“...So, there I was, practicing for buckball, right?” You said, waving your hooves slowly to make your story sound more grand. All three of you were in the dining room, a grand looking room of golden walls and a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The dining table itself rivaled Celestia’s, despite the fact there was no point in it being that big. Chrysalis and Diamond just watched and listened, slowly eating the lasagna that came from the oven, made with Chrysalis's love. Chrysalis followed the recipe you randomly generated for her quite well, or that’s what everyone thought anyway, since it tasted pretty good. “And the ball comes right towards me, and I hit it with my head. BAM! The ball goes flying past the goalie, through the basket, and er… I ended up sending one of the other students to the hospital when it hit their face.”
“I saw it happen. I thought that shot would have gotten Anon into the team for sure. But then Princess Twilight brought up a good point that having that much skill would put every other team at a big disadvantage.” Diamond giggled as she looked over to you with a doting smile. “It’s totally true of course, but that shouldn’t have stopped him from getting on the team.”
“Er, well, I kinda didn’t want to be on a team anyway. Too much responsibility for me. Plus, Twilight’s right, I wouldn’t want to show up all the other players.” You say with a cocky grin, rubbing your hoof along your chest.
“Hmmm… Is that so? Anon, can you hold still for a second?” Chrysalis asked as her fork flew up above her head.
“Huh? Yeah, su-HEY! GYAH! What was that?!” The fork's blunt side was flung onto your head. The moment it hit, it was like some kind of force repelled it into the ceiling. The fork sunk so hard into the material of the ceiling that the prongs were no longer visible. “What in the hay?! Chrysalis! Geez! What was that for?! I mean… HEY! DON’T YOU REMEMBER THE CURSE?!”
“Hush, Anon, that didn’t even hurt you.” Chrysalis said as she looked up at the fork. “Hm, he’s become so hard headed that he creates his own negative force now. Scary.”
“Wow, Anon. That was amazing. You didn’t even see that coming and you sent it flying.” Diamond cheered before giving a sly look, chuckling arrogantly. “Hero colt, Master athlete, and cutest pony ever. Other fillies can only wish they had somepony as good as my Anon.”
“Yeah…” Chrysalis was pushing it. Unnecessarily so. It seems she actually had to hurt someone for the deadly curse to take effect. If that had even slightly stung, she’d have been done for. Was she doing it on purpose? Testing her limits for the plan tomorrow? Or was she just doing it out of boredom? Either way… “But seriously, please be more careful, Chrysalis. None of us want to see you plop over.”
Chrysalis said nothing at first, her gaze shifting towards Diamond for a moment before looking back at you. She then gave an apologetic expression with her words, sounding sincere. “You’re right, Anon, and I do apologize. I should not be testing my limits like that.”
“You really gotta be careful though, Big Sis. If you had accidentally hit Anon anywhere else… You know.” Diamond said with a pout.
“I promise to be more careful.” Chrysalis said, as she brought a hoof to her chest. “Queen’s honor.” Chrysalis then had a thought occur in her head as she began to use her magic to remove her fork from the ceiling. “Little Sister, despite it being animated, what did you think of the humans?”
Ooooooh, actually, that made you curious too. “Yeah, what did you think? Since, y’know, I was human once.”
“Oh, it was ok, I guess. No offense, Anon, but I like you better as a pony.” Diamond said.
G-guh. That didn’t sound right. “I mean, I was pretty handsome as a human, y’know. Probably better looking than Aladdin. Y-you can't just say that without having seen the old me”
Chrysalis suddenly snorted as she lost her grip on the fork. She had to use both her hooves to keep herself from bursting into laughter. Oddly polite of her, but goddamn. Like, fuck, you were! You just stared at Chrysalis, silently grumbling. And yet, could you be upset? Normally, she’d have just outright insulted you. So far, she’s been… Nicer… and kinda playful.
“Yeah, but. I dunno, is it bad I don’t find humans attractive?” Diamond asked. “Does it matter? You’re not even a human anymore.”
“No… I guess not. Eh, it doesn’t matter, I still look good. And I do have the prettiest filly at my side. I’m the luckiest colt in Equestria, methinks.” Egh, why did you personally feel offended by it though? Hm, you had to wonder if that is how Diamond would react to her human self, and vice versa. Hell, you wondered if even mentioning her human self would gauge her interest.
“Awww… Well, I AM the prettiest filly. Mhmm.” Diamond said with an assured nod. “Isn’t that right, Big Sis?”
“I’m inclined to agree.” Chrysalis said as she finally took her fork, poked at her lasagna, and then let it sit. “I think I’m already on dessert. Ahrm, in any case, Little Sister, what have you been doing lately? Anything exciting?”
