Chrysalis took a small step towards Rainbow Dash, "Please, your love you have for Twilight is strong enough to save my children; without it, they'll die, and-" she stopped at a catch in her throat, shook her head slowly and finished, "I don't want to lose them."
Rainbow was conflicted, to say the least. She hated Chrysalis with a passion, but here she was, begging practically on her knees for help. And was she the kind of pony who would let innocent changelings die? But, but they're changelings! But they were innocent. She just didn't know what to do.
"And if you won't do it for them," Chrysalis added, taking another small step towards her, "Do it for me."
Rainbow took a step back, "What are you saying?" she asked, outrageously confused.
"When I was pretending to be Twilight," Chrysalis explained, "The way you were acting-your...kindness, your loyalty...your love," she held Rainbow's gaze, wiping away tears, "I-I didn't want to just consume it, I wanted to...to..."
Rainbow eyed Chrysalis warily. She was sniffing and sniveling; her chin was trembling. What's your game?
Chrysalis suddenly lunged forward and planted a kiss on Rainbow's unsuspecting lips. She stiffened in surprise, but oddly enough, did not back away.
Chrysalis held her lips for a moment, until finally she slowly let go and backed away, "I wanted to feel it," she finished. Tears were now streaming freely down her face, "I'm sorry if I hurt you."
Rainbow Dash did not react for a few moments. Her face betrayed no emotion.
Chrysalis sunk her head low, "I understand," she said, and turned to leave, "I'll go die somewhere now."
Rainbow suddenly caught her hoof, stopping her.
Chrysalis turned back, "Rainbow..."
She was looking into her eyes intently. She pulled Chrysalis closer and put a hoof on each side of her face. Chrysalis blushed. "I'm only doing this to save your children," she clarified, and then kissed her back.
Chrysalis kissed her as well, and for several moments the two held each other there in a warm, slightly awkward embrace.
Twilight walked down the pathway leading away from her house, looking high and low for Rainbow Dash. She dearly hoped that Dash hadn't gone overboard in hiding the sphere, knowing that she had a tendency to do that. Plus, she just wanted to spend time with her, to make sure whether or not Rainbow was romantically interested in her. Whether she felt the same way remained to be seen.
She passed by Fluttershy's Nursery, Rainbow Dash and Chrysalis having a confrontation, there was the Apple's Apple farm.
Wait, what?
She back-tracked, and sure enough, there was Rainbow Dash and Chrysalis, downhill from her position. She was too far away to make out their words, but they were having some sort of conversation.
What's she doing? Twilight though, and as well she should; why wasn't Rainbow fighting her? Or yelling? Or doing anything? She was simply listening!
Suddenly, Rainbow reached up and put a hoof on each side of Chrysalis's face, and then kissed her.
Twilight gasped, but they hadn't heard. She backed away, in shock. Her heart dropped into her hooves. But...but... She thought Rainbow loved her! But apparently, she loved her. She should have known; the way they had been looking into each other's eyes when she burst out of the closet, it hadn't been just Rainbow Dash feeling it.
But...but... Twilight had only recently been lead to believe she was the one Rainbow wanted, but apparently, that was not the case.
But Twilight had wanted it to be.
Tears streamed down her face, She had known, she had known! She probably helped, too! She shook her head, not wanting to believe what she was seeing. She took a few steps backwards, then spun on her hoof and sprinted away, back home. No, no, no!
Chrysalis and Rainbow kissed each other for several moments, and Chrysalis's horn began glowing in a sickly green light as she absorbed the sensuality of the moment. Rainbow was simply trying her best to pretend it was Twilight on the receiving end. Chrysalis tasted sour, and her fangs made the kiss very awkward.
For the first time in months, Chrysalis was fully satisfied, stuffed to the brim. Her horn flashed brightly and the light disappeared as she reached her limit. It was then they finally broke apart, Chrysalis's eyes opened slightly in a seductive squint, but Rainbow was trying very hard to forget what had just occurred. "I'm sorry," Chrysalis said suddenly.
Rainbow's first instinct kicked in, "It's okay-"
"No," Chrysalis interrupted, her horn glowing bright green again, "I'm really sorry." She touched her horn to Rainbow's forehead, and the energy dispersed throughout her body, taking over her mind. For a moment, Rainbow resisted. For a moment, Rainbow fought back. For a moment, Rainbow realized she had been betrayed. But within seconds, even Rainbow's iron will succumbed to the power, and she was left as nothing but a husk of her former self, eyes glowing green and standing at attention, ready to follow whatever order Chrysalis gave.
Chrysalis began giggling maliciously, which quickly rose to an evil cackle, "Ah, Chrysalis, you are one brilliant actor!" she applauded herself. It wasn't all fake.
She shook her head, freeing herself of unnecessary thoughts, and turned back to her new slave, "Where is the sphere?" she demanded instantly.
Rainbow Dash said nothing for a moment, but then stammered, "I-I hid it..."
