Chapter 8
The Royal Gardens
There were, all things considered, much better plans than this.
For a start, it involved teleporting within Canterlot mere hours after being informed of the guard’s suspicions of such magic and it didn’t take a genius to realise that that was stupid. It also involved hiding in the dense undergrowth at the heart of the Royal gardens, which would have been plausible were she the only one there but with Thorax joining her there was the minor issue of trespassing in one of the most heavily-guarded locations in all of Equestria – aside from the living quarters of the Princesses, of course. To make matters worse, the plan was centred around meeting with Thorax, an idea Chrysalis detested.
Still, it had to be done. It was a necessary stupidity, much like Thorax himself.
Chrysalis lay on the ground, curled up inside a dense thicket of some exotic plant Celestia had brought back many centuries before. Hiding among sticks, leaves and dirt she waited, cursing beneath her breath as she shivered. The sun’s rays could not pierce the canopy above her; the chill of the cold air stung at her coat.
Why Thorax could never show up on time when it was important was beyond her, but why he would always show up five minutes early for insignificant meetings simply exaggerated the absurdity of it all. She had entertained the possibility that he was spiting her but was forced to reconsider when, despite knowing the threat of demotion hung over his head, he was not deterred in the slightest. Now she simply believed the General was either the source of all her bad luck or an exceptionally poor judge of priorities.
Sure enough, as the bells in the distance chimed a quarter past the hour, a rustling in the bushes let Chrysalis know that her wait had almost ended. She pushed her head through the leaves, turning to face the noise – quietly, in case it was somepony other than Thorax – and gaped at the sight she saw.
“What in Equestria happened to you?” she asked, her voice threatening to give out under the pressure of mirth as she emerged from the bushes. Thorax frowned.
“Some of us have to put some effort into maintaining our disguises.” He picked at the twigs stuck between his chitin with his magic; Chrysalis reached out hers to assist. For a moment the two stood in near-silence, carefully removing what dirt and splinters they could. “Why are you still wearing yours, anyway?”
“Hmm?” Chrysalis replied, losing her grip on the thorn she had been holding. It twisted slightly: Thorax winced. “Sorry,” she muttered, before carefully removing the thorn and healing the wound beneath. “What did you ask?”
“Your disguise,” Thorax stated bluntly, his voice calm and controlled but spoken through his teeth. “Why are you still in it? If they were to find Princess Mi Amore Cadenza talking with a changeling at times like these…”
“In all honesty, Thorax, I had half-expected you to still be in yours.” Chrysalis sighed, seating herself once more on the dry, dusty earth. “Besides, while I was waiting a guard would be much less suspicious were they to find a Princess than a Changeling.”
Thorax gave her a look of mocking despair. “You know full well that we’re trying to ensure none of our agents know each other on sight around Canterlot,” Thorax replied. “And whilst everyone knows your disguise, I would rather nobody knew mine.”
Chrysalis shrugged, shaking as she let her disguise fall away in a flash of green. A small flower she had sat upon suddenly found itself un-touched and sprang upwards; Thorax laughed at the sight of the buttercup protruding through one of the many holes in Chrysalis’ forelegs. She gave him a flat look of displeasure and the soldier quietened.
“Relax, Chrysalis,” he said. “I cast a sound-proof charm on this thicket. We’re not going to be heard.”
“I expected no less,” Chrysalis lied. “I was merely protesting your childish behaviour.” She lifted her leg, taking care not to damage the fragile plant, and set it back down nearby. “Besides, I still think the complete anonymity of my own soldiers, even to me, is unnecessary and potentially damaging to the mission.”
“And I say that if we don’t know who we are, we can’t give each other away.” Thorax paced the small clearing by their side, his brow furrowed in thought. “All of us knowing who you are disguised as is dangerous enough. We can’t afford for them to know that we’re already inside Canterlot.”
“You do realise they already suspect that?” Thorax stopped in his tracks, turning to look at Chrysalis with alarm. She kept herself from smirking, the words ‘I told you so’ dying on her tongue. “I spoke with one of the guard today with regards to the wedding preparations. They already suspect we’re using the threat as a diversion and are reasonably convinced that we’re already inside.”
Thorax stood in silence for a few moments.
