• Published 13th Aug 2016
  • 8,387 Views, 616 Comments

Chrysalis: Saviour of Time - Robo Bro



What should you do if while time travelling you accidentally kill Twilight Sparkle and desperately need to avoid the ensuing time paradox? Probably not what Time Keeper does: recruit Chrysalis to take her place.

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3 - Friendship is Hard

Chrysalis sat in a chariot being pulled through the sky by a couple of pegasi royal guards and she was bored out of her mind. The guards weren’t much in the way of conversationalists, choosing to remain completely stoical in the face of her attempts to speak with them. She doubted that they would even react if she started making out with them, which was a shame as she could definitely have used the boost in love energy that a little romp with the two could have provided.

Her draconic companion wasn’t much better either, as he had yet to wake up from having the time machine drop on top of him, the fact that he even survived such an impact was likely a result of his hardy dragon biology. Not that she really wanted him awake. She didn’t much like the idea of carting a baby around with her. The ceaseless babble that poured from their lips, the unending neediness, and the infuriating mischief they got themselves into were far more than she wanted to deal with at that moment, or any moment for that matter.

Some might expect that having a loving infant around would be a veritable buffet for a changeling, but they would be wrong. Something about their underdeveloped bodies, minds or magic caused love taken from children to be less satiating than love taken from adults. Such love was still usable, but it was far less potent.

“Ugh...what happened? I have the biggest headache right now.” The little brat groaned as he finally roused. Chrysalis sighed.

“It’s nothing,” Chrysalis paused as she wracked her brains for what the little lizard’s name was, “little guy. Don’t worry about it.” Great. She was stuck there taking care of a baby dragon and she couldn’t even remember his name. How was she supposed to know the name of something so unimportant?

“If you say so, Twilight.” He rubbed his head, attempting to soothe the raging demons wreaking havoc in his skull. “Do you think you could use your magic to help with this headache, though? I feel like a building fell on top of me.”

“Don’t be such a baby, you’ll be fine.” Chrysalis rebuffed him and continued staring at passing clouds, causing the baby dragon to wince.

In truth, she didn’t want to waste any of her remaining love reserves. The little bit of love she had gleaned from Shining Armor earlier was nearly depleted and she was already feeling a little unsteady from the encroaching exhaustion. If she didn’t find a source of love soon, she wouldn’t make it to the Summer Sun Celebration early tomorrow morning, let alone be able to face off against Nightmare Moon.

Chrysalis’ thoughts were derailed by a gentle tap on her shoulder. She turned to see what the little irritant wanted this time only to come face to face with the full force of a baby dragon’s puppy dog eyes.

“Pleeeeease, Twilight? It really hurts!” His eyes watered as he clasped his little claws together to beg. Chrysalis noted that a baby dragon’s attempts to manipulate with cuteness were far more effective than Time Keeper’s had been. She felt her resolve to deny the little creature dissolving under his onslaught.

“Fine!” Chrysalis gave in. “But you’ve gotta do something for me first, pipsqueak.”

“Anything for you, Twilight! What do you want me to do? Take down some notes? Send a letter to the Princess? Turn the pages of a book you're reading? Your number one assistant is at your service!” He held a claw over his heart and puffed up his chest proudly, though he quickly deflated when he heard Twilight’s response.

“Hug me.”

The kid blinked a few times before responding flatly. “What?”

“Hug me and I’ll fix your headache.”

He was confused by this request. Never before had Twilight asked for anypony to hug her, let alone him. It was very unlike her. Not that she didn’t love him, she definitely cared for him a great deal, but Twilight was never a touchy, feely kind of pony. She was more the freaks out and turns you into a potted plant at unexpected touches kind of pony. He looked at her suspiciously.

Chrysalis sighed. She obviously was going to need to give some kind of explanation if she wanted to get any love out of the little thing, unless of course she forced it out of him. It would even have the added benefit of rendering him unconscious again if she took enough from him. But no, she couldn’t do that. The guards may as well not be there as far as conversation went, but she doubted they wouldn’t notice her sucking the love out of the lizard. Emotional manipulation it was, then. She let a few tears enter her eyes for effect.

“W...what’s wrong, Twilight?”

“It’s just that Celestia completely ignored my warnings about Nightmare Moon. I thought she trusted and cared for me!” Crocodile tears were now streaming down the faux unicorn's face, and they were having the desired effect on the baby dragon, who had hastened to comfort her with a hug.

“There, there, Twilight. I’m sure she has her reasons. She still cares about you, don’t you worry!”

Chrysalis enjoyed the gentle influx of love that she was absorbing from the kid, and that was certainly the only thing she was enjoying. She definitely did not appreciate having a little brat clinging to her tight enough to hinder her breathing. The warmth she felt was purely a result of a warm, fire breathing lizard pressing his body against her.

The love she siphoned wasn’t much, and she would need to find another source before she faced Nightmare Moon, but it was enough to fulfill her end of the deal. With a faint, green glow of her horn, she placed a simple charm on the little lizard for basic pain relief. He let out a light murmur of satisfaction and rubbed his face affectionately into her chest. She in turn wrapped a hoof around him and squeezed him tightly back, telling herself that it was only for the sake of her disguise.

The rest of the ride to Ponyville was uneventful. The guards remained taciturn, the wind ruffled Chrysalis’ mane, and the kid babbled as all kids do. He was rather well spoken for his age, but that didn’t change that he droned on and on about unimportant things. She found herself nodding or giving a generic grunt in response that could be taken to mean whatever the little guy wanted it to. Chrysalis was gladdened when the chariot began its descent into the small town.

She stepped out of the chariot and stretched the soreness out of her legs as she looked around. It was an unassuming place, nothing special stuck out for her. It was hard to believe that such powerful foes as the element bearers came from a place such as this.

She had to fight to keep a scowl off her face as she watched all those happy ponies milling about. What fears did these oblivious creatures know? Did they ever have to worry about where their next meal would come from? Could they possibly understand the fear of impending annihilation of their entire race at the hooves of another? She momentarily contemplated just letting Nightmare Moon win, but dismissed the idea with regret. Unending night would be just as disastrous for her changelings as it would be for all other life.

“Uh...Twilight? Are you okay?” The dragon asked with a tone of concern. Chrysalis blinked out of her reverie and forced a smile.

