7 - Loose Ends
Chrysalis and Time Keeper landed just outside of Ponyville no more than an hour before day break. Time Keeper’s breath was ragged from the breakneck pace they had flown at from Canterlot, and even the far more fit Chrysalis was feeling worn out. It was only the natural exhaustion from rigorous physical exertion and not from love starvation, so she did her best to ignore it.
“You stay on the outskirts of Ponyville.” Chrysalis ordered. Time Keeper blinked and looked from side to side.
“Me?”
Chrysalis groaned. “There’s nobody else here, so who else would I be talking to?”
“Alone?!” Time Keeper’s voice cracked.
“Yes, alone.” Chrysalis growled. “Now I need to get back before any of Celestia’s lackeys arrive to check on Twilight.”
“I can’t survive out in the wild by myself!”
“If you go into Ponyville, you’ll be arrested again!”
“I’ve lived my entire life inside a city larger than Canterlot! If I stay out here I’ll starve, or get eaten by a mountain lion!”
Chrysalis stared at him flatly for a moment and then turned away, readying herself for flight. Just as she lifted off into the air, something latched onto her hind legs and she was brought crashing back to the grass with a heavy thud. Chrysalis’ long neck turned her head to gaze angrily at the irritating pegasus that had halted her flight.
“I’ll come back later with some food and water, now let me go or the mountain lions will only find a corpse to feed on.”
Trembling, Time Keeper removed himself from Chrysalis’ hind legs and nodded. Chrysalis rose back to her hooves and let out an irritated snort in his direction. He wilted beneath her glower, going so low to the ground that he almost seemed to meld with it in the darkness. She wasted no more time, lifting back into the air, transforming into a blue and pink pegasus as she did so and flew straight into Ponyville.
________________________________
Chrysalis, now a tiny cockroach, squeezed her way through the slight gap between the door and floor into her hospital room. The not quite snoring rhythmic breathing of a sleeping pony, or in this case changeling, filled the room. She had gotten lucky in that she had beaten Celestia’s minions here. She had seen a royal chariot flying above the town shortly before entering the hospital and knew she had little time to spare. As she rapidly took on the form of Twilight Sparkle, she also channelled some of her magic into the door so that it would resist attempts to open it.
She looked to the pony lying on the bed in the centre of the room, a mirror image of her current disguise. Skitter had done his job, even if it had been so easy that he literally could do it in his sleep. She paused only a moment before lifting him gently from the bed with her magic. He snorted as he was roused to consciousness and shook his head to ward off some of his drowsiness.
“I’m back.” she whispered gently to him as she set him softly upon the tiled floor.
Skitter fought back a yawn before he spoke. “What time is it?”
“Dawn. We need to switch fast. Guards could be here any minute, or perhaps even Celestia herself. You need to get out unseen and I’ll come see you later.” The thought of him writing up a report to send back to the hive and revealing her to her past self flashed across her mind. “Don’t send your report until I’ve had a chance to meet with you again.”
Skitter’s face paled slightly at the mention of Celestia possibly arriving soon, but nodded his understanding despite the sudden fear he undoubtedly felt. Scarcely another moment passed before the door knob behind Chrysalis began rattling. Both pairs of eyes darted to the door before returning to each other.
“Hurry!” She hissed.
Skitter was engulfed in green flame, turned into a fly and promptly buzzed his way to the wall just above the door where he perched himself. As that happened, somebody started banging on the door and shouting words of concern over Twilight Sparkle’s safety. Chrysalis released the spell on the door and stepped forward to open it.
As she reached for the handle, the banging stopped. Chrysalis paused a moment to listen and after hearing little, she flung the door open. She didn’t have time to react before a figure clad in golden armour charged right into her, bowling her over as both she and her sudden assailant fell to the floor.
Chrysalis gasped to recover the breath that had been knocked out of her and then shrieked at the royal guard that was on top of her.
“What are you doing?! Get off of me, you idiot!”
Rather than getting off as she had demanded, the stallion gripped onto her and squeezed tightly.
“Twily! You’re okay!” Chrysalis stiffened as she realized it was Shining Armor that was crushing her.
“Well, I would have been if you hadn’t just squashed me into a fine paste!” She scolded him. Her eyes crawled up to where she had last seen Skitter and found he was already gone.
Shining Armor winced and released her from his grip, letting her return to her slightly unsteady hooves. “Sorry. There was an attack at Canterlot Castle and Celestia sent me here to check on you.”
“Us...she sent us.” A surly voice entered the room, followed by a lithe looking pegasus guard. “Would’ve been here a lot faster had she just sent a pegasus instead of forcing us to cart you unicorns over here.”
“And if that thing really was here, would you want to face her by yourself without unicorn support?”
The pegasus’ lips drew into a tight frown, but he didn’t answer.
“‘Thing’? What 'thing'? What happened at the castle?” Chrysalis latched onto what little Shining Armor had revealed, feigning ignorance and trying to lead the conversation to where she wanted it.
“It’s nothing you need to worry about, your BBBFF will handle it.”
Chrysalis stared blankly for a second, unsure of who or what a BBBFF was. Was he talking about himself? A glimmer of concern, or perhaps confusion, entered Shining Armor’s eyes and she knew she need to say something to distract from her lack of recognition of the term.
“I’m not going to accept that as an answer!” She declared aggressively. “If it was bad enough for you to be sent to check on me, then I deserve to know.”
Shining pursed his lips together and then the two of them stared each other in the eye with mirrored steely resolve. Several seconds passed with neither side backing down until a heavy groan of frustration came from the third pony in the room.
