This was it. This was the last day of Chrysalis as part of Twilight's experiment. And as soon as it was over, the Queen would be free to do whatever she wanted, Master of her destiny and actions, whatever they may be.
But that would have to wait until tomorrow.
Today she was still bound to fulfill her part of the deal she had established with Twilight Sparkle so long ago; and that meant spending at least a day with the last of the members of the Elements of Harmony.
Inside the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner, a bakery and confectionery whose appearance, with a roof resembling baked cookie dough decorated with whip cream topped with a cupcake, no longer impressed or bothered Chrysalis, finally accustomed to such eccentric pony architecture (or at least that's what the Changeling Queen swears); Pinkie moved excitedly and animatedly everywhere, collecting ingredients and kitchen utensils from the shelves, drawers and cupboard, the pink pony moved so fast that there seemed to be five of her at the same time.
Just like in many of her interactions with the other friends of the Princess of Friendship, once this meeting could not be postponed any longer, Pinkie had asked the Queen to help her with the preparations for the big party she's been working all these days and that it would finally be celebrated that same day; which involved, at that time, preparing the cake, cupcakes and other snacks that would be served.
In the middle of the kitchen, at the work island, Chrysalis finished stirring the mixture in a large bowl, moving on to flatten the resulting dough with a rolling pin. Thanks to Twilight's warnings, the earth pony's preternatural behavior and abilities did not faze her as they would normaly do to any creature that witness them for the first time; But what did end up surprising her was seeing that Pinkie, somehow, had gotten a Queen-sized tablecloth and chef's hat, getting Chrysalis to put them on, but only when the pony modified the hat to make it resemble her crown; how she had achieved this was, also, a mystery in which Chrysalis did not indulge her curiosity. The fact that the tablecloth had "Obey the Cook Queen" written on it was considered a great touch and the only reason why the Changeling Queen agreed to put it up.
"You know, Queenie C., of all the things I thought you could do -good at disguising, liar, singer, love thief, actress, etc.- I never imagined you could cook too," Pinkie says while decorating a tray of cupcakes with pastry cream, so fast that at first glance it seemed to have been all done in a single movement. Noticing that a hint of cream was left inside the piping bag, Pinkie places the tip inside her mouth and sucks the contents out.
"Don't be surprised, Pink One," the Queen responds, proud of all those compliments, parts of her body white stained with flour. Chrysalis knew her name was Pinkie Pie -Twilight had made sure to drill that knowledge into her head multiple times, and on all those occasions the Queen had thrown that notion away, refusing to call the Element of Laughter by any of her ridiculous names, choosing instead to refer to her simply as 'Pony' or 'the Pink One'. She considered it a fair trade as long as the hyperactive pony remained stubborn in using pet names forms out of her royal title to refer to her.
Mixing more ingredients, ready to make a new mixture, the Changeling Queen continues: "It is true that for us, Changelings, your pony food carries little importance, but anyling who value his infiltrations skills should, at the very least, know how to prepare your average daisy sandwiches, to keep appearances. And I myself have took the role of a chef of high renowned cuisine skills. You would be surprised how little attention creatures pay to the large amount of valuable information that comes out of their mouths when they are more distracted by the type of food that goes into theirs."
"Tell me about it! My friends always ask me how I know of a lot of stuff of a lot of ponies; well, that's how!" Pinkie answers back, now decorating the cupcakes with colorful sprinkles.
"Have you ever heard the phrase: 'The way to somepony's heart is through their stomach'?"
"Yeah."
"That was us."
"Really!"
"Well, originally we just said 'Happy heart, fully belly', but the meaning is the same."
Suddenly, and at the sound of a small wooden pony dressed as a chef hitting a small metal triangle, coming from a clock hanging on the wall, Pinkie jumps up in alarm.
"What's wrong?" the Queen asks, not so much keeping her calm and more not caring much about whatever it was that had generated such a reaction in the pink pony.