“Oh yeah! I’ve been learning how to use a sword. One day, I’m gonna be Anon’s partner in heroing and his wife! I’ve learned so much already, I think I’m ready for some actual competition.” Diamond said with girlish excitement. “I know we didn’t make a bet on it, but you’d come see me win one of my competitions anyway, wouldn’t you, Big Sis?”
“With pleasure. Just make sure to crush them in such a way as to leave no doubt who is the best.” Chrysalis said with a snicker as she suddenly seemed to be reminiscing on something. “I remember when I had to learn to dance to infiltrate a smaller kingdom on the old outskirts of Equestria. Mind you, I was already an excellent dancer, but to garner so much love in a room with my graceful movements. Ah, yes, I remember being very sweet tasting, even if my competition were duds in flavor. Never mind the fact my childr…” Chrysalis suddenly stopped as her expression became somber. “Ahrm, well, moving on. How is that failure of an old captain of mine doing? You know the one.”
Did she mean… “The X-Captain? Er, he’s… Ok. He’s living in the house now.”
“Really?” Chrysalis said, intrigued while trying to shake off her thoughts. “You’ve forgiven him? How did he even fit back through the window?”
“Yeah, about that, he transformed back into his original self. And now he owns a nightclub in the basement.” You explain.
Chrysalis raised an eyebrow at that. “How did that happen? Your ‘father’ doesn’t sound like he’d be accepting of that.”
“He, er, won a couple of bets.” You say.
“What kind of bets?” Chrysalis asked. “It seems unlikely that he has the foresight to win ANY bet. And don't mention my recent loss, I got tricked by what should have been obvious.”
“Basically anything, really. I don’t even know of the ones he made with dad. Really, the only annoying thing is he transformed into Jimmy Conway and uh… Changed his name to that, and likes to stay in that fo-YIKES!” You and Diamond stiffen from being startled from Chrysalis’s angry reaction. She just slammed her hooves into her lasagna as she hissed and growled.
“THAT FOOL THINKS HE CAN BE JIMMY?! IS THAT WHAT YOU’RE TELLING ME?! THAT INGRATE! NOT ONLY FORGOING OUR GLORIOUS ORIGINAL FORM, BUT CHOOSING A FORM SOMEPONY LIKE HIM COULD NEVER LIVE UP TO!” Chrysalis snarled as she stared into nothingness. “I know who I’m destroying after Twilight.” She whispered to herself silently.
Christ, you wonder how she would have reacted if he chose Tommy or John Rico. She may have been able to mind melt him with her anger alone.
“Jimmy? Oh right, you’re talking about the weird eyeball guy from outside your window who stopped being an eyeball. Hmph, that guy scared my best friend, he's dumb. And a nightclub, huh? I bet it’s trash.” Diamond’s only encounter with Jimmy, back when he was X-Captain, you remember that. It’s what caused him to leave the window, hide out, and presumably give the Storm King a window to disconnect from him… Possibly. You weren’t exactly sure if that was it or if it really was just the staff having perfect timing in draining up the chaos between them.
“I agree. Not only is it trash, but why a nightclub? He truly is a moron if he thought he’d get any business in Discord’s basement. If I had time, I’d go down there myself and slap some sense into him. Jimmy, really? If I remember, he didn’t even enjoy watching the documentary in the first place.” Chrysalis said, shaking her head. “He never did understand the finer points of… Anything.”
“Hm. Big Sis, you seem to really love whatever documentary you’re talking about. C’mon, we should totally watch it!” Diamond said, wanting to spend more time with Chrysalis.
Chrysalis actually tensed, like, she actually flinched. It almost was like she was going to say that they shouldn't. But she relaxes, and sighs with disappointment. “I’m afraid I cannot allow that, Little Sister. It is extremely mature and I wouldn’t want you to be influenced by it.” Hell, she actually did say it.
“Awww, but Anon has watched it, right? How come he gets to see it and I don’t?” Diamond said, trying to win Chrysalis over with a cute pout.
“Er, I. I mean, I have a real big interest in gangster stuff, Diamond. I don’t wanna be a gangster, but I always had an interest in the mafia.” Dammit! You didn’t need her watching that! What if she saw that scene? That one scene, you know the scene. THAT scene…. Well, really, any scene in that movie would have scarring effects on her.
“The mafia? Anon, ponies have gangsters too, you know that right? What makes human ones so different?” Diamond said as she began to place her hooves on the table to raise herself up, a way to show that she wanted her demands met. “If you and Big Sis like it, then I want to watch it too! We’re supposed to be a family. And as your future wife, I want to check out all the cool human stuff!”
