The Rolls-Royce Phantom prowled the streets of Canterlot, a predator among prey. Chrysalis suckled on a piece of chilled dark chocolate and pointedly stared out the window. From the ceiling hung a small screen on which an overweight and eternally sweating man was finishing his excuses. She wasn’t wearing one of her low-cut suits today, so his anxiety had nothing to do with the view. This time. He was the sitting president of Change, Inc’s Eastern-European management. Had been for about a year now. She was already looking for his replacement.
Pulling the candy from her lips between her index and middle fingers, she interrupted his rambling. “I told you, we’re not going above twenty.”
The balding man, ironically named Mr. Gazelle, appeared exasperated. “Madame CEO, they almost walked out of the meeting! They won’t accept anything less than thirty-five million. If we want to purchase their—”
“You need to grow a pair, Gazelle.” Chrysalis at last deigned to look him in the digital eyes. The more than eight million pixels made his bobbing Adam’s apple perfectly clear. At any other time, his failure to hide his fear would have brought a toothy grin to her lips, but she was too bored with his poor performance to bother. “They’ll take twenty. They don’t have a choice. They need us, not the other way around.”
Her cool gaze went back to the window. “If they refuse us, we get the same services somewhere else, and they fail to find a buyer. I’ve already ensured that much.” Which he should have done entirely on his own. The fact she’d had to step in on something so insignificant was just one more part of why he wouldn’t be around for much longer.
“Miss Chrysanthemum—”
“The next time I hear from you, I only want to know whether or not you’ve made the deal. Which, I’m sure, you will have.” The bar of chocolate broke between her teeth with an audible snap. She tapped a button on the armrest and the screen winked out, cutting Gazelle off mid-retort. The screen silently folded into the ceiling, leaving Chrysalis to rub her forehead and try to keep her scowl from becoming too pronounced.
The violet eyes of Pharynx, her driver and bodyguard, glanced at her through the rearview mirror. “Is it safe to say ‘told you so’ yet?”
She shot him a glare even as she slipped the last of the chocolate between her lips. Though his eyes were already back on the road, she was certain he felt her gaze. “If you must.”
He nodded with a faint hum. “In that case: told you so.”
She huffed and turned her glare back out the window. “You’re not usually so good a judge of character, but I suppose even broken watches can be correct every now and then.”
“Ouch.” Despite her angle from him, she could just make out the start of a rare smile . It was enough to bring an upwards quirk to the corner of Chrysalis’s lips. “We should be getting home in about forty-five minutes, give or take five.”
“I didn’t ask for an update.”
“Got one, anyway.”
This was why Chrysalis liked Pharynx, aside from being good at his job: he had a surprising knack for knowing when to talk and when to shut his yap. It was nice having a bodyguard who did more than just loom in the background and didn’t have marbles for brains. She’d raised him well.
But had she raised him ‘right’? She wasn’t sure where that question came from, but it left a strand of uncertainty within her. She examined her adopted son. Subtly, of course. Didn’t want him to think she was displeased with him somehow. Though shorter than her by nearly a foot, he was a big man, muscular and broad. He looked good in his suit. Of course he did; she hardly cared what he wore outside of work, but when he was in public with her she made sure he looked his best.
Pressing the side of her head to the window, Chrysalis looked to the passenger-side mirror. Pharynx had it set just so that she could see her own reflection. Strategically placed webcam notwithstanding, she was not a vain woman. Even so, she felt she looked good for her age. She still got a few calls from would-be suitors. She was far out of their league – really, there wasn’t a man or woman on the planet who was in her league – but that didn’t prevent the occasional one night stand. It would never go further than that.
She had zero intention of marrying. Fuck that shit.
Chrysalis soon forgot the entire reason she was brooding to begin with, but brood she did while the Phantom stalked its way through downtown traffic. It eventually escaped into the quieter suburbs, but she barely noticed. She was too busy contemplating her existence and her business. Thoughts leapfrogged through meetings to be had, meetings already had, reports to read, numbers to crunch (truly the worst part of her job), and events to attend.
It was as the Phantom was cruising slowly through a T-shaped intersection that Chrysalis saw something to finally drag her out of her inner thoughts. “Stop the car.” Pharynx did as ordered without question, though the look he sent her through the rear-view mirror said enough.
She stared into an alleyway between a Chinese restaurant and a cheap clothing store. There were four people in there. Teenagers, by the looks of them, and only barely. A fiery-haired girl was backed into a corner, hands balled into fists and body crouched so low it was likely uncomfortable. It looked almost as though she were preparing to walk on all fours. Two boys and a girl were standing over her. The girl held a baseball bat.
When asked in the future, Chrysalis would always answer truthfully: she had no idea what she was thinking. Whatever was happening wasn’t her problem and she shouldn’t have gotten involved. Even so, she found herself opening her door and stepping out onto the cracked sidewalk.
Pharynx was at her side before she’d fully stood up. With her high heels on, she outright towered over him. He looked into the alleyway, agitated. “Never took you for the hero type.”
“Call it a curiosity.” She scowled as the girl with the bat took a downward swing at the redhead, who tried to dodge and was rewarded with a strike on her rear leg. She really did move on all fours, and with surprising swiftness too, but the blow had been enough to keep her from retaliating. Her recovering pause lasted just long enough for the standing girl to give her a sharp kick in the stomach, dropping her to the ground. “You’re not above giving whippings to children, are you?”
He cracked his meaty knuckles, inadvertently showing off the fang tattoos on the back of his hands as he did so, and grinned. Pharynx often grinned when he was allowed to get violent. “Nope.” He stomped into the alleyway, unnoticed by the leering, cheering kids. Chrysalis followed until she had the exit blocked, crossing her arms and watching.
The girl with the bat was snarling something about the redhead being a thief when Pharynx made his presence known. He pushed between the two boys, knocking them aside like bowling pins, and caught the baseball bat with one hand as she was winding it back for another swing. He ripped the bat out of her hands, then lifted her off the ground by the back of her shirt.
“Hey! Get your hands off her, you giant—” The boy who spoke froze as Pharynx tossed the bat in the air, caught it by its handle in the same hand, and swung it so that the blunt end stopped less than an inch from the youth’s nose. Whether in shock or fear, it was enough to make him freeze. The young woman continued to thrash a foot in the air from Pharynx’s hold.
Swearing, the other teen turned to abandon his companions, not stopping when he saw Chrysalis standing in his way. If anything, he picked up speed, clearly intent on ramming into her. His clumsy manner tempted her to yawn theatrically, but she resisted.
At the last second, she sidestepped and swung her hand, striking him in the side of the neck in a chopping motion. The boy stumbled, groaning, but before he could fall she caught his ear, twisted, and lifted. The boy howled and clung to her wrist, tears running down his cheeks and sneakers barely touching the ground.
Chrysalis hadn’t expected much, but this was downright pathetic. She looked to the remaining, abruptly pale boy, who couldn’t decide whether to look at her or Pharynx. The girl was kicking and shrieking like a banshee, unable to break free from the bodyguard’s hold. The redhead remained curled on the ground, covering her head as though expecting another blow.
With a sigh, Chrysalis said, “Go back to your mommies and change your boxers, boys.” She released her victim’s ear. He was out the alley in an instant, and she did nothing to impede his buddy from following. That just left the girl, who at this point was threatening to tell dear old daddy about this transgression against his princess. Chrysalis approached, stopped a few feet away, and pointed at the ground. Pharynx got the message; the teen landed unceremoniously on her butt in between them.
The girl shot to her feet and got in Chrysalis’s face. “You bitch! Do you have any idea who I am? When I tell my—”
The smack of Chrysalis’s backhand echoed through the alleyway, and probably beyond. It was more than enough to shut the makeup-encrusted loudmouth up. She stared up at Chrysalis, a trembling hand touching the red mark on her cheek, eyes lost in shock and disbelief.
Hands on hips, Chrysalis observed the girl cooly. “You need to learn manners, child, and some restraint. Right now you are only a phone call away from a widely publicized video of you being handcuffed and thrown in the back of a squad car as the petty criminal you clearly are.”
The shock wore off and the girl found her voice. “Criminal? She’s the one who stole my purse!”
Chrysalis crossed her arms, cocked her head, and set her chin atop her hand, one finger cradling her cheek in a thoughtful pose. She didn’t stop giving the little hellion that cold look. “Are you really so stupid as to think that misdemeanor theft is more damning than aggravated assault?”
“Listen, lady, I—” A preparatory shift of the hand was all it took to make the girl flinch and raise her arms in defense of a blow that didn’t come.
“Yes, clearly that stupid.” Chrysalis said it with all the disdain she could fit through her lips. There were former employees of hers who could attest that it was indeed a lot of disdain. She extended her arm past the girl and snapped her fingers. A second later, Pharynx deposited a business card in her hand. She held it before the blinking, alarmed girl’s face. “If you’re so convinced of your cause, then go and tell dear old Daddy what happened here. Please, spare no details. Then, give him my card. I’m sure he’ll enjoy discussing the matter with my lawyers.”
The girl soundlessly mouthed the word ‘lawyers’ to herself, possibly in alarm at the plurality of it. She looked at the card presented before her and gained the complexion of the deceased. Perhaps finally getting the message, she took the card and left at a shaky walk, which worked nicely with the undead metaphor. Chrysalis didn’t bother to watch her departure, instead focusing on the only remaining teen in the alley. She stepped beside Pharynx to get a good look at the girl.
Alerted by the sound of Chrysalis’s clicking heels, the girl finally dared to raise her head from under her arms. The very first thing Chrysalis noted was the expressiveness of her cyan eyes. There were a great many things fighting for dominance within them, the clearest being a battle between fear and anger. The immediate impression was of someone who desperately wanted to lash out yet lacked the means to do so. She would have been quite the attractive creature, especially with that complexion, but the bruises, dirt, torn up clothes, and wild, unkempt hair ruined the effect. There was something… familiar about her.
Chrysalis was nothing if not intrigued. “So,” she casually asked, “what do we have here?”
Perhaps realizing that no further attacks were imminent, the girl attempted to stand. Trying to put weight on her leg found her collapsing to hands and knees with a pained grunt. She used the wall for support on her next try. “Why did you do that?” she demanded, eyes fiery with suspicion.
When Chrysalis said nothing, Pharynx decided to throw in a grumpy “You’re welcome.” Then, to his employer, “Why did we do this?”
