Chrysalis woke groggily the next day to a commotion out in the hall beyond the storeroom door. With popping joints and a yawn to put any hippo to shame, she rose from the comfortable warmth of the basket in which she spent most of her day and ventured to the door, opening it a crack to see what could possibly have been causing such a racket so early in the morning.
As it turned out, the din was being caused Rarity struggling to find her way to the bathroom. From a quick glance Chrysalis could see her eyes were closed and she could –hear- her mumbling to herself lazily.
‘Is she..?’
Rarity bumped into the wall just outside the bathroom and mumbled something loud enough for Chrysalis to hear it.
“I’m sorry, Rainbow, I didn’t see you there.”
Chrysalis struggled to hold in the fit of giggles that tried to erupt from her mouth. ‘So not only does she sleepwalk, but she talks too? Well, that’s just adorable.’ She eyed the way that Rarity walked, how her steps hastened and her stomach lurched, and her eyes widened before she moved out as hurriedly as she could to do what she could to help her along. ‘She’s had too much of that spiked punch last night, I am so not going to clean anything up.’
She hurried past Rarity, careful to not wake her, before opening the bathroom door and looking back to her. She raked her mind for a convincing act before speaking in a rather poor imitation of Applejack.
“Rarity, bathroom’s free if you want it; over ‘ere.”
Still asleep, Rarity straightened up and her head turned to where Chrysalis was standing, her body swiftly closing the distance and turning into the bathroom.
“Thank you, Applejack.”
The door closed behind Rarity quite hard, Chrysalis flinching at the sudden loud noise before shuddering at the sound Rarity made afterwards. She was worried that something could be wrong, but since she knew what had been going on the night before she shrugged it off.
Better out than in, after all.
She grumbled to herself as she struggled back to her room, hoping to get a little more sleep -or at least rest for a little longer. It had been a long night, and the party hadn’t broken up until past midnight when the punch had run out. She’d been thankful for that blessed little fact; if the smell of alcohol had persisted for much longer her eyes would have started watering. She was sure she’d managed to get mildly tipsy from the smell alone, but with the lowered inhibitions of the townsfolk came conversations which she would have sworn black and green had given her a contact drunk.
She climbed into her basket and curled up beneath the blanket which Rarity had hoof-made for her, but after failing to return to sleep she left her dwelling and limped her way downstairs to the kitchen. She struggled to fill the kettle with water and place it atop the stove, her magic nearly failing twice with the full metal implement. Her magic flicked on the gas and sparked a flame beneath the kettle, and with a calm sigh she opened the cupboards with a flick of her magic and brought out a pair of teacups and saucers. The well-decorated cups and saucers found themselves placed neatly on the counter, and Chrysalis turned to the next piece of tea-making crockery – the teapot.
Upon opening a cupboard helpfully labelled ‘teapots’ she found a rather large array of fine china teapots, each one with a box of tea leaves on the shelf in front of it. Chrysalis admitted herself a little lost when it came to tea varieties, but she knew that each teapot would be for different flavours of tea. After sniffing around the different packets, she selected one called ‘Rosen Strawberry’ and levitated out its pot with a packet of leaves.
Opening the teapot she found an infuser, and into this she put the leaves before placing the infuser on the counter. With a small flick of magic the teapot warmed up, and she placed this also on the countertop.
From here she simply waited for the kettle to boil, and it didn’t take long for the familiar whistle to sound through the kitchen. With utmost care she levitated the kettle from the stove and poured enough boiling water into the teapot to nearly fill it before returning the kettle to its prior spot atop the stove and placing the tea infuser within the teapot.
Now all that was left was to wait for Rarity to come down. Thankfully she didn’t have to wait long, as the mare in question stepped into the kitchen soon after the tea had sufficiently mixed and Chrysalis poured out a pair of cups, taking one herself.
“Good morning, Rarity; I trust you slept well.”
“Well enough thank you.” Rarity replied before taking a short and dainty sip of her cup and sighing. “And thank you for the tea, just what I needed after last night’s soiree.”
Chrysalis chuckled. “Oh, I’m sure the morning after has been enough to warrant tea; you nearly made a mess of the hall. Lucky for you I found you sleepwalking and managed to coax you to the bathroom.”
Rarity blinked in mild surprise before taking another sip of her tea. “A-ah,” she managed to mumble, “Well… thank you for saving my carpets.”
Chrysalis gave a short laugh. “If anything I was saving myself from having to clean it up; I’m supposed to be working for you, remember?”
Now it was Rarity’s turn to laugh, though she did turn her face and cover her mouth daintily. “Of course,” she said, before becoming more serious. “Though on that note; you are aware of what day it is, yes?”
Chrysalis thought for a moment or so before grumbling and lowering her ears. “Wednesday…”
“That’s right,” Rarity affirmed with a nod, “Fluttershy and I have an appointment every Wednesday at the spa in town. Since you have brought up the subject of your… lodging arrangements, today you will be accompanying us.”
