by Fuzzyfurvert
My Little Dynamite: Book One
Part 17
~~~
Six years ago.
Celestia’s chamber was just as she had left it. Paper piled up on her desk in a mess, huge brown rings marking where Celestia’s warmug had sat. The furniture was all just slightly out of alignment, the couch cushions could use a fluffing, the shelves needed a decent dusting. Philomena’s enclosure was, paradoxically, the cleanest thing in the room. Celestia was very dutiful in caring for her pet.
Even the bed was messy and unmade. Chrysalis, currently Monarca, unicorn head librarian and secret paramor of Princess Celestia, smirked at that. The condition of the bed was partially her fault. She’d had to sneak out suddenly in the pre-dawn hours when Princess Luna had visited her sister’s room unexpectedly. Otherwise, she would have made it while Celestia showered.
Perhaps, I should talk Tia into hiring a personal maid again. Monarca chuckled and her green colored aura grabbed the sheets and pillows and started to arrange them. How the immortal Princess of the Sun has a forever untidy bedroom is beyond me. If the room is going to be as clean as possible, she’ll have to have a maid take care of it.
With the bed soon made, Monarca stretched herself out in and pulled out the chopsticks that held her mane up in a bun. Celestia would be back in the room any minute and she didn’t want to leave any uncertainty in the air about the nature of her visit. Luna shouldn’t be a bother tonight and give them another case of cuddlous interruptus. She’d barely had time to toss the chopsticks onto the bedstand when Celestia burst into the room and all but slammed the door closed behind her.
“Tia? What’s wrong?” Monarca sat up on the bed and shook out her hair. “You look upset.”
“What?” Celestia sniffed and wiped her face with a wing before she looked at the bed. “Monarca? I’m sorry...I just had to deal with something. I...I don’t…”
“Come sit with me, Tia. Tell me all about it.” Celestia sniffled again and plodded over to the bed before falling into it like a particularly weepy stack of bricks. Monarca smiled at her warmly and slipped her hooves around Celestia’s neck and nuzzled the mare softly.
“Momo, I think I may have broken Cadance’s heart.” Celestia sighed as a fresh set of tears rolled down her cheeks. “I told her tonight, before dinner, that she was going to have to go on a mission for me. She’s leaving Equestria tomorrow and...and I think it hurt her a lot to have to leave all this. To leave her friend, Twilight Sparkle.”
Monarca nodded slowly. “Yes, I know the mare.”
“I told her it was for the good of all Equestria. That she is the only one that can do this. Her life is going to be in danger for however long this takes.”
“How did she take the news?” Monarca brushed Celestia’s wild rainbow mane out of her eyes as she looked down at the alicorn.
“She cried, but she...she agreed with me, in the end.” Celestia seemed to deflate and her eternally flowing mane grew still and cold. “That was the worst part, Momo. She agreed with me and it’s going to kill her one true friendship here because she might never return.”
Monarca smiled and booped Celestia on the nose. “Oh hush. I know that Twilight filly. Theirs is a friendship that will survive this, Tia. Trust me, and stop crying, ok, my pretty princess?”
Celestia sniffled again and looked into Monarca’s eyes. “Do you think so?”
The librarian nodded and leaned in to kiss Celestia softly on the lips. The princess groaned quietly into the kiss and her mane burst back to life. Monarca pulled back after a moment and stoked Celestia’s cheek. “I know so. They have a friendship similar to ours, my little sunbeam. They are young and smart and have strong hearts. I can tell. They will weather this and come out the other side even stronger.”
Creamy Goodness hummed and skipped as she trotted through the castle’s staff area toward the kitchen loading area. Her shift had come to an end now that lunch had been served and she had work to get to. She slowed as she came up the section of the kitchens where the deserts were prepped and she stuck her head in the door. A few ponies were busy working away at some pies and she spotted a young mare with a green coat similar to her own.
“Hey, Meringue Slice!” Creamy waved and grinned. “I hear there is a handsome colt looking for you.”
