Twilight said she would work up a list of questions with Applejack to make sure Chrysalis was telling the truth, but I wasn't worried. She wasn't that nice to ponies, but she was very nice to her own people. I think Chrysalis just needed to learn to care for other types of ponies too. She's not really as bad as she seemed at the wedding right?
I then flew into the big scary castle which now looked both more and less scary. More because all the green stuff that looked a little like honey or beeswax, but less because in the daylight it wasn't really that bad. The Everfree always looked better in the daylight. Sometimes I wonder if I could have been more help if only it hadn't been that dark. I've gone into the Everfree plenty of times during the day and while I never went too deep it wasn't that bad. But I never got as deep as the castle and everything seems to get worse the deeper you go. Chrysalis was looking at a staff stuck in the ground. It was made of some odd crystal and had a big dark blue gem at the top. It looked like it would be cold, but it got warmer as I got near. Not hot, but warm, like when you snuggle under a blanket on a cold winter day, and you just feel cozy warm. It was nice.
"Ah, good timing Fluttershy." She frowned slightly. "Still seems a little too personal, but one of the joys of rule is you get things how you want them."
"Uhm…"
"Yes, yes. Out of your comfort zone and all that. We'll work on that."
"We will?" I asked
"Of course. You can be a very different type of high queen, but there are some things that have to change. Confidence is one of them. Still, no hurry."
"Well, okay." I looked down. "I guess."
"Celestia can give you some good tips too I'm sure. In fact she might be a more useful role model for you than my own style of rule."
"That sounds like it might be right but…"
"Enough of that. You must be wondering why I called you here. As the clouds suggest our guest is about to arrive. I felt you should meet her and vice versa."
"Uh, okay."
I looked up and shivered. The clouds were wrong. I'm terrible at sensing anything about clouds, but even to me it was obvious they didn't feel right somehow. They were billowing out above us darkening the sky. Then it began to lightly snow. It was still warm enough, but I had the feeling it shouldn't be anymore. Then a huge pegasus mare flew down. She had a bluish grey coat and mostly white mane with little bits of sky blue. Her eyes also glowed bright blue and her mane was mostly transparent. It was pretty, but scary. When she landed her eyes stopped and her mane almost looked solid, but not quite. Her eyes were milky and didn't seem to focus on anything, but her head was aimed strait as Chrysalis.
"Where is it?" the scary mare almost hissed
"Lovely as ever Frostfall."
"Queen Frostfall. Also why have you brought a mortal here?"
"I suggest you pay her a bit more attention. Go on, give her another look."
Frostfall growled. It sounded oddly like howling wind. Then she turned to me. She was blind. I'd seen enough poor little animals with the same problem to know for sure. But it sill felt like she was glaring at me even though it was clear she couldn't see me at all. I noticed she repositioned her wings slightly, having never folded them on her sides, and her ears kept flicking.
"Uh, I wouldn’t mind a little less attention. You can just ignore me completely, I really wouldn't mind."
"Hmmm, yes, not just the invisibility spell, but more besides." Her ears folded and she suddenly stepped back. "Much more. It's like an ocean crashing against an orchestra of magic. What are you?"
"Uh, a pegasus?"
"Though more to the point, Queen Frostfall, this is Fluttershy, high queen of all fey."
"Hello." I then gave a little wave.
"Yes, that could be the truth even though it comes from your mouth."
"Oh it is, you know it is, you just don't like it. I do find it odd how much hatred you have against your own kind."
"Pegasi are not my kind." She turned away from me. "I am a half-breed but they have never been my kind. Now give to me what was promised."
A changeling came in with a heavy box on his back. It was metal with glass sides and a top, but the glass only started about a third of the way from the bottom. It contained a pillow with an old crown on it.
"This is so heavy." Said the changeling.
"Oh stop complaining Thorax. Here you go, one crown, and a nice box so it doesn't get any more damaged. Apparently some farmer just found it in his field and gave it to the princesses. This is it, correct?"
Frostfall nodded. "Yes, it's the crown of the old fool. Your debt is fulfilled. It's too bad we can't feed on changeling energy. You certainly hate me enough."
"Oh yes, too bad. Have a nice flight back to your featureless wastes."
She said nothing, just swept her wing in the direction of the box. Suddenly something nearly clear swooped down out of the clouds. Two somethings, both with glowing blue eyes and looking vaguely horselike. They grabbed the box and flew back to the cloud. Frostfall followed them in soon after. I didn't stop staring until the cloud was long gone.
"Well assuming you're still here, I'm nearly sure you are but not entirely, yes those were Windigoes, and Frostfall is their queen. They are both not as bad as in the Hearths Warming tale, and worse."
"And worse?"
"They don't need hate. They are fairly horrid creatures in that they require negative emotions, but it doesn't have to be hate and misery, those are just their favorites."
