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Day Zero: The Failings [OLD]2,775 words
Day One: (Morning) The Captive [OLD]6,113 words
Day Pi: The Nonsense [JOKE]507 words
Day Zero: The Failings2,819 words
Day One: (Morning) The Captive6,085 words
Day One: (Afternoon) The Offer8,335 words

Day Zero: The Failings [OLD]

Queen Chrysalis's thoughts were running at a thousand miles per second, but they could be summed up in eight words. Anger. Surprise. Disappointment. Pain. Dizziness. Airsickness. Concern. Fear.

Chrysalis was angry and surprised at those fools who had defeated her using what she fed on. It was one thing to drink a glass of water, but quite another to face a tidal wave.

She was disappointed in herself. Had she left well enough alone and allowed the Twilight foal to make a mockery of herself without trying to cement the defeat, her plan would have gone forth unimpeded. Cadence wouldn't have found the will to escape, and none of this would have happened. Or if she hadn't gloated so much; noticed when Cadence's bonds were broken, or not underestimated her devotion to Shining Armor, the situation could have been salvaged.

And going to the very beginning, she had to admit that her playing of Cadence had been far from her best acting. Changelings usually spent weeks, even months, stalking their target and researching their habits and mannerisms before even beginning to consider impersonating them, where Chrysalis had rushed blindly into this role like a pupa on her first outing. The Spell of Suggestion was usually a last resort, but she'd had to use and abuse it quite frequently on Shining Armor and the bridesmaids.

She hurt all over, like she'd been slammed into a brick wall, and now she was spinning madly, limbs flailing as she tumbled through the air. She was sure she'd somehow left her stomach back on the balcony, and her speed was such that the world seemed to darken around the edges of her vision. The sky and ground alternated in her sight like a strobe lantern, her head throbbed madly, and the shrieking of the wind in her ears didn't help.

While this was by no means a state she preferred, it might not have been so bad if she knew her Changelings weren't also out of commission. In the first few moments since being shoved off the balcony by the blast, she'd seen her Praetorian guard also flung away from the castle. The Changelings were spread out, likely disoriented from the blast, and several might not even recover in enough time to save themselves from the inevitable impact. And for those who survived? There was no way she could gather them all safely. And thanks to her failure, many of them would likely be hunted down by the ponies before she could get to them. While Equestria was a land of love and tolerance, she didn't want to test the limits of their mercy.

And fear, because even though she had by now managed to right herself, she was still far from in control of her flight, and the blurred streaks of brown and green that represented the ground was getting closer.

Then suddenly the world flashed white, and she crashed into a pile of cushions.

She was held up in the air by telekinesis, the shimmery blue field blurring the details of the room. She’d been here for what felt like at least an hour, though it was hard to tell, as the round white thing she assumed was a clock was unreadable. She could also make out some shelves, a desk, a soft shape that might have been a couch of some sort, and the blue sky out the window, but it was like looking at them through several feet of water. Due to an odd convention of the magic, however, her captor was as clear and crisp as a photograph. Indigo fur, flowing ethereal mane and tail, with both wings and horn, and wearing an expression like a disappointed mother having caught her child with one hoof in the cookie jar. Chrysalis knew she’d seen this pony a few times while posing as Cadence, but for her distinct appearance and Alicorn-hood, exact details about this mysterious mare eluded the still panic-stricken Changeling’s recollection.

Chrysalis struggled against her magical bonds again, but without the power of Shining Armor's love to back her up, it was like trying to lift the moon. The Alicorn gave no indication of having even noticed the futile attempts; walking around the Changeling and examining her like a particularly intriguing puzzle.

"What are you waiting for? Why not just end me now instead of wasting both of our valuable time?" Though she hated to admit it, the long period of silence was getting to her. Despite her bravado, Chrysalis was very uncomfortable with the situation, and were it not for her bindings, her wings would have been twitching like mad. It was an unfortunate nervous habit of hers that she'd never been able to control, and had given her away many times too often, among her own kind. Even had she been free of restraint, Chrysalis could take some relief in the fact that this Pony princess was unaware of the gesture and its significance.

The Alicorn didn't even respond, walking silently to her desk and rifling through some of the papers on there. While still holding Chrysalis, she picked up a pen and began to fill out a form. It was as though the Changeling queen had ceased to exist.