“What?” Meringue Slice paused as she decorated one of the pies and flushed. “Who?”
“Cute stallion on the serving team. Batter something…” Creamy tapped her chin as she pretended to think hard for dramatic sakes. “Oh yeah, Batter Dip, that was the name.”
Meringue giggled nervously. “Why is he looking for me?”
“‘Cuz I might have told him you were single and about his age.”
“Ms. Goodness, do you have a point in interrupting my workers?” A large mare in a chef’s hat cleared her throat as she walked up to the door where Creamy was leaning in. Creamy Goodness shrank back and smiled sheepishly.
“Just sowing the seeds of love.”
The lead chef harrumphed at her and rolled her eyes. “Well, isn’t that lovely? Go do it elsewhere. These girls have a big order to fill for tonight.”
Creamy chuckled and waved at Meringue Slice before she started trotting away towards the rear of the castle. She rounded the corner and smirked as she started down the stairs into the darkened larder. By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs, her green coat had become hard, shiny black plates with emerald bands over her abdomen. Membranous wings spread from her back and her teeth narrowed to needle-like points.
“Those two should prove to be a yummy snack later on.”
Chrysalis stretched and buzzed her wings in the cool darkness of the larder for a moment before her horn lit up with a dull green glow that cast stark shadows around her. She paced up to a spot where the earthen walls of the larder were bare of shelves and food stores and focused her gaze there. The glow from her horn grew brighter until her eyes started to glow green and streaks of purple and black miasma started to leak from the edges and drifted into the air around her like dust.
The wall lost itself in the shadows and until it was no longer a wall, but a hallway made of shadows. Chrysalis blinked away the dark magic from her eyes and stepped into the portal she had opened to the shadow realm. Unlike traditional teleportation, this would allow her to reach far further afield locations, though it wasn’t instantaneous. She merely had to move from a ‘like to like places’ though the shadowrealm and the darkened root cellar that doubled as the castle’s food larder was the perfect place to use as an anchor whenever she felt like returning to her old home in the sunken ruins of the Everfree.
Chrysalis…
The Changeling shook her head. The shadowrealm was a dangerous place to get distracted and she sped up her walk as she left the castle behind and the portal closed with a barely audible ‘pop.’ Vague shapes stretched and twisted about her, dark mockeries of things and creatures of the mortal realm moved around her at almost a sickening pace as each step took her leagues toward her destination.
Chrysalis...my daughter…
“Shut up.” Her voice sounded echoey and hollow as she kept walking, eyes forward. “Shut up. You aren’t real.”
Crystal...my sweetness...listen to daddy…
“You’re dead. I can’t...hear you anymore. You died a long time ago, father.” She faltered as a particularly large shape in the darkness shifted across her path. “Don’t...do this. Please, not now...I’ve been so good!”
Crystal...I have another job for you...you are almost done...and we can be a family again…
Chrysalis stopped where she was and grabbed her head with her hooves and pressed in tight. Sometimes, when the voices in her mind grew loud, she could force them to be silent, if she held tightly enough. Her head started to ache and she gritted her teeth against the pain. If she just held on, it would go away. If she held on, her mind would clear. She had honestly thought that she had silenced the voices for good, last time.
Fifteen years ago
Chrysalis wore her coat in aqua blue and had her blond mane swept back out of her bright violet eyes. She stalked on long legs toward the end of the runway, the bustle of the dress she was modeling swishing gracefully behind her. She stopped at the end of the long and narrow stage and and threw her sleek hip to the side as she vogued with a disinterested look on her face and the cameras around her flashed.
The pony managing the photographers barked commands at her and Chrysalis sighed tiredly as she turned for another pose. Soon the enormous ballroom would fill with the who’s who of Canterlot nobility and the most affluent merchants as they came to admire the latest in fashion in the luxuriousness of Canterlot Castle proper. Rumor had it that even the Royal Sisters would be in attendance, but neither mare had showed up during any of the set up or any of the rehearsals.