“Oh, for the love of...Celestia believes that the same creature that defeated Nightmare Moon is responsible for breaking out the pony that abducted you earlier. Additionally, she threatened to harm you if we didn’t let her escape.”
Shining Armor’s eyes burned with anger over the other pony revealing that information. His mouth opened to reprimand him, but before he said anything he was cut off by Chrysalis’ shriek.
“She did WHAT?!?” Chrysalis forced herself to hyperventilate and Shining turned back to his ‘sister’, his look of rage warped into one of panic.
“It’s okay! She was probably just bluffing!” He attempted to soothe her.
“Probably!?”
“Definitely! I meant definitely!” He quickly backtracked. “Besides, we let her go, so she won’t be trying anyway.”
“Are you sure?” She asked as she gradually slowed her breathing.
“Absolutely, Twi! I wouldn’t lie to you like that, you’re safe.”
Chrysalis stumbled over to the bed and hopped up onto it, trying her best to look relieved.
“So the monster and the pony that took me are working together?”
“Maybe. She said she only took him because she wanted revenge against him.”
“Do you think it’s true?”
“I dunno. If she wanted to kill him, why didn’t she just do it when she found him? Why bother with the trouble of escaping with him?”
“What about Celestia? What does she think?” Chrysalis pressed.
“She hasn’t said anything to me, though she seemed...angry.” Shining shook his head and Chrysalis fought to not let her disappointment show. She had hoped to learn whether or not Celestia had believed her ruse.
It didn’t matter, she decided, whether she believed it fully or not. Unless Shining Armor was lying about why he was there, she evidently believed it enough to send guards to ensure her safety. Since she had discovered that Shining Armor was a terrible liar from her infiltration before the Canterlot invasion, she had little fear of him deceiving her, so she had to believe she was in the clear for now. She stifled a yawn and was suddenly very aware of the softness of the bed she was sitting on.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Twi? You look exhausted.” Shining asked, his brow furrowed with concern.
“All that’s happened lately has made it hard to sleep.” She answered lazily as she burrowed herself beneath the blankets, still warm from Skitter earlier, and closed her eyes.
“Oh. Well, I’ll just do the scan that Celestia requested and then I’ll let you sleep.”
Chrysalis’ eyes shot open beneath the cover of her blankets and she unintentionally held her breath. She hadn’t thought about that possibility when she claimed to have cursed Twilight Sparkle, that Celestia would have her scanned for such an enchantment. While the changeling transformation was certainly difficult to detect, and hers more so than the average changeling’s, she really did not like the idea of risking Shining Armor getting lucky and falling upon the correct scanning techniques.
“Scans? What scans?”
“Just making sure that the monster didn’t really leave any nasty magical surprises on you.”
“But you said I was fine.”
“It’s just a precaution, nothing to worry about.” Shining Armor’s horn lit up as he began casting a spell, only to be blocked by a barrier that Chrysalis had woven throughout her blankets.
“No, I refuse. I’m perfectly fine.”
“Come on, Twily, stop being so stubborn!” Shining stamped a hoof in frustration.
“I’m not letting you scan me!"
Shining Armor’s retort died on his lips as somebody new spoke up.
“Then perhaps you would allow me to perform the scan.”
Chrysalis’ blood ran cold as she recognized the voice as Luna.
“Your highness!” Shining greeted her with a bow. “What are you doing here?”
“Greetings, Captain. I have been sent by my sister as extra assurance that Twilight Sparkle is okay.” She chuckled lightly. “I had to convince her to not come herself by pointing out she still had a kingdom to run.”
Chrysalis pulled the blankets down just enough to peek out from under them at the princess. She looked no different than she had the last time she had seen her, evidently her strength had not recovered enough for the physical changes she had mentioned would come to manifest.
“Please, I wish to be alone with Twilight while performing the scans.”
“Yes, your highness.” The two guards said in near unison before leaving the room. Luna approached the bed with an amused smile.
“You’ve been quite busy.” She spoke in a hushed tone as she drew the blanket to uncover Chrysalis’ entire face.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Chrysalis flat out denied her insinuation.
“I hear it was a massive, black alicorn that broke one of the prisoners out. It’s a shame I wasn’t there. I would have loved to see her.” She gave Chrysalis a knowing look, that smile never leaving her lips.
Chrysalis, for her part, remained completely silent. Her lack of response finally wiped that smile off Luna’s lips as she gave a heavy sigh.
“Of course you can’t admit it was you. I understand. You’re just lucky that I was able to convince Celestia not to come here herself. She is very stubborn when she wants to be. Fortunately, so am I.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, but I assure you I don’t need your help.”
“Of course you don’t, but my help couldn’t hurt.” Luna’s horn glowed and Chrysalis’ flinched as her magic touched her. After several seconds, she tilted her head with only the slightest of smiles. “Hmm...nothing. I’m not sure why you were so hesitant to be scanned by the captain.”
“I just don’t like being scanned. It invades my privacy.”
“I could always go for a more thorough scan.” Luna said, keeping a close eye on how Chrysalis reacted.
“Sure. Go ahead.” Chrysalis bluffed, hoping that her nervousness didn’t shine through.
“Too bad I don’t have the time for a more thorough scan.” Luna winked at her. “I think I’ll just tell my sister that there was nothing to find.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying this whole time.”
“I know. My sister would love to hear my report, I’m sure, so I should be leaving soon. But before I go, there is one more thing.”
“Oh, and what would that be?” Chrysalis asked. Luna brought her face close enough to Chrysalis’ for her to feel her breath and whispered in her ear.