Fine. She wouldn’t let the silent treatment get to her. Closing her eyes, Chrysalis allowed the scratching of the pen, the sensation of the magic holding her, the very room itself, fade away…

”Focus, young one. Let everything around you fade away until there is only you. Your surroundings are not inconsequential, but you cannot possibly hope to master them until you master yourself. Just be calm, allow your thoughts to still.” Her mentor, though speaking earnestly, regardless sounded unforgivably patronizing to her younger self’s prideful ears. She’d learned most of his wisdom in time, but she had to admit she was still just as impatient. “Close your senses to the outside world until you can hear nothing but your own thoughts. With time and practice, you may learn how, in this state, to change those thoughts, to improve yourself as a daughter of Taiogh. It is different for every changeling I know, and the antecedent know it is far from easy, but in time you will find it may be a very important skill to have.”

The To-Be snorted disbelievingly. “And become a pushover who will change my mind at the slightest provocation? I think not.” And that was the one lesson of his she had still not figured out. What use was changing how she perceived the world when she was already right? She respected her mentor far more in hindsight than she had then, but still, th-

“You are still awake, I hope.”

Chrysalis’s eyes flew open as she was jerked back to reality. The dark princess was standing in front of her now, expressionless but at least acknowledging her captive’s presence. “Good. I am certain you are wondering why exactly I have brought you here?” Her mentor had seemed patronizing, but he had nothing on this pony.

Chrysalis’s pride flared, and she barely managed to keep her voice under control as she retorted with “I have a few good guesses.” Okay, so it wasn’t exactly her wittiest, but why waste her intelligence on such a creature?

Contrary to her hopes, she failed to invoke a reaction in her captor, who simply shook her head in more of that Draril-damned disappointment, before levitating several papers from the desk to float by her side. “Would you like to know who I am?” Defiant to the end, Chrysalis muttered something not normally heard in polite conversation, but the princess simply raised an eyebrow in mild amusement. “I shall take that as a yes.

“You just told Princess Luna of Equestria, Guardian of the Night, The Mare In the Moon, the Trickster, the Dreamweaver, five-times winner of the Canterlot Palace Monthly Drinking Contest, the former wielder of three of the Elements of Harmony, and sister of the Queen-Who-Would-Be-Princess, to do something I believe is quite anatomically impossible. Did I leave anything out?”

And suddenly the connection was made. Luna. The creepy dark Alicorn who only came out at night, and Cadance’s aunt. There’d been mentions of some ‘nightmare’ thing, but Chrysalis hadn’t been able to inquire, not without giving herself away. Either way, she’d been given the impression of somepony not to be trifled with lightly. Not, of course, that that would stop the Queen, who was already dealing with the powerful Celestia, but still. Chrysalis wasn’t sure whether to berate herself for failing to remember sooner, especially given how adaptable and quick on their feet Changelings prided themselves on being, or to panic as she realized how well and truly doomed she was.

Luna didn’t give her the chance to decide, steamrolling on in her speech. “And you are the Queen of the Changelings, attempted conqueror of Equestria, and until recently, Princess Cadence’s imposter. Tell me, ‘Queen,’ do you have a name?”

“…I’m known as Chrysalis.” She grudgingly relented, deciding that the Alicorn didn’t really need to know that she was only the queen of her particular hive. Luna was none the wiser, and this one little victory gave Chrysalis a much-needed boost to her confidence.

“I see. Well, now that we have been introduced, why don’t we get down to business?” Luna abruptly dropped Chrysalis on the floor, and before the changeling could get back to her hooves, blue bands of magic appeared, locking her down where she lay. “I think it would be best that you have full hearing for this. Do you realize how badly your actions today have hurt my people?”

Chrysalis found that while she could not stand up, the magic binding her to the floor shifted with her hooves so she could arrange herself somewhat more comfortably. She had a feeling this was going to take a while, and that it would be easier –for now, at least- to put up with the powerful Alicorn’s whims. That didn’t mean, however, that she had to make it easy for her foe. “Please remind me why I should care?” She smiled sweetly up at Luna, her voice filled to the brim with insincere honeyed tones. “After all, this is your failure to protect them we’re discussing, is it not?”

The princess’s face contorted briefly, so quick that the changeling almost thought she imagined it, and her voice shook slightly as she spoke next. “Very well, then, be that way. But in the interest of progression, I will act as though that had not occurred. Anyway.” While the Alicorn floated the first paper off the stack, Chrysalis allowed herself a smug smirk at the accomplishment. “First off, the damages to the city. Estimated property damage comes to about fifteen-hundred bits, the businesses coming to twice that. Many public installations were even more heavily damaged, and will likely be under construction and unusable for the next month at least. The total costs amount to something around three-hundred-thousand bits, funds from the royal treasury that could have instead gone into social programs, infrastructure, and technological and magical research. To help pay for some of that and prevent the treasury from sliding into debt, taxes will have to be raised.”