Chrysalis grumbled. “Rarity, I don’t want-“
“This is not for a pampering, Chryssie,” she said, pausing to note her reaction to the nickname, “have I said something wrong?”
Chrysalis huffed. “Don’t call me that.” She hissed. “My sister called me that.”
Rarity held a hoof to her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t think-“
“So long as there is no repeat, you’ve nothing to be sorry for.” Chrysalis interrupted. “You had to find out eventually anyway.”
Rarity nodded. “Well, that aside, you’re not being brought along for a pampering per se, more to get you… oh how do I phrase this… presentable.” Rarity smiles faintly as she observes Chrysalis’ left eye twitch irritably. “To no offense of course; you are after all somewhat under my employ, and the only thing I have managed to think up you doing is modelling for me.” She held up a hoof to quell the coming protest. “Now I know what you’re most likely thinking; ‘unless all of my clients are green and black this will be pointless’, and I can see your point. The ponies that run the day spa, however, have been in the business as long as I have been a seamstress and fashionista, and that means they’ve had training in all kinds of pony care, including horns.
“I dare say that they’ll have something within their repertoire to help you with your horn, possibly even aid you in controlling your magic to a degree. If they do, we might be able to get your ability to disguise yourself back!” She announced this with a flourish, throwing a hoof wide and smiling like it was Hearth’s Warming Eve. “With that, you could be any of my younger clients. You won’t need to do much more than be able to stand for long periods of time; you can even continue to knit while doing it.” She gave Chrysalis a sly look across the table. “It’s a good thing I don’t use my stocks of wool thread, too. I tried my hoof at knitting for a short time but found it too slow for my tastes. You’re welcome to my woollen thread, but be prepared to do a little extra work for me to replenish it for you.”
Chrysalis smiled and nodded. “Of course; I wouldn’t have accepted anything else. Shadows know I’ve felt that I’ve been taking liberties with your wool as it was… And I suppose I can go with you to this day spa if you truly insist. If Miss Fluttershy is going to be there, she could take the opportunity to look at my leg before we start anything.”
“The spa ponies, Aloe and Lotus Blossom, can aid in that as well actually, though probably not as much as an actual doctor could. After all, they are trained physical therapists and masseuses.” Rarity said before daintily drinking a mouthful of her tea. “We’ll be leaving in a couple of hours. Feel free to do some knitting, I’ll come and fetch you when it’s time to leave.”
*&*&*&*
Chrysalis had limped after Rarity as best she could as they walked to the day spa, the alabaster unicorn keeping her own pace at a speed that the still injured changeling could keep up with. Chrysalis had her head hung low the entire walk and her tail tucked tight to herself, as if she were attempting to become as small as possible. Still, nopony even batted an eyelid at them as they strolled through Ponyville.
Upon reaching the spa the pair met with Fluttershy, who offered friendly greetings before following Rarity inside with Chrysalis between herself and the unicorn. Rarity met the pair of earth ponies standing in the room like they were old friends, each the inverse of the other’s colour scheme of pink and baby blue.
After greetings were made, the two new mares, who were evidently Aloe and Lotus Blossom, led them to the showers for them to quickly rinse off before taking them to another room. Chrysalis had been distracted when they entered this new room, and after a few mumbled words were exchanged – all of which she missed – she was picked up bodily by Rarity.
She gave the white mare with a cheeky grin a confused look before she was thrown physically down into what appeared to be a bath full of dark chocolate or tar.
Not wanting to be covered in whatever it was within the bath, Chrysalis’ magic pulsed around her in her vain attempt to stop her from her descent only for the strong magic to recoil powerfully with an audible burst, throwing her down into the bath faster.
As she slipped beneath the surface of the mud bath with a thick wet sound, Rarity stared blankly ahead in stunned shock before lifting a hoof and dabbing at something on her cheek, pulling away and staring almost confusedly at the small black shard that she held, and the blood that coated it.
Chrysalis struggled back to the surface of the bath full of what she could now positively identify as volcanic ash mud and, after a moment of coughing to recover her breath grumbled, “I have got to stop trusting ponies when they pick me up.” She then tried to give Rarity a dirty look, but her face went wide when she saw the flecks of black and red littering her face.
A tentative hoof rose to her horn.
“Don’t touch it!” One of the spa ponies, the blue coated and pink maned one, snapped in a thick accent. “Aloe, go and fetch the capping materials.”
She took a moment to wipe the blood and fragments from Rarity’s face before lying next to the bath in which Chrysalis was suspended and giving her horn a looking over. After a moment or two, she took some tissues from a box on a nearby shelf and held them to the ragged end of Chrysalis’ horn.
“Looks like you’ve only blown off the scab,” She said calmly and ignoring the shudder that Rarity made at the word, “we can make a cap that will give you back a majority of your control, but you’ll need to let it set, which means no magic for an hour.”
Chrysalis nodded for what she could.