“Of course I am. I couldn’t be better.” She responded with exaggerated joviality. “All I have to do is stop an ancient evil monstrosity from taking over all Equestria and killing us all. Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

“Aww, come on, Twilight! The Princess said that Nightmare Moon was just an old mare’s tale. I think you should trust her on this one and try to make some friends!”

Friends. Right. She needed to find the element bearers if she hoped to face the princess turned abomination and live. She wondered which should be priority: finding Twilight’s future friends, or finding a new source of love.

Her decision seemed to be made for her as she noticed a painfully pink pony with a bouncy, pink mane that was only matched by the bounce in her step. Plastered on her flank were three party balloons. It was Pinkie Pie, the element of laughter and enemy of the changeling nation. She waited for the pink pony to draw closer and then spoke.

“Greetings, I am Twilight Sparkle and—” before Chrysalis could explain that she needed Pinkie’s help in defeating Nightmare Moon, she was interrupted by said pony giving a huge gasp. She seemingly levitated in the air as if she were a pegasus, much to Chrysalis’ surprise, and then rushed off without saying a single word.

Chrysalis swallowed audibly. Could Pinkie Pie have seen through her disguise? Was she at this very moment warning the town president or whatever it was they had in this place? No, she couldn’t have. Her disguise was perfect! Even if it wasn’t, it’s not like Pinkie had known Twilight ahead of time, how could she know that something was off? Plus she had been fooled before when she was disguised as Mi Amore Cadenza. She couldn’t know. Add to that the fact that the world had yet to learn what a changeling even was and it was truly impossible. But then why had she run off like that?

“Well, that was weird.” The dragon offered forth into the awkward silence that had been left by the pink pony’s departure. “Uhh...maybe we should check on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration?”

Chrysalis looked over to the baby dragon who was holding up a piece of parchment and answered with absolutely no enthusiasm whatsoever. “Yes. That sounds like a wonderful idea. What’s first on the itinerary?”

“Banquet preparations with somepony named Applejack.”

_______________________________

The two of them walked through the gate of a white fence surrounding a big, red, farmhouse. The property was littered with sheds, fields of crops, and orchards lined with apple trees. Before the pair could set upon their task, the air was split by a boisterous shout.

“Yeehaw!”

Chrysalis’ head twisted in the direction of the voice to see an orange, blonde maned pony rushing towards an apple tree, flipping herself around and bucking it with tremendous force. Apples fell from the tree into several neatly arranged baskets set in a circle on the ground and the mare crossed her forelegs and held her nose up in the air with a smug grin upon her face.

It was definitely Applejack. From the triple apple cutie mark and the Stetson upon her head, to the well muscled legs that could smash in a changeling’s skull with one kick, there could be no mistake on that fact. She stepped up beside the orange mare.

“How long were you waiting for somepony to come by so you could show off like that?” Chrysalis asked conversationally. Applejack blushed slightly and rubbed the back of her head with a hoof.

“Aw, shucks, ya got me. I saw the two of ya comin’ down the path not two minutes ago. So, what brings ya to Sweet Apple Acres?” AJ asked cordially with a friendly smile.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle and I—“ She halted her introduction as Applejack latched onto one of her hooves and shook it violently.

“Well howdy do, Miss Twilight! A pleasure making your acquaintance! I’m Applejack—”Applejack’s eyes widened in surprise when her hoof was forcibly removed from Chrysalis’ limb by her green, magical aura. Chrysalis’ did not look happy.

“It is incredibly rude to interrupt a pony when she is talking.”

“Uh, Twilight? You just interrupted her.” Her companion pointed out.

“No, no, it’s alright. Sorry ‘bout that, sugar cube, ah guess ah got a mite bit carried away.” Her smile returned, though a little less natural than it had been earlier. Chrysalis mentally kicked herself. She needed to get this pony to like her.

“I’m sorry. It’s been a rough couple of days for me. I didn’t mean to snap at you.” With that apology, the tension relaxed between the two ponies.

“That’s okay, ah think we all know what that’s like. Friends?” Applejack proffered a hoof. Chrysalis stared at it momentarily before letting the mare shake her hoof again, thankfully less energetically than before.

“Friends.” Chrysalis agreed. That was easier than she had expected. “Well, I think I’ve got what I needed, I’ll just be on my way.”

“Really, sugar cube? Ya just came here to make friends with me? I’m mighty flattered an’ all, but are ya sure ya ain’t forgettin’ somethin’?” Applejack cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Uh, Twilight, what about the Summer Sun Celebration preparations?” The kid questioned, pulling at Chrysalis’ tail to get her attention.

“Oh, right.” Chrysalis replied in a monotone. She didn’t really care about that at all but she realized she had to do it anyway. “We’re here to check up on the banquet preparations.”

“Heck, the food is comin’ along just fine, come along and ah'll show ya!”

“That’s very nice, Applejack, but really unnecessary. I can just take your word for it.”

“Nonsense! What kind of friend would ah be if ah let ya leave without givin’ ya a taste of our cookin’?” Applejack rushed off and rang a triangle. “Soup’s on, everypony!”

The ground suddenly rumbled beneath Chrysalis’ hooves and she let out a frightened 'eep' as she was nearly crushed by a stampede of ponies. By the time the dust had settled, she was sitting at a table that she swore hadn’t been there before.

“Now, why don’t ah introduce y’all to the Apple family!” AJ motioned to the crowd of ponies that had just run Chrysalis and Spike down.

“Uhhh...” Chrysalis replied, as of yet uncertain as to what had just happened.

“This here’s Apple Fritter, Apple Bumpkin, Red Gala, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Caramel Apple, Apple Strudel, Apple Tart, Baked Apple, Apple Brioche, Apple Cinnamon Crisp, Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith!”

Chrysalis’ head was spinning from the rapid fire introductions she had just been subjected to. All she could think about was how a couple of stallions were apparently delicious and that she had absolutely no idea what a brioche was. Also that at some point in time she had somehow gotten an apple in her mouth. She had no idea when that happened and reflexively spit it out in disgust.

Though she was lucky enough among her kind to be able to digest meat, no changeling had ever been able to properly consume vegetables, grains or fruits. While it wouldn’t cause serious harm to her if she did eat them, it tasted terrible and could cause some stomach pains if she ate more than a few mouthfuls.

