“What was up with last night?” Spike asked when Twilight finally came down the next morning. He noticed her absence when he ate the previous night, and she'd beaten him to bed, which was extraordinarily off behavior for her. He got some initial entertainment from coming down to see Chrysalis engaged in an argument with Owlowiscious (which the owl was undoubtedly winning), but his concern would not abate even then.
"Don't worry about it," the unicorn replied. "I just... had a lot on my mind."
Spike took this to mean it was related in some way to the wounded changeling currently losing a shouting match with the night assistant. That was understandable, given everything that happened the first time she appeared in Equestria.
Spike never really got to see much of what Twilight and her friends had gotten up to once the invasion started, but he spent plenty of time trapped in the throne room where the crashed wedding was being held, and he'd seen more of the queen than most of the others. She'd certainly seemed malicious at first, but there were fleeting moments that had made him question just how much of her actions were driven by malice. The laugh she loosed after singing what must have been a reprise to a song nopony in that room had heard prior... it almost seemed gleeful, like it was all just a quaint little plan coming together. Like she was on a mission, nothing more, and she was pleased by its accomplishment.
Then she'd come to the library, and he'd seen Twilight fighting with Fluttershy to get another shot at her. Granted, there was no way Twilight would attack just anypony like that, and the Cadance disguise Chrysalis used for the wedding made it personal for her, but the sight of the changeling queen curled up in a corner, clutching a fresh injury and fearing for her safety, had only served to summon the memories of those less villainous moments he observed. Even now, he questioned whether Chrysalis even knew of the bride's relation to her, or anything about the groom's family, at the time of the infiltration.
Actually, that sounded like something he should bring up to Twilight, assuming Chrysalis hadn't already! He didn't mind the changeling's company nearly as much as she did, but the tension between them was starting to bother him. If that didn't help alleviate it, he didn't know what would.
"If it's about what—or who—I think it is, then I think—"
"We're not talking about it, Spike," Twilight insisted. "We're not talking about her."
Spike attempted to push the point further, but Twilight turned around and went back up to her room. The subject of their temporary tenant was clearly still a sore one, and he was quickly tiring of their attitude toward each other. He realized that he'd either have to force the issue or try to take the edge off through nonverbal means.
An idea struck him. It seemed like the perfect way to lighten things up around here, and it really felt like everyone needed it. The problem, however, was that the pony he'd have to speak with to arrange anything of the sort was still unaware of Chrysalis' presence in Ponyville. He figured she'd be accepting of the situation and excited to set it up, but as safe as it sounded, he didn't want to take even the remotest risk of putting the changeling queen in danger when he didn't need to.
It was a shame, too. A Pinkie party never fails.
Pinkie Pie hopped gleefully in the direction of the Golden Oak Library, more excited than ever. She'd been disrupted at work by her Pinkie Sense, an achey knee/twitchy tail combo, telling her that she was now twenty-four hours late with greeting somepony new in Ponyville! She hadn't gotten that one in a while, since she was usually incredibly observant when it came to new ponies in Ponyville. She briefly wondered if the new pony was some sort of ninja who managed to sneak by her, but giggled at the general silliness of the idea. Not that it would matter in a few minutes anyway, because she was going to fix this right away!
Soon enough, she was standing outside the library, right where her Pinkie Sense told her the new pony was. She was getting ready to knock on the door when she heard voices from inside.
"The changelings! Must I keep explaining this to you!?"
"Who?"
"Oh, for the love of—"
Pinkie started bouncing in place. That voice fighting with Owlowiscious actually sounded familiar! That meant she was about to see an old friend, which often ended up being more exciting than meeting a new one! She repeatedly slammed her hoof against the door, not even noticing when the door opened and each knock started colliding with Spike's skull.
"Pinkie—ow! What are—gah! You shouldn't—ow! Stop that!"
"Oopsie!" Pinkie exclaimed, ceasing the knocking but not the bouncing. "Sorry, Spike. I just got really excited because my Pinkie Sense told me a new pony came to town and they were staying here! You have to let me in and see!"
Spike hesitated. "I... don't know if she'll be happy about that. I mean, since it's you, I don't see why not, but—" He was cut off abruptly by a pink bullet blasting through the door and into the building, sending him flying into a bookshelf.
Pinkie stopped right in front of the new pony. She took one look at who it was... and gasped loudly, eyes wider than reasonably possible.