Luna quickly flipped through the papers, reading off the figures, before dramatically throwing them behind her, not looking as they scattered to cover the desk like a fine layer of snow, and leaned in closer to the unimpressed Chrysalis. Her voice became a dangerous hiss, her muscles tensing, her anger beginning to truly show through. “But you have cost us far, far more than simple money. Thanks to you revealing your kind, paranoia and mistrust will become commonplace in every home, putting previously unheard-of strain on familial and friendly bonds. Your imprisonment and impersonation of my niece has left her more damaged than I believe she’s letting on, giving her scars that I fear may never heal, and have hurt the bearers of the Elements of Harmony and their beautiful friendship even worse than the god of chaos, Discord, ever could!”

Luna stepped back, closing her eyes, taking several deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself. Even Chrysalis, while unable to bring herself to care for the Princess’s motivations, was amazed and more than slightly intimidated by her display of passion. Several tense minutes passed, both parties recovering from the outburst. The sky darkened as the sun began to set, and sometime during this, Luna went to the window and raised the moon. Even as exhausted as she looked after this action, her bonds holding Chrysalis down never wavered in the least. A few minutes later, a flick of the Alicorn’s horn neatly pulled all the loose papers back into a cohesive stack on one corner of the desk.

And finally she returned to Chrysalis, once more wearing an expression of parental disappointment. Her voice was soft, sad, tired. “But there is something you should know, Queen of the Changelings. You haven’t hurt me or my people half as much as you’ve hurt your own.”

What? “What?” Chrysalis couldn’t stop herself from vocalizing her thoughts. “You’re lying, I’d never willingly harm my-“

“’Willingly’ is the key word here. I don’t suppose you realize this, but your invasion was reckless and foolish, doomed from the start.” This was said without any form of insult or derision; it was a simple statement of fact. “I don’t suppose you ever stopped to consider exactly what would happen if you’d actually succeeded, but in forcibly taking over the city, love would be replaced by fear and your people would have starved as surely as if you’d left well enough alone.”

“What? How dare you insinuate that my people are weak!?” Even to her own ears, the words were hollow, a weak defense against any possible exploitation. Even as she claimed otherwise, her mind’s eye began pulling up a certain memory, of commemorating the Prodigium Causa Mortis Ceremony...

Luna tried to give her a smile, whether in victory or as a consoling gesture she didn’t know, but it ended up as a painful grimace. She gulped several times before continuing. “Furthermore, now that changelings have stepped out of the mists of myth, folklore, and conspiracy theories, and into the world of solid fact, ponies will be on the alert for them. Even as I speak, leaflets on the detection and outing of such individuals are being printed and circulated throughout the nation, and the admittedly stagnant Royal guard will be given a tough new regime and sent out to every town to help in the capture of Changelings. The Palace dungeons, which have also seen little use recently will soon be full to bursting.

“You, Queen Chrysalis, have doomed your people in the most efficient way possible.”

Chrysalis wasn’t crying. No, that wet feeling in the corners of her eyes? It was simply the moisture in the room. So much moisture in this dry, dusty room. Yep. And that hiccup? It was because she swallowed something wrong. The air. Swallowed wrong, she swallowed the air… wrong.

Dammit. “Just answer (hic) me this. Wh-(hic)why?” It was an incredibly vague question, but the queen was unable to properly convey what she meant. And yet the princess understood, somehow. Perhaps not the details, but the spirit of the inquiry. And to her regret, she found that…

“I don’t know.” Luna responded. “I don’t know.”

Luna gently levitated the sleeping Changeling onto the couch in the corner, wincing as she looked at her captive’s frozen expression of outmost grief. Whether it was simple grief for her own failings or true grief for her people’s fate remained to be seen, but she would have to wait to find out, and not prematurely judge her in the meantime.

Until then… Luna smiled softly as she pulled a soft quilt over hard chitin and closed and locked the window. She had many duties to attend to in the wake of the invasion, but she knew her thoughts would remain with the strange being that resided in her office.

She stepped out and closed the door behind her, the last beam of light cutting off and sending the queen of the changelings to drift away, into the warm embrace of the night.

Author's Note:

So yeah. This is my take on the 'villain redemption fic' that all the cool kids are doing nowdays. I'm going to try to make Chrysalis sympathetic enough without turning her into a Draco In Leather Pants, but I'm not sure how well I succeeded here so far. Comments, criticism, and rude personal attacks and insults are all appreciated below!
Also, much thanks goes out to Emeral Bookwise for taking an early look at this and helping point out a few big problems here that I've since fixed, and even providing a well-needed rewrite of a previously very confusing paragraph. Go take a look at his stories!

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