vested interest in making sure Fluttershy and her friends didn't have reason to be upset." "Well, fine! What would you do?!" "I don't know! Stage an accident, maybe?" Chrysalis took a few seconds to absorb that. "That's.. actually not a terrible idea. But I wanted you to know the suffering you put me through! Being betrayed by those loyal to you!" "If you wanted to be the one to show me what that felt like, I'm afraid you'd have to go back in time and take Twilight's place." Chrysalis cocked her head, though she knew the gesture was useless if the pony was really as far away as she claimed to be. "What do you mean by that?" "I mean I was betrayed first by my only friend, and then years later Twilight shows up and turned my whole village against me! I thought you did your research; how is it I am the first person to explain this to you? Did you expect to be able to mimic me without even knowing my backstory?" "I wasn't done researching! Yet!" "Oh. Fair enough. I know how hard it can be to gather good revenge-intel without tipping your hand." There was a long, uneasy silence between them. Finally, Chrysalis broke the silence. "You weren't kidding about having been where I was, were you." "Nope. Though I hardly expected to get a chance to explain that to you. I figured you would just show up for revenge, get foiled, and then maybe we'd get a shot at talking. That's how this seems to go, usually." "And you really have no idea why we're... linked?" "None. Maybe your desire for revenge triggered some kind of ancient magic? I'll try to look into it. It'll be extremely awkward if you have to listen to an entire conversation from my end and I have to hear your commentary." Chrysalis scoffed. "I still can't believe that your primary takeaway from this situation is that it's an inconvenience. I'm the one who had her plan foiled!" Chrysalis heard an irritated groan. "Chrysalis, do you have any idea how hard I've been working to put my life back together? I finally feel like I have something good going again, and I've been waiting, every day, for something to just... go wrong and put me back at square one. I've had some really close calls as it is. What I want right now is to stop worrying about what the next big catastrophe will be, and just live my life!" "Hmph. You've given up all of your pride and want nothing more than to hide like a civilian, is that it? Let someone else handle your enemies?" "I don't see you as my enemy, Chrysalis!" Chrysalis rolled her eyes and scoffed as she began striding around the castle, magically scanning it for intruders or a source of the spell. "Oh really? And what do you see me as, then?" "Honestly? I have no idea. I barely know you. I know what kind of situation you're in, and I've been there before, but other than that... not much. I mostly just see you as someone really down on your luck." "I don't want your pathetic Equestrian sympathy—" "Chrysalis, this whole conversation started because you were talking to yourself about your plans, because you have no friends and are extremely lonely. Are you trying to say this is one of your high moments?" Chrysalis bit back a nasty invective and sighed. There's no point in arguing that. I've never been brought so low before. And I will make her suffer for it. "Just find a way to turn off this stupid spell." "Right. On it."