I shuddered. "Why did I have to be here. She…"
"Because you fear her. Because I knew you would. Because she is fey, and thus you need not fear her at all. Because Windigoes are not the most terrifying of fey, but you could make them all beg for mercy if you choose."
"But I don't want to and I don't know how. I can't be some big scary queen."
"Tut, tut, you could do anything you put your mind to. Trust me, I know these things."
I whimpered in response.
"Still, you clearly don't want to be a big scary queen, so don't be. However you need to get used to the idea that you don't have to fear them. They serve you. If you wanted her to wear a pink frilly dress and dance for your amusement, Frostfall would do it."
"But I don't really know how to make them." I looked down "I don't think I want to either. All of this is terrifying."
"Maybe, but a queen does not cower." Her voice was much harder again, like the wedding. "You can be many things, but weak is not among them." Then she smiled. "But you aren't, so you just have to remember to show them the truth is all."
"But what if I can't?"
"Then Equestria will fall. The eyes of the fey are upon this kingdom and if you fail it will wither away. That would be a terrible waste."
"You mean the fey will attack if I don't…"
"Attack? Possibly some, but no that Equestria can face. Luna and Celestia can stop that. What they can't stop is the things that live in shadow and worship fear. The mists that set travelers astray for all eternity, the old things that should not be, the fey entire simply being here unbound would erase the sisters' empire, and it wouldn't even be clear how."
I gulped.
Then she laughed. "However you don't need to worry about that for years and years. The fey will not rush in and attack."
"But, you did."
She smiled. "I suppose I did. The fey are not all the same, that would be far too strait forward. There may be some who act swiftly, but one little invasion here or there is hardly something you should be concerned about."
"But…"
"Enough of this. Worry not Fluttershy, for you have me at your side, and I'm here to help you. Your friends might prove useful too actually. You shall be a great high queen, and soon you'll see there is nothing in this whole world to fear."
"Nothing to fear?"
"Yes, not all the monsters in the world are fey, but enough that any who aren't your subjects can be, dealt with, by those that are. Don't you understand Fluttershy? You are free. You need not be meek and timid any longer. You can stride forth boldly and show the world the power of kindness."
"No." I felt myself tearing up. "No, that isn't good. That just makes everything worse. I don't want to be high queen. I don't want to be a goddess. It was bad enough when I was just strong pegasus now…"
And then I was crying in Dash's hooves. They couldn’t really be hers I knew but at that moment I didn't care. It was nice. It wasn't like Dash at all. Dash was always so twitchy whenever she tried to comfort me. If she even noticed something was wrong. I know she's trying, but it doesn't always feel like it. This reminded me of mom. I guess Chrysalis is a mom, isn't she?
"Well, this is a setback." She said in Dash's voice. "The analysts were clearly very wrong. They totally misread everything."
"Oh I'm sure they were trying very hard. And really I am afraid of lots of things, including things I know I shouldn't be. I've always been that way."
"Hmm, yes, that would fit actually. Yes, the report even says reason can't be used to banish your fears because you know they're unreasonable. I suppose that's what I get for being swept up in the moment and dreaming of my glorious future."
"Uh, don't you mean our?"
"No, I am rather self centered so I wasn't thinking about your even more glorious future much at all."
"Oh. But, well…"
"I'm not going to betray you no. That alone you can trust. You're far too dangerous in so many ways to ever betray. So in truth what you fear the most is yourself?"
I nodded. "Yes, but, uh, could you turn back to normal. This is, strange."
She let me go and turned back to normal. I stood up and tried to think of something to say. I just couldn’t though. Nothing I could think of was good enough and the silence was dragged on, and thing just got worse and worse every second. Thankfully Chrysalis thought of something so I didn't have to.
"Okay, just to make absolutely sure, you don't want to be an evil queen with absolute power, your subjects doing all they can to avoid your ire?"
I nodded
"Pity, I'm good at that. Still, you need royalty lessons. Your friends and the princesses could manage that, but it helps to have a different perspective on things. Also when it comes to politics I am very good at that."
"Oh, but I would really rather not and…"
"Fine. Less work for me it seems. Just remember, I am playing nice with Equestria, but my duty to you comes first. If you ever decide to act against your current nation, I always pick your side. You need only say the word."
"That's, uh, nice? I think."
"Now my business with you is completed, so unless you need something I believe we are done here."
"Oh, uh. Okay. I'll just go now." I waved. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye. Oh, and walk with your head held high. You can at least look confident even if you don't feel it."
"I'll try."
She wasn't the first to say something like that, and I still wasn't sure exactly how to look confident when flying, though trying to copy Dash seemed like it should work. I couldn't fly like her, but I could look like how she held herself at least.