Chrysalis stared at the alicorn lying in her bed. Twilight had the blankets pulled up far enough that it nearly covered her face. She lay on her side, her hooves twisted and tangled trying to hug the pillow where her head rested. Her shallow breathing teetered on snoring. To Chrysalis, it reminded her of the days when her young would cuddle up beside her while they slept. She couldn’t help but smile at the patch of purple fur huddled up in front of her.
The sun finally started its ascent over the horizon, spilling sunlight into the room through frozen, dew-soaked windows. Chrysalis closed her eyes, drinking in the moment as she felt the rays warm her back. She wished the moment would last a little longer. But someone would be along soon, searching for the Princess.
At the edge of the bed, Chrysalis lifted the sheets enough to find Twilight’s wings splayed out across the comforter. She searched the wing, looking for a loose feather. Finding one that fit her criteria, she grabbed it in her magic. With a preemptive flinch, she yanked the feather.
“Ow!” Twilight shot up quick enough to send her body tumbling off the edge of the bed. She didn’t stay down for long before jumping up to her hooves, her eyes alert. When she spied Chrysalis standing over the bed still holding the feather, she frowned.
“Good morning,” Chrysalis said, wrinkling her muzzle. “I see you decided to make yourself comfortable in my room last night.”
“Yes,” Twilight said, nodding quickly. She looked at Chrysalis, down at the feather, then back to Chrysalis. “I was having trouble sleeping. I didn’t want to stay in my room by myself. And you told me your door was open, so I thought–”
“That you would sleep in my bed without my permission?” Chrysalis suggested.
“Kind of,” Twilight muttered, her nod less enthusiastic this time.
“Those were not the terms of the deal I provided you.” The changeling wet her lips. “Besides, if you had simply woken me up, then we could have had some real fun.”
“I thought I made it clear that’s not what I’m after,” Twilight said.
“Just the thrill of breaking and entering, then?”
“I’m sorry, okay?” Twilight sighed. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
Chrysalis sighed. “Fine. I suppose I can show you mercy for this transgression. But if I catch you in here again without my knowing, I’ll string you up in a cocoon and hang you from the ceiling like a chandelier.” She leaned in close enough to make Twilight shrink away. “As long as you understand that, then we can get on with our day.”
“Are . . . are you serious?” Twilight asked, glancing upward as if she were imagining it.
Chrysalis leaned in close. “Only one way to find out.”
“O . . . Okay,” Twilight said shakily.
Twilight took a second to make the bed. In her haste, she left a handful of purple threads behind as proof of her crime. When finished, she stepped out into the hallway with Chrysalis in tow. They marched past Twilight’s room, heading upwards toward her lab.
“Any clues as to our agenda for today?” Chrysalis asked as they neared the lab doors. Inside, she went to work reconstructing her nest amidst the storage crates.
“Testing some hypotheses I came up with during my . . . medical leave,” Twilight explained. “Now, can you do me a favor and fetch me that alembic and a few sprigs of that purple plant from the higher shelves?”
Chrysalis looked up from her bed. “Why can’t you get them?”
“Fine. I’ll do it myself, then,” Twilight sighed. She flew up to the shelves in question, gathering half her list of materials before depositing them back at her workstation. It took another two trips to collect the rest.
“What are you doing?” Chrysalis asked, rolling over onto her back. Her newly sprouted wings were too small to help her fly, but too large to make her position comfortable.
“Mixing,” Twilight said without taking her focus off the bottle in her hooves.
“By hoof? That seems a little dangerous, don’t you think?”
“Well, if you’re not going to help me, then I don’t have much of a choice in the matter.” Twilight swished her solution, watching it shift through a rainbow of different colors. “Besides, my magic could contaminate things. So I have to do it manually.”
“That’s a load of crap, Twilight,” Chrysalis smirked as she rose. “You might be able to slip your little lies past your moronic subjects, but I’m not so easily fooled.” The changeling’s eyes narrowed maliciously. “You lost your magic, didn’t you?”
“No.” Twilight turned away, pretending to inspect her ingredients. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Let me get this straight.” Chrysalis rolled upright. “Not only did you break into my room, but you did so without any means of defending yourself?” Chrysalis threw her head back. “Why couldn’t you have been this much of an idiot back when I was trying to kill you?”
Twilight added a drop of purple liquid to the main bottle before hanging on the nearby metal ring. “When you were trying to kill me?” She turned the knob at the instrument’s base, igniting a flame beneath the potion. “Is that implying that you aren’t trying to kill me anymore?”
“Well, I definitely won’t if you’re going to keep making it this easy,” Chrysalis bemoaned, sinking back down into her miniscule fortress. “It’s no fun without the hunt. Well, it’s less fun without the hunt. Hearing you scream might bring a smile to my face.” It took a few seconds for Chrysalis to register what she had said. She glanced at Twilight, who looked nervous. “Oh, calm down. I’m joking.”