Once the girl was more or less on her feet, Chrysalis got a better look at her. She was a thin thing, clearly malnourished. Probably around 13 or 14 years old. She held herself strangely, upper body a little low and hands in loose fists. The former could be explained away by the injury to her leg. The hands? Maybe it was something kids were doing these days. Not an issue. “Did you steal that girl’s purse?”
The redhead snorted, her free hand rubbing against her stomach where she’d been kicked. “I gotta eat somehow.” Her eyes narrowed. Her fists tightened. “What are you gonna do about it?”
Indeed, what was Chrysalis going to do? There’d been no plan when she’d left the Phantom. She wasn’t even sure why she’d done so in the first place. Was it merely a whim, a momentary insanity that made her think it would be worth her time to intervene in the lives of people she didn’t know? Chrysalis was no bleeding heart. Saving this girl from one beating did nothing to prevent similar incidents throughout the world happening at this very moment. There was nothing in this for her, no reason to be out here, no excuse to even step out of the car.
But step out of the car she had. It would be a waste of all their time and energy to have done this for no reason. And this girl, whose glare dared her to try something, who just took a beating and seemed ready to risk another, was certainly interesting. Those traits were part of it, but there was something else, something she couldn’t put her finger on. Perhaps she could be worth something.
The decision was made. Chrysalis snapped her fingers and pointed behind her. “You. In the car.”
The redhead straightened up as much as she probably could considering her injuries, her eyes all the more fiery… but not enough to hide the fear lingering beneath. “Why should I go with you?”
A raised eyebrow. Crossed arms. “Have you anything to lose?”
The redhead shuffled backwards, a fox ready to run. “I’m still free.” Where she’d go with the fence behind her was unclear. Perhaps she merely preferred to put up a fight than come easily.
Chrysalis found the idea appealing. Perhaps a test of her intelligence was in order. “You can get in the car on your own and be my guest. Or, if you prefer, I can have my driver throw you in the trunk, in which case we’ll take you to a hospital and make sure the authorities are waiting there for you.”
Silence ensued. The girl looked to Pharynx’s bulky form. Then to the space around her. Then back at the fence. The whole time, Chrysalis could see her dissecting the situation. At last, grimacing, she pushed away from the wall and faced them properly, still favoring her injured leg. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”
So she was smart enough to recognize the best course of action when it was presented to her on a silver platter. Chrysalis was starting to feel most pleased with the idea making the rounds through her mind. It wasn’t until she was back in her seat, the dirtied and hurting teenager sitting opposite her, that the implications of that idea struck her. At last, she knew what that one niggling little thing in the back of her mind had been: this girl reminded her of herself. The fire in her eyes had been not unlike what she often saw in the mirror.
“So which is it, boss?” Pharynx settled in the driver’s seat, meeting her gaze through the rear-view mirror. “Police station? Hospital?” The girl froze, not looking at her savior but clearly listening.
If asked at a later date, Chrysalis would claim the pause was intended for dramatic effect and to impress upon the girl the power held over her head in that moment. In truth, she had been struck by the potential implications of what she’d been thinking about doing with that teenager with the fiery eyes and hair. There were plenty of potential downsides, far too many considering she had nothing save her instincts to go on.
Then she realized that she didn’t get as far as she had by avoiding risks. And really, how much damage could this one girl cause? Worst case scenario, it would be over in a couple days and she’d move on. Her decision was reaffirmed.
“Home, Pharynx.” She ignored the surprised look on the girl’s face. “Take us home.”
Chrysalis was in a good mood, or as good a mood as she could have. Today’s string of meetings had gone well into the evening, and they mostly involved positive things for Change, Inc. It might have had something to do with snatching up that software company before Dis Corp got the chance. No, it definitely was that. Any opportunity to get one over on that whackjob owner of theirs. Just the thought of that smug grin getting slapped off his goateed face was enough to get her smirk on.
Chrysalis was all alone in her home. Which was exactly what she was after. She’d given Pharynx tomorrow off. She had decided to give herself the same luxury, a truly rare event that she’d most certainly pay for the day after. Still, things had gone so unusually smoothly today that she felt one day of lazing about the house would cause no harm. She’d get herself some wine, maybe some cheese and crackers. Then she could sit down and read. She hadn’t just read for the simple pleasure of it in months. Of course, starting something new would require her to finish it in one day or try and fail to finish it in the ensuing days. Not an appealing proposition. Maybe she could watch movies, instead?
It dawned upon Chrysalis, as she stood alone in her kitchen pouring herself a glass of Chinese Cabernet Sauvignon, that she had no idea what to do with this thing normal people called ‘free time’. This whole day vacation thing had been spontaneous; how was she supposed to decide what to do without having set it in her schedule weeks or even months in advance?
She sat on her cushioned dining chair, staring at nothing and sipping her drink. Her thoughts drifted to her teenage years, the last time she’d been able to just… do things. Back then she’d been something of a free spirit; rebellious and wild and the cause of many a condemning glower from well-to-do parents not wanting their impressionable sons and daughters caught up in her hooligan ways. The very thought brought a playfully wicked smile to her lips. Perhaps she could go looking for a man to spend time with. Or a woman. Those worked too. The right woman could work even better than a man.
“You’re home late.”
Such naughty ambitions disappeared in a puff of smoke. Right. She wasn’t really alone even in her own home anymore, was she? She turned her attention to the owner of that voice, a fiery-haired teenager in pajamas whose colors Chrysalis could never come up with an adequate descriptor for. Were they pink? Purple? Purple-pinkish? “Meetings went late,” she responded coolly.
Then she noticed something new. She peered at Sunset Shimmer, her ward for about eight months now. Noticing the scrutiny, the girl set hands to her hips in a proud pose and took on a grin so broad it was a wonder her cheeks weren’t in pain. Atop her head was a crown, likely plastic and painted gold, with what was probably a fake amethyst as the centerpiece.
“I won!”
Chrysalis scowled, more for her lack of understanding than anything. “Won what?”
Sunset’s smile wavered, but didn’t go away entirely. “The Fall Formal. It was tonight. Remember? I was competing for Fall Formal Princess, and I won. Isn’t it great?”
Great? The only thing Chrysalis felt was annoyance. It was a stupid high school dance. How was this supposed to impress her? That did seem to be the point of this little exercise. Leaning back in her seat, Chrysalis made sure to take her time with her next sip, savoring the wine’s flavor while emitting as much casual disinterest as she could muster. “Yeah. Sure. Wonderful.”
Now Sunset’s smile was gone. Her hands hung at her sides as though she weren’t sure what to do with them as she stared at the woman who had taken her in from the streets. “Hey, this is an achievement for me.”
“Is it?” Swirling her glass, not deigning to look at the child, Chrysalis asked, “Was it a challenge?”
“Yes!”
“How?” She met Sunset’s gaze, judging, expecting, collected.
“I…” For only a second, her ward shrank under that stare. But then her hands hardened into fists and she stood her ground. “I got rid of the competition.”
Chrysalis blinked. Then blinked again. She’d been expecting some saccharine story about being the most popular girl in school or something similarly juvenile. She sat up a little straighter, now giving her full attention. “Explain.”
Crossing her arms in a pose almost certainly plagiarized from Chrysalis herself, Sunset gave an even response. “A certain girl was in the lead. Her name’s not important. She’s not important, not anymore.” Though she was fighting to appear confident, the lie was revealed by the slight hunch of her shoulders and how she turned her eyes away. “So I spread some rumors. You’d be shocked at how easy you can get an entire school to believe a blatant lie.”
“No. I wouldn’t.” Setting the glass aside, Chrysalis crossed her legs and eyed the young woman. Yes, clearly conflicted about her actions. Yet she still won. Sure, it was a crummy school title that wouldn’t mean anything later in life, but everyone has to start somewhere. “How do you feel about this success?”
“Proud, of course!” Briefly, Sunset even reflected that claim, with her bright eyes and warm smile. The effect faded as quickly as it came. “And… maybe a little ashamed. What I did to that girl was pretty underhanded.”
As she took in the child’s squirming, hesitant posture, Chrysalis realized that Sunset Shimmer was in a key moment of her development. She was about to choose the direction that would decide how she earned her success in life. Or… No, that may not be right. She’d already chosen her path, but was still trying to figure out how to utilize it.
A lot of things came together for Chrysalis in that moment. She was uncomfortable with the vast majority of them. She had flashbacks of her sons, how the twins developed and grew, and the way she guided them along. This was another one of those times. Sunset needed a strong presence to point her down the path and say ‘this is okay’. Because that was the important thing: it was okay. As long as Sunset was a success and happy with her life, she could be the bully.
Happy. That was an… interesting thought. She did want Sunset to be happy. Just as she wanted Thorax and Pharynx to be happy.
She frowned. They were happy… weren’t they?
“Chrysalis?”
She took a sip of her wine, confident her posture and manner made her appear composed and imposing rather than lost in thought. Even if the way Sunset eyed her suggested the opposite. “Let’s not beat around the bush,” Chrysalis declared firmly. “I do not care about your petty social gathering and the silly crown on your head. What I care about are your methods.”
Sunset shrank back as if scalded. “Y-you don’t think I should have done it?”
“Do you?” When Sunset failed to answer, Chrysalis sat up straight once more so as to be as looming as possible. “Listen to me well, child. If you choose a path to move forward, you devote yourself to it. You do not hesitate, you do not falter. It doesn’t matter to me that you cheated, it matters to me whether you feel cheating was the best way to achieve your goals. It matters that you are satisfied with your methods. Are you going to stay awake at night, fretting pointlessly over what you’ve done, or are you going to own it?”
Her audience of one took in her words, wide-eyed and thoughtful. Sunset took the crown from her head and studied it quietly for several seconds, long enough for Chrysalis to refill her glass. Last one for the night; no need to do more than get buzzed. “But… What if I could have—”
“Stop.” Standing up, Chrysalis walked around the table so that she could be in front of her ward. Being tall had its advantages. She swirled her glass as she said, “When I found you in that alleyway, you had stolen some valley girl’s purse. Do you feel any regret about doing it?”
All hesitation fled in an instant. Sunset’s eyes narrowed, her expression taking on the shrewdness of a hawk and the fire that had caught Chrysalis’s attention all those months ago. “No. I needed money to eat, and there were…” She paused, lips pursed tight. It quickly became clear that she didn’t intend to finish the thought. Chrysalis silently cursed this, having hoped she would have the answer to a perplexing mystery involving this girl.