Chrysalis was stirred from her argument with the obviously simple-minded bird by the sound of the library door opening violently. For a moment, she observed a pink blur sending Spike flying, but it stopped in front of her to reveal the form of a pony. Specifically, Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter. She was certain of the bubbly earth pony's ability to trust her as the others had. And it seemed obvious that she would need to explain herself now that this obnoxious mare knew she was here. She imagined it would be a relatively swift process.
But then Pinkie gasped, a look of exaggerated shock on her face. Chrysalis suddenly wondered just how well she knew this mare's behavioral patterns. Perhaps she would be more of a wild card than originally anticipated.
As optimistic as she wanted to stay, she now thought that gasp might be a very, very bad sign.
Pinkie couldn't believe her eyes. The new pony wasn't a pony at all. She was a changeling! The queen, even! After all that bad stuff in Canterlot, she was back here in Equestria, and she had no idea why.
This was easily the most awesome and exciting thing to happen to her all week. How could it not be? This would be the first time she'd ever made friends with a changeling! And what better one to start with than their ruler? There was the obvious issue of everything that happened at the royal wedding, but come on! She was staying at the library with Twilight and Spike, so she must have had a serious change of heart!
"Oh my gosh, this is so cool!"
The queen looked thoroughly confused by that remark. "...I'm sorry?"
"It is!" Pinkie began. "I've never made friends with a changeling before! Well, I don't think I've made friends with a changeling before, but if they're in disguise, you can't really tell if it's a changeling, can you? Well, this is the first time I've made friends with a changeling and knew she was a changeling! I can't be the only one who's excited about this right now! You probably haven't met a lot of ponies yet, so this should be a big deal for you too!
"Oh, sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?"
Chrysalis' mind had a difficult time processing the audio assault from the pink pony. How could this much energy fit inside one single living being? If all of that were love, she may as well feast on that energy and never have to eat again! She never thought speech this fast was possible, and it took so much effort just to keep up with it all. Ultimately, though, it was a vain effort, and all she caught was "What's your name?"
"Well..." she said. "I suppose you may call me Chrysalis. I already know you, as well as your closest friends, and to my knowledge, there is now only one I have not encountered since my return to Equestria. It... hasn't been entirely unpleasant. I may even consider Fluttershy a bit of a friend in her own right."
Pinkie immediately perked up at the mention of the word "friend" and the yellow mare's name. "So you are making friends here! It makes me so happy to hear that! I mean, I'm used to being the first pony the new ponies meet, but there's nothing wrong with you meeting other ponies without my help. In fact, now that you've met me, I can help you make even more friends—"
"No!" Chrysalis shouted. "You cannot make my presence here known! If anypony were to discover I was here, what would prevent them from alerting the Royal Guard?"
"Don't be silly!" Pinkie chirped. "You came back to make everything better, didn't you? Why would you be staying with Twilight if you didn't want to make up for everything?"
"You assume that the Guard would be as sympathetic," Chrysalis lamented. "I fear they would apprehend me without a second thought, perhaps even execute me. If salvation is to come to the changeling race, I must—"
"Will you quit yelling?" Twilight complained, descending from her room once again. "Can't I contemplate recent events in peace?"
"Hi, Twilight!" Pinkie greeted, as if oblivious to the conversation she'd been having before. "Why didn't you tell me sooner that Chrysalis was staying here? I'd have had a party set up by—"
"Oh no," Twilight groaned, bringing a hoof to her forehead. "Not you too..."
"Why so surprised?" Chrysalis inquired. "Have I not been courteous enough to earn the trust of the others before her?" And yet, the unicorn still so adamantly refused to help her. The logic of this fact was lost on her. She wondered if the decision was even based in logic anymore.
"And how long did it take you to rope her into this?" Twilight demanded.
"It was instant," Chrysalis replied. "And I did literally nothing. She certainly is an odd one."
"Well, no argument there," Twilight agreed. "But why keep targeting my friends? I thought you only needed me to help you, whether or not you were actually getting the help."
"Help?" Pinkie interjected. "Help with what?"
Chrysalis realized that she had never gotten to the point. Even with this entire exchange she found herself having with Pinkie Pie, she somehow failed to inform her of her purpose for returning to Equestria. She may have gotten close at some point, but the mare was still uninformed. Pinkie truly had a talent for talking...
"Well, I suppose you have a right to know why I'm here. I cannot promise that perpetual smile of yours will remain, however. You see..."