"I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" Pinkie exclaims worriedly, having taken out an overgrow pocket watch from a pocket that apparently existed in the middle of her barrel, pushing it very close to the Queen's face, pointing at its hands. Once she let it go, the watch springs back into said pocket, which vanishes without leaving a trace of its existence.
"The guests must already be arriving and I needed to go to the place where the event will be and arrange the decorations and the tables. I won't be long, I'll ask you to finish preparing the best cake you can, and I will return as soon as possible so we can take it and the rest of the food to the party." Pinkie concluded, speeding out of the door, leaving the Queen alone in the kitchen.
So, I am all alone and in charge of making this the best cake ever? Thought Chrysalis unamused.
Then she got an Idea! An awful idea! The Queen got a wonderful, awful idea.
With an impish smile, a toothy smile, a smile that with every inch it grew showed more teeth than had the right to exist in that mouth, Chrysalis speed her work.
If this was going to be her last day living among the ponies, she was going to go with a bang! She would make the best cake ever. The greatest of cakes. The loveliest cake of all. A cake to die for. A cake that none of the guests who taste it could forget it for the rest of their life.
A few more jingles from the pony chef who lived in the clock, Pinkie walks back into the kitchen, surprised to see the finished cake. A massive 3 level cake with a creamy pink coating and several multi color cream decorations. Right next to the cake, the Queen show herself very proud of her work.
Placing the cake and the rest of the confectionery on a cart, Pinkie and Chrysalis walk in the direction of the place where the party is supposed to be held, arriving at their destination in no time.
"Could you wait out here?" Pinkie asks, reaching for the entrance door.
"What, why?" Chrysalis asks back, trying to read the pink pony through her emotions, but since she was able to measure her carefully, back on the island, the only thing this Pony emanated was a sugary happiness that the Queen was sure couldn't be healthy for her system.
"Dah! If you enter without prior notice the party could get ruined. I need to warn the guests inside that Queen Chrysalis is here and she's coming in."
This comment slightly hurts Chrysalis' feelings, especially because of her outstanding behavior and patience that she has shown with all the ponies of Ponyville just to keep her end of the bargain with Twilight.
"Very well," Chrysalis says, masking her pain with a show of disinterest. "But hurry! Because if I'm no longer needed, I wish to go to the castle and pack my belongings." If she was going to leave, she thought, she would have to take with her at least the most important of her possessions, her changelogs and what's in them.
Pinkie simply smiles and, somehow, quickly slides in with the cart of food without having to open the door completely, leaving the Queen outside, alone.
Not wanting to get bored, Chrysalis activates her Changeling emotional sensors, to get a sense of what maybe is on the other side of the door, feeling that, for a party that the supposedly best Party Pony Planner in the world had been planning for several days, there were actually very few individuals inside; and while she could only discern positive emotions coming from the inside, all of them were very tame and lukewarm.
"This is not going to be a very animated party," the Queen concludes, feeling insulted that all her effort in cooking those delicacies would apparently be for nothing.
Her musings ended the moment she hear the pink party planner pony screaming: "Ok, everthing is ready, you can come in now," from the inside.
Rolling her eyes, Chrysalis push the door open, and walk inside the building. But something doesn't feel right. She by nature had a great night vision, and yet all she could see inside was pitch darkness.
She recognize this as the result of a spell, a very powerful one at that. But before she could cast one of her own that allowed her to see over the veil of magical darkness, that spell and the one that was also in place to interfere with her emotional sensory senses where canceled and in an instant all of the Queens sences were overloaded with a strong wave of light, colors and emotions, all accompanied by a loud shout of...
"SURPRICE!!!"
...coming from everyone inside.
Taken by surprise and a little scared, the Queen of the Changelings needs a couple of seconds to get off the roof to which her legs had propelled her, reorient herself, regain her composure and be able to see all the guests present.
