Empathy

by Snorlaxkid

Twisted Pride

Chrysalis spat onto a decorative dish once she arrived in her room, her bright green blood and a fang landed on it. She groaned and looked at herself in the mirror, opening her mouth anxiously. Luna's blow had caused her to bite into the roof of her own mouth, she was bleeding badly around the missing fang. ...It would heal, and the fang would grow back. She'd had worse.

"So what did that accomplish?"

Chrysalis looked at Celestia's reflection in the mirror. The elder princess was staring at her disapprovingly.

"What did what accomplish?" Chrysalis asked, looking back at her mouth as if nothing was wrong.

"Intentionally antagonizing my sister. Don't think I didn't notice that."

Chrysalis paused. She was off her game in that case. "Perhaps I simply do blame her for my son's death."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "We both know that's not true. You blame yourself, and trying to get my sister to injure you isn't going to fix that."

Chrysalis growled lightly. She hated it when Celestia was right. It was much too often. "And what would you know of what I'm going through, Princess?"

Chrysalis turned, expecting Celestia to still be at the other side of the room. However, in the moment it took for her to turn around Celestia had crossed the room and now was right in Chrysalis' face. There was a quiet anger in Celestia's eyes that the changeling queen had never seen before. It terrified her.

"I know exactly what you're going through. And I had to deal with it for much longer than I suspect you even will live."

There was a brief pause as Celestia stared Chrysalis down.

"I'll send someone with something for the pain. I suspect you'll be able to deal with the wound yourself considering how casually you're treating it?"

"Y-Yes Princess Celestia."

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Chrysalis awoke the next day with a groan. That pain reliever was not as good as she had expected, likely due to being designed for ponies, and not changeling queens. She looked at her covers, which were stained with a small pool of her blood. She almost felt bad for whoever had to clean these. Almost.

Heading out of her room, (and slipping her cloak on for good measure) Chrysalis began walking the corridors of the castle. She was up much earlier than she would normally be. Losing blood was a surprisingly effective way to get a good night's rest. She was in no hurry to test it again though.

Chrysalis sniffed at the air. There was a strange, sweet scent wafting from the main dining hall. Chrysalis felt her stomach rumble. Love was unlikely to be on the menu, but she supposed she could settle on lesser food if she was fortunate enough to be up in time for the royal breakfast.

Upon reaching the main dining room, Chrysalis poked her head inside. Celestia was placing a stack of fruit-topped floury discs in front of Luna, who looked absolutely exhausted. Right, Luna works all night. Chrysalis sometimes forgot that Luna's travels in the Dream Realm were not restful. Celestia glanced upwards, and motioned for Chrysalis to come to the table.

"See Luna, I told you my pancakes would eventually lure Chrysalis down." Celestia said teasingly.

"I find it much more likely she's up early due to sleeping off her wounds." Luna replied, sounding as tired as she looked.

"Pancakes?" Chrysalis asked curiously as she walked up and sat down. "...Wait, you can cook?"

"Bake, technically." Celestia replied, placing a fresh plate before Chrysalis. "It's a way to show I care."

"...Okay, but why?"

"Because I do. It's not that complicated."

"Yes, but that doesn't explain _why._ You have royal cooks."

Celestia rolled her eyes before serving herself. After it was clear she wasn't getting an answer, Chrysalis turned her attention to her "pancakes." They were carefully stacked, and decorated with fruit slices in the shape of a face. Chrysalis found this mockery of predator and prey relations unnerving. As she began to cautiously attempt to mimic the use of knife and fork that Celestia and Luna were using, she failed to notice Celestia's magical aura around her plate as the solar princess gently nudged the plate.

"AH! IT LIVES! KILL IT! KILL IT!"

Celestia and Luna exchanged amused glances, attempting to avoid bursting into laughter as the proud changeling queen began stabbing her breakfast.

Author's Note:

Gotcha!

Comments

[ScootaPUBG]

Such a fan of the concept! Chrysalis is one of my favorite ponies, and I love seeing something new with her

[Snorlaxkid]

8619401
It's a comparatively light-hearted sequel to my previous fic, so I was a bit worried I'd put off people who read that.

Also, I totally agree. Chrysalis is best non-pony pony.