Who you Work for
Ch3
The soft morning illuminated the circular room as Coco Pommel rested with ease. When her conscious naturally woke up, her mind drifted back to her experiences from the previous day: her tiresome journey; the quality time she spent with her new friend, Fang, and the small moment they shared before parting ways for the evening... and the instructions she was given by Queen Chrysalis. Uh oh, I haven't taken any time to go over patterns and designs for the Queen's dress!... Well, maybe I'll get some ideas during breakfast. Eager to face the day and her assignment with confidence, Coco blinked a few times to adjust to the sunrise and scrambled out of bed. She took a few moments to stretch her legs, walked over to the drapes and pulled them back to let her and the room properly bask in the illumination and warmth of the sun's rays and to get a better look at the room.
The bed itself was directly in the center of the circular room, which measured about fifty feet in diameter and seventy feet in height. On one side of the room were piles and piles of fabric, each sorted out by color and shade. On the opposite side rested two antique wooden tables with varying seamstress's tools. An equally antique, yet relatively standard, sewing machine rested on one table, while needles and thread spools of varying size and colors were strewn about on the other. Directly across from the door stood Coco and the giant twelve-foot-tall window that wrapped around a quarter of the room. A small handle was fastened to the center pane; the windowed door itself appeared to lead out to a balcony that extended no more than eight feet out from the base of the building. Far beyond the balcony lie a snowy mountain range, as gray and dreary as the castle itself, but far more stony and daunting. The aged drapes Coco moved aside were nearly identical in dimensions to the windows they recently veiled. At least the Queen knows to properly treat her guests.
With nothing else to do, the mare walked over to the foot of her bed to begin unpacking her luggage as she went over the Queen's dress in her mind. However, as Coco began to pick her belongings up off the ground, a loud rapping at the door broke her train of thought. She dropped her bag and walked over to open the door.
A bespectacled changeling with a perpetual squint stood waiting at the door. “You are awake. Excellent,” the changeling blared. Coco yelped and jumped back a bit at the changeling's startling introduction. "The Queen has ordered me to check up on you for the morning. You being awake has already saved me a step."
Coco's voice squeaked. “Umm... good morning, Mister...?”
“Snackrifice. You may address me as Snack for short.” He grinned, revealing his sharp fangs. “Are you well acquainted with your room?”
“Aside from the bed looking worn out....” Coco looked behind her and looked at the room. “This room is quite homey. Even the bed is incredibly comfortable, despite its appearance. Thank you for asking.”
Snack looked Coco up and down. “To be honest, we are not accustomed to having ponies like you staying in our hive. Lucky for us, Sea More proved to be incredibly helpful in creating a comfortable place for you to stay.”
“Oh, is Sea More the local expert on furnishings and interior decoration? I would never have guessed that he'd-”
“Not important!” the changeling barked as he turned his head. A weapon shaft suddenly crashed down on his head. “Ow!”
“Brother, there is no need to be so rude to our guest. She had to deal with the Queen last night. She has had her fair share of raised voices for a good long while.” A familiar voice carried through the room.
“Moreover, she is a VIP, brought to our abode by orders of Queen Chrysalis herself! Do NOT be curt with her!” A second, equally familiar voice joined the conversation.
Coco leaned forward to try and find the voices accompanying Snackrifice. “Who's with you, Snack?” she asked.
“Guess,” the second voice called out. Coco poked her head out into the hall to find Sea More and Inferno Fang standing at the doorway.
Fang wielded a scythe in his hoof, the blade angled like his long tooth. He smiled at the sight of the cream mare. “Ah, good morning, Coco! Glad to see you're up and about. Pardon Snack's intrusion. He certainly means well, but he can be rather blunt sometimes. It is in the nature of a changeling guard to be formal and proper with duties, but Snack can be rather... impulsive in his execution, almost to a fault.” He derisively looked towards Snackrifice, who turned away and pouted with embarrassment.
“Indeed," Sea More interjected. "In any case, the rest of the crew has been discussing your arrival with... fervor, shall we say. It might do you well to join us some time.”
Coco smiled brightly. “Of course! I might need a map of this place, though. I'm pretty sure I'd easily get lost. Anyways, good morning, you three.” She trotted over to Fang and gave him a small hug.