“Well, would you look at the time, I really should be leaving.” She tried to excuse herself nervously.

“Aren’t you gonna stay for brunch?” A disappointed young voice from the crowd asked. Chrysalis searched for the owner of the voice and was met with an adorable little filly a despicable little brat with a yellow coat, bright red mane and a little pink bow atop her head. Her lip was quivering, her eyes glistened with the beginnings of tears and she stared directly into Chrysalis’ soul. Chrysalis had known countless experts in the art of manipulation, and this little filly was a master if she had ever seen one.

“I...uh...” Chrysalis stuttered. The little filly blinked her eyes a couple times for added manipulative effect. “Ugh...fine.” A resounding cheer went up at her concession.

This had nothing to do with the little spawn of Tartarus, she hated children. She only decided to stay because she could feel a lot of love between all the ponies and could probably use this opportunity to leech off of them. Surely that would be worth the sore stomach she’d have later from joining them for brunch, and maybe she could even get one of them alone for a more substantial meal.

“Before we get started, could somepony show me where the mare’s room is?” Chrysalis requested.

“Sure thing. Could ya show her to the bathroom, Big Mac? I’m gonna help set up brunch.” AJ responded.

“Eeyup!” A big, red stallion stepped forth. Chrysalis looked him up and down hungrily, a fact which did not escape the big guy’s notice as he gave a little smirk. He was probably at least as big as Shining Armor, farm work having toned his muscles just as effectively as guard training would have. He walked past Chrysalis, indicating with a nod of his head that she should follow him.

Minutes later, the two were alone in the Apple farmhouse. Big Mac stopped next to a door and motioned towards it before he made to walk off back to the family gathering. Chrysalis stopped him with a gentle hoof on his cheek as he was passing her by. With half lidded eyes, she stared into his startled ones. She rubbed his cheek until he relaxed and leaned into him for a kiss, which he returned eagerly.

Oh, that was more like it. The love of a full grown stallion, her favourite kind of love, trickled into her magical reserves. But, much like the kiss, it was just a taste of what she wanted. Alas, she didn’t have the time to enjoy him properly. She would have to use the more direct approach to harvesting his love.

Their lips separated as Chrysalis’ horn glowed a sickly green. She stared intently into the stallion’s eyes, her own taking on a glow to match her horn. Within seconds, Big Macintosh was entranced and kneeling before her, little more than a puppet. Without hesitation, she dug deep inside of him with tendrils of her magic and pulled forth as much love as she could. She absorbed the concentrated love energy into her horn and a low, guttural moan of pleasure escaped her lips. It had been far too long since she had done this. She could feel her powers grow to a level she hadn’t experienced in months. She was still a long way from the power she had during the Canterlot invasion, but she was at least on par with a moderately powerful unicorn.

With a little regret, she cut off her harvest. If she took any more Big Mac would show serious signs of fatigue that might make him, or his family, suspicious. She wiped his memories of everything that happened during the mind control and leaned in to give one final, gentle kiss on his nose that he would be able to remember her by.

“Twilight? Big Macintosh? Ya'll were takin’ an awfully long time, so ah came to—what are ya doin’ to my brother?!”

Chrysalis’ head snapped towards the intruder, cutting off her magical control of Big Macintosh in the process.

“Uh...nothing, right Big Mac?”

Big Macintosh blinked a couple times, clearing the cobwebs from the momentary loss of his senses. He looked over to his sister with a slight blush before responding with a singular “Eeyup.” Applejack’s eyes narrowed and a frown settled on her face.

“I guess I’ll just head back to have some brunch!” Chrysalis chuckled nervously. She trotted out the door, AJ glaring at her the entire way. Her ears wilted against her head as she bemoaned the loss of progress in getting the element of honesty to trust her.

The brunch was as pleasant as it could be, given the circumstances. The food that she could not turn down due to the steadfast, over friendly insistence of the Apples sat like a lump in Chrysalis’ belly. Big Macintosh would occasionally steal shy glances towards her and would swiftly look away with a luminescent blush when she noticed. Applejack too would occasionally glance at her, but with disapproval instead. On the bright side, she finally learned Spike’s name when he introduced himself to literally anypony that would listen to his rambling.

She leeched off of the general loving atmosphere. Without either using magic to forcefully harvest them or a physical expression of love connecting her to the ponies she couldn't gain very much of it. With the amount of food she was being force fed, she suspected that it wouldn't even be enough to sustain a strong enough pain relief spell for her stomach ache.

As the gathering began to die down and ponies left to attend to their chores, Chrysalis was finally able to excuse herself. It wasn’t until she was well away from the farm that she relaxed again.

“Well that went great.” Chrysalis muttered sarcastically.

“It really did, didn’t it?” Spike spouted enthusiastically, oblivious to her sarcasm. “The food was amazing! Could’ve used some gemstones, but I’m not complaining!”

A twinge of pain in her stomach gave a potent reminder of just how amazing the food had been for her. With regret, she delved into the love she harvested from Big Macintosh to strengthen the pain relief spell.

Could this day go any more wrong? First, Pinkie Pie runs away at the sight of her, and then Applejack caught her in the middle of feeding off her brother. What was next? Was her magic to fail her and her disguise to fall?

WHOOOOSH! WHUMPF!

Chrysalis tensed up beneath the sudden weight of a mare. She had been knocked over into a large puddle of mud and was now caked in filth. It happened so blazingly fast that it had barely even registered in her mind until it was over. Was it Pinkie Pie? Had she come back from arming herself to take her out? Had an army of guards just blindsided her? It certainly felt like they had.

A chuckle cut through Chrysalis’ thoughts. “Uh...excuse me.” More chuckling.

Beneath a layer of mud, she could see she had just been assaulted by a sky blue pegasus with a rainbow mane. It hadn’t been Pinkie Pie or an army of guards, it was Rainbow Dash, the bearer of the element of loyalty.

“Here, let me help you.”

Dash pushed a rain cloud over top Chrysalis and doused her with water, then used something she called her ‘rainblow dry’, despite her voices of protest, to dry her off. By the end of it all, Chrysalis’ mane was a big, frizzy mess and both Spike and Dash were rolling on the ground with laughter.