No time for that, there was a lesson to be learned. “That’s right. You own it. You made the decision, you live with the consequences, and you plow forward. You chose to cheat to win that crown. Own it. Live with it. Plow forward.” A sip of her wine. “Any questions?” Sunset opened her mouth. “Pertinent ones.”
“What happens if I get caught?”
“Then you have only yourself to blame,” Chrysalis coolly responded. “As I said: consequences.”
The two stood there, Chrysalis feeling good about imparting some sound wisdom while Sunset mulled over what she’d been taught. The girl observed the crown in her hand, turning it this way and that as she studied it. Then, with a hurt tone that grated on Chrysalis’s nerves, she asked, “You really don’t care about the crown?”
Really? What part of ‘pertinent’ did she not understand? Chrysalis’s first instinct was to snap at her for asking stupid questions. She didn’t. Though the words danced on the tip of her tongue, she looked into those hopeful, perhaps even pleading cyan eyes and found they refused to leap off and become real. Those eyes weren’t supposed to look like that. They were supposed to be strong, determined, fierce. Seeing them like that, knowing she was responsible… It hurt. Chrysalis didn’t know why it hurt, but it did. Some deep instinct told her that scolding the girl wasn’t the right thing to do to fix those eyes.
Grumbling at herself for turning soft, she used her free hand to take the crown from Sunset. She raised it to eye level, spun it around a few times, taking in its false cheer and sub-par glisten. Truly, there was nothing in it worth getting excited over. It was a children’s toy, nothing more.
But then, Sunset was a child.
Chrysalis had been a child, once. She’d been a doe-eyed freshman taking her first steps into adulthood. Those times seemed so distant, but there were certain things she remembered. Things like a bright-eyed, multi-hue-haired girl standing up on a stage and basking in the adulation of her peers, a self-righteous do-gooder with only the most pompous, patronizing voice who would never do anything save look down on creatures like her. She looked between the crown and the child standing before her, and she saw the same hope and hurt and threatening disappointment that had once haunted her in the mirror. Sunset was not that condescending bitch. She was…
Taking a long, heavy breath, she set the crown on the table beside them. “High School is a… a ‘training ground’ for life. At least, that is how I see it. It is the point where eager youths discover what options lay ahead and choose their path for the future. This.” She tapped a finger atop the crown, not taking her eyes off Sunset’s. “This is a test run. You passed. Some will question your methods, call them ‘wrong’, but you still achieved the goal, and they did not. So, you passed. It was a simplified version of reality. The real world is much harder, with risks far greater. But you’re on your path.”
The smile that came to her lips surprised even her. “No, Sunset, I do not care about the crown. But I do care that you picked a direction and used it to succeed. You understand?”
Now it was Sunset whose gaze shifted from the crown to her guardian and back. She bit her lip, eyes distant in contemplation. “I think so.”
“Good.” It was. Chrysalis felt far more pleased by this conversation than she would have anticipated ten minutes ago. What that meant, she couldn’t be sure, but now she felt more like celebrating than she already had. And since Sunset was the source of that pleasure, there was surely no harm in sharing it. “Now, I’m not doing anything ‘responsible’ for the next twenty-four hours but have no plans at all for what to do with my time.” Smiling over her glass, she asked, “Any ideas?”
Being a clever girl, Sunset caught on to the suggestion right away. Surprise on her ever-vivid face, the girl seemed at a loss at first, perhaps even disbelieving. Then, timidly, she asked, “Maybe we could, I dunno…” With utmost caution, as if dreading the response, she finished with, “…watch a movie?”
Oh, that they most certainly could. With only the wickedest of grins – something Chrysalis had proudly spent years perfecting – she replied, “I hope you like horror.”
Though she paled a touch, Sunset was still smiling. Chrysalis decided it was just as nice as the fiery determination.
Chrysalis tossed her coat onto her bed and stepped onto her third floor balcony, embracing the autumn winds passing through her thin business shirt. A chunk of chilled dark chocolate crunched between her teeth. She undid a few of the upper buttons to let even more of the cool air in. It was a stark relief from being stuck in the unbearable heatwave Australia had been going through this past week. Thank goodness for Canterlot weather.
There came a knock on her bedroom door. That could only be one of three people. “Enter,” she called, grabbing one of the lawn chairs and turning it to face indoors. As she sat and crossed her legs, a tall man stepped in. “Thorax,” she said in greeting.
Despite his height, the twin brother of her driver was a mousy individual, all twitches and shuffling feet. The two couldn’t have been any more different from one another. “Y-your things have been recovered from the vehicle.”
Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. Thorax knew that she didn’t need to hear that. He was also smart enough to know better than to bother her about such trivial things. Which could only mean… “How is Sunset?”
He met her eyes. Thorax only did that when he felt very strongly about something. “Not well. Something happened while you were gone.”
A vague response, perhaps intended to catch her attention, as he also knew she preferred directness. And since this was related to her ward of the past three years… She felt an alien sense of worry that only ever came up when Sunset was involved. She still didn’t understand it, but she’d learned the best way to deal with it was to address the situation immediately. “Explain.”
Though he flinched at her tone, he didn’t break eye contact. “There was an incident at her school. Her principal handed down harsher punishments than usual. Whatever happened, it was enough to cause property damage.”
That was enough to pull a groan out of Chrysalis’s throat. She pressed a hand over her eyes. “Vandalism again?”
“I don’t think ‘vandalism’ captures the extent of it,” he admitted anxiously. “The entrance to the school is gone.”
Down went the hand, the better to give him an incredulous look. “What do you mean, ‘gone’?”
“I mean it’s been destroyed. Not just the front doors, but the brick wall itself. Like someone put a wrecking ball through it.” When Chrysalis failed to find an appropriate response to this troubling news, he added, “There’s also a crater in the school’s front courtyard.”
It was an extremely rare thing for Chrysalis Chrysanthemum to be rendered speechless, yet there she was, mouth opening and closing stupidly while she tried to picture such destruction at the hands of a single teenage girl. Even she never got into that kind of mischief as a teen. Was ‘mischief’ even the proper term for something like this? When she found her voice, it was only to mutter a single, stunned “How?”
Thorax’s brow furrowed and he scowled. He appeared… angry. Thorax only ever got angry over one thing: not having a good answer. “I don’t know. The staff all say that Sunset tried to frame the school magician for a fireworks show gone wrong, but I’m confident they are lying. There are tells. Whatever the case, I get the impression that they are letting Sunset off lightly, possibly because of… unusual circumstances.”
Chrysalis took all this in with an ever-deepening frown. That he wasn’t willing to describe these ‘unusual circumstances’ meant he didn’t know what they were. That probably added a touch to his anger. Pharynx was her bodyguard and driver. It suited his skills. Thorax was her butler… and her informant. It was his job to know things. More to the point, it was his job to know things for her. As skittish as he was, he took that role very seriously.
She looked up at him. He hadn’t lost any of his frustration. “Have you any leads?”
He shook his head. “The faculty and the students are keeping the event to themselves or sticking to the same story. More or less. It’s phenomenal that they were able to convince so many individuals to keep the secret. I did find some videos online claiming to relate to the event, but honestly what they depict is so ridiculous it can only be fake, maybe as a distraction. That being said…”
The anxiousness came back, opening with him rubbing his hands together and crescendoing with renewed feet-shuffling. “What I saw bothers me. They were posted by some of the students. They depict Sunset turning into a demon.”
Chrysalis blinked. “A demon.”
“Again, it’s ridiculous. Stupid, even.” He sighed and, yet again, found the strength to look her in the eyes. “But Sunset is distraught. She hasn’t left her room in two days save to go to school, and she always looks miserable when I do run into her. I think she’s aware of the videos. If that’s how her fellow students have come to view her…”
“She has only herself to blame,” Chrysalis noted sourly. “We all have the power to affect how others perceive us. She didn’t have to become the school bitch.”
“Frankly, Mother, that’s beside the point.” Thorax looked away when she tried to catch his eye, tugging at his collar and blushing lightly. “She’s hurting. She did something worse than usual, bad enough that she’s actually feeling remorse. Whatever it was, I think it finally pushed her over the edge. She’ll need some guidance. The kind she won’t take from me.”
And it had to come from somewhere. A cold feeling ran up Chrysalis’s back as she contemplated just what he was proposing. Thorax. The ‘good boy’ between himself and Pharynx. If anyone could have at least an idea of what Sunset needed right now, it would be him. Chrysalis trusted his judgement enough to know that it was better to do as he was suggesting. It was just… uncomfortable. A big part of her wanted to resist. She stared at nothing in particular, wondering what she had to do now. Or rather, how to do it.
Thorax took a small step forward. “If I may be so bold…?” Distractedly, she nodded. “If this really is a turning point for her, then maybe it’s time to ask the big question. She might finally be open to explaining herself.”
Chrysalis considered that potential path. It was one she’d debated for a long time, ever since Thorax’s strange discovery. But Sunset Shimmer had always been standoffish and guarded, even after three years. They hadn’t even bothered to ask, because they knew the teenager would get defensive over it. Worse, Chrysalis suspected that if she did ask, she’d wake up to find Sunset gone. She wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone, but that possibility kept her up some nights.
Hesitantly, she asked, “Do you really think she’s ready for that?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted somberly. “I believe this is the best time to ask. I think the question should come from you.”
She wished he hadn’t said that. That icy chill refused to go away. It wasn’t unfamiliar. She’d felt it plenty of times from raising the twins. Adopting them had been just as much a risk as it had been for Sunset Shimmer, and to this day she wasn’t at all confident that she’d done right by them. She kept telling herself that them being in her employ was a sign of her failure as a parent, even though neither of them seemed unhappy with the arrangement. Well, Pharynx might be fine with it. He was hard to read a lot of the time. Thorax, on the other hand…
When she tried to meet his eye, he flinched, and the sickness returned to her gut as she realized that he was frightened of her.
When Sunset grew up and made her own way in the world, would she too flinch every time Chrysalis looked her way?
Gritting her teeth and ignoring both the chill and the sickness, she stood up. “You and your brother can head home now. I’ll deal with Sunset myself.”
“Of course. Until tomorrow, Mother.” She wondered if he wasn’t relieved to be out of the room.
Chrysalis stood before the door to Sunset’s bedroom. She had been for some ten minutes, the lump of ice formerly known as her heart trying to fly out of her throat. Her private laptop was tucked under one arm and her hand hovered an inch from the door handle. If Sunset was in there, she was being very quiet.