“They haven’t lowered the shield, though,” he said, slowly, a grin spreading across his muzzle, “which means they can’t be completely sure. Which means they are still reasonably distracted by the possibility of exterior threat.” Chrysalis inclined her head.
“True,” she admitted. “But I cannot stress how dangerous a position this puts us in. They are ready and willing to find infiltrators in the city. I truly believe the safest thing would be to get as many of our soldiers out of Canterlot as we can: the fewer of us there are, the less likely we are to be caught.”
Thorax nodded thoughtfully, his lips pulled to one side in a mangled grimace of concentration.
“That sounds sensible,” he conceded. “I’ll give some thought as to who is most needed and dismiss everyone who is just here for observation. Is that all?”
Chrysalis shook her head.
“I don’t think so,” she said. “There’s quite a bit more we need to discuss. I assume you are aware of the existence of the Elements of Harmony?” Thorax nodded, closing his eyes. “I will most likely be seeing Twilight Sparkle this afternoon; I would not be surprised if she asked my opinion on the matter. Tell me, General – do you think that we should have the Elements stationed here in Canterlot, where we can swiftly react to prevent their use, or have them left outside Canterlot where they cannot be used in immediate reaction?”
“I would rather not have to worry about defending from a future attack,” Thorax replied sternly. “I would prefer to have our soldiers incapacitate the bearers before they get a chance to use the Elements. It is by far the option with the least risk.”
“Perhaps,” Chrysalis replied, “but would not ensuring an easier victory here in Canterlot be worth the risk that they might be used against us? And besides, if we are successful here and the Bearers unaware of our coup we should have nothing to fear. Nopony outside Canterlot will know of our success.”
“As refreshing as your optimism is,” Thorax replied dryly, “to assume that we will succeed in containing any information of our takeover is to plan without precaution for failure. It is that exact kind of arrogance that has lead to many defeats in the past; we should learn from our ancestors’ failures and prepare regardless.”
Chrysalis opened her mouth to reply, closing it again a moment later. Frowning, she spent a moment thinking about what Thorax had said. It was not in her nature to entertain the prospect that Thorax’s opinion was ever likely to be wise, but she could not fail to see the sense in the General’s words. And though she did not like the idea, she had to admit that Thorax’s knowledge of tactics and warfare–
“What’s the matter, Chrysalis?” the young soldier had taunted. “Don’t you want the attention?” Around her, the gang of soldiers chuckled, albeit nervously. None of them quite had the courage of their ringleader.
“Why are you doing this?” she had asked.
“Because you’re going to be Queen,” Thorax had replied, simply. “My father says that the last few Queens have been too weak, that we have gotten ourselves nowhere with all this endless diplomacy. I thought we would teach you how a Queen should behave… the hard way.”
Chrysalis shook her head violently, shaking away the memory. Thorax looked at her, questioningly.
“Chrysalis, are you alright?” he asked, walking closer to her and sitting down by her side. “You were staring into space for a whole minute.”
She smiled at that. At the very least Thorax had changed, though whether the change came more from a psychological compulsion to care for and obey his Queen than his own emotional maturity she would never know.
“I’m fine,” she said, giving him a playful nudge when he raised his eyebrows in response. “Really. And I agree with you: to assume our success is foolish, no matter how secure our plans. If anything, my conversation with the guard this morning should have taught me that.”
“It’s something you should have been taught years ago,” Thorax replied, the seriousness of his words in stark contrast with the gentleness of his tone. Chrysalis’ mind flashed up images of lessons he had tried to teach her in the past – she blinked them away, furious. There were more important matters than her childhood failings. “How did the guard come to suspect that we were inside Canterlot, anyway?”
“From what I can tell,” Chrysalis replied, a guilty grimace tugging at her lips, “it was probably my fault.” Thorax gave her a flat stare, his mouth hanging open. She responded quickly, before she could be reprimanded again. “I’ve managed to divert some attention away from it, though. The unicorns in the academy had apparently picked up some of the magic left over from my teleportations to visit Cadence, and none of the ponies registered with that ability had admitted to teleporting at that time. I convinced them that Cadence had been practicing teleportation in secret, so as not to avoid being caught out in public – they seemed pleased with that answer.”