“We’re here for the usual plus one, so that shouldn’t be a problem.” Rarity said.
“Of course, Miss Rarity,” Lotus Blossom replied, “young missy,” Chrysalis visibly grimaced at these words and Rarity suppressed a smirk at noticing, “If you could hold this to your horn until Aloe returns, I can see about getting Miss Rarity prepared.”
Chrysalis huffed and did as she was instructed, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Fluttershy was in the bath next to her own already. She watched Lotus Blossom start to wrap Rarity in what appeared to be seaweed before turning to Fluttershy.
“Why don’t you..?”
Fluttershy giggled. “Rarity gets everything, including full facial masks.” She said. “The girls don’t usually apply so much to me.”
“Fluttershy has natural beauty,” Aloe said conspiratorially as she lay down between Fluttershy and Chrysalis while allowing them to still see one another, “we don’t need to do much to get perfection from her.”
Fluttershy blushed and smiled sheepishly before mumbling, “Thank you.” She was so quiet that Chrysalis was almost unsure she had spoken at all.
“Alright, let’s see then,” Aloe said calmly before removing the bloodied tissue from Chrysalis’ horn and eyeing her new task, “hmm, well I’m going to have to file it before I can cap it, but there doesn’t seem to be any nerve damage.”
“Miss Sparkle told me the same thing, as well as to not use powerful magic or risk a backfire.” Chrysalis mumbled. "But I... I panicked."
“Miss Sparkle would be right, you’re lucky you only blew the scab off of your horn with what you just did, you could have done much worse.” Aloe said sternly before taking an iron file out and beginning to gently file away built-up magical residue from the Changeling’s horn. “And let me just say that there’s nothing anypony can do for a worst-case scenario of that.”
“It wouldn’t be fatal, would it?” Fluttershy asked worriedly.
“Not… necessarily.” Aloe said through the file. “The blood loss from an exploded horn could be. I imagine Miss Sparkle failed to mention that possibility, yes?”
Chrysalis gave a nervous nod.
“Well, the cap will give you most of your control back.” Aloe said calmly, “you should have protective shields and strength with levitation back once you’re used to it; just remember to remove it once it becomes tight and uncomfortable; that’s your horn growing back and the cap will only stunt that recovery.”
Chrysalis nodded, watching over Aloe’s shoulder as Rarity stepped down into a mud bath on the other side of Fluttershy. She gave the mare an irritated look while her mind considered something.
“Whose idea was it to throw me into the mud?” She asked accusingly, watching as Rarity’s face became a little nervous. “I doubt that a… prank of such a nature would be Miss Fluttershy’s doing; she’s far too gentle and kind for that.” She watched as Rarity’s face twisted in her struggle to keep it straight. “And I also doubt that you would have come up with it on your own, Rarity…” realization dawned on her swiftly and she sighed. “It was Miss Pinkie, wasn’t it?” She asked more as a statement than a question.
Rarity gave a short burst of laughter. “I’m sorry, but Pinkie was right in that your face would be priceless. We just didn’t think that you would have struggled back as you did.”
“I’ll have to think of some way to get her back then.” Chrysalis said.
Rarity chuckled. “I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
*
The trio were in the spa for a few hours beyond the initial incident; and Chrysalis had a small black cap carefully added to the end of what was left of her horn. It was almost indistinguishable from the rest of her horn and was even shaped in such a way to promote a healthy pointed tip when she began to heal proper.
They had spent a few minutes within the sauna as par the usual course of the usual stay of theirs within the spa. When asked why Chrysalis had only been silent and giving off an ‘I’m bored’ feeling, she replied with a short and simple: “I’m covered in chitin; I may feel the steam and warmth, but I won’t benefit from it.”
Their next stop was atop several beds, each of them played out and then having facial masks applied. Or, rather, Rarity gained a full facial mask –including cucumber eye covers- while Fluttershy was given a pair of rather small dabs to each cheek and Chrysalis went without. The cream was unlikely to have any effect on her in any case, so she didn’t really mind.
A third pony entered the room and stood next to Rarity, her hooves coming up and starting to knead at the white mare’s back. Lotus Blossom began to do much the same to Fluttershy, and Chrysalis could only look up at Aloe in a ‘this isn’t going to hurt is it?’ way. Aloe only giggled and lowered her hooves to massage her charge.
She’d not felt anything so utterly relaxing in her life.
She’d been so relaxed that she didn’t even notice the micro-fibre cloth with sheen on it buffing her chitin to a fine lustre. She would notice eventually, of course; after Aloe had finished with her back and asked her to roll over she finally took note of the cloth and her shiny carapace.
It wasn’t long after this and the facial cream had been removed that they were led to a room with a rather large bath in it and thanked for their patronage and that they may leave when they are ready. Fluttershy had asked Aloe and Lotus Bloom about Chrysalis’ leg, and after a short inspection they instructed that she was healing as could be expected of someone with her supposedly advanced healing, and that she should be capable of using it in a week or so provided she not agitate the damaged bone.
