Luna scowled, looking thoughtful, before she nodded in acquiescence. “Yes... having someone who knows the routes in and out of the castle would be useful. But that is why I would have Sentinel lead the group to find the elements. As a royal guard, he would be most aware of the secret routes in and out.”
Chrysalis gave a reasonable nod at that. “Indeed. But ah know how to navigate the crystal caverns beneath Canterlot. Can you make such a claim, Sentinel?”
Sentinel scowled darkly at the changeling, standing between her and Raindrop. “I cannot. But I still wouldn’t want you coming with us.”
“That hate runs deep in this one. You realise, o’ course, that Raindrop is part changeling, do yer not?” Chrysalis asked with a soft chuckle.
“And she is trying to change what she is!” Sentinel countered, staring up at the Changeling Queen.
“And yer know my story, yes?” Chrysalis queried quietly.
“I... heard a little of it,” Sentinel said uncertainly.
Chrysalis chuckled, and then strode forward, lifting a hoof to gently stroke down the guards cheek. Sentinel recoiled in revulsion, making to push her away.
“Ah gave up being a changeling to be with Evergreen. Ah would still be Cee the unicorn if not fer what Chitin did to the elements. Or mayhaps it were Celestia who made the spell fail. Either way, I am not a changeling by choice.”
“That’s different,” Sentinel growled, eyes narrowing. “Raindrop is a pony, she doesn’t have a choice of who her family is.”
“And did I?” Chrysalis asked softly, narrowing her eyes. “Or do yer think I wanted ter be born a changeling?”
Sentinel’s ears pinned back at that, and he went quiet for a moment, before opening his mouth to protest.
A swift smack to the side of the head from Chrysalis’ hoof stunned him, quieting him.
Raindrop frowned and stepped in front of the guard, between him and her grandmother. Wisp squeaked and backed away a few steps from the violent scene, bounding up the stairs. Remedy had already seemed to have excused herself, and Firebrand was watching like a spectator at a sports event.
“Hit him again, and you’ll have to answer to me,” Raindrop said in a low growl.
“So young, so angry,” Chrysalis said with a soft sigh, and a shake of her head. “Were I but fifty years younger, I’d happily have wrestled yer to the ground and beat a submission out of yer. I had no idea my grandchildren would turn their back on their blood so easily.”
“You’re not my family!” Raindrop growled, and Sentinel rose to his hooves to stand beside her, showing a united front.
“Yer can’t choose yer family Raindrop. Yer gonna have ter come to terms with that, one way or another,” Chrysalis stated, shaking her head slowly.
“As far as I’m concerned, you’re a parasite that passed on a disease to me. Nothing more,” Raindrop stated, spitting on the ground at Chrysalis’ forehooves.
Chrysalis grit her teeth at the stinging words, looking away, closing her eyes. She didn’t respond.
“I’m glad you’re dying,” Raindrop said into the cold silence, before turning around and heading up the stairs, pushing her way past Firebrand.
Sentinel looked back and forth between the retreating form of Raindrop and her grandmother, before bounding up the stairs, following his mare.
Chrysalis sighed, hanging her head, a single teardrop making a trail down her cheek.
Raindrop paced back and forth in front of the cottage, a low growl bubbling from her throat, ears pinned back and wing half extended in a sign of strong annoyance.
“Why couldn’t she just stay dead?!” Raindrop snarled to no one in particular.
“I believe it was Luna who brought her back. Well, technically she just reversed whatever Celestia did. Chrysalis never actually died,” Remedy said, from where she was sitting beside the front door of the cottage.
“Semantics!” Raindrop hissed, stalking back and forth, hooves digging into the soft earth. “What are you doing up here anyway?!”
“Queens have always made me uncomfortable,” Remedy admitted with a half-shrug. “But Chrysalis being back isn’t such a bad thing, you know.”
“It’s bad,” Raindrop protested, pausing and lifting her hoof as though to hit something. Her eyes flashed green for a moment, and she dropped her hoof, scowling and resuming her angered pacing.
“It’s a chance to say goodbye to her, or, if she lives long enough, a chance for you to get to know her a little bit better,” Remedy suggested, an ear perking at the angered pegasus.
Raindrop growled again, refusing to respond, still pacing, growling low in her throat.
“How did you feel about Chrysalis back when she was... whoever she was before?” Remedy queried, tilting her head to one side curiously.
“Cee,” Raindrop said with another growl. “And I felt fine about her until I found out she was a complete bitch.”
The nurse nodded at that, humming faintly to herself, looking down at the ground thoughtfully. After a few moments, she looked up, and then asked, “So... Before you found she was Chrysalis, you had no problem with her?”
“She was the perfect grandmother,” Raindrop hissed, “But she’s a changeling, that’s what they do. They trick you into thinking they’re something they’re not!”
“...Don’t we all?” Remedy asked quietly.
Raindrop stared at the nurse for a long moment, incredulously. “What? If you’re going to compare us, to changelings, then I’m going to hit you.”
“Think about it, Raindrop. The perfect grandmother isn’t... well, perfect, is she?” Remedy asked, giving Raindrop a pointed stare.
Raindrop stopped in her pacing, scowling at the nurse. “Explain.”
“Did Cee ever yell at you? Did she ever hit you? Did she bake you cookies? Tell you wise wisdoms from ages long past?” Remedy asked curiously.
“I... Well no, not really. I barely even knew her apart from way back when my parents were still together. I was pretty young,” Raindrop stated with a dismissive wave of a hoof.
“But you remember she was kind, yes? You said she was the model grandmother,” Remedy pointed out.
Raindrop paused at that, and then gave a tentative nod. “I guess so.”
“So she was a good grandmother the few times you saw her?” Remedy pressed.
“Indeed,” Raindrop stated, “But I hardly see what that has to do with now.”
“Well, for starters. We all present somepony different to ourselves when we’re around others. You have to know somepony pretty well to realise who they are... Basically, whenever you meet someone, and interact with them... You’re not talking to them. You’re talking to their representative, and they naturally present the best side of the pony they’re representing,” Remedy explained, watching the pegasus closely. “Whether it be on a first date, or a grandmother doting on her grandchildren.”
“Okay, so, what?” Raindrop spat, eyes narrowing. “Cee was being a representative for Chrysalis.”
“Do you think Evergreen knew?” Remedy asked suddenly.
“What?” Raindrop asked, blinking once.
Remedy snorted. “Do you think Evergreen knew?”
“I... Honestly don’t know how he couldn’t know. But I don’t know the story. They didn’t talk much about the past,” Raindrop admitted, ears pinning back.
“And do you think Evergreen would have stayed with Cee if he thought she was evil? If you can honestly say ‘yes’, then I’ll shut up and let you go back to seething at her,” Remedy said with a shrug.
“I... I... “ Raindrop sighed and hung her head. “No. Evergreen wasn’t the kind to stand by and let an unkindness be done.”
“See, your problem is that you’re looking at it very shallowly, Raindrop. You’re looking at her as Chrysalis, not as Cee. What do you see when you looked at her?” Remedy asked, eyes narrowing at Raindrop.
A scowl crossed Raindrop’s face. “I see a changeling.”
“You want to know what I see?” Remedy asked.
“I get a feeling I’ll find out either way,” Raindrop spat.
Remedy chuckled at that, and then sobered. “I see a pony who gave up her life of power for love. I know the story, Raindrop. She gave up her entire existence to be with Evergreen. She didn’t just distance herself from her changelings, she destroyed them. And then she settled down and had kids.” Remedy paused then, and looked Raindrop up and down. “She’s the same pony you always knew. She just had a bad past. A bad past that has transcended death itself to bother her. Think back to all the bottles on that table, Raindrop. You think Luna drank all of those? Chrysalis, Cee, is drowning her sorrows with alcohol. And even though she’s hurting, she’s still trying to fix her mistakes. And all you’re doing, her granddaughter, is making it harder on her. You think she wanted to do this to you? You think that she knew this would happen? you should be ashamed of yourself.”
Raindrop’s ears pinned back slowly under the slew of chastisement, her cheeks warming and her head lowering.
“And what’s your excuse? Oh, ‘I lost my coltfriend’. And you already replaced him! It can’t have been that big a loss,” Remedy continued with a wave of her hoof. “And you still want to make things hard on her when she’s literally dying? Sweet Celestia, Raindrop. If you were my granddaughter, I’d beat the stupid out of you!”
Raindrop recoiled even further, her wings lowering and her head hanging, her ears burning with the thorough scolding.
“I... I just...”
“Do not give me that tone, young lady!” Remedy scowled, pointing a hoof at the front door of the cottage. “Now you swallow your insatiable urge to throw a tantrum, you get in there, and you reconcile with your grandmother before she dies.”
Raindrop’s head hung, if possible, even lower, as she slowly began to mince towards the front door, wings drooping.
Chrysalis was scribbling down something about changeling magic on a piece of paper when a hoof gently found her own, pausing it in its motions.
Raindrop looked up at her grandmother, noting the redness in her green eyes. She looked like she was holding back tears.
“C-Cee... I... I’m sorry,” Raindrop murmured, before quickly leaning in and wrapping her hooves around the demonic form of her grandmother.
Cee gave a faint sigh of happiness at that, biting her bottom lip and returning the hug, resting her head on her granddaughters shoulder in a hug. “Don’t bother yerself with it, child. Ah’m sorry this happened to yer.”
“It’s... It’s not your fault,” Raindrop said hesitantly, pulling back to stare up into Cee’s demonic eyes. “I guess... I guess I don’t blame you... But I just... I needed somepony to blame,” Raindrop murmured quietly.
“It’s fine, child. Ah understand. We’ll get yer fixed up. Ah’ll do everything ah can,” Cee promised, nuzzling Raindrop reassuringly.
Raindrop nodded, and then cast her gaze down at the piece of paper, to hide the inexplicable tears forming in her eyes. “I-is there anything I can do to help?”
“Ask yer coltfriend about any changes to the palace in the last fifty years or so. Ah’ll need to make sure we can get in and out without trouble. Might attract unwanted attention once we steal the elements,” Cee said with a wry grin.
Raindrop nodded, and lifted a hoof to rest on her grandmother’s shoulder for a long moment, before pulling away.
Sentinel was sitting in a chair in the cottage, perusing some pieces of paper that Cee had scribbled across: details on changeling anatomy and heirarchy.
“You heard all of that, didn’t you?” Raindrop asked quietly.
Sentinel nodded mutely.
“I... You hate her, don’t you?”
Sentinel nodded once more.
“I can’t ask you to like her... But I will ask you not to complicate things. Please, Sentinel. For me.”
Sentinel snorted at that, and chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment, before sighing and nodding once. “I’ll tolerate her... but only for you.”
“Thank you, Sentinel,” Raindrop said, sliding over to him and kissing his cheek.
Remedy was still sitting out the front, humming idly to herself, when Raindrop exited the cottage, head held low.
“Well?” Remedy asked, raising a brow.
Raindrop pursed her lips, but slipped over to the nurse, wrapping her hooves around her neck in a hug, sighing and resting her nose in the other mare’s mane.
“I hate you,” Raindrop stated, shaking her head. “But... thank you.”
Remedy chuckled faintly, and then pushed Raindrop away with a hoof. “C’mon now, personal space. I’m not a big hugger.”
Raindrop nodded, and moved to turn away and head back inside.
“Fifteen bits,” Remedy said, holding out a hoof.
Raindrop looked back over her shoulder, blinking once, confused. “What?”
“Fifteen bits.” Remedy shook her hoof for punctuation, snorting once. “Told you I was gonna start charging for relationship advice.”