“Oh! Umm... thank you.” He lightly closed his eyes as he absorbed the energy from the mare's affectionate motion.
Snack frowned. "Hey, come on now, where's mine?" A flash of metal and wood, and Fang's weapon shaft violently connected with Snack's head in the same spot. The bespectacled changeling grabbed his head in agony. "Oy, ease up! You might give me a concussion!"
“You just ate,” Fang snapped as he lowered his weapon. “Complain again, and the next strike WILL cause some degree of brain damage. Maybe even use my blade if it extream measures comes about.”
Unfazed by the threat, Snack pushed his way past his fellow guards. “Whatever. Can we just give her what we came for?”
“Ah, yes!” Sea More said hastily. “Our apologies for letting this petty squabble interrupt your morning routine, Coco.”
Coco lightly waved her hoof and smiled. “Oh, don't worry. I just woke up. And it shouldn't take me too long to unpack.”
“Excellent," Fang commented. "Well, would you like to have breakfast first? We brought you a small trolley to suit whatever taste in food you may have.”
Just hearing the word “breakfast” made Coco grab her belly as it silently grumbled. “I think breakfast sounds lovely.”
An audible snicker quickly followed. “So do I,” Snack remarked, smirking at Coco. “Maybe a 'lovely' kiss from our guess would help my insatiable appetite?” The mare quickly turned red with embarrassment and hid her face. Fang and Sea More furiously glared at Snack as they poised to convene on the changeling's head. He quickly retaliated and tried to amend his actions. "Alright, alright, I'll stop! No need to get upset! Or aggressive."
Sea More stormed over to Snack, right up in his face, and growled in a low voice, “I have painstakingly worked my tail off - put forth so much effort - in convincing the Queen that she should have somepony make a dress for her so that she may go to the Grand Galloping Gala and obtain the love we need without causing any trouble. I'll see to it that nothing and nopony ruins it, no matter the cost.” Sea More turned his attention to Fang. “You keep your brother in check and away from Coco. The less we jeopardize this operation, the better.”
“Should you be taking this so seriously?" Fang questioned his friend in a hushed tone. "It IS rather rude to treat Coco as he did, but is it truly necessary to be so personal about dealing with him?”
“If the only infallible way to stockpile our food supply is to ensure that the Queen can attend the Gala without a need to resort to hostility, then yes, it is absolutely necessary that I be harsh.”
Coco quietly stood in the doorway during the whole exchange, positively confused about what was going on. Stockpiling the food supply? Sea More's tireless efforts to convince the Queen? Should I even ask? Too many questions had been raised in her mind, and they all began to make her head spin. Hoping to ease the tension and her headache, Coco piped up asking, “Er, not to interrupt your... bonding time, but you said you brought me some food, right? My stomach is starting to protest rather noisily.” A low gurgling emanated from her belly right on cue.
Sea More took a deep breath and pleasantly replied, “Indeed. The trolley is just around the corner. Let me retrieve it.” A moment later, the changeling returned with a silver cart piled with various fruits, salads, and pastries. The sight and smell of the entrées proved too powerful for Coco; her mouth began to water uncontrollably. "I hope the food provided here will befit your preferences."
Wow! Coco was speechless. The degree of courtesy and graciousness that the changelings had already shown was not something she had witnessed often back home, and certainly not something she had expected to see here. “How did you get all this?”
“We planned ahead to make sure that our guest, whoever that turned out to be, would get the proper nutrition and collected these in advance,” Fang replied.
“Oh, okay. Well, I didn't know you guys had your own produce and bakery, considering that it sounds like you feed exclusively on lo-" Coco suddenly paused. "Wait, what do you mean 'collected'?" She quickly covered her mouth with a hoof in shock. "You're not trying to say you stole all this, are you?!”
“W...well, we don't exactly have a way to g-grow our own food," Sea More stuttered. "As you stated, our only source of... nutrition, if you will, is love. This was the only way to ensure that you would be properly fed as well.” Sea More's head hung low in remorse for helping with the dishonest deed, but the same could not be said for Snack or Fang. “But now is not the time to dwell on past transgressions. You seem to have settled in quite well, and your breakfast has been delivered safely. Your morning check-in is complete, so it is time for us to depart for now.”
