//------------------------------// // Chapter 74 - Chrysalis // Story: The Master Mev // by kazamacat //------------------------------// Wednesday night at the School of Friendship, the Student Six waited and watched from the window for Rainbow Dash to enter her gym at the school. By now, it had become a habit. The master mev preferred to encounter them this particular week night. "Master Rainbow Dash," Ocellus spoke for the group yet again when they entered. "Student Six," Rainbow greeted them all with a polite bow from where she hovered. She brought out the idol of Boreas, just like the week before. Gallus looked it over, showed his appreciation. and allowed his friends to do the same. They sensed the same generally neutral response of no connection and no rejection from the idol. After all that, it was put away. Changing the subject, Silverstream gleefully exclaimed, "Your Nightmare Night show was awesome!" She hovered slightly off the ground and raised her forelimbs enthusiastically. "Yeah, that was a great show," Smolder agreed. "I'm glad we got to see Blitz all big and solid like that." "It scary but good scary," Yona added. "We were all impressed," Ocellus told her. "Cool song, cool effects," Gallus noted. "Totally," Sandbar piped in. "What do you have planned for next year?" Silverstream asked with a smile. "Yeah, tell us," Gallus said. "Next year?" Rainbow asked. She smiled with a light roll of her eyes. "Give me a break. Not you too." They collectively blushed. "The night is done, and I have plenty besides next Nightmare Night to keep me busy. I don't even want to think of the next one for awhile now," the master mev told them. "Break time from that kind of that thing." They chuckled but did not persistt. Instead, another student changed the subject again. "Did you go anywhere this past weekend?" Smolder asked. "I did, but I did not acquire anything of interest," Rainbow said, "and I think this particular trip is one I will keep to myself." "What about soon weekend?" Yona wondered. "The Changeling Kingdom," Rainbow announced proudly. The other students nearly congratulated Ocellus at this news. "What's there for you?" Ocellus wondered. "Magic of course," Rainbow replied. "Our changeling magic?" the petite student inquired. "That is part of my interest," Rainbow admitted. "So you've been to Griffonstone," Gallus said, "and Mount Aris." Rainbow Dash and Silverstream both nodded. "The Dragonlands," Smolder proudly declared, pointing to her own chest. Rainbow nodded again. "You're going to the Changeling Kingdom soon," Ocellus reminded everyone. "Master Rainbow Dash go to Yakyakistan soon too, right?" Yona asked. "That is my intent, yes," Rainbow confirmed for her. "And of course you already live in Equestria," Sandbar noted. "So you're going to have visited each of our kingdoms as a master mev?" Silverstream realized. "Yes," Rainbow said. "Does anything super cool happen when you do?" Smolder wondered. Her eyes sparked with interest. "Hopefully, I will have everything I need for one of my clients," Rainbow answered. "Beyond that, mainly the satisfaction. That's super cool if you ask me." The students heartily agreed with sincere smiles. It was Friday afternoon in Ponyville at the School of Friendship when Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash waited in Twilight's office. Twilight herself paced anxiously "Oh, I've been planning this retreat for weeks, and we're already ten minutes behind. Where is that photographer?" She nearly growled. Right on cue, a distraught voice could be heard saying, "No no no," repeatedly. Soon, the doors to the office burst open. A light green unicorn with an orange mane and ladybug for her cutie mark stood on her rear hooves and held the open doors with her two forelimbs. She wore a camera around her neck and trot into the room. "I'm so sorry!" she declared in a high pitched tone. "Can you forgive me?" she asked with imploring green eyes, then looked down and away. "I don't expect you to forgive me," she muttered. Looking up again, she still pleaded, "Forgive me?" She blinked and smiled wide with hope. Twilight could only muster an annoyed grumble. Starlight walked forward to address the photographer with a more friendly tone. "Of course. I'll help you set up—" "Princess Twilight," the photographer blatantly snubbed Starlight though her voice remained bright and cheery toward Twilight. "Thank you so much for this. The Canterlot Historical Society is thrilled to document the friendship work your