One might think the door to a teenager’s room would be boisterous, with signs declaring the area off limits and other such immature things. Sunset’s door offered nothing of the sort. It was plain, indistinguishable from its peers save for a small pin pad above the handle. Chrysalis pondered why that was. She hadn’t forbidden it. If anything, she wanted Sunset to express herself in whatever way she desired.
Maybe that was the problem.
Procrastination. Had she really fallen so low? Pursing her lips, she reached out to just barely graze the handle. That was all the pressure necessary to know that it was locked. Not that it mattered. It might be Sunset’s room, but it was Chrysalis’s house. With just a few button presses on the pad, she’d unlocked the door and pushed her way in.
Sunset’s room wasn’t decorated much. There were two ceiling-high windows, one opposite the door and one to the left. A guitar sat upon a stand next to some speakers, music being one of the very few things the young woman seemed to enjoy without qualifications. A bookshelf by the door held a wide variety of tomes, mostly non-fictional and historical in nature, as Sunset was voraciously studious. A desk held a tower desktop, a newer model that the teen didn’t use the full capabilities of. It had been Thorax’s idea to get such a strong rig, and Chrysalis had fully supported it, but alas, even the digital world couldn’t help the girl’s disposition.
The most important thing was the queen-sized bed covered in a fiery orange quilt. Or rather, the young woman sitting on the bed and staring out her window, the quilt wrapped around her shoulders and her brilliant red-and-yellow hair a mess. Sunset didn’t respond to Chrysalis’s entrance despite how aggressive it had been. There were no demands for privacy or anger at invading her personal space. She just stared at the last light of day through the window, a beam of sunlight illuminating her weary, unfocused eyes. Gripped in her hands was a thick brown tome, her personal red-and-yellow mark the only thing to serve as a title. She held the book as though she couldn’t decide whether to hold it close or throw it away. It was the only thing she’d owned prior to coming to live here.
Chrysalis stood in the doorway for some time, hand at rest on the door handle and wondering if it wouldn’t be better to go away. The thought made her feel like a coward, but that didn’t stop her from giving it a second, third, and even a fourth look. At last, she closed the door behind her. Pulling the rolling chair from under the desk, she moved it to the foot of the bed and sat, legs crossed and computer in her lap. Still, the girl didn’t react to her presence.
Chasing the moths away from her insides, she cleared her throat. No response. In that case… “Sunset Shimmer.” She barely kept from grimacing; that hadn’t come out near as gently as she’d intended.
Sunset shifted. She blinked. Her eyes gradually regained their focus, and she turned her head to look at the woman who had taken her in three years ago. “Oh.” A pause. “Chrysalis. Sorry. Didn’t hear you come in.”
That tanned face remained so very expressive. This evening, that expression screamed so many things at Chrysalis, none of them familiar. Pain. Confusion. Anxiety. More than anything, those brilliant cyan pools proclaimed ‘I have strayed from safe seas and have no idea how to turn the ship around.’ By themselves, these sensations declared so vividly with a look alone would have been troubling. Yet it was the melancholy – the total absence of that fierce fire that had always burned in this child’s every glance, motion, and act – that truly hammered home the seriousness of whatever had happened. These things crashed upon Chrysalis like a tidal wave, and she found herself at a loss for how to address them.
The moths were back. Oh, how she hated them.
Struggling to maintain her cool facade, Chrysalis spoke. “Thorax tells me you’ve had an interesting week.”
Sunset only sniffed, rubbing at her nose with a wadded up tissue that had been tucked somewhere within the depths of her quilt. At least she didn’t look away.
Annoyed by the lack of reaction, she tried again. “I don’t suppose you want to tell me about it?”
The young woman bowed her head. It was like watching a ship capsize. “You wouldn’t believe it.”
“I’d be willing to risk that,” she countered, though without any force. This provoked no response at all. Chrysalis massaged her temples and tried not to grimace. Why did the girl have to be stubborn even at what seemed like her lowest point? Maybe Thorax was wrong. Maybe this wasn’t the best time to ask the question.
“Aunt Chryssy?”
Instinct and three years of frustration nearly summoned her serrated tongue. The only thing that stopped her was the tone. Sunset had made up that stupid nickname ages ago. She knew Chrysalis didn’t like it and thus wielded it whenever she wanted to needle and annoy.
There was no needling this time. Chrysalis’s anger faded as she analyzed what she’d just heard. Sunset had used the nickname in a way that felt…
Sincere.
It stung. Strangely, it was a good kind of sting. It threw her off entirely, and she was glad her hand hid the uncertainty and pain that was most certainly plastered across her face. “Yes, child?”
She could hear Sunset shifting beneath her covers. The pause made that awkward sting fester.
“Am I a bad person?”
Chrysalis lowered her hand just enough to examine her ward from over her fingers. “Bad?”
Sunset was looking at the book on the bed beside her, bundled up in her quilt so that only her tear-stained, long face was visible. “You always encouraged me to have a commanding presence. To take what I wanted. You pushed me to—”
“Where is this coming from?”
Sunset flinched, although Chrysalis was sure she’d asked gently. She huddled up, as if trying to hide from her legal guardian’s scorn, whether that scorn was there or not. “I found out there was another way. What if I...” A glance, the briefest flicker of fear-filled eye contact. “What if I tried making friends instead of being a bully?”
A touch of ice came unbidden to Chrysalis’s tongue. “Are you suggesting this problem, whatever it is, is my fault?”
This time Sunset had every reason to flinch. “N-no, I didn’t mean it like that. I just… You never suggested I try making friends instead of taking what I want. Why?”
The question perplexed Chrysalis, which in turn led to a familiar annoyance. She knew Sunset was smarter than this. “I didn’t because I thought it was obvious.” Now Sunset looked at her, and that typically expressive face showed complete confusion. Did she really not grasp something so basic? “I encouraged you because I thought you’d made your decision regarding what you wanted your reputation to be. You’d selected your toolkit for life, and I wanted to encourage you to be a success in your own way.”
Sunset blinked. Wiped at her eyes. “You mean… you just let me be a bully?”
“I thought you wanted to be one.”
“That’s supposed to be an excuse?”
“An excuse?” Chrysalis would have laughed were she not so surprised that they were having this conversation. “I make no excuses. You decided you wanted to be a bully. There have been plenty of people throughout history who were great successes using such a route, and it was not my place to stop you. My only concern has been seeing you become the best at what you wanted to be.”
Sunset stared at her. Her focus faded as she thought about Chrysalis’s words. “I… I think I understand. But what if I don’t want to be a bully anymore? What if I’d rather try friendship?”
Leaning back in her chair, Chrysalis feigned studying her nails. “For starters, I want to point out that you are severely narrowing your options. Being a bully and making friends are not mutually exclusive ways to gain success, nor are they the only options. I’m still both surprised and a little disappointed that you seem to have not already known this. But if you really want to focus on being a paragon among social butterflies as your route to success in life, then I can only offer to assist.”
The incredulity in Sunset’s “Really?” was insulting, but not as much as her next question. “You mean to suggest that you know about friendship?” Chrysalis shot her a frigid look that immediately changed Sunset’s skeptical glare into contrite eye-avoidance. Which was another sign of just how strongly the mysterious events of the past week must have affected her.
Perhaps this was a turning point. Thorax did tend to be better at these kinds of things. She had no idea where he got such a talent for empathy. Certainly not from her.
“I want to show you something.” Chrysalis opened her laptop and, once it ‘woke up’, made sure the file she’d pre-opened was on the screen. “It is something that I’ve known for a long time. Something that I think only you can clarify.”
Heaving a sigh as only a teenager could, Sunset asked, “Can we just get to the important part? Like what kind of punishment you plan to give me for screwing up worse than ever before?”
“Punishments must fit the crime,” Chrysalis countered. “I don’t know what you did, so I can’t decide a fitting punishment, can I?” She didn’t bother to add that Sunset appeared to be punishing herself enough already. She offered the laptop to her. “Besides, we have more important things to discuss.”
If Sunset was pleased by not facing some comeuppance for her actions, she didn’t show it. With about as much enthusiasm as a snail might have for tasting salt, she wormed her way out of the cocoon of quilt and accepted the computer. She was still in her wrinkled pajamas despite the late hour. “Not sure what’s so important,” she muttered as she turned the screen to herself. “Hardly anything seems important… any… more…?” Her eyes widened.
Chrysalis didn’t need to say anything as the girl read what was before her. It was a report first written three years ago.
It depicted a black star captured before it had the chance to shine. Her first criminal act had occurred at the age of thirteen in the form of mere vandalism. That tiny act led to an avalanche of wicked behavior. So constant were her crimes that she was finally locked away at the age of seventeen, tried as an adult considering the intelligence, maliciousness, and intent. Many lives had been ruined. Two had been ended. She would take another, indirectly, before she was old enough to leave juvenile detention. Psychiatric evaluations showed no remorse, no concern, not even an acknowledgement that the actions had been wrong.
Thus was Sunset Shimmer doomed to spend the rest of her natural life in the penal system. Thorax had personally gone to visually confirm that, yes, she was still there. The latest update to the file was from a month ago.
The Sunset sitting on the bed was pale, a hand trembling before her lips. Chrysalis waited, hands on her lap, for the inevitable questions. She kept her manner cool and neutral. The concern and curiosity would not be known.
Sunset shoved aside the laptop as if it threatened her very existence. Her watery eyes met with Chrysalis’s. “You knew about this all this time? W-why didn’t you say anything?”
Perhaps the most predictable of queries. “Because I thought you’d see it as an accusation and run away.”
“Isn’t it?” Sunset demanded. When Chrysalis merely raised an eyebrow, she pressed, “Isn’t it an accusation?”
Chrysalis made a show of examining their surroundings. “If this is a prison, it’s an awfully pleasant one. I’d have to question the use of my tax dollars.” The tiny smile that won her felt like a greater accomplishment than any business acquisition. Perhaps now…? “It does lead to some questions.”
There went the smile. Haunted eyes darted to the laptop. Sunset shivered. “Is that going to be me?”
With a thoughtful frown, Chrysalis pressed a finger to her chin and looked to the ceiling. “My questions are more akin to how you are related to this girl currently sitting in a cell three states away. Long lost twin? A case of stolen identity? If that second one, who did the stealing?”