Under a sign that had obviously received a lot of revisions to avoid being condescending to her, ending with a "Happy 'You proved us that we can live together' party!", there were Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash , Rarity, Applejack, Princesses Celestia and Luna, and obviously, Pinkie Pie, jumping happily from one place to another like a crazy mare, releasing balloons and confetti everywhere, blowing through a little trumpet. Starlight Glimmer and Spike were also there, next to Thorax and Pharynx. Even Apple Blossom and her two friends, whom after the adventure they had in which Chrysalis saved them from a pack of timberwolf when they thought they had accidentally killed the Changeling Queen after they crushed her old carapace (which she had molt that day) with a giant rock, and to hide their crime they entered the Everfree forest to dispose of the corpse, they were present to.
"Chrysalis, are you okay?" Twilight is the first to approach her, to make sure she is okay.
"I'm fine," the Queen answers, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. "What is the meaning of all this?" she asks, confused and still shaking.
"It's a party," the Princess of Friendship responds, and before Chrysalis can growl in annoyance, state that that much was obvious, and demand clarification, Twilight gives it to her: "It's your party, or rather, it's a party for you, to celebrate your success in the experiment!"
"You do remember that the success of my position meant your failure, do you?" Chrysalis deadpanned, not yet understanding the purpose of the celebration.
"That's not entirely true," Twilight responds, taking a civil and cheerful tone. "If you remember correctly, I actually never bet against you, quite the opposite in fact. What I proposed to you was that you can live your life in peace, with us, without the need to change, transform or even go through the metamorphosis if you don't want to, this by only being friendly; and as far as that's concerned, every guest at this party is an irrefutable proof that you were able to do exactly that."
Twilight concluded, standing next to Chrysalis, so that the Queen could see the results of her efforts.
Chrysalis couldn't find words to refute what the Princess of Friendship was saying; It was true that, although she did experience some moments of hunger throughout her stay here, these moments were few and mostly the result of his overexertion in a particular task or her wishes to be alone, but on every occasion in which she needed to feed on love, she did not need to resort to deceptions, lies, subterfuges or to manipulate anyone to achieve it, every time her desire was heard, positive emotions on which to feed were freely given and without reservation to her.
"Bah," Chrysalis groaned as the only way to give credit to the Pony Princess's ideology.
Twilight chuckle in good nature and continued in a slightly downcast tone: "I would have love to have Cadence and my brother here, but they make crystal clear that they didn't want to be part of this, and that, and I quote "We would blast her away if she dare to ever show her face in the Crystal Empire".
"I guess they are still a bit miffed about the wedding incident and the kidnapping, aren't they?"
"Yes, it seems that way. But don't worry, if you really want to mend things with them, I will continue to insist that they give you a chance."
"I will think about it... and thanks in advance," the Queen thanked, unsure of wanting to be alone with that family after that kind of warning.
"You're welcome. Oh, I almost forgot," Twilight said lighting her horn, causing a gift box to appear. "Here's a gift from me."
Curious, Chrysalis immediately tore its wrapping and opened it. It was a chess board. What makes this set special, something the Queen immediately notices, was that the pieces were Changeling in shape, with the queen's pieces an exact replica of her crown.
"I may even give you some lessons to get better at the game, if you promise not to rage quit."
"I promise no such thing," said the Queen with an angry scawl in her face, making Twilight to flinch a little.
"But I promise to try," added Chrysalis with a calm and friendly expression, causing Twilight to release the breath she was holding and to relax from her sudden tension.
"That is what this is all about."
The Queen then approached the other Changelings present, dreading this interaction a little bit more than she would ever admit. The fact that they both wore shirt collars around their necks, with Thorax also wearing a bow tie, did not promise to make the encounter any less awkward.
"If it isn't the 'Bug bros.'," said Chrysalis dryly.
"Chrysa... I mean... Queen Chrysalis..." Thorax stuttered nervously, as nervous as she was, but unable to control his owns. "On behalf of all Changelings of the Hive, we wish for you to have this," said Thorax presenting a beautiful green box to Chrysalis.
Inside it was a doubly terminated pink gem.