“I hear rumours from the guards that you kissed my sister. You should know that I’m the jealous type and I don’t appreciate you doing so. However, I forgive you. This time.” Luna chuckled lightly and then leaned in to give Chrysalis a very light kiss on the cheek, barely a brushing of her lips. Chrysalis was left wondering if what she had said was her idea of a joke or a threat and felt sickened from the idea of an alicorn chasing her down in a jealousy induced rage. “Don’t worry, I won’t let my sister have you. You are mine. Goodbye.”
Chrysalis watched as the blue alicorn strode out of the room, leaving her completely alone. Once again, she seemed to owe her ongoing safety to the lunar princess’ apparent crush on her, though she may have edged a little too far onto her jealous nature with last night’s activities. She should probably avoid giving her cause for such feelings in the future lest she get on the darker side of her affections.
She thought that maybe somebody else would come in to check on her after the princess’ departure, perhaps Shining Armor again, but none did. She remained alone in that room and while thinking on Princess Luna, she fell asleep.
It seemed like hardly any time had passed at all when she was awoken by voices outside of her room.
“What do you mean ‘who am I?’? I’m a doctor!” A moment of relative quiet followed before the irritated voice returned, slightly more strained than before. “My business is examining Twilight Sparkle before we release her from the hospital!”
There was another moment of quiet before the door swung open and a unicorn wearing a doctor’s coat walked in, his brow set in frustration and muttering something crude under his breath about royal guards. He was followed not by Shining Armor, who was still visible standing vigil just outside the temporarily open door, but by Rarity of all ponies. She was only half paying attention to where she was going as she kept stealing glances back at Shining Armor until the door swung itself shut again.
“Rarity? What are you doing here?” Chrysalis asked.
“Hmm? Oh, I’m here to see you of course! Also to bring Spike along so he can go home with you once they release you. He’s been staying with me while you’ve been recovering.”
“Spike?” Chrysalis leaned her head over the edge of her bedside and saw the little dragon was indeed there, standing very near to Rarity’s legs.
“Hey, Twilight!” He waved a hand enthusiastically at her.
“I only agreed to let you two in here with me because you promised you would be quiet and not interrupt my examination.” The doctor complained to the white mare.
“I’m dreadfully sorry, doctor, we will be silent from this point forward until you are finished.”
The doctor grumbled a little more and then proceeded to conduct the examination. In addition to the physical check up, he asked a variety of questions on how she was feeling. By the end of it, she was suffering from a minor headache, which she informed him of.
“Probably from fatigue.” He announced. “How did you sleep last night?”
“Poorly.” Chrysalis answered truthfully before layering an untruth on top of it. “I had a lot of nightmares.”
“I suspected as much, it’s not surprising given what happened to you. You can take any over the counter pain reliever for the headaches if you’d like. If the nightmares become too much of a problem, you can come back here and I’ll prescribe some sleeping pills, though I’d prefer not to do that unless necessary. Other than the obvious fatigue, you seem to be in reasonable health. I’ve got some paperwork to do and then we can have you checked out of here within the hour.”
“Thank you, doctor.” Chrysalis said.
“I’ll be back soon. In the meantime, you can chat with your friends here.” He indicated towards Rarity and Spike with a nod, both of whom were standing patiently off to the side. Rarity’s eyes followed the doctor as he left the room, lingering once more at something on the other side of the momentarily open door. Spike, on the other hoof, threw himself onto her in a hug.
“I’m so glad you’re okay.” Spike exclaimed.
“Me too, Spike.” Chrysalis gave a half hearted smile as she remembered just how the little guy had informed Celestia about her true form.
“So...who is that handsome stallion keeping guard over you out there?” Rarity asked as she too approached the bed ridden Chrysalis. “He looks different from the other guards.”
“He’s Shining Armor, my brother. He’s captain of the royal guard.”
“Captain, hmm?” Rarity’s eyes wandered over to the now closed door. “It’s no prince, but...”
“He’s taken.” Chrysalis interrupted her train of thought with a roll of her eyes.
“Isn’t that a shame?” She stated wistfully and turned her full attention back to Chrysalis. “I’d ask how you’re feeling, but that would seem rather silly right now, wouldn’t it?”
“A little.” Chrysalis agreed through a yawn. “So, you’ve been looking after Spike?”
“Indeed I have. He’s been an absolute darling. I’ve gotten so much work done with his assistance.”
“Anything for you, Rarity.” Spike spoke up dreamily, causing Rarity to smile and stifle a chuckle. It was apparent that she knew precisely how he felt and had been using his feelings to her advantage. While Chrysalis acknowledged that it was a jerk move on Rarity’s part, it wasn’t her responsibility to protect Spike’s feelings or to prevent his inevitable heart break. He had to learn about manipulators like Rarity sooner or later.
“Thanks.” Chrysalis said.
“Any time, Twilight.”
“Rarity’s work is amazing!” Spike gushed. “She makes the most beautiful dresses!”
“Yes. I saw myself, remember?”
“Well, I certainly try.” Rarity responded as she basked in the praise. “Speaking of which, you still owe me one session of modelling my dresses for me.”
Chrysalis’ ears wilted. “Can’t we just say that Spike’s help covered that?”
“Of course not! It’s not Spike that owes me, it’s you! To have him pay your debt would be improper. Besides, that was in exchange for me taking care of him. We can worry about scheduling a session after you’ve settled into your new home, though.”
Chrysalis sighed in defeat. “Okay, fine, but no corsets.”
“Hmm...I’m sure I could find something else for you to model if you are truly so opposed.” Rarity conceded. “Though I still think you would look marvellous in one.”
“Marvellous or not, I feel like I’m being strangled in them.”
“I suppose not all mares are willing to make sacrifices to look good.”
