//------------------------------// // The Obvious Answer? // Story: So...Who Took Her? // by Dr Atlas //------------------------------// “Do you have it in green.” The mare behind the stand groaned once the customer asked her that...for the tenth time. “Mam...for the last time: no, we don’t.” “But you don’t understand.” The mare, who was currently wearing a black and green dress, said in urgency. “I need fabric in that color. My children won’t-” “And you need to understand that green isn’t a color that sells well. Why would you even want to make clothes in green? The mare huffed. “I’ll have you know that black and green go very well together, along with dark blue...very dark blue.” The seller crossed her front legs. “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, lady.” The mare scoffed. “M-Maybe I will, a-and maybe I’ll find someli- somepony else to help me instead of ignorant ones like you!” “Yeah, good luck with that.” The mare groaned and walked away from the counter, knowing this would be difficult. “Why is it that all these ponies have no sense in fashion in this place.” She thought before realizing there was only one place to look left. “I guess it’s another trip to that stupid town.” She dragged her hoof across her face, a brief moment of green flashed through her blue eyes, hating that she had to be like this while out in public “Why is it that that stupid mare and her five friends always has to be involved in helping my children.” The disguised queen sighed and started making her way to the train. “First it’s with getting into this accursed town, then she goes off and takes on some big beast while I have to lock down my place and wait for her to take care of that, then she almost gives me a heart attack after the scouts tell me about her messing with time.” She sighed one more time, thankful she told her children to stop telling her any more news that involved that mare. “I swear, the day I meet that mare and any of her friends again is the day I-” “THERE SHE IS!” Chrysalis’s ears stood up once she heard that voice. “W-Wait, t-that can’t b-” She then felt the force of a train hit her and made her fall into an alleyway, almost giving her flashbacks as to what happened over a year ago. She was about to stand up if it wasn’t for another more familiar voice calling out. “SHINING!? What the hay are you doing!?” Chrysalis craned her head up to see a white stallion hanging over head with a purple mare coming up behind him. “I-It has to be her.” He said. “N-No pony would wear something like-” The purple mare used her magic to throw him off her, replacing his position with herself. “M-Mam, I-I'm so sorry about that.” She extended her hoof. “M-My brother is just very stressed out right now and, well, seeing you in that colored dress made him a little...mad.” Chrysalis’s sighed and stood up on her own, knowing this day would come. “Well, I’m sure he has every right to be mad, though, truth be told, I should be feeling the same way.” Both ponies looked at her. “What?” Chrysalis’s face went deapan as she closed her eyes. “Guess I might as well spill it, seeing as how I don’t really have much to lose anymore.” She opened her eyes wide enough for Shining and Twilight to see them, gasping in surprise at the now green, catlight pupils that were staring at them. “Cha- C-Chr...CHRYSALIS!!” Twilight yelled in shock and horror. Shining smiled. "I was right!" Chrysalis pointed outside. “Why not yell it out to everypony.” Shining charged at her again, only for Chrysalis to step to the left and make him dodge her, face planting right into a trashcan. “Wow, impressive, stupid and clumsy.” While Shining tried to get out of the trash, Twilight looked at the mare in front of her, unable to believe that she just found one of her most evil villains so quickly. “T-This can’t be possible, h-how can...w-what are the odds!?” Chrysalis shrugged, not caring about the situation and more about the errands she had to do. “I don’t know, but I do know that this would happen eventually, I just didn’t expect it to take this long for you ponies to notice.” Shining got out of the trash and glared at her, the lid on his head. “Maybe if you didn’t take my daughter, we wouldn’t have found out about you!” “Daughter? Since when did you have a child.” Chrysalis then noticed Twilight’s new look. “And...uh, since when did your sister get wings?” Twilight looked at her wings, then back at Chrysalis. “Don’t try to change the subject! We know you took her!” Chrysalis glared at her, feeling a bit offended. “I didn’t take anything.” Shining gritted his teeth. “Then how is it that we managed to find you on the day she was pony napped!?” Chrysalis shrugged. “Bad timing? I’m quite