Chrysalis groaned as she tried to get comfortable on the ancient bed. With an eyeroll, she addressed her unseen-yet-ever-present conversational partner.
"You had best not snore, pony."
"Same to you, Chrysalis."
"I will hunt you down and make you suffer if you snore!"
"And if you snore I'll enchant a parasprite to seek out the source of that sound, no matter how far away it is, and clamp onto it."
"... What's a parasprite?"
"Oh, good. It'll be a surprise."
Despite herself, Chrysalis recoiled slightly.
I think this pony is being serious. Or at least she's capable of such a thing, both magically and emotionally. Perhaps I underestimated how vicious these creatures can be.
"I thought you were trying to be reformed, Starlight."
"It's just us bad girls here, Chrysalis. Don't try leveraging my personal life against me."
Chrysalis sighed.
"I had to listen to you consult with Twilight, Sunburst, and it sounded like a half-dozen more ponies, all for nothing. How can none of you identify this spell?!"
"Whatever it is, it's persistent and strange. Trying to forcefully dispel it could be dangerous."
"Ugh. I suppose that was something one of them told you? It is so aggravating hearing only one half of a conversation."
"Yeah, I can imagine. Sorry about that."
Chrysalis stared up at the ceiling and thought over her situation. Starlight had done her best, the entire day, to be accommodating. She had even tried to break the spell, true to her word, despite the potential advantages it offered her.
It went against Chrysalis' better judgement, but she decided to discuss something other than revenge, threats, or getting rid of the infernal spell.
"Starlight?"
"Yeah?"
"How is it? Your reform, I mean."
"Oh. Uhh..."
There was a long pause before Starlight's voice returned.
"... It's good. Sort of hard to describe, or compare to my old life. After a while, that's what it feels like; the 'old life'. Like it all happened to somepony else."
"You're saying you couldn't be that way now?"
"To the point I'm not even sure how I was that way before. I mean, I still appreciate a good devious scheme, sometimes I still go overboard using power, but... I don't know. Sometimes it feels like nothing changed at all, and I think I still have everything to learn. But that's not true at all. I don't act out of malice, a need for control, or a sense of... fear anymore. I used to think I was the one in control before, but since getting to know Twilight, I've come to realize how much of my action was really motivated by fear I didn't even know I had."
Chrysalis snorted.
"And you think I'm afraid?"
"I don't know. Probably? Afraid of being alone, or insignificant, or of your hive falling apart without you?"
Chrysalis winced.
This pony is... supremely blunt. And knows exactly where to press.
"... That may be true, Starlight. I'll grant you that."
"I had the same kinds of thoughts about my old village. When I wasn't busy being furious at them, I mean. I don't know, it was weird. Sometimes I hated them for casting me out, other times I hated myself for it. I guess I just directed all of that hate at Twilight. That was easier to accept, I guess. Easier than..."
"Than accepting I had failed myself and my people, because of my own faults."
"... Yeah."
Chrysalis rubbed her forehead with a hoof, trying to quell a small oncoming headache.
"I'm going to kill whatever is responsible for this stupid spell."
"Sure doesn't take much to get on your hit-list, huh?"
"Ugh. Don't push it, pony. I know where you're sleeping."
"... Good night, Chrysalis."
Chrysalis scoffed and closed her eyes, trying to court sleep's embrace for a few minutes, but the phrase nagged at her mind. Finally, unable to make that stupid sensation go away, she muttered back.
"Good night, Starlight."