Chrysalis narrowed her eyes and crossed her forelegs in response to Rarity’s snobby tone. Upon noticing her reaction, Rarity’s eyes widened and any sense of haughtiness in her demeanour was replaced with shame.
“Oh, I am so sorry!” She apologized. “I didn’t mean to imply that you were somehow inferior for—”
“Well, you did.” Chrysalis cut her off grumpily.
“I...well, yes, I see that.” Rarity admitted guiltily. “However could I make it up to you?”
“Well...” Chrysalis began, making an exaggerated show of thinking about her already prepared answer.
“I’m sure you didn’t mean anything by it. Twilight’s just being grumpy because she’s been in the hospital without any books for so long, no need to make it up to her.”
Chrysalis stared at Spike with her mouth hanging open. How dare that little beast interrupt her machinations?
“Are you sure?” Rarity gave an uncertain glance to the fuming Chrysalis.
“Absolutely!” Spike nearly shouted, drowning out Chrysalis’ attempt to say otherwise, while simultaneously patting Chrysalis’ head in an infantilizing manner.
“Well, if you’re sure. Anyway, I have a business to get back to. I’ll see both of you later. Rarity waved a hoof farewell and then trotted briskly out of the room, escorted as far as the door by Spike who had jumped down from the bed where he had been snuggling up next to Chrysalis.
“You idiot!” Chrysalis hissed at Spike. “I was trying to get out of modelling for her!”
“I know.” Spike answered with a satisfied smirk. “You’re really not the type to be bothered by such a weak insult. Besides, if you really wanted to stop me, you could have done so easily.”
Chrysalis blinked. Why hadn’t she stopped him. She could have easily pushed him off the bed, or clamped his mouth shut or even just spoken over him. She brushed that question aside and focused on one she could direct away from herself.
“Why did you do that if you knew what I was doing?”
“Besides tricking her being a mean thing to do?” Spike asked with a raised eyebrow. “So that I can go with you to visit her when you model for her.”
Chrysalis shut her eyes and groaned. That was so stupid it was painful.
“We live in the same small town, Spike,” Chrysalis opened her eyes and refocused on the lizard, “you can visit her any time you want!”
After a moment to fully grasp the reality of her words, Spike’s eyes widened into saucers and his mouth turned into a sharp, toothy grin that could rival any changelings’.
“Oh my gosh!” Spike squealed with a near ear splitting high pitch. “I can see her anytime!”
“Yay.” Chrysalis said in an unenthusiastic monotone, wincing from the pain in her ears. Spike froze as he realized what he was doing.
“Oh, uh...” Spike chuckled self consciously. “I mean...Oh? I didn’t think of that. Maybe I’ll give her some company, ya know, if I have the time. I am a very busy dragon after all. I’m sure she gets lonely sewing by herself all day.”
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m sure you’d be doing her a great favour.”
“You think so?” Spike’s eyes began to gleam, completely unaware of her sarcasm as his cool facade melted as quickly as he had put it up.
“Yeah, sure.” She answered in the affirmative despite her true beliefs. She may not be responsible for protecting the little dragon’s feelings, but she couldn’t bring herself to be the one to crush his happy delusions. His positive, naive outlook reminded her too much of the exceptionally young changelings back home who had not yet been exposed to the harshness of the real world.
Chrysalis leaned back onto her pillow and closed her eyes, only half listening to Spike’s continued babbling. Just as she was about to fall asleep, she was jerked to full wakefulness once more by the door opening and the heavy hoofsteps of the returning doctor.
“You’re set to leave, Miss Sparkle!” He announced jovially, a stark contrast to his dour demeanour earlier when Rarity was around. Chrysalis suppressed the urge to chuckle. She could hardly blame him for feeling that way around her.
Chrysalis grunted acknowledgement of his words and began to groggily get up from the bed. In addition to the exhaustion, she was feeling stiff and sore almost everywhere from her excursion during the night, especially in her currently hidden wings. She stretched out the various parts of her body piece by piece, an occasional popping sound filling the air.
“You still look exhausted.” The doctor observed. “I suggest you head straight home and spend the rest of the day resting.”
“Will do, doctor.” She answered. After I deal with a loose end, first. She thought.
Chrysalis walked out of her hospital room one last time with Spike in tow, hoping she would never have to go back to that detestable place again.
“Hey, Twily. Leaving now?” Shining Armor asked. Chrysalis suppressed the urge to groan. She had forgotten about his presence.
“Hello, brother.” She answered. “Yes, the doctor says I’m good to go.”
Chrysalis walked past him, him following after her, and she trotted through the hallways and to the hospital exit at a brisk pace, despite her weary body’s protests. She stopped briefly at the hospitals’ front desk to confirm that she was leaving and then stepped outside into the mid day sun. She was finally free from that place. Free to be stuck living as her hated nemesis. Free to spend time with enemies of the changelings. Free to walk a tight rope of historical accuracy for potentially years. At least she could get some fresh air without either getting permission to go outside or hiding the fact that she was gone. It would need to be the small pleasures keeping her sanity in check.
Shining Armor stopped with her outside the hospital and waited patiently as she stood there enjoying the outdoors. Chrysalis looked at him with narrowed eyes.
“Don’t you have a team of guards to go run or something?”
“Normally, yeah, but the princess asked me to keep an eye on you for a couple days, just in case.”
“Really?” Chrysalis growled in frustration. Shining raised an eyebrow in response to her unhappy reaction.
“You’re not getting out of this. I’m going to stick to you like glue."
“Fine!” Chrysalis nearly shouted as she began walking again.
“Uh, Twilight?” Spike spoke up as she began walking. “I don’t think the library is that way.”
