"Oh, petty theft, how you darken my soul. We cleaned all those stuck up fools. Food, pillows, blankets, a......chew toy?"
"Ruff!"
"You sneaky little gremlin..."
After some well needed "shopping", the sneaky queen and her fellow fuzzy felon march through the dreary Everfree with their mountain of stolen goods rocking around in the undersized grocery cart.
Once at her secret spot, Chrysalis piles all the goods in the center of her secluded space, prepping and organizing the spoils.
"Okay," she mutters. "If I plan this all just right, I have enough to last weeks, maybe months."
"Mmmmm..." Grub whines, his grumbling tummy grabbing her attention.
"Oh, right. Your reward."
Chrysalis pops a small hole in the chunky bag of dog chow and pours a flat pile onto a napkin, it's strong doggy scent luring the pup over.
"There, satisfied?"
Grub happily gobbles down on his mutt meal, loud crunch after loud crunch, wagging his tail in delight.
"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go wash."
Rummaging through the stolen goods with her magic, the changeling selects a fragrant set of towels, soaps and shampoos and steps past the chomping pooch toward a moderately faded path deeper into the forest.
A minute-long stroll forward leads Chrysalis to a calm, serene, crystal clean lake waving underneath the colossal shadow of a mighty waterfall. The misty breeze spreading from the cascading water gently blows through her mane as she walks along the lake, setting her towels down near the edge.
Anticipating the relaxation to come, Chrysalis dips a hoof in the cool pool before delicately descending in the shallow waters with a low, satisfied sigh, leaving her head surface level.
As she feels her bath rush through her leg holes, her moment of tranquility crumbles, for a tiny twig bounces off her forehead.
"A little privacy would be appreciated." she hums, using her horn to lather up her dark skin with a bar of soap. "I deserve this, and I wish to enjoy my queen time in solitude, thank you very much."
The queen frowns upon finding the troublesome critter already resting atop her damp hair, nibbling on her little crown.
"Alright, fun's over." she sighs, shaking the pup into the soapy side of the water.
Grub immediately doggy paddles to the surface up to the aloof changeling.
"Ruff!" he yips, flopping and bumping into her neck.
"Ugh, wet dog smell. Away with you."
"Ruff!"
"Bathe you? Of course, let me have one of my servants help you with that- OH, WAIT."
"Bark!"
"Grrr, fine. But only to get rid of that awful odor."
"Yip!"
The silly puppy curls up against Chrysalis' chest as she lathers him up with a bottle of lavender-scented shampoo.
"Honestly, you don't seem to be a...complete waste of flesh. You might be of some use to me, for your gift of cuteness may improve my fiendish endeavors tenfold."
"Ruff?"
"Sure, I suppose I won't try to siphon your love, for now. You keep licking me before I could even try anyways."
"Ruff!"
Engulfed in a cloud of soapy foam, Grub playfully chomps down on a stray bubble and gags.
"Hmm," Chryssy hums in amusement, scrubbing his soft, floofy head. "Not everything is edible, little one."
Fleas drop like flies one by one down from Grub's drenched face fur to his body underneath the sudsy layers.
"Goodness, you're a filthy runt, aren't you?"
"Pffft!"
"Bubbles can't change their taste, you're wasting your time."
"Mmph..."
"I prefer to use the lavender scents myself, honestly. I noticed Moonbutt put these flowers out around the castle at night. I'm not a flower lover, but I will admit they do make things more...cozy, if you will. Really relieves the stress of abandoning plans for world domination. Plus, it's an excellent hair conditioner. But you speak of this to nopony, got it?"
Grub wiggles his head, shaking the dripping water off his floppy ears.
"I'll take that as a fearful shake."
"Bark!"
"Now, dry off while I finish."
Chrysalis levitates the wet pup out of the lake and lightly swaddles him in one of her small towels, setting him aside near the others along with her crown.
As Grub fumbles out of his towel and scrubs his body across it, the tired queen soaks and coats her thick mane in lavender shampoo, foaming it thoroughly through with a content hum. Cleaned and relaxed, she wades toward the waterfall and leans back to rinse out. Chrysalis wraps another towel around her hair as she emerges from the cool pool.
"Come along, Grub." she sighs, gathering her things.
"Yip!"
Later that evening, Chrysalis organizes her stolen loot and rearranges her rustic decor, covering her hay bed with a thick and comfortable blanket and tending to where to put the food.
All the while, Grub watches from afar, playfully nibbling on a bone-shaped chew toy.
"Okay, it's settled," she nods. "Hay bacon, toast and maybe some dark chocolate to snack on in the morning."
"Bark!" Grub adds.
"And some kibble on the side too, I suppose."
Soon, a light yawn escapes the exhausted changeling's fang-filled mouth.
"Mmm, alright. Time for bed."
Grub drops his chew toy and gallops past her, pouncing onto her comfy bed.
"Nuh uh, you were an adequate help with my activities today, but don't get cocky. Here."
Chrysalis digs into the stuffed cart and pulls out a fluffy pillow, setting it down on the ground beside the edge of the bed as the pup sinks into its fluffy center.
"You've been rather tolerable for the most part today. I've been pondering..."
Grub sits up, staring and panting at her with a grateful smile.
"Perhaps, I should recruit you. How would you like to be an official soldier for the new unreformed changeling empire?"
"Yip!"
"Excellent! For your actions today, I shall hereby dub thee..."
Chrysalis tears a page out of from the BlockCraft book, folds it into a pointy origami hat and plops the thing upon the pup's itty bitty cranium.
"Private pup!"
"Ruff! Ruff!" Grub barks proudly, holding his head up.
"One day, you'll prove your worth and serve your queen well!"
Grub bounces on his hind legs, mindlessly swiping at a butterfly fluttering by and fumbling down onto his back with a silly pout.
"That'll do, Grub. That'll do."