Chapter 12: Operation Alicorn Sunset Part 2 - Foiled Plans
5th of the third moon, 1551 A.E. 09:50 p.m. - Honeymoon house
The art of changeling mind-control was a dangerous dance, especially if the recipient was a powerful one. The recipient could easily identify that the thoughts they were having weren't theirs if the controller tried to insert his/her own thoughts into the recipient directly. Therefore, the controller must monitor the emotions of the recipient quite keenly, and take care to not go against the flow of the recipient's consciousness. One wrong step could easily lead to detection, and for Chrysalis, that would be the end of her in more ways than one.
Shining Armor was captain of the Royal Guard, and for good reason. In a few day's time, he was to set up a shield spell around the entirety of Canterlot, which would be an impressive feat in and of itself, even in the eyes a changeling queen. Also, he was at his ripe age of 30, and was physically much superior to her 50-year-old self. In a confined space like the dining table of the honeymoon house, that would be a big issue if they were to come to blows. Even if she managed to somehow win, Her cover as Cadance would be completely blown, and Celestia's immense power would do the rest.
"Are you okay, Cady? You're not looking so great today. You didn't even take a bite out of your dinner," Shining Armor asked worriedly. He wasn't oblivious to her concerned attitude, it seemed.
"Oh, it's nothing, Shiny. It's just... I have to tell you something. I meant to say this to you earlier, but I only got to hear about this a few days ago myself. I think our wedding is maybe going to be somewhat... different than what we anticipated," With those words, she began pouring her love magic into him, trying to gauge his reaction.
His own consciousness would agree to it if it was reasonable, since he would want to make her happy. However, such sudden changes to a big event would be a source of concern for him, and that part would have to go. Please, trust me, and just calm down. Nothing to worry about... she mused.
She felt the feeling of her magic latching onto his mind, subtly smoothing out the spikes of worry in his psyche, trapping him in marital bliss. The heartfelt smile on his face confirmed her success. "Sure, Cady. How is it going to change?"
"You know that normally, only the ones with special tickets can participate in royal ceremonies, right? Like the Gala that happened last year." Watching his reaction, she continued. "But the earth pony families that I had become acquainted with during my job as a sitter really wanted to participate in the wedding, so I thought about making it more of a collaborative event, where everypony could come and enjoy regardless of their wealth, gender, or race."
No sooner than she finished her sentence, she could sense Shining slipping from her grasp. "I-I don't know about this, Cady. I mean sure, it is a good cause, trying to encourage everypony to participate, but wouldn't it be a tad dangerous? We wouldn't be able to control a massive crowd if something goes wrong."
His love and worry towards Cadance was working against her now, and Chrysalis had to turn this tide of emotions around if she were to keep what little hold of him she had left. She jumped down from her chair, slowly walking towards shining. "Thank you Shiny, for caring so much about me. It really means a lot," she cooed, "But this isn't just about us, darling. A royal wedding doesn't come often, and this could be a symbolic step in fostering real harmony in our nation. You know what they say, friendship is magic, after all."
Chrysalis could feel those words hitting home. She knew from her research that Shining Armor was highly patriotic, and upheld the values of the nation before his own concern. However, it still wasn't enough to override his concern.
She walked up to him, so close that she could feel his hot breath on her skin, and whispered into his ears. "Besides, why would I fear for my safety when I have the best guard captain ever as my groom?"
She finally felt Shining Armor's last mental resistance break up. He was madly in love with 'Cadance', and would do everything he could in order to make her happy. Even though she didn't explicitly tried to, she fed from him in spades. She hardly ever got to taste such love in the hive. It was more than just nourishing, as it empowered her magic to quite some degree, as well. Perhaps enough to make her final move.
Leaning in even closer, she whispered again, pouring even more magic into her mind-control. "Perhaps, with you by my side, we may not even need a very strong shield spell to protect ourselves," Shining Armor's rational mind would normally treat it as folly, but her spell clouded it with his love for Cadance. With those words, she finally hammered the last nail in the coffin by a passionate kiss on his pure white muzzle.