Thorax sat still for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face. After a moment he let out a breath neither of them had realised he was holding.
“Did you arrive here by foot or teleportation?” he asked, the worry in his voice evident. Chrysalis’ eyes widened.
“I had a cover story arranged, if they looked into it,” she replied, anxious to ensure that Thorax did not consider her irresponsible. “And I was going to go out of my way when I returned to speak with the guard to inform them that I had been practicing…”
Thorax placed his hoof over her lips, silencing her.
“That’s fine,” he replied, closing his eyes for a little longer than it took to blink and sighing. “Just try to remember to walk here in future. I assure you none of them will consider it strange in the slightest.”
“How did you get in, anyway?” Chrysalis asked. Thorax smirked at that, seeming to enjoy the knowledge he held that she did not.
“Secrets of the trade,” he replied with a wink. Chrysalis snorted, unamused by his antics. “Besides, it might give away who I’m disguised as, and I couldn’t compromise our security.”
Chrysalis lay her forehead against the earth in exasperation and sighed. Her breath caught in her throat and the sound came out almost like a sob.
“Fine,” she said, still pressing her head into the ground, “but for the love of the hive, be careful. I can’t imagine anypony getting in here easily; these are the Sisters’ private gardens, after all. They’re very heavily guarded.”
Thorax rolled his eyes, as if to scoff at the very idea of his getting caught. Chrysalis raised her head and narrowed her eyes at him in warning. “I’m serious,” she added. “You can go on at me all you like about my jeopardising the mission, but if I can’t hold you to the same high standards you hold me there’s no point in us even doing this.”
“I know,” Thorax replied, placatingly but with a hint of bitterness in his tone. He sounded almost like a petulant teenager whose parents kept explaining concepts they had grasped years beforehand: impatient and tired. “I’m taking all the relevant precautions. I even chose my disguise for the sole purpose of getting in here to meet with you. Why do you think it is only ever the two of us who meet?”
“I’d always thought it was because we were minimising contact to reduce the risk of discovery.” Chrysalis spoke dryly. Thorax chuckled.
“That too, I suppose,” he admitted. “Though in fairness you’re the only one who has to minimise contact – you’re the one in the spotlight, after all.”
After school had finished, Thorax and his gang of soldiers had found her on the walkways of the hive. They had surrounded her in a pincer movement, one half from either direction, shepherding her into the only safe space remaining – the little alcove in the wall that some drones had been building that day, the very start of a new connecting tunnel. There was no way out.
“Good evening, Chrysalis,” Thorax had said, walking forward. “I do hope we’re not in your way. That would be terribly inconvenient.”
“You are, actually,” she said, her voice sounding much braver than she felt. Thorax scoffed and her voice faltered. “Let me through?” It wasn’t meant to be a question, but she couldn’t quite make it sound commanding enough not to be.
“But surely as our future Queen you’ve learned to use those wings of yours by now?” Thorax replied. The soldiers around him laughed, knowing how poorly she had performed in that day’s first flying lesson compared to the rest of the class. Chrysalis felt a sting in the back of her throat, almost as if she had swallowed a sharp twig.
“Let me through,” she repeated – quieter this time but with more force behind her words. A few of the soldiers in the crowd took a step back, before Thorax shot the group a look and the stepped back into place. He turned to her, shaking his head.
“Afraid I can’t do that, Chrysalis,” he said, his voice mocking her with insincere sadness. “We need to know that you’re good enough to lead us.”
“Chrysalis?” Blinking, Chrysalis looked up into Thorax’s eyes. “Are you feeling alright?”
Chrysalis frowned. She was not usually one to get lost in thoughts so easily, especially not memories she had spent so many years trying to forget. She took a slow, measured breath.
“I’m fine, Thorax,” she said at last. “I’m just a little stressed, I think.”
“Well, let’s just hope that you can keep up this disguise for another week,” Thorax smiled. “We wouldn’t want the plan falling to pieces at the last minute.”
“I am perfectly in control of myself,” she snapped, before closing her eyes for a second and taking another breath. “I mean, I’m sure it will go well. Was there anything else we needed to discuss?”