“I know.” She snapped at the dragon, still irritated over Shining’s presence. “I have something I need to do first.”
“But the doctor said—”
“He merely suggested that I go home and rest, and I will, after I deal with something first.”
“But-” Spike tried to argue but was cut off by Shining.
“Just let her do this. Trust me, you won’t win.”
Spike, though clearly wanting to continue the argument, gave in to Shining’s insistence and fell in step behind Twilight. Several minutes passed in relative silence, the young dragon and captain of the guard both quickly getting the impression that Twilight wasn’t in the mood for conversation, something Chrysalis was thankful for. Eventually, the three of them came to a stop in front of a shop.
“Quills and Sofas?” Spike read the shop’s sign aloud with a raised eyebrow. “Uh...what are we doing here?”
Chrysalis glanced over to Spike and then to the sign before closing her tired eyes for a few seconds. They were getting lamentably sore and she found she had to force them back open to avoid falling asleep where she stood.
“I need a quill.” Chrysalis gave the obvious answer, even if it was a lie.
“Even if you couldn’t wait until after you take a nap, I could have gotten it for you.” Spike pointed out, eliciting an angry sigh from Chrysalis. Spike continued, either oblivious to or completely ignoring her reaction. “Are they even open? The sign says they’re closed.”
“Only one way to find out.” Chrysalis answered, her horn alight with green energy that enveloped the door handle, giving her companions a visible target of her efforts to hide that she was simultaneously unlocking the bolt lock on the other side of the barrier. After a couple of seconds of pulling the dead bolt open, made easier by her experience of doing it last night, she turned the door handle and pushed it open.
“See? The door’s unlocked, they must be open.”
“Huh...they should really take that sign down.”
“I think I’ll stay out here and keep an eye out while you get a quill.” Shining Armor announced. Spike laughed.
“You just don’t want to be inside a musty ol’ quill shop.” He put a claw upon his chest. “I’m far more dedicated to Twilight than that.”
Spike began to follow Chrysalis inside, but was halted by a green field of magic.
“Could you wait out here with Shining? I’ll only be a few minutes, and I’m sure a child like you would rather stay out here and enjoy a beautiful day like this than spend time in there.”
“What? Why? I’m your assistant, you always bring me along to these stores to carry your stuff. What’s so different this time?”
Chrysalis closed her eyes once again and gave yet another tired sigh. That dragon never stopped being an irritant.
“I’ll get you some extra gems for dessert tomorrow above what you owe Rainbow Dash if you just do as I say.”
Spike’s eyes lit up adorably, bringing a smile to Chrysalis’ weary face. “Deal!”
Chrysalis would have much preferred to force the kid to stay outside, such a feat would be trivial for her, but she had to live with him and he would be a lot more pleasant company if she didn’t bully him, not to mention that Shining Armor would probably frown on seeing her treat him so. She entertained the thought of paying off his entire debt to Rainbow Dash for him so he could still have his precious, crystalline treats, purely for the purposes of having a happy roommate, of course. Miserable living companions tended to not keep their misery to themselves.
Chrysalis entered the store, leaving Shining and a happily humming Spike outside the door where he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet and gave a friendly wave to any ponies that happened to pass by. The main room of the store was properly lit, unlike last night, though still empty of the proprietor. She figured that Skitter was probably upstairs again, which suited her just fine. It would be best for what she had planned to not be in the room with a large window for passing pedestrians to view the merchandise and her activities.
The stairs leading up creaked a little beneath her weight. The door at the apex of the steps had been left open and she stepped through it onto level flooring to find Skitter, currently in his pony disguise from their first meeting, looking expectantly her way from his position sitting at a writing desk with a rather fancy quill was held between his teeth. He gently set the quill on the desk in front of him, got up from his seat and stepped towards his visitor, stopping half way.
“How may I help you, Miss? Do I know you?” He asked. Chrysalis smiled at his caution, not daring to greet her as his queen just in case of the unlikely event that she was the real Twilight Sparkle. She dropped her disguise and nodded to him, resulting in him dropping his own disguise and bowing deeply to her.
“I must commend you on your work last night. I’m afraid I didn’t have the time to properly do so earlier.”
"I am eternally at your service, my Queen.” He responded with a proud smile at her praise. He rose from his bow. “I was just going over my report and waiting on your arrival so that you could grant your approval before sending it to the hive.”
“Let me see it.” Chrysalis demanded.
“Of course.”
Skitter levitated the scroll of parchment from the desk he had been sitting at and brought it over to her. She held it aloft in her own magic and read through it, trying to ignore the protests of her sore eyes as she did so. It detailed much of what she had anticipated, covering his arrival in Ponyville, the little information he had gleaned thus far on the Nightmare Moon incident, and then about Chrysalis’ presence and what he had done for her.
“Does it meet your approval?”
Chrysalis glanced over the paper’s edge to look at him and gave a reassuring smile.
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll just send it, if you’d be so kind as to return it to me.”
“Don’t trouble yourself, I’ll do it.”
“Oh...thank you, your majesty. It’s an honour to have you assist me in such a fashion.”
“Good work deserves to be acknowledged and rewarded.” Chrysalis said, her smile taking on a sad edge. Casting a quick spell, she erased everything about her in the report and then sent the letter away with magical flames.
For decades the changelings had been spying on the ponies in general and Celestia specifically. That she had used a simulation of modified dragon fire to send her private letters in the blink of an eye had been discovered long ago. It had taken years for Chrysalis’ mother to get a changeling infiltrator with considerable magical prowess near enough to her often enough to analyze the spell as she cast it, but they had done so and the knowledge on how to create false dragon flames for instantaneous communications spread throughout the hive, becoming a mandatory skill for changelings going into pony society. That Celestia had provided the tools for more efficient means of spying on her had always amused Chrysalis. That amusement, however, did little to lift her spirits in light of what she knew she had to do.