“You did that intentionally, didn’t you?” She growled at the pegasus.

“No!” She shouted between bouts of laughter. “I swear, it was an accident!”

“Yeah, Twilight, you should lighten up a bit, learn to see the humour in things!”

How could anypony actually like this mare? She crashes into a pony and then laughs at them? Sadly, Chrysalis would have to at least pretend.

“Fine. I forgive you. Just don’t do it again.”

“So, what’s your name? I’m Spike, and this is Twilight Sparkle!”

“I’m only the best flier in all of Equestria: Rainbow Dash!”

Chrysalis inwardly smiled as she saw a chance to mess with the mare. “Never heard of ya.”

Dash flinched at her bluntness, but refused to let that bring her down for long. “Yeah? Well you will one day, cause I’m gonna be in the Wonderbolts!”

Chrysalis was sorely tempted to press Dash’s buttons even further, but realized that she should probably try to get into her good graces. Noting how much of an arrogant blowhard she seemed to be, she knew that the easiest way to do that was by playing up to her ego.

“Really? You must really be a good flier if you’re going to join them. They only accept the best. Do you think you could provide me with a demonstration?”

Dash took the bait with eagerness to spare. “Of course! See those clouds up there? I can clear those in ten seconds flat!”

There were a lot of clouds in the sky, enough to make Chrysalis seriously doubt the rainbow pony’s claim. However, she didn’t let on that she thought as much, she was prepared to even pretend that she really did manage it after she inevitably failed.

“That's amazing! I bet all the stallions are lined up for a chance with a mare as impressive as you!”

“Well...no, they aren’t.” Dash admitted with a little disappointment.

“Hmph. They don’t know what they’re missing!”

“Yeah?” She responded with some insecurity, apparently not used to ponies actually praising her in such a fashion. “I mean, yeah! You’re right! They should be lining up for miles for a shot with me!”

“Uh...Twilight?” Spike interjected. “There’s no way she could really clear the sky in ten seconds.”

“Oh yeah?” Dash confronted Spike on his doubt.

“Yeah!” Spike responded in kind. “I bet you my dessert gems for the week that you can’t do it!”

“You’re on!”

Rainbow Dash blasted off into the sky, kicking and punching clouds as she went by. Every cloud she came in contact with burst into nothingness. The mare was clearing the skies at an incredible pace, but she couldn’t really do it all in ten sec—oh, yes. Yes she could.

“See? What’d I tell ya? Ten seconds flat! You owe me some gems, little guy.” She approached her audience of two, both of which had dropped their jaws in awe. “You should see the look on your faces! I like you guys, I can’t wait to hang out some more. Catch you later!”

“That was amazing!” Spike screamed like the excited little kid he was while Rainbow Dash flew off.

Chrysalis shook her head to throw off the daze she found herself in. That was three of the element bearers she had run into, only two were left: Rarity and Fluttershy. Unfortunately, she didn’t know where to find either of them, so she turned to her assistant for directions.

“Never mind that, who’s next on the list?”

“Oh, right! Let’s see...next is Rainbow Dash. She’s supposed to be clearing the skies.”

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow at the clueless dragon.

“Oh...oops.” He let out a weak chuckle at his mistake. “Uh...the real next pony is Rarity on decorations. She should be this way!”

Within minutes, the two were walking through the doors of the town hall and were faced with a grand array of ribbons, flowers, banners and other assorted decorations. Chrysalis cared little about those and was focused on the elegant white unicorn mare with a finely styled purple mane.

Chrysalis was about to approach Rarity when she was distracted by a sudden, intense outpouring of love right beside her. She turned her head to find that her companion had been so instantly and thoroughly smitten that his pupils had turned into hearts. She looked back and forth between him and Rarity a few times, concluding that his little crush could only end in heartache.

“Beautiful!” He said, clearly enchanted

“Don’t you think she’s a little bit old for you?” Chrysalis prodded in an effort to dissuade the baby dragon. Not that she actually cared about his feelings, that would be silly. She did have to live with him according to the history books, though, and a broken hearted dragon didn’t sound like a pleasant roommate.

“Don’t be ridiculous! She’s peeeerfect!”

Oh, great. Now he was floating in the air and had hearts floating up and popping like bubbles from a soda above his head. Maybe she’d get lucky and his little crush would go away on its own. Really, how long could a childish crush last? Better to ignore it and focus on the more important task: tricking Rarity into liking her.

“Excuse me, Rarity.”

“Just a moment, please! I’m in the zone, as it were!” Rarity waved a hoof to shush them.

Chrysalis waited impatiently for her to finish what she was doing. How did Twilight make friends with any of these ponies? They all seemed so self absorbed and rude. Her thoughts were interrupted as Rarity shrieked in alarm.

“Darling, whatever happened to your coiffure?!”

“Rainbow Dash did.” She replied flatly.

“Say no more! That mare can be absolutely murder on one’s mane! You simply must come with me so I can fix it for you!

“That won’t really be necessary. I can—Hey! What are you doing?”

Chrysalis found herself being pushed along by Rarity, much to her aggravation. She didn’t need help fixing her mane, her mane was just a disguise built of magic! As soon as she was alone she’d be able to fix it with barely more than a thought. Unfortunately, no amount of protestations deterred the determined mare. After a few minutes, Chrysalis gave up entirely and just followed her to her boutique.

Shortly thereafter, she was relaxing on some cushions while Rarity was busy shampooing, conditioning and several other ‘ings’ that she was unfamiliar with to her mane in an effort to tame the frizzy mess. It was heavenly. Such a luxurious bit of personal grooming was nearly unheard of back in the hive. Under her tender hooves, she could almost forget that she hated these ponies. If only all of her meetings with the element bearers had gone so pleasantly.

“Mmmm...” Chrysalis moaned with pleasure. “You’re really good at this.”

“Thank you, darling. I’m nowhere near as talented at this as Aloe or Lotus, they run the local spa, but I do like to think I have a bit of skill.”

An actual spa? Now that sounded divine. Chrysalis would need to visit them someday. If she was going to be forced to live among these ponies, she may as well take advantage of what they had to offer.

“Anyway, perhaps you could tell me a little about yourself? Are you new in town?”

“Yes, I’ve been sent by Celestia to check up on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration.”