Chrysalis rolled her eyes, "Where?"
Rainbow stammered again, "I-In m-my house..."
"Take me," Chrysalis demanded, smiling as her orders took root in Dash's pathetic mind.
"Okay," Dash responded slowly, and then took flight, soaring away at a modest pace.
Chrysalis followed impatiently, "Faster!" she insisted.
Slowly but surely, Rainbow lead Chrysalis to a house made of clouds, floating in the sky. They landed on the porch outside, and the hypnotized Rainbow Dash lead the Queen Chrysalis inside, and up the stairs, into her bedroom. Chrysalis stamped her hoof impatiently as Rainbow took slow steps towards her bookcase, as if each step was a battle inside her mind. It probably is. Chrysalis flashed her horn once, and with that burst of magic, Rainbow's movements became much quicker. She stepped towards her bookshelf and pulled off a certain book. If Chrysalis hadn't known it was there, she wouldn't have noticed it. Rainbow placed the book on her bed and opened it, revealing a hollow carved out of the pages, which housed a translucent, golden sphere, shining with a warm light.
Chrysalis felt good simply being bathed in the light. I've missed you. She took slow steps towards the book, savoring each one as a trophy of her triumph. She finally reached the bed and held out her hooves, hesitating a moment before greedily swiping the sphere and holding it close in a tight embrace, smiling all the while as it poured out it's golden light. You're mine again, now and forever.
She turned around and saw Rainbow Dash standing at attention, awaiting her next order. Sighing out of boredom, she said simply, "Stay here and don't move."
"Okay..." Rainbow responded monotonously. The magic would probably wear off in a day or two, but by that time she would have been long gone. She had won.
Smirking, she made her way out of the house of clouds, holding the sphere close to her face. She gazed into it, gleefully spotting the tiny scarlet heart at the center of the translucent golden substance. Oh, how I've missed you. She was suddenly getting choked up. She had been through so much to get this sphere back, and now she had it.
She cradled it close to her body and flew away, towards the Everfree Forest.
Twilight lay on her bed, sobbing into her pillow. She just couldn't believe she had been betrayed like this, and by Rainbow Dash, no less! The element of loyalty! This can't be true, she thought, it has to be some sort of trick. But she knew what she had seen. Rainbow Dash not only knew about Chrysalis being here, she was also apparently very involved in her. It's not fair, it's not fair! she repeated in her mind over and over, trying to quell her sobs by pressing her face into the pillow more tightly.
She suddenly stopped crying, pushing the pillow out of the way. She got up and wiped her red eyes, a steely expression on her face. She wasn't going to take this lying down, she was going over there and...and...well, she didn't know what she was going to do, but it wouldn't be nothing!
She picked up her bags and stormed out of the house, down the path. She passed the place where Rainbow Dash and Chrysalis had been standing before. They weren't there now. I wonder where they've gone, she thought in a sarcastic tone. She stamped her hoof, huffed, and changed her path, heading straight for the plot of land where Rainbow Dash's nest of villainy floated in the sky. After a short walk of muttering various obscenities under her breath, she arrived at the house of clouds in the sky. How was she going to get up there? She paced back and forth, eyes focused intently on the house.
Suddenly, Chrysalis appeared at the front of the house, holding a small, shining, golden object.
I wonder what that could be? Twilight screamed in her mind. The very sight of the bug filled her with seething fury. How dare she! she thought. She watched, clawing at the ground with her hooves as Chrysalis flew away, clutching tightly to the sphere. She would deal with her later, but first there was a certain Pegasus she was going to give a piece of her mind to.
She took a deep breath and clenched her muscles, straining to produce magical energy. With her immense anger it was child's play to produce the magic necessary, and within seconds Twilight was engulfed in magical energy, which dissipated in a flash, leaving her with a splendid pair of false wings, like the ones she had conjured up for Rarity that one time.
She took another breath, preparing herself for an emotional confrontation, and flew up onto the house of clouds, diving headfirst through the walls to find Rainbow Dash standing still in her room, obviously too guilty to turn around.
Twilight fluffed up her new wings, and color filled her cheeks as she got increasingly mad at the oblivious pony standing in front of her. "How could you?" she shrieked, "I thought I was your friend, I thought I meant something to you! And you were with her." Tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes, but she blinked them away and continued, "I just can't believe you would do such a thing! You, of all ponies! Hello? Element-of-Loyalty ring a bell? And worst of all," she felt a catch in her throat, and her breathing became sharp and stattaco, "A-and worst of all, you lied to me. I thought..." she trailed off, wondering for a second if what she was about to say was true, then committed, "I thought you liked me! I thought you loved me! And I loved you too..." she trailed off again, realizing what she had just said, though she didn't disagree.
Rainbow Dash simply stood there, not turning around.
"Hey!" she yelled, trying to get her attention, "Face me!"
Still, Rainbow did not respond.