“Come closer.”
“Pardon?” Skitter tilted his head.
“I said that good work deserves a reward. Come closer so I can reward you.” Skitter hesitated a moment before moving to stand right in front of her. “Now close your eyes and relax.”
He did as commanded, though trembled somewhat in anticipation, or perhaps fear. Chrysalis lifted a hoof and stroked his neck to calm him, as she would to a frightened child. When his shaking ceased and his breathing evened out, she lifted his chin with her hoof so that he would be looking up at her face had his eyes been open. She leaned down and kissed him. It wasn’t a passionate kiss, it had only basic lip to lip contact, but it wasn’t the kiss itself that was important. It was merely a means to an end, a basic loving contact to facilitate the transfer of love reserves from one changeling to another.
For most changelings, this transfer of love was a mundane activity that was downright necessary for feeding with those who relied on changeling love collectors for sustenance. Chrysalis herself had often fed in this fashion during extended time periods where she remained in the hive. This particular instance, however, did not involve her taking love, but instead giving freely of her own reserves.
As Queen of the changelings, Chrysalis almost never gave her love to others. The act of giving stored love for any changeling but the official love collectors was one of deference to the importance of the other changeling, either in a personal or official sense. As Queen, she was considered the most important changeling. For her, this was a ritual granting the highest of honours possible to one of her subjects. A changeling that received such an honour was universally respected in the hive, for they must have done something truly special to earn it. Skitter’s actions may not have been that impressive compared to the feats she usually granted this honour for, but given what could have happened if Chrysalis had been seen in Canterlot while Twilight wasn’t in her hospital room for the medical staff to see, she felt it was warranted.
A few tears ran down her face as she began to channel another spell. Her weariness must have been making her overly emotional, normally she wouldn’t so much as bat an eye at what she was about to do, at least externally anyway. In public, she had to be an iron wall for her changelings, unaffected by the hardships of reality. If she broke down, then that would only cause undue panic amongst her subjects and surely lead to ruin. Then again, they weren’t really her subjects anymore, were they? They had a queen and it wasn’t her. Or it was her, but just her past self and not really her in the here and now. She very likely wouldn’t get the chance to speak with her beloved changelings openly as herself for a long time, if ever, let alone have an opportunity to grant this honour again. Dismissing that melancholy thought, she unleashed her spell into the mind of Skitter, erasing all memory he had of her presence in Ponyville and all that he had done for her.
There was no resistance, for he was so trusting. He had no idea that she might do anything of the sort to him, no reason to even think that his beloved Queen might do anything of the sort to him. Her betrayal of that trust sat like a lump of iron in Chrysalis’ chest.
His complete lack of defences made the subsequent sleep spell she cast on him just as effortless. He began to fall to the floor, but she caught him with her magic and gently lifted him into the air. She searched the second floor, Skitter’s slumbering form bobbing calmly through the air behind her, until she found a bedroom. With tender care, she lowered him onto the mattress and pulled the blankets over his form. He would wake up in a couple hours without the slightest idea of what happened, with only an extra bit of love in reserve that he couldn’t account for. He wouldn’t remember going to bed, either, but she refused to risk damaging his mind to implant a memory for something so trivial.
At the door to the bedroom, she looked back to his sleeping form, still noticeably his undisguised changeling self. She would need to add an extra layer of protection to his home to ensure that there were no unwanted intruders who could discover his identity. She closed the door, shut her eyes and channelled yet more energy through her horn, casting the same spell she had used to reinforce the hospital room door earlier upon his, albeit with the additional condition that it is to dissipate at just about the same time as the sleep spell faded.
Satisfied with the spell, she stepped away from the door and nearly tripped over her own hooves, barely catching herself in time to avoid landing right on her face. Adrenaline pumped through her system from the close call and she worked to steady her suddenly rapid breath. She was feeling very unsteady. The exhaustion of the previous night had been bad enough, but going through that ritualistic love transfer with Skitter had pushed her dangerously close to her limits. She soon continued on her way back to her companions, taking extra special care around the stairs.
She was about to push open the front door of the store with a hoof when she noticed that the mentioned extremity was still in its natural black, changeling state. Scolding herself for her carelessness, she quickly returned to her Twilight disguise and glanced over to the store’s front window, noting that there was nobody on the other side to have seen her. Thanking her fortunes that she hadn’t been discovered, she finished pushing open the door.
“Hey Twilight!” Spike greeted her jovially. “Uh, where’s the quill?”
“Closed.” She answered succinctly.
“But the door—”
“Forgot to lock it.” She answered again, acutely aware that her headache from earlier had returned with a vengeance. Trying her best to ignore it, she began trotting to the library where she knew her bed to be.
“It’s ponies like that that make my job as a guard captain harder. Leaving his door open is almost asking to be robbed.” Shining Armor complained.
“Now where are we going?” Spike asked, exasperation in his voice.
“Home.”
“The library’s that way.” Spike pointed a direction completely different from the one Chrysalis had started on. Chrysalis jerked to a halt and thought about it, realizing with slight embarrassment that the lizard was right.
“Sorry...tired.”
“Maybe I should lead?” Spike suggested, to which Chrysalis nodded.
With Spike leading the way, the trio made it to the Golden Oaks Library without any more mistakes, though she had been nearly in a stupor the entire way there. With a sigh of relief, she walked through the door into the mildly familiar main room of the library where she had spent a few nights ago partying with the denizens of Ponyville. As she looked around, trying to remember where the bedrooms were located, she tripped once again, though this time failed to catch herself as she fell. With a crack, her face struck the polished wooden floor and a groan of pain escaped her lips.
