"Full name?"
"Queen Chrysalis."
Sounds of frantic scribbling across a scratchy surface filled the Queen's delicate ears. This day had certainly not been what she had expected in the least. She had awoke in her cell just like any other day when she realized that she was not alone like she had been promised. A crystallized and armor clad guard was watching her, tentatively, from the other side of the never-opening bars of her confinement. When she asked him why he was there, the only thing he did was ignite his horn with magic, tie her hole-filled front hooves together, and open the door to her prison.
And now she was sitting in a very dimly lit room(which strangely comforted and pleased her; her cell was often extremely bright), and she was bound by magical bonds to a chair. Somepony, somepony whose voice sounded eerily familiar to the Queen, was questioning her. For what, she hadn't the slightest idea. Perhaps they wished to make a biography of her scintillating life. She did have her fair share of stories.
Or, they wished to punish her further for the crimes she had committed in the past. Which, in her opinion, weren't bad in the least. All she did was try to take over Equestria. Eight times. They were clever plans, too. Such a waste of her true talent.
But now she was playing the good Queen card, which involved her serving her sentence in prison for as long as the sun and moon princess would allow, and when she escaped she would find her subjects again. Perhaps even come up with a new battle plan for Equestria. She swore on her life that she would have it. And this swear had not left her mind since the day she had promised it. However, she still needed to not appear menacing or disagreeably, or else the princesses would never free her. She would be a good actress for as long as she needed to, and no longer.
First on her agenda, though, was to find out where in Equestria she was, and why she was even there. Running a rough tongue over her still gleaming and full grown fangs, and tried not to grimace. The room was uncomfortably cold, as if somepony had put blocks of ice in the room to stay solid. Although she was used to the cold, the entire ordeal made her uneasy. She'd never show it, of course, but the thought of being alone in a strange place in the dark still put her on her guard. Fear had no place in her face. It would never be visible there. Not so long as she was the Queen of the Changelings.
"Who are you?" she called into the nothingness.
"It doesn't matter." was the reply.
"Does it? I think it does. Why don't you tell me what I'm doing here?"
A short pause.
"I must ask you, Queen Chrysalis. How did you escape?"
"Escape?"
She had done nothing of the sort. Her good Queen card was still very much intact, just as it had been the day she had been imprisoned.
"Yes, escape. How did you manage to do it?"
"You are clearly mistaken. I have not escaped since the day I was imprisoned." she responded, long buried rage flickering ever so slightly across her senses. It had been a long time since she had had one of her fits, and since she was attempting to appear good, the stored emotions had been built up so finely that even the smallest amount of annoyance could cause the scale to tip.
"What exactly did you say you wanted with me?" she inquired into the darkness.
"Do you recognize this?"
The sound of something sliding across a smooth floor filled her ears. A single beam of light followed it, and when she tried to trace it back to it's beginning, she found nothing. From her bonds, the Queen leaned over whatever she was sitting on to inspect the something. It was a filthy looking envelope, a letter of sorts. With an opened crusty wax seal.
Using one hole-clad back hoof, she gently flipped the letter over in an attempt to read the hoofwriting. Once this was completed, she studied it. It was no writing that she had ever seen before.
"This is of no use to me." she said, plainly, pushing it back where it slid from with the same back hoof that had turned it over.
"Did you write it?" The voice was tinged with hints of blind fury and confusion.
"Of course not! I've been in prison this entire time. What makes you think the ponies guarding me would allow me to send things out of my prison?" she spat.
"Don't.....don't lie to me." the voice said, shaking with anger.
"If you know anything.....anything at all, tell me NOW."
"I'm not lying to you!" The Queen's voice now matched the voice's anger.
"I don't know anything! All I know is prison. That's where I've been for the last TEN YEARS!" she said, the pitch in her voice rising. The buried fury was finding places in her senses now. The scale was about to be tipped.