"What is this," ask Chrysalis bemused by it. Even before opening the box, she had felt a strong but warm and oddly familiar energy radiating from it.
"We called it 'The Love Crystal'!" exclaim Thorax with pride. "I asked all Changelings in the hive If anyling would like to share some of their love with you…"
"He did," interrupted Pharynx, holding a cup that clearly contains an adulterated version of the drink offered at that party, with an expression that demonstrated his desire to be anywhere else at that moment, remembering all the time he was accompanying his brother, visiting every Changeling in the hive to collect all that love.
"… And we manage to cluster it all together and with it form this gift," Thorax concluded and then added more warmly. "So, if you ever feel low on love, you could absorb some out of it wherever you find yourself. And... you know... if you ever feel the Crystal is emptied up, you are always welcome back in the hive, and we will make sure to refill it in no time."
Queens didn't cry, but a cheeky drop of salt water from one of her eyes challenged that notion. Finding out that her subjects still had some love for her, even after everything that had happened between them... Chrysalis allowed herself to shed a single tear, but not one more.
Then, after quickly banishing the tear from her face, she moved her eyes towards Pharynx, and then towards what was hanging from her neck... It was a fang, a sharp and pointy one, but not anyone's fang, it was one of the Queen's fangs.
"I told him not to bring it," Thorax said, embarrassed by his older brother's decision.
Chrysalis, for her part, looked Pharynx in the eyes, waiting for some sort of explanation.
"What?" asked Pharynx nonchalant and cocky. "I fought the biggest and toughest Changeling of them all and survived... I think I deserve a memento of that."
The Queen was not amused.
"But..." Pharynx continues, his tone most humble and sincere, with a tinge of pride. "It is also a reminder of what I need to be. A sharp fang that must protect the Changeling kingdom and everyling on it."
The purse lips of the Queen ark in a small proud smile and nod in approval.
"Well, if you two excuse me, it seems I need to talk with someone else. Pharynx, your Highness."
And with that, Queen Chrysalis left them to themselves and move to speak with other guests.
Thorax was never a Changeling who knew how to deal well with compliments, much less being called ‘Your Majesty’, or ‘Sire’, or anything else that has a royal connotation to it, but in those moments, before the recognition granted by the Queen, the leader of the Changelings shine with emotion, huging his older brother with a powerful chitin crushing hug.
Chrysalis approaches the drinks and snacks table, where she saw Applejack and Rainbow Dash arguing.
The cowgirl pony ignores more of the pegasus' complaints and stretches her forleg in the direction of her multicolored-maned friend, with her hat down on her hoof demanding something.
Chrysalis reaches them in time to see Rainbow Dash, annoyed, droping a large sum of bits into Applejack's hat, who once full returns it back to her head without a single coin falling nor appearing to feel the extra weight on her head.
Once the deal was done, Applejack turned to see the approaching Queen, who had a surprised expression on her face.
"I thought you said you bet against me?" Chrysalis asks, curious for an honest answer.
"And as I also told you, I can lie. And it seems I'm good enough at it to be able to fool even the Changeling Queen," Applejack responds with a cowpony smile, raising her cup of apple cider in a mock toast.
The Queen raises her eyebrows and almost smiles (but only almost) in pleasant surprise and nods her head in recognition of the Element of Honesty lying skills.
Then, frowning, Chrysalis turns to see who, by extrapolation, was the one who actually bet against her.
The cyan mare shrinks down under the accusatory gaze of the Changeling Queen, that shows a combination of annoyance, indignation and a desire for an explanation.
"In my defense," Rainbow Dash begins with her forlegs raised defensively. "I made that bet the same day you and Twilight left those ruins and she explained her plan to us, long before I knew you could actually do it." And then she pulled out a box from under her right wing, offering it to her. "And to show that I now believe in you, I want you to have this."
Intrigued by what the speedster was giving her, Chrysalis opens the box and gasps at the sight of its contents.