“Twilight!” Spike shouted in alarm as Shining Armor rushed to help her back up.
“You really need to get some sleep, you can barely walk!” Shining observed, his face warped with concern. “Let’s get you to bed.”
Chrysalis tried to say that she was fine and to brush him off of her, but it only came out as unintelligible mumbling. Shining refused to be removed from her side and she stopped trying to resist his aid as he helped her up some stairs and into the bedroom, with a little directional assistance from Spike along the way. She tensed up again as she thought she had tripped once more, but relaxed considerably as she landed on soft bedding. She fell asleep almost immediately.
__________________
Chrysalis woke up to blackness and the distinctive call of an owl outside of her open bedroom window. She shivered lightly at the cool breeze that brushed over her body, which lay uncovered above the blankets. It was clearly a lot colder outside than on the night she had rescued Time Keeper, a fact that made her rather uncomfortable. She crawled out of the bed and followed the draft to its source. She noticed an owl perched on a branch just outside. It tilted its head and asked ‘who?’ Chrysalis shook her own head, ridding her mind of the silly notion that the animal could actually be questioning her identity, and shut the window.
Yawning, Chrysalis stepped slowly back to her bed. She was still a little tired and could undoubtedly benefit from some extra sleep, but she was at least capable of functioning now. The sound of rhythmic breathing, punctuated by an occasional snore, told her that she was not alone in the room. She wandered to the other side of the bed and found Spike fast asleep in what she could only describe as a pet basket. Given his objections to the idea of being a pet when they had first met Fluttershy, she was surprised that he would sleep in something meant for one. It seemed rather cruel of Twilight Sparkle to have her assistant rest in something so demeaning.
Listening to his breathing had an almost hypnotic effect. Before she knew it, Chrysalis had been standing over his form for several minutes. She closed her eyes and thought about how close to ruin she had come because of Spike having seen her. She really needed to do something to neutralize the threat he posed to her and her changelings. The changelings, she sadly corrected, not her changelings. Not anymore.
The dark room was bathed in the eerie green glow of her horn as she prepared a spell to delve into his mind. She couldn’t simply erase some of his memories, he had already revealed what he had seen to Celestia and having him suddenly not recall such things would only serve to increase Celestia’s suspicions. No, she needed a different tactic to cover up this mess.
A green tendril of magic snaked its way to the slumbering child and wrapped around his head. She focused on building up a sense of trust in his tiny psyche, attempting to hide any suspicions he had of her beneath layer upon layer of artificial conviction in her identity as Twilight Sparkle and an aversion to the idea that she might be the creature that he had seen fighting Nightmare Moon. As she completed her mind control spell, she cut off the flow of magic and the room returned to darkness.
If he were ever to be pressed, Spike would confirm that she was the same Twilight Sparkle he had always known, ignoring the little inconsistencies and contradictions he had noticed thus far. If she continued to reinforce her control of him over time with more spells, he would eventually reach the point where he wouldn’t be able to notice that she wasn’t Twilight Sparkle even if she were to appear in her natural form right in front of him, just as had been the case with Shining Armor all those years ago. She should definitely do that. It would be the smart thing to do.
Chrysalis shivered. It was still cold in the room.
“Twilight...”
Chrysalis’ ears perked up at the sound of Spike’s voice. He was still asleep, though his face had contorted into a frightened frown and he was struggling against his tiny little blanket.
“Don’t...don’t leave me...”
Chrysalis still shivered. It was really cold in that room.
“Twilight...please...”
Tears had formed on his face. His nightmare was losing Twilight Sparkle? That is what he feared? He was a fool to be so attached to her, the stupid dragon.
Chrysalis kept on shivering.
What was with this damned cold? With a light growl, she turned her back on the child and crawled back onto her bed, burying herself beneath the covers. Still it wasn’t enough. She had already closed the window and buried herself beneath a heap of blankets, what more was she supposed to do?
The sound of Spike whimpering caught her attention. A hot, fire breathing lizard, that was precisely what she needed to keep her warm. Without moving from her cozy position, she prodded the area that she knew Spike to be in and levitated him from his bed and right next to her in hers.
As Spike’s frightened trembling faded in the face of her embrace, so too did Chrysalis’ shivering and she was finally able to drift off back to sleep.
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An interesting story concept, though I feel this would get more attention and flow easier if you'd tied it into The Cutie Remark instead of bringing in a Doctor Whooves OC.
8223998
I had actually begun writing this story long before The Cutie Remark had aired and I had noted when it did air that this story might end up being thought of as inspired by that episode. It's not, and I didn't really want to tie it to that, to be honest. I'd probably have to put a lot of effort into explaining why a Chrysalis from that alternate timeline would take the place of Twilight in any way remotely like the way it happens here. I don't really see it becoming anything other than a convoluted mess if I were to try and make it work, and if I somehow did it would likely end up an entirely different story.
I suppose I could replace Time Keeper with Starlight and have her desperate to replace Twilight who she accidentally got killed in the past, but there was never any indication that she wanted to mess with Twilight's foal self directly in the slightest, nor did she even need to as she was perfectly capable of getting what she wanted by stopping the rainboom and preventing Twilight from stopping her. Maybe, just maybe I could go with the hypothetical that Twilight ends up dying a little later of unrelated causes that would have been avoided if she were Celestia's student, but what would replacing Twilight do then? The timeline is already screwed before she dies because she never passed the test to get into the school for gifted unicorns. Alternately, she could be replacing Twilight after she dies while hopping to alternate time lines, but that would be a replacement at the end of season 5 and a completely different story. Add in that there is legitimately no reason for Chrysalis of alternate timelines to help because she is literally living in that altered timeline without any adverse affects to the world, and in fact living in a timeline that is massively improved from her perspective. I just don't really see it being workable, not with Chrysalis being the protagonist.