In response to her anger, she suddenly felt her magical bonds tighten around her hooves, causing her to stop in surprise and for pain to shoot up her front hooves. She breathed heavily for a few minutes, and shoved the rage back down again.
Calm yourself, Chrysalis,her mind demanded.
The scale would not yet be tipped. Not here it wouldn't. She still had no idea who she was speaking to. This disembodied voice could belong to the sun princess herself. Maybe this meeting was to decide her fate in or out of her cell. She forced a thin coating of calm to settle over the layers of fury and slowed her breathing down.
"Are you sure that you don't recognize this letter? AT ALL?" asked the voice again.
"Yes. That's what I've been trying to tell you." she said, the venom bleeding through the calm. There was a pause on the other end, followed by a deep and troubled sigh.
"Very well. Take her away."
She felt a presence behind her, but before she could react, a dark something, darker than the very room, came in her line of vision, and swept itself over her head.
"Your majesty, the Queen has been safely escorted back to her cell. The report says that she'll be out for another five hours, and wake up with a pretty bad headache, but other than that she'll be just fine. I wonder, is there anything else I may do for you while I am here?"
It was quiet except for his voice. The fan attatched to the ceiling was running silently, blowing cool air into her face. The pillow-softness of the comforter soothed every inch of her tired body, but it did nothing to calm her raging insides. Another suspect, come and gone, and still she had no answers. She had found place in a ditch.
Everypony here was too kind to her. She did not deserve their kind words and gestures. Nor did she deserve to be in this comfortable bed, in this wonderful castle, haunted by her brother's family. Word had not yet come from the hospital, but it didn't matter at all. She already knew the answer; it had burned itself in her mind. Besides those who had passed, the one thing she could not have back was her solitude. She had not been left fully alone since the day she arrived, and his kindness and service had begun to nauseate her.
And yet, while she craved her solitude, she also feared it. If she was alone, U would have more chances to try and kill her too. She feared for her life, and for her remaining dear one's lives, all the while crying for those who had passed and not wanting to even breathe she was so furious.
But currently, she was in a dry spell. Though these emotions still lived quite obviously inside her, they had found resting places and had made themselves dormant, should she need to stir them up again. She knew where to find them. Since they were now dormant, she felt numb, and emotionless. Helpless, even. The palace dwellers were relieved at this, but also worried for her, and sent the orange guard to keep her company. And he was present, as he always was, watching. She found it best to ignore him whenever possible.
Sighing heavily, she levitated her trusty notebook and a quill and inkwell to her place on the bed. She flipped through the pages until she found the one she was looking for.
"Twilight."
She was about to cross off the flower pony and the Queen before he stopped her. He was right at her bedside now, looking her straight in the face.
"What?" she asked, her voice softer than it had been in a long time. She did not lift her violet eyes to meet his. She would suffer alone; it was her fault that she still wouldn't meet U's demands. She just........no. She stopped herself. There were no more excuses. She either did it or she didn't. And she couldn't bring herself to.
"Look at me." he said, in a commanding tone once used by a certain dweller. Five minutes passed, and slowly but surely the violet eyes met his.
"What?" she repeated, and flinched at the warmth of his eyes. He sighed heavily, and studied her. No longer did she look insane, but rather, burdened. Her mane was limp and she still had large bags under her eyes, but she didn't look as if she were about to throw somepony across a room. And for that, he had her sympathies.
"I never did express my condolences for your friends." he said at last, and he watched as tears began to gather in the violet irises.
"You....don't need to." she said, glancing down.
"It.....it doesn't matter anymore."
"Does it?" he asked, knowing the princess was lying.
"It does." she said, more tears beginning to pool.
"You never told me much about them." he observed.
"I didn't know them personally, but I know that they were wonderful ponies and that they meant a lot to you."
A curt nod from the princess.
"They did." she said, still not looking at him.
"I don't think you should stop the investigation. I think that you need to pull through this dry spell and.....avenge them. All of them."