“Princess Celestia?!” Rarity gasped in an exaggerated fashion. “You know Princess Celestia?! And closely enough to refer to her without her title even?”

Chrysalis realized that she may have made a mistake and vowed to refer to Celestia with her title in the future.

“You simply must tell me all about her, and, perhaps, if you have time, about that dashing nephew of hers, Prince Blueblood!”

“Blueblood?” Chyrsalis’ brow wrinkled in confusion. She remembered little about that pony beyond that he was truly unimportant and annoying enough for her to avoid him when she had taken on the form of Princess Cadance. “Why would you want to know about him?”

“Why, because a stallion of his stature must be so elegant and refined! A perfect gentleman and a wonderful conversationalist, not to mention impeccably dressed. Oh, but I assure you, this is a purely...professional interest!”

“Riiight.” Chrysalis raised her eyebrow skeptically. If she were any more enamoured by the fantasy she had in her head, she’d be joining Spike in floating around with hearts in her eyes.

“You don’t want anything to do with Prince Blueblood!” Spike, who had previously been in a stupor of adoration while sitting on a stool in the corner of the room, spoke up. “He’s no gentleman like I am, all he cares about is himself!”

“I’m sure he can’t be nearly as bad as you make him out to be, no doubt he's grown up learning etiquette from only the most sophisticated of ponies. Why, the very thought of such distinguished royalty being anything less than perfect is ridiculous! ” Rarity replied, completely oblivious to the little dragon’s obvious intentions while caught up in her own infatuation. “Anyway, your coiffure has been rectified, Twilight!”

“So soon? I was really enjoying that.”

“Well, then, you’ll absolutely love what’s next!”

Rarity trotted off to a pair of folding doors and opened them to reveal a wardrobe filled with clothing of all types, ranging from tuxedos to stockings, though mostly consisting of dresses. Upon opening them, she walked straight into the wall of cloth and disappeared from view. Her muffled voice could be heard from within.

“Hmmm...no...no...yes! Oh absolutely, this will look fabulous on you! No...maybe...”

Chrysalis stared at that wardrobe with concern, which apparently was much bigger on the inside than she had initially thought if Rarity was able to completely disappear within as she had. She had never much liked clothing. It had always been so restricting with how it got in the way of transformation. Have you ever tried wearing clothing a size too small for you? Well, while disguised as Twilight, she’d be wearing clothes several sizes smaller than her natural form required, and if she forgot to take them off before transforming, or worse was forced out of her disguise, she would tear right through those clothes, which was a more painful experience than one might think. If the material it was made of was particularly strong, then it could even cause serious injury. Horror stories were told of changelings that strangled themselves to death because they forgot to remove clothing from around their necks.

While Chrysalis was contemplating on whether or not it would damage her efforts of tricking the mare into liking her too much if she simply ran away, Rarity stepped back into the room with at least half a dozen different outfits trailing behind her in her magical grasp.

“Uhhh...I don’t think that’s really necessary. I don’t need any clothes, really.”

“Don’t be silly, Twilight! A mare can never have enough clothing!”

“I mean, I don’t have any money to pay for all of this!”

“Consider it a welcome to Ponyville gift, darling.”

“Is that a corset shaped like a saddle?”

“But of course! It is absolutely magnificent for helping mares such as yourself turn stallions' heads! Here, let me help you get it on!”

Chrysalis backed up a step and growled at Rarity. “I do not need help attracting stallions!”

“Of course not, dear,” Rarity answered with a disbelieving tone, “but it couldn’t hurt your chances.”

“I am not wearing that!”

“Oh, stop being such a baby! It’ll look fabulous on you!”

“I said no!”

Spike stopped imagining Rarity in that corset just in time to watch the two fighting over said article of clothing. It was being dragged back and forth through the air, one end held in the beautiful blue of Rarity’s magic (seriously, was anything about her not absolutely gorgeous?) and the other in Twilight’s typical...green magic? That was weird. He could have sworn her magic was pink. Before Spike could think more on that unusual change, a great tearing sound filled the room as the saddle corset was ripped in two. Both arguing ponies were silenced as they stared at their respective halves.

“My corset...” Rarity said in a shockingly calm tone.

Chrysalis, initially relieved that she wouldn’t have to wear the damned thing, looked up to see the tears beginning to form in Rarity’s great big, blue eyes. She realized immediately that she probably should have just put the stupid thing on. Damage control time.

“I am so sorry, I didn’t—”

Rarity pulled out a couch from seemingly thin air and collapsed onto it in tears.

“Just—” pause for an exaggerated sob, “—go!”

Awkwardly, Chrysalis did as she was bid by the distraught mare, setting her half of the corset gently on the couch beside her as she left. That was another complete failure at making friends. Why was friendship so hard? At least her meeting with Rainbow Dash hadn't ended terribly.

“She’s even beautiful when she’s crying.” Spike sighed beside her after they stepped out of the boutique.

“Really?” Chrysalis deadpanned. “You’ve got some serious issues, Spike.”

Chrysalis didn’t wait for him to respond in any fashion as she started walking in an attempt to put some distance between herself and Rarity. Moments later, Spike began running to catch up.

“Uhh...Twilight?”

“What is it, Spike?” Chrysalis answered irritably.

“Why was your magic green in there?”

Chrysalis froze in place and Spike ran into her back legs with a surprised grunt. She had never actually had anypony ask her about that before in all her years of transforming. Such a thing had nothing to do with luck, obviously, that would be ridiculous. It had everything to do with a changeling’s natural talents. When transformed, a subtle field of magical influence affected anypony within a significant radius, causing them to simply be unable to notice such a difference existed at all. It was a passive effect that changelings had no control over, she couldn’t turn it off even if she wanted to, so there was no chance she had simply forgotten to turn it on or something. One of the problems in her own time had been that ponies had found a way to counteract the effect, which made it much harder for changelings to go undetected if they used any magic. Why it hadn’t worked on Spike, she didn’t know. The best she could guess was that dragons were somehow immune.

“Is it? That’s weird.” Chrysalis gave a complete non-answer, trying to think up an excuse.

“Yeah. Why would it change like that?”

“Oh, um...” Twilight had been big on science and reading and such, right? Perhaps she just needed to make something up that sounded sufficiently brainy. “There’s a history of a pony’s magical aura changing colours after a traumatic blow to the head.”