Well, Chrysalis wasn't wrong. By the time the changeling finished speaking, Pinkie was bawling like a foal. How could she not cry about the near-extinction of an entire race? She thought the wedding was supposed to be happy for everypony, but it may as well have been changeling doomsday! Did Shining Armor and Cadance even know what they did with that force field? Basically wiping them all out with the power of love? Suddenly the wedding seemed really dark and depressing instead of happy.
"Well, you were warned," Chrysalis stated, marveling at the exaggerated display. "But I cannot reach out to your princess without the aid of Twilight, and I cannot rely on her aid until she decides I have atoned for my actions. For their sake, I hope I'm close."
"Aw, don't be sad, Chrysalis!" Pinkie exclaimed, the irony and hypocrisy of the statement completely lost on her. "If I know Twilight, and boy do I know Twilight, you'll be un-dooming your subjects in no time! Right, Twilight?" she added, turning to the mare in question.
The smile on her face began to falter, however, when Twilight didn't confirm her assumption right away, and it nearly completely dropped when the reply turned out to be "I really don't know anymore."
“...what?”
Twilight rubbed the back of her neck and sighed, preferring to watch the floor rather than the expressions of those around her. "I mean, I don't know... the changeling's story may be depressing, but that doesn't make up for what she did.
"And... at the same time, I'm demonizing myself by preventing a queen from saving her subjects,” she continued, now starting to pace around the room while still avoiding the gazes of her guests. “I want her to suffer, that much is obvious... but it's getting harder and harder to look at her face and keep that wish alive."
Chrysalis’ expression visibly softened, almost like she was relieved to hear that last part, but Pinkie didn’t have the context needed to understand why that would be. “So this tension may well be at its—”
“You be quiet!” Twilight ordered. "You nearly ruined my brother’s wedding, played with his mind, toyed with everything and everypony I ever loved, and you almost killed my mentor. How am I supposed to just... let you, let the entire changeling race, go on after that!?"
"Twilight!" Pinkie shouted, her joyful demeanor now long gone and given way to distress and confusion.
"Are you going to say I shouldn't be acting like this?” Twilight demanded. “You saw what happened, Pinkie! Princess Celestia was brought down, laughed at! Not only that, but this... thing sat there and watched as Canterlot fell by her hoof!"
"But she's trying to save her subjects!” Pinkie countered, becoming more than a little frightened by her friend’s behavior. “I don’t think you'd say the same thing if Princess Celestia did the same thing and was trying to save Equestria!"
"I would say the same thing if that was happening! If she did what the changelings did... and ruined a wedding just to take over a country... then I'd... I..."
The next few words just stopped in Twilight’s throat. Princess Celestia was her mentor, yet here she was, nearly damning her name in a hypothetical situation! Almost equating her to the changeling queen, the being that actively tried to destroy everything she cared about!
"...I admit, I don't know what I'd do... and it just makes this all that much harder! What do you expect me to do, Pinkie!? So much has happened because of her!"
Wait... because of her? No, Chrysalis didn’t even deserve that much. It. That's all the changeling was good for. Not she, not her, just it! She... the changeling didn't deserve her help. Didn’t even deserve to still be free, to still be alive.
"So much... because... because instead of putting her... its subjects first... this thing put its ambition at the front of everything. This changeling doesn't deserve its royal title."
"What's wrong with you, Twilight!?" Pinkie shouted, apparently distressed for some reason Twilight couldn’t understand.
"A lot!” she responded, her volume raising with every word. “A lot is wrong with me right now, and my friends helping this changeling is only adding onto all the problems! It’s taken every ounce of focus I have to not just blow this thing all the way across Equestria and into the ocean!"
Twilight was stopped in her tracks by a quick and painful smack. Her vision blurred and her left cheek began to burn. She looked to her left, expecting to see a leg filled with holes and two sickeningly green reptilian eyes, but the sight that met her was infinitely worse.
"...Pinkie Pie?"
"Who are you, and what did you do with Twilight?" Pinkie hissed, tears streaming down from her eyes. This wasn't like her at all! Her mane and tail were still puffed up and unruly, nothing like the way they appeared the last time she became depressed... but then, why was she crying? And what was with the slap?
"Pinkie... why would you—"
"Who are you!?” she cried, her voice wavering. “Because you aren't Twilight Sparkle! You aren't my best friend! The Twilight I know wouldn't hurt a fly! Y-you're just... just some impostor!"
Pinkie Pie just called her an impostor. Supported the greatest living threat to Equestria, slapped her across the cheek, and refused to believe the real Twilight could be standing before her. And the sight of the most excitable and happy pony she’d ever known breaking down and sobbing before her... it was all too much.