Chrysalis ran a silk-covered forehoof along her side, over the split in her skirt that allowed her spiderweb cutie mark to show through, and sighed. She had so hoped Celestia would come see the show, and her, specifically. It had been a few years since she had been in Equestria and stolen her Princess’ heart and attention. She was just turning to strut back down the runway when the main doors opened and the Princess of the Sun herself slipped in.
Chrysalis paused, along with every other person in the room as pony, dog and drake alike took notice of the alicorn suddenly in their midst. She flushed as she realized what pose she was inadvertently holding and what angle Celestia could clearly see her from. She forced herself into a more relaxed position and took a deep breath before looking back at Celestia and meeting those eyes. Celestia was smiling and looking straight at her while other models and photographers converged on the princess. It was the same look she had seen all those years ago, in another city, now lifeless and choked with vines. The same look that told her the princess liked what she saw.
Oh Goddess how she had missed that look.
The next few minutes passed in a blur. Talk buzzed through the crew and talent alike that Celestia was indeed going to watch the show and had arrived early to speak with the director and designer. Chrysalis felt herself tingling with excitement as she slipped out of the dress in her small dressing room with help of her assistant and temporary student in the ways of modeling. The lanky young unicorn hung up the satiny affair before they stepped out into the private area backstage for a quick bite to eat from the buffet tables. At the far end of the tables, Celestia and the lead designer, Photo Finish stood near each other, speaking quietly.
Chrysalis lifted a plate with one elegant wing and did her best to appear focuses on the orderves as she nonchalantly wandered closer to the pair. She hushed Fleur as the excited teen all but danced in place with excitement at being in the presence of royalty.
“Ja, Prinzessin, I dizcovered her at a cafe in Germaney lazt zummer. Zhe iz da natural beauty!”
“Silk Spinner certainly is, Ms. Finish. Thank you again for putting together such a wonderful show.”
Chrysalis’ ears perked up and she fought herself to keep from squeeing in happiness. She knew that Celestia would like the body and identity she had built just for this purpose. She looked up and again met those wonderful eyes.
“Hallo, du warst wunderschön auf der Bühne.”
Chrysalis, aka Silk Spinner, froze and for a moment her body forgot how her lungs and heart were supposed to operate. She recovered a long moment later and bowed to the regent, her voice soft and breathy. “Vielen Dank, Prinzessin.”
Celestia smiled at her again with a twinkle in her eye before turning back to Photo Finish. “Ms. Finish, I would like to ask you for a special favor, if that is alright?”
“Oh?” Photo Finish adjusted her rose colored shades and looked up at the taller mare.
“Yes, I’d like you to set up a private photoshoot. There is a very special somepony I would like you to capture some images of for me. It was recently brought to my attention that a new alicorn has appeared in Cloudsdale. She is being brought here to Canterlot to be brought up as a future princess of all Equestria and we’ll need proper pictures for the press and official proclamations and such.”
“Oh my Goddess!” Fleur gasped at Silk Spinner’s side, her eyes huge as she stared at Photo Finish and Princess Celestia. “That’s so amazing! A new princess alicorn! Can you believe it, Miss Spinner? Wouldn’t it be just a dream come true to become a princess like that?”
Silk Spinner nodded, her expression carefully neutral as her plate of tasty orderves started to crack under the pressure of her grip.
Chrysalis groaned as she picked herself up off the cold stone floor and brushed the grit off her cheek as she eyes adjusted to the darkness. At some point she had left the shadow realm behind and had stumbled out into the buried chambers under the temple in the Everfree. There was a fine coating of dust on everything and the air smelled stale and musty.
“What was I doing?” She blinked and looked over at the stone slab table she had set up centuries ago for her experiments. Her supplies, all sealed within bottles and beakers sealed with wax and wooden boxes treated to withstand the years, sat just where she had last left them. “Oh yes, now I remember. I have a princess to kill.”