Before any of the three had a chance to properly leave, Coco quickly jumped out into the hall. “W-wait!” Her outburst stopped the guards in their tracks. “I have a few questions I wanted to ask.”
Sea More sighed. “I'm sorry, Coco, but we must attend to our daily routines at once. The Queen is quite a stickler for punctuality.”
“Well, what if I need something?” the mare asked.
“There will be a guard standing outside this door at all times. Ask him if you need anything. I don't mean to be so rude and impatient, but we must be going. We're behind schedule as is. I wish you good day, Coco.” Sea More and Snack took their leave and vanished behind a corner in the hallway, but Fang did not budge.
"Wow, bringing a pony all the way from Manehattan! I don't know how you managed that, Fang, but you can certainly color me impre- oh, come on..." Snack looked over to find that Fang had not joined him and Sea More yet. He quickly ran back around the corner and called out, “Come on, brother! You don't want the Queen chucking rubble at you again!”
“Just a moment!” Fang shouted back. He remained stagnant, eyes flitting around the room. "Pardon me, Coco, but..."
Coco tilted her head. “Is something wrong?”
“No. I just...” The changeling paused, trying to find the right words. “I wanted to thank you.”
“For what?”
“For the hug last night. And this morning.”
“Oh!” Coco smiled brightly and replied, “Well, you're my friend! It's the least I can do, considering everything that you've already done for me.”
“I'm your... friend?” the changeling asked bewilderedly.
“Of course! How you could you not be?” Fang gave no answer and simply stared at Coco with a blank face. The mare's smile began to slowly fade. "Or is this all too sudden? Ooh, I knew I was being too pushy-"
“No, no," Fang quickly interrupted. "I am the one at fault here. I greatly appreciate the sentiment, make no mistake. However, given that I am a changeling, I am not used to this sort of sudden companionship, especially with an earth pony, and I am rather... ill-prepared to handle such a situation. It is almost convention for your kind, including unicorns and pegasi, and ours to treat each other with extreme prejudice and disdain, so your gesture of friendship simply caught me off guard. However, I do thank you for your warmheartedness, and I will not abuse it nor take it for granted. It is certainly pleasant to be appreciated in this manner.”
Coco's smile instantly returned, brighter than ever. "That's great to hear! Well, then... I guess I'll see you later. You gotta get going to help Sea More and Snack, right? I don't want to keep you away from your duties if it might make the Queen mad..."
"You are correct... new friend. I shall see you in due time. Good day, and good luck on creating the Queen's dress." Fang gave Coco an awkward smile and slowly paced down the hall. He took one last look back at his new friend.
Coco softly waved to the changeling. "See ya later!" she beamed.
Fang quietly nodded as he trod along, briefly left alone with his own thoughts. Oh, dear... What have I done? What have I encouraged? I could never... no, the Queen would never allow for this sort of behav- hm? Fang rounded the corner in the hall to find Sea More and Snack kneeling on the ground. Oh, no... His gaze wandered down the hall, where it was met with a rather agitated Queen Chrysalis quickly making her way down the hall. Fang quickly followed suit of his fellow changelings and took a submissive stance. I just had to think about what the Queen might say...
“There you three are! What took so long? Is playing host to one earth pony so difficult and tedious that it prevents three of my elites from staying on schedule?” Chrysalis asked heatedly.
“No, my Queen!” Sea More answered. "We had a small... dispute. Between the three of us. Your guest is not at fault here."
"Hmph! Next time, keep your petty bickering reserved for your own free time!" The Queen shook her head scornfully. "Well, what of our guest? What is the mare's status? Surely you didn't make her suffer through the stupidity of, what I can only assume was, that completely pointless argument? She has a much more important task at hand; she doesn't need you three distracting her." Chrysalis accusingly raised an eyebrow.
Fang hesitantly replied, "Coco Pommel is doing well, and the food we brought her will suffice, but I'm afraid we were a bit brazen in our conflict. However, we've tied up the loose ends and we've ensured that we will not make the same mistake. Isn't that right, Snackrifice?" He gave his brother a stern look.