surprised you didn’t find me sooner. Do you know how long I’ve been wondering around your city? Staying in the background and hearing about your escapades? Going shopping to help destress after a long day of ruling?” “What? Like, a week?” Shining asked, standing next to Twilight and blocking the exit. “A month?” Twilight yelled, taking the lid off of Shining’s head with a smack of her hoof. “Try over a year.” Chrysalis waited for them to sink that in. “Yes, I’ve been undercover for that long while my children lick their wounds at home, all four hundred and eighty three of them.” “Fa-Four hundred children?” Shining didn’t even realize how many changelings were attacking that day. “H-How do you survive living with-” “It’s called being a good mother who knows how to take care, rule over, and overall, be sane enough to handle them.” She then looked over Shining, seeing the state he was in. “And, from the looks of it, it seems you can barely handle one.” “HEY!” “You only have that many children?” Twilight asked, knowing there were far more than that during the attack. “I’m only talking about the one’s who are still injured. believe it or not, that blast of yours broke many...many children, from concussions, to broken bones and limbs that are still healing, to even PTSD. They’re still suffering.” The last thing Shining wanted to feel from her was pity. “What? Are you going to say that me and Cadance are to blame for that?” Chrysalis almost laughed. “Oh no, absolutely not, in fact, if I didn’t admit to myself that it was my planning that cause that outcome, I’d say your winged sister is a pony I’d blame more than any of you. Her and her stupid suspicions.” “Hey!” Twilight yelled. Shining had to ask. “So, all your children are like that?” Chrysalis shook her head, feeling that she might as well tell them about her entire situation if it meant speeding up and ending this conversation. “There are still others that are doing fine, many caretakers stayed behind to help them, one was lucky enough to catch a branch when he fell, a few others seemed to have come back after being lost, from that one little bug who stayed as a student and attended a wedding, to even that one changeling who refuses to take that stupid hardhat off, and, in case you don’t know, we’re still missing some.” Twilight knew that was just another way of saying they’re disguised. “You mean they’re undercover in our society so you can get love from us?” Chrysalis put her hoof to her forehead and closed her eyes, getting a headache from their lack of knowledge when it came to changelings. “Sparkle, you don’t understand anything about us, do you?” Twilight gritted her teeth. “I know enough that you’re evil creatures that want to take over Equestria!” “And you’ll probably do it again, too!” Shining said. “And your first step is taking my filly!” Chrysalis groaned, hoping ponies wouldn’t hold such a grudge over them. “Look, I’ve learned from my lesson; pony napping princesses is something that only leads to disaster, so, no. I didn’t take your stupid filly, and even if I did, I doubt I’d be able to do anything with it.” “What are you talking about?” Shining said. “She’s the daughter of the princess of love. Don’t you think you would use her?” Chrysalis’s face went deadpan. “Just because she’s an offspring from a pony whose element is love doesn’t mean she’s the same, for all I know, that filly doesn’t have any type of power. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to find fifty more gifts for my subjects, birthdays wait for no ling.” She pushed both ponies out of the way with her magic and walked out of the alleyway. Knowing what she said was an outright lie, Shining ran in front of her and said. “But she is powerful, she’s an alicorn and she does have powerful magic, more than you know, that’s for sure!” Chrysalis only raised an eye at this, thankful that she was at home for the past few days instead of being at the town after one of her children told her about some form of disaster happening. “How interesting, you must be so proud of yourself.” She stepped to the side and continued walking, leaving Shining with a dropped jaw. “Have a nice life, Shining Moron.” Twilight walked up to Shining as Chrysalis walked further away. “Should we...go after her or-” “There’s no time!” Shining shouted. “We need to keep looking...w-what other villain could’ve taken her? Y-Ya gotta help me think, Twilly.” Twilight tapped her chin. “The only other villain I can think of is, uh, actually...he’s not really a villain anymore...well, to some extent.” Shining’s eyes widened. “Y-You don’t mean...” Twilight nodded. “Let’s get to the train, last I heard, he was with Shy learning about...plants?”