8th of the third moon, 1551 A.E. 2:00 p.m. - Canterlot Castle
Chrysalis winced from a window in the castle tower as six mares trotted into the gates that separated the castle from the city. These were the famed heroes who defeated Nightmare Moon, and yet another huge threat for her already very risky operation. She did more research on the other element bearers in the Canterlot library after Celestia had suggested their involvement, and the results weren't promising. Despite their bubbly exteriors, their strong friendship meant that the elements of harmony in their possession could release magic that could defeat anypony (or anycreature, in her case).
Fortunately for her, however, they mostly weren't showing any sign of worry just yet, and were chittering about the wedding preparations to no end. Mostly. One lavender unicorn, presumably the princess's personal student Twilight Sparkle, was frowning, mumbling about her brother for not informing her of the sudden wedding. Considering what I'm doing to him, it would have been better for you to have stayed oblivious... she mused.
Beside her, Shining Armor gave her an affectionate nuzzle. "I'll have to go and comfort Twi. I was too busy to tell her about my wedding, and it looks like she's a bit upset about it. I bet she'll love you when she learns you were her babysitter though."
She simply nodded and returned the nuzzle, only to bit her lip the moment he left the room. That's exactly the problem. I'm not...
"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybug's awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake!"
Crap. She thought to herself, as all the greetings she thought of in her mind instantly vaporized. Two seconds in with her conversation with Twilight and she already met something she didn't know. There were the following three options that she could think of when came to dealing with this situation.
1. What?
2. A...ha.
3. *Awkward silence*
Despairing at her lack of choices, Chrysalis chose the first one. "What are you doing here?" she replied. For now, the more information she had, the better.
"Cadance! It's me! Twilight!" the mare replied enthusiastically. Unfortunately, it didn't help her broaden her options any further.
Her brainpower now almost gone from anxiety, she could only choose the second best. "A...ha," she said as she silently hoped that would be a good enough reaction. Twilight's face scrunching up was a telltale sign that this wasn't the case, and the very unfortunate third option quickly followed suit.
With all of her mediocre responses exhausted, she used this break to quickly move towards Shining Armor, who very thankfully wasn't suspicious of her not recognizing Twilight's signature move due to her firmly placed mind-control spell. In fact, he came to her rescue. "Now, I have to go back to my stations, but Cadance will be checking in with all of you to see how things are going. I speak for both of us when I say we're so happy to have you here. Right, dear?"
"Absolutely," she said with her eyes narrowed. She was scanning for Twilight's emotions, and the results were clear. Absolute shock and horror, with a touch of bitterness added to it.
Her plan was already going down south.
11th of the third moon, 1551 A.E. 11:00 a.m. - Canterlot Castle
The more she thought about it, the more certain her hunch became. Twilight was onto something. She was one of the smartest, most magically gifted unicorns in the history of Equestria. Although Cadance's talent of love magic was a unique one, Chrysalis couldn't rule out the possibility that Twilight had some affinity with it.
After her initial shock during their first meeting, she had never welcomed her wherever, whenever they met. She always watched her from a distance with those suspicious lavender eyes, seemingly staring straight into her very soul. Chrysalis had also overheard her talking with her friends about her in angry voices, although she couldn't exactly make out what they were saying. All of this was dire news for her, especially considering the roles Twilight and her friends would be playing during the wedding.
Of course, Twilight would never attack her directly under the watchful eyes of Celestia without solid proof, but she and her five friends, along with her pet dragon, were completely in charge of the wedding preparations. Assuming Twilight had knowledge with the potions department as well, one conveniently misplaced drop of poison in her food or clothing would be 'a very unfortunate accident' for everyone indeed.
Almost confirming her thoughts, as soon as she stepped into the steaming kitchens of the castle, one of Twilight's friends, Applejack, was it? Caught up to her. "Hi, princess Mi Amore Cadenza! Have you come here to check out your menu for the big day?" she hollered as she offered her a tray of apple fritters. Chrysalis sighed to herself, thankful that these young mares didn't know the full art of assassination. They were being so obvious with their attempts.