“You took a blow to the head?!” Spike replied with considerable panic. “Are you okay?! Do you need me to get a bag of ice?”

Oh, right. Spike had been unconscious between the accident and getting to Ponyville and she had brushed off his questions on what happened rather than explaining when he had awoken.

“We both did, actually. That’s why you had such a headache earlier. Princess Celestia saved us, though, so we’re fine. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense. It explains why I don’t remember coming to Ponyville. You sure you’re okay? You must’ve been hurt really bad if it changed your magic colour.”

“I’m fine.” She answered quickly and then attempted to change the subject. “What’s next on the agenda?”

“Gimme a sec...” Spike pulled out his list. “It’s music, the last one.”

As if on cue, a chorus of birdsong filled the air in a perfect harmony.

“Well, that’s convenient.” Chrysalis observed.

The pair went towards the beautiful sound, crawling through a row of bushes to do so, until they saw a buttery yellow pegasus with an overly long and flowing pink mane and tail floating in the air and supervising a tree filled with various birds as they sang. The perfect harmony of the song was broken as one or maybe more, Chrysalis couldn’t tell the exact number, sang out of tune and the directing pegasus halted the song to make corrections.

Chrysalis figured there was no more point in delaying this any further, she needed to connect to that mare. Somewhat pessimistic after all of her previous failures, she could only imagine how terribly things would go this time.

“Hey, there!” She called out in an extremely friendly manner, hoping to avoid a repeat of her previous meetings.

Fluttershy let out a little scream, barely more than a whimper really given its volume, and all the birds flew off in fear. Fluttershy landed and turned to face the one who intruded on her time with the animals, if hiding behind one’s hair could be considered facing. Chrysalis sighed with frustration. Apparently she could do nothing right this day.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Fluttershy didn’t bother responding as awkward silence fell between the two. The shy pony kicked at the dirt with a forehoof.

“So...I’m Twilight Sparkle, what’s your name?”

“It’s...Fl...” Chrysalis couldn’t make out what she was saying through the mumbles, but decided to just pretend she had.

“Great, Fluttershy! I think we could become great friends, don’t you?”

Fluttershy’s only response was to whimper pathetically as she wilted beneath her presence.

“Is something wrong?”

More cowering greeted her words. This was starting to get ridiculous. How the heck did the real Twilight Sparkle make friends with all these ponies? It was downright impossible! Things couldn’t possibly go any worse, so she decided on a change of tactics.

“Look, I’ll level with you. I’m only really here because I need to find some friends to help me power some magical jewellery so that I can take down an ancient monster that’s coming back from the moon soon so that I can prevent the potential destruction of life as we know it. I’d really appreciate it if you’d play along and at least pretend to be my friend so that I can at least pretend I’m making some progress this day before I am inevitably cut down by a nigh omnipotent evil goddess just because I can’t get any of you damn ponies to like me.”

Fluttershy had dropped to the ground with her hooves covering her face and was quivering in absolute terror, whether at the thought of having to face down an evil monstrosity or because of the crazy pony in front of her, Chrysalis was unsure. Either way, she wasn’t exactly surprised. Did it really matter, though? She’d already screwed up with all but one of the other element bearers, what was one more failure?

“Twilight!” Spike scolded her as he rushed up to them. “Can’t you see you’re scaring her?”

Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed. “Where the heck have you been?”

“I got stuck in the bushes.”

“Of course you did.”

From behind her, Chrysalis heard a loud gasp.

“A baby dragon!”

Moments later, Chrysalis was sent flying through the air by the sudden impact of Fluttershy barrelling into her. She had to fight the urge to fly, as such a thing would completely ruin her disguise, so she endured the painful impact of landing face first in the dirt. That girl was stronger than she looked.

“I’ve never seen a baby dragon before! He’s so cute!”

As Spike and Fluttershy spoke to each other, Chrysalis was torn between wanting to ignite the pegasus’ mane and the more rational plan of using Spike to her advantage. As much as it hurt her to do so, she settled on the latter.

“Yup! He’s my dragon, all right!” Chrysalis announced as she interjected herself next to Fluttershy and threw a hoof over her shoulder. “Too bad you’re not my friend, because my friends get to spend as much time with him as they want!”

“Hey! I’m not your dragon! I’m my own person!”

“Don’t listen to him, I’m legally his guardian, so he’s my dragon.” Chrysalis told Fluttershy in response to Spike’s protest. She hoped she was right about being his guardian, because if not that might make things a little awkward.

“Well...okay, that’s true, you are my guardian, but the way you say it makes me sound like I’m some kind of pet or something...”

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.” Chrysalis denied offhandedly.

“Oh, my...I would really like to have a chance to speak with him...Maybe we could be friends, Twilight?”

“Splendid idea, why didn’t I think of that? Come on friend, let’s go spend some time at my place doing...friend...stuff. You too, Spike, come on! I need you for this!”

“Hey, whoa!” Spike protested as Chrysalis roughly levitated him onto her back.

Chrysalis walked directly to the library in which she was supposed to be spending her time in Ponyville living in. She had already known of its location thanks to her spy network in the past or future or whatever tense she should be using, but she had gotten an even better idea from when she had been flown into the town. A bird’s eye view can be great for creating a mental map, and that’s something she was very accustomed to doing.

During the journey, Spike regaled Fluttershy with his entire life story. Fortunately for Chrysalis, this involved a lot of Twilight’s life story too. While there was no way she’d be able to remember everything that he said about her, she would no doubt find the general information on Twilight Sparkle’s life invaluable if she was supposed to take her place. She couldn't just brute force her way through it and blame inconsistencies on the stress of an upcoming wedding this time. She had to keep up the ruse longer than just a couple of days, so things such as her family, her schooling and the friends she had shunned in favour of chasing after Nightmare Moon would be invaluable. Honestly, after hearing about some of Twilight’s past, Chrysalis began to understand how she could have made friends with all these ponies: Twilight was as terrible a person as any of them were. She was rude, inconsiderate, oblivious and all around neglectful of anything that wasn’t her studies or Princess Celestia. That she would have one day become princess of friendship seemed a cruel joke to Chrysalis, especially with how ruthless she was towards her changelings in the future.

