Chrysalis: Saviour of Time

by Robo Bro

9 - Boasts 'n' Bears

“You didn’t have to come along.” Chrysalis grumbled at Shining Armor as she plodded along.

“I told you, Twily, I’m not letting you go anywhere without me. Besides, you’ve been looking pretty tired lately, I’m afraid you’ll fall over if I’m not there to catch you.”

“Whatever. Just remember that when we get there, you can’t join us. This is a get together strictly for us girls.”

“I got it the first half dozen times, sis, I’ll stay in the lobby. You’ve been so grumpy since coming to Ponyville, it’s almost as if you’re an entirely different pony.”

Chrysalis chose to ignore his comment. He didn’t really think she was an impostor, or at least she didn’t believe he thought so, he was just worried for her well being. She would obviously keep an eye on him, though, just in case that began to change and she needed to intervene with a spell, but sincerely hoped that it wouldn’t come to that since messing with his memories could leave a noticeable mark for her past self to find in the future when she invades Canterlot.

It had been five days since the incident with Gilda, and Chrysalis was feeling very irritable, hence Shining Armor’s comment on her sour disposition. The reason for that was in no small part because of the aggravating guard pony himself. He had flat out refused to leave her alone at any time in the last few days, only giving her breathing room when she was at home in the library. His constant, watchful eye had resulted in her having a hard time feeding off of anypony. If being malnourished wasn’t enough, she had failed to convince that stubborn stallion that she had been eating sufficiently and was practically being force fed pony food at least once a day for the past three. The near constant stomach aches that resulted had made for a rather miserable time.

After several minutes of tense silence, the two of them came upon her desired destination: the spa. She had, for one reason or another, not actually visited the spa in the last few days. When Rarity had invited her to come along and visit it with herself and Fluttershy, Chrysalis eagerly accepted in the hopes that she could leech a little bit of love from a massage so to alleviate her hunger.

Filled with anticipation, she stepped through the door. She was greeted by a pony with a pink mane and tail and a blue coat. Something about her seemed not quite right, but Chrysalis couldn’t quite place what it was. She looked like Aloe, but something was a little off.

“Hello, and welcome to my spa. My name is Lotus Blossom, how may I assist you?”

“Lotus Blossom? I mistook you for Aloe.” Chrysalis admitted.

“Aloe is my sister, we run the spa together.” Lotus explained with a gentle smile. Chrysalis nodded her understanding. Being sisters would certainly explain the resemblance. She still couldn’t quite figure out what the difference was, though. Was it the colours? She could have sworn that Aloe was also pink and blue.

“I’m here to meet with Rarity. Is she here yet?”

“Indeed she is. Miss Rarity is currently relaxing in the hot tub with Miss Fluttershy. Will the gentlecolt be joining you as well?”

“No.” Chrysalis answered bluntly, refusing to even look in Shining Armor’s direction.

“Very well, this way, please.”

Chrysalis followed after the spa pony and let out a sigh of relief when Shining Armor actually stayed behind. She knew he had said he would, but he had been so persistent in every other area of her life that she was now unable to even escape him in her sleep, as a vision of him had begun following her in her dreams.

She was soon in a room with a large, stone tub filled with steaming hot water and bubbles frothing forth from its depths. Rarity and Fluttershy were both lounging about in the water, the former had her face covered in some kind of cream and had cucumber slices over her eyes.

“Here we are.” Lotus Blossom announced with a bow and then quietly exited. Rarity lifted one of the cucumber coins from her eye with a hoof and smiled widely.

“Twilight, you made it!”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to miss this.” Chrysalis answered. “To be honest, I’m mostly here just to get away from my brother, you could have been Nightmare Moon herself and I would have accepted this invitation.”

“Yes, I’ve noticed him following you around and can only imagine how draining that must be. I love my sister, but I shudder to think of having her follow me everywhere.”

Fluttershy nodded along in agreement as Chrysalis stepped into the hot tub with a relaxed sigh.

“Um…I’m glad you could make it. You seem really stressed.”

“You have no idea.” Chrysalis replied as she submerged herself up to her neck and leaned her head against the side of the tub.

This…this was really nice. Chrysalis knew about hot tubs, but she had never actually been in one before. Water was scarce in the the badlands she called home, so she and her changelings had to use it sparingly. Even basic hygiene rarely involved more than a small wash basin, a cloth and some soap. Filling an entire bathtub, let alone one this size, was a practically unheard of luxury.

“Fluttershy’s right, you look terrible. Have you been eating properly? Or how about sleep? A mare needs a proper quantity of sleep to maintain her good looks.”

“I get enough of that from Shining Armor, I don’t need it here too.” Chrysalis answered in a half daze.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to pry, but...” Rarity paused and Chrysalis suppressed the urge to groan. Nothing ever good came after a ‘but’. “Does it by chance have something to do with Pinkie Pie?”

Chrysalis stiffened at the mention of that name, and her blissful smile was completely eradicated. Pinkie had been actively avoiding her, going so far as to ignore her when she tried to speak with her. Evidently, the snubbing had been bad enough for the others to take notice. At first Chrysalis had been angry at her for not seeing that her actions had been for Pinkie’s own good, but now she was upset that she would refuse to speak with her for so long. She had more important things to worry about than trying to mend a relationship with one of Twilight Sparkle’s friends.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“It’s just that Pinkie is usually so friendly, and it’s really unsettling to see her-”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it.” Chrysalis repeated herself, louder this time. She was beginning to fear that this visit to the spa was a mistake.

“Well, if you insist. I just want to help.”

“I’ll deal with it on my own, don’t bother.”

Chrysalis closed her eyes and only half listened to what was going on around her as she got back to relaxing. Rarity and Fluttershy kept up a frequently one sided conversation that bounced from topic to topic, at one moment speaking of stallions, and the next about rabbits. Chrysalis would on occasion mutter something in response, but her heart clearly wasn’t in conversing, so the other two left her to her rest without trying to drag her into it.

After several minutes had passed, they were interrupted by some approaching hooves clacking on the floor.

“Excuse me, the massage tables are free if you would like to move on to those.”

Chrysalis’ ears perked up at the mention of a massage. As lovely as the hot tub was proving to be, a massage had always been the main event in her mind and the primary reason for her visit to begin with.

“I think that sounds wonderful!” Rarity answered. “Will you join us, Twilight?”

“You’d have to tie me down to make me miss it.”

Rarity chuckled. “I assure you, I have no such intentions. It is good to see you smile once in awhile.”

After toweling themselves off and following Lotus Blossom, Chrysalis found herself face down on an incredibly comfortable table with her face peeking through a hole on the bottom. She waited in eager anticipation and a lazy smile.

There were four massage tables in the room, and three of them were occupied by herself and her two companions. Three members of the spa staff were present, one being Lotus Blossom and the other two being a mare and a stallion she didn’t recognize. It seemed the stallion was going to be working on Fluttershy while she herself had Lotus, she noted with a little envy. That stallion was pretty cute. Maybe after they finished here and before meeting up with Shining Armor again, she could convince him to join her in a private closet for two.

“Shall we begin?” Lotus asked of her.

“Absolutely.” She answered without hesitation. Just as she felt Lotus’ experienced hooves touch one of her hind legs, she heard hoofsteps enter the room.

“Lotus? I need to speak with you.”

Barely after beginning, that lovely touch left her cold and alone. Chrysalis let out an annoyed sigh.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be right back.” Lotus assured her.

Chrysalis waited impatiently, envious of her two companions whose massages had not been interrupted by the undesirable arrival. When she heard a gasp, she lifted her head and looked over to its source, finding Lotus Blossom standing next to a very similar looking mare, except with the colours of her mane and coat being reversed. She instantly recognized the mare as Aloe and finally understood what it was that had bothered her earlier about their similar but not quite same appearance. Ignoring that revelation, she noted that the two of them both seemed to be unsettled.

“Excuse me, everypony!” Aloe announced to the room. “We regret to announce that the spa will be closing early today due to a family emergency. We are truly sorry for the inconvenience, but we must cut short your visits.”

“What?!” Chrysalis nearly shouted as she bolted upright. “But what about my massage?!”

“We will waive any fees for today and offer all of you one free visit on our return.” Lotus Blossom stepped forward to reassure her. Chrysalis reached for her shoulders and had to force herself not to violently shake her once she had made contact.

“I. Need. This.” Chrysalis wasn’t sure if she was demanding or begging her to continue, but she didn’t care, she was so hungry.

“Please forgive me, Miss, but we have just learned that our father has been hospitalized and we need to go see him.”

Chrysalis released her and gave a forlorn sigh. She was hungry, and another day or two without a decent feeding could lead to desperation, but she wasn’t completely heartless. She knew what it was like to have an ailing parent, and to lose one. She would have to find another way to feed. If only Shining Armor had been a little more loving to his sister these past few days, a hug now and then could have helped her considerably. She would have loved to feed from him directly, but doing so would require a memory wipe to keep her identity a secret and, much like with messing with his memories to make him trust her, it could leave a noticeable trace of tampering that her past self could find later. Perhaps she would just cast a sleep spell on him later and sneak out on her own.

