The Chrysalis Letters

by A bag of plums

Chapter 5 - Insider Information

Early on Tuesday morning, Dahlia trotted out of the Metamorphosis, dressed in her castle maid uniform. She moved with purpose, passing other ponies on her way to Canterlot Castle. Her reddish-purple mane was done up in a bun, so as to keep it out of her eyes while she worked her shift.

Dahlia soon reached the castle gates, and turned left to use the servants’ entrance rather than the main one. There was a guard standing there, which was nothing new. Dahlia actually knew this guard, his name was Steel Wing, a pegasus.

As she approached the entrance, Steel Wing cleared his throat and stretched out one of his wings to block the door.

“I’m sorry, may I trouble you for your pass?”

“Pass?” Dahlia repeated, puzzled. “What are you talking about?”

Steel Wing’s eyes widened in recognition. “Oh, it’s you, Dahlia,” he lowered his wing, but kept it in front of the door. “That’s right, you were out sick yesterday. The acting Captain of the Guard has issued passes to all the castle staff, to make sure they’re not a changeling in disguise. Staff need to carry these passes on them at all times to make sure they can identify themselves.”

“I see,” Dahlia nodded. “Where can I collect my pass, then?” she asked politely.

“Just head on over to the acting captain’s office. She should have yours there.”

Steel Wing retracted his wing and motioned for the maid to enter.

“Thank you, Steel Wing,” Dahlia nodded to the guard before pushing open the door and going inside the castle proper.

As she plodded into the palace, Dahlia was greeted by the familiar interior that she had worked in for so many years past. Other maids and servants greeted her cheerfully, and she returned the sentiments as she found her way toward the office where her pass was waiting.

As she trotted along, Dahlia took note of the general mood of the other servants as well as the guards. The overall aura of the castle was… less than tasty. Before, when she came in to work, the castle’s aura had been more or less like a lightly sugared piece of cake, not overly sweet but still enough to provide sustenance and still be a treat. Dahlia was aware that she was probably the most well-fed out of all her sisters and brother, working up here in the castle, but today it sure didn’t feel like it.

Finally arriving at the office of the Acting Captain of the Guard, Dahlia straightened her skirt and knocked three times on the door.

“Come in,” a mare’s voice came from inside.

Dahlia pushed the door open and stepped into the office. Normally, she knew, this office would be occupied by the actual Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor himself. But today, there was a unicorn mare sitting in Captain Armor’s chair, dressed in her usual Lunar guard armor.

“Good morning,” Dahlia said, shutting the door behind herself.

“Ah, Dahlia,” the unicorn greeted. “I was wondering when you would come back to us. I am Captain Glimpse of the Lunar guard. I’m sitting in for Captain Shining Armor until he comes back from his honeymoon. I take it you’re here for your pass?”

Dahlia nodded. “Steel Wing told me that everypony has to carry one around now. I wouldn’t want to be suspected of being a changeling, now would I?”

“You’ve been with us for so long, I find it hard to believe anypony would suspect you of being a changeling spy,” Glimpse said with a chuckle. She reached under the desk and took out a small card. “Here’s your pass. Just keep it on yourself and be prepared to show it if asked, okay?”

“Thank you, Captain Glimpse. I should get to work now.”

“Of course,” Glimpse said cheerfully. “Don’t let me keep you.”

Using her magic to pick up and pocket the pass, Dahlia bowed farewell to Glimpse and set off back down the castle hallway to get her cleaning supplies.

---

The rest of the morning passed uneventfully enough for Dahlia. She started work on the eastern postern, dusting off some flower pots and changing the flowers in them. By the time lunch break came around, Dahlia had cleaned all the way into the eastern offices, stopping only because the room she intended to clean next was in use at the time.

After wolfing down a daffodil and daisy sandwich and washing it down with some orange juice, Dahlia returned to the room she was meant to clean, but found it to be still in use.

She looked up and down the hallway. There was nopony else in sight.

Taking advantage of the fact that she was in the clear for now, the maid pony put her ear to the keyhole and listened hard. The room had some good acoustics and she had little trouble hearing everything that was being said inside.

“...thout proper jurisdiction from the princesses, we can’t say with certainty that they would agree with this plan!” a stallion’s voice said in a tense tone.

“There’s no beating about the bush.” Dahlia’s eyes widened a fraction. That was Captain Glimpse’s voice. “Canterlot, nay, Equestria cannot take this lying down. We cannot afford to look weak now.”

Look weak? What are they talking about? Dahlia wondered, her changeling intuition for ferreting out secrets rising to the surface. She checked again for any ponies who might catch her eavesdropping, but there wasn’t a soul nearby.

“The changeling queen’s actions are intolerable!” Another pony insisted loudly. “We must do something before word travels of how close she came to conquering Canterlot. If not, we risk being taken advantage of by other creatures!”

“Now, it is not all as bad as that,” A pony with a deep voice countered. “After all, we succeeded in repelling the invasion. Surely that will cover any ideas of weakness in our land.”

“But that was only because of Captain Armor, Princess Cadance and the six ponies from Ponyville. If us guards cannot accomplish anything without their help, then what good are we?”

“I agree. Surely this doesn’t look good to our allies and enemies around.”

“Not to mention the changeling queen is still running loose somewhere out there,” Glimpse’s voice said. “She’s a threat we cannot afford to ignore.”

There was a wave of muttering from all the occupants of the room. There were expressions of agreement and a couple of protests. Dahlia’s expression darkened. This could be a crucial point in her princess’s plans.

“I think we should pursue this while the iron is still hot,” Glimpse said to the other occupants of the room. “The changeling queen must not be allowed to roam free, or she might come back seeking revenge. Who is with me?”