Below a framed photo of the Wonderbolt Fast Flame lay a laureate golden sun with the image of a winged bolt in the middle, with the word 'VALOR' above it attached to a ribbon.
"My... medal... But how?" Chrysalis asks, still stunned.
"It's actually a replica," Rainbow Dash confess, laughing a little awkwardly, but quickly regains her cool. "Well, you know, I had to do some digging through the Wonderbolts archives and warehouses, grant and ask in some favors here and there. But when you are as cool as I am you get what you want," concluded the humble pegasus, now presenting a poster. "The original will soon be exhibited and preserved at the Museum of Equestria History, in Canterlot, in a large exhibition dedicated to the history of the Wonderbolts; so if you want to go see the real deal, we can go whenever you want," and then added: "But I also thought it would be nice if you at least had something you could hold on to, so that you always remember the great good that you are capable of doing for your fellow creatures."
"WOW, Rainbow, I didn't know you had the know hows to be so eloquent," whistle Applejack a little -but truly- amazed.
"Hey, cut me some slack, will ya?" Rainbow Dash said with his cheeks sporting a red tint, playfully nudging Applejack.
"I will treasure it," Chrysalis thanked.
"Enjoying your party?" Starlight Glimmer asked, being the next to approach her.
"I...can't say I quite do," the Queen said, feeling a little uncomfortable. "I'm not used to this kind of situation, to being the center of attention."
"Not without a mask on or being the one pulling the strings, right?"
"What? No, that is not...!"
"Calm down," Starlight said after seeing Chrysalis's discomfort and defensiveness at being read and called out with such easiness. "Yes, it's normal to feel that way. To feel like it's an environment where you think you don't belong, or because you think you don't deserve it. And then you start to think that you would be more comfortable in a dark room, all alone, wallowing in hatred for those who ruined your plans, working on their imminent doom at your hooves, isn't it?"
The Queen said nothing, raising her eyebrows in surprise and expectation to see where this mare was going with those accurate words.
"I have a gift for you," said the lilac unicorn after appreciating Chrysalis's expression for a few seconds and saving it forever in her memory.
Using her magic, Starlight takes the gift box out of her saddlebag and hoofs it to her.
"A quill and a notebook?" Chrysalis asks truly confused.
"Yes. So whenever you feel overwhelmed by all this atmosphere of happiness, joy, peace and friendship and have the desire to go back to the good old villainous days, find a healthy outlet for it by writing whatever comes to your mind, whether it's an evil speech or a passionate threat, a brilliant plan to defeat your enemies or some scheme to take over the world. In the short time I've been living with Twilight and the rest of our friends, here in Ponyville, I've already completed five like this."
"Braggin much?" retorted the Queen with a laugh, accepting the gifts, taking them with her magical aura.
"A little bit," said Starlight with a friendly smile. She then gestured for the Queen to get closer and in sotto voice added, "Just, be fully open about it with your friends or keep it well hidden where no one else can find it. That is, if you want to avoid an awkward situation explaining whatever the contents of that notebook is, follow it by a stern lecture," Starlight concluded with an expression that revealed that she spoke from experience.
"Spike, right?"
"Spike," Starlight nodded.
Chrysalis nodded to, making sure to keep that gift safe.
Following up, Princesses Celestia and Luna approached together Queen Chrysalis.
"This is a lovely party, don't you think, sister?" Celestia asked.
"I think so to, sister," Luna agreed, looking around, appreciating the scene and the atmosphere.
"Yes, the pink *cough, *cough* Pinkie..." Chrysalis began, correcting herself in time, showing how difficult it was for her to use the name of the Element of Laughter with a straight face. "... did a splendid job arranging this party."
"It's true that Pinkie is the best at party planning, and she may have chosen the venue and worked with the food and decorations, but if the most important thing about a party, which is the guests, are here, that's all yours."
"Indeed, no matter how talented Pinkie is at preparing parties, if you hadn't managed to create any friendship, this would have ended up as a very sad party," the Princess of the Night seconded her counterpart of the day.