As she trudged back to the entrance with a frown of equal measures anger, frustration and disappointment, Shining Armor greeted her with a smile precisely the opposite of her current disposition.

“Hey, Twilight! Done so soon?”

Before he could say anymore, Chrysalis cast a spell that temporarily replaced his lips with a zipper. Shining froze for a moment, his eyes going cross as he tried to look at what she had done. Wisely, he chose to not undo the spell or unzip his lips and simply waited for her to lead the way out of there.

“Well, that certainly didn’t go the way I had planned.” Rarity observed once they were outside. Chrysalis merely stared dejectedly at the now closed down spa without saying a thing.

“I’m sorry that they shut down, Twilight. You seemed so stressed, too.” Fluttershy added. Chrysalis still failed to respond, trembling as she fought the urge to scream.

“Well, perhaps there’s another way to help you relax…” Rarity trailed off. Chrysalis’ head snapped in her direction.

“Can you give me a massage?” Chrysalis’ voice cracked and an eye twitched.

“Well, no,” Rarity answered as she took an involuntary step back, “but there is a certain event going on a little later this afternoon. It is a magic show by a travelling magician, I believe. Somepony by the name of Trickster…or Tricky, or something along those lines.”

“Are a lot of ponies going to be there?” Chrysalis asked.

“It is likely, yes. A lot of ponies seemed really excited, especially some of the foals.”

The show itself held little interest to her, she could likely do far more impressive things than any mere performer, but Chrysalis’ eyes unfocused at the thought of all the love that may be thrown around by an appreciative crowd. If she were especially lucky, she might get chosen as a volunteer to help with a trick and have some of it directed her way. It wouldn’t be as good as a proper feeding, but it could help tide her over for a little while.

“Now, I know it’s no proper replacement for a good massage, but I think you might be surprised at the good it-”

“I’ll go.” Chrysalis cut her off.

“Oh.” Rarity blinked in surprise then broke into a wide grin. “Well, that was easier than I thought it would be. The show is supposed to start in a couple of hours near the town centre. In the meantime, I have things to do, so I’ll see you then.”

“Goodbye.” Fluttershy added her own quiet farewell. She eyed Shining Armor nervously, whose attempts to appear serious and guard like were hindered by the zipper upon his lip, before she and Rarity both wandered off in separate directions.

“A magic show…” Chrysalis mused aloud to herself. “Spike would probably like to see that.”

____________________________

“Oh boy, a magic show!” Spike gushed enthusiastically as he skipped alongside Chrysalis while they made their way to the town square. “Thanks for inviting me, Twilight. I haven’t been to one of these in years!”

Chrysalis chuckled. She couldn’t help but smile at the childish excitement that the little guy displayed. He was often trying to seem so grown up and responsible as her ‘number one assistant’, but moments like these displayed his true self for the world to see.

“Don’t mention it, kid.”

“I don’t really get it.” Shining Armor interjected as he scrunched up his face. “Twilight has more magic than any unicorn we know, why get excited over a stage magician?”

“It’s not about the magic, it’s about the experience! Twilight might be strong, but she can’t work a crowd like a seasoned performer! There’s the joking, and the stories, the impractical flashiness of the spells! It’s awesome! I love a good show!”

“I’m counting on it.” Chrysalis responded with her own, less exuberant, anticipation as the group approached a growing crowd of ponies standing in front of a rather gaudy looking wagon with a stage attached to it. “Looks like we’re here. I wonder if Rarity’s around yet.”

“R..Rarity’s coming?!” Spike squeaked and his eyes went wide. “Why didn’t you tell me!? I would’ve waxed my scales!”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath. “She probably wouldn’t even notice.”

“What was that, Twilight?” Spike asked as he desperately tried to groom the spines on the top of his head.

“I said we didn’t have time for that, we would’ve missed the show.”

Chrysalis ignored whatever it was that the little dragon muttered in response as she looked for any sign of the white unicorn that had invited her. Rarity, despite her unfathomable desire to fit her into various articles of overly tight clothing, was surprisingly tolerable compared to the other element bearers. She almost looked forward to seeing her. Her ears perked up as she heard a familiar, excitable voice that she most certainly had not been expecting.

“Oooo, I haven’t been to a magic show in ages! Do you think she’s good? I hope she’s good! I mean, she’s probably good, you can’t make a living being a travelling magician if you’re not good. What kind of tricks do you think she’ll-”

Pinkie Pie clammed up the moment that her eyes met Chrysalis’ and her cheerful demeanour took on a decidedly icy edge. The other element bearers all seemed to have come along with them as well.

“Hello, Pinkie.” Chrysalis greeted with a monotone and a frown. Pinkie didn’t even acknowledge that she had said anything.

“Oh, my!” Rarity gasped with evidently mock surprise as she went and stood next to Chrysalis. “It’s Twilight! What a funny coincidence, don’t you think Pinkie Pie?”

“I’m here too, Rarity!” Spike spoke up eagerly.

“Yes, hello Spike.” She answered absently. “ Anyway, we should watch the show together, don’t you think, Pinkie?”

Pinkie Pie didn’t answer her, but did position herself next to Rarity on the side opposite of where Chrysalis stood. She kept her eyes rigidly pointed toward the stage.

“So…” Rarity spoke, breaking the awkward silence. “How have the two of you been? I haven’t seen you speaking to each other much, lately.”

“Fine.” Pinkie answered bluntly, her face frozen in an irritated scowl.

“Just dandy.” Chrysalis answered sarcastically, her own face a mirror of Pinkie’s.

“Is it jus’ me, or is it gettin’ kinda cold out here?” Applejack asked as she hesitantly joined in the tense lineup.

“Nah, it feels fine to me.” Rainbow Dash answered, as oblivious to the atmosphere as ever.

“Right…well…” Rarity bit her lip and glanced between the two feuding ponies uneasily. “Alright, I’m just going to say it. You two have been acting ridiculous these past few days. I don’t know what happened, but you can’t resolve whatever the problem is if you won’t converse with one another.”

Chrysalis groaned. She took back what she had thought earlier about Rarity being the most tolerable of the group. That honour now belonged to Fluttershy, who was cowering at the end of the line from the blatant hostility present. She barely left any impression most of the time, but at least she was quiet.

“Don’t you groan at me, Twilight! You know I’m right. And Pinkie, you’re not the type to hold a grudge, you're friends with literally everypony in town. Do you really want to ruin that because of some silly argument?”

Pinkie Pie looked over to Chrysalis, a bit of sadness entering her angry frown.

“Well--” At that moment, Pinkie Pie was cut off by a bombastic voice.

“Come one, come all, and witness the amazing magic of the Grrreat and Powerful Trixie!”

The voice was accompanied by a large puff of smoke on stage and a lot of sparkles. Once the smoke cleared at the end of the introduction, a blue mare in a star spangled blue cape and matching pointed hats stood on stage. Her mane and tail, at least what was visible sticking out from beneath her clothes, were bluish silver. Her lips were curled in an arrogant grin as she basked in the awe of the audience, though not for long as she very quickly dove into boasting, accentuating her words with flourishes of a hoof, and dramatic re-positioning that sent her cloak billowing behind her.

“Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!”

Those final words were emphasized by her rearing up on her hind legs while splaying her front two wide off to her sides and the sudden explosion of fireworks. Chrysalis had a sudden sinking feeling. She recognized this kind of mare. She was the type to monologue.

“My, my, my, what boasting.” Rarity commented with clear distaste.

“Come on, nopony’s as magical as Twilight! She should just get on with the show already!”

“I’m with Spike. I get it, she’s talented, move on.” Chrysalis growled. She doubted that any love she could garner from this event would be worth sitting through yet another long winded mare’s speeches.

Applejack grunted her own agreement. “She’s like a school filly braggin’ ‘bout all her fancy new ribbons.”

“She’s not that bad, it’s probably just an act for the show.” Pinkie grumpily pointed out. Rarity shook her head at her dour friend’s words.

“Just because she has the ability to perform lots of magic doesn’t make her better than the rest of us.” Rarity added, raising her nose in the air haughtily. Chrysalis rolled her eyes, she was really one to talk about acting better than anyone else. There was only one other mare around here who could be considered worse in that regard: Rainbow Dash.

“Especially when you’ve got me around being better than the rest of us!” The one mare who was worse in that regard spouted as if on cue only to be glared down by an angry Applejack. “Ha ha…I mean…yeah, uh…magic shmagic! Boo!” She halfheartedly tried to appease Applejack, keeping an eye on her to see if it was working.

“Well, well, well,” Trixie responded to the sudden boo, “it seems we have some neeeeeighsayers in the audience.”

Chrysalis winced at the emphasis on the neigh. Why would a pony want to emphasize such a stereotypical sound of primitive equines?

“Who is so ignorant as to challenge the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie? Do they not know they are in the presence of the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria?"

Rarity blew a rather unladylike raspberry. “Just who does she think she is?”

“Well, you are interrupting her show.” Shining Armor quietly observed. Completely ignoring his point, Rainbow Dash flew up to the stage to more directly confront the show mare.

“So, Great and Powerful Trixie, what makes you think you're so awesome anyway?”