Chrysalis gave off a sad sigh. Twilight was a terrible pony that had done and would do terrible things, and she was there in a position where she would be forced to recreate those things. It didn’t seem right to her. No, she wouldn’t go the same route as that hated mare. She would do things differently. She would never be the cause of her own kind’s gradual extermination. She'd deal with changing history later, though.

“Umm...are you okay, Twilight? You seem sad.”

“I’m okay, Fluttershy. Hearing all these stories has me feeling a little nostalgic, that’s all.” She lied as they approached the library’s front door. “Anyway, we’re here. Want to come inside?”

“I’d love to.”

The three of them entered the quiet library and were engulfed by darkness. It was actually kind of surprising just how little light there was in there. Sure, it wasn’t exactly bright outside what with the sun setting and all, but there still should have been enough to see by in there.

“What’s with the lights?” Chrysalis voiced aloud. Just then, a click was heard as brightness flooded the room.

“SURPRISE!”

Chrysalis was hit by a wall of sound, balloons, confetti and one of those roll up noisemakers that you blow into. Additionally, a steady stream of love was suddenly being tossed about everywhere. Fluttershy, who had followed her inside, had taken cover beneath a nearby table in shock.

“Surprise!” Pinkie Pie repeated in her face. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised? Were you? Huh? Huh? Huh?”

“Yes, I was surprised.” Chrysalis confessed as she enjoyed the sensations of love and affection in the air. “It’s quite the intoxicating environment, I love it! Here I thought you didn’t like me with the way you reacted to our first meeting.”

The pink mare giggled. “Don’t be silly, I like everypony! You see, when I first saw you you were like 'hello' and I was like 'gasp' because I never saw you before and if I never saw you before that means you’re new, cause I know everypony and I mean everypony in Ponyville, and if you’re new that means you hadn’t met anyone yet and if you hadn’t met anyone yet you mustn’t have any friends and if you don’t have any friends then—”

Chrysalis shoved a hoof into Pinkie’s mouth. “I get it, Pinkie. Does this mean that we’re friends now?”

“Well, duh!” She answered after pulling her hoof out of her mouth. “I’m friends with everypony and I can’t well be friends with everypony if I’m not friends with you!”

Chrysalis blinked. Huh. She had thought that Pinkie Pie had been onto her or something, but now here she was offering, no, forcing her friendship onto her. That made for three of the five element bearers that she managed to befriend. That wasn’t so bad, right?

“Thanks, I could use some friends.”

“Well, I invited everypony in town, so now you’ve got lots of friends!”

The four other element bearers appeared to crawl out of the woodwork and stood there behind Pinkie Pie. Chrysalis looked between them with confusion.

“Uh...I thought that two of you hated me. I destroyed your saddle, remember?” She pointed at Rarity as she said so.

“Oh, that silly thing? Think nothing of it! I’ve already put together a new one and it is absolutely marvellous! Far better than that ratty old thing ever had been! Though I wouldn’t object to having you model it for me later, if you would be so kind.” She continued on in a sing song voice. “And let me remind you, you owe me!”

Chrysalis winced at that. If that’s what it took to get the elements of harmony working so that she could get rid of Nightmare Moon and save her changelings, then that’s the way it would have to be.

“I guess I do. What about you, Applejack? Weren’t you mad about me making out with your brother?”

“Oh ho ho!” Rarity interrupted. “You were making out with Big Macintosh, were you? Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so quick to disbelieve when you claimed to not need help with stallions.”

“Look, ah ain’t gonna say ah like what ya did, and ah ain't gonna say we're friends jus' yet, but Pinkie convinced me to give ya a second chance. Jus’ stay away from my brother an’ we won’t have a problem, ya hear? He’s a lot more innocent, naive an’ sensitive than ya think an’ ah don’t wanna see him hurt.”

Rarity stifled a laugh.

“What’s so funny, Rarity?” Applejack growled.

“He’s not so sensitive, or innocent, as you seem to think, Applejack. He’s a big boy now, he can handle himself in affairs of the heart.”

“It ain’t his heart that ah think most mares are after.”

“Mmmm...no, I'd say not.” Rarity responded with a slightly dreamy look in her eye, causing Applejack to glare at her. “Worry not, Applejack, I’m saving myself for my prince charming.”

“Umm...is this really appropriate to talk about around a baby?” Fluttershy asked as she eyed Spike.

“Hey, I’m not that young! I’m totally a mature and respectable dragon! I know all about kissing!”

Rarity giggled in a patronizing way. “Of course, kissing, that’s what we were talking about. I’m sorry for offending your manly pride.”

“That’s right! I’m as manly as they come!” He boasted, puffing up his chest and completely missing Rarity’s words for the teasing that they were. Chrysalis shook her head. That lizard was in for a world of heartbreak once he stopped being so oblivious.

“So, you girls forgive me, then?”

“Of course, darling!”

“Ah guess so.”

Chrysalis burst out laughing. It was far from the loudest laugh she had ever done, more of an extended chuckling really, but it still unnerved the five mares closest to her. Things weren’t so lost as she had thought they were, all five of them had just fallen into their role as Twilight’s friends like good little mares. Unless she was forgetting about something, all she really needed to do now was absorb a bit more love at this party and she’d be ready to face Nightmare Moon. After she dealt with that world ending threat, she could focus on shaping history to her benefit.

“Uhhh...are ya okay, sugar cube?”

“I’m wonderful, Applejack! Come on, this is a party, isn’t it? Let’s all have some fun!”

“Now that’s something I can get behind! Let’s party!” Pinkie Pie shouted at the top of her lungs.

The party went on into the long hours of the morning. As the end neared, Chrysalis was feeling giddy from a combination of all the love that was floating around like a soup and a lack of sleep. She probably should have attempted to get some rest, but she suspected it would be a losing effort to try with all the noise. She hadn’t had the opportunity to drag off anypony to get a substantial one on one meal from them, but hugs were given out to her freely as the guest of honour, so she still managed to get a decent meal regardless. After awhile, ponies began to file out of the library in large numbers.

“Hey, where’s everypony going?” Chrysalis wondered aloud, a little disappointed as the sources of love disappeared.

“It’s time to watch the sun rise!” Spike explained and then ran out the door along with several more ponies.