"I don't think I did anything special," Chrysalis replied, trying to contain a slight blush.
"That's the beautiful thing about friendship," the Princess of Friendship chimed in, joining the conversation. "You don't need to do anything special to win it over and make it grow. You just need to be understanding, tolerant, show that you care, and above all, trust in those that you wish to befriend."
"And speaking of trust," Celestia took up the word.
A small chest floating in a dark blue aura appeared in front of Chrysalis.
"We also brought a present for you," Luna finished.
Chrysalis took the chest and opened it with her magic, curious to know what gift the Princesses brought her. Inside were some stone fragments of dark green tones; Surprised, the Queen recognized them immediately, how could she not, if they were emanating her own magical signature, her own essence.
"My throne! These are fragments of my throne. I thought my throne was gone and its remains completely destroyed."
"While it is true that your throne as a whole is no more, we managed to save some fragments of it..."
"And while our captain chose to use them to fortify the magical defenses of our castle..."
"We saved a small portion of them, and my sister and I think you would appreciate having them with you."
"I... thank you both," the Queen thanked, closing and putting away the chest. "If I'm going to be honest, knowing that you two will keep your mouths shut would have been gift enough," Chrysalis added in a tone that was devoid of humor, addressing the royal sisters.
"Hey, that's not a nice thing to say!" Twilight chided her in a serious tone.
To her confusion, both Celestia and Luna began to laugh. Celestia was the one who gave her the answer.
"You don't have to worry, Twilight. We choose to believe that what the Queen meant to say is that she values greatly knowing that she can confide in us safely; isn't that correct, Queen Chrysalis?"
Chrysalis pursed her lips and looked to the side, trying to control the blush that was once again trying to appear on her face.
Rarity came next, clearing her throat to get the attention of all the guests.
"May I have your attention, please?" she hummed, directing their gaze to a small, curtained circular podium, which was being carried with great effort to the center of the room by her younger sister, Sweetie Belle, and her two friends.
When Rarity felt that she had gained everypony's rapt attention (and her three little assistants had finally recovered from their strenuous task and had left in the direction of the snack table muttering some complaints), she opened the curtains, revealing a dress, but not a common one, it was THE dress she had been working on since the day they spent together. It had to be, there was no other way, Chrysalis could see all of her suggestions manifested in that work of textile art.
Placed on a featureless queen-sized mannequin, one could see an ostentatious gown with a high collar (to adorn those with long necks) and short sleeves (to leave the holes in her forelegs visible and exposed), mixing the ragged appearance of the wings and the holes in her legs with the color of her carapace and eyes to form its appearance.
"Well? What do you think?" Rarity asked, proud of her work.
"It's beautiful," Chrysalis mused perplexed, admiring it, not being able to register the other signs of admiration for the dress coming from the rest of the guests.
Although Chrysalis could truly appreciate the dress, deep down she couldn't imagine herself wearing it, still feeling apprehensive at the concept of wearing clothes for the sake of wearing them, especially in her true form, much less such an elegant and eye-catching dress like that.
"I... I don't think there's any way I could pay you," she may not have known about clothes or how they were made, but she wasn't blind to the time and effort the unicorn fashionista had put into its making.
"It's a gift, darling. You don't pay for those," Rarity responded after laughing at that comment, then she got a little closer to the Queen and continued: "But if you ever feel the need to do me a favor, the doors of the Carousel Boutique will always be open if you want to lend your talents to help me with any future project I may be working on."
Continuing with the gift giving, Chrysalis received a Stetson from Applejack and a package of oils and many other products for carapace care from Fluttershy -gift that managed to catch the interest of Thorax and Pharynx as well.
From Pinkie, a neon green long sleve sweater that on the front was a lighter-colored bullseye with the words 'Hug Here' stitched on in black. When they asked Pinkie where she got it from, she only answered that she got it from another fic where Chrysalis reformed. Everyone else exchanged glances, waiting to see if one could pour understanding into Pinkie's words. When no one could come up with an answer, everyone shrugged and rolled with it.