“Why, only the Great and Powerful Trixie has magic strong enough to vanquish the dreaded ursa major and…”

Chrysalis stopped paying attention to Trixie’s boasting just as she conjured up an image of herself fending off a large bear. “Come on, Spike, let’s go home. This isn’t worth it.”

“Yeah, okay.” Spike agreed in disappointment and they, plus Shining Armor, began making their way out from the crowd.

“How about you?!” Trixie shouted into the audience and pointed into the crowd at Applejack, right near where Chrysalis had been standing moments earlier. “Well, how about it? Is there anything you can do that the Great and Powerful Trixie can’t? Well, little hayseed?”

“Wait, what?” Chrysalis turned back to the stage. Was she actually pulling ponies from the audience now? She growled in frustration, she had started leaving too soon. “I can-”

“That’s it, I can’t stand for no more o’ this.” AJ declared as she stepped up onto the stage, cutting off Chrysalis in the process. “Can your magical powers do this?”

AJ pulled a lasso out from under her hat and began spinning it up and down around herself using her tail, and just generally showing off her roping skills. After several seconds of twirling, she tossed the loop at a nearby apple tree and plucked a fruit from it, which rocketed into her waiting mouth. The crowd erupted into cheers as she chewed it. Chrysalis felt a little bit of love surrounding her, the love she had sought by coming here. She needed to get up on that stage.

“Top that, missy!” Applejack challenged as she gave a little curtsy to the audience.

“Oh, ye of little talent. Watch and be amazed at the magic of Trixie!”

Suddenly, the rope that Applejack had used for her trick that had been left prone on the stage began to dance back and forth in Trixie’s magical aura. The farm pony watched one end warily as it moved while the other end lashed out at the same tree from earlier and grabbed a second fruit. Moments later, the first end rapidly coiled itself around Applejack’s legs and flipped her onto her back. To finish the humiliation of the trick, the apple was placed into AJ’s mouth as a gag. A smattering of applause and laughter came from the audience.

“Once again, the Great and Powerful Trixie prevails!”

This was Chrysalis’ chance to get on stage! “Hey, I’m much-”

“There’s no need to go strutting around and showing off like that!” Rainbow Dash, like the frustrating speedster that she was, beat Chrysalis to the stage and completely interrupted her own challenge to the mare. Chrysalis grit her teeth as she tried desperately to not latch onto the blue pegasus with her magic and shake her like a rag doll hard enough to snap her neck.

“Oh?” Trixie responded with a smug grin.

“That’s my job!”

Rainbow Dash showed off her oh so impressive ability of flying fast. Chrysalis didn’t even bother paying attention to her as she did her trick, opting instead to stare with determination at the other blue mare that didn’t leave the stage. Once Dash returned to said stage, she struck a pose and a rainbow formed behind her. Chrysalis didn’t even wait for Trixie to finish humiliating her by sending her spinning away wrapped in that very rainbow before. She raised her voice loud enough to be heard above the laughter that once again rose up.

“Hey, why don’t you pick on somebody with actual magic!?”

“Yeah, like me!” Shining Armor shouted out after her, causing Chrysalis to freeze with a look of absolute fury upon her face for being interrupted a third time. As Shining Armor passed her, he whispered to her “Don’t worry, I got this, Twily.”

“And what are you going to do?” Trixie asked in a mocking tone.

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed you’re not actually topping those ponies talents, you’re just humiliating them and saying you won!”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie beat them, therefore The Great and Powerful Trixie won.” Trixie dismissed his complaint.

“Well, how about this, then?” Shining Armor’s horn glowed and he was suddenly encased in a translucent bubble of pink. “My talent is defending others with the shields I can create. Try making a fool of me when you can’t even touch me!”

“Hmm.” Trixie took a moment to appraise the shield he had wrapped himself in. “Is that all you can do? This shall prove no challenge for the Great and Powerful-”

Trixie leaped back in shock as a giant, green, magical golf club swung right into the pink ball of magic, sending Shining Armor and his encasement flying through the air a few dozen meters before it landed on the ground and rolled away until it was out of sight, the sound of Shining Armor screaming in terror filled the air until it too faded from the growing distance.

“No! I’m doing this, not him!” Chrysalis snarled as she jumped onto the stage.

“Uh…Twilight? Is your brother going to be okay?” Rarity asked, a little frightened by her sudden outburst.

“He’ll be fine.” Chrysalis snorted. “Well, what about it Trixie? Ready to face me, or are you too scared?”

“And who are you to challenge the Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“I’m Twilight Sparkle, and I am far more great and powerful than you could ever dream!”

“Weren’t you listening? Trixie can take down an ursa major!” A gangly young colt from the audience spoke in defense of the mare.

“Yeah! She’s the strongest unicorn in all of Ponyville!” Another, chubbier colt added.

“It is true, the Great and Powerful Trixie is truly the most magnificent unicorn in this-hey, what are you doing?!” Trixie’s boast was cut short as she was lifted into the air by Chrysalis’ magic. “Put Trixie down!”

“If you’re so great, you can surely get down yourself.” Chrysalis replied smugly, enjoying a few sparse laughs from the audience.

“N...no fair, you caught Trixie off guard!”

“Hey, yeah! That’s not fair!” One of the colts from earlier echoed his agreement. Chrysalis ignored him.

“Let’s see…a trick…a trick…how about some juggling?” Chrysalis suggested as she tossed Trixie up into the air and released her from her magic, earning a scream from the now aerial unicorn. At the last second, right before she hit the ground, she caught her again only to repeat the process two more times before coming to a stop.

“Ugh…the Disoriented and Nauseous Trixie is feeling woozy…” Trixie moaned, her face looking a little green.

“It’s not really juggling with only one ball, though.” Chrysalis declared. “How about we add a couple more?” Chrysalis channeled more magic through her horn and a pair of green flames suddenly appeared on either side of a trembling Trixie.

“Those are not balls!” Trixie shrieked.

“Sure they are! Fire balls!” Chrysalis grinned maliciously. “Besides, everything’s more exciting with fire!”

“No!” Trixie was only able to get that one word out before Chrysalis began tossing her, and the two balls of fire, into the air once again, earning gasps from the audience.

“Twlight, stop!”

Chrysalis’ concentration broke. Both fireballs disintegrated and Trixie landed on the wooden stage with a heavy thud. Those were the exact same words as before with Gilda just a few days ago. She looked over to Pinkie Pie in the audience, expecting to see raging fury, but instead found concern, sadness and fear. In fact, the entire audience looked to be afraid of what was going on. There wasn’t any amount of love flowing through to her at all.

“With Gilda you said it was for my own good, but what about now? How does hurting Trixie help anypony?”

“Uh…I…” Chrysalis stammered as she tried to think up an answer, but drew a blank. She wasn’t even getting love out of this, so who was she benefiting with her actions?

“Wait, back up a second? What did she do to Gilda?” Rainbow Dash blurted out.

Chrysalis froze. Oh crap. Rainbow Dash hadn't been privy to the events concerning Gilda, and as such had not been upset with her.

“Is Twilight why she left Ponyville so suddenly?”

“Yeah.” Pinkie nodded.

“That’s barbaric!” Rarity spat those words out in horror, and the other element bearers voiced their agreement. In fact, the whole crowd began turning against her. This was not how this was supposed to go.

“No…that was just a misunderstanding! And Trixie is fine, it was just a little bit of light hearted fun, right Trixie?” She turned to the puddle of a pony on the stage for back up. Trixie, upon realizing she was being called upon by her attacker recoiled with fear.

“Stay away from me!”

Trixie scrambled to her hooves and ran for her life from the monster on the stage, and the pair of colts that had defended her earlier followed after her. Chrysalis watched in horror as everyone around left, one by one until only Spike remained. Chrysalis leaped off the stage and desperately reached for the dragon.

“You…you don’t hate me, right?”

“I…” Spike began as he looked up at his adoptive sister with clear disappointment. “I’m going back to the library.”

Chrysalis sat stunned as even Spike walked away from her, leaving her well and truly alone.

Several minutes passed in complete silence before a pony approached her. It was Shining Armor, walking very stiffly as if he were sore all over.

“Ugh…I didn’t expect Trixie to do that. Where is everypony? What did I miss?” He asked, looking around for any signs of life nearby. Chrysalis looked him in the eyes.

“I fucked up.”

________________________________

Trixie leaned her head against the brick wall that she sat against in the alley she had finally collapsed in after she finally stopped fleeing from that…incident. No, she did not flee, the Great and Powerful Trixie does not flee from anypony. What she had done was merely…a tactical retreat.

A shudder rocked her frame as she remembered what that Twilight Sparkle had done to her. She could still feel the heat of those flames as they had gotten dangerously close to her as she was so carelessly tossed into the air. Luck was all that had gotten her out of that with only a few singed threads on her glorious cape.

She sat there silently as she pondered what she would do to that mare for humiliating her in such a fashion, for she clearly couldn’t let some country bumpkin upstage her. She was certain that she could overpower the purple unicorn just as easily as the reverse had happened if she were the one to catch her off guard instead. Yes, she liked that idea. She would show the that uppity mare just who was the most powerful unicorn around.