Another twenty minutes or so and the trio left the spa, with Fluttershy hurrying home to tend to her supposed horde of animal friends. Rarity and Chrysalis turned towards the town, apparently for a brief lunch at Pinkie Pie’s place of work and residence, Sugar Cube Corner.
Chrysalis had mentioned that the cap on her horn, and the ministrations of Aloe, had given her ability to sense emotion back, though it was a muted feeling. Before she could feel it as if it were a current in the air, or heat on her cheek, but now it was like hearing a muffled cry from several rooms away; it was present, but hard to decipher.
When Rarity waved to another unicorn that didn’t wave back, Chrysalis turned every sense she had on them.
Everything about her was wrong.
Rarity stopped walking when she noticed Chrysalis had, and she moved back to where the young-looking changeling was standing.
“Chrysalis, is anything wrong? Do you need to stop for a rest?”
Chrysalis shook her head before nodding to the unicorn. “Who is that?”
Rarity chuckled and looked over at the orange and light blue mare. “I’m not surprised you don’t know her, she wasn’t at your party last night; that’s Faraday,”
“No, it’s not.” Chrysalis hissed. “Hurry and get Miss Twilight and send her here; then go to Miss Faraday’s house. Find her.” She grimaced and spread her stance faintly. “I’ll try and keep her here.”
“Are you saying-“
“Move!”
Faraday’s horn exploded with arcane energy, and a bolt of green magic thundered towards the pair. Rarity stared in shock, unable to move or think in the time it took for the beam to reach them.
Chrysalis, however, was prepared.
The bolt of magic slammed into a translucent green shield, exploding around them and scorching the paving stones. The sudden explosion shocked the onlooking ponies on the street, multiple fleeing into the perceived safety of nearby buildings. Chrysalis huffed at the feeling of expending any magical energy and turned her gaze on Rarity.
“Rarity, go! I’ll be fine, you must find Miss Faraday!”
The named pony poked her head from a nearby window. “I’m right here!”
Chrysalis grimaced. “That solves one problem; now we just need Twilight. Knowing her, she’s likely to come and investigate the sound of an explosion, so she won’t be long, but…”
Rarity scooped Chrysalis up onto her back and leapt into a side street as a second bolt of green magic snarled past, narrowly missing them. “Why do you need Twilight to be here so badly?” She demanded.
“I can defend myself quite fine with this cap on my horn,” Chrysalis said firmly, “but I cannot fight back.”
Rarity looked hesitant, but Chrysalis gave her a stern glare. “Go, Rarity; I’ll be fine.”
After a tense moment, Rarity nodded and hurried off through the streets to the library, leaving Chrysalis on her own. She swallowed nervously and stepped back onto the street.
‘I hope.’
*
Chrysalis dodged a bolt of green magic and hissed as she landed on her right foreleg at an odd angle, hoping that she wouldn’t end up putting herself back into bed for another week as she let her remaining foreleg heal from a sprain or twist.
“So, what, can my sister not do things herself? She need stoop down to sending an assassin to do her dirty work?” Chrysalis scoffed and held her head up haughtily. “At least I could do things on my own! At least I can boast that I fought Princess Celestia into submission and didn’t need some proxy to do it for me!” She ducked a blast of magic with a laugh. “She’s such a coward!”
The fake Faraday charged at her down the street, closing the distance between them in moments only for Chrysalis to project a shield for her to slam into.
“So cowardly she attacks her sister from behind, so cowardly she cripples said sister and cannot kill her with her own hooves!” She turned and bucked the fake Faraday in the nose hard enough to make her fall back and have her disguise flicker momentarily. “So cowardly she hides at the Hive and torments me from afar, rather than face me head on!”
Twilight burst from a nearby side street and slid to a stop behind Chrysalis, eyes wide and magic flickering along her horn. The fake Faraday chuckled, her disguise shedding and the changeling within glaring down at Chrysalis. She appeared to be a regular Changeling, but Chrysalis’ eyes grew wide and she hesitated, biting her lip.
“If I’m a coward, why do you not strike me down, Chryssie?”
“Chrysalis, is this-“ Twilight began,
“Thistle, how dare you?! You would bring Circlet into this? How low can you stoop before it is distasteful even for you?! Release her!”
“Release her?” The changeling parroted, “Oh, from my magic? Well, if you’re so eager to watch her die, I suppose I can allow it; after all, end one and I might as well end the other, right? Before I do so, all I wish to convey is my thanks; thanks for leaving me the Hive, thanks for being weak enough to let me become Queen: there’s more power than I ever dreamed of in the Hive!”
Chrysalis’ throat caught. “Wh-what did you say..?”
“Hmm?”
“What have you done? Thistle, what have you done?!”
The Changeling only grinned. “Til later, Chryssie.”