Sunset hugged herself around the shoulders, hunching slightly when Chrysalis turned her gaze upon her. “I guess I stole hers? Maybe?” Her ‘aunt’ offered no visible reaction, but the teen still shrank away as if expecting a blow. “I’m sorry.”
Chrysalis pursed her lips. Was she finally about to get a confession? “For what?”
“I’m sorry that I can’t tell you.” Sunset clenched her eyes shut and trembled. “Y-you wouldn’t believe me. I don’t want you to think I’m crazy. I don’t want to lose your respect. I d-don’t want you to see me as a failure.” She hid her face behind her hands, but they did nothing to disguise the quiet sobs.
So she still wouldn’t talk. That was a disappointment, and perhaps even an insult. But Chrysalis couldn’t voice that, primarily because she was distracted by the familiarly unfamiliar pain of hearing Sunset being so fragile. Thorax would do this sometimes when he was younger. Even Pharynx had done it on occasion. They were pitiful, terrible moments, made all the more so by Chrysalis’s total loss regarding what to do about it. She sat there, imperious and stoic, but inside she felt so hideously hollow.
What good was she as a parent if she couldn’t provide her wards the comfort and security they needed in times of crises? Money, shelter, security. These things she could readily provide, yet time and again they proved inadequate for that chaotic, tumultuous thing known as a heart. Not for the first time, Chrysalis wondered if she weren’t afflicted by some crippling deficiency that left her so helpless at times like this.
She wished she hadn’t sent Thorax away.
One thing was clear: Sunset still didn’t trust her enough to tell her the truth. The fact stung, but it was a fact. One she’d have to live with. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Chrysalis battled against the sick feelings of uselessness and failure. It wasn’t quite enough to fix the bite in her tone. “I have no intention of making you tell me anything you’re not ready to, so stop that.” She barely kept from adding a ‘please’ to the end.
Sunset eventually overcame her tears. She remained silent beyond a few sniffles, watching her with a morose, expectant look. Chrysalis forced herself to meet that gaze and speak firmly. “Would you like some form of support? Perhaps counseling?” Counseling? That made it sound like she thought Sunset was mentally deficient, didn’t it?
Before she could find a way to correct herself, Sunset shook her head. “I… I think there are some people at school who might be willing to do that for me.” By the slow way she said it, she wasn’t convinced that would be the case.
“Very well.” Chrysalis raised her hands, and Sunset returned to her the closed laptop. “But if you do need help, don’t hesitate to ask, and this—” she tapped the top of the computer with a finger “—remains a secret strictly for this family.” Sunset gained a peculiar expression, one Chrysalis had never seen before. Confusion and surprise mostly. She decided not to inquire about it. She stood, laptop tucked under one arm, and looked down at the nonplussed teen. “I was never opposed to your lifestyle before, Sunset, but I will note that I approve far more of this ‘friendship’ direction. If you’re serious about it.” She turned for the door.
“Aunt Chryssy?”
She froze, startled by the vice that had suddenly clamped around her heart. No words were said. Chrysalis couldn’t trust her voice right now.
“I don’t think I ever said it before, so… Thank you. For everything.”
A chain snapped somewhere deep inside Chrysalis. Indeed, Sunset never did thank her. For anything. Ever. Was she supposed to say something in return? Sit back down?
Unsteady, she left the room, not at all certain if it was the right thing to do. She should have answered. Why didn’t she answer?
The clicking of the closed door felt oppressive and anticlimactic.
Chrysalis knocked on the door before her nerves could get the better of her. It took all her willpower not to look back at the Phantom parked on the street, and more specifically Pharynx behind the driver’s seat. Not having him by her side was like having her arm amputated.
The door opened, revealing the pleasant smile so typical of its owner. That smile vanished to a neutral frown – a scowl barely masked – as purple eyes fixed upon her. “Chrysalis.” A hint of surprise under the coolness. “This is unexpected.”
“Celestia.” Chrysalis’s own attempt at polite neutrality probably wasn’t any better. “I apologize for appearing unannounced.” Please don’t slam the door in my face.
The principal of Canterlot High crossed her arms and studied the woman before her for several seconds. There was no small amount of tension in those shoulders. “You look well.”
No broadsides yet. So far, so good. Now if Chrysalis could control her own tongue. “Thank you. You’ve certainly changed for the better.” Now the olive branch. “Would now be a good time to apologize for all those years in high school teasing you about your figure?”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “I’ve never known you to apologize for anything.”
At that, Chrysalis couldn’t resist a smirk. “I’m not an old dog quite yet. I can still learn some new tricks.” Yes, she knew the opening she’d just given her former rival. And by the way the second eyebrow joined the first, Celestia saw it too. More importantly, Celestia was savvy enough to know that she had created the opening on purpose. There could be no greater way to say Hold your fire, I come in peace.
With a sigh, Celestia leaned against the door and asked, wearily, “What do you want, Chrysalis?”
Not invited inside, but not turned away either. She would take that as a win. “I wanted to inquire about Sunset Shimmer.”
As if some button had been pressed in her mind, Celestia stood straight and offered her full attention. “Has she done something?”
“That’s what I’m here to ask you about,” Chrysalis corrected impatiently. “You’re her principal, after all.”
Said principal peered at her. “You usually have Thorax handle school matters regarding Sunset. And why not ask about this during school hours?”
Curses. The woman was every bit as nosey as she’d been when they were classmates. Now it was Chrysalis crossing her arms, hoping she looked annoyed rather than uncomfortable. “I wanted to get my information directly from you this time.” When Celestia didn’t move, she stiffened and added, “I also didn’t want Sunset to know I was asking.”
The response to that was a cocked head and a perplexed expression. Celestia tapped a finger against her arm idly. Chrysalis tried to not squirm under that look, even if it was entirely nonaggressive. Tried, and failed. The moths in her stomach began to circle as Celestia smiled. It wasn’t the wicked smile of years of comeuppance finally at hand or the awareness of an uncomfortable secret to be used later.
Celestia’s smile was warm. Somehow, that made it all the more terrifying.
“You want to come in and have some tea?”
“No.” The word came out sharper than she’d intended. Chrysalis stepped back, but managed to stop herself from fleeing like a spooked rabbit. She raised a hand to forestall any inquiries, even though Celestia hadn’t opened her mouth to offer any. “No, thank you. I think I’ll just go and… Go. Sorry for wasting your time.” She turned away.
“Sunset’s doing wonderfully.”
She paused, hands clenched into fists. “I-is she?”
“She is.” No footsteps. No change in the position of the voice. Celestia didn’t try to approach. That, at least, was a relief. “She has made huge strides since the Fall Formal. She’s become a better student and, I think, a better person.”
Chrysalis turned. Just enough to see Celestia out the corner of her lowered eyes. “Good.” She felt so horribly meek. Grimacing at her own weakness, she made her body turn and faced Celestia directly. She set her hands to her hips. Better than keeping them clenched at her side. “I noticed a change in her and wanted to make sure she wasn’t pulling the wool over my eyes. She’s done that kind of thing before.” She hated using that as her excuse. Even if it was true, it implied that she didn’t trust her ‘niece’.
Celestia still had that nausea-inducing smile. “I understand. I think it’s safe to say there’s nothing to worry about. Sunset has made some friends and they’ve done a remarkable job guiding her down a better path.”
Friends. New friends gained at the Fall Formal, during that big, ugly event that caused the sudden about-shift in Sunset’s behavior. Chrysalis pursed her lips and tried to shore up her posture; stiff shoulders, back straight, head high, eye contact. “I’ve been told something happened at the Fall Formal, something for which Sunset is still being punished for, despite it having happened more than a month ago.”
No quick, ready response this time. Celestia clearly considered her words, her manner abruptly less warm and more… cautious. “I offered to ease off on the detentions early since she’s been on such good behavior, but Sunset wants to go through with the whole thing. I see no reason to deny her that option.”
That was what Thorax had mentioned, but to hear it confirmed? Sunset really had turned a new leaf. But that was only one small part in all this. “I don’t suppose you could clear up some mysteries regarding what happened that night, could you?”
What Celestia said next was so quick that it had to be by rote. “Sunset Shimmer tried to frame Trixie Lulamoon for vandalism and reckless endangerment. Even if you don’t trust Sunset enough to take her word for it, it was all over the news.”
Chrysalis could feel the tightness forming around her lips and forehead. Tension grew through her whole body, and now it was Celestia who was fidgeting. “Do you honestly expect me to believe that some fireworks destroyed the solid brick wall at the front of the school and made a separate crater four yards wide?”
Celestia’s eyes darted about, as if seeking some escape. “Technically, fireworks are explosive devices.”
“Technically, Trixie Lulamoon is an amateur magician. What magic show uses enough fireworks to cause structural damage?”
“I thought you were here to inquire about Sunset?”
Throwing caution to the wind, Chrysalis snapped a hand forward to point at the insufferable woman’s face. “I am inquiring about Sunset! You’re accusing her of a crime. The fact you didn’t press charges doesn’t change the fact. If you’re going to go around telling the entire world that my child did something she didn’t, I swear I’ll do everything in my power to destroy you, do you understand me?”
The principal’s posturing came to an abrupt end, as punctuated by the shock on her face. “Chrysalis, I would never—”
“Don’t screw with me, Celestia!” The finger became a fist, which shook without any input from its owner. Chrysalis was used to frustration or annoyance or disdain, but the fire licking at her insides was something very unusual. She had an image in her mind of Sunset facing a lifetime of shame, of being turned away from the things she wanted to do in life because of a lie. That downtrodden face filled her with a need to lash out, and Celestia was more than just a convenient, familiar target. “Tell me the truth!”
Yet Celestia didn’t appear afraid of the superrich CEO with an army of lawyers and lobbyists in her pocket. If anything, she seemed… weary. “I’m sorry, but it’s not that simple.”
Chrysalis’s heel clacked against the cement path. “Then make it simple!”
“I can’t.” Grumbling under her breath and paying little mind to Chrysalis’s worsening glare, she said, “Sunset did do something bad. I promise, I wouldn’t have punished her otherwise. It’s just that, publicly, I have to stick to the fireworks story. For everyone’s sake. The things that went on that evening are unbelievable. My sister and I could lose our positions on the grounds of having lost our marbles.”
“I’m not sure you ever had any marbles to begin with, Cake Butt.”
“At least cake was the worst thing I stuffed into my mouth, unlike some girls I knew in high school.”
“It’s called a libido,” Chrysalis fired back through clenched teeth. “I hear it’s a perfectly healthy thing to have. What’s your excuse, you spinster crone?”