“Oh, Great and Powerful Trixie!?” Trixie was snapped out of her thoughts by the shouting of some young colt. “Where are you?”

The lanky owner of the voice walked by the entrance to the alleyway, along with a much shorter companion who happened to look her way. When he saw her, his eyes lit up and he grabbed the shoulder of the taller colt.

“There she is, Snails!” The duo pranced into the alley where Trixie was resting, giggling as they did so. With a sigh, she got back to her hooves.

“Hmph! Are you here to laugh at the Great and Powerful Trixie?” She turned her nose up at them and they shook their heads vigorously, though she didn’t notice. “Well laugh all you want, because the Great and Powerful Trixie will have the last laugh once she gets her revenge on Twilight Sparkle!”

“Oh! You’re gonna show Twilight who’s boss?!” The short, fat one hopped in place with excitement.

“That’d be so cooooool!” The other added with a goofy grin.

“Uh huh. Please leave, the Great and Powerful Trixie needs time to make her plan.”

“Oh! I’ve got an idea!” The short one shouted. Trixie raised an eyebrow.

“Hmm? And what is your idea?” Trixie asked curiously.

“You’ll see, we’ll make you proud! Come on, Snails!”

Trixie watched as the two colts ran off without telling her their plan. What a weird duo, she thought, then dismissed them from her mind as she started crafting her own plans. They surely wouldn’t do anything of real impact, anyway.

________________________

After night had fallen that day, Chrysalis lay in her bed atop her covers, panicking over the situation she had fallen into. It had been bad enough when she had only Pinkie Pie angry at her, but now she not only had all of the element bearers hating her, but half the town too. This was not how it was supposed to go at all. Time Keeper was going to be rightfully pissed at her for messing up the time line as much as she had. It might even have been better had he tried to take Twilight’s place himself with how poor a job she was doing.

Yet, despite all the mistakes she had made, despite how wrong history was turning out to be, the fact that she, and indeed the entire universe, was still completely in tact suggested that Time Keeper’s panic had been misplaced. Unless she somehow completely turns this around in the near future, something which Chrysalis doubted that she was going to be able to do, it seemed that her actions had had no adverse effects. Perhaps she didn’t really need to pretend to be Twilight at all. Perhaps she could rewrite history to the benefit of her changelings without worrying about destroying everything.

“Twilight?” Spike’s voice travelled through the empty bedroom as he poked his head through the cracked open door. “Are you okay?”

A small smile graced Chrysalis’ lips. “I think I’m actually better than I’ve been in a long while.”

Spike entered the room, closing the door behind him. “You don’t have to pretend for me. I’m sure that they’ll forgive you if you give it time.”

Chrysalis shook her head, imperceptible to Spike from his position on the floor.

“I don’t think it matters anymore, Spike.”

Chrysalis chuckled. Perhaps she should actually get in contact with her past self after all. Even if she couldn’t be leader of the changelings anymore, she could still guide them to a much more successful invasion. Actually, why couldn’t she be leader of the changelings anymore? If all she had done hadn’t caused the destruction of the universe, who’s to say that deposing her past self and assuming control of the hive wouldn’t work the same way?

She rose from the bed. First things first, she needed to feed. She wondered where Shining Armor was. Since she no longer had any intention of hiding from her past self, there was no longer any point in worrying about leaving behind evidence of her interference in Shining’s memories.

“What do you mean? Are you saying that your friends don’t matter?” A hint of anger found it’s way into Spike’s voice. “You can’t mean that! The Twilight I know and love wouldn’t say that!”

“Oh no, Spike…my true friends matter very much to-” Chrysalis was suddenly interrupted by an earsplitting, magically amplified voice that shook the very foundations of the library.

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE, COME OUT THIS INSTANT! ALL SHALL SEE THAT YOU ARE INSIGNIFICANT BEFORE THE MIGHT OF THE GRRREAT AND POWERFUL TRRRIXIE!”

Chrysalis hissed as she flattened her ringing ears. This was not what she needed right now. She had little doubt that she could trounce Trixie with ease, but she didn’t want to waste any more love until she had resupplied herself. She trotted over to the window and peeked outside to find Trixie wandering about in the streets with a cone of magic in front of her mouth. As she saw Trixie take in a deep breath, Chrysalis braced herself for another round of magical shouting.

“TRIXIE SHALL NOT STOP UNTIL TWILIGHT SPARKLE COMES OUT OF HIDING!”

“Ugh…if that’s how she acts, maybe she deserved what you did to her.” Spike grumbled as he plugged his ears.

Chrysalis rolled her eyes at Trixie's insistence on being destroyed. She would give that idiot mare what she wanted, but not until she had fed from Shining Armor. She was under no obligation to put a quick end to her disturbance of any pony’s sleep that evening. She would refill her reserves of love, then go out and incinerate the fool and then continue her plans for how to overthrow her past self, if that was indeed what she would end up doing.

She was about to leave to find her meal when Spike leaned out of the window.

“Hey! Be quiet out there! Ponies are trying to sleep!”

Chrysalis’ eyes widened and she reached to drag the little dragon from the window. “Shut up, Spike!” She hissed, but it was too late.

“AHA! THERE YOU ARE, TWILIGHT SPARKLE! COME DOWN AND FACE YOUR HUMILIATION!”

Chrysalis put a hoof to her face and let out a big sigh before she leaned out the window herself. “Look, Trixie, I’m really not in the mood for humiliating you again. How about you just go away before-”

She was interrupted by a sudden jerking sensation that yanked her from her perch and all the way out of the window, painfully cracking her head against the frame as she went. The culmination of this was her free falling to the hard ground below with a painful thud.

“The only one who is going to be humiliated is you, Twilight Sparkle.” Trixie smirked at the pile of groaning pony in front of her.

Chrysalis attempted to get back to her hooves, but fell over as she did so. The world was spinning and her head felt like an egg that had been smashed upon a rock. Trixie chuckled at her inability to stand,

“Perhaps if you were to grovel before her and admit your inferiority, then Trixie might show you some mercy.”

Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed as she fought through the pain and forced herself to stand. “Fuck off, bitch.”

The cocky grin warped into a snarl. “Then let all of Ponyville witness the superiority of the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

All of Ponyville? Chrysalis finally noticed that a large number of ponies had come out of their homes and were watching them. This momentary distraction, however, proved to be a mistake.

Chrysalis felt the tingle of a magical aura latch onto her once more and she was thrown back into the bark of the Golden Oaks Library, her already splitting headache amplified ten fold as her skull struck the hard wood and her vision exploded with stars. She tried to force a defensive spell through her horn and the agony, but her swimming mind refused to cooperate.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie didn’t expect much, but she expected more than this. Just give up already.”

“I’m…just getting started.” Chrysalis forced through gritted teeth.

Trixie shrugged and pointed her horn at Chrysalis, charging up for another attack. Realizing her magic wasn’t cooperating, Chrysalis leaped at the blue mare, hoping to break her concentration and force her into a physical fight rather than a magical one. All she would need was to let a little of her natural strength as a changeling queen shine through to easily overpower her. As she tried to launch herself with her back legs, she gasped as a sudden pain in one of those legs momentarily blinded her. She collapsed back to the ground, breathing heavily. She must have landed on her leg wrong after Trixie’s last attack.

With neither her mind nor body obeying her commands, Chrysalis had little choice but to weather out the upcoming attack and afterwards she would admit defeat, if she were even still conscious to do so. It would be humiliating to lose to such a pathetic unicorn, a truly powerful one would have easily knocked her unconscious in her already weakened state by now, but shame wouldn’t kill her and she could always get her revenge later.

With her path chosen for her, Chrysalis closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.

The pain she expected never came. In its place, the sound of a nearby surface being struck with a thunderous crash, the warmth of an embrace and the accompanying trickle of love into her. Chrysalis opened her eyes to see a translucent pink bubble encasing her, and Shining Armor holding onto her protectively.

“How dare you get in the way of the Great and Powerful Trixie’s moment of triumph!” Trixie screeched furiously. Shining Armor gave a squeeze to Chrysalis and then stood up, dispelling his shield and placing him between Trixie and his sister.

“In the name of Princess Celestia, I, Captain Shining Armor of the Royal Guard, command you to cease your hostilities.” Shining Armor declared loud and clear for all to hear.

Trixie’s eyes widened and she took a step back.

“C…captain of the Royal Guard?”

“I hereby place you under arrest for the assault of my sister. You’ll be lucky if you don’t get attempted murder slapped on top of that.”

“M...m..murder?!” Trixie stuttered in a panic. “N..n..n..no! This is all just a misunderstanding! Trixie was merely having an agreed upon duel with Twilight Sparkle!”

A sudden gust of wind announced a new presence that placed a reassuring hoof on Chrysalis’ shoulder. She looked up to see that Rainbow Dash of all ponies had flown to her aid.

“That’s not how I remember it.” Rainbow Dash contradicted Trixie’s claim. “I saw everything. Twilight refused to fight, and then Trixie yanked her out of her home and then pummelled her to pieces!”

“Right…well, that was…uh…” Trixie stammered in an effort to defend herself.