Chrysalis hurried forth and slammed her good hoof onto the changeling’s shoulder, putting herself nose to nose with her. “They’ll find out, Thistle; mark my words! You won’t get away with this! The Hive will know!”
The changeling smiled wide and spitefully before the green glow in her eyes faded and they returned to their usual blue. Her eyes went wide, staring in disbelief at Chrysalis before they shut and clenched tight in agony, and her body slumped to the ground.
As if she were simply desiccating, the body of the female changeling began to shrivel and atrophy. Legs became spindly and bone-like, her stomach sank and her chest became gossamer and full of ribs. Her breathing was hard, fast and raspy, and she writhed on the ground in pain.
With a last force of strength, she opened her eyes and glanced at Chrysalis, who stared down at her with tears streaming from her face. Finally, her body grew still and her eyes lost focus, staring ahead at a horizon that would never greet her again.
Chrysalis stared out across the town, blood dripping from her chin as it oozed from her bit-into lip and tears joining it on the ground at her hooves. She could feel herself shaking and heaving each breath as she looked at the stunned and shocked faces of the ponies in town around her. She felt a hoof rest on her back, and she turned to see Twilight and the others looking down at her, faces of sympathy and worry and, especially in Fluttershy’s case, tears of their own.
She’d bitten her lip during the pain-filled moments of the changeling’s death to hold in the bile that had been rising in her stomach, now long forgotten and content to remain where it was and she gave a gasp of her own before screaming out her sorrow loud enough to be heard across the whole of the ghostly still and silent town of Ponyville.
*&*&*&*
Princess Celestia’s carriage landed with a heavy thud and rattle of bearings out front of the Carousel Boutique, the majestic diarch stepping down from the ornate transport with her younger sister and her niece at her sides. They moved inside with a discreet knock, giving quick and cheerful greetings despite the sombre occasion. Celestia sighed.
Cadance still hadn’t been told.
She blamed her own distaste of conflict, not looking forward to the verbal lashing that she knew her niece would give her – and possibly her husband – once told.
So, like it were a usual day of visiting the favourite sister-in-law, she and Twilight performed their usual silly little dance and giggled alongside one another, though Twilight with unsurprisingly less cheer than usual. This did not go unnoticed by Celestia and Luna, though it apparently slipped by Cadance altogether.
Celestia gave Rarity a sad glance. “How is she?”
Rarity looked up from her cup of tea, lowering the teacup to its saucer with a faint clink and a sad expression before looking away, seemingly unable to maintain eye contact.
“How is who?” Cadance asked curiously.
Celestia sighed once again and motioned with her head. “Rarity, if you could lead us to her. Cadance, come with us; there is something you need to see.”
As the three walked off into the building, Luna turned to Applejack.
“Where didst thou put the cadaver?”
Applejack looked confused. “Tha what?”
“The changeling, Circlet, is currently in the Library’s basement.” Twilight said sadly. “It… it seemed like the most respectable place to put her, all things considered.”
Luna nodded. She was worried that it had been claimed by the local hospital for dissection and study, or as some sort of trophy by the… less scrupulous of citizens. The invasion, after all, had brought out the best, and worst, in everypony.
*
Rarity led the royal pair up to the storage room in which Chrysalis was currently residing, stopping and holding a hoof up for them to wait a moment before knocking.
“They’re here.”
The door clicked and swung open a small amount, and the faint sound of knitting needles clicking together at a rather impressive pace could be heard. Celestia sighed and nudged the door open as she stepped into the storage room, waiting for Cadance to follow her.
The younger princess managed a few steps before her eyes fell on Chrysalis in her basket, back turned, knitting needles held in her magic and waving at such a speed that it was impressive the wood did not catch fire.
“You...”
Her knitting stopped, the needles halting and simply remaining in place as Chrysalis waited for the next line of Cadance’s furious spiel to begin. When no words came, she merely sighed.
“At least your husband had the decency to call me names.” She said with a cracking voice. “He knew what he wanted, but you… you don’t, do you? You don’t know if you want to kill me, ignore me, find out what I’m doing here in the home of your sister-in-law’s friend, or ask why I’m as crippled as I am and somehow find sympathy for me. I didn’t imagine that Celestia would have told you that I’m here, nor that you would accompany her for this.” She paused and her head lowered faintly, her knitting now lying forgotten on the carpet. “Not that this becomes any easier or harder with your presence.”
Celestia stepped closer and lowered her head. “What happened?”
“It would be easier to explain to everypony at once.” She replied.
Celestia nodded and lifted the basket that Chrysalis lay within onto her back before stepping out of the room past Cadance, the younger alicorn getting a brief glimpse at her nemesis’ face and her fury freezing in response.
Never had she seen somepony quite so broken.
*
The four ponies returned to the living room, the quiet and otherwise pointless conversation going on within halting when they did. Chrysalis’ basket was placed on one of the cushions in the room, and the ponies who had been accompanying her down from what Rarity and Sweetie Belle were calling ‘her room’, sat nearby.