If I were to do a story tied to that episode, I think I would have done a story about Nightmare Moon coming back to the main timeline. No taking over Twilight's life or any need to explain why, just a villain becoming a threat again in a world where she no longer exists. Story potential abound with having Nightmare Moon running around while Princess Luna is also present.
8224086
Hmm... well, fair enough. Thanks for taking the time to reply and elaborate. I'll be putting this one on my list either way.
I love it
8224086
Time Keeper works perfectly fine as is.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this chapter. I can't imagine how devastated Spike will be once the truth comes out. It will also be awkward for everyone since the mane 6 has always known Chrysalis as Twilight, so their sense of loyalty will be... interesting.
8224780
No doubt that Spike, along with Shining Armor and Twilight's parents, will be the worst hit by the truth.
That was close.
Wow, being separated from her children and thrust into all this, Chryssie's facade is starting to crumble a bit.
But no, obviously she just wanted to be warm and cuddling a sleeping dragon kid is obviously the best way to achieve that.
Meanwhile, cut to Time Turner frozen a'la Jack Nicholson from The Shining.
'Fluttershy, he was surprised' - she
Good to see all that rushing around had some consequences and that I was right about what Chrysalis overlooked in the heat of the moment.
Nice mix of small touches softening Chrysalis without letting her feel too out of character, having her consider brainwashing Spike but not do it, for example. She seems to be becoming the mask a bit more than she did with Cadance, it'll be interesting to see how she changes over time.
I see Luna's moving faster than I expected. I'd hardly be averse to Luna/Chrysalis (quite the opposite) but it seems one-sided for now, though as Chrysalis changes, that may change as well, provided Luna doesn't push too fast and alienate the changeling queen.
Well, that was somewhat unexpected.
From the edlnd of the last chapter and a title of this one I thought she will be disposing of her little "trouble".
Huh, ok. That's fine too.
8225227
Yeah, Chrysalis is heavy in denial, but it's apparent she's not holding up very well. Time Turner...he'll survive, so not quite Jack Nicholson. He won't be happy, but he'll survive. It's colder than the night before, certainly, but not anywhere near freezing. It is right smack dab in the middle of summer, after all. It would be weird for it to be otherwise only a few days after the Summer Sun Festival.
As always, thanks for pointing out the error.
8225230
Well, she did some mild brain washing, but she clearly didn't feel good about doing it, and it is definitely implied that she won't be able to bring herself to go further with it.
Yeah, Luna certainly took a big jump forward, though it was at least partly in response to Chrysalis' actions with kissing Celestia. Had that not happened, then neither would that little meeting. It probably won't be going quite so fast moving forward, if for no more reason than Luna not having as many excuses to head over to Ponyville. She'll have some, of course, certainly more than the big whopping zero from the official season 1.
8225389
I assume you mean Time Keeper. She would love to get rid of him, but she at least believes she can't afford to do it. She is going to use him for guidance through Twilight's life, so she needs him alive.
8225785
I know, I just didn't do a good job differentiating between her current level of memory alteration and the full effect she declined to use.
I suspect Luna would have been a lot less aggressive had it been anyone else, but that all her issues with her sister aren't 100% resolved. Although, I'm mildly surprised Chrysalis' first instinct wasn't to play along and manipulate her. Maybe even she realizes how explosive that would be. Plus, she probably associates feeding on Luna with vomiting right now.
8225813
Yeah, Luna may still hold some resentment towards her sister. Chrysalis is definitely having a hard time disassociating Luna with Nightmare Moon, and naturally all the bad stuff that went with the latter. Not that Princess Luna without NMM is a great thing either in her mind, she was/is a leader of the ponies much like Celestia and Chrysalis has at least several years worth of life behind her where Luna was one of her greatest enemies. Also, Luna could blow her cover with relative ease and there's little that Chrysalis could do about it. Chryssi is feeling a little trapped by that, and may even go so far as to see this relationship as a form of blackmail. Even if she were completely fine with the concept of that relationship, having such a thing hanging over it is going to make it a little less palatable, something I suspect would be the case for anybody, not just her. However, given time, maybe her outlook will change.
8225832
Certainly, that power imbalance could be a real problem, which is why I originally mentioned Luna pushing too hard being a conceivable method of strangling things in the crib. It's a lot easier to live with someone having potential power over you when they don't actually show any signs of using it than it is when they remind you of it.
Mind you, Chrysalis can take some comfort in remembering not only can she can beat Luna under ideal conditions but she already has.
Damn, this is good. Like, 'stay up all night to read' good. I eagerly await the next chapter.
This is a great story, but the time between updates is harsh. It's been sitting in my "read it later" queue since 2016. Finally while scrolling through the list this was long enough that I decided to read it...and yes, it's a great story. But with months between updates, it's going to be very difficult to follow and at the present pace, it seems like it's going to take years to finish.
8395669
Not too horribly long, it is definitely coming. It's mostly written up in my notebook now. I've been busy the last few weeks with a theatre festival I was going to and then BronyCan, may the last Canadian brony convention rest in peace.
Hot take: Rarity doesn't understand consent. Most of the M6 don't.
"Zarplat's probing earlier was bad enough, I'm not going through that again! I mean, he put the probulator on the lowest setting, but it was still really invasive!"
Way to act natural chrysalis