“What are you doing?” Chrysalis whispered to Dash as she helped her back up, letting her lean on her for support. “I thought you hated me.”

“I’m not gonna pretend I like what you did, but Pinkie filled me in and I get it. I’m gonna have a long talk with Gilda when I see her again. Just, next time, keep me in on the loop on this kind of stuff, it’s what friends do.”

Chrysalis' head swam. With all the physical trauma she had just suffered, she was having a hard time wrapping her head around what was happening.

“Oh, and sorry for not coming to help earlier. I actually kinda thought you could take this show off until I saw your leg give out beneath you. How is it? Your leg, I mean.”

Chrysalis tried putting weight on said leg and let out a hiss of pain, immediately halting her attempt.

“Messed up.” Chrysalis admitted, but pushed Dash away anyway. It hurt her already injured pride to rely on another pony to move. “But I think I can walk, I’ll just have to do it on three legs for a bit.”

“You sure?” Dash’s brow wrinkled with concern, earning a nod from Chrysalis as she limped a few steps to prove her words. “If you say so. I’m going to go get a doctor just in case.”

“Yeah. That’s probably a good idea.” Chrysalis admitted with a grimace and watched as Rainbow Dash flew off.

“But Trixie can’t go to jail! Think of the fans!” Trixie whined.

“You should have thought of that earlier.” Shining Armor dismissed her concerns coldly.

“Great and Powerful Trixiiiiie!” A sudden scream pierced the air, accompanied by a shaking of the ground

“What now?” Shining Armor groaned.

“HEEEEEELP!”

All eyes turned to the source of the scream and most were locked immediately onto the giant, starry blue bear that was lumbering into town with an angry roar. It wasn’t just a large bear, giant was no hyperbole. This ursine was easily the size of the houses in Ponyville. Chrysalis’ eyes, however, were not focused on the bear, but on the two little colts that were being chased by it.

“What the heck is that?!” Spike’s voice screamed in terror from his perch at the window above them.

“Spike!” Shining Armor shouted at the dragon. “Send a letter to Celestia for help!”

“R…right!” Spike responded fearfully as he disappeared into the building.

“Everyone stay back, I’ll handle this! Huh? Twilight?!”

Unnoticed at first by the others, Chrysalis had spent the time Shining Armor had to recruit Spike’s assistance to take what little love she had just gained from Shining’s earlier embrace to place a magical brace on her hind leg and sprinted straight for the oncoming calamity. She was already three quarters of the way there by the time he had finally seen her.

“I hate foals-ow! I-ow-hate foals! I hate-ow-foals!” Chrysalis reached out with her magic and swiped the two colts to the side with as much force as she could muster. They’d be hurt by her actions, but a far cry less so than if that bear caught them.

“Leave the kids alone!” Chrysalis shouted at the bear as its eyes began to follow the two colts, and she smacked its nose with a bit of her magic for good measure. She swallowed nervously as the bear came to a halt in front of her and stared down at its new prey. She really hated foals.

“Uh...hi there. Don’t suppose you’d like to talk about this?” The bear raised a paw in anticipation of mauling her. Chrysalis gulped. “Didn’t think so.”

Chrysalis channelled through her horn for another spell, but didn’t have much hope for the result. That little tap on the monster’s nose had been near her full strength, and it did little more than get his attention. She was just too low on love and far too injured to put up a proper fight. She shot a thin stream of green flame at the creature, but it disappeared in a puff of smoke as its claws roared through it on its way to either crush or dice Chrysalis where she stood.

Right before it came in contact with her, she was once again surrounded by a pink sphere of protective magic. The paw struck the magical orb and suddenly the world went spinning around her and she was jerked into one side of the barrier as she and the shield both went flying through the air, like a big volleyball that had just been served. Chrysalis crash landed a few dozen meters away, and the shield shattered into a million pieces before disappearing entirely.

Chrysalis bit her tongue in an effort to distract herself from the pain throbbing through her entire body as she struggled back to her hooves, careful not to put weight on her injured leg. Shining Armor was facing down the giant bear back where she had just been, deftly dodging his larger opponent’s attacks, or deflecting them with a well placed shield. It was almost as if he were dancing around it, and the bear in turn was following his every move.

Moments later, a rainbow streak flew through the sky and rammed right into the forehead of the behemoth, staggering it momentarily.

“No, stop! I’m trying to lead it away!” Shining screamed at the rainbow mare.

Rainbow Dash reacted quite sluggishly, seemingly dazed herself from head butting a skull that just might be thicker than her own. She said something that Chrysalis couldn’t quite make out and gave a sloppy salute to the stallion.

“Look out!” Shining screamed once more.

Dash looked back to the giant bear they had confronted just in time to see a giant paw soaring through the air at her. Shining channelled a spell, and Dash herself attempted to fly out of its path, but both were a fraction of a second too slow. The bear struck a glancing blow against Dash and she was sent spiralling to the dirt. Shining Armor leaped in front of the grounded pegasus and erected a barrier to protect her from any further assault. Unfortunately, being forced to stay in place meant his shields were taking the full force of the blows from the monster, and it was only a matter of time before he too would fall.

Chrysalis swore under her breath. That idiot mare had just messed everything up. It would serve her right to get snacked on, but she had just stood up for Chrysalis when Shining Armor had saved her from Trixie. She owed Rainbow Dash. She began limping as quickly as her battered form could allow. Maybe she could get close enough to drag Rainbow Dash away while Shining Armor kept the bear distracted.

“Twilight?!” Shining Armor gasped when he saw Chrysalis biting down on Dash’s tail and beginning to drag her off. Unwilling to waste time spitting her tail out to speak, she angrily growled at him and jerked her head towards the bear, hoping he got the message. He nodded wearily and returned his focus to his fight. “Come on, big and ugly! Follow me!”

Shining dropped his shield after the next slam against it and began dancing around the bear again, noticeably more sluggish than before. Even so, it was working. He was keeping its attention off of the retreating Chrysalis and unconscious Rainbow Dash. That sluggishness, however, would prove his downfall.

The bear lunged forth with its maw agape. Shining tried to leap out of the way, but the bear caught onto one of his hind legs and bit down. Shining screamed in pain as the bear shook him like a dog with a toy in its mouth. Moments later, he was thrown from the bear’s mouth and sent flying through the air where he crashed into the roof of a distant building, breaking through it and disappearing inside.

It didn’t take long for the bear to notice the next nearest potential prey: Chrysalis and Rainbow Dash. Chrysalis redoubled her efforts, even putting her injured leg into use, despite the screaming agony it brought her. It didn’t matter. One injured mare, even if she hadn’t been dragging a second one behind her, could not outrun such a giant. Her looming death lumbered towards her at a speed she could not possibly hope to match. If only she had enough love to cast a spell strong enough to save them.

“BONZAAAAAI!”

A blur of pink whooshed past them through the air, and only came to a recognizable halt once it came in contact with the bear’s face. Chrysalis blinked in surprise as the bear came to a full stop. Pinkie stood in front of the monstrosity, who now had the remnants of a giant pie with apple filling dripping from its face. It licked at the gooey dessert, wiping itself clean. Once it reached all it could with its tongue, it focused its attention onto Pinkie Pie.

“Pie me, Rarity!” Pinkie Pie shouted.

Chrysalis then noticed a steady line of pies floating through the air, held up in the blue glow of Rarity’s magic. Pinkie snatched one and threw it at the bear.

“Come at me, bear!” She taunted with a giggle and began running towards the outskirts of town, throwing pies as she went, luring the giant beast as she went, and both Applejack pulling a cart of pies behind her and Rarity floating the pies from said cart followed.

Rainbow Dash groaned. “Am I dreaming? I think I just saw a giant bear being drawn away by Pinkie Pie throwing pies at it.”

Chrysalis, realizing she still had a mouthful of rainbows, spit out Dash's tail. Chrysalis tried to scrape off the strands that had been left behind on her tongue. She was going to be tasting that for hours.

“No, it’s really happening.” A soft voice answered, and Fluttershy trotted into view. “Are you two okay.”

“Never better.” Rainbow Dash answered with another groan.

“I’ll live.” Chrysalis answered right before allowing herself to collapse right next to Rainbow Dash.

“I…umm…I think I should go find your brother, he could be seriously hurt. Will you two be okay by yourselves? A doctor should be here soon.”

Chrysalis waved her off with a hoof. To be honest, now that the adrenaline had begun to wear off, she wasn’t sure that she would be able to move if she had wanted to. Hopefully the doctor that came for them was a loving and tender one rather than detached and clinical.

Sometime during the wait, Chrysalis must have dozed off, because the next thing she remembered was being shaken awake by a sleepy looking pony she didn’t recognize that introduced herself as doctor something or other. It was a little hard to focus. She wasn’t the only one that was there, though. Shining Armor was lying unconscious on the ground next to her, and Chrysalis’ breath caught in her throat when she saw him.

He was a broken and bloody mess. He was bleeding from several minor cuts all over his body, likely incurred when he went through the roof of that building. Worst of all, however, was the leg that had been bitten. It was heavily lacerated, and bleeding profusely. No, lacerated seemed to be an understatement. It looked like it was just short of having been torn off. She looked away from the grisly mess as the doctor quickly set to work tending his wound.