You were about to say something, but Chrysalis spoke first. “...Anon, can you stay here for a moment? I’m going to put the documentary on a certain scene.” Chrysalis then stared into your eyes. You wanted to say something, should you say something? No, you know what she wanted to do. She was going to do to Diamond the same thing she did to Twilight, only this time it was to deter her, you were sure of it. You nodded towards Chrysalis as she left the room.
“Anon, is she going to try to freak me out?” Diamond asked you, knowing the answer already.
“She just wants to show you that we’re not kidding, Diamond. The documentary is pretty detailed and has some scenes that might be too intense for you.” You explain.
Diamond raised an eyebrow at you, a little annoyed. “You sound like those film reels Miss Cheerilee plays sometimes to scare us into not doing something, like walking around the Everfree at night.”
“I mean… Yeah? It really is that intense, Diamond.” Wow, she actually wasn’t paying attention to you this time.
“Hmph.” Diamond said as she got out of her chair and approached you, turning her head away from you. “So you think I’m gonna be scared over a documentary, is that it? Well, fine, we’ll see. But just so you know, if I’m not scared, then you’re sleeping on the couch for the first month after we’re married.”
You nearly broke into laughter at that. Oh yeah, no, that was NOT going to be happening. You planned to use the bed the first day, and not just for sleeping. “Ok, Diamond. Just don’t go crying to me if what Chrysalis shows you scares you.”
Diamond suddenly turned to you with an intense expression. “Scared!? I’ll show you! In fact, if I’m not scared, you gotta take me to that nightclub for a date. How about that?”
Wut? “Uh? Jimmy’s nightclub? I thought we agreed it was trash.”
“Exactly. That’ll be your punishment for doubting me.” Diamond said, so sure of herself. Christ, you didn’t even know if the place was actually trash. Given Jimmy probably had tons of details done to the nightclub via Discord’s magic to make sure it was class. Then again, maybe you could take advantage of the situation.
You then give Diamond a cool look. You hop off the chair and look directly at her with a big smarmy smile that actually made her ears fold a tad as her bravado got dialed back. “So, you wanna make a bet with me?”
“Y-yes. I’ve been right so far.” Diamond said, with only a little hesitation in her voice.
“Ok then. Let’s see. If I win, I want you to yell out all of Ryu’s moves the best you can. Alright?” Oh god, this was gonna be cute.
Diamond just looked at you, super confused. “O….K? What’s… What’s a Re-u? What do you mean by 'moves'?”
“Don’t worry about it for now. We’ll get to it when we get to it and-” Suddenly, you can hear Chrysalis calling you both back into the living room. “There we go, you ready?”
Diamond nodded. "Totally. I’m sooooo going to win. Watch.” Diamond prepared herself, and took a breath as she looked on with determination. “Let’s go.”
You both walked back into the room to see Chrysalis standing next to her television, remote ready on… Wait a minute, this wasn’t Goodfellas. This was the brain drain scene again from Starship Troopers. She had it paused on that? Good god, this was gonna be overkill.
“Oh, hey. A realistic looking human. Hm, still not impressed.” Diamond said, looking back at you with a little smirk. “And I’m not scared either.”
Oh boy…
“Well, I haven’t pressed play yet, my dear. Anon, this is fine by you, right?” Chrysalis asked, as if your opinion actually mattered. Perhaps it did this time? Well, either way…
You nod. “Go for it.”
Chrysalis pressed play, with the brain bug’s needle sucker going right into that guy’s skull. Diamond turned white as she jumped behind you, screaming as if someone had just stabbed her. “AHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT IS THAT?! WHA-WHA?!” And then suddenly, she passed out. The gore, the death, it was simply too much for her.
Looks like you won. “Well, I think that worked.”
“You don’t seem too upset that I scared her into unconsciousness.” Chrysalis said as she picked her up with her magic and gently placed her on her couch.
“We made a small bet in the dining room. I thought you were going to show the scene where Tommy died, to be honest.” You say, finding it hard not to smirk.
“I didn’t want to spoil any of that documentary for her, nor did I need a reminder of such a sweet man being murdered like that. so I just played Starship Troopers for the easy scare. She’s quite stubborn, it’s cute.” Chrysalis said, giving her a gentle pet along the head.
“Yeah, I dig it. Trust me, that stubbornness has gotten me out of a bind once or twice.” You looked over to Chrysalis, wanting to get a little serious for a moment. “Look, don’t accuse me of being Twilight, ok? I just wanna say that you’re actually doing a pretty fine job being a good friend. Or, I guess a sister.”
“Like I said, this will be the final day I’ll be able to do anything like this. Tomorrow, Anon, things are going to change, and I will finally have my revenge.” Chrysalis said as she turned off the tv. “Don’t mistake my kindness here as a sign of throwing in the towel. You’ll find my plan to be more evil than anything I’ve ever conceived before.”
