//------------------------------//
// How does this even work 
// Story: Discord vs. the Greeting-Card Industry 
// by SoloBrony 
//------------------------------//

Twilight was midway through revising a textbook when she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in!"

To Twilight's surprise, Chrysalis strode through the door. Twilight tried to hide an eyetwitch.

Well, I suppose this was inevitable. She's living here, now. You can do this, Twilight.

"Chrysalis! I was wondering when you would come to talk."

Chrysalis closed the door behind her and simply stared at Twilight for a few long seconds.

Twilight fidgeted.

"You... uh, you did come to talk, right?"

Chrysalis simply raised an eyebrow, so Twilight pressed on.

"Uhh... if you came to fight, can we take this elsewhere? To somewhere with fewer priceless books?"

Chrysalis rolled her eyes and coughed, and was silently thankful that Discord's spell bonding her to Starlight was gone.

"Twilight, I'm not here to fight. You know from experience I wouldn't attack you directly, if that was my intent."

Twilight smiled uneasily.

"You've been through a lot of changes lately. I don't really know what you're feeling or thinking lately, so... but! Let's talk about whatever you came to talk about."

Chrysalis sighed, rubbing her temple.

"Right. Twilight... where should I... take Starlight on a date?"

Wut

WAT

Twilight just stared at Chrysalis, mouth open. Chrysalis rapidly turned scarlet and curled a hoof to her barrel defensively.

"Twilight! If you're just going to mock me, I'll—"

"No! Nononono wait! I just, I didn't, I, when, why? What? You want to date her?"

Chrysalis squared off defensively. "And what's the problem with that?"

"But I, you, she... uhh... huh. Nothing, no problem. I just..."

Twilight made a few vague gestures as she tried to think up how to summarize her thoughts, before continuing.

"I sorta thought you wanted vengeance against her? And me? And everypony? And... I'm just a bit surprised at the sudden change of heart."

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Ponies always talk about how awkward it is to date friends, but then when you try to establish things as a romance early on, they talk about that being too sudden. There's no winning with your kind."

Twilight waved her hooves placatingly.

"That's not what I mean! It's just, it's a heck of a jump to go from hatred to love, isn't it?"

"I didn't say I was in love with her. I'm just interested. And that means we should date, right? To see where it goes?"

Chrysalis deeply hoped in that moment that Trixie hadn't been talking out of her rump. Thankfully, after a second of stunned silence, Twilight nodded.

"You're... right, actually. Yes. That's how this works. I guess it's just, I didn't realize you could be interested in her—"

"Can you please get over it and answer my question?! I've found Starlight interesting since the first time I saw her! Here was this gutsy little pony trying to break my throne with a rock! Even when she was down and out, she used her silver tongue to turn the whole thing around on me! She'd probably have assassinated me and taken over if she was a changeling! I can really respect that kind of mind. Now, she's my only friend in this whole blighted land, and apparently she's interested in me, so there's no way in Tartarus I'm going to string her along and not even give her a chance!"

Chrysalis pointed an accusatory hoof at Twilight and continued, "As her teacher, you should know better than anyone else why she's admirable! Is it really so hard for you to believe she drew an interest?"

Twilight just gaped for a moment, and Chrysalis – realizing exactly how much she had said – flushed scarlet again and twitched a bit. Twilight shook her head to clear it and stood up.

"Starlight loves books and magic, just like me. You're a powerful mage, so you should be able to show her things about changeling magic she had never imagined. Maybe... theme a date around that? I was going to take her to the Crystal Empire's library soon, but maybe you could take her there on a date, instead?"

Chrysalis, still embarrassed, set her hoof down and thought it over.

"A library date? Doesn't that sound a bit slow-paced and dull?"

"Not if you work in some interesting magic and have an idea of what to show her before you even get there. Here, I made a list of the tomes I thought she'd be most interested in there. Take it."

Twilight levitated a scroll over to Chrysalis, who clutched it uncertainly.

"Twilight... why are you helping me?"

"I want her to have a good time! If this is what she wants, then I want it to work out!"

Chrysalis nodded. "Just checking."

As she turned to leave, Twilight called back out to her.

"For what it's worth, I want you to have a good time, too. You've... been awful to us, but I think I can understand some of what was going on with you when you did those things. When you have others depending on you, you think you have to shut everyone else out, right?"

Chrysalis hesitated at the doorway, pondering over her answer.

"I could just say that was that, and you'd probably trust me more. But if I'm being honest, Twilight, I like to win. I like power. Even after I was kicked out of the hive, I wanted to conquer and rule. It was for them, but it was also for me."

"What changed?"

Chrysalis snorted, and sighed.

"I guess I want something else more, now."

"... Good luck getting it."

Chrysalis strode out of the room, straight to her bedroom, and planted her head against a wall.

I've become weak, stupid, and awkward. Great. Things were so much more simple when I didn't answer to anyone or care about anyone else's feelings.

Chrysalis glanced down at the list she was carrying.

... Well, I got what I wanted. I can handle complicated. If ponies can do it, I'm sure I can do it better. Then again... who else has tried to date Starlight Glimmer?

Chrysalis groaned.

Discord sure knew how to pick'em.