“All Twilight’s letter said is that there was an attack earlier today.” Celestia said. “A changeling from your Hive took the form of one of the town’s residents and attacked you, the fight ending disastrously for her.”
“Circlet was the fiancé of my last descendant, my last grandfoal. After his death, she… she held me accountable for being unable to save his life and voiced her detestation of me; I… I did not consider her an ally or a familial confidante after that.” Chrysalis explained. “Still, however, I held her in my heart as closely as I would a daughter. Thistle was well aware of these things; she has always been aware of those I love. She… she told me…”
Celestia lay down and folded a wing around her.
“A short while before I began impersonating Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, my last grandfoal died during a cave in; this I have stated before. I never knew the cause of the cave in, we could never discover the fault in the stone where it happened. Now I know that… witch caused it. While she was controlling Circlet, it was something she said, probably to catch me off guard. ‘End one and I might as well end the other’. She murdered my great grandfoal in cold blood!”
There was a general nervous shuffling in the room as everypony allowed her time to collect herself enough to continue.
“She said she came here to ‘thank me’ for leaving her the Hive, for leaving so much power to her at the Hive…”
“She’s Queen, isn’t she?” Rainbow Dash asked. “That is a fair amount of power right there.”
Chrysalis shook her head. “No, no, you misunderstand. Did you see the way that Circlet… died? The way she seemed to simply mummify? Tell me, you do have ice, yes?” There was a collective affirmative from the seated ponies. “Do you know what would happen if you were to draw the water from a cube of ice, leaving only the suspended elements?”
Cadance, Luna and Twilight gasped, while Celestia stared down at Chrysalis with shocked, wide eyes.
“There is an ancient saying;” Chrysalis mumbled, “’you are what you eat.’ What powers Changeling magic?”
Rainbow Dash replied quickly. “Love.”
“And what do changelings eat?”
“Love.”
“So what are changelings made of?”
For a moment, the room was dead silent as the dots connected into a rather unpleasant image. Chrysalis nodded as realization dawned. “That’s right; she thanked me for leaving her a Hive full of power. Love is power and, as most Drones are essentially made of Love…” She hissed a furious breath before finishing her sentence, “she’s going to cannibalize the Hive! That is why Circlet died how she did! All that kept her alive was the control magic that Thistle pumped her full of, and when she cancelled her spell, that magic dissipated and Circlet starved to death in an instant!
“I don’t know if the draining spell she is using works on ponies, either. It’s never been attempted before, and using it on another changeling is supposed to be forbidden aside from when rulership of the Hive is transferred.”
“I doubt it would be fatal on ponies,” Twilight mumbled hypothetically, “I mean, if we truly are what we eat then draining a pony dry with it would be impossible. We eat food, and the only thing even close to an energy that can be drained from us in the same sense is magic in Unicorns, and even then being out of magic, using it up until we can’t, only leads to nausea and extreme fatigue. Worst case scenario and she does try to drain our love dry, I’m sure that we could overpower her some other way…”
Chrysalis sighed and nodded. “When I was banished, I saw a few border towns during my… flight; at first I was unsure if she would ignore them on her way into Equestria, as I did during the invasion, to avoid being detected. Now all I can say is that she’ll ignore them because she’s not going to focus on feeding the Hive. She’ll be coming straight here.”
“How can thou be sure of that?” Luna asked. “By thine own admissions she is not of sound mind; her actions would be unpredictable, would they not?”
Chrysalis shook her head. “Her insanity is still driven by two things; power and a goal. She wants more power; which she’ll get by… by draining every changeling at the Hive dry. Her second goal has been shown already: she’s after me. Not for the means of draining for more power, she wants to torment me, to torture me as long and as cruelly as possible.” She growled faintly under her breath, “She wants to hurt me. Now she’s simply proven that there’s nothing to which she will not lower herself to get at me. No act too taboo.”
She rounded on Celestia, her eyes narrowed to slits. “Any changeling that comes from that Hive could be a puppet, a weapon, a tool to use against Equestria or at the very least me.” Her eyes flicked to Cadance for a moment before returning to the solar diarch. “I will not ask you to risk the lives or safety of your ponies, and no number of Royal Guards could possibly stand between her and her goals.”
Celestia nodded with her face as stoic as usual before asking, “How much power could she stand to gain?”
“Your Hive is half starved as it is; there cannot possibly be that much power there.” Cadance added.
Chrysalis gave her a dirty glare. “What love I had left over from the assault I put into the Hive’s reserves, and there was more in that reserve than what I used when I attacked Celestia. Add to that the very body of a few hundred thousand changelings and whatever ambient affection she is gathering from her unaware supporters… She will become powerful, possibly even as powerful as either of you two.” She motioned to Princesses Celestia and Luna respectively. “Before I was worried that she would simply go on a killing spree across Equestria; that could at least be halted by your own guards, but now..? She’s going to go around murdering every changeling at the Hive, and then...