Chrysalis chuckled to herself as as stepped forward and a row of candles started to light with low, green flames in time with her hoof falls. By the time she reached the table, the chamber was filled with soft light and her work space was well illuminated. She buzzed her diaphanous wings and the gale from them cleared the dust. She grinned and reached out to tilt a small framed picture of Celestia towards herself. “Soon, it’ll just be us, my love. I’ll be by your side just as I was always meant to be. I’ll be your Princess, for a change. Not that little filly with the pink flank.”
Her grin slipped slightly. “You like pink flanks, huh? I can have pink flanks. Or blue, or purple, or whatever! I can be any mare you want! You hear me, Celestia? Any mare you want...I can be! I’ve always been the one for you! You were supposed to pick me!”
She growled and lifted the picture frame in her aura to look the picture in the eye. “I came from a royal line. I was the most powerful candidate. The contests were mere formalities, I know, but you must understand that I couldn’t have competition. It just wouldn’t do. You are supposed to be mine, Tia! That’s why...that’s why I had to get rid of the others. They couldn’t be princesses. Only me.”
She growled again, her wings buzzing as her eyes started to glow and the picture frame started to groan in protest. “Everything I ever did was all for you. Everything. I won’t be passed over again! You thought I’d leave just like everyone else when you gave up the Everfree, but you were wrong, Tia.”
Chrysalis’ eyes glowed brighter and the metal part of the frame started to smoke as she stared at the picture it held. “I stayed. I still believed in you. I perfected the magics you forbade everyone else. I mastered it and I got these wings.” Her wings buzzed faster and started to fill the dark place with high pitched shrill. “I became an alicorn for you. I became so much more for you. I gave up my home and my name and my soul for you.”
She snarled and gnashed her fangs. “I will have what you promised me, Tia. I will rule at your side, no matter how many pretenders to the throne I have to kill to do it.” She hissed and the picture frame finally snapped under her focus, the glass protecting the old photograph shattered and sprayed her with glass.
That made her pause and blink away the power that had been building inside her.
“Oops!” Chrysalis giggled nervously and her magic pulled the frame back into shape and reformed the glass into a clear pane once again.
Chrysalis! Stop dawdling!
“Huh?”
It is almost done, daughter. Free me and you can have the Sun Priestess all to yourself.
“She isn’t a priestess anymore, dad. She’s a princess.”
It matters not! Free me and return our kingdom to the world! Then you can have anything you want. Anyone you want. The promises made to you will all be fulfilled. Believe your father, and you will rule Equestria however you please.
Chrysalis nodded slowly and put the picture frame down on the table and pulled several of the sealed boxes and vials to herself. There was only one more seal to break. Then her father would be back. My father is dead. He has been dead for a thousand years.
No trace of her father, or his empire had ever been found. Legends didn’t even exists about it, but she could still remember the way the snows had sparkled on the mountainsides. She still remembered her father’s magic lessons, the ways to force the world to bend to her will and by extension, his will. But sometimes, she wondered if that was all just a dream invented by a lonely mind. Maybe breaking the final seal wouldn’t do anything at all. Then she could go back to the way things were long ago.
Hurry up.
“Yes, daddy.”
Spike stopped after he dropped the large fallen piece of the wall that was blocking their way into the lower levels of the temple building. He cocked his head to the side and concentrated on his hearing. He could hear three sets of breathing behind him from the ponies, but in the dark hole he had uncovered there seemed to be something else. Something faint and high pitched.
“Hey, Twi, I think I hear something down there.”
“What is it?” Twilight Sparkle adjusted her cloak and stepped up to the crumbling edge of the hole with Spike. She strained her ears but she couldn’t detect anything and the ancient enchantments in the stones around her was throwing off that sense as well.
“Dunno. Some sort of buzzing, maybe?” Spike scratched his frills and tilted his head again. “It keeps fading out and then coming back for a second.”
Twilight nodded and turned to the two other mares. “Ok, there might be some dangerous stuff down there, more than just a slowly collapsing ruin. Princess, you are to stay by me, Zecora, keep close to Spike. We’ll take point and hopefully nothing will be stupid enough to try and take on a dragon and a battle mage in close quarters.”