"Hey!" she said, walking around to the front of her, "Pay attention to-" she covered her mouth in shock and gasped loudly, all anger immediately dissipating. Rainbow's eyes were swirly green, hypnotized by Chrysalis's magic, and her mouth was wide open and drooling, completely oblivious to her surroundings.
Of course, How obvious! How had she not seen it sooner! And to think, even for a second, she had honestly believed that Rainbow had betrayed her for Chrysalis, it was absurd! she instantly felt guilty, how could she be so stupid? And then she was worried, how long had Rainbow been under Chrysalis's control? "Don't worry, I-I'll fix this!" she said quickly, looking around for something to use. She spotted a glass of water on the nightstand, next to a suggestive picture of Twilight. She ignored the picture (though silently pleased), snatched the glass and immediately splashed the water into Rainbow's face, snapping her out of her trance.
Rainbow gasped, spat, and spluttered, wiping at her face and asking in confusion, "What? Huh? What?"
"Oh, Dashie!" Twilight said in relief, instinctively using a pet name. She went to Rainbow's side and gave her a great big hug, "I'm so sorry, I should have known it was Chrysalis's magic all along!"
"What? Huh? What?" Rainbow repeated, surprised at Twilight's embrace. She suddenly gasped and her face flushed as memories came rushing back, "Chrysalis-!"
"She's gone," Twilight interrupted, still hugging her, "I saw her fly away."
Rainbow calmed down a bit, and then looked down at Twilight wrapped around her body and cleared her throat.
Twilight immediately let go of Rainbow, and the two looked away bashfully. Rainbow recovered quickly and asked, "What happened? What'd she do?"
"She had you hypnotized," Twilight explained, "She used you to get to the sphere, and stole your love."
Rainbow's face flushed again as she remembered that particular detail, "What do you mean 'stole'?" she asked nervously.
"I saw you and her kissing," Twilight answered, making a face, "She was hypnotizing you, stealing your love."
It took her a minute, but Rainbow suddenly began nodding quickly, "Oh, yeah, right, stealing."
Twilight began laughing, "And to think that, even for a minute, I thought..." her face flushed and she cleared her throat, "Well, that doesn't matter."
"What is it?" Rainbow asked, getting curious.
"Nothing, nothing," Twilight assured, shaking her head quickly.
Rainbow nodded warily, then after an awkward moment, nodded towards her and observed, "Nice wings."
"Do you love me?" Twilight blurted out, slapping a hoof over her mouth when she said it.
Rainbow went pink in the face, "W-what?"
Twilight waited a moment, then explained, "It's Chrysalis, s-she said she was feeding off the love you had...for me," she looked at the ground when she said that, then looked up quickly and said dismissively, "B-but that was just a lie, right? Just to get under my skin?"
Rainbow nodded agreeably, "Right, right...just a lie."
They stood there for another awkward moment. Rainbow had imagined this moment going differently in her mind. It's not fair. Chrysalis had ruined everything, and that horrible, sappy, sob story about her colony, why had she bought that?
Maybe, she didn't want to admit it, but maybe, she had just wanted to feel loved back.
But she still could. As all these thoughts ran through her mind, she gulped nervously and looked Twilight in the eye.
Twilight looked back, "...what?" she asked for a moment.
Rainbow's eye twitched. She couldn't take it any longer. She lunged forward and planted a kiss on Twilight's lips, nearly missing. To her surprise and delight, Twilight kissed back, as if she had been hoping Rainbow had the courage to do what she could not.
That's what makes us perfect together. They held each other in a warm embrace for several moments, until finally breaking apart slowly, each with a dazed look on their faces. Twilight giggled, covering her mouth with her hoof as she did so. "I guess it wasn't a total lie," she observed cutely.
That went better than Rainbow could have ever imagined, and it felt better too. She giggled too, then said, "I guess not," and kissed her again.
A few moments later, Twilight broke apart from her and gasped, "Chrysalis is free! And she has the sphere!"
Rainbow nodded, realizing the same thing (though they both wished they could have continued). She let go of Twilight and let her stand on her own, "Let's roll," she said with an intent smile. Twilight nodded, and the two both flew out of the house, in the way Chrysalis had gone. Rainbow purposefully flew slower than usual for Twilight.
Chrysalis was curled up in a small hollow formed from the roots of a tall oak tree on the edge of the Everfree Forest, cuddling with the sphere. Of course, she would bring it back to her colony, it was their only hope! That fool Rainbow Dash couldn't produce enough love for all of her children! She wasn't like him... Nopony was like him...
She shook her head, forgetting all of that and focusing that right here, right now, she was alone, and she had her sphere. Of course she would take it back soon, but just for now, she just wanted to be alone with it, just for a little while.
Her eyes happened to glance skyward, and she saw Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash flying her way, getting nearer every second.
Those fools! Didn't they ever give up? No matter, they had brought this upon themselves. If they wanted a battle over this sphere, she would give them a war.