“She’ll come straight here.”
For a few awkward moments the ponies in the room stood or sat about simply to process this information. Another creature as powerful as the Princesses? It was like the Discord event all over again. Chrysalis shuddered to think what might come about from the supposed god of chaos potentially teaming up with a power-mad Thistle.
A shiver went up her spine, a sense long since forgotten screaming for her attention.
“My, my, you Shadow certainly got yourselves into a pickle, didn’t you? I mean, after all these years you’re still the same ponies I remember and yet you’re more feared in Equestria than ever!”
An oddly shaped shadow on the wall moved and warped, growing volume and colour until the so named lord of discord was standing in the room with them. Or, rather, floating; he was wearing a top hat and monocle and was drinking from an apparently empty mug with a curly straw that seemed to defy the laws of both physics and matter, passing through itself (and other dimensions) in several places. He smiled down at Chrysalis’ terrified face with a smug laugh.
“Ah, I can still inspire fear in some of the lesser races. Shadow is correct, right; or do you prefer to go by Changelings these days? It’s so hard to keep up with the times.” As he spoke a clock flashed into existence in his hand, only to race past them at a pace which Rainbow Dash found impressive.
Celestia sighed. “Discord, now is really not the time.”
“Oh, but you know what they say, Princess; no time like the present. So, how is our widdle Shadow doing? All nicely hunkered in and ready for beddie byes?” He reached in and pinched Chrysalis’ cheek, wobbling her face back and forth for a moment before she shook her head free and snapped at his hand.
“I’ll have none of you, monster!” She snarled, before glaring at Celestia. “What in Tartarus is he doing out of his statue?!”
“Oh, the usual; working for peace, harmony and the betterment of Pony life.” Discord said, brushing unseen dust from his arm with a bored ‘been here, done that’ look on his face. He noticed Rarity giving him a dirty look and he held up his hands. “I know, I know; no rearranging the merchandise. I learned my lesson last time. Still, I didn’t think you had it in you to light a magical fire on me; most ponies are rather afraid when it comes to pyrotechnics.”
“We sort of… rehabilitated Discord to our side.” Twilight explained, giving him a weary glance as he conjured a couch and promptly sat on the ceiling. “To an extent, anyway.”
“In any case, there’s not much we can do without access to the Hive or some plan to stop your sister; since gaining access to the Hive is now more of a death trap than ever before, the best we can do is plan for her arrival. I’m sorry, Chrysalis, but there’s simply nothing else we can do.” Celestia informed carefully.
Chrysalis nodded. “After the sullying of the Bad Lands, I suppose this was an inevitable end. I’ve only myself to blame.”
“Something you’re all too capable of doing.” Cadance mumbled, before being nudged by Luna.
“Thank you for your input Mrs Armour, I’ll be sure to remember that when I attempt to sleep for the next year, Mrs Armour.” Chrysalis hissed through gritted teeth, growling the words ‘Mrs Armour’ as angrily as she could manage.
“You are not the only one at fault.” Celestia stated. “There was a thousand years for me to attempt to find the Hive and establish relations, all of which I spent on other matters. I suppose I simply thought that the changelings had settled and were keeping out of Equetria’s business, content to hide from any of our… less pleasant incidents.”
“You know the story as well as I do Princess; we went into hiding because ponies hated us, feared us. In return, we fled from Equestria to be free of the rampant paranoia and hatred that followed us wherever we went.”
“I suppose you’re going to blame me for that, are you?”
Chrysalis gave Discord a cold glare. “If it wasn’t for you changing how we accrued magic, we’d never have been so shunned! After all, what could be more terrifying to ponies than a creature that feeds off of them to grow more powerful, that can look like any one of them? You made us into a race of emotional monsters with perfect camouflage, a danger that could hide around any corner or be anypony imaginable. And what about what you did to the Sea Ponies, huh? That song you drove into their heads until they couldn’t think anything else? My grandmother barely got that vile twist out of their minds before they fled, en masse, into the depths of the ocean!”
Discord chuckled. “Ah, the good old days…” he mused, “Shoop-bee-doo indeed… That was before this whole ‘harmony’ thing became so widespread and, might I add, hard to snuff out.” He looked down at the Elements of Harmony with one eye, all of whom were watching him wearily. “Yes, I mean you.”
“Don’t make me force you to say the line, Discord; you know how much you hate it.” Twilight retorted.
Discord only waved a paw in her direction dismissively, conjuring a coconut with straw and small cocktail umbrella into his other hand. “Bah.” He drained the coconut in one unfathomably long suck of the straw –which somehow managed to pull the entire coconut into his mouth along with whatever he was drinking- before tucking the cocktail umbrella behind Chrysalis’ ear and standing up.
Well, up was subjective; to everypony else he stood down.
“Well, as much as I’d love to hang around here with you party animals,” he clicked his fingers and caused leis of flowers to appear around their necks as he spoke, “I have things to do.”