“Are you?” Twilight asked, knitting her brow.
“Probably.” Chrysalis plopped her head down on one of her stolen pillows.
In her boredom, she watched Twilight work. Truthfully, it was a sight to behold. Twilight breezed through the instructions, only stopping occasionally to mark down the result or a new theory. Chrysalis couldn’t make heads or tails of most of the things in the lab, but Twilight seemed to know each one’s purpose and inner workings by heart. She moved around her workspace with the same passion and determination that Chrysalis had come to expect from the princess.
Around midday, Twilight’s show came to an abrupt end as she heard a knock at the door.
“Princess Twilight? Are you in there?” The voice of a mare called from outside.
“I’m here. The door’s unlocked,” Twilight shouted back without missing a beat.
The door opened up to reveal a white unicorn. Chrysalis’ mind immediately jumped to Rarity, but the voice didn’t sound familiar. Neither did she recognize the chestnut brown bun atop her head.
“Miss Inkwell?” Twilight asked, setting her current mix on the rack to cook.
“Princess Twilight, I’ve been sent by Princess Cadance to brief you for tomorrow. Have you had a chance to look through any of the documents delivered to you last night?”
“The what?” Twilight asked, blinking twice in rapid succession.
“The documents? They were left on your desk sometime last night.”
“I haven’t been back to my room all night,” Twilight said, her words ringing with nervous energy. “Nor was I told that I was supposed to be briefed. Did something happen?”
“Oh dear.” Inkwell sifted through the stack of papers on her clipboard. “Yes. Due to the condition of Princesses Celestia and Luna, you will be attending the Royal Courts tomorrow morning.”
“I’m doing what now?” The color drained from Twilight’s face.
“The Royal Courts?” Inkwell repeated. “They require a princess to oversee them. And that’s you.”
“What about Cadance?” Twilight asked.
“Princess Cadance will also be in attendance. However, we have received several complaints from the Noble Houses about . . .” She flipped to another page in the stack. “About possible conflicts due to her title as a foreign leader.”
“Conflicts of interest? Seriously?” Twilight scoffed. “She was an Equestrian princess long before I was.”
“True. But now she rules the Crystal Empire. Seeing as it is not legally a part of Equestria, some of the nobles believe it is in the best interest of the country to have an Equestrian Princess on the throne during Court sessions.” Inkwell let her pages drop back onto her clipboard. “But, it seems you weren’t informed of this decision.”
“What about Prince Blueblood? He counts as Equestrian royalty, doesn’t he?” Twilight asked desperately.
For the first time, Inkwell’s face dropped her neutral expression. She stared at Twilight with narrowed eyes. “Prince Blueblood has been away from Equestria on one of his vacations for nearly a month now. Even if we could contact him . . .”
“Yeah. Bad idea.” Twilight shook her head. “Fine. I guess I’m not being given a choice.”
Inkwell shrugged.
“That’s what I thought,” Twilight said. “Alright. Fine.” She returned to her desk, turning off the flame and cataloging her potion. As she and Inkwell moved toward the door, Chrysalis cleared her throat.
“And what exactly am I supposed to be doing?” She asked, annoyed.
“Oh, right. Guards.” Twilight greeted her soldiers by nodding toward Chrysalis. “Would you please escort Chrysalis back to her room? I would also ask that you attend to any needs she might have while I’m gone.” Without a moment’s hesitation, the two soldiers moved toward Chrysalis. Behind them, Twilight and Inkwell marched out into the hall.
Chrysalis growled at the two soldiers as they approached, her stance wide and head low. They gripped their spears tight as they inched closer.
“That’s enough, Chrysalis.” Both Chrysalis and her guards turned toward the voice. Cadance stood in the doorway, watching the scene with a cocked brow. “They’re trying to help you, there’s no need to be so hostile.”
“Princess Cadance!” One of the guards shot straight as an arrow. “Don’t worry, Princess. We’ll handle this.”
“If you mean that, then you probably shouldn’t have turned your back on her.”
The two guards only had a moment to be surprised before being knocked aside by Chrysalis’ overwhelming size. Their weapons clattered away as they stumbled. The changeling only scoffed as she marched past the soldiers, the lab, and even Cadance.
The princess motioned for the guards to ease up before she followed Chrysalis out.
“What do you want, Cadance?” Chrysalis asked, not bothering to slow her pace.
“I was coming up to visit Twilight. In fact, I just passed her in the hallway. She tasked me with taking care of you while she’s busy with her preparation for tomorrow. So, for the next eight hours, it’s just going to be you and me.”
Chrysalis groaned. “And here I thought I’d avoided the torture.”
Cadence turned away to hide the smirk on her face.
