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// Candles in the Wind 
// Story: Poems for Chrysalis 
// by Omegathyst 
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A bright orange pegasus mare walked through the Canterlot sculpture garden, her backpack hardly concealing the black stripes around her body. She pushed her long and bushy black mane away from her green eyes, staring at the statue in the center of the garden. It was the three villains turned to stone: Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow.

The mare, Tiger Tornado, stepped in front of Chrysalis.

“Even when your jaws are poised to strike, you look beautiful,” Tiger Tornado’s lips barely curved into a grin. “Mother told me not to waste such a trip to Canterlot. Check out all the sights, taste the finest dishes, maybe even try to meet the Princess. She even brought perfumes to wear for her, offerings to flatter her. What would she think if I told her I went to visit a statue?”

Chrysalis’ statue didn’t budge.

“I’m at a loss for words too,” Tiger sighed. “My teacher told me you used to lead her people into war, and that you tried to take over Equestria many times over. When I told my friends that you were hot in the pictures I saw, they either laughed at me or reminded me of what you did. Like I don’t already know.”

Tiger felt Chrysalis’ eyes focusing on her, but not on her eyes.

“Oh, this?” Tiger turned to the side, exposing her quill-pen-and-paper cutie mark. “Mother wasn’t expecting this to be my cutie mark. I was supposed to be a Wonderbolt like my father, who Mother told me was one of the best flyers there ever was.”

Tiger looked away from her cutie mark, staring back at the rock bug.

“What do you think I should bring back to my mother?” Tiger asked. “Maybe I should persuade the guards into letting me see the Princess; take a picture with her. I heard she hasn’t taken another lover ever since her last one moved to Silver Shoals.”

Tiger flinched under Chrysalis’ gaze.

“Don’t get me wrong, she’s not you,” Tiger squeaked. “But we just met, and Mother told me to keep my options open. You understand, don’t you?”

Tiger waited for Chrysalis’ response, and shifted her hooves slowly as she looked at the grass.

“If it helps at all, I wrote a poem for you,” Tiger reached into her backpack, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper that she flattened on the grass. She pulled the paper close, and felt her heart thundering in her chest, the sweat collecting from her hooves onto the paper.

“I...roses are red, violets are blue, but my favorite colors are black and green, just like you,” Tiger whispered, staring at Chrysalis. “I know, I know! I’m supposed to be an eloquent poet, but when I thought of what to write for you, I panicked.”

“So...do you think I should see her?” Tiger asked, her body slightly shaking. “I like to think we hit it off, but if you feel differently…”

Tiger never felt this way before, where sweat was collecting on her hooves, the blood within her body felt as hot as her fur, her ears even felt like lit candles threatening to burn out in the wind. Tiger took out a pen with the tip of her wing, and wrote further in her paper.

“My ears feel like lit candles, threatening to burn out in the wind,” Tiger spoke as she was writing. “I’ve made up my mind, Chrissy. Is it okay if I call you that? Well, either way, I’m coming back here. I just need to get another part-time gig, maybe write some of my classmates’ essays for them. Don’t fret my chrysanthemum, I’ll be back here before you know it.”

Tiger tucked the paper back in her backpack, zipping it shut before standing back on her four hooves.

“I’m going to...find a souvenir for Mother,” Tiger looked away. “They’re wrong about you, Chrissy. I don’t feel any evil piercing my heart when I’m near you, I feel the flock of birds flying over this garden, the flowers swaying peacefully to the wind. I’ll come back, I promise.”

Tiger took a deep breath, glancing at Chrysalis once more before turning around and walking away.