“’Things’? Thou does not do ‘things’; thou hast lazed about the castle the last two months lamenting your boredom.”
Discord chuckled. “Times change, little Luna;” he stated mirthfully, “you’d be amazed at what a little chaos can accomplish.”
“Discord…” Twilight warned.
“Without being malicious.” He added, before clicking his fingers and vanishing in a bright flash of light.
“Huh.” Rainbow Dash blurted after an awkward pause, “I wonder what he meant by that?”
Chrysalis huffed. “I, for one, do not care.” She grumbled. “For now, all I want is to go back to my knitting and forget.”
Twilight nodded and levitated Chrysalis’ basket, carrying her through the room. “I’ll just take Chrysalis back to her room and then come back, alright?”
The room hummed their agreements, and Cadance followed Twilight. She was still unsure of the ex-monarch, Twilight knew, and was obviously just keeping her eye on her newest sister-in-law. After they reached the top of the stairs, Twilight felt compelled to break the awkward and slightly hostile silence.
“Chrysalis, I have to know; when Circlet was…” she searched for a word she could use but came up empty hooved, “dying, why did you force yourself to watch?”
Chrysalis huffed. “It almost broke me, to be honest.” She mumbled. “But… if you were dying in great pain, thousands of miles from home with only one of your kind left to bear witness, would you not want them to remember? Would you not want them to be able to remember your last moments, so as to relay them to your family and friends?
“I attended every funeral open to the Hive. Wept alongside widowed wife, husband, child, sibling, or parent at every one; I remember names from before you were born, names from before your grandparents were born. I forced myself to watch because, while it tore at my heart, I would not have forgiven myself for ignoring her pain. Ponies imagine that being immortal like the Princesses or I would be a gift, a miraculous blessing. It’s not. While my family, my friends, lovers, even my children grew old and died, I never changed. It’s not a blessing to be ageless, Miss Sparkle; it’s a curse full of death, sadness and loss.
“I would never ask for much, Miss Sparkle; not after everything that has happened and everything that you and your friends have done for me, but I only ask that a funeral for Circlet be possible. I can give details if it is.” She looked up at Twilight sadly with tears welling in her eyes. “If your princesses wish to have dissection performed to study our anatomy, I will allow it provided that it is respectable and non-invasive.”
“’Non-invasive dissection’? What on Equestria..?”
“Her head and face are to be left intact, and no information may be given to the guard.” Twilight said calmly. “The Gryphons had the same deal with us during the Equestria-Gryphon war. I don’t think that the princesses would want to have her studied, but I cannot say that the scientific advisor would not strongly voice for one.”
Chrysalis sighed. “As I said, I will not voice against it. I just… I…”
“You want closure.” Cadance finished for her.
“I don’t want it.” Chrysalis breathed, “I need it.”
Twilight’s magic flicked the door to Chrysalis’ storage room open, and she gently placed the changeling’s basket back where it had come from in the centre of the room. She turned back and stepped out of the room quietly, not waiting for Cadance to follow her.
The pair of royals needed some time alone.
“Princess Mi Amore,”
“Hmm?”
Chrysalis sighed, levitating her knitting and hesitating. “I… I know I can never ask, nor expect, for forgiveness for what I have done in the past, and I will never ask for something that I know you cannot give, but I would ask that, even if you cannot forgive me, you can at least accept me. I don’t want to pretend that you and I can be friends, nor that we could ever get along after what I did to you, but…” She trailed off and shook her head, the needles she held in her magic clicking in tandem slowly. “Forget it, it doesn’t-“
Cadance’s hoof came to rest on her shoulder, and she looked over at it before looking up into Cadance’s grinning face quizzically.
“Though they rarely see eye to eye, even Celestia and Discord can get along.” She said. “So why can’t we?”
“Because I ruined your wedding, the supposed happiest day of your life.”
“Have you ever been married, Chrysalis?”
The changeling gave a faint chuckle. “Once, a long time ago,” she sighed faintly, “I buried him, too. Still I wish he didn’t need to go, that time wouldn’t claim my dearest Shred, and still there are nights I pine after his company…”
“Then you know why I can forgive your one transgression, as severe as it was.” Cadance quietly said. “Because, like you must have felt with your husband, every day I spend with Shining is the happiest day of my life. I know it must be hard for you to understand, let alone accept it; but I can at least partially forgive you.
“We’ll never become best friends, that much is certain; but… we can at least be begrudging allies. You need a friend more than another enemy.” She gave a chuckle before continuing. “I mean, who else am I going to talk with about Shining’s snoring? Twilight doesn’t believe me!”
Chrysalis smiled. “Yes, he was rather bad for the period I was impersonating you.” She mumbled. “Like he had a playing card lodged in his sinuses.”
Cadance giggled. “See, Chrysalis? We don’t have to be best friends, but we can still get along.
“Who needs enemies, when you can make friends?”