Thorax paced again across the clearing, turning his back to her. He stood for a moment or two in silence; Chrysalis was not quite sure whether she needed to prompt him or not. After having waited so long for him to arrive, Chrysalis was not in the mood to wait further. Just as she was about to speak up, however, Thorax broke the silence.
“Have you been using the mind control spell on the Captain?”
The question threw Chrysalis. She had not expected Thorax to bring this subject up – after all, they had already agreed that such measures were only to be taken in the event that Shining saw through her disguise or was otherwise uncooperative with her efforts. Thus far the stallion had been nothing but co-operative, if a little unbearable in the mornings.
“No,” she said, slowly. “I thought we agreed that-”
“I had thought,” Thorax replied, “that given the changes in the guard’s response to this threat you might see fit to use the Captain of said guard in the best way you can? After all, should we not exploit every resource we have available if doing so will secure a more likely victory?”
“Do you really think that ordering Shining to cancel the search for a threat inside Canterlot will draw suspicion away from me?” Chrysalis asked, incredulous. “If anything, that will simply draw suspicion towards Shining, and then myself. And if that weren’t enough, it wouldn’t be hard for someone to notice the effects of the spell, and if somepony were to catch me in the act-”
“He’s been having migraines,” Thorax stated, cutting Chrysalis off. She stood, mouth open, unsure of how to respond. Thorax turned back to look at her, a demanding expression on his face. “Is that not the case?”
“No,” she replied, uncertainly. “That is exactly what has been happening.”
“You could quite easily disguise the spell as a cure for headaches,” Thorax suggested, smirking. “And I wouldn’t have him do something so obvious as cancel all search inside Canterlot; a few subtle commands that give us a little breathing room, some rescheduling of guard posts, that sort of thing.” Thorax shrugged. “I don’t doubt that you could pull that off.”
Chrysalis paused for a moment, licking her dry lips and considering her response, though she was more worried that she had not seen such an obvious solution. She was beginning to worry that her childhood hatred of Thorax was blinding her to the soldier’s intelligence, and making her look a fool in the process: after all, Thorax had to have been promoted so high for some sort of reason.
She tried to concede that Thorax not only had a point, but that he actually knew what he was talking about when it came to tactical discussion. Yet despite the evidence so very clearly in front of her, Chrysalis once again could not bring herself to admit that her childhood tormentor had any scrap of talent for something other than hurting those around him.
“We’ll see,” she said, unable to completely accept that Thorax was right. “I’ll give things a few nights and if we really need to, I’ll use it.” She glared at Thorax then. “But only if I feel we absolutely need to; I shall not risk the whole mission just to try to make our lives easier.”
Shaking his head, Thorax seemed to take a moment to gather his thoughts and restrain his tongue. “I believe that it will almost certainly be the right decision to make, but I can’t force you to do that. Just know that if we fail and could have succeeded with a little help from Shining…” He turned from her, letting the threat hang invisible in the air. The threat was hollow, of course – Chrysalis knew that if they failed, regardless of whether or not Shining could have helped them succeed, they would most certainly be dead.
The image of Celestia standing over her, that had plagued her nightmares so very recently, returned in full force. She shuddered at the thought.
“I promise you, Thorax,” she said, “I shall not let us fail if it is within my power.” Seemingly placated, though he did not look back, Thorax nodded and walked dismissively into the bushes. As he entered the cover a flash of green surrounded him – Chrysalis couldn’t quite make out the details of the pony body that took his place, though she could have sworn she saw a streak of blonde hair swaying in the bushes for a moment before it slid out of sight between the leaves.
Chrysalis let out a breath, relaxing as her own magic surrounded her, changing her shape to match Cadence’s. She reached down to the flower she had almost crushed earlier. It was a little worse for wear – the stem was bent in several places, hard corners out of place amid the smooth, green stalk – but otherwise still well. She thought for a moment, before picking it from the ground and sliding the stem into her hair.
Smiling, she turned and stretched her legs and wings, flexing the muscles for just a moment to allow herself to relax. She had been quite stressed lately, after all, and what little time she had had alone that morning had not helped her at all.
Reaching her magic out around her, Chrysalis felt the familiar tug of teleportation – the feeling of a rope around one’s torso, pulling gently to lead but not so harshly as to hurt. She took one last look around her before slowly letting her grip on herself loosen and allowing the magic to pull her back home.