Several minutes passed and the element bearers that had led the giant bear out of town returned, cheering triumphantly as they did so, though they quickly stopped their celebrations once they saw the shape that Shining Armor was in. Not even the blood soaked bandages that were attempting to staunch the flow of blood loss could hide the extent of the damage.

“That…that is absolutely grisly.” Rarity observed, looking a little ill. In fact, most of the element bearers looked little better except for, oddly enough, the timid Fluttershy. She was even helping the doctor tend to him.

“Uh…Fluttershy, how is it that you can do that?” Applejack asked, staring in disbelief at her.

“Oh…um…I sometimes see injuries like this with some of the animals I take care of that have been attacked by predators.” She explained.

“And how does that usually turn out?” Applejack pressed. Fluttershy averted her gaze and didn’t answer. Her silence was very telling.

Before anybody else could say anything, a huge flash of light lit up the area, blinding all present. Chrysalis lifted a hoof to shield her eyes and attempted to look at the source. Once her vision had readjusted to the dark, she saw Princess Celestia herself standing near the library not too far off. She was tense and ready to spring into action as she surveyed the area for any threats, her horn glowing brightly. Upon seeing no threats and instead some injured being tended too, her horn stopped glowing and she galloped towards them. Seeing the normally calm and regal Celestia galloping was a strange sight, even to Chrysalis who rarely ever saw her.

“What happened?” Celestia demanded as she came to a halt next to them and gazed aghast at the three wounded.

Rainbow Dash explained the situation leading up to when the bear attacked. At that point, she was interrupted by a couple of excited young colts.

“Twilight was awesome!” A short, plump colt shouted enthusiastically as he screeched to a halt after running up to them.

“Yeah! She totally saved us from the ursa major!” The taller one gushed.

“Ursa…major? Ain’t that the thing that Trixie was supposed to have fought off before?”

“Yes,” Fluttershy confirmed, “but that wasn’t an ursa major, that was an ursa minor. It was just a baby.”

“That was only a baby?” Rarity gasped, her pupils shrinking down to pinpricks.

Celestia’s eyes widened and she stared at Chrysalis, but otherwise showed no other physical reaction.

“But I thought Twilight had been injured.” She pointed out.

“She was!” Rainbow Dash interjected back into her own story. “I can confirm that, she could hardly walk!”

“And she ran straight for the ursa major to save you two?” She asked of the foals, who nodded vigorously.

“And then he,” Snips pointed to Shining Armor, “saved Twilight and fought the ursa major-I mean minor-all by himself!”

“Until I came in and knocked it senseless!” Rainbow boasted.

“You got knocked out pretty quick if I recall,” Chrysalis pointed out, “and my brother nearly killed himself trying to stop it from killing you.”

Rainbow Dash rubbed a hoof on the back of her head and chuckled nervously. “Uh…yeah.”

“And then Twilight was even cooler! She ran in again and pulled Rainbow Dash away while he kept it distracted…but then it bit him and threw him into a house!” The tall colt continued, only to be interrupted by his friend.

“And then it looked like it was over for Twilight and Rainbow, but then Rarity threw Pinkie Pie with a giant pie at the monster with her magic and Pinkie pied it in the face! They kept throwing pies at it until they drew it out of Ponyville! They were so coooool!”

Celestia looked between all of the element bearers until she stopped once again on Twilight, staring at her as if she had never seen her before. Chrysalis averted her eyes from the princess and focused on the bearers.

“How did you know that would work?” She asked.

“That was all thanks to Flutters, here!” Pinkie Pie announced as she pulled the yellow pegasus into a hug, drawing out a small ‘eep’ in the process. Fluttershy blushed profusely from the praise.

“I only knew that ursas liked apples. It was Pinkie Pie and Applejack that got the pies.”

“Aw, shucks. Rarity’s the one that kept Pinkie loaded with ammo.”

“And you pulled the cart full of pies, darling. Take the praise you deserve.”

“Regardless of who deserves the most credit-”

“Twilight!” The two colts shouted in unison. Chrysalis sighed at their suddenly developed hero worship of her.

“Ahem…it seems all of you are heroes this night.” Celestia praised them all. “I do have one question, however. What was an ursa minor doing in Ponyville to begin with?”

“Oh, uh…” the short colt stammered as both of them fidgeted nervously and avoided eye contact.

“What did you do?” Chrysalis growled at them.

“Well, you see…we kind of wanted to help Trixie prove she was the strongest unicorn around, so we thought we would bring an ursa major for her to fight like she did in her stories.”

Chrysalis snorted. “There’s no way she actually fought one of those things.”

“Speaking of this Trixie, where is she?” Celestia asked.

“We tried to get her to help, but she ran away.” The short one said with a frown.

“Well, I certainly can’t blame her for not trying to fight an ursa, but she is still a criminal. Are there any pictures of her around?”

“I’ve got some of her posters at home. You can have all of ‘em.” The tall one offered, and then continued somewhat acidly. “I don’t want them any more.

“Yeah, mine too!” The short one echoed the sentiment.

“Thank you, my little ponies, I shall make copies and have the distributed among the guards. What are your names?”

“I’m Snips!”

“And I’m Snails!”

“Thank you, Snips and Snails. I shall remember this.” She turned her attention over to Shining Armor. “How bad is it, doctor?”

“I’ve done all I can. I stopped most of the bleeding, but he’s going to need a hospital. He should survive if he gets to one, but his leg may be beyond saving. They’ll likely have to amputate it.”

There was a collective wince at the proclamation that he would lose his leg.

“I’ve sent for help from the Ponyville Hospital, we’ll get him there, but I recommend he transfers to the Canterlot Hospital as soon as possible for the operation.”

“Understood. I can let them know upon my return to send some ponies out to transport him. And how about you two, how are you?”

“Psh! I’ve had worse crashes doing tricks! I’m fine!” Rainbow Dash boasted.

The doctor made a noise of disapproval, and Celestia quickly picked up on it.

“I order that you report to the hospital and submit yourself to a full examination. You are to do precisely what the medical staff suggest.” Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves from her sitting position.

“Yes, princess.”

Celestia’s gaze landed on Chrysalis, who had yet to answer, and she withered a little beneath those eyes.

“Not so good.” She admitted. “I could really use a hug right now, to be honest.”

“Awwww! Why didn’t you say so?” Pinkie Pie leaped towards her and wrapped her in a crushing hug. “Anything for my amazing friend!”

Chrysalis bore the pain patiently in order to get at the sweet, sweet love that was trickling into her. She gave a sigh of satisfaction and leaned into Pinkie’s embrace.

“So…you forgive me?”

“Yupperooni!”

“I think that after all you’ve done tonight, you’ve earned a little forgiveness from all of us.” Rarity answered as she too came forward and hugged Twilight.

One after the other, the other bearers voiced their agreement and added themselves to the group hug until the trickle of love became a steady stream. Chrysalis’ head was spinning. Much to her disbelief, she had somehow repaired her relationship with the element bearers and set history back on its proper course, and almost immediately after breaking from it. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she hadn’t irreversibly shattered the past as she had thought. Maybe if she did do too much to have things develop the way she wanted, the universe would still destroy itself.

Then again. Maybe not.

“All right, all right, get off of her.” The doctor waved the bearers off of Chrysalis. “I’d like to get a look at her before you guys hurt her further. You can start hugging her again after I’m certain she’s not going to keel over because of it.”

Much to Chrysalis’ disappointment, the ponies embracing her did as they were told and the love that had warmed her was cut off.

“It seems that I have misjudged you.” Celestia announced as she watched Chrysalis being tended to. “Perhaps I need not have a guard watching over your every move, provided of course that you have your friends by your side. You all have proven to be just as capable as the captain of my guards, if not more so.”

“Heck, yeah! We’re awesome!” Rainbow Dash shouted, pumping a hoof as she did so.

Chrysalis smiled weakly. Her ‘friends’. The ponies she had spent a lifetime plotting against. The ponies that she had been planning on turning into slaves to feed her hive just before Trixie had attacked her. The ponies that had just worked together to save her life.

No, they weren’t her friends, and they never would or could be, but she did owe them. If not for them, she would be in the belly of a giant bear right now. The least she could do was postpone any plans for betraying them until she had paid them back.

“I should get going with these two to get those pictures, and once I have those, I’ll head back to Canterlot and inform the hospital there of the situation.” Celestia announced, indicating Snips and Snails.

Before they left, Snips and Snails looked over to Twilight, one pawing at the ground nervously with a front hoof while the other chewed his lip.

“It’s kinda our fault that this happened, isn’t it?” Snips asked.

“Yeah.” Chrysalis gave a tired nod.

Both of their ears wilted.

“We’re sorry.” Snails said, tears beginning to form at the corners of his eyes.

Chrysalis eyed them sternly.

“Are you two going to do something this stupid again?”

“No, ma’am.” They answered in unison. Chrysalis’ features softened, though she didn’t realize it.

“Are you two hurt?”

“No.” Snips answered, and Snails soon echoed that word for himself. Chrysalis sighed.

“Then that’s all that matters. Now go, you’re keeping your princess waiting.”