With a groan, Celestia massaged her temples. “The two of us are grown women. Can we stop with the childish bickering for just one encounter?”
Chrysalis gave a derisive sniff. “You only say that because you know I’ve the sharper tongue.”
Her oldest enemy shot her a judging scowl. “You’re here because you genuinely care about Sunset, aren’t you? How about focusing on that instead of how much we hate one another?”
Struck by the chill of some metaphorical ice water in the face, Chrysalis could only sputter and flail about her mind for some kind of rebuttal. Nothing came to her, mostly because of the ache that had suddenly formed in her heart. Gradually, she pushed her loathing of this woman aside. “I… Fine. For Sunset.”
There was that terrible, cool smile, the one Celestia used to get when she knew she was about to win. “So you do care for her.”
Chrysalis bristled. “Yes. Sure. Whatever. Can we stop harping on it?”
“I’m sorry.” Celestia had the audacity to feign sincerity. “It’s just that I honestly thought you were more concerned for the Chrysanthemum name than your adopted daughter.”
The snarl surprised even Chrysalis. “Excuse me?”
The principal shrugged. “I thought you were framing the questions as being for Sunset’s sake only because it made you look better.”
“How dare you!” Chrysalis took a menacing step forward, hands clenched into fists. “I know I’m not mother material. In fact, Sunset’s probably scraping the bottom of the barrel with the likes of me. That doesn’t give you the right to—” Her own words caught up to her, stuffing her throat with their weight and choking the air from her lungs. “To… Y-you don’t have the right to…” Her eyes were burning. Why were they burning?
“There it is.” Celestia’s tone was abruptly warm. “That’s the proof I was looking for.”
“Shut up.” It was a petulant, feeble response, but it was all Chrysalis could manage. She was suddenly very glad she left Pharynx in the car. “J-just shut up.” Where did that bitch get the right to expose her like this? She didn’t have to rub it in her face. It’s not like Celestia had any kids. Oh, so she ran a school, was that supposed to make her an expert in child-rearing? So what if Pharynx was mean and violent? What did it matter that Thorax was afraid of her?
Did everyone really think of her that way? She was an authority figure. A CEO! She had to maintain a certain image. She had to be tough, demanding, imperial. That didn’t mean she didn’t care! She was trying to do it right this time. That had to count for something!
“Mother?”
Shit! “I t-told you to stay in the c-car.”
Pharynx said nothing. Chrysalis wanted to confirm that he’d left, but the tears were coming too quickly. She kept her face hidden behind her hands, too ashamed to let him see her like this. The awareness that he’d witnessed her in such a pathetic state only made regaining her calm harder.
She felt a big, heavy arm around her shoulders. Someone began to guide her away. By the time she was able to control herself enough to get an idea of her surroundings, they were standing by the Phantom. Hiccuping, she accepted Pharynx’s help getting in her usual seat.
“Chrysalis?”
Celestia stood by the still-open door. Scowling, Chrysalis turned her face away, not wanting to see what would surely be a smug expression.
But Celestia’s tone was still warm. “Do you know about the Musical Showcase?”
As tempting as it was to let Pharynx close the door and separate her from that foul creature, Chrysalis begrudgingly acknowledged that Celestia probably had a Sunset-related reason for bringing this up. She raised her hand, stopping Pharynx before the door would close. She still refused to look at Celestia.
“It’s the next big school event,” Celestia continued, her words infuriatingly sentimental. “Sunset and her friends will be there. You should go. Support her.”
A school event? She’d never attended one of those. Too busy. But if Sunset would appreciate it…
Out the corner of her eye, she saw Celestia leaning a little closer. Pharynx loomed over her, but didn’t try to stop her. Yet. “Also, I have reason to believe that something special is going to happen. Knowing those girls, it will probably be your best chance at getting to the bottom of what really happened with Sunset at the Fall Formal.”
Chrysalis finally looked, but Celestia was already walking back to her door. Scowling, she rubbed at her eyes and glared at the headrest of the seat in front of her. Pharynx closed the door. A moment later, they were on their way back home. Pharynx didn’t say a word about her breakdown.
She wished he would.
It was over. Whatever it was. Chrysalis could only sit on the bench outside the theater area and reflect on the raw feelings pumping through her bloodstream. They weren’t natural feelings. They couldn’t be. She couldn’t look upon that mass of dancing teengers and feel such… companionship with them. Not that she had anything against them, or against teenagers in general. There was simply no reason to be so… so happy at the sight of them being happy.
The unexpected, unwelcome giddiness was fading, but gradually, and her knees had trouble supporting her. Thank the Goddess that Thorax and Pharynx were there to stop her from humiliating herself. Pharynx stood to her left, staring at nothing, his expression lost. Thorax was sitting by her side, his computer opened on his lap and his eyes wide while he muttered to himself in increasingly unclear mumblings.
The important thing now, however, was Sunset Shimmer. Chrysalis had seen it all. The colors, the phantoms, the giant pegasus unicorn thing, the music. ‘Battle of the Bands’, indeed. She was still reeling. They all were.
Swallowing to clear her throat, she spoke. “Thorax?” The frailty of her own voice startled her, but there were more immediate issues to deal with. “Were you aware of this?”
“They were videos.” He spoke as if in a state of mania, his voice quiet and his eyes not leaving the screen of his laptop. “Hoaxes. They had to be hoaxes. Th-there was no way it could be real. I… I th-thought…”
As he became lost in his mumbles again, she turned her attention to Pharynx. His gaping face turned slowly in denial.
Chrysalis wasn’t sure what to think. Was her adopted niece a – she couldn’t believe this term was the first thing to come up – superhero? Or maybe a wizard? That made even less sense. Yet she’d seen it, with her own two eyes. Sunset Shimmer with animal ears, the three girls with reptilian ghost forms, Sunset’s friends with wings and flashy powers and the music oh Goddess the music how it forced itself into her every crevice and made her want to do things that Chrysalis Chrysanthemum did not do, especially in public! She’d resisted, but only barely, and even now she could feel the energy driving her to tap her toes in rebellion. She allowed it, if only for fear that not doing so would make all the energy explode out of her in a most embarrassing manner.
This was it, wasn’t it? Something like this happened at the Fall Formal. It wasn’t some over-the-top stage magic. It couldn’t be, not unless Celestia was pouring a reckless amount of the school’s budget into special effects for what amounted to a very flashy party. As much as she loathed that woman, Chrysalis knew she wasn’t stupid. Even if she were, her imminently more intelligent and capable younger sibling with the tasty lips and hips would have reined it in.
So this was her answer, or at least part of it. It was all… She supposed the most accurate term would be ‘mind blowing’. The first step would be accepting it. A heavy demand, but… she could do it. In time. Now to capitalize. How to capitalize? She needed…. She needed…
“Pharynx.” He stiffened when she looked at him. The way he did that bothered her. He didn’t have to be so stiff. She looked to Thorax, who was pressing buttons and biting his lip, appearing on the verge of tears. It dawned upon her that on top of the shock of what they’d just witnessed, he was also scared. Scared because he’d let her down. Because he’d had evidence and dismissed it, giving her false information which led to tonight and weeks of confusion and frustration and…
Not now. An insidious desire overcame Chrysalis, and before she could stop herself she reached out to grasp Thorax’s shoulder. He froze, body going taught and eyes clenched shut. That reaction left her feeling… hollow.
“It’s alright, Thorax,” she whispered in his ear. “It’s okay. I’m not upset. Please, just relax.”
His eyes blinked open. He turned to stare at her as if not sure who she was. Oh, how she wished he wouldn’t look at her that way. How she wished she hadn’t driven him to look at her that way. Not wanting to see his alarmed expression, she looked to his brother and reached out. Pharynx moved as if to help her up, but she caught his hand and didn’t budge at his tug. The simple, innocent motion brought a confused expression to his normally stoic face.
Maybe it was the effects of that strange music coursing through her. Maybe her long dormant maternal instincts were finally manifesting at this most awkward moment. Whatever the case, Chrysalis decided to roll with it. “I’m proud of you boys.”
Pharynx and Thorax exchanged a look. She thought she detected a hint of panic in the both of them. “Mother?” Thorax asked.
“Are you feeling well?” Pharynx added.
Was she doing it wrong? Chrysalis bristled, bit her tongue. She knew her frustration wasn’t their fault. “I’m fine. I just…” Letting out a long, slow breath, she calmed down and bowed her head. “I just thought you should know. I…” She closed her eyes so as not to see their stares. “I don’t know how to say what I mean.”
A long, uncomfortable, awkward silence. She held onto Pharynx’s meaty hand, gave Thorax’s shoulder a squeeze.
“I…” Pharynx coughed. Her stomach dropped as he let go of her hand. He spoke haltingly. “I’m… gonna go find Sunset. L-let her know we’re here.” His retreating footsteps echoed in the hollowness of her insides.
After a time, Thorax’s hand brushed her own. She held on tight, afraid he’d try to pry her fingers away from his shoulder. “Mother?” For perhaps the first time ever, it was Chrysalis who flinched between them. “I don’t understand. What’s wrong?”
What was wrong? What was wrong was that he was afraid of her! That Pharynx was so shocked by her words he fled instead of face them. That this was the lump sum of her skills as a parent, and she had no idea what to do about it! “It’s just…” She rubbed at her eyes. “Th-the music hit me pretty hard. M-making me say things.” No, that was wrong! Or right? Right in that the music had made her frustratingly emotional, wrong that it wasn’t making her say these things. He wouldn’t believe her if he thought—
Horror flooded her. She turned with a jerk to face her adopted son, but the words faltered when he braced as though expecting a blow. Back came the anger, the annoyance, the uncomfortable, hateful awareness, and with it came a whole new set of words. “Stop that! Stop acting like I’m some banshee going to light you on fire! I’m your mother. I’m not going to hurt you.” The tears started to fall. She paid them no mind. “I don’t mean to hurt you. I n-never meant to… Please, stop looking at me like I’m one wrong word away from tearing your head off!”
All Thorax could do was stare at her. Stare like she was some stranger he’d never met before.
Chrysalis jumped to her feet and started walking. She only got a few steps away before the energy left her, so she just stood there, staring at the forest behind the school, staring at nothing as fresh tears dripped from her cheeks. The cool air caressed her hot face and blew her long, cerulean hair about her shoulders. She felt so… empty.
“I’m a terrible mother.”