A chorus of ‘aye’s rang out in the room.

“Then it is decided,” the deep-voiced pony announced. “Captain Glimpse, put together a recon squad as soon as you can. We have a pretty good idea of where the changeling queen is; it shouldn’t take too much time to find her.”

“I will get right on it, sir,” Glimpse said. “They’ll be ready to depart tomorrow night.”

“Then we are all agreed. Meeting adjourned!”

Dahlia stepped away from the door as the sound of chairs being pushed back came. She picked up a feather duster in her magical field and began to clean a nearby windowsill. The doors opened and a small group of military commanders and captains trotted out, followed by half a dozen regular guards, both Lunar and Solar.

Acting completely oblivious to their presence, Dahlia continued to dust the window until she was all alone once more. She looked at ease, but inside, her mind was whirring at top speed.

The princess must know of this.

---

Celestia’s sun was on the way down for the night when Dahlia flashed her pass to the guards at the gates to Canterlot Castle to leave. Ever the perfect spy, she cantered back to the spa at a leisurely pace, not betraying that anything was wrong.

The spa had already closed for the day, so Dahlia went around the rear of the dome-shaped structure and entered through the back door, next to the spa’s trash cans.

The first pony she saw was Golden Lily, who emerged from a storeroom with a smile.

“Hey, Dahlia,” Lily said cheerfully. She sniffed the air and her face grew a little worried. “Is something wrong?”

“I need to speak with the mistress of the house,” Dahlia said shortly. “I’ve learned something that she will want to hear about.”

Lily’s cheerful demeanor evaporated like water on a hot stove. “Then we should go find her immediately.”

The two mares hurried through the spa, eventually finding Spirit Wave in the office room, hunched over some documents with Aeon.

“Ah, you’re back,” Spirit Wave straightened herself up to look at Lily and Dahlia. “How was work? Did they suspect anything?”

“No, they did not. Although, the ponies in the castle now have some kind of pass system for anypony who wants to go in and out,” Dahlia levitated her pass for Spirit Wave to see.

“I’m sure we can easily get some forged should we need it,” Spirit Wave said dismissively as she examined the small card. “Is there anything else different?”

“Yes. I overheard a conversation among the upper echelons of the royal guard,” Dahlia reported. “They’re planning to send out some soldiers to try and capture Queen Chrysalis. The recon squad leaves tomorrow night.”

This caught everypony’s attention. Aeon glanced up from his documents, looking concerned. Golden Lily gasped. And Spirit Wave’s eye grew flinty, her teeth set in a half-hidden grimace.

“This… isn’t good,” Golden Lily said at last. “Queen Chrysalis is the most important part of changeling hierarchy. Do they even know where she is? I mean, we have a rough idea, but still, the badlands are pretty big.”

“Did I hear the queen was going to be captured?” Ruby Gleam poked her head into the room. “I’d say good riddance. We’d all be better off without her and her odious plans. We’ve managed on our own for so long. All she does is ruin everything.”

"That's enough, Ruby," Aeon said with a stomp of his hoof.

"Regardless of our own personal feelings, we are still Queen Chrysalis's subjects," Spirit Wave said tiredly. "I will warn her of this and tell her to lay low until the ponies give up. Ask her to disguise herself as a stone or something."

“Do you really think that she’ll listen to you?” Ruby asked critically. “She hasn’t before.”

Golden Lily snickered. “Nor is she going to turn herself into a stone.”

Spirit Wave sighed. “She’s supposed to listen to me. Although, she hasn’t replied to my last letter yet. Maybe she’s too low on energy to perform the spell to send letters…” The spa owner set her face in a weary, but determined expression. “You go have dinner without me. I’ll write another letter to Chrysalis about this.”

“Are you sure?” Aeon asked, concerned. “You’ve been missing meals ever since Saturday. At least come out and have dinner with us.”

“It has been a while since we all had dinner together,” Golden Lily agreed. “I hear Snowy Skies found a nice place at Restaurant Row the other night.”

Spirit Wave looked conflicted for a moment, then slumped her shoulders and smiled. “Very well. Once everypony is done cleaning up from work, let’s trot down to Restaurant Row and see what kind of eatery Snowy has discovered.”

It worried Spirit Wave a little that Chrysalis had not yet replied to her letter. It had certainly been scathing enough to warrant a heated, rapid-fire response from the changeling queen, but even after a full day, there was no sign of a reply from Chrysalis. Spirit knew Chrysalis; her anger burned hot, as opposed to her own, which burned cold. Her fiery temper would not take an insult like that lying down; it just wasn’t in her nature.

I hope she is alright.

So thought Spirit Wave as she and her six employees left the spa for Restaurant Row, casting a longing gaze at the darkening sky.

---

Comments

[dzamie]

Golden Lily snickered. “Nor is she going to turn herself into a stone.”

No, that'll take two princesses and a draconequus.

Lovely chapter as ever!

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

Weakness... IDENTIFIED!

Seriously, a few days after an invasion of shapeshifters and a conveniently sick employee returns to work at the palace? I would implement automatic vetting on the spot before giving out any passes, no warning. I see the Guard continues to be useless as always.

My Global Hawk continues to hang out on station, 60,000 feet up.

[Batpony46]

I'm really injoying this I can't wait for more

[MixMassBasher]

I wonder if we'll see this from Chrysalis pov?

[The Weaver]

10107152
I was waiting for the pass to dispel her on the spot...

[The Weaver]

And Princess, i am surprised by your lack of good thinking. With Chrysalis's mentality you might as well of declared war. The lack of responce is response enough...

[MoonlightRift]

Eh.

[Savant Sentral]

10107152
at least dhalia will be a big red mark when someone COMPETANT takes over