//------------------------------// // Chapter Ten: Wedding preperations // Story: Solar Child: Burden of the Crown // by Bakmah Genesis //------------------------------// Trixie groaned as the morning light entered through the windows and into her eyes. She was about to curse at it when she felt hooves tighten around her. She smiled as she remembered and turned around. Chrysalis blinked open her eyes and then squinted. "Mmmm. The sun is evil." she said, nuzzling her head into Trixie's coat. Trixie chuckled and stroked her marefriend's mane. "Come on. We have to get up and get ready. The wedding is tomorrow." said Trixie, kissing her below the horn. Chrysalis squirmed at the feeling before diving deeper into Trixie's chest. Trixie huffed and drove her hooves into Chrysalis' side. "H-hey! N-no fair!" said the changeling between laughs. She rolled off the bed and landed with a dull thud. She looked over the bed and pouted. "That wasn't nice." "Neither is not listening to me and trying to fall asleep on chest when we have work to do. Like get you a bride's maids dress." said Trixie as she put on her regila. "Why did your mother make me her best mare? I mean, I am dating her daughter let alone a the changeling that invaded her country. I'm surprised they want me at the wedding at all." said Chrysalis as she brushed out her mane. She huffed as she noticed the multiple knots formed in her hair. "If having sex with a pony helped you out of being reformed, I could do out with the knots in my mane. I wonder if that's how Discord got reformed." "I wouldn't be surprised. Him and Fluttershy are extremely close and there are some rumors of the two being together." "Now all we need is for him to purpose during the reception and then it will be a day to remember." "Him purposing would be the most chaotic event of the evening judging by his character. Though, he may tone it down with Fluttershy around." said Trixie. She yanked on the brush, undoing the last knot in her mane. She pouted and rubbed the spot on her head where the hair pulled. "Faust, I hate knots in my mane." "You and me both." said Chrysalis, finishing off the last knot in her mane. Once the two mares were presentable, they stepped out into the hall and towards the dining hall. "Can I ask you what this thing with Blueblood is? I heard Twilight mention it a few times but I never understood what it was about." asked Chyrsalis. Trixie sighed. "Blueblood was arrested when Twilight, Rainbow, and our parents came out to the public. He was convicted of deifying the crown and later of treasonous behaviour. A day after his imprisonment, he was broken out by a member of the AC, AntiCelestia group. "They have a very bloody path with Twilight and Celestia, especially after their failed attempt on murdering Twilight twelve years ago. Currently, their target is the whole royal family, which I more than likely roped you into if they find out that we are dating." explained Trixie. "So a group of ponies are trying to take down four, now five, alicorns? That's suicide." said Chrysalis, shaking her head. "Not exactly. Remember, Blueblood knows the routine of this castle as well as any of us. He knows almost all of its secrets and has plenty of moles in the system. Plus, the mare that broke him out is a pony/dragon hybrid." said Trixie. "And two of our very best are currently pregnant. Well this is a very difficult situation." said Chrysalis. Trixie stopped in front of her and looked into her eyes. "I want you to promise me that you will be careful until this whole things blows over, alright? I don't want to lose you." she said, tears starting to form in her eyes. Chrysalis kissed her then rested their foreheads together, their horns crossing. "And you won't. I will stay by you until the end and I will make sure no one hurts you." Trixie smiled and gave her a peck on the lips. "Thank you." said Trixie, smiling. Chrysalis grinned and pulled back. "Now, I think there was this thing called 'breakfast' that we were planning on attending." said the changeling alicorn with a large grin. Trixie giggled and nodded, the two making their way towards the dining hall where the others waited. ____________________________________________________________________________________ "No! Get that treacherous clothing away from me!" shouted Chrysalis, trying to escape Luna's magical grasp. Said alicorn was sitting in the corner, trying not to laugh as the changeling tried to defend herself from the dress Rarity was trying to fit on her. Rarity groaned and tossed the dress into the air. "You are worse than Rainbow Dash." huffed the alabaster unicorn. Chrysalis smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. It's just that I hate wearing dresses. If I really need to to keep up my disguise, then I will." she said. Luna rolled her eyes and walked up to her. "Well you still need to wear one. My best mare needs to look the part." said Luna with a smile. Chrysalis cocked her head at the lunar princess, not noticing the green brides maids dress that was being fitted on her. "Why did you choose me? There was plenty of other pony mares that would have done fine as best mare. What makes me so special?" she asked. "Besides the fact that Tia chose my daughter to be hers?" asked Luna. She sighed and sat down, setting down the now dressed changeling. "Multiple reasons. Ponies need to get used to you. If you are in the wedding, let alone best mare to one of the princesses, you will be easier to trust and accept. Another reason is for me to get used to you. I have no doubt that if this love is strong enough that you two will get married, maybe a foal or two, them I will have no choice but to accept you as family. "Finally is a mother thing. Making sure my baby is safe around the mare she seems to love." said Luna. She looked up at Chrysalis who listened quietly. "I have no doubt that you love her and would tear apart Equestria to protect her, but I have to be sure. It's a paranoia mother thing. Have a kid or two and you will feel the same." "Yeah, I understand." said Chrysalis. She took a quick look over at the seemingly simple green dress, obviously chosen to bring out her jade eyes. "I guess the dress is okay." she said with a smile. "How much, Rarity?" "Nothing at all, deary. I don't charge royalty." said Rarity with a wave of her hoof as she packed up the dress. Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. "Well, then I insist you give me a price." she said. "Why, may I ask?" "Because I haven't been royalty for two years. Right now, I'm supposed to be dead in the Everfree, being used as a toothpick for some random manticore. I've seen too much generosity NOT to pay for my own dress." said Chrysalis in a stern voice. Rarity stammered up a bit, trying to figure out what she should do. "Two hundred bits, no more." said Rarity, giving in. Chrysalis smiled and pulled out the purse given to her to make whatever purchases she need. After depositing her two hundred bits to the fashionista, the two walked out into, nodding to their guards as they did so, and went to gardens for a brief walk. "So, I'm guessing one of you two is throwing a bachelorette party." said Chrysalis as they roamed. Luna nodded. "Me and Rainbow have a Bachelor party while Tia and Twi have a Bachelorette party." said Luna with a grin. "Oh Faust, you two throwing a bachelor party? This could end up with all of us in the dungeons by wedding day morning." said Chrysalis. "Yup!" said Luna proudly. "I'm in. Who knows, Trixie might by jealous in the morning." said Chrysalis with a toothy grin. Luna and Chrysalis hoof bumped and kept walking. _________________________________________________That Evening_____________________________ Luna and Rainbow bought out a club for the night, reserving it for them and some of the exclusive guests. Chrysalis herself was surprised to her Metallicolt a block away from the club, meaning either the speakers were getting a workout or they actually got Metallicolt to come an play. Upon entering, Chrysalis' ears were pressed against her skull as the loud music blasted her ear drums. She was correct in the sense that Luna had gotten a band. Metallicolt stood on the raised stage in the back of the club, playing My Friend of Misery from what she could tell. Chrysalis tapped along to the beat, being a moderate fan of the metal band herself. She spotted Luna and Rainbow Dash at the bar, laughing at Faust knows what. She smiled and trotted over, braving to let her ears up. Thankfully the speakers didn't continue to deafen her. "'Bout time you got here! Luna made me wait on drinking until you got here." said Rainbow as she reached the two. "Let's just say Trixie is equally late and leave it a at that." said Chrysalis, ordering Applejack Daniels with Coke. The bartender nodded, filling a tall glass with ice and proceeding to fill a fourth of it with the whiskey before filling the rest to the brim with the pop. Chrysalis nodded and took her drink. "We got a heavy weight, now don't we?" asked Luna as she eyed the whiskey/pop combo. "Eating pony food sustains us, just like water to ponies. Water, though, we need just like ponies. We occasionally get large shipments from changelings in the shipping industry that ship some food and various drinks, one of them being whiskey. Mixing it with Coke adds flavor." explained the changeling, taking another sip from her drink. "Damn, I feel like I'm drinking a ladies drink." said RD, staring at her daiquiri. "I wouldn't try mine. I'm used to it but I used to turn into mega bitch after three sips." said Chrysalis with a chuckle. Luna and Dash eyed their drinks and deemed that it would be best to stick with them and hope Chrysalis held her liquor well. The song came to an end and Jaymz Hayfield stepped back infront of the mic, tapping on it for attention. "Alright. This one was requested by the mares of honor tonight." With that said, he stepped back. The bassist nodded started playing, setting the pace and spoiling the song of choice. Chrysalis laughed as she recognized the song. "Oh, you are evil." she said with a grin as the band joined in to the bassist's rythym. She bobbed her head to the heavy guitar, enjoying the music immensely. "It's not everyday I meet a changeling who enjoys classic metal." said Rainbow as she watched the changeling. Chrysalis turned and cocked her head at the cyan mare. "What, you think we are non-plused with the pony society? We feed off pony emotions and we need to blend in the best we can. Though I didn't do so well last time." said Chrysalis, scratching the back of her head. They sat there in silence, remembering the invasion. "I actually got to thank you for that." said Rainbow, breaking the silence. "What do you mean?" asked Chrysalis. "It wasn't until after the invasion that I realized how much I loved Twilight and how much it hurt me to see her in pain. A few weeks later I ended up kissing her and running away. A few minutes later she tackled to the ground, telling me the feelings were returned." Luna and Chrysalis chuckled. "What does that remind me of?" they said at the same time, causing the three to break out in laughter, finding that they all got together with their special somepony in a somewhat similar manner hilarious. The alighted soon died down until they were sitting in a comfortable silence, listening to Metallicolt. Chrysalis soon found herself starting to drift, which was odd due to the fact that she had plenty of sleep and not even one glass. It usually took fifteen. She thought through the possibilities on what the cause for her exhaustion could be and settled upon a very disturbing thought. Emotion overflow. It was a very uncommon sickness that lasted only a few hours if changeling is let alone for awhile. It usually occurs when a changeling is exposed to extremely strong emotions for a long period of time. It is impossible for a changeling to pick it up from their feeding emotion, meaning it was one she normally did not touch but was still around. She crossed out Trixie, since the only strong emotion from her was love. This particular felt negative, extremely due to her weakness. She looked through the emotions, organizing them to which she touched most to which she touched less. Love was of course on the very top. She climbed down before she hit the bottom, finding hatred. It was one of the emotions hardly any changelings touched. She felt it a few times around the castle, not always directed at her, but tonight was different. It was strong, and it was lethal. Chrysalis had to restrain the urge to empty her stomach. "Hey, are you alright?" asked Luna, eyeing the changeling with concern. "I just need to head home." she stood up but stopped. She turned towards Luna and leaned to her ear. "Something bad is coming. Please, be careful." Chrysalis stood back upright, a sad look in her eyes and left, leaving a confused and slightly horrified Luna. "What was that about?" asked Rainbow, watching the changeling stumble out like she was drunk off her flank. "I think she just warned us."