The two of them fell silent as they traversed the hallways. Chrysalis kept her eyes forward, her head high. Unfortunately for her, her confident swagger was undone by the stiff movement of her wooden leg. Her hindered movement also allowed Cadance to easily keep up.
“Stop staring at it,” Chrysalis snapped.
Cadance jumped. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to, I just--”
“Don’t lie to me, Cadance. I’m a changeling, I know exactly how you feel,” Chrysalis said. Truthfully, she could barely read Cadance’s aura. Between her overwhelming love power and Chrysalis’ weakened senses, she couldn’t begin to guess how Cadance felt.
“Look, just because we were enemies before . . .”
“Were? We still are. What is it with you ponies? I agree not to kill you, and you just assume that means I want to be your friend.” She rolled her eyes, but lacked the ability to storm off in a huff. “It’s annoying.”
Cadance opened her mouth to retort, but seemed to think better of it.
With Chrysalis’ reduced speed, it took twice as long for her to make it back to her bedroom. The two guards with them returned to their posts on either side of her door as Cadance followed the changeling inside. Chrysalis stopped in the middle of her room. Cadance stopped only a few steps behind.
“What do you want?” Chrysalis spat.
“I told you.” Cadance stepped forward. “Twilight wanted me to watch over you while she’s busy--”
“And I’m sure you just jumped at the opportunity to foalsit me, didn’t you?”
Cadance gasped. “And what is that supposed to mean?”
“You love this, don’t you?” Chrysalis stepped forward, forcing Cadance to back off. “Doesn’t it just warm your heart to see me powerless? Helpless? To know that the only reason I’m still alive is because you want it that way?”
“I never--”
“Drop the act, Cadance.” Chrysalis took another step. Cadance didn’t. “I couldn’t care less about your holier-than-thou lecture. Somewhere deep in your heart, you’re ecstatic watching me suffer.”
Cadance opened her mouth, ready to refute. But she hesitated. “Fine. You want me to admit it? Then I will.” Chrysalis scoffed and turned her back on the princess. “You ruined my wedding, you attacked my family, and you made me paranoid and afraid. So, yeah, I do get a bit of satisfaction from watching this.”
Chrysalis chuckled humorlessly. “You ponies disgust me. I might be a monster, but at least I have the decency to admit it.”
The princess sighed. “But how I feel doesn’t matter.”
“Oh, don’t you start--”
“I hate you, Chrysalis. I won’t lie about that. But Twilight has faith in you. Twilight believes in you. And I believe in Twilight. She’s done things I never would have imagined possible. She might even be able to change you.”
“I’ll be happy to disappoint you,” Chrysalis said.
“The point is, I’m not doing this for your sake. I’m doing it for my sister.” Cadance ended her rant with a stomp.
With a sigh, Chrysalis shook her head. “Unbelievable. Just go. Leave me be.”
“I can’t do that. Twilight told me you need to feed.” Cadance turned her back to the changeling. She didn’t bother looking back. Chrysalis could only watch, enraged by the slight. “We’re going to see Thorax.”
Chrysalis relented. “Fine. If it will keep you from spending the rest of the day bothering me, then let’s get it over with.” She followed the princess out of the room. The two guards moved to join them, but Cadance waved them off with a flick of her hoof. They shared a confused glance, but settled back into their post.
“Why are you so resistant to the idea of working with us?” Cadance asked, once the guards were out of earshot.
“Because I hate you,” Chrysalis said. “I thought I made that fairly obvious.”
“I’m not sure I believe that.” Cadance slowed her steps to make sure the wounded changeling didn’t fall too far behind. “If you did, you would have killed that guard. So why didn’t you kill him?”
“I was proving a point.” The damaged hallway drew Chrysalis’ attention from the conversation. “But if you prefer that I not show mercy to such inferior creatures, I would be more than happy to correct my mistake.”
“You’re dodging the question, Chrysalis,” Cadance noted.
“And you’re annoying,” came Chrysalis’ retort.
The two settled into a thick silence as they completed the last leg of their journey and arrived at Thorax’s door. Cadance knocked with the edge of her hoof, producing a series of hollow thuds from the door.
“Hold on. I’ll be ready in a moment,” Thorax called from inside.
Cadance returned to Chrysalis’ side. The two of them watched one another from the corners of their eyes. As the silence dragged on, Chrysalis started tapping her hoof. When that ceased to satisfy her boredom, she clicked her tongue in a strange and unmelodic tune.
“We don’t have to hate each other, you know?” Cadance inspected her polished shoes.
Chrysalis scoffed. “Ponies hate me. I hate ponies. That’s just the way things are.”
Cadance pursed her lips. “You don’t hate Twilight.”
A pulse of frustration rushed through Chrysalis, causing her to clench her teeth. “Right. That’s enough of this.” Before Cadance could intervene, Chrysalis turned the handle, threw open the door, and slammed it shut, leaving the princess outside.