Oh, right. The Summer Sun Celebration. She had almost forgotten about that in her efforts to glean all the love she could. She followed after Spike and travelled along with a large group of ponies all the way back to where they had initially met Rarity: the town hall. Chrysalis hadn’t been too knowledgeable about the specifics of pony holidays, but from what she could gather from the whispers of those nearby, Princess Celestia was supposed to be raising the sun in some kind of ceremony for all to see. It sounded kind of stupid to her. The sun rose the same every day, barring some interference from a bored Discord. Why would they make a big ceremony out of it?

It didn’t really matter, though. She was aware enough of history to know that it was here and now that Nightmare Moon was supposed to appear and cast the world into a not so eternal night. She was ready to play her part in getting rid of that nuisance. She had the bearers eating out of her hoof, she had the love to keep her strong for at least a little while, and she had the...uh oh.

Chrysalis’ eyes widened as she realized she had no idea where the elements of harmony were located. How was she even supposed to find out? She was pretty sure this was information that Time Keeper would have told her had he not been captured like the little idiot he was. With a growing sense of irritation, she looked around the town hall where she was surrounded by a crowd of ponies. She was packed tightly in there, but maybe she could squeeze her way out and get back to the library and search for some information before it was too late. Just as she managed to make a little headway in getting out, she was cut off by Pinkie Pie as she somehow effortlessly cut through the crowd.

“Isn’t this exciting?! Are you excited? Because I’m excited! I’ve never been so excited in—”

“Pinkie, please, I forgot something at the library, I need to go right now.”

“Go? But we just got here! If you go now, you’ll miss the entire thing!”

Suddenly, the music began to play. It was combination of birdsong and a few other instruments from musicians near the stage. A grey maned earth pony mare with a beige coat, glasses and some kind of neck piece took the stage. She recognized the look she had, it was the 'I've got a speech' look. It was too late to go back now, she'd just have to improvise. Really, how powerful could a nigh omnipotent alicorn princess possessed by the powers of darkness be?

“Fillies and gentlecolts! As mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!” The crowd cheered her announcement, but Chrysalis only felt a sense annoyance. Any moment now, Nightmare Moon should be appearing and she was stuck here without her weapons listening to a politician prattling on. “In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise and celebrate this, the longest day of the year. And now, it is my great honour to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria: Princess Celestia!”

Were all other politicians this long winded? Listening to others monologue had always annoyed her. She was almost looking forward to Nightmare Moon showing up just so that she could stop listening to that windbag. Moments later, the curtain on the balcony was drawn to reveal...absolutely nothing. That was certainly anticlimactic. Sure, nothing still indicated that something had gone wrong, but she had expected more for all the build up she had put herself through. A few moments of ponies searching later, and Rarity walked out onto the balcony.

“She’s gone!” She announced, eliciting a wave of gasps from the crowd.

Moments later, a cloud of dark smoke coalesced on the balcony and a tall, black alicorn materialized there. She had a blue ethereal mane of stars and wore dark blue armour upon her head and chest. She cut an imposing figure up there. Chrysalis admitted to herself that, if Nightmare Moon had been a stallion, she’d actually be really hot. But as a mare? Okay, she admitted that even as a mare she was really hot. She didn’t normally go for the ladies, but damn Nightmare Moon was a fine piece of flesh. Change the wings, put a few holes in her extremities and you could almost mistake her for a changeling queen at a distance. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to let her take over Equestria if she agreed to share the country, along with a few other things, with her. If all the ponies were afraid of her, how terrible could she truly be? She could probably convince her to not harm her changelings. Probably.

Then she remembered that if Nightmare Moon wasn't stopped, then all of time and space might collapse in on itself, killing everything alive. It was so unfair that she had to put aside her own desires for the greater good, but it was something she had been doing all of her life as queen of the changelings, that wasn’t going to change now.

“Oh, my beloved subjects, it’s been so long since I’ve seen your precious, little, sun loving faces!” Nightmare Moon began to monologue.

“I’ll say it’s been a long time, you’re late!”

“What?” Nightmare Moon’s eyes narrowed as she tried to find the one who had spoken.

“Couldn’t you have come in a few seconds earlier and interrupted that long ass speech from the mayor? I thought I was going to die of boredom before you got a chance to kill me.”

Somewhere in the crowd, an anonymous pony let out a singular laugh but quickly silenced herself.

“You dare mock me?!” Nightmare Moon growled at Chrysalis. “Do you have any idea who I am?”

“Black Snooty?” Pinkie Pie suggested.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re Nightmare Moon.” The crowd gasped again. “I’m sorry I interrupted your monologue and all, I know what it’s like to want to do that, trust me, but I get incredibly bored when other ponies do it.”

“What did you do to our princess?!” Rainbow Dash demanded as she attempted to charge through the air at the alicorn but was stopped by Applejack biting down on her tail.

“What, am I not royal enough for you?”

“Stop!” Chrysalis demanded. “I said I get bored when others monologue, so can we just get this over with?"

Nightmare Moon glared with a fury to match a thousand suns at the purple unicorn that dared to keep interrupting her, then tried to continue.

“Remember this day, little ponies,” Chrysalis opened her mouth to object once again only to have a wave of magic sent her way by Nightmare Moon, which ended with her tied, gagged and blind folded all at once on the floor, the entirety of which didn't even cause Nightmare Moon to pause in her speech, “for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!”

Chrysalis attempted to pry the magical restraints from her body with her own spells, only partially aware of what was going on around her. Nightmare Moon was laughing, and lightning struck a few times, more gasps and screams. It really didn’t matter, she needed to remove those bindings. After near a solid minute of struggling, the magic weakened enough for her to break its hold on her.

“Are you all right, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.

“Where is she?” Chrysalis demanded as she looked around the room and saw that she was gone. She was either going to fuck or kill that mare, she wasn’t quite sure which, maybe both. Nobody dominated her like that. She was the one that dominated others!

“Umm...I think she flew off to the Everfree Forest.” Fluttershy muttered, slightly afraid of her new friend’s tone.

Chrysalis charged out of the building in time to see the last vestiges of Nightmare Moon’s shadow form gliding over a forest in the distance. She didn’t care that she didn’t have the elements of harmony, she’d tear her to pieces without them.

“Then that’s where I’m going.”