Chrysalis cracked an eye open as Celestia's pet star rudely interrupted a fine set of dreams about Starlight Glimmer.
And just when things were getting interesting.
Chrysalis groggily made her way to the private bathroom and cleaned up, showering and brushing her teeth, and was about to exit the hotel room before it hit her.
I just took Starlight Glimmer on a date.
Me. Queen Chrysalis. Master of the changeling swarm, devourer supreme of love.
Chrysalis paused and facehoofed.
What in Tartarus has gotten into me lately?! How did I ever sink so low?! I should be destroying that meddling unicorn and everything she loves, not doting on her!
Plenty of contrary feelings and thoughts presented themselves, but Chrysalis still insisted on taking the time to properly hate herself for her weakness. All of her justifications and feelings felt like excuses – the kinds of excuses she had never taken from herself or her subjects in the past.
With a grumble, Chrysalis opened her room door and stepped out, nearly running into Starlight Glimmer in the process. Her heart did strange things on seeing the mare, and this brought a fresh wave of frustration to the ex-queen.
"Oh! Chrysalis! Good morning! I was just about to knock and see if you were ready to grab something to eat. The hotel has a complimentary breakfast going on in the common room."
Chrysalis nodded, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes.
"I am aware. I checked for that when I booked the—"
Chrysalis was cut off when Starlight suddenly planted a kiss on her cheek.
WHA@TTDGPGJ#$TJGJ$GJDGSDJFJXDSFJ@#(JR@#
Starlight, for her part, flushed scarlet at her own actions, and watched Chrysalis for some kind of response.
It wasn't forthcoming, as Chrysalis was too busy staring at something about a thousand yards away. After a few moments, Chrysalis came to a conclusion.
You know what? Buck it all. This is nice. I don't have anyling depending on me anymore, so why should I give a buck about any of that other stuff?
Starlight was just starting to get uncomfortable when Chrysalis leaned in and nuzzled her, shutting the door behind her in the process. She relaxed tangibly as Chrysalis wrapped a wing over her, eliciting a chuckle from the changeling queen.
"Let's go get that food."
That's it. No more of this conflicting nonsense. I'll do what feels nice and seems sensible until I'm given reason to do otherwise. Starlight trusts me. Starlight LIKES me. There's no reason for me to mess that up.
Besides, anyone can betray somepony's trust. Earning that trust without even using deception, that's a lot more impressive.
And with that self-affirming thought, Chrysalis made her way with Starlight to a complimentary breakfast. Before noon, they were on the train back home. It was about halfway through a ride of otherwise companionable silence that Starlight spoke up.
"All of this was really nice, Crissy. Really. I guess you have a lot more experience doing this sort of thing than I do—"
Chrysalis waved a hoof idly with a smile. "First time."
Starlight laughed and threw a hoof up into the air. "Right, you told me that. Of course you would nail it your first time!"
Chrysalis smirked. "Ex-queen Chrysalis, dater extraordinaire."
"I was going to go with 'marefriend extraordinaire', but fair enough."
Chrysalis froze a second in thought at that.
Marefriend, huh...
Suddenly, things clicked. Chrysalis had a place, a role again. Somepony actually needed her around.
I like the sound of that.