That got her attention; the teary violet eyes locked onto his, and he knew now that she was listening.
"That's right.......they.....told me. That's right." she said, stammering a little.
"It will be alright, your majesty. I know it. We'll find this killer, and they'll get what's coming to them. I promise." he said.
The eyes watched him after he said this, only a few precious moments. Then, before he could react, the princess threw her hooves around him as best she could from her place on the bed and began to sob.
Surprise flooded his senses, but he hugged her back, and listened as her sobs filled the suite, landing on all the furnishings. Though her tears soaked his mane and some of her snot got on his ear, he didn't care at all. He knew that her pain was immense, and he allowed her to sob. Though this gesture broke the barrier between royal and guard, he knew that he was the only one who could comfort her now.
Finally, after about fourty-five straight minutes of sobs, he carefully removed her two front hooves off him, and looked her in the face. She had cried herself out, for now. Now she looked even more fatigued and deflated than before she had began to sob.
"Come on," he said quietly, loud enough for her to hear.
"Let's go get some dinner, your majesty."
And with that, he escorted her out of her chambers, her tears and snot still dripping down the side of his face.
When he brought her back to her chambers after a delicious meal, she went straight back to her bed to lie down. Since she was out of tears for now, she was immensely sleepy, and wished to lie down. He was with her, as always, and he watched as she made herself comfortable. She was still very much miserable; it was painted on her very face, but he knew she was better for the time being.
No sooner had she laid her head down on the end of the bed when the door to the chambers burst open. Her head snapped up in a second, and looked at the arrival.
"Your majesty! I have....grave news." he panted, his crystalline face contorted with worry and concern for his princess.
"What is it?" she asked, softly. He looked at her, carefully, ready for the princess to break down again. The guard panted before continuing.
"I have just received a report that Queen Chrysalis was found in her prison dead!"
He watched her face plummet into dangerous territory, and his heart went out to her. Guard or not, he wasn't going to be indifferent while somepony was having to suffer like this.
"That's not all, actually." said the guard, looking not happy in the least.
"I also got word from Ponyville. The local flower pony, Roseluck I believe, was also found dead just moments ago!"
"No....." she said, softly, her eyes growing to the size of saucers.
"And.......as always, your majesty, a guard investigating the two deaths found a slip of paper next to Miss Roseluck's body, addressed to you, saying for you to look in your closet."
She was out of her bed faster than she had seen her move in a long while. The closet door was thrown open with great force as the princess peered inside, and leaned forward out of the two guard's views.
"What is it?" he asked her, wondering if she would hear or listen to him.
In response, she brought out a letter, just like one he had delievered to her previously. It was written on old parchment, with the same spiderweb-like hoofwriting, except there were tiny spots of crimson dotting it this time. He knew what it was, and he was pretty sure she knew what it was as well. Blood.
She had it opened by the time he had crossed the room to comfort her. She had read it before he could say or do anything. It was on the floor faster than anything, thrown there forcefully, with the one who had thrown it facedown on her bed, sobs clearly heard through the soft comforter.
Now, as I have spared their lives,
It was obviously time for them to meet their indefinite demise.
Remember what I've told you, we both cannot survive,
Only one will, in the end, thrive.
I've decided to spare your precious princesses for the time being, and I've taken the liberty of killing those you've questioned so far. I figure that if I kill those you suspect, you'll stop trying to find me, and you'll FINALLY do what I've been asking. Besides, you won't miss a washed up queen and some idiotic flower pony.
Your get-out-of-death card has expired. I ask you again, give me your precious crown and stop the investigation, or more lives will be taken, including the princesses'.
You'll have to excuse all the blood on this envelope. It always seems to get on everything, doesn't it? It's Roseluck's, in case you're wondering.
By the way, while I'm on the subject of the princesses, the sun and moon will still be raised in their absence. I have enough power now to do just that. Maybe even more than you.
As always,
-U