Right then and there, her mind filled with a single goal, and her horn immediately lit up. The changeling backed away, presumably expecting another special explosive gift with her name written all over it... but it never came. Instead, with a loud crackling noise and a bright flash, Twilight Sparkle vanished from the library, leaving behind an inconsolable friend, a baffled enemy, and an assistant who was only just beginning to regain consciousness.
As Spike started to recover from his recent meeting with the bookshelf nearest the door, Pinkie collapsed, completely distraught and uncontrollably sobbing. To his own shock, his first reaction was disappointment for having missed everything important that had been happening lately. He missed most of the first fight with Twilight, he missed the start of the conversation with Applejack, he wasn’t even around for Chrysalis’ arrival... and now he sat there in a pile of books, looking upon a scene that confused him just as much as those before it.
His next and more rational reaction, however, was to gingerly approach the crying pony and give her a hug. Those seemed to work often enough.
The first meeting to go completely wrong. Chrysalis should have figured it would happen. Granted, her initial encounter with Twilight left her in pain, but much of it had subsided by this point, and she at least avoided arrest and received shelter in the exchange. And in comparison, the meetings with Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack went swimmingly.
Oh, but this. The one encounter she would have thought would go even better than Fluttershy's... this turned out to be an absolute failure. Twilight was more conflicted and unstable than ever, and the most agreeable pony in town was crying in the arms of a baby dragon. Any hope she had that she may speak with Celestia by the next morning died the instant Pinkie Pie began shedding tears. How could this mare with such skill in lightening the mood in a room manage to drag it down as well?
Chrysalis then did the one thing she would not have expected to do in her entire lifetime. She walked over to the weeping pony and attempted to comfort her.
"I'm... sorry for your friend's behavior. I am largely to blame for it. But I can promise you that she will shed this anger and return to normal."
"H-how do you know?" Pinkie asked, though the words seemed to calm her somewhat.
"I do not, honestly," Chrysalis replied. "But I have to hope that she will. I may even have to make it happen myself, and very soon. I cannot imagine how I would go about it, but—"
"Actually, I was just thinking about that earlier this morning!" Spike interjected. "What if we threw a party? It doesn't really matter what it's for, but I don't think anypony can stay sad during a—"
"You're right!" Pinkie shouted, her previous depression somehow vanishing. The sudden shift in mood startled Chrysalis more than the exclamation. "In fact, why don't I make it the welcome party I was about to throw for you, Chrysalis? I have to start setting up right away so I can make Twilight feel better as soon as possible! I'll start setting up balloons and streamers and games all over Sugarcube Corner, and I can start baking the—"
"Hold up, Pinkie," Spike interrupted, blocking Pinkie's mouth while she continued to talk. "We don't want to take Chrysalis around town like this. Plus, she's still hurt, so she probably can't move very far. We should just have it here in the library!"
"You're a genius, Spike!" Pinkie complemented. "I'll head back and get my party cannon right away!" Before anyone could object, the party pony shot out the door, leaving behind a confused changeling and an emotionally exhausted dragon.
"...there's actually something else I was thinking earlier," Spike stated, breaking the silence. "When you took Cadance's place and messed with Shining Armor... did you know how Twilight was related to either of them?"
"No, I did not," Chrysalis answered. It was all she needed to say. In hindsight, it was yet another failing of her initial plan. She'd never accounted for the bride having sat for her or the groom having a sister, and thus never expected her to appear at the wedding or even before it. But no, Twilight had known and was very close to both of them. Looking back, she wondered if she'd done anything right in Canterlot.
"And does she know you didn't know?"
"I assume not," Chrysalis replied. "I will have to tell her when I get the chance. When we see her again, rather. For now... we let her have her space and leave her to her thoughts."
Everypony was turning against her.
It was all so obvious, now that Twilight thought about it. That evil empress wanted to break her completely before corrupting or killing her. It went for her friends first, brainwashing them subtly or tempting them with its words or something. It was building up a force against her, and it was doing so in a way that would protect itself from the power of the Elements of Harmony, or maybe even allow it to try to use them against her.
And to think she almost pitied this creature and its pawns.
But its victory wasn't complete. There was still one friend the thing hadn't touched, one who didn't even know it was here. One she was certain wouldn't be manipulated by this demon and would stay loyal to her no matter what. It never hurt to be sure, though; she would have to make sure she reached her before it did.
And fortunately, she remembered her cloud-walking spell.