She faced the blur that was Thorax. “W-would you like to resign? To go and work for someone whom you aren’t terrified to be in the same room with? Would that help you to relax? To be happy? To feel…” She sucked down a shuddering sob. “To feel l-loved?”
“Mother, please!” The blur approached. He took her hands in his. “I can’t resign. Where would I go?”
Chrysalis sniffled and held tight. His hands were so warm… “I can think of p-plenty of businesses that would love to have someone as sm-mart and talented as you. Or m-maybe you could go independent.”
A long breath. “I didn’t know you felt that way.”
“I know,” she muttered, head bowed. “I know. It’s my fault. I should have said so earlier, but I…”
This time, he returned the squeeze. Things were quiet between them for a while, save for the music still playing somewhere in the distance. A celebration underway for a victory well-earned. Chrysalis didn’t feel like celebrating. She felt like hiding, preferably in her room with an industrial crate full of dark chocolates.
“You’re right,” Thorax said at last. “You terrify me.” He gripped her hands, preventing her from turning away. “You were always so strict, so demanding, so unforgiving. I thought you didn’t like me, that you saw me as little more than a failure. I can vividly recall the times you’ve praised me, because it’s such a rare event. Frankly, I’m not convinced this isn’t just a moment of weakness and you’ll go back to hating me once that weird music is out of your system.”
A fresh sob. Curse him, and she had almost recovered!
...He thought she hated him.
Before she could correct the record, he spoke again. “But while you’re still in this… mood, I guess I’d be willing to…” A beat. “I don’t know, make amends? I guess. I never really considered leaving Change, Inc. I never thought you’d let me.”
“I couldn’t stop you,” she countered feebly.
“Oh, yes you could, and you would.” The confidence of his reply shook away whatever certainty had allowed her that rebuttal. “You would have destroyed me. Squashed me like a bug. Within a month I’d be homeless on the street and seriously considering begging for my old job back, but you wouldn’t have given it to me. I’ve seen the way you deal with traitors.”
It was too much. Chrysalis jerked away from him, ripping her hands from his. “If you hate me that much then leave!”
“I can’t.”
“What do you want me to do, fire you?”
“No.” He approached. She retreated. “No, I absolutely don’t want you to fire me.”
“Wouldn’t that make you happy?”
“I don’t know!”
That Thorax raised his voice to her was enough to end her arguments. She brushed the tears from her eyes yet again, just to get a look at his conflicted, frightened face.
“I don’t know what would make me happy,” he said, quiet once more. “I don’t know how to… to be happy.”
She’d done this. This was her fault, and it was too late to fix it. It was too late, wasn’t it? It had to be. Her belated, desperate attempt to help had been pointless. She held her stomach, knees knocking, on the verge of—
“Chrysalis!”
She looked towards the theater gates. There stood a young woman, a purple teenager with wings and pointy ears, glaring at her as if she were the source of all the world’s problems. Maybe she was.
The newcomer struck a threatening pose. “I don’t know what you’re doing in this world, but if you think I’m going to let you—”
“Whoa, whoa, down, Twilight!” Sunset jumped up behind the girl and pulled her back. “This is my Aunt Chryssy. She’s not some evil bug queen out to conquer the world or anything. She’s just… Aunt Chryssy.”
She had animal ears. Sunset Shimmer had animal ears that flicked and twitched. Sunset had animal ears and Thorax hated her and Pharynx didn’t know what to do with her and this strange girl thought she was evil and… and…
Chrysalis’s dinner splattered across the sidewalk.
“Yikes!” The two girls jumped backwards from the mess. Chrysalis stumbled away, well aware that a second wave was coming. “Ick. Thorax, what’s going on?”
As dessert made its traumatic reappearance, he answered with all the excitement of a weekly staff meeting. “I’m not sure, but I’m starting to think Mother is having a genuine existential and moral crisis.”
The back of the Phantom. A private place. Chrysalis had finally managed to clean her face using a nearby water fountain. The twins were outside. Perhaps Pharynx was comparing notes on her breakdown in front of Celestia with this recent one in front of Thorax. Across from her sat Sunset and this other girl, this… Princess Twilight. Who was a pony. In a human body. Who just helped Sunset and her friends fight ancient sea beasts called Sirens. All that, and Chrysalis couldn’t stop looking at the purple dog in her lap. The dog that talks.
“Just to make sure I’ve got this right,” Twilight said, still glaring daggers at Chrysalis, “you’ve spent the last three years living with this businesswoman, Chrysalis, who just so happens to be the mirror world version of Queen Chrysalis from my world.”
The dog opened his mouth and, against all that was natural, spoke. “And she’s not some shapeshifting bug thing planning to suck out all our love until we’re emotionless husks?”
The words were like an anvil being gradually lowered onto her shoulders. Chrysalis, hands clasped in her lap, leaned heavily forward and stared at her knees.
Sunset groaned. “Yes, and I’m sure she’d appreciate you not comparing her to the ugly bug lady to her face.”
Twilight shook her head, pony ears flapping gently. They’d reassured Chrysalis that the ears would go away ‘once the magic calmed down’, whatever that meant, but for now they served as a stark reminder that this was real and she probably wasn’t going insane from stress. “I’m sorry, but it’s hard to reconcile. I know I shouldn’t project, but the Chrysalis on my side of the mirror is…” She pursed her lips, perhaps looking for the most polite way to word her intentions. “Not very nice.”
“By ‘not very nice’, she means Chrysalis brainwashed her brother, kidnapped her sister-in-law and left her for dead, and tried to turn all of Equestria into—Ow!”
Twilight had knocked her knuckles gently atop the dog’s head. “They get the picture, Spike.”
So. She was a villain in another world. A hideous bug horse thing. A monster. Chrysalis couldn’t look any of them in the eyes. After all that had happened since the Fall Formal, she wasn’t sure she could call herself an improvement.
Sunset leaned forward. “You know that’s not a reflection of who you are, right?”
Chrysalis scowled, but still didn’t look her way. “Don’t patronize me. I think it’s pretty clear by now that I’m a rather rancid creature in my own right.” She recalled Thorax’s words. Another bout of nausea struck, but not enough to make her do more than tense up.
“That’s not—”
One hard look shut the redhead up. Elbow on the door, palm against cheek to effectively hide her trembling lips, she muttered, “You two should go back to your friends. Celebrate your victory.”
“Uh, excuse you, but there’s three of us,” Spike growled.
“Whatever.”
There were mumblings and grumblings. A door opened. A door closed. At last free of any prying eyes, Chrysalis allowed her shoulders to sag once more. Not that Sunset and her friend hadn’t already seen her at her worst, but it was the principle of the thing. With a sigh, she turned forward, fully prepared to bask in her own misery.
Then she noticed Sunset was still in the car.
In an instant, Chrysalis threw her defenses back up. Or maybe not an instant. She was under a lot of strain after all. Once sure her neutral expression was locked in place, she said, “I told you to go.”
Sunset, as Chrysalis well knew, could do the whole stoic ice queen thing just as well as she could. In fact, she may have even learned it from her. “I’m not going anywhere until I know you’re okay.”
Sitting ramrod straight, the better to loom, Chrysalis firmly declared, “I am fine.”
Her prodigious, intelligent niece from another world raised a skeptical eyebrow. “I just watched you spill your Tortellini all over the parking lot.”
Chrysalis could feel her eye twitching. “Sunset, now is not the—”
“I turned into a she-demon.”
And now Chrysalis’s eyes were crossed. “What?”
Sunset fidgeted, her cool demeanor gone as quickly as it had come. She hugged herself, anxious and uncertain. “That’s what happened. At the Fall Formal. I got my hands on some Equestrian magic and it… sorta went to my head in a really bad way. Flames, wings, claws, the whole works.” She averted her eyes from Chrysalis’s gaze, voice going quiet. “I also snuck back to Equestria and stole Princess Twilight’s very magical crown. I was… planning to attack Equestria. She came here to stop me and… well, you know about the crater.”
Chrysalis tried to connect all the dots presented to her, she really did, but her mental pathways were all knotted up around trying to imagine this child as a horse. The consequences of Sunset being from this ‘other world’ hadn’t quite sunk in until now. Knowing there was a lot she hadn’t been told yet, she nonetheless found what she deemed an appropriate answer. “I guess that explains why you spent a whole week hiding in your room until those friends of yours came to drag you out into the sunlight.”
Sunset smiled sheepishly. “I didn’t think of them as friends at the time.”
Chrysalis returned the smile, but only briefly. With the tension somewhat alleviated, she allowed herself to relax a bit, leaning back and draping an arm along the backrest of her seat. “So. You’re an illegal alien, in multiple forms of both words.”
The redhead shrugged. “More or less.” Then, more tentatively, “Don’t you have anything to say about the whole ‘turned into a demon and tried to take over another world’ part of the story?”
“I can’t say I’m thrilled about it,” Chrysalis admitted with a shrug of her own. “At the same time, it does fit in with the aggressive direction you’d been taking ever since I took you in, and I already told you I wasn’t opposed to that, at least in principle. Had you succeeded and become… queen?”
“Princess,” Sunset corrected. When her aunt cocked her head, she added, “They don’t do ‘kings and queens’ in Equestria. Ponies have had bad experiences with those.”
Strange, but who was Chrysalis to debate someone’s culture? “My concern is that you succeed and that you’re happy. I’d prefer you get there in a way that isn’t so volatile and at risk of causing problems for people you’ll never know exist, but I care more about your happiness than theirs.”
A frown slowly formed on Sunset’s lips as her eyes fogged up. She looked at Chrysalis, but not at Chrysalis. After a few seconds of this, she muttered, “I don’t think I would have been happy. I think I’d have pretended to be, maybe even come to believe it at times, but I’m pretty sure it would have been a lie.”
An opportunity had been presented, and Chrysalis felt a strange warmth at the chance to take it. “That’s the trick, isn’t it?” She waited for Sunset to refocus on her, that ever-vivid face broadcasting her confusion. Was it odd for Chrysalis to relish that expression in this moment? “The trick of achieving what we want in a way that satisfies us, that makes us happy. It’s the greatest goal in life, isn’t it? To succeed, to do what we want, and to do it in a way that minimizes our regrets.” She leaned forward slightly, glad to see she had Sunset’s full attention. “You would have regretted that route, wouldn’t you?”
Sunset gave no answer. She didn’t need to. The pain on her downcast face was enough.