"Delicious! I love, love, love them!" she squealed, pretending to be in complete bliss. Judging by her experience, the poison would be on the apple itself. Mixing any poison with the batter would reduce effectiveness by at least eighty percent, so it wouldn't be fatal. She bit into the batter part, and it was surprisingly good. No surprises though, such poisonous food were always supposed to be tasty to lure in the victims. It was so good, in fact, that she felt a small amount of regret whilst quietly throwing away the packet while nopony was watching.
Unfortunately for her, a pair of lavender eyes were.
"I've been working on it ever since I was given the assignment, and I think you'll be pleased with the results!" called Rarity, as she showcased the dress to her. Fortunately for Chrysalis, she knew better than accept the offer directly.
The dress severely lacked any beads, a great deflector of magic if properly enchanted. The short trim also meant she would be vulnerable in the sides and rear to any traps that would spring if she treaded on them. The pristine white dress was a stark contrast from the rather dull uniforms of her 'bridesmaids', a shining beacon for anypony who 'accidentally' would target her with a magic spell among the large crowd. It was the perfect clothing for foul play.
She made a mental note for herself to switch out the bridesmaids from her own changeling sentinels to the six mares themselves, to keep them from fabricating another plan out of her sight. One thing she did learn from her queen, was to keep her enemies close. She called out for adjustments, and unknown to her, the lavender eyes were scowling at her, again.
These childish games. These music that would have fit in the 1400's. What was this pink, bouncy mare thinking? So far, everything that she saw had somehow been a plot, so this one must be, as well. Try as she might, however, she couldn't find anything that could lead to her potential demise and/or assassination.
This was worrying. Earlier, she thought that Pinkie Pie was the least threatening among Twilight's friends, simply because of her cute smiles and bubbly attitude. However, this pony had so far been the only one to get her scheme past all her experience as an heir to the throne of the unforgiving hive. What ghastly secret was she hiding behind that pink mane of hers?
She couldn't back down here, however. With confidence, she smirked, "Perfect, if we were celebrating a six-year-old's birthday party."
"Thank you!" Pinkie's reply was a short one, but it sent chills running down Chrysalis' spine. Even when facing a direct insult, she managed to conceal it behind that ever-smiling mask, and just shrug it off. And this mare was still only around twenty years old. Perhaps she had found her most formidable adversary so far.
And yet even while she was thinking about Pinkie's devilish schemes, a pair of lavender eyes were still watching her from behind a pillar.
Stats
Page generated in 0.019 seconds
Total duration
756 users online
945,277 hits today, 1,872,792 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I'm here to read about this version of Chrysalis, her characterization had made me care about her plight and want to see how this all plays out.
At the same time hoping it doesn't exactly go according to canon, cause it would mean she will eventually lose.
10118351
Well, in the description, it does say that she's victorious against her enemies...
So an Earth pony somehow turns into Queen Bug Horse.
And then has lots of grubs, apparently.
This glossed over explanation doesn't hold water:
That sounds like an Aesop trying to explain why a leopard's coat is spotted or why an elephant's nose is a trunk. The REAL explanation is certainly radically different.
I suspect the Black Goo had something to do with this... except in Equestria it was the Magical Engineer Smooze.
10118385
I've just read J.P.Beaubien's Terrible Writing Advice on Youtube, and good god, this holds true to me. I guess I should elaborate a bit more on that part. Thank you for the helpful criticism!
Chrysalis understands the terror that is Pinkie Pie.
10118396 Make it be the Black Goo! Then you can have CROSSOVER SEQUEL!!!
Those are always the bestest!
10118563
What is this black goo you are talking about? I didn't watch the movie so I don't quite understand what it is.
10118518
Yes, she does.
10118836 It was the stupid explanation for the xenomorph origin in "Prometheus". Aliens made it and Alien Jesus drank it and spawned all life on Earth... it was so stupid.
Buuuuut, for a nice big dumb crossover slashfic, it could be the Smooze from G1 and made the cherngelerngs! Because why the heck not?
10119955
Ah, I see. Well, I don't think it will be like that, but thanks for sharing your opinion.
Those are good options... i, personally, would pick...
"Um... Twilight, you know we are not kids anymore, right?"