Snack's jaw hit the floor. "I-I-I don't know w-what you're talking abo- oof!" A sharp pain startled him as Fang jabbed a hoof in his side. "I mean, er, yeah! We won't be screwing up like that again!"
“Good. I am having some of my designers bring mannequins to her as we speak. Did you give her the deadline?”
The three guards looked at each other in confusion. “Deadline? You didn't tell us about a deadline,” Fang said cautiously.
Chrysalis paused in disbelief and slowly let out a sigh of exasperation. The ONE time I forget to give orders... no thanks to our guest and her incessant questioning keeping me from a restful sleep. Well, it'll be quite a nice surprise for her! She brought her focus back to the guards and barked, “Very well, I'll just make sure the designers bring her the news of the deadline!"
"But we're already within walking distance of her room," Fang pointed out. "Can't we just go back and-"
"No! You've delayed your morning duties long enough. None of you have time to sidetrack!" The Queen subtly smirked as she turned away from the three and made her way back down the hall. "Besides, it should prove to be quite an amusing wake-up call for that persistent mare to have the deadline given to her by somepony she doesn't know if I do say so myself. Inferno Fang, at my side! I wish to speak to you before you head off.”
A look of concern quickly crept over Fang's face. “At once!” the changeling replied nervously, nearly stumbling over his weapon as he caught up to Chrysalis, out of earshot of Sea More and Snack. "What do you require of me, my Queen?" he asked as he kept pace with the Queen.
“I require you to not become too attached to our guest,” Chrysalis quietly instructed, keeping her line of sight down the halls.
Please don't tell me she already knows... “I... pardon me, my Queen, but I don't quite understand-”
“To the earth pony," Chrysalis interrupted. "Do not become too attached to her. As I understand it, she has taken a certain liking to you. Do not let this special treatment get to your head. I will not interfere with how she feels about you and accordingly treats you if it proves to be helpful in creating my dress, but you are under my command, and I will make sure you do not return this affection.”
Fang silently bit his lip. “Of course, my Queen. I... have no plan to do so.”
Chrysalis stopped at the intersection to the hallway leading to the throne room; Fang followed suit. “Good. Now, go and join the other guards. The sooner you attend to your morning duties, the better." The two traveled a few meters down adjacent halls before the Queen abruptly turned around and called out, "Oh, and one more thing.”
Fang stopped and turned on the spot. “Yes, my Queen?”
“Do not allow Sea More to become attached to our guest, either. Likewise, do not let him encourage you to become attached to her." The Queen gave Fang a rather stern expression. "You and I are both well aware of his background and how it may affect his attitude in this situation. Make sure both of you stay in check. Now, off you go.”
Fang slowly gulped. “I-I will see to it. Good day, my Queen.” He gave a short bow and vanished from Chrysalis's sight.
***
Coco walked from the balcany, entering her temporary estate. She took a look at her newly-assembled living quarters, and let out a small sigh, content with how it all turned out. Several mannequins lined the back of the room, blocking the glass as they faced the center like some sort of inanimate cult. The table previously covered in fabric was now drowning in a myriad of sheets, samples, and rolls of all sorts of fabrics in various colors and patterns. On the other side of the room, Coco's personal sewing machine patiently waited for its job to begin, and the one lent by the changelings now rested on the cold, hard floor. Likewise, Coco's own sets of spools of threads, needles, and measuring utensils were now strewn about on the adjacent desk, and the materials given by her hosts were mixed in or laying about on the cobblestone. The sun began its descent over the horizon as it cast a bright orange ray across the landscape and into Coco's quarters.
But even with all of her personal belongings unpacked and set up, one question continued to pester Coco: how does Queen Chrysalis prefer her dress? She reached into one of her totes, retrieved paper and several drawing instruments, and began to draw out what she could remember about the Queen's old dress for visual reference. The green-blue color contrast and the transparent silky veil that drooped down the backside of the old dress appealed to its tailor and to Chrysalis, so Coco used that notion and the clue regarding the theme for the Gala to begin her own design. Unfortunately, the way the Queen phrased her clue about the Gala's theme made it rather difficult for Coco to pin down one single idea in her head. The theme is centered around Princess Cadence and Shining Armor... Does the queen want to be dressed in armor? If that's the case, then I'll need to get in contact with a blacksmith. I wonder who'd know about that sort of thing around here... No, that's a ridiculous notion. Hm... Well, Sea More did say a guard would be outside at all times in case I needed something. Maybe I could ask him...