Chrysalis reached out to touch the girl’s cheek. “You once asked if you were a bad person. I maintain that life isn’t so black and white as that. But if I were to limit myself to such terms, I think this is proof you aren’t.”
The girl cringed. She grabbed Chrysalis’s hand, perhaps intending to push it away. Yet the motion was weak, unable to do so. Her hand was warm and made Chrysalis’s skin tingle. A lingering effect of the magic, perhaps? Or maybe it was just Chrysalis and the mysterious happiness bubbling through her.
“I think you forgot about the whole ‘demon invading Equestria’ thing.”
Chrysalis would have smiled were she not already doing it. “I encourage you to achieve happiness in whatever way that works for you. That dominating another world through force wouldn’t achieve that happiness says much about you. That you tried and failed is beside the point. Now that you know what won’t make you happy, you can turn your attention and efforts towards something that might.” She lifted her other hand, holding both of Sunset’s cheeks in her palms. She made sure Sunset was looking her in the eye. No effort was needed on the smile. “And I will support you every step of the way.”
Then Sunset, teary eyed and blubbering, did something she’d never done before: she embraced Chrysalis in a breath-stealing hug. It wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable, and Chrysalis returned the motion with a grin on her lips and her heart humming.
Maybe she could do this whole ‘mother’ thing after all.
Chrysalis sat at the desk of her home office, her two sons and niece sitting across from her. Well, Sunset and Thorax sat. Pharynx wasn’t happy if he wasn’t looming over someone, even if he wasn’t trying to be threatening. She took a sip of her coffee, expertly prepared by Thorax as always, before addressing the trio. “Now that things have calmed down, I think it’s time we addressed what happens next.”
Sunset nervously raised her hand, speaking when Chrysalis’s eyes shifted her way. “You’re not planning to take advantage of Equestria and its magic, are you?”
“An excellent question, and the first thing I would like to address.” Leaning back in her office chair, Chrysalis looked to Thorax. “We need to understand what this ‘magic’ is, and learn more about this ‘Equestria’.”
“Aunt Chryssy…”
“Let me finish, child.” Though Sunset’s ever-expressive face screamed her displeasure, she went silent. “Thank you. Thorax, my primary concern now is information control. You originally thought the whole ‘magic’ thing was a hoax. I want you to do whatever is within your power to make that the perspective of anyone not from Canterlot. Let them think everybody in this town is crazy if that’s what it takes. That includes employees of Change, Inc.”
Thorax blinked. “Wait, so we’re not gonna take advantage of this?”
Sunset’s face abruptly stopped radiating anger.
“We don’t even know what ‘this’ is to take advantage of it,” Chrysalis replied coolly. “I’m not about to be responsible for a disaster because I tried to apply a volatile, dangerous product to a free market so that any idiot can accidentally turn house flies into flying piranhas.” That one got a chuckle out of Pharynx.
She turned her attention to Sunset, easing her tone as she did. “I want to communicate with this other world. I want to know what magic can and can’t do. Our first priority is making sure it’s safe and keeping it out of the hands of those who would abuse it.”
Sunset’s earlier anger was now naught but smiles. “I’ll help in whatever way I can.”
Chrysalis returned the smile. “As our only guaranteed contact with Equestria, I’d hoped that would be the case.”
“It’s not feasible to prevent all information from spreading,” Thorax noted, his manner entirely businesslike. “Eventually the word will get out.”
“Which is why we’ll need to also focus on our second concern: claiming the rights to use it for our business.” The worry shot back into Sunset, prompting Chrysalis to add, “If we don’t do it, someone else will. Be honest, who would you trust more, us or the military?”
Sunset’s brow furrowed, nose scrunching as she took that question in. After a few seconds of consideration, she relaxed. “I see your point. Just promise you won’t abuse it?”
“To do what, start a new line of wizard hats?” Chrysalis offered what she hoped was a reassuring grin. “Honestly, Sunset. If I wanted to, I don’t know, conquer the world? I’d have gone into politics.” She shuddered at that ghastly idea, prompting a few more chuckles from her audience. “Let’s keep this to as few people as we can. Close inner circle. I don’t care how high up in what hierarchy they are, this stays between us and those who already are aware at the school.”
Pharynx raised an eyebrow. “Nobody from the board of directors?”
“Hell, no.”
“In that case,” he continued seriously, “how is Thorax supposed to figure things out? It sounds like you’re robbing him of his resources.”
Thorax, shifting in his seat but keeping his head high, declared, “I don't intend to be using Change, Inc’s resources ever again anyway.”
Silence. The younger twin couldn’t stop fidgeting. He adjusted his collar with a finger.
It was Sunset who finally spoke. “Thorax, are you quitting?”
“I think the term he’d prefer is ‘resigning’.” Pharynx had the biggest grin on his face. It might even have been deemed proud.
Chrysalis said nothing. She was too busy watching the emotions of horror and joy wage war within her to offer anything up other than a long, uncertain stare at her youngest son.
Thorax visibly swallowed but, to his credit, didn’t take his eyes from hers. “Y-yes. I’m resigning.” His entire body tensed, waiting for what he likely saw as an impending disaster.
A million thoughts were running through Chrysalis’s head. Where would she get her information from now? She’d never be able to hire a butler half as good as him. An entire information network would be lost! Maybe she could offer him a higher pay? No, that would defy what she’d told him before, wouldn’t it? And she couldn’t get in the way, not after she…
She was so proud of him.
Chrysalis couldn’t have stopped smiling even if she’d wanted to. “You’re putting me in a rather difficult spot.”
Slowly, perhaps realizing he wasn’t about to become the target of her wrath, he offered a smile in return. “I don’t know about that. I’ll just have to send you a bill.”
So he was going independent. Chrysalis’s cheeks were beginning to get sore. “You wouldn’t overcharge your own mother, would you?”
Now he was grinning too. There was something in his eyes, a certain… appreciation. “I might. She did teach me to take advantage of every opportunity presented.”
“She must be a savvy, intelligent, capable woman,” she pressed, grin becoming a smirk.
“Oh, she’s the best.”
Pharynx spoke up, his dry tone emphasized by a scowl. “Are we gonna need to give you two a moment?” Sunset giggled.
“No, no.” Chrysalis took a moment to brush some dirt out of her eyes. “We’re good. I’ll settle this latest development with Thorax later. Let’s move on to topic number three, shall we?” Another sip of her coffee, just to give her time to calm her emotions. That little buzz of happiness refused to stop, but she decided it wasn’t worth trying to shoo it away. Smile still on her lips, she announced, “I’ve decided to reduce some of my responsibilities to the company.”
This was met with less fanfare than she’d hoped. Pharynx was back to his typical stoic demeanor, whereas Thorax and Sunset merely appeared confused. It was Sunset who asked, “I thought you didn’t trust others to handle most of the top-tier business decisions.”
Thinking on her direct employees, Chrysalis growled harshly, “I don’t.”
Sigh. Sip. Breathe.
“But the last few days have helped me to realize that maybe I’m too controlling. Perhaps I need to learn to relax. As much as I want to keep an eye on everything, Change, Inc. won’t collapse if I loosen my grip on the reins. Even if it did, I – we, the four of us – are in a position to live the rest of our lives in comfort and security. I don’t…” She hesitated, and felt foolish for doing so. “I no longer need to act like the queen bee I’ve been for the last two decades of my life.”
The three before her shifted and shared strange looks she couldn’t decipher. It was Thorax who asked, “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
Was she sure? No. But also yes. Chrysalis had been thinking about it ever since the Battle of the Bands. She still wasn’t fully confident in her chosen direction. It was rife with potential pitfalls and risks.
Chrysalis Chrysanthemum didn’t get as far as she had by avoiding risks.
“I want to spend more time with you three. I haven’t been very good at that. Ever.” She smiled to Thorax. “More time to be something other than your boss.” To Pharynx. “More time to be your mother.” And to Sunset. “More time to be an aunt.”
A long, drawn out pause.
Pharynx looked to Sunset. “You’re the one who knows how to read people. Is she sick?”
Thorax slapped his shoulder. “Pharynx!”
Chrysalis cringed. They didn’t believe her, did they? Had she been so bad at this? Of course she had. That was why she’d decided to do this in the first place. Had that been a mistake? Maybe this was a step too far, too early. But if there was a way to ease into this kind of thing—
Sunset was at her side, hand gently squeezing her shoulder. She met Chrysalis’s gaze, her eyes kind and welcoming. “I think it’s a wonderful idea.”
“Me, too.” Thorax leaned forward, an uncertain smile on his face. “I admit, I’m having trouble reconciling this with the mother I’ve known all my life, but I’m willing to give this a try if you are. Who knows, maybe we can find you a hobby.”
Chrysalis blinked, smile fading. “A hobby?”
“That is an excellent idea,” Sunset declared. Chrysalis wasn’t sure she liked the amount of glee in her tone. “Can’t let you get bored with all that free time you’re suddenly going to have.”
Too fast. Too fast! “C-can’t we just talk during those times?”
“We won’t always be here for you to talk to us,” Sunset reminded her, beaming as if this revelation shouldn’t fill Chrysalis with the terror of incoming boredom.
“Don’t worry, Mother.” Thorax at least had enough awareness of her growing anxiety to sound reassuring. “It’ll be fun. We’ll help you.”
Thorax and Sunset looked at Pharynx. Pharynx looked back. A pregnant pause ensued, Chrysalis looking between him and them.
Pharynx – sturdy, self-assured, tank-like Pharynx – shifted from foot to foot as he blanched. “Why are you both looking at me like that? No. No, wait. Don’t you dare!” He was ambushed, caught up in a pincer-attack hug. “G-get off me! Don’t get me involved in your, your goody-goody feelings party!” When neither of them let go, he shot Chyrsalis a panicked look. “Mother, help me!”
“You care about this just as much as we do, and you know it,” Sunset accused with a wicked grin.
“Search your feelings, brother,” Thorax threw in melodramatically. “You know it to be true!”
“You act tough, but you’re a big softy,” Sunset declared as he wriggled and squirmed under their snuggly barrage. “Don’t think I don’t know who was slipping me ice cream the whole time I was hiding away in my room.”
Pharynx’s eyes boggled, especially when he spotted Chrysalis’s wicked smile. “It’s a lie! I would never do something that nice!”
Chrysalis could only laugh. She laughed and laughed, and when it felt like she would run out of air she laughed some more. Even when that stopped, one little thought kept things warm inside:
It was good to be a mother.