At her bidding, the two ran off, eager to assist their beloved leader. Celestia didn’t immediately follow them.

“Before I go…Twilight?”

“Yes, princess?” Chrysalis replied with slight trepidation.

“I’m proud of you.” She finished, her face far more grim than such words were usually delivered with, and then she turned to leave with Snips and Snails. “Come along, my little ponies, let’s see these posters of yours.”

Chrysalis watched while one of her worst sworn enemies disappeared into the night and shuddered. She felt as if she had just dodged an oncoming train.

As the doctor poked and prodded at her, a squad of ponies dressed up in the attire of the hospital staff approached, carrying stretchers with them. Chrysalis closed her eyes and sighed once more.

It was going to be another long night in that damned hospital.

Comments

[Hopeful_Ink_Hoof]

I feel bad for the ursa in this. I mean, it was just grumpy because two annoying little things woke it up.

Also, I think that Chrysalis's loner facade is starting to fracture. Hairline at the moment, but fracture all the same.

[VcSaJen]

It turned out that Captain Fifth Wheel's and Chrysalis' bad influence is worse than Alicorn Amulet's influence. S03 corrupted Trixie never resorted to direct violence. It makes me wonder if this is a start of avalanche of revenge and violence that would end in a bloodbath.

P.S. I really hope this is the last we see of Royal Guard/Police/Militia/military/Parental intervention/Celestial intervention, etc. Shows like Doctor Who made me really tired of their bullshit, and I really appreciate that MLP:FiM show avoids those things.

[ForSpite]

8507036
... Depending on what you call magically mutilating people against their will, I think that can be disputed.

[VcSaJen]

8507089
I said 'direct' (You have to consider reformed Discord as torturer otherwise.). I guess she tried to use some analogue of Crucio on Rainbow Dash at last moment, but we will never know what that was.

[azereath]

I forsee Candace on the warpath about this,

Watch out Trixie nothing is more dangerous then hurting someones loved ones and you managed to hurt the Princess of Love's coltfriend and little sister

[Robo Bro]

8506785
True, certainly he should be able to tell something is up. However, if somebody you know is acting weird, is your first instinct to assume that they've been replaced by a doppelganger? Perhaps if Spike and the others knew of changelings at this point, they would jump to the conclusion that it's not the real Twilight, but I'm working under the assumption that changelings were by and large unknown before they invaded Canterlot in the season 2 finale.

Is it realistic? Perhaps not. I will be first to admit that the entire premise for the story runs on a rather large amount of suspension of disbelief, much like any story of similar nature. Some people can look past that, others cannot, and I shall not begrudge anyone who is part of the latter category.

[Hunter]

And I've lost any respect possible for your version of Shining Armor.
To allow his sister to skirt so many laws and yet strong arm a random perfomer, who in ther eyes had been assaulted by his blood.
A disgrace to the guard and a fool deserving every bit of pain he comes by.

[Hunter]

8507102
She was also not the one in control.
People like to forget the Amulet has a will of it's on and manipulates the wearer.
Anything past her first few castings is it's doing rather then hers.

[Vaguely Demented]

Sucks to be Shiny. The crab from Moana lied to us!

[Robo Bro]

8507392
Seems a little excessive of a reaction. While there is certainly bias due to family relations, Trixie isn't just a random performer, she legitimately assaulted Chrysalis right in front of him. To not attempt to arrest her would be highly suspect behaviour for a guard, even more so than not punishing "Twilight" for crimes she claims to have committed but he doesn't have any real evidence for (since Gilda skipped town without pressing charges, and Pinkie isn't going to testify against her even if she is mad at Chrysalis). Also, even if he had been around to see what she did to Trixie earlier, what she did , while certainly a dick move and very frightening, didn't cause any more physical harm than Trixie had inflicted on her previous challengers. I'm not trying to say that Shining Armor isn't wrong in turning a blind eye to Chrysalis, I'm just saying it's not necessarily as bad as you seem to think.

[Robo Bro]

8507410
I'm not so sure that's completely true. Just because you've been corrupted by the amulet doesn't necessarily mean you are completely void of responsibility for your actions, especially since it's not exactly clear how it affects the wearer. Turns them crazy? Sure. Gives them incredible power? Of course. Puts thoughts and desires into the wearer that aren't already there? Not so certain. It's entirely possible that it acts like alcohol: it removes your inhibitions and sense of judgement, but you should still be held responsible for your actions while under its influence.

Unless I am forgetting something, or completely missed something, I don't recall it being stated that the amulet legitimately has a will of its own.

[Hunter]

8507427
Unfortunately nepotism costs you every bit of respect I can give you.
And unfortunately "I didn't see it" is a cowards excuse and a means to allow personal relations to cloud judgement.
If you won't arrest your family you shouldn't have the gall to threaten someone coming after them for what they did, or even have the boldfaced arrogance to calll yourself a guardsman, and I'm not to fond of the Princess' response either
And going back to all of it, my response to every one of them during the performance is get up and leave if you don't like it. They brought it on themselves and earned their humiliation for thinking they could demand a performer to stop performing.
It's another example of the mane six getting to do damn near anything without consequence.
And I'm honestly getting tired of stories that drop that ball no matter the context at this point.
8507432
And would that not mean Chrysalis in this context and Twilight Cannonically has no reason to simply be told to write letters after brainwashing an entire town die to an ocd breakdown, when by all rights she should've been seeing a psychiatrist before it even was a threat if Celestia is half as competent as we're to believe?
If it's "you had partial control" for Trixie then that goes for all of them. Period.
And yes, it's stated the amulet eventually fully controls the individual wearing it if it isn't removed.

[VcSaJen]

8507479
8507443
Out-of-universe, involvement of prison and guards does certainly unnecessarily complicate things and hinder everyone. It raises a whole bunch of uncomfortable questions that could've been avoided. You want protagonists to do something epic? Nope, there's property damage plus tens of other obscure law breakages, so have prison instead. You want to have emotional moment where you convince villain to come around and help save the world? Nope, prison have higher priority, world be damned.
In-universe, Shining Armor's promise that Trixie could be charged with attempted murder does seems like a sign of nepotism, because it was clearly manslaughter at worst.

[Robo Bro]

8507443
Him not seeing it was only one part of the issue, the other part was how he doesn't actually have evidence in the Gilda incident, and that what she did to Trixie before was, while cruel, not any more or less illegal than what Trixie did to the other ponies that challenged her. What would the point of arresting Twilight be if no charges could stick because you don't have any evidence to support the charges?

Still, I can't force you to like, understand or sympathize with a character. Nepotism isn't an admirable trait, and I'm not trying to say it is, things simply aren't as black and white in that instance, while Trixie attacking Chrysalis is, at least on the surface level that bystanders would have seen.

Yes, Twilight should have been held responsible for using the want it need it spell in Lesson Zero (as I assume that was what you were referring to), and she clearly should have had some psychiatric help before things got to that point, and Celestia should have probably noticed the issues she had and intervened before it became a problem. Hell, most of the characters in the show should have had psychiatric help at various points. Yes, the mane 6 were jerks in both the show and this chapter in regards to how they treated Trixie and should have had some comeuppance, and we even had Shining Armor and Pinkie both point out that they were being rude in this chapter (both characters who were not in the episode, by the way). One thing to remember, however, is that despite what the fandom likes to think, Trixie isn't a completely innocent little victim, she's an asshole victim. Still a victim, still shouldn't have had her show interrupted, but still an asshole and a liar. She's not a bad character, and she does become less of an asshole later thanks to character development, but she's still an asshole.

Life isn't fair. Life isn't just. Life is filled with nepotism, rudeness and complete assholes getting away with things. I could try to write those things completely out of this world, but I'm not aiming for a sugar bowl utopia here. I'm not trying to write over all the flaws of the show and make all the injustices get righted, but my intent wasn't to try and make those flaws seem positive either. I'm sorry if this caused you to have such a negative reaction.

[Hunter]

8507479
And life isn't a thinking entity.
It isn't.
And thats a pitiful excuse when the ones involved are the equivalent to a demigods preist in what they can and can't do.
And yeah, she's an asshole, but she sure as hell doesn't destroy entire towns every other tuesday like the mane cast do, so I hardly think saying she's an asshole justifies any of it.
Be nice all you want, when you spit in the face of what you say is right constantly I don't care who you are, your worse then the average prick on the street by a hell of a wide margin.
And as for being a lier, Celestia, luna and pretty much every main character have lied about far worse, and willingly endangered far more lives, including the supposed Element of honesty, so I call pot meeting kettle on that one.
And even if the charges wouldn't it's still his damn job.
If I was his subourdinate I'd have him court martialed for derelection of duty and left my helmet upside his head at full force.

[Robo Bro]

8507490
Life doesn't need to be a thinking entity for life in general to be unfair. I don't see how pointing out that life isn't a thinking entity counters anything that I've said. Are you trying to say that because I am a thinking entity that I should make everything fair? Are you saying that because the characters involved are thinking entities therefore everything should be fair? if the former, that's a rather silly argument to make and would dramatically limit the kind of stories that can be explored. Most stories would be quite boring if all characters are perfect, flawless people and justice is always upheld. If it's the latter, then you are clearly in denial since life in the real world isn't fair despite all the thinking people involved in it.