But as Coco motioned for the door, she paused as her encounter with Chrysalis's designers popped up in her mind. When Coco tried to speak to them, they gave no verbal response. One, in particular, shot her nasty looks. Coco remembered the female changeling lobbing the mannequins in her room without a second thought about aiming away from her. As the designers left, the one who showed no kindness took the food cart in tow, despite the fact that Coco had hardly finished half of a single platter on it. I don't want to assume the worst of every single changeling right off the bat, but... what if this guard is just as cold and heartless?... No, I can't be like that. Sea More and Fang, and even Snack, have shown a great deal of kindness and care to me, and they certainly made a very conscious effort to make a very comfortable environment for me. Maybe those designers didn't know how to coap with a pony.
Fed up with her own second-guessing and hesitation, Coco gathered her strength, boldly walked over to the door, reached up to the knob and pulled it open. She barely managed to pull the door halfway open when a harsh voice rang out, “What do you want?”
Almost instinctively, Coco retreated away from the door. “I, umm... want to speak to the queen.”
A sinister green glow surrounded the doorknob as the door violently slammed shut. “Keep quiet and stay in there. The Queen has no time to talk to the likes of you.”
“B-but Sea More said th-that the guard outside of my door can help m-me with-” Coco was abruptly interrupted by a menacing spear as it impaled the door and caused tiny splinters to spit from the entry wound. The cream mare shrieked in terror and jumped back a good ten feet. Any traces of hope for a peaceful encounter with a changeling dissolved from her mind, and she huddled herself on the floor, feeling like nothing more than a hostage in the moment.
“That bug-eyed insect needs to keep his mouth shut!” The spear receded from the door and took small chunks of wood on its way out, leaving nothing more than a splintery hole. A glowing, turquoise eye, surrounded by a rather nasty burn scar, peered through the newly-made hole as it scanned the room for any signs of movement. “Let's make something perfectly clear here. You are not here to ask and receive. You are here to work for the Queen.” A few moments passed before the changeling moved away from the door and continued. “We changelings hate your kind. Dreadfully hate. You all get to live a happy life, luxuries abound, everything hoofed to you, no questions asked, without so much as a care in the world, while we are confined here in the side of a mountain like ants, scavenging the land for food, struggling against the odds just to keep our kind alive.”
Coco's compassion and empathy suddenly flared, and she stood up to ask in a shaky voice, “W... why?”
The spear reappeared in the hole it made. “Why what?” the voice demanded angrily.
“Why do you hate us? Earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi, I mean.”
“We all have our reasons. All you need to know is that our entire race hates your kind.”
Coco shook her head. “No, no, that's not true. Inferno Fang and Sea More and Snackrifice... they were all friendly to me. So why do you - specifically you - hate ponies? You said it yourself that each of you has your own reasons, so what's yours? Maybe if I knew the issue, I could give some advi-”
Without warning, the door swung open and a lone changeling, red with anger and teeth gritted, stood in the doorway, poised to rush at Coco. “You want to know why?!” the changeling roared as he marched towards the mare. Panicked, Coco scrambled to try and get away from the scarred changeling, but she soon found herself helplessly levitating in the air. The guard bellowed, “Do you REALLY want to know why I hate ponies?!”
“No, I'm fine not knowing!” Coco flailed her arms and legs as she tried to escape, but no amount of struggling could break the spell's grip on her. “I won't ask again! You can let me down now!”
The changeling did not let her go, though. “I'd rather not! I think taking you outside to answer your questions is a wonderful idea!”