At least I can see myself wearing this sweater on cold days... not in public, of course, Chrysalis thought, appreciating the sweater's functionality over its appearance, placing it with the other gifts.
And finally but not least amazing, an official Queen size CMC cape, from no others than the Cutie Mark Crusaders themselves (to the surprise and curiosity of Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash, who were never made aware of their little sisters 'adventure' with the Changeling Queen in the Everfree forest).
As time passed, mostly used for party games in which Chrysalis chose to participate merely as an observer; except in the game of Twister, where she agreed to be the one who turned the arrow on the board of colors and limbs, and a karaoke session, where the Queen demonstrated what a creature that has perfect control of its vocal cords can do, Pinkie announced that It was time to cut and share the cake.
With all the guests served with a slice of cake, Chrysalis couldn't help but look extremely eager to see everyone eating even a small bite of it.
"Pinky, this may be the most delicious cake I've ever had, you've really outdone yourself this time," Twilight praises her, as everyone else expressed their agreement, placidly savoring the cake, some ready to take another slice.
"Ah, that's very nice of you to say, Twilight," Pinkie replied, tossing her second slice of cake into the air, catching it with her mouth as it fell. As she finished savoring, chewing and finally swallowing it, she clarified: "But I didn't make this cake, Queen Chrysalis is the one who made it."
"Wow's!" and other expressions of surprise among the guests followed that revelation.
"If that is true, then, Chrysalis, I insist you have to share your recipe with us, this cake is just delectably wonderful," Rarity said, taking a generous bite of her slice of cake floating on her fork.
"I agree with Rarity," Rainbow Dash added, moving a large piece of cake around the inside of her mouth, trying to recognize the flavor but the answer eluded her. "It has a sweetness that I cannot figure out."
"I just follow the instructions on Pinkie's cook book," Chrysalis responded with a shrug, also nibbling on her piece of cake. "But if you really want to know how it tastes so good, the secret ingredient is love."
"Dawwwwww!" came from all the ponies at the party, and small gagging noises from a certain rainbow color mane pegasi.
"That's so sweet coming from you Chrysalis, and I guess we have to accept it if you want to keep the recipe a secret," Twilight said, admiring this sweeter, gentler and friendlier side of the Changeling Queen.
"No, she's telling the truth," Pharynx interjected. "Just look," he then proceeds to chew a large piece of another slice of cake, and after a couple of seconds of chewing it loudly, he expelled a fine pink mist from his mouth.
"Oh, Pharynx, that is so disgusting," his brother Thorax admonished. "We're not larvae anymore, don't go around showing what you just ate."
Pharynx ignored his brother and inhaled the mist back and licked his lips with his tongue, just to show how much he had enjoyed it.
"Oh, this is good love. It almost makes me regret that we don't need to eat it in this way anymore."
"Wait! You can put love -like, literal LOVE- in food? How?" Twilight asked, her curiosity outweighing that part of her that really didn't want to know the answer to that question, afraid to find out that she already knows what the answer is.
"You know how bees make honey, don't you? We Changelings can do something a bit like that," said the Queen.
Given that response, some plates still containing cake were promptly dropped on the table while their owners, disgusted and nauseated, ran desperately in search of a place to regurgitate the cake they now regretted having eaten; real gagging noises could be heard coming from everywhere all around.
Among the invited ponies, only Pinkie Pie didn't seem fazed by this, continuing to enjoy her slice of cake. Celestía and Luna, began to chew slowly, looking at the pieces of cake that lay on their plates, considering whether they should stop or not, but once they realized that this was still far from being the strangest thing they had ever tried and that, over all, it actually tasted pretty good, they continued enjoying the cake.
Spike just shrugged, he wasn't all that upset by this revelation either, and continued eating the cake.
When the party was finally over, Pharynx and Thorax were the ones who gladly took the rest of the uneaten cake back to the Hive.