Not meaning to be rude, but I'm not sure what you're saying with " equivalent to a demigods preist in what they can and can't do. " I'm not sure if it's because it's poorly worded, I'm just having a brain fart, or what. Are you saying that Twilight is like a priest of Celestia? That seems like a non-sequitur to me in addition to being false.

From what I recall, most of the time when the entire town is destroyed, it's not actually the mane six that have done that, they are actually attempting to stop the issue of the week that destroys it the majority of the time. Also, Trixie definitely did do an equivalent in Magic Duel while wearing the alicorn amulet.

Pointing out that characters other than Trixie lie too doesn't really help your point, it kind of helps mine. I've been saying that the world (and Equestria) are not fair or just. I've never said that any of those characters are immune to lies, deceptions or general dickishness. Being guilty of being assholes themselves doesn't mean that Trixie isn't an asshole either. Does it mean that Trixie should be forgiven? Probably. She's still an asshole, though, and other people being ones doesn't lessen that in the slightest. Keep in mind, I've intentionally made the protagonist of this story a major villain who invaded Canterlot and had little compunctions about harming others to advance her own agenda. She is possibly the biggest asshole in the story, so that should indicate I'm comfortable with making other "good" characters quite flawed, too. Flawless characters are often quite dull and should be avoided if possible.

Regardless, I've had fun with this pointless back and forth arguing. Neither of us are going to budge, not you from your apparent idealism and seeing things in black and white, and not me from my "shades of grey" mentality. If you wish to continue arguing, feel free to do so. If I have the time and am bored later, I may even go for another volley with you, but for now I'm taking a break. I hope you have a pleasant day or evening, whichever is more appropriate to your time zone.

[Hunter]

8507524
I don't see things in black and white.
I just don't give two hoots how much power you have when you do something horrible.
Each of the mane six is guilty of multiple assault charges and massive property destruction outside of those few "destined moments" of heroism, so yes, they still are responsible.
And pointing out life being unfair is as worthless a point. If a system is put in place to serve as an equalizer it is to be fair by design, anything else is corruption by the definition.
Flat out Shining Armor's a disgrace to his supposed rank and proffession, and his excuses are about as hollow as can be. He deserves everything that landed him in recovery, if not more.
The priest comparison is the fact that Celestia will break every law in the world to help them but the willingly withold information and lie to teach a single individual a lesson at the risk of entire cities.
Thats not ""unfair"" thats called being a monster and a selfish piece of garbage and the fact no ones going to call them out and even attempt to do right is the issue.
It's the biggest issue in the show, amd what I've grown to despise about this fandom.

[Robo Bro]

8507473
Actually, that last bit is a very fair point, but it's based on an oversight on my part rather than an intentional case of inserting nepotism. I really should have had him say manslaughter (ponyslaughter?) instead of murder. Perhaps I should go in and change that. Or maybe I should leave it in as a happy accidental case of him being extra forceful because he's being protective of his sister. I think I'll decide on that later.

[Robo Bro]

8507534
"I don't see things in black and white"

"Regardless of circumstances surrounding it, Shining Armor is a disgrace and deserves to lose his leg for nepotism for not arresting Twilight when he doesn't have a case against his sister."

"A system of justice should be perfectly executed, any deviation is corruption"

"No matter how much power you have, nor the reasons behind the actions, nor how much good you've done in other areas, if you do something I deem bad, you're a monster."

"Trixie shouldn't be blamed for anything, despite all bad things she did!"

*sing song voice* Black and white! Sorry, I know I said I would stop, and I know I'm exaggerating your words to amuse myself, but I couldn't resist. I'm seriously done now. I hope you enjoyed arguing as much as I did. Have a nice day.

[Hunter]

8507548
And a insult is a fine means to end this.
Well fuck you too, then.

[ForSpite]

8507102
I don't remember Discord magically removing people's body parts against their will after his reform, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did. Reform is something of a learning process rather than wholly instantaneous (barring Elements of Harmony shenanigans like with Nightmare Moon) and a few cases of assault before finding out that's wrong would still be a huge step up from the excesses he was guilty of before.
8507410
I'm well aware and I assume that's why no charges were pressed in canon for enslaving an entire town. However, that's irrelevant to a discussion as to whether the Amulet or Chrysalis was a 'worse influence'.

[Robo Bro]

8507549
Not an argument, just a bit of advice, so not technically breaking my word here on being done arguing. You take things much too seriously and need to relax a little.

I am sincere when I say I enjoy arguing, hope you enjoy it, and that I hope you have a good day. I do mean it when I say I'm sorry if you've taken serious offence to what I have said. As you seem to have done so, I shall make this quite explicit.

I am sorry. Had I known you would take offence, I would not have pushed as far as I did.

I don't expect you to either forgive me, or to relax, but I am still offering forth both the suggestion and the apology to do with as you see fit.

[Kichi]

Good Chapter, I liked it.

[Snow]

Huh. Y'know I wonder how Chryssie is at healing magic. I mean, love seems like it would lend itself well to that field.

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

Hmm... The trend I'm seeing so far in this story is 'Chrysalis Breaks Everything' if she doesn't take a hint and grow as a character.

At this point, I think the Ursa incident might hammer home something about Friendship that could actually STICK with Chrysalis. Maybe, just maybe that her worldview that everyone OTHER than herself is a Fool might just be flawed thinking.

The biggest character flaw with this interpretation of Chrysalis seems like its her lack of patience, but that lack of patience stems from her superiority complex. "I don't have time to deal with these fools because superior reasons of superiority." Even putting a crack in that armor could go a long way if it can stick with her that maybe, JUUUUST maybe everyone around her aren't fools.

It might help fix her tendency to be a hammer treating every problem like a nail, too. Her tendency as both a predator species, and a queen used to working on raw power leaves her with a mindset to problem solving that's contrary to her situation here. She's not getting a big power boost easily, and she squanders that power, even while telling herself she's running on fumes.

The other interesting thing is her claim to hate children. I see two things here of course. One being that she claims not to like children because they aren't good meals. The other, is that she's actually REALLY good at handling them, and even seems pleased when they learn from her.

An interesting aspect I see from this is that adults are fools, but children get a pass because they don't know any better. Then they learn from a colossal screwup, and somewhere in the back of her mind, her subconscious is going 'One less fool for the future'. And a side effect of this would be that while children aren't 'good meals', a dedicated group of adoring foals could at least help sustain her from passive love and affection.

Of things I can see Chrysalis learning over the remainder of this story, one is to recognize that she actually is good with children and can be a good influence. The second is learning not to be a hammer treating every problem like a nail. Combined with realizing that others aren't always fools, she might just come out of the mess wise enough to realize that OTL Twilight Sparkle was on to something with that whole Friendship thing.

[ForSpite]

Well, you are interrupting her show.” Shining Armor quietly observed.

Thanks, I've always felt like half the main cast were kind of jackasses in this episode. "Watch as I do astounding things, because I am astounding" is pretty common magician patter and they went to a magic show. What did they expect her to say "Watch as I perform simple tricks anyone can do?"
Obviously, Trixie's response to double down and act even worse to them is wrong, but you can't say she was unprovoked.

Of course, that's canon. Here Chrysalis reacts very differently from the way Twilight did, which is like pouring napalm on a fire instead of water.

I liked seeing Rarity trying to bring her friends back together (even though she's not actually that close to Pinkie at this point in time, I think).

[JazzyWaffles]

“That…that is absolutely grisly.” Rarity observed, looking a little ill. In fact, most of the element bearers looked little better except for, oddly enough, the timid Fluttershy. She was even helping the doctor tend to him.

YES THANK YOU. I'm so tired of Fluttershies who feint at the mention of blood. Good on you.

[Khanathara]

9655733
Agreed

[Razzy]

Ouch, poor Shiny. Poor everyone, really, even Trixie, even if it's majorly her fault.

Hmm, maybe Chryssie is starting to learn... A tiny little bit.

[HF Fury]

I honestly prefer the way this story dealt with Snips and Snails even if it was just a bit too lenient on them for my tastes.

[Loveless]

Just episode 6 and we already have serious casualty . Chrysalis sure doing a good job preserve the future. -*-

But this is also showing how great Twilight is. Because no one got serious hurt from this event.

[Prose Poem]

Y'know I'm surprised no one thought to attribute any of the changes in "Twilight's" behavior to being traumatized from the abduction. There's a lot of proverbial handwaving Chryssy could do with all the trauma she's been through...

I hope everyone comes to love the new "Twilight" for the grumpy weirdo she is.

[hmaf43]

“Thank you, my little ponies, I shall make copies and have the distributed among the guards. What are your names?”

equestria is truly a lawless autocrat nation. laws and punishments will only engaged when the princess wish to.
how is this supposed to represent first world nation?

[Kowhaifan]

“That’s barbaric!” Rarity spat those words out in horror, and the other element bearers voiced their agreement. In fact, the whole crowd began turning against her. This was not how this was supposed to go.

But they don't know what actually happened? Also they aren't element bearers.