"Oh, no, no, no no no no no no..." Terrible thoughts flooded the mare's mind, and she began to savagely wriggle and writhe in response. With all of her might, Coco screamed, “SOMEPONY, HELP ME!” She continued to cry out for help in vain, nearly tearing her vocal chords in the process, drawing closer to the balcony with each second, until she found herself suspended upside-down over its ledge. She reluctantly looked up and saw a treacherous bed of jagged rocks far below her, waiting for their next hapless victim. Coco whimpered in fear as streams of tears rolled up her face and plummeted into the rocky abyss below. "W-w-hy a-are you d-doing thi-is? I've d-done nothing wrong t-to you..." she sniveled.
"You truly want to know why?!" the scarred changeling howled. “We changelings have tried time and again to make peaceful pacts with the world - with your kind - in an effort to patch relations and undo past transgressions! Yet, time and again, your kind has refused to see us as anything more than two-faced, treacherous, vermin! Every single one of you refused to move forward and put the past behind you! So guess what? We gave you a reason to treat us as vermin! We gave you a reason to fear us! AND WE ALWAYS WILL!”
For a split second, Coco felt weightless as the eerie glow and effects of the changeling's suspension magic finally dissipated, but gravity soon took a hold and sent the mare hurtling towards the sharp doom below. "NOOOOOOOoooooooooooo..." All she could do was close her eyes in despair and wait as the air around her made way to let her meet an untimely demise. She clenched her eyes shut for what seemed like ages before she realized that the rushing of wind around her had finally ceased. Coco opened an eye to once again find herself suspended in midair and bathed in a green aura, mere feet from the jagged stones that lay at the bottom of the crevice.
A loud buzzing noise circled above the mare, growing louder with each passing moment; the same changeling that dropped her now closed in on her with an incredibly begrudged scowl. Very coldly, the changeling stated, “Your kind saw us as nothing more than deceivers, so we remained that way.” He slowly ascended with the rather frightened and motionless Coco in tow, made his way back up to the balcony and set his feet on solid ground, but kept her dangling over the balcony's edge once again. “Now I have a question for you.” The scarred changeling turned to face Coco with his unwavering scowl. “Do you know what it is like to have the world turn against you? To have ponies hate you for what you are?”
“Y-yes...” Coco stammered through erratic breathing, still very uneasy from her most recent experience. “I know w-wh-what it is like to be t-turned against...”
The changeling's scowl and voice now burned with fury. “YOU'RE LYING!”
“No, i-it's true! I d-do know w-what it's like. I c-can tell you my s-story and- wait, d-don-” Before she could finish her sentence, Coco felt herself being deliberately tossed aside as the aura keeping her safe blipped out of existence. The mare screamed and fell a good thirty feet before she was once again rescued by the same changeling causing her so much turmoil.
“NOPONY CARES ABOUT YOUR SOB STORY!” the aggravated changeling screamed.
Coco was on the verge of a meltdown at this point. “Puh-please... I-I'm s-so sorry... f-for you... y-your kind... th-they do-on't des-serve t-to b-b-be treat-ted l-like this... bu-ut wh-why a-are you do-doing this t-to me?”
“TO MAKE A POINT!” The scarred changeling readied Coco for another unnerving drop when another voice echoed from the doorway to Coco's room.
“That's enough!” Coco blinked for a moment, and she and the scarred changeling looked over to see an indignant Sea More hastily striding towards the two of them. “Your conflict does not lie with our guest, Scar," he growled. "Let her go.”
Scar leered at him. “Hmph. Very well.” The changeling followed his orders and let go of Coco as she hung over the balcony's edge, causing her to dive straight for the rocky ravine below. "Happy?"
Sea More was completely stupefied by Scar's blatantly malicious execution of the given orders. He could do nothing but watch as Coco rapidly approached the jagged stones below. "Curse you, Scar! You know EXACTLY what I meant!" he muttered furiously.
A blood-curdling scream ripped through Coco's throat once more as she helplessly descended into the rocky chasm, accompanied by nothing more than the rushing wind and her own thoughts. Why do some ponies feed the world with their own anger and hatred? For only a moment, her mind brought back memories of her farewell gesture to Suri. Why did I give in to my own anger and hatred? I guess I'm just as guilty as these poor changelings... I guess this is what I truly deserve... Coco slowly closed her eyes and waited for the embrace of a painful death with a heart full of regret.