teachers do. Let me just pretty you all up," she said. With that, the unicorn photographer began to quickly yank out pieces of mane hair from Twilight and her friends. She started with Twilight, then Fluttershy, then Pinkie Pie, then Rarity, then Applejack. Rainbow Dash herself was hovering, as she tended to do, and the photographer reached up to yank a rainbow-colored tail hair. Immediately upon the point of direct physical contact, she was thrust backward onto the ground near the still open doors of the large office. She also wasn't a unicorn anymore. In her place was a very startled tall changeling, Queen Chrysalis. Chrysalis stared at her long dark forelimbs in confused horror. The mane hairs she had gathered dropped to the floor. Twilight used her magic to immediately close the doors, magically lift the mane hairs and set them aside on her desk. "Chrysalis?" Starlight asked. She sounded more intrigued than alarmed. Chrysalis stared at seven faces looking on her with curious interest and patience, which surprised and confused her that much more. No one yelled her name or blast her with a beam of magic or pounced to hold her in place. Those were the sorts of reactions she expected at being revealed. She seized the moment and immediately turned back into the unicorn photographer. She plastered on a fake smile. "Well, I'll just be going then." Rainbow Dash fluttered down, placing herself between the doors and Chrysalis with a stern expression. "You most certainly will not," she said firmly. The unicorn form frowned and made a dash for the door only to be zapped with a red lightning bolt to fling her back. On the point of magic contact, she found herself again in her tall changeling form. Rarity blew out small rock formations that surrounded Chrysalis' hooves to lock the tall changeling in place. "Rainbow Dash said you will not be leaving," Rarity insisted with firmness to match her master's. The other fledglings nodded with her and serious expressions on all their faces. Chrysalis stared at all of them even more confused. Why would Rainbow Dash be the one in charge and not Twilight Sparkle? Had she missed something? Why did Chrysalis transform back twice now at some kind of contact with the sky blue pegasus? It was a frightening effect on her. To her alarm, a red circle appeared on the floor around where she stood. She looked at Rainbow Dash incredulously. "Master?" she asked with a hint of recognition at what she was dealing with now. The circle immediately disappeared, and Chrysalis continued to stare at Rainbow Dash in disbelief. The rocks holding her in place disappeared as well. "I will cast them right back if you try to leave before you are dismissed," Rarity said firmly, gesturing with her right forelimb in the process. "A master mev?" Chrysalis said, looking at Rainbow Dash. "Since when?" "That is not something I will answer now. We are not friends, Queen Chrysalis," Rainbow told her. "You quite emphatically declined Starlight's offer of friendship when I last saw you and regard her as an enemy. Starlight is one of my fledglings, and I will take care of her as one of my pack. That means you will not be given privileged information for the time being." "'For the time being'?" Chrysalis repeated as a question. She was very interested at those last few words. "Do you wish to consider friendship again?" Rainbow offered though her voice remained stern. Chrysalis quietly sneered. "Not especially though I'm aware master mevs make for powerful allies." "Is that a 'no'?" Rainbow asked. Chrysalis' face twitched. "I want your power, Master Rainbow Dash. Call it 'friendship' if you like, but I don't want to be friends with her," Chrysalis said the last word with notable disgust and gestured at Starlight Glimmer. Rainbow looked from Chrysalis to Starlight, back to Chrysalis again. "That's a pity," the master mev said. "Starlight's a powerful ally to have too, and she didn't have to be turned into a vampire for that." The other mevs all chuckled together at that. Chrysalis merely looked away with annoyance. "Twilight, how about you and the girls go on without me," Rainbow suggested without taking her eyes off Chrysalis. "At least one of us should stay with you," Twilight suggested in turn. "I'll do it," Starlight quickly offered. Chrysalis growled. The other mevs giggled and began to depart in agreement nonetheless. Twilight whispered their destination to Starlight, who nodded in acknowledgment. Soon, the other girls were gone. Rainbow Dash walked over