Ok, that was a little worrisome. “You say that, but you want me to warn everypony, then be here tomorrow morning. I don’t get that at all.”
“You’re not supposed to. If you want to stop my plan after my little presentation, then you may. But you have to let me have this chance to impress you.” Chrysalis drew closer to you, and began to give you a gentle scratch under your chin as she gave you a more lustful look. “I promise it’ll be something that will ignite ALL your senses.”
D-dammit! You back away, blushing, and shake your head to remove the pervy thoughts you had. “Oh no no, I’m not falling for that again. You’re not getting the horn, Chrysalis.”
Chrysalis chuckled. “I wonder if you mean that for both of them. But if we’re being serious, I mean it when I say I won’t be requiring it. I just want to see your face when you see the full genius of my plan.”
“The plan you won’t tell me a single detail about.” Did she even truly have a plan?
“Yes.” Chrysalis said as she seemed to become giddy with excitement. “Finally, Celestia will know my pain, and she will never EVER be able to get over it. Every second being alive will be an eternal reminder of what she lost.” Then Chrysalis looked to you with a girlish toothy grin. “I don’t even care that you don’t like the sound of it, I’m much too close to care about that.”
“I can see that. But forget about me for a second, what about Diamond? I can tell you like her, are you willing to lose her friendship over something like this?” You had to be serious, you had to ask her these questions, see how serious her plan might actually be.
“I enjoyed my time with her, Anon, but if fate ends our friendship, then it ends our friendship. You however, are different. You’ll never stop being my friend, therefore I never have to worry about you abandoning me the same way my children did.” Chrysalis said, either ignoring or unaware how devastating a win like that would be on her relationship with you. It was that very devastation that told you she probably wasn’t as serious as she was making it all out to be.
“I suppose. Chrysalis, can I ask you a question?” Here we go.
“Of course, ask me anything, I’m in that good a mood.” Chrysalis said with a grin.
“Look, if anything, I’m worried about you. I know me asking this might piss you off, but can I at least have a chat with you tomorrow about your plan before you pull it off? Given how this curse works, I figure if you’re willing to listen when you’re actually setting off your plan, then it will count as a failure and break the curse. Then, you know...” You say, knowing full well she will say no.
“I’ll reform? Sure, Anon, you can do whatever you like. If you want to have a chat, then we’ll have a chat.” Chrysalis said, this time, without a hint of sarcasm.
Wut? “Seriously?”
Chrysalis nodded. “Like, totally.” Chrysalis said in a way similar to Diamond. “I think you deserve that chance.”
Damn, Chrysalis really was being more understanding and caring. Then, that was it, today must have changed her. Hell, maybe she did remember the things she said when she was drunk. HAHA! Anon, what were you worried about? You have this in the bag. “T-thank you, Chrysalis. I really appreciate that.”
“Well, you deserve that chance.” Chrysalis said, giving you a genuine smile as she looked out her window to the forest beyond. “We all deserve a chance to reach our dreams.” Chrysalis then looked back to you, then to Diamond. “Anon, I did enjoy this visit. I truly did. But I have preparations to make, it will take me most of the day and I will need the night to rest. Thank you for your time, and please, tell her I had a good time when she awakes.”
Woah… She said please, and thank you. That was almost creepy. “Yeah, hey, no problem, Chrysalis. You know you’re my best bug.” You say with a big happy grin and you walk over to give her a hug. Chrysalis doesn’t even hesitate as she gently brings her leg around you to hug you back. Oh yeah, fuck yes! It was happening!
“As you are my best human gone pony. You have a good day, Anon. Oh, by the way, I have a question.” Chrysalis said as she walked over to her bookshelf full of movies and pulled one out.
“Yeah?” Hm?
“The puzzle box in this movie, is it real? I’d be willing to change my plan right now for one of these to be left in Twilight’s room, it would solve my problem in an instant.” She asks, holding up the case for the movie ‘Hellraiser’. “We both know she wouldn’t be able to resist solving it.”
…
…
“No.” God no, fuck no!
“A shame. Ah well. Goodbye, Anon. And don’t forget to warn those fools. It really would be no fun if I didn’t have a little resistance.” Chrysalis said with a slightly dark chuckle.
Ok, Anon, relax, that puzzle box was NOT gonna become a thing, and Chrysalis was still in good spirits. Now, when it came to getting Diamond home, that was gonna be tough. Getting her into your room was easy enough, but getting her past that would require waking her up. Which then meant she’d probably want to go to Jimmy’s club despite the bet. No, Anon, priorities. Just wake her up, take her home, then rush straight to Twilight and the others.
It was finally time.