to the desk where Twilight had set the mane hairs down. She tenderly placed them in an envelope and sat at Twilight's desk. Chrysalis eyed her, then Starlight, and remained silent. "Why don't we start with you telling us what you were planning to do with our hair?" Rainbow proposed, pushing the envelope into focus on the desk. "I'd rather not, my friend," Chrysalis replied with sharp sarcasm for the last part. "Friendship requires compromise," Rainbow said with a sly smile, gesturing a forelimb up as if of course they all knew that. "Make me," Chrysalis challenged and closed her eyes with a smile of her own. Rainbow rolled her own magenta eyes. "Then just tell me what you want of my power." "I want to take over Equestria," Chrysalis said with a fanged smile, still keeping her eyes closed. Rainbow leaned back and thoughtfully tapped a hoof to her chin in contemplation. "And how would your subjects fare under such a rule?" Chrysalis helplessly blinked and looked at Rainbow Dash in confusion. That was definitely not the response she expected. Two red eyes peered back at her, and Chrysalis suddenly felt the enchantment hold her. "What were you planning to do with our hair?" Rainbow repeated her question from earlier in a slightly more demanding tone. "I have a spell that can make copies of ponies. I wanted copies of each you to find and use the Elements of Harmony so that I can destroy you all and then create a new hive of earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns," Chrysalis admitted. Rainbow was very interested at this information, but she hid it well, focusing on maintaining her enchantment. "How were you going to make these copies?" she inquired further. "The spell requires a picture, a piece of the pony, and their cutie mark on a tree. From there, I can blast my magic to convert some of the tree essence into a pony," Chrysalis explained. The enchantment deactivated, and the changeling queen shook it off, looking down at the floor quietly, ashamed of herself for being taken in so easily. "Copies," Rainbow muttered to herself. She rubbed her chin in thought with keen interest. "Master, what are you thinking?" asked a concerned Starlight Glimmer. "I'm thinking I'd like to see that," Rainbow answered truthfully. "What?!" both a startled Chrysalis and Starlight asked at the same time. "Is it really so surprising?" Rainbow responded to them. "It's advanced magic. Part of my job to manage this stuff." Then her voice became hungry and wicked as she added, "Honestly, they sound positively delicious." Her magenta eyes flashed red too. The Master Mev licked her lips and closed those eyes with a smile. "Oh, of course," Starlight blushed at how easily she forgot that her master might feed in some way from such magic. "You think you can eat my copies?" Chrysalis asked aghast with a hint of disgust. "It's what I do," Rainbow reminded her with a proud smile. "I wouldn't even need to ask permission for eating during the day—because they're mine, based on my fledglings." Her eyes turned red again. She held out her forelimbs to grab at the invisible idea of having such beings in her clutches and cackled evilly. "Want to feed me?" She raised her eyebrows twice over to prod the idea along, keeping her eyes in their red color. Chrysalis was left speechless at first. Her mouth moved as if she were about to speak, but the words were beyond her. Despite all the warnings from ages past of what master mevs were like, seeing it live was a different matter entirely. Reluctantly, she met eyes with Starlight Glimmer in hopes the unicorn could guide her on what to even do in response. "You could just say no," Starlight reminded her. "Oh, I wouldn't eat them right away," Rainbow assured Chrysalis, as if that would be a comfort. "I'm curious to see them too. Would they be different? How different? Little details, like if their personalities differ since they will be born from you—and us. And really, I should know if copies are a threat to the Tree of Harmony." Chrysalis swallowed and weighed her options. The more she thought about it, the more obvious it was to simply go through with the whole thing. She had a chance of fulfilling her evil plan and already knew the mev's intentions for this process. "Very well," she agreed with a sly smile. Rainbow loudly clapped her front hooves together, most pleased. "Let's do this." She grabbed the envelope with the hairs of her fledglings